EPA Smart Sectors: Mining
SmartSectors

The mining sector employs approximately 93,000 people, including 53,000 in coal mining and 40,000 in metal ore mining.

The world's third largest coal producer, the U.S. accounts for 9% of global coal production. U.S. share of global nonfuel mineral production varies by mineral.

In 2018, mineral materials processed domestically were valued at $766 billion, or about 3.7% of U.S. GDP.

In 2018, the U.S. was an exporter of 115.6 million short tons of coal.

Mining sector banner image

The mining sector employs approximately 93,000 people, including 53,000 in coal mining and 40,000 in metal ore mining.

U.S. Share of Total Production

Share of U.S. GDP

In 2018, the U.S. was an exporter of 115.6 million short tons of coal

Use the checkboxes below to select an environmental performance indicator and an economic benchmark.

Environmental Performance Indicators







Economic Benchmarks



What is in this chart?

This chart shows total air emissions, as reported annually to EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) between 1998 and 2020, by establishments classified into NAICS 2121 (coal mining). Total air emissions for this sector decreased from 2.17 million pounds in 1998 to 3,500 pounds in 2020.

What are TRI air emissions?

Total air emissions reported to TRI include fugitive air emissions and stack air emissions. Fugitive air emissions are all releases to air that do not occur through a confined air stream; such emissions may include equipment leaks, releases from building ventilation systems, and evaporative losses from surface impoundments and spills. Stack air emissions are releases to air that occur through a confined air stream, such as stacks, ducts, or pipes.

The quantity of releases does not indicate the level of health risk posed by the emissions. TRI data can vary from year to year at the facility and sector levels for a variety of reasons. For questions about specific values, contact TRI. In addition to TRI reporting, coal mining businesses are subject to statutory and regulatory requirements, including permitting.

View Impact Per Unit of Production View Environmental and Economic Benchmarks

What is in this chart?

This chart shows total air emissions, as reported annually to EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) between 1998 and 2020, by establishments classified into NAICS 2121 (coal mining). Total air emissions for this sector decreased from 2.17 million pounds in 1998 to 3,500 pounds in 2020.

What are TRI air emissions?

Total air emissions reported to TRI include fugitive air emissions and stack air emissions. Fugitive air emissions are all releases to air that do not occur through a confined air stream; such emissions may include equipment leaks, releases from building ventilation systems, and evaporative losses from surface impoundments and spills. Stack air emissions are releases to air that occur through a confined air stream, such as stacks, ducts, or pipes.

The quantity of releases does not indicate the level of health risk posed by the emissions. TRI data can vary from year to year at the facility and sector levels for a variety of reasons. For questions about specific values, contact TRI. In addition to TRI reporting, coal mining businesses are subject to statutory and regulatory requirements, including permitting.

Use the checkboxes below to select an environmental performance indicator and an economic benchmark.

Environmental Performance Indicators







Economic Benchmarks



What is in this chart?

This chart shows total air emissions, as reported annually to EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) between 1998 and 2017, by establishments classified into NAICS 2122 (metal ore mining). Total air emissions for this sector decreased from 6.2 million pounds in 1998 to 2.4 million pounds in 2017.

What are TRI air emissions?

Total air emissions reported to TRI include fugitive air emissions and point source air emissions. Fugitive air emissions are all releases to air that do not occur through a confined air stream; such emissions may include equipment leaks, releases from building ventilation systems, and evaporative losses from surface impoundments and spills. Point source air emissions, also called stack emissions, are releases to air that occur through a confined air stream, such as stacks, ducts, or pipes.

The quantity of releases does not indicate the level of health risk posed by the emissions. TRI data can vary from year to year at the facility and sector levels for a variety of reasons. For questions about specific values, contact TRI. In addition to TRI reporting, metal ore mining operations are subject to statutory and regulatory requirements, including permitting.

View Impact Per Unit of Production View Environmental and Economic Benchmarks

What is in this chart?

This chart shows total air emissions, as reported annually to EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) between 1998 and 2017, by establishments classified into NAICS 2122 (metal ore mining). Total air emissions for this sector decreased from 6.2 million pounds in 1998 to 2.4 million pounds in 2017.

What are TRI air emissions?

Total air emissions reported to TRI include fugitive air emissions and point source air emissions. Fugitive air emissions are all releases to air that do not occur through a confined air stream; such emissions may include equipment leaks, releases from building ventilation systems, and evaporative losses from surface impoundments and spills. Point source air emissions, also called stack emissions, are releases to air that occur through a confined air stream, such as stacks, ducts, or pipes.

