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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY EVALUATION OF THE WILKESON-CARBONADO COAL FIELD, PIERCE COUNTY, WASHINGTON FOR HYDRAULIC COAL MINING (In Two Parts) Part One - Geology Part Two - Water Resources Prepared in cooperation with the Bureau of Mines This report has not been edited or reviewed for co.nformity with U.S. Geological Survey standards or nomenclature. Open File Report 80-802 EVALUATION OF THE WILKESON-CARBONADO COAL FIELD, PIERCE COUNTY, WASHINGTON FOR HYDRAULIC COAL MINING Part one - Geology GEOLOGIC EVALUATION OF THE WILKESON-CARBONADO COAL FIELD, PIERCE COUNTY, WASHINGTON, FOR HYDRAULIC COAL MINING By Harold H. Arndt and Bion H. Kent Prepared by the Branch of Coal Resources, Denver, Colorado, 1977 CONTENTS Page Summary———————————————————————————————"—————————————— 1 Introduction—•————————————————;—————————————————————— 2 Scope of investigations————————————————————————————— 2 Location and geologic setting——————————————————————— 3 Previous investigations————————————————-———————————— 7 Data acquisition and acknowledgements—————————————————— 8 Geography-—————————————————————:—————————————————————— . 9 Topography and drainage————————————————————————————— 9 Climate and vegetation————————————————————————————— 11 Population and ownership————————————————————————————— 12 Accessibility———•—————————————————————————————————— 15 Stratigraphy—————————-———————————————————————————————— 15 General features——————————————————————————————————- 15 Tertiary System———————————————————————————————————— 15 Eocene Series————————————————————————————————— 15 Puget Group———-——————————————————————————— 15 Carbonado Formation————————————————————— 16 Northcraft Formation———————————————————— 18 Spiketon Formation————————————————————— 19 Oligocene Series——————————————————————————————— 20 Ohanapecosh Formation——————————————————————— 20 Quaternary System—————————————————————————————————— 20 Pleistocene Series————————————————————————————— 20 Intrusive rocks———————————————————————————————————————— 22 Structure———————————————————————————————————————————— 24 General features——————————————————————————————————— 24 Folds———————————————————————————————————————————— 27 Faults——————————————————————————————————————————— 30 Coal—————————————————————————————————————————————-—— 31 Wilkeson-Carbonado coal field———————————————————————-- 31 Discovery and development———————————————————————— 31 Wilkeson-Carbonado area————————————————————————— 31 Location and coal-bearing sequence————————————— 31 Structural attitude of coal beds—————————————-- 41 Physical and chemical properties—————————————— 42 Specific gravity of coal—————————————•——— 49 Friability of coal————————————————————-- 49 Melmont area—————————————————————————————————— 51 Location arid coal-bearing sequence————————————— 51 Structural attitude of coal beds—————————-———- 54 Physical and chemical properties—————————————-=- 54 Fairfax-Montezuma area—————————————————————————— 56 Location and coal-bearing sequence————————————- 56 Structural attitude of coal beds—————————————— 56 Physical and chemical properties—————————————— 56 III Page Coal—Continued Wilkeson-Carbonado coal field—Continued Spiketon area——————————————————————————————— 58 Location and coal-bearing sequence——————————-—— 58 Structural attitude of coal beds—————————————— 63 Physical and chemical properties"—————————————— 63 Puyallup-Ashford coal field—————————————————————————— 64 Coal reserves——————————————————————————————————— 64 Wilkeson-Carbonado coal field————————————————————— 64 Wilkeson-Carbonado area————————————————————— 64 Spiketon area———————————————————————————— 65 Melmont area———•————————————————————————~ 65 Fairfax-Montezuma area—————————————————————— 78 Ashford area————————————————————————————— 79 Possible additional reserves————————————————————— 83 Coal production———————————————————————————•———————— 85 Coking coal—————————————————————-——————————————— 88 Occurrence and development——————————————————————— 88 Coking properties of coal———————————————————————— 89 Coke production———————————————————————————————— 90 Coking coal reserves——————————————-.