Maltby Main Colliery is a coal mine situated on the eastern edge of the township of Maltby, South Yorkshire, some 7 miles east of Rotherham. It is presently (2008) the only colliery in production in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham.
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The first shafts at Maltby Main Colliery were sunk in 1907 and the first coal produced four years later. Situated in a wooded area on Tickhill Road the colliery was some distance from the township of Maltby and in order to gain a workforce the colliery company commissioned the building of Maltby Model Village, an estate of 1000 houses. The colliery was opened by the Maltby Main Colliery Company, a subsidiary of the Sheepbridge Iron and Coal Company. Prior to nationalisation the owners were given as Amalgamated Denaby Collieries Ltd.
The two shafts were deepened in the ten years from 1951 and this allowed horizontal access to the Barnsley seam. This also gave access to a new Swallow Wood seam. By 1969 the Barnsley seam was considered exhausted and production went over to Swallow Wood. In 1981 a major project commenced to mine the Parkgate seam. Costing £180,000,000 the first coal was brought to the surface just one year later.
The colliery was bought by RJB Mining, later renamed UK Coal, in 1994. Silverwood Colliery, the adjacent mine, closed in 1992 but had good reserves which could be worked from Maltby. Uncertainties with contracts, notably with the electricity generators, production was stopped in 1997. The pit recommenced operations and coal was gained from both the Parkgate seam, which is estimated to be exhausted by 2014, and the Silkstone seam, which will extend the life of the pit beyond that date.
Maltby Colliery was sold by UK Coal to transport firm Hargreaves Services plc. This sale was worth £21.5 million. Hundreds of jobs were saved, and the mine kept open.
The colliery is served by the South Yorkshire Joint Railway, and Maltby railway station, built to serve the community, is adjacent, but unfortunately some distance from the township.