Stone and brown, as well as coking coal, are among the main resources for the functioning of the fuel and energy complex in any state. Many large coal deposits are located on the territory of the Russian Federation, due to which the export of raw materials and other resources is flourishing in our country. In this article, we will talk about the world's largest coal reserves, as well as in which areas its use is widespread.
First, consider the types of coal used in industry.
Types of coal
In nature, three types of fossil coal are most often found - brown, stone and anthracite. They have various properties, for which they are valued to varying degrees in industry. The coking method with which coking coals are obtained is also widely used. However, stone is the universal raw material.
Anthracite
So, coal anthracite is formed from coal. It has a black color with a characteristic metallic sheen. Anthracite burns very well, releasing a huge amount of heat, but at the same time igniting such coal is quite difficult. Anthracite is used as a high-quality fuel in various enterprises.
Its composition is striking: it contains more than 95% carbon, almost no excess moisture and unnecessary impurities. This can be explained by the fact that anthracite is the last stage of coal “development”. In nature, at first a brown appearance forms, then it turns into stone and only after that into anthracite. Therefore, this variety is extremely valuable in production, although it is used less often than other fossil species.
Brown
The next type of coal mined is brown. It has a characteristic reddish-brown color, but it is not a quality raw material. This is due to the fact that it contains only up to 70% carbon, the rest is water and various volatile substances that are not valuable in production.
In the absence of moisture, such coal quickly turns into a powder. Nevertheless, it is used in large quantities in the fuel and chemical industries. Therefore, there are quite a lot of coal reserves of this type in the world.
Stone
The most valuable and common is precisely coal, whose reserves in the world are quite large. It contains a large amount of carbon, which is why it is very much appreciated in industrial production.
When comparing it with the brown type, it can be noted that during the combustion of coal, more heat is released than during the combustion of brown. Therefore, it undoubtedly provides more energy for industry than other types. It is worth noting that the largest coal reserves in the world contain a huge amount of the stone type, which has a natural origin.
Let's talk about the deposits of this mineral.
Coal deposits in Russia
The Russian Federation is the largest state in the world, the area of which exceeds 17 million square kilometers. Therefore, in Russia there are many deposits containing the largest coal reserves in the world. Which of them can be distinguished?
First of all, it should be said about the huge Tunguska coal basin, which occupies a significant part of the territory of Eastern Siberia. According to rough estimates, the basin area exceeds 2 square kilometers. Anthracites are also mined here.
No less rich Russian field is the Kuznetsk basin, or Kuzbass. It is located in Western Siberia and provides raw materials to the central part of our homeland. The constant transportation of coal makes its extraction very profitable. In the Pechora, Taimyr and Donetsk coal basins, no less large coal reserves are concentrated. There are other mineral deposits in the world , but so far we are interested in Russia.
Brown type of coal is mined mainly in the Kansk-Achinsk basin, as well as in the Moscow and Lensk deposits.
Now we will consider on the territory of which states the largest coal reserves are located in the world.
World Anthracite Mining
Anthracites in their pure form are not extracted so often, but all due to the fact that their "ripening" requires a sufficiently long time.
Today, Russia has the largest reserves. Also a lot of anthracite is mined in China and Ukraine. These three states are leaders in the extraction of this raw material, while the rest of the countries are significantly behind them.
So, in Vietnam, according to experts, a little more than 2 billion tons of anthracite remains, in North Korea - one and a half billion, and in the USA - about 60 million tons.
World Coal Reserves
The reserves of coal in the world are truly huge. On the territory of almost every state, this valuable fuel resource is continuously mined. An unrivaled leader in the extraction of such raw materials is the United States of America. The American fuel industry undoubtedly has enormous resources.
At the moment, the United States boasts the largest coal reserves in the world - more than 100,000 million tons! Russia's reserves are behind this value by more than 2 times!
India is the third largest coal producer, followed by China, South Africa and Australia. It should be noted that on Earth there are exceptional states in whose territory coal is not mined at all. Such countries include Brazil, Pakistan, Madagascar, as well as Bulgaria, in which only 4 million tons of this mineral is concentrated.
Brown coal reserves
Worldwide, much more brown coal is mined than coal. In this case, two powers are leading - Russia and the United States. Reserves of raw materials belonging to the territories of each of these states exceed the values of 100,000 million tons.
Almost half of the brown coal is concentrated in China and almost three times in Australia. And again, there are countries in which its reserves are absent. Such states are Great Britain, Zimbabwe, Venezuela and South Africa.
Coking coal
Coking coal reserves in the world are located mainly in European countries. Significant resources are available to the CIS countries, as well as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Spain and the United States of America.
Coking coal is also mined in Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and other countries. The leaders in its production are the United States and Russia, since the most coal is mined in their territories, from which coking coal is produced. In developed countries, about 15% of the coal mined is coked.
So, in this article we talked about the world's largest coal reserves. You should always remember that minerals are an exhaustible resource, and its extremely fast consumption can put the industry of every modern state in a critical situation.