How Is Coal Collected?

Coal is mined in a coal mine/or strip mined and brought out on a loader specially made for mines then it is put on a belt and into a hopper and then into a giant dump truck with wheels bigger around than a full sized truck is long(12-15 feet in diameter) then it is hauled to a dump site and put in 18-22 wheeler coal haulers and taken to a coal plant where it is cleaned before going up a belt system into train cars which are then hauled down river to a port on a barge.this is just a little of how coal is collected. There are literally tons(excavation) of preparation before the coal can even be located to be mined/collected.