In the central part of Australia there is a small mining town of Coober Pedy, one of the main attractions of which is its underground houses. The city is known as the opal capital of the world because it is home to about 30% of the world's opal reserves, more than anywhere else on the planet. I invite you to take a short photo walk around the opal capital of the world.

Most likely, the name of the city of Coober Pedy is associated with its unusual houses underground. In the Aboriginal language, Koopa Piti, from which Coober Pedy gets its name, means "white man's hole". The city is home to about 1,700 people who are mainly engaged in opal mining, and their houses are nothing more than underground “holes” made in sandstone at a depth of 2.5 to 6 meters.

It is located in South Australia, on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert, one of the most desolate and sparsely populated places on the continent. At the beginning of the 20th century, mining of precious opals began here, 30% of the world's reserves are concentrated in Coober Pedy. Due to constant heat, drought and frequent sandstorms, miners and their families initially began to settle in dwellings carved into the mountainside - often it was possible to get into the mine directly from home. The temperature in such an “apartment” all year round did not exceed 22 °C, and the level of comfort was not much inferior to traditional “ground” houses - there were bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. But there were no more than two windows - otherwise it would get too hot in the summer.

Due to the lack of underground sewerage in Coober Pedy, the toilet and kitchen in the houses are located immediately at the entrance, i.e. at ground level. Bedrooms, other rooms and corridors are usually dug deeper. The ceilings in large rooms are supported by columns, the diameter of which reaches up to 1 meter.

Building a home in Coober Pedy could even make its owner rich, as it is home to the largest deposit of precious opals. Deposits in Australia, mainly in Coober Pedy, account for 97 percent of the world's production of this mineral. Several years ago, while drilling for an underground hotel, stones worth about 360 thousand dollars were found.

Rooftops of Coober Pedy. A common sight and distinctive feature of the underground city are ventilation holes protruding from the ground.

The opal deposit at Coober Pedy was discovered in 1915. A year later, the first miners began to arrive there. It is believed that about 60 percent of Coober Pedy's residents were from southern and eastern Europe who came there after World War II to work in the mines. For almost a hundred years, this city has been the world's largest producer High Quality opals

Since the 80s, when an underground hotel was built in Coober Pedy, thousands of tourists visit it every year. One of the most visited places in the city of opals was the home of its recently deceased famous resident, nicknamed Crocodile Harry - an eccentric, alcohol lover and adventurer who became famous for his many love affairs.

Photo: underground church in Coober Pedy.

Both the city and its suburbs, for various reasons, are very photogenic, which is why they attract filmmakers there. Coober Pedy was the filming location for the 2006 Australian drama Opal Dream. Scenes for the film “Mad Max” were also filmed in the underground houses of the city. Under the Dome of Thunder."

The average annual rainfall in Coober Pedy is only 175 mm (at middle lane in Europe, for example, about 600 mm). This is one of the driest areas in Australia. There is almost no rain here, so the vegetation is very sparse. There are no tall trees in the city; only rare shrubs and cacti grow.

Residents, however, are not complaining about the lack of outdoor entertainment. They spend their free time playing golf, although due to the heat they have to play at night.

Coober Pedy also houses two underground churches, souvenir shops, a jewelry workshop, a museum and a bar.

Coober Pedy is located 846 kilometers north of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.

Coober Pedy has a desert climate. In summer, from December to February, average temperature is 30 ° C, and sometimes reaches up to 40 ° C. At night the temperature drops significantly, to about 20 ° C. Sandstorms are also possible here.

Underground gift shop in Coober Pedy.

The townspeople escape the heat by digging their own houses underground.

Underground bar in Coober Pedy.

These beautiful precious minerals are mined in Coober Pedy, a city called the “opal capital of the world.”

