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Pick a country to jump straight to its coal mining story
Each card jumps to that country's flagship mine or coalfield and — where a full country profile exists — its dedicated page. Prefer to read start to finish? Scroll on.
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India
Full section on this page
8 major coalfields, including Jharia — India's only coking-coal source, burning underground since 1916.
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China
Full country profile →
Haerwusu — the world's largest coal mine by production, 220 MT/yr.
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United States
Full country profile →
North Antelope Rochelle and Black Thunder — the Powder River Basin, Wyoming.
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Australia
Full country profile →
Bowen Basin and Hunter Valley — the world's largest metallurgical coal export region.
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South Africa
Full country profile →
Mpumalanga coalfields — the country is 85% dependent on this coal for electricity.
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Russia
Full country profile →
Kuzbass — exports redirected to India and China after 2022 EU sanctions.
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Colombia
Jump to Cerrejón
Cerrejón — Latin America's largest open-pit coal mine, Glencore-owned.
World coal mines — GPS-located
Major coal mines globally — production and GPS
Coal mines are classified as surface/open-cut (removal of overburden to expose seams) or underground (shaft or drift mines). Surface mines are more productive per worker and dominate in the USA, Australia, and India. Underground mines dominate in China, Russia, and older coalfields. Production in million tonnes per year (MT/yr). Source: GEM Global Coal Mine Tracker (CC BY 4.0) · IEA Coal 2024.
| Mine/Region | GPS | MT/yr | Type | Country/Operator | Coal grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haerwusu (Zhunger) | 39.78°N 110.90°E | 220 | Surface | China / Shenhua Group | Thermal | World's largest coal mine by production. Inner Mongolia. Zhunger coalfield contains approximately 25 billion tonnes reserves. Direct coal–power integration: adjacent Tuoketuo power plant (40.18°N 111.10°E, 6,720 MW) burns the coal mined here. |
| North Antelope Rochelle | 43.09°N 105.76°W | 90 | Surface | USA / Peabody Energy | Sub-bituminous thermal | World's largest single coal mine by a single operator. Powder River Basin, Wyoming. Low-sulphur coal shipped by unit trains to power plants across the eastern USA. In decline as US coal consumption falls — production peaked at 120 MT/yr in 2009. |
| Black Thunder | 43.50°N 104.96°W | 70 | Surface | USA / Arch Resources | Sub-bituminous thermal | Second-largest Powder River Basin mine. Wyoming. Also declining as US utilities switch to gas and renewables. Powder River Basin coal has 8,400 BTU/lb (low-energy but low-sulphur — meets emissions standards). |
| Cerrejón | 11.10°N 72.66°W | 32 | Surface | Colombia / Glencore | Thermal | Latin America's largest open-pit coal mine. La Guajira Peninsula, Colombia. Primary supplier to European power stations (Netherlands, UK, Germany). Has a dedicated 150 km private railway and Caribbean port at Puerto Bolívar (12.11°N 71.96°W). Glencore acquired 100% in 2022. |
| Bowen Basin (region) | 22.50°S 148.00°E | ~200 (total basin) | Surface + underground | Australia / multiple | Coking (metallurgical) | World's largest metallurgical (coking) coal export region. Queensland. Multiple mines including Hail Creek (21.42°S 148.25°E, 8 MT/yr, Rio Tinto), Caval Ridge (21.80°S 148.49°E, 5.5 MT/yr, BHP), Goonyella (21.80°S 148.45°E, 14 MT/yr, BHP Mitsubishi Alliance). Steel mills in Japan, South Korea, India, and China depend on Bowen Basin coking coal. |
| Hunter Valley (region) | 32.50°S 151.50°E | ~80 (total valley) | Surface + underground | Australia / Glencore, BHP, etc. | Thermal | Australia's main thermal coal export region. New South Wales. Ships through Port Waratah (32.88°S 151.72°E) and Port Kembla to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India. Mount Thorley-Warkworth (32.62°S 151.27°E, 14 MT/yr, Yancoal) is the largest single mine. |
| Mpumalanga coalfields | 26.00°S 29.50°E | ~250 (South Africa total) | Surface + underground | South Africa / Eskom, Anglo American, Glencore | Thermal | South Africa's coal heartland — supplies Eskom's coal power stations including Medupi (24.51°S 28.20°E, 4,764 MW) and Matimba (23.67°S 27.65°E, 3,990 MW). Richards Bay Coal Terminal (28.80°S 32.09°E) exports approximately 60 MT/yr. South Africa is 85% dependent on coal for electricity. |
| Kuzbass (Kuznetsk Basin) | 54.00°N 86.00°E | ~240 | Surface + underground | Russia / SUEK, Evraz, Mechel | Thermal + coking | Russia's main coal mining region. Kemerovo Oblast, Siberia. Both thermal and premium coking coal (Zhirnovskoye seam). Exports via trans-Siberian railway to Vladivostok (43.13°N 131.90°E) for Asian markets, and west to European ports. Russian coal exports to Europe collapsed after 2022 EU sanctions — redirected to India and China. |
India · Coal mines and coalfields — GPS-located
India's coal mines — complete reference
India is the world's second-largest coal producer and consumer, producing approximately 893 MT in 2022-23 (Coal India Limited + captive mines). Approximately 90% of coal production is from Coal India Limited (CIL) subsidiaries. All India coalfields are located in the Gondwana geological formation. Source: Coal India Limited Annual Report 2023 · Ministry of Coal India.
