Leigh Creek

Leigh Creek is a former coal-mining town in eastern central South Australia. At the 2016 census, Leigh Creek had a population of 245, a 55% decrease from 550 in the previous census in 2011.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.HistoryThe 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.Coal mineThe former open cut mine operation was for low-grade, sub-bituminous black coal which is frequently referred to as hard brown coal or just brown coal. It was 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 was operated by the Alinta Energy and produced over 2.5 million tonnes a year of coal. Alinta energy also operated the power stations at Port Augusta which were the only remaining coal-fired generators in South Australia, and the only users of coal from Leigh Creek.