In India coal is the major source of energy and only 60-70% is extracted using different mining methods, left over coal remains as waste in abandoned coal mines. This left over coal can be recovered in the form of gas by anaerobic fermentation. Consortia of microbes isolated from different natural sources i.e. cow dung, paddy field soil, termites and mine waters, were tried in this study. The best consortium culture isolated from Jitpur mine water was used for optimisation of parameters. The optimum solid liquid ratio, pH, particle size and temperature were 1:10, 7.0-7.5, -60 + 25 mu m, 35 degrees C respectively for maximum methane production. At optimum conditions maximum methane produced was 479.3 cc/100 g with high percentage (92.6%) in biogas. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.