Moranbah
Postcode: 4744
Moranbah is a town in Queensland, Australia, located on the Peak Downs Highway between Mackay and Clermont, in the Belyando Shire. It is a coal mining town and at the 2001 census, had a population of 6,124.
Moranbah is home to many talented people, ranging from singers to football players, such as Josh Hannay, Clinton Schifcofske, Travis Norton and Owen Thomas.
Moranbah is a growing community and has lots to do such as the Skate Park, Moranbah Library, Cinema Complex, Leagues Club, Off Road Racing, Motocross, BMX and much more.
Moranbah emerged specifically to service the Goonyella and Peak Downs Mines. Both are large open-cut operations. Goonyella lies 24 km north of the town and Peak Downs is 38 km to the south. Both are spectacular operations. At Goonyella the open-cut reaches a depth of 110 metres and a huge 12-m bucketwheel excavator cuts into the coal seam while 170-tonne trucks transport the coal to the waiting railway trucks. At Peak Downs five 97- m long draglines remove 46 cubic metres of overburden each drag. The mine produces 5 million tonnes of coking coal a year.
The coal is railed to the sea near Mackay (the loading facilities can be seen to the south of Mackay). The railway was constructed in 1972.
In the 1980s the town continued to expand with the discovery of huge coal reserves and the opening of the Riverside coalmine to the north of the town.
To the west of the town is the spectacular Peak Range National Park.