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The 680-man mine produced the record over the past 12 months, cutting four production records in the process.
Miners at the West Midlands mine, located between Tamworth and Nuneaton, beat the previous best of 3.16Mt set by Selby’s Wistow mine 13 years ago.
“This has been a world-class performance by everyone involved in the Daw Mill operation and demonstrates the resilience and determination of our employees,” UK Coal chief executive Jon Lloyd said.
Colliery manager Glenn Robinson said the mine’s main focus had been on maintaining consistently high daily and weekly output levels.
Daw Mill’s output record was its fourth of the year. The colliery had produced its first million tonnes in a record 108 days, and 2 million tonnes in a record 214 days. In early December, it produced its 3 millionth tonne, the highest annual output for Daw Mill.
The colliery, which this year has taken on more than 35 additional miners and apprentices, produces coal from a five-metre section of the Warwickshire Thick seam.
Each strip of the 300m long face produces around 2000t, with the completion of over 1600 strips covering a distance of over 320 miles to extract the 3.218Mt.
Mine owner UK Coal is currently investing over £100 million in projects which will extend the production capacity of Thoresby Colliery in Nottinghamshire and Kellingley Colliery of West Yorkshire, by around a decade.
It is also reviewing options to extend workings at Daw Mill into a new block containing well over 40Mt of reserves, with a similar tonnage accessible if Harworth Colliery in Nottinghamshire reopens.
