Moonta

History

The Moonta area is part of the traditional lands of the indigenous Narungga people. The Yorke Peninsula coastline near Wallaroo was separately navigated by Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin in 1802. The next Europeans to explore the district were John Hill and Thomas Burr. Under instructions from Governor Gawler, the pair were landed about 15 kilometres south of Point Riley, near Moonta Bay, on 28 April 1840 from the government cutter Water Witch. They then made their way back to Adelaide on horseback, traversing Northern Yorke Peninsula. They reported the discovery of 'a very excellent tract of country'. Based on that report a few pioneering British settlers arrived in the Moonta area in the 1840s, as pastoralists, but there was no significant development until the 1860s, primarily because of the lack of water. The scrub in the area was difficult to penetrate (as testified by the town's name) so the first settlers had a hard time clearing the land. Large and rich deposits of copper were discovered at Moonta in 1861 by Patrick Ryan, a shepherd from Walter Hughes' property. This became a prosperous mine, named Wheal Hughes, with other mines soon to follow. The government town of Moonta was surveyed in March 1863, while an informal township of mining workers also grew at Moonta Mines. A horse tramway from Moonta to the port at Wallaroo opened in July 1866. Following advertising by the South Australian Government, Cornish miners arrived in Moonta in large numbers. The government town of Moonta incorporated as the Corporate Town of Moonta in 1872. The mines at Moonta proved to be the richest mines in the whole of South Australia by 1917, exceeding the total wealth created by all other mines since 1836, the year of establishment of South Australia. The population of…

Geography

Moonta exists in a semi-arid location, above Goyder's Line. Moonta is surrounded by mallee scrub. The centre is located four kilometres inland and is 20 metres above sea level. Moonta has a dry Mediterranean climate with seasonal temperatures about the same as Adelaide's temperatures. The temperature ranges are similar to those of Kadina and the weather patterns are similar to those of both Kadina and Adelaide.

Most-observed species

• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  446
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  432
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  391
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  390
• Spotted dove

  Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  384
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  380
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  348
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  314

Most recent

• M 3.9 — 2018-07-01
  15 km WNW of Cowell, Australia
• M 4.7 — 2010-06-05
  23 km NW of Cowell, Australia
• M 3.4 — 2006-07-17
  55 km S of Cowell, Australia
• M 2.9 — 2003-05-02
  26 km ENE of Kadina, Australia