Grawin, Glengarry and Sheepyard Miners Association, GGSMAThe GGSMA office is situated at Glengarry opposite the SES shed. The Association started from a few opal miners doing voluntary maintenance work on the roads around the opal fields. It is now a registered association that has an office and two buying rooms. They also have a road grader, truck and a front end loader for road maintenance. Most of the work is still done by volunteers. Mineral Resources used to own and control the mullock dumps at Grawin. This is where miners dump there discarded opal dirt. With the looming liability risk Mineral Resources refused to take on this responsibility when the old dump was closed. The GGSMA was forced to register a new dump because with out a mullock dump miners could not mine. It is illegal to dump opal dirt any where on the field but in a mullock dump. The liability risk comes from the public fossicking on these dumps where there are unregistered trucks tipping discarded opal dirt. I have seen about 60 men, woman and children fossicking on the mulga dump during school holidays. When a miner arrives at the dump to dump a load of dirt the fossickers swarm around his truck as the dirt is being dumped. Understandably, the committee of the GGSMA have had grave concerns about someone being seriously injured while fossicking on their dump. Over the past 12 months there has been several heated public meetings over the issue. Fences and no trespassing signs did not deter the fossickers, because they had been fossicking there for years and seen it as their right. The committee threatened to close the dump but this would mean all mining would have to cease in the area. We hope a solution has been reached. There are now two dumps, one for the miners to tip on and one for the fossickers. They are alternated every three days so fossickers are never near tipping trucks.
Noodlers (fossickers) in search of opal that has been missed by miners. If colour is found in a pile of dirt they literally turn it upside down looking for any traces of opal.
This is GGSMA’s office and administration building. In the fore ground of the photo is a black and white steel post. This is a Mineral Resources survey peg. This office is actually in the middle of the Glengarry opal field.
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