Two coal mines in Chhattisgarh, Gevra and Kusmunda, have been included in WorldAtlas.com’s top ten coal mines of the world. These two coal mines in Chhattisgarh account for about 10 % of the country’s annual coal production, and their combined coal production was more than 100 million tons in 2023-24.
Indonesia dominates the top ten coal mines list, with four mines, and the United States Black Thunder Mine has been ranked the world’s largest coal mine.
China is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, and India is the second largest producer.
The United States of America has the largest known coal reserves in the world.
The Gevra Mine in the Korba district of Chhattisgarh is owned by the South Eastern Coalfields Limited, a subsidiary of the central government-owned Coal India Limited.
It is an open-cast mine that started production in 1981. It mines mainly bituminous-grade coal. The mine has a production capacity of 70 million tonnes and is expected to remain in operation until 2036. In the fiscal year 2023=24, 59 million tons of coal were mined from the Gevra mine.
Kusmunda, an open-cast mine, is also owned by South Eastern Coalfields Limited. It is located in the south-central part of the Korba Coalfields, which started operating in 1979.
It produced 50 million tonnes of coal in 2023-24 and is expected to remain operational until 2036.
Bituminous-grade coal is mined at the Kusmunda mines.
Depending on the carbon content, coal is classified into anthracite, bituminous, lignite and Peat.
Anthracite coal has the highest carbon content, 80-95 %. Bituminous coal has a 40-80 % carbon content, lignite, also known as brown coal, has a 40-55 % carbon content, and peat coal has less than 40-55 % carbon content.
According to WorldAtlas.com, the following is the list of the top coal-producing coal mines of the world.
Rank in the World |
Coal Mines |
Country |
1 |
Black Thunder Mine |
United States of America |
2 |
Gevra Coal Mine |
Chhattisgarh, India |
3 |
North Antelope Rochelle Mine |
United States of America |
4 |
Kusmunda Coal Mine |
Chhattisgarh, India |
5 |
Northern Shaanxi Mine |
China |
6 |
Sangatta Mine |
Indonesia. |
7 |
Belchatow Mine |
Poland |
8 |
FTB Project |
Indonesia |
9 |
Tutupan Mine |
Indonesia |
10 |
Borneo Indobara Mine |
Indonesia |