Frequently Asked Questions
How large are U.S. coal reserves?
U.S. coal reserves involve three separate components:
- Recoverable coal reserves at producing mines
- Estimated recoverable reserves
- Demonstrated reserve base
In 2010, the recoverable coal reserves in the United States totaled 17,937 million short tons at producing (active) mines. Recoverable coal reserves at producing mines represent the quantity of coal that can be recovered (i.e. mined) from existing coal reserves at reporting mines. These reserves essentially reflect the working inventory at producing mines.
In 2010, the estimated recoverable reserves totaled 259,518 million short tons. The estimated recoverable reserves include the coal in the demonstrated reserve base (see below) considered recoverable after excluding coal estimated to be unavailable due to land use restrictions or currently economically unattractive for mining, and after applying assumed mining recovery rates. See the EIA Glossary for criteria.
For 2010, the demonstrated reserve base was estimated to contain 484,511 million short tons. The demonstrated reserve base is composed of coal resources that have been identified to specified levels of accuracy and may support economic mining under current technologies. The demonstrated reserve base includes publicly-available data on coal that has been mapped and verified to be technologically minable. See the EIA Glossary for criteria.
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Last updated: September 5, 2012
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