General Introduction

“Gems of Coober Pedy” has been prepared for visitors and newcomers to Coober Pedy because there is just SOOO much more to our wonderful town than is immediately obvi-ous. It has, on many occasions been described as a place of ‘magic, mystery & hope.’ Your free 36 page coloured Coober Pedy Guide will assist you to discover the many local attractions, but if you also have chat to some of our friendly locals, you’ll find they’ve got great stories to share also. Coober Pedy is an opal mining town located in the outback of South Australia and is rec-ognised as the largest producer of opal in the world. It is situated within the erosional scarp of the Stuart Range which is generally stony and treeless. The town is surrounded by a moonscape like landscape dotted by shafts and mullock heaps from opal mining activities.

Coober Pedy was discovered in 1915 by Willie Hutchison the young-est member of a gold prospecting party which was desperately look-ing for water at the time. The 14 year old had disobeyed orders and strayed from camp to search for water in the surrounding foothills. When he finally returned after dark, although exhausted he wore a huge grin on his face and his eyes were brightly lit. Willie had not only located a waterhole, he also had a sugar bag full of Opal to show his much relieved father and crew. (see picture to left: Mr Willie Hutchinson)

Due to its remoteness, only a handful of miners worked here in the early years. The first rush took place in 1919 yet there weren't any visiting buyers before 1920. During this period, massive amounts of Opal were produced and the population swelled to a few hundred. The harsh climate & lack of water, which often had to be recycled many times before being discarded, was always a problem. The situation was so critical that the Government built a 2,000,000-litre tank in 1924 which partly solved the problem, allowing water to be rationed at 110 litres per person per week.

" Coober Pedy suffered during the Depression years when opal prices bottomed out. The discovery of the Eight Mile field in 1945 by Toddy Bryant, an Aboriginal woman, caused a great sensation. Her discovery of Opal within 20 centimetres of the surface was a turning point in the history of the field and went a long way towards estab-lishing Coober Pedy's future prosperity. " - Len Cram

Opal Mining The mining industry at Coober Pedy expanded rapidly during the 1960's. Many European migrants arriving in Australia made their way to Coober Pedy, with the same dream as others alike “to make their fortunes!!”. Today it lays claim to being one of the most ethnic communities in South Australia, indeed Australia, with approximately 45 nationalities be-ing represented. Coober Pedy, Andamooka and Mintabie, produce over 90% in quantity of the world's opal. During the 60's and 70's opal mining developed as a multi million dollar industry. Major working areas and famous mines include: German Gully, Black Flag and Benitos Folly South-East of town, Olympic and Southern Cross to the West-South-West. Zorba, Larkins Folly, Hellenic Hill and Russos Folly (15km) East of town. Hans Peak, 8 Mile, 10 Mile, Greek Gully, 14 Mile, 17 Mile and Shell Patch (35km) moving North-West of town in that order.

See below a map of the Coober Pedy Opal Fields

Opal workings now extend for nearly 40 kilometres around the township.

Once off the bitumen, roads are rough and dusty, often impassable after heavy rain.

Pre-historic Coober Pedy In recent years Coober Pedy has become a further curiosity as one of Australia’s most important prehistoric fossil sites in Australia. “In the Footsteps of Time”, the first permanent offsite display of a fossil collection from the SA Museum, was opened in 2000 at the Umoona Opal Mine and Mu-seum in Coober Pedy. The two species date back 115 millions years as being the last of the prehistoric marine creatures known to survive

the ice age. The great inland sea declined and created the miracle of opal and the GREAT ARTE-SIAN BASIN. It is now thought that the sea itself was once a breeding ground for prehistoric ma-rine creatures and holds vital evidence as to what created the last demise of planet earth. There is undeniable evidence in the aftermath of the subsided seas that massive icebergs swept across South Australia many millions of years ago. The only legacy from this era is the existence of the spectacular inland salt lakes like Lake Eyre and smaller remnants, which are frequented by visitors to the area. The magnificent and vast Moon Plain is a mass of polished and other interesting rocks which are native to the Gawler and Flinders ranges. When the original Inland Sea subsided it created that which we now know as the Great Artesian Basin.

