Getting started with Opal Mining

[DrachenMadchen]

Hi All,

I would like to start opal mining.
I have no experience fossicking, prospecting or anything like that, so there is no point hiring a bunch of heavy machinery and start drilling holes, and I have now where near enough money for that anyway.

Being 15 doesn't help either, but my parents are open to hearing plans for things, so I might as well try.

I live along the coast of Queensland, so pretty far away from any opal mining towns and places t=like that, the closest place I could find was Koroit and Quilpie, both of which are about a 10 hour drive from my house.
I have some very basic tools such as a pickaxe, various shovels, a small and large sledge hammer, cold chisels, etc..

What would be the best way to get into opal mining?
Just going to a public opal mining area (with a fossicking license of course, and making sure you don't dig in pre-claimed area) and start noodling and digging in shallow areas?
Or is there a better/different way?

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[7.62marksman]

What about Yowah

 

[DrachenMadchen]

Yowah is one of the closer ones.
And what about it?

Also Lightning Ridge in NSW is the closest to me (7 1/2 hour drive).

 

[7.62marksman]

because i am just getting into it and thats where i am headed this coming winter
A mate of mine has a mine there and gonna teach me everything

 

[Cranky Emu]

Yowah is one of the closer ones.
And what about it?

They can be worth a fair bit of money apparently. From what I know (not much) they are not easy to find though.

 

[aussiefarmer]

Hi All,

I would like to start opal mining.
I have no experience fossicking, prospecting or anything like that, so there is no point hiring a bunch of heavy machinery and start drilling holes, and I have now where near enough money for that anyway.

Being 15 doesn't help either, but my parents are open to hearing plans for things, so I might as well try.

I live along the coast of Queensland, so pretty far away from any opal mining towns and places t=like that, the closest place I could find was Koroit and Quilpie, both of which are about a 10 hour drive from my house.
I have some very basic tools such as a pickaxe, various shovels, a small and large sledge hammer, cold chisels, etc..

What would be the best way to get into opal mining?
Just going to a public opal mining area (with a fossicking license of course, and making sure you don't dig in pre-claimed area) and start noodling and digging in shallow areas?
Or is there a better/different way?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Haha , best advice I can give is stop watching TV shows , get a good trade , marry a beautiful woman and buy a house in a good area and let prospecting be a hobby not an obsession. :lol:
But it sounds like it's to late already you have caught the fever, being 15 I suggest you spend 12 months learning as much as you can about opals and geology.
Knowledge is power and you will need a skill set to go out there and mine, my suggestions are
Prospecting
Mining
Camping
General bush skills
Cooking
Survival
1st aid
Off road driving
Basic mechanics and repairs
Life experience/people skills

There's a few opal hunters on here at times I suggest you use the search function and start learning,
Have you grown up going camping etc in the bush ? If not that would be a great thing to get into before travelling 10hours to find you need to bury your poop and be self sufficient.

 

[DrachenMadchen]

Hi All,

I would like to start opal mining.
I have no experience fossicking, prospecting or anything like that, so there is no point hiring a bunch of heavy machinery and start drilling holes, and I have now where near enough money for that anyway.

Being 15 doesn't help either, but my parents are open to hearing plans for things, so I might as well try.

I live along the coast of Queensland, so pretty far away from any opal mining towns and places t=like that, the closest place I could find was Koroit and Quilpie, both of which are about a 10 hour drive from my house.
I have some very basic tools such as a pickaxe, various shovels, a small and large sledge hammer, cold chisels, etc..

What would be the best way to get into opal mining?
Just going to a public opal mining area (with a fossicking license of course, and making sure you don't dig in pre-claimed area) and start noodling and digging in shallow areas?
Or is there a better/different way?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Haha , best advice I can give is stop watching TV shows , get a good trade , marry a beautiful woman and buy a house in a good area and let prospecting be a hobby not an obsession. :lol:
But it sounds like it's to late already you have caught the fever, being 15 I suggest you spend 12 months learning as much as you can about opals and geology.
Knowledge is power and you will need a skill set to go out there and mine, my suggestions are
Prospecting
Mining
Camping
General bush skills
Cooking
Survival
1st aid
Off road driving
Basic mechanics and repairs
Life experience/people skills

There's a few opal hunters on here at times I suggest you use the search function and start learning,
Have you grown up going camping etc in the bush ? If not that would be a great thing to get into before travelling 10hours to find you need to bury your poop and be self sufficient.

