Opal miners starved for ground
28 October, 2004THE NSW government's grim determination to regulate the opal industry risked killing it dead, by driving small opal miners out of the industry and locking up, rather than opening up new prospecting grounds, according to the LRMA.
"The LRMA have been lobbying for the opening up of Opal Prospecting Area 4 for about 10 years now. But as it gets closer the amount of potential opal bearing land that may be available for prospecting and mining is shrinking," secretary of the LRMA, Maxine O'Brien said.
The Department of Environment and Conservation recently purchased the property 'East Mullane' aiming to add it to the Narran Lakes Nature Reserve. The Department of Primary Industries, Mineral Resources negotiated part of the property for opal mining, but the LRMA have just learned the Minister for Environment will make none of the property available for mining.
The draft Review of Environmental Factors calls for a 3km mining-free buffer zone around the Narran Lakes system which would "effectively exclude the majority of the western fall of the ridge system in Opal Prospecting Area 4," she said.
"Before miners even have access to Opal Prospecting Area 4 a large potion of the areas with the most potential may be gone." "Miners are also trying to gain access to some ground on 'Wyoming' and though not strictly necessary, Mineral Resources want all sorts of environmental reviews and plans. The LRMA was looking forward to land to be made available on 'Muttabun' once the Management Plan has been changed. However it hadd been waiting " six months or so already for the new plan," Ms O'Brien said. In the meantime the Mining Warden's Inquiry was continuing into landholder objections to land being included in Opal Prospecting Area 4. The LRMA legal costs promised to be "very expensive," she said.
Mineral Resources have refused to have representation at the Inquiry, and this could delay proceedings if there were questions of policy which needed an answer from the department, she said.
Source: The Black Opal Advocate