The Raton Mesa region occupies approximately 2,200 square miles in southeastern Colorado and northeastern New Mexico. Original in-place coal reserves for minable coalbeds (at least 14 inches thick with less than 3,000 feet of overburden) were estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to be more than 17 billion tons. More recent geological mapping and new subsurface information show this estimate to be conservative. Test results from the desorption of methane gas from coal cores indicate gas contents ranging from 25 to 490 cubic feet per ton of coal. These test results, used in conjunction with coal resource estimates, indicate that there is at least 8.0 and possibly 18.4 trillion cubic feet of coalbed methane gas present in the Raton Mesa region.