Miners dig deep for bright future

A new generation of miners are being trained at the pit

A new generation of miners are being trained to work in a South Yorkshire pit two decades after most of the UK industry went into decline.

Hatfield Colliery, near Doncaster, which closed in 1994 when the coal industry was privatised, is taking on apprentices to work in the pit.

Rising prices of coal and other forms of energy on world markets have made mining a realistic prospect again.

Hatfield's owner Richard Budge spent �110m on bringing the pit back to life.

Howard Saunders has worked at the colliery on and off for 20 years and his son Jack is working there.

Mr Saunders said: "I never thought I would see Jack here, but Hatfield's going to be a success story for all the lads in the village and the surrounding areas.

"Even for the lads who've travelled from far away, all they want to do is work."

You could actually start sinking new mines - and there are locations where that could be done Mine owner Richard Budge

Jack Howard drives the underground trains, taking materials and colleagues to the coal face half-a-mile from the pit shaft.

He said: "I'd never get an opportunity like this anywhere else. Four of my family members are working here, my granddad's worked here, my granddad's dad worked here so I'm the fifth generation."

Four years ago the pit was closed, its future uncertain, but since then the price of coal has more than doubled, making Hatfield economically viable again.

Richard Budge, the mine's owner, said: "The price of coal started to lift up on the back of oil prices.

"Coal is in demand through China and India and the growth is so rapid that's what's really driving the price - it's not so much domestic electricity prices.

"At the current price of coal we'd be working twice as far as we are now from the pit bottom."

Mr Budge added that if there was any guarantee about the future then mining would return as a prospering industry once again.

"If coal prices stayed where they are today, around just under $200 a tonne, you could actually start sinking new mines - and there are locations where that could be done."

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