| Coalfield / Mine | GPS | MT/yr or reserves | State | Operator | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talcher Coalfield India | 20.95°N 85.23°E | 52 MT/yr · 50 Gtonnes reserves | Odisha | MCL (Mahanadi Coalfields, CIL subsidiary) | India's largest coalfield by geological reserves. MCL Talcher mines supply Odisha's thermal power stations and NTPC Talcher (20.94°N 85.22°E, 3,000 MW, one of India's largest coal stations). Opencast dominates. Rail connectivity via Talcher-Bimlagarh railway. |
| Singrauli Coalfield India | 24.20°N 82.67°E | 60 MT/yr | Madhya Pradesh/Uttar Pradesh border | NCL (Northern Coalfields, CIL) | India's largest coal production zone. Singrauli super thermal power stations cluster here: NTPC Singrauli (24.12°N 82.61°E, 2,000 MW), Vindyachal STPS (24.07°N 82.67°E, 4,760 MW — India's largest coal power station), Rihand NTPC (24.03°N 83.02°E, 3,000 MW). The entire Singrauli region is a "sacrifice zone" — high pollution, displacement, and health impacts documented by the Centre for Science and Environment. |
| Korba Coalfield India | 22.36°N 82.70°E | 50 MT/yr | Chhattisgarh | SECL (South Eastern Coalfields, CIL) | Chhattisgarh's main coal region. Supplies Korba thermal cluster: CSPGCL Korba West (22.36°N 82.67°E, 2,040 MW), NTPC Korba (22.34°N 82.68°E, 2,100 MW). Hasdeo Arand forest coal blocks became a national controversy when local Adivasi communities protested against deforestation for coal — Supreme Court cases 2021–2024. |
| Jharia Coalfield India Built ✓ | 23.76°N 86.42°E | 20 Gtonnes reserves · ~30 MT/yr | Jharkhand (Dhanbad district) | BCCL (Bharat Coking Coal, CIL) | India's only source of prime coking coal — essential for steel-making. Contains underground coal fires burning since 1916 — over 100 fires across approximately 9 km², some burning 50 metres underground. Surface temperatures in fire zones reach 400°C+. Approximately 250,000 people live above active fires. BCCL conducts ongoing fire fighting operations. The fires have been burning for over 108 years, consuming millions of tonnes of irreplaceable coking coal. Jharkhand High Court has repeatedly ordered emergency evacuations that have been only partially implemented. |
| Raniganj Coalfield India | 23.62°N 87.13°E | ~18 MT/yr · 5.3 Gtonnes reserves | West Bengal/Jharkhand | ECL (Eastern Coalfields, CIL) + BCCL | India's oldest coalfield — coal was first mined here in 1774 by the British East India Company. The original mine at Giridih (24.19°N 86.30°E) is 250 years old. Significant underground subsidence and water table issues from 200+ years of mining. Also has underground fires. Asansol city grew around this coalfield. |
| Wardha Valley Coalfield India | 20.36°N 78.61°E | ~5 Gtonnes reserves | Maharashtra | WCL (Western Coalfields, CIL) | Maharashtra's main coalfield. Supplies Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station (19.95°N 79.30°E, 2,920 MW, Maharashtra's largest). WCL is CIL's smallest subsidiary by production despite large reserves — difficult geology and high ash content. |
| Singareni Collieries India | 17.93°N 79.49°E | ~70 MT/yr | Telangana | SCCL (Singareni Collieries Company, Telangana+Central govt) | The only major coal company in South India. Supplies Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu power stations. 51% owned by Government of Telangana, 49% by Central Government. Critical for southern India's energy security — no significant coalfields elsewhere in peninsular India. |
| North Karanpura India | 23.70°N 85.40°E | ~11 Gtonnes reserves | Jharkhand | CCL (Central Coalfields, CIL) | One of India's largest unexploited coal reserves. CCL's North Karanpura blocks overlap with Palamau Tiger Reserve and Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary — major coal-vs-wildlife conflict. Multiple Supreme Court interventions. |
Source: Coal India Annual Report 2022–23 · Ministry of Coal India · GEM Global Coal Mine Tracker (CC BY 4.0)
Questions
Questions about coal mines
Why is Jharia coal so irreplaceable — and why are the fires so hard to put out?
