U.K. Permits First Coal Mine in 30 Years

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The first new U.K. coal mine in decades has been given the go-ahead by the government amidst a storm of protests from its own climate advisory panel and environmental bodies.

The government has approved plans by West Cumbria Mining to develop a mine near Whitehaven in Cumbria, northeast England. It will use run-out and pocket extraction mining methods to produce 3.2 million tonnes per year of coking coal from a reserve of approximately 750 million tonnes. The £165 million (US$204 million) project had received local county council approval in 2020 but a final decision was put off numerous times. Industrial Info is tracking three projects associated with the development.

West Cumbria Mining said the coking coal from the mine will be used for steelmaking in the U.K. and Europe. The Woodhouse Colliery will employ around 500 people and operate for up to 30 years. Up to 80% of the coking coal is expected to be exported to Europe.

The government permit stated that U.K. Secretary of State Michael Gove is "satisfied that there is currently a U.K. and European market for the coal and that although there is no consensus on what future demand in the U.K. and Europe may be, it is highly likely that a global demand would remain." He also agreed that the mine was needed to secure U.K. coal supplies in order "to avoid disruption to supply chains as a result of natural disasters, poor weather, or geo-political considerations."

Lord Deben, chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises the government, condemned the decision to the BBC: "As far as the coal mine in Cumbria is concerned, let's be absolutely clear, it is absolutely indefensible. First of all, 80% of what it produces will be exported, so it is not something largely for internal consumption. It is not going to contribute anything to our domestic needs in the terms we're talking about, the cost of energy and the rest."

He added: "Phasing out coal use is the clearest requirement of the global effort towards Net Zero. We condemn, therefore, the Secretary of State's decision to consent to a new deep coal mine in Cumbria, contrary to our previous advice. This decision grows global emissions and undermines U.K. efforts to achieve Net Zero."

The Materials Processing Institute, which is the U.K.'s national center for steel research, questioned the need for a new coal mine as the country's last two steelmakers are moving to cleaner methods of production. "The U.K. steel industry has been clear that the coal from the West Cumbria mine has limited potential due to its high sulfur levels," Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Materials Processing Institute, told The Guardian newspaper. "This, combined with the industry's drive to decarbonise, means that by the time the mine opens, only one of the U.K.'s current four blast furnaces is likely to be able to use this coal, meaning that more than 90% of production will be exported. The situation is the same in Europe with even tighter sulfur controls and a faster drive to green steel, meaning that some companies will have moved away from coal completely by the mid-2030s."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).