Am oasis in the middle of a desert, Leinster is a private mining town of around 1,000 people, built to support the Agnew Nickel project. Built on a sand dune, local and native plants flourish with big stands of shady gum trees giving the town an oasis impression.

Residents refer to it as either the 'home of the wedge tail eagle' or 'the jewel of the northern goldfields'. Leinster supports a vibrant lifestyle and a population of 1400 people. The town consists of 283 houses, a caravan park, some 800 single persons quarters and motel services supporting a population of 700 residents and 700 'fly-in-fly-out' personnel. All accommodation has been designed to ensure that comfort is maintained. Air conditioning is a standard feature. Shopping facilities at Leinster include a comprehensive supermarket, beautician, post office, service station, newsagency, coffee shop, hairdressing salon and nursery.

The active sporting population is well catered for with an olympic-size swimming pool, health and fitness centre, two air conditioned squash courts, basketball, netball and tennis courts, a grassed oval and a magnificent air conditioned indoor sporting stadium. An 18-hole golf course and race course complete the picture.

Leinster Nickel Operation employs 992 workers and produces 40,000 - 45,000 tons of nickel in concentrate per year. Apart from the Nickel operations, gold was also mined 41 km south east of Leinster, at the Thunderbox Gold Mine, from 2002 to 2007.

The name was first recorded as the name of the Leinster Downs pastoral station on which the Agnew Nickel project was established. The station is in turn named after the Leinster gold find of the 1890s. Leinster is a province of Ireland, and is believed to be the origin of the name.

Brief history