Jharia (23.76°N 86.42°E) contains India's only significant deposit of prime coking coal — the grade needed to make coke for blast furnaces in steel mills. India's entire steel industry (approximately 125 MT/yr crude steel in 2023) depends partly on Jharia coking coal mixed with imported coking coal from Australia. No coking coal of comparable quality exists elsewhere in India at scale. The fires began in 1916 when a surface fire fell into an exposed seam. Coal seam fires are among the hardest fires to extinguish — they burn deep underground with limited oxygen access, making smothering impractical. Water injection causes steam explosions and may spread the fire. The only reliable method is removing the burning coal — but mining at scale in active fire zones is unsafe. BCCL has been fighting the fires for over 108 years and they are still burning. Some estimates suggest 37 million tonnes of coal have been consumed by the fires. Source: CMPDI India · Dhanbad Coal Fire surveys · IIT (ISM) Dhanbad research.
Can India phase out coal given how central it is to electricity supply?
India produced approximately 893 MT of coal in 2022-23 and coal generates approximately 70% of India's electricity. India has explicitly stated it will not set a coal phase-out date at international climate negotiations — arguing that it needs coal to sustain economic development and eliminate energy poverty before it can transition. India's position at COP26 (Glasgow, 2021) was to change "phase out" coal language to "phase down." India's coal power capacity continues to increase — the CEA's National Electricity Plan (2023) forecasts 51 GW of new coal capacity by 2032, even as 80 GW of older plants retire. At the same time, India's renewable target (500 GW by 2030) is the world's largest in absolute MW terms. The IEA's NZE scenario for India shows coal electricity falling to approximately 5% by 2050 — a complete transformation from today's 70%. The gap between India's current trajectory and the NZE path is the largest single challenge in global climate policy. Source: CEA NEP 2023 · IEA India Energy Outlook 2021.
What is the difference between thermal coal and coking coal?
Thermal coal (also called steam coal) is burned to generate heat and steam to drive turbines in power stations. It is the most abundant coal type — India's Talcher, Singrauli, and Korba fields produce primarily thermal coal. Quality is measured in calorific value (GJ/tonne) and ash content. Indian thermal coal has notoriously high ash (30–45%), meaning a tonne produces far less energy than Australian (10–15% ash) or Indonesian (15–20% ash) coal. Indian power stations are designed for high-ash coal, making imported low-ash coal blending difficult without boiler modifications. Coking coal (metallurgical coal) is heated in the absence of oxygen to drive off volatile matter, leaving behind coke — a porous carbon structure used as a reducing agent and heat source in blast furnaces to make pig iron from iron ore. Coking coal must have low sulphur, specific volatile matter content (20–32%), and good coking properties (Crucible Swell Number, CSN). Australia's Bowen Basin and India's Jharia are the main sources. Without coking coal, steelmaking is impossible using conventional blast furnaces — though hydrogen-based direct reduction (DRI) with electric arc furnaces (EAF) is emerging as an alternative that doesn't need coking coal. Source: World Coal Association · IEA Coal Market Update 2024.
Provenance
Attribution and citation
- Sources
- Coal India Annual Report 2022–23 · GEM Global Coal Mine Tracker (CC BY 4.0) · IEA Coal Market Update 2024 · Queensland Resources Council · US EIA Coal Production · World Coal Association
- Cite as
- "World Coal Mines — All Major Mines GPS-Located", The Energy Codex, https://thecodex.expert/energy/mines/, last updated .