§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many deep coal-mines are still in production; what are their names; in which region they are; and how many people are employed underground and overall in the coal industry.[HL1670]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThere are currently 12 major deep mines in production in the UK, together with 10 smaller ones. The names of the major deep mines and the regions in which they are located are detailed on the attached table.
Provisional employment figures for 2002 show that there were 8,167 people employed in underground mines, with a further 2,970 employed in opencast mines. Employment figures include contactors.
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Major deep mines in production: Name Owner Loction Clipstone1 UK Coal Nottinghamshire Daw Mill UK Coal Warwickshire Ellington UK Coal Northumberland Harworth UK Coal Nottinghamshire Kellingley UK Coal North Yorkshire Maltby UK Coal South Yorkshire Rossington UK Coal South Yorkshire Selby Complex2 UK Coal North Yorkshire Thoresby UK Coal Nottinghamshire Welbeck UK Coal Nottinghamshire Hatfield Coalpower South Yorkshire Tower Tower Colliery Mid Glamorgan NOTES:
In addition, there were 10 smaller deep mines in production in February 2002, including Betws Colliery, operated by Betws Anthracite Ltd, in Carmarthenshire and Hay Royds Colliery, operated by J Flack & Sons Ltd, in Yorkshire.
1 Clipstone Colliery is due to cease production in March 2003.
2 The Selby Complex consists of Riccall, Wistow and Stillingfleet mines and is due to close by spring 2004.
Sources: The Coal Authority, DTI publications.