Coal consumption has fallen steadily in the UK mainly due to continued low demand from electricity generators operators and the increasing popularity of renewable energy. Figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy reveal coal imports in 2019 at 6.8 million tonnes were 33% lower compared with 2018, the lowest since before the […]
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WCM aims to be major European supplier
Feature: The UK has this year passed two consecutive months, April and May, without using electricity from coal-fuelled plants and instead choosing renewable energy. LICENCES However, coal is still needed to manufacture the steel parts for wind turbines and solar panels. One company, hoping to start the UK’s first deep coal mine in 30 years, […]
Legal challenge dropped against WCM coal mine plans
A judicial review challenge has been withdrawn against plans for a new £165 million coal mine, mainly in the seabed off Whitehaven in West Cumbria. West Cumbria Mining (WCM) plans to produce “between two and three million tonnes of high quality, specialist, hard metallurgical coal per annum” at Woodhouse Colliery to supply the steel industry […]
Cornish Lithium to extend drilling at United Downs
Cornish Lithium Ltd said it wanted to drill more holes after finding samples of lithium as well as copper and tin at United Down mines in Cornwall. COPPER-TIN OCCURRENCES The company drilled two large holes from which samples tested to reveal micas of lithium from water in the mines. Founder and chief executive Jeremy Wrathall […]
Hargreaves Services to stop coal mining by July
Industrial and property sector company Hargreaves Services plans to stop coal mining by July in accordance with its long-term strategic plan. The Durham-based company will incur an exceptional cost of £3.7million in the year ended 31 May 2020, including employment related liabilities of £1m and accelerated restoration accrual, plant and mining asset depreciation of £2.7m. Net […]
Is the UK ready for the 21st century gold rush?
“A quadrupling in lithium and a doubling in cobalt production will be needed. This is the ‘gold rush’ of the 21st century” – Faraday Institution Feature: Globalisation, once a benchmark for progress, has become a word that signals caution. The pandemic has revealed that weaknesses in the global supply chain results in delays, gluts and […]