Leinster, Western Australia

{{Short description|Town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}

{{Use Australian English|date=June 2015}}

{{Infobox Australian place

| type = town

| name = Leinster

| state = wa

| image = File:CSIRO ScienceImage 1633 Agnew Nickel Mine Site.jpg

| caption = Site of the Agnew Nickel mine before open-pit mining began.

| image_alt =

| relief =

| local_map = yes

| zoom = 8

| coordinates = {{WikidataCoord|display=inline,title}}

| pushpin_label_position =

| map_alt =

| pop =

| poprank =

| density =

| density_footnotes =

| established = 1976

| established_footnotes =

| abolished =

| gazetted =

| postcode = 6437

| elevation = 497

| elevation_footnotes =

| area = {{cvt |input=P2046}}

| timezone =

| utc =

| timezone-dst =

| utc-dst =

| dist1 = 968

| dir1 = NE

| location1 = Perth

| dist2 = 373

| dir2 = N

| location2 = Kalgoorlie, Western Australia

| lga = Shire of Leonora

| region =

| county =

| stategov = Kalgoorlie

| fedgov = O'Connor

| url =

| maxtemp = 27.9

| maxtemp_footnotes =

| mintemp = 14.6

| mintemp_footnotes =

| rainfall = 292.5

| rainfall_footnotes =

| near-n =

| near-ne =

| near-e =

| near-se =

| near-s =

| near-sw =

| near-w =

| near-nw =

| near =

| footnotes =

}}

Leinster is a town in the northern Goldfields area of Western Australia. It is {{convert|4|km|abbr=on}} east of the Goldfields Highway in the Shire of Leonora, and {{convert|968|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} northeast of the state capital, Perth.{{Census 2006 AUS|id=UCL515800| (Urban Centre/Locality) |accessdate=17 July 2011|quick=on}}

The town was established in 1976 by Agnew Mining, initially as a dormitory town for miners working in the nearby Perseverance and Rockys Reward nickel mines, now the Leinster Nickel Mine, and Agnew gold mines, now the Agnew Gold Mine. It was named for the nearby Leinster Downs station. Facilities at Leinster include a supermarket, service station, community school, day care centre, medical centre and tavern. Sporting facilities include an indoor sports centre, a {{convert|50|m|adj=on|abbr=on}} Olympic sized pool and a baby pool, squash courts, BMX track, football and cricket oval, and an 18-hole golf course. The school is an independent public school for students up to year 12.{{cite web

|url = http://www.leonora.wa.gov.au/about_us/leinster_township.html

|title = Leinster Township

|publisher = Shire of Leonora

|access-date = 15 June 2007

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070502094856/http://www.leonora.wa.gov.au/about_us/leinster_township.html

|archive-date = 2 May 2007

|df = dmy-all

}}

The Leinster Nickel Operation is part of the BHP's Nickel West business group. As at 2006, the operation employed 992 workers and produced {{convert|40,000|–|45,000|t|e6lbs|abbr=on}} of nickel in concentrate per year.{{cite web |url=http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bb/ourBusinesses/stainlessSteelMaterials/nickelWest.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060211200652/http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bb/ourBusinesses/stainlessSteelMaterials/nickelWest.jsp |archive-date=2006-02-11 |title=Nickel West |publisher=BHP Billiton |access-date=2021-09-20 }}[http://www.mindat.org/loc-122759.html Perseverance Mine, Leinster, Leonora Shire, Western Australia] on Mindat.org Leinster Airport was built adjacent to the mine.

Apart from the nickel operations, gold was mined {{convert|41|km|abbr=on}} south-east of Leinster, at the Thunderbox Gold Mine, from 2002 to 2007 and again since 2016.