ArcView Coal Evaluation User's Guide

By William Watson

Purpose:

The objective of the ArcView Coal Evaluation (ACE) is to estimate the amount and location of coal available to be mined by various coal mining technologies, based on the geologic coverages developed in the National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) which are the starting coverages used in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) evaluation of coal resources. The ACE Users Guide provides many examples of how to apply technical limits based upon mining technology. The methods, which are iterative for any given mining technology, should transfer directly by mining technology to other coal beds.

Contents

• Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ACE USERS GUIDE
  • Methodology
  • Hardware and Software Requirements
  • Chapter Overviews
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • References
• 
  Chapter 2. SETUP
  • Step 1: Open New ArcView Project and Set Working Directory
  • Step 2: Determine Projection for Project
  • Step 3: Load the Spatial Analyst Extension
  • Step 4: Determine the Counties with Remaining Coal
  • Add the remaining coal coverage
  • Download TransNAD, a utility program to convert datums
  • Taking stock
  • the NAD27 version to our target projection
  • Pittsburgh coal
  • have remaining Pittsburgh coal
  • Print the Attributes of Counties.shp table
  • Make a grid coverage of remaining coal with cells 16 meters on a side
• 
  Chapter 3. COVERAGES FOR FEATURES WHERE COAL MINING IS RESTRICTED
  • Step 1: List features where coal mining is restricted and identify data source
  • Step 2: Download coverages from ESRI ArcData Online
  • Taking stock
  • Change datum to NAD27
  • Merge all the water body themes into a single theme
  • Reproject waterbodiesgeo to target projection
  • Convert waterbodiesalb to grid
  • Expand the waterbody feature by 2 cell widths (= 100 feet)
  • Use Rem16mcell as a mask. Reduce the extent of Waterbwbuf.
  • Interstate Highways
  • Copy the Interstate Highway coverage to your project folder
  • Convert to NAD27 if needed
  • Project to target projection
  • Clip the reprojected coverage using Counties.shp
  • Convert to grid
  • Reclassify to a single unique value
  • Add buffer
  • Clip the buffered coverage to the area containing remaining coal
  • Coverage and Buffers for Oil and Gas Wells
  • Coverage and Buffers for Pipelines
  • Taking Stock
  • Create 0–1 grids
  • Rename grids to more convenient names
  • Remove working grids
• 
  Chapter 4. COAL COVERAGES
  • Add Coal Coverages from Basic Geologic Assessment
  • Add Coverage Showing Extent of Mined–Out Coal
  • Create Coverage of Safety Barrier for Mined–Out Coal
  • Create Coal Thickness Layer
  • Create Layer of Tons of Coal (in each cell)
  • Create Layer of Bed Elevations
  • Add DEM Layer
  • Create Layer of Partings
  • Taking Stock
  • Create a Coverage of the Bed Elevation Slope
  • Create a Coverage of the Surface Elevation Slope
  • Create a Coverage of Overburden
  • Create a coverage of remaining coal that excludes coal with thickness less than 12 inches
  • Rename grids to more convenient names
  • Remove working grids
• 
  Chapter 5. COAL AVAILABILITY
  • Estimate original coal in the Pittsburgh bed
  • Create a Layer of Coal Thicknesses for the Original Pittsburgh Coal Bed
  • Estimates of tonnage: original Pittsburgh coal bed, remaining Pittsburgh coal bed, coal in safety barriers, coal with thickness < 12 inches
  • Estimate coal set aside by social and environmental restrictions
  • Estimate the coal in all restriction coverages (including appropriate buffers) by unioning the coverages
  • Estimate Coal Tonnage in Each Restriction Category
  • Rename grids to more convenient names
• 
  Chapter 6. COAL AVAILABILITY BY MINING TECHNOLOGY SURFACE MINING
  • Apply technical restrictions for slope and stripping ratio Procedure to Identify and Delineate Coal Resource Blocks with Enough
  • Determine Surface Mineable Coal by Thickness Category
  • Add Restriction Coverages and Remove Coal in Restricted Areas
  • Convert Cells with Available Coal to Regions of Contiguous Coal
