Loy Yang Power’s 5000 tonne, 190 metre long Dredger 16 at its Latrobe Valley brown coal mine recently unearthed an extremely well preserved tree trunk, measuring about one metre in diameter and three metres in length.
The tree trunk, which is in remarkable condition and still clearly resembles a solid tree rather than flaky coal, may be up to 12 million years old. The trunk was taken to Melbourne Museum’s Palaeobotanical department for analysis.