The Lightning Ridge Opal Advisory service

In or about 1982 a group of Lightning Ridge miners, who were all members of the Lightning Ridge Miners Association (LRMA) met together each Saturday morning during the year to provide opal miners with at least an reasonable idea of what the opal they had recently mined was worth, or could be priced at on the field in Lightning Ridge.

The early advisory service members were, left to right- Patrick (Pat) McCerlain, Jerry Lomax (front), Jack Silman (back), Siro Scopels, Pat Leerson-Dash, Ted Priester, Linda?, Ross Smee (front), Neil Schellnegger (back) David Buchannen, Joe Schellnegger, Peter Rosso (Front) Dusan Malinovic.

On of my first visits to Lightning Ridge in which I was priveledged to attend the the advisory service was involved with having discussions with teh group regarding the opal nomenclature, the timing of this visit was probably in the mid 1990’s, and the members of the advisory service at this time from my memory were Joe Schellnegger, Dusan Malinovic and Sally, Frank and Vivi Palmer, Pat McCerlain,Christine Rousell, and Daniela L‘abbate. On and off Michelle Hatcher attended and sometimes Dean Schellnegger, Michelle’s brother. I have probably left someone out so please forgive me. These people though beceame great friends during the early times of making the nomenclature. I also learnt an exceptional amount about valuing and appraising Precious or noble opal from Lightning Ridge.

The valuing or pricing policy and proceedure was well orgainsed by Joe, who has been the stalwart and “administrator” of the service since its inception. Meeting often in a room of the hotel/motel in the “Ridge” the offer to the miners was simple. You can bring in up to six pieces of opal for the service to look at, Joe would act as receptionist and the idea was that no-one on the outside new who the people on the inside making the assesment at any one time and so likewise, those on the inside did not know who the miner on the outside was.So there was a mutual separation of anonymity.

Each opal was presented to the service, separatley, weighed and ticketed by Joe, and recorded for the day on a computer database. Each of the members would palce a “Field” price per carat on the gemstone, and at the end of each parcel the details provided given to the computer operator who would list the results and produce an average of teh say five to ten people in the room. This assesment would be written on a card, and given back to the miner at the end of the session.

The system was simple and effective and to perhaps give an example in the year 2016 the recorded information for opals seen by the advisory service was in the vicinity of $3,615,500 of opal gemstones priced on the field.

To my knowledge this service provided by miners for miners is the only one of its type anywhere on the opal fields of Australia, it may also be the only service of its type in the world of gemstones! That of course again indicates a uniqueness of Australian Opal.

From my point of view though, the learning as a registered jewellery valuer was invaluable to me as a professional valuer. However, it was perhaps the “after party” that was even more important. After the Saturday morning session with the Advisory Service, the attendees would adjourn to what was probably a reserved corner of the local hotel bar. This was the place where the real work and discussion would take place, and we would pull apart treminology, mining and what was happening, cutting preferences, values, markets and such things. There was much more learning to be had in this “after party”. Of course I was quizzed at depth asd to what the city fellers were talking about, as well as information on the gemmological nature of imitation, synthetic and ather varietys of opal, what was happening in the realm of scientific research and similar things.These were and still are wonderful and interesting times of exchangeing opal knowledge with each other.