Near-surface resources of coal and lignite in 11 of the 14 western states of the conterminous United States are estimated by the Bureau of Mines to be 48 billion tons; of this amount 26.7 billion tons could be economically recovered under present economic conditions by strip mining.

About 24.8 billion tons of this strippable reserve is low-sulfur coal (below 1% sulfur), 1.5 billion tons is medium-sulfur coal (1-2% sulfur), and 0.5 billion tons is high-sulfur coal (over 2% sulfur).

The Bureau has estimated the near-surface resources of coal and lignite in the United States to be 119 billion tons. About 45 billion tons of this resource is economically recoverable by strip mining. About 32 billion tons of this is low-sulfur coal, 4 billion tons is medium-sulfur coal, and 9 billion tons is high-sulfur coal.

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