New South Wales Opal Towns & Fields

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Lightning Ridge - 'Home of Black Opal'

Lightning Ridge – 'Home of Black Opal', the most highly prized variety in the trinity. 

The ‘Ridge’ is unrivalled, nearly all of the world’s Black Opal and the finest come from here. Over the last few decades this Opal producing region has been the largest producer by value and per area.

Originally known as the 'Wallangulla' Opal fields; Legend has it that the fitting title "Lightning Ridge" was derived after a shepherd, his dog, and six hundred sheep were killed during a fierce electrical storm, while sheltering on a low ridge in the area.

The population of Lightning Ridge has proven nigh impossible to estimate at times. With production at its peak in the early 1990’s, there were more than 7,000 people in the town. Currently estimates run at 3000 permanent residents, not including numerous transient inhabitants and camp dwellers, however only 1,109 people voted in the local government elections in 2004.

Lightning Ridge receives over 80,000 visitors per year, with numerous good quality motels and several caravan parks to choose from most people usually stay a couple a days at least. For early risers or night owls the hot mineral spa baths from an artesian bore are fantastic for soothing travel weary bones. There are numerous shops selling opals and souvenirs as well as an art gallery, Amigo’s Castle and the Walkin Mine to discover. The Ridge boasts a huge RSL club, an olympic pool complex, a golf course, pistol club and archery club. Annual events include the Great Goat Race at Easter, the Opal and Gem Expo held in July and the Opal Festival is held in the September-October NSW school holidays.

Mining around the Ridge

There are more than 200 Opal fields in the greater Lightning Ridge region. Opal mining occurs in several seperate areas totalling 2300 square kilometres, there are about 6000 active claims,  but only 500 to 800 are mined regularly and 2000 only casually.

The main Opal field groups are along defined low ridgelines where the opal levels begin to surface:

The original Lightning Ridge'Town' fields within a 10 km radius of the PO; Wyoming, Jag Hill and Mehi north beyond the township; and Coocoran 30 km to the West. The Opal on these fields is typically found as ‘nobbies’ or nodules, their dark appearance is due to carbon (organic matter) and iron oxide trace elements.

The Grawin/Carters and Glengarry/Sheepyards fields 80 km to the SW of Lightning Ridge township produce ‘seam’ Opal similar to the dark or semi-black Opal found at Mintabie in South Australia.

Across the greater Lightning Ridge region Opal is generally found between 3 to 25m below ground level, in the deeply weathered Early Cretaceous claystone which forms a distinct layer below the overlying sandstone and conglomerate of Tertiary age. The Opal bearing ground is a soft greyish claystone often referred to as 'opal dirt'.

Opal is generally found by underground mining and a typical mining operation involves sinking a vertical shaft and making horizontal drives on the 'levels', to remove prospective opal dirt.

In 'nobby country', opal dirt is brought to the surface by hoist or blower, where it is transported by truck to a puddling site for processing. Methods for processing the opal dirt typically include wet (or sometimes dry) puddling techniques usually by mechanical means. This puddling breaks up the claystone, the fine portion of which is then discarded,  leaving rock fragments, opal potch and colour. This is scrutinized, removing further fines and hand sorting to identify coloured nobbies.

Whereas, in 'seam country' (Grawin/Carters and Glengarry/Sheepyards) the Opal is usually recovered at the working face of the mine and can be gouged out of the wall where it is more distinctly visible than most nobbies.

Some open cut mining is also undertaken around Lightning Ridge, however it  is restricted to areas where there are significant underground workings, or where subsidence has occurred. Large financial bonds are required of the operators and once complete, open cut mines must be backfilled and revegetated.

 

 

 

White Cliffs - 'Australia’s First Opal Town'

 

White Cliffs - reputedly discovered by a party of Kangaroo hunters in 1884. 'Australia’s First Opal Town' was developed after the pioneering Opal buyer and promoter Tully Wollaston bought the first parcel in 1889. White Cliffs was the jewel in the colony’s crown producing the bulk of the world's Opals for more than a quarter century. Several syndicates were floated in London; each employed hundreds of men, who worked on a tribute system.

Large amounts of stable seam opal brought a renaissance into the overseas markets in England, USA, Germany and France. Although often passed as Hungarian Opal until the turn of the twentieth century, Australian Opal was easier to value, clean and manufacture. Opal of this quality had not been seen for more than a century, thus the new Australian Opal soon gained credibility. Appreciation for the national gemstone developed and it became highly sought-after, which in turn spurned the discovery of new fields like Lightning Ridge.

White Cliffs was richly endowed with opalised fossils and is home to the ‘pineapple’, a replacement of a mineral crystal of glauberite or ikaite which is first replaced by calcite and then opalised.

By 1899 nearly two thousand people lived within two miles of the town area of White Cliffs. No less than fourteen opal buyers advertised in the town's own newspaper, The Opal Miner, the best known being Mr Ted Murphy, who represented Mr Wollaston on the field.

There were five hundred odd timber and iron houses, as well as countless 'calico mansions', tents, fabricated from Hessian and bark, or canvas. There was an underground restaurant, bakery, and bar; however dugouts were scarce and most miners lived in mine shafts. Intense summer heat drove the first miners underground and by 1900, most residents had followed suit.

To this day eighty per cent of local residents live in dugouts and there is excellent underground accomodation a truly iconic experience not to be missed!

So go on! Get 'off the beaten track' and visit this fabulous Aussie treasure of a tourism destination, to plan your trip goto www.whitecliffsopalfield.com

 

Sources & Image Credits: BEAUTIFUL OPALS - AUSTRALIAS NATIONAL GEM - SPECIAL 2000 COMMEMORATIVE EDITION, Len Cram, 1999. Opaline, Photo collection (Agitator) ridgelightning.com, photo titled "Caravans, Rain and Lightning" by Russell Gawthorpe, 2008. P.R. Evans Collection & photography  ( Red on Black cabochon)