Fears for 500 jobs as pit faces closure threat

Maltby Colliery in Rotherham has been producing coal for more than 100 years, and is one of the few remaining deep pits not only in Yorkshire, but in the whole country. However, the presence of gas, water and oil in the development of a new face has fuelled uncertainty over the site, which employs about 500 people. Its owner, Hargreaves Services, said the outcome of further investigations at the panel, known as T125, by its mining experts and external consultants should be completed “by the end of next month” and a decision will then be made on Maltby’s future. Yesterday Hargreaves’ chief executive Gordon Banham said: “Back in May we hit an area of gas and oil. “We pulled the panel back and unexpectedly we’ve encountered gas and oil again, which was a surprise. The team keep coming across cracks in the strata. “We could find the gas has disappeared again. The worry is that gas is interfacing with the whole panel. “One thing we’ll not do is risk our men’s health and safety. Money is irrelevant in terms of people’s lives. “We’d have to abandon the panel. It would cost too much to mine another panel and we’d mothball the mine.” Mr Banham said that the main problems are “gas, water and oil”, and explained: “If there is a lot of water it has to be pumped away. “With gas there is the risk of explosion. We have to drain the gas out and the mine has to stand still. “With oil, men can’t be exposed for certain lengths of time so the men would only be able to work for three hours. “The unions and the men realise the seriousness of the situation and we’ve been in close contact with them. “I can’t say what the chances are that we’ll keep it open. Five hundred people work there and they have families. “I don’t want to raise their expectations. “If Maltby goes it will have a huge impact on the area. I don’t want to speculate.” He added: “The mining team will produce their first preliminary report by the end of next week. “We’ll go back and have subsequent talks with them. “We will have a decision by the end of October.” In a statement released yesterday, a spokesman for Hargreaves said that abandoning the T125 panel would “lead to the mothballing or even closure of the mine, as it would probably be uneconomic to switch production to a later panel”. Maltby Colliery produces more than a million tonnes of coal per year, with about 60 per cent of its total output supplied under a long-term contract with Drax, near Selby Much of the remaining production is sent to Hargreaves’ Monckton works near Barnsley, which produces 200,000 tonnes of coke for use in the production of glass, detergents and steel manufacturing. Hargreaves said it was confident that it had found international coals with a “very similar”, although not identical, specification to Maltby coal. The company first disclosed the problems at Maltby in May, describing the conditions as “unprecedented” and warning that delays in T125 production could cost it £16m in profits for the year to May 2013. Shares fell by 20 per cent yesterday, despite Mr Banham insisting the company was strong enough to absorb any possible closure of the Maltby pit. As the largest importer of coal into the UK through terminals at Immingham and Newport, Hargreaves said its overall progress remained “strong”, with profits rising by 16.8 per cent to £43.1m in the year to May 31.