FUEL RESOURCES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00926A001000040011-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 15, 2012
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: April 19, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFINVATION? \J I -FILM!*OP'
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US OFFICIALS 0
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENC A REPORT
INFORMATION REPORT CD NO.
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED BY SO
DATE OF INFORM
Czechoslovakia
Fuel Resources
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES 6
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
Apr 1949
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THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE ESPIONAGE ACT 50
U. S. C.. 31 AND 32, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR THE REVELATION
OF ITS CONTENTS IN ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PRO-
HIBITED BY LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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The. metallurgical, chemical, and power industries of Czechoslovakia are based
on fuel resources constituting large deposits of hard (black) coal and soft
subbitliminous (brown) coal in Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia. The hard coal
mines are located in the mining districts of Kladno, Svatonovice Nyrany, in
Bohemia, and Ostrava Karvinna, Oslavany in Moravia and Silesia. The soft coal
mines are located in the mining districts of Teplice, Chomutov, lost, Duchcov,
Falknov in northwest Bohemia, Ratiskovice in south Bohemia, and Handlova,
Ncvaky ir Slovakia. The development of the mining industry and the properties of
individual kinds of coal mixed. in these districts are discussed below.
LIE:11LiffEE1_22AL
0. .1e,;34.va-A,,,,ELpmaLMiningiliptrict.
2. This mining district is the most important and best developed in Czechoslovakia.
Large scale development and advanced mechanization of the mines is due to the
extensive use of this coal not only as high grade fuel but also as the only
source of metallurgical coke and many byproducts for the chemical industry.
The coal is mined from a depth of 900 - 2,000 feet by highly mechanized power
equipment. Heating value of this coal ranges from 9,900 - 13,500 BTIT/lbs
(5500 - 7500 kcal/kg). Ash content is very low and there is practically no
moisture. Sulphur content is rather low. Baking properties of this coal make
excellent coke used by the large metallurgical industry at Vitkovice, Kladno,
and Trinec, and it is also exported in large quantities. Low grade fines are
used as fuel for large power stations at Ignat (65,000 KW), Trebovice (752000 KW),
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Karolina (659000 100, Frantisek (459000 KW1, Barbora (609000 KW), Trinec
.(25?000 KW). These stations, with 33,000 Kir installed capacity, supply power
to the industry of north Moravia, Silesia, and part of west Slovakia by means
of a 1000000-volt network.
____any .(Moravia) Mining District)
3. Baking hard coal mined in this district from a depth of about 1500 ft has
considerably more ash and sulphur than that of Ostrava-Karvinna. High sulphur
content limits the use of produced coke for house heating and industrial fuel
purposes. Heating value of better grade coal is 7,000 - 10,000 BTU/lbs
(3900 - 5500 kcal/kg). Low grade coal with a very high ash content is burned
in the power station of Oslavany from which 759000 KW supplies all west Moravia,
inclusive of Brno, by means of a system of high voltage lines.
latalnialktfailklikaigEJLOW.
4. This coal is very similar in properties to that of Oslavany, but no coke is
produced in this region. Better grades are used as household fuel and
industrial fuel in the northeast part of Bohemia. low grade coal and fines
are burned in the power station at Porici from which 35,000 KW is delivered to
this industrial part of Bohemia.
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5. Hard black coal of the Kladno district, having a heating value of 7,000 - 10,000
BTU/lbs (3900 - 5600 kcal/kg), is deposited in layers up to 45 ft thick in a
-depth of 500 - 1,000 ft. This non-baking coal is considerably different from
that mentioned above and cannot be used for the manufacture of coke. All coke
used by blast furnaces of the former Prague Iron Industry iii Kladno must be
manufactured from Ostrava coal. (Large coke ovens recently built at Kladno
can use only 15 percent of Kladno fines plus 85 percent of Ostrava baking coal.)
Better grades having the advantage of short hauling distance to Prague are
extensively used as household fuel. Fines and law grade coal, having only
49300 - 6,000 BTU/lbs (2400 -3300 localikg)s,em consumed by the local power
stations of Lany and Schoeller, having respectively 20,000 UT and 40,000 KW
(20,000 KW under construction), which feed the Kladno steel industry and the
public network of central Bohemia. Geological conditions of these old mines
are rather difficult. Mechanization of mining is not adequate and most of the
mines can be considered obsolete.
