* In 1871 workers digging postholes while building the Overland Telegraph discovered alluvial gold near Yam Creek.
* By 1872 miners were prospecting along Pine Creek and, in spite of warnings about the harsh conditions and advice that it "would be foolish for people to come running here", miners rushed to the district. Deposits of alluvial gold were discovered at Pine Creek either by the overlander D'Arcy Wentworth Uhr or by G. G. McLachlan.
* The Eleanor Gold Reef was opened in late 1872 and the following year the Union Gold Reef established the area as a major goldfield.
* In 1873 both the Pine Creek Repeater Station and the Police Camp were built.
* By 1874 the Royal Mail Hotel, the town's first, had opened.
* By 1875 a second hotel, The Standard, was competing for trade.
* The easily accessible surface gold soon ran out. Miners left the area but miners, brought in as 'coolie labour' with the South Australian government paying 20 per person, came from Singapore and Malaysia. They were followed by Chinese from Hong Kong.
* By the mid-1880s there were over 2,000 Chinese living in Pine Creek.