Appin
Appin
Appin Mine was established in 1962 and is the oldest of Illawarra Coal's operating mines. It is situated immediately south of the township of Appin, 37 kilometres from Wollongong.
Appin's coal is mined from the Bulli Seam at depths of up to 550 metres. Coal extracted from this seam is premium quality hard coking coal and is used for coke making by the Australian steel industry, and is also exported to customers around the world.
Longwall mining was introduced at Appin in 1969.
During the longwall mining process mechanized shearers are used to cut and remove the coal at the face of the mine. After the coal is removed, it drops onto a chain conveyor, which moves it to a second conveyor that transports the coal to the surface. Hydraulic-powered roof supports hold up the roof as the extraction process proceeds. Following mining most of the longwall panel is allowed to collapse behind the roof supports, forming a goaf.
The mine is serviced by two vertical ventilation shafts and two inclined tunnels or drifts. The shafts are 540 metres deep and the drifts are about 1.8 kilometres long.
The bigger drift (2.5 metres x 3.5 metres) uses a largely automatic winder to transport people and materials by train. The smaller drift (2.3 metres x 2.6 metres) contains the conveyor belt that brings all the coal to the surface.
In the early years, high methane gas emissions seriously affected Appin's production - to help overcome this problem methane drainage commenced in 1981. In this process, methane gas is extracted ahead of mining, and during coal extraction by drilling holes in the coal seam and exhausting the gas to the surface. This gas is captured and used to generate electricity through a set of gas engines to provide a maximum of 94 MW of power to the NSW state grid.
