21. After the opencast mine closed, the M1 motorway was constructed over the west of the parish. 22. It at present owns 105 operating mines, of which 81 are underground and 24 are opencast mines . 23. A short stretch has now reopened between Thornton and Earlseat to carry coal from the opencast mine . 24. Opencast mining operated between 1985 and 1995.25. In 1981, Wirtgen built the first surface miners for opencast mining and routing operations in hard rock. 26. Such methods could be very effective in opencast mining , but fire-setting was very dangerous when used in underground workings. 27. At this time, near the city a coal deposit was discovered and Chadan began its development of opencast mining . 28. The site narrowly escaped opencast mining , before Dinefwr Borough Council secured its future by purchasing it from British Coal. 29. The opencast mining moved into the fields to the west of the house and continued into the early 1950s. 30. The opencast mines for ironstone, the first being the West Yorkshire Iron and Coal Company in the late 1870s.