I don't plan on getting obsessed with opal mining, just it being a hobby. I hope to do aeronautical engineering as a job, so that should hopefully help.
I am going into my fourth year of air force cadets, and they have taught me quite a lot of survival skills. I also do camping every year with my family. Not hardcore camping (which I would like to try), just going to camping grounds to then go on day trips around the area.
I have heard that the opal hunter tv shows are a load of rubbish, and haven't watched any of those.

 

[grubstake]

I have heard that the opal hunter tv shows are a load of rubbish, and haven't watched any of those.

Personally, I found them interesting enough, but like all 'reality' television shows, you have to keep in mind that they aren't documentaries. Many apparently 'live' events (discoveries, incidents, etc), are at best re-enactments, if they aren't just staged for the cameras. Producers do their utmost to create drama from interpersonal conflicts, accidents, equipment failures, etc., so as to maintain viewer engagement with the characters and the series.

Much like metal detector prospecting, opal mining is all about hard slog, drudgery and a significant amount of personal risk-taking, while somehow maintaining hope in the face of repeated disappointment. Neither occupation is glamorous in any way, but the excitement of an occasional discovery more than makes up for the many tribulations of the lengthy and arduous search process, in my experience anyway.

 

[Matrix007]

I would suggest joining a lapidary club in your area there are great people that will teach you all about all sorts of stones and you can learn how to cut gemstones, they also have trips or outings to find all sorts of stones, good luck on your journey into the world of stones and lapidary.

 

[Syndyne]

G'day Drachen,

I started mining opal here at Lightning Ridge full-time at the age of 13 back in 1993 with my father (who began here in 1964). I had already spent a lot of time underground on and off gouging in many claims around all fields with my father from the age of 8 in relatively shallow claims (nothing really below 20 - 25 feet / 6 - 7metres in depth).

I do have to mention that today this is well against regulations as you have to be a minimum of 18 years of age and have completed all of the safety courses to own/operate a claim and step foot underground here.

There are many steps in regards to opal mining that you will need to learn should you wish to pursue it as a career (it takes far more of a time and money investment than a hobby these days). Aussiefarmer laid out a great list of skills to have in post #6 above. You can only really learn by doing with opal mining, but seeing how we operate in person in this industry through experienced, safety-minded miners is invaluable and well worth doing before you jump in.

I will layout some pretty bare-bones things below that you must keep in mind as it can be quite a shock when confronted with the actual costs of mining here at the Ridge. This is not applicable to the other opal mining areas like the QLD or S.A. fields, but merely a guide to what is required here.

The costs involved are, in my opinion, the biggest hurdle these days even before you've started moving dirt underground (I'm sort of in this current predicament myself). What we would consider basic gear, just to work by hand, is now costly and is becoming very hard to find in good working order. A simple setup with an automatic hoist, small tipper truck, generator, jackhammer, lights etc. can easily run between $30,000 - 40,000+ before you've even registered a single claim (costing about $1500), or drilled the required two shafts (one for air) at $75 a metre. Much of this gear isn't made here anymore and we are resolved to building it ourselves most of the time. It just took me three full days to build a strong set of six 10 foot / 3 metre long bolt-together ladders simply to access my claim for regular inspection.

If you want to step into large scale mining here with digging machines, blowers and agitator wash plants etc. then it can cost you well over $100,000. For those operations you generally need a 10 - 20 cubic metre registered tipper to travel on the main roads back into town which can run into large costs for a truck alone. Another example would be that the very last new digger built here sold for $75,000 in 2021. Blowers aren't built here anymore either, so most that were run into the ground and poorly maintained over the years can cost an arm and a leg to get back into good running order and up to the requirements and safety standards of the Mines Department.

This part above doesn't even begin to cover Opal Prospecting Leases or long term drilling to simply find new areas of opal these days.

However, if you still do find yourself visiting in the Ridge for the experience alone, then by all means let me know as I'd be happy to take you through the entire process in person and in theory to see what you think overall.

It's certainly a different life as a miner out here and one that I have accepted in many terms to be preferred over a city type upbringing, particularly at your age if opals and minerals are your interest (much as mine were).

I can only wish you all the best in your future decisions wherever they take you.
Kindest regards,
Shauno.

 

[DrachenMadchen]

G'day Drachen,

I started mining opal here at Lightning Ridge full-time at the age of 13 back in 1993 with my father (who began here in 1964). I had already spent a lot of time underground on and off gouging in many claims around all fields with my father from the age of 8 in relatively shallow claims (nothing really below 20 - 25 feet / 6 - 7metres in depth).

