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MHEA
Going for coal
The MHEA visited ATH’s coal mine in Scotland, which is
transporting coal on a 12km conveyor. Kelly Rose reports
The Materials Handling Engineers Association’s including agriculture, forestry, nature conservation
summer visit took attendees to Scotland to visit and other forms of development.
ATH Resources Glenmuckloch Open Cast Coal Planning permission for the scheme had to be
Site. This site is a clear example of how employing approved by two local authorities because the
modern machinery and mining methods can reduce overall length of the conveying system spans both
costs and are less harmful to the environment. areas of responsibility.
ATH Resources believes that the extraction of coal With several agencies involved (such as Scottish
has to be balanced against environmental National Heritage and Scottish Environment
considerations and this is reflected in the Protection Agency) environmental concerns were
infrastructure it has chosen. always considered carefully by ATH and
The company is the third largest producer of coal Continental Conveyor.
in the UK producing over two million tonnes per Colin Buchanan, the site’s operations manager,
annum. Coal was used to generate 38 per cent of said: “Getting the agencies involved has been a
the UK’s electricity in 2006 and the company holds good learning curve for ATH. It was quite
coal supply contracts with three of the UK’s main refreshing, and I feel that building working
electricity generating companies. relationships with them is going to produce
In April 2006 Continental Conveyor was asked to dividends in the end.”
design, supply and install and commission an ATH prides itself on the restoration and
overland coal handling conveyor from Glenmuckloch rehabilitation of its surface mines. This was
coal site to Crowbandsgate rail loading facility. This recognised in September 2006 by the Coal
is the largest overland conveyor in Europe and has Authority when it presented the company with the
a capacity of 500 tonnes per hour. As well as being annual Environmental Award for its outstanding
highly productive, the coal is able to travel through contribution to the environment at Garleffan.
the landscape unobtrusively. ATH is clearly environmentally aware, and this
Some 2.8 million tonnes of coal will be has been the deciding factor in the infrastructure
transported using the conveyor, removing the need the company has put in place. Conveying the coal
for 54,000 lorry journeys from Scotland’s roads to the rail link, rather than 1000s of lorry miles, has
every year - around two million miles. shown the community where its priorities lie.
The design of the conveyor has allowed for Communities also benefit financially from coal
abrupt changes in direction, and the need to mines, so it would appear that the relationship is
protect the ancient lime kilns. The section of the mutually beneficial.
conveyor that moves through the Special Protected For more information on MHEA contact Dr Harold
Area (SPA) is on stilts ensuring that the landscape Wright, Secretary - MHEA on tel: 01642 570045,
is preserved. e-mail: hw@mhea.co.uk or visit www.mhea.co.uk.
The whole of the length of the conveyor has a
membrane on top of the gravel to ensure the area
was protected, and the roof over the conveyor
contains the coal.
The Glenmuckloch site was acquired by ATH in
2005 and it is estimated that it is a seven-year
project. However, if there are still reserves after
this time then an extension should be possible as
the infrastructure is in place.
Reduction in road miles and preserving the SPA
were the prime motives for conveying the coal
direct to the rail loading facility. The project clearly
demonstrates ATH’s environmental commitment.
Throughout the development and mining process,
ATH focuses on the restoration and rehabilitation of
the sites and land is returned to a number of uses
www.solidsandbulk.co.uk August 2007 / Solids & Bulk Handling 27
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