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Source: Opal Identification and Value - Paul Downing Carat Weight Commercial Good Fine Extra Fine 1 to 5 100 & up 300-1,400 1,400-8,000 8,000-20,000 5 to 10 100 & up 300-1,400 1,400-8,000 8,000-20,000 10 to 15 100 & up 300-1,400 1,400-6,400 6,400-16,000 Semi-Black & Crystal-Black Opal Retail Value in US Dollars Source: Opal Identification and Value - Paul Downing Carat Weight Commercial Good Fine Extra Fine 1 to 5 70 & up 300-1,200 1,200-3,000 3,000-5,000 5 to 10 70 & up 300-1,200 1,200-4,000 4,000-7,000 10 to 15 70 & up 300-1,200 1,200-3,600 3,600-6,400 Crystal-Opal Retail Value in US Dollars Source: Opal Identification and Value - Paul Downing Carat Weight Commercial Good Fine Extra Fine 1 to 5 70 & up 150-500 500-1,000 1,000-2,000 5 to 10 70 & up 150-500 500-1,000 1,000-2,400 10 to 15 70 & up 150-500 500-1,000 1,000-2,000 White and Jelly Opal Retail Value in US Dollars Source: Opal Identification and Value - Paul Downing Carat Weight Commercial Good Fine Extra Fine 1 to 7 8 - 16 16-50 50-150 150-350 7 to 15 16 - 50 50-100 100-220 220-350
Opal is classified as black, dark or light according to it's underlying body colour. Molecular structure and alignment determine the variety of hue. For miners, "colour is money". Red is the rarest, violet the most common. Translucent opal of just one colour, called potch, is discarded. Brightly coloured opals are the most valuable and Lightning Ridge produces more of them than anywhere else in the world. A black opal is a natural solid stone with a black or nearly black body tone(ie background appearance).
Whether an opal is a black or not can be determined by nearly closing ones eyes and squinting at the face of the stone. All colours are ignored and the overall body tone (blackness level) can then be seen. When this is compared to the scale of blackness below it is possible to identify how black the stone is. Only stones achieving values N1 to N4 on this scale are considered black opals - attracting the additional value associated of this class of opal.
N1- N2 -N3 N4 -N5 -N6 N7- N8- N9 Black Opal Dark Opal Light Opal
Black opal prices are higher than light opal prices due to the superiority of their brightness, patterns and colour play. Whereas light opal fades in poor light or under fluorescent lights, black opal will retain strong colour. Grey and semi-black opal from Lightning Ridge offers many of the brightness, pattern and colour benefits of black opal, but at more generally affordable prices. A major reason for the relatively high price of black opal is its rareity and the difficulty in finding it. Unlike mineral ores or alluvial gem deposits opal occurs in small pockets or seams, rather than being uniformly spread throughout an area. Opal is "where you find it". Most opal miners work hard in difficult conditions and find nothing for months. A small percentage find just enough to live on, and a very very small percentage do well. The book "Australian Precious Opal - A Guide Book for Professionals" by Andrew Cody is an interesting guide to the range of opals and their prices, especially the price difference between light and dark, though this information is now a little dated as prices have changed significantly since publication.
