coal mining

A boy works in a coal mine north of Kabul. Afghanistan's state-run coal industry is going strong in an otherwise shattered economy. Many underage workers are the ones who are extracting the coal.

In Afghanistan, coal mining relies on the labor of children

5:02am December 31, 2022

Since the return of the Taliban, Afghanistan's coal exports have increased — and so has child labor. At a coal mine in Baghlan province, boys earn between $3 and $8 for a day's work.

Queue Listen Now

Mine workers are surrounded by dust as a drill bit chews into the wall of the mine.

In eastern Ukraine's coal fields, Russia's invasion sparks hopes of a comeback

2:11pm July 06, 2022

Ukraine's coal industry was in decline. Now miners find themselves in the middle of a war with Russia — and global demand for coal is rising.

Queue Listen Now

Kemerovo Governor Sergei Tsivilyov (center) speaks to the media in the Listvyazhnaya mine building, near Belovo, in the Kemerovo region of southwestern Siberia, Russia, Friday. A devastating explosion in the Siberian coal mine Thursday left dozens of mine

World News

Rescuers find a survivor after a Siberian coal mine exploded but many are feared dead

3:21pm November 26, 2021

by The Associated Press

Russian authorities released the names of 51 people presumed dead after a devastating methane explosion in a coal mine in Siberia, believed to be the country's deadliest mining incident since 2010.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a news conference at the U.N. Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on Tuesday.

The U.K. considers its 1st new coal mine in decades even as it calls to phase out coal

8:06am November 04, 2021

by Frank Langfitt

A town in northern England wants to open a coking coal mine to create jobs. But while hosting the U.N. climate summit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is urging countries to slash greenhouse gases.

Queue Listen Now

Trucks churn up coal dust at the Tavan Tolgoi coal mine in the South Gobi desert. The Tavan Tolgoi deposit is estimated to possess 6.5 billion tons of coal, including high-grade coking coal — a product vital to the steel-making process.

Mongolia's Long Road To Mining Wealth

11:49am July 31, 2019

by Emily Kwong

Mongolia is undergoing a dramatic transformation from a pastoral society to one whose economy is based on mining, especially copper and coal. With the change has come opportunity — and loss.

Queue Listen Now

'I Figured It Was Going To Be A Horrible Death, And It Probably Will Be'

10:42am January 23, 2019

by Cat Schuknecht

Thousands of coal miners across Appalachia are grappling with complicated black lung, a disease that has drastically changed their lives, their communities and their families.

Michelle Clements got her first job working in the coal industry at age 17. Her father, Rob, worked underground in the Delta County mines for almost 30 years.

A Rural Colorado Coal County Was Struggling. Then A Tech Company Brought New Jobs

3:42pm October 19, 2018

by Kirk Siegler

For the first time in years, Delta County in western Colorado is experiencing population growth, one indicator that rural Americans are increasingly feeling optimistic about their economic future.

Queue Listen Now

The Garzweiler coal mine and power plant near the city of Grevenbroich in western Germany. Plans to expand an open-pit brown coal mine in the eastern German village of Pödelwitz have prompted protests.

World News

Germany Bulldozes Old Villages For Coal Despite Lower Emissions Goals

5:23pm August 06, 2018

by Esme Nicholson

Angela Merkel was dubbed Germany's "climate chancellor" for ditching nuclear power. But centuries-old villages are being bulldozed to make way for open-pit brown coal mines.

Queue Listen Now

A display case at NIOSH shows a normal lung and a diseased black lung, caused by inhaling coal dust and other harmful particles while coal mining.

NPR Continues To Find Hundreds Of Cases Of Advanced Black Lung

1:25pm July 01, 2017

by Howard Berkes

Black lung results from exposure to coal dust. Progressive massive fibrosis is an especially aggressive form, blamed on inhalation of silica dust from the cutting of quartz rock and coal together.

FACT CHECK: Is President Trump Correct That Coal Mines Are Opening?

7:33pm June 02, 2017

by Reid Frazier

Locals in Jennerstown, Pa., are celebrating the grand opening of a coal mine and the estimated 70 jobs it brings. But the broad trends pushing the industry down are likely to continue, experts say.