Mining - Kellingley's future confirmed
WORKERS, SEPT 2007 ISSUE
Kellingley Pit at Knottingley near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, facing closure two years ago, is now confirmed as having at least another 20 productive years as new coal seams are opened. Some 700 mining jobs have been secured at the Big K, the vanguard striking pit during the 1984-1985 miners' strike, following a £60 million new investment from UK Coal.
In the short term 3 million tonnes of coal from the closed Askern Colliery will be mined, while two years' work and investment will open up new coal faces in the Beeston seam. Kellingley, threatened with closure due to geological difficulties, has seen mining engineering ability overcome the obstacles.
Britain uses 68 million tonnes of coal a year, 50 million of them imported. Our coal reserves are estimated as being equivalent to 1,000 years' mining resources. We have to keep the few pits open and alive to save the skills and knowledge vital for this future industrial reserve.