  • Add a Scale Bar, 2 Miles in Length
  • Convert to Polygon Shapefile
  • Identify Areas with Clustered Coal
  • Draw a Polygon Around the Clustered Coal
  • Add Button to Convert Graphic to Shapefile
  • Coal for Viable Mining Operation
  • Eight Steps to Add Attributes to Coal Coverage
  • Identify Coal for Mining by CS > 36 and in Small Area Surface Mines
  • Add Estimates of Coal Characteristics to Summary Table
  • Task 1 Add the average coal thickness to the tables
  • Method A (Adding Coal Characteristics Estimates
  • Add the average overburden to the tables
  • Add the average partings to the tables
  • Create Coverages of Estimated Values for Sulfur and Heat Content
  • Add the average sulfur content to the tables
  • Add the average btu value to the tables
  • Rename grids to more convenient names
• 
  Chapter 7. COAL AVAILABILITY BY MINING TECHNOLOGY AUGER MINING
  • Update the Remaining Coal Layer by Removing Coal Auger Mining in the 50 foot zone around Contour Strip Update the Layer of Remaining Coal by Removing Coal Safety Barrier (50 feet) Around Area with Auger Mining, Coal Update the Layer of Remaining Coal by Removing Coal Allocated to the Safety Barrier around Auger Mining, Auger Mining in the 50 foot zone around Contour Strip Mines Representative Mine Sizes by Mining Technology and Coal Thickness
  • Allocated to Surface Mining
  • Mines on Coal, 12 to 36 inches in Thickness
  • Allocated to Auger Mining, Coal with 12 to 36 Inches in Thickness
  • 12 to 36 Inches in Thickness
  • Coal with 12 to 36 Inches in Thickness
  • on Coal, > 36 inches in Thickness
  • Update the Layer of Remaining Coal by Removing Coal Allocated to Auger Mining, Coal > 36 Inches in Thickness
  • Safety Barrier (50 feet) Around Area with Auger Mining, Update the Layer of Remaining Coal by Removing Coal Allocated to Safety Barriers Around Auger Mining, Update the Layer of Remaining Coal by Removing Coal Coal > 36 Inches in Thickness
  • Coal > 36 Inches in Thickness
  • Safety Barrier (50 feet) Around Remaining Area with Surface Mining
  • Allocated to Safety Barriers Around Other Surface Mining
  • Summary of Results
  • Rename grids to more convenient names
• 
  Chapter 8. COAL AVAILABILITY BY MINING TECHNOLOGY LONGWALL MINING
  • Apply technical restrictions for minimum thickness, Download 3 Scripts from the ESRI ArcScripts Site: Identify Contiguous Blocks of Coal with Tonnage at or Break the Coal Blocks Into Units That Are Approximately Assign a Unique ID to Each Coal Resource Block in the Use Theme Editing to Consolidate Coal into Coal Resource Add a Unique Block ID to the Attribute Table of the Final overburden thickness, and slope
  • Create Coverage of Longwall Mineable Coal, 42 to 72 Inches Thick
  • View.Gridmaker, ShapeWarp 2.2, and Connect the Dot
  • Add Graphics–to–Shapefile Button to View Window
  • Add Gridmaker Tool to View Window
  • Create Grid to Delineate Coal Resource Blocks
  • Calculating Tons of Longwall MineableCoal, 42 to 72 Inches in Thickness
  • Restrictions for Underground Mining
  • Group Contiguous Cells into Regions with a Unique Index Number
  • above Minimum Amount for Viable Mining Operation
  • Use Theme Editing to Delete Restriction Fragments
  • 50 Million Tons or Less
  • Vector Coverage of Available Coal
  • Blocks Following the Superimposed Grid Pattern
  • Consolidated Coal Coverage
  • Cleanup to Generate a Final Consolidated Coal Coverage
  • Update the Remaining Coal Coverage: Remove Final Consolidated Coal Coverage
  • Add a Safety Barrier
  • Superimpose Grid to Delineate Coal for Representative Mines
  • Estimate Coal in Interior Safety Barriers
  • Update Remaining Coal Layer: Remove Coal in Safety Barrier
  • Add Estimates of Coal Characteristics
  • Summary, Consolidated Coal 42 to 72 Inches in Thickness
  • Coal Resource Blocks, Longwall Mining, Coal 72 to 96 Inches in Thickness
  • Summary, Consolidated Coal 72 to 96 Inches in Thickness
  • Summary, Consolidated Coal 96 Inches and Greater in Thickness
  • Summary, Longwall Mineable Coal
  • Rename grids to more convenient names
• 
  Chapter 9. COAL AVAILABILITY BY MINING TECHNOLOGY ROOM & PILLAR METHODS USING CONTINUOUS MINERS
