Dangers Of Opal Mining

[dent8101]

mate,
your a brave man working deadbird. i worked that field about 15 years ago, back in the mid 90's. we where on the muttabun grid end. one day my mate and i where sitting there having a breather, we heard the "props talking". we just looked at each other, didnt say a word. packed our gear up and got the hell out of there. 2 months later, it came down from the top. not massive splits, but lots of hairline fractures on the surface. we pulled lots of nice colour though, not anything to retire on, but enough to keep wanting to go back.

i have lost a few good mates over the years propping. jason wiley and allan huchinson. RIP boys. they where only teenagers. waay too young to die.

i have to say also, i miss the lifestyle. i grew up on the field, not in town. im so glad i did now. i live in a city, its so different. no heating water for a shower, no long drop toilet, no solar power. too many noisy neighbours.

im going out to the gem show this week. hopefully it will be good, i will sell some material off and buy some good stuff too.

dent

[opalplus]

Over xmas we chatted about near misses .that is when you nearly ended your life.
My nephew Peter for first time shared his story about fighting the last bush fires

He is member of CFA country fire authority, they are a volunteer group of men who fight bushfires in rural Australia.


A crew was out back burnng,that is cleaning up and making a clean path so fire will not jump across
When a wind gust blew the fire straight towards them
The fire was over a mile away but caught up to them in a few seconds
It was extremely hot ,around 120f egress or 40 c degrees and wind was 100 k per hour
Worst conditions to fight a fire
A fire ball came towards them and they ran back to the truck carrying their hoses but the fire caught up with them in a few seconds and no time to drive away in truck or even to hop in the truck
So they all dived under the truck n one guy luckily hit the spray system button and truck was covered in a spray mist

All they could see was fire ball completely cover them
If the spray button hadn’t been activated they would have fried
Apparently spray is very effective in neutralizing heat from fire as you could imagine how hot the fire would have been

These guys are heroes of the bush as they save so many homesteads from bush fires but every year some sacrifice their lives defending rural properties.

[mehoose]

Man they were lucky.
Hope we don't get a repeat of last year like Victoria had, that was gut wrenching.

[PinkDiamond]

YIKES!! I wouldn't want to be on the front lines battling blazes like that. One of my brothers is a fireman, but in NY they don't have to deal with stuff like that thankfully!

[opalplus]

Read health warning To opal cutters

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1642

[sedaopals]

The new opal fields in Welo Ethiopia have had up to 20 mining deaths since 1990 with 7 being repoted killed in one accident in the Wegel Tena field.The opal is found in levels on the eroded hill sides and if mining is done with out proper supports the roof can collapse. It is obviously a very dangerous job even in a situation wherein a high level of extraordinary precautionary and protective measures are taken. Accidents can happen in the process. The govertment has supplied villiages with basic mining tools but even safety hats are not supplied.It is hoped future mining courses will eductae the miners and make it safer.

This is the side of a plateau that is worked for mining opals.

Basic mining methods are used at present.

[opalfireinfo]

yes, that's what the current situation is ...
obviously the locals are just chipping away at the edges of huge deposits. The next few stages of the supply chain aren't much more advanced. And the motley collection of wholesalers and shippers resident in Addis Ababa aren't quite into the current century either.
So cut it while you can, my friends...
Proper Australian mining and safety standards and operations will mean proper Australian prices for the rough. Large investments will be needed and that means corporate expectations of return on investment. Gone will be the days of dollar a carat rough cutting $200 per carat finished stones. That's the dust of the hobby cutters you see, fleeing in horror...
mike

[PinkDiamond]

So, only a large company could conduct mining operations that would extract more because they could get to the big veins. Tough to find if they're not even in the 21st century, so I guess this type of backbreaking dangerous mining will continue in the foreseeable future. Gotta be a hard life if that's the only way to support your family.

[SwordfishMining]

I don't know of any "big" veins the deeper you go. There is the occasional lode but not as a rule. It's just the same ol same ol through all the tons for a few grams. Most deposits would not support the huge mining structure needed to get the rarities. There'll always be places a man can live out of a hole in the ground, if he is willing to starve half the time.