MIRI, Report No. 49 CONSTRAINTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF COAL MINING IN ARCTIC ALASKA BASED ON REVIEW OF EURASIAN ARCTIC PRACTICES Donald F. Lynch Nils I. Johansen Chris Lambert, Jr. Ernest N. Wol ff Mineral Industry Research Laboratory University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 Submitted to United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines Washingtun, D.C. 20240 June 30, 1976 PREFACE Arctic Alaska's enormous reserves of coal may be a significant future source a£ energy for the United States and for the Pacific Basin. Large coal reserves have been developed in the Arctic portions of Eurasia, where problems similar to those that might be encountered in Alaska have already been faced. To determine the nature of these problems, the Ilineral Industry Research Laboratory of the University of Alaslca, under contract S 0133057 with the U.S. Bureau of Mines, has conducted a literature review on Eur- asian coal mining and visited mines in Svalbard, Norway; Carmacks, Y.T.; and Healy, Alaska. The purpose was to establish the most significant phy- sical constraints which may apply to the eventual development of Northwestern Arctic Alaskan coal. The report concludes that special conditions and circumstances exist in Arctic Alaska which may require modifications of standard U.S. mine regulations and practices, and cautions against an automatic transferral of existing practices and procedures from the "~ower~orty-eight" to Arctic Alaska. In addition, the report particularly stresses the need for a broad view of the trade-offs involved in establishing mine ventilation, dust suppression and water supply requirements, and suggests that no solu- tion presently exists for the problem of dust suppression in waterless law humidity Arctic coal mines employing extremely high speed mining machin- ery. With this exception, however, coal mining on both a large and a small scale exists in the Eurasian Arctic under conditions similar to those found in Arctic Alaska, indicating that the technical problems involved have been largely solved. The report is short and presents the conclusions which are supported by the information given in the five appendices, each of which is designed to be read separately. Appendix A presents the relevant information obtained an Svalbard and Greenland including a report on the visit there in the suumer of 1974. Appendix B presents data on northern coal mining in the USSR and summarizes what is known about the physical constraints encountered by the Russians in developing coal mines in Arctic Siberia. Appendix C provides the trip reports and other data obtained on the mining operations at Healy, Alaska, and Carmacks, Y.T. Appendix D contains two translated bibliographies of Russian language materials and is designed for the reader who does not understand Russian but wishes to know the nature of the literature available. This appendix builds upon the information provided in the Summary Report of June, 1974. Finally, Appendix E presents an analysis of the probable relation- ships that could exist between the environment and the development of large-scale Arctic coal mining. It is designed to provide some general guidelines for use in planning the future development of Arctic Alaskan coal. The reader interested only in the conclusions may restrict himself to the Report and, if he desires more information, Appendix E. The reader concerned about the supporting materials used to reach the conclusions should consult Appendices A, B and C. The reader interested in the Russian language literature should review Appendix D. The report was written by Dr. Donald F. Lynch, with support from Dr. Ernest: N. Wolff and Dr. Nils I. Johansen. Appendix A was written by if Dr. Lynch with support fiom Dr. Chris Lambert, Jr., and Dr. Johansen. Appendix B was written by Dr. Lynch. Appendix C was written by Dr. Wolff with Dr. Lynch and Nr. John Wiebmer . Appendix D was written by Mr. Niall C. Lynch. Appendix E was written by Dr. Lynch with assistance from Dr. Johansen. Pluch of the literature search and some of the translations were done by Mr. Adadu Yemane and Mr. Sverre S. Pedersen. iii Considerable advice and assistance were received from a great many people, including representatives of the Norwegian Government, the Greenland Technical Organization, Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani AIS, Arktik Ugol', Greenland Geological Survey, the Tantalus Butte Coal Company, the Usibelli Coal Company, A/S Norsk Polar Navigasjon, and other organizations. The study team wishes partic;larly to record its gratitude to the Norwegian engineers and miners on Svalbard for their cooperation and friendship and to the engineers of Arktik Ugol' for their cooperation and openness in providing information. It does appear that