MATANUSKA COAL FIELD. 
97 
CHARACTER OF THE COAL. 
CIIIO.MKIAL AND CALORIMETRIC TESTS. 
The samples collected by the writer were all (with the exception of No. 3) taken in a uni- 
form manner. They were obtained by making a cut across a fresh face of the coal from 
roof to floor, cutting down only the coal which would probably be loaded, and leaving out 
such impurities as could be separated in the ordinary practices of actual mining. The pari s 
of each seam which went into the sample are indicated in the local sections. No. 3 was 
taken from only the best parts of the seam (see p. 93), and impurities were rejected which 
could be separated in practice only by very careful treatment, such as in "screened and 
hand picked" coal or possibly by some mechanical process or by washing. The object was 
to show, by a comparison of analyses No. 3 and No. 2, what could be gained by such treat- 
ment. 
The other analyses were gathered from a variety of sources. Nos. I, 8, 10, 12, and 1 1 are 
duplicate analyses of samples taken by the writer. The others are of varied character, 
some being fair representations of the seams and some random selections of samples of the 
best coal. 
The anthracite coal is represented by a single analysis (No. 1), which shows it (so far as 
this one outcrop is concerned) to compare not unfavorably with some of the Pennsylvania 
anthracite. 
Comparative analyses of MatanusTca and Pennsylvania anthracite. 
Coal. 
Moisture. 
Volatile 
matter. 
Fixed 
carbon. 
Ash. 
Sulphur. 
' Fuel 
ratio. 
Matanuska 
2. 55 
3. 39 
7. 08 
3.81 
84.32 
83.79 
6. 05 
8.42 
0. 57 
.59 
11.91 
Pennsylvania (average of 9 samples) <• 
22.33 
a Ashburner, C. A., Ann. Rept. Geol. Survey Pennsylvania, 1885, p. 313. 
The coals represented by analyses 2 to 17 are near the border line between semibitumi- 
nous« steam coals and bituminous coking coals. They are rather high in ash, but are 
otherwise of good quality. Analyses 5 and 6 bring the average abnormally high, but even 
otherwise most of the seams are so impure that mechanical separators or washing should be 
used to remove part of the impurities. The purer of these coals corresponds vevy closely 
to the Crows Nest Pass (British Columbia) coal,& which is the standard coking coal of west- 
ern North America, and approximately to some of the coking coal of the East. 
The lower-grade bituminous coal on Eska and Tsadaka creeks, which the analyses show to 
be intermediate between first-class bituminous coal and the lignitic coals, should probably 
be called bituminous rather than lignite, as it is usually called in the region. It is of about 
the same composition as the Franklin, Black Diamond, and Renton (Washington) coal.'' 
It will probably not make good coke, but should serve well under stationary boilers and 
possibly as a locomotive fuel and for other local uses. It should be especially well adapted 
to the generation of power by the use of producer gas in a gas engine. 
COKING QUALITIES. 
A rough test of the coking qualities of the coal from tunnel No. 2 on Chickaloon Creek (see 
p. 93) was made during the summer of 1905, by coking a large pile of coal under a covering 
of stones and dirt. The resulting coke was hard and firm and had a good ring and a good 
texture. The test showed conclusively that a satisfactory grade of coke can be produced. 
a As the name is generally used in the trade, but not according to Frazer's definition. 
b Markets for Alaska coal, p. 28 of this bulletin. 
