Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and, since the 1880s, has been widely used to 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 a pit, and the above-ground structures the pit head. In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine. In the United States, "colliery" has been used to describe a coal mine operation but nowadays the word is not commonly used.
Mining in Japan is minimal because Japan does not possess many on-shore mineral resources. The Japanese mining industry began to rapidly decline in the 1980s. Coal production shrank from a peak of 55 million tons in 1960 to slightly more than 16 million tons in 1985, while coal imports grew to nearly 91 million tons in 1987. Domestic coal mining companies faced cheap coal imports and high production costs, which caused them chronic deficits in the 1980s. In the late 1980s, Japan's approximately 1 million tons of coal reserves were mostly hard coal used for coking. Most of the coal Japan consumed is used to produce electric power.
Cerrejón is a large open-pit coal mine in Colombia. It is located in the southeast of the department of La Guajira, close to the border with Venezuela. The coal mine is situated in the northeastern part of the Cesar-Ranchería Basin, the basin of the Ranchería River, between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the west and the Serranía del Perijá to the southeast. At Cerrejón, low-ash, low-sulphur bituminous coal from the Cerrejón Formation is excavated. The mine is one of the largest of its type, the largest in Latin America and the tenth biggest in the world. Cerrejón extends over 690 square kilometres (270 sq mi). It is divided into three sections, North Zone, Central Zone and South Zone. Total proven reserves are estimated at 503 megatonnes. In 2016, the mine produced 32,683,315 tonnes.
Coal mining regions are significant resource extraction industries in many parts of the world. They provide a large amount of the fossil fuel energy in the world economy.
OKD is a major mining company in the Czech Republic, the only producer of hard coal in the country with an annual production of around 8-9 million tonnes from 4 mines with 23 shafts extracting coal from depths ranging from 600 to 1,300 metres below the surface.
The mineral mining industry is a crucial piece of the Economy of Niger. Exports of minerals consistently account for 40% of exports.
Mining in the United Kingdom produces a wide variety of fossil fuels, metals, and industrial minerals due to its complex geology. In 2013, there were over 2,000 active mines, quarries, and offshore drilling sites on the continental land mass of the United Kingdom producing £34bn of minerals and employing 36,000 people.
Coal mining is an important industry in Ukraine.
Open-pit coal mining in the United Kingdom is in decline. Output has fallen every year since 2010. In 2010, the United Kingdom was forecast to produce about ten million tonnes of coal a year from open-pit mines. Most came from Scotland, with the largest operator there being the Scottish Coal subsidiary of Scottish Resources Group. Actual production in 2010 was over 13 million tonnes but this has declined to less than 8 million tonnes in 2014.
The Janina coal mine is a large mine in the south of Poland in Libiąż, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, 350 km south-west of the capital, Warsaw. The mine has been erected by Compagnie Galicienne de Mines, a French mining company, in 1907. Between 1921 and 1939 the Janina mine was under management of its Polish chief executive, Zygmunt Szczotkowski. During World War II it was repurposed into one of the German Nazi concentration camps. After the war the Janina mine was nationalizated, as all enterprises with over 50 employees had been at that time.
Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) is a coal producer based in India. The company was founded in 1975 after nationalisation of coal mines in India. It operates coalmines in Jharkhand and West Bengal states of India.It inherited all the private sector coal mines of the Raniganj Coalfield. It is one of the fully owned subsidiaries of Coal India Limited. The company has its headquarters at Sanctoria, in West Bengal.
Some of the more notable coal companies in Australia are the following:
Mining in North Korea is important to the country's economy. North Korea is naturally abundant in metals such as magnesite, zinc, tungsten, and iron; with magnesite resources of 6 billion tonnes, particularly in the Hamgyeong-do and Jagang-do provinces. However, often these cannot be mined due to the acute shortage of electricity in the country, as well as the lack of proper tools to mine these materials and an antiquated industrial base. Coal, iron ore, limestone, and magnesite deposits are larger than other mineral commodities. Mining joint ventures with other countries include China, Canada, Egypt, and South Korea.
The Revuboè Coal Mine is a coal mine located in Tete, Changara District, Tete Province. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 1.4 billion tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Africa and the world and has an annual production of 5 million tonnes of coal.
The Aranos Mine is a coal mine located in the Hardap Region, Namibia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 300 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Africa and the world. The mine produces around 8 million tonnes of coal per year.
The Blair Athol Coal Mine is a coal mine located in the Bowen Basin of Central Queensland, Australia. It is located over the former site of the township of Blair Athol. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 195 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the world. The mine has an annual production capacity of 12.9 million tonnes of coal.
The North Goonyella Coal Mine is a coal mine located in the Bowen Basin at Moranbah in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 175 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the world. The mine has an annual production capacity of 2 million tonnes of coal. 2.6 million tonnes of coal were produced in 2012.
The Saraji Coal Mine is a coal mine located near Dysart in the Central Queensland region of Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 648 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Asia and the world. The mine has an annual production capacity of 10 million tonnes of coal. It is located in the Bowen Basin an area with significant coal deposits and numerous mines.
Aninoasa Coal Mine is an underground mining exploitation, one of the largest in Romania located in Aninoasa in the south-western part of the country in Hunedoara County. The legal entity managing the Aninoasa mine is the National Hard Coal Company which was set up in 1998. The mine has reserves of 70.7 million tonnes of coal and annual production amounts to 0.4 million tonnes.
The Benga Coal Mine is a coal mine located in Tete, Changara District, Tete Province, Mozambique. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 1.9 billion tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserves in Africa and the world. The mine is operating and is currently producing prime hard coking coal and thermal coal.
