Brooketon colliery
The Brooketon or Muara Coal Mine was a coal mine in Brunei . Operation has ceased in 1924 and the site is in a state of natural recultivation , i.e. H. partly overgrown by secondary forest.
Location
The bill Brooketon is located in the administrative district of Serasa , north of the junction of Jalan Muara in the Muara Tutong Highway , about two and a half kilometers from the center Muaras removed.
history
Hard coal was first discovered in 1837 in Serai Pimping, near Muara . Named after its location, the Muara coal mine was commercially mined from 1883 when William Clarke Cowie acquired the concession for a payment of 1,200 strait dollars per year. Cowie later sold his rights to Raja Charles Brooke , who quickly renamed the place Brooketon (Brooke Town). Between 1889 and 1924 the deposit belonged to the Sarawak government under Raja Charles Brooke. Annual coal exports fluctuated between 10,000 and 25,000 tons. In the 33 years of the coal mine’s existence, more than 650,000 tons of coal have been exported. While the coal was initially still mined in open-cast mining, it was later switched to underground mining because of the better yield .
Brooketon colliery benefited from its strategic location near the safe deep-water port of Muara. The coal was brought there by train from the mine site two and a half kilometers away. However, this rail line no longer exists today.
Although Brooke originally only had economic rights, he soon became the area's political ruler. Hundreds of miners worked in the coal mines, necessitating the stationing of police forces, the construction of a post office and the establishment of an infrastructure that made Muara something of an extraterritorial appendage to Sarawak . It wasn't until 1921 that Muara was returned to Brunei .
The global economic crisis sealed the end of coal production: The Brooketon colliery was shut down in 1924 after severe financial losses as a result of falling coal prices on the world market. Only once more, during the occupation by the Japanese in World War II , was it reopened for a short time, but the coal was only mined for immediate use on site.
The mine today
Only overgrown railroad tracks, locomotives, shaft openings and an abandoned Morris Minor have survived from the Brooketon colliery .
The Brunei Museum Office plans to convert the 62 hectares of historic mine site into a museum site to support Brunei's ecotourism. The former deposit is currently protected under the Antiquities and Treasure Trove Act of Brunei Darussalam .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Brooketon Colliery from The Geology and Hydrocarbon Resources of Negara Brunei Darussalam ; Accessed December 6, 2011
- ↑ a b c d Rozan Yunos: Before the Oil, it was Coal. The History of Brooketon Coalmine in Muara. Originally published in Brunei Times, April 14, 2007 issue; Accessed April 29, 2017.
Coordinates: 5 ° 2 ′ 0 ″ N , 115 ° 3 ′ 0 ″ E