LUCKY OPALS An ancient Egyptian painting depicting jewellery" The folklore connected with crystals, gems, and precious stones is as old as it is varied. Much of this tradition dates back to the beginnings of civilization, when jewelry was worn not only as adornment but also as protection against occult forces and human foolishness. Amethyst, for example, was thought to sober drunks, quell sexual passion, and cure baldness. Aquamarine was believed to protect seafarers, while emeralds increased fertility and intelligence, imparted prophetic ability, and other wild talents. Rubies provided defense against every kind of misfortune, made hostile neighbors friendly, and promoted one's stature in the community. The opal's nasty reputation however has troubled folklorists for centuries. Fantastic legends have grown up around this harmless stone, cautionary tales designed to discourage those who might otherwise find themselves mortally attracted by its fiery brilliance. To this day, the odd prejudice against opals remains alive and well in some corners of the world, especially in the backwaters of southern Europe and the Middle East, where jewellers won't carry opals and customers won't buy them. Throughout history, while many stones were prized for their positive magical qualities, others were denounced as vessels of evil. No gem was more vilified than the poor opal. Witches and sorcerers supposedly used black opals to increase their own magical powers or to focus them like laser beams on people they wanted to harm. Medieval Europeans dreaded the opal because of its resemblance to "the Evil Eye," and its superficial likeness to the optical organs of cats, toads, snakes, and other common creatures with hellish affiliations. An opal completely contaminated with evil were believed capable of maiming or even killing a person foolish enough to wear or own it. Tales alleging to prove this are few in number, but the belief persists nevertheless, like those old but curiously tenacious admonitions about walking under ladders, stepping on a crack in the sidewalk, or allowing a black cat to dart across one's path. Popular superstitions such as these will be with us always, but however fanciful they may be, most have prosaic origins. The Romans established opal as a precious gemstone, obtaining their supplies from traders in the Middle East. Opals from this era are thought to have come from Cernowitz, a mountainous region in what was at that time Hungary , but now Slovakia. However early Romans believed the source was India, an incorrect belief promoted by traders in order to protect their interests. They believed the opal was a combination of the beauty of all precious stones, and it is well documented in Roman history that Caesars gave their wives opal for good luck. They ranked opal second only to emeralds, and carried opal as a good luck charm or talisman because it was believed that like the rainbow, opal brought its owner good fortune. In the days when Rome spread her legions across Europe and Africa, a Roman Senator by the name of Nonius opted for exile rather than sell his valuable opal to Marc Antony who wanted to give it to his famous lover Cleopatra. In fact, in Roman times, the gem was carried as a good luck charm of talisman, as it was believed that the gem, like the rainbow, brought its owner good fortune. To the Romans, it was considered to be a token of hope and purity. It was also referred to as the "Cupid Stone" because it suggested the clear complexion of the god of love. The early Greeks believed the opal bestowed powers of foresight and prophecy upon its owner, while in Arabian folklore, it is said that the stone fell from heaven in flashes of lightning. The Oriental traditions referred to them as "the anchor of hope". Lucky opal - the stone of hope, the birthstone of October. Early races credited opal with magical qualities and traditionally, opal was said to aid its wearer in seeing limitless possibilities. It was believed to clarify by amplifying and mirroring feelings, buried emotions and desires. It was also thought to lessen inhibitions and promote spontaneity. In the 7th Century it was believed that opals possessed magical properties, and centuries later Shakespeare was attributed with the description of opal as "that miracle and queen of gems". Eastern peoples also dealt very heavily in this precious stone, which was believed to bring luck and to enhance psychic abilities. However, the entire time the Hungarian mines supplied Europe with opal, including a stone for the crown of a Roman Emperor, superstitions circulated attributing evil powers and maladies to the colourful stone. In the eleventh century, Bishop Marbode of Rennes wrote of opal ".
Yet 'tis the guardian of the thievish race; It gifts the bearer with acutest sight; But clouds all other eyes with thickest night. " This is thought to be based on the idea that opal granted its bearer with invisibility, therefore it was a talisman for thieves, spies and robbers! Opals were also thought to have teleportation powers. A piece of opal jewelry might suddenly disappear from some obvious place, only to turn up weeks or months later somewhere unexpected. Of course, forgetfulness might also be to blame. Fear and loathing of the opal did not discourage the development of a counter folklore which cast the stone as a symbol of hope, innocence, and purity. The Arabs of Mohammed's time were quite enamored of the gem, and were convinced they were carried to earth on bolts of lightning. European writers and poets of the Middle Ages also sang the opal's praises, claiming it had curative effect on bad eyes, protected children from predatory animals, banished evil, and made entertainments, friendships, and romances much more intense and enjoyable. Fair-haired girls in Germany and Scandinavia were encouraged to wear opal pins in their hair, as they were thought to add magical luster to their golden locks and protect them from freezing rain, wind, and other vicissitudes of the Nordic climate. In the Middle Ages, the opal was known as the "eye stone" due to a belief that it was vital to good eyesight. Blonde women were known to wear necklaces of opal in order to protect their hair from losing its color. Some cultures thought the effect of the opal on sight could render the wearer invisible. Opals were set in the Crown jewels of France and Napoleon presented his Empress Josephine a magnificent red opal containing brilliant red flashes called "The Burning of Troy. " The "Evil Eye" Medieval Europeans shunned opal because of its likeness to the eyes of several "evil" animals, such as cats. Fear of the Evil Eye, common to cultures the world over, was and remains especially acute in the Mediterranean. Simply defined, the term signifies a covetous or malicious glance meant to bring harm. Witches were thought to possess this awful power in great abundance, though common people with unrealized magical talents could also wield it, albeit unconsciously. The Eye did its stuff directly and indirectly. It could strike its intended victim sick or dead on the spot, or kill family members, blight crops, sicken livestock, or summon a storm with the muscle to level a house, a village, or an entire town. The Evil Eye's association with the opal probably originated in Elizabethan England. There the stones were called "ophals," a shortening of the word ophthalmos, which referred to the human eye. The Evil Eye was accepted as fact in 16th Century Britain, as was belief in omens and auguries. In the minds of superstitious Elizabethans, the occult link between ophals and ophthalmos was both obvious and ominous. Fear of the Eye crossed the Atlantic with European settlers. In Puritan New England, colonists wore heart-shaped pendants with prayers inside to protect themselves from the godless gaze of Satan's servants - witches, sorcerers, and magic workers who could be found in every forest clearing, every abandoned barn, and under every bed. Ironically, they had it all wrong.
