Middlemount is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Isaac Region The Isaac Region is a local government area located in Central Queensland, Queensland, Australia created in March 2008 as a result of the report of the Local Government Reform Commission released in July 2007. History Yagalingu is an Austra ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. In the the locality of Middlemount had a population of 1,841 people. It is nicknamed the "Giant

Peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

" by some locals due to its peanut-shaped road layout.

Geography

Middlemount is located inland (by road) from

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

and Rockhampton in

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...

. The township is an accommodation hub to both permanent residents and transient workers. Middlemount is surrounded by the following coal mines: Foxleigh, Lake Lindsay, Middlemount Mine, Aquila Mine, German Creek and world record holding underground coal mine Grasstree.

History

Middlemount, like many other mining towns in Queensland virtually sprung up overnight in the early 1980s. Middlemount Post Office opened on 2 June 1980. Middlemount State School opened in 1980 with a secondary department added in 1983. In 1988 the secondary department was separated from the primary school to create Middlemount State High School. However, on 1 January 2001, the schools were amalgamated to form Middlemount Community School. The Middlemount Library opened in 1984. Most of the housing is owned by Anglo Coal. The company operates and maintains some of the town's infrastructure. Most of the houses are almost identical, in this instance there are three types of houses; lowset L-shaped, lowset square and highset. Approximately 40,000 workes have been employed at Middlemount's coal mining over its 39 year history. This town has contributed to the economic development of Queensland and Australia more generally.. At the 2011 census, Middlemount had a population of 1,914. In the the locality of Middlemount had a population of 1,841 people.

Mining

The

German Creek coal mine The German Creek Coal Mine is an underground coal mine 25 kilometres south west of Middlemount in Central Queensland, Australia. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 248 million tonnes of coking coal, one of the largest coal reserv ...

(or Capcoal), operated by Anglo Coal, is notable as having the deepest longwall

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

mine in Queensland, and also for operating Australia's only 'thin-seam' underground coal mine, using technology from the United States. It has five producing underground mines (Central, Southern, Bundoora, Grasstree and Aquila) and two

open cut Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

(

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of minin ...

) mines (Oak Park and Lake Lindsay, both in neighbouring Mackenzie River). Central and Southern mines are no longer operating, Southern has become Grasstree West in 2006 and Central Closed in 2004. Aquila mine is currently in "Care & Maintenance" mode, pending changes to the coal market prices. The

Foxleigh coal mine The Foxleigh Coal Mine is a coal mine in Mackenzie River, Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. It is within the Bowen Basin coal reserves of Central Queensland. The mine has coal reserves amounting to 102 million tonnes of coking coal, one ...

(also in Mackenzie River) used to be a joint venture between Anglo American,

POSCO POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel-making company headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the world's fourth-largest steelmaker by this measure. In 2010, i ...

and

Nippon Steel was formed in 2012 by the merger of the old Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal. was established in 1970 by the merger of Fuji Iron & Steel and Yawata Iron & Steel. Nippon Steel is the world's third largest steel producer by volume as of 2019. ...

It is currently producing around three million tonnes of coal for the export market. Anglo American announced that it had completed the sale of its 70% interest in the Foxleigh

metallurgical coal Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled ...

mine in Queensland, Australia to a consortium led by Taurus Fund Management, following the announcement of the sale and purchase agreement on 4 April 2016.

Amenities

Middlemount has a small shopping complex which contains an IGA store, a butchery, an Australia Post Office, a jewellery and gift store, clothing store 'The Vault', a medical centre, a chemist, a bakery, the 'Lemon Tree' takeaway store and cafe, a hairdressers, and a news agency. The 'Leisure Centre' located across the parking lot from the shopping centre contains 'Hot Rocks' pizza and takeaway store and cafe, a gym, and a hairdressers. Middlemount also has a pub with a Bottle-O drive-through, a local hall, an Oaks Hotel, a restaurant and hotel motel 'The Swag', a skatepark, a local pool, and a country club. Isaac Regional Council operate a public library in Middlemount in the shopping centre.

Education

Middlemount Community School is a government primary and secondary (Prep-12) school for boys and girls at James Randell Drive (). In 2015, the school had an enrolment of 373 students with 32 teachers (29 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 247 students with 27 teachers (25 full-time equivalent) and 29 non-teaching staff (17 full-time equivalent). It includes a

special education Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...

program. Secondary subjects not taught at the school can be accessed via

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

Notable residents

Some of Middlemount's notable former residents are

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

cyclists Anna Meares and Kerrie Meares.

References

External links

* {{authority control Mining towns in Queensland Central Queensland Isaac Region Localities in Queensland