View source for Coal mining

{{Short description|Process of getting coal out of the ground}}
{{Redirect|Coal miner|the John J. Szaton statue|Coal Miner (statue)}}
[[File:Coal mine Wyoming.jpg|thumb|Surface coal mining in [[Wyoming]], U.S.]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
[[File:Lackawanna Coal Mine car, Nov 2014.jpg|thumb|A coal mine [[mantrip]] at [[Lackawanna Coal Mine]] in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]]]]
[[File:FIRST SHIFT OF MINERS AT THE VIRGINIA-POCAHONTAS COAL COMPANY MINE ^4 NEAR RICHLANDS, VIRGINIA, LEAVING THE ELEVATOR.... - NARA - 556393 tweaked.jpg|thumb|Coal miners exiting a [[Hoist (mining)|winder]] [[Shaft sinking|cage]] at a mine near [[Richlands, Virginia]] in 1974]]
[[File:0 Frameries - Charbonnage de Crachet Picquery (1).JPG|thumb|A coal mine in [[Frameries]], Belgium]]
'''Coal mining''' is the process of [[resource extraction|extracting]] [[coal]] from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its [[Energy value of coal|energy content]] and since the 1880s has been widely used to [[Electricity generation|generate electricity]]. [[Steel]] and [[cement]] industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from [[iron ore]] and for cement production. In the [[United Kingdom]] and [[South Africa]], a coal mine and its structures are a '''colliery''', a coal mine is called a "pit", and above-ground mining structures are referred to as a "[[pit head]]". In [[Australia]], "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.

Coal mining has had many developments in recent years, from the early days of men tunneling, digging, and manually extracting the coal on carts to large [[Open-pit mining|open-cut]] and [[Longwall mining|longwall]] mines. Mining at this scale requires the use of [[Dragline excavator|draglines]], trucks, [[conveyor]]s, [[hydraulic jack]]s, and shearers.

The coal [[mining industry]] has a long history of significant negative [[Health and environmental impact of the coal industry|environmental impacts]] on local ecosystems, health impacts on local communities and workers, and contributes heavily to the global environmental crises, such as [[Air pollution|poor air quality]] and [[climate change]]. For these reasons, coal has been one of the first [[Fossil fuel phase-out|fossil fuels to be phased out]] of various parts of the [[Energy industry|global energy economy]]. The major coal producing countries, though, such as [[Coal in China|China]], Indonesia, [[Coal in India|India]] and [[Australia]], have not reached peak production, with production increases replacing falls in Europe and the United States<ref name=iea-2020/> and proposed mines under development.<ref name="T2">Ryan Driskell Tate, Christine Shearer, and Andiswa Matiknca, [https://globalenergymonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/CoalMines_2021_r4.pdf "Deep Trouble: Tracking Global Coal Mine Proposals,"] Global Energy Monitor, June 2021</ref> The coal mining industry employs almost 2.7 million workers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Coal industry faces 1 million job losses from global energy transition - research |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/coal-industry-faces-1-million-job-losses-global-energy-transition-research-2023-10-10/ |work=Reuters |date=10 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="M2">Ryan Driskell Tate, Dorothy Lan Mei, Tiffany Means, [https://globalenergymonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/GEM_Coal_Mine_Employment_2023.pdf "Scraping By: Global Coal Miners and the Urgency of a Just Transition,"] Global Energy Monitor, October 2023</ref> 

==History==
[[File:Boats hauling coal.jpg|thumb|Ships have been used to haul coal since the [[Roman Empire]]]]
{{Coal sidebar|state=collapsed}}
{{Excerpt|History_of_coal_mining}}

==Methods of extraction==
Coal extraction methods vary depending on whether the mine is an underground mine or a surface (also called an open cast) mine. Additionally, coal seam thickness and geology are factors in the selection of a mining method. The most economical method of coal extraction for surface mines is the electric shovel or drag line. The most economical form of underground mining is the long wall, which involves using two spinning drums with carbide bits that runs along sections of the coal seam.  Many coals extracted from both surface and underground mines require washing in a [[coal preparation plant]]. Technical and economic feasibility are evaluated based on the following: regional geological conditions; [[overburden]] characteristics; coal seam continuity, thickness, structure, quality, and depth; strength of materials above and below the seam for roof and floor conditions; topography, especially altitude and slope; climate; land ownership as it affects the availability of land for mining and access; surface drainage patterns; groundwater conditions; availability of labor and materials; coal purchaser requirements in terms of tonnage, quality, and destination; and capital investment requirements.<ref>[http://www.greatmining.com/articles/methods-of-coal-mining/ "Methods of Coal Mining"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318121002/http://www.greatmining.com/articles/methods-of-coal-mining/ |date=18 March 2012 }} ''Great Mining'' (2003) accessed 19 December 2011</ref>

Surface mining and deep underground mining are the two basic methods of mining. The choice of mining method depends primarily on depth, density, overburden, and thickness of the coal seam; seams relatively close to the surface, at depths less than approximately {{convert|180|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}, are usually surface mined.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Coal that occurs at depths of {{convert|180|to|300|ft|m|abbr=on|round=5|order=flip}} are usually deep mined, but in some cases surface mining techniques can be used. For example, some western U.S. coal that occur at depths in excess of {{convert|200|ft|m|abbr=on|round=5|order=flip}} are mined by the open pit methods, due to thickness of the seam {{convert|60|–|90|ft|m|abbr=off|round=5|order=flip}}. Coals occurring below {{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on||round=5|order=flip}} are usually deep mined.<ref name="Christman, R.C. 1980">Christman, R.C., J. Haslbeck, B. Sedlik, W. Murray, and W. Wilson. 1980. ''Activities, effects and impacts of the coal fuel cycle for a 1,000-MWe electric power generating plant''. Washington, DC: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.</ref> However, there are open pit mining operations working on coal seams up to {{convert|1000|–|1500|ft|m|abbr=off|-1|order=flip}} below ground level, for instance [[Tagebau Hambach]] in Germany.

===Surface mining===
[[File:Cerrejonmine1.png|thumb|Trucks loaded with coal at the [[Cerrejón]] coal mine in [[Colombia]]]]
When coal seams are near the surface, it may be economical to extract the coal using [[Open-pit mining|open-cut]], also referred to as open-cast, open-pit, mountaintop removal or strip, mining methods. Opencast coal mining recovers a greater proportion of the coal deposit than underground methods, as more of the coal seams in the [[stratum|strata]] may be exploited. This equipment can include the following: Draglines which operate by removing the overburden, power shovels, large trucks in which transport overburden and coal, bucket wheel excavators, and conveyors. In this mining method, explosives are first used in order to break through the surface or overburden, of the mining area. The overburden is then removed by draglines or by shovel and truck. Once the coal seam is exposed, it is drilled, fractured and thoroughly mined in strips. The coal is then loaded onto large trucks or conveyors for transport to either the coal preparation plant or directly to where it will be used.<ref name="CoalMining2009"/>

Most open cast mines in the United States extract [[bituminous coal]]. In Canada, Australia, and South Africa, [[open cast mining]] is used for both [[thermal coal|thermal]] and [[metallurgical coal]]s. In [[New South Wales]] open casting for steam coal and [[anthracite]] is practiced. Surface mining accounts for around 80 percent of production in Australia, while in the US it is used for about 67 percent of production. Globally, about 40 percent of coal production involves surface mining.<ref name="CoalMining2009"/>

====Strip mining====
Strip mining exposes coal by removing earth above each coal seam. This earth to be removed is referred to as 'overburden' and is removed in long strips.<ref name="T1">Ryan Driskell Tate, "Places of Overburden: Strip Mining and Reclamation on the Northern Great Plains," ''The Greater Plains: Rethinking a Region's Environmental Histories'' (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2021).</ref> The overburden from the first strip is deposited in an area outside the planned mining area and referred to as out-of-pit dumping. Overburden from subsequent strips is deposited in the void left from mining the coal and overburden from the previous strip. This is referred to as in-pit dumping.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

It is often necessary to fragment the overburden by use of explosives. This is accomplished by drilling holes into the overburden, filling the holes with explosives, and detonating the explosive. The overburden is then removed, using large earth-moving equipment, such as [[dragline]]s, [[Power shovel|shovel]] and trucks, [[excavator]] and trucks, or [[Bucket-wheel excavator|bucket-wheels]] and conveyors. This overburden is put into the previously mined (and now empty) strip. When all the overburden is removed, the
underlying coal seam will be exposed (a 'block' of coal). This block of coal may be drilled and blasted (if hard) or otherwise loaded onto trucks or conveyors for transport to the coal preparation (or wash) plant. Once this strip is empty of coal, the process is repeated with a new strip being created next to it. This method is most suitable for areas with flat terrain.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Equipment to be used depends on geological conditions. For example, to remove overburden that is loose or unconsolidated, a bucket wheel excavator might be the most productive. The life of some area mines may be more than 50 years.<ref name="Interior 1987">U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (1987). ''Surface coal mining reclamation: 10 years of progress, 1977–1987''. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.</ref>