Some descendants of miners prefer to decorate their underground houses “a la naturel” - they cover the walls and ceiling with PVA solution to get rid of dust, while maintaining the natural color and texture of natural stone. Proponents of modern interior solutions cover the walls and ceiling with plaster, after which the underground dwelling becomes almost indistinguishable from an ordinary one. Both of them do not refuse such a pleasant little thing as an underground swimming pool - in one of the hottest places on the planet this is a particularly pleasant “luxury”.

In addition to housing, Coober Pedy has underground shops and museums, galleries and workshops, restaurants and a hotel, a cemetery and churches (including an Orthodox one!). But there are few trees and flowers here - only cacti and other succulents can withstand the hot, arid climate of these places. Despite this. The city has rolling green golf courses.

Coober Pedy is a regular stop on many tourist routes around Australia. Interest in the underground city is fueled by the fact that films such as Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and The Black Hole were filmed in Coober Pedy. And on the edge of the Opal Capital of the World lies the world's largest cattle farm and the well-known 8,500-kilometre Dingo Fence.

The city is famous for its opals; it is the capital of the opal stone, cast in all the colors of the rainbow. Opal mining is just under 100 years old, and its deposits were accidentally discovered while searching for water in 1915. Noble opal is distinguished by a rainbow play of colors, the reason for which is the diffraction of light on a spatial lattice and its value is determined not by its size, but by the unique play of color. The more rays, the more expensive the opal. One of the Aboriginal legends says that “long ago, spirits stole all the colors from the rainbow and put them in a stone - opal,” according to another, that the Creator came down from heaven to earth and where his foot stepped, stones appeared, shimmering with all colors rainbows. Opal mining is carried out only by private entrepreneurs. However, this industry brings about $30 million annually to the Australian economy.

The Coober Pedy region is one of the driest, most deserted and sparsely populated in Australia. On average, only about 150 mm falls per year. precipitation, and very large differences between day and night temperatures.

If you happen to fly over Coober Pedy, you will not see the buildings we are accustomed to, but only rock dumps with a thousand holes and mounds against the backdrop of the rocky red desert, which creates an unearthly landscape that will stun the imagination. Each cone-mound with a hole in the middle, visible on the surface, is connected by a shaft to the underground world.

Even the first settlers realized that due to unfavorable weather conditions, when the earth is heated by the sun during the day and the heat on the surface reaches 40 degrees Celsius, and at night the temperature drops sharply to 20 degrees (and sandstorms are also possible) - you can live underground in mine shafts after mining opals. The constant temperature of underground houses is around +22-24 degrees at any time of the year. Today, the city is home to more than 45 nationalities, but the majority are Greek. The population of the city is 1,695 people.

Water comes from a drilled site 25 km away. artesian well from the city and relatively expensive. There is no public power grid in Coober Pedy. Electricity is produced by diesel generators, and heating is provided by solar water heating panels. At night, when the heat subsides, residents play golf with glow-in-the-dark balls.

Previously, opal mining was carried out manually - with picks, shovels, and the rock was pulled out in buckets until an opal vein was found, along which they then crawled on their bellies. Almost all the mines are shallow and the main passages in them are made by drilling machines that break through horizontal tunnels the height of a man and from there - branches in different directions. These are practically homemade devices - the engine and gearbox from a small truck. Then the so-called “blower” is used - a machine with a powerful compressor installed on it, which, through a pipe lowered into the mine, like a vacuum cleaner, sucks out rock and boulders to the surface, and when the compressor is turned off, the barrel opens - a new mini-mound is obtained - a waste heap.

At the entrance to the city there is a huge sign with a blower machine.

