London | It's only four years till coal-fired power is due to become extinct in Britain but West Cumbria Mining reckons now is a good time to open a new £165 million ($298 million), 40-year underground coal mine in Northern England.

The Australian-owned mining group with serious nous behind it - it's owned by EMR Capital, the private equity investor run by Owen Hegarty, a Rio Tinto veteran who founded Oxiana, and KPMG alumnus Jason Chang - is one of a brave few, including another ASX-listed player, challenging what is shaping up to be a historic shift for post-industrial Britain.