 Although there was some initial controversy, the first elections were held in 1987, signalling the establishment of the council.Since the establishment of the town, the district has relied nearly solely on the mining of the gemstone opal.After the initial discovery in 1915, a number of large strikes, particularly in 1946 saw renewed interest, and by the 1960s, opal mining was a multimillion-dollar industry, and has remained that way to the present day.