There are some lignite deposits in Texas but you need a higher btu content. The nearest anthracite is either in eastern Oklahoma or Illinois. But even knowing this, I would have to look a long time to find the coal in natural settings in Oklahoma. The reason metal work was so late, was because agriculture was necessary to produce the surpluses of food to feed the iron workers. The first evidence of iron is from about 5,000 B. P. It would seem that Noah was unable to pass this information on.
Metal industries require the invention of agriculture and domesticated animals.
The current Christian teachings of christians in this area are woefully inadequate. The loss of even one person's hunting skills could mean death to everybody. A person on such a journey might never find his way back or be eaten by a newly released wild animal. You would have to mark your trail every hundred yards or so and then hope that the marks remained visible. If you fail to transmit the information within 300 years of Noah's life, it is all lost.