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Published: June 23rd 2014
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Chambers of the Black Hand Opal Mine
Our guide, Peter, tells us about how they mine the opal and some wonderful stories of life as a miner. The mine is over 100 years old and is still being worked. After a picnic lunch I wanted to do the Chamber of Black Hand Tour and Underground Shop but Barry wasn’t interested (especially as the price was a bit high at $35 each) so he dropped me off and went back to relax at the van.
While waiting for our tour guide, I strolled over to have a look at a mullock heap and got a surprise when a wallaby and her joey came jumping out from behind it.
When the guide arrived, I was given another ride for the 12 m down to the underground shop in a little lift, even more jerky than the last one! Still, beats walking down all the stairs and back up later.
We started by being taken on another mine tour, but I found this one more lively and interesting and the guide, another Peter, told us lots of things I hadn’t heard previously. The most surprising things were the rules and costs associated with staking a claim. Miners must first complete 2 short courses, each $110, for Mine Management and Mine Safety. Then they must register the claim, for $1,000, and pay the annual fee of $350 plus a $700 bond
Chambers of the Black Hand
When he's not mining, Ron Canlin loves to carve and paint amazing sculptures in the sandstone and clay. This is just part of his Egyptian section. to ensure that they fill the hole back in and return the top to pristine condition once they’ve finished using that mine. If they don’t, they lose the bond and have to pay double for their next claim. Only two claims are allowed per adult person or company and most are only 4 metres square, which explains why they look so close together all over the opal fields. If someone steals from someone else’s claim, they are ratters, and receive rough justice.
It is legitimate, however, to re-register a mine if the owner doesn’t renew their annual fee. The Department of Mines put out a map of the fields and marks where closed mines and lapsed mines are located. If you have a good, rich claim, it’s your bad luck if you forget to renew the fees, someone else can take the mine and re-register it in their own name. It happens, too.
We then came back up to a higher level and were told about one miner, Ron Canlin, who decided that the clay and sandstone on the walls of the mine would be good to sculpt on. He just kept on adding more and more sculptures
Chambers of the Black Hand
Some of his carvings are replicas of famous sculptures, like this "Lion of Lucerne". The original is in Switzerland. until he has created an astounding maze of chambers, each better than the last, full of brilliantly crafted and often painted works of art. He has copied some famous sculptures, like “David” by Michelangelo; the Lion of Lucerne by Bertel Thorvaldsen (which we’ve seen in Switzerland); The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. He has also chosen themes and made large displays about them, like the Egyptian tomb that has a complete sarcophagus with the highly decorated coffin inside and the typical paintings on the wall; a tribute to Aboriginal culture; the three Buddhas, 10 metres tall; the Jungle full of well executed animals, highly coloured; the Superheroes with Spiderman, Batman and Robin, and even Superman “flying” across the ceiling at the entrance of the chamber. Another chamber has characters from movies, including Harry Potter, Golem, ET, Yoda; Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean; Winnie the Pooh and many more. One corridor is lined with cartoonish representations of current and past politicians, Pauline Hanson, Julia Gillard, John Howard and even the Iron Lady herself, Maggie Thatcher.
I was just about to leave, thinking I’d seen everything (some parts several times as I got lost going around the
Chambers of the Black Hand
Ron also has a few chambers devoted to Jungle Animals, like this gorilla and chimpanzees. maze of tunnels) when I spotted a glorious huge purple dragon wrapped around a small cave containing his chest of treasures. Fancy me nearly missing a dragon!
By the time I’d come out of the sculptures Barry was waiting for me at the entrance to the lift up top. It was an amazing display by a brilliant sculptor and I felt I’d had my money’s worth of wonders.
We finished this marvellous day with a visit to the free hot Artesian Bore Baths for a soak in the mineral waters that come from 1,000 metres down in the Great Artesian Basin, under their own pressure, and emerge at 41.5 degrees Celsius. Perfect to melt away your aches and pains, although you can’t stay in too long or you overheat. We spent about 20 minutes in the pool and a good portion of that was with the upper half of our bodies out of the water. We also enjoyed chatting to two locals, one originally from Hamilton, New Zealand and one from Geelong. They both loved living in Lightning Ridge and wouldn’t change.
This was followed by a very nice meal of tender Roast Lamb and vegetables at
Chambers of the Black Hand
Ron's Superhero chambers features include Superman flying overhead. the Bowling Club (and I didn’t have to cook it – so it tasted even better!). I’d been given a DVD of the Chambers of the Black Hand as part of the entry fee, so we put it on to watch when we got back to the van. I remember the first five minutes and then Barry was getting ready for bed. I’d crashed out. I blame the glass of wine with my dinner!
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