Abstract: To improve comprehensive evaluation of coalbed methane (CBM) resources in Hancheng mining area, the paper studied the geological conditions, coal reservoirs and gas-bearing properties of coal seams in Hancheng mining area based on the original data obtained from CBM wells distributed in the whole area, and established a calculation model using stepwise regression method, based on which calculated coalbed methane resources. The study results show that, in this area:(1) primary coal-bearing strata are the Permian Shanxi Formation and the Taiyuan Formation where No.3, No.5 and No.11 coal seams are primary and distributed stably, and show high vitrinite content, high metamorphism of coal, and great potential of adsorbed coalbed methane; (2) main controlling factors on gas content in the coal seams are buried depth, structure, hydrogeology, vitrinite reflectance, ash content, macerals and caprock; (3) both gas content and gas saturation are high, but the permeability of the coal seams are relatively low (<0.5 mD), which should be stimulated in later coal development. The prediction of coalbed methane resources in this area shows that the total CBM resource is 858.25×10⁸m³, and the resource abundance is 0.93×10⁸m³/km², of which, the coalbed methane resource in the coalbeds shallower than 1200 m is 672.32×10⁸m³, and the resource abundance is 1.08×10⁸m³/km².

Key words: coalbed methane, gas content, resource abundance, metamorphic degree, exploration and development potential, Hancheng mining area