Burra owed its existence to copper. This was Australia’s first mining boom (before gold) and
probably saved the new colony of South Australia from bankruptcy. Originally, mining here was
underground, with the manpower, expertise, and machinery coming from Cornwall. There are Cornish
street names, Cornish-style mine buildings, and now Cornish pasties on the menu in local cafés.
Open-cut mining was tried in the 1870s when the underground workings became unprofitable. Then
when that finished, everything went quiet for a very long time. People went back to farming or
looked for gold in the other Australian colonies. In the 1960s the “new” open cut in this picture
got the rest of the economically available copper ore. Burra’s not quiet now. Tourism helps.