miners, regardless of nationality, have a common bond of friendship which transcends political barriers. CONTENTS Page PREFACE i AR'?O\.?T,EDGEMENTS CO'TTEYTS INTRODUCTION Glossary of Some Norwegian and Russian Words SrnlARY REPORT General; Constraints Associated with Permafrost; Constraints Related to Remoteness; Environmental Protection; Factors Common to the Xajor Arctic Coal Ilines Studied; Conclusions; Recommendations. A?PEI?DIX A: Constraints on Coal Mining in Svalbard and Greenland (Svalbard Coal Mining; Report on a Visit to Vest Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Coal Mines, August, 1974; Svalbard Environmental Regulations; Greenland Coal Mining; Abstract of Svalbards Historie) . APPENDIX B: Constraints on Coal Mining in the Soviet Korth, (General; The Pechora Coal Basin; The ~oril'sk Deposit: Coal Mines of the Lena Basin; Permafrost Coal Mining in the Northeastern USSR) APPEXDIX C: Constraints on Coal Mining in Hcaly, Alaska, and Carmacks, Y.T APPENDIX D: Bibliography of Russian Language Sources (Partial Bibliography of Russian Language Materials; Translation of a Bibliography of Arctic Coal Mining Received from the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad) APPENDIX E: The Interaction of Large-Scale Alaskan Coal Mining and the Environment (General; Alaskan Arctic Mintng/Environment Interaction; Mine Development Planning Phases; Arctic Mining/ Physical Environment Interaction; Arctic MininglLocal Human Environment Interaction; Arctic Mining and the Nation; Environmental Factors Matrix) INTRODUCTION Coal mining in the Arctic faces some special conditions and circum- stances which may require modification of standard U.S. mine practices and regulations. Practices normal in the "Lower.Forgy-eight1' cannot be auto- matically transferred to Arctic Alaska without considerable risk. ?'his conclusion was reached by study of Arctic coal mining experiences in Eurasia where problems similar to those in Alaska exist. Eurasian Arctic coal mining has a long history, and coal has been pro- duced on a large scale for at least Torty years. The major producer is in the Pechora Basin, at the northern edge of the Ural Mountains. Smaller but still significant mines exist on the island of Vest Spitsbergen in the Sval- bard Archipelago, near Noril'sk in the upper Yenisey Basin, in Yakutiga and Magadan, and elsewhere. Coal is also produced at Healy, near Fairbanks, Alaska, and at Carmacks in ~anada'sYukon Territory. (See figures p. SA, 5, C) The environmental constraints on Arctic coal mining derive from the cold climate, high winds, permanently frozen nature of the rocks, and remoteness from major centers of population. These physical factors can have a major influence on roof support, ventilation, mine openings, dust generation and suppression, coal washing, productivity and supplies. In addition, they also impact on surface works, transportation, and personnel. Mining in permafrost, properly conducted, has some advantages, among them being the fact that the low temperatures assist in maintaining roof stability and that abandoned shafts can simply be flooded with water to prevent surf ace subsidence. A critical problem area for large scale surface and underground mining will be dust suppression in an essentially waterless mine. Under winter conditions, dust generation is significantly increased, while the use of water for dust suppression may be impractical. Another problem area is ventilation. High ventilation requirements may increase dust generation, reduce worker comfort, and create difficulties in roof control and mine shaft stability. The report presents major conclusions, while the appendices provide the supporting information. Each appendix is designed to be read separately, Appendix A discusses Svalbard, B - Siberia, C - Healy, Alaska, and Carmacks, P.T. Svalbard, located due North of Norway along the 78th parallel of latitude, has a history of coal mining going back to the beginning of this century. Coal has been mined by companies organized by Americans, Dutch interests, Swedes, Norwegians and Russians. At present the only coal mining operations are those of the Russians and the Norwegians, both of whom appear to be planning significant future expansion of underground mining. Coal mining, while old in Siberia, began to be economically significant in the early 1930s with the development of the Pechora coal basin, located to the north of the Ural mountains. This basin today produces about 20 million tons of high grade coal used for metallurgical and thermal purposes in the energy deficient northern part of European Russia. Mining in Noril'sk near the mouth of the Yenisey River, has also been significant for support of the town and nickel mining and refining in this area, The Lena Basin, one of the greatest potential coal basins in the world,