MILES    CITY    COAL   FIELD,    MONTANA.  53 
Some  coal  has  probably  been  produced  from  the  large  bed  at  the 
base  of  this  section,  but  the  numerous  thin  bony  layers  are  so  uni- 
formly distributed  as  to  render  it  of  little  value.  No  sample  of  the 
coal  was  taken  for  analysis,  but  it  was  estimated  in  the  field  that  the 
ash  surely  exceeds  25  per  cent.  In  view  of  the  quantity  of  better 
coal  in  other  beds  near  at  hand,  it  is  hardly  possible  that  this  bed  can 
ever  be  mined  at  a  profit.  The  3-foot  bed  which  lies  about  15  feet 
higher  in  the  section  has  also  been  developed,  but  was  abandoned  on 
account  of  the  bad  roof  and  the  impurities  of  the  coal.  Three  miles 
southeast  of  Signal  Butte,  near  the  center  of  this  township,  the  two 
upper  beds  of  the  section  come  nearly  together,  and  the  combined 
bed  thus  formed  is  probably  barely  of  workable  thickness. 
The  exposures  of  coal  at  the  Laney  horizon  along  Cottonwood  Creek 
in  T.  8  N.,  Rs.  49  and  50  E.,  show  similar  conditions.  The  thickest 
bed  has  been  worked  for  local  supply  from  cut  banks  of  Cottonwood 
Creek,  where  it  is  10  feet  thick  but  contains  many  thin  partings  that 
can  not  be  separated  from  the  coal. 
The  Laney  coal  is  generally  of  better  quality  where  exposed  in  the 
bluffs  and  badlands  of  the  Powder  River  valley,  and  the  areas  regarded 
as  workable  are  indicated  on  the  map  (PL  III).  It  is  burned  along 
the  outcrop  at  many  places  in  this  district,  producing  a  heavy  clinker 
bed. 
The  coal  is  of  workable  thickness  for  several  miles  along  the  out- 
crop in  T.  7  N.,  R.  51  E.,  west  of  the  Laney  ranch,  where  it  shows  to 
the  best  advantage,  and  an  exposure  in  sec.  21,  T.  7  N.,  R.  51  E., 
indicates  approximately  15  feet  of  good  coal. 
Section  of  Laney  coal  bed  in  sec.  21,  T.  7  N.,  R.  51  E. 
Ft.     in. 
Coal 3      6 
Shale,  carbonaceous 2 
Coal 8      3 
Shale 9 
Coal 6 
Shale 1 
Coal 1 
Shale 2 
Coal 2 
Shale 3 
Coal 2 
Total  coal * 17       3 
The  quantity  of  coal  decreases  north  and  south  of  this  locality, 
and  within  a  few  miles  in  either  direction  the  bed  is  too  poor  to  be  of 
value.  East  of  Powder  River  the  Laney  bed  is  exposed  in  workable 
thickness  at  several  places  below  the  gravel  of  an  extensive  terrace 
250  feet  above  the  river.  In  general  the  exposures  are  poor,  and  it  is 
possible  that  there  may  be  more  coal  here  than  the  map  indicates. 
