Although South Australia mostly missed out on the financial benefits of the large-scale rushes of Victoria and New South Wales it did have a significant, albeit small, gold rush in the Onkaparinga Valley during the 1850s.
While the number of miners to this goldfield was relatively small by the standards of the Victorian rushes, the Onkaparinga field briefly provided the possibility of a rich South Australian rush, and gold fever led many to chance their luck in the colony. However the gold returns to companies such as South Australian Gold Company and Onkaparinga Gold Company were minimal and many speculators lost their money.