ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160046
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
It is well documented that a huge storehouse of natural resources lies beneath the surface of Montgomery and Pulaski counties.
But what are the chances these local deposits of natural gas or coal will ever see the light of day?
"Excellent," says one local prospector.
John Goldsmith of New River Gas Co. acknowledges that some people think he's crazy for believing it. Still, his company and deep-pocketed investors have committed millions of dollars and leased exploratory rights on thousands of acres, convinced that the technology and the economics will make extracting coalbed methane a profitable enterprise - someday.
Goldsmith's company has drilled six wells in Pulaski County during the past decade. He says the data from those prospects reinforces earlier studies by the Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, which reported large underground stores of natural gas.
In 1982, the state spent $125,000 to dig three test wells for gas in Montgomery County. A report on the project said "significant amounts of methane" were found.
Any ex-miner who dug coal from Montgomery County mines will also tell you from first-hand experience that methane abounds.
After working as a mine methane detector here during the 1940s, Alex Linkous Jr. says, "There's plenty of gas under there, I tell you."
The state also estimates large reserves of coal remain beneath Montgomery and Pulaski counties, even 40 years after large mines that operated in the area closed down.
However, a state geologist says it's doubtful that coal will be mined again locally. The deposits are too thin, too deep and too broken up by geologic faults, according to Jack Nolde.
The area's complicated subsurface geology also makes it more difficult to pump out deposits of coalbed methane, Goldsmith said. He predicts the day will come, however.
Nolde said no efforts have been made to explore for oil since the unsuccessful Price Mountain well was drilled in 1949.
Goldsmith said he obtained a state permit to reopen that well - located about a quarter-mile west of the communications towers that now crown Price Mountain - several years ago. He said he wanted to use the old, 10-inch diameter well to conduct natural gas tests, but changed his mind after discussions with Montgomery County officials.
Price Mountain landowner and developer William H. Price owns the old well and supported plans to re-examine the site, Goldsmith said.
Yet the mountain's days as a source of energy appear to be over, as Price's plans for extensive residential development there proceed.
Montgomery County requires a special-use permit to explore or extract mineral resources. But those permits are prohibited in areas designated for residential use, said Jeff Scott, county zoning administrator.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB