Location: |
132 Wooloroo Rd, Lightning Ridge NSW 2834.
770 km north-west of Sydney. (-29.415043, 147.989814) |
Open: |
All year daily 9-17. Closed 25-DEC. [2022] |
Fee: |
Adults AUD 20, Children (6-16) AUD 8, Children (0-6) free, Family (2+*) AUD 50. [2022] |
Classification: | Opal Mine |
Light: | Incandescent |
Dimension: | |
Guided tours: | self guided |
Photography: | allowed |
Accessibility: | no |
Bibliography: | |
Address: | Walk-in Mine, Opal Mine Adventure, 132 Wooloroo Rd, Lightning Ridge, NSW, 2834, Tel: +61-2-6829-0473. E-mail: |
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info. |
1880s | first red on black opal discovered at Lightning Ridge. |
1963 | Walk in Mine opened to the public. |
2017 | renamed Opal Mine Adventure. |
The Walk-in Mine has underground tours which are followed by a film full of information about opal mining in the Ridge, shown in an underground theatre. There is also a mining display, sale of souvenirs and opals. The site was renamed Opal Mine Adventure in 2017, but it seems the name Walk in Mine is so famous that they now use both names. But they changed their domain name and the name of their facebook page. Hopefully they will refrain from moving completely to facebook.
Lightning Ridge is the place where the first red on black opal was discovered in the 1880s. This is, until today, the most rare and hence the most valuable opal in the World. But the opal fields in the vicinity of the Ridge are exhausted, mining takes place about an hour drive away