For more than 40,000 years before white settlement, Indigenous Australians mined the land for ochre and stone. Their stone implements were used to gather and process food, while ochre was a vital ingredient in their art and ceremonial practices. Quarries and ‘processing’ sites were developed to cater for the demand for these products and transport routes allowed their trade. Mines were mostly open cut, although at Koonalda Cave in South Australia, flint mining extended to 75 metres below the surface and up to 300 metres inside the cave. There are over 400 such mine sites recorded in eastern Australia alone.

Australian coal mining commences in 1804 at Newcastle, New South Wales, and copper mining at Glen Osmond, South Australia in 1841. But it is the discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria in 1851 which really establishes the importance of an Australian mining industry. These early gold rushes bring thousands of migrants from all over the world resulting in a vibrant, multicultural mix. Polish, German, English, French, Dutch, Swiss, Spanish, Chinese and Indian diggers are all present – even Afro-Americans.

During the 1850s, Australia produces almost 40 per cent of the world’s gold output. Migration, infrastructure and the realisation of the mineral potential of the young country, all profoundly influence the development of Australia from the 1850s onwards. As industries are established to supply the machinery and transport facilities needed by the mines, service industries expand to cater for increasing population and growing commercial activities. Many Australian towns in existence today owe their foundation to mines founded before the mid-20th century.

For the new settlers, this period was in every sense a ‘golden age’. For the first Australians, it was a different story. Edward Wilson, owner and editor of The Argus newspaper in 1856, wrote critically of government neglect of Indigenous people in Victoria: “The government has sold Aboriginal land worth £4,500,000; gold to the value of £35,000,000 has been taken from that land and millions more has been made from the sale of beef, mutton and wool.” Outraged, Wilson calls for compensation, but it will be another 100 years before Indigenous people receive any statutory royalties from mining on their lands.

As white pastoral workers rush to the gold fields, displaced Indigenous people quickly seek work as maids, cooks, jillaroos and jackeroos on sheep and cattle stations. Despite the meager rations and pay, it allows many extended families to remain loosely intact close to their traditional lands. Not until the Wave Hill strikes in 1966 will Indigenous station workers be given equal pay for equal work.

During the gold rushes, by far the biggest migrant group to arrive on the goldfields are the Chinese. Between 1853 and 1858, the Chinese population of Australia swells to around 40,000 representing 3.3 per cent of the total population. Unlike the majority of the miners, who, regardless of their country of origin, adopt the uniform dress and manner of a gold digger, the Chinese stand out by retaining their identity and customs and are widely discriminated against.

Racial tensions aside, for many on the gold fields, the mining experience is the ultimate leveller—at least in terms of class. “This very large society comprises men from all parts of the world, all countries and religions, varying dispositions and education … all mixed into one society, all dressed similarly, all forced to forget their previous habits, learnings, customs, manners and occupations...Here we all are joined by a common designation— digger. Only various shades of skin colour and speech denote nationality and origin, but it is impossible to guess previous station in life or background," writes Polish miner Seweryn Korzelinski.

The Eureka Stockade - Australia's only armed uprising - is a crucial event in establishing the country’s new democracy. It stems from a build-up of grievances on the Victorian gold fields relating to the licensing of mining permits and lack of political representation, and results in one of the greatest victories for equity and fairness in Australia’s post-settlement history. The Eureka Stockade is now viewed as the birthplace of Australia's political system: freedom of speech, the right to vote and political equality are the hallmarks of the historic uprising.

In 1861, an angry mob of 3,000 European miners violently attack the Chinese diggers’ settlement at Lambing Flat (now known as Young) in NSW. The riots lead to the Chinese Immigration Act 1861 which severely limits the flow of Chinese into the colony.Twenty years later, racism and fear of cheap Chinese labour again leads to the passing of the Influx of Chinese Restriction Act 1881. In 1901, the new Federal Parliament then passes the Immigration Restriction Act, now known as the infamous White Australia Policy. The policy is gradually dismantled after World War II, allowing for large, multi-ethnic, post-war immigration.