In which city do people live underground? and got the best answer

Answer from Dark Knight[guru]
Coober Pedy (eng. Coober Pedy) (28°56′S 134°45′E / 28.933333°S 134.75°E (G) -28.933333, 134.75) - small town with a population of 3,500 people in South Australia, 846 km north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The city is also known as the Opal Capital of the World because it has one of the richest opal deposits, containing about 30% of the world's reserves. Common opal was first discovered in Australia in 1849 during the gold rush, but fine opal was not discovered in Coober Pedy until 1915. The name Coober Pedy is translated from the Australian Aboriginal language (kupa piti), as “white man’s hole” or “white man underground”.
Situated in outback Australia hundreds of kilometers from the nearest settlement, Coober Pedy is located in the Stuart Ranges of South Australia, at the eastern edge of the Great Victoria Desert, where Railway from to Alice Springs. Due to the harsh temperature regime and the prevailing mining industry, people constantly live underground in caves, in mine shafts left after mining. Standard home cave bedrooms with a lounge, kitchen and bathroom are located in caves drilled inside the mountain, similar to houses on the surface. This maintains a constant optimal temperature, while on the surface it reaches 40 degrees Celsius (maximum 55 degrees), at which temperature many household appliances become unusable. But relative humidity does not often reach 20% on hot days.
Much of Coober Pedy's attraction lies within the mines, such as the cemetery and underground churches. The first trees that could be seen in the city were welded from pieces of iron. The city has local golf courses with movable grass and golfers lay out small pieces of "turf" around for tee shots.
Coober Pedy is one of many tourist routes across Australia. Coober Pedy was the backdrop for films such as Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Pitch Black. The second season of The Amazing Race was held in Coober Pedy. In the Coober Pedy area, around 2012, they are going to conduct an experimental exercise for an expedition to Mars. Also on the edge of the city is the world's largest cattle farm and the world's longest "Aussie" fence.
With funds from the development of opals, about 30 million dollars a year, city residents could annually buy the world's largest Ruslan aircraft, which could accommodate the entire population of Coober Pedy [source?].
An article about a city underground in 1927 and the people living in it like rabbits contributed to the appearance in 1937 of J. R. R. Tolkien's second most popular literary work after the Bible, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings [source?] .

Answer from 2 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: In what city do people live underground?

Finally I got to the photos of the city of Coober Pedy. We passed it earlier when we were still traveling around the state of South Australia.

To virtually walk around the city, click on the green “View Larger Map” in the lower left corner. When the map opens, drag the little yellow man onto the city streets.

This amazing city. We have very pleasant memories of him.

Coober Pedy is called the "opal capital of the world" and is an Aboriginal word for "white man in the hole."

Up to 90% of the world's precious opal production comes from Australia, and about three-quarters of this comes from the state of South Australia.

At first glance, Coober Pedy is not much different from other mining towns. Dirt roads cross the entire territory and waste rock dumps are visible. But there are no towers or lifts over the mines and there are no buildings.

Strange round mounds with a hole in the middle give the impression of a volcanic area dotted with small ash cones.

Each of these small hills is connected by a shaft to an entire underground world.

The soft, sandstone rocks of the desert are not at all difficult to dig with a pick and shovel, although explosives are also used. Most opals are found at depths of up to 24 m, but many workings are much shallower. Each miner is allocated a small area in which he works. The technique is mostly traditional. A prospector digs up his plot of land, hoping to find a large vein that will bring him a fortune.

In addition to this beautiful mineral, the houses of local residents, dugouts - underground dwellings in which natural temperature control is carried out - are also extremely popular.

Even the first prospectors realized that they could settle relatively comfortably underground, in dwellings that cost almost nothing. As for their successors, their families live in modern underground comfort. Many of their houses are very large and simply luxurious, and some even have underground swimming pools.

These areas are for underground dwellings. Such areas are located on the outskirts of the city. You can buy and dig your own house or motel. During the season, all motels and hotels here are occupied. As everywhere else, you need to book a room in advance.

It should be noted that there is absolutely no water in Coober Pedy - no matter how much they drilled, they have not yet reached the water. When you consider that this is one of the rainiest regions of Australia, it becomes clear that water was initially very expensive because it was transported many kilometers by pack animals, mainly camels. Currently, there is running water, but water is still relatively expensive ($5 per 1000 liters).

