GERMANY
Proved amount in place (total coal, million tonnes)
122 000
Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes)
66 000
Production (total coal, million tonnes, 1999) 201.8
Notwithstanding a reduction of 1 billion tonnes in
the assessment of proved recoverable coal reserves
by comparison with that reported for the previous
(1998) Survey, Germany remains in the front rank for
coal resources, reserves and production. The proved
amount in place is stated to be 122 billion tonnes,
including 44 billion tonnes of bituminous coals based
on deposits to a maximum depth of 1 500 metres and
a minimum seam thickness of 1 metre. Geological resources
of lignite amount to 78 billion tonnes, with a maximum
deposit depth of 600 metres and a minimum seam thickness
of 2 metres. Mineable reserves, equated to the category
of proved recoverable reserves, are reported as 23
billion tonnes of bituminous coal and 43 billion tonnes
of lignite. Reserves within the reach of operating
or planned mines would be considerably smaller – at
some 8 billion tonnes in the case of the lignite deposits.
Germany’s output of hard coal has fallen from 76.6
million tonnes in 1990 to 40.5 million tonnes in 1999,
whilst lignite production has declined even more rapidly,
from 357.5 to 161.3 million tonnes over the same period.
The Ruhr coalfield produces over three-quarters of
German hard coal. The coal qualities range from anthracite
to high-volatile, strongly-caking bituminous coal.
The Saar is the second largest coalfield, with substantial
deposits of weakly-caking bituminous coal. All German
hard coal is deep-mined from seams at depths exceeding
900 metres.
The lignite deposit in the Rhine region is the largest
such formation in Europe. In the former East Germany
there are major deposits of lignite at Halle Leipzig
and Lower Lausitz; these have considerable domestic
importance.
The principal markets for bituminous coal are electricity
generation, iron and steel, and cement manufacture:
other industrial and household uses are relatively
modest. Almost all German lignite is consumed in power
stations, apart from a considerable tonnage (12.4
million tonnes in 1998) which is converted into brown
coal briquettes for the industrial, residential and
commercial markets.
Australia
|| Botwana
|| Brazil
|| Canada
|| China
|| Colombia
|| Czech
Republic || Germany
|| Greece
|| India
|| Indonesia
|| Pakistan
|| Poland
|| Russian
Federation || South
Africa || Thailand
|| United
Kingdom || United
States Of America
