EMERALD

This Central Highlands town on the Nogoa River has a population of about 13,500 people and is a thriving agriculture and mining services hub, 270 kilometres west of Rockhampton at the junction of the Capricorn and Gregory highways. Ludwig Leichhardt navigated his way through the area in 1844 and the first pastoral lease was taken up some 17 years later. The town grew rather rapidly throughout the 1950s to 1980s with beef grazing and the advent of coal mining in the Bowen Basin. In 1972, Fairbairn Dam was built with a capacity of 1,300,000 megalitres, which facilitated irrigation and further industrial development in the district. Surrounded by prime agricultural land, the town has extensive infrastructure including the Central Queensland University campus as well as the Emerald Agricultural College and is a gateway to the nearby gemfields.