Coal as an energy source is experiencing an upsurge in popularity and demand due to increasingly high prices of oil, natural gas and electricity. About 60 percent of the nation's electricity comes from coal, according to the government's Energy Information Administration.

But unlike mines in West Virginia and Kentucky, the anthracite coal mines in northeastern Pennsylvania are struggling to survive.

STANDING THE TEST OF TIME
AMERICAN-JOURNAL FEATURE STORY
Story and Photography by Christian Abraham
The mines in the Hegins region are mostly family owned and operated with no more than a handful of employees. Only about 15 mines still operate in the region, down from hundreds a generation earlier.

Anthracite coal or hard coal, containing 90 percent carbon, burns the hottest and cleanest of all grades of coal. The largest fields of anthracite in the United States are found primarily in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Despite the Risks, Coal Mining Remains a Way of Life