Opal Mining
Opal mining has changed significantly since the first opal lease " Pride of the Hills" was pegged in 1871. The opal miner of that era would generally utilise what he could carry, if he were lucky he would have livestock to assist in this task. Generally a pick and shovel were his tools, a rope bucket and a hand fashioned windlass made from local timbers were fashioned on site.
It was generally not the work or the heat that would foil the attempts of the miner to win the opal but the need for water, with searing summers reaching 52 degrees Centigrade the Australian Outback can be hostile. This summer weather however brought the rains to the Outback and miners would often camp out and mine until these water holes dried up.
Today underground mining can still be seen, however the use of motorised windlass, pneumatic or electric hammers make the task far easier than it was in the humble beginnings.
Mechanisation introduced to the opal miners a new way of extracting the earth’s riches, what a hand miner would dig in a week, a bulldozer could do in an hour. Today excavators, bulldozers, front-end loaders and dump- trucks are a common sight on the opal fields.
Opal mining today is being conducted more professionally, with more stress on the miner to conduct his business in a viable manner, with Environmental Legislation to conform to. Today the miner has at his disposal technical support via the Internet that provides up to date legislation, mining tenure information and geological information of opal occurrences.
Queensland
Government
Environmental Protection Agency
Queensland
Government
Natural Resources and Mines