The History & Coal Resources of Newcastle from 1830 - 1889

from a series of articles published in the Newcastle Morning Herald covering the period 26th September, 1889 to 21st November, 1889

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THE NEWCASTLE COLLIERIES
THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS
[No X]
Waratah Coal-Mining Company & the New Lambton Colliery

Published 8th November, 1889

THE WARATAH COAL MINING COMPANY
The Waratah Coal Mining Company is one of the oldest in the district, having been formed in the year 1863 for the purpose of mining coal from under the Waratah Estate. The capital of the company is £60,000 in 10,000 shares of £6 each, and for some years after its incorporation it was looked upon as one of the most prosperous in the district. Work was commenced by driving a tunnel into the outcrop of the Borehole seam on the hills at Waratah, and was for many years an excellent seam, averaging 10ft in thickness, with only three small bands, was worked. The output for 1863 was 5016 tons, but in the following year 59,912 tons were won. For the next five years the price of coal was exceedingly low, there being great competition among the several companies, and in consequence the output of this colliery was considerably decreased. In 1869 a second tunnel was opened near the first, and in 1872 the output was 61,705 tons. The company continued drawing coal from the adits until 1876, when the estate was nearly worked out. A private railway was constructed from the colliery to the company's shoots at the southern branch of the Hunter River, a distance of three miles, where the company still ship the major portion of their coal.

In 1876 they purchased a large estate surrounding the present township of Charlestown, consisting of 2600 acres, and adjoining the New Lambton colliery. A shaft, then known as Charles pit was sunk on the "Gully" or Burwood seam, a depth of 250ft, and 5ft of coal was worked. The quality of the mineral being against it, the enterprising company abandoned this shaft, after working it for six years, and opened an adit on that part of the estate known as East Waratah. The Borehole seam was here found to be eight feet thick, and after working it until a few years ago, the company let it on tribute to Mr. T.G. Griffiths, who now works it under the name of East Waratah. As the workings extend south, the seam deteriorates and gets much thinner; but there is still a large quantity of good coal in that part of the estate. Before parting with this colliery, the company had once more turned their attention to the Charlestown land, and on discovering that the Borehole seam existed under the Burwood, they determined to sink the Charles pit much deeper.

This was practically the fifth colliery opened by the company, and it is now being worked by them under the name of South Waratah. There are three shafts down to the coal, the main or winding one being down 500ft - the deepest yet worked in the district. It is 15ft in diameter, and is fitted with double cages, which hold two full skips of coal each. The winding is done by a powerful 24in cylinder engine of 100 horse power, while the pit-head, screens, and other appliances are of the latest design and construction. A second shaft, known as the Flaggy Creek pit, over a mile to the eastward, was sunk to the coal about the same time as the main one, and is 460ft deep and 9ft in diameter. A perfectly straight drive 2120 yards long now connects the two shafts, and everything is in readiness to raise large quantities of coal. At the mouth of the Flaggy Creek shaft is a 12in cylinder engine of 25 horse power, which works a ventilating fan besides a winding cage by which the miners go down the mine. In addition the fan the workings are applied with air from a furnace placed at the bottom of an up shaft 520ft deep, so that the ventilation of the colliery is excellent and far above the requirements of the law. This air shaft is situated within 200 yards of the main pit, and is bricked for nearly the entire depth.

The underground haulage in this mine is accomplished by a pair of Tangye hauling engines having 12in cylinders with a 20in stroke, and equal to the power of forty horses. The wire rope goes round a 6ft drum, and thence along the main engine plane on rollers as in other collieries, for a distance of over a mile. At present the drives and headings have an aggregate length of some three and a half miles, and are well in advance of the working places.

The seam is seven feet five inches in thickness, and is worked to its full height on the pillar and bord system; but when working the Burwood seam the company introduced a long-wall mode of winning the coal. It lies very regularly with a dip to the south, and contains four bands. A recent analysis of the coal gave the following excellent results: - Water, 1.72 per cent; volatile hydrocarbons, 34.35; fixed carbons, 59.12; ash, 4.40; sulphur, 0.41; the specific gravity being 1.816; and the whole containing 63.52 per cent of coke. At present the mine gives employment to 200 men, while 22 horses work underground.

In 1885 the company raised 65,760 tons, in 1886 46,227 tons, but in 1887 the amount was only 5451 tons; but it was owing to the opening of the new colliery. Last year 45,897 tons were won, in spite of the mine being closed during the general strike, and also a few weeks in addition owing to a local strike. The latter unfortunately occurred just as the colliery was being developed, and greatly retarded the work. At the present time the output is 350 tons per day, and for the last half year ending June 30th some 45,000 tons were raised irrespective of the pit which is being worked on tribute.

The company have 10 miles of private railway, including that connecting the old shafts with the port. The present line from South Waratah joins the Great Northern railway near Hamilton, and the company do their own haulage, having three locomotives for the purpose. The major portion of the mineral is shipped at private shoots, which adjoin the Hunter River Smelting Works, and vessels drawing up to 15 feet of water can load there. Some 137 hopper waggons, each holding nine tons, are in daily use, while the small coal produced in the mine is used by the Smelting Company, 14 hopper waggons being employed constantly taking it to the works. When the supply of small coal exceeds the demand it is stored in a hopper capable of holding 850 tons, and situated near the Raspberry Gully or main mine.

