Its future has long been on the line, and now the embattled mining town of Glenden in Queensland is again in the news. Is it any closer to a more secure future?

Located 160km west of Mackay, the town was built by Mount Isa Mines in 1981 to accommodate workers from the Newlands coal mine, which ceased operations in early 2023, a decade after it – and the Glenden lease – was taken over by Swiss mining giant Glencore.

The end of mining at Newlands has predictably taken a toll on the town. The population has dwindled since 2011. 

Newlands is in rehabilitation mode, and it will not be long before that work is complete, after which Glencore will no longer have a need to house workers in Glenden.

In recognition of that, the previous Queensland Labor Government introduced legislation in 2023 to force QCoal – which holds an 85% stake in the nearby Byerwen coal mine – to house some of its workers in Glenden from the end of March this year. However, that was met with a good dose of backlash, not least from QCoal, which argued the legislation had been rushed through and did not account for the wishes of its workers.

On March 21, the newly elected Queensland government stepped in to "fix Labor's mess" by pushing the March deadline back to the end of December, and assuring QCoal that it would no longer need to close its workers camp at Byerwen.

"The revised timeline aligns with ongoing work to develop a long-term, sustainable model for Glenden's future, particularly around water security and essential services," the government said.

"This work will be supported by a housing and town infrastructure assessment to facilitate future planning, which is expected to be completed over the coming months."

The latest plan still involves injecting Glenden with workers, however, this time from a variety of companies.

"We don't want the model to rely just on QCoal putting workers in to populate that town," a government spokesperson told Australia's Mining Monthly. 

"While we've got this extra time, we're working with other companies operating in the area so that two, three or four different operators in the area contribute a proportion of workers – 20 workers from mine X, 30 workers from mine Y, 40 workers from mine Z – because there are quite a few in the area.

"We want to get the companies that are operating in the area – across the mining industry but also other industries – to do it as part of their social and community license, rather than having it legislated in the way that it is at the moment. But there's still a bit of work to get to that point."

Glenden's coal-heavy surroundings

The government spokesperson insisted industries beyond mining already had a presence in the region around Glenden.

That is a claim that requires further vetting, however, whether it is true or not, coal remains the big one.

In addition to the Byerwen mine, located some 20km west of Glenden, there is Glencore's Hail Creek mine to the southeast. To the southwest of the town lies Peabody Energy's Centurion mine, while Bowen Coking Coal's Burton mine is directly south.

All could, in theory, contribute workers to revitalise Glenden. Convincing them to do so would be another matter.

Glencore houses its Hail Creek workers at a camp on-site, however, it still has a number of workers involved in the rehabilitation of the Newlands mine living in Glenden.

"For over 20 years, Glencore has proudly supported the township of Glenden via our Newlands coal mine," Glencore said in a statement to AMM.

"Our company has subsidised housing for workers and their families and a range of services for the community, from the local bar and grill, daycare, medical clinic, and essential infrastructure such as water and power.

"Since 2019, Glencore has tried to engage with the Queensland Government about the closure of the Newlands coal mine (currently in rehabilitation phase) and our planned exit from Glenden township. We have provided the Queensland Government with a significant amount of information over this time.

"Our lease conditions require us remove infrastructure from some leases and maintain infrastructure on other leases. Accordingly, we developed a detailed closure plan to comply with these conditions."

The company added that it is willing to work with the government and local council on a solution for Glenden but is yet to see a detailed proposal.

Bowen Coking Coal is likewise supportive of Glenden's survival.

"Each company is obviously open to their own assessment," Bowen chief executive Daryl Edwards said.

"We are broadly supportive, as small as our contribution may be."

Though the company is fully utilising its own camp at Burton, Edwards added it had already had positive discussions with the state government and was "open to exploring very limited residency in Glenden".

Peabody Energy declined to comment.

‘Gut-wrenching'

Though the "many hands" plan makes sense, its execution could prove more challenging. For now, however, there seems a sense of relief that the problem hasn't been forgotten.

"We're glad to see the legislation introduced remains in place," Kelly Vea Vea, mayor of the Isaac Regional Council within which Glenden sits, said.

"It's a tool available to [Queensland's mines minister Dale Last] to hold companies to their original commitments – commitments made to the people of Glenden when mine approvals were granted."

Vea Vea is one of several people who have, in recent years, called for the introduction of a Regional Transition Authority to manage the transition of regional communities away from dependence on mining.

"It's gut-wrenching to see companies walk away from communities without a plan for what's left behind," she said.

"We've seen a stark difference in how some companies handle their exit from mining towns.

"Some treat it like a transaction – hand over the paperwork, tick compliance boxes and walk away. Others show real leadership by engaging early, planning for the community's future, and taking responsibility beyond the mine gate.

"When companies step up and genuinely engage with councils, governments, industry leaders and communities, we can work together on water security, social investment, and legacy projects that leave something lasting behind. That kind of collaboration makes all the difference during a transition."