bituminous coal - high grade bituminous coal from the King II Mine, Hesperus, Colorado - Unit of 5 student specimens

This bituminous coal is close to anthracite. It is highly prized for burning with very little ash and is low in mercury. It has the hard shiny surface of anthracite, but not the conchoidal fracture.

Coal forms from the burial of accumulated plant material, in a series with increasing compaction from peak to lignite to bituminous coal and then anthracite. The first three are considered sedimentary. Anthracite is metamorphic as it has undergone low-grade metamorphism, burns hotter than other coals and with a clean blue flame.

This coal is from the King II Mine near Hesperus, Colorado. It is Cretaceous in age, from the Menefee Formation of the Mesaverde Group. Hesperus is in the San Juan Basin, a major coal producing area in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. King II coal primarily goes to Chihuahua-based Grupo Cemento de Chihuahua for use in cement production. It also powers the famous Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad headquartered in Durango, Colorado.

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