At a time when mining is making a comeback in the UK with the York Potash project, Wolf Minerals starting work on its Hemerdon tungsten mine, gold in Scotland and other progress, UK Coal Mine Holdings has announced the closure of Daw Mill Colliery in Warwickshire following the major fire that broke out on February 22. This fire is the largest seen in a UK coal mine in over 30 years and continues to burn ferociously at a depth of 740 m with no signs of it reducing despite the ventilation being turned off to starve the fire of oxygen.

The 650 workforce has already been put at risk of redundancy, although a small, core team will remain on site to safely secure the mine over the coming months. 

Kevin McCullough, Chief Executive for UK Coal Mine Holdings said “This has been a terrible week, not just for the company and its employees but also for the energy security of the country, as it brings an end to 47 years of coal production at Daw Mill. Having successfully completed the restructuring, and being only weeks away from returning to healthy production, this ferocious fire has dealt a blow to everything we tried to achieve over the last 12 months – in just ten days.

 “The deep mines at Kellingley and Thoresby, together with the surface mines, continue to produce coal for use in the UK’s power stations.

 “We are now exploring the possible transfer of some colleagues to our other mines.  Regrettably however, this news is likely to see the majority of the Daw Mill workforce being made redundant and our thoughts and best wishes are with these colleagues and their families at this difficult time.”

Constructive and supportive discussions are continuing with Government, led by officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, with a view to helping the company manage the closure of Daw Mill and seeking a way forward for the remaining mines.