Duncan

The Duncan Colliery in north east Tasmania is located near the town of Fingal in the coal rich Fingal Valley, it is owned and operated by the Cornwall Coal Company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cement Australia.

Duncan Mine Uses Conventional Bord and Pillar Method of Underground Mining
The Duncan underground coal mine was established in1945 and mines coal by using the conventional bord and pillar method of mining. Coal seams at the Duncan mine are often up to 70 metres thick and varies from being a few metres underground to a maximum depth of 440 metres. It produces over 400,000 tonnes of coal annually that is washed at the Duncan Siding before being transported by rail to supply the coal needs of industry throughout the island state. Because of its high ash content it is not considered to be of export quality but is quite suitable for local Tasmanian industry needs.

Duncan Mine Owned by Cement Australia
Duncan Mine owners, Cement Australia, is the main user of coal from the colliery. It is railed to the company's Portland cement works at Railton, in North West Tasmania, where it is used to manufacture cement. The cement is shipped out of Tasmania to mainland customers, through the port at Devonport. Coal mined at the Duncan underground operation is also used at the Cadbury Chocalate Factory for making steam, as well as the Cascade Brewery and the Boyer Paper Mill, all in southern Tasmania near Hobart.

Cornwall Coal Company Established in the 1880's
The Cornwall Coal Company was established as far back as the1880's as a small, humble, coal mining operation. It is now a multi million dollar business. It was acquired by Goliath Cement Holdings in the latter part of the 1970's and is currently a fully owned subsidiary of Cement Australia, with its head office in Sydney. Cornwall Coal employs around 70 personnel in its Tasmanian operations.

Duncan Mine was the Only Tasmanian Coal Mine to Survive the Cheap oil Challenge
The completion of the Tasmanian Government owned railway to St Mary's in 1886 enabled the Cornwall Coal Company to expand by supplying Fingal coal to a fast growing Tasmanian industry. However, this growth was severely curtailed when cheap oil was introduced into the state during the 1950's and it took another decade before more efficient mining methods and better transport systems, once again made steaming coal competitive. Between the 1950's and 1960's all the smaller mining operations in the Fingal Valley were forced out of business with only the Duncan Mine surviving and it was only producing 55,000 tonnes a year. By the 1980's the Cornwall Coal Company was gaining new customers for its product with growing demand seeing it open a new coal mine at Blackwood. By 1983 coal production in the state was back to 300,000 tonnes a year. Coal production in Tasmania remained around this figure until more recent times to where it has now reached about 500,000 tonnes annually.

The Cornwall Coal Company remains one of the major industries in the Fingal Valley in North East Tasmania.
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