White coal is a form of fuel produced by drying chopped wood over a fire. It differs from charcoal which is carbonised wood. White coal was used in england to smelt lead ore from the mid-sixteenth to the late seventeenth centuries. It produces more heat than green wood but less than charcoal and thus prevents the lead evaporating.[1] white coal could be used mixed with charcoal for other industrial uses than lead smelting.[2] white coal was produced in distinctive circular pits with a channel, known as q-pits. They are frequently found in the woods of south yorkshire.

White coal is a form of fuel produced by drying chopped wood over a fire. It differs from charcoal which is carbonised wood. White coal was used in england to smelt lead ore from the mid-sixteenth to the late seventeenth centuries. It produces more heat than green wood but less than charcoal and thus prevents the lead evaporating.[1] white coal could be used mixed with charcoal for other industrial uses than lead smelting.[2] white coal was produced in distinctive circular pits with a channel, known as q-pits. They are frequently found in the woods of south yorkshire.