The LRMA started in 1966 as a voice for the opal miners of Lightning Ridge.

It was incorporated in 1974 and became a formal company so it could obtain a lease to extend the area of their puddling tanks.

The LRMA has had a rich history in determination and struggle of the early miners of Lighting Ridge through to the present trials facing miners today.

The first president of the LRMA was Wallace Ridley in 1974.

John Parish was president in 1975, Neil Parker from 1975 to 1976 and again from 1982 to 1984, Daniel Hatcher from 1976 to 1982, Marijan Babic from 1984 to 1985, James McMahon from 1990 to 1991, Jeffery Dooley from 1991 to 1994 and Jeremy Lomax from 1985 to 1990, and again from 1994 to 2004.

One of the most important events in its 30-year history was the fight against the introduction of the Mining Act 1973 in 1974.

The new Act took away the miner's right from the people to prospect on Crown land, requiring miners to obtain permission in writing from the landholder before any prospecting could take place.

The act also placed a $250 bond on the registration of any claim.

On April 2 1974 about 900 miners, business people, women and children marched down the main street of Lightning Ridge from the Miners Co-operative to the Memorial Hall for a meeting with a representative from the Mines Department.

The result of the protest was a reduction in the cost of the bond, but more than that it showed the unity and strength of miners of Lightning Ridge.

The floods of 1974 also displayed the tenacity of the miners in solving even the biggest problems.

The floods blocked all access to the puddling tanks, preventing miners from getting to work.

The shire council said it was impossible to get through, but miners didn't take it as impossible.

They used their own trucks and machinery to build an all-weather road through the floods from the dry land to the puddling tanks.

The LRMA is its 30th birthday with a dinner dance on Saturday night, which will be a celebration of its history and achievements throughout the past 30 years.

Everyone is welcome, so contact the LRMA office for tickets.