Coober Pedy Today Coober Pedy today represents a unique and comfortable lifestyle for its residents centred around the activities of opal mining and tourism. The township of Coober Pedy has underground churches, shops & accommodation. Many of the locals live underground in dugouts where it is cool in summer and warm in winter—generally averaging 23 degrees Celsius inside all year round. Coober Pedy has an area school that caters for children from pre-school to Year 13. There are many sporting clubs to cater for the many differing interests including swimming, basketball, foot-ball, cricket, 8-ball, soccer, lawn bowls, motor club, rifle club and netball. There is also an RSL Club, Lions Club and numerous ethnic clubs. Coober Pedy is the only large town in the far north of South Australia which has a fully fledged District Council. It is a central base for PIRSA operations (SA Minerals and Mining Department); It has a Centrelink office, Post Office with online banking facilities, Westpac Bank, Families SA office, Coober Pedy Area School with a public li-brary & swimming pool; Child Care Services and Kindergartens, an interstate airport; bus terminal and nearby rail. These services have enhanced the opportunities of the off-spring of the original pioneers of the Coober Pedy mining town but have not detracted from the uniqueness of the town itself.

Water Supply Town water comes from a 60 meter deep artesian bore located 23kms north east and is the 5th best quality of water in the nation. Travelers can fill up with drinking water at the northern end of the main street at a water dispenser for just 20cents for each 30 liters.

Population Coober Pedy's population is principally European with a high proportion of persons born overseas migrating here after World War II from southern and Eastern Europe. The majority of these people work on the opal fields of Coober Pedy and are from non-English speaking countries. There are more than 45 nationalities represented in town and whilst many of their children are Australian born, there is a strong adherence to their cultural backgrounds, norms, values and expectations. Approximately 400 Aboriginal people live here as well, many more are transient to the area from surrounding communities.

The population is estimated to be around 3,500 with 150,000 plus visitors each year.

Outback Location Coober Pedy is situated 845 kilometres north of Adelaide and 690 kilometres south of Alice Springs. Prior to 1987 when the Stuart Highway was completely sealed, Coober Pedy was serviced by small planes or long horrendous trips up and down the old dirt road. Today Regional Express Airlines run a 5 day service from Adelaide; 1 coach company services Coober Pedy.

Climate Between April and October the weather is very pleasant and typical of a semi desert climate with sunny days but cold desert nights. From November to March the weather warms up and tempera-tures during summer range from 35 degrees Celsius to 48 degrees Celsius in the shade (Average Winter & Summer temperatures from the Bureau of Meteorology) . The annual rainfall in this area is minimal at around 175 mm (5 inches) per annum.

Geography Coober Pedy is situated on the edge of the Stuart Range on beds of sand and silt stone 100 feet thick, topped with a stony desert that is nearly treeless. Very little plant life exists due to low rain-fall. The sandstone makes it very difficult to grow anything.

The Breakaways The Breakaways are colourful low hills which have broken away from the Stuart Range, hence the name and they are famous for spectacular.

The Moon plain The Moon Plain is a vast expanse of rocky plains unlike anywhere else—except Mars, that is.

The Dog Fence

The Dog Fence is the longest continual construction in the world. Stretching some 5,300km, it be-gins east of Surfer's Paradise in Queensland and ends up north of Ceduna in the Great Australian Bite. Originally built to protect the sheep country in the south from the Dingo (native Australian dog) in the north.

Native Wildlife The main native wildlife found around the Coober Pedy area are kangaroos, wallabies and emus. There are sand goannas, bearded dragons, geckos and perentie lizards. Dingoes are found outside the dog fence. There are about 28 varieties of bird life such as eagles, bustards or bush turkeys, budgerigars, galahs, parrots and finches to name a few. Some pelicans and black swans can be found on nearby lakes after rain.

Industry and Income The local economy centres around opal mining, tourism, primary production and support services. The majority of the population are dependent on the opal mining and tourism industries. The remainder of the population are employed in the isolated areas as property managers and workers, railway workers, highway workers and other government employees. Coober Pedy is quickly becoming the regional service centre of Outback South Australia, being the focus for essential services such as medical, health, welfare, law and order, education and leisure. Opal mining is a gamble and without luck, it is possible for a miner to go for months, or longer, without an income from opal mining. Fortunately with the increase in demands caused by the tourism industry, additional employment may be available to supplement the income. The opal mining industry has seen its highs and lows and with the recent Global Financial Crisis the future of the opal mining industry may be brighter with a bit of luck and good fortune.

