A History of the Greta Coal Measures - Abermain No. 3 Shaft Colliery

(A) ORIGINAL	Abermain Collieries Limited. 4 O'Connell Street, Sydney.
(B)	Abermain - Seaham Limited 4 O'Connell Street, Sydney.
(C)	J. & A. Brown Abermain - Seaham Collieries Limited J.A.B.A.S. Group 4 O'Connell Street, Sydney.
(D)	Coal and Allied Limited 4 O'Connell Street, Sydney.

This shaft was always considered to be part of Abermain No. 1 Colliery workings. It was controlled and administered by the Abermain No. 1 Colliery manager. Although it had its own pit-top rail sidings, screens, etc., because it was a continuance of the underground workings, the company policy viewed it as only an outlet. The shaft was sunk with the intention of reducing miners' long travel underground to their working places and to remove the uneconomic haulage.

(D) Abermain No. 3 Shaft was 2 miles 30 chains (3.8 kms) west of Abermain No. 1 Colliery tunnel. It was situated between the Neath Village to Kearsley Village road and the South Maitland Railways rail tracks.

(A) Abermain No. 3 Shaft was 6 miles 45 chains (10.5 kms) distant by road from Kurri Post Office via Neath rail level crossing.

(B) It was 4 miles 65 chains (7.7 kms) distant by road from Cessnock Post Office also via Neath rail level crossing.

(C) The screens at Abermain No. 3 Shaft were 12 miles 34 chains (19.88 kms) distant by rail from the junction with the NSW Government Railways at East Greta Junction.

This shaft and its workings was always considered as part of the Abermain No. 1 workings. Therefore the details for the seam and its description are identical with those outlined for Abermain No. 1 Colliery on page 299.

At the actual shaft the coal seams were at a depth of 604 feet for the Greta Top seam, and 751 feet for the Greta Bottom (Homeville lower split) Seam. At this point the seam incline was 1 foot in 19 feet. The seam worked was 25 feet thick.

On the 15th December 1917 the Mines Department was notified by Abermain Collieries Limited that sinking operations for a new Abermain shaft (later known as Abermain No. 3) had commenced. The pit-top buildings, rail sidings, etc., were all completed and ready for mine working in July 1923. The first full coal train was not despatched until January 1924.

Because the long haulage of coal underground was considered by Abermain Collieries Company to be very uneconomic, at Abermain No. 1 Colliery, coal production was progressively raised via Abermain No. 3 Shaft. This change was made gradually, and it was not until April 1932 that all production was raised there. Tunnels at Abermain No. 1 were then utilised for pit-horses' use.

Entry to Abermain No. 3 Colliery was made via a shaft. This was 17 feet in diameter, and had a depth of 604 feet, and it was lined throughout with brickwork 9 inches thick. The sinking was made on day shift only by a team of 8 Abermain No. 1 miners. The men were raised in a sinking bucket, which also raised the spoil. Drill holes were made by use of compressed air. For the first 150 feet ordinary hand hammer drills were used. For the remaining some 450 feet, a Sullivan PD No. 33 power drill working at 70 pounds per square inch pressure at the receiver on the surface was utilised. Explosives used in the holes were fired from the surface.

The shaft finally had two single deck cages, each of which carried 2 skips. These were raised by a steam engine, (for details see "Haulage" section, page 328). The guides for the cages were steel rails weighing 80 pounds to the yard. These rails were fixed at 8 feet centres to 8 inch by 5 inch timber buntons. The brick lining was made every 8 feet. Cement mortar used was a mixture of 6 to 1. The brickwork was backed by ashes rammed tight.

During the sinking, ventilation was provided by a small blowing fan. The air was conveyed to the bottom of the shaft by galvanised air pipes with flanged joints. The lighting was provided by electricity from a small generator. A small single cylinder steam engine provided the power for the air compressing, ventilating and lighting. The sinking team averaged about 18 feet a fortnight. The shaft was commenced in December 1917, and the shaft work was completed during February 1919.

A major creep in Abermain No. 1 lease holding in the early 1950's caused a 4 inches bend in the shaft itself. This required special steel arrangements in the guide-rails to steady the cage passage in the elongated "S" curve caused by the creep.

