EIA's Top U.S. Coal Producers: Full Ranking

Peabody Energy Corp was the largest U.S. coal producer in 2023, mining 104.3 million short tons — 18.0% of total U.S. output — according to Table 10 of the EIA’s Annual Coal Report. Arch Resources Inc followed at 75.3 million short tons (13.0%), and Navajo Transitional Energy Co placed third at 45.7 million short tons (7.9%). Together, the eight largest producers mined 374.3 million short tons, about 64.8% of the U.S. total that year. A newer EIA table, for 2024, is covered below.

That single sentence is the answer most searches for this list actually want. The rest of this page breaks down where each company mined, how the ranking is built, why “top 8” is a common shorthand and not an EIA cutoff, and how coal production numbers link to satellite-based mineral exploration work relevant to mining teams.

The EIA’s Top 8 Major U.S. Coal Producers — Full List

Every year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes Table 10 in its Annual Coal Report, ranking domestic producers by short tons mined. For the 2023 reporting year, the confirmed figures from that table are:

1. Peabody Energy Corp — 104.3 million short tons (18.0% of U.S. total)
2. Arch Resources Inc — 75.3 million short tons (13.0%)
3. Navajo Transitional Energy Co (NTEC) — 45.7 million short tons (7.9%)
4. Alliance Resource Partners LP — 34.877 million short tons
5. ACNR Holdings Inc — 32.178 million short tons
6. David Michael Jamison Petri E Koivula (the controlling-company name as EIA prints it) — 31.974 million short tons
7. CONSOL Energy Inc — 26.377 million short tons
8. NACCO Industries Inc — 23.640 million short tons

All eight lines above come from EIA’s 2023 table (Annual Coal Report 2023, published October 2024). EIA names the controlling company of each mine, which is why rank 6 appears under an individual’s names. To check any line, open the table: EIA Annual Coal Report, Table 10 (PDF) lists all 21 major producers in descending order, with tonnage and percentage share in adjacent columns. EIA prints tonnage in thousand short tons, so each figure above is exact to the nearest thousand. The current table10.pdf file now shows the newer 2024 year; the 2023 table is in the report archive.

What the newer table shows. EIA’s Annual Coal Report 2024, published in November 2025, has a newer Table 10. It lists 20 producers that each mined more than 5 million short tons. Peabody was first again, at 95.8 million short tons (18.7%). Core Natural Resources was second at 84.3 million (16.4%) and Navajo Transitional Energy Co third at 37.1 million (7.2%). The U.S. total was 512.5 million short tons, down 11.3% from 2023 (EIA Table 10, 2024 data).

Second place changed because of a merger. CONSOL Energy completed its all-stock merger with Arch Resources on 14 January 2025 and was renamed Core Natural Resources (Core Natural Resources Form 10-Q, 2025). Arch and CONSOL are separate lines in the 2023 table, and EIA’s 2024 table has one line for Core.

What EIA’s Table 10 Actually Measures

Table 10 in EIA’s Annual Coal Report is titled “Major U.S. Coal Producers” and it measures one thing only: short tons of coal actually mined by each company in the calendar year, aggregated across the mines whose coal the company controls (EIA’s “controlling company”, most often the mine owner). It does not measure reserves, mine count, employee headcount, revenue, or export volume — those live in other EIA tables (in the 2024 report: reserves in Tables 14 and 15, employment in Table 18, productivity in Table 21, exports in Table 36).

This distinction is why “major U.S. coal producers” and “largest coal companies by revenue” or “largest coal reserve holders” can produce different rankings. A company with fewer, larger surface mines in the Powder River Basin can out-tonnage a company running more numerous underground longwall operations in Appalachia, even if the Appalachian producer’s coal sells for a higher price per ton because it’s metallurgical grade rather than thermal.

EIA lists a producer by name once it mined more than 5 million short tons in the year (a note to Table 10); below that line, output rolls up into an “other producers” category rather than being listed by name. That’s also why the 21 named producers in 2023 (20 in 2024), not just the top 8, cover the vast majority of national output, and everything below them is a long tail of smaller operators.

Producer Profiles: Peabody, Arch, Navajo, and the Rest

Peabody Energy Corp

• 104.3 million short tons in 2023 — 18.0% of total U.S. coal production, the largest single share on Table 10
• Peabody-operated mines in EIA’s 2024 mine table include North Antelope Rochelle, Caballo and Rawhide in Wyoming and Bear Run in Indiana
• Its North Antelope Rochelle mine in Wyoming was the largest U.S. mine in 2024, at 59.8 million short tons (EIA Table 9)

Arch Resources Inc

• 75.3 million short tons in 2023 — 13.0% share, second-largest producer nationally
• Arch merged with CONSOL Energy on 14 January 2025 to form Core Natural Resources, so EIA’s 2024 table has one Core line (84.3 million short tons, 16.4%)
• Its Black Thunder surface complex in Campbell County, Wyoming, ranked second among U.S. mines in 2024, at 44.5 million short tons (EIA Table 9; SEC filing)

