Is this the last generation of opal miners?
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 5:51 pm
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
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.
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.
"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."
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
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
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.
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.
"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."
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