Blackwood Coal Mine

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Blackwood Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in St Mary’s, Tasmania, Australia.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Blackwood Coal Mine St Mary’s, Tasmania, Australia -41.559798, 148.130942 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Operating 1980

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.
Capacity (Mtpa) Production (Mtpa) Year of Production Mine Type Mining Method Mine Size (km2) Mine Depth (m) Workforce Size
0[1] 0.6[1] Underground Bord and Pillar 500 405*

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt) Year of Total Reserves Recorded Total Resources (Mt) Coalfield Coal Type Coal Grade Primary Consumer/ Destination
Bituminous Thermal

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Cornwall Coal Co Cement Australia [100.0%] Australia

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

Blackwood Coal Mine, also known as the Cornwall Colliery, is an underground coal mine owned by Cornwall Coal Company — a subsidiary of Cement Australia — and is located in the Fingal Valley in north-east Tasmania, Australia.[2][3] Blackwood Mine is owned and operated by Cornwall Coal Company, a subsidiary of Cement Australia.[3]

The mine has been operating in Tasmania since the 1980s.[4] There have been several iterations of the Blackwood mine, with the latest known as Blackwood No. 4. Previous iterations were Blackwood No.1 - No.3.[5] (As of 2016, rehabilitation has begun at Blackwood No.3.)[6]

Blackwood 4, which is currently being mined, is expected to have 30 more years remaining in its mine life.[7]

Major consumers of Blackwood’s coal include the Norske Skog Paper mill at Boyer, and Cement Australia at Railton. Years ago, Blackwood had more customers, but many switched over to natural gas instead of coal.[3]

Mining has played an important role in the Fingal Valley since the 1860s, when black coal was discovered there. A railway line built in 1886 running from Fingal Valley to St Marys, a nearby town, allowed mining to flourish and provide the majority of Tasmania’s coal. The Cornwall Coal Company is the only supplier of coal mined in Tasmania.[8]

  • Operator: Cornwall Coal Company[7]
  • Owner: Cornwall Coal Company[7]
  • Location: 4 kilometers north-west of St Mary’s and 85 km south-east of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia[7][3]
  • GPS Coordinates: -41.559798, 148.130942 (exact)
  • Status: Operating[7]
  • Production Capacity: 600,000 mtpa[3]
  • Total Resource:
  • Mineable Reserves:
  • Coal Type: Bituminous (Thermal)[3]
  • Mine Size:
  • Mine Type: Underground, bord and pillar[7][6]
  • Workforce Size: 70[3]
  • Start Year: 1980[4]
  • Source of Financing:

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 https://www.mindat.org/loc-259313.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. John Skinner, "Cornwall Mine Miracle", Christian Today, accessed May 2020.
  3. 4.0 4.1 "The Coal Resources of Tasmania", Tasmania Department of Resources and Energy: Division of Mines and Mineral Resources, 1991
  4. "Record of Investigation into death", Magistrates Court of Tasmania, 25 August 2010.
  5. 6.0 6.1 "Australia Business and Investment Opportunities Yearbook Volume 8 Tasmania Mining and Minerals", International BUSINESS PUBN, 16 December 2016.
  6. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "Blackwood Coal Mine", Mindat.org, February 2020.
  7. "Cornwall", Our Tasmania: East Coast and Tasman Peninsula, accessed May 2020.