Is this the last generation of opal miners?

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PinkDiamond
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Is this the last generation of opal miners?

Post by PinkDiamond »

We have been hearing complaints about this for years, and things have only gotten worse for miners in Oz, but these people have gumption, and are protesting in their own way hoping to get some relief before the opal mining industry in Australia is decimated. Let's pray the powers that be take heed or pretty soon we won't be able to afford whatever stock is left. :?

Is this the last generation of opal miners?

An underground rebellion is brewing in the outback, as opal miners fight against growing rules and regulations.

ABC Rural
By Melanie Groves
Updated Sat at 4:01pm


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Photo: Geoffrey Weller says opal mining is a fever. (ABC Rural: Melanie Groves)

"Most days, 74-year-old Geoffrey Weller climbs down a ladder, descending through fifteen metres of red rock down a narrow mine shaft.

In the tunnels, below the harsh sun, he is searching the fault lines of the stone for boulder opal — a gemstone formed over millions of years from silica and water, and found only in this desolate stretch of western Queensland.

Above ground it is the heart of the remote outback. The rugged country is peppered by spinifex grass, gumtrees, and waterholes.

It is hundreds of kilometres down dirt roads to the nearest shop or pub.

But Mr Weller would not have it any other way.

There's just nothing like looking at a really beautiful opal that has been forged underground and sitting there for so many years," Mr Weller said.

"Finally, sixty to seventy million years later we're plucking it out of the ground. It's a fever, something we just like doing."

At the turn of the twentieth century, Opalton was a town of more than 600 people who mined the opal fields extensively.

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Now, burnt stumps and a small plaque are the only evidence of what was once a police station, and a camping ground mostly used by grey nomads in winter is the closest thing to a town centre.

'Keep out' signs painted on corrugated iron mark the openings to underground mines which dot the landscape like ant hills.

Ramshackle sheds and caravans hidden among the gidgee trees are among the few signs of human habitation.

The underground mines exist inside the designated fossicking zone, and excavators cut into the ground for small open cut mines in the bushland outside of this zone.

But Mr Weller said the way of life for opal miners is diminishing even more with increasing costs, rules, and regulations making these small businesses and hobbies unviable.

Last generation of opal miners

Miner Sheldon Dealy lives in Opalton at his camp with his wife Sandy, but he won't encourage any of his children to follow in his footsteps.

"I would love to have my kids come out and opal mine with me," Mr Dealy said.

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"But I can't recommend it because of the way fees and regulations are going.

"I think we're the last generation of opal miners. I don't think there'll be much in the future."

High fees, regular changes to rules and regulations, and long wait times for mining tenure applications to be approved or renewed are among the stressors for Opalton's miners.

Recently, miners renewing their leases and claims were given new, self-assessable calculators for fees of financial surety calling for new payments of up to thousands of dollars.

It's on our minds all the time. Every time you're turning around you're waiting for these people [mines inspectors] to turn up and assess your camp," Mr Weller said.

Miners said the one-size-fits-all approach to fees failed to consider the different circumstances of small-scale opal mining to some of Queensland's bigger mining operations, and lacked flexibility.

"[The fees] are so extreme that it's actually difficult to rehabilitate the land without the money they've actually been pulling away from you," Mr Dealy said.

"We're among the most clean miners in the world. We don't produce any toxic chemicals [and] we don't leave a lot of mess."

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Photo: Boulder opals are found in ironstone, in the fault-lines of the earth. (ABC Rural: Melanie Groves)

A Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME) spokesperson said in a statement that ... "

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-24/ ... s/11538542
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SwordfishMining
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Re: Is this the last generation of opal miners?

Post by SwordfishMining »

I feel as if the rockhounds are in the middle of a die off in the circles I see at the free digs around the PNW that is for sure. If you ignore the fees around here for your claims, America, they will just let anybody else put a claim right where you thought you were the next year. If Virgin Valley is dying, it is on the lips of everyone who says no opal cuts from there, not the opal. Loving the place I would actually like to see it was NEVER open pit mined, just tunneled thru the log jams at the areas ripe for opalization defined by science. After all, Nowhere else puts out the quality of our opalized trees and the blacks are unique and I AM an opalholic. LOL.
I'll jump over my shadow. https://www.virginvalleyopal.com"
Opals & more at my ESTY store https://swordfishmining.etsy.com"
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OpalSpectrum
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Re: Is this the last generation of opal miners?

Post by OpalSpectrum »

it sucks but at least they can dig - in my country it's impossible to buy a claim - there is no such thing - you can't dig even on your own ground !
even prospecting is not allowed and everything you find in the ground belongs to state (country). here only big quarries and mines (granite, coal etc..) exist and you need million$ to open or buy it :roll:
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Artfldgr
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Re: Is this the last generation of opal miners?

Post by Artfldgr »

well, perhaps someone can take over "my country" and figure out what its called..
usually when homes are bought and sold, they do not usually buy the mineral rights..
thats where you look if you want to dig... usually
Shea_O
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Re: Is this the last generation of opal miners?

Post by Shea_O »

The up-front costs to getting an (income generating) operation running, whether it be in the mining part of the opal industry or the processing part - are a major reason new blood isn't getting involved. It's my problem still.

The average Joe who isn't born into the industry faces the following:


1. must be capable of giving up consistent paychecks aka quit working a day job and become self employed
2....
3....
4....



Well damn.. if that's at the top of the list....and if I'm trying to pull that off ( I'm 31 yrs old ) while people twice my age are still trying to figure out how to do that.... then why bother with the rest of the list...? See my point?

I may not get past step 1 until years or decades from now, when I might be so secure in the day job industry that I either no longer have the need, time, health or desire to change my circumstances via the opal industry.

If the opal industry wants new blood, each level of the industry needs to start finding out how to create consistent paychecks for the new blood to even hang around long enough to make a difference.

The opal industry as it is is sooooooo hand-to-mouth and so individualized that in this day and age, if it wants new blood, it's going to have to figure out how to create access to hourly waged work.
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SwordfishMining
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Re: Is this the last generation of opal miners?

Post by SwordfishMining »

Don't underestimate the ability of a worldwide depression to provide more miners.
I'll jump over my shadow. https://www.virginvalleyopal.com"
Opals & more at my ESTY store https://swordfishmining.etsy.com"
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