Yarwun, Queensland

The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south-west (Byellee), passes to the north of the town, and then exits to the south-east (Aldoga).[4] The locality is served by three railway stations, one on the main railway line and two on branch lines servicing major industry sites:

• Yarwun railway station on the main railway line (23.8446°S 151.1131°E / -23.8446; 151.1131 (Yarwun railway station))[5]
• Fishermans Landing railway station on a branch line (23.7973°S 151.1549°E / -23.7973; 151.1549 (Fishermans Landing railway station))[5]
• Comalco railway station on a branch line (23.8344°S 151.1530°E / -23.8344; 151.1530 (Comalco railway station))[5]

The Gladstone–Mount Larcom Road runs through from east to south-west.[6]

Yarwun Provisional School opened on 5 June 1906. It became Yarwun State School on 1 January 1909.[7][8][9] The school was relocated to the centre of town in the late 1990s in a land swap with Queensland Rail as part of the straightening and duplication of the North Coast railway line.[10]

The Yarwun-Targinnie Co-operative Association was established in 1924 to market locally-grown fruit. The district was well known for its pawpaws. In 1963 the Co-op established a store at 60 Butler Street to provide goods needed for fruit production, such as timber cases. Later the store expanded to general goods for the community and postal services.[11]

In June 2003, the Yarwun railway station was relocated to the Calliope River Historical Village as its ticket office and kiosk.[12][13]

In March 2005, Rio Tinto Alcan opened an alumina refinery in Yarwun. Bauxite from Weipa is processed by the Bayer process into alumina. The refinery was expanded in 2012 including a 160 megawatt co-generation facility, which converts heat into electricity.[14]

In the 2011 census, Yarwun had a population of 239 people.[15]

In the 2016 census the locality of Yarwun had a population of 119 people.[1]

Yarwun has one heritage-listed site:

• 60 Butler Street: Yarwun-Targinnie Co-op store[11]

The alumina refinery is capable of producing 3.4 million tonnes of alumina each year and employs over 700 people.[14]

Orica operates an ammonium nitrate plant at Reid Road; it produces over 500,000 tonnes per year for use in the mining industry in Australia and overseas. It operates a raw material import facility at Fisherman's Landing, 5 km north of the Reid Road plant, from which the raw materials are delivered to the plant by underground pipeline.[16] Orica has 200 employees and 100 contractors working at Yarwun.[17]

Yarwun State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 35 Butler Street (23.8467°S 151.1260°E / -23.8467; 151.1260 (Yarwun State School)).[18][19] In 2013, the school had 52 students in 3 multi-age classes with 6 teachers (4 full-time equivalent).[20] In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 33 students with 4 teachers (3 full-time equivalent) and 5 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent).[21]

There is no secondary school in Yarwun. The nearest government secondary schools are Gladstone State High School (to Year 12) in West Gladstone to the south-east and Mount Larcom State School (to Year 10) in Mount Larcom to the west.[4]

• Blake, Thom; Queensland. Coordinator-General (2005), Targinnie : the history of a central Queensland rural community, Queensland Government, ISBN 978-0-9758444-0-3 — also covers Yarwun

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yarwun, Queensland.

• "Historic Cultural Heritage Investigation: Fisherman's Wharf Extensions" (PDF). Gladstone Ports Corporation. Retrieved 3 July 2014. — contains history of Yarwun in Section 2