Opal clay
Opalton was a Queensland town of 600 opal seekers and their families in the 1890s, working in Australia's first opal fields . Today it is an abandoned town, only accessible by dirt road about 125 kilometers from Winton .
There were claims there with the names Little Wonder , Bald Kno and Brilliant Claim and there are said to have been found opalpipes (opalpipes are tubular cavities filled with precious opal) that reached the thickness of an arm and twenty times the value of an annual wage.
When opal prices fell and drinking water became scarce, the opal fields were abandoned in 1915. In the 1960s the prospectors came back and settled there in camps looking for opals. Opalton is now an abandoned city, there is no drinking water, hotel, buildings and no fuel. About 20 people live in the opal area who are looking for opals and also organize tours.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Opaton Outpost. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008 ; accessed on September 25, 2015 (English).
- ↑ Opaton Outpost. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008 ; accessed on September 25, 2015 (English).
Coordinates: 23 ° 14 ′ 35.3 ″ S , 142 ° 45 ′ 40.1 ″ E