Energy Information Administration EIA HomePage

  Home > Coal > Coal Data Publications > Coal Industry Annual > Data Tables (HTML)
Back to List

Table 53. U.S. Coal Mining Productivity by Coalbed Thickness and Mining Method, 2000
(Short Tons of Coal Produced per Employee per Hour)
Coalbed Thickness (inches) Underground Surface Total
Continuous1 Conventional2 Longwall3 Other4
< 7 - - - - 2.41 2.41
7-12 - - - - 5.06 5.06
13-18 - - - - 5.61 5.61
19-24 2.06 1.80 - - 6.12 6.04
25-30 2.35 2.46 - - 5.77 5.43
31-36 3.18 3.11 - 1.80 5.62 4.72
37-42 3.98 5.83 - - 6.34 5.41
43-48 3.71 - 3.54 1.96 5.32 4.47
49-54 4.33 4.04 3.42 2.52 7.15 5.48
55-60 4.63 3.93 4.23 - 10.44 7.44
61-66 3.68 - 5.76 - 7.42 5.90
67-72 4.59 1.38 5.89 - 8.36 6.55
73-78 4.56 1.34 5.19 3.87 5.48 5.11
79-84 3.97 1.31 5.66 - 7.01 6.16
85-90 5.47 - 6.37 - 9.02 8.12
91-96 4.55 - 4.20 - 7.99 6.40
97-102 8.30 - 15.45 - 6.57 7.77
103-108 5.66 - 9.79 5.53 9.36 8.68
109-114 11.28 - - - 9.48 9.63
115-120 7.22 - 9.26 - 7.68 7.92
>  120 3.40 1.55 6.99 - 20.83 19.37
U.S. Total5 3.52 2.68 5.10 3.57 11.05 7.02


1/ Mines that produce greater than 50 percent of coal by continuous mining method.
2/ Mines that produce greater than 50 percent of coal by conventional mining method.
3/ Mines that have any production from longwall mining method.  A typical longwall mining operation uses 80 percent longwall mining and 20 percent continuous mining.
4/ Mines that produce coal using shortwall, scoop loading, hand loading, or other mining methods or a 50/50 percent continuous/conventional split in mining method, or mines that produce less than 10,000 short tons, which are not required to provide data.
5/ Includes stand alone preparation plants.
       Notes: Productivity is calculated by dividing total coal production by the total direct labor hours worked by all employees engaged in production, preparation, processing, development, maintenance, repair, shop or yard work at mining operations, including office workers.  Excludes silt, culm, refuse bank, slurry dam, and dredge operations except for Pennsylvania anthracite.  Excludes mines producing less than 10,000 short tons and preparation plants with less than 5,000 employee hours, which are not required to provide data.
       Sources: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-7A, "Coal Production Report" and U.S.  Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration, Form 7000-2, "Quarterly Mine Employment and Coal Production Report."