§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what was the tonnage of coal produced by(a) deep and (b) opencast mining for the most recent available year; and what is the projection for these figures in five years' time.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryIn 1989–90 the amount of coal produced in Britain was 76.6 million tonnes from deep mines and 18.6 million tonnes from opencast. Future levels of production are for the coal industry to decide and will depend on the tonnages which can be sold on a competitive basis.