The Wealth Of Helensburgh Is In Its ‘Black Diamonds’
The Metropolitan Colliery, more commonly known as the Helensburgh Mine, is literally the rock upon which the town of Helensburgh was built. When a coal seam was discovered here in 1883-84, the mining town quickly sprung up around it, with the official mine being opened in 1888 by Metropolitan Coal Co. of Sydney Ltd. It is officially Australia’s oldest still-operating mine.
Metropolitan Coal mine is one of two mines in the Illawarra that produce the largest amount of coking coal to supply Australian steelmakers. Metropolitan Colliery coal in sent to Port Kembla, for export, and sold two million tonnes of hard coking coal in 2016.
For many years the miners and their families made up the bulk of Helensburgh’s population, the evidence of which can be seen in the some of the small ‘miner’s cottages’ that still stand throughout the town today. The mine kept Helensburgh thriving in the face of other nearby communities dwindling, or like Lilyvale and Cawley, dying off and disappearing completely. Helensburgh has its roots in the poor, hard-working classes, and takes pride in its humble, but proud history.
These days the Metropolitan Colliery operates as one of Peabody Energy’s eleven mining sites throughout Queensland and New South Wales. Peabody services both export and domestic markets, with some of their major customers being electricity generators throughout Australia and Asia, as well as steel producers in Japan, Europe, Taiwan, India and South America. Hard to believe that coal mined in such a small, isolated town ends up being part of a product that travels all over the world!
The entrance to the colliery grounds is located off Parkes St in Helensburgh. The mine itself is hidden from view, down in the valley amidst the Royal National Park. The main part of the mine is located 500 metres below ground, with workers reaching the mine via high-speed lift, and then taking an engine on rails through the 100-year-old tunnels of the original mine. The current mining operations are approximately 5 kilometres away, taking the engine about half an hour to reach. Jeeps take workers further into the smaller tunnels, before they must walk the rest of the way, with total travel time taking about an hour from the surface.
There are literally hundreds of tunnels honeycombing the earth beneath Helensburgh, creating a giant, pitch-dark maze for the miners to work in. Of course, safety is paramount, with all workers and visitors being kitted up with proper equipment including helmets with headlamps powered by battery packs, and ‘self-rescuers’ with pellets that create oxygen for emergencies.
Mining machinery can extract up to fifteen tons of coal in approximately thirty seconds from a seam of high-grade coal. The working environment is crowded and dim, with a tremendous amount of coal dust being stirred up by the machines, as well as gas that could potentially explode or suffocate. It’s hard, noisy and dangerous work for the miners.
Metropolitan Colliery employs approximately
570 250 people, including contractors. Some of the workers are second or third-generation miners, making up part of the long history of the mine. The site was approved for 70 million dollar expansions and upgrades in 2009.
UPDATE 2017. Peabody Energy have listed the Metropolitan Coal Mine for sale.
South32 had plans to purchase the mine from Peabody but objections raised by BlueScope was enough for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to squash the deal with South32. The mine is still for sale. In a statement, Peabody Enegy indicated the termination of the sale “has no effect on operations”.
Take a tour of the Metropolitan Colliery’s ground facilities – Helensburgh Country Fair 2012 tour.
Video/Images/Photos, and Article © Ian Piggott 2017 – all rights reserved,