Coober Pedy is one of the hottest places on the planet. And in an underground house the temperature stays at 22-26 degrees all year round. We were invited to visit one of these houses. 60% of the city's population live underground.

The owner of the house is named George Russell. He is the owner of Oasis Tourist Park

A good person, very sociable. Gave him a decent discount when we stayed at his motel the first night.

The next morning, George showed his house.

This is the living room.

Indeed, a very pleasant coolness after the scorching sun.

This is a guest house. On the right along the stairs, there is a kitchen and 2 rooms of the owner of the house.

To the left of the stairs are 3 guest bedrooms, a toilet and a bathroom.

All underground rooms are spacious, with high ceilings and well ventilated.

Very cozy and comfortable.

I wanted to have a house like this here. Sometimes we come to live in absolute silence, without radio and electromagnetic waves that surround us everywhere.

The town has not only underground houses, but also numerous underground hotels, restaurants, shops and even churches.

In 1988, the world's first underground hotel was inaugurated. This hotel became so popular that many local residents began opening large and small motels throughout the city, as well as guest houses with 3 and 4 bedrooms.

One of the first underground motels that we saw was “Radeka down under motel”, it is located on the main street of the city.

This is a mid-range motel.

It’s 11 am, and it’s already +36.

We were greeted by the owner of the Martin Motel.

A very colorful guy.

There are rooms that are located in the rock, and rooms that are 6.5 meters underground.

We chose a room, of course, underground. It's much more interesting to sleep there.

It was an active opal mine until the 1960s.

And in the mid-80s, the mine was transformed into an underground complex - a motel.

The cost of living in a motel starts from $32.

This is our number. We rented it for $70 (they gave us a $10 discount).

Everything is very simple. Everything you need is here. The very fact that you sleep underground already sounds unusual. And most importantly, it’s cooler here than at the top. And this was one of the reasons why we went underground.

Overall, I slept well in this room. The only inconvenience is strong audibility. You can hear all the neighbors. Therefore, those with nerves of iron and good sleep should settle here. Gabriel, for example, slept well. And I listened half the night to my neighbor’s snoring and the crying of a small child. So, if anyone needs to sleep, live up in the rock.

These rooms are mainly used by students who do not have money for a room, or lonely tired travelers who quickly fall asleep and hear nothing.

And you can move into this room with a large group and remember the pioneer camp. It would be fun.

To be continued…

To view photos in large size, click on them 1-2 times.

People of the older generation probably remember the Soviet film “Kin-Dza-Dza”. There was an episode where the main characters are brought to the city. But there is no city as such. There are only small pipes sticking out in the middle of the desert landscape. The people in this film (at least some of them) lived underground, and the pipes served for ventilation. Entire settlements lived literally in the ground, only occasionally emerging to the surface.

So the movie city has a very real prototype. This is the mining town of Coober Pedy, located roughly in the center of the state of South Australia. It lies on the Stuart mountain range, 300 kilometers from National Park Lake Air. The outskirts of the city are a deserted and deserted landscape. Hundreds of kilometers around are sparsely populated areas. To Adelaide (most big city state and the fifth largest in Australia) you need to get 850 kilometers south along the Stuart Highway.

Coober Pedy on the map

• Geographic coordinates -29.010474, 134.757343
• Distance from the capital of Australia Canberra is about 1550 km
• Distance to the nearest airport Ceduna is approximately 360 km

All distances are shown “as the crow flies”

And people there really live underground, in specially dug apartments. The decision to live under a layer of earth was dictated by the locals natural conditions. During the day, the air warms up to 40 o C, and by night the temperature can drop to 7 o C. Sudden temperature changes make life on the surface not entirely comfortable. And periodic sandstorms further aggravate the situation.

