Moonta Mines Walking Trails
The Moonta Mines Walking Trails help you discover the history of this copper mining region via three marked trails.
Ryans Walk is a short walk of about 500 metres and takes about one hour. Hancocks Walk - from the miners cottage or sweet shop - is approximately 45 minutes return. Hughes Walk is a short loop around historic Hughes Engine House and takes about one hour.
Interpretive signs illustrate the geology of Moonta ore bodies and the mining methods used to work them. A trail brochure is available from the Moonta Tourist Office and the Moonta Mines Museum.
In 1861 a shepherd, Patrick Ryan, discovered traces of copper in earth burrowed out of a wombat hole. The discovery was made in a patch of dense scrub known by aboriginals as Moonta-Moontera. WW Hughes gained the mining lease over the discovery, and formed the Tipara Mining Association, later called the Moonta Mining Company.
Moonta Mining began operations in late 1861, causing a rush of miners from the Burra and Wallaroo mines. The discovery also created a rush for leases and numerous companies were formed. However, none of these proved as rich or successful as the Moonta Mine.
The mine was rich from the outset, with nearly 5,000 tons of ore produced in the first year of operation and a dividend of 10 pounds per share was paid on the 3,200 shares. As a result, no further capital was required to finance the mining operations.
By 1876 Moonta was the first mining company in Australia to pay one million pounds in dividends. At that time, employment reached a peak of nearly 1,700 men and boys, but depressed copper prices in the late 1870s brought widespread unemployment. Small-scale mining and prospecting continued until the late 1930s and some high-grade ore remnants were mined at shallow depths. Leaching of tailing dumps continued until 1943. Total production of the Moonta Mine from 1860 to 1923 was 170,000 tons of copper metal value at AUD10.7 million pounds.
It's a fascinating part of South Australia's mining history, and well worth a look.
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