Coober Pedy Mining
In the heart of South Australia, halfway between Alice Springs and Adelaide lies the icon mining landscape of Coober Pedy. The population of Coober Pedy exploded after the discovery of opals in 1915 and the town still supplies most of the world gem-quality opals used in jewellery.
There are more than 250,000 mine shaft entrances because of a law regulating large-scale mining, so speculators worked around the law by opening multiple entrances. From the surface it may look like we're on another planet but to really appreciate the birthplace of the opal craze you simply must go underground.
