Drag to turn the globe

Events/Disaster · 1902

Mount Kembla coal mine explosion

Disaster, 1902-07-31, Australia.

What happened

A roof fall in a goaf pushed air and methane into the main tunnel of the Mount Kembla mine on 31 July 1902. The blast stirred up coal dust. Of 261 men underground, 96 died, including two rescuers who were overcome by gas. A royal commission sat in 1903.1,2

Why it matters

It is the worst mining disaster in Australian history.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. General Mining Law of 1872

    The law remains the basis for claims to locatable minerals on US federal land.3,4

  2. Tombstone: inception recorded

    Tombstone has an inception date of 1879 in Wikidata.5

  3. Bolivian tin output stands at 3,749.5 t

    It was the base of a rise to 9,279.5 t by 1899 as silver faded.6

  4. Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company founded

    Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company founded.7

  5. Matadi-Kinshasa Railway opens

    Matadi-Kinshasa Railway opens.8

  6. Premier diamond mine: Wikidata inception date

    The mine near Cullinan that later yielded the Cullinan diamond.9

  7. Harry Oppenheimer born

    Harry Oppenheimer born (date from Wikidata).10

  8. Joe Hill dies

    Joe Hill dies (date from Wikidata).11

Open the full timeline

Where next

Events

An example ofBulli Colliery explosionBulli's 81 deaths in 1887 followed a strike that ended in February.12An example ofDudley Colliery explosionFour years earlier, Dudley killed 15 at a dry and dusty mine.13ExamplesGretley Colliery inrushThe inquiry led to changes in how NSW mine plans are checked. Compare Mount Kembla, 1902.14

Sources

  1. 1902 Mount Kembla Coal Mine Explosion case study NSW Resources Regulator
  2. Mount Kembla (item Q12062114), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands (PDF) US Bureau of Land Management
  4. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. Wikidata item Q79873 (Tombstone)
  6. Correa Vera L., Del poder a los tratados: desarrollo y ferrocarriles en Bolivia, 1870-1904 Historia 46(2) (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, via Redalyc)
  7. Wikidata item Q6921923 (Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company founded)
  8. Wikidata item Q1908043 (Matadi-Kinshasa Railway opens)
  9. Wikidata item Q2576349 (Premier Mine)
  10. Wikidata item Q1586536 (Harry Oppenheimer)
  11. Wikidata item Q346993 (Joe Hill)
  12. 1887 Bulli Colliery Explosion case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  13. 1898 Dudley Colliery case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  14. 1996 Gretley Colliery Inrush case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

Keep exploring

Stories with these minerals

The Super Pit gold mine at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, at sunsetMining historyGold rushes, then and nowGold and lithium · WorldwideGold drill-hole columns rising over the Yilgarn goldfields on a satellite map of Western AustraliaData storyUnder Western AustraliaDrill holes · Western AustraliaCopper drill-hole columns over South Australia on a satellite mapData storyUnder South AustraliaDrill holes · South AustraliaCopper drill-hole columns over the Cobar Basin on a satellite map of New South WalesData storyUnder New South WalesDrill holes · New South Wales

All mining storiesThe world runs on rockAll mineralsMining by country

Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0.