Coal Prices: As goes coal, so goes the nation

Posted April 22, 2008

“One of the most extensive and valuable mineral resources in the U.S. is called the Pittsburgh Coal Seam. The Pittsburgh Coal Seam shows up in outcrops all over town, if you know where to look and what you’re seeing. But there’s a lot more to this hunk of rock.” — Byron King

by Byron King

Baltimore – (TFN): I live in Pittsburgh, and grew up here, as well. Both figuratively and literally, Pittsburgh is built on coal. Coal is the remains of ancient plant life, buried within the rock record.

For example, one of the most extensive and valuable mineral resources in the U.S. is called the Pittsburgh Coal Seam. The Pittsburgh Coal Seam shows up in outcrops all over town, if you know where to look and what you’re seeing. But there’s a lot more to this hunk of rock.

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The Pittsburgh Seam extends underground all over western Pennsylvania. It’s high-grade coal and can be as much as 6-8 feet thick. That’s a lot of energy stored up in one place.

Coal Prices: A solid foundation

A century or more ago, coal from the Pittsburgh Seam was abundant and cheap. People heated their houses with coal, cooked with coal, powered simple engines with coal. And all over western Pennsylvania, people like Henry Frick and Andrew Carnegie pulled a heck of a lot of money out of that Pittsburgh Seam.

They built mines, powered mills and created immense industries based on burning coal. More fundamentally — if not philosophically — they profited from harnessing and releasing the stored-up energy from ancient sunshine. Read on to learn more.

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