402 Andamooka is South Australia's youngest outback opal mining town. It is 120 kilometres north of Woomera, west of Lake Torrens and noted for the quality of its investments and heirloom quality opals. Andamooka was opened up with the discovery of opal in 1930. The main fields are close to the town, where semi dug-out homes are common. The historical cottages, now on the national heritage register were the first semi dug-out permanent homes of the early miners and opal buyers.
Local tours can include inspections of working mines and the historical cottages.
2103 Opal was discovered at Coober Pedy in 1315, today it is Australia's largest and oldest opal mining town, known the world over for the unusual underground lifestyle its inhabitants have been forced to adopt to escape the fierce summer heat. Coober Pedy is on the main Stuart Highway. Its most notable feature is the moon-like landscape of opal mines, holes in the ground dug by several generations of miners and simply left there untended after being discarded. Care should be taken when walking around the area. The mines area is made up of around thirty working fields stretching outwards in a radius of up to fifty kilometres from the town.