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Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - 1954), Thursday 16 December 1926, page 7
National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54334955
RAINBOW TRAIL
CALLIDE COALFIELD.
IMMENSE DEPOSIT.
100 SQ MILES OF BURIEDWEALTH.
(By "Seagee.")
Jteceiit articles in the daily sud weekly Press heve announced the continuelcommercial success of the Bergius method-a German process-of liquefyini
coal to obtain artificial oil products emthal a huge plant ior the commerciaexploitation of this process ia beimerected in Germany with a daily ea
pacify of 1000 tons of motor fuel, elsi
that shortly this Bergius motor luewould be on the markets of the worldThe Bergius process, which has long sine
passed the experimental stage, has foi
some years been turning out artificia
petrol and each year doing an increase!
remunerative business. On the top o
the announcement of the erection o
these immense works came the new«
as given in the cable columns of a rc
cent "Morning Bulletin," that a grouiof British coal firms had bought ironDr. Bergius, of Germany, the Britisl
rights of this synthetic petrol processMr. Bruce, our Prime Minister, in t
speech delivered in London in the earlj
part of this' month at the Auglo-Persiat
Oil Company's luncheon, laid it dowithat "there ia no greater essential tharsupplies of petrol, both for defence anc
industries," and added that there ii
"
no greater achievement than to ensure
the British Empire's independence ol
foreign oil supplies." The success ol
this remarkable process and tbe pur
chase by British coal owners of thc
British rights should now make thia
much-desired independence attainable.
Tb the maa on the land in Australia,
with his tin Linie, hit motor truck
hit oil-burning tractor, or hit farm oil
engine, it would bs a great thing to
have cheap petrol and, in tact, every-
body tt. interested in seeing to it that
the motor-driven wheels of industry goround. Oil, of course, may eventually
be found in Australia, Kew Guinea, or
Papua, hat feflnig that, Australia, with
her abundance of coal of all kinds, ia
assured of an inexhaustible supply oi
motor fuel.
In view of ile foregoing facts, some
account of the accidental discovery and
the history of -the immense Callide coal
measures, first estimated at four squaremiles, afterwards, aa a result of fur-
ther prospecting, at 64 square miles,
and since ascertained by a survey to be
over 100 square miles in extent.
For information aa to the discovery
I am indebted to .one of the original
prospectors, myfriend, Hr. Harry Ot
ty, sn old-time gold-miner, now and for
many years a highly respected business
man and resident of Calliope, on the
Boyne Valley railway. A study of some
old" Hansards
" has given me some in-
sight into the later history of this coal-
field and Government reports as appear-
ing in the/Queensland Government Min-
ing Journal and kindly placed at my
disposal by the Mines Department, fur-
nished me with authentic data at to the
great extent of this wonderful coal-
field, the work that -has been done to
prove the extent of the several seams
of coal, one of which is 64 ft. in thloiM
ness, and the various tests to whick
this coal has been subjected in order to
determine its quality and usefulness.
When away back in 1686, within
about three miles of the eld Callide cat-
tle station homestead, and just about
113 miles from Rockhampton, Messrs.
Otty, Peterson, and Dunne, a Govern-
ment-aided prospecting party, search-
ing for gold and following up colours
ing for upof that precious metal, discovered coal
at the shallow depth of 2 ft. They had
no idea at the time of the potential
.wealth that their adventurous picks
had brought to light or the tremendous
significance of such an important find
to the Callide Valley in particular and
the State in general. The prospectors
sinking further went through a seam
of coal 10 it. in thickness. Not being
in a position to take up a mineral pros-
pecting area and work it, they filled
up tbe shaft that they had sunk, hid
all tracee of their discovery, and con-
tinued prospecting for gold. Their ef-
forts were rhortly afterwards rewarded
by the finding and opening up in the
same neighbourhood of the Mount Rain-
bow goldfield, which brought into the
funds of the party about £2000.
Experienced miners though they were,
they did not recognise the possibilities
of a big coalfield and preferred to stick
to the more exciting life of gold miners.
