Really, but more the wrong end of the stick. If you close a working mine, you cease any water-pumping you might have done to keep the working faces and transport tunnels dry. Parts of the underground network will then inevitably become flooded. You remove any machinery which might have a future use/value. This all has to go up the main shaft in the lift so you leave a lot behind because it is not worth taking it. Then you cap over the main shaft (and any others) with concrete because the very last thing you want is people falling into it. Once underground workings have been left, without constant maintenance, over time, underground collapses of the tunnels occur. There is no possibility of "mothballing" a coal mine for future use. The land up top can be reclaimed for the community though and very often is. I know of colliery sites where there are now shops and housing estates
Michael Winstanley ● 1360d