The Burra Burra Mine site was first mined by the Burra Burra Copper Company, which was formed in 1860 but went out of business soon after the Civil War. In 1899, Tennessee Copper Company acquired the site and began work on sinking a new shaft at the site of the headframe in the photograph. From then on, the mine operated continuously until Tennessee Copper Company closed it in June 1958. From 1899 through 1975, the Burra Burra site also served as the surface headquarters for all the mining operations of Tennessee Copper Company and its successors.