Official estimates of United States coal resources published during the past 15 years vary from less than 1.5 to 3.5 trillion metric tons (1.7 to 3.9 trillion short tons). These differences imply that a high degree of uncertainty exists in resource assessment.

Lignite deeper than 200 ft (61 m) constitutes about 60 percent of the total lignite resources in Texas. Projections indicate that meeting future demand will require mining this deep-basin lignite.

Texas lignite occurs in three Eocene (lower Tertiary) geologic units--the Wilcox Group, Jackson Group, and Yegua Formation--and in three ancient depositional systems--fluvial, deltaic, and strandplain/lagoonal.

Lignite development will place major demands on ground-water supplies.

This report provides a data base for decisions about lignite mining and reclamation in the Wilcox Group of East Texas. Kaiser (1974, 1978) estimates that about 12.2 billion short tons of potentially strip-minable lignite resources occur in East and South Texas.