1,1040W4434ALUlag,1124j4
6. This district, located near Plzen, has a coal rather similar to that of Kladno.
It cannot be used for the manufacture of coke, and all coke used by the Skoda
steel industry must be imported from Ostrava-Karvinna. This coal is used for
industrial and household heating purposes in western Bohemia. A power station
at Zbuch (169000 KW), using low grade coal and fines, supplies west Bohemian
industry by means of high voltage lines of the Public Power Company.
7. It lqumild ' be pointed out that the most important development of the hard
coal industry was achieveddfter World War I when coke, used as the primary
chemical reagent in the iron and steel industry, stimulated mechanization of
the Ostrava Karvinna district. By means of coking, coal (used before only as
general-purpose fuel subject to the variations of the market) became the only
source of metallurgical raw materials and byproducts and also became a basic
component for the heavy organic industry, with year-round steady demand and a
large scale market, enabling extensive mechanization and high investment in
the district of Ostrava Karvinna.
SOFT (BROWN) COAL
?
'iceMost-"DuChoolt,vmiDni?istrict
8. Albng the northwesterdcborder .af,Bohemia ts depdsited,soft, subbitamincus coal
in layers 40 - 55 ft thick, in depths varying from 60 ft at the outcrops to
19500 ft near Osek. This coal has rather different properties than the hard
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coal described above and is mined partially in strip mines and partially in
deep nines similar to those of the hard coal. Seventy - eighty percent of
produced coal originating from the middle part of coal layers, having only
2 - 3 percent ash, 20 - 28 percent moisture, and a heating value of 7,200 -
11,000 BTU/lbs, is high grade coal, primarily used as household fuel in
Prague and Bohemian Today this high grade coal is used as valuable raw
material for the production of synthetic gasoline and fuel oil and many
important byproducts used by the plastics industry and heavy chemical
industry. Twenty - thirty percent of the coal, mostly from the bottom and
top parts of the deposits, is law grade coal with alternating layers of
clay and coal. On the top of these deposits in many mine fields is a
3 - 6 ft thick layer of shale having 30 - 40 percent of ash and 15 - 20 percent
moisture. Heating value of this low grade coal is only 4,300 - 69500 BTU/lbs
(2400 - 3600 kcal/kg). Economic mining of this low gradeficoal is possible
only in highly mechanized strip mines, and it umedeto,be:AeSt'li the mine.
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After .WoWar I, a,:conservation program of coal deposits was started and
this coal became a basis for a large scale project of power stations supplying
electric power to Prague and all industry in Bohemian As a first step in this
program) in 19279 the60,000 KIN power station of Ervenice was built to feed
Prague by two 100,000-volt lines. This program was incorporated later in a
giant German project for the manufacture of 1 million tons of gasoline from
this coal, and large power stations were designed at Komorany (1459000 KW, later
270,000 KW), Herkules (1509000 KW, later 300,000 KW), STW (177,000 KA, later
270,000 KW) and Ervenice 11 (132,000 KW, later 262,000 KW)9 having a total
installed capacity of over 600,000 KW and finally over 1,100,000 KW. This would
make this area the main supply of electric power not only for Bohemia but also
for the Hermann Goering Steel Works at Linz, Austria.
10. Of this program only the STU power station, with a capacity of 177,000 Kri,
was put in operation-from 1942-45. Ervenice 11 is to go in operation during
1948, and i: f,_s expected to be ready in 1950. The project of
bomb-proof Hercules was given up when the war ended, and the production of
gasoline was reduced to 300,000 tons a year. The size of all power stations
wae limited to the first step of installation because available low grade coal
deereased in quantity. Even under this limitation, this area with the largest
rower plants is the most important source of energy and basic raw materials for
the organic chemical industry and motor
lla
4iM4s, :a the west of a line drawn from Most to Litvinov have an
overburden - 400 ft, and the coal is distinguished by a very high tar content
in the range of 10 - 15 percent of original wet substance. These fields can be
mined by means of fully mechanized equipment as open strip mines, using giant
earthmoving equipment()
12. ',goal e fields on the east of this Most - Litvinov line have excellent coal
deposited in a depth of 500 - 1,500 ft. Onay conventional deep mining technique
can be applied, making recovery of low grade shale hardly economical. It can be
assumed that 30 - 40 percent of this cc-al substance was formerly left in the
ground. Tar content of this coal is much lower, being only 2 (4 6 percent, and
it has an ash content of 2 - 8 percentapadspture''5 - 18 percent, and heating
value of 8.100 - 11,000 BTU/lbs (4500 - 6100 kcal/kg).
