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Wollongong Resources Russell Vale Colliery
Originally known as South Bulli, Russell Vale Colliery (RVC) is one of the oldest operating coal mines in Australia, its origins dating back to 1887. The Pit Top Facilities for Russell Vale Colliery are located on the edge of the escarpment above the suburb of Russell Vale. RVC is spread over 6,683 hectares and operates under the consolidated coal lease number 745, Mining Lease number 1575, Mining Purpose Lease number 271, and Environment Protection Licence (EPL) 12040. The mine is located below the Woronora Plateau in the Southern Coalfield; a southern extension of the Permo-Triassic aged Sydney Basin.
The coal seams of interest in the Illawarra Coal Measures are the Bulli, Balgownie and Wongawilli seams and mining has occurred in three seams at Russell Vale. All three seams outcrop along the escarpment and they are accessed by adits directly into the seams. At Russell Vale, the Illawarra Coal Measures are overlain by the Narrabeen Group, the thick sequences of Triassic Hawkesbury Sandstone and in parts, the Wianamatta Group.
The uppermost Bulli seam has been extensively mined over a long period dating back to the 1880’s, while the Balgownie seam which is located approximately 10 metres below the Bulli Seam is thin and was mined by longwall methods between 1970 and 1982. The Wongawilli seam are on average around 27 m below the Bulli seam at Russell Vale. Under our current Development Consent (MP09_0013) Wollongong Resources are mining the Wongawilli seam using the sustainable bord and pillar (place-change) technique.
Wollongong Resources Wongawilli Colliery
Wongawilli Colliery (WWC) is operated by Wongawilli Resources , which is an entity of Wollongong Resources Pty Ltd (WRPL). Wongawilli Resources hold mining leases CCL 766, ML 1565 and ML 1596 for the Wongawilli Colliery, with a total area of 14,767 hectares. Wongawilli Coal holds Environment Protection Licences 1087 and 12442. Wongawilli Colliery is located in the Southern Coalfield, which is the southern portion of the Permo-Triassic Sydney Basin and contains the Illawarra Coal Measures of Late Permian Age.
Extensive underground mining has been undertaken within the WWC mining lease areas, dating from the early twentieth century, with mining commencing in 1912. WWC has extracted coal from both the Bulli Coal Seam and the Wongawilli Coal Seam.
The Wongawilli Pit Top is located at the top of a private road northwest of Jersey Farm Road, Wongawilli. It is bounded on the west by the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area. Access to the driveage is via two existing portal entries on the uppermost bench of the pit top, with one being used for the transport of people and materials, and one being used to convey coal from the mine.
WWC is currently under Care and Maintenance. For future mining operations, Wollongong Resources would largely utilise existing pit top surface infrastructure at the Wongawilli lower and upper pit top areas.