"It was a whole-of-community effort," said Maxine O'Brien, secretary/manager of the LRMA.

"Not only did the general community help in identifying areas where there were plants and assist with the spraying but they also let us know areas that we had missed.

"Bruce Hallett did a fantastic job supervising the work-for-the-dole participants, Peter Stonestreet from Macquarie County Council and Gary Grimshaw from NSW Agriculture helped with technical advice and Matthew Goodwin from Walgett Shire Council assisted with mapping areas of infestations.

"The chemical we used is quite slow acting but most plants we sprayed are now looking very sick and brown, although it will take some time for them to die completely.

"Naturally we have not got every plant as some are too small to find and we will be doing a follow-up spray next autumn and once again will be relying upon community support."

LRMA miners' black opal pricing guide

The LRMA has produced a Miners' Black Opal Pricing Guide and it should be available hot off the printing presses next week. The guide consists of a simple points system, some examples of how the point system works and prices.

It is designed as a guide, as no two stones are alike only but it is very easy to use and should give miners an idea of what their opal is worth.

Copies will be available from the LRMA office and we will be running a workshop before the end of the year.

Opal symposium 2003

The Quilpie Third National Opal Symposium is next week. Hope to see lots of Lightning Ridge miners there as it will be our turn to host it in 2005. Bring a swag if you have not yet booked accommodation. It will be a great opportunity to meet up with opal miners from all over Australia and get a first-hand look at how they do it in Qld.