G'Day From Lightning Ridge NSW

[Syndyne]

Hi all,

My name is Shaun Galman. I've spent my life living and mining opal full time out here at Lightning Ridge NSW. Always had a great passion for rocks, minerals and geology.

I have also had a love of gold prospecting ever since my father let me do my first pan while prospecting at Adelong way back in 1984 (around age five).

After reluctantly leaving opal mining behind in 2010 (due to the red-tape fuss were are currently in the middle of) gold has now taken up a major part of my life. My elderly father Alan and I still enjoy panning/sluicing/highbanking and with a recent upgrade from the old Garrett Infinium LS (collecting trash here and there since 2005) to a new GPX5000 in the recent weeks I now look forward to finding our first bit of the yellow stuff -without being waist deep in cold water

I'm partially familiar with a few members here. Recently running into the likes of Shivan and WalnLiz on YouTube with their great prospecting videos that get me keen to get amongst it once again.

So I'd just like to introduce myself here and say what a fantastic forum this is. Kudos to the Admin Matt (AKA Nugget) for setting it up!

I look forward to possibly meeting up with any of the members here over time and sharing any knowledge or know-how I can offer. And hey, we're always keen for a prospecting/detecting friend or two.

Cheers and take care.
Shauno.

 

[WalnLiz]

Welcome to the forum Shauno, Looks like you have gained a mountain of knowledge especially with the opals. Great choice in the detector update and i'm sure the 5000 will serve you well. Look forward to your input and I'm sure some great stories are lurking on the horizon . Best of luck Cheers Wal.

 

[Gold miner]

I hear ya on the red tape Shaun!
Welcome aboard.

GM

 

[axeman]

Welcome to the forum mate. Mick

 

[Mystyk59]

Welcome Shaun

 

[Diggerdude]

Welcome to the forum Shauno. We just got back from the Ridge, had a great time.

DD

 

[Nugget]

Welcome Shaun, it's great to have your experience on board and I'm glad your liking the forum so far. I hope to catch you out in the field one day.

Cheers,
Nugget

 

[Dogmatic]

Welcome Shauno. A bit of a step from opals to gold, but all in the same spirit. Sounds like prospecting is in your blood.

 

[Syndyne]

Thanks very much for the warm welcome guys!

I noticed there isn't too much about opal on here as yet so I may open a thread on the topic at some stage.

We are just preparing a trip down to Stuart Town in early May to give the 5000 a decent run. Seems like the usual haunt for a lot of first-timers.

Glad you enjoyed your stay here Diggerdude! It was a pretty busy Easter here this year.

Kindest regards,
Shauno.

 

[Palmer Digger]

Welcome aboard mate, .. and greetings from up near the pointy bit .. It's a great pity that governments, regulatory bodies etc. et al., have managed to gain as much control over our lives and endeavours as they have .. particularly so for those of us who depend on our small scale mining operations for our livelihood .. Our forefathers would just cut bloody red tape and got on with it!

I up for good old fashioned revolt if anyone's interested.

Good luck to you, and say Gedday to your dad from us all too .. Sounds like you're still a good team.

The Digger.

 

[Syndyne]

Welcome aboard mate, .. and greetings from up near the pointy bit .. It's a great pity that governments, regulatory bodies etc. et al., have managed to gain as much control over our lives and endeavours as they have .. particularly so for those of us who depend on our small scale mining operations for our livelihood .. Our forefathers would just cut bloody red tape and got on with it!

I up for good old fashioned revolt if anyone's interested.

Good luck to you, and say Gedday to your dad from us all too .. Sounds like you're still a good team.

The Digger.

Cheers Digger!

I will pass that on to him. He's still going strong at 76 and always looks forward to our little trips here and there. These days I've realised the true treasure is more being in the outdoors with good family and friends. Any gold that comes along is a nice bonus.

It has certainly changed us a lot down here, particularly over the last five years. It's now a constant battle with OH&S and environmental requirements. We just seemed to be working full time for the NSW DPI in the finish. It was a very sad end to what was a pretty great lifestyle -at times- for us. My father and uncle had been here mining since 1964 and our longtime mining partner since 74, so I can only imagine it's affected them inside far more deeply than myself.

I can only hope that we are all still given a fair deal and left alone with the gold for a good many years to come. All the best to you and I wish you good success in your mining endeavours along with all the other great contributors here. It's a wonderful community to be a part of.

If there's ever a mining revolt I'll be right there with you at the front lines!

Kindest regards,
Shauno.

I'll include a pic here of my father Alan and myself mining at a field called Jag Hill (about 40k's NW of the Ridge) back in 2008 so you can put a face to the words, well... with a dust mask anyway.

 

[Nugget]

Loving the man cave Shaun :lol:

 

[Palmer Digger]

Great photo, thanks Shauno .. I've got say though mate, (and if Nugget doesn't mind me putting it this way) you fellas must have balls the size coconuts working in those damned underground shafts sometimes! .. I take a cautious look down,or into, some of the old timer hard rock workings around the Palmer .. I reckon I'd give up my very average sized aforementioned appendages rather than work underground mate .. ay.

 

[Blinkie]

Hi Shaun, I logged in for the first time today & seeing you & dad are from lightning ridge I thought I'd drop yo a line. My dad looks a little older that yours & has been on the Ridge for many years so they probably know one another. Hope the new direction goes well for you both. Bill

 

[Syndyne]

Loving the man cave Shaun :lol:

Thanks Nugget. Mines were my office for 16 years.

Palmer Digger: True. I'd like to say you get used to it after a while but that would be an outright lie. There's still those hairy and highly precarious times like opening up a newly sunk shaft ready for driving when all I was doing was basically swinging from hanging ladders about 40 feet down on a small stand with an electric 900W Kango jackhammer and about a 30-40 foot drop below me. Then there are other times when things become hairy underground. We were working in a large ballroom (open area about 50feet round with timber props in place) at a depth of 47feet back in the 90's that had a small crack running across the sandstone roof. It was safe to us, but you can never be 100% sure. While our mining partner and I were gouging in one of the small pillars of opal dirt left we could hear loud constant cracking noise. Our immediate thoughts were that it was all coming down on us. I think we almost broke the sound barrier getting back to the main shaft! Turns out it was just extremely heavy rain from a storm hitting the ladders and bottom of the shaft. That got the heart racing!

I'll open a thread with a few tales from over the years. I'm sure there's a chuckle or two and a lesson to be had

Blinkie: By all means, feel free to let me know. I most probably know him or know of him if he's been out here for a while. Thanks for those kind words also.

Kindest regards,
Shauno.

 

[kemjak57]

Welcome Shauno, always good to see new 'faces' on here. A new topic and way of life is always interesting. There are so many ways to get through our lives and the more interesting the better. I enjoy traveling to new places for work or play as it all enriches your life. Look forward to seeing pics and hearing about your mining days. Cheers, Rick

 

[humbakman]

Hi Shauno (Syndyne). I came across your posts (extremely interesting)about your time in Lightning Ridge. I have been going off and on to LR for 18 months now from the Sun Shine Coast.It has taken this time to get all set up with all the gear ready to go. We washed our first 10 truck loads a month ago.Lots of potch and one small stone with colour.We are out on the Coocoran at Molyneux's.
From reading your posts of your opal mining days and your openness to share your experiences. I would love to catch and talk about your opal mining days and any advise you could give me. Do you or your family still there?
Thanks Humbakman

 

[LC76]

You might have better luck if you send him a private message instead, cause I don't think he would be watching this old thread.