Navajo Transitional Energy Co (NTEC)

• 45.7 million short tons in 2023 — 7.9% share, third-ranked producer
• Operates on and around Navajo Nation lands, with mining activity spanning New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana
• Distinct ownership structure among the top producers: NTEC is a Navajo Nation-owned enterprise, and the Nation reported a record $5.5 million dividend from NTEC for its 2025 performance year (Navajo Nation Office of the President, June 2026)

Alliance Resource Partners LP

• 34.877 million short tons in 2023, ranking 4th
• Reports its coal operations in two regions, the Illinois Basin and Appalachia (SEC Form 10-K, 2023)
• Structured as a publicly traded limited partnership, distinct from the corporate structures of Peabody and Arch

ACNR Holdings Inc

• 32.178 million short tons in 2023, ranking 5th on Table 10. Rank 6 (31.974 million) was the entity EIA lists as David Michael Jamison Petri E Koivula

CONSOL Energy Inc

• 26.377 million short tons in 2023, ranking 7th
• Its Pennsylvania mines Bailey, Enlow Fork and Harvey were all among the 35 largest U.S. mines in 2024 (EIA Table 9). On 14 January 2025 CONSOL merged with Arch and was renamed Core Natural Resources (SEC filing)

NACCO Industries Inc

• 23.640 million short tons in 2023, ranking 8th

Comparative Ranking Table: Tonnage and Share

The table puts EIA’s 2023 and 2024 tables side by side for the largest producers. Tonnage is in million short tons. Shares are EIA’s own published percentages (Annual Coal Report 2023; Annual Coal Report 2024).

Alpha Metallurgical Resources was tenth in 2023 and eighth in 2024. EIA does not give a region for each company in Table 10, so this table has no region column. Mine locations are in EIA’s Table 9 of the same report (Major U.S. coal mines, 2024).

Market Concentration: Top 8 vs. Top 21 vs. Everyone Else

In 2023, the top 8 major U.S. coal producers combined for about 64.8% of total national output (374.3 of 578.0 million short tons). Expand the list to the top 21 major producers — EIA’s full named tier — and combined share rises to 85.4%. That means the remaining roughly 14.6% of U.S. coal production is split across smaller operators, each below EIA’s threshold for individual naming in Table 10.

Put another way: adding 13 more companies to the list (ranks 9 through 21) only adds 20.7 percentage points of market share, while the top 3 alone — Peabody, Arch, and Navajo Transitional — already account for about 39.0%. That’s the shape of a concentrated industry with a long tail: a handful of companies run very large surface mines. The five largest U.S. mines in 2024 were all surface mines in Wyoming and Montana (EIA Table 9). The tail is made up of producers below EIA’s 5 million short ton listing line.

How to Check Next Year’s List Yourself

This ranking will not stay static — coal companies merge, wind down mines, or shift output between basins year to year, and EIA re-ranks the field annually. Here is the durable method for verifying the current list rather than trusting any single year’s snapshot, including this one:

1. Go to the source table directly. EIA republishes Table 10 as part of its Annual Coal Report at eia.gov/coal/annual/pdf/table10.pdf. That address shows the newest year only (the 2024 table at the time of review); older years sit in the report archive on the EIA Annual Coal Report page. If the direct PDF link changes, EIA’s annual coal data hub is at eia.gov/coal/, which links out to the current report.
2. Check the release timing. EIA typically publishes the full Annual Coal Report — including Table 10 — in October or November of the year following the reporting period. So the 2023 data in this article was released in the report EIA issued in late 2024; a future year’s data follows the same lag.
3. Use quarterly data to bridge the gap. If you need a directional read before the annual report lands, EIA publishes quarterly coal production figures at eia.gov/coal/production/quarterly. At the time of review the newest release on that page was the first quarter of 2026 (released 1 October 2026). Table 10 stays the source for the company ranking.
4. Cross-check tonnage against share, not just rank. A company’s rank can hold while its tonnage and share both fall, if total U.S. output is shrinking — read the tonnage column, not just the ordinal position, to know whether “top producer” still means what it meant last cycle.

That four-step check is the actual takeaway to keep: rank order changes, but the place to verify it and the cadence on which it updates do not.

Calculator: Estimate a Producer’s Market Share

Use your own tonnage figures — this year’s Table 10, a company earnings report, or a hypothetical scenario — to see what share of total U.S. production a given output level represents, and how it compares with the 2023 and 2024 tables.

Assumptions: the default total (512.54 million short tons) is the U.S. total in Table 10 of EIA’s Annual Coal Report 2024 (the 2023 total was 577.95 million). The tonnage and price defaults are examples only. This calculator does not account for coal type (thermal vs. metallurgical), export volume, or heat content; it measures raw tonnage share only.

