Open-pit coal mining in the United Kingdom

Open-pit coal mining in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom produces about ten million tons of coal a year [1] from open-pit mines. The majority comes from Scotland [2], with the largest operator there being the Scottish Coal subsidiary of Scottish Resources Group [3]; they are rather unforthcoming about the locations of their mines.

Statistics on open-pit coal mining are compiled by the British Geological Survey from information provided by local planning authorities, and available at "Opencast coal statistics". http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/mines/coal/occ/home.html. .

Any given site does not last very long - four or five years at extraction rates of up to a quarter-million tons a year. Open-pit sites active in 2010 include [4]:

Contents

Wales

Miller Argent in Merthyr Tydfil

Miller Argent run the 'Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme' in eastern Merthyr Tydfil, which involves mining the coal from under 367 hectares of land made derelict by earlier coal-mining operations; the coal will be provided to the Aberthaw Power Station on the Glamorgan coast. The project started in 2007 and is expected to last 17.5 years.

Tower Colliery site in Hirwaun

The deep mine at Tower Colliery closed in 2008, but there is a plan to build an 80-hectare 165-metre open-pit mine to extract a remaining 6Mton reserve of anthracite, for which a planning application was registered in July 2010 [5].

Nant-y-Mynydd

Energybuild Ltd operates an opencast site here [6]; it was estimated to have 450kton of recoverable coal in 2006, which has mostly been excavated between 2006 and 2009. The overburden was sold as road stone.

UK COAL (England and Scotland)

UK COAL active sites in 2010

  • Long Moor: 725kton initial reserve
  • Lodge House (Derbyshire): 1Mton initial reserve; further 800kton awaiting planning approval August 2011 [7]
  • Cutacre (Greater Manchester, between Bolton and Salford): 900kton initial reserve[8]
  • Steadsburn (fifteen miles north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne): 1Mton initial reserve plus 300ktons of fireclay
  • Stobswood, at Stobswood near Morpeth in Northumberland.[1][2]

UK COAL prospective sites in 2010 [9]

  • Hoodsclose, Co. Durham (2200 kton coal + 500kton fireclay) [10]
  • Potland Burn, Northumberland (2,000 kton)
  • Park Wall North, Co. Durham (1275 kton)
  • Bradley, Co. Durham (550 kton) - rejected in February 2011 [11] though UK Coal is appealing [7]
  • Huntington Lane, Shropshire (900kton)
  • Blair House, Fife (700kton)
  • Former Minorca Colliery (Measham, Leicestershire); 1250 kton + 250 kton fireclay - planning permission granted July 2011, production expected to commence summer 2012 [7]
  • Butterwell Disposal Point (Northumberland); 1000 kton + 200kton fireclay

References



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Coal mining in the United Kingdom — Coalfields of the United Kingdom in the 19th century. Coal mining in the United Kingdom probably dates to Roman times and took place in many different parts of the country. Britain s coalfields are associated with Northumbria and Durham, North… …   Wikipedia

  • Mining in the United Kingdom — Kellingley Colliery on the border of West and North Yorkshire. Mining in the United Kingdom produces a wide variety of mineral fuels, metals, and industrial minerals. In 2006, there were over 2200 active mines, quarries, and offshore drilling… …   Wikipedia

  • Oil and gas industry in the United Kingdom — This article sets out the role of the UK oil and gas industry in the economy, energy supply and technology. It also covers the industry’s safety and environmental record and its prospects for the future. Contents 1 Location 2 Exploration and… …   Wikipedia

  • Nuclear power in the United Kingdom — United Kingdom energy related articles Government energy policy Energy use and conservation Nuclear power Solar power Wind power Energy efficiency in …   Wikipedia

  • Coal mining — Men leaving a UK colliery at the close of a shift Surface coal mining in Wyo …   Wikipedia

  • List of disasters of the United Kingdom and preceding states — is a list of major disasters (excluding acts of war but including acts of terrorism) which relate to the United Kingdom since 1707, the states that preceded it (including territory that later became the Republic of Ireland), or involved UK… …   Wikipedia

  • United Kingdom Climate Change Programme — United Kingdom energy related articles Government energy policy Energy use and conservation Nuclear power Solar power Wind power Energy efficiency in housing …   Wikipedia

  • Open-pit mining — El Chino, located near Silver City, New Mexico, is an open pit copper mine …   Wikipedia

  • History of coal mining — Due to its abundance, coal has been mined in various parts of the world throughout history and continues to be an important economic activity today. Compared to wood fuels, coal yields a higher amount of energy per mass and could be obtained in… …   Wikipedia

  • Coal Authority — Formation 1994 Legal status Non departmental public body (NDPB) Purpose/focus Coal mining in the UK Location 200 Lichfield Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, NG18 4RG …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”