====Contour mining====
The contour mining method consists of removing overburden from the seam in a pattern following the contours along a ridge or around the hillside. This method is most commonly used in areas with rolling to steep terrain. It was once common to deposit the spoil on the downslope side of the bench thus created, but this method of spoil disposal consumed much additional land and created severe landslide and erosion problems. To alleviate these problems, a variety of methods were devised to use freshly cut overburden to refill mined-out areas. These haul-back or lateral movement methods generally consist of an initial cut with the spoil deposited downslope or at some other site and spoil from the second cut refilling the first. A ridge of undisturbed natural material {{convert|15|to|20|ft|m|abbr=on|0}} wide is often intentionally left at the outer edge of the mined area. This barrier adds stability to the reclaimed slope by preventing spoil from slumping or sliding downhill.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The limitations of contour strip mining are both economic and technical. When the operation reaches a predetermined stripping ratio (tons of overburden/tons of coal), it is not profitable to continue. Depending on the equipment available, it may not be technically feasible to exceed a certain height of highwall. At this point, it is possible to produce more coal with the augering method in which spiral drills bore tunnels into a highwall laterally from the bench to extract coal without removing the overburden.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

====Mountaintop removal mining====
{{Main|Mountaintop removal mining}}
Mountaintop coal mining is a surface mining practice involving removal of mountaintops to expose coal seams, and disposing of associated mining overburden in adjacent "valley fills". Valley fills occur in steep terrain where there are limited disposal alternatives.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Valley fills |url=https://archive.kftc.org/valley-fills |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=Kentuckians For The Commonwealth |language=en}}</ref>

[[Mountaintop removal mining]] combines area and contour strip mining methods. In areas with rolling or steep terrain with a coal seam occurring near the top of a ridge or hill, the entire top is removed in a series of parallel cuts. Overburden is deposited in nearby valleys and hollows. This method usually leaves the ridge and hilltops as flattened plateaus.<ref name="Christman, R.C. 1980"/> The process is highly controversial for the drastic changes in topography, the practice of creating ''head-of-hollow-fills'', or filling in valleys with mining debris, and for covering streams and disrupting ecosystems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mountainjusticesummer.org/facts/steps.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051029154012/http://mountainjusticesummer.org/facts/steps.php|archive-date=29 October 2005|title=Mountain Justice Summer – What is Mountain Top Removal Mining?|date=29 October 2005}}</ref><ref>U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Philadelphia, PA (2005). [http://www.epa.gov/region3/mtntop/eis2005.htm "Mountaintop mining/valley fills in Appalachia: Final programmatic environmental impact statement."]</ref>

Spoil is placed at the head of a narrow, steep-sided valley or hollow. In preparation for filling this area, vegetation and soil are removed and a rock drain constructed down the middle of the area to be filled, where a natural drainage course previously existed. When the fill is completed, this underdrain will form a continuous water runoff system from the upper end of the valley to the lower end of the fill. Typical head-of-hollow fills are graded and terraced to create permanently stable slopes.<ref name="Interior 1987"/>

===Underground mining===
{{Main|Underground soft-rock mining}}
[[File:Coal Washer.JPG|thumb|A coal wash plant in [[Clay County, Kentucky]]]]
[[File:Continuous Miner.jpg|thumb|A remote Joy HM21 continuous miner used underground]]
Most coal seams are too deep underground for opencast mining and require underground mining, a method that currently accounts for about 60 percent of world coal production.<ref name="CoalMining2009"/> In deep mining, the [[room and pillar|room and pillar or bord and pillar]] method progresses along the seam, while pillars and timber are left standing to support the mine roof. Once room and pillar mines have been developed to a stopping point limited by geology, ventilation, or economics, a supplementary version of room and pillar mining, termed second mining or [[retreat mining]], is commonly started. Miners remove the coal in the pillars, thereby recovering as much coal from the coal seam as possible. A work area involved in pillar extraction is called a pillar section.<ref>{{Citation |title=Room and pillar mining |date=2024-04-20 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Room_and_pillar_mining&oldid=1219912988 |access-date=2024-04-23 |language=en}}</ref>

Modern pillar sections use remote-controlled equipment, including large hydraulic mobile roof-supports, which can prevent cave-ins until the miners and their equipment have left a work area. The mobile roof supports are similar to a large dining-room table, but with hydraulic jacks for legs. After the large pillars of coal have been mined away, the mobile roof support's legs shorten and it is withdrawn to a safe area. The mine roof typically collapses once the mobile roof supports leave an area.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

There are six principal methods of underground mining:
* [[Longwall mining]] accounts for about 50 percent of underground production. The longwall shearer has a face of {{convert|1000|ft|m}} or more. It is a sophisticated machine with a rotating drum that moves mechanically back and forth across a wide coal seam. The loosened coal falls onto an armored chain conveyor or pan line that takes the coal to the conveyor belt for removal from the work area. Longwall systems have their own hydraulic roof supports which advance with the machine as mining progresses. As the longwall mining equipment moves forward, overlying rock that is no longer supported by coal is allowed to fall behind the operation in a controlled manner. The supports make possible high levels of production and safety. Sensors detect how much coal remains in the seam while robotic controls enhance efficiency. Longwall systems allow a 60-to-100 percent coal recovery rate when surrounding geology allows their use. Once the coal is removed, usually 75 percent of the section, the roof is allowed to collapse in a safe manner.<ref name="CoalMining2009" />
* [[Continuous mining]] utilizes a continuous miner machine with a large rotating steel drum equipped with tungsten carbide picks that scrape coal from the seam. Operating in a "room and pillar", also known as "bord and pillar" system, where the mine is divided into a series of 20-to-30-foot (5–10 m) "rooms" or work areas cut into the coalbed—it can mine as much as 14 tons of coal a minute, more than a non-mechanised mine of the 1920s would produce in an entire day. Continuous miners account for about 45 percent of underground coal production. [[Conveyor system|Conveyors]] transport the removed coal from the seam. Remote-controlled continuous miners are used to work in a variety of difficult seams and conditions, and robotic versions controlled by computers are becoming increasingly common. Continuous mining is a misnomer, as room and pillar coal mining is very cyclical. In the US, one can generally cut up to around {{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|0}}. This may be increased with [[Mine Safety and Health Administration|MSHA]] permission.  In South Africa, the limit may be as high as {{Convert|12|m|ft}}. After the cutting limit is reached, the continuous miner assembly is removed and the roof is supported by the use of a roof bolter, after which the face has to be serviced before it can be advanced again. During servicing, the "continuous" miner moves to another face. Some continuous miners can bolt and rock dust the face, two major components of servicing, while cutting coal, while a trained crew may be able to advance ventilation, to truly earn the "continuous" label. However, very few mines are able to achieve it. Most continuous mining machines in use in the US lack the ability to bolt and dust. This may partly be because the incorporation of bolting makes the machines wider, and therefore, less maneuverable.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rock bolt {{!}} Reinforcement, Anchoring & Stability {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/rock-bolt |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Room and pillar|Room and pillar mining]] consists of coal deposits that are mined by cutting a network of rooms into the coal seam. Pillars of coal are left behind in order to keep up the roof. The pillars can make up to forty percent of the total coal in the seam, however, where there was space to leave the head and floor coal there is evidence from recent open cast excavations that 18th-century operators used a variety of room and pillar techniques to remove 92 percent of the ''in situ'' coal. However, this can be extracted at a later stage (''see'' [[retreat mining]]).<ref name="CoalMining2009">{{cite web|title=Coal Mining. World Coal|work= World Coal Institute |date=10 March 2009 |url=http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=92>|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090428202846/http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=92|archive-date=28 April 2009}}</ref>
* [[Rock blasting|Blast mining]] or conventional mining, is an older practice that uses [[explosive]]s such as [[dynamite]] to break up the coal seam, after which the coal is gathered and loaded onto shuttle cars or conveyors for removal to a central loading area. This process consists of a series of operations that begins with "cutting" the coalbed so it will break easily when blasted with explosives. This type of mining accounts for less than 5 percent of total underground production in the US today.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}
* [[Retreat mining]] is a method in which the pillars or coal ribs used to hold up the mine roof are extracted; allowing the mine roof to collapse as the mining works back towards the entrance. This is one of the most dangerous forms of mining, owing to imperfect predictability of when the roof will collapse and possibly crush or trap workers in the mine.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

