Released March 04, 2013 | GALWAY, IRELAND
en
Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - A major fire at Daw Mill Colliery in Warwickshire, England, has sounded the death knell for the coal mine and could threaten the future of the U.K.'s largest coal producer, UK Coal (Doncaster, England).
Last week, UK Coal announced that a major fire broke out underground in the tailgate of the 32s face, at a depth of 540 meters and a distance of 8 kilometers (km) from the bottom of the main shaft. It rapidly took over the tailgate area when UK Coal decided to evacuate 92 underground workers from the mine. A specialised team of 14 workers, trained in fire fighting, remained at the scene to extinguish the fire but had to be evacuated later in the day after being unable to contain the blaze. Oxygen to the mine was then shut off but the company admitted that it could weeks or months before the fire burns itself out.
"This fire is on a scale not seen for decades," said Kevin McCullough, Chief Executive for UK Coal. "I want to thank everyone in the mine that day for their professionalism and commitment. From the mine workers that fought the fire initially to the mine management team that evacuated all workers safely -- everyone played their part. The suddenness of the fire and its ferocity is something we train for and hope never to see, so the safe evacuation of over 100 miners is something the whole team can be proud of."
Daw Mill has a capacity of 1.6m tonnes a year but was producing below that.
However, the fire looks likely to see the closure of the mine whose future has been hanging in the balance for some time. It could also spell serious trouble for UK Coal which has just emerged from a last ditch restructuring process.
"There's a very, very slim chance that this mine will re-open," McCullough told the media. "We don't want to give miners at the mine false hope. Similar fires in Britain's mines have led to permanent closures. Our other mines are economically viable but the company as a whole won't be viable if the cost burden from a fire at Daw Mill has to be shouldered by the company alone. Taking an unexpected hit of that order of magnitude is a very difficult thing for the company to stand. We will need help from government."
UK Coal said it is "in close contact" with officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) which it said recognises the "exceptional severity and hazards" of the fire at Daw Mill.
Just a few weeks ago, Industrial Info reported that UK Coal planned to apply for permission to excavate 450,000 tons of coal from Bignall End in Staffordshire, England. It wants to operate an opencast mine at the site in north Staffordshire for up to two and half years. For additional information, see February 15, 2013, article - UK Coal Seeks Opencast Coal Mine in England.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
Last week, UK Coal announced that a major fire broke out underground in the tailgate of the 32s face, at a depth of 540 meters and a distance of 8 kilometers (km) from the bottom of the main shaft. It rapidly took over the tailgate area when UK Coal decided to evacuate 92 underground workers from the mine. A specialised team of 14 workers, trained in fire fighting, remained at the scene to extinguish the fire but had to be evacuated later in the day after being unable to contain the blaze. Oxygen to the mine was then shut off but the company admitted that it could weeks or months before the fire burns itself out.
"This fire is on a scale not seen for decades," said Kevin McCullough, Chief Executive for UK Coal. "I want to thank everyone in the mine that day for their professionalism and commitment. From the mine workers that fought the fire initially to the mine management team that evacuated all workers safely -- everyone played their part. The suddenness of the fire and its ferocity is something we train for and hope never to see, so the safe evacuation of over 100 miners is something the whole team can be proud of."
Daw Mill has a capacity of 1.6m tonnes a year but was producing below that.
However, the fire looks likely to see the closure of the mine whose future has been hanging in the balance for some time. It could also spell serious trouble for UK Coal which has just emerged from a last ditch restructuring process.
"There's a very, very slim chance that this mine will re-open," McCullough told the media. "We don't want to give miners at the mine false hope. Similar fires in Britain's mines have led to permanent closures. Our other mines are economically viable but the company as a whole won't be viable if the cost burden from a fire at Daw Mill has to be shouldered by the company alone. Taking an unexpected hit of that order of magnitude is a very difficult thing for the company to stand. We will need help from government."
UK Coal said it is "in close contact" with officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) which it said recognises the "exceptional severity and hazards" of the fire at Daw Mill.
Just a few weeks ago, Industrial Info reported that UK Coal planned to apply for permission to excavate 450,000 tons of coal from Bignall End in Staffordshire, England. It wants to operate an opencast mine at the site in north Staffordshire for up to two and half years. For additional information, see February 15, 2013, article - UK Coal Seeks Opencast Coal Mine in England.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
