Plane Creek Sugar Mill
Plane Creek Sugar Mill is a sugar mill in Sarina, Queensland, Australia. It is owned and operated by Wilmar Sugar Australia.
History
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The Plane Creek Sugar Mill opened in 1896. It was owned and operated by the Plane Creek Central Mill Company Limited. It was funded with a loan of £65,000 from the Queensland Government under the Sugar Works Guarantee Act. The mill machinery was built by Walkers Limited in Maryborough. A 15-mile tramline connected the mill to a wharf at the mouth of Louisa Creek (21°16′15″S 149°15′58″E / 21.27083°S 149.26611°E) for shipping the sugar.[1]
The loan from the Queensland Government was fully repaid in 1920.[1]
In 1925, a factory was built next to the mill to process the molasses produced by the sugar refining into ethanol. Ted Theodore, the Queensland Premier, hoped to use the ethanol as a motor fuel.[1]
In 1926, a wier was built on Plane Creek to provide a more reliable water supply to the mill, with a second weir built in 1935.[1]
In the 1920s, construction of the North Coast railway line enabled sugar cane to be transported to the mill from a more widespread area, as far south as Flaggy Rock.[1]
In 1974 it was sold to Pioneer Sugar Mills and then sold in 1987 by CSR Limited.[1] As of 2016, it is one of the 8 sugar mills in Queensland owned by Wilmar Sugar.[2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "Plane Creek Sugar Mill". Mackay Historical Society and Museum Incorporated. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
- ^ "Our mills". Wilmar Sugar. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
External links
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Media related to Plane Creek Sugar Mill at Wikimedia Commons