==Production==
{{Main|Major coal producing regions}}
[[File:Coal mine in Inner Mongolia 002.jpg|thumb|A lignite brown coal mine in [[Inner Mongolia]], China]]
[[File:Loy Yang open cut brown coal mine and dredgers.jpg|thumb|A lignite mine in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], Australia]]
[[File:Historical coal production of different countries.svg|thumb|The historical coal production of various countries]]
Coal is mined commercially in over 50 countries. 7,921 million metric tons (Mt) of coal were produced in 2019, a 70% increase over the 20 years since 1999. In 2018, the world production of [[brown coal|brown coal (lignite)]] was 803.2 Mt, with Germany the world's largest producer at 166.3 Mt. China is most likely the second largest producer and consumer of lignite globally although specific lignite production data is not made available.<ref name=iea-2020>{{cite web |title=Coal Information: Overview |url=https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-information-overview |publisher=International Energy Agency |access-date=4 November 2020 |location=Paris |date=July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=Coal Information: Overview |url=https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/c40f0317-f8e6-4f00-b183-27a24c7b6a8f/Coal_Information_2019_Overview.pdf |publisher=International Energy Agency |access-date=4 November 2020 |location=Paris |date=2019}}</ref>

Coal production has grown fastest in Asia, while Europe has declined. Since 2011, world coal production has been stable, with decreases in Europe and US offset by increases from China, Indonesia and Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy/coal/coal-production.html|title=Coal production {{!}} Coal {{!}} Statistical Review of World Energy {{!}} Energy economics {{!}} BP|website=bp.com|language=en|access-date=10 November 2017}}</ref> The top coal mining nations are:
{| class="wikitable"
|+2019 estimate of total coal production
!Country
!Production<ref name="Enerdata">{{cite web |title=Coal and lignite production |url=https://yearbook.enerdata.net/coal-lignite/coal-production-data.html |website=Global Energy Statistical Yearbook |publisher=Enerdata |access-date=4 November 2020 |location=Grenoble, France |date=2020}}</ref>
|-
|[[People's Republic of China|China]]
|3,692 Mt
|-
|[[India]]
|745 Mt
|-
|[[United States]]
|640 Mt
|-
|[[Indonesia]]
|585 Mt
|-
|[[Australia]]
|500 Mt
|-
|[[Russia]]
|425 Mt
|-
|[[South Africa]]
|264 Mt
|-
|[[Germany]]
|132 Mt
|-
|[[Kazakhstan]]
|117 Mt
|-
|[[Poland]]
|112 Mt
|}

=== Economic impact ===
Energy production from coal mining is highly concentrated in certain jurisdictions, which also concentrates much of the social and economic impacts of the industry to these regions.<ref name=":1">Table is extracted from {{Cite journal|last1=Pai|first1=Sandeep|last2=Zerriffi|first2=Hisham|last3=Jewell|first3=Jessica|last4=Pathak|first4=Jaivik|date=6 March 2020|title=Solar has greater techno-economic resource suitability than wind for replacing coal mining jobs|journal=Environmental Research Letters|language=en|volume=15|issue=3|pages=034065|doi=10.1088/1748-9326/ab6c6d|bibcode=2020ERL....15c4065P|issn=1748-9326|doi-access=free|hdl=11250/2765429|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The industry directly employs over seven million workers worldwide, which, in turn, creates millions of indirect jobs.<ref name=":1" /> 

In several parts of the world, producers have reached [[peak coal]] as some economies shift away from fossil fuels to address climate change. A 2020 study found that renewables jobs could feasibly be created in these geographies to replace many of the coal mining jobs as part of a [[just transition]]; however, renewable energy was not suitable in some of the geographies with high concentrations of miners, such as in China, which is far and away the leading coal-mining nation.<ref name=":1" />
{| class="wikitable"
| colspan="6" |2018 coal production, reserves, miners, and major coal-producing regions for [[China]], [[India]], the [[United States]], and [[Australia]], which account for approximately 70% of global annual coal production. The following table includes jurisdictions which are the top coal-producing provinces and states, responsible for over 85% of each country's coal production.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ivanova|first1=Diana|last2=Barrett|first2=John|last3=Wiedenhofer|first3=Dominik|last4=Macura|first4=Biljana|last5=Callaghan|first5=Max W|last6=Creutzig|first6=Felix|author6-link=Felix Creutzig|date=1 April 2020|title=Quantifying the potential for climate change mitigation of consumption options|journal=Environmental Research Letters|volume=15|issue=9|page=093001|doi=10.1088/1748-9326/ab8589|bibcode=2020ERL....15i3001I|issn=1748-9326|doi-access=free}}</ref>
|-
!Country
!Coal production (million tonnes)
!Coal reserves (million tonnes)
!Coal miners (thousands)
!Top producing provinces or states
!% of national production covered
|-
|[[Coal in China|China]]
|3349
|138,819
|6110
|[[Shanxi]], [[Shaanxi]], [[Anhui]], [[Heilongjiang]], [[Xinjiang]], [[Shandong]], [[Henan]], [[Guizhou]]
|90%
|-
|[[Coal mining in india|India]]
|717
|97,728
|485
|[[Chhattisgarh]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Orissa]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Telangana]]
|85%
|-
|[[Coal mining in the United States|United States]]
|701
|250,916
|52
|[[Illinois]], [[Indiana]], [[Kentucky]], [[Montana]], [[North Dakota]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Texas]], [[West Virginia]], and [[Wyoming]]
|90%
|-
|[[Coal in Australia|Australia]]
|478
|144,818
|50
|[[New South Wales]], [[Queensland]], [[Victoria, Australia]]
|99%
|}

=== Waste and refuse ===
{{Excerpt|Coal refuse}}

====Disasters====
{{Excerpt|Coal refuse|Disasters}}

==Modern mining==
[[File:Coal Miner Laser Profiling.png|thumb|Laser profiling of a mine site by a coal miner using a Maptek I-site laser scanner in 2014]]
The use of sophisticated sensing equipment to monitor air quality is common and has replaced the use of small animals such as canaries, often referred to as "[[domestic Canary#Miner's canary|miner's canaries]]".<ref>{{cite web| last=Engelbert| first=Phillis| title=Energy – What Is A "Miner's Canary"?| url=http://www.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/energy/what-miners-canary| publisher=enotes| access-date=18 August 2010| archive-date=1 October 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001041554/http://www.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/energy/what-miners-canary| url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the United States, the increase in technology has significantly decreased the mining workforce. in 2015 US coal mines had 65,971 employees, the lowest figure since [[Energy Information Administration|EIA]] began collecting data in 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eia.gov/coal/annual/|title=Annual Coal Report – Energy Information Administration|website=www.eia.gov}}</ref> However, a 2016 study reported that a relatively minor investment would allow most coal workers to retrain for the solar energy industry.<ref name=Louie>{{cite journal|last1=Louie|first1=Edward P.|last2=Pearce|first2=Joshua M.|title=Retraining investment for U.S. transition from coal to solar photovoltaic employment|journal=Energy Economics|date=June 2016|volume=57|pages=295–302|doi=10.1016/j.eneco.2016.05.016|bibcode=2016EneEc..57..295L |s2cid=156845876 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02113504/file/Retraining_Investment_for_U.S._Transitio.pdf}}</ref>

== Safety ==
{{See also|Mine safety|Mining accident}}
===Dangers to miners===
[[File:Farmington-Mine-Disaster-smoke.jpg|thumb|The [[Farmington Mine disaster]], which killed 78 people in [[West Virginia]] in 1968]]
[[File:Miner spirometry (9253624711).jpg|thumb|Miners can be regularly monitored for reduced lung function due to coal dust exposure using [[spirometry]].]] 
Coal mining has been a very dangerous activity and the list of historical coal [[mining disasters]] is long. In the U.S., 104,895 coal miners were killed in mine accidents since 1900,<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 7, 2010 |title=Former Miner Explains Culture Of Mining |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125676950}}</ref> 90 percent of the fatalities occurring in the first half of the 20th century. 3,242 died in 1907, the worst year ever; in 2020 there were five.<ref name="MSHA">{{cite web |title=Coal Fatalities for 1900 Through 2020 |url=https://arlweb.msha.gov/stats/centurystats/coalstats.asp |publisher=U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration |access-date=11 November 2021 |location=Arlington, Virginia}}</ref>