The quantity of releases does not indicate the level of health risk posed by the emissions. TRI data can vary from year to year at the facility and sector levels for a variety of reasons. For questions about specific values, contact TRI. In addition to TRI reporting, metal ore mining operations are subject to statutory and regulatory requirements, including permitting.

Select Sub-sector:

The Mining sector includes coal mining (NAICS 2121) as well as metallic mineral mining (NAICS 2122). Mining is the process of extracting useful raw materials from the Earth’s crust. As each ore body or coal field is unique, the mining and processing activities at any given site will be determined by a number of critical factors including deposit geometry, geology and hydrology conditions, geotechnical properties of rock, economic considerations, technological factors and environmental considerations. While most mining can be accurately categorized as underground or surface mining, each of which generally involves the use of drilling and blasting to excavate the ore or coal from the host environment, other mining methods (e.g., in situ recovery, placer mining) may be utilized depending on site-specific factors. Following extraction, the ore or coal is processed by any number of physical or chemical means to concentrate the ore or coal by removing unwanted materials. Unlike coal which generally undergoes only initial processing, most ores must undergo further extensive processing in order to obtain a marketable product.

Coal and mineral mining are the two primary types of mining activity in the U.S. Coal makes up approximately 25 percent of electricity generation in the U.S. (Energy Information Administration) and is also used directly by manufacturing plants, including those making chemicals, cement, paper, ceramics and various metal products, to generate power through steam. Metallic minerals (e.g. copper, silver, gold, and zinc) and their byproducts are used as inputs for consumer products across many industries, such as agriculture, construction, communications, and medicine.

For more information about the EPA Smart Sectors program, visit: epa.gov/smartsectors.

For more information about the mining sector, visit:

Air Emissions

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Air Total Release check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2121 (Coal Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Criteria air pollutants

How to Download Your Data

Note: Processing National Emissions Inventory data will require use of data processing software. The data are available in a tab or comma-delimited text format that must be imported into a program that will allow you to analyze the file.

  1. For 1996, 1999, 2002, and 2005, use the following links:
  2. For 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017, use the following links: At each link, click the “Data Summaries” tab, then download the file “Facility-level by Pollutant.”
  3. Coal mining facilities are grouped under NAICS codes beginning with 2121 for the years 2002 – 2017. To identify the SIC codes corresponding to NAICS 2121 for the 1996 and 1999 datasets, use the following crosswalk: https://www.naics.com/sic-naics-crosswalk-search-results/
  4. Using the SIC and NAICS codes, filter for paper products facilities, then sum total emissions of CO, NOX, VOC, PM10, NH3, and SO2 in each year to arrive at the totals shown in this chart.
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Greenhouse Gases

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-04/us-ghg-inventory-chapter-text.zip. This link will open a ZIP file containing a full time series of all tables in the U.S. GHG Inventory report.
  2. Click into the folder “Chapter Text,” then open the folder “Chapter 3 – Energy”
  3. The file “Table 3-30.csv” contains GHG emissions from Coal Mining. The values in this chart are represented by the “Total” row.
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Energy Use

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/
  2. Under “Reference case tables,” go to “View all reference case tables”
  3. Go to Table 34. Nonmanufacturing Sector Energy Consumption.
  4. For 2019, copy the value for “Total (trillion Btu)” under “Mining”
  5. Repeat for each Annual Energy Outlook, 2010-2019, copying only the first year of data from each. All other years in each report are projected values (AEO 2015 has 2012 and 2013 data).

Note – The figures that result from following these download steps and in this chart represent energy use from the entire mining sector.

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Hazardous Waste Generation

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://rcrainfo.epa.gov/rcrainfoweb/action/modules/br/naics/view
  2. Repeat the following steps for each reporting cycle. You will be able to access data for one year and one NAICS code at a time. For each reporting cycle, the output for NAICS 3364 is equal to the value shown in this chart.
    1. NAICS code: 2121 COAL MINING
    2. Reporting cycles: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017
    3. You do not need to change the “Generators to Include” dropdown or the “Location” dropdown before hitting submit.
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Production-Related Waste Managed

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Total Production Related Waste check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2121 (Coal Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Recycling of Waste Chemicals

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Recycling Onsite Current Year Quantity check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2121 (Coal Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Releases to Land

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    • Reporting Year
    • In the row immediately below Land Total Release check the box above SUM
    • Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page::
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2121 (Coal Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Water Discharges

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    • Reporting Year
    • In the row immediately below Water Total Release check the box above SUM
    • Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2121 (Coal Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
X

Air Emissions

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Air Total Release check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2122 (Metal Ore Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
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Criteria Air Pollutants

How to Download Your Data

Note: Processing National Emissions Inventory data will require use of data processing software. The data are available in a tab or comma-delimited text format that must be imported into a program that will allow you to analyze the file.