Because Abermain No. 3 Shaft was considered as only an outlet from Abermain No. 1 Colliery, the bord and pillar system adopted as described for Abermain No. 1 on page 301 was that applied.

Six main headings ran away in different directions from the bottom of the shaft. These headings were 16 feet wide and 8 feet high. The total length of these 6 main headings were 5 miles 40 chains (8.8 kms).

Sizes of bords, cut-throughs and pillars were similar to that outlined for Abermain No. 1 Colliery. Similarly the work of pillar extraction and the methods have already been recorded in the précis for that colliery.

Whilst the "mechanisation" introduced in the early 1950's at Abermain No. 1 Colliery, and described previously, were essentially the same at Abermain No. 3 Shaft, it did include track-mounted "Goodman" loaders, electric battery powered underground locomotives and scraper loaders. In the latter years of the 1950's, in areas regarded by the miners as being inherently Abermain No. 3 territory, three mechanised units operated. These units had utilised Joy cutters, Joy "12BU" loaders, Joy "10SC" shuttle cars (cable-powered) plus Joy "8BU" miniatures. In these areas some system of conveyor belting replaced skip haulage to move coal production to small holding bins. Ultimately skips were utilised to raise this coal production up the shaft.

A bad fall of coal and a blast explosion occurred in the Abermain No. 3 Shaft region of the Abermain lease on Tuesday 15th March 1955. This had been due to the mine's strata conditions aggravated by the continuing creep and pressures from pillar removals. In this particular incident over 20 miners were injured, some seriously, and fortunately no fatality.

Fairly adjacent to Abermain No. 3 Shaft pit-top were the bores and bins utilised in the "stowage trials" conducted by the Coal Conservation Committee. This will be more fully outlined in the "Brief History" portion of this précis. The main purpose of "stowage" was to control the problem of spontaneous combustion so prevalent in the Greta Coal Seam collieries. It would appear that this important issue was belatedly tackled in the twilight of the Cessnock area coal mining operations. A situation neglected by both the NSW Government and the mine company owners in their haste to produce "cheap" coal. More of this later.

The steam driven engine raising the cages in the shaft had 2 cylinders, each 32 inches in diameter and with a 5 feet 6 inches stroke. Each had Cornish valve gear, and were equipped with overwind and overspeed controls.

Steam was supplied by two John Thompson dishend boilers which were 30 feet long by 8 feet diameter. The boilers operated at 150 pounds per square inch pressure. The boilers had cost £1,900-0-0 ($3,800.00) each on a train in Newcastle.

A second steam winding engine on the surface powered an endless rope running down the shaft. By a system of clutches this endless rope operated a number of auxiliary haulage ropes in the various headings to bring the skips underground to the shaft bottom.

On the working area on the surface at Abermain No. 3 pit-top, skips were emptied onto the screens by side-tip tumblers. Skips utilised were the early wooden one ton capacity type. These had originally been used in the haulage via the Abermain No. 1 Tunnels. With the opening of Abermain No. 3 Colliery, 750 additional skips were purchased from Hadfields Engineering Coy., Sheffield, England. These skips cost £3-2-0 ($6.20) each, duty paid, landed at Newcastle NSW.

The horses extensively used in the Abermain No. 1 Colliery workings continued to be taken in and out of its tunnels, although the coal was finally all raised via the Abermain No. 3 Shaft.

To improve the ventilation for the Abermain No. 1 Colliery workings a third shaft was sunk and completed on Monday 5th January 1914. This was a down cast airway. The shaft was 425 feet in depth and 15 feet in diameter.

When the Abermain No. 3 Shaft was commenced on 15th December 1917, it was considered that a fan should be added later to this shaft. However this was not added until 1923, when an electrically driven double-inlet Sirrocco fan was installed. This fan was 9 feet in diameter and 12 feet in depth, and provided 150,000 cubic feet of fresh air per minute. This fan had cost £1,865-0-0 ($3,730.00).

A 200 kW Bellis and Morcom electricity generation plant was installed at Abermain No. 3 Shaft pit-top as part of its initial equipment. This unit-set produced direct current electricity at 250 pressure volts. The transmission cables took electricity from this plant into the Abermain No. 1. workings through 3 boreholes lined with wrought iron pipes. The boreholes were 8 inches in diameter.

