Introduction to Coal Mine Drainage

Introduction to Coal Mine Drainage

 C2.1 Introduction 

 Coal  deposits are found on every continent. Most of these deposits have been or are  being mined. China is the world’s largest coal producer, while the United  States has the world’s largest reserves. The other most important  coal-producing countries are Australia, India, South Africa, and Russia.  Yet the nature of the coal mine drainage (CMD) from the various coal deposits  and, indeed, even within the same coal deposits, varies significantly. In part,  this is because of climate but also generally the paleoenvironment of the coal  deposit – that is, what the region was like when the organic-rich sediment that  became the coal was first deposited.