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Koroit Opal Field
The Koroit opal field is an opal mining area in Paroo Shire in South West Queensland, Australia. It is located about 80 km north northwest of Cunnamulla. It is not a town, nor should it be confused with the town of Koroit in rural western Victoria, Australia. It has neither electricity nor running water. Koroit is close to the town of Yowah which also produces a similar type of opal. The Koroit opal field is known for the very distinctive type of boulder opal that is found in its mines. In Queensland boulder opal is found within a 300 km wide belt of sedimentary rocks in the Winton Formation. Here opal is found as a kernel in small concretions. The Koroit Opal field was discovered in 1897 by Lawrence Rostron. The most recent mining events started in 1972 when the popularity and profitability of the stone increased. The mining is done by either open cut large scale mining or by underground shafts. See also *Mining in Australia Mining in Australia has long b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opal
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are considered minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt. The name ''opal'' is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word (), which means 'jewel', and later the Greek derivative (), which means 'to see a change in color'. There are two broad classes of opal: precious and common. Precious opal displays play-of-color ( iridescence); common opal does not. Play-of-color is defined as "a pseudo chromatic optical effect resulting in flashes of colored light from certain minerals, as they are turned in white light." The internal structure of precious opal causes it to di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shire Of Paroo
The Shire of Paroo is a local government area in South West Queensland, Australia. The administrative centre is the town of Cunnamulla. The Paroo Shire covers an area of . In the , the Shire had a population of 1,679. The region incorporates the towns of Cunnamulla, Yowah, Eulo and Wyandra, with Cunnamulla being the hub of the Shire and is centrally situated on the crossroads of the Balonne and Mitchell Highways. Cunnamulla, meaning “long stretch of water”, gets its name from the picturesque Warrego River which meanders past the town and is a popular spot for fishing and water sports. The Paroo Shire has an ever changing landscape, from the Open Mitchell Grass Flood Plains in the East to the Yowah opal fields where the Yowah Nut is found and the Mulga lands to the West. It is an area rich in history, eco systems, flora and fauna. The shire is highly regarded by birdwatchers as the diverse eco-systems lend themselves to ideal habitats for many species. Main industries w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South West Queensland
South West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers . The region lies to the south of Central West Queensland and west of the Darling Downs and includes the Maranoa district and parts of the Channel Country. The area is noted for its cattle grazing, cotton farming, opal mining and oil and gas deposits. At the federal level the whole region is encompassed by the Division of Maranoa. Local Government areas included in the region are Maranoa Region, Shire of Balonne, Shire of Paroo, Shire of Murweh, Shire of Bulloo and the Shire of Quilpie. South West Queensland has a population of 26,489. The region is serviced by the ABC Western Queensland radio station. History Indigenous Aboriginal society traded objects based on need and to promote social cohesion. The South West region of Queensland was the primary source of the traded plant Duboisia hopwoodii, from which a traditional chewing tobacco was made. Kamilaroi (also known as Gamilaroi, Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cunnamulla
Cunnamulla () is a town and a locality in the Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Charleville, and approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane. In the , Cunnamulla had a population of 1,140 people. Geography Cunnamulla lies on the Warrego River in South West Queensland within the Murray-Darling drainage basin. It flows from the north (Coongoola) through the town, which is in the centre of the locality, and exits to the south ( Tuen). The Mitchell Highway passes through the locality from north (Coongoola) to south (Tuen), while the Balonne Highway enters the location from the east ( Linden). The two highways intersect in the town, which is located in the centre of the locality. The Bulloo Developmental Road starts in Cunnamulla and exits the locality to the west (Eulo). Cunnamulla is the administrative centre for the Paroo Shire, which also includes the townships of Wyandra, Yowah and Eulo, and covers an area of . Major industries of the area are wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koroit, Victoria
Koroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, north-west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green pastures on the north rim of Tower Hill. At the 2016 census, Koroit had a population of 2,055. The town borrows its name from the Koroitch Gundidj people who occupied the area prior to European colonisation. History Prior to British colonisation the Koroit area was a rich source of foods for the Koroit gundidj people, whose descendants retain special links with the area. The first European knowledge of the area is the confirmed sighting of Tower Hill by French explorers sailing with Captain Nicolas Baudin aboard '' Le Géographe'' in 1802. The first European settler came to the Koroit area in 1837. A large number of Irish immigrants made Koroit their home in the 1840s and 1850s. The township of Koroit was surveyed and the first town allo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Australia (28 per km2). Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west, and is bounded by the Bass Strait to the south (with the exception of a small land border with Tasmania located along Boundary Islet), the Great Australian Bight portion of the Southern Ocean to the southwest, and the Tasman Sea (a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean) to the southeast. The state encompasses a range of climates and geographical features from its temperate coastal and central regions to the Victorian Alps in the northeast and the semi-arid north-west. The majority of the Victorian population is concentrated in the central-south area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, and in particular within the metropolit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yowah