Movies made in Coober Pedy Coober Pedy has a diverse and unique terrain, subject to an atmospherically changing landscape causing its popularity as a sought after location by local and international film companies, with high profile movie credits including:

The unusual landscape lends itself as a con-stant port of call for local and overseas ad-vertising campaigns and documentaries who are attracted to locations such as the nearby Painted Desert, The Breakaways, The Moon Plain and of course the Opal Fields which bear strong resemblance to a Lunar Moonscape. Overseas choirs / or-chestras have recorded CDs in under-ground mines here.

What’s On at the Drive In/ Open Air Cinema? Check out the local supermarkets’ notice boards, Visitor Information Centre or Regional Newspaper for details. The Open Air Cinema is located on Hutchinson—see your town map.

1984 Mad Max 3 Beyond Thunderdome – Mel Gibson, Tina Turner 1984 Fire In The Stone – Alan Cassell, 1984 Where The Green Ants Dream – Bruce Spence, Ray Barrett 1987 Ground Zero – Jack Thompson, Donald Pleasance 1989 Salute of the Jugger – Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen 1991 Until The End Of The World – William Hurt, Ernie Dingo, Sam Neill 1993 Stark – Colin Friels, Ben Elton, Bill Hunter 1994 Priscilla Queen of the Desert– Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce 1999 Siam Sunset – Linus Roache, Henry Sveps 2000 Red Planet – Val Kilmer, Carrie-Ann Moss 2000 Pitch Black – Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell 2003 Kangaroo Jack – Dyan Cannon, Bill Hunter 2004 Opal Dream – Vince Colosimo, Jacqueline McKenzie (2006) 2005 “Stranded With Cash Peters” – USA Travel Channel

Opal - our precious Gem. Opal is a form of silica, chemically similar to quartz, but containing water within the molecular struc-ture. Precious opal generally contains from 6-10% water and consists of small silica spheres ar-ranged in a regular pattern. Opal occurs in two varieties, precious opal and common opal (also known as potch) Colour in precious opal is caused by the regular array of silica spheres diffracting white light and breaking it up into the various colours of the spectrum. The diameter and spacing of the spheres controls the colour range. Opal colours also depend on the angle of light incidence and can change or disappear when the gem is rotated. In common opal or potch, the silica spheres are irregular in shape and molecular structure and ac-cordingly white light is unable to be diffracted and consequently there is no colour. Attempts have been made to establish guidelines for determining opal prices but they have been largely unsuccessful because of the gem's infinite variation in colour and pattern. The main factors influencing the price paid for opal are: Base colour: black opal is more valuable than crystal opal which in turn is more valuable than the white or milky opal. Dominant colour: red-fire opal is generally more valuable than a predominantly green opal, which in turn is more valuable than a stone showing only blue colour. Colour pattern: harlequin opal, where the colour occurs in defined patches, is generally more sought after and valuable than pin fire opal where the colour is in small specks. The 'Olympic Australis' from Coober Pedy is said to be the world's largest piece of uncut precious opal and weighs 3.5 kilograms. Its name comes from the fact the piece was found in 1956, the year the Olympic Games were held in Melbourne, Australia There is a marked difference between the value of uncut opal compared with the value of cut and polished stones. Opals may be cut and polished in a number of ways, depending on the nature and thickness of the colour band. Solid (Cabochon) Refers to all opals that naturally occur in one piece having been cut and polished from rough opal. Doublet: A thin veneer of opal may show enhanced col-our with a dark backing. This is achieved by cementing either black or grey silica material, glass or a thin slice of common opal to the back of the opal with an epoxy resin. Triplet: To protect the opal from abrasion, a slice of quartz crystal may be used to cap the thin opal veneer producing a three-tiered gemstone known as a triplet. This type of gem can display brilliant colours. It is a cheaper method of presentation and can enhance the appearance of the opal.

Mining Opal Miners, with a Mining Permit, can peg a claim either 50m x 50m or 50m x I00m to mine for opal. The earlier form of min-ing was by sinking or digging a shaft with a pick and shovel. Driving or tunnelling along the level was then carried out with picks and shovels. When traces of opal were found a hand-pick or screwdriver was used. Nowadays most if not all prospecting shafts are made by us-ing a Calwell-type drill which are used to excavate holes about one metre in diameter using an auger bucket The drills can dig to a maximum depth of about 28 to-30 metres and the opal fields are pitted with thousands of abandoned Cal-well shafts. Waste material or mullock, from the shafts and drives, was originally lifted to the surface by hand windlass, later being replaced by power winches (Yorke hoists) or automatic bucket tippers. Today truck-mounted blowers, which operate like vacuum cleaners, are more commonly used for bringing mullock to the surface. Since the 1970's, there has been a rapid increase in the use of mining machines. Tunnel-ling machines with revolving cutting heads and small underground front-end loaders, called boggers, have been introduced. Bulldozers are employed to remove overburden and expose the level where it is shallow and excavators scrap down the wall surface of the open cut pit. Checkers follow behind watching for opal and the seam is then worked over by handpick. All opal fields have restricted entry. Access is best obtained with your local tour guides. Great care must be taken on the opal fields due to the thousands of open shafts. NEVER step backwards.

