Opencast coal mine, Buller Coalfield
|
Opencast coal mine, Buller Coalfield
Near Stockton in the Buller Coalfield, high-rank coal occurs in a seam about 30 metres thick. It is covered by up to 50 metres of hard sandstone. This needs to be stripped away by heavy earth-moving machinery before the coal can be mined.
This seam was originally worked by underground mining. At best only 3 to 4 metres of coal can be recovered by underground mining, so the rest was left in the ground. The entire thickness of the coal seam can now be mined by modern opencast methods.
About this item
Private collection
Photograph by Simon Nathan
This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.
