November 29, 1918.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1137

In this cliff the northern limb of the anticline is
exhibited, with dips increasing northwards from 16
up to 40 degs. In Hodbarrow Bay the lowest beds visible
in the Isle of Purbeck crop out, and thence westwards
we pass over the same beds that were crossed on the
south side of the anticline, but in ascending order.
The horizon of the “ Blackstone ” is reached about half
a-mile west of Kimmeridge Bay, but the bed itself is
represented by about 2 ft. of bituminous shale, which
would be valueless for the purposes for which the
‘‘Blackstone” was used, and it may be inferred that
this deterioration of the bed in requisition was the
cause of the limitation of the crop-workings.

Several faults are visible in the cliffs of Kimmeridge
Clay. The throw of each can be measured exactly, and
all are shown in fig. 1. Twenty-five faults with throws
varying from 6 in. up to 45 ft. have been noted. They
range generally between north and north-east in
direction, and 11 of these have downthrows westwards
amounting in the aggregate to about 200 ft. It is worth
noting that the faults generally tend to counteract the
effects of the dip. Thus most of those with a down-
throw westwards occur in that part where the strata
rise westwards, and tend to bring down to the beach
again and again beds which had been carried by the
dip some distance up in the cliff. Most of those faults,
on the other hand, which are downthrows east occur
west of Kimmeridge Bay, where the strata rise east-
wards ; here, moreover, where the rocks are more
highly inclined, the average throw of the faults is
greater.

The so-called “ coal ” or “ blackstone ” is a highly
bituminous layer of shaly stone, about 2 ft. 10 in. thick
with its partings, and of a dark-brown colour. It
breaks with a conchoidal fracture and readily ignites,
burning with a bright flame and an offensive smell, and
leaving a copious grey ash. When exposed to the
weather it is apt to develop a fissile structure,
and the laminae curl up so as to closely imitate layers
of brown paper or leather.” At Clavell's Hard there
are found 25 ft. of shale (in two beds), and 1 ft. of
blackstone.

Ring stead Bay (fig. 2).—The eastern side of Ring-
stead Bay is known as Burning Cliff, because the “ coal ”
ignited in 1826 and burnt for some years. Rather less
than half-way up the cliff is a stone band, with layers
of “ coal ” at 3 and 6 ft. below it; but it is likely that
the more important bituminous beds were burnt away
at the outcrop.

The Kimmeridge clay dips eastward at about 6 degs.,
where it rises from the shore under White No the. but
quickly turns over to a dip of 20 to 35 degs., thus
forming an anticline under Holworth House. Here it
is conformably overlain by the Portland and Purbeck
beds. On the top of all rests the Gault. A little to
the west of Holworth House there are two large faults,
each with an upthrow west, which shift the outcrop of
the bituminous beds some distance inland. The out-
crop is not visible, but must run near the narrow strip
of Portland beds at Southdown Farm. The beds are
steeply inclined and vertical in places.

South of 0s wing ton (fig. 2).—At Black Head, west of
Osmington Mill, the crop of the oil shale can be traced
for a few hundred yards, and would doubtless be easily
found further west, towards Preston, by a little excava-
tion. At Black Head the beds are highly inclined, but
they flatten northwards.

Poxwell and Preston to Upway (fig. 2).—In this tract
the outcrop of the bituminous beds has never been
located, but its position can be easily calculated by refer-
ence to the base of the Portland beds. .Poxwell Circus
is a hollow denuded in the crest of an anticline and sur-
rounded by an escarpment of Portland stone. In the
centre of the circus the depth of the bituminous beds
would amount to little more than the distance between
them and the base of the Portland sand, a distance
which may be estimated at 450 to 500 ft.

Some powerful anticlines traverse the area shown on
fig. 2. The northern limb of each anticline is steep,
and the beds are vertical and greatly disturbed in the
neighbourhood of the great fault which runs by Poxwell
past Upway.