Later in the same year, however, the
party brought thc matter of their dis-
covery under thc notice of Mr. Spier,
of Rockhampton, who was at that time
a director of thc Rockhampton Gas and
Electric Light Company, and a Mr. Nye,
also of Rockhampton. These two gen-
tlemen arranged with the party to re-
open the coal shaft, Bink it deeper, and
take out some big Mocks of eosl. Ac-
cordingly the fhaft was put down
through the sandstone another 6 ft.,
when a further seam of coal was struck
and preved to be 7 ft. in thickness.
From tliCFc scams two immense blocks
of roui, of lim full unUl, of each
were afterwards hewn out «nd rtcsp
ed to Rockhampton, where they
o" tAi,iMlion. Ali. ¡Spier also hud
further prospecting work done, pu
donn mure shafts, in nil of which
cept one, which was not. bottomed, s
nf cual were struck. Three shafts
eluding thal of Hie prospectors,
nil lim une sunk in ur on thc linn
une ur
creek-.
In the late Mr, W. II. H,
thou Government Geologist for
.State, visited this ne» ly-discoi
coiillicld, and in bis published n
stated that the work done up io
time nf Iiis visit showed that there
un average thickness of 21 ft. of
in thc several shafts opened up
allowing for only one half of tin.- I
available, he estimated the total wi
of the coal at 50,000,000 lons,suflii
to lact lliO years, with an annual
pul equal to the whole of Quecnsl
which was then less than 380,000 t
In 1898 Mr. Spier, who had Uk«
four square miles (2660 acres) of
ecol country, with a currency ol
years, went to landon, taking'
him tho 10 ft block of roal. By s
n.ystorious means the 7 ft. block
pushed over the sido of the wharf
passed away out of the picture for
purpose of interesting British ca)
in the venture. There he was succ
full in forming a syndicate ol e
standing to take up the spéculât
The syndicate comprised Williamc'|
director of the Rockhampton Gas
Electric Light Company; General
1!. Sankey, ¡Royal engineers; Mr.
Coleridge Jupp, ex-Accountant Gen
cf India; Sir Curtis Pontifex, ret
Judge; Hon. Allen Cadell, Dep
Governor of an Indian province;
Mr. D. Avignar Goldsmid, finant
Having got hie syndicate formed,
next thing waa to get authority to c
struct a railway and this, too, waa i
cessfully accomplished, for, after
hard fight, on December 6th, 1900,
Act to authorise the Callide Creek <
syndicate to construct a line of r
way from Gladstone to Callide Cre
a distance of 68 miles, was passed
the State Parliament, a condition
ing that a deposit of ££500 should
lodged as a guarantee of the due f
fornuv&ce of the work by the syndic«
The deposit waa soon paid and
railway survey waa commenced early
tho following year and two more la
year
shafts were stalled as a prelimini
to opening up the deposits of «
There was at this time no railway
Calliope, and the railways to the Ba
son Valley and the Callide Volley wi
both then also in the womb of time
Tho syndicate railway was to pi
through Calliope and over thc Callie
and Callide mountain ranges and r
within 16 miles of the Kroombit cc
per mine. The Opposition of tar day
the State Parliament, of which the Ii
ex-Premier -William Kidston, represei
ing Rockhampton, was a promine
member, although not the acte
leader, bitterly opposed the project, ai
it was he who moved aa amendment i
the Bill "That thia House is of t
opinion that before any private ia
way measure, becomes law a referendi
should be taken to decide whether t
settled policy of the* State-owned ra
ways should be departed from." Tl
amendment was, however, defeated i
a purely party vote.
The coal tnins was to have been
revenue producer so far aa the fita*
was concerned, as an Act passed ir
posed a royalty of 3d. per toa for tl
first 10 years on all coal raised at
6d. per ton thereafter. However,tl
railway waa never even started at
when the two years within which tl
line was to have been completed aa
pied a further abort Act was posit
in 1602 extending the time for tho an
structlon to December 31st, 1905.
