HISTORY

There is little doubt that the First Nations people had burnt coal long before the British arrived in this country in the 18th century. The first written record of coal in the Illawarra was in May 1797 by a group of shipwrecked sailors. The sailors were making their way on foot along the east coast to Port Jackson when they found coal near Austinmer, which led to identification of coal seams from Coalcliff to Austinmer, and then further south into the Illawarra. This was the beginning of what is now Wollongong Resources; our history is summarised in the picture.

Wollongong Resources Pty Ltd is an Australian mining business which owns and operates Russell Vale Colliery and Wongawilli Colliery in the Southern Coalfields Region of New South Wales. Wollongong Resources’ mines are ideally situated within 15 km to the Port Kembla Coal Terminal, with Wongawilli Colliery having direct rail access to the port.

In 2014 Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) became the majority controlling shareholder of Wollongong Resources. JSPL, listed on the Indian Stock Exchange, is an international steel and power company with operating steel capacity of about 7 Mtpa and power generation capacity of about 2500 MW. The majority of Wollongong Resources’ production is sold to Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL).