The Maddingley area of Bacchus Marsh was surveyed for brown coal deposits in the 1930s. By the early 1940s brown coal in large quantities was being extracted and was transported to Melbourne where it was used to fire boilers for the Australian Paper Mills (APM) company. By the 1970s APM was using natural gas instead of coal. Maddingley brown coal was then used to fire boilers for the CRA/VISY cardboard factory at Bacchus Marsh. This factory closed down in 1990. During the 1990s the mine was acquired by the Calleja family company who ran transport and waste management operations.The Maddingley Brown coal mine was a major industry in Bacchus Marsh for 50 years. A sample of coal from the mine is a reminder of the importance of this local industry over an extended period of time.Two cylindrical plastic containers mounted on rectangular baseSample of pulverised brown coal produced from Maddingley brown coal deposit located at Bacchus Marsh Victoria, October 1981. Moisture content 12% - Specific energy - 22 GJ/Tonne - Particle size - 25% +90 Microncoal mines, mining, brown coal, maddingley brown coal mine

Six grey soft covered Coventry Engineering Society Journals. .1) Vol. 6 No. 3, March 1925. Includes * The Influences of Rates of Colling upon Cast Iron by H. Beeny * Pulverised Coal by J. Pickin (Junior) .2) Vol. 7. No. 1, January 1926. Includes * Coventry Engineering Society Annual Report * Road Springs by C.E. Cary .3) Vol. 7. No. 2, February 1926. Includes * Some methods of Testing Engines by G.H. Walker Vol. 7. No. 3, March 1926. Includes * Notes on the Disposal of a Town's Refuse by H.L. Bunting * How roadcasting is Done by J.A. Cooper Vol. 7. No. 4, April, 1926. Includes * The Applicaton of Thermionic Repeaters to Long Distance Telephony by H.C. Hannam-Clark Vol. 7. No. 5, May 1926. Includes * Automobile Design by W. Ferrier Brown * Floodlighting and its Possibilities by H.C. Wheat Vol. 7. No. 6, June 1926. Includes * Machines for Testing Materials by H.N. Cox * Characteristics and uses of Ground Gears by H.F.L. Orcutt * Instruments for Recording Minute Oscillations * Characteristics of Iron Ores by A.J. Aierscoventry, engineering, coventry engineering society, peterborough cathedral, cast iron, h. beeny, pulverised coal, j. pickin (junior), road springs, c.e. cary, testing engines, g.h. walker, disposal of a town's refuse, h.l. bunting, roadcasting, j.a. cooper, thermionic repeaters, long distance telephony, h.c. hannam-clark, automobile design, w. ferrier brown, floodlighting, h.c. wheat, machines for testing materials, h.n. cox, ground gears, h.f.l. orcutt, instruments for recording minute oscillations, iron ores, a.j. aiers

This particular specimen was recovered from the Lal Lal Coal and Iron Mine in Victoria, 19km from Ballarat. Brown Coal was discovered here in 1857, just alongside the Geelong to Ballarat Railway line. This discovery of lignite (brown coal) was the first in Victoria, which would bring important benefits to the region and state, both of which had previously been reliant on coal imports. In the 1860s, iron ore was found just 5km from Lal Lal, and the area was converted into an Iron Ore Mine. The Lal Lal Iron Mining Company took over operations in 1874, who then peaked iron production in 1884. This mine continued operations until June 1884, when the blast furnace was extinguished and never recommenced. The blast furnace at Lal Lal is considered one of the most important and highly significant sites ion early industrial history in Australia, as it is the only remaining best furnace from the nineteenth century in the Southern Hemisphere. The furnace ruins are 17 metres high, and are clearly visible today on Iron Mine Road, Lal Lal, near the Bungal Dam. This specimen of Lignite (brown coal) is significant, as it was mined from the area where brown coal was first discovered in Victoria, leading to an important and controversial future of the mining and use of brown coal in this State. The Victorian Heritage Database has listed the Lal Lal Coal Mine with local significance, with their Statement of Significance stating: "The Lal Lal coal mine is historically significant as the site of the first discovery of lignite (brown coal) in Victoria, and one that promised important benefits to regional and state industries that were reliant on coal imports at the time. The significance of the stie is reduced by the poor state of preservation of the coal mining and processing fabric". This specimen is part of a larger collection of geological and mineral specimens collected from around Australia (and some parts of the world) and donated to the Burke Museum between 1868-1880. A large percentage of these specimens were collected in Victoria as part of the Geological Survey of Victoria that begun in 1852 (in response to the Gold Rush) to study and map the geology of Victoria. Collecting geological specimens was an important part of mapping and understanding the scientific makeup of the earth. Many of these specimens were sent to research and collecting organisations across Australia, including the Burke Museum, to educate and encourage further study.A hand-sized light-weight, soft and combustable sedimentary rock specimen, that is dark brown in colour. The specimen has jagged edges, as though parts of the rock have crumbled away. Brown coal, or Lignite, is formed naturally from compressed peat, and is typically found in natural basins. The stages to the formation of coal ('coalification') begin with plant material and wood, which will decay if it is not subjected to deep burial or heating, and turn into Peat. Peat, when sufficiently compressed naturally, will turn into Brown Coal (Lignite), and finally into Black Coal (sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite). Each successive stage has a higher energy content and lower water content. It is brownish-black in colour. Brown Coal has a high moisture content, between 50 and 75 percent, and a low carbon content. Some Brown Coals may be stratified, with layers of plant matter, which means little coalification has occurred beyond the peat natural processing stage. When Brown Coal is submerged in dilute nitric acid or boiling potassium hydroxide solution, it reacts to produce a reddish solution, of which higher-ranked coals do not. When brown coal is pulverised and burned in boilers, the steam is used to drive turbines, which generates electricity. It is the lowest rank of coal, as when burned, it creates a relatively low heat content, which in turn does not create a great output of steam. burke museum, beechworth, indigo shire, beechworth museum, geological, geological specimen, mineralogy, brown coal, brown coal specimen, lignite, lal lal, lal lal coal mine, lal lal iron mine, ballarat, blast furnace