“Long Ben” Burren

Bernhard Marenius Buran (also Buren, Burren, van Buren, Bruen), known as “Long Ben”, was an opal miner at Lightning Ridge. Often thought to be Swedish, Buran was actually Born in Vardø, Norway, in 1886. Buran emigrated to Australia in 1907 at the age of 21, arriving in Sydney after spending his early years living in Trondheim and Stoksund.

Buran arrived at Lightning Ridge before 1914 — his first known success came in that year, finding good opal with fellow Scandinavian Ohlsen near the Three Mile. He constructed a corrugated iron cottage in 1916 at what became known locally as Buren’s Corner. The hut, later known as Cooper’s Cottage, became a landmark and was wholly relocated to the Grawin in 1926 before being returned in its entirety to Lightning Ridge in the 1930s. Bert Cooper and family later moved into the cottage, occupying it from 1952 until 1993.

Buran partnered frequently with Jim Denis and Danish miner, Alex Larsen. In August 1919, he and Denis discovered a large parcel of opal. In 1930 and again in 1931, Buran and Denis struck more opal on the Three Mile. Per Gan Bruce, on the Bald Hill field in 1926, they sank a promising shaft only to duffer it out. Not long after, Son Bruce and his sons pulled a fine parcel from the same ground.

By 1930, electoral rolls confirm Buran was living in Lightning Ridge. He had married Amelia Lintern in 1929 in Paddington, NSW. He remained at the Ridge into the mid-20th century before moving to Wentworth Falls, where he died in 1953 at the age of 67.

Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, p. 44; Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 71; Walgett Spectator, 2 July 1914, 14 August 1919, 28 August 1919, 15 April 1926, 28 October 1931; A Journey With Colour: A History of Lightning Ridge Opal 1873-2003, Len Cram, 2003, p. 139.