The word opal had actually descended from the Roman "opalus," an ancestor of the modern opal that was thought to heal the blind and make a person invisible to his enemies. Opalus was among the most virtuous of stones. To the Romans, who in their own way were even more superstitious than the Elizabethans, it was certainly no kin to the Evil Eye. During the late 18th and 19th centuries opal fell out of favour, as it was associated with pestilence, famine and the fall of monarchies. Opal was also tied to the Black Plague, an affliction that struck in the middle of the 14th Century, ultimately eradicating more than a third of Europe's population and much more in neighboring territories. During the decimation of Europe by the Black Death, it was rumoured that an opal worn by a patient was aflame with colour right up to the point of death, and then lost its brilliance after the wearer died. As the plague put Europe under siege, desperate people searched for a scapegoat. They found several in the persons of Jews, heretics, and, of course, the much-maligned opal. Queen Victoria, however, did much to reverse the unfounded bad press. Queen Victoria became a lover of opal, kept a fine personal collection, and wore opals throughout her reign. "The year 1348, an astrological Martial sub-cycle, saw Venice assailed by destructive earthquakes, tidal waves and the Plague," wrote Isidore Kozminsky in The Magic and Science of Jewels and Stones. "The epidemic in a few months carried off two-thirds of the population of the city sparing neither rich nor poor, young nor old. It is said that at this time the opal was a favorite gem with Italian jewelers, being much used in their work. It is further said that opals worn by those stricken became suddenly brilliant and that the luster entirely departed with the death of the wearer. Story further tells that the opal then became an object of dread and was associated with the death of the victim. " Many centuries later, a Spanish king would sully the opal's already sordid reputation further still. In the late 19th Century, Alfonzo XII fell madly in love with a beautiful aristocrat named the Comtesse de Castiglione. The Comtesse reciprocated the King's affection, but months before the pair were to wed the faithless Alfonzo married another woman, the Princess Mercedes. Vowing to get even, the Comtesse sent the couple a wedding present in the form of a magnificent opal set in a huge ring of the purest gold. The princess was immediately smitten by the gift and insisted that her husband slip it on her finger. He obliged, and two months later the princess mysteriously died.
After the funeral Alfonzo gave the ring to his grandmother, Queen Christina, who almost immediately thereafter also expired. After that the ring passed to Alfonzo's sister, the Infanta Maria del Pilar. Maria died as well, apparently victim to the same weird illness that had taken the other two women. The ring was up for grabs yet again, and when Alfonzo's sister-in-law expressed an interest, he let her have it with the usual result. Deeply depressed by then, the King decided to end it all by slipping the ring on his own finger, just as Cleopatra had embraced the asp to terminate her own misery. In little over a month, the ring did to Alfonzo what the snake had done to the Egyptian Queen. The ring was finally attached to a gold chain and strung around the neck of a statue of the patron saint of Madrid, the Virgin of Alumdena. That put an end to the incredible chain of tragic circumstances, but was the gem really responsible for the calamities besetting this royal family? According to Kozminsky, it seems pretty unlikely. "At this time it must be remembered that cholera was raging through Spain," he writes in The Magic and Science of Jewels and Stones. "Over 100,000 people died of it during the summer and autumn of 1885. It attacked all classes from the palace of the king to the hut of the peasant, some accounts giving the death estimate at 50 percent of the population. It would be as obviously ridiculous to hold the opal responsible for this scourge as it was to do so in the previously noted plague at Venice. All that may be said is that in this case the opal was not a talisman of good for King Alfonzo XII of Spain and to those who received it from his hand, and that in the philosophy of sympathetic attraction and repulsion man, stones, metals and all natural objects come under the same law. " The saddest opal saga is the oft-repeated misconception in the last of Sir Walter Scott's novels, Anne of Geierstein (1829), which irrevocably linked opal to misfortune. Having not read the third volume, the public jumped to the conclusion that the heroine has been bewitched, that her magic opal discolours when touched by holy water, and that she dies as a result. On carefully examining the texts, Si Frazier, writing in Lapidary Journal, found all three accusations false. The opal, which actually belonged to Anne's exotic grandmother, turns out to have turned pale as a warning to its owner against poisoning (which was the actual cause of her grandmother's death). Even so, this single work plunged opal prices to half in just one year and crippled the European opal market for decades. George F. Kunz, author of The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, says, "There can be little doubt that much of the modern superstition regarding the supposed unlucky quality of the opal owes its origin to a careless reading of Sir Walter Scott's novel, 'Anne of Geierstein'. The wonderful tale.
