Development

Broadmeadows Methane Gas Field, 1989. The Broadmeadows field was a significant pilot program in the coal seam gas industry in the late 1980s in far North Queensland. This map shows the intensity of the drilling program that occurred over successive years from 1987 to 1989. The Broadmeadows field became an exemplary field to promote further investment and development in the industry prior to production in the early 1990s.  From North Queensland Energy Pty Ltd, ‘Well completion reports Broadmeadows No.’s: 1A, 9, 11, 12, 13,’ 1989, company report 21939, Queensland Department of Mines and Resources, Queensland Digital Exploration Reports Online.

Locality and Geological Map of The Bowen Basin Coal Basin Central Queensland, 1949. This map from 1949 predates the shift to both modern open-cut coal mining and coal seam gas development in Queensland. Exploring the map in detail shows many of the places where coal had been reported in either outcropping or in water bores or government exploration wells. The significance of the map to coal seam gas industry lies in the combination of coal discovery in water bores. Coal seam gas comes to the surface in water that is stored in coal seams; water bores are put down by pastoralists and farmers to supplement their water supplies. The map shows the gathering of knowledge for exploitation and the competing land-use interests in Queensland. From Powell Duffryn Technical Services, First report on the coal industry of Queensland, Volume 3, Plate 40, Collection of The University of Queensland Library.