The steam to drive the Bellis and Morcom unit was supplied from the John Thompson dishend boilers used in the haulage operations. The generator was installed in the winding engine house.

Following the amalgamation of J. & A. Brown Company and Abermain Collieries Limited in early 1931 all the group's (J.A.B.A.S.) electricity requirements were planned to be supplied from Richmond Main Colliery powerhouse. A transmission power line was erected in 1942 across country from Richmond Main Colliery to

Abermain No. 2. Colliery. A second transmission line ran alongside the Abermain Company private railway. In passing electricity was supplied to the Abermain No. 3. Shaft Colliery. Powerhouses at all the Abermain Collieries Group (Nos. 1, 2 and 3) were all phased out by the end of 1943.

Abermain No. 3 Shaft Colliery rail vehicles holding sidings were connected to the Abermain Collieries Limited private railway, which ran from Abermain No. 1 Colliery to Abermain No. 2 Colliery. Haulage of trains was made by the Abermain Collieries Limited locomotive to and from the exchange sidings at Abermain No. 1 Colliery.

The Colliery rail yard at Abermain No. 3 Shaft was really a simple layout. Three long loop parallel sidings, each almost 60 chains (1.2 kms) in length, all ran under the screens. These sidings made a huge curve in relation to the private railway branch line.

Entry from the Company's private branch railway for "Down inwards" trains to the empty vehicle holding sidings area was made by a reverse shunting movement at a set of points situated at 12 miles 25 chains (19.7 kms) from the South Maitland Railways' junction with the NSW Government Railways at East Greta Junction. Having placed the inward empty wagons, the Abermain locomotive returned via the main private branch railway, to the loaded coal wagons standage sidings. At a distance of 11 miles 37 chains (18.34 kms) from the NSW Government Railways' junction, a set of points allowed a facing shunting movement into the loaded vehicles standage sidings. From these sidings the "Up outwards" train was marshalled and lifted for conveyance to the exchange sidings at Abermain No. 1 Colliery yard.

Later, within the Abermain No. 3 Colliery sidings yard, two dead-end sidings diverted in a reverse shunting movement, from the colliery track between the main private railway entry points and the loaded vehicles standage sidings area. These two dead-end sidings at the Neath Railway Station end of the Abermain No. 3 layout ran generally in a northerly direction. The sidings split the region set aside as the "chitter dump".

In June 1930 construction of a coal dry-cleaning plant was commenced near the Abermain No. 3 Shaft area. This work was completed in March 1932. This plant was serviced by rail by a long loop track, which ran in a shorter arc than the curve of the Abermain No. 3 layout sidings. Two short parallel loop tracks, laid on the Abermain No. 3 Shaft side of the long loop, diverted at about the centre of the loop and ran under the dry-cleaning plant. This plant was almost directly opposite the shaft pit-top.

Abermain No. 3 Shaft utilised the Abermain Collieries Limited fleet of coal wooden hopper rail wagons. See pages 311 and 312 for description and details.

Research has failed to reveal details as to size, types of materials used, methods of construction, costs, etc. All structures including the poppet-head have long been demolished. Only building still standing is the part shell of the bathroom.

Like the present day coal industry, many actions and techniques were taken in the late 1920's to place coal production to the market in the manner of the demand. The method used by the Abermain Collieries Limited in June 1930 to make its coal production more attractive was to install a Birtley Coal Dry-Cleaning Plant in the Abermain No. 3 Shaft yard. The plant was housed in a galvanised corrugated iron clad structure, somewhat resembling a huge cube. This plant was completed and ready for use in March 1932. It had a capacity of 50 tons per hour. Gibson, Battle and Company had supplied the plant and its foundation, plus an additional length of conveyor belt, for a cost of £19,575-10-0 ($39,151.00).

This dry-cleaning plant had some similarity to the Hebburn Limited system. It too, was a multi-storey building. Firstly a "dyster table" removed some stone. Coal was then treated through a series of jig screens. Finally pneumatic suction bags took out the "duff" and the "fines".

