MOONTA: The mining area

Copper was discovered at Moonta in 1861. Mining commenced soon after and the township of Moonta was established in 1863. The three Yorke Peninsula towns of Moonta, Kadina and Wallaroo were to become known as the 'Copper Triangle' for the richness of the mines there. By 1875 the area's population had reached 12,000, the largest settlement outside of Adelaide.

In its first year of operation the mine at Moonta produced almost 5,000 tons of copper ore. BY 1876 Moonta had become the first mining company in Australia to pay 1 million in dividends. Moonta Mine was closed in 1923 after a drop in copper prices in the wake of the First World War.

Austin, John Baptist The mines of South Australia; including also an account of the smelting works in that colony, together with a brief description of the country and incidents of travel in the bush Adelaide: C. Platts, E. S. Wigg, G. Dehane, J.Howell, W. C. Rigby, G. Mullett, 1863.

Brown, Henry The copper industry of South Australia: an economic study Adelaide: H. Brown, 1960.

Drew, GJ. Discovering historic Moonta, South Australia, [Adelaide] : Dept. of Mines and Energy and the District Council of Northern Yorke Peninsula, 1991

Drexel, JF Mining in South Australia: a pictorial history Adelaide: South Australian Dept. of Mines & Energy, 1982.

Dutton, Francis Stacker South Australia and its mines, with an historical sketch of the colony, under its several administrations, to the period of Captain Grey's departure. Hampstead Gardens, Austaprint, 1978.

Faull, Jim. Cornish heritage: a miner's story Highbury, JF Faull, 1980.

Gee, Lionel. Record of the mines of South Australia Adelaide: Public Library of South Australia for the South Australian Department of Mines, 1966.

Hosking, Rex. Notes on early mining in South Australia Burnside, Burnside Primary School, 1986.

Johnson, JE Minerals of South Australia Adelaide, South Australian Museum, 1978.

Johns, RK Cornish mining heritage Adelaide: Dept. of Mines & Energy, South Australia, 1986.

Selby, Jonathon. South Australia's mining heritage Adelaide: Department of Mines and Energy, 1987.

The Wallaroo and Moonta mines: their history, nature and methods, together with an account of the concentrating and smelting operations. Wallaroo, Wallaroo and Moonta Mining and Smelting Company?, 1914.

The Wallaroo and Moonta mines: their history, nature and methods, together with an account of the concentrating and smelting operations. Adelaide: Gillingham Printers, 1980.