Workshop Switchroom

The workshop switchroom at Awaba Colliery is a small, functional space. A yellow sign reading 'Crane No 1 Main Isolator' is fixed to the wall above a compact electrical box, with a green first aid cross mounted beside it. A tall narrow metal ladder rises to an upper platform. On the opposite wall, a large orange panel carries an electric shock warning label, with a bright yellow open cabinet beside it. Four chairs, including an office chair, are pulled against the left wall alongside the switching and breaker panels that controlled the room's equipment. Awaba Colliery operated under the name Awaba State Coal Mine from its development in 1947 until a renaming in 1994. The mine was established by the NSW Government to supply thermal coal to Wangi Power Station, and a dedicated railway branch line was built to carry coal from the site, opening on 25 May 1954. The mine worked the Great Northern Seam using bord-and-pillar methods with continuous miners, and over its operational life produced more than 35 million tonnes of coal. In 1973, ownership transferred from the State Mines Control Authority to the Electricity Commission of New South Wales under the Electricity Commission (State Coal Mines) Act 1973. The NSW Government sold the mine as part of the PowerCoal portfolio to Centennial Coal Company Ltd in August 2002 for $331 million. Centennial Coal was itself acquired by Thai group Banpu Public Company Ltd in 2011. By late 2011, Centennial announced that the coal reserves in the Great Northern Seam were exhausted. The last shift ran on 23 December 2011. Final cessation of all underground mining followed in March 2012, with 85 workers employed at the time of closure. The workshop switchroom, with its isolator signs, its warning labels, and its chairs still set against the wall, was photographed in 2015. Part of the Awaba Colliery series.