  1. For 1996, 1999, 2002, and 2005:
  2. For 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2017, use the following links: At each link, click the “Data Summaries” tab, then download the file “Facility-level by Pollutant.”
  3. Metal mining facilities are grouped under NAICS codes beginning with 2122 for the years 2002 – 2017. To identify the SIC codes corresponding to NAICS 2122 for the 1996 and 1999 datasets, use the following crosswalk: https://www.naics.com/sic-naics-crosswalk-search-results/
  4. Using the SIC and NAICS codes, filter for metal products facilities, then sum total emissions of CO, NOX, VOC, PM10, NH3, and SO2 in each year to arrive at the totals shown in this chart.
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Greenhouse Gases

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting/ghg-reporting-program-data-sets
  2. Click the “2018 Data Summary Spreadsheets” link. In the resulting ZIP file, open the spreadsheet, “ghgp_data_by_year.xlsx.” Navigate to the first worksheet, “Direct Emitters.”
  3. Apply a filter to Column K (Primary NAICS Code), displaying only the values for NAICS Codes beginning with 2122.
  4. With the filter from Step 3 applied, for each year, 2011 through 2018, sum the relevant column of “Total reported direct emissions.” For example, Column U corresponds to 2011, Column T corresponds to 2012, etc.
  5. For 2010 data, open the spreadsheet, “ghgp_data_2010” from the ZIP file. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 in this file.
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Energy Use

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/aeo/
  2. Under “Reference case tables,” go to “View all reference case tables”
  3. Go to Table 34. Nonmanufacturing Sector Energy Consumption.
  4. For 2019, copy the value for “Total (trillion Btu)” under “Mining”
  5. Repeat for each Annual Energy Outlook, 2010-2019, copying only the first year of data from each. All other years in each report are projected values (AEO 2015 has 2012 and 2013 data).

Note – The figures that result from following these download steps and in this chart represent energy use from the entire mining sector.

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Hazardous Waste Generation

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://rcrainfo.epa.gov/rcrainfoweb/action/modules/br/naics/view
  2. Repeat the following steps for each reporting cycle. You will be able to access data for one year and one NAICS code at a time. For each reporting cycle, the output for NAICS 3364 is equal to the value shown in this chart.
    1. NAICS code: 2122 METAL ORE MINING
    2. Reporting cycles: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017
    3. You do not need to change the “Generators to Include” dropdown or the “Location” dropdown before hitting submit.
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Production-Related Waste Managed

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Total Production Related Waste check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2122 (Metal Ore Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
X

Recycling of Waste Chemicals

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    1. Reporting Year
    2. In the row immediately below Recycling Onsite Current Year Quantity check the box above SUM
    3. Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2122 (Metal Ore Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
X

Releases to Land

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    • Reporting Year
    • In the row immediately below Land Total Release check the box above SUM
    • Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page::
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2122 (Metal Ore Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
X

Water Discharges

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.epa.gov/enviro/tri-ez-search.
  2. Scroll down and click on “Flat (Denormalized) Form R – A flat view of the TRI database that contains a majority of the available TRI information.
  3. Select the following variables from the list of data elements provided.
    • Reporting Year
    • In the row immediately below Water Total Release check the box above SUM
    • Primary NAICS Code
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “STEP 3: Enter Search Criteria”
  5. On the next page:
    1. For Reporting Year – switch Operator to “Between.” In the pop-up box that results, enter “1996” into the top form field, and “2018” into the bottom form field. Then click “Enter BETWEEN Range in Search Field.” In the Sort Column field, enter “1.” (You can leave the other columns blank or unchanged.)
    2. For Primary NAICS Code – switch Operator to “Beginning with,” and enter 2122 (Metal Ore Mining) under Search Value. Then check the last box to the right under “Where Only.”
    3. Click on “Search database” or “Output to CSV File”
X

