Leigh Creek, South Australia

Leigh Creek
South Australia

Leigh Creek

Coordinates

30°35′S 138°24′E / 30.583°S 138.400°ECoordinates: 30°35′S 138°24′E / 30.583°S 138.400°E

Population

550 (2011 census)

Postcode(s)

5731

Time zone

ACST (UTC+9:30)

• Summer (DST)

ACDT (UTC+10:30)

LGA(s)

Outback Communities Authority

Mean max temp	Mean min temp	Annual rainfall
26.3 °C ^{79 °F}	12.8 °C ^{55 °F}	230.1 mm ^{9.1 in}

Localities around Leigh Creek:
Myrtle Springs	Myrtle Springs Copley	Copley
Puttapa	Leigh Creek	North Moolooloo
Puttapa	Puttapa North Moolooloo	North Moolooloo

Footnotes

Adjoining localities

Leigh Creek (formerly Leigh's Creek) is a coal-mining town in eastern central South Australia. At the 2011 census, Leigh Creek had a population of 550.

Situated to the west of the northern Flinders Ranges, the current town is 13 km further south than the original town—it was moved in 1982 to allow the expansion of the mine. As a result, most facilities and buildings in the town are only a little over thirty years old, and with relatively modern designs.

The mine and associated railway station are named Telford.

The area was named Leigh's Creek after its first settler, Harry Leigh, in 1856. Coal was discovered and small quantities mined from 1888 from an underground mine. The town to support the mine at that time was called Copley, after William Copley, an MP and Commissioner of Crown Lands. However the coal was not mined in a significant commercial manner until 1943 in an effort to make South Australia more self-sufficient for its energy needs, with less dependence on New South Wales. The premier Thomas Playford saw the need to be seen not to rely on interstate energy if he was to attract business to South Australia.

The current open cut mine operation is for low-grade, sub-bituminous black coal which is frequently referred to as hard brown coal or just brown coal. It is transported 250 km by rail to power stations outside Port Augusta on the east side of Spencer Gulf. The coal occurs in several nested bowl-shaped seams, each several metres thick. The coalfield at Leigh Creek is operated by the Alinta Energy and currently produces over 2.5 million tonnes a year of coal. Alinta energy also operates the power stations at Port Augusta which are the only remaining coal-fired generators in South Australia, and the only users of coal from Leigh Creek.

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Wikipedia