Opal Miners Memorial Print Page

Monument inlaid with opal in memory of all opal miners of Eromanga.

Eromanga was called Opal Opolis in the 1860's.  The property riders that worked in a very large area around there found opal and the little township of Opal Opolis became a hub of excitement. It is said that there were about 350 people living in humpies in Eromanga, and no less that 1500 men out in the 'Fields'. 

The first spurt of the local opal trade may be said to have been made at Eromanga, by a report that a South Australian had visited the field and taken away with him £2000 worth of stones, and that drovers on the route between Cooper's Creek and Thargomindah were securing the gems and selling them when they reached their destination. Inquiries showed that this was true, and that really large parcels were finding their way South, being shipped thence to Sydney. The township of Eromanga became known locally as " Opal-opolis." Within a distance of about fifty miles some ten or a dozen opal mines were opened up, including Toompine. These were industriously worked for a time, but water became scarce and shearing work plentiful, and as visiting buyers were few and far between, the men gradually eased off.
Extract from the Opal Fields of The Colony, The Brisbane Courier (Qld), 19 March 1897.

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