  • Apply technical restrictions for minimum thickness, overburden Calculating Tons of Coal Mineable by Room and Pillar Methods, Superimpose Grid to Delineate Coal Resource Blocks, Group Contiguous Cells into Blocks or Regions with a Identify Coal Resource Blocks with Tonnage at or above Convert Grid Coverage of Consolidated Coal Resource Blocks thickness, and slope
  • 24 to 42 Inches in Thickness
  • Coal 24 to 42 Inches in Thickness
  • Unique Index Number
  • Minimum Size for Viable Mining Operation
  • to a Polygon–Shapefile Coverage
  • Use Theme Editing to Delete Restriction Fragments
  • Break the Coal Blocks Into Units That Are Approximately 25 Million Tons or Less .
  • Assign a Unique ID to Each Coal Resource Block in the Use Theme Editing to Consolidate Coal into Coal Resource Add a Unique Block ID to the Attribute Table of the Final Vector Coverage of Available Coal
  • Blocks Following the Superimposed Grid Pattern
  • Consolidated Coal Coverage
  • Cleanup to Generate a Final Consolidated Coal Coverage
  • Update the Remaining Coal Coverage: Remove Final Consolidated Coal Coverage
  • Estimate Tons in Outside Safety Barrier
  • Superimpose Grid to Delineate Coal for Representative Mines
  • Estimate Coal in Interior Safety Barriers
  • Update Remaining Coal Layer: Remove Coal in Safety Barrier
  • Estimate Coal Characteristics by Coal Resource Block
  • Summary, Consolidated Coal 24 to 42 Inches in Thickness
  • Calculating Tons of Coal Mineable by Room and Pillar Methods, Coal 42 to 72 Inches in Thickness
  • Summary, Consolidated Coal 42 to 72 Inches in Thickness
  • Calculating Tons of Coal Mineable by Room and Pillar Methods, Coal 72 to 96 Inches in Thickness
  • Summary, Consolidated Coal 72 to 96 Inches in Thickness
  • Calculating Tons of Coal Mineable by Room and Pillar Methods, Coal > 96 Inches in Thickness
  • Summary, Consolidated Coal 96 Inches and Greater in Thickness
  • Summary, Coal Mineable by Room and Pillar Methods Using Continuous Miners
  • Rename grids to more convenient names
• 
  Chapter 10. RESIDUAL COAL CATEGORIES
  • Delineate Layer of Coal, Underground Mineable, With Slope of Bed Greater than 12 Degrees and Estimate the Tonnage in this Layer
  • Update Layer of Remaining Coal by Removing Coal Where the Slope of the Bed Exceeds 12 Degrees
  • Delineate coal that meets thickness and stripping ratio requirements Update Layer of Remaining Coal by Removing Coal Where Delineate coal that has thickness of at least 12 inches and but not the slope requirement for contour strip extraction
  • the Surface Slope Exceeds 32 Degrees
  • less than 24 inches but a stripping ratio greater than 20 to 1
  • Update Layer of Remaining Coal
  • Delineate coal that has thickness of 24 inches or more, overburden of less than 100 feet, and a stripping ratio greater than 20 to 1
  • Update Layer of Remaining Coal
  • Delineate Restricted Coal Within the Layer of Fragmented Coal
  • Delineate Coal in Areas With Environmental and Social Restrictions
  • Break Down the Aggregate Estimate for Restricted Areas into Mutually Exclusive Estimates for Each Restriction Category
  • Summary of Final Estimates
  • Rename grids to more convenient names
• 
  Appendix A. Estimating Coal by Reliability, Thickness, and Overburden Categories
  • Steps to Organize Your Project Work
  • Add Project Data and Open Themes in the View Window
  • Create a Grid Coverage of Coal Thicknesses
  • Create a Grid Coverage That Has Tons of Coal as the Cell Value for Each Cell
  • Create Coverages of Areas Restricted for Coal Mining
  • Create a Grid Coverage That Delineates Measured, Indicated, Inferred, and Hypothetical Coal Resources
  • Create Grid That Has Restricted Areas Removed
  • Estimate Tons of Coal in Each Reliability Category
  • Reclassify Thickness Grid
  • Create Grid Coverage of Overburden
  • Reclassify Overburden Grid
  • Delineate Coal in Each Category by Reliability, Thickness, and Overburden
  • Estimate Tons of Coal, in Each Category and Total
  • Estimate Tons of Coal (Excluding Restricted Coal) in Each Category
  • Save Tables for Further Analysis