Facts and Statistics

Coal

Coal was used by Aboriginal groups for cooking in various parts of NSW prior to European colonisation.
The first European find of coal in NSW (and Australia) was in 1791 near Newcastle. The discoverers were convict escapees fleeing the Sydney Cove settlement en route to Timor.
The first coal mines in NSW were government-owned and used convict labour, a practice which continued well into the nineteenth century.
Coal was first exported in 1799 destined for Bengal in India, thus making it Australia’s first known export.
Following the Newcastle find, coal was also discovered on the south coast by shipwreck survivors making the trek from Ninety Mile Beach off the Victorian coastline to Sydney in 1797. However at the time the south coast was considered to be too difficult to access and coal mining did not begin in the vicinity until 1857 at Mount Keira.
Coal was discovered in the Western region of NSW in 1824 and commercial production began at Lithgow in 1865.
Coal was also mined at the Sydney Harbour Colliery in Balmain from 1897 to 1931.
In the first 30 years of the coal industry in NSW, production remained quite limited. This was due to the government’s agreement with the AA Company which essentially gave the company a monopoly over the NSW coalfields. From the commencement of mining till 1828, a total of 50,000t of coal were raised in NSW. [1]
The expansion of the industry commenced in the 1840s when the AA Company ceased its monopoly. In 1840 alone more than 30,000t of coal were raised in NSW. By 1860 this had increased to 368,000t. Production exceeded 1 million tons for the first time in 1872 and by 1920 had hit 10 million tons. [2]
Mining was a key source of employment in the 1850s-80s however the local workforce was inadequate to cater for its increasing demand. The NSW Government began offering assistance schemes in the 1870s to entice immigrants.
In 1908 the Australian states collectively produced 10.1 million tons of coal. Out of this total, NSW contributed 9.1 million tons of coal, clearly being the dominant state in the production of coal at the time. [3]
In 1908 NSW exported a total of 2.55 million tons of coal overseas, out of an entire Australian export of 2.56 million tons. [4]
Major overseas destinations for the coal export in the early twentieth century were Chile, the Philippine Islands, New Zealand, the Straits Settlements (Malaysia and Singapore) and the United States.
In 1908 there were 17,734 people employed in the coal mining industry in NSW. [5]
Writing in 1914 Pittman stated: “Unquestionably the most important of the NSW mineral assets is her coal.” [6]
Following the First World War, the export of NSW coal declined due to the growth of the oil industry and increased transportation costs.
There was a general coal strike in the mines of the eastern states of Australia in November 1916 for higher wages which was initiated in the Broken Hill mines. This was the first national stoppage in the industry. The strike lasted until December 1916 when the demands for increased wages and a shorter working day of 8 hours were met.
Significant safety improvements were made through the twentieth century:
- In 1908 the first legislation regarding the installation and use of electricity in mines was enacted.
- By 1935 each mine in NSW had at least 1 rescue team in training.
- In 1941 protective helmets in the mines became obligatory.
- Successive Acts of Parliament have resulted in a vastly improved safety environment for mining and the industry is now thoroughly controlled.
Open-cut mining techniques developed in the 1940s in line with the coal shortage caused by the Second World War.
In 1946 the NSW and Commonwealth Governments jointly passed the Coal Industry Act. This Act saw the creation of the Joint Coal Board which was responsible for the control of coal mining, regulating the production and price of coal, as well as health and safety issues.
From the late 1940s to the 1970s the mining industry saw many mergers of companies and the closure of nearly half the number of collieries. However at the same time production doubled, indicating the advancement of more efficient mining methods in this period.
NSW continued its dominance in Australia in regards to coal production until the mid 1980s when Queensland out-produced NSW. NSW is still a major player in the Australian coal industry and has cemented its reputation as an internationally renowned minerals exporter, particularly for its high-quality black coal.

Metallic Minerals

Gold was first discovered in 1823 however it was not until 1851 that gold was found in payable quantities. This sparked Australia’s goldrush, which ushered in a new phase in the development of regional and rural Australia. In NSW, towns were created and abandoned as gold was mined and depleted and more valuable ores were discovered elsewhere. Some towns did indeed continue to prosper particularly with the establishment of bigger mines and investment such as at Bathurst, Ballarat and Parkes.

The first metal mined in NSW was copper from 1844.

Silver in NSW (and Australia) was discovered by Count Strzelecki in 1839 and was mined from 1864.

Australia’s richest deposit of silver, lead and zinc is at Broken Hill in NSW. The Broken Hill deposits were discovered in 1883 and first mined in 1888.

Metallic minerals are significant to the NSW mining industry with current production encompassing copper, gold, silver, lead and zinc.

Gemstones

Diamonds in NSW were first noted in 1851 although it was not until 1867 that the Cudgegong field was discovered and commercial mining began.

Sapphires were discovered in 1851 in NSW near Burrandong but were not commercially mined until 1919.

Opal was found in 1873 at Lightning Ridge. Opal was first mined near Rocky Bridge Creek on the Abercrombie River in 1877 and the following year at White Cliffs.

Emeralds were first found in NSW in 1890 near the town Emmaville in the New England region and were mined for a period of twenty years.

Other precious gemstones in NSW that have been mined include garnets, rubies, topaz, turquoise, and zircons.

Although there is the potential for further mining of precious gemstones in NSW, currently only opal and garnet are mined.

A Select Bibliography

ABS (1910) Year Book Australia, ABS, Series no. 1301.0

Earp, G.B. (1853) The Gold Colonies of Australia, and Gold Seeker's Manual, Routledge

Energy Authority of NSW (1986) Coal in NSW, Energy Authority, Sydney

Kininmonth, B. (2002) Heritage in New South Wales Coalfields, Bulletin, AusIMM, Retrieved online 30/03/2009: http://www.ausimm.com.au/content/docs/heritage_bob_kininmonth.pdf

NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, Mining Heritage, NSW Government, Last updated 25/02/2008, Retrieved online 16/03/2008: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nswcultureheritage/MiningHeritage.htm

NSW Department of Mines (1921) The Coal Resources of New South Wales, William Applegate Gullick, Government Printer, Sydney

NSW Department of Primary Industries, Balmain’s own coal mine, Primefacts, February 2007, Retrieved online 09/06/2008: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/109307/balmains-own-coal-mine.pdf

Pittman, E.F. & Maitland, A.G. (1914) Mining Fields of Australia, Commonwealth Government

Power, F.D. (1912) Coalfields and Collieries of Australia, C Parker, Sydney

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1. NSW Department of Mines (1921) The Coal Resources of New South Wales, William Applegate Gullick, Government Printer, Sydney
2. NSW Department of Mines
3. ABS (1910) Year Book Australia, ABS, Series no. 1301.0
4. ABS
5. ABS
6. Pittman, E.F. & Maitland, A.G. (1914) Mining Fields of Australia, Commonwealth Government