With Chris as our guide, we were priviledged to be able to inspect a professional opal open cut mine, being operated by a corporation, rather than individual fossickers.
The sludge from the agitator as it washes the gravel to separate the precious stones, has filled in a swamp
My Fuji xeII is a fantastic camera for capturing large scenes in a panorama setting
water storageAgitators lined up above the sludge filled swamp. Chris would bring his gravel to this agitator by the truck load and have the gravel and sludge wash away and hopefully leaving a gem, maybe even a rare black opal.This area looked like a tip, however, fossickers would bring their machinery, trucks, caravans to this compound and pay a fee for storage. However, a good number of disillusioned miners would never return and the owner of the compound would auction off the equipmentLost its wheels!