13.Minirw technique and equipment of this district originates mostly from the
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period between World Wars I and 119 when this coal was used for heating purposes
in Bohemian industry and as household fuel, meeting severe competition from
hard coal and subjected to frequent depressions and seasonal fluctuations between
summer and winter needs. These reasons prevented large scale, operation and use
of expensive mechanical equipmere because it was necessary to keep first costs
as low as possible. Only good quality coal was mined and after-crushing was
classified by sieves to proper size for commercial fuel.
The . pliportance,, and development of brown coal mining changed radically when
extensive research proved that north Bohemian coal represents very valuable
chemical raw material for manufacture of gasoline and phenolic byproducts and
that it is the best basis for many petrochemicals. It was proved that north
14,0
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Bohemian brown. coal has unique qualities not found anywhere else, having very
high tar content and favorable structure for hydrogenation' and giving first. grade
gasoline with excellent susceptivity for tetra-ethyl-lead.
15. These facts were soon recognized by the German Nazi regime and a large scale
project ior production of 19000,000 tons of gasoline yearly was outlined in
1936 by NInraloelban Gesellschaft, Berlin, in spite of the fact that this
mining district was located in Czechoslovakia. The Germans o urgent need of
gasoline oil for the Telarmacht is the reason why they demanded it at Munich
in 1938 as a most important area of the Sudetenland.
'D6 Aimediately after the seizure of the Sudetenland in 1948, the construction
of Sudetendeutschen Treibstoffwerken A0 (TW) was started just north oi Ansti and
also a large scale development of giant strip mineg,in the vicinity of Most
(Breux). This STW plant was renamed Stalin Works after the Communists came to
power in Czechoslovakia. Estimated capacity of these very modern mines using
full mechanization was 16,0009000 tons a year corresponding to a production of
said one million tons of gasoline. This project, having been granted top
priority, advanced so far that in 1942 the operation of this hydrogenation plant
began, and in Apr 19)111 it reached a capacity of 6609000 tons of gasoline per
year. However, the development of mines could not keep pace with this gasoline
production, and supplementary coal was secured from all deep mines and added to
the production of the first large mine, Qnlico IV (now named President Denes)
which had a capacity of 2,500,000 tons a year. The Germans used 3000G to 429^000-Bts
- and DIPS in constraating'$TW and another _ 40,000 were used in mine construction.
In 1946 it was expected to start aperating the Hedvika (now called F D Roosevelt)
mine, having an estimated capacity of 4,500,000 tons a year. In 1947 the third
mire, called Robert (and renamed Syerma), was expected to be opened with a yearly
capacity of 6,500,000 tone.
17,.-aSTW,A0coined.latthip-A11ies 16,May1.4.4aaid Put oUf Of operation. In .
s ,
September, after resuming operdtlions, , it waa immediately bombed again. The plant
was bombed sixteen times in all' and hit by 12,500 bombs and 260 air toroedoes
(mines?), but each time energetic attempts were made to re-estOlfsh production.
A total of 221,000 men, including PWs, DPs and civilians, were killed and total
damage was estimated at from 150 to 300 million Reischmarke. After VE Day, most
of the Germans escaped from the plant without destroying anything. The Czech
Government decided to put the plant back in operation once more with reduced
capacity corresponding to local needs of 300,000 annual tons of gasoline. Excess
capacity of the power plant was to be used for the public power system. The
operation of the power station was resumed in Jul 45 /Tinder the direction of the
author of this report7 and delivered 209000 - 409000TM to Prague. The
reconstruction of the hydrogenation plant advanced very quickly and in Sep 45 it
was operating0 1sO, the modern city gas manifactaring plant was nut into
operation supplying all north Bohemia, and plans for general reconstruction were
outlined.
18. , .Latap,sappircanee, not at .all dsmaged(by bomyaig br-other'war aadtivAj-Ps',
started production and contributed decisively to the output of this mining
district but mining personnel were scarce and it was soon realized that equipment
*would be essential for further economic development of this mining district and
the reconstruction of Hedvig (Roasevelt) was authorized by the government.
Necessary heavy equipment not available from original German factories was ordered
from the US, but, later, after failure of attempts to secure necessary loans,
ordered from the Czech Metal Industry In Vitkoviae and the Skoda Works. This
equipment is to be delivered in 1949-52.
15a' .At this time .soft loToin'ctia/-Angl'suaedn6xtensiliely for oUse hetiaagedinS .
Bohemia ;and covers 70 - 80 percent of the fuel needs for Prague. About
49 0009000tons of coal are used for manufacturing 200,000 annual tons of
gasoline by STW at Most. This capacity is to be increased during the Five Year
Plan. to 400,000 tons, including 60,000 tons of 100-octane gasoline and
209000 'tons of alkylate.
