Key facts & figures for 16 months of illegal coal mining

Find out more about how the Ffos-y-fran coal mine has managed to illegally siphon coal out for 16 months without being stopped.

06 September 2022 – 08 January 2024

Coal sold: 640,000 tonnes (of 11 million tonnes total, company-reported volumes published in official Coal Authority statistics)

CO2 from coal use: 2.02 million tonnes of CO2 (2022 BEIS Conversion Factors)

Methane from the mine itself: 2,900 tonnes (Global Energy Monitor)

CO2e from the mine itself: 931,000 tonnes in 2021 (reported by the company on p4 (7) for machinery, electricity, and gas combustion)

Coal operator: Merthyr (South Wales) Ltd – formerly Miller Argent Holdings Limited, subsidiary of Merthyr Holdings Limited – which is owned by Gwent Investments Limited

Parent company: Gwent Holdings Limited, owned by Mrs J H Lewis

Type: Thermal coal, some of which is ‘upgraded’ to be sold to steelworks

Mining method: Opencast

Claimed destination: steelworks, domestic heating, cement production etc.

Local Planning Authority: Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council

Address: Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme, East Of Merthyr Tydfil CF48 4AE

Time: 15 years, then a further 16 months illegally