By plane: Regional Express Airlines (REX) operates daily flights on a small plane from Adelaide to Coober Pedy Airport. The flight time takes approximately 2 hours. This is the quickest way to get to Coober Pedy, and the route we took. You can look for flights to Coober Pedy here.

Above is a photo of motorised hoisting gear being used today at the Glengarry Opal Field. In 1870 Glengarry Opal Field became the latest hot spot for opal in the area with some good finds being made. In 1985 good seam opal was found at Sheepyard. Opal mining increased and piles of opal dirt were everywhere making …

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 ...

A microscopic welder and made more opal cutting equipment as well as purchasing rough opal here and there. We did a lot of trips to Coober Pedy, where I caught up with some miners, who introduced me to the old-time mines in Brown Folly area. Ever since I have been doing 4-6 trips of mining a year during wintertime." Mine smarter not …

Opal mining in Queensland Australia is expensive and done by Bulldozers and Excavators. While opal mines in Lightning ridge,Cooper Pedy and Koroit are mostly tunnel and bucket affairs. To mine in Queensland is lot …

Sebastian has been mining for opal for over 30 years and has been at this particular claim for over a decade. The equipment used in Sebastian's mine is of a larger scale and consists of a digger, driver, and blower (vacuum cleaner), to name a few. Being an engineer like Sebastian is very helpful when you work in such a large mine.

Below are are some examples of the opal mining equipment used in different opal fields. DRILLING RIG AT LIGHTNING RIDGE, QLD. This incredible machine is known as 'Megatron'. Weighing at a staggering 65 tonnes, it's one of the largest drilling rigs in Lightning Ridge. These rigs are used for drilling test holes in new grounds to find potch ...

We get asked a lot about the equipment we use. ... The Hidden Fire Opal Mine, also known as the Louisiana Opal Exchange Mine, is a real gem located in Vernon Parish. It's nestled about 15 miles east of the Toledo Bend dam, not far from a place called Monks Hammock. This mine was the sole commercial producer of Louisiana Opal, which is …

Coober Pedy produces the bulk of the world's white opal. The opal mining fields of Coober Pedy lie in the outback of South Australia, Stuart Range, 750 km north of Adelaide. Many of the locals in Coober Pedy prefer to live underground in dugouts where it is cool in summer and warm in winter. Read more about the Coober Pedy opal mining fields.

Bulldozers, excavators, and trucks are used to remove overburden and extract opal-bearing material. Advanced equipment, such as tunneling machines and blower trucks, may be employed for more efficient mining …

Even driving on the red outback dirt roads can quickly wear down your vehicle tyres. There are many stories of how easy it is for mining equipment to over-heat and be destroyed in the Australian Outback. …

Queensland Opal Mining Fields. The home of Australian Boulder Opal. Queensland produces boulder opal, an unique type of opal which is found attached to a host rock, ironstone. Boulder opal is unique to Queensland, and occurs in deposits in weathered sedimentary Cretaceous rocks in the west of the state. Much opal mining in Queensland …

At Andamooka, "seam opal" is the object of the miner's search. Near whatever water is available, an array of concrete mixer trucks is a common site – used to 'agitate' (wash and sluice) the opal-bearing …

Gear up for gemstone exploration with a comprehensive guide to opal mining equipment and get ready to uncover precious treasures.

These machines were adapted from machinery in California USA (the California Welding Company) that was used for drilling footings for pillars and piers for buildings. Similar …

So purchase of $10,000 has to be $4000 of cut stones and $6000 of rough opals. The problem is there is not many opal cutters in this country as most of the rough is cut in India and the Ethiopian Ministry Mines has a minimum unit price for Gemstones for export. Opal is set at Minimum $8.00 per carat.

Australia is responsible for 90% of the world's gem quality opal supply and half of this supply comes from two opal mining towns, one of them being Lightning Ridge. In 1905, the first shafts were dug in Lightning Ridge and the unique black opal began being mined. Since then, opal mining has developed into an innovative industry that supports ...

Griffin began mining opal in 1960 with a borrowed jackhammer and a lighting plant, in Andamooka, South Australia, 600 km (~372 miles) north of Adelaide. His methods have evolved considerably in the decades since. Along with standard equipment such as bulldozers, drills, and excavators, he recently began using gamma-ray logging for …

A handful of black opal harvested at the world capital of fine black opal, Lightning Ridge. Photo by Vincent Pardieu/GIA. The town of Lightning Ridge, in central northern New South Wales, is widely considered the main source of high-quality black opal. A group of field gemologists from GIA visited Lightning Ridge and the area mines in June …

A typical opal mining set-up on a 50m by 50m claim showing a shaft drilled into the earth and a hoist used to bucket mining material from underground into a waiting truck. ... of a million dollars ...

Opal Prospecting Methods. Once you find an opal field, you need to know where to open a mine. Typically, this means digging a hole to the opal-bearing strata and searching for …

Below are are some examples of the opal mining equipment used in different opal fields. DRILLING RIG AT LIGHTNING RIDGE, QLD. This incredible machine is known as 'Megatron'. Weighing at a staggering 65 tonnes, it's one of the largest drilling rigs in Lightning Ridge. These rigs are used for drilling test holes in new grounds to find potch ...

The mining tenements are all 50m x 50m square, so you have the luck of the draw when it comes to your plot. To gain access to the underground, the miners drill a 1.2m shaft vertically to a predetermined depth. This depth is determined after the drilling of exploration holes and the assessment of the material for colour and value.

The largest form of opal mining is called Open cut mining. This is when large excavating equipment is used to remove the overburden from the surface. It is still a fairly delicate process to sort through the promising material due to the fact that the opal can be easily damaged. I'll go into some of my past experiences in future blogs.

The Outback Opal Hunters TV Show give us an idea just how elusive it is to unearth the beautiful Australian opal. Along with the scarcity of finding opal, the harsh and extreme environment of opal mining can also quicken the wear and tear on the opal mining equipment. Even driving on the red outback dirt roads can quickly wear down your …

House miners shack. 1 Bathroom. 1 Bedroom. Go opal hunting at Andamooka Miners shack within commuting distance of Roxby Downs, constructed of stone with iron roof and verandah. Located on bitumen Hospital Road in opal mining town of Andamooka. Large 3000m2 corner block with views. Has water tank and electricity connection.

Opal mining through historical times been considered the realm of the "small miner" with opal mining leases and tenements being limited in size. For example in Lightning Ridge, two (2) 50m x 50m square blocks. ... Today there are many innovative pieces of equipment used and designed specifically for extracting opal from the available ...

Markus and Joos own their own opal field. The two backpackers met and fell in love in Coober Pedy and decided to stay on here. They've been working their opal mine day in, day out ever since. Using heavy equipment, the couple hope to find the big …

Download this stock image: Tunneling machine digger in an underground opal mine. Coober Pedy, South Australia, AUSTRALIA - BB9DGE from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations …

Beginning in the 1970s, mechanized opal mining became prevalent. It usually involves advanced equipment such as Calweld drillsfor shaft digging and tunneling machines or front-end loaders for horizontal tunneling. Automatic bucket tippers or gigantic pipe vacuums transport the … See more