As surface gold deposits run out, the discovery of primary gold lodes necessitate deep shafts, machinery and treatment plants—all which require capital. Companies employing dozens, even hundreds of men, replace the individual miner. Towns are established and, as confidence in the long life of the mines increases, tents and shanties give way to more permanent private and commercial buildings. As the mines wind down, many such towns survive because they have become centres for the surrounding agricultural and pastoral industries, or are well situated on important transport routes.

From the 1860s to the 1920s, around 20,000 camels and around 2,000 cameleers are shipped to Australia from Afghanistan and Pakistan. More efficient than bullock or horse teamsters, the cameleers are in great demand. They help construct the Overland Telegraph Line and inland railways, take part in exploration expeditions, and supply mining towns and pastoral stations. Many cameleers return home as their work contracts end, but others stay in Australia establishing communities in outback towns from Bourke to Broome, and from Cloncurry to Coolgardie. When motor transport reaches the outback during the 1920s, the era of the cameleers ends.

“Marvellous Melbourne” is the term coined in the 1880s to reflect how the city grew into a thriving cultural, commercial and financial centre during the Victorian gold rush years. By 1890, Melbourne’s population hit 500,000 making it the second largest city in the empire after London. Melbourne’s new suburbs are serviced by some of the largest and most modern networks of trains and trams in the world. In the 1880s the long boom also culminates in a frenzy of speculation and rapid inflation of land prices known as the Land Boom.

In 1883, Charles Rasp discovers the massive silver-lead-zinc ore body at Broken Hill in western NSW. By 1885, what will soon become Australia's largest mining company, BHP is incorporated as the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited. Professor Geoffrey Blainey, writes in the book Minerals of Broken Hill that it is BHP that turns Australia from an agricultural to an industrial nation. In the glory days the Line of Lode is worked by 10 companies and more than 8,000 miners. As of 2012, it is still being mined successfully by Perilya Limited.

In 1891 a spectacular crash in the eastern states brings the mining boom to an abrupt end. Banks and other businesses fail in large numbers, thousands of shareholders lose their money and tens of thousands of workers are put out of work. Unemployment in the 1890s is estimated to have grown to around 20 per cent. Population levels freeze, immigration dries up and swagmen are seen roaming the countryside in search of work. In 1892, news of gold discoveries in Western Australia sees a rush of workers across the country from the eastern states— the rush from the east gives rise to the term ‘T’othersiders’.

Between 1891-1895, gold discoveries at several locations in Western Australia give rise to an influx of thousands of workers from the depressed eastern states of Australia and overseas. From a population of 46,000 in 1890, the new state of Western Australia records a population of 180,000 in the first census of 1901.The discovery of deep gold reefs in 1897 at nearby Kalgoolie-Boulder sees literally hundreds of companies floated. As the age of the independent digger draws to a close, an era of highly capitalised, modern gold mining begins. Today, the area known as "The Golden Mile" is home to the “Super Pit”, Australia’s largest open cut gold mine.

Four great strikes shake Australia during this period: the 1890 maritime strike, the 1891 and 1894 shearers' strikes, and the 1892 Broken Hill miners' strike. During the 1892 Broken Hill Miners’ strike, the women of Broken Hill weigh in, and form a Women's Brigade. From July to November 1892, both local miners and the Women’s Brigade are active in defending the mines from imported labour using organised direct action methods. Reports tell of a 400-strong party of women who, armed with washing sticks, brooms and mops, attacked non-unionists and left tents raided and torn in their wake.

In 1915, the BHP Steelworks opens in Newcastle NSW, diversifying BHP’s interests beyond its mining operations at Broken Hill. The new steelworks is kick-started by federal and state government contracts to supply rails for the expansion of the national railway network. During World War I, the steelworks is hugely profitable producing steel for ships, ammunition and guns. In 1932, when many industries are doing it hard due to the Great Depression, the BHP Steelworks is still thriving due to its production of steel for the Sydney Harbour Bridge. By 1939, the steelworks is the largest integrated plant in the British Empire.

