Summary
Commissioned by the Joint Coal Board, this episode depicts the exploration for coal in New South Wales and Queensland. Starting with aerials of a dry Australian landscape, the film reiterates the importance of coal to industry and society and highlights the growing need for coal domestically and for export. The emphasis is on coal exploration in the Upper Hunter Valley, the New South Wales South Coast and the Bowen Basin in Queensland, featuring extensive aerials of these landscapes and mining operations.
While underground footage of mining is repeated from the first episode, there is extensive new footage of scientific drilling for coal, footage of vegetation and the formation of coal, maps of coal deposits, geologists in the field as well as lab based testing. Aerials of Bowen Basin includes footage of Blackwater mine and township and export facilities and an aluminum smelter at Gladstone. There is also footage of the world’s largest dragline at Moura.
Special Notes/Achievements
This is the second film in the Fitzgerald Collection.
Author: J Bird, 2023