Coober Pedy heaps

Well, the opals are found deep down under the earth and no one can back fill the holes they dig, it's mainly rock and dust. All the earth that gets dug up stays in heaps on the land so Coober Pedy has many many heaps of dirt, dust and rock everywhere you look and where there's a heap there is a hole so take note of all the warning signs, if you fall down one it might be the last thing you do as some of these holes go down a hundred feet! I can't imagine all the tunnels that must be in the area and to think some have been mined more than once too... that opal fever certainly gets in your blood. They have machines that the miners have developed over time to extract the rock, blowers to extract the dust and others to sort through it all. Looking around at all the strange machinery is really interesting. Here are some photos :)