Rouse’s Six Mile

Rouse’s Six Mile is an opal field located near Barreneil Tank, about one and a half miles east-southeast of the Nine Mile and two miles from Thorley’s Six Mile. It was named after Jack Rouse, a boundary rider on Dunumbral Station in the early 1900s.

Rouse had taken over the job after Jack Murray was dismissed for “digging up the country” instead of managing it. Though Rouse rarely mined, he enjoyed riding around the camps and occasionally picked up opal floaters. In 1912, while riding near Barreneil Tank, he found a few promising black nobbies. He later showed them to miners at Thorley’s, including George Stromsbury, who followed Rouse’s directions and uncovered a good patch. Stromsbury named the field in Rouse’s honour.

Only two claims are recorded as producing opal in any quantity, but the field was noted for its big black nobbies and good quality material. Depths ranged from six to thirty feet. According to The Lightning Ridge Book, production by 1967 had reached £6,500. Best claims were worked by George Stromsbury and Mick and Harry Cantwell (not related to the Canfell brothers).

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. 62; Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 92; The Occurrence of Opal at Lightning Ridge and Grawin, with Geological Notes on County Finch, J. W Whiting & R. E. Relph, 1958, p. 10.