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Fatkeev (West Bohm
Purat-
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Brow subbituminous coal mined here is easeniti41kr ilar ti!l' that of Most,
Duchcov, and Chomutov but is cf lower greder 14 economic situation in this area
is handicapped by the'problem of chronic surp/us of fines and low grade coal
having no market because of long hauling distances and an inadequate power
station for burning this low grade fuel at the mine mouth.
a,
The chemkOalindussry took advantage of ,t4?fuel 10 tnst41/ina at
Falknov a calcium carbide plant producing about 100 tons per day. After &rid
War? Ilea large scale project for a 45,000 KW power plant and a gas plant with
a capacity of 60 - 100 million cubic metres (2?1 - 3.5 billion cubic ft) of
manufactured city gas, 4,000 kcal/cub metreih703TU/cu ft)wertSoutlined.
This gas plant is a high pressure gasifieatien system producing city gas under
a pressure of 15 atm (220 psi) from low grade coal by means of pure oxygen and
steam, identical to that of STW at klost. Installation of this power station and
gas plant is included in the Five Year Plan and the operation is expected to
start, in 1951-52.
r
Hand161a (SlovaNta) Man2neiDastract /
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22., Subbituminoue coal at Handlova is mined by conventional deep mining equipment
and has a? quality similar to that of Fa-kknear, having a heat value 5,000 -
8,700 BTU4lbs (2800 - 4800 kcal/kg). known deposits are small. Commercial
sizes of better grade are consumed in Slovakia as local industrial and household
fuel, and low grade coal is used by a power station at Handlova delivering
6,000 - 15?000 KN to west Slovakia? Economic importance of this district is
minor?
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1,,4?-07kia)./11nis,Ig Distrioti;
Coneiderably larger deposits of brown subbituminous coal are located in middle
S'acreakia near Novaky. Exploitation of these deposits has already begun and
large scale projects for the chemical ina'aistrT, large power stations, and
synthetic gasoline manufacture are favored by military authorities because of
their strategic location. Large mining equipment is already ordered and mined
coal has about 25 - 30 percent ash, 40 percent moisturet and a heating value of
LOCO - 6,300 BTU/lbs (2400 3500 kcal/kg). This mine field is considered
Tely important as a basis for future development of the Slovakian chemical afta
power industry. Chemical works producing calcium carbide, chlorine, caustic'
soda ash are under construction* A power station, supplying electric power to
this chemical plant and 1000000-volt network of Slovakia with an installed
capacity of 90,000 - 120,000 KWan4 Uaiug bOtters;4T44:t614110:frO Power SlationaTII
at Most is under construction. ? The project was granted high priority in the
Five Year Plan for strategic reasons and in order to promote the industrial
independence of Slovakia.
14-lis eve e- oreavia I e ae r
Nines of relatively small capacity opened in 1933-36 by Batao supply very low
grade young lignite coal to the power station at Zlin. This lignite has
35 - 40 percent moisture, 20 - 25 percent ash, and a heating value of
4,500 55500 BTU/lbs (2500 - 3000 kcal,/kg). These mines are equipped with
highly mechanized mining equipment making operation economical in spite of the
low quality? The output is without importance to the national economy.
ma 14y,.CsctTi
p.
In south Bohemia,?there are extensive marshes with large deposits ,of turf which
is used as fuel in the power station at Nydlovary. This station supplies
16,000 KW energy to the southern part of Bohemia. During the last years of
Wcrld, War II and after the war, an extention of this staticea including
boilers and turbogenerator (10,000 KW), was under construction and it was
planned to resume operation in the fall of 1948.
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SUMMARY
26. Most important and most advanced are those mining districts where coal is not
only a fuel bteStirst of al; a valuable-and practically sole source of primary
raw materials,/ 'namely Ostrava Karvinna for the metallurgical industry, arv:
Teplice? Most Chomutov for motor fuel and the plastics industry. These' 1)
districts, having a market not subject to frequent depressions and fluctuations,
are equipped with modern high-efficienby installations manned by relatively Yew
crews. Other miring districts?producing industrial and household fuel, anuntolt.
afford higher first cost ,and mining methods are more primitive, depending mostly
on the minere own skill. It should be pointed out that Most and Ostrava
Karvinna are most sensitive keys to the whole industrial and economic situation
of Czechoslovakia and the eastern powers. There is no substitute for
metallurgical coke, and no other facility for the production of high grade
gasoline and catechol exists outside of the STW plant at Most.
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