The Queensland government's purchase of Vergemont Station last year led to months of uncertainty for miners with tenures inside the former cattle station, which is larger than the Australian Capital ...

The Queensland Government is proposing a major expansion of the Opalton Mayneside Restricted Area to revitalise opportunities ...

Welcome to Coober Pedy, the town that lives underground. Originally a mining town, many of the residents of Australia's Coober Pedy live in dugouts to escape the heat. During the town's summer months, ...

Arsenikakis built an extraordinary legacy as a pioneer of Australia’s opal industry, championing innovation, resilience and ...

The remote town of White Cliffs in Far West New South Wales is famous for dug-out homes and beautiful opals. While few opal miners remain in town all year round, it's still a drawcard in the cooler ...

Gemstones are precious, especially when they come filled with dinosaur bones. Back in the 1980s, a miner unearthed a slew of fossils preserved in opals in an opal mine near Lightning Ridge in ...

There’s nothing that says rustic Nevada like a good old-fashioned mine tour or DIY mine dig. Here are a few of our favorites. (Some mines are open seasonally, so check the dates before heading out.) ...

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SPENCER, Idaho — From Interstate 15, the tiny town passes in a moment, just a blip of brown buildings in the desert. But inside the local stores is a treasure trove. The fire of opals erupts from ...