Mintabie
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Mintabie South Australia |
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 Mintabie
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| Coordinates | 27°18′0″S 133°17′0″E / 27.30000°S 133.28333°ECoordinates: 27°18′0″S 133°17′0″E / 27.30000°S 133.28333°E | ||||||||
| Population | 250 (2001; OACDT) | ||||||||
| Established | 1978 | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5724 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 353 m (1,158 ft) | ||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Giles | ||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Grey | ||||||||
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Mintabie is an opal mining community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara or "APY" Lands in South Australia. It is unique in comparison to other communities situated in the APY Lands, in that its residents are largely not of Indigenous Australian origin, and significant mining activity (of opal gemstones) is occurring.
Mintabie is situated west of the Stuart Highway and approximately 35 kilometres northwest of Marla and 980 kilometres northwest of the capital of South Australia, Adelaide. Mintabie is approximately 200 kilometres south of the Northern Territory border.
Mintabie sits in a geographical basin. It is therefore not surprising that there is a lake basin near Mintabie. The Mintabie Miners Progress Association describes the lake as follows:
The lake at Mintabie is fed by many small surrounding creeks. In the past 15 years, it has been filled twice. The first time was in 1988, when higher than normal rainfall filled the lake to capacity. Although the rainfall returned to normal, the lake retained water for approximately three years. Rains in 2000 again filled the lake Today the lake has once again dried up awaiting another big rain.
The parcel of land on which Mintabie sits is leased by the State government from Anangu. The original township lease expired in 2002. On 3 December 2009, the South Australian Parliament passed the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Mintabie) Amendment Act 2009. This legislation creates the framework for a new lease.
The ABS 1999 Yearbook for South Australia states, concerning Opal Mining at Mintabie, that:
The opal fields at Coober Pedy, Mintabie and Andamooka, together with fields in New South Wales, supply most of the world’s precious opal. The estimated value of raw opal production in South Australia was $40.7m in 1997. Most of this is exported to Hong Kong, Japan, United States of America and Germany.
The South Australian Department of Primary Industry and Resources describes Mintabie's geology as follows:
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