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Kellingley Colliery was once considered one of the most successful in the U.K. (Image from Wikimedia Commons)
One of Britain’s last standing coal miners, UK Coal Holdings, is shutting down its remaining underground operation next month, marking the end of a 300-year industry that once employed over a million workers.
“We are the last of the dinosaurs,” Chris Jamieson, one of the miners that will lose his job in a few weeks’ time, told The New York Times.
While open cast coal extraction will continue in the country, the closure of Kellingley Colliery in northern England marks the end of underground mining, an industry that helped make Britain an industrial power and top exporter.
Over 20% of the nation’s energy needs are still met by coal, which is mostly imported. Since 2000, U.K. power generators Electricite de France SA to RWE AG have bought more of the fuel from abroad, where coal from Australia to Colombia is cheaper, according to the Confederation of U.K. Coal Producers.
Britain’s coal industry is not alone. The global sector is suffering from rock bottom prices, oversupply, and weak demand.
Metallurgical coal prices have dropped below $90 per metric ton, their lowest levels in a decade, pushing producers to slash output. Thermal coal, mostly used for power generation in emerging markets, is trading at $42 per short ton, as countries try to switch power generation to lower-emission options like natural gas or renewables.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs said in September the commodity would never again get enough traction to lift it out of its slump and warrant investment in the sector.
(Read more at The New York Times’ feature)
Men leaving a UK colliery at the close of a shift. Painting by Gerald Palmer. (Image from Wikipedia)
5 Comments
George Evans
sad…but a relief …this industry was a blight…
people should listen to the David Alexander ( sadly departed) song “the price of coal”
Wade
This industry is NOT a blight, it’s a great source of fuel for energy production, and an integral component for the production of steel. The mines provide good paying jobs, and help stimulate the economy. Ignorant people who want to end coal production don’t realize they’re dooming millions of people to a life of poverty, while simultaneously heralding the dramatic increase in the price of their own electricity.
JH
it wasn’t the coal industry that was bad but the power industry. No bag filters and poor combustion leaving unburnt particles and fly ash directly into the air was the problem. Compare to modern power stations. Problems are always best solved at looking where the problem really is.
Brian R. McCaughrin
This is very sad for the UK Employees in this, and once again it come down to one bottom line called profit. In few years from now they will re-open this mine with foreign cheap labor, and once again the mine will make profit. Their will always be need for coal, those who say it not are fools.
Karen Giddings
Wow – My Dad was born in Slough and shared many stories. He would have been 89 on 19.11.15. Is Thermal Coal the only way to generate power stations? Is there another solution that will generate the same amount of careers for people and protect our environment? Cheers