THE NSW Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) will be out on the Lightning Ridge opal fields this week conducting an “environmental sweep,” according to director-general, Alan Coutts.
The four-day inspection aims to make certain opal miners abide by the safety and environmental conditions of their mineral claim.
“This campaign has been going on for more than a year now and the state government is determined to continue these sweeps until its objectives have been met,” Mr Coutts said.
The DMR was responsible for ensuring miners rehabilitated their mines when mining ended,  and for keeping environmental impacts to a minimum, he said.
“Opal has been mined at Lightning Ridge since 1903 and 100 years of mining has had a large impact on the area,” he said.
Departmental staff have inspected more than 1300 mineral claims since the program began in August 2002.
“Of those 1300 checks, almost half initially failed to comply with DMR standards, so previously inspected sites were revisited to encourage people to cooperate in the rehabilitation of the historic mining area.”
“We’ve had a positive response from miners who are pleased to work within the community’s heightened expectations of looking after the land, along with those who had previously done the wrong thing,” Mines Minister, Kerry Hickey said.
Four out of five opal miners at Lightning Ridge, who had previously violated environmental or safety standards, have rectified the problems.
The most common breach was unsafe shafts which had inadequate barbed wire surroundings or shaft covers not properly secured.  
Other miners had left rubbish such as old car bodies, tins, car batteries and tyres lying around.  Departmental officers would ensure problems were fixed or miners could have their mineral claims withdrawn, Mr Coutts said.