A pro-North Korean newspaper published in Japan says North Korea is estimated to have 15 billion tons of anthracite coal reserves, the second largest amount in the world.

The Choson Sinbo on Monday reported that North Korea has developed the steel industry by using anthracite coal instead of coke. The paper said that if the North starts to produce steel on a large scale using its exclusive production method, it would significantly boost the North Korean economy.

The paper added that North Korea has a rich repository of various underground resources, saying the North has the world’s third-largest zinc reserves and ninth-largest tungsten reserves.

The newspaper also said that in particular, North Korea has abundant mineral sources essential for the development of advance technology, such as uranium, manganese and titanium. It added the North has five-point-four billion tons of magnesite reserves.