Banks Mining create new jobs for local community

Up to 50 new jobs being offered at mining operator’s Rusha site in West Lothian

A MINI jobs boom is to be delivered to West Lothian, thanks to a surface coal mine near Breich. Up to 50 jobs will be created at Banks Mining’s Rusha site and it is anticipated that many positions will be filled by local people living in the communities surrounding the site. 

The opencast coal mine is estimated to produce around 1.5 million tonnes of coal over its lifetime and experienced workers with a range of skills will be required at all stages of the operation, including banksmen, fitters, machine operators and labourers among others. 

Jim Donnelly, director at Banks Mining, said: ‘At Banks, we take every care to ensure that our development sites benefit neighbouring communities as much as possible and one way in which they can is through the possibility of employment. Wherever possible we look to hire local people and local contractors to carry out the work required, helping us strengthen the economy of the local areas and leave a lasting positive legacy. 

‘We are fully committed to our development with care approach and all of our sites evolve through close consultation with the local community and from engaging with the community during our planning process, we discovered that in the case of the Rusha project, jobs and employment are of particular importance to the area. This is why we are delighted to be in a position to offer this number of jobs to people from the area and offer benefits which really matter to them.’

Further positions will become available as the site progresses and these will be filled as part of a phased job implementation process.