Here we could not help but deviate from the topic. It seemed to us that these “terribly harsh”, downright unbearable conditions were not so terrible. Read about the Pole of Cold in Russian Oymyakon. The conditions there are really unrealistically difficult. There, even car tires can crumble like chocolate, and temperatures of minus 40-50 are quite common.

What basically forced people to go underground in Coober Pedy? After all, Australia is a wonderful continent; there are many places much more suitable for life. Take Hyams Beach, a beach with perfectly white sand. Scramble in the sand and look at the ocean. Or Fraser Island, where sand has been fighting with the rainforest for hundreds of years. But no, people are drawn to the desert, and even underground. The answer is actually simple. There are huge reserves of the precious mineral here. Opal is why people still live here. It has been mined here since 1915.

This is what opal looks like

In general, simple opal was first found in these places back in 1849 at the height of the gold rush. Full-scale mining began in 1915, when noble opal was discovered here. According to scientists, approximately 30% of all world reserves of this valuable mineral are located here. That's why Coober Pedy is also called the Opal Capital of the World. Opal is widely used in jewelry.

The miners adapted to living in dugouts. It turned out that the temperature there was almost always about 22°C. Miners often went to work directly from home; for this, tunnels were dug directly into the mine. The workers dug entire houses underground, and lived well in them. In addition to housing, there is a bar, a museum, churches, an art gallery and even a hotel for tourists who want to experience what it is like to live underground.

The development of equipment and technology has allowed more than half of the inhabitants to move to the surface, but there are citizens who still live underground. And they live very well. Their house has everything they need for a comfortable stay - a kitchen, living room, bedrooms and even bathrooms. Naturally there is electricity, running water and sewerage. They call these apartments “Dugout” and come in two versions. Natural and modern. In the first option, the walls of the house are only strengthened with special impregnations or an emulsion of ordinary PVA glue. This prevents them from falling off and eliminates dust. In addition, this design creates the illusion of primitiveness. You can take pigments and place mammoths, or in our case kungurus, on the walls. Modern design involves creating familiar rooms, but only underground. In this case, the floor, walls and ceiling are leveled, plastered and poured. The result is a completely modern home. Its underground character is revealed only by the absence of windows. In the beginning, according to tradition, two windows were made near the front door, but then the temperature balance in the room was disrupted. However, now this problem can be solved by installing an air conditioner. Everything else is the same as in any modern house. Sometimes both styles are combined and you can go from a trendy and modern living room to a primitive bedroom.

• translated from the language of the local tribe, Coober Pedy means “white man’s hole” or “underground white man”
• extraterrestrial desert landscapes have become natural settings for some famous films. In particular, scenes from the blockbusters “Mad Max.” Under the Dome of Thunder" and "The Black Hole" were filmed here. There’s even an entire starship from the movie “The Black Hole” preserved nearby.

• The city hosts a number of festivals: Coober Pedy Races, Queen of the Desert and the Opal Festival. And all the residents gather annually to celebrate the end of summer with noisy celebrations.
• according to 2011 data, just under 1,700 people lived in the town
• In 1956, the largest opal was found in the Coober Pedy area. Its dimensions are 28 x 12 x 11.5 cm. Weight is 17,000 carats or 3.45 kilograms. The find was valued at 2.5 million Australian dollars. This nugget was named Olympic Australian Opal (originally The Olympic Australis Opal) in honor of the then Olympic Games in Melbourne
• there is an underground cemetery in the city
• There is no water at all in Coober Pedy. Many times people tried to drill wells, but they never managed to get to the water. The region cannot boast of heavy rainfall - usually no more than 150 mm falls per year. Water comes through a 24 km long pipeline from a small settlement nearby (this settlement could not be found on the map, if you have information about this, please let us know)

Coober Pedy photo

Australia. What do we know about the “Green Continent”? Cute koalas and kangaroos, aborigines, boomerangs, plastic banknotes... But Australia is also a country of opals. And the small town of Coober Pedy in the state of South Australia is her opal capital. It is believed that the opal stone calms the nerves, heals the heart, warns the owner about the presence of poison in food and even gives the gift of prophecy!..

