Leigh creek

Black coal mined at the Leigh Creek open cut mine at Leigh Creek in South Australia is transported 250 kilometres by rail to the the power stations at Port Augusta where it is used to produce 40 percent of the states power needs. The coal mine at Leigh Creek which is operated by Alinta Energy for the South Australian State Government produces 2.5 million tonnes of coal annually. Alinta Energy also have the responsibility of operation the power stations.

The Leigh Creek open cut mine produces a low grade black coal as far as energy content is concerned. The mine is however regarded as the most technologically advanced coal mines in the world. It uses large excavating machines at the mine site often working in heat in excess of 40 degrees centigrade. Its efficiency has also been assisted by the reconstruction of the railway between Port Augusta and Leigh Creek by the Commonwealth Railways now known as Pacific National. This railway compliments the economic production of the coal with low cost delivery to the power stations. The trains only operate at night during the summer months for fear of the rails buckling under the weight of the loads during the heat of the day.

The Leigh Creek open cut mine became a major coal mine during the 1980s when the South Australian government decided to build the Northern Power Station a 500 megawatt power station at Port Augusta to complemented the existing 330 megawatts Thomas Playford A and B Power Stations. The new power station meant the coalfield at Leigh Creek had to be enlarged and deeper deposits had to be extracted. It also resulted to the town of Leigh Creek having to be relocated as up until now it was located within the coal basin itself. It also required the highway being relocated and the building of a retention dam to protect the open cut mine from the threat of flooding.

The 1990s saw even more restructuring take place at the Leigh Creek mine. It became highly mechanised with cutting edge mining equipment that resulted in the workforce being reduced from a previous 700 to 200. The loss of workers also meant the town of Leigh Creek losing important services as well with its 1987 population of 2500 being reduced to just 700 of today. This has been a big problem throughout Australia as old labour intensive mines became modernised.

The mining of coal at Leigh Creek goes back as far as 1888 when coal bearing shale was discovered there by John Henry Reid. This find led to the sinking of a No.1 shaft by the Leigh Creek Mining Company. This underground operation was abandoned shortly after when it struck water problems. Another shaft was put down in 1892 but this too stopped working in 1894.

The second world war was responsible for the South Australian government taking a new look at the Leigh Creek black coal deposit. A shortage of coal in the state in 1940 saw the government look at reopening the deposit as an open cut mine and by 1943 the state department of Engineering and Water Supply got the job of getting things started. In 1948 the operating of the mine was transferred to the South Australian electrical provider ETSA when it became obvious the biggest use of the coal was in generating electricity. It was ETSA that obtained boilers capable of handling Leigh Creek coal that made the building of the power stations at Port Augusta feasible for exclusive use of the Leigh Creek deposits.