Estimates indicate that Alaska contains 130 billion tons of coal of different rank and age distributed over approximately 33 million acres. Commercial coal production began in Alaska in 1916, but peaked after World War II, and today less than a million tons are produced annually. Only the Nenana coalfield is currently active.

The northern coal province includes several coalfields of Cretaceous age with a reserve potential of 120 billion tons of high-volatile B and C bituminous and subbituminous coals. In central Alaska, 7 billion tons of subbituminous coal and lignite are estimated in the Nenana coalfield and in associated Tertiary coal basins. The Broad Pass, Susitna, Matanuska, and Kenai coalfields of south-central Alaska may contain 3 billion tons of high-volatile B bituminous and lesser rank coal.

Subbituminous coal and lignite of Late Cretaceous and Tertiary age are present at Hereenden Bay, Chignik, and Unga Island on the Alaska Peninsula, along the Yukon River, and on the Seward Peninsula, but their extents are poorly known. Low-volatile, high-rank bituminous coal is present in the Bering River coalfield, southeast Alaska, but is highly deformed and no reliable resource estimates exist. Coal deposits of Paleozoic age are local in northwest Alaska and on the upper Yukon River. Some of the coals of the Bering River coalfield and of the northwest part of the northern coal province may have coking potential; all Alaska coals are low in sulfur.

Development of the Alaskan coals has been restricted because of land-status problems, hostile environment, inaccessibility, and high costs of exploration and production. Probably only strip mining can be competitive with other energy sources.

Future planning should include investigation of potential coking coals, large-scale strip and underground mining, in situ gasification and development of chemical industries utilizing low-rank coal.

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