Box Flat Mine

The Box Flat Mine or Box Flat Colliery was located at Swanbank in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. The mine opened in 1969 and operated until its closure in 1972 after a deadly explosion. Its coal was mined for the operation of the Swanbank Power Station.ExplosionThe Box Flat Mine disaster occurred on the 31 July 1972 when 17 miners lost their lives after an underground gas explosion, 14 men who were working in the vicinity of the explosion and three miners who were working on a belt adjacent to the mine entrance. A mine warden who was sent to investigate the explosion died later as a result of his injuries and some workers at the surface were also injured in the explosion. A later report found that safety requirements and regulations at the mine had not been complied with at the time of the accident, although it stopped short of concluding that these lapses were the cause of the disaster.After the explosion, it was determined that no one could have survived and the decision was made not to send in rescuers in case there would be another explosion and instead seal the tunnel's entrances. The miners' bodies were never retrieved.The incident was the worst mining disaster in Ipswich's history.MemorialA memorial can be found at the old mine-site on Swanbank Road located near the power station. It honours those who lost their lives in the Box Flat Mine disaster. A bridge on an extension to the Centenary Highway is named in honour of the lives lost in the 1972 disaster.LegacyThe Box Flat Mine was serviced by the Bundamba-Swanbank coal line. After the Box Flat Mine closure the need to transport coal to fuel the power station became imperative. The Bundamba-Swanbank coal line transported most coal to the power station, so an additional balloon loop was built for the delivery of coal. There are now two balloon loops located on the branch line, the first balloon was used to stockpile coal for the power station, this loop is known as Box Flat. The second loop is known as Swanbank balloon and was used to deliver coal directly to the power station. The power station now uses gas as fuel and coal is no longer required.