Adelaide investors cash in on West's gold and Broken Hill's ore plus Port Pirie smelters

Adelaide Stock Exchange gained its own purpose-built premises in Exchange Place in 1901 – amid an economic downturn to the state yet a time when some investors were enjoying good returns. South Australia's longest mining based boom lasted from the late 1890s until 1928 – but the source of the boom was beyond South Australia in New South Wales and Western Australia.

South Australians had built up a tradition of investing in mining such as at Kapunda, Burra, Moonta and Wallaroo during the 1840s.

This practice continued as the Adelaide Stock Exchange and its local investors enjoyed a mining boom when silver, lead and zinc deposits were discovered at Broken Hill in 1883. Broken Hill was considered “part of South Australia to all but map drawers and politicians”.

As a further benefit, from 1888, Broken Hill’s ore was transported by South Australia railways to be smelted at a new Port Pirie plant.

Ten years later, gold was discovered at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in 1893 and George Brookman was one of the biggest beneficiaries among Adelaide investors.With investment in the interstate mines firmly based in Adelaide, large dividend income rolled in.

City workers sorely affected by the 1890s recession saw few benefits as no new homes were being built for them. But new dwellings for the wealthy went up in North Adelaide and in the southeast corner of the city. Examples of large North Adelaide dwellings built between the mid 1880s and the late 1890sinclude 118 Buxton Street; in Brougham Court, 102 Hill Street, 88-94 and 189 Jeffcott Street; 88 and 114 Mills Terrace and 137 Strangways Terrace. Commercialproperties such as the former Sands and McDougall warehouse in Light Square were also built in this period.