Winton Indigenous Land Use Agreement
January 1, 2004
It is over one year now since the Queensland Boulder Opal Association, the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land in the Winton region, and the Queensland government signed off on one of the first of its types indigenous land use agreements directed at forming a working relationship between the opal miners and the traditional owners in the Winton region.
The outcome after a year of implementing the "ILUA" has been a huge success for all parties. All parties have worked hard to ensure that the flow of mining application and activities move as quick and smooth as possible, the result being from the period July 2002 to June 2003, over 73 exploration permits, 63 mining leases, 35 mining claims and 116 prospecting permits were granted.
For the same period a year before, there were 2 mining leases granted and 4 exploration permits. I would estimate another 30 mining lease applications have been lodged from July to December 2003. The Winton region is experiencing an immediate build up of activity as a result of the granting of mining lease etc applications, we are seeing new groups come into the region to try their hand and groups that have been in the mining previously and went away, are now returning with new machines. We feel the 2002 - 2003 season has been a year for the miners to consolidate their position in the region and get new ground and next year hopefully will be a productive year for everybody as most groups will be established and ready to work.If you were thinking of opal mining in the Winton and surrounding regions, now is the best time to do it.
The Queensland Boulder Opal Association has worked hard during its 10 year life, with the last five years being its hardest. The association now under the guidance of Mr Col Duff and his team, are working harder to present the Winton sales days from the 8th to the 11 July 2004 as an important event on the opal industry calendar not to be missed by anyone interested in the industry. With the build up of mining actives in the region, it is a great opportunity for industry people who used to traval to the shows years ago, to touch base again with this new period of mining hype, and meet miners that you may not have seen for years.