Rev.1

Metropolitan Colliery
1888 –

1887 - started by Metropolitan Coal Co. of Sydney Ltd.

1888 - opened March

Two 1100' (approx) shafts were sunk during a period of 5 years in a valley at Helensburgh.

However a 180' fault, not previously detected, occurred between the shafts with the Bulli seam workings from the main shaft meeting a seam of cindered coal and of similar thickness.

It was some time before it was realised that a fault had occurred and that it was the #4 seam that had been encountered. Subsequently a drive was set up the fault to meet the second shaft.

It is to be noted that free carbon monoxide was encountered during the driving of this drift, a rather rare occurrence. 
Sellers. G. 1976 - The Illawarra Coalfield - A Brief History to 1905. a paper presented to the AusIMM Conference, Illawarra, May 1976.

1890 - connected to Gov. Railway by siding ("A Railway History of the Illawarra")

1895 - an outburst kills 3

Early workings proceeded to the north east with large quantities of gas (methane) being met.

Due to the large quantities of gas encountered, from 1897, Metropolitan Colliery used oil flame safety lamps exclusively as opposed to the naked lights used by all the mines at the time.

This same gas also made Metropolitan the only mine not to employ furnace ventilation but to install a massive fan from the outset.

In the years leading up to 1902 the mine had the largest output of the southern coalfield.

In 1905 Metropolitan Colliery produced some 291,618 tons with a workforce of 509 men.

1915 - supplies power to Helensburgh

1921 - purchased by shipping company Huddart Parker Ltd

1925 - an outburst kills 2

1954 - an outburst kills 2

Uses inducer shotfiring for outburst prevention

1954 - a 3600' drift replaces the down cast winder

1955 - the last of 160 full height pit horses retired

1965 - purchased by AI & S

1966 - mechanisation completed

1986 - purchased by Savage Resources from AI & S with production increasing from 300,000 tpa to 500,00 tpa before onselling to Denehurst.

Coal is the Bulli seam, 3.0 - 3.5 m thick, 0.4% sulphur, low ash, 7300 kj/kg, non-fusing ash thermal coal

1989 - purchased by Denehurst and ?? from Savage Resources in January for $10,000,000

Denehurst acquires 90% interest in mine.

After several profitless years, the workforce was reduced from 245 to 145, with an enterprise agreement being lodged with the Coal Industrial Tribunal in April 1993.

A turn around involving the Westfalia longwall installation, the upgrading of the washery and associated facilities had development being outstripped by the longwall production.

The gas drainage crews were tripled to 16 drillers and three dedicated deputies.

Metropolitan became one of the only mines in Australia to use the Long-Airdox VersaTrac battery powered front end loader.

At this point the longwall was operating 3 x 8 hours/day, and with development produced some 7,000 tpd. The first longwall block was 1200m x 115m at a seam height of 3.0 - 3.5m. This longwall installation and upgrade exceeded $27m.

1995 - Longwall 1 commenced. A converted Fletcher bolter was converted into a drilling rig to locate a dyke extrapolated into the area.

Deviating exploratory boreholes failed to accurately locate the dyke, and Longwall 2 was unable to penetrate the intrusion.

By June 1996 the drilling crews had lost their dedicated deputies but all 16 of them were "flat out" drilling gas drainage (mainly carbon dioxide) holes and installing gas drainage pipework to the main range. Maddocks, Paul. 21/6/96 personal communication to B. Sheldon.

On November 13th, 1996, the mine reverted to "care & maintenance" with some 137 employees being retrenched with some 24 remaining. Watson, Bruce - December 1996, Common Cause.

In December 1996, the administrator, Nick Brooke, Price Waterhouse, seemed to have brokered a deal to retain 112 mineworkers for a period of 12 months however uncertainty again raised its head until in early 1997, Allied Mining stepped in and kept the mine operational. Watson, Bruce, February,1997, Common Cause.

Mining restarted in early 1997, the closure allowing good gas drainage from the coal. Longwall 1 had been 100 metres long - the next block averaging 650 metres.

Mining was again stopped only to restart in May 1999 under new owners and a workforce of 60 men.

Gas drilling was undertaken by a Cram rig and 3 x 2 men crews utilising an Eastman Single Shot survey tool at 25 metre intervals. The acquisition of an AMT survey tool, hired from VLD, improved the drilling rates. An extra drill crew was then employed to carry out gas content sampling.

Manning was increased to 95 by the end of year 2000.