A working class asserting its right to be an independent nation, with control over its industry, should make the materials critical to energy and advanced manufacturing very much its business…
Employers have always tried to make strikes illegal and ineffective. One group of workers stood up to intimidation in the middle of war…
9 December 2022
The government has finally given the go-ahead for a coal mine in Cumbria which provide high-grade coal for steelmaking. It needs to stick with the decision.
A new rare earth refinery – the Pensana development at the Saltend Chemicals Park, Humber (Port of Hull), is to be operational by 2023.
Without the minerals known as rare earths there would be no modern industry. And though Britain has little in the way of rare earth reserves, it must become a centre for manufacturing them if it is to maintain its independence…
Modern life is inconceivable without metals, and the exploitation of Britain's mineral riches means jobs, skills and an increase in technological sovereignty. What's not to like?
12 November 2021
The Welsh government is trying to close Aberpergwm colliery, the only anthracite mine in Europe. Its "net zero" dogma also puts the Port Talbot steel plant at risk.
17 January 2021
The first new deep coalmine in Britain for over 30 years will go ahead in Cumbria. It will supplying coking coal for steelmaking.
In a big boost for electric vehicle battery production in Britain, mining exploration company Cornish Lithium announced significant investment...
The final lump of coal was extracted from one of England’s last remaining coal mines on Monday 17 August.
16 May 2016
On 10 May 2016 no electricity was generated by burning coal in Britain. The previous day the National Grid had to issue a crisis call for additional generation to avoid power cuts. Deliberately taking out one source of power is reckless when Britain's energy supply is uncertain.
The decision to close Kellingley Pit, the last of Britain’s deep coal mines, sounds the death knell not only for coal mining but electricity generation from coal.
Hatfield Colliery in South Yorkshire, one of the three remaining deep British mines, has been handed a lifeline in the shape of a £4 million loan by the National Union of Mineworkers.
The withdrawal of Hargreaves Services from the funding package to keep Kellingley pit in West Yorkshire open for a further two years of managed closure has brought to the fore the prospect of an early shutdown.
The first new metal mine in Britain for 40 years will open next year in Devon following the approval of £130 million of investment.
Britain’s coal industry is to be reduced to one deep pit and a handful of opencast mines. While the government drags its feet and the opposition remains silent, it falls to organised labour to put energy security on the agenda…
