This publication highlights how the availability of minerals is crucial to providing the basic requisites of life, or else, to fundamentally contributing for the manufacture of vital requisites such as food, clothing, heat, light and shelter, in order for human communities to exist. As the countries of the world develop, their needs for minerals are ever-increasing, and world history reflects how the discovery and possession of minerals, the adoption of mineral-based new technologies, and the ability to trade effectively in minerals has influenced the relative progress of nations through time, based on the perceived value of particular minerals. The land usage and environmental change ramifications of mining for minerals are also considered, with careful emphasis on ways of maximising any consequential benefits to the community. The handbook is copiously illustrated with photographs and diagrams that are intended to convey the scope and dynamism of our past and current mineral-proud society that has grown up over 150 years in South Australia.