Harsh policies that aim to target local miners have led to increased uncertainty surrounding the cost of opal internationally, with all of this debate stemming from the closure of Mintabie, a small South Australian mining town that has contributed to the opal trade for well over 40 years. Recent events have resulted in the shutting down of a historic and internationally valuable Opal mining town leading to miners being forced off the family farm.
An independent review of the town, commissioned by the former state Labour government in 2017, was conducted. This report alleged that the town of Mintabie was being used “to supply drugs and alcohol to people living on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands…”,
14 recommendations were given suggesting how the town could proceed; the option to close the town and hand over control to APY lands was listed and then adopted by the former South Australian Government who, following the report, commissioned a review into the future of this well-known opal mining town.
Although the political turmoil Mintabie faces shines light on much bigger societal issues, its closure leaves much uncertainty for the Australian Opal gemstone, leaving those to ask if it will have a larger effect on the international market for years to come.
The Uncertain Life of a Miner
The multi-billion dollar Australian mining industry is not indestructible; in recent years, there has been a distinct change, especially during the pandemic, as the spread of COVID-19 has halted construction and sales. Many importers have declared their closure due to unforeseen circumstances preventing them from fulfilling contracts.
But what does this mean for our Australian miners? Those who live their lives out in the opal mines, collecting the country's rarest stone gem?
Miner Sheldon Dealy lives in Opalton alongside his wife but says he wouldn’t encourage his children to continue in his line of work. "I would love to have my kids come out and opal mine with me," Mr Dealy said, "But I can't recommend it because of the way fees and regulations are going...I think we're the last generation of opal miners. I don't think there'll be much in the future."
Miners face a new onslaught of challenges in their line of work on top of their already intensive labour. High fees, regular changes to regulations, and long waiting time for mining tenure applications to be approved and renewed adds to the ever-growing stress for Australian miners. Many say that the current ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to mining fees fails in its approach, not taking into consideration the many different circumstances that small-scale and local opal miners face, overall ‘lacking flexibility’.
"[The fees] are so extreme that it's difficult to rehabilitate the land without the money they've been pulling away from you," Mr Dealy commented."We're among the cleanest miners in the world. We don't produce any toxic chemicals [and] we don't leave a lot of mess."
Although a Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy (DNRME) spokesperson said in a statement that they are currently reviewing the forms being used by miners, there is little faith that change will be quick. A lack of care for small-scale operations signals a lack of care for Australian gemstones. Mr Dealy commented, saying that, if more miners were to leave (a change many believe to be inevitable), the overall loss to the opal industry would signal a loss to Australian heritage.
In addition, the closure of Mintabie has left many to wonder if local Australian miners are being pushed out of an increasingly industrialized practice.
95% of the international supply of opals comes from Australia; this leads quite a few to believe that the closure of small mining towns (such as Mintabie), and the further eradication of family mining businesses would result in increased pricing for opals internationally, as our country would not be able to meet the high demand for opal, a rare and beautiful gemstone that is already in increasingly short supply.
Arek Varjabedian, a Chicago-based opal cutter and jewellery designer, has called for the Mintabie fields to stay open, as the uncertainty surrounding the town’s future has an impact far beyond a local scale, and has now affected an international industry.
"The prices have sky-rocketed in the US for stones from Mintabie," Mr Varjabedian said, "Demand now more than ever is high in the American market."
This aforementioned price increase has brought the price of Mintabie opal to that of the most expensive opal found in Lighting Ridge; Mintabie opal “does carry weight in the market for its quality,” meaning that the end of the mines would signal the end of a “great selling point for us [jewellers] in the industry”.
Mr Varjabedian ends his statements with a lingering fear: "I'm worried as an artist and opal cutter that the future generation of children won't have access to or see the beauty of Mintabie opal." Mintabie is not only a source of income for many, but a wealth of knowledge. A ban on this land could signal the end of a major source of Australian opal, depriving future generations of the beauty that is to be found within Mintabie.
Dispute Upon Industry Impact
A recent report published by the Department of Energy and Mining stated there was approximately $4 billion worth of unmined raw opal to be found within Mintabie’s stone fields. Such figures are important because, if true, this could sustain mining within the fields ‘for the next 400 years’.
Many people who rely on opals for their income, such as jewellers and opal cutters, rely on these mines for their craft; this fact not only pertains to Australia, as the opals of Mintabie reach a global audience.
Locals have been upset by the State Government’s review of Mintabie, stating that it was ‘biased and inaccurate’. Residents and business owners are legally required to hold a Government-issued licence to mine and operate their business in Mintabie. Residents were notified in July that the current Liberal State Government would uphold the former Labor government's decision to end the opal town's lease.
"It's very interesting considering the pressure that's being put on opal miners who live out here and have tried to live out here for the past 40 years and the assistance we're not getting to remain here," Ms Lloyd-Groocock said, "The industry is perfectly capable of keeping opal mining viable themselves. People just need to be allowed to live where the opal mining is…”
Minister for Energy and Mining, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, said he understood people's interest in continuing to mine at Mintabie. "We're not trying to close down the opal field," Mr van Holst Pellekaan said. He further commented, disputing the uncertainty over the future of the small town, because countries such as parts of Asia and the USA will “get whatever opal they can get...I don’t think this discussion is putting them off opal from Australia”.

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