The Gorton Area (fig. 2).—About 1856 bituminous
shale was discovered in the Portisham Dairy (100 yds.
west of the station) at 14 ft. depth, and a few tons was
got out. A pit was sunk on the east side of the building
and intersected the bed at 12 ft. depth, but in both
cases the works were drowned out. In 1877, the rail-
way cutting east of the station having disclosed the
outcrop, the “ coal ” was mixed with clay, and about
2,000 tons burnt for ballast. Various other shafts were
sunk, but were all overpowered by water, until the
Manfield shaft was made in 1883. This was dry until
the “ coal ” was reached, when a feeder, which yielded
at first 11,000 gals, of water an hour, was struck. A
very rich oil shale, was met with in the shaft at
46 it. 7 in. depth, but the principal bed at 137 ft., a
hard rock-band occurring 33 ft. below it. The prin-
cipal bed consisted of:—Oil shale, 2 ft.; clay. 1 ft. ;
oil shale, 10 in. The shaft was sunk to a total depth
of 189 ft., with a boring to a further depth of 126 ft.,
and an incline was driven to it in the “ coal ” from the
outcrop by the side of the line, the inclination being
1 in 4 (15 degs.). Near Coryates, one mile east of the
shaft, an outcrop, with 8 in. of oil shale, was noted by
Mr. A. C. G. Cameron.

Bituminous shale has been observed in a subway east
of Abbotsbury Station. It lies at a considerably lower
horizon in the Kimmeridge clay than the oil shale
proved in the shaft.

Portland Island.—Bituminous shale is visible, when
the state of the foreshore permits, between tide marks
off Castleton. It used to be dug here for fuel, and is
said to have been 10 in. thick. The band exposed is
about 200 ft. below the top of the Kimmeridge clay.

Norfolk.— The occurrence of bituminous clay at
Southrey was recorded in 1835, and at Downham
Market in 1895. Recently an attempt has been made to
ascertain the character and thickness of the oil shale in
Norfolk by Dr. Forbes Leslie. Between two and three
miles south of King’s Lynn, to the east of the Ouse, he
describes the occurrence of a thin limestone underlain
by shales, which he calls the Smith’s series. These lie

upon yellow sandstones, from under which crop out the
Puny Drain shales. He recognises oil shales in both
Smith’s series and the Puny Drain series. The distance
of the thin limestone below the base of the cretaceous
rocks (lower greensand) has not been ascertained, nor
has the depth to the base of the Kimmeridge clay. The
dip is said to be eastward at 70 degs. From specimens
brought to the Geological Survey Office for identifica-
tion, it appears that Smith’s series forms part of the
Upper Kimmeridge. On the other hand, a specimen
from a depth of 100 ft. in a borehole half-a-mile south
of Holme (four miles south of Smith’s Farm) was
identified as belonging to the Lower Kimmeridge
(Virgula beds). The borehole starts close to the base
of the lower greensand.

Lincolnshire.—A. borehole put down some time pre-
vious to 1816, on the west side of the River Bain, near
Donnington, furnished the first proof of the existence
of bituminous shale in the Kimmeridge clay of
Lincolnshire. The boring started a few feet below the
base of the Spilsby sandstone, and did not reach the
base of the Kimmeridge clay at a depth of 309 ft.
Many slightly inflammable and some very inflammable
bituminous schists were recorded. In 1904 a boring
was put down near the same spot to a depth of 326i ft.
Many bands of shale, which burned brightly and easily,
and of inferior shale were passed through. Two
samples of shale were reported to yield by distillation
4| lb. to 5^ lb. of ammonia sulphate per ton, 3'00 to 6T
per cent, of heavy oils, and 7 75 to 3’2 per cent, of light
oils. In a pit near South Willingham station there
occurred at a depth of 8 ft. large septarian nodules of
argillaceous limestone, and below these bands of hard
inflammable shale, locally known as “ dice,” 4 to 6 in.
thick, and separated by blue clay. Fragments of
“ dice ” readily blaze and give off the offensive smell
which is so noticeable in the Dorset shale. The South
Willingl am shale occurs at approximately 150—200 ft.
below the base of the Spilsby sandstone.

Bituminous shale has been recorded also from East
Keal and Driby. At the Acre House mine, Judd
recorded the existence, next below the Spilsby sand-
stone, of a very dark-coloured highly bituminous shaly
clay, and pointed out the resemblance of the bed to the
“ Kimmeridge coal ” of Dorset.

In 1917, the Department for the Development of
Mineral Resources (Ministry of Munitions) commenced
a borehole about 120 yards north of Donnington
Station, at about 280 ft. above O.D.. and revealed Lift,
of brown bituminous shale, clayey towards base,
26 ft. 10 in. of black and bluish clay, with 3 in. of
bituminous sbale at about 165 ft., and 8 ft. 6 in. of clays,
etc., including 1ft. of brown bituminous shale.

