three years. Rains in 2000 again filled the lake. Today the lake has once again dried up awaiting another big rain. The parcel of land on which Mintabie sits is leased by the State government from Anangu. The original township lease expired in 2002. On 3 December 2009, the South Australian Parliament passed the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights (Mintabie) Amendment Act 2009. This legislation creates the framework for a new lease. Geology and mining The ABS 1999 Yearbook for South Australia states, concerning Opal Mining at Mintabie, that: The opal fields at Coober Pedy, Mintabie and Andamooka, together with fields in New South Wales, supply most of the world’s precious opal. The estimated value of raw opal production in South Australia was $40.7m in 1997. Most of this is exported to Hong Kong, Japan, the United States of America and Germany. In 2007, the South Australian Department of Primary Industry and Resources described Mintabie's geology as follows: the Eromanga Basin borders onto old basement rocks which are about 1,500 million years old and consist of granite and gneiss. Also on the western margin lie the sediments of the Officer Basin which comprise sandstone, quartzite, siltstone and shale about 500 million years old. These sediments were tilted by crustal forces and form prominent hills such as the Mount Johns Range near Marla. The opal deposits at Mintabie occur in a sandstone unit which was bleached and weathered by the same process that affected the Eromanga Basin sediments as described above. Climate Based upon the climate records of the nearest weather station at Marla Police Station, Mintabie experiences summer maximum temperatures of an average of in January and a winter maximum average temperature of in June. Overnight lows range from a mean minimum temperature of degrees in January to in June. Annual rainfall averages . Native fauna Native animal species commonly found in and about Mintabie include the galah, thorny devil and netted dragon lizard and the larger lizard variety known as goanna. Population In October 2017, the Government of South Australia estimated that Mintabie's population was about 30 people, although it was acknowledged this increased to about 60 people at different times of the year. During the 1970s and 1980s, it had a population of over 500 people. Facilities Mintabie has an "all-weather" airstrip, school, and 7-day supply of fuel and services. Accommodation is catered for by the Mintabie Hotel