A rail loop line was constructed in a shorter arc to the curve of the Abermain No. 3 sidings yard layout. On the Abermain No. 3 Shaft side and from about the centre of this long loop, two short parallel loops ran under the plant itself. A bin underneath the rail level caught the coal bottom-discharged from the hoppers, and then it was conveyed by a steel plate belt into the plant for treatment. A bucket elevator raised the coal to a "Hummer" screen 80 feet above the ground level. Thence the coal proceeded to riffled wirescreen deck tables, which moved in a lifting action using an eccentric motion and driven by a 10 horse powered electric motor. Two fans each driven by a 70 horse powered electric motor forced air through louvers below the deck to sort the coal dust. Coal then gravitated to a second "Hummer" screen for further processing. Lighter coal "jumped" the riffles. Waste and stone was left behind the riffles to be carried to the end of the tables for removal to the "dump". Coal dust was removed by an exhaustor driven by a 90 horse powered electric motor through ducts to 2 cyclone systems. Each cyclone system had 200 calico-linen bags to withdraw the "duff" product.

Over the years this plant operated, Mr Ken Broadhead was the employee in charge.

Years later in the 1960's, the by then huge dump of chitter, shale, pit rubbish, etc., lit by spontaneous combustion and burnt for many years giving a nightly show of "glowing hell", and in windy weather a panorama of "dancing fire-fairies". A sight I personally very much enjoyed. If passing through the area at night, I seldom failed to stop somewhere in Neath between the Hunter District Water Board Pumping Station and Neath Colliery turn-off to admire this ever pleasing scene. Truly a magnificent show.

Coal to be treated in the dry-cleaning plant was sent from the Abermain coal loading points in the Company's rail wooden hopper wagons. The plant appears to have closed in April 1933. The galvanised corrugated iron structure was allowed to remain, standing idle until the Abermain No. 3 Shaft Colliery closed in September 1960. Some time later in the 1970's this building with all other structures (except the brick bathhouse) were demolished.

Many collieries found it necessary over their pit life to build huge chitter dumps. Chitter is inferior coal or stone, slates, shales and mixed pyrites. All such materials plus pit rubbish are removed on the picking belts from "screened coal". Such materials are a nuisance. Over the years this annoyance and rubbish at many colliery points had grown into small mountains.

Abermain Collieries Limited, early in the life of Abermain No. 3 Shaft Colliery, had set aside an area on the north side in close proximity to the Neath end of the yard to become the chitter dump. Two dead-end rail track sidings split the area, but made for easier disposal. These rail tracks were raised with the growth and height of the chitter hills.

The oxidation of the iron pyrites in the chitter dumps frequently led to spontaneous combustion causing heatings and fires. Chitter and shale will both burn slowly under pressure and extreme heats. The result gives off a pungent, biting, irritant smell. Most unpleasant. Sometimes the stacks gave off a faint greenish mist, that in its nearby region discoloured many household goods and equipment, such as silver, cutlery, etc. But at Abermain No. 3 Shaft pit-top at night, what a sight! The red glow of the slow ever burning "mountain" was quite a picture. After many years of this internal combustion only a hill of red ash remained.

Professor T.W. Edgeworth David in his treatise, "Geology of the Hunter River Coal Measures", referred to the spontaneous combustible nature of some areas of the Greta Seam. He described how the "brassy tops" (pyrites), by spontaneous combustion had caused huge prehistoric fires. Such coal fires by its great heat smelted stone and shale to leave a softer red brick ash like stone, almost resembling a volcanic lava. He indicated some outcrop areas, particularly the later Cessnock No. 2 Colliery as examples.

The "burnt out" chitter dumps scattered throughout the field greatly compared to these prehistoric fire regions. In latter years Coal and Allied Limited allowed the late Mr Ron Stacey to remove the chitter dump "ash heaps" for resale as fill, road-building materials, etc.

See Abermain No. 1 Colliery précis. When shaft sinking was commenced Abermain Collieries Limited controlled the affairs. When the shaft was completed in July 1923, the new company, Abermain - Seaham Limited ran the control. This company had been incorporated on 27th October 1922.

The history of Abermain Collieries Limited has been dealt with, commencing at page 315 in the "Brief History" portion of the Abermain No. 1 Colliery précis. As Abermain No. 3 Shaft was always considered by the company to only be an outlet from Abermain No. 1 Colliery, and the shaft was managed, controlled and administered in keeping with that outlook, the details shown in the Abermain No. 1 Colliery précis equally apply to Abermain No. 3 Shaft Colliery, except where the information required separate recording.

