Peak Downs is a coal-mine site and former mining town 160 km south-west of Mackay and midway between Moranbah and Dysart.
The Peak Range, named by the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt in 1845, is 60 km south of the Peak Downs coal mine. The pioneering Peak Downs pastoral run (1854) was named after the range. (Peak Downs, in turn, was the name of the shire immediately to the south-west, centred on Capella.)
Peak Downs is one of several open-cut mines south of Moranbah, connected by rail to the line from Mackay to Moranbah. In 1971-72 a temporary rail-construction town was established at Peak Downs; its Isaac River Camp primary school was open during those years. The line was extended south in stages to the Saraji (1974), Norwich Park (1979) and Gregory (1982) mines.
The Peak Downs mine has an annual production capacity of eight million tonnes of coking coal, which is transported to the Hay Point Terminal south of Mackay. The mine is owned by BHP Billiton (80%) and Mitsubishi (20%). Mine employees live in Moranbah and Dysart.
Peak Downs/Isaac Creek camp had a census population of 574 in 1971.
