No. North Dakota has the Freedom Mine, the 11th biggest in the US and bigger than any in PA or WV.
Another perfectly drawn analogy bites the dust [lol].
I knew Minnesota had limited mining, but was not aware that it was widespread in the NoDak. Unfortunately, as I said, I don't think that one mine really counteracts my point, since North Dakota falls in this coal production breakdown in "Other States" which total roughly that of W. Virginia.
So... hopefully now that we've established that what I said was 100% correct, and certain states are geographically predisposed to take advantage of certain laws, and certain states have established industries which allow them to do so, are there any other distractions prior to addressing how improvements to shipping and favorable trade laws were more beneficial to those with established shipping industries, geographically located in an ideal position to carry it out?