Opal Mining Video

Come and have a look at how we mine for opal in Lightning Ridge.

Driving down the bumpy road, a dry and arid landscape surrounds you. But, when you get to Lightning Ridge, the opal fever takes hold. Signs plaster walls everywhere, and big pictures of opal are around every corner. Even the streets are named after opal!

In this video, I’ll take you for a virtual tour around Lightning Ridge, showing you the most popular and exciting things to do in this gorgeous small mining town.

First up, we have the mullock heaps that are popular with tourists. You can search for opal that the miners might have missed; just bring a shovel and a water bottle. You can also go and look at the huge open cut mine – one of the only around!

After that, I’ll show you what’s it’s like to go mining with my friends Fred and Brian. We’ll go down a mine and show you how to find that glorious color, then head to the agitator to wash away the dirt and (hopefully) find some great opal.

We’ll check in with my other mining friend Moe to buy some opal, and then I’ll show you how I cut it. All before we go and wash the day off in the hot artesian bore baths.

I hope you enjoy the adventure!