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Selby coalfield (also known as the Selby complex, or Selby 'superpit') was a large scale deep underground mine complex based around Selby, North Yorkshire, England, with pitheads at ''Wistow Mine'', ''Stillingfleet Mine'', ''Riccall Mine'', ''North Selby Mine'', ''Whitemoor Mine'' and at ''Gascoigne Wood Mine''; all coal was brought to the surface and treated at Gascoigne Wood, being distributed onwards by rail. The primary purpose of the pit was to supply coal for electrical power generation; much of it was used in the nearby Aire valley power stations. Mining peaked in 1993–4 at 12 million tonnes. The mines were acquired by RJB Mining in 1997 after the privatisation of the coal industry; loss of subsidy, geological problems, and low UK coal prices made the pits unprofitable by the 21st century. Closure was announced in 2002, and mining completely ceased by 2004. ==History== In 1974 the Labour Government and National Coal Board (NCB), backed by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) initiated a decade long ambitious expansion of coal production, named the ''Plan for Coal''; the plan was based on maximising income from indigenous coal reserves at a time when oil prices had risen (1973 oil crisis) to above that of coal. The plan included continued closure of older pits, and investment in new capacity; Selby Coalfield was a major element of the plan.〔Sources: * *〕〔NERA, 2003, Keeping the Selby Complex Open, "2. Background", p.2〕 Exploratory drilling in the Selby area had taken place in the 1960s, and detailed exploration was carried out in the early 1970s, showing that a northern extension of the 'Barnsley Seam' was present and between 1.9 and 3.25 m thick, resulting in an estimate of 600 million tonnes of coal in the seam, with total estimated coal reserves of 2,000 million tonnes. Open extraction would have required a stripping ratio of around 500:1 so the coal was extracted by underground mining. A geological report ''"Coal reserves in the Selby Area"'' was published 1972, and planning permission sought for a mine in 1974, which was given in 1976 after opposition, including concerns about flooding of low lying land due to subsidence; extraction was limited to the Barnsley seam, though other seams existed.〔〔Sources: *Nicholas Valéry (19 July 1973), "Coal ... all the way to Newcastle?", New Scientist *R.F. Goosens (1972/3), "Coal reserves in the Selby area" *PRODUCTION ENDS AT SELBY COALFIELD, UK Coal, 26 October 2004, "Key Dates" : 1972 – 1976 *〕 The project was formally inaugurated by the Duchess of Kent in 1976. Initial estimates were for a construction cost of £400 million, with 4,000 people employed, with extraction beginning in the early 1980s and lasting for 40 years, producing 10 million tons per year. The scheme used an unusual arrangement of pits in the coal field – all coal was brought to the surface at the drift mine of Gascoigne Wood, whilst five pits were created to the east (Wistow, North Selby, Riccall, Stillingfleet, and Whitemoor) which transferred their coal via underground tunnels to Gascoigne Wood.〔PRODUCTION ENDS AT SELBY COALFIELD, UK Coal, 26 October 2004, "Selby Coalfield, Background Notes"; "Key Dates" : 1976 – 2004〕 As part of the construction processes the NCB paid for diversion of the East Coast Main Line from Selby (see Selby Diversion) to avoid areas that could be subject to mining subsidence.〔Sources: * *〕 Above ground equipment such as the winding gear was constructed enclosed by cladding, and with limited height to limit the visual on the environment, which was a predominately rural landscape.〔〔Dave Douglas, "The Selby Complex〕 Shafts for the pits began to be sunk in the late 1970s, in 1983 the Wistow Mine began production.〔〔Hilary Macaskill (26 October 2004), "Dust to dust"〕 Many of the miners were moved under transfer packages from other collieries that were being closed down, particularly in the Wakefield area. Large car parks were built to facilitate commuting.〔 The new mine produced no coal in 1984/5 due to the UK miners' strike (1984–1985).〔Production Ends at Selby Coalfield, UK Coal, 26 October 2004, "Annual Production"〕 Gascoigne Wood was the scene of clashes between pickets and police.〔 Output steadily rose during from 1984 to 1994, reaching 10 million tonnes p.a. in 1992–93.〔 In 1993/4 the complex had peak output of 12 million tonnes p.a.〔 In 1994 the ''Coal Industry Act'' created the legal framework for the breakup of British Coal; in 1995 the coalfield was acquired by RJB Mining. Geological problems caused some coal seams to be ignored, and Whitemoor Mine merged with Riccall Mine in 1996, North Selby Mine merged with Stillingfleet Mine in 1997. By 2000 production was 4.4 million tonnes p.a.〔〔"Selby Coalfield", Hansard: House of Commons, 16 April 2002〕 Between 1995 and 1999 the operation turned from being successfully profitable to loss making, the first loss was recorded in 1999; relatively fixed costs associated with the single exit point at Gascoigne Wood meant that the mine became less profitable as production was reduced at the five pits. By 2000 the loss was (£30 million pa), and received no subsidy; in 2002 the closure of the Selby coalfield in 2003/4 was announced by UK Coal. Mining ended in 2004 at Wistow (May), Stillingfleet (July), and Riccall (October). The total amount of coal mined was 121 million tonnes.〔〔〔Sources: * * *NERA, 2003, Keeping the Selby Complex Open, "Executive Summary", pp.1–2; "3. Selby", pp.4–5〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Selby Coalfield」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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