Lal Lal Lignite Company
Background
Gold prospector, James Ralph, sank a shaft about 1.5km south of the present road-rail crossing at Lal Lal. At a depth of 226 feet he intersected several layers of clay with occasional beds of lignite.[1]
History
| Lal Lal Lignite Mine Map Reference: 7722-4-3 Lal Lal Open Cut Mine 7668, 58243 Lal Lal Shaft Area 7664, 58248 Municipality: District of Buninyong created 9 July 1858 Shire of Buninyong proclaimed 16 February 1864 City of Ballarat Land Use/Status: Private Site History The existence of beds of lignite was reported for the first time in the Colony of Victoria in 1857 at Lal Lal, about 13 miles South-East of Ballarat in Central Victoria.[2] |
The Lal Lal Lignite Company made briquettes from Lal Lal brown coal, known as lignite. The existence of beds of lignite (brown coal) was reported for the first time in the colony of Victoria in 1857 at Lal Lal some 20km south-east of Ballarat.[3]
The Victoria Lignite Company Ltd was formed on 25 April 1863 with paid up capital of £1000 and with James Ralph as manager. The mine location had the advantage of being adjacent to the Geelong-Ballarat railway line which was opened in 1862 and provided convenient transport of the lignite to Geelong and Ballarat industry.[4]
Until the late 1880s Lal Lal was the only brown coal mine in commercial operation in Victoria. It closed in 1892 after 44,000 tons of lignite had been extracted. It re-opened briefly in 1914, and again in 1919/20 when there was a shortage of fuel post World War One.[5] The Victorian Central Coal and iron Mining Company reopened the mine in 1914, but demand was not constant so it closed, reopening in 1920 with new plant to the value of 20,000 pounds. During the 1921 Melbourne fuel shortages around five thousand tons were sold.[6]
Site
Innovations
Community Involvement
Works Produced
Workplace Relations
The People
Legacies
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ Web site http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/37003/COAL_pp_108_157.pdf
- ↑ ‘Central Victoria Brown Coal Mines and Black Coal Seams.’ Coal Mining Heritage Study, page 112.
- ↑ Web site http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/37003/COAL_pp_108_157.pdf
- ↑ Web site http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/37003/COAL_pp_108_157.pdf
- ↑ Web site http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/37003/COAL_pp_108_157.pdf
- ↑ Griffiths, Tom, Three Times Blest, Buninyong Historical Society, 1988.
Further Reading
External Links
--C.K.Gervasoni 18:16, 20 May 2014 (EST)