Coal in Colombia

Authors

Paul Bright

Columbia has a relatively small proportion of the world's proven coal reserves. World hard coal reserves have been estimated 411,321 million t, while those of Columbia are an estimated 6434 million t, or less than 2% of the world reserves, placing it ninth on the 2009 World Energy Council league table. In terms of world mining statistics, a similar story emerges: world hard coal production in 2009 was 5990 million t. In the same year, Columbia produced 73 million t or 1.22% of the total. In terms of world coal trade, however, Columbia is a far more important player: in 2009, total world exports were 836 million t, while Columbia exported 69 million t, or 8.25% of the total, placing it forth on the league table.