Once I visited a lignite coal mine in western NoDak. The owner was fond of showing a collection of semi-fossilized root balls and tree-parts that were dug out a

Once I visited a lignite coal mine in western NoDak. The owner was fond of showing a collection of semi-fossilized root balls and tree-parts that were dug out along with the coal. Dates to 55-65Mya. It was being strip-mined, and it was close to the surface too. "Western North Dakota contains an estimated 351 billion tons of lignite, the single largest deposit of lignite known in the world... enough to last for over 800 years..." - https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/Mineral/nd_coalnew.asp https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/Mineral/nd_coalnew.asp