Coal & refuse to be excavated: 72 million tonnes in total - 30 million tonnes of which will be "middling" coal to be dumped or put back into the coal mine.
Coal to be sold: 42 million tonnes during the life of the extension
CO2: 100-120 million tonnes of CO2, according to uses listed below (2022 BEIS Conversion Factors)
Methane: up to 1.17 million tonnes of methane, a powerful climate accelerant
Coal operator (mining company): Energybuild Ltd/Energybuild Mining Ltd.
Type: Anthracite
Claimed uses:
The planning application said power stations and steel works. With Aberthaw power station closed, Energybuild now talks of Pulverised injection for steelmaking, household heating, cement, and water filtration.
County Council Local Planning Authority: Neath Port Talbot
Address: Glynneath, Neath, SA11 5AJ
Physical size: Because this is an underground mine, much of the excavation would be invisible but very real, as communities victim to flooding mine shafts have experienced. The underground tunnelling has permission to extend to 2.3km squared, taking you roughly half an hour to walk from one side of the tunnels to the other. And this doesn’t factor in the vertical shafts, sending offshoots that go beneath the River Dulais.
Time: Planning permission to mine coal until 2039 (this is often subsequently extended).
During their party conference, Plaid Cymru announced plans for their first hundred days of Government, should they win the Welsh election. Having now formed the Government, we hope to work with them and other Members of the Senedd to achieve some of those priorities. This is the last of three posts outlining opportunities which could help them to do that…
During their party conference, Plaid Cymru announced plans for their first hundred days of Government, should they win the Welsh election. Having now formed the Government, we hope to work with them and other Members of the Senedd to achieve some of those priorities. This is the second of three posts outlining opportunities which could help them to do that…
During their party conference, Plaid Cymru announced plans for their first hundred days of Government, should they win the Welsh election. Having now formed the Government, we hope to work with them and other Members of the Senedd to achieve some of those priorities. This is the first of three posts outlining opportunities which could help them to do that…
Deep coal mines have a long history in the UK dating back some 400 years. On the other hand, opencast coal mines only became common between 1940 and 60, becoming the dominant mining method in the UK as deep coal mining entered rapid decline. Opencast coal mining techniques…
We worked with media outlet, Nation.Cymru, to ask where the main political parties in Wales stands on restoration issues ahead of the Welsh election on 07th May 2026. This is a key issue for many people, but particularly those who live near under-restored opencast coal mine sites…
As part of our Politics Unspun series we are unpacking politicians’ public comments on coal to challenge any misleading or incorrect messages. Todays’ focus is on comments made in a BBC interview during the Senedd election campaign about coal mining in Wales. During the interview, Reform UK candidate in Afan Ogwr Rhondda, Ben Hodge-McKenna…
Coal Action Network is proud to present our 2026 manifesto for Wales. With the Senedd elections taking place in May this year, Wales stands at a decisive moment. For over a century, coal has shaped Welsh landscapes, communities, and politics. Today, Wales has the opportunity to shape something very different…
As part of our Politics Unspun series we are unpacking politicians’ public comments on coal to challenge any misleading or incorrect messages. Todays’ focus is on comments made during a Westminster Hall debate in December 2025 about the oil refining sector. During the debate, Lee Anderson MP made some statements about coal…
The Government is reforming planning policy in England and thanks to thousands of our supporters asking for an end to coal extraction in the last consultation in 2024, they are now recommending that planners “should not identify new sites or extensions to existing sites for peat or coal extraction”…
This insanity seems to have infected many world Governments, despite numerous warnings that we must dump fossil fuels urgently, our politicians continue to endorse and encourage the further mining of coal. Thanks to these decisions we will most certainly face a catastrophic future.
Coal is bad for the environment, so we should avoid it, if possible!
The argument that Tata steel needs the anthracite produced by Aberpergwm is now very questionable since the UK government has sad it will give £300 million towards a transition to using arc furnaces. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/uk-government-plans-give-port-26045545
The problem is that industries in Britain still use coal. It is better to mine it in this country than to import it from abroad. This doesn’t mean that coal isn’t bad, but you cannot just look at the supply side and not the demand. If using coal were more restricted, simple economics would shut down the mine.
We agree! See our pages on coal in industry for our work on this: https://www.coalaction.org.uk/coal-industry/