Open cut hazards are principally mine wall failures and vehicle collisions; underground mining hazards include suffocation, gas poisoning, roof collapse, [[rock burst]], [[outburst (mining)|outbursts]], and [[gas]] explosions.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[Firedamp]] explosions can trigger the far more dangerous [[coal dust]] explosions, which can engulf an entire mine. Most of these risks are greatly reduced in modern mines, and multiple fatality incidents are now rare in most parts of the developed world. Modern coal mining in the US has an average 23 deaths per year due to mine accidents (2001–2020).<ref name="MSHA"/><ref>OccupationalHazards.com. [http://www.occupationalhazards.com/Issue/Article/38114/Breathing_Easy_Respiratory_Protection_in_Coal_Mines.aspx "Respiratory Protection in Coal Mines."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423220800/http://www.occupationalhazards.com/Issue/Article/38114/Breathing_Easy_Respiratory_Protection_in_Coal_Mines.aspx |date=23 April 2008 }}</ref>
However, in lesser developed countries and some developing countries, many miners continue to die annually, either through direct accidents in coal mines or through adverse health consequences from working under poor conditions. [[Coal power in China|China]], in particular, has the highest number of coal mining related deaths in the world, with official statistics claiming that 6,027 deaths occurred in 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clb.org.hk/public/contents/news?revision_id=19324&item_id=19316|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930122719/http://www.clb.org.hk/public/contents/news?revision_id=19324&item_id=19316|archive-date=30 September 2007|title=CLB :: Deconstructing deadly details from China's coal mine safety statistics|date=30 September 2007}}</ref> To compare, 28 deaths were reported in the U.S. in the same year.<ref>US Mine Safety and Health Administration. [http://www.msha.gov/stats/charts/coalbystates.pdf "Statistics – Coal Mining Fatalities by State – Calendar Year."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223160802/http://www.msha.gov/stats/charts/coalbystates.pdf |date=23 February 2011 }}</ref> Coal production in China is twice that in the US,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=104|title=Home|website=World Coal Association|access-date=24 October 2006|archive-date=30 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430214615/http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=104|url-status=dead}}</ref> while the number of coal miners is around 50 times that of the US, making deaths in coal mines in China 4 times as common per worker (108 times as common per unit output) as in the US.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Mine disasters have still occurred in recent years in the U.S.,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. |year=2006 |title=Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary |location=Washington D.C. |url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm}}</ref> Examples include the [[Sago Mine disaster]] of 2006, and the 2007 mine accident in [[Utah]]'s [[Crandall Canyon Mine]], where nine miners were killed and six entombed.<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |date=4 September 2007 |title=Panel to Explore Deadly Mine Accident |newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Utah-Mine-Collapse.html}}</ref> In the decade 2005–2014, US coal mining fatalities averaged 28 per year.<ref>[http://arlweb.msha.gov/stats/centurystats/coalstats.asp Coal mining fatalities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419010203/http://arlweb.msha.gov/stats/centurystats/coalstats.asp |date=19 April 2016 }}, US Mine Safety and Health Administration, accessed 27 June 2016.</ref> The most fatalities during the 2005–2014 decade were 48 in 2010, the year of the [[Upper Big Branch Mine disaster]] in West Virginia, which killed 29 miners.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/us/10westvirginia.html
|title=No Survivors Found After West Virginia Mine Disaster |newspaper=The New York Times|date= 9 April 2010 |first=Ian| last=Urbina}}</ref>

Chronic [[lung]] diseases, such as [[pneumoconiosis]] (black lung) were once common in miners, leading to reduced [[life expectancy]]. In some mining countries black lung is still common, with 4,000 new cases of black lung every year in the US (4 percent of workers annually) and 10,000 new cases every year in China (0.2 percent of workers).<ref>[http://www.abelard.org/briefings/fossil_fuel_disasters.php Abelard.org], "Fossil fuel disasters".</ref> The use of water sprays in mining equipment reduces the risk to miners' lungs.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jacquelyn L. Banasik|title=Pathophysiology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M4lIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA504|year=2018|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|page=504|isbn=9780323510424}}</ref>

====Damps {{anchor|damp|damps}}====

Build-ups of a hazardous gas are known as damps, possibly from the German word {{Lang|de|Dampf}} which means steam or vapor:
* [[Black damp]]: a mixture of [[carbon dioxide]] and [[nitrogen]] in a mine can cause suffocation, and is formed as a result of corrosion in enclosed spaces so removing [[oxygen]] from the atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haldane |first=John |author-link=John Scott Haldane |date=1894 |title=Notes of an Enquiry into the Nature and Physiological Action of Black-Damp, as Met with in Podmore Colliery, Staffordshire, and Lilleshall Colliery, Shropshire |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/115391 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London |volume=57 |pages=249–257 |bibcode=1894RSPS...57..249H |jstor=115391}}</ref>
* [[Afterdamp|After damp]]: similar to black damp, after damp consists of [[carbon monoxide]], [[carbon dioxide]] and nitrogen and forms after a mine explosion.
* [[Firedamp|Fire damp]]: consists of mostly [[methane]], a highly flammable gas that explodes between 5% and 15% – at 25% it causes [[asphyxiation]].
* [[Hydrogen sulfide|Stink damp]]: so named for the rotten egg smell of the [[hydrogen sulfide]] gas, stink damp can explode and is also very toxic.
* [[Carbon monoxide|White damp]]: air containing carbon monoxide which is toxic, even at low concentrations
* A heavy curtain used to direct air currents in mines and prevent the buildup of dangerous gases is known as a ''damp sheet''.

====Noise====

Noise is also a contributing factor to potential adverse effects on coal miners' health. Exposure to excessive noise can lead to [[noise-induced hearing loss]]. Hearing loss developed as a result of occupational exposures is coined [[occupational hearing loss]]. To protect miners' hearing, the US [[Mine Safety and Health Administration]]'s (MSHA) guidelines for noise place a Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for noise at 90 dBA time-weighted over 8 hours. A lower cutoff, 85 dBA, is set for a worker to fall into the MSHA Action Level which dictates that workers be placed into hearing conservation programs.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Noise exposures vary depending on the method of extraction. For example, a study has found that among surface coal mine operations, dragline equipment produced the loudest sound at a range of 88–112 dBA.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bauer|first=ER|date=April 2004|title=Worker exposure and equipment noise in large surface coal mines.|journal=Min Eng|volume=56|pages=49–54}}</ref> Within longwall sections, stageloaders used to transport coal from the mining face and shearers used for extraction represent some of the highest noise exposures.  Auxiliary fans (up to 120 dBA), continuous mining machines (up to 109 dBA), and roof bolters (up to 103 dBA) represent some of the noisiest equipment within continuous mining sections.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/works/coversheet1107.html|title=Summary of Longwall and Continuous Miner Section Noise Studies in Underground Coal Mines|website=www.cdc.gov|date=25 October 2016 |language=en-us|access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref> Exposures to noise exceeding 90 dBA can lead to adverse effects on workers' hearing. The use of [[administrative controls]] and [[engineering controls]] can be used to reduce noise exposures.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Safety improvements===
[[File:Make it Safer with Roof Screen.webm|thumb|A video on the use of rock bolts and roof screens in underground mines]]
Improvements in mining methods (e.g. longwall mining), hazardous gas monitoring (such as [[safety-lamp]]s or more modern electronic gas monitors), gas drainage, [[Electrical equipment in hazardous areas|electrical equipment]], and ventilation have reduced many of the risks of rock falls, explosions, and unhealthy air quality. Gases released during the mining process can be recovered to generate electricity and improve worker safety with [[gas engines]].<ref>[http://www.clarke-energy.com/gas-type/coal-gas/ Coal Gas Utilisation], www.clarke-energy.com</ref> Another innovation in recent years is the use of [[Self-contained self-rescue device|closed circuit escape respirator]]s, respirators that contain oxygen for situations where mine ventilation is compromised.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2013/08/07/super-workplace/ |title = The Importance of Occupational Safety and Health: Making for a "Super" Workplace |date = 7 August 2013 |access-date = 15 January 2015 |first1 = Jaclyn |last1 = Krah |first2 = Richard L. |last2 = Unger |publisher = National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health}}</ref> Statistical analyses performed by the US Department of Labor's [[Mine Safety and Health Administration]] (MSHA) show that between 1990 and 2004, the industry cut the rate of injuries by more than half and fatalities by two-thirds. But according to the [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]], even in 2006, mining remained the second most dangerous occupation in America, when measured by [[mortality rate|fatality rate]].<ref name="laborbureau2006">U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. [http://stats.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfch0005.pdf Stats.bls.gov]</ref>{{Verify source|date=May 2015}} These numbers, however, include all mining activities, and [[oil well|oil and gas mining]] contribute to the majority of fatalities. Coal mining resulted in 47 fatalities that year.<ref name="laborbureau2006"/> One study, though, has suggested that hazards of modern mining are now more accretive with workers facing long-term health impacts, such as sleep deprivation, that build up over time.<ref name="T3">Ryan Driskell Tate, "Slow Violence and Hidden Injuries: The Work of Stripmining in the American West," ''Violence of Work: New Essays in Canadian and US Labour History'' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020).</ref>

==Environmental impacts==
{{Excerpt|Health and environmental impact of the coal industry|Impact to land and surroundings}}

==Coal mining by country==
{{See also| Coal in Europe}}
[[File:Top coal production countries.svg|thumb|The six largest coal producing nations as of 2015, according to the [[United States Energy Information Agency|U.S. Energy Information Agency]]]]
'''Top 10 hard and brown coal producers''' in 2012 were (in million metric tons): [[Energy in China|China]] 3,621, [[Coal mining in the United States|United States]] 922, [[Coal mining in India|India]] 629, [[Coal mining in Australia|Australia]] 432, [[Energy in Indonesia|Indonesia]] 410, [[Energy in Russia|Russia]] 351, [[Energy in South Africa|South Africa]] 261, [[Energy in Germany|Germany]] 196, [[Energy in Poland|Poland]] 144, and [[Energy in Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]] 122.<ref name="öljy">[http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2010/key_stats_2010.pdf IEA Key energy statistics 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011091637/http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2010/key_stats_2010.pdf |date=11 October 2010 }} pages 11, 21</ref><ref>US Energy Information Administration, [http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/IEDIndex3.cfm?tid=1&pid=7&aid=1 International energy statistics], accessed 29 December 2013.</ref>

===Australia===
[[File:SLNSW 31753 Balmain Coal Mine for LJ Hooker Ltd.jpg|thumb|A balmain coal mine in [[Sydney]], Australia, in 1950]]
{{Main|Coal mining in Australia}}
Coal has been mined in every state of Australia, but mainly in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It is mostly used to generate electricity, and 75% of annual coal production is exported, mostly to eastern Asia.

