Calsweld Drill beginning to drill a shaft at Allan's Rise Opalfield when cable supporting the drill-head almost parted...scary!

5/21/08 Looked at a couple other parcels of opal and found them to be a bit expensive or a little on the small side…so I had to pass.  The new Aussie friends I met at the rest area stopped by around 11:00 and we were going to go out with a couple miners and watch them do a bit of drilling.  But the equipment broke and so we went out to the 17 Mile Field to see the workings and then had lunch at the “Breakaways”.  The “Breakaways” are a very scenic, badland-like scenic area just north of Coober Pedy.  Later in the day I stopped in to see another opal miner and was informed he’d just found a nice parcel at Allan’s Rise.  John was going to clean it up and grade it and would show it to me the next night.  I’m always happy to see a parcel from Alan’s Rise.  It mostly forms in vertical seams that have rainbow-like patterns that can be cut like horizontal seams.  And some VERY stunning black opal comes from this field as well!  Mostly this opal is found at shallow depths of 20-40 feet which results in very stable healthy opal. Can’t wait to see this parcel!