COOBER PEDI, AUSTRALIA: A unique boulder opal found by miners in Coober Pedy. Coober Pedy is the capital of Australia's opal rush. © Dmitry Chulov.

The man who first called Australia the “Green Continent” was probably joking. It is green only along the coast, and in the center there is a barren desert, the bottom of a dry ancient inland sea. Right in the middle of it is Coober Pedy.

Center the map

Movement

By bike

While passing through

South Australia is one of the driest regions of the Fifth Continent. Most of its territory is covered with endless deserts, scrub and salt marshes. But it is in its depths that the country’s real underground storeroom is located.

COOBER PEDI, AUSTRALIA: The picturesque hills of the Brayways Nature Reserve at sunset. The bowels of the earth under these hills hide enormous wealth. © Dmitry Chulov.

The mining town is lost in the endless desert. Instead of trees, grass and flowers there are stones, sand and heat above 50 degrees. Episodes of films about life after a global catastrophe have been filmed here more than once. Even the inscriptions on the fences here correspond: “Welcome to Hell!”, which means “ Welcome to Hell!»

It is 10 hours' drive north of Adelaide. Seekers of happiness and adventurers from all over the world come here to this sun-scorched, dusty city. After all, Coober Pedy is the capital of the ongoing “opal rush” in Australia.

COOBER PEDY, AUSTRALIA: A miners' car parked in the desert at the entrance to the capital of Australia's opal rush. © Dmitry Chulov.

There are signs all around Coober Pedy, like a minefield. " Do not approach the mines!” read the stern warnings. The region of opal mines stretches for tens of kilometers around. Over the years of fever, about one and a half million mines! The locals themselves call the local landscape “ moon valley».

Coming to Australia was his childhood dream. Two years after arriving at " Green continent" Gennady Karpenko found himself in scorched desert. He is a carver: he looks for opals and processes them in his workshop.

Australia produces 95% of all opals in the world. This stone is familiar local residents from time immemorial. True, Australian aborigines have always avoided opals - they believe that a spirit with the head of a man and the body of a snake lives underground, luring people with the magical shine of multi-colored stones.

Opals were found here by accident in 1915. Now Coober Pedy is the richest deposit in the country. Its name comes from a corruption of “Kupa Piti”, which in the language of the Australian Aborigines means... “white people in the hole”.

COOBER PEDY, AUSTRALIA: A sign warning that the surrounding desert has been spontaneously torn apart by opal miners. © Dmitry Chulov.

There is a battery on his belt, a flashlight on his forehead, and an ultraviolet lamp in his hands - the standard equipment of a local miner. Gennady agreed to show us the places where he had recently managed to find large opals. There are no security guarantees. Any mine here could collapse at any moment. Searching for opals is a dangerous business in which everyone works at their own peril and risk!

Gennady, opal carver: “The crack is on this side, see? Sometimes it can be dangerous, everything can collapse here.”

Opals in Coober Pedy are searched for in mines at a depth of 25-30 meters. Some people rise to the surface with nothing for years, while others can become a millionaire in one day...

COOBER PEDY, AUSTRALIA: Gennady Karpenko searches for opals in a mine. © Dmitry Chulov.

In the face, Gennady knows every turn of the adit - he spent more than one day here, underground, with a lantern and a pick.

Gennady, opal carver: “I found some opals in the rock up there, a little here…”

His favorite sound in the mine is the crunch of breaking glass. With this, opals are removed from the rock. After all, opal, in fact, is glass sintered by nature, thanks to the presence of various elements and inclusions, playing with bright sparks in the light. This stone is better visible in ultraviolet light. Therefore, Gennady every now and then turns on a blue lamp in the darkness of the mine.

