Dawson Valley Colliery is a heritage-listed former coal mine at Morgan Street and The Esplanade, Baralaba, Shire of Banana, Queensland, Australia.
After European settlement of the area in the 1860s, coal was found at Blair Athol, in the north of the Basin, and near the present town of Blackwater.
The main extant structures are: the headframe; crushing and screening plant; surface crib room; fan house; winder and compressor house; transformer yard; block making plant; electrical and drill store; workshop; fuel, pipe and electrical detonator sheds; change-house; toilet block; explosives magazine; and detonator magazine.
[1] The coal bin is a large box-like structure with an open top raised on stumps about three metres above the ground.
At the bottom of the headframe is a long steel "I" beam with sliding winch block used to move coal skips onto and off the underground tramway.
A crusher, made of steel, is mounted in a two level wooden frame with a flat corrugated iron roof.
A steel chute at the top of the crusher funnels the coal into two layers of angled vibrating wire screens powered via a belt and an electric motor.
[1] The second screening plant consists of a large bin constructed of heavy wooden planks, with a wide, open top tapering to a long, narrow chute at the bottom with two discharge trapdoors.
It consists of a small, three roomed building, rectangular in plan view, with a wooden frame clad with corrugated iron and rough concrete floors.
Window openings at the south, east and west elevations are covered with hinged corrugated iron flaps.
An electric copper converted from a 44-imperial-gallon (200 L; 53 US gal) drum is located in an open veranda at the north western corner of the building.
The eastern end of the housing is flared and open; a large multi- bladed fan is visible inside.
A small, open ended corrugated iron structure mounted on top of the housing contains an electric motor.
[1] Attached to the south side of the plinth is a small, wood framed shed with a gabled roof; it is clad with corrugated iron.
Two large ledge and brace wooden doors open into the east shed which houses the compressor equipment.
There is a small skillion roofed room, clad with corrugated iron and asbestos sheeting, projecting from the front of the building to the right of this door.
[1] The interior of the shed housing the winding gear contains the double drum winding engine with cable extant on the drums, a platform and controls for the driver, a large electric motor and electrical switch gear including the main circuit breaker for underground.
A small white coloured metal sign on the gate bears the words "Danger 22,000 Volts" in red lettering.
It is a small skillion roofed, timber-framed structure, about 5 by 7 metres (16 by 23 ft), partially clad with corrugated iron.
The top third of the west wall of the enclosure, under the skillion roof, is open and in-filled with chain wire mesh.
Internally, much of the space is occupied by a steel rack comprising three vertical posts, each with several projecting, flat horizontal prongs.
[1] This building is a long wooden framed gabled roof structure clad in corrugated asbestos sheeting.
The walls on all sides are painted in the traditional Mount Morgan tri-colour, light green/pale yellow, a black band and ochre.
A low bench is fitted to the walls and a three sided standing frame with seats and clothes hanging pegs is arranged around a centrally located Metters Jumbo fire heater.
Rows of small, high, frosted glass windows open into the south and north elevations at the lavatory end.
[1] This is located at the northern extremity of the site, about 100 metres (330 ft) north of the main group of colliery buildings.
Underground mines like the Dawson Valley Colliery became less common during the 1960s following the introduction of large-scale open cut methods.
[1] The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.
The former colliery is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of the above ground layout and structures of a typical underground coal mine of the mid-twentieth century.
Structures include: surface crib room; fan house; winder and compressor house; transformer yard; block making plant; electrical and drill store; workshop; fuel, pipe and electrical detonator sheds; change-house; toilet block; explosives magazine; and detonator magazine.