Coal & Lignite Deposits of Jammu & Kashmir

Purushottam Gupta Integrated MSc Earth Science Dept of Geology Univ .of Delhi

Coals of Jammu
The coal bearing horizons of Jammu are mostly confined to the basal part of the Eocene bed consisting a part of highly folded sub- Himalayan orogen belt along WNW-ESE trend .The coal measures belonging to Lower Subathu Group (Lower Eocene) occur along two linear Zones e.g. (i) the uneconomic Dhanswal-Sawalkot and other Coalfields along southern margin of Pir Panjal Range and (ii) A chain of economic coal inliers comprising the important coalfields like Kura, Kalakot, Metka, Mahogala and Chakkar stretching roughly along NW-SE to the further south of Pir Panjal Range (Fig.) .The second occurrence has attracted much attention because of sizable deposits

Fig. Location map of the Jammu coalfield

The geologic sequence of Jammu Coalfield

Occurrence: The coal is extracted from coal fields in Udhampur & Kalakot area which extends from Jangalgali in the east to Jigni in the West, falling in Districts of Udhampur and Rajouri and lies between latitude 30o-15o to 33o-15o and Longitude 74o-20o and 75o-10o

Proximate analysis: The general proximate analysis of the coal is as under :

Ash. 20 to 30%

Volatile Matter 10 to 13% Moisture 1 to 1.5 %

Calorific value 6000 K. Cal/Kg to 7800 K. Cal/Kg.

Jammu coals,are in general, low in moisture (0.7-21%) and volatile matter (9.3-19.1% d.m.f) with highly variable ash content (9.7-45.7%) . Moisture and volatile matters show a gradual increase from Kura to Chakkar coalfields i.e. from NW to SE. There is, however no appreciable variation in carbon content (89.8-92.5%). Hydrogen maintains a uniform profile varying between 4.0-4.5%.

The coals from Jangalgali and Kalakot of Jammu have been generally described as semianthracite with low volatile and high ash contents and some coals are known to exhibit coking properties High rank character of the coals of Kalakot, Metka and Mahogala coalfields of Jammu have been attributed to tectonic effect due to Himalayan Orogeny.

Kashmir lignite fields

Lignite has been found in patches in different areas of Kashmir such as Nichahom, Tangmarg, Nagbaj, Chowkibal, etc. It belongs to Karewa Formation of Pleistocene age and extends over a length of 100 km in different areas.

The Karewa Formation is divided into two parts-Lower Karewa and Upper Karewa. The lignite deposits of Kashmir valley are found associated with Lower Karewa Formation which consists of plastic grey clay, sandy clay, coarse to fine greenish sands and conglomerates These beds lie over Paleozoic and Mesozoic basement and are developed over a length of 130 km and width ranging from 13 to 26 km. Occurrence: The lignite deposits occur in Nichohama 50 KM from Srinagar in Distt. Kupwara, J&K. The detailed exploration has been carried out by GSI and Mineral exploration Corporation Limited and more than 5 Million tonnes of Deposits have been proved.

Chemical Composition of random sample:

Ash % VM % Moisture % FC% 49.6 27.7 9.6 13.1

Stratigraphic Sequence of Karewa deposits

There are four distinct horizons of lignite in the Lower Karewa where each horizon ha multiseam occurrences with individual-sea thickness varying between 0.15 metre and 2.0 metre, with alternate bands of clays. In Hundwara and Nichahom areas the two lowermost horizons are well developed, whereas the uppermost horizons are exposed in the entire valley. The cumulative workable thickness of lignite ranges in lower horizons from 1.72 to 4.36 metre with an average thickness of 3.11 metre. This variat;on in the Upper horizon ranges between 2.58 and 5.16 meters with an average thickness of 4.33 metre. The average values of proximate constituents in these ignites are moisture -16.26%, ash 40.56% volatile matter 27.04% and fixed carbon 16. 14%. The sulphur content in Nichahom lignite is quite low (0.4-0.8%).

Source 1. Indian Minerals Yearbook 2011 (Part- II) 50th Edition COAL & LIGNITE 2. Coal Geology-Indian Context;D.Chandra 3. Jammu & Kashmir Mineral Limited