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	Louis Frost Sydney	Jubilee Colliery		Fly Yard and Jacob	Old No. 3

The Louis Frost Notes 1685 to 1962 NOVA SCOTIA STEEL AND COAL COMPANY LTD. Jubilee Colliery or No. 6 Indian Cove and Collins Seam This was a shaft colliery located at Sydney Mines, opened on April 14th, 1916 to work the Indian Cove and Collins Seams. The colliery was closed down in May, 1924 due to the inferior quality of the coal in the upper seam and the thinning of the lower seam. The colliery was a further development of a test shaft sunk by the General Mining Association in 1897, this shaft being used as the man shaft and intake airway for the colliery. In December 1912 the old colliery was pumped and continued in operation until May 1st, 1914, when work was suspended until April 1916. The shaft used for hoisting coal was 15'8" x 24'8" for a distance of 560 feet, at which point it cut the upper seam, which is also known as No. 3 or Indian Cove Seam. Below this the shaft was reduced in size to 15'8" x l5'8" and sunk a further 182 feet to the lower seam, also known as No. 4 or Collins Seam. The total depth of the shaft was 742 feet. The upper seam averaged 4 feet in thickness and is free from dirt bands, but the top 14 inches of the seam is of inferior quality and had to be left in the mine. The coal when stored in bulk is liable to fire spontaneously. The lower seam varied from 4'0" to 18" in thickness and finally mining had to be discontinued because it was not possible to mine the coal economically. The inclination of the strata is regular, dipping seaward at the rate of approximately 7 per cent. The coal from both seams is suitable for steam or domestic use, but too high in sulphur for metallurgical purposes. The workings were entirely in the land area and were all relatively near the shaft bottom. The upper seam was worked on a room and pillar system, compressed air being used for undercutting and headway haulage engine. Storage battery locomotives were used on main levels. The lower seam was worked by longwall, electrically driven coal cutters, face conveyors and haulage engines were employed to cut and transport the coal. Mine cars were of 1-ton capacity. Both seams were practically free from gas, but closed lights were used and the ventilation was supplied by an electrically driven Capell Fan, delivering 73,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a 0.4 inch water gauge. Very little water was made in the workings; the total inflow of 140 gallons per minute came almost entirely from the old General Mining Association workings. During its life the colliery produced 1,094,603 long tons of coal. Part of the area allocated to the Jubilee Colliery in the Indian Cove seam has, since the closing of the colliery, been subleased to the Indian Cove Coal Company, who are still operating. In 1945 it was estimated that there was some 5 million tons of coal recoverable from this seam in the land and sea area. Having regard to the output of the Indian Cove Coal Company, it is estimated that one million tons of this has been recovered to this date.

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Last Modified: 98-01-06

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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