"Blue Sky Mine" is a song by Australian rock band Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil

Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...

 released as the first single from their album Blue Sky Mining

Blue Sky Mining

Blue Sky Mining is an album by Midnight Oil that was released in 1990 under the Columbia Records label. It received high ratings from critics. A limited release of the record featured clear blue vinyl...

. It peaked at #8 in the ARIA Singles Chart, #7 on Canada's Top 100 Singles Chart, #66 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, #47 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, and #1 on both the Billboard Album Rock and Modern Rock charts.

The song was inspired by the experiences of workers at the Wittenoom

Wittenoom, Western Australia

Wittenoom is a ghost town located 1,106 kilometres north-northeast of Perth in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the site of Australia's greatest industrial disaster....

 asbestos

Asbestos

Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...

 mines who contracted various asbestos-related diseases. The "blue" refers to blue asbestos, and the "sugar refining company" refers to the Colonial Sugar Refining company

CSR Limited

CSR Limited is a major Australian industrial company, producing aluminium and building products. It is publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange. In 2009, it has approximately 10,000 employees and during a period of a major cyclical downturn the company made an after-tax profit of...

, the owner of the mines.

Charts

Chart (1990)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	8
Canadian RPM Top 100 Singles Chart	7
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	66
US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	47
US Billboard Album Rock Tracks	1
US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks	1

See also

• List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)
• Number one modern rock hits of 1990
  Number one modern rock hits of 1990
  These are the Billboard magazine Modern Rock Tracks number one hits of 1990....