Kapunda Mine was the first successful metal mine in Australia and, together with Burra, contributed to the Colony's recovery from economic crisis in the early 1840s; it has also made a major contribution to South Australia's Cornish heritage. The deposit was worked periodically until 1912 by miners who gouged small parcels of ore above the water-table. Total production from the mine during the period 1844-1912 amounted to 12800 tons of copper from 64 000 tons of dressed ore averaging 20% copper, plus 1 200 tons of copper from the leaching process