The Archives holds the
records of four companies whose activities were solely related to
mining. They are Lake George Mines Pty Ltd; Newcastle Coal Ltd;
Newcastle Coal Mining Co Ltd and Mt Keira and Mt. Kembla Collieries.
For holdings of other companies involved in mining, see the
List of Holdings
and for the Australian Agricultural Company “coal papers”,
see the ABLative article No.
5 1987 .
The operations of Lake
George Mines Pty Ltd were centred on a lead-zinc, copper and gold
mine situated at Captain's Flat, located south east of Canberra.
The area had been mined in the late 19th century but was forced
to close when production became unprofitable as processes used at
the time recovered relatively low metal values. In the 1920s the
British company, National Mining Corporation, examined the area
and decided that the mine could be worked profitably again using
modern extraction methods. Lake George Mines was incorporated as
a limited liability company in September 1930. It became a proprietary
company on 5 May 1948. Operations ceased in March 1962 following
the exhaustion of further stopes and the increasingly unsafe condition
of the mine. The London based holding company, Lake George Mining
Corporation Limited, was placed into voluntary liquidation on March
31 1964.
Ten metres of records
were transferred to the Archives by Lake George Mines Pty Ltd covering
the period 1920-1965. While some gaps exist, the surviving papers
give a reasonable coverage of both the administrative and operating
functions of the company.
Newcastle Coal Ltd was
formed in April 1912 to acquire the assets of Blair Athol Northern
Coalmines Limited. The black coalmines of the company were situated
at Blair Athol, a town in central Queensland near Clermont. The
collection is relatively small and includes a minute book of Board
of Directors’ Meetings 1912-17 and a share register covering
the period 1912 to 1926.
An impressive collection
of papers is held for the Newcastle Coal Mining Co Ltd. They total
15 metres and span the period 1876 to 1948. The company was established
in 1876 and registered as a limited liability company in 1877.
The records include
minutes of Directors’ meetings 1877-1920 and rough minute
books 1877-1942 (with gaps). Half-yearly reports and balance sheets
date from 1877 to 1947; other financial records include journals
1877-1942; ledgers 1877-1944 and 41 volumes of wages books for mine
workers dating from 1877 to 1945. A number of press copy letter-books
have survived including those of the Company Manager 1887 to 1944
and the Colliery Manager 1876 to 1930. The letter-books include
mine reports.
Mt. Keira and Mt. Kembla
Collieries were located in the Wollongong region of New South Wales.
The records held by the Archives cover the period 1892-1954. It
is a small collection totalling 2 metres and mainly consists of
wages records, which date from 1901 to 1934 for Mt. Keira and 1892
to 1945 for Mt. Kembla.
The records of Cavan
Station (Yass) held by the Archives contain papers that relate to
the Mt. Keira mine. The Castle Roche family, the owners of Cavan
Station, acquired land at Wollongong in 1856 and leased the coal
winning rights. The papers relating to the mine date from the 1880s
until 1913 and deal mainly with the payment of royalties but also
include reports on the operation of the mine.