Yorkshire.—The occurrence of bituminous bands in
the upper Kimmeiidge clay of Speeton was recorded by
Judd, and they were more minutely described and their
exposures noted by Lamplugh in 1889.* It does not
appear that any attempt to work them has been thought
justifiable.

* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., Vol. xlv., 1889, p. 582 and fig. 3.

COAL MINING IN QUEENSLAND
DURING 1917.

According to the report of Mr. V. Jackson, State
Mining Engineer, for 1917, the total coal produced in
Queensland in 1917 was 1,048.473 tons, an increase of
140,746 tons when compared with the quantity produced
in 1916, and nearly up to the figure for the year 1914
(1,053,990 tons), which « as the highest recorded.

There were 25 collieries in the Ipswich district con-
tributing to the output during the year, some of these
each composing several shafts or tunnels from which
coal is raised. Six collieries were working in the
Darling Downs districts, six in the Central district (at
Blair Athol and Bluff), and one at Mount Mulligan, in
the Chillagoe district.

The table shows a comparison of the quantity and
value of the coal raised during 1917 in each of the coal-
mining districts of the State, with the corresponding
figures for the previous year:—

Coal Raised in Different Districts, 1916-1917.

1916.	1917.

-------
Average

Tons value
raised pertoP
raised. at pit/s
mouth.

Average
value
raised Perton
raised. at pit>s
mouth.

District.

Ipswich	. .. . 583,692	7/11 ... 728,605 ... 10/8’37

Darling Downs ....... 99,511	... 9/9’7 ... - 97,797 ... 12/9’3

Wide Bay and Mary-

borough ........... 79,726	...	12/2	...	72,282	...15/10*38

Rockhampton

(Central)	5,031	...	9/6	...	6,410	...11/10*16

Clermont............ 124,483	...	7/9*3	...	132,664	... 11/4*81

Mount Mulligan

(Chillagoe) 15,281 ... 13/4*3 ... 10,715 ... 15/6*24

Total........ 907,727 ... 8/6*9 ..1,048,473 ... 11/4*74

From these figures it will be seen that there was as
above stated an increase in the output of 140,746 tons,
and that the average value was 2s. 7*8d. per ton higher
than in the previous year. The advance in the value
per ton followed on the readjustment of coal prices and
wages, both in Queensland and Southern States, under
the Commonwealth regulations, early in the year. The
increased quantity of coal raised is accounted for by
increase of trade generally during the year, and the
greater part of it is due to the larger output of some of
the principal collieries in the Ipswich district. The
output of the Darling Downs collieries was very little
greater than in the previous year, while that of the
collieries in the Maryborough-Rockhampton district
and Mount Mulligan, in the Chillagoe district, was
somewhat less than in 1916. The output of the
collieries in the Clermont district increased by about
18,000 tons. Approximately, one-third of the Ipswich
output of coal is shipped at Brisbane, about 60 percent,
being for bunker purposes and the remainder to
northern ports for railways, gas works, meat works, etc.,
the actual quantities being:—Shipped from South
Brisbane Railway Wharf, 243,966 tons; from the

Adelaide Wharf, 9,371 tons; and some 4,519 tons was
also shipped from the Maryborough Wharf, making a
total of 257,856 tons. These figures show an increase
in the total quantity shipped when compared with the
figures for 1916 of 36,271 tons. The tonnage of vessels
leaving the port of Brisbane during the year was,
according to returns furnished by the Collector of
Customs, 1,641,452.

The total value of the coal raised during 1916 was
£597,360, the corresponding figure for the previous
year being £389,348; and the total number of miners
employed in coalmining was 2,229, compared with 2,037
in 1916.

The coke consumed for smelting purposes at the
various works in the State was obtained, as hitherto,
principally from New South Wales, the average quan-
tity imported for the purpose being approximately
60,000 tons. Only 13,399 tons of coke were made in the
State during the year. Neither oversea exports nor
imports of coke amounted to more than a few tons.

Efforts were made early in the year, in which the
department assisted in every way possible, to encourage
coke making and improve the prospects of that industry
at North Ipswich, but very little result was achieved.
A certain amount of development was done in the
collieries in the Ipswich district, one or two new tunnels
being started and ventilating shafts sunk, etc., but
nothing in this connection calls for special mention.

