Figure.1: View of Geographic Location of Kalshaneh-2 Mine.
Kalshane-2 Mine is located in Southern Khorasan province; 75 kilometers far from North-Western part of Tabas County. The nearest city to this mine is Eshgh Abad; 35 kilometers far from the mine (Figure.1).
The area is known to have a dry climate with low rainfall. The annual precipitation of the area is not exceeding 100 millimeters.
Geologically, Kalshaneh-2 Coal Mine is located in the central geological zone of Iran within Lut Block (Figure.2). In terms of tectonics and structural setting, the area is situated in northern part of uplifted Kalmard block. The only major fault of Kalshaneh area is known to be Kalmard/Kalshaneh fault which is passing through the area trending NE-SW. This fault separates the fallen part of Tabas-Shirgasht block from the uplifted Kalmard block.
Figure.2:Geological Map of Kalshaneh-2 Coal Mine.
Systematic exploration activities started with mapping 1:1000 geological and topographic maps within 400 hectares of the area in 2015. Currently, systematic exploration activities are being operating in the western mining site. The mentioned systematic exploration activities are as trenching, running exploratory inclines and deep drilling/coring operations. Total 3million US tons of thermal coal is estimated as the potential reserve of this area.
In terms of geological characteristics of the coaly layers, general trend of the layers is N-S. However, dip direction of the layers is toward east and common dip of the layers is varying between 52 to 68 degrees. Thickness of the coal layers is changing from 0.5 to 2 meters and six 2 km long coaly layers are spreading through the area. The layers are labeled as D, C, B, A2, A1 and A, respectively from east to west. 1:1000 Geological map of Kalshaneh-2 Coal Mine is shown in the following page (Figure. 3).
Figure.3: 1:1000 Geological Map of Kalshaneh-2 Coal Mine.