La antracita es el carbón mineral más metamórfico y el que presenta mayor contenido en carbono. Es de color negro a gris acero con un lustre brillante. Estando seca y sin contar cenizas la masa de la antracita posee 86% o más de carbono y 14% o menos de volátiles. Comparado con otros carbones es poco contaminante y de alto valor calorífico (~35 megajoules por kilogramo). Cabe destacar que no difiere mucho en cuanto a calorías con la mayoría de los carbones bituminosos (hullas). Comparado con estos últimos carbones la antracita no mancha al ser manipulada. También destaca sobre otros carbones por su bajo contenido de humedad.

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Anthracite is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest calorific content of all types of coal except for graphite. Anthracite is the most metamorphosed type of coal (but still represents low-grade metamorphism), in which the carbon content is between 92.1% and 98%. The term is applied to those varieties of coal which do not give off tarry or other hydrocarbon vapours when heated below their point of ignition. Anthracite ignites with difficulty and burns with a short, blue, and smokeless flame. Anthracite is categorized into standard grade, which is used mainly in power generation, and high grade (HG) and ultra high grade (UHG), the principal uses of which are in the metallurgy sector. Anthracite accounts for about 1% of global coal reserves, and is mined in only a few countries around the world. China accounts for the majority of global production; other producers are Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, South Africa, Vietnam, the UK, Australia and the US. Total production in 2010 was 670 million tons.

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