World Class Coal Deposits

As a primary source of electricity and energy around the world, coal is one of the most important fossil fuels. Fortunately, it is also the most plentiful. Coal forms when vegetation decays under pressure and heats for millions of years. It is primarily composed of carbon along with hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen.

Throughout history, the sedimentary rock has been used to produce heat. In the 1880s, people discovered they could also use it for electricity. Coal's purposes further expanded during the Industrial Revolution when it was able to provide the large amount of energy required by the many new machines of the day.

Today, along with generating heat and electricity, coal is also used in steel production and cement manufacturing. The largest supplies of coal worldwide can be found in the United States, China and Russia. Below are a few of the biggest deposits of the fossil fuel.

Montana, United States
The United States houses the most coal reserves in the world, and in turn, Montana has the largest reserve in the United States. According to the annual energy review from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the state has a total demonstrated reserve base of 119 billion tons. The Powder River Basin, located in southeast Montana and Wyoming, is the primary source of Montana's coal. In 2011, 16 of the mines in the basin produced 462 million tons of coal. This amounts to about 42 percent of the total coal production in the United States. Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) is one of the largest mining companies in the region and produces more than 140 million tons of coal from the Powder River Basin each year.

Wyoming, United States
Thanks to the Powder River Basin, Wyoming also hosts one of the largest coal deposits on Earth. It has a total demonstrated coal reserve base of 61 billion short tons. Peabody Energy's flagship mine, The North Antelope Rochelle Mine, is located in the state, along with the Caballo and Rawhide Mines. The mines currently ship about 20 million tons and 10 million tons of coal a year, respectively.

Kuzbass Region, Russia
The Kuznetsk Basin, or Kuzbass, region is one of the largest coal deposits in Russia and the entire world. The 10,000-square-mile area was discovered in 1721 and contains proven available reserves of 725 million tons. Southern Kuzbass Coal Company, owned by Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL), has four open pits and three underground mines in the region. Combined, its assets ship about 23 million tons of coal per year.

Xinjiang Province, China
China holds the third-largest coal reserve in the world at 114 billion tons. According to the World Coal Association, the coal available in Xinjiang is enough to meet global coal demand for the next 367 years. Estimated available resources in the province range as high as 2.2 trillion tons. However, not all of these may be recoverable, thus many of Xinjiang's coal reserves are still untapped today. By 2020, experts believe companies could be mining 500 million tons of coal in the area. In 2011, Shenhua Group, China's largest coal producer, announced it would be investing about $8 billion into Xinjiang. It plans to hit 70 million tons of production a year by the end of 2015.