Old Timers Mine

Old Timers Mine is a historic underground opal mine and museum located on Crowders Gully Road in Coober Pedy, South Australia. Originally worked in 1916, it is one of the town's earliest mines, now preserved as a visitor attraction. It showcases original mine shafts, underground homes and opal displays, illustrating early opal mining life. Notable for its authentic tunnels and heritage exhibits, it offers insight into Coober Pedy's opal mining history.

Visitors can explore an authentic underground opal mine with original hand-dug tunnels, shafts and dugout living quarters. The self-guided tour leads through dimly lit passages displaying opal seams, mining equipment, historic photographs and interpretive exhibits about early miners' life. Above and below ground there are displays of opals, fossils and mining artefacts, a gift shop with opal jewellery, and opportunities to learn about traditional mining methods in a preserved 1916 mine setting.

Old Timers Mine dates to 1916 and is one of the earliest opal mines in Coober Pedy, which developed after opal was discovered in 1915. It preserves original workings from the early opal rush era and demonstrates hand-mining techniques used before mechanisation, including underground dugout residences built to escape extreme surface temperatures.

The mine represents the opal mining heritage that defines Coober Pedy as the opal capital of the world. It illustrates the distinctive underground lifestyle and mining culture developed by early European miners adapting to the arid outback environment, which remains central to the town's identity.