| Show ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY MILLION TONS OF COAL NEAR SALINA SEVIER COUNTY since the settlement of the central part of utah about 1850 the thin beds of bituminous coal that crop out along the sides of salina canyon a tributary of sevier river have been mined intermittently in a small way to supply the domestic needs of local residents the showings of coal in salina canyon not having proved sufficient to encourage the development of large mines discovery in later years of reserves of high grade coal on the east face of the wasatch plateau has increased the interest of prospectors in this general region b gion after the presence and extent of the coal beneath the surface had been ascertained by diamond drilling a mine was recently opened at the head of salina canyon and it is expected that coal will soon be mined on oil a large scale the results of an examination of the salina canyon district by government geologists are such as to encourage future development in ill the district and a complete description of the geology and coal resources of the district is given in a report by E M spieker and A A baker just published as bulletin C of the geological survey department of the interior the salina canyon district adjoins the southern part of tile the wasatch plateau coal field and some of its coal beds are directly continuous with those of the wasatch field the coal of the salina canyon district is similar to that of the wasatch plateau it is bituminous in rank and of good quality almost throughout it is black hard and lustrous and its stocking qualities are very good lumps of the coal that had lain on oil a mine dump for many months were very little affected by the weather some of the coal contains an unusual amount of resin but this in no way detracts from its value A summary of the reserves of coal in the district for which tentative estimates can be made shows that in an all area of about thirty square miles tons of coal is s probably present this area includes all the land in w which aich workable coal may be presumed to be within reach of mines of t the total amount more than tons is estimated to be contained in one bed tentatively with the ivie e bed which is the most valuable bed on ivie creek to the e east this bed lies underground throughout most of salina canyon district but should be accessible for mining ill areas aggregating about twenty square miles it is the only ly coal bed in the district that is worthy of consideration tor for large scale development other thick beds may underlie tile e district however and diamond drilling should ther therefore f re be done to afford a basis for intelligent exploitation the salina canyon district is favorably located with respect aspect to the existing coal markets of the west and on the basis sis of the present estimates of the amount of workable al it has many important advantages in favor of its de loument lop ment the town of salina about eight miles west of the area on oil the Marys valc branch of the denver rio grande ande western railroad is the nearest railroad point salina ahna is miles from salt lake city which is the districting distributing center for much of the coal from the wasatch plateau coal field and is is the place from which nearly all utah coal shipped to san francisco and points point son on the northern coast has a common haul if the railroad contemplated years ago connecting castle valley and northeastern utah with los angeles by way of salina canyon is built the district will enjoy a considerable advantage over all the other high grade bituminous fields of utah in the haul to los angeles at present the distance by railroad from salina to los angeles is miles and even that distance is miles shorter than the distance from the nearest present bituminous coal shipping center of utah in addition to these distant markets an important market for coal from the salina canyon district is near at hand in the sevier and san pete valleys the demand in the many communities in these valleys for domestic doi coal alone is worthy of the consideration of prospective operators and fuel for commercial use is needed by many beet sugar mills in the valleys and by mines near marysvale Marys vale |
