The Anhydrite Mine at Billingham is to be entered for the first time in almost 30 years.

 

Preparatory works ahead of a detailed inspection are planned to start shortly with the inspection likely to take place in September.

 

The work is designed to assess whether the mine, owned by ICI and capped in 1978, is in a suitable condition for use as a long-term disposal facility.

 

NPL Estates Limited, through its subsidiary NPL Waste Management, is considering using the mine for the disposal of low-hazard dry waste, subject to planning and regulatory approvals.

 

Specialist mining engineers and scientists will spend a week examining the mine on foot and taking samples of rock. No vehicles or heavy equipment will be taken into or used in the mine during the inspection.

 

However, before the inspection can begin, the concrete caps over the two shafts within the Billingham site boundary first need to be removed and temporary head works installed.

 

This preparatory and restoration work is expected to take around two months. Additional fencing and round-the-clock security will be maintained at the shaft heads during the whole period of the site work. The Mines Rescue organisation will provide expertise and equipment to provide safe access to the mine. On completion of the inspection, the shafts will be re-capped and the site restored to its current condition.

 

Simon Towers, Managing Director of NPL Estates, said: “The inspection will give us the information we need to establish whether our proposal is feasible or not from a technical perspective.”

 

“I would stress that there is no definitive intention to reopen the mine permanently at this point and we will work closely with the local community to assess the feasibility of any future plans once the technical review is complete."

 

Paul Henstridge, ICI’s Mine Manager, said: “Safety is the top priority and inspections like this have to be carried out by mining experts.

 

“With more than 100 miles of tunnels within the mine it would be impossible to inspect it all on foot within the planned timescale so we are focusing on those areas inspected before it closed in order to establish whether they are in the same physical condition.”

 

At the request of Frank Cook, the MP for Stockton North, NPL Estates and ICI have held several meetings with Kevin Pitt and a number of Billingham residents in the last six months and information on the overall proposal and progress towards the mine inspection has been shared and subsequently fed back to the Billingham Partnership Board and officers of Stockton Borough Council.

 

A report of the inspection findings will be prepared by consultants coordinating the work and shared with the planning and relevant regulatory authorities including Stockton Borough Council, The Environment Agency and HM Mines Inspectorate. The agreement of these bodies would be required before any permanent re-opening could take place.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 

The Anhydrite Mine was operated between 1927 and 1971 and eventually closed when the two mine shafts were capped in 1978. With a capacity of 11 million cubic metres, it is roughly the size of 4,400 Olympic swimming pools.

 

The mine is 2 miles long from north to south and up to 1 mile wide from east to west. Two thirds is under the Billingham site with the rest covering the area towards the Cowpen Industrial Estate. Only just over half of the rock was ever extracted from the mine – a total of around 33 million tonnes - leaving massive pillars to support the roof.

 

Ranging from a depth of between 130 metres and 280 metres below ground, rock was extracted using a ‘room and pillar’ method. Anhydrite, or calcium sulphate is extremely strong and geologically stable rock. It has roughly four times the compression strength of concrete. The product was formerly used to make cement and plasterboard and also as a source of sulphur in the manufacture of sulphuric acid and ammonium sulphate.