WCM conditional licences renewed

West Cumbria Mining (WCM) Ltd has been granted final extensions to two conditional licences as it awaits the Government’s decision on the company’s proposed coking coal mine under the Irish Sea.

APPLICATIONS

The Coal Authority this week granted the approvals as part of the licensing process.

The authority received the first application on 15 January 2021 for Whitehaven Offshore No.2 Area.

The second, received on the same date, is for Whitehaven South prospect.

DECISION

A statement from the Coal Authority said that under current legislation it had made its decision based on considerations including:

– whether the applicant can finance coal mining operations and related liabilities

– the nature of the land or property that may be impacted by subsidence and that damage can be properly compensated by the operator

– that the operation will be carried out by properly experienced people

RENEWAL

“West Cumbria Mining Ltd is a mineral exploration company that is proposing to develop an underground coking coal project in Cumbria.

“This project has three associated conditional licences that would need to be superseded by full operational licences in order for coal mining to begin.

“On 15 January 2021, West Cumbria Mining Ltd applied to renew two of these conditional licences that expired on 24 January 2021.

“These licences were determined on 12 April 2022 and have been approved.

“The operator has since completed final checks and confirmed to us that they wish to go ahead with the licences. We therefore issued the licences on 22 June 2022.”

EXPIRY DATE

The statement added that the licences were temporary extensions to conditional permits and will expire in October 2022 when the third conditional licence at the site is also due to expire.

“The Coal Authority has been clear with the operator that no further extensions will be given on these licences.

“These conditional licence extensions do not allow any coal mining to take place.

“The operator would need to obtain planning permission for the mine and apply to the Coal Authority for one or more full operational licences before any coal mining could begin.”

PUBLIC INQUIRY

The company’s application for the £160 million mine off the coast of Cumbria was subject of a public inquiry after the previous Secretary of State Robert Jenrick decided to call in the application.

The inquiry inspector completed his report and sent his recommendation to the Secretary of State Michael Gove to make the final decision, which is expected on 7 July 2022.