Post by gnopals on Oct 21, 2009 1:25:42 GMT
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Opal fever: Lightning Ridge battle heats up
By Paul Lockyer
Another battle ground has opened up between miners and farmers in the north-west of New South Wales, where opal miners have a number of properties firmly in their sights.
Unlike the dispute between multi-national coal miners and the farmers of the fertile Liverpool Plains to the south, this is a story of small-time prospectors versus mulga country graziers. But passions run just as deep.
Opal mining began in the area in the early 1900s, when a discovery at Lightning Ridge triggered a rush.
Hundreds of men descended on the outback area - many of them carrying their few possessions in wheel barrows that they pushed for hundreds of kilometres. It is the only place in the world where the prized black opal is found.
The diggings around Lightning Ridge and the fields that stretch out from the town resemble a giant rabbit warren.
In the shafts below, the miners chip away - motivated by the same hopes and dreams that have sustained generations of prospectors.
Sebastian Deisenberger came from Germany 17 years ago and fell under the spell of the opal. He left behind a well paid engineering job to gamble at The Ridge, as it is known.
"When you go underground and you find the gem stone sitting in the wall and looking at you... that's the beauty we have here," he said.
Legendary rags to riches stories encourage the hopefuls. Fred Mallouk is amongst them:
"You'll get people who've made a lot of money who'll party for five years and go broke and there's other people who buy helicopters and yachts and some people invest really wisely, buy houses or whatever, everything you can imagine has happened here," Mr Mallouk said."
More of the story here:
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/30/2641254.htm
Opal fever: Lightning Ridge battle heats up
By Paul Lockyer
Another battle ground has opened up between miners and farmers in the north-west of New South Wales, where opal miners have a number of properties firmly in their sights.
Unlike the dispute between multi-national coal miners and the farmers of the fertile Liverpool Plains to the south, this is a story of small-time prospectors versus mulga country graziers. But passions run just as deep.
Opal mining began in the area in the early 1900s, when a discovery at Lightning Ridge triggered a rush.
Hundreds of men descended on the outback area - many of them carrying their few possessions in wheel barrows that they pushed for hundreds of kilometres. It is the only place in the world where the prized black opal is found.
The diggings around Lightning Ridge and the fields that stretch out from the town resemble a giant rabbit warren.
In the shafts below, the miners chip away - motivated by the same hopes and dreams that have sustained generations of prospectors.
Sebastian Deisenberger came from Germany 17 years ago and fell under the spell of the opal. He left behind a well paid engineering job to gamble at The Ridge, as it is known.
"When you go underground and you find the gem stone sitting in the wall and looking at you... that's the beauty we have here," he said.
Legendary rags to riches stories encourage the hopefuls. Fred Mallouk is amongst them:
"You'll get people who've made a lot of money who'll party for five years and go broke and there's other people who buy helicopters and yachts and some people invest really wisely, buy houses or whatever, everything you can imagine has happened here," Mr Mallouk said."
More of the story here:
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/30/2641254.htm
