Colorado Coal Resources

Coal is one of Colorado’s most significant mineral resources, and over the years has played an important part in our state’s history and economy.  You can learn about Colorado coal in numerous publications available from our library.  Some highlights from our collection include

General resources:

• 2006 Colorado Coal Fact Sheet 
• Active/Licensed Coal Mines in Colorado, map, 1976
• Bibliography, Coal Resources in Colorado, 1972
• Bibliography and Index of Publications Related to Coal in Colorado, 1972-1977
• Coal and Coalbed Methane in Colorado, 2001 (CD-ROM) 
• Coal Mines and Coalfields of Colorado, 1976
  
• Coal Mines of Colorado:  Statistical Data, 1976 
• Coal Resource Maps of Colorado, 2006 (CD-ROM) 
• Coal Resources and Development Map of Colorado, 1978 
• General Summary of Coal Mine Production, 1943-1946 
• Historic Coal Mines of Colorado, 2002 (CD-ROM) 
• Monthly Coal Summary Report, 2001-present 
• Selected References on the Geology and Coal Resources of Central and Western Colorado Coal Fields and Regions, 1988 
• Summary of Coal Resources in Colorado, various years

Geology:

•  Available Coal Resources of the Williams Fork Formation in the Yampa Coal Field, Routt and Moffat Counties, Colorado, 2003 (CD-ROM)
• Availability of Coal Resources in Colorado, Somerset Coal Field, West-Central Colorado, 2000
• Coal Mines and Coal Analyses of the Denver and Cheyenne Basins, Colorado, 1978
• Coal Resources of the Denver and Cheyenne Basins, 1979
• Coal Resources of the Dakota Sandstone, Southwestern Colorado, 1986
• Geologic Map and Coal Bed Stratigraphy of the Fruitland Formation in Western Archuleta County, Colorado, 2011
• Geology of Rocky Mountain Coal, 1976
• Raton Basin Coal Mine Feature Inventory, 2001
• RockTalk: Colorado Coal, 1998

Inactive/abandoned mines:

• Reconnaissance Study of Coal Fires in Inactive Colorado Coal Mines, 1989
• Report on the Status of Fires at Abandoned Underground Coal Mines in Colorado, 2005
• Their Silent Profile:  Inactive Coal and Metal Mines of Colorado, 1982

Industry information:

• Analysis of the Colorado Coal Industry, 1984
• Forecast of Colorado Coal Industry, 1984-2004

Labor/history:

• The Archaeology of Class War:  The Colorado Coafield Strike of 1913-1914, 2009
• Coal People:  Life in Southern Colorado’s Company Towns, 1890-1930, 1999
• From Redstone to Ludlow:  John Cleveland Osgood’s Struggle Against the United Mine Workers of America, 2009
• The Great Coafield War, 2009
• High Altitude Energy:  A History of Fossil Fuels in Colorado, 2002
• Industrializing the Rockies:  Growth, Competition, and Turmoil in the Coalfields of Colorado and Wyoming, 1868-1914, 2003
• “Remember Ludlow!”, 1999
• Routt and Moffat Counties, Colorado, Coal Mining Historic Context, 1991
• When Coal Was King:  A History of Crested Butte, Colorado, 1880-1952, 1999

Reclamation:

• Guidelines for Compliance with Fish and Wildlife Requirements of the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board for Coal Mining, 1993
• Reclamation Studies on Mined Waste Material from Coal, Limestone, and Dolomite Mining, 1980
• Summary Report, Coal Mine Basin Reclamation Projects, 2007

Safety and inspection:

• Annual and biennial reports of the State Inspector of Coal Mines, 1884-1964
• Cost of Safety and Health Regulations at Selected Western Coal Mines, 1980

Subsidence:

•  Annotated Bibliography of Subsidence Studies Over Abandoned Coal Mines in Colorado, 1989
• Boulder County Subsidence Investigation, 1986
• Coal Mine Subsidence and Land Use in the Boulder-Weld Coalfield, 1975
• Subsidence Above Inactive Coal Mines:  Information for the Homeowner, 2009
• When the Ground Lets You Down:  Ground Subsidence and Settlement Hazards in Colorado, 2001

Transportation:

• Coal Train Assessment, 1976
• Coal Transportation in Colorado:  An Analysis, 1979
• Colorado State Rail Plan, 1979
• Highway Needs Related to Energy Development, 1977
• Research Study:  Energy Development and the Transportation System, 2010