London: Britain’s largest coal mine will close permanently with the loss of at least 550 jobs due to a fire that has burned ferociously for two weeks, mine owner Coalfield Resources said.
Coalfield Resources shares were down 10 percent at 4.35 pence on the London Stock Exchange yesterday. The closure of the Daw Mill Colliery in Warwickshire after 47 years of mining is a blow to Britain’s coal industry as it adjusts to greener government policy and vies with cheap imports from Colombia, Russia and the United States.
The mine has been closed since fire broke out 540m underground on February 22. UK Coal, the operator of the mine part-owned by Coalfield Resources, said on February 25 that its permanent closure was possible.
“The 650 (strong) 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,” UK Coal said in a statement yesterday. UK Coal spokesman Andrew Mackintosh said the company expected to find jobs for 50 to 100 Daw Mill employees at other mines within the company.
The closure is the second recent blow to an industry battling cheap imports and greener government policy. Hargreaves Services said in December it would close its century-old Maltby pit and cut 540 jobs. Reuters