Yowah is an outback town and locality in the Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yowah had a population of 141 people. The town is known for its opal mining and numerous opal fields that lie around the town as well as the "Yowah Nut" a local type of opal distinctive to the region. Geography Yowah is in western Queensland, west of the state capital, Brisbane and west of Cunnamulla. Access to Yowah is via a bitumen road. History The area was first leased in 1883 to prospective settlers and opal mining has been the central operation within the district since the first opal fields were discovered. In the Yowah had a population of 142. Yowah State School opened on 22 January 1998. It was one of the smallest state primary schools in Queensland; in 2012, there were three students. The school closed in 2017 due to a lack of students. It was at 5 Harlequin Drive (). Its website has been archived. In August 2014, the town committee built two artesian spas. Facil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winton Formation
The Winton Formation is a Cretaceous geological formation in central-western Queensland, Australia. It is late Albian to early Turonian in age. The formation blankets large areas of central-western Queensland. It consists of sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, siltstone and claystone. The sediments that make up these rocks represent the remnants of the river plains that filled the basin left by the Eromanga Sea - an inland sea that covered large parts of Queensland and central Australia at least four times during the Early Cretaceous. Great meandering rivers, forest pools and swamps, creeks, lakes and coastal estuaries all left behind different types of sediment. In some areas, the Winton Formation is over 400 metres thick. To bring with them such a huge amount of sediment, the rivers that flowed across these plains must have been comparable in size to the present-day Amazon or Mississippi rivers. As more and more sediment was brought in, the margins of the inland sea slowly cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concretion
A concretion is a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes also occur. The word 'concretion' is derived from the Latin "(act of) compacting, condensing, congealing, uniting", itself from ''con'' meaning 'together' and ''crescere'' meaning "to grow". Concretions form within layers of sedimentary strata that have already been deposited. They usually form early in the burial history of the sediment, before the rest of the sediment is hardened into rock. This concretionary cement often makes the concretion harder and more resistant to weathering than the host stratum. There is an important distinction to draw between concretions and nodules. Concretions are formed from mineral precipitation around some kind of nucleus while a nodule is a replacement body. Descriptions dating from the 18th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koroit Boulder Opal
Koroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, north-west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green pastures on the north rim of Tower Hill. At the 2016 census, Koroit had a population of 2,055. The town borrows its name from the Koroitch Gundidj people who occupied the area prior to European colonisation. History Prior to British colonisation the Koroit area was a rich source of foods for the Koroit gundidj people, whose descendants retain special links with the area. The first European knowledge of the area is the confirmed sighting of Tower Hill by French explorers sailing with Captain Nicolas Baudin aboard '' Le Géographe'' in 1802. The first European settler came to the Koroit area in 1837. A large number of Irish immigrants made Koroit their home in the 1840s and 1850s. The township of Koroit was surveyed and the first town allotmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koroit Opal Fields
Koroit is a small rural town in western Victoria, Australia a few kilometres north of the Princes Highway, north-west of Warrnambool and west of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Moyne local government area located amidst rolling green pastures on the north rim of Tower Hill. At the 2016 census, Koroit had a population of 2,055. The town borrows its name from the Koroitch Gundidj people who occupied the area prior to European colonisation. History Prior to British colonisation the Koroit area was a rich source of foods for the Koroit gundidj people, whose descendants retain special links with the area. The first European knowledge of the area is the confirmed sighting of Tower Hill by French explorers sailing with Captain Nicolas Baudin aboard '' Le Géographe'' in 1802. The first European settler came to the Koroit area in 1837. A large number of Irish immigrants made Koroit their home in the 1840s and 1850s. The township of Koroit was surveyed and the first town allotmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mining In Australia
Mining in Australia has long been a significant primary sector industry and contributor to the Australian economy by providing export income, royalty payments and employment. Historically, mining booms have also encouraged population growth via immigration to Australia, particularly the gold rushes of the 1850s. Many different ores, gems and minerals have been mined in the past and a wide variety are still mined throughout the country. Production overview In 2019, Australia was the world's largest producer of iron ore and bauxite; the second largest of gold, manganese, and lead; the third largest of zinc, cobalt, and uranium; the fifth largest of salt; the sixth largest of copper and nickel; the eighth largest producer of silver and tin; the fourteenth largest of phosphate; and the fifteenth largest of sulfur. The country is also a major producer of precious stones. Australia is the world's largest producer of opal and is one of the largest producers of diamond, ruby, sapphi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