Noodling

This is the process of searching through heaps of discarded mullock for pieces of opal

missed by the miners. Many locals make a living off this method and it is popular with tourists. Permission must be obtained from the claim owner to fossick on his/her claim. The most productive heaps are those excavated by bulldozers where opal may have been crushed or overlooked by operators. Nood-ling machines, in which mullock is passed through a darkroom on a conveyor belt beneath ultra violet lights are also used, and this is an-other form of mining.

Most residents live underground...in dugouts Miners soon realised that the temperatures underground were far better during the heat of the summer and cold of the winter. So, it was not long before the miners decided to camp underground in their mines. These original basic dwellings have now developed to a point where luxurious underground homes, known as dugouts, have been planned and built. The ground out of which these underground homes are excavated is known as sandstone. Have you already seen strange looking pipes sticking out of the ground and hills around town? When you see them, it tells you that underneath, there’s a home! It is said that dug-out living began in Coober Pedy when soldiers returned from the trenches of France in 1918. The temperature in dugouts varies only about 5o all year round (21o-26oC) whilst outside it can be 45oC+in the summer and as cool as 4oC on winter evenings. Front yards often store mining equipment as there are no ‘backyards’. Entrances may be very basic but often lead into dugouts providing luxury living with all the mod-cons and décor of above ground homes. One family found so much opal whilst digging their dugout, they now have 13 bedrooms and their opal finds more than paid for their home! Where else, but in Coober Pedy!! Town planning in the early days of Coober Pedy was lacking and accordingly develop-ment in the town was very disorganised. However these planning problems have been corrected and now the whole town area of Coober Pedy has been surveyed and divided up into building blocks or allotments, all numbered with roads and streets being named. The blocks of land were originally owned by the Government but over the years freehold ownership has superseded this. Today land is held by freehold ownership, leasehold own-ership or if outside the town area by annual lease. To commence building a dugout one has to acquire a suitable block of land. All dugouts are excavated from the inside of a natural hill so the block must contain at least part of a natural hill. Once the block of land has been purchased, the owner will get a bulldozer to come in and cut away the lower part of the hill to expose a vertical ‘face’. The owner of the land is able to design the floor plan of the dugout according to the amount of land available. No two dugouts in Coober Pedy are the same. To commence digging the owner will contract the tunnelling work to either a miner or contractor with a tunnelling machine. This machine is similar in size to a bobcat but it has an arm at the front with a rotating cutting heading which moves up and down digging out ground. The excavated area is similar in size to a normal passageway in a house. The cost to excavate a dugout can vary from between $20,000 to $120,000 depending on the area to be excavated. Once completely excavated, the next job is to install plumbing pipes, electrical wiring and then put down a cement floor which is later carpeted or tiled. In dugouts you will always find the ‘wet areas’ (bathrooms, laundries, toilets and kitchens) at the front of the development to allow for ease of disposal of waste water and sewerage (by gravity feed). Dividing walls in dugouts are much thicker than a normal aboveground house and this is necessary to provide support pillars between the rooms. These pillars are usually at least a metre thick or more.

Lighting is either by natural or artificial lights with air circulation provided by installing air shafts throughout the dugout. This will cause a natural circulation of air; warm air rises out through the shafts facilitating a constant flow of fresh air. Families living in underground homes have all the modern conveniences of normal houses. The constant underground temperature of 23-25 degrees means we do not need to use air-conditioners or heaters. We have telephones, television, radio and the internet. We are not isolated from the outside world at all. Council rates are levied against all residences in Coober Pedy based upon their value. The average value of an underground home these days would be approximately $80,000 to $250,000, which is quite affordable when you consider most are very large homes. Coober Pedy is a most unique and interesting place to visit and the underground style of living, shopping, worshipping and dining contributes greatly to that uniqueness.

An example of one underground home

(Faye’s Underground Home, Coober Pedy)