In 2007, 428&nbsp;million tonnes of coal was mined in Australia.<ref name="eia.doe.gov"/> In 2007, coal provided about 85% of Australia's electricity production.<ref name="modern">{{cite web |url=http://www.gc3.cqu.edu.au/modern-world/index.php#australia |title=The Importance of Coal in the Modern World – Australia |publisher=Gladstone Centre for Clean Coal |access-date=17 March 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070208111031/http://gc3.cqu.edu.au/modern-world/index.php#australia <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 8 February 2007}}</ref> In the fiscal year 2008/09, 487&nbsp;million tonnes of coal was mined, and 261&nbsp;million tonnes was exported.<ref name="ABARE2009">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.abareconomics.com/publications_html/ams/ams_09/ams_sept09.pdf 
 |title=Australia Mineral Statistics 2009 – June Quarter 
 |publisher=Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics 
 |access-date=3 October 2009 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707074336/http://www.abareconomics.com/publications_html/ams/ams_09/ams_sept09.pdf 
 |archive-date=7 July 2011 }}</ref> In the fiscal year 2013/14, 430.9&nbsp;million tonnes of coal was mined, and 375.1&nbsp;million tonnes was exported.<ref name="raegsept2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.industry.gov.au/Office-of-the-Chief-Economist/Publications/Documents/req/Resource-and-Energy-Quarterly-September-2015.pdf |title=September 2015 – Resources and Energy Quarterly |date=September 2015 |publisher=Australia Office of the Chief Economist |pages=44, 56 |access-date=3 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117015150/http://www.industry.gov.au/Office-of-the-Chief-Economist/Publications/Documents/req/Resource-and-Energy-Quarterly-September-2015.pdf |archive-date=17 November 2015 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> In 2013/14, coal provided about 69% of Australia's electricity production.<ref name="wca">{{cite web
|url=http://www.worldcoal.org/resources/coal-statistics/
|title=Coal Statistics
|work=Today in Energy
|last=WCA
|publisher=World Coal Association
|date=September 2014
|access-date=3 May 2015
|archive-date=14 February 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214224228/http://www.worldcoal.org/resources/coal-statistics/
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>

In 2013, Australia was the world's fifth-largest coal producer, after China, the United States, India, and Indonesia. However, in terms of proportion of production exported, Australia is the world's second largest coal exporter, as it exports roughly 73% of its coal production. Indonesia exports about 87% of its coal production.<ref name="wca"/>

A court in Australia has cited climate change in ruling against a new coal mine.<ref>{{cite news|date=7 February 2019|title=Court rules out Hunter Valley coalmine on climate change grounds|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/08/court-rules-out-hunter-valley-coalmine-climate-change-rocky-hill}}</ref>

===Canada===
{{main|Coal in Canada}}
Canada was ranked as the [[List of countries by coal production|15th]] coal producing country in the world in 2010, with a total production of 67.9&nbsp;million tonnes. Canada's [[coal reserves]], the 12th largest in the world, are located largely in the province of [[Alberta]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asiapacificpartnership.org/pdf/Coalmining/expo_vegas/Overview_Canada_Coal_Sector.pdf |title=Overview of Canada's Coal Sector |work=Natural Resources Canada |access-date=6 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525231929/http://www.asiapacificpartnership.org/pdf/Coalmining/expo_vegas/Overview_Canada_Coal_Sector.pdf |archive-date=25 May 2013 |url-status=usurped  }}</ref>

The first coal mines in North America were located in [[Joggins]] and [[Port Morien]], [[Nova Scotia]], mined by French settlers beginning in the late 1600s. The coal was used for the British garrison at [[Annapolis Royal]], and in the construction of the [[Fortress of Louisbourg]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Chile===
{{Main|Coal mining in Chile}}
Compared to other South American countries Chile has limited coal resources. Only Argentina is similarly poor.<ref name=rebelion>{{cite web|url=http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=221084 |publisher=[[Rebelion.org]]|title=Carbón 2.0, otro capítulo de la saga no convencional|trans-title=Coal 2.0, another chapter of the non-conventional energy saga|author=Hernán Scandizzo|date=31 December 2016|access-date=16 January 2017|language=es}}</ref> Coal in Chile is mostly [[sub-bituminous coal|sub-bituminous]] with the exception of the [[bituminous coal]]s of the [[Arauco Basin]] in central Chile.<ref name=Davis1990>{{cite conference |title=Breves recuerdos de algunas actividades mineras del carbón |last1=Davis |first1=Eliodoro Martín|date=1990 |publisher=Departamento de Geociencias, Facultad de Ciencias, [[Universidad de Concepción]] |book-title=Actas |pages=189–203 |location=Santiago, Chile |conference=Segundo Simposio sobre el Terciario de Chile |language=es}}</ref>

===China===
{{Main|Coal power in China}}
[[China]] is by far the largest producer of coal in the world, producing over 2.8&nbsp;billion tons of coal in 2007, or approximately 39.8 percent of all coal produced in the world during that year.<ref name="eia.doe.gov">{{cite web|publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration|year=2008 |title=World Coal Production, Most Recent Estimates 1980–2007 (October 2008) |url= http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/coalproduction.html }}</ref> For comparison, the second largest producer, the United States, produced more than 1.1&nbsp;billion tons in 2007. An estimated 5&nbsp;million people work in China's coal-mining industry. As many as 20,000 miners die in accidents each year.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070305132334/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1595235,00.html "Where The Coal Is Stained With Blood."] ''Time'', 2 March 2007.</ref> Most Chinese mines are deep underground and do not produce the surface disruption typical of strip mines. Although there is some evidence of [[mine reclamation|reclamation]] of mined land for use as parks, China does not require extensive reclamation and is creating significant acreages of [[abandoned mined land]], which is unsuitable for agriculture or other human uses, and inhospitable to indigenous wildlife. Chinese underground mines often experience severe surface [[subsidence]] (6–12 meters), negatively impacting farmland because it no longer drains well. China uses some subsidence areas for [[Aquaculture in China|aquaculture]] ponds but has more than they need for that purpose. Reclamation of subsided ground is a significant problem in China. Because most Chinese coal is for domestic consumption, and is burned with little or no [[air pollution]] control equipment, it contributes greatly to visible smoke and severe air pollution in industrial areas using coal for fuel. China's total energy uses 67% from coal mines.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Colombia===
Some of the world's largest coal reserves are located in South America, and an opencast mine at [[Cerrejón]] in [[Colombia]] is one of the world's largest [[open pit]] mines. The output of the mine in 2004 was 24.9&nbsp;million tons compared to total global hard coal production of 4,600&nbsp;million tons. Cerrejón contributed about half of Colombia's coal exports of 52&nbsp;million tons that year, with Colombia ranked sixth among major coal exporting nations. The company planned to expand production to 32&nbsp;million tons by 2008. The company has its own 150&nbsp;km standard-gauge railroad, connecting the mine to its coal-loading terminal at Puerto Bolívar on the Caribbean coast. There are two 120-car unit trains, each carrying 12,000 tons of coal per trip. The round-trip time for each train, including loading and unloading, is about 12 hours. The coal facilities at the port are capable of loading 4,800 tons per hour onto vessels of up to 175,000 tons of dead weight. The mine, railroad and port operate 24 hours per day. Cerrejón directly employs 4,600 workers, with a further 3,800 employed by contractors. The reserves at Cerrejón are low-sulfur, low-ash, bituminous coal. The coal is mostly used for electric power generation, with some also used in [[steel]] manufacture. The surface mineable reserves for the current contract are 330&nbsp;million tons. However, total proven reserves to a depth of 300 metres are 3,000&nbsp;million tons.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The expansion of the Cerrejón mine has been blamed for the forced displacement of local communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://media.wix.com/ugd/c04a21_55722707895847839433655205a851ff.pdf|title=DIGGING DEEPER: THE HUMAN RIGHTS IMPACTS OF COAL IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cerrejon.com/site/Portals/0/Documents/pdf/tpr/INFORME_FINAL_PANEL_2008.pdf|title=Carbones del Cerrejón y Responsabilidad Social: Una revisión independiente de los impactos y del objetivo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315174624/http://www.cerrejon.com/site/Portals/0/Documents/pdf/tpr/INFORME_FINAL_PANEL_2008.pdf|archive-date=15 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Germany===
[[File:Ende Gelände 2017 CHB 23 (cropped).jpg|thumb|An [[Open-pit mining|open-pit]] coal mine in the [[Rheinisches Braunkohlerevier|Rhineland lignite mining area]] in Germany.]]
[[Germany]] has a long history of coal mining, going back to the [[Middle Ages]]. Coal mining greatly increased during the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the following decades. The main mining areas were around [[Aachen]] and the [[Ruhr]] area, along with many smaller areas in other parts of Germany, and until 1945 also in [[Upper Silesia]], while the [[Saarland]] was repeatedly under French control. These areas grew and were shaped by coal mining and coal processing, and this is still visible even after the end of the coal mining.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Czierpka|first=Juliane|title=Der Ruhrbergbau. Von der Industrialisierung bis zur Kohlenkrise|url=https://www.bpb.de/apuz/283262/der-ruhrbergbau-von-der-industrialisierung-bis-zur-kohlenkrise|access-date=2022-01-12|website=bpb.de|date=4 January 2019 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Die Route der Industriekultur|url=https://www.ruhr-tourismus.de/de/industriekulturruhr/route-der-industriekultur.html|access-date=2022-01-12|website=www.ruhr-tourismus.de|language=de|archive-date=25 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225093906/https://www.ruhr-tourismus.de/de/industriekulturruhr/route-der-industriekultur.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Open pit coal mine in Germany (9260).jpg|thumb|An excavator in the Welzow South open pit coal mine in Germany.]]
Coal mining reached its peak in the first half of the 20th century. After 1950, the coal producers started to struggle financially. In 1975, a subsidy was introduced (''Kohlepfennig'', ''coal penny'' as part of the electricity bill), which was discontinued in the 1990s. In 2007, due to EU regulations, the [[Bundestag]] decided to end subsidies by 2018. As a consequence, [[RAG AG]], the owner of the two remaining coal mines in Germany, Prosper Haniel and Ibbenbüren, announced it would close all mines by 2018, thus ended underground coal mining in Germany.

