Hello Craig,
A lot of my family were engaged in Coal Mining too, pay rates were not much above starvation level and the houses they lived in belonged to the Coal Master, as did the Store where they bought their Food & Working tools. The highest rates were for those down below, the lowest for those on the Pithead. So it is very likely your ancestor was buried in a Paupers Grave, alongside several others and unmarked. There will be a record of his burial and like me, you will be shown to an empty looking area and told "he is in there" much the same fate awaits Babies born dead, you will see little decorated areas without markers where these children are buried in bulk.
James.