Hart’s & Spicer’s
Laurie Hart (left) and Albert Spicer (right) on the field in 1934.
Hart’s & Spicer’s (sometimes Heart’s & Spicer’s, Heart’s & Spice’s) is an opal field located near the Three Mile, discovered in the early 1930s.
The field takes its name from Laurie Hart and Bert Spicer, who were late arrivals to a rush that had formed after George Lowe and “Nobby” Otto turned up a bit of colour in 1932. Although many notable miners pegged claims, including the Bruce and Dominick families, George Bailey, Peter Ferguson, and Victor Duplain, it was Hart and Spicer who struck it lucky. Having missed pegging the claim they wanted, they took over a claim previously pegged by the Bruce brothers, who dismissed the area as “blocky.” Three weeks later, Hart and Spicer uncovered a patch seventy feet down under a rotten roof in unusual blackish opal dirt.
The opal they uncovered was of exceptional quality, thick colour bars, jet black potch, and striking ribbon and flag patterns. When polished, the stones resembled fine doublets. The find remains one of the best known patches from the Three Mile.
The field gained attention in 1934 when it was visited by Lord Game, Governor of New South Wales, and Lady Game during their regional tour.
Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, pp. 42-43, 57, 71; Discover Opals: Before and Beyond 2000 with Surface Indications, Stephen Aracic, 1996, pp. 145, 147.