Opal Mining Experience

Try your hand at finding fortune in the deserts of Coober Pedy with a hands-on expedition that takes you out digging for opals. With a visit to a working mine and some expert insight into the industry, you get an in-depth look at the livelihood that made fortunes and built the city around you.

Once you meet your guide, get started with an entertaining video that introduces you to the world of opal mining. Then, you're off to one of the more than 70 opal fields that fill the area for some up-close experience with the various styles of opal mining. Along the way, you're told stories that recall the joys and hardships of the town's rise to fame, when the first mines were established a century ago.

The tour then brings you into the Quest Mine, where you pick up a hard hat, torch, and handpick as you get ready to try the miner's life. Use live machinery to seek out your own fortune in the mine, and then sift through the mullock heaps in the search for jewels among the excavated stone. The experience gives you an informative visit to the world of opals before you're carried back to your hotel.