The Lithgow Mercury newspaper of December 24, 1924, reported that an important mineral discovery had been made at the small settlement of Ulan about 20kms north of Mudgee. A five-foot workable seam of high grade coal had been found. The area is a nearly as large as the existing Maitland coal field.
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The fact that in the future Sandy Hollow-Maryvale line may pass though the Ulan settlement almost at the foot of the mine, is sure in the future to make Ulan a rural industrial centre. Twenty-three hundredweights of the coal have been tested at the Mudgee Gasworks. They have yielded 12,060 feet of gas, or 11,051 cubic feet of gas per ton. The coke is of excellent quality.
Five years previously, in 1919, the top seams were found by a retired police sergeant who carried out a lot of prospecting in the area. In a short period of time a syndicate was formed at Ulan, but the lack of railway facilities, and the fact that the top seam was not of high grade quality, within a few years led to the closing down of the venture.
Soon afterwards miners Thomas Hayden Cunningham of Gulgong and a relation John A Colreavy of Kandos, became involved in the Ulan project. These miners years previously had participated in the discovery of the Big Bolder gold mine in Western Australia which was destined to become one of the most famous gold mines in the world.
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Cunningham was sent to make a report on the shale-coal deposits at Ulan. He happened to find the old exploratory shaft the bottom of which contained specific fossils which indicated to him that suitable coal was below the floor. After piercing a part of the fossil band he realised he had struck a seam of coal. He immediately put men onto open the now called Cunningham Seam, and the initial mine was christened the G.C.L. mine, being the initials of the owners Messrs. Gilling, Cunningham and Luscombe.
The distance of major markets prohibited the continuation of mining operations at Ulan and operations ceased. The mine was reopened in 1942 and workings continued until 1950. A new section of the mine was developed by Hogan and Gorman further east, and they commenced to supply coal to the new nearby electric power station that had been erected by the Ulan County Council of Gulgong at Ulan.
This Council was gazetted in 1948 and comprised in all nine delegates; two from the Mudgee Municpal Council, two from the Coonabarabran Shire, one each from the Shires of Coolah, Cudgegong, Gulgong Shire, "A" Riding of Cobbora Shire, and the Shire of Merriwa.
The County Council was the first in New South Wales delegated the power to operate a coal mine and to supply and distribute coal, and continue to reticulate electricity supply in its area.
In 1954 the Ulan Power Station, then still owned by the Ulan County Council was closed and transferred to the Electricity Commission of New South Wales. Council continued with the purchase and reticulation of electricity for the next five years when it ceased all operations on 30th June, 1995.
In 1965 I conducted a tour to the entrance of the mines by Coolah ladies who had attended morning church, most in their white shoes. They wanted to view the pit ponies who worked in the mine.
The ponies were sighted, but most of the ladies returned with shoes coated with coal dust.