contains nothing to indicate that Scott really meant to represent opal as unlucky. " Another contributing factor to opal's bad reputation may be the fact that opals are a relatively fragile gemstone. Opals are a soft gemstone compared to diamonds, and can be broken if mis-treated or treated roughly. This may have contributed to an overall perception of opal as "bad luck", since anybody would be heartbroken to lose a precious beautiful opal or family heirloom. "A possible explanation of the superstitious dread that opal used to excite some time ago may be found in the fact that lapidaries and gem-setters to whom opals were entrusted were sometimes so unfortunate as to fracture them in the process of cutting or setting," wrote George Frederick Kunz in The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. "This was frequently due to no fault on the part of the cutters or setters, but was owing to the natural brittleness of the opal. As such workmen are responsible to the owners for any injury to the gems, they would soon acquire a prejudice against opals, and would come to regard them as unlucky stones. Very widespread superstitions have no more foundation than this, for the original cause, sometimes quite a rational one, is soon lost sight of and popular fantasy suggests something entirely different and better calculated to appeal to the imagination. " One royal opal did bring terrible misfortune to the hapless goldsmith who broke it during setting. The unforgiving Louis XI ordered his hands cut off! It's no surprise that few of his colleagues thereafter had anything good to tell buyers about opal, therefore some blame opal’s maligned reputation on the difficulty that lapidaries had with cutting and setting them. Some maintain that diamond merchants of the mid 19th and early 20th centuries saw the amazing attributes of opal and realised it was going to be a serious threat to their livelihood. When high quality Australian opal appeared on the market in the 1890's, it is understood that diamond cartels actively spread the false rumour that opal was unlucky and seriously damaged the reputation of opals. Opal, with its stunning play of colour, was increasing in popularity and could represent a threat to the lucrative diamond trade now that it was being mined commercially. The story goes that jealous diamond traders spread the belief that opals are bad luck to protect themselves and give opals a bad reputation. Some of the rumours stuck and became the 'old wives' tales which are still repeated today. The lucky stone Isidore Kozminsky in the 1922 edition of his book The Magic and Science of Jewels and Stones states that "perhaps against no other gem has the bigotry of superstitious ignorance so prevailed as against the wonderful opal. " He also cites several historical references to the talismanic qualities of opal including the story of a French baron who resided in London, who owned an opal that had been in the family since the twelfth century. In 1908 he took the opal to the London Pavilion where a soothsayer told him that the opal would bring him good fortune and that he was about to inherit £500,000! The London newspaper "Evening News" reported that within a few days the soothsayers' prediction had come true, it also stated that the ancient opal had a feint inscription in old Spanish, which translated to the words "Good Luck". Another anecdote tells the tale of a rich city financier who took his 'opal ring' to a jeweller: he wanted to sell it because of the ill luck it had brought him. A tale of misfortune was recounted.
As a result of wearing the ring, his wife had fallen ill, a condition that also affected his son, and he encountered among many other troubles financial difficulties and ill health. The jeweller, however, merely smiled and showed him that the stone in the ring was not an opal but a moonstone. Only his imagination had endowed the opal ring with such unpleasant properties. There are many reports of opal bringing people luck, including the many opal miners who have made their fortunes and have lived long and prosperous lives. A well known piece of history comes from the Lightning Ridge Historical Society. Mick McCormack, a young opal miner at Lightning Ridge, rode off on his bike when war was declared and went to enlist, simply saