In recognition of the centenary of Henry Yorke Lyell Brown's appointment as the first Government Geologist for South Australia, and the foundation of the Department of Mines and Energy, aspects of South Australia's colourful and vital mining and mineral processing history are presented in this volume through an assembly, with complementary text, of nearly 400 archival photographs, many of which have not been published previously. The local mining industry has had a profound influence on the economic development of South Australia: on immigration, notably from Cornwall and Wales; on infrastructure, through growth of the City of Adelaide and of the towns serving the mining communities; in improved communications, ports and railways; in provision of capital for investment in other enterprises, as at Broken Hill; for the promotion of education, notably the University of Adelaide; and in development of social character. This book comprises 25 chapters based on a diversity of metals and minerals including copper, gold, uranium and opal, non-metallic and industrial minerals, and building materials, including dimension stone, slate, aggregate, clay and shale. Its scope embraces the small as well as large mining ventures of the State, from early silver and lead discoveries, through copper and gold, to Cooper Basin petroleum development and the exploration of the Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium deposit on Roxby Downs Station.