Mountain Top Removal Coal Mining Mountain Top Removal (MTR) coal mining refers to surface coal mining (and the associated reclamation operations) that remove entire coal seams running through the upper fraction of a mountain, ridge, or hill, by removing all of the overburden and creating a level plateau or gently rolling contour with no high-walls remaining.1 Barclays recognises that MTR in the Appalachian region of the USA is a legal mining method, overseen by a robust regulatory framework.