Australia suffers badly during the Great Depression. The maritime, timber and coal mining industries are particularly hard hit. The bitterest industrial dispute occurs in 1929 when 10,000 miners are locked out of their Hunter Valley coal mines over a 12.5 per cent pay cut and the slashing of previously hard won industrial rights. The lock-out lasts 15 months and erupts in a day of violence known as The Rothbury Riot, with police firing on civilians, killing one and wounding many more. By 1932, 28 per cent of the nation is unemployed and more than 60,000 people are dependent on sustenance payments - known as the susso, merely to survive.

In 1938, prior to World War II, suspected Japanese Imperial interests in Australian mining lead to a ban on all iron ore exports to the country. However, a crude form of iron ore known as ‘pig iron’ is still exported. The issue comes to a head when waterside workers at Port Kembla refuse to load a shipment due to concerns it could be used by Japan to make weapons for its invasion of China. Not wanting the unions to dictate foreign policy, the Attorney-General Robert Menzies, legally forces the workers to load the coal. From then on Menzies would be known as ‘Pig Iron Bob’.

In 1949, an Australia wide coal strike erupts when 23,000 coal miners walk off the job for seven weeks demanding a 35-hour working week and improved conditions. Fearing severe coal shortages, the Chifley Labor government orders armed services troops to take over the mining operations. While Chifley seeks to demonstrate his government’s anti-communist resolve, the move contributes to the defeat of his government at the next federal election in December 1949. This is the first time Australian military forces have been used during peacetime to break a trade union strike. The strategy sets a precedent for federal government intervention in future strikes.

Post-World War II optimism in the “Atomic Age” sees the British and United States governments forging ahead with nuclear weapons and energy programs. In support, the Australia government is asked to explore the countryside in search of uranium ore for fuel. In 1948, tax-free rewards are offered as incentives. In years to come, over 60 deposits are identified and Australia is found to contain 23 per cent of the world’s total uranium reserves. The country’s vast reserves become a source of pride, clinching the emerging nation’s status as a place of importance in the post-war world.

In 1952, the Robert Menzies’ Liberal government passes legislation that allows the British government to undertake atmospheric nuclear tests in remote areas of Australia. The tests are mainly conducted between 1955 and 1963 at Maralinga in South Australia. Secrecy surrounding the program and the remoteness of the test sites means that public awareness of the radioactive health risks involved grows very slowly. Around this time, three uranium mines become operational in Australia: Radium Hill in South Australia, Mary Kathleen in Queensland and Rum Jungle in the Northern Territory.

In 1952, Lang Hancock discovers the world's largest deposit of iron ore in the Pilbara region of West Australia. It will take millions of dollars to exploit the find as towns, railways, ports and mines all need to be constructed. In 1959, the Australian government’s ban on iron ore exports is lifted paving the way for a deal with international mining giant Rio Tinto Group. The foundations are laid for a period of tremendous growth, both in iron ore exports to Japan and increased foreign investment in Australian mines.

In 1963, the Yolngu people of Yirrkala in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory are angered that Nabalco mining leases have been taken out over considerable tracts of their traditional lands. A petition framed by painted bark is sent to the Commonwealth Government demanding their rights be recognised.

When politicians refuse to recognise these rights, the Yolngu take their grievances to the Supreme Court. In 1971 a ruling is made against the Yolgnu people using the notion of terra nullius (land belonging to no one). The failure of the law to find a just answer for the Yolgnu inspires a national land rights debate.

During the seventies the ‘Ban the Bomb’ and the ‘No-Nukes’ movements gather momentum. French nuclear tests in the Pacific and news of poor radioactive waste management at Australian uranium mines serve to rapidly turn public opinion against the nuclear industries. In 1976-77, the anti-nuclear movement attracts up to 50,000 marchers at public rallies in the major Australian cities. Against the backdrop of the 1985 McClelland Royal Commission, which reveals the full health, legal and political implications of the 1950s Maralinga tests, radioactive fallout and radioactive waste are hot political issues. Today, the anti-nuclear movement continues to be active in Australia.

