Kerosene Vale

Kerosene Vale is a historic locality within the City of Lithgow Local Government Area of New South Wales, Australia. Kerosene Vale lies near Lidsdale and Wallerawang. It is considered part of Lidsdale for census purposes. It should not be confused with Hartley Vale, another locality with a history of shale oil production, which is also within the City of Lithgow.[1][2][3][4][5] The name Kerosene Vale is now only used infrequently.

The area that later became known as Kerosene Vale lies close to the easternmost extent of the traditional lands of Wiradjuri people.[6]

The site of the oil shale mine, retorting, and refining operation was south of Sawyers Swamp.[7] Dr Walter Fawkes Mackenzie (1835-1886) applied for a Mineral Lease of 240ac there in 1866.[2] Erection of the retorts began in early 1867.[8] By mid-1867, Kerosene Vale Oil Works, owned by the Mackenzie brothers, was ready to commence operation.[9]

The equipment and processes of the oil works were described as follows, in a newspaper article in the Sydney Mail of 1 June 1867, The works consisted of a steam engine and boiler, a sawmill and one bench of retorts, together with two 500-gallon wrought iron distillation stills that were heated by superheated steam. The equipment was made by the Newcastle Foundry. In the retorts, broken up torbanite was heated to dull-red heat for around eight hours, driving off the crude oil. The crude oil was then heated in one of the stills, and 'light oils' that were too flammable for lighting purposes were distilled off and stored in separate tanks. After treatment with acid or alkali to remove impurities, the remnant oil was separated into lubricating oils and 'parrafine' (kerosene) in the second still, with the remnant of that process being black pitch. The various oils were then packaged for market.[8][9]

However, by the early-1870s, thicker outcrops of oil shale had been discovered. The oil works at Kerosene Vale were abandoned and another oil shale mine was opened at a nearby locality that was referred to as 'Bathgate', after the Scottish oil-producing town of Bathgate. 'Bathgate' also lay on Dr Mackenzie's property, about a mile from the Main Western railway line at the point where it passed through the original Marangaroo tunnel. The valley, by then known as Kerosene Vale, was rich river flat country and was being used for cattle grazing.[10][11][7][12]

Kerosene Vale was a peaceful place, noted for its scenery, and was a popular picnic location until at least the late 1940s.[13][14][15][16]

During the early 1950s, Kerosene Vale was the site of a short-lived open-cut colliery. The mine was part of a scheme of the Joint Coal Board, to modernise the coal industry by introducing mechanised mining techniques.[17][18][19] The mine effectively closed in 1952, after a bizarre dispute between two rival coal mining companies.[20][21]

The locality is the site of an ash dump that was used by the former Wallerawang Power Station, first in the form of a wet ash dam and later as a dry ash dump.[2][22] Kerosene Vale has been extensively altered by open-cut mining waste and the power station ash dump,[2] to such an extent that the locality is no longer agricultural, nor is it any longer noteworthy for its scenic beauty.[23] The site of the old shale workings is now covered by the ash dam.[24]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT 1966". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 11 July 1997. p. 5476. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
2. ^ a b c d "Kerosene Vale". www.bushexplorers.com.au. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
3. ^ "Search Census data | Australian Bureau of Statistics - Lidsdale NSW". abs.gov.au. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
4. ^ "Lidsdale · New South Wales 2790, Australia". Google Maps. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
5. ^ "GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT, 1966". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 24 April 1975. p. 1629. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
6. ^ Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (25 May 2022). "Map of Indigenous Australia". aiatsis.gov.au. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
7. ^ a b "Geological map (with sections) showing position of kerosene shale seam at Marangaroo, Kerosene Vale or Bathgate". Trove. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
8. ^ a b "MACKENZIE AND BROS. KEROSENE WORKS". Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. 15 January 1867. p. 3. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
9. ^ a b "TOWN AND COUNTRY, Kerosene Vale Oil Works". Sydney Mail. 1 June 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
10. ^ "THE UNDERGROUND PERMANENT WEALTH OP NEW SOUTH WALES". Illustrated Sydney News and New South Wales Agriculturalist and Grazier. 27 September 1873. p. 6. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
11. ^ "MOUNT VICTORIA". Illustrated Sydney News and New South Wales Agriculturalist and Grazier. 22 November 1873. p. 21. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
12. ^ "Marrangaroo Tunnel (1st)". nswrail.net. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
13. ^ "SEVERANCE OF LINK WITH EARLY MINING HISTORY". Lithgow Mercury. 12 June 1952. p. 4. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
14. ^ "PICNIC NEAR LIDSDALE". Lithgow Mercury. 3 February 1899. p. 3. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
15. ^ "WALLERAWANG". Lithgow Mercury. 14 February 1935. p. 3. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
16. ^ "2LT YOUNGER SET COMBINED PICNIC". Lithgow Mercury. 17 April 1947. p. 5. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
17. ^ "Modern Colliery To Operate At Kerosene Vale". Lithgow Mercury. 18 October 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
18. ^ "Machines are winning us more coal". Daily Telegraph. 16 December 1950. p. 3. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
19. ^ "Open-Cut Record—Kerosene Vale Yields 3905 Tons". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 22 March 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
20. ^ "RIVAL COMPANIES TRY TO TAKE OVER OPEN CUT". Sun. 20 July 1952. p. 3. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
21. ^ "Open-cut Equipment Is Hard To Sell". Lithgow Mercury. 15 October 1954. p. 8. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
22. ^ Parsons Brinckerhoff (April 2008). "Stage 2 - Kerosene Vale Ash Repository Area, Environmental Assessment" (PDF).
23. ^ "33°22'59.4"S 150°05'43.5"E · Lidsdale NSW 2790, Australia - Satellite View". Google Maps. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
24. ^ Brown, Jim (1987). Bent Backs, An illustrates social and technological history of the Western Coal Field. Lithgow: Industrial Printing Co. pp. 144, 145.

33°22′59″S 150°05′44″E﻿ / ﻿33.38306°S 150.09556°E﻿ / -33.38306; 150.09556

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