Gallery: Visit an Underground Mining Town in the Australian Outback

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    Tamara Merino
    01

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    Goran, a miner from Yugoslavia, searches for a trace of opal in the walls of a mine.
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    Tamara Merino
    02

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    Two opal miners using a jackhammer and a tunneling machine.
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    Tamara Merino
    03

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    The opal fields in Coober Pedy.
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    Tamara Merino
    04

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    Gabriele, a German immigrant, sits in her underground kitchen.
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    Tamara Merino
    05

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    Jürgen, a German miner, gets ready to descend into a 60-foot-deep opal mine.
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    Tamara Merino
    06

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    Dirt mounds made by a drilling machine in the opal fields.
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    Tamara Merino
    07

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    A miner uses a circular tunneling machine to expand an opal mine.
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    Tamara Merino
    08

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    Joe has an underground museum including fossils and pieces of opal found in the desert around Coober Pedy.
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    Tamara Merino
    09

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    A glittering piece of opal.
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    Tamara Merino
    10

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    Kids search for pieces of opal on the ground in Coober Pedy.
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    Tamara Merino
    11

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    Jürgen, a German miner searching for traces of opal in the wall of a mine.
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    Tamara Merino
    12

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    Every Sunday, a monk offers service in the underground Orthodox church.
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    Tamara Merino
    13

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    A view of old trucks from inside a Coober Pedy bedroom, with a ceiling made of sandstone.
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    Tamara Merino
    14

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    Each underground house has a ventilation shaft, to recycle the air.
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    Tamara Merino
    15

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    At night, opal shines under UV light; a man searches the opal fields for pieces left behind.
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