Date of Graduation

12-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Geography (MS)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Geosciences

Advisor/Mentor

Boss, Stephen K.

Committee Member

Tullis, Jason A.

Second Committee Member

Rozelle, Pete

Keywords

Earth Sciences; Geography; Geology; Geoscience; GIS

Abstract

The Eastern Middle Anthracite Field in southern Luzerne County, Pennsylvania was investigated for potential quantities of critical minerals, including rare earth-bearing minerals (REE) present in underclay deposits associated with coal measures of an existing anthracite coal mine. This work is built on Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/ NETL) 2016 work on samples from the Eckley Mine near Hazelton, Pa. which discovered elevated contents of some critical minerals in core from a single wellbore. This thesis reports on new and additional information collected from that area through geological field work, detailed conventional core descriptions, stratigraphic cross sections, and spectral gamma ray logging on five additional core samples. Detailed mapping and analyses of the data was performed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software to estimate the potential volume of a critical mineral-enriched underclay layer in the mine area. The interval of enriched underclay identified in cores and in outcrop, is estimated to be 10 feet thick. GIS software was utilized to extrapolate the areal extent of the underclay and determine its volume. These volume calculations were done by integrating historical surveyed mine benchmarks, lithologic logs, cross-sections, miner maps, geologic and topographic maps with modern geospatial data (LIDAR digital terrain data, digital topographic maps, and digital aerial images). Using both the historical and modern (geospatial) data, the estimated volume of critical mineral-enriched underclay with less than 100 feet of overburden was roughly 385-acre feet. Assuming an average bulk density of 2.85 g cm-3 for underclay, its total mass was calculated to be 1.47 million tons. Based on the 2016 NETL geochemistry, and by extrapolating the anomalous critical mineral zone to other wellbores that penetrated the target interval, the estimated total mass of critical minerals within the target zone is estimated at 3,720 tons and 6,200 tons at recovery rates of 30% and 50%, respectively. The recovery yield will be ultimately determined by the future method of mineral processing. This thesis provides an overall methodological template combining traditional geological analyses with GIS analytic tools that can be used to evaluate similar deposits in other coal basins.

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