Queensland opal mining hangs in the balance after major land acquisition

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Opals Nouvelles

Australia,Outback,Industry

Opal miners are concerned about the future of their industry as the Queensland government buys a former cattle property used for mining. With 50 per cent of the region's opals coming from this one property, it's raising alarm bells.

Robbie Vinnicombe has spent the past 30 years combing the red dirt of outback Queensland searching for a rare bounty.

"This area alone produces 50 per cent of all the opal that's produced annually for this region," Mr Vinnicombe said. Joseph Taranto and his wife, Natasha, own one of the storefronts in the popular tourist town touted as the "boulder opal capital of the world." Two of his mining claims are in the renewal process but there's been no word from the state government on whether it will be permitted.

It sits at the headwaters of one of Queensland's most important inland river catchments, the Lake Eyre Basin.

 

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