Abermain No. 3 Shaft had been considered necessary by the Abermain Collieries Company because of the lengthy, wearying travel to be made by its miner-employees, and the long uneconomic underground haulage of coal production. Abermain Collieries Limited on the 15th December 1917 notified the Mines Department, that it had commenced sinking a shaft some 2 miles 30 chains (3.8 kms) west of the Abermain No. 1 Colliery tunnel. The pit-top structures, rail sidings, and installation of equipment had been completed and ready for operation in July 1923. First full train of coal production was despatched during January 1924.

Construction of a Birtley coal dry-cleaning plant was commenced in June 1930 and completed in March 1932. To enable the Abermain group of mines (Nos. 1, 2 and 3) to make its coal production more attractive for the market. Details are shown on pages 331 and 332. This plant does not seem to have had a long operational life, ceasing in 1939. This dry-cleaning plant structure remained standing until the early 1970's, when it and all other pit-top buildings were demolished.

Abermain No. 3 Shaft Colliery had generated its own electricity from when the mine commenced operations until about 1937. Following the formation of the J.A.B.A.S. Group, plans were made that all this Group's electricity needs were to be supplied from Richmond Main Colliery powerhouse. An electricity transmission power line was erected during 1937 between Richmond Main powerhouse and Abermain No. 2 Colliery, and which ran adjacent to Abermain No. 1 Colliery and Abermain No. 3 Shaft. By the end of 1939, the small generator plants at the Abermain Collieries (Nos. 1, 2 and 3) were phased out.

The method of working in the Abermain No. 1 Colliery lease, and thus also Abermain No. 3, have been outlined commencing on pages 301 and again at 327. Like other South Maitland Coalfields' collieries, mechanisation was not really introduced until the NSW Government's restrictive legislation had been repealed in the mid 1950's. From the mid to late 1950's, in that part of the lease looked upon as Abermain No. 3's region, "Joy" coal cutters, "Joy" loaders and "Joy" shuttle cars were introduced. In some districts of Abermain No. 3, some underground haulage by conveyor belt systems was installed.

In May 1951 a comprehensive report to the NSW State Government was made by the Joint Coal Board on the increasing incidences of spontaneous combustion, and its associated problems of heatings, fires and losses of huge areas of productive coal seams being sealed off. In 1952 a government body, the Coal Conservation Committee, was appointed to formulate plans and methods to combat the ravages and effects of spontaneous combustion.

Some attempts to overcome the heatings and fires in the South Maitland mines had been made by constructing a nine inches thick brick stopping and leaving a wasteful and expensive long line of pillar coal to act as a barrier. Because of air seepage, this did not always achieve a satisfactory answer. The Coal Conservation Committee proposed that "stowage" be carried out and to have the seals barriers such that areas were airtight and allowed pillar coal to be effectively and efficiently removed within a two year period.

Finance for the research, the planning work and the experiment trials to be made and conducted by this Coal Conservation Committee was obtained by all northern coal mines sharing the cost. On the 4th February 1952, a levy of 4 shillings ($0.40) a ton was placed on all the area's coal production. On the 5th May 1952 this was increased to 6 shillings ($0.60) a ton. On 1st January 1954 this levy was reduced to one shilling and sixpence ($0.15) a ton. By 19th August 1957 the funds that had been obtained totalled £1,995,000-0-0 ($3,990,000.00) and the levy rate then was further reduced to sixpence ($0.06) a ton.

Considerable research was made in Australia and abroad as to the best method of stowage to be utilised, pneumatic, hydraulic or mechanical. Further a number of stowage machines were examined as to suitability. Finally the Coal Conservation Committee appointed by the Minister of Mines, Mr J. Arthur, favoured the pneumatic system. The Committee also selected two stowage machines, a German "Beien" and a British "Markham Blastower" for testing in simulated conditions (or "mock bords") on the surface at Richmond Main Colliery. Richmond Main Colliery had been selected for the conducting of these surface trials because of its excellent compressed air systems. Further, the Committee chose a number of various fills and materials to be tried in the tests. Amongst these were mudstone, conglomerate, baked clay, shale, sandy loam, and mixtures of all these in various proportions. "Burnt Clay Shale" was found to be the most suitable. Large quantities of this particular material were readily available on the Cessnock No. 2 Colliery lease. It was estimated that there was 60,000,000 cubic yards of "burnt clay shale" available, with an average thickness of 70 feet.

