It was originally established by Welsh miners in the late 19th century and Herbert Hoover, the later President of the United States, served as the mine manager in its early days from May to November 1898.

[6] Gwalia is a medieval Latin name for Wales which became popular in Welsh-language poetry in the nineteenth century.

In search for additional capital, Hall began negotiations with a London firm, Bewick Moreing, who sent Herbert Hoover, a 23-year-old mining engineer, to the site.

In 1999, having concluded mining the Gwalia open pit, it started to develop an underground operation, passing through old workings by 2001.

[13] After a rapid rise of the company, unauthorised gold and foreign exchange trading activities by chief financial officer Eardley Ross-Adjie in the year to June 2000, ended up costing Sons of Gwalia more than A$190 million.

[10] Sons of Gwalia went into administration on 30 August 2004, following a financial collapse, with debts exceeding $800 million after suffering from falling gold reserves and hedging losses.

[14] Sons of Gwalia was Australia's third-largest gold producer and also controlled more than half the world's production of tantalum.

[8][19][20] St Barbara purchased the mine from insolvent Sons of Gwalia in March 2005 with a three-year plan to reopen it.