A commodity price slump in 1986 prompts Treasurer Paul Keating of the Australian Labor Party to declare the danger of the nation becoming a ‘banana republic.’ The government is desperate to make Australia competitive, outward-looking and phobia free with the confidence to operate in the globalised economy. Building more trade links with Asia becomes the priority. A host of reforms including floating the Australian dollar, tariff cuts and tax reforms lay the foundations for the economic prosperity enjoyed by Australia in the decades to come. They also sow the seeds for a trade relationship with China that will fuel the next mining boom.

Olympic Dam mine, otherwise known as Roxby Downs, is established by Western Mining Corporation in 1975 near Roxby Downs Sheep Station, 560km north of Adelaide, South Australia. It begins production in 1988, as a copper, gold and uranium mine. Today the mine, which houses the world’s largest uranium ore body, belongs to BHP Billiton. The timing of an estimated $30 billion expansion of the mine, planned to vastly increase the mine’s output, is expected to be decided upon by the BHP Board by the end of 2012. The Government and the Opposition have voted in Parliament to allow the expansion to go ahead.

In the mid-1980s, a change occurrs for new mines in remote regions of Australia. Many companies adopt a fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) arrangement to service mining operations rather than construct new mining towns. As a result, no new mining towns have been constructed in Australia since the township of Roxby Downs was completed in the late-1980s to service the Olympic Dam mine. More recently, FIFO arrangements have been criticised in the media for stifling regional development, reducing worker’s socialisation and placing a strain on family relationships.

In 1983, Perth real estate tycoon Alan Bond decides his next big business venture will be to create a gold mining ‘Super Pit’. Over the next four years, he begins buying up individual mining leases in the so-called ‘Golden Mile’ region of Western Australia. In 1987, the stock market crashes and along with a number of high-flying Perth businessmen; Bond is financially ruined. A prison term for fraud follows and Bond’s dream for a ‘Super Pit’ is dashed. In 1989, the leases are amalgamated into Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) and the ‘Super Pit’ is born. Today it is the largest open pit gold mine in Australia.

Despite being opposed to uranium mining in the 1970s, the Australian Labor Party introduces a “three-mine policy” in 1984 restricting uranium mining to the three existing mines: Ranger and Nabarlek in the Northern Territory and Olympic Dam in South Australia. As Nabarlek ceases production in 1988, the Beverley uranium mine in South Australia becomes the third mine. In 1996, Prime Minister John Howard, as leader of the Liberal-National coalition party, promptly abandons Labor’s three mine policy. The development of the controversial Jabiluka uranium deposits in the Northern Territory forge ahead. In 2001, the Howard government approves what will become Australia’s fourth uranium mine, Honeymoon in South Australia. Jabiluka is shut down due to falling uranium prices and a nationwide protest in early 2002 and Honeymoon mine becomes operational in 2010.

The 1990s see the Australian mining industry grow beyond being a large national sector into a world player. The industry diversifies and integrates internationally through its exploration, mining and processing activities, and with the supply of information technology, engineering, construction and other services. From the mid-to late-1990s, respondents spend over 40 per cent of their total exploration budgets overseas. However significant overseas investment also flows back into Australia for the exploration, development and expansion of new mining and processing facilities.

In 1982, four Meriam men led by Eddie Mabo from the Murray Islands in Queensland’s Torres Strait mount a High Court legal challenge to the principle of terra nullius. They claim continued enjoyment of their land rights and that these have not been extinguished by sovereignty. It takes 10 years for the landmark decision to be delivered by the High Court in 1992 determining that Native Title land is not extinguished by British occupation, overturning the assumption of terra nullius (that the land belonged to nobody). The judges extend the principles to mainland Indigenous people, and pave the way for the Native Title Act 1993.

