UK Coal announced on February 10 it would close Welbeck Colliery due to an uneconomic mining plan. The company said new shift patterns now made the mine viable.
New shifts are expected to increase machine utilisation time by almost 40%.
“Forecast production gaps of up to three months, costing around £1 million a week, will be eliminated, enabling the colliery to produce around 1.5 million tonnes of coal a year.”
The colliery will remain open as long as it meets key performance targets, UK Coal said.
"The workforce and the unions have broken the mould which defined costs and condemned pits to closure in the past,” UK Coal chief Gerry Spindler said.
“It has required the best ideas and an unequivocal commitment from the workforce, and I am privileged to work with them."
