View source for Lal Lal Lignite Company

[[File:Lignite Mine.jpg|500px|thumb|right| Fred Kurger, ''Lignite Mine, near Lal Lal, Ballarat District,'' c1882.  State Library of Victoria (H39614/31)]]

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==Background==
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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.<ref>Web site http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/37003/COAL_pp_108_157.pdf</ref>

==History==
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{| cellpadding=5 style="margin:7px 30px 0 30px; width:95%; border:1px solid #AA6633"
|- bgcolor="#fbfeff"
| Lal Lal Lignite Mine<br/>Map Reference: 7722-4-3 Lal Lal Open Cut Mine 7668, 58243<br/>Lal Lal Shaft Area 7664, 58248<br/>Municipality: District of [[Buninyong]] created 9 July 1858<br/>Shire of [[Buninyong]] proclaimed 16 February 1864<br/>City of Ballarat<br/>Land Use/Status: Private<br/>Site History<br/>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.<ref>‘Central Victoria Brown Coal Mines and Black Coal Seams.’ Coal Mining Heritage Study, page 112.</ref>
|}


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.<ref>Web site http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/37003/COAL_pp_108_157.pdf</ref>

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.<ref>Web site http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/37003/COAL_pp_108_157.pdf</ref>

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]].<ref>Web site http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/37003/COAL_pp_108_157.pdf</ref> 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.<ref>Griffiths, Tom, ''Three Times Blest'', Buninyong Historical Society, 1988.</ref>

==Site==
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==Innovations==
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==Community Involvement==
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==Works Produced==
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==Workplace Relations==
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==The People==
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==Legacies==
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==See also ==
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==Notes==
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==References==
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==Further Reading==
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==External Links==
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--[[User:Cgervaso|C.K.Gervasoni]] 18:16, 20 May 2014 (EST)