Administrative bungle leaves Lightning Ridge opal miners unable to work

[grubstake]

One day these opal miners were happily working, the next they were out of a job

Hundreds of opal miners suddenly left jobless overnight after a state government "oversight" are seeking answers about what the future holds, but so far they say they have been told next to nothing.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Mackka]

very sad state of affairs. I hope they get it sorted, quickly for everyones sake including the towns people whom survive because of the miners. Mackka.

 

[mbasko]

The state's natural resources minister apologised for mistake and disruption, pledging to expedite approval process for impacted miners

Government admin error leaves hundreds of opal miners without a licence as cease work order is issued

Hundreds of opal miners in western New South Wales have had their "livelihoods cut off" after the discovery of a government administrative error rendered their licences invalid.

www.abc.net.au

We'll see!
Hopefully they sort it out quickly.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Today is a sad day for Opal mining at the Ridge.... ALL Leases granted after 2015 have been hit with a cease work order......
This looks real bad for some who make their living from Opal...

But now a green light for the 'Ratters'...

LW...

 

[Dave's Office]

That's bad news indeed lw, bloody bureaucrats gone mad again me thinks.

 

[LONEWOLF]

The 'Department' says 'sorted in 8 weeks'... To re-process 3500 or so claims... Yer right...

Someone didn't dot the eyes and cross the tees... me thinks... Meanwhile lots will be starved of their income while this is sorted..


LW...

 

[LONEWOLF]

Lol... 850 miners... More like 3500... BS again from the POWERS THAT HAVE NO CLUE what they are doing... They want to shut down the Opal Fields, just like the QLD Gemfields ATM.... ...

LW....

 

[davsgold]

I would hope the miners affected just keep on doing what they have been doing, and tell the government to fix it, as it was the department that caused the problem, so fix it, and we'll just keep doing what we were doing, and that is mining for Opal

 

[LONEWOLF]

I would hope the miners affected just keep on doing what they have been doing, and tell the government to fix it, as it was the department that caused the problem, so fix it, and we'll just keep doing what we were doing, and that is mining for Opal

All have been warned Not to mine, or suffer the wraith of the Department... After the meeting yesterday , Miners only know that they are NOT allowed to mine any ground that has been granted since January 2015.... Thats all the department told them..

LW...

 

[Syndyne]

Hi all,
We had the meeting here last Tuesday as LW said, and everyone was told to cease work until the full issue is resolved. Needles to say there weren't many happy faces in there. It affected pretty much every registered claim at this point and will take them many months-years to resolve. I just received a fair amount of paperwork to sort out my two claims even though we did abide by the regulations set in place in the 2015 amendment change to the mines act that caused this problem.

The issue was as simple as any letter or notification to a landholder had to be sent certified mail prior to registration and the receipt given to the mines dept. upon final registration. We have done this as far back as I can remember, but I guess not everyone was following the known rules and here we are.

The other outcome from this (outside of a class action by the miners for full compensation) was that we will force the government to reinstate a full time Registrar to be implemented instead of having to deal with hotlines at head office in Maitland. Ever since we lost the Registrar it's been going downhill.

There's a further meeting on the 6th of June with the mines minister apparently. See how it goes.

Kindest regards,
Shauno.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Hit them hard Shauno.... They can't play with peoples livelihoods like this... Their stuff up should not affect the miners in any way... Wonder how many claims will be refused a re-newel...?

And Yes push for a full-time mining warden... You need one...

LW...

 

[Jaros]

That's worth a Hmmmm????

 

[grubstake]

NSW to pay mass refunds after department oversight leaves Lighting Ridge opal miners with invalid licences:

Miners to receive compensation after department's eight-year blunder leaves them without jobs

The government will pay refunds to opal miners who have been stripped of their licences due to an administrative error.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Mackka]

A great turnaround and hopefully resolved soon. Mackka