Migrants from Cornwall, England moved to SA to work in its copper mines in the 1800s when the state - then a colony - was known as the Copper Kingdom.

Generations of Cornish miners, engineers and tradespeople ended up working at copper mines in Burra and Moonta.

Those towns are considered to show exceptional evidence of Australia's Cornish mining heritage and an example of the transfer of Cornish culture to another country.

The Burra and Moonta mines were listed on the National Heritage List in 2017 and since that time the region has been pushing for an upgrade to World Heritage status.

The National Heritage listing says the Burra mine represented a milestone in Australia's history of mining.

"The Burra and Moonta mines represent the first transfer, in the 1840s, of Cornish mining technology to South Australia, which was also accompanied by the migration of miners and their families to the colony," the listing explains.

"This then led to even greater migration across Australia, New Zealand and a wider expansion of the international mining frontier."

World Heritage listing

In May, SA deputy premier Susan Close wrote to federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek to tell her the state government supported the regional Council of Goyder in its nomination of Burra and Moonta mines for World Heritage listing.

Regional Council of Goyder chief executive officer David Stevenson said the council welcomed the state government's support.

"We have been working on the bid since 2018 and while progress was slowed during COVID we are now moving carefully forward again," he said.

"There is still considerable work to do, including the outstanding universal values which are being prepared by our World Heritage advisor."

Stevenson said state endorsement put the bid one step closer, even though there was considerable work to do to realise the goal of World Heritage for Burra and Moonta.

"Little by little we are edging towards inscription," he said.