Where U.S. Coal Is Mined and Sold

Most U.S. coal comes from the West. In 2024 the Western region produced 271.1 million short tons, the Appalachian region 157.7 million and the Interior region 83.1 million. Wyoming alone produced 190.7 million short tons (EIA Annual Coal Report 2024, executive summary).

Tonnage and price tell different stories. EIA reports total sales of 522.3 million short tons in 2024, of which 450.8 million was thermal coal and 71.5 million metallurgical coal. The average sales price was $52.47 per short ton for all coal, $37.85 for thermal and $180.02 for metallurgical (EIA, 2024). By coal rank, subbituminous averaged $18.06 and bituminous $86.72. That is why a ranking by tons mined can differ from a ranking by revenue.

The largest mines are surface mines. The five largest U.S. mines in 2024 were North Antelope Rochelle, Black Thunder, Antelope and Belle Ayr in Wyoming, and Spring Creek in Montana. North Antelope Rochelle alone mined 59.8 million short tons (EIA Table 9, 2024).

Satellite Screening for Mineral Exploration

Ranking tables like EIA’s Table 10 describe what has already been mined. A separate question is where a new mineral deposit might sit. Satellite-based exploration tools address that. Coal is not on the list of minerals our platform detects. Farmonaut’s satellite-based mineral detection platform applies multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing plus AI analysis to flag prospective zones in new and established mining regions, with no ground disturbance during early screening.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: According to EIA’s Annual Coal Report, Table 10, which companies were the major U.S. coal producers?

Ranked by 2023 short tons produced: Peabody Energy Corp (104.3 million, 18.0% share), Arch Resources Inc (75.3 million, 13.0%), Navajo Transitional Energy Co (45.7 million, 7.9%), Alliance Resource Partners LP (34.877 million), ACNR Holdings Inc (32.178 million), the entity listed as David Michael Jamison Petri E Koivula (31.974 million), CONSOL Energy Inc (26.377 million), and NACCO Industries Inc (23.640 million). All eight come from EIA’s 2023 table. For 2024, the first three were Peabody (95.8 million), Core Natural Resources (84.3 million) and NTEC (37.1 million). You can check every line in the source PDF (the 2023 table is in the report archive; the current file shows 2024).

Q2: What was Peabody’s exact share of U.S. coal production?

18.0%, on 104.3 million short tons, per EIA’s Annual Coal Report Table 10 — the largest individual share among all 21 named major producers that year. In 2024 Peabody mined 95.8 million short tons, 18.7% of the total.

Q3: How much of total U.S. coal output did the top 8 producers supply?

About 64.8% combined (374.3 million short tons). Expanding to the full top 21 major producers named in Table 10 brings combined share to 85.4%, leaving roughly 14.6% spread across smaller, unnamed operators.

Q4: Does EIA update this list every year, and when?

Yes. EIA republishes Table 10 annually as part of its Annual Coal Report, with the full report — covering the prior calendar year — typically released in October or November. Between annual releases, EIA’s quarterly coal production data gives a more current read. The current version of Table 10 always lives at eia.gov/coal.

Q5: Is “major U.S. coal producers” the same as “largest coal companies by revenue”?

No. Table 10 ranks by tonnage mined, not revenue, reserves, or market capitalization. A company mining more thermal coal can outrank a company with a smaller tonnage of higher-value metallurgical coal, even if the metallurgical producer’s revenue per ton is higher.

Q6: How is Farmonaut’s technology used in mineral exploration?

Farmonaut’s satellite-based mineral detection platform applies multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing with AI analysis to identify prospective zones without ground disturbance during early-stage screening, ahead of field work. Coal is not on the list of minerals the platform detects.

Q7: Where can I verify these production figures myself instead of relying on a third-party summary?

Go directly to EIA’s Table 10 PDF. The EIA table is the primary source and the one to cite if precision matters.

Conclusion

EIA’s Table 10 gives a precise, checkable answer to “who are the major U.S. coal producers”: Peabody Energy Corp, Arch Resources Inc, and Navajo Transitional Energy Co lead by a wide margin, followed by Alliance Resource Partners, ACNR Holdings, an entity listed under individual names, CONSOL Energy and NACCO Industries to complete the top 8 for 2023. The top 8 mined about 64.8% of national output and the 21 listed producers mined 85.4%. Those numbers will shift as EIA releases each subsequent Annual Coal Report — use the four-step verification method above, anchored on eia.gov/coal, to pull whatever year’s list you actually need.

For the exploration side of the industry — locating new mineral deposits rather than tracking who mined what last year — explore Farmonaut’s satellite-based mineral detection platform or go directly to map your mining site here.