Dollar Value of Gross Output

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.bea.gov/industry/gdpbyind_data.htm
  2. Select “Access Underlying Detail tables.”
  3. Select “Gross Output by Industry.”
  4. Select “U.Gross Output by Industry (A),” then select “Detail Level.”
  5. Click the “Next Step” button. The resulting data table will then load.
  6. Select “Modify” in the upper-right-hand corner of the table. In the resulting window:
    1. Set the scale as “Billions”
    2. Set the start year as “1997”
    3. Set the start year as “Most Recent”
    4. Click “Refresh Table”
  7. Click “Download” and choose your preferred download format.
  8. Line 15 of the resulting table (Coal mining) contains the values shown in this chart.
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Employment

How to Download Your Data

Note: Processing employment data from the Census Bureau will require use of data processing software. The data are available in a comma-delimited text format that must be imported into a software package that will allow you to analyze the file.

  1. Go to https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/data/datasets.html
  2. Click on any link labeled “County Business Patterns: YEAR.” On the resulting page, click the “Complete U.S. File” link and download the corresponding file. Repeat this process for each year from 1998 to 2018.
  3. Open each file in a software package of your choice that can process comma-delimited text files. Repeat the steps below for each file.
  4. For entities with suppressed data, the Census Bureau replaces all employment values with zeroes, and this underestimates the total number of employees in each sector. Using your software package, replace the suppression flags with the midpoint of the Data Suppression Flag employment ranges per the table below.
    Empflag Data Suppression Flag Employment Size Class Midpoint
    Min Max
    A 0 19 10
    B 20 99 60
    C 100 249 175
    E 250 499 375
    F 500 999 750
    G 1000 2,499 1,750
    H 2,500 4,999 3,750
    I 5000 9,999 7,500
    J 10,000 24,999 17,500
    K 25,000 49,999 37,500
    L 50,000 99,999 75,000
    M 100,000 >100,000 100,000
  5. In your software package, filter the data for NAICS codes that begin with 2121.
  6. With the filter in place, aggregate the “emp” column across all records.
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Production

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.eia.gov/coal/annual/
  2. Under “Data tables” on the right-hand side of the screen, download “Table ES-1. Coal Production” in your preferred file format (PDF or XLS).
  3. The “Total” column contains the values shown in this chart.
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Dollar Value of Gross Output

How to Download Your Data
  1. Go to https://www.bea.gov/industry/gdpbyind_data.htm
  2. Select “Access Underlying Detail tables.”
  3. Select “Gross Output by Industry.”
  4. Select “U.Gross Output by Industry (A),” then select “Detail Level.”
  5. Click the “Next Step” button. The resulting data table will then load.
  6. Select “Modify” in the upper-right-hand corner of the table. In the resulting window:
    1. Set the scale as “Billions”
    2. Set the start year as “1997”
    3. Set the start year as “Most Recent”
    4. Click “Refresh Table”
  7. Click “Download” and choose your preferred download format.
  8. Sum the values in line 16 (Copper, nickel, lead, and zinc mining) and line 17 (Iron, gold, silver, and other metal ore mining) to calculate the values shown in this chart.
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Employment

How to Download Your Data

Note: Processing employment data from the Census Bureau will require use of data processing software. The data are available in a comma-delimited text format that must be imported into a software package that will allow you to analyze the file.

  1. Go to https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cbp/data/datasets.html
  2. Click on any link labeled “County Business Patterns: YEAR.” On the resulting page, click the “Complete U.S. File” link and download the corresponding file. Repeat this process for each year from 1998 to 2018.
  3. Open each file in a software package of your choice that can process comma-delimited text files. Repeat the steps below for each file.
  4. For entities with suppressed data, the Census Bureau replaces all employment values with zeroes, and this underestimates the total number of employees in each sector. Using your software package, replace the suppression flags with the midpoint of the Data Suppression Flag employment ranges per the table below.
    Empflag Data Suppression Flag Employment Size Class Midpoint
    Min Max
    A 0 19 10
    B 20 99 60
    C 100 249 175
    E 250 499 375
    F 500 999 750
    G 1000 2,499 1,750
    H 2,500 4,999 3,750
    I 5000 9,999 7,500
    J 10,000 24,999 17,500
    K 25,000 49,999 37,500
    L 50,000 99,999 75,000
    M 100,000 >100,000 100,000
  5. In your software package, filter the data for NAICS codes that begin with 2122.
  6. With the filter in place, aggregate the “emp” column across all records.
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