The Metropolitan Colliery is a coal mine located near Helensburgh, New South Wales owned by Peabody Energy.Metropolitan Mine Peabody Energy It was opened by in 1887 by the Cumberland Coal & Iron Mining Company. In 1965, the mine was purchased by Australian Iron & Steel.Here & There Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin issue 330 April 1965 page 73 A proposed sale to South32 in 2016 was abandoned after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission refused to approve it.Peabody Energy to sell NSW coal mine to South32 ABC Illawarra 3 November 2016South32 abandons plan to buy Peabody's Metropolitan Colliery at Helensburgh Illawarra Mercury 18 April 2017
Coal is exported from Port Kembla with the mine connected to the Illawarra railway line via a spur line.
The company is currently mining underneath the protected 'Special Area' of the Woronora Dam and Woronora Reservoir catchment, directly underneath the Reservoir.
In 2022 the Colliery achieved notoriety for polluting Australia's oldest National Park, following the discharge of coal sludge and waste into a creek running into the Hacking River, which flows the length of the park and into Port Hacking.
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