LRMA
Lightning Ridge Miners Association

The Lightning Ridge Miners Association,LRMA was established by miners in 1966, and became incorporated in 1974. The Association lobbies Government bodies to help the opal fields remain available to miners, and attempts to open new opal mining areas.

There are currently about 600 members with memberships increasing. The Association is always looking for new members to increase its strength when lobbying Government.

The Association owns 5 opal-processing dams that are leased to miners at reasonable rates. There is no fossicking allowed on these dam sites. These sites are a target for ratters, because opal is left in agitators over night.

The Association has been lobbying for harsher penalties for opal stealing crimes. (Ratting) A ratter can steal a large amount of opal from a mine at night and it would be treated as a minor stealing offence.

A member can go into the office any time and get information on the progress of new areas to be opened up for mining, view arial photos, and study the results of a magnetic survey recently obtained of the Coocoran Field.

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