president's address 567 



opened at the Katoomba Colliery, and another Colliery near 

 Mount Victoria is soon to commence work. Mining enterprise 

 is also being directed to the coal seams in the vicinity of the new 

 Railway line near Capertee. The Western coal is of a splinty 

 character and contains less volatile h v dro-carbons and a higher 

 percentage of ash than that of Newcastle ; nevertheless it is a 

 good coal for housework, steam and gas purposes, and will be 

 especially valuable for iron and copper smelting and other in- 

 dustries which are destined to be largely developed in this district. 



Petroleum oil cannel coal or " Kerosene Shale" has been found 

 in seams of irregular extent and thickness in various parts of the 

 Western Coal Field, at Hartley Vale, Katoomba, Bathgate, 

 Capertee etc., as well as at Greta and Colley Creek in the Northern, 

 and at Wollongong and Berrima in the Southern Coal Field. At 

 Hartley Vale where it has been extensively mined for some years, 

 the seam is from 3 to 5 feet thick, and occurs in the Coal Measures 

 at about 60ft. above their base, or 40 ft. above the main coal 

 seam. This so-called Kerosene shale yields up to 180 gallons 

 of crude oil, or 18,000 cubic feet of gas per ton with an 

 illuminating power equal to 40 candles. For mixing with coal 

 in order to increase the illuminating power of ordinary coal gas, this 

 cannel coal is fast becoming largely employed here and in other 

 countries. A seam 18 inches to 2 ft. thick and similar in quality to 

 that of Hartley Vale, is worked at Joadja Creek, near Berrima ; and 

 at America Creek, near Wollongong, another seam for some time 

 afforded material for the manufacture of kerosene oil, when the 

 cannel coal suddenly changed into bituminous coal. 



In the Southern Coal Field several seams of coal are known ; 

 one of them, near Jamberoo, is over 25ft. thick ; but hitherto 

 they have only been worked where they crop out on the side of 

 the coast range facing the ocean from Coal Cliff to Mount 

 Kembla. The uppermost seam is the principal one, and is from 

 4 to 8 ft. thick. The coal is bituminous, free burning, and is 

 largely used for steam and other purposes. At Berrima and 

 Bundanoon, on the Great Southern Railway, coal is now being 

 raised from a seam which occurs at the top of the Coal 