Some new work was undertaken in connection with
the collieries at Blair Athol, and comprised the sinking,
of a new shaft on lease No. 27 at the Newcastle Colliery,
the opening up of a small seam in the No. 3 shaft of the
Blair Athol No. 2 pit, and the sinking of a small shaft
from the main north heading to explore the thickness
of the seam in the Blair Athol No. I pit. This
proved the seam to be nearly 90 ft. thick at that
point, while in the sinking on the Newcastle lease
the Big seam was found to be 61 ft. 6 in.
thick where the shaft was sunk. Two other seams,
4 ft. 6 in. and 4 ft. 2 in. respectively, were met with in
the Newcastle shaft above and below the Big seam, the
lower one being inferior to the uppermost one. A
quantity of graded coal from Blair Athol was shipped
to a Northern port during the year and may lead to
augmenting the future production of the field. The old
workings of the Co-operative Colliery at Blair Athol,
which were flooded at the end of 1916, were not
reopened, but a tunnel was started during the year to
work the seam at another place, and it is expected that
this colliery will be producing coal again shortly.

Considerable extensions were made at the Mount
Mulligan Colliery in the No. 2 seam, and work is being
pushed forward in the No. 1 bottom seam, a portion of
which, some 2 ft. in thickness, it appears from experi-
ments, is equally suitable for coking as the coal in No. 2
seam. The locality of the mine places it at some
disadvantage in regard to securing experienced coal
miners, and on this account more coal-cutting machinery
has been installed.

The number of fatal accidents was four, compared
with two in the previous year. The death rate per 1,000
persons employed was 1*79, and 0*98 in the previous year.
The number of serious accidents recorded under the
Mines Regulation Act, which were not attended with
fatal results, was J7, compared with 30 recorded in 1916.
All the fatal accidents in coal mines were due to falls
of stone or coal. There were four casualties in connec-
tion with shafts, and in one case which resulted in fatal
injuries, a miner, in crossing from one side to the other
of an underlie shaft, fell a distance of 80 ft. Crossing a
shaft through the cage instead of passing round the end
of the shaft was the cause of another accident, but
without fatal results. Falls of ground were responsible
for 23 casualties, or 30*29 per cent, of the total casualties.
Three of the fatalities in collieries occurred in the
Bundam ba district, and each was caused by a fall of
stone from a slip in the roof, while one occurred at a
colliery at Blair Athol, and was due to a fall of about
3 cwt. of coal, which struck a miner who was preparing
to erect a prop near the face. Of the non-fatal
casualties due to falls of ground, 11 occurred in
metalliferous mines and six in collieries.

In accordance with the provisions of the Mines Regu-
lation Act, the regular testing of winding ropes was
given careful attention by the inspectors. The total
number of ropes tested was 341, and, as a result of the
testing, 26 ropes were condemned. Others were no
doubt condemned in the ordinary course by mine
managers as a result of defects discovered in the course
of their regular examination in accordance with the Act.
One breakage of a winding rope was recorded during
the year at one of the collieries.

There were eleven prosecutions during the year in*
connection with the working of metalliferous mines and
collieries, eight of these being cases against managers,
who were fined varying amounts. In two instances the
cases were against engine-drivers, and in one the case
was dismissed.

The records in connection with the ventilation of the
mines agreed largely with those of previous years, and
showed generally a good margin between wet and dry
bulb readings. In the collieries in some cases the
quantity of air circulating had been increased, either
with the appliances available or by the introduction of
auxiliary fans. In some of those in the Burrum district
more fans and mechanical appliances are now required
and a better system of conducting the air to the
working faces. There were two accidents due to
ignition of explosive gas which was reported in seven of
the collieries, one being in the Burrum district and six
in the Bundamba district. The amendment of the Act
to provide for the reporting of gas in any of the
collieries is an important provision, and one which it is
necessary should be strictly enforced.

In consequence of the number of medical certificates
which have been issued regarding additional coal rations,
the Coal Controller intimates that the only condition
under which a medical certificate for an extra coal ration
on account of illness should be given is where the patient
is to remain in bed, and where a fire in the bedroom
is necessary for the recovery of the invalid.