In 1903, Mr. L. C. Ball, Assistât
Government Geologist, vialtod this co»
field and in his report described tl
field, the extent of which1 bad bes
proved by shafts put dowe, - to rn
from east to west 8 and sy-half mite
and north to south a'
mile an
a-quartcr, but he gave his estimate a
fit square miles. At the time of bi
visit seven shafts had bean put dowt
all, except one, No. 4, being ea th
banks of creeks. The No. 1, or pros
peetors abaft, bad been timbered to
ft. and was down 2« ft., with »IT fi
of No. about a quarto
seam of coal; No. 2, about a quarto
of a-milc north east of No. 1., depth 3
St., 12 ft. seam; No. 3, three-quarter
et a mlle aoutb-weet rf Mt. L_ ¿tpth
70 ft-, scam 64 ft; No. 4, a quarte
of a milo south-east of No, 3. dept1
TO ft, seam 17 ft.; No. S had bsei
down to the cos!, bot not through it
No. 6, a mile and a-halt north-east ci
No. 6, In a dense scrub amongst th<
ranges, depth 40 ft-, seam 21 ft.; Ko. 7
depth 178 ft, coal struck et 38 ft, sean
4 ft 4 in., and 38 ft seam proved at
131 ft. below the surface. Tho coa
struck in Nos. I, 2, 3, 4, 8, and 7 was
he believed, a continuation of the sam«
scam and probably 6 also. Just slam!
this time tests of the coal from thc
54 ft. scam in Ko. 3 shaft wet» made
by the HJkf.S. Torch with 88 tons ol
coal, 30 tons of which were taken out
at a depth of 85 ft.-and 25 tons at
a depth of 45 ft, and Mr. Ball incor-
porates the result in his report-"Coal
proved to be good stc_rtl;^, ceri (.'tam
being raised without difficulty fn thc
usual time and no trouble in main-
taining constant supply at full power.
Coal burnt readily, clearly and quickly.
Coal ls of a peaty and woody nature,
no swelling or sticking together in
burning, each piece burning independ-
ently to the end. Ashes of fine nature,
slight clinker formed after 24 horns,
easily removed. Nothing detrimental
occurred to smoke boxes, uptakes, or
funnels. No undue temperature record-
ed In stokehold or backs of boilers.
Consumption 30 per cent more than or-
dinary Australian coal doin? similar
duty. Cost also was tried in the steam
cutter with good results ns regards
steaming, etc., but the consumption
was also found to bc 30 per cent
gTcatcr." Mr. Boll points out that the
coal u«ed for the purposes of this test
was taVen from No. 3 shaft, whichi1»
on thc bank of n creek, mid at such
shnllow depth that in his opinion, it
would he affected by the periodic waters
and, therefore, would bc in inferior con-
dition when raised, mid added that, il
tlic toft «implo was taken from a swift,
sunk some Hiatus dii-tunt from n ru ck,
much netter results would bc nlilaiii.nl
on tostinjr.
Mr. Bull paid nnotlicr vh-il to Hil"
field, witli n view to furl lier holing and
testing1, und in lils report published in
Dec ember, ltWÏ, stated thatI
bree
liHherlo unnotlecd mirfn"e outdoes ot
mal bad been loented. Kelly's Uiil'y.iaa
j
the centre nf the field, lind been in
ispected. mid, Inslly, thc mensure? on
tbs Cullilla Hange, where the ])iiin;rice
to Killiurnie road croises were seen. Ile
found that, the dip of (be cnn] was in-
considerable, seldom exceeding 11 de-
crees.
In hi? opinion, ll might hr tnl.cn
that,, in tho rnnpes north of thc work-ing!-, the seam or seams lie a'- depths
of severn1
Vîrdrcd f*t, tInrf« p.
I
I'orli.m nf lin» inver heilig IIHSIIM, ulnl
.that itwas piobnlue «¡int tile " "I
niiii-urex lillan old valley or ile; , v
i.ion. Ile nilviscd boring on II lUt-to. pe".I
samldnn,. ridge, 12 chains nor)li ol Vu.I
-hilft. vli< il Kellin« expuse,) In III"
Limit ««mill lie eui under fair rnvi."'