Open pit lignite mining for electricity continues in Nordrhein-Westfalen, and in the eastern states of Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

===Greece===
Lignite has been mined in [[Greece]] since 1873, and today supplies approximately 75% of the country's energy. The main mining areas are located in Western Macedonia ([[Ptolemaida]]) and the Peloponnese ([[Megalopoli Mine|Megalopolis]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.miningreece.com/mining-greece/minerals/coal/|title = Mining Greece Coal}}</ref>

===India===
{{Main|Coal mining in India}}
[[File:Coal Mine.jpg|thumb|A coal mine in [[Jharia]], India]]
Coal mining in India has a long history of commercial exploitation starting in 1774 with John Sumner and [[Suetonius Grant Heatly]] of the [[East India Company]] in the [[Raniganj Coalfield]] along the Western bank of [[Damodar River]]. Demand for coal remained low until the introduction of steam locomotives in 1853. After this, production rose to an annual average of 1 Mt and India produced 6.12 Mt per year by 1900 and 18 Mt per year by 1920, following increased demand in the First World War, but went through a slump in the early thirties. The production reached a level of 29 Mt by 1942 and 30 Mt by 1946. After independence, the country embarked upon five-year development plans. At the beginning of the 1st Plan, annual production went up to 33 Mt. During the 1st Plan period, the need for increasing coal production efficiently by systematic and scientific development of the coal industry was being felt. Setting up the National Coal Development Corporation (NCDC), a Government of India undertaking, in 1956 with the collieries owned by the railways as its nucleus was the first major step towards planned development of Indian Coal Industry. Along with the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) which was already in operation since 1945 and which became a government company under the control of Government of Andhra Pradesh in 1956, India thus had two Government coal companies in the fifties. SCCL is now a joint undertaking of Government of Telangana and Government of India.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Japan===
{{Main|List of coal mines in Japan}}
[[File:Daikodo of Horonai Coal Mine.jpg|thumb|Daikōdō, the first [[adit]] of the [[Hokutan Horonai coal mine|Horonai mine]], dug in 1879]]
The richest Japanese coal deposits have been found on [[Hokkaido]] and [[Kyushu]].

Japan has a long history of coal mining dating back into the [[Sengoku period|Japanese Middle Ages]]. It is said that coal was first discovered in 1469 by a farming couple near [[Ōmuta, Fukuoka|Ōmuta]], central Kyushu.<ref>Kodama Kiyoomi, Sekitan no gijutsushi, p. 19</ref> In 1478, farmers discovered burning stones in the north of the island, which led to the exploitation of the Chikuhõ coalfield.<ref>Honda Tatsumi, Honda Tatsumi shashinshũ tankō ōsai, p. 165</ref>

Following Japanese industrialization, additional coalfields were discovered in northern Japan. One of the first mines in Hokkaido was the [[Hokutan Horonai coal mine]].<ref>Kasuga Yutaka, [http://d-arch.ide.go.jp/je_archive/pdf/workingpaper/je_unu48.pdf Transfer and Development of Coal-Mine Technology in Hokkaido], pp. 11–20.</ref>

===New Zealand===
{{excerpt|Mining in New Zealand|section = Coal}}

===Poland===
{{Excerpt|Coal mining in Poland}}

===Russia===
Russia ranked as the [[List of countries by coal production|fifth largest coal producing country]] in 2010, with a total production of 316.9 Mt. Russia has the world's second largest coal reserves.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2007/STAGING/local_assets/downloads/spreadsheets/statistical_review_full_report_workbook_2007.xls |title=BP Statistical review of world energy June 2007 |publisher=BP |format=XLS |date=June 2007 |access-date=22 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206104056/http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2007/STAGING/local_assets/downloads/spreadsheets/statistical_review_full_report_workbook_2007.xls |archive-date=6 February 2009 }}</ref> Although Russian oil and gas exports get a lot more attention, Russia is the world's third largest coal exporter and these exports are an important source of foreign revenue and are important for the coal mining communities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Overland |first1=Indra |last2=Loginova |first2=Julia |date=2023-08-01 |title=The Russian coal industry in an uncertain world: Finally pivoting to Asia? |journal=Energy Research & Social Science |volume=102 |pages=103150 |doi=10.1016/j.erss.2023.103150 |issn=2214-6296|doi-access=free |bibcode=2023ERSS..10203150O }}</ref> Russia and Norway share the coal resources of the Arctic archipelago of [[Svalbard]], under the [[Svalbard Treaty]].{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

===Spain===
{{See also|Mining Basins (Asturias)}}
Spain was ranked as the [[List of countries by coal production|30th]] coal producing country in the world in 2010. The coal miners of Spain were active in the [[Spanish Civil War]] on the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican side]]. In October 1934, in [[Asturias]], union miners and others suffered a [[Revolution of 1934|fifteen-day siege]] in Oviedo and Gijon. There is a museum dedicated to coal mining in the region of [[Catalonia]], called [[Cercs Mine Museum]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In October 2018, the [[Sánchez I Government|Sánchez government]] and Spanish [[Labour union]]s settled an agreement to close ten Spanish coal mines at the end of 2018. The government pre-engaged to spend 250&nbsp;million Euro to pay for early retirements, occupational retraining and structural change. In 2018, about 2,3 per cent of the electric energy produced in Spain was produced in [[coal-burning power plant]]s.<ref>theguardian.com 26. October 2018: [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/26/spain-to-close-most-coal-mines-after-striking-250m-deal ''Spain to close most coal mines after striking €250m deal'']</ref>

===South Africa===
{{Main|Coal in South Africa#Mining}}
South Africa is one of the ten largest coal producing countries<ref name="tubf-schmidt">{{cite web|url=http://www.geo.tu-freiberg.de/oberseminar/os07_08/stephan_Schmidt.pdf|title=Coal deposits of South Africa – the future of coal mining in South Africa|last=Schmidt|first=Stephan|publisher=Institute for Geology, [[Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg]]|access-date=14 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="wci-mining">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/coal-mining/|title=Coal Mining|publisher=[[World Coal Institute]]|access-date=14 January 2010}}</ref> and the fourth largest coal exporting country<ref name="dme-coal">{{cite web|url=http://www.dme.gov.za/energy/coal.stm |title=Coal |publisher=Department of Minerals and Energy (South Africa) |access-date=14 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202053007/http://www.dme.gov.za/energy/coal.stm |archive-date=2 December 2009 }}</ref> in the world.

