Bill de Boer’s
Bill de Boer’s (or Bill the Boer’s) is an opal field located northeast of the Lightning Ridge cemetery and west of Hornet’s Rush. It sits on a low rise near the road toward the Woolooroo boundary fence.
The field was named for Bill Smeth, a Dutch miner known locally as “Bill de Boer,” who came to the Ridge via South Africa around 1907–1908. Stuart Lloyd credits the discovery of the field to Allan Gray, while Gan Bruce describes Bill Swift (Smeth?) as striking opal there in 1930. It’s possible both men worked the field at different times.
Bill de Boer’s had a reputation for producing large stones, but opal found was generally considered of inferior quality, light seam and nobbies were typical. The average depth of opal was around 40 feet. According to Lloyd, the field had produced £14,600 by 1967, most of that from a single claim.
Bill Smeth was said to have always found opal. He once rode his bicycle in circles around a shed in town so many times he believed he was back at Three Mile. He also had success at Hammond’s Hill at the Grawin and was known to have travelled overseas.
Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, p. 64; Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, pp. 77-78; Discover Opals: Before and Beyond 2000 with Surface Indications, Stephen Aracic, 1996, p. 139.