Umoona Opal Mine & Museum - Coober Pedy

This is a very interesting tourist attraction in the middle of Coober Pedy that has been created in an old mine on the Main Street of town. Admission to the mine is free and guided tours are conducted several times a day that take you into the underground mine and rooms dug out of the rock.

Umoona Opal Mine and Museum is highly recommended when visiting town to see a huge range of opals with displays of rough as well as cut stones. The tour started with a short documentary on the story of opals and how they are formed showing the first discovery made in the Coober Pedy Area. The tour takes in underground accommodation – both old and new and we walked through some old tunnel systems to see how the opal is formed and mined. 

You will learn about the different types of opals, see a range of Aboriginal artifacts and paintings and learn about the Aboriginal dreamtime story on the creation of opals. Displays on the cutting and polishing of opals are also undertaken on a regular basis and then you have the opportunity to browse through the displays of beautiful jewellery designed and handcrafted at Umoona - a certificate of authentication is provided with each piece of jewellery. 

We very much enjoyed this visit to Umoona and our daughter now owns an amazing opal necklace made from stone mined in Coober Pedy.