===Taiwan===
[[File:New Pinghsi Coal Tunnel.JPG|thumb|An abandoned coal mine in the [[Pingxi District]] of [[New Taipei]], Taiwan]]
In [[Taiwan]], coal is distributed mainly in the northern area. All of the commercial coal deposits occurred in three [[Miocene]] coal-bearing formations, which are the Upper, the Middle, and the Lower Coal Measures. The Middle Coal Measures was the most important with its wide distribution, great number of coal beds and extensive potential reserves. Taiwan has coal reserves estimated to be 100–180 Mt. However, coal output had been small, amounting to 6,948 metric tonnes per month from 4 pits before it ceased production effectively in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web3.moeaboe.gov.tw/ECW/english/content/ContentLink.aspx?menu_id=1540 |title=Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C. – Energy Statistical annual Reports |publisher=Web3.moeaboe.gov.tw |access-date=21 September 2018 |archive-date=19 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119222336/http://web3.moeaboe.gov.tw/ecw/english/content/contentlink.aspx?menu_id=1540 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

The abandoned coal mine in [[Pingxi District]], [[New Taipei]], has now turned into the [[Taiwan Coal Mine Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/coal/as/tw/p0005.htm |title=Coal Mining in Taiwan (ROC) – Overview |publisher=Mbendi.com |access-date=26 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017075643/http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/coal/as/tw/p0005.htm |archive-date=17 October 2015 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

=== Turkey ===
{{Excerpt|Coal in Turkey|Coalfields and mines}}

===Ukraine===
{{Main|Coal in Ukraine}}
In 2012 coal production in [[Ukraine]] amounted to 85.946&nbsp;million tonnes, up 4.8% from 2011.<ref name=CUIU30813/> Coal consumption that same year grew to 61.207&nbsp;million tonnes, up 6.2% compared with 2011.<ref name=CUIU30813>[http://www.interfax.co.uk/ukraine-news/ukraine-plans-to-reach-extraction-of-105-m-t-of-coal-a-year-says-president/ Ukraine plans to reach extraction of 105 m t of coal a year, says president], [[Interfax-Ukraine]] (30 August 2013) {{Cite web |url=https://interfax.com/ |title=Interfax |access-date=24 July 2020 |archive-date=4 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404110823/https://interfax.com/ |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>

More than 90 percent of Ukraine's coal production comes from the [[Donets Basin]].<ref>[http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/coal/as/ua/p0005.htm Ukraine – Mining: Coal Mining ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017075643/http://www.mbendi.com/indy/ming/coal/as/ua/p0005.htm |date=17 October 2015 }}</ref> The country's coal industry employs about 500,000 people.<ref>[http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Ukraine/Coal.html Ukraine – Coal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090723185045/http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Ukraine/Coal.html |date=23 July 2009 }}, eia.doe.gov</ref> Ukrainian coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, and accidents are common.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14337475 Ukraine mine blast leaves 16 dead], [[BBC News]] (29 July 2011)</ref> Furthermore, the country is plagued with extremely dangerous [[illegal mine]]s.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_general/detail/108242/ Illegal mines profitable, but at massive cost to nation], [[Kyiv Post]] (8 July 2011)</ref>

===United Kingdom===
{{Excerpt|Coal mining in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:John Wilson Carmichael - A View of Murton Colliery near Seaham, County Durham - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Murton colliery near [[Seaham]], United Kingdom, in 1843]]

===United States===
{{Main|Coal mining in the United States}}
{{Further|:List of coal mines in the United States}}
[[File:GROUP OF MINERS WAITING TO GO TO WORK ON THE 4 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT SHIFT AT THE VIRGINIA-POCAHONTAS COAL COMPANY MINE ^4... - NARA - 556348.jpg|thumb|Miners at the Virginia-Pocahontas Coal Company Mine in 1974 waiting to go to work on the 4&nbsp;pm to midnight shift]]
Coal began being mined in the [[United States]] in the early 18th century, and commercial mining started around 1730 in [[Midlothian, Virginia]].<ref>MCCartney, Martha W. (1989). [http://www.midlomines.org/history.html "Historical Overview Of The Midlothian Coal Mining Company Tract, Chesterfield County, Virginia."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070419170121/http://www.midlomines.org/history.html |date=19 April 2007 }} December 1989.</ref>
The U.S. share of world coal production remained steady at about 20 percent from 1980 to 2005, at about 1&nbsp;billion [[short tons]] per year. The United States was ranked as the [[List of countries by coal production|second]] highest coal producing country in the world in 2010, and possesses the largest [[coal reserves]] in the world. In 2008 then-[[President George W. Bush]] stated that coal was the most reliable source of electricity.<ref>The White House, Washington, DC (2008). [https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080731-5.html "President Bush Attends 2008 Annual Meeting of the West Virginia Coal Association."] President George W. Bush Archives. Press release, 31 July 2008.</ref> 

In 2011, former U.S. president [[Barack Obama]] said that the U.S. should rely more on cleaner sources of energy that emit lower or no [[Greenhouse gas|carbon dioxide pollution]].<ref>{{cite news |title='Massive' Closures of U.S. Coal Plants Loom, Chu Says |first=Simon |last=Lomax |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-09/-massive-closures-of-u-s-coal-plants-loom-chu-says.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213054038/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-09/-massive-closures-of-u-s-coal-plants-loom-chu-says.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 February 2011 |newspaper=Bloomberg Business Week |date=9 February 2011}}</ref> For a time, while domestic coal consumption for electric power was being displaced by natural gas, exports grew.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.gov/coal/production/quarterly/|title=Quarterly Coal Report – Energy Information Administration|website=www.eia.gov}}</ref> U.S. net coal exports increased ninefold from 2006 to 2012, peaked at 117&nbsp;million short tons in 2012, then declined to 63&nbsp;million tons in 2015. In 2015, 60% of net US exports went to Europe, 27% to Asia.  US coal production increasingly comes from strip mines in the western United States, such as from the [[Powder River Basin]] in [[Wyoming]] and [[Montana]].<ref name="T1"/><ref name=SFC031713>{{cite news|title=Company eyes coal on Montana's Crow reservation|url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/energy/article/Company-eyes-coal-on-Montana-s-Crow-reservation-4361446.php|access-date=18 March 2013|newspaper=The San Francisco Chronicle|date=17 March 2013|author=Matthew Brown|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

Coal has come under continued price pressure from [[natural gas]] and [[renewable energy]], which has resulted in a rapid decline of coal in the U.S. and several notable bankruptcies including [[Peabody Energy]]. On 13 April 2016 the company reported that its revenue had reduced by 17 percent as coal prices fell and that it had lost two billion dollars the previous year.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/04/13/news/companies/peabody-coal-bankruptcy/index.html|title=Top U.S. coal company Peabody Energy files for bankruptcy|last1=Riley|first1=Charles|last2=Isidore|first2=Chris|website=CNNMoney|date=13 April 2016|access-date=13 April 2016}}</ref> It then filed [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] on 13 April 2016.<ref name=":0" /> ''[[Harvard Business Review]]'' addressed retraining coal workers for [[solar photovoltaic]] employment because of the rapid rise in U.S. solar jobs.<ref>[https://hbr.org/2016/08/what-if-all-u-s-coal-workers-were-retrained-to-work-in-solar What If All U.S. Coal Workers Were Retrained to Work in Solar?] – Harvard Business Review. August. 2016</ref> A 2016 study indicated that this was technically possible and would account for only 5% of the industrial revenue from a single year to provide coal workers with job security in the energy industry as whole.<ref name=Louie/>

[[Donald Trump]] pledged to bring back coal jobs during the [[2016 US presidential election]], and as president he announced plans to reduce environmental protection, particularly by repealing the [[Clean Power Plan]] (CPP). However, industry observers have warned that this might not lead to a boom in mining jobs<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rushe|first1=Dominic|title=Top US coal boss Robert Murray: Trump 'can't bring mining jobs back'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/27/us-coal-industry-clean-power-plan-donald-trump|access-date=29 March 2017|work=The Guardian|date=27 March 2017|location=London}}</ref> 

A 2019 projection by the [[Energy Information Administration]] estimated that coal production without CPP would decline over coming decades at a faster rate than indicated in the agency's 2017 projection, which had assumed the CPP was in effect.<ref>{{cite tweet |last=Crooks |first=Ed |user=Ed_Crooks |number=1089186288220192768 |date=26 January 2019 |title=President Obama's Clean Power Plan was expected to lead to a steep fall in US coal production. Now the plan has been blocked, and coal production is expected to fall even faster than if it had come into effect: https://t.co/HmhRutJnc2 https://t.co/qfF7LhefOY |language=en |access-date=30 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622174145/https://twitter.com/Ed_Crooks/status/1089186288220192768 |archive-date=22 June 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|
* {{annotated link|Black lung disease}}
* {{annotated link|George Bretz (photographer)}}
* {{annotated link|Child labour}}
* {{annotated link|Coal Measures}}
* {{annotated link|Coal mining in Plymouth, Pennsylvania}}
* {{annotated link|Coal slurry impoundment}}
* {{annotated link|Coal train}}
* {{annotated link|Coal-mining region}}
* {{annotated link|Glossary of coal mining terminology}}
* {{annotated link|Environmental impact of the coal industry}}
* {{annotated link|Environmental justice and coal mining in Appalachia}}
* {{annotated link|Hurrying}}
* {{annotated link|List of books about coal mining}}
* {{annotated link|Mine fire}}
* {{annotated link|Mining accident}}
* {{annotated link|Problems in coal mining}}
* {{annotated link|Land rehabilitation#Mine rehabilitation|Recovering of heat from old coal mines}}
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
* {{cite report |last=Ersoy |first=Mücella |year=2019 |title=Turkish coal mining sector: Current State, Strategy for the Future |url=http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/energy/images/CMM/CMM_CE/Turkey_2019/3._2019-_CBM_Workshop-M_Ersoy-100619.pdf |publisher=[[Turkish Coal Operations Authority]]}}
* {{cite report |title=Turkey Mining |year=2018 |author=Global Business Reports |url=https://www.gbreports.com/files/pdf/_2018/Turkey_Mining_2018_-_Web_Version.pdf}}

