A town erased: Daily Mail explores the once-thriving opal mining hub of Mintabie that was wiped off the map - and the disturbing reason why locals were driven out and it was razed to the ground
In the dead heart of Australia, a once-thriving opal mining town which became plagued by drugs and violence has been completely wiped off the map - like it never even existed.
Mintabie stood on baked red dirt about 1,120km north-west of Adelaide and 485km south of Alice Springs, on the edge of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
Five years after it was abandoned on the orders of the South Australian government, Mintabie has been razed and almost nothing remains of the Outback town.
All the buildings have been bulldozed, every piece of infrastructure is gone. Even the sign pointing to the Mintabie turn-off on the Stuart Highway has been taken down.
What is left after Mintabie was forsaken and erased is a landscape reminiscent of a Mad Max movie set, or some other post-apocalyptic world.
Perhaps fittingly, some of what had been built over decades to support the local mining industry has been dumped into an existing pit and covered over.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Mintabie was the largest producer of opal in Australia and one of the most feral frontier settlements on the continent.
More recently, it had been deemed a staging post for drink and drugs being supplied into the APY Lands, a 103,000-square-kilometre swathe of Indigenous-owned country where alcohol is banned.
In the dead heart of Australia, the once-thriving opal mining town of Mintabie has been completely wiped off the map (above) after it became plagued by drugs and violence
Mintabie stood on baked red dirt about 1,120km north-west of Adelaide and 485km south of Alice Springs, on the edge of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands
Mintabie was deemed a staging post for drink and drugs being supplied into the APY Lands, a 103,000-square-kilometre swathe of Indigenous-owned country where alcohol is banned
In 1988, there were 775 miners working the Mintabie Precious Stones Field and opal worth $39million was pulled from the ground. The town was abandoned in 2020
Its residents were finally told to leave the town after a review found 'serious law and order issues' would persist until it was permanently closed.
The last 15 or so inhabitants drove out of Mintabie in January 2020, leaving behind homes and businesses they had built with earnings dug out of the ground.
It had then been slated for 'remediation' in consultation with the Anangu traditional owners, which turned out to mean the total destruction of the vacant and vandalised settlement.
Award-winning photographer Brendan Beirne recently returned to Mintabie after a trip he made in December 2023 to document what was then a ghost town.
'I had heard from a local that demolition had started and was progressing pretty rapidly so I thought I should head out there and have a look,' Beirne told the Daily Mail.
'First thing I noticed was that the signage at the turn-off near Marla had gone. No mention of the old town.
'As I drove into the old townsite I was amazed to see that the whole place had disappeared. Nothing was left. Not one building.
'The only sign of a structure that I could see were the remains of a low stone-walled garden with a large boulder dumped on top.'
Five years after it was abandoned on the orders of the South Australian government, Mintabie has been razed and almost nothing remains of the Outback town
When award-winning photographer Brendan Beirne visited Mintabie before it was razed to the ground, he found a desolate collection of substantial stone structures
Goanna Bar and Grill in Mintabie (above) was a popular watering hole for thirsty locals. Flames tore through the pub in 2021, the year after the town was closed
Mintabie is about 1,120km north-west of Adelaide and 485km south of Alice Springs, on the edge of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands
On Beirne's previous trip to Mintabie he had found a desolate collection of substantial stone structures and corrugated iron sheds lying idle. Houses had been plundered of anything valuable and overturned cars stripped for parts.
'I parked and walked for a while in the eerie silence trying to remember the spots where the old pub, restaurant and general store had once stood,' Beirne said of what he saw this time around.
'The attractive old stone building and all the signs of humanity from my last visit were gone.'
Opals have been mined at Mintabie on an industrial scale since the late 1970s and the industry peaked a decade later. From 1978 to 2016, opal worth $411.13million was mined.
Among the hundreds of hard-living miners who came to the fields seeking their fortunes from the region's famed black opal was a fair share of fugitives, misfits and loners.
Stories were told of Chinese millionaires arriving at Mintabie's airstrip on chartered flights for opal buying sprees and of miners who struck it rich bringing prostitutes into town by the busload.
Darker rumours abounded about bodies being buried in mine shafts, amid high-stakes gambling, drug dealing and alcohol-fuelled violence.
In 1988, there were 775 miners working the Mintabie Precious Stones Field, and opal worth $39million was pulled from the ground.
All the buildings have been bulldozed, every piece of infrastructure is gone. Even the sign pointing to the Mintabie turn-off on the Stuart Highway has been taken down
The town's fate was sealed after the Mintabie Review Panel recommended its closure in a report to the South Australian parliament delivered in January 2018
The residents of Mintabie were ordered out by the South Australian government after a review found 'serious law and order issues' would persist unless it was permanently closed
Smashed solar panels glinted in the harsh desert light and a pair of old work boots rested on a 44 gallon drum in November last year
By the year 2000, there were fewer than 150 miners left on the field, removing opal worth $7.75million, and every year from 2012 onwards costs outweighed results.
