Coal Mining continued

For the first two decades of the twentieth century coal mining in Western Australia was carried out by a number of small companies operating mines around Collie.  Shafts were sunk underground by miners following seams of coal. Miners were paid a tonnage rate to break down and fill coal into skips with capacities ranging from half a ton to one ton.  The skips were wheeled underground by horse. By 1920 there had been a fourfold increase in the level of coal being mined - up from 120,000 to 470,000 tonnes - while the industry employed just over 800 men. But the small companies which employed them had struggled to survive. In that year Amalgamated Collieries Company of W.A. Ltd was formed to purchase all existing coal mining companies and establish a monopoly. The State government then awarded Amalgamated Collieries a contract to supply all their coal needs, mainly for the railroad.