Moonta is a town on the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia, 165 km (103 mi) north-northwest of the state capital of Adelaide.

[3] At the 2011 census, the Moonta township and the adjacent suburbs of Cross Roads and Yelta had a combined population of 681.

[14][13][15] The Yorke Peninsula coastline near Wallaroo was separately navigated by Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin in 1802.

[citation needed] Under instructions from Governor Gawler, the pair were landed about 15 kilometres south of Point Riley, near Moonta Bay, on 28 April 1840 from the government cutter Water Witch.

[18][better source needed] They then made their way back to Adelaide on horseback, traversing Northern Yorke Peninsula.

[20] Based on that report a few pioneering British settlers arrived in the Moonta area in the 1840s, as pastoralists, but there was no significant development until the 1860s, primarily because of the lack of water.

[citation needed] The scrub in the area was difficult to penetrate (as testified by the town's name) so the first settlers had a hard time clearing the land.

[citation needed] Large and rich deposits of copper were discovered at Moonta in 1861 by Patrick Ryan, a shepherd from Walter Hughes' property.

[25] Following advertising by the South Australian Government, Cornish miners arrived in Moonta in large numbers.

Moonta's surrounds are used for growing barley, wheat and other crops such as legumes, canola, chickpeas and field peas.

Tourism is a significant local industry, focusing on the availability of beach-side accommodation, including several caravan parks, holiday houses, bed and breakfast and a motel.

The nearby locations of Moonta Bay, Port Hughes and Simms Cove are on the foreshore and are rapidly developing.