:-inlm\:iv fruin Hie inllucine ul ¡my
? reel;."
I'C In .laiiiinry, IMIKI.thingIna-I
been «lune by the syndicate in the »nyof starting (he cnm-tuiction of (lie rmi
wny, so liv a proclumulioii in the "tin
Minimini lia/ctle"il
«an liol.th il timi
the Callide eonl s.viidii-iitc, III«vii ii
fni!c«l to I'oiuplv nilli (lie provision» <><
the t.hi.Ntone to ( ullide Jlailwar .««'l=.
thc deposit «.f fcî.iOll lind bernt.'.i
!'??:(. I
to His Mnjisly.
No ilniabl the const nu t inn of mi ' *
pensive line of railway, aero*» two li;;
inoiinlnin ranges, had H good deal to>!«.
villi (lie failure of Hie HVnilicnlc ("
Coat a company and obtain (he iv
ijii'sitcmoney to open up (his big v«inl
(¡cid, milled (0 which other conl-beaiinp; «rea» bad been discovered in i en-
trai Queensland closer to the wabnar.l.nud where thc costa of transporta «on
«on
were considerably lesa, lt was hardfor (he syndicate to lot,? it gooii T.I
Cold, but ejaculation has itu "down1'as well as "ups," es we all find ont
sooner or later. However, "nothing ven-
ture nothing win."
In a still further report, dated No\ ember, 1911, Mr. h. C. Uall, in a
memorandum to (he Under-secretaryfor Mines, states that he visited thefield at thc end of thc previous month»nd Mr. Lymburner waa then makin?a feature survey. Mr. Ball then goeson to «ny
"The coal measures, as wa"
suspected, from the Callide Range on
tbe north and Rainbow Creek on (hecant, to Callide Creek on the south, andbeyond Kilburnie Station on thc wet,the area covered being rather norv
than 100 square miles. Thc eastern partis mountainous, and (!e low-lyingcountry to tho west is covered by densebrigalow scrub. Should the C*lli«ie
bituminous coal br suitable for mixingwith the Dawson semi-anthracite, thcextension of" the field to the north-west
may be of some importance to thcpeople of Mount Morgan and Rock-hampton, as the Dawson Valley rail-
way approaches to within 30 mile* or
Kilburnie Station." Mr. Ball winds uphis report by stating-" Should thcCallide coal be strong enough for bun-kering purposes the advantages of di-
rect railway connection between thcpresent leases snd the port of Glad-stone are obvious. It has been <asti
wated that the total rast of the con-
struction of a line from Calliope onthe Boyne Valley would not exceed£¿00,0(10, and that the freight of, «say,50,000 tons per annum would suffice lo
cover working expenses and payin-
terest on the capital expended."In addition to the test of the Callide
coal made by H.M.S. Torch incorporated
by Mr. h. C. Ball in his report of 1903,assays were made in 1601 by the late
Mr. W. H. Dunstan, then QueenslandGovernment Geologist, and Mr. J. Cos-mo Newbery, of Melbourne, the pub-lished reports of which I have before
reports of which I have beforeme. These two gentlemen found th»amount of fixed carbon in this coalvaried from 41 to 67 per cent and in onsinstance it went up to over 50 per centof fixed carbon. The coal analysed hythem came from Noa I, 3, and 3 shafts,all on the banks of crocks, so that it
waa not surprising that they found themoisture was high, averaging ninepoints.
In 1812 tests of Callida coal were
made tn Brisbane by the Harbours andRivers Department, but did not proveas satisfactory as that used on theH.M.S. Torch. Testa were also made bythe Railway Department, Brisbane,about the same time, but the coal testedwaa found to be unsuitable for locorno,tive work. In this latter ca ea it was
pointed out that tbe proportion of mois-ture was found to be too high and low
evaporative efficienry obtaineJ, both bjboiler and calorimeter tests, were mainlydue to this factor. Tbe advice was also
given that the mine workings shouldbe well drained.
