Came across this today on another forum.

Here are two links about a proposed drift mine near Wakefield.

www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/local-news/crofton-drift-mine-plans-to-create-50-jobs-and-10m-for-community-to-be-revealed-1-6000003

www.newcroftoncoopcolliery.co.uk/?doing_wp_cron=1379427095.4400200843811035156250

Interesting stuff, hope it works out!

Very interesting - from small acorns?

This can only be a good thing. 🙂

You have to wish them well

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There is still chance that David Harrison will get the mine going at Clayton West. They are dealing with environment issues at the moment and hope to resubmit in, I think it is August next year

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Is that the old Hay Royds mine?

Is there a market for coal ? As the large coal burning stations close or change to wood burning, why commit capital to mining a product with no demand ?
Or are they being smart, as when the lights (and computers and computer based infrastructure) go out in 2015 we as a country may well remember that a valuable resource underlies us.

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There is still a market for coal, as a country we import a lot of it. The crofton drift mine is planned to produce 3000-6000 tonnes a week. Not a huge output but it's only a small project.

New Coal Mine at Clayton West.

This is not Hay Royds. It will be opencast I think. The site is off Litherop Lane which is nearer to Wakefield where the road from Emley comes down to the Wakefield/Denby Dale Road. There was an old mine near it. This linked to Hay Royds underground.

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Is there a market for coal ? As the large coal burning stations close or change to wood burning, why commit capital to mining a product with no demand ?
Or are they being smart, as when the lights (and computers and computer based infrastructure) go out in 2015 we as a country may well remember that a valuable resource underlies us.

regardless of power stations, theres always a market for coal, coking coal anyway, while we have a steel industry here. I am not sure the precise definition of the best coal for coking, despite having used quite a bit of it in the forge! just falls somewhere between house coal and anthracite I think (im told theres a difference between metallurgical/ steelmaking coke and smiths coke even)

Preserved steam engines are struggling to get uk coal due to the size of the lumps needed, perhaps a little niche hear aswell?

Am I right in thinking Steam coal and Coking coal need to come from Mined coal (Deep Vein?), opencast is only good enough for ground up feed to power stations?

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I believe there's been a shortage of good quality steam coal in parts of the country since Daw Mill stopped producing.

Am I right in thinking Steam coal and Coking coal need to come from Mined coal (Deep Vein?), opencast is only good enough for ground up feed to power stations?

Not sure, depends on the deposit although proper dry steam coal is along the way to hard high quality anthracite, so called 'smokeless' coal. Anthracite is formed by the highest temperatures/pressures so it follows that its from deeper down than lignite (brown coal) and bituminous. I believe power stations will take anthracite when they can as theres the most energy in it, hence its the recommended fuel for modern stoves, boilers etc, although with furnace adjustments for biomass etc they can probably burn most things now.
As to wether anthracite ever occurs in a deposit shallow enough for open cast mining (possibly due to folding etc) we would need to hear from a coal geologist...

Just recalling my days in steam renovation, when the most demanded source was Welsh Steam Coal, not anthracite as this burned too hot and caused damage to the fire bars. ( or have I got that wrong?) 😞

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Am I right in thinking Steam coal and Coking coal need to come from Mined coal (Deep Vein?), opencast is only good enough for ground up feed to power stations?

Not sure, depends on the deposit although proper dry steam coal is along the way to hard high quality anthracite, so called 'smokeless' coal. Anthracite is formed by the highest temperatures/pressures so it follows that its from deeper down than lignite (brown coal) and bituminous. I believe power stations will take anthracite when they can as theres the most energy in it, hence its the recommended fuel for modern stoves, boilers etc, although with furnace adjustments for biomass etc they can probably burn most things now.
As to wether anthracite ever occurs in a deposit shallow enough for open cast mining (possibly due to folding etc) we would need to hear from a coal geologist...

There are several opencast sites in South Wales that mine anthracite so depth isn't an issue with coal types/quality.

Just recalling my days in steam renovation, when the most demanded source was Welsh Steam Coal, not anthracite as this burned too hot and caused damage to the fire bars. ( or have I got that wrong?) :-[

Sounds spot on, with the draft you get through a firebox I can see it could get overheated if the purest anthracite was used. As an aside I think there are/were a few drift mines in South Wales that were exclusively supplying heritage railways with steam coal, I wonder what the situation is now

There are several opencast sites in South Wales that mine anthracite so depth isn't an issue with coal types/quality.

just did a search and it seems Ffos-y-Fran opencast is the major supplier, I guess the smaller drift mines have closed their doors, I know Aberpergwms on stop/mothballed as well

Am I right in thinking Steam coal and Coking coal need to come from Mined coal (Deep Vein?), opencast is only good enough for ground up feed to power stations?

I think its the other way round.

Deep mined coal contains clay, dirt etc, from the floor or any bands in the seam. Opencast coal is recovered without any dirt, so its actually better quality.

With deep mine coal, dirt is often mined along with the coal, such as from the mail or tail gate, road way repairs etc. the dirt goes along on the conveyor belt to the washers etc.

With an opencast mine, the layers of dirt are removed down to the coal seam. The last pieces of dirt are often swept away by a chap with a broom! There are some dirt bands that might be in the seam and they are mined together with the coal. Again if the coal is dirty then it will go to a washery.

The quality of the coal depends on the factors involved millions of years ago when the coal was formed. The main factor being water. Coal that was formed in the UK was from trees etc and sea water. The sea water was dirty in effect which is why UK coal seams contain chlorine and sulphur and other salts etc.

Go to somewhere like Australia and their coal was formed with rain water which was purer. That is why the quality of Australian coal is better than UK coal seams.