HIGHLIGHTS

Opens - 1904

Seam - #6 (Woonona Seam)

Owner – Mr. Pernell?

Closes – 1911

Re-opens – 1920 as the Central Bulli Colliery

Closes – 1920

Re-opens – 1921 as the Bulli Central Colliery

Closes - 1922

Originally opened as Pendleton’s Tunnel

TIMELINE

1904 - Opened in the #6 seam in Portions 82 and 83 Parish of Woonona (Harper 1915)

The seam worked was 7 feet (2.13m) thick and very dirty. From the site of the old pit top it was probably the Plunketts Hill seam or perhaps the Tongarra. from a paper by G. Sellers, 1976, The Illawarra Coalfield – A Brief History to 1905 presented at the AusIMM Conference, Illawarra, 1976.

1910 – Blackball Colliery, Woonona, listed as opening in DoMAR

Inspectors report lists 2 men employed at the mine. DoMAR 1910 (earliest mention of colliery by DoM)

1911 – 16^th May – Mr. A. Purnell notifies DoM that Blackball Colliery is temporarily idle.

Inspectors report lists 0 men employed at the mine. (DoMAR 1911)

Blackball was a small colliery, opening in 1904 and working the No. 6 Seam (Woonona seam) with the coal being disposed of locally. Coal quality was relatively poor, work being abandoned in May, 1911 after the workings reached a distance of some 70 yards (64 m). The Coal seam at the face measuring some 7 feet (2.13m) containing a prominent band up to 1 ½ inches (38mm) thick some 2’-9” (0.838m) from the roof Harper, L. F.  F.G.S – Geology and Mineral Resources of the Southern Coal-Field, Part 1, The South Coastal Portion, Dept. of Mines, 1915.

1912 – 2^nd Jan - Mr. Pernell (sic) notifies DoM of abandonment of Blackball Colliery. (DoMAR 1912)

1920 – Blackball Colliery re-opens under the new name of Central Bulli Colliery (6 men listed as employed).

Central Bulli Syndicate – J. Richards (permit manager) – No. 4 seam – Adit 10’ x 6’ – A 7’ (2.14m) diameter shaft being sunk (to be 40’ (12.2m) when completed).

1920 – Central Bulli Colliery is discontinued. (DoMAR 1920)

1921 –Notice of Re-commencement of Bulli Central Colliery (sic) is lodged with DoM. Total of 3 employees. (DoMAR 1921)

1922 – Notice of Discontinuance of Bulli Central Colliery is lodged with DoM (DoMAR 1922)