The burnt clay shale at Cessnock No. 2 Colliery lease was blasted in a quarry face and loaded by front-end shovels into motor lorries for transportation to a preparation plant close to the pit-top buildings at Cessnock No. 2 Colliery. A crusher broke up the shale stone for sizing and blending. From the crusher the material was conveyed by an inclined rubber belt to the top of a huge bin, which had a number of compartments. This elevated bin had been 150 feet long, 30 feet wide and 50 feet high. It had a capacity of 4000 cubic yards. Astride the conveyor belt on top of the bin, an unloader deposited the crushed shale stone into the required compartment of the holder bin. The bin was supported on 52 concrete columns to form 12 loading bays, where motor trucks could be positioned under 36 loading chutes.

This bin had stood idle for a number of years at the Glen Davis shale treatment plant. The bin was bought by the Coal Conservation Committee. It was demolished, transported to Cessnock No. 2 Colliery, and re-erected under the supervision of Mr J. Fletcher, Joint Coal Board draughtsman. Steel frame structures for the conveyor belting plus a quantity of steel plating were constructed and erected by Messrs Jack Williams and Sons, fabricating contractors of Millfield Street, Cessnock. The bin, rubber belting and crushing plant costs were estimated at £100,000-0-0 ($200,000.00). This burnt clay shale treatment plant was completed during 1954.

In early 1955 the Coal Conservation Committee called tenders for a contractor to "win" the shale stone, convey to the crusher and treatment plant and finally to transport to a number of collieries chosen for further practical experiments underground. The quote made by Messrs Alf Goodsir and Tom Cooper, earth-moving operators partners, of High Street, Cessnock won this contract.

Following the success of the surface tests of machines and materials in the "mock bords" at the Richmond Main Colliery, the Coal Conservation Committee moved to the next stage of their plans to introduce "stowage" to combat fires and heatings in the collieries on the South Maitland coalfields. Four collieries were chosen for practical experiments on underground sites. These were Hebburn No. 2, Bellbird, Aberdare Extended and Abermain No. 1 Collieries. Hebburn No. 2 Colliery project was planned to be made in "No. 4 West" District of that pit. This was an experiment carried out in a section of the Greta Seam, where sulphur was of a high content in the top part of a split seam. Another important aspect of the Hebburn No. 2 trial was a test pattern of "seal stowage barrier" types and sizes. Bellbird Colliery was intended as a trial of "utilising surface plants" to directly place materials via boreholes. Aberdare Extended Colliery trials had been planned to be carried out in "Nos. 2 and 4 West" sections of that colliery. Here the seam was 30 feet thick and the trials called for the "stowage" to be placed in 3 lifts of ten feet each. At Aberdare Extended the stowage barriers were to be 30 yards wide. Aberdare Extended "No. 2 West" section had been the site of an earlier hydraulic stowage experiment. This particular stowage had been badly damaged during a huge inrush of water caused by a subsidence and a surface break and fall-in during the 1949 heavy flood. The Abermain No. 1 lease test trial as opposed to the Aberdare Extended test was for the stowage of the full seam height. It was to be applied in "No. 12 Right" District, where the seam approximated 26 feet in thickness.

The test trial at Abermain No. 1 Colliery lease was made through boreholes near the South Maitland Railways main line tracks adjacent to Abermain No. 3 Shaft pit-top. The trial commenced 11th June 1957. The seam in No. 12 Right District had a mudstone band of variable width, and it was interspersed with inferior coal and shale bands in its upper portion. Coal in this District had previously been worked on the bord and pillar system to a height of 7 feet. There had been no solid barriers of coal left to form panels. The pillars formed by the bords, cut-throughs and headings had stood for over 20 years. The workings in this District were in good condition and showed no apparent crush on the pillars nor falls at the intersections.

