The Racecourse Mill is a sugar mill located in Racecourse, Mackay, Queensland and is one of the largest sugar refineries in Australia. Other sugar cane mills located in the Mackay Region include; Marian Sugar Mill, Pleystowe Sugar Mill, Farleigh Mill and Plane Creek Mill at Sarina. Pleystowe Mill was the oldest surviving mill in the district but closed in 2008.

Racecourse sugar mill, 2016

History

edit
 
Cyclone damage, 1918

Racecourse Mill began operations in 1888.[1] The refinery was severely damaged during the 1918 Mackay cyclone.

Current production

edit
External videos
  Racecourse Mill sugar cane trains

The amount of sugar produced at Racecourse Mill is about 1.7 million tonnes per year. Today, Marian, Racecourse and Farleigh are one of the largest sugar refineries in Australia. Plane Creek Mill is one of the oldest mills in the district, located in Sarina, Queensland. It has been announced that The Marian Sugar Mill is the largest sugar mill in Queensland, with crushing at the most and full throttle 3.65 crushing per year, making it the largest sugar refinery in Australia as well.

Bagasse is burned to produce electricity at the mill.[2]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Racecourse". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Maximising sugar mill revenue in Mackay". Rural Industries and Development Corporation. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
edit

21°09′50″S 149°08′05″E / 21.1640°S 149.1348°E / -21.1640; 149.1348