Regulating opal mining

Approval for opal mining and prospecting in South Australia is regulated by the:

Opal Mining Act 1995
Opal Mining Regulations 2012
New forms and notices
Coober Pedy Precious Stones Field Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)
Andamooka Precious Stones Field Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)

The Department for Energy and Mining's Opal Fields Program is responsible for:

tenement administration, regulation and physical inspection of all opal fields in South Australia; and
the development of the Opal Mining Industry through government initiatives, driving best practice and workplace safety with support from SafeWork SA programs.

The updated Opal Mining Act 1995 and Opal Mining Regulations 2012 commenced on 1 January 2021. New guidelines for opal prospecting and mining are now available (the following document updates and replaces the now archived Information Sheets M07 and M08):

MG32: Opal prospecting and mining (PDF 16 MB)

The laws for opal mining apply throughout the state, but there are special provisions within the Act that apply to the proclaimed precious stones fields.