Telford, South Australia
| Location | |
|---|---|
 Telford Cut
Telford Cut
|
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| Location | Leigh Creek |
| State | South Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 30°29′00″S 138°25′00″E / 30.48333°S 138.41667°ECoordinates: 30°29′00″S 138°25′00″E / 30.48333°S 138.41667°E |
| Production | |
| Products | coal |
| History | |
| Opened | 1943 |
| Closed | 2015 |
| Owner | |
| Company |
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Telford Cut was a coal mine in South Australia and terminus of the Stirling North to Marree line. From 19 November 2015, its stockpiled product was used by the Northern Power Station, Port Augusta, until the power station closed in May 2016.
The open cut mine operation was for low-grade, sub-bituminous black coal which is frequently referred to as hard brown coal or just brown coal. It was transported 250 km by rail to power stations outside Port Augusta on the east side of Spencer Gulf. The coal occurs in several nested bowl-shaped seams, each several metres thick. The coalfield at Leigh Creek was operated by the Alinta Energy and produced over 2.5 million tonnes a year of coal. Alinta energy also operated the power stations at Port Augusta which were the last coal-fired electricity generators in South Australia, and the only users of coal from Leigh Creek.
In 1888, John Henry Reid discovered coal-bearing shale during the sinking of a railway dam in the Leigh Creek area (Henry Brown, Government Geologist confirmed the find in his visit to Leigh's Creek in February 1889). This discovery led to a geological examination of the area by a government geologist and the establishment of underground workings. No 1 shaft, sunk by the Leigh Creek Coal Mining Company, was abandoned on striking a heavy flow of water. A new shaft was sunk in 1892 but only small quantities of coal were extracted for experimental purposes and operations ceased in 1894.
It was not until 1940 when coal supplies became critically low because of the Second World War that Leigh Creek coal was considered again. The deposits seemed extensive and extracting the coal by open cut methods was considered feasible. Exploratory boring started in 1941 and plans were made to develop the first open cut mine. Excavation started in 1943 under the control of the Engineering & Water Supply Department. It was apparent that the electricity supply industry would be the largest user of Leigh Creek coal so control of the coalfield was transferred to the Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) in 1948.
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Wikipedia