White Cliffs, New South Wales

White Cliffs is a small, remote town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia. It is famous for two main things: opal mining and underground living. As of 2021, White Cliffs had a population of 156.

 History 
The town of White Cliffs started in the late 1800s after people found opal there. People have mined for opal ever since.

The first Australian opal was found years before in Queensland, in 1872. However, the discovery at White Cliffs happened later.

Some men were in the area hunting kangaroos. One of the hunters found a nice-looking stone on a hill. He showed it to a jeweller, who said it was an opal. The jeweller told them to find more, because it was worth more than kangaroo hunting.

At that time, opal was not officially listed as a gemstone. So, when the hunters registered their mining area, they had to do it using the "Gold Mining Act" rules instead.