==Further reading==
{{Main|History of coal mining#Bibliography}}
{{Refbegin}}
* Baylies, Carolyn. ''History of the Yorkshire Miners 1881–1918'' (Routledge, 2003) in England [https://books.google.com/books?id=i4-JAgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 online].
* Chirons, Nicholas P. ''Coal Age Handbook of Coal Surface Mining'' ({{ISBN|0-07-011458-7}})
* {{cite web |author=Department of Trade and Industry, UK |title=The Coal Authority |url=http://www.coal.gov.uk/resources/cleanercoaltechnologies/CoalMineandbedmethane.cfm |access-date=16 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013144159/http://www.coal.gov.uk/resources/cleanercoaltechnologies/CoalMineandbedmethane.cfm |archive-date=13 October 2008 }}
* Faull, Margaret L. "Coal mining and the landscape of England, 1700 to the present day." ''Landscape History'' 30.1 (2008): 59–74.
* Gardner, A. Dudley. ''Forgotten frontier: A history of Wyoming coal mining'' (Routledge, 2019) [https://books.google.com/books?id=GUyfDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22coal+mining%22++%22wyoming%22+history&pg=PT7 online].
* Goin, Peter, and Elizabeth Raymond. "Living in anthracite: Mining landscape and sense of place in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania." ''Public Historian'' 23.2 (2001): 29–45. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/tph.2001.23.2.29 online]
* Hamilton, Michael S. ''Mining Environmental Policy: Comparing Indonesia and the USA'' (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005). ({{ISBN|0-7546-4493-6}}).
* Hinde, John Roderick. ''When coal was king: Ladysmith and the coal-mining industry on Vancouver Island'' (2003), in Canada [https://archive.org/details/whencoalwaskingl0000hind online]
* Kuenzer, Claudia. ''Coal Mining in China'' (In: Schumacher-Voelker, E., and Mueller, B., (Eds.), ''BusinessFocus China, Energy: A Comprehensive Overview of the Chinese Energy Sector'' ( Deutschland Verlag, 2007); 281 pp., {{ISBN|978-3-940114-00-6}} pp.&nbsp;62–68)
* Latzko, David A. "Coal mining and regional economic development in Pennsylvania, 1810–1980." ''Economies et Sociétés''  44 (2011): 1627–1649. [http://www.personal.psu.edu/~dxl31/research/articles/coal.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528042008/http://www.personal.psu.edu/~dxl31/research/articles/coal.pdf |date=28 May 2023 }}
* Lovejoy, Owen R. "The coal mines of Pennsylvania." ''The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' 38.1_suppl (1911): 133–138. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1011890.pdf online]
* Madsen, Peter M. "These lives will not be lost in vain: Organizational learning from disaster in US coal mining." ''Organization Science'' 20.5 (2009): 861–875.
* Merrill, Travers, and Lucy Kitson. ''End of Coal Mining in South Wales: Lessons learned from industrial transformation.'' (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017) [https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/end-of-coal-mining-south-wales-lessons-learned.pdf online]
* Metheny, Karen Bescherer. ''From the miners' doublehouse: archaeology and landscape in a Pennsylvania coal company town'' (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2007) [https://books.google.com/books?id=nXPLWRrRMXsC&dq=%22coal+mining%22+Pennsylvania&pg=PR11 online].
* Mitchell, Brian R. ''Economic development of the British coal industry 1800–1914'' (Cambridge UP, 1984). [https://books.google.com/books?id=BFQ9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR11 online]
* Nielsen, Charles V., and George F. Richardson. ''1982 Keystone Coal Industry Manual'' (1982)
* Oei, Pao-Yu, Hanna Brauers, and Philipp Herpich. "Lessons from Germany's hard coal mining phase-out: policies and transition from 1950 to 2018." ''Climate Policy'' 20.8 (2020): 963–979. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14693062.2019.1688636?needAccess=true&role=button online]
* Srivastava, A.K. ''Coal Mining Industry in India'' (1998) ({{ISBN|81-7100-076-2}})
* Stern, Gerald M. ''The Buffalo Creek Disaster: How the survivors of one of the worst disasters in coal-mining history brought suit against the coal company{{snd}}and won'' (Vintage, 2008) [https://books.google.com/books?id=n_cMJ_9EJygC&dq=coal+mining+disasters&pg=PR11 online].
* Woytinsky, W. S., and E. S. Woytinsky. ''World Population and Production Trends and Outlooks'' (1953) pp. 840–881; with many tables and maps on the worldwide coal industry in 1950

===Child labour===
* Kirby, Peter Thomas. "Aspects of the employment of children in the British coal-mining industry, 1800–1872" (PhD. Diss. University of Sheffield, 1995) [https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/24960/1/296852.pdf online].
* Lovejoy, Owen R. "Child labor in the coal mines." ''The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' 27.2 (1906): 35–41. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1010788.pdf online]
* McGill, Nettie Pauline. ''The welfare of children in bituminous coal mining communities in West Virginia'' (US Government Printing Office, 1923) [https://books.google.com/books?id=fmvSYhyA6pcC&dq=children+coal+mining&pg=PP10 online].
* McIntosh, Robert. ''Boys in the pits: child labour in coal mines'' (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2000) in Canada; [https://books.google.com/books?id=uZgMaTs09TUC&dq=children+coal+mining&pg=PP11 online].

===Older textbooks===
* Burns, Daniel.  ''The modern practice of coal mining'' (1907)
* Hughes. Herbert W, ''A Text-Book of Mining: For the use of colliery managers and others'' (London, many editions 1892–1917), the standard British textbook for its era.
* Tonge, James. ''The principles and practice of coal mining'' (1906)

===Fiction===
* Grisham, John. [[Gray Mountain (Grisham novel)|"Gray Mountain" (2014)]], novel set in Appalachia about a fictional legal clinic intern in Virginia coal mining
* [[Émile Zola|Zola, Émile]], ''[[Germinal (novel)|Germinal]]'' (novel, 1885); realistic story of a coalminers' strike in northern France in the 1860s

===Government documents and primary sources===
* Illinois  Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. "Coal mining in Illinois" (2010) [https://archive.org/details/coalmininginilli00unse online]
* Kowalski-Trakofler, K. M., et al. "Underground coal mining disasters and fatalities{{snd}}United States, 1900–2006." (2009). [https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/107649/cdc_107649_DS1.pdf online]
* {{cite web |author=National Energy Information Center |title=Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, Energy |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/chapter1.html |access-date=16 October 2007 }}
* U.S. House of Representatives  Committee on Natural Resources. "Mining in America: Powder River Basin Coal Mining, The Benefits and Challenges". (2013) [https://archive.org/details/gov.gpo.fdsys.CHRG-113hhrg81894 online]
{{Refend}}

{{Portal bar|Earth sciences|Energy|Global warming}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Coal mining}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary|colliery}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20141005205750/http://www.coaleducation.org/glossary.htm Glossary of Mining Terms]
* [https://globalenergymonitor.org/projects/global-coal-mine-tracker/ Global Coal Mine Tracker], [[Global Energy Monitor]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140516231051/http://abandonedmines.org/ Coal Mine exploration and preservation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190624052201/http://www.ironminers.com/ Abandoned Mine Research]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140410205101/http://www.uky.edu/KGS/coal/coal_mining.htm Methods of mining] – overview and graphic of coal mining methods
* [https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/ Coal Mining in the British Isles (Northern Mine Research Society)]
* [http://www.ncm.org.uk/ National Coal Mining Museum for England]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170825164620/https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/surveillance/ords/CoalWorkersHealthSurvProgram.html NIOSH Coal Workers' Health Surveillance Program]
* [http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/1organic/coal.html Purdue University] – ''Petroleum and Coal''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704131644/http://www.uow.edu.au/eng/longwall/ University of Wollongong] – educational resource on longwall mining
* [http://www.rlv.si/si/VRRLV/nacrt.html/ Virtual coalmine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927032436/http://www.rlv.si/si/VRRLV/nacrt.html/ |date=27 September 2019 }} – visual e-learning source with comprehensive display of long-wall face
* [http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=92 World Coal Institute – Coal Mining] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007054355/http://www.worldcoal.org/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=92 |date=7 October 2006 }}

{{Coal}}
{{Pollution}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coal Mining}}
[[Category:Coal mining| ]]
[[Category:Fuel production]]