In 1996, the Wik peoples of Cape York Peninsular receive a High Court ruling that Queensland pastoral leases do not extinguish native title. Over the next two years, the National Farmers Federation and the mining lobby release a series of print and broadcast advertisements highlighting the threats of Native Title to family farms and suburban backyards. In 1998, the newly elected Liberal-National Coalition Prime Minister John Howard introduces the Native Title Amendment Act 1998, commonly known as the "10 Point Plan". The amendment places restrictions on Native Title claims in favor of the states and territories— and particularly the pastoralists, farmers and miners.

In 1998, thousands come from around Australia and across the world in support of the Mirarr people and blockade the proposed Jabiluka uranium mine in the Northern Territory. By the early 2000s, the protest, along with falling uranium prices means work at Jabiluka is halted. In 2002 the mine closes and in 2003 rehabilitation works commence on the Jabiluka site and 50,000 tonnes of material are returned to the mine. Today, Energy Resources Australia, majority owned by Rio Tinto, still plan to mine the site but cannot do so without the consent of the Mirarr traditional owners. The Mirrar people currently prefer to forego billions of dollars in potential mining royalties in favour of Jabiluka becoming part of the surrounding World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park.

The Australian Labor Party officially abandons its “No New Mines” policy in 2007 under the new leadership of Kevin Rudd allowing for further development of uranium mines. Approval for Australia’s fifth uranium mine is ironically granted in 2009 by ex-anti-nuclear campaigner turned Labor politician, Peter Garrett in his role as the Australian Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. As of 2012, there are four operational uranium mines in Australia: Olympic Dam, Beverley and Honeymoon mines in South Australia and Ranger in the Northern Territory. As of 2012, Australia’s fifth mine, Four Mile in South Australia, is under construction.

In recent decades, improvements in mining techniques (including large scale mining equipment, automation and robotic machinery) have reduced mining costs and allowed economic extraction of deposits which were previously uneconomic. Within a decade, automated mines are expected to have only skeletal on-site workforces. Semi-skilled functions such as truck driving and train driving are increasingly being conducted from remote operation centres in capital cities.

“Australia continues to rank as one of the world's leading mining nations, with substantial identified resources of major minerals and fuel close to the surface. Australia was the largest producer of iron ore, bauxite and the mineral sands, rutile and zircon in 2009. It was also a top 10 producer of a wide range of other minerals including coal, copper, gold and uranium. In 2010–11 the value of exports from the mining industry more than doubled to $136 billion.” The urbanisation and industrialisation of China and India are particularly important in fuelling the current mining boom.

In the past, available technology meant that mining and exploration was limited largely to near-to-the-surface deposits. But now Geoscience Australia is looking far beneath the surface at the geological architecture of the Earth's crust deep below some of Australia's most significant mineral provinces and in areas which geologists believe hold the potential for major mineral deposits. This approach, using techniques such as deep seismic, gravity and airborne electromagnetic surveys, is expected to significantly increase the opportunities for new mineral discoveries deep beneath Australia's land surface.

The Australian mining industry is expected to need at least 155,000 construction, mine and gas operation workers in the coming years to 2015. In May 2012, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced the nation's first enterprise migration agreement (EMA) with Gina Rinehart's $9.5 billion Roy Hill iron ore project in Western Australia's Pilbara region. About a dozen resource projects of $2 billion or more are expected to be eligible to use the program. Union leaders lashed out at the federal government's skilled migration plan causing Prime Minister Julia Gillard to make assurances that no foreign worker will take an Australian’s job in the mining sector.

Legislation that imposes a 30 per cent tax on the extraordinary profits of coal and iron ore miners passes the Senate in March 2012. As of July 1st 2012, the Gillard government’s controversial mining tax, which aims to spread the spoils of the mining boom across Australia’s economy, took effect. Labor’s initial proposal in 2010, to tax mining companies’ super profits at 40 per cent, attracted industry-wide opposition, and reportedly contributed to the downfall of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Prime Minister Julia Gillard later negotiated a modified tax rate with BHP, Rio and Xstrata (all have significant foreign ownership: 76, 83 and 100 per cent respectively). Recent developments have seen the Queensland government join a legal challenge by Fortescue Metals Group to challenge the mining tax in the High Court.