On the Surface

The surface areas around Lightning Ridge is pock-marked with piles of rubble, mine-shafts, caravans and shacks, quarries, mechanical systems to haul rock to the surface and rusting equipment - including trucks and cars. In short, it's messy and moreover it seems that any planning controls are suspended! The following pictures give a good impression of the area.

Max, by the way, had a glorious time fossicking among the piles of rock for shards of opal and managed to find quite a few sizeable pieces. Lightning Ridge opals are among the most valuable in the world, but we only found pieces at the lower end of the quality spectrum.

The following picture shows a closed off mine-shaft.

Material from the quarry below found its way to the pile of rock Max is sifting through in the first photo.

This equipment below hoists rock to the surface for washing and sifting for possible opal.

AS