The town's fate was sealed after the Mintabie Review Panel found 'increasing lawlessness, drug trafficking and violence in the area' and recommended its closure in a report to the South Australian parliament, delivered in January 2018.
The review was undertaken by the then Weatherill Labor state government in partnership with its federal counterpart and the Anangu, who have freehold title over APY Lands.
'The Mintabie township is an untidy village, with many abandoned, derelict structures across the landscape,' the panel found.
'Numerous car bodies, general rubbish and disused mining equipment add to the need for a significant (expensive) remediation program.'
When the review panel visited Mintabie in October 2017, there were about 30 permanent residents remaining, with 30 more sometimes living in the town.
Back then, there was a Telecentre offering a Post Office, internet café and government services such as Centrelink, plus a Telstra tower, State Emergency Service/Country Fire Service shed and a school.
While the school had a capacity for 100 students, just eight were enrolled.
What is left after Mintabie was forsaken and erased is a landscape reminiscent of a Mad Max movie set or some other post-apocalyptic world
The last 15 or so inhabitants drove out of Mintabie in January 2020, leaving behind homes and businesses they had built with earnings dug out of the ground
Mintabie's homes sat vacant and vandalised as the town's traditional owners, the Anangu, waited for the land to be rehabilitated after four decades of opal mining
'The Mintabie township is an untidy village, with many abandoned, derelict structures across the landscape,' the review panel found
At that time, there were four stores still operating, selling goods including groceries, second-hand furniture, clothing and motor vehicles, as well as the Goanna Bar and Grill.
Flames tore through the pub - hand-built by locals in the 1980s - in 2021, the year after the town was shut down.
The nearest police station was at Marla, about 40km to the east. A church, golf club and pistol club were no longer in use and the town hall had burnt down.
'Serious law and order issues occur regularly in Mintabie,' the panel found.
'There are major concerns by Mintabie residents that the community is not safe, and that further major crimes are inevitable.'
The most widely reported concern about Mintabie was its position as an access point for drugs - mostly cannabis - and alcohol into the APY Lands.
'It is thought that the persons who supply illicit substances in Mintabie are both from within and from outside the township (they are easily identified by residents),' the panel found.
'A significant number of people in Mintabie are living in the township without authority, and there have been significant difficulties with compliance in respect of these requirements.
'The only sign of a structure that I could see were the remains of a low stone-walled garden with a large boulder dumped on top,' photographer Brendan Beirne told the Daily Mail
'The Mintabie township has up to 60 residents over the year. It is unstructured and seriously degraded, with residents living, for the most part, in substandard buildings and shacks'
In 2017, Mintabie had a Telecentre offering a Post Office, internet café and government services such as Centrelink, a Telstra tower, SES/Country Fire Service shed and school
A review of Mintabie was undertaken by the Weatherill Labor state government in partnership with its federal counterpart and the Anangu, who have freehold title over APY Lands
In October 2017, there were four stores still operating, selling goods including groceries, second-hand furniture, clothing and motor vehicles, as well as the Mintabie hotel
'Service providers are generally of the view that the issues relating to drugs and alcohol in Mintabie will remain, so long as people remain in the township.'
The review panel considered three main options for Mintabie: keep the town and opal field open, close the town but keep the field open, or close both.
The panel recommended Mintabie be closed and returned to the management of Anangu. It estimated cleaning up the town would cost $2-3million.
In June 2018 the state government gave residents one year's notice to leave, then issued a six-month extension.
Time ran out on New Year's Eve 2019 but a few days of leeway was granted due to 50-degree temperatures that made moving almost impossible.
After that, Mintabie was left to crumble and Anangu said they did not want the town returned to their management until it was cleaned up.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Mintabie was the largest producer of opal in Australia and one of the most feral frontier settlements on the continent
When the review panel visited Mintabie in October 2017, there were about 30 permanent residents remaining, with 30 more sometimes living in the town
'Numerous car bodies, general rubbish and disused mining equipment add to the need for a significant (expensive) remediation program,' the panel found
Among the hundreds of hard-living miners who came to the fields seeking their fortunes from the region's famed black opal was a fair share of fugitives, loners and misfits
'Mintabie has been a valuable opal mining field for many years, but production has now significantly reduced,' the review panel concluded
The Malinauskas Labor state government allocated $7.7million for the remediation of Mintabie in the 2023-2024 budget.
The Department for Infrastructure and Transport awarded the 'decommissioning' contract to Indigenous-owned and operated civil contractor Intract Australia in November 2024.
The township was closed to public access while all dwellings, secondary buildings, abandoned vehicles and mining equipment were removed, a process which was completed in July.
Most of the solid waste removed from Mintabie was disposed of at the Inkerman landfill facility more than 1,000km to the south-east. Some inert material that does not decompose, burn or cause contamination to soil or water was buried in a pit on-site.
A Department of Energy and Mining spokesman said planning is underway to revegetate the land but no decision had been made about the future of the opal field by the South Australian government.
The APY executive board was suspended in August following governance concerns and an administrator was appointed.
The administrator declined to make any comment regarding Mintabie.
