Anthracite
Topic: Energy Resources of India: Conventional and Non-conventional · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 5 "Minerals and Energy Resources"
Meaning
Anthracite is the best grade of coal. It is hard and has the highest carbon content, so it gives the most heat and burns with almost no smoke. Coal improves in grade the longer, deeper and harder it is pressed underground. The order from lowest to highest carbon is peat, lignite, bituminous coal and anthracite, so anthracite is the last and highest stage. India has very little of it.
Example
India's small anthracite deposits are found mainly in Jammu and Kashmir.
Don't confuse with
- Bituminous coal: It has less carbon than anthracite, but it is the most common coal in commercial use. Most of India's Gondwana coal is bituminous, not anthracite.
- Coking coal: This is a special high-grade bituminous coal that turns into coke for steel-making. Coking coal is not the same thing as anthracite.