Yelta is a rural locality at the northern end of the

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula is separated from Kangaroo Island to the south by Investigator Strai ...

and a satellite village to the town of Moonta, centred on the former Yelta Mine. It is located in the

Copper Coast Council The Copper Coast Council is a local government area in the Australian state of South Australia located at the northern end of the Yorke Peninsula. It was established in 1997 and its seat is in Kadina. Description The Copper Coast Council is l ...

. The modern locality was established when the name and boundaries were selected in January 1999.

Description

Land use within Yelta is divided between

cultural heritage conservation Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylo ...

and

primary production In ecology, primary production is the synthesis of organic compounds from atmospheric or aqueous carbon dioxide. It principally occurs through the process of photosynthesis, which uses light as its source of energy, but it also occurs through c ...

. The western half of the locality is part of a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

known as the

Moonta Mines State Heritage Area Moonta may refer to: Places *Moonta, South Australia, a locality in the Copper Coast Council including: **East Moonta, South Australia, East Moonta **Moonta Bay, South Australia, Moonta Bay **Moonta Cemetery **Moonta Mines, South Australia, Moont ...

where any use and associated built development must meet statutory planning objectives ensuring the promotion, conservation, enhancement and maintenance of the area's "historic character and cultural significance". The eastern half of the locality is zoned for “

agricultural production Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and the

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

of stock on relatively large holdings". The Yelta Smelter Ruins are listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

. The broader smelter and mine site had previously been listed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

History

The Yelta mine, located on the current boundary with North Yelta, was worked in three distinct periods: from 1864 to the mid-1870s, from 1903 to 1907 by Paramatta Copper Mines Ltd., and as a state enterprise from 1910 to 1913. The Yelta Mining Company was founded in 1864 following small-scale operations by Henry Richard Hancock, leading to the discovery of the main lode in 1868, and by the time of its first closure following a downturn in copper prices in 1877, it had produced 1,700 tonnes of copper. The French-owned Paramatta company was optimistic about the mine's prospects when it reopened it in 1903, although it had been dormant for thirty years, and upgraded the mine and smelting plant and connected the Yelta and Paramatta mines to the Balaklava-Moonta railway line. However, the mine closed again in 1907, which the

suggested may have stemmed from a downturn in copper prices that year. There continued to be high local hopes for the mine when it was controversially purchased by the

Verran Verran is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1901 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was divided between Steinkjer Municipality and Indre Fosen Municipality. It was part of the Innherred region ...

state Labor government in 1910; however, it was again unsuccessful, and closed permanently in 1913, with the machinery being sold off in 1915 and 1920. The total production of the mine over its lifetime is estimated at 4,300 tonnes of copper. The state government also conducted a secondary mining operation in the east of the Yelta leases from 1906 to 1916. It was later reworked by private parties as the Black Dog Mine from 1924 to 1929 and again as part of the Moonta Mining Scheme from 1929 to 1938. It produced a further 1,920 tonnes of copper.

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia