Pumpkin Flat

Pumpkin Flat is an opal field located east of Old Chum and south of Bald Hill. It was briefly prospected around 1914, when miners left the busy Three Mile field in search of new opportunities. The area lies on the lower slope of the hill, where the rich black soil was better suited to gardening than mining.

The field earned its name from the pumpkins grown by miners who camped in the area. With access to water from government tanks and nearby abandoned shafts, the fertile soil supported copious rows of pumpkin vines.

Fairly shallow shafts were sunk to an average depth of 8 to 30 feet, but no major opal find was ever made. According to The Lightning Ridge Book by Stuart Lloyd, total production from the field had reached just £1,200 by 1967. Jack “Deafie” Reynolds had one of the more promising claims.

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. 65; Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 84.