The Coal Research Bureau at West Virginia University is currently using a multiple analysis technique to examine minerals in coal. This technique is unique because it involves examining the minerals in a coal sample utilizing five independent methods: (1) X‐ray powder diffraction, (2) infrared spectroscopy, (3) scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X‐ray analysis, (4) optical petrography, and (5) normative mineral calculations based on elemental analyses. This technique of multiple analyses produced both more accurate identifications and quantifications than would have been possible with only one or two of the methods, and additionally important information on mineral compositions, associations, and sizes and shapes. Application of this multiple analysis technique to the Pittsburgh coal of northern West Virginia revealed the presence of the minerals illite, kaolinite, quartz, feldspars, muscovite, calcite, dolomite, apatite, bassanite, gypsum, pyrite, marcasite, hematite, and rutile. X‐ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and normative calculations were used to quantify most of these minerals, while optical petrography and scanning electron microscopy were used to identify minor minerals and to determine mineral associations and morphologies.