Moonta Mines Wesley Methodist Church

Moonta Mines Sweet Shop

Moonta Railway Station

Kernewek Lowender parade

Moonta Mines Reservoir

Moonta School of Mines

The towns of Moonta, Wallaroo and Kadina at the head of South Australia's Yorke Peninsula are the corner points of what is known as the Copper Triangle. The richest cooper mines in Australia lay within this small area. Moonta is today considered by some as 'Australia's Little Cornwall' as the first miners to the area were from Cornwall, a fact reinforced by their influence on the architecture of the town, and their cultural impact which is still celebrated with the bi-annual Kernewek Lowender Copper Coast Cornish Festival held in May.

Cornish miner's cottage, Moonta Mines

Where is it?: South Australia: Yorke Peninsula Moonta is 165 kilometres north-northwest of Adelaide.

Things to see and do:

Moonta Mines, 2 km away from the town, is the site of the town's legendary copper mines. Most of the old infrastructure remains, including mine shafts, enginehouses, waste dumps, railway tracks and Cornish miners' cottages.

Events: Kernewek Lowender Festival (bi-annual May)

Surrounding area:

Many relics from Kadina's copper mining days can be found on the outskirts of town. The port of Walleroo has an excellent maritime museum.

About Moonta

Pastoral activity in this region dates from the 1840s, but it was the discovery of copper-bearing rocks near a wombat hole here in 1861 by shepherd Paddy Ryan which led to the growth of the town. Ryan worked for Captain Walter Hughes of Wallaroo Station, and the deposit he stumbled upon was the second to be located on the property. It proved, when mining began in the following year, to be even richer than the Wallaroo mine, and contained some of the purest copper ore ever mined. Moonta is one of the three towns which make up the copper triangle at the top of the Yorke Peninsula.
Paddy Ryan's discovery of copper in a wombatís burrow on Walter Watson Hughes' pastoral lease in 1861 was the catalyst that saw the town of Moonta come to life. Hughes quickly established the Tipara Mining Company, which subsequently became the Moonta Mining Co., and thousands of miners and their families flocked to the area. This included a large Cornish contingent and their influence on the town has earned it the nickname of 'Australia's Little Cornwall'.
The Cornishmen employed century old mining techniques to extract copper ore from the mines with great success; 'The Moonta Company' was in fact the first mining company to shell out over a Million Pounds in dividends.

The town was surveyed and declared in 1863 and in 1866 a horse drawn tramway began operating between the mines at Moonta and the coast at Wallaroo Two of the town's early drinking establishments were the Moonta Hotel, which served its first customers in 1863 and the Royal Hotel, which was also built in the 1860s.
The Cornish, and Welsh, miners brought with them a strong Methodist tradition and the Moonta Mines Wesley Methodist Church (1865) is a reminder of the importance of religion to the mining community. The stone and brick All Saints Anglican Church was officially opened for worship in September 1874.
The National Miners Trust-owned cottage at Moonta is typical of those in which the Cornish miners lived. Featuring the local style of two rooms side by side topped by narrow itched roofs with central gutters, it was built in about 1870. It is surrounded by a traditional stick fence and contains period furnishings. By the late 19th century, Moonta was booming and could boast the second largest population in South Australia, only being surpassed in numbers by Adelaide.

Hughes Pump House (above) is today a ruin but from the time it was built in 1865 to the closure of the mine in 1923 it pumped water from the neighbouring mine shaft as well as the nearby Taylor's Shaft. Today, it forms part of the Moonta Mines State Heritage Area, which also includes Richman's Engine House (1869).
The main mines ceased operations in 1923. Today, Moonta's mining heritage can be seen in its mine ruins, remaining Cornish miner's cottages and numerous buildings associated with life in a mining community. Moonta, population approximately 3,500, is located 165km from Adelaide. It is now a popular holiday destination.

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