The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has stepped in to save the last viable deep pit coal mine by investing £4m in the employee-owned Hatfield Colliery, near Doncaster. The colliery faced imminent closure unless it could secure funds to start mining a new coalface in the next few weeks. The investment will allow the pit to remain open for at least another eighteen months as it opens a new coal seam.
The Hatfield Colliery Employee Benefit Partnership, which runs the mine for the benefit of its 438 employees in a similar way to the John Lewis Partnership, said it had struggled to secure a loan from the government or private banks. Consequently, it then approached the NUM and after consideration by the union it was given the loan within days. The loan is a commercial one and is to be repaid within a year with interest. Although the exact terms of the loan have not been made public, they are b
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