I do have to mention that today this is well against regulations as you have to be a minimum of 18 years of age and have completed all of the safety courses to own/operate a claim and step foot underground here.

There are many steps in regards to opal mining that you will need to learn should you wish to pursue it as a career (it takes far more of a time and money investment than a hobby these days). Aussiefarmer laid out a great list of skills to have in post #6 above. You can only really learn by doing with opal mining, but seeing how we operate in person in this industry through experienced, safety-minded miners is invaluable and well worth doing before you jump in.

I will layout some pretty bare-bones things below that you must keep in mind as it can be quite a shock when confronted with the actual costs of mining here at the Ridge. This is not applicable to the other opal mining areas like the QLD or S.A. fields, but merely a guide to what is required here.

The costs involved are, in my opinion, the biggest hurdle these days even before you've started moving dirt underground (I'm sort of in this current predicament myself). What we would consider basic gear, just to work by hand, is now costly and is becoming very hard to find in good working order. A simple setup with an automatic hoist, small tipper truck, generator, jackhammer, lights etc. can easily run between $30,000 - 40,000+ before you've even registered a single claim (costing about $1500), or drilled the required two shafts (one for air) at $75 a metre. Much of this gear isn't made here anymore and we are resolved to building it ourselves most of the time. It just took me three full days to build a strong set of six 10 foot / 3 metre long bolt-together ladders simply to access my claim for regular inspection.

If you want to step into large scale mining here with digging machines, blowers and agitator wash plants etc. then it can cost you well over $100,000. For those operations you generally need a 10 - 20 cubic metre registered tipper to travel on the main roads back into town which can run into large costs for a truck alone. Another example would be that the very last new digger built here sold for $75,000 in 2021. Blowers aren't built here anymore either, so most that were run into the ground and poorly maintained over the years can cost an arm and a leg to get back into good running order and up to the requirements and safety standards of the Mines Department.

This part above doesn't even begin to cover Opal Prospecting Leases or long term drilling to simply find new areas of opal these days.

However, if you still do find yourself visiting in the Ridge for the experience alone, then by all means let me know as I'd be happy to take you through the entire process in person and in theory to see what you think overall.

It's certainly a different life as a miner out here and one that I have accepted in many terms to be preferred over a city type upbringing, particularly at your age if opals and minerals are your interest (much as mine were).

I can only wish you all the best in your future decisions wherever they take you.
Kindest regards,
Shauno.

Thanks Shauno, that's helps a lot to clear things up, and put into perspective the overall cost of everything.
I have no interest in going into opal mining as a job, all I was wanting to do was go for a 'holiday' I guess you could call it with my family to one of the mining towns and try to get something to take home to polish up. I was not expecting to go down any holes, although your offer sounds amazing, I was just thinking of doing some noodling or digging in the side of a exposed vein if there were any that were legally accessible, or something like that.
Being a student, I don't have much time or money to do anything too involved.

Thanks for your offer, I might ask about that sometime next year, if it still stands then . . . ?

Kind Regards,

Drachen

 

[Syndyne]

Thanks for your offer, I might ask about that sometime next year, if it still stands then . . . ?

Sounds good. I'm here most of the year.

I'll always make sure you can take a few bits and pieces of rough opal away to do with as you wish.

My suggestion would be to visit around the time of the Opal Festival in late July to early August (that we've just had here). Just as a heads-up, you may have to book your required accommodation this year to secure something for that time if not planning to free camp. Outside of that time of year you'll be pretty right. Potentially you can see most of what's to offer to the visitor in two or three days, but give yourself a couple days breathing room either side to be comfortable if it's feasible.

We just had some forum members here with us for the Opal Festival and they certainly enjoyed it!

In the meantime, do a bit of digging (no pun intended) on YouTube as there's a fair bit of local opal related stuff on there these days. I would 100% agree on the advice given by Aussiefarmer and Grubstake about the TV shows. That's so far removed from the reality of mining here that it's almost absurd. If we had that amount of breakdowns or drama we wouldn't have lasted the first week!

Feel free to drop me a private message, or reply anytime you have something planned, or if you just have an opal related question or two that I may be able to help you with.

Kindest regards,
Shauno.

Edit: Spelling.

 

[mbasko]

This is a great YouTube channel for some Lightning Ridge history etc.
https://youtube.com/c/CuriosityMine