Andamooka, South Australia

Andamooka (30°26′S, 137°10′E) is a town located approximately 600 km north of Adelaide in the South Australian outback. Opal was discovered in the region in the late 1920s,^[1] and the town developed out of the scattered miners' camps which established in the area. The Andamooka Opal was discovered in and named after Andamooka.

The town has a population of around 500 to 600 people, depending upon the season. The town's main industry was opal mining for many years, however since the establishment of the nearby Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine and the town of Roxby Downs in the 1980s, some residents of Andamooka are now employed in the mine or in Roxby Downs, and many others are retired.^[2]

Annual rainfall is extremely low, with the average in the region just 160 mm per year. The climate is arid, with daytime temperatures in summer regularly topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and night temperatures in winter often dropping to zero (32 degrees Fahrenheit) or below.

The road into Andamooka was sealed in the 1990s, but the remaining roads in the town are still unsealed. The few houses are primarily made of fibro and corrugated iron, and many residents are said to live underground in dugouts, similar to Coober Pedy.

Andamooka is the largest town administered by the Outback Areas Community Development Trust instead of a Local Government Area. It is in the state electoral district of Giles and the federal Division of Grey.

References

1. ^ Outback Areas Community Development Trust, 2003, Andamooka
2. ^ Port Augusta Hospital, 2003, Andamooka Community Health Service

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