Coal mining in the United States

Coal mining in the United States is a major industry, coal being mined in 25 states, 40% on public lands. Mined tonnage reached an all-time high of 1.06 Gt (1.17 billion short tons) in 2008, but by 2015 had declined to 986 million short tons. The U.S. is a net exporter of coal. U.S. coal exports, for which Europe is the largest customer, peaked in 2012, and have declined since. In 2015, the U.S. exported 7.0 percent of mined coal. From 2015 to January 2016, four publicly traded US coal companies have declared bankruptcy, including the fourth-largest (Alpha Natural Resources) and second-largest producer (Arch Coal).