Opal Mines

Coober Pedy is really just one huge opal mine. Everywhere you see a pile of dirt there will be a shaft beside. Sometimes there is more than one.

Public are warned not to venture on to the mining areas. We were in a tour bus so we got up close with no danger.

The technology is fairly simple drill a hole downwards up to seventy feet and start digging out from it. These days machines are used to tunnel and a blower truck is used to remove the ground up rock. It's actually a huge vacuum cleaner with a 400 or so horsepower engine driving it flat out. It can suck the spoil along the tunnel and out up the shaft. As a bonus, fresh air is drawn down into the workings.

The operator has to work carefully when getting close to opal and then dig out likely pay dirt by hand. Exposed opal is carefully dug beneath to get the largest possible pieces. Some miners do make it lucky but many don't even eke out a living. Around 85% of the opals in the world are from here.Read more