courtesy of The Ridge News

The Lightning Ridge Opal and Fossil Centre may still be in the planning stages but it already has an impressive collection, and one that is growing all the time.

One of the most exciting recent additions is an opalised dinosaur foot bone that was donated by local miners Rob and Debbie Brogan, along with a large collection of other fossilised material.

The bone belonged to a carnivorous theropod which walked on two legs.

It is causing excitement among experts for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it may belong to a new species.

Fossil Centre committee vice-president Elizabeth Smith was thrilled with the addition.

"Carnivores are the most exciting creatures around and this is the largest specimen of its type found in Australia. It's possibly something completely new to science."

At the moment it is being referred to as the 'Brogan Dinosaur'. The thought of being immortalised in this way would excite most people, but Mr Brogan is unfazed.

After all, it's not the first thing to be named after a Brogan.

When his father, a beekeeper, discovered a new species of Iron Bark tree they named it Brogan's Iron Bark.

The Opal and Fossil Centre's collection has been moving ahead in leaps and bounds recently.

They are regularly getting donations from miners who have stumbled across fossils while searching for opal, including everything from turtle skulls and crocodile teeth to pine cones and mussel shells.

What makes Lightning Ridge fossils so special is that they are all completely opalised.

"I'm just staggered by the things that are coming in," project manager Jenni Brammall said.

"A lot of locals take these fossils for granted because they're found regularly around the Ridge, but they don't realize how unique they are."

One of the most spectacular recent additions was a giant 110 million-year-old petrified log that was found by Tim and Bart Warhurst, Jeff Ainsworth, Coocoran Martin and Mick Lund.

So exciting was this new find that a film crew rushed from Sydney to document its excavation.

Ms Brammall said that unfortunately a lot of valuable fossils had been lost because miners didn't know what they were looking at.

"In the past fossils have even been cut for their opal content, when the fossil was probably worth much more than the actual opal inside it."

Mr Brogan has found many different fossils over the years and said they weren't too difficult to spot.

"We always keep an eye out for them," he said.

"You just have to look for different shapes sticking out of the rock. Teeth and vertebrae are pretty easy to spot."

Those who make donations to the Centre are not out of pocket.

Under the Cultural Gifts Program they receive a tax rebate equal to the value of their donation.