During its existence the company has formed and sold several townships, and in a few months intend to sell another site in suitable allotments under the name of

Kahibah, where the miners from the adjoining collieries may obtain land for building purposes.

The head office of the company, which is not a party to the association, is in Sydney; where Mr. W. Clarke, the secretary, resides. Mr. T.D. Ramsay is the colliery manager, and Mr. George Bewick, jun, is the local shipping manager.

THE NEW LAMBTON COLLIERY
In the year 1867 Messrs. J. and A.Brown commenced to work coal from the New Lambton Estate, which at present is the freehold property of Messrs. George R. Dibbs and Alexander Brown, M's P. It consists of 1225 acres, and is bounded on the north and east by the Commonage on the south by the Waratah Coal Company's land, while the estate of the Scottish-Australian Mining Company forms the western boundary. Prior to opening a mine the firm obtained a mineral lease of some 280 acres from the Government, and in this block, which lies to the north of the present estate, the now celebrated Dog and Rat, or A Pit, was sunk. Shortly after it was opened, Mr. James Brown sold his share to Mr. Dibbs, and the new firm having purchased several blocks of land, sunk a second shaft to the south of the old one known as the Hartley Vale Colliery. The output for both mines was good, being in 1868 44,437 tons, in 1869 108,702 tons, and in 1870 117,962 tons. Owing to the inferior quality of the coal the Hartley Vale colliery was abandoned, and the firm put down the B or New Lambton Pit, which was opened about the year 1870. This mine was worked until the beginning of 1888, but the old Dog and Rat shaft was worked out in 1884. The B pit was a very successful one, the seam being 8ft in thickness, very free from faults and lying at an inclination of 1 in 40 south. Some six years ago it was found that as the workings proceeded in a southerly direction, the coal was deteriorating in quality, and the firm commenced to sink their present C Pit on a 640 acre block, some 82 chains to the south of the old shaft.

In 1884 this shaft was opened and the old B Pit finally abandoned. The main shaft is 243ft deep, 15ft in diameter, and fitted with double cages, each of which holds two skips. The winding is accomplished by a 25 horse-power engine, the pit head and other appliances being of the latest design and construction. At present the underground haulage is done by horses, but an engine of 16 horse power is being fitted up to do the work. A shaft 248ft deep was recently put down some 88 yards to the north-west of the winding shaft, and a furnace capable of drawing 80,000 cubic feet of air through the workings per minute is placed at the bottom. The mine is very free from water, all the pumping required being done by a 12 inch cylinder Tangye, steam being conveyed to it from the surface.

The Borehole seam is being worked in this mine, to a height of 5ft 6in on a different principle from that obtaining in the other district collieries, something between the bord and pillar and longwall methods. The headings being driven in the same as at other collieries, but the working places are double width, namely, 16 yards. The refuse from the seam is piled up for a width of six yards, and a 6 yard pillar is also left. Under this system the management claim that a freer and better current of air is circulated, especially round the face of the workings, and, at the same time, more coal can be got out.

Close to the shaft and going into the hill at the outcrop is a tunnel, by which the top of Burwood seam is worked. This tunnel is driven in a south-western direction, for a distance of some twenty chains, the seam being 8ft 10in in thickness, including a band of indurated clay 16in thick. It is worked on the pillar and bord system for about 5ft of its height and is good steam coal. Owing to the dip of the seam which is 1 in 30 to the south; the tunnel goes in at a good inclination, the empty skips finding their way to the end by gravitation, the full ones being hauled to the receiving floor, also used for the coal from the shaft by a wire rope controlled by a 16 horse-power engine. There are at present four common sloping iron bar screens in use, but the two coals are always kept apart, that from the tunnel having a separate screen. Steam is supplied to the engines by three small boilers, each 33ft long, and 5ft 6in in diameter, while near the main colliery buildings, which are of wood, are the workshops where all the necessary repairs to the colliery plant are accomplished.

In common with many of the other collieries, the New Lambton mines are at present very slack, and have been some time past. There is a good demand for the coal for foreign markets as the major portion of it is going to India and the east, and some difficulty is found in getting ships. The shaft is capable of raising 500 tons per diem, and the tunnel 200 tons, but at present the daily output, when the men are working, is only 300 tons. In 1885 the output from the mines owned by the firm was 58,174 tons; in 1886 71,370; in 1887 61,829; and last year 64,237 tons were raised, although the men were idle for three months in consequence of the strike. For the present year the output has been fairly good, considering that the mine is a new one. Some 20,235 tons were raised during the sic months ending June 30th, and 7625 tons during quarter ending 30th September last. An analysis of the New Lambton coal from the lower seam shows that it is very similar to that in the adjoining colliery of Waratah. The employees number 200, but when in full swing again the mine will require a great many more men.

The firm having a branch line, one mile in length, connecting the colliery with the Sydney-Newcastle railway at Adamstown, the total distance to the pit being five miles. They have also a railway to the old pit, joining with the Government line at Waratah, but this is now very seldom used. There are 210 railway waggons in almost constant use, and the haulage is done by the Government Railway Department.

The firm forms one of the parties to the Masters' Association, being represented at the conferences by Mr. Alexander Brown, MP. Mr. James Thomas is the colliery manager, and Mr. Charles Ranclaud has charge of the shipping.