In a recent personal letter to me from
Mr. Harry Otty, of Calliope, one of th«
original discoverers of the great coalfield, he gives it BS his opinion thatthis coal Is
some of the best in Aus-tralia, and fas informs me that the local
blacksmith and wheelwright, a man ol
many years' experience of the trade, con.
eiders the Callide coal unsurpassable foi
welding, for which purpose he finds thc
Baralaba coal useless.
During the 20 years that have passed
since the syndicate met with disastei
over this coalfield Messrs. Kessel), Wil-
son, and Friend, all enterprising busi-
ness men of Gladstone, have each ii
turn taken up the Callide coal leases
only to abandon them again. Mr. Frier«
secured them only about three yeanago. No doubt the high cost of rail-
way construction in these days ofli ¡pl
wages, expensive materials, and bea vj
transport costs were found (oo mud
of a handicap to link up thc Callidi
coal-bearing areas with Gladstone. How
of Callidi
ever, with the completion of the Callidi
Valley railway to Biloela, "a change hai
come across tbe spirit of the dream'
and brought the centre of this vast coal
field within 13 miles of that rising rail
way township, whence a light tramwai
could be inexpensively run out and .>«
make this dormant coalfield a hive o
industry.
The engineering difficulties in conncc
tion with the construction of suchi
tramway would be only slight. Mud
of the ground is level and there arc ni
big mountain range« to cross. Travel
ling out towards the coalfield fror
Biloela, about two miles out, the Wash
pooIiGully is crossed within sight of th
State farm. At four miles the Callid
Creek is crossed and a further thre
miles along, (he bank of thiti creek w
cross a small creek by means of th
Prairie Bridge, where, in thc carly aayi
a scared teamster lost his trousers nu
his loud of rations, but saved his li'
by running 10 miles barefooted. Anotlic
four miles, making in all ll, brings u
to the "Devil's Pool" right alongside th
roast and only half-a mile from where th
olí Bead, turning into the lefl, leads t
the «"»al shafts, and from that turno
a ItSJIIiey of a mile and n-balf, or 13Í
all, brings us right into Hie centre of tl
future conlopolis or Petrolopolis.
One ran visualise what will happenwith the opening up of these enormous
coal measures so closely connected hyrail with a big city like Rockhampton.There is room for scores of pits and halfa-dozen Bergins plants, manufacturingout of the coal petrol so cheap that theCallide \>lley will become a veritableSunshine Valley, where cheap petrol hasenabled thc farmer to live a life of lui'
ury compared with his present hardtimes, providing thc power at a lowcost to run his irrigation plants, milk-ing machines, cultivators, farm trac-tors, oil engines, motor trucks, andeven his Rolls-Royce. Then the workingminer and speculator, with this cheappower applied to motor-driven machinery,
power to machinery,will lie nble to open up again and bring? igorous life once more to thc old rich
raining fields,many of which lie within
easy reach of thc great petrol works to
bc c-tablislicd-Monal, where friend
Weakley, 0f thc No. 2 Lady Griffiths,
scooped in his £8000-Cania, -vlierc Stree-
ter tripped over £8000 also, in the Mt.Roso-Mt. Jacob, where poor old Jacobmissed out when The Dream panned out.?o well for thc lucky dreamer-Mt. Rain-bow, a mon-tn n of gold--Targinnie,with its rich minc, giving go,vi returnsfor seven years and still carying good
gold-Kroombit-TheFlgtreîl -Dar mun-
do»-Uoinpah and last, but not least,
(hut wonderful Norton mine, with Hs£500,0(10 from (lie Conran rbnft, andits still rich complex golden stone, of
which Captain Richards, a fortier mana-
ger ot the Mt. Morgan minc, ;>roplinsicd
"Thal thc day would come who't the Nor-
ton goldfield would carry a copulation
of 100,01)0 people."
Who will doubt thal, thc advent of
cheap mulor-driveii powerwill, ns with
a milgie wand, bring to light some of
tho hie tunnel*ry rewords of life, in
which we all feel we are entitled to have
a share.
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