Middlemount is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

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. In the , the Isaac Region had a po ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Middlemount had a population of 1,899 people. It is nicknamed the "Giant

Peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, 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 by small and large ...

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

Geography

Middlemount is located inland (by road) from Mackay and

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined 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 Cap ...

. 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 developed quickly 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 workers 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..

Demographics

In the , the locality of Middlemount had a population of 1,914 people. In the , the locality of Middlemount had a population of 1,841 people. In the , the locality of Middlemount had a population of 1,899 people.

Mining

The German Creek coal mine (or Capcoal), operated by Anglo Coal, is notable as having the deepest

longwall Longwall mining is a form of underground coal mining where a long wall of coal is mined in a single slice (typically thick). The section of rock that is being mined, known as the longwall panel, is typically long, but can be up to long and wi ...

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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

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 that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ro ...

(

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 that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ...

) mines (Oak Park and Lake Lindsay, both in neighbouring

Mackenzie River The Mackenzie River (French: ; Slavey language, Slavey: ' èh tʃʰò literally ''big river''; Inuvialuktun: ' uːkpɑk literally ''great river'') is a river in the Canadian Canadian boreal forest, boreal forest and tundra. It forms, ...

). 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, on ...

(also in Mackenzie River) was a joint venture between Anglo American,

POSCO POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel manufacturer headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the List of steel producers, world's sixth-largest steelmaker by thi ...

and

Nippon Steel (previously known as Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal until 2019) is Japan's largest steelmaker, headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company has four business segments, which are steelmaking, engineering, chemicals, and systems solu ...

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 a grocery store, a butchery, an

Australia Post Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost, is an Australian Government-State-owned enterprise, owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is loca ...

Office, a jewellery and gift store, clothing store, a medical centre, a chemist, a bakery, takeaway store and cafe, a hairdressers, and a news agency. The 'Leisure Centre' located across the parking lot from the shopping centre contains a pizza and takeaway store and cafe, a gym, and a hairdressers. Middlemount also has a pub, a local hall, hotel, a restaurant and motel, a skatepark, a local pool, and a country club.

Isaac Regional Council 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. In the , the Isaac Region had a po ...

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 (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

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 school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

Notable people

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 bet ...

cyclists

Anna Meares Anna Maree Devenish Meares (born 21 September 1983) is an Australian retired Track cycling, track cyclist. She currently resides in Adelaide in South Australia where the Australian Institute of Sport's Track Cycling program has its headquarters ...

and

Kerrie Meares Kerrie Meares (born 4 September 1982 in Blackwater) is an Australian professional racing cyclist, and the older sister of Olympic Champion, Anna Meares. Kerrie and Anna watched the 1994 Commonwealth Games (that took place in Victoria, British ...

References

External links

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