Alaska's coal clean burning and abundant.

• Author: West, Gail
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Mining

Alaska's coal holds two critical distinctions in the world of energy production: its abundant and it's one of the cleanest burning coals in the world, says Alaska Miners Association's Executive Director Deantha Crockett. The state's estimated coal resource stands at about 5.5 trillion tons, approximately half the nation's resource, and much of that is locked up on the North Slope well beyond reasonable extraction at this point. The remainder lies in Alaska's Interior and Southcentral regions and companies today are looking seriously at ways to put it into use.

With low sulfur emissions--the Environmental Protection Agency has said the coal produced by Usibelli Coal Mine (UCM) at Healy is among the lowest-sulfur coal in the nation--the sub-bituminous coal is a high demand commodity. Markets in the Pacific Rim are open and demanding an increased supply of energy as they grow. Japan, South Korea, and Chile are three primary markets for Alaska's coal exports, and, says Bill Brophy, vice president of Customer Relations for UCM, there is speculation of 1 billion tons more being exported in the Pacific Rim fifteen years from now. "That would double where things are today," he adds.

Another benefit to coal addresses some of the environmentalists' concerns: it's safe to transport and non-toxic if it's spilled. It also has a low nitrogen and high calcium content and produces excellent performance in equipment designed to clean exhaust gas emissions, according to UCM's website. Ash produced from the coal can be recycled into other products. Land is reclaimed after surface mining and put to other productive uses, and coal-industry jobs put many Alaskans to work.

Today, only one coal mine in Alaska is producing coal--Usibelli. Since 1943, when Emil Usibelli founded the company, Usibelli has operated consistently moving coal from the mine to market.

"Usihelli first came to Alaska in the 1930s and settled near Sutton, and worked in the Evan Jones underground mine," Brophy says.

In 1943, during World War II, Usibelli and a friend, Thad Sandford, went into the coal mining business at Suntrana and began providing coal to Ladd Army Air Field (now Fort Wainwright) at the rate of ten thousand tons a year. Five years later, Usibelli bought out his partner and in 1961 bought the neighboring Suntrana Mining Company.

Over the years, the company has continued to operate and grow, and today it produces 2 million tons of coal a year. "We can now deliver in one day...