—————————— 90 Mining methods———————————————————————————————————————— 92 Method of entry———————————————————————————————————— 92 General mining methods—————————————————————————————— 92 Mining problems———————————————————————————————————— 93 Mine fires——————————————————————————————————————— 93 Preparation of coal———————————————————————————————— 93 Extent of mine workings————————————————————————————-- 94 Condition of mine workings——————————————————————————- 94 Evaluation for hydraulic mining——————————————————————————- 95 Geologic and technical factors———————————————————————— 95 Reserve base————————-—————————————————————————- 95 Coal characteristics———————————————————————————— 96 Accessibility—————————————————————————-——————: 96 Limiting factors——————————————————————————————- 96 Water supply and quality——————————————————————•——— 97 General mining conditions———————————————————————————- 97 Potential demonstration site————————————————————————— 100 Summary Evaluation—————————————————————————————————• 101 Hydraulic mining potential in other areas——————————————————— 102 Conclusions and recommendations———————————————————————————— 104 References cited——————————————————————————————————————— 106 IV ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 1. Geologic map and cross sections of the Wilkeson- Carbonado coal field, Pierce County, Washington——————————————————————————————In pocket FIGURE 1. Index map of Washington showing area of this report and its relation to other coal-bearing areas——————— 4 2. Map showing location of mines in Wilkeson-Carbonado area——————————————————————————————————————— 5 3. Carbon River southeastward from Upper Fairfax———————— 10 4. Carbon River Gorge northward from Fairfax bridge—————— 10 5. Property ownership in the Wilkeson-Carbonado coal field—————————————————————————————————— 13 6. Mineral rights ownership in the Wilkeson-Carbonado coal field—————————————————————————————————— 14 7. Glacial gravel and sand exposed east of Wilkeson Creek——————————————————————————————— 21 8. Quartz diabase intrusion in Carbonado Formation, State Highway 165, 2 miles south of Carbonado—————— 23 9. Generalized structure contour map of the Wilkeson-Carbonado coal field——————————————————— 25 10. Hypothetical sequence of structural development in the Carbon River (Wilkeson) anticline—————————— 26 11. Syncline in Carbonado Formation, west fork of Gale Creek—————————————————————————————————— 28 12. Generalized columnar sections in the Wilkeson-Carbonado coal field showing coal beds and correlations used in estimating coal reserves———————————————————— 33 13. Generalized columnar section of the Carbonado Formation at Burnett, Gale Creek, and Wilkeson mines— 34 14. Generalized columnar section of Carbonado Formation, Carbonado area north of Carbon River—————————————— 35 15. Generalized columnar section of Carbonado Formation, Carbonado area south of Carbon River—————————————— 36 16. Sections of coal in the Carbonado Formation at Burnett— 37 17. Sections of coal in the Carbonado Formation at Gale Creek and Wilkeson———————————————————————— 38 18. Secions of coal in the Carbonado Formation at Wilkeson——————————————-————————————————————— 39 19. Sections of coal in the Carbonado Formation at Carbonado——————————————————————————————————— 40 20. Generalized section of the Principal coal beds in the Melmont area————————————————————————————————— 52 Page FIGURE 21. Sections of coal in the Carbonado Formation at Melmont———————————————————————————————————————— 53 22. Section of coal in the Carbonado Formation at Montezuma and Fairfax————————————————————————————— 57 23. Generalized section of principal coal beds in the Spiketon area———————————————————————————————————— 59 24. Generalized columnar section of the Spiketon Formation at Spiketon and South Willis———————————————————————— 60 25. Sections of coal beds in the Spiketon Formation at Spiketon mines——————————————————————————————————— 61 26. Section of coal beds in the Spiketon Formation at South Willis mines———————————————————————————————— 62 27. Generalized map of the No. 1 bed of Melmont, No. 5 bed of Wilkeson, and Peacock (No^ 6) bed of Spiketon———————— 66 28. Generalized map of the No. 2 bed of Melmont, No. 4 bed of Wilkeson, and Crocker bed of Spiketon—————————————— 67 29. Generalized map of the No. 2 1/2 bed of Melmont, No. 5 bed of Carbonado, and Snell bed of Spiketon——————————————— 68 30. Generalized map of the No. 3 bed of Melmont, No. 3 bed of Wilkeson, and No. 11 (Jones) bed of Spiketon———————————— 69 31. Generalized map of the No. 4 1/2 bed of Melmont, No. 2 bed of Wilkeson, and No. 10 (Lady Wellington or Winsor) bed of Spiketon————————————————————————————————————— 70 32. Generalized map of the No. 5 bed of Melmont, No. 1 bed of Wilkeson, and No. 8 (Pittsburg) bed of Spiketon——————— 71 33. Generalized map of the No. 6 bed of Melmont, Morgan (No. 7) bed of Carbonado, and No. 7 (Champion) bed of Spiketon——— 72 34. Generalized map of the No. 7 bed of Wilkeson and Burnt bed of Spiketon—————————————————————————————————————— 73 35. Generalized map of the No. 8 and Big Ben beds of Carbonado and the Black Carbon (Driver) and No. 12 beds of Spiketon————————————————————————————————— 74 36. Map of the Fairfax-Montezuma and Ashford coal areas——————— 79 37. Index map of Washington showing known and possible areas of coal-bearing rocks————————————————————————— 84 38. Coal production in Washington, by year—————————————————— 87 39. Cumulative coal production in Washington, by