January 30th - 2004
Hatfield Colliery Closes

Hatfield Colliery has ceased production, for what appears to be the final time. The preceding year of 2003 saw the ambitious plans for the site turn to dust as the management vied frantically to find financial backing for the scheme. Everyone, from the outcast NUM representatives to the local MP, Mr. Kevin Hughes, lobbied the government to intervene and prevent the closure. It was all to no avail. The pleas fell on deaf ears and the money required to fund the project could not be raised and the 200 strong workforce became unemployed.

Two months ago, late in 2003, the colliery was given a stay of execution while administrators attempted to find a buyer. A delegation of miners, along with local MP. Mr. Hughes, traveled to the House of Commons and managed to get the Energy Minister, Stephen Timms, to agree a slender lifeline of £10,000 per week to keep the mine under a care and maintenance basis until the end of March. This would have taken us to the 20th anniversary of the strike of '84-'85, when the miners of Hatfield fought for the future of the pit against the threat of the Tory axe. However, many residents of Stainforth were left in a state of confusion after news reports on the evening of Friday 30th January said that underground pumps had already been switched off and the shafts were beginning to fill with water. A news spokesman said the main ventilation fan was to be switched off that very same day.

Coalpower have said that they would need £30 million to save the colliery and are still interested in fulfilling their plans for a clean energy coal fired power plant on the site, if the money could be found.

Update May 2004
Although efforts to have the mine reopened have failed miserably, the plans for building the new power generating plant are still alive and a programme to remove and wash the East Lane tip was set in motion. Sources say that there is a significant amount of coal being recovered from the spoil.
note:
After a brief flurry of activity at the pit, which involved the digging holes in the East Lane spoil heap in an effort to find patches of coal, the men were laid off and the pit once again faces an uncertain future.

Update March 2006
After two years of uncertainty, it now looks as if there really is hope for the survival of Hatfield colliery.
Earlier this year, as the grey days of winter clung tenaciously onto the late arrival of spring, Richard Budge announced the formation of his new company, Powerfuel PLC.

The community of Stainforth and the surrounding areas waited patiently to see if, this time, the plans would amount to more than dust whispering across the spoil heaps.

In the second week of March, the announcement was made that Kuzbassrazrezugol (KRU), one of largest coal producers in Russia, had acquired a 51% shareholding in Powerfuel. The agreement is said to have cost the Russian company £36m, with the understanding that more will invested in the mine over the next year. The plans for the clean power plant are still in place and will require a further investment of £800m from KRU / Powerfuel.

If all goes well, the pit could be in operation as early as next year, 2007. A large portion of the initial investment will have to be spent on the surface, before there is any thought of descending into the mine and starting mining operations. The main offices were badly damaged by a fire, thought to have been caused by an electrical fault, and will be demolished along with most of the remaining buildings.

KRU expect that by the time the colliery has been fully refurbished and production is at full capacity, possibly by 2009, Hatfield could be producing around 2m tonnes per year.