Metropolitan Colliery
 Interactive map of Metropolitan Colliery | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Products | Metallurgical coal |
| Opened | 1887 |
| Company | Peabody Energy |
| Website | www.peabodyenergy.com |
The Metropolitan Colliery is a coal mine located near Helensburgh, New South Wales owned by Peabody Energy.[1] It was opened by in 1887 by the Cumberland Coal & Iron Mining Company. In 1965, the mine was purchased by Australian Iron & Steel.[2] A proposed sale to South32 in 2016 was abandoned after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission refused to approve it.[3][4]
Coal is exported from Port Kembla with the mine connected to the Illawarra railway line via a spur line.[citation needed]
The company is currently mining underneath the protected 'Special Area' of the Woronora Dam and Woronora Reservoir catchment, directly underneath the Reservoir.[5]
In 2022 the Colliery achieved notoriety for polluting Australia's oldest National Park, following the discharge of coal sludge and waste into a creek running into the Hacking River, which flows through the length of park out into Port Hacking itself.[6]
References
[edit]- ↑ Metropolitan Mine Peabody Energy
- ↑ Here & There Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 330 April 1965 page 73
- ↑ Peabody Energy to sell NSW coal mine to South32 ABC Illawarra 3 November 2016
- ↑ South32 abandons plan to buy Peabody's Metropolitan Colliery at Helensburgh Illawarra Mercury 18 April 2017
- ↑ "Protect our water catchment - stop mining Woronora". Sutherland Shire Environment Centre. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- ↑ "Help protect the Royal National Park: the March State election and the EPA Review of Peabody's Metropolitan Colliery". Sutherland Shire Environment Centre. Retrieved 15 May 2023.