Gennady, opal carver: “Sometimes when people blast rock in a mine, then they can miss some of the opals. And you, following them, through their waste, can find a vein that will bring 3, 5, 10 thousand dollars ... "

COOBER PEDY, AUSTRALIA: Mining equipment in operation at one of the opal mines. © Dmitry Chulov.

From this one of the niches, having planted explosives, his neighboring miners recently removed opals worth... 380 thousand dollars!

Gennady, opal carver: “No one here asks anyone how much you found, how you sold it - this is not customary in Coober Pedy. There is a lot of cash in this business!”

There are not many places left in the world where you can legally get rich in just one day! Some call it “opal fever,” others call it fortune, and others call it a game of roulette. In the face you can walk a few centimeters from the most valuable stone and not find it. Or you might accidentally stumble upon an opal vein!

Gennady, opal carver:“When from the wall, where there is nothing, from a small crack suddenly this opal, this thick, opens up! When they are with color, you just stop breathing! You just forget how you breathe!”

COOBER PEDY, AUSTRALIA: Prospector Rade shows the opalized shells he found in the ground. © Dmitry Chulov.

Dust, wind and an excavator that consumes tens of liters of diesel fuel per day. Many opal seekers, having arrived not for long, spent in Coober Pedy all life. All you need to do is stake out a plot of land - anyone can do it. Father and son Rade and Roger open-pit mine opals. My son has been masterfully handling an excavator bucket since he was 12 years old (!). The father, who came here in search of happiness back in 1967, is now over 70. He carefully examines the stones below, so as not to miss the cobblestones, which may contain opal, relying on experience and intuition.

Rade, opal hunter:“I found black, pink, green, crystalline – all kinds of opals. True, I was not as lucky as other prospectors. I had enough to pay the bills and live on. I must be the biggest loser of all the old people who work in Coober Pedy!”

COOBER PEDI, AUSTRALIA: The famous boulder opal found in Coober Pedy. Boulder is a type of opal in the form of a layer in the rock. The world's largest boulders are found in Coober Pedy. © Dmitry Chulov.

The pride of Rade and Roger is the huge “ boulder" - opal, which they keep at home. There is no other thing like it in the world! They are in no hurry to sell it and show it only on special occasions.

In small Coober Pedy there are several dozen shops that sell opals. The most valuable of them are pink and black. Depending on the size and quality, the price of processed opals can reach several tens of thousands of dollars!

Dubica works in one of the opal shops in Coober Pedy. Prices here are lower than in big cities Australia: stones are sold here by those who find and process them themselves.

COOBER PEDY, AUSTRALIA: Treated opal displaying colorful sparkles when held up to light. © Dmitry Chulov.

Dyubica, seller: “This stone is crystal opal, big size, transparent and clean. Look, you can see all the colors of the rainbow in it, and the more red there is in the opal, the more valuable it is.”

This stone glows devilishly in the light, its flickering is enchanting. But during processing, opal loses up to 2/3 of its volume, and may even crack, losing its value. Opal is as fragile as glass. It is enough to drop it, and the holographic beauty can break into thousands of fragments. Therefore, only experienced craftsmen can work with opal.

COOBER PEDI, AUSTRALIA: A cut opal in the hands of a carver. © Dmitry Chulov.

Gennady, opal carver: “If the stone is very expensive, sometimes up to $1,000 per carat, it is very difficult to cut it...”

Cutting is the most critical stage of opal processing. Sometimes a master stares at a stone for hours, not knowing how to approach it.

Gennady, opal carver:“Opal processing is always a surprise, a lottery. You can just cut it and get a colorless stone in two parts, and sometimes you see how the stone begins to play in your hands!”

Carvers say that opal must be felt with your hands, only then will the master have success in his work. And luck is exactly what the Australian town of Coober Pedy, gripped by the “opal fever” of our time, needs!

You can watch the video version of this article in the form of a report about Coober Pedy, filmed by me for the program “Their Morals” (NTV) here:

Write in the comments what you would like to know about Australia in more detail?