Surface mining after 1950

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In 1949, underground coal mines accounted for about 75% of U.S. production, and as late as 1967 underground mines still produced 62% of the nation's coal. In the 1970s, as huge new surface mines opened in Wyoming's Powder River Basin and dedicated coal trains began to transport coal to power plants outside the region, the share of surface mining rapidly increased. In 2009, 69.1% of U.S. coal production came from surface mining. Overall, during the period 1949-2009, 26.1 billion tons has been produced at surface mines, or 55.1% of the 47.3 billion tons mined during the period.[1]


Year Underground Surface Total
___________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________
1949 358,854,000 121,716,000 480,570,000
1950 421,000,000 139,388,000 560,388,000
1951 442,184,000 134,151,000 576,335,000
1952 381,173,000 126,251,000 507,424,000
1953 367,444,000 120,795,000 488,239,000
1954 305,964,000 114,825,000 420,789,000
1955 357,964,000 132,874,000 490,838,000
1956 380,829,000 148,945,000 529,774,000
1957 373,565,000 144,477,000 518,042,000
1958 297,583,000 134,034,000 431,617,000
1959 292,849,000 139,828,000 432,677,000
1960 292,584,000 141,745,000 434,329,000
1961 279,551,000 140,872,000 420,423,000
1962 287,939,000 151,104,000 439,043,000
1963 308,971,000 168,224,000 477,195,000
1964 327,697,000 176,485,000 504,182,000
1965 337,958,000 188,996,000 526,954,000
1966 342,612,000 204,210,000 546,822,000
1967 352,391,000 212,491,000 564,882,000
1968 346,592,000 210,114,000 556,706,000
1969 349,238,000 221,740,000 570,978,000
1970 340,530,000 272,131,000 612,661,000
1971 277,175,000 283,744,000 560,919,000
1972 305,046,000 297,446,000 602,492,000
1973 300,080,000 298,488,000 598,568,000
1974 277,966,000 332,057,000 610,023,000
1975 293,467,000 361,174,000 654,641,000
1976 295,464,000 389,449,000 684,913,000
1977 266,591,000 430,614,000 697,205,000
1978 242,772,000 427,392,000 670,164,000
1979 320,891,000 460,243,000 781,134,000
1980 337,508,000 492,192,000 829,700,000
1981 316,496,000 507,279,000 823,775,000
1982 339,152,000 498,960,000 838,112,000
1983 300,379,000 481,713,000 782,091,000
1984 352,050,000 543,870,000 895,920,767
1985 350,800,000 532,838,000 883,638,117
1986 360,438,000 529,877,000 890,314,708
1987 372,874,000 545,888,000 918,762,162
1988 382,156,000 568,109,000 950,265,278
1989 393,835,000 586,893,000 980,728,790
1990 424,546,000 604,529,000 1,029,075,527
1991 407,225,000 588,759,000 995,983,881
1992 407,239,000 590,306,000 997,544,933
1993 351,053,000 594,371,000 945,424,286
1994 399,103,000 634,401,000 1,033,504,293
1995 396,249,022 636,724,750 1,032,973,772
1996 409,848,871 654,006,642 1,063,855,513
1997 420,657,474 669,274,314 1,089,931,788
1998 417,727,882 699,807,285 1,117,535,167
1999 391,789,870 708,641,558 1,100,431,428
2000 373,658,726 699,952,835 1,073,611,561
2001 380,626,833 747,061,973 1,127,688,806
2002 357,384,967 736,898,094 1,094,283,061
2003 352,784,686 718,967,887 1,071,752,573
2004 367,557,255 744,541,615 1,112,098,870
2005 368,611,500 762,886,599 1,131,498,099
2006 359,021,815 803,727,844 1,162,749,659
2007 351,789,934 794,845,411 1,146,635,345
2008 357,079,371 814,729,298 1,171,808,669
2009 331,647,084 741,104,703 1,072,751,787
Total 21,256,213,290 26,059,158,808 47,315,373,840



Resources

References

  1. "Table 7.2: Coal Production 1949-2009," U.S. Energy Information Administration, access October 9, 2010

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