The stowage barrier was planned to be an overall 30 yards wide. Stowage materials was dropped 475 feet down a 15 inches diameter borehole into a 25 cubic yards capacity box or bunker. From this box the material was delivered a distance of 605 yards by a 30 inches wide belt conveyor to the stowage machine situated at the top of the proposed panel. The layout design had been such that the seam gradient assisted the stowage operation.

Generally the area had been planned to be stowed in one lift to the full 26 feet height. The original "Stowage Committee's" plans called for the dropping of the "tops coal" to a height of 16 feet and the construction of stowage packs 8 yards wide. Due to difficult roof conditions, it was found in practice that "tops" had to be retained in some areas, so that actual stowage varied from 8 feet to 16 feet. Where prior falls existed, (some up to 30 feet), stowage was placed over and around such falls.

Two "Markham" stowers machines were utilised, each having a capacity to move 120 cubic yards per hour. These machines were operated by compressed air. A compressed air plant on the surface supplied air to an underground receiver. The surface compressed air plant had a capacity of 4,256 cubic feet per minute, and which was transferred at a pressure of 75 pounds per square inch via a pipe down a nine inches diameter borehole to the receiver. The compressed air plant had been placed on the surface to facilitate its cooling.

A third borehole 8 inches in diameter was utilised to carry water mains, electricity transmission and telephone lines underground. The stowage material was transported dry to the Abermain No. 3 boreholes' area. In the Abermain stowage trial, some Kearsley loam was also used for assistance in the binding purposes. These ingredients were placed through a blending plant to be mixed to the required specifications. Dust became a problem. The atmosphere surrounding the stowage machine attendant was cleared by the use of brattice, exhaust fans and suitable pipe ducts. Water was introduced to the stowage material close to the machine to achieve dust control.

As stated earlier the stowage material was obtained from Cessnock No. 2 Colliery lease. This was won, crushed, treated and transported by Goodsir and Cooper, earthmoving contractors, from Cessnock No. 2 to the boreholes area near South Maitland Railways main line tracks adjacent to Abermain No. 3 Shaft pit-top. An access road was constructed through the scrub and bushland from David Street, Neath to the boreholes. David Street, Neath, turns off from the main Kurri to Cessnock Road (Highway No. 132) almost directly opposite the Neath Colliery entry road.

When Abermain No. 1 Colliery and Abermain No. 3 Shaft ceased mining operations due to "creeps and falls" on the 16th September 1960, a total of 118,759 cubic yards of material had been used in the stowage trial in the Abermain No. 1 lease at a cost of £3-6-1 ($6.61) a cubic yard. All the stowage equipment was recovered and sold by the Coal Conservation Committee as scrap and surplus second-hand machinery.

In the early 1950's serious problems were found in the mining conditions due to heatings and fires. This aspect was strongly tackled by the stowage trials of the Coal Conservation Committee. However another major concern in this same period was a "creep" that extended over the larger portion of the Abermain No. 1 lease. This was further aggravated by a series of many falls. Perhaps these numerous falls were a direct result of the continuing creep. On the 15th March 1955 a bad fall in the Abermain No. 3 Shaft region caused some 20 miners to be injured, some seriously, but did not result in a fatality. It is of interest that this "creep" eventually caused a 4 inches "S" bend in the shaft line. This required special steel guides in the shaft to allow the smooth passage of the cages.

With the formation of the Coal and Allied Company on the 2nd May 1960, and the inclusion of the Abermain group of mines (Nos. 1, 2 and 3) in the assets of the new company, the Board of Directors reviewed the prospects of their Company and studied the economics of its various mining operations. The creep on the Abermain No. 1 lease finally forced the closure of that area, (Abermain No. 1 Colliery and Abermain No. 3 Shaft), on the 11th September 1960.

In the mid 1970's all the Abermain No. 1 and Abermain No. 3 pit-top buildings were demolished and removed. Only structure to remain standing at Abermain No. 3 was a fine brick bathhouse. It would seem that Coal and Allied Limited considered that by retaining these facilities it was a more attractive proposition for the site to be taken over thus for a commercial proposal. The City of Cessnock Municipal Council did bring a number of Sydney-based manufacturers to view these areas, hoping thereby to replace the lost mining industry with other employment opportunities.

City of Cessnock Council advises that the area has reverted to the NSW Lands Department as a possible "Crown Lease" tenure.

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