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	Louis Frost Sydney	Dominion No. 24		Dominion No. 23	Old Emery Mine

The Louis Frost Notes 1685 to 1962 Dominion No. 24 Colliery Emery Seam This was a slope mine opened in 1919 from the outcrop of the Emery Seam at Big Glace Bay Lake. The mine was worked on a room and pillar system with the greater proportion of the active workings being submarine. For many years the colliery was single sided, all the workable coal on the West side bounding Dominion No. 11 Colliery area having been recovered. The main portion of the workings were on the East side of the mine. The Emery Seam in the area of the main slopes in this colliery is 4 ft. 0 ins. thick and the coal of good steam quality, suitable for coking and metallurgical purposes. Seaward and in an easterly direction the seam thins sharply to an average thickness of 31 inches and is interspersed with frequent vertical clay gashes of varying thickness, as well as 'nipouts' of the seam between the roof and pavement. As a result of this deterioration of the seam, the workings seaward and in a westerly direction were discontinued in 1937 and, except for prospect workings the trend of the workings was to the East, and extended eastward a distance of 15,400 feet from the main slopes. Original planning provided for a cutoff of the colliery workings in the Donkin area by a new main slope and the transfer of the colliery surface facilities to this area, but the thinning of the coal and general deterioration of the seam rendered this planning abortive. The general deterioration of the seam and the high transportation cost of the coal from the workings to the surface, a distance of four miles, resulted in an uneconomic operation and the colliery was therefore closed in October 1953. During its life, the colliery produced 5,578,793 long tons of coal and was worked over an area of 3,616 acres, with an average daily output of 800 tons. The mine was completely electrified and the coal cutting done by both Rand compressed air driven Radial coal cutters for narrow work and self propelled electrically driven D.C. chain coal cutters of the Goodman type. The main haulage was of the endless rope type, driven by an AC electric motor located on the surface, and the subsidiary haulages were electrically driven of the main and tail, or main rope type. A 300 K.W. motor generator set, located underground, generated the direct current for operating the mining machines and underground hoists. Emery Seam According to available plans and records, there were no extensive operations on the Emery Seam other than in Nos. 10, 11 and 24 Collieries, although there are records of minor operations at South Head, Schooner Pond and in the Old Emery Mine near Reserve Mines. These are described below.

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Last Modified: 98-01-05

Authored by: Louis Frost

IMPORTANT
The information contained on this site is not provided for the purpose of factual
representation. Instead, it is provided in an historical context. Every effort has
been made to ensure that this information represents the actual content of the
original document authored by Louis Frost for the Dominion Coal Company
on or around 1962. Nevertheless, no warranties are provided in any respect.

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