Burning Mountain is a feature near Wingen, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 300km north of Sydney. It takes its name from a naturally combusting coal seam running underground through the sandstone. Burning Mountain is contained in a Nature Reserve administered by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). Wingen is a small town in the Upper Hunter area of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. ... Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 50  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $305,437 (1st)  - Product per capita  $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006)  - Population  6,817,100 (1st)  - Density  8. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of over 4. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by coal mining, either underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... A nature reserve (natural reserve, nature preserve, natural preserve) is an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. ... The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is part of the Department of Environment and Conservation - the main government conservation agency in New South Wales, Australia. ...

A gentle trail from the Park carpark to the site where smoke emanates from the ground takes less than an hour, including the time taken to read the information panels along the route. The area is steeped with Indigenous Australian heritage as well. Australian Aborigines are the indigenous peoples of Australia. ...

According to Kevin Krajick, "Scientists estimate that Australia's Burning Mountain, the oldest known coal fire, has burned for 6,000 years."^[1] Original explorers and settlers to the area believed that the smoke coming from the ground was volcanic in origin.

The fire is moving in a generally southerly direction at a rate of about one metre per year.

See also

• Coal fire
• Mine fire
• Wingen, New South Wales

A mine fire or coal fire is the underground smouldering of a coal mine. ... A mine fire is a fire that starts in a coal mine and burns underground. ... Wingen is a small town in the Upper Hunter area of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. ...

References

1. ^ Krajick, Kevin (May 2005). "Fire in the hole". Smithsonian Magazine: 54ff. Retrieved on 2006-10-24. 

Coordinates: 31°52′S 150°54′E Smithsonian is a monthly magazine published by the Smithsonian Institution of the United States in Washington, DC External link Smithsonian webpage Categories: Smithsonian Institution | United States magazines | Stub ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...