Mining opal today still has all the aspects of a Wild West town from 1800s United States. Most of the Australian opal is found in the country’s remote deserts, which has a “blistering, almost unliveable climate.” Indeed, many opal miners dig their living quarters underground, in an attempt to stay cool.
Lightning Ridge, on the other hand, is significantly cooler, and there’;s enough moisture to support tree growth (albeit, scrub trees).
However, there’s till not a lot of water, so what the miners do is form “wash cooperatives.” Since it’s easier to find opal when its wet, all the dirt and gravel dug out of a mine is driven to one od many dam sites. There, the material is dumped into an agitator. The dirt is tumbled around for 4 to 5 hours, sprayrf with water, so that most of the gravel pours out of the sides of the agitator. The rest of the material slides down into an area where the miners look it over, inspecting each piece by hand.
The residue, the grit and gravel, is dumped into “mullock heaps” near the top of the dam.
When opal miners have to work underground in search of seam opal(those mines at Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy and Andamooka) a miner will stake his (or her) claim, secure the funding needed to purchase the appropriate equipment, and then sink a shaft some 40 feet down. With this shaft as a base, they will then tunnel horizontally outward in search of opal.
Until the 1970s, the miners would tunnel outward using hand tools. Nowadays an auger is used. An auger is a giant drill which can bore a circular tunnel in a matter of hours.
One the tunnels have been made, various equipment is lowered down, depending on how much funds the miner has. Black opal mines typically use quite a bit of expensive equipment, as black opal is the most lucrative opal to mine.
Claims are granted in either 50- or 100-meter lengths. Miners typically have not kept accurate maps of their tunnels, and on occasion heavy earth movers moving topside have actually fallen into tunnels below!
Opal mining, therefore, is a dangerous business, for a variety of reasons.
Let’s take a brief break from the history of opal to talk about you actually acquring some opal.
Check out the boulder opal on auction today!
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YowahOpals*40.70Cts Opal Pendant – Australian Opal
yowahopals |
20.00 |
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1 hour 48 minutes |
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YowahOpals*62.85Cts Queensland Opal -DRILLED PENDANT
yowahopals |
79.99 |
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1 hour 48 minutes |
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YowahOpals*48.55Cts Queensland Opal -DRILLED PENDANT
yowahopals |
8.99 |
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1 hour 48 minutes |
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YowahOpals*15.60Cts ‘Aussie’ Boulder Opal – Leather Cord -
yowahopals |
12.50 |
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1 hour 48 minutes |
