Lightning Ridge in uproar, Government told to ‘mine’ their own business
Lightning Ridge miners are in uproar, accusing the NSW government’s Opal Mining inquiry of recommending changes that are potentially disastrous for the local mining community.
President of the Lightning Ridge Tourism Association Andrew Kemeny, who is also a miner, has been extremely vocal about the potential damage to the lucrative tourist market if proposed changes are introduced.
Mr Kemeny said the effect of the ‘Review of NSW Small Scale Titles’ on the tourism industry is directly linked to proposed changes to active mining and this is where the problems begin.
“Fundamentally, the changes include things like limiting the number of claims that miners are allowed to have,” Mr Kemeny said.
“The current laws which have been around for a long-time state that a miner is allowed to have two claims.
“This means I’m allowed to have two claims, my wife can have two claims, and my son can have two claims.
“But one of the recommendations of the inquiry is that within a family unit, you can only have two claims altogether, and we see that as highly anti-competitive. […]
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