North Antelope Rochelle Mine, Wyoming

The North Antelope Rochelle Mine currently holds the title of largest coal mine in the country, selling 101.5 million tons in 2017, and is thought to have around 1.9 billion tons of probable reserves. Like the others, this mine nearly doubled in size when it merged with an adjacent one. It employs around 1,200 people (2018). The mine is owned and operated by Peabody Energy, which operates two other large Powder River Basin mines, Caballo (11 million tons in 2017), and Rawhide (10 million tons in 2017). Nearly half of the electricity in the USA is generated from coal, and Wyoming produces nearly half of all the coal mined in the USA. Nearly all the coal comes from the Powder River Basin in eastern Wyoming, where eight of the ten largest coal mines in the nation are located. Coal is shipped by rail to power plants all over the country, in more than 30 states.