Opencast Coalmining In Britain

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27988, 7 June 1956, Page 12

Opencast Coalmining In Britain

Opencast coalmining in Britain, long regarded as “ temporary ”, is to stay. It was introduced as a war-time J expedient, using Lend-Lease equip- I ment to supplement deep-mined j coal. It has continued since the end 1 ?of the w’ar and the nationalisation < i of the coal industry as a provisional i ’measure to help close the fuel ; “ g a P ” —until the output of deep- i mined coal reached a level that j would meet Britain’s needs. But ' deep-mined coal has conspicuously • failed to do this; and the Govern- ■ ment has now been forced tc : (acknowledge the continued need for .opencast mining. It is officially • ’recognised that opencast coalmining must continue until 1965, and, in all probability, beyond that date. The advantages of this recognition • are twofold. The National Coal: ’ Board’s opencast executive will be' | able to plan site clearance on a

long-term basis and to negotiate i much more effectively where there I are conflicting claims between coal-; I getting on the one hand and; agriculture and local interests onl the other. Second, British manu-i ■ facturers will become interested in making specialised heavy equipment, such as draglines, for opencast mining. While opencast mining enjoyed only a temporary status, it was difficult to interest British manufacturers in making equipment. Equipment had to be imported from the United States, where 35 per cent. ■ of the coal output comes from open-[ S lcast mines. It is thought that a[ [lucrative market for specialised; [machinery for opencast mining will; /open up in the sterling area to; [British manufacturers. Opencast; [mining is the most profitable of alii

the Coal Board’s undertakings. In 1955, 11,400,000 tons of opencast coal was produced at a profit of £4,700.000. The output was an increase of 13 per cent, on the year before, and it is now hoped to raise ■output to 14.000,000 tons a year. Opencast mining seems destined to ibe an essential and integral part of Britain’s coal industry until atomic ■ fuel ends or greatly reduces the [nation’s dependence upon coak