Opencast Mining (Hansard, 23 January 1995)

§ Mr. Dafis
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a list of all sites for which approval has been sought for opencast mining operations, or on which opencast mining is currently taking place, indicating the latest estimate of annual tonnage extracted.

§ Mr. Gwilym Jones
This information is not held centrally.

§ Mr. Dafis
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish the total volume of opencast coal mined in Wales for each year since 1975 together with its percentage share of the total volume of coal mined and his comparable estimates for the next five years.

§ Mr. Gwilym Jones
Figures for the production of opencast coal are not held centrally. However, the County Planning Officers Society has published figures from 1983–84. The figures relating to Wales are as follows:

Year Thousand tonnes Percentage of UK total

1983–84 1,547 10.5

1984–85 1,738 11.7

1985–86 2,174 14.2

1986–87 1,522 10.4

1987–88 1,677 10.3

1988–89 1,748 9.7

1989–90 2,088 11.2

1990–91 1,865 10.2

1991–92 2,402 12.6

1992–93 2,423 13.6

1993–94 2,504 15.4

The future production of opencast coal in Wales will depend on the commercial plans of the coal operators and planning decisions.

Year	Thousand tonnes	Percentage of UK total
1983–84	1,547	10.5
1984–85	1,738	11.7
1985–86	2,174	14.2
1986–87	1,522	10.4
1987–88	1,677	10.3
1988–89	1,748	9.7
1989–90	2,088	11.2
1990–91	1,865	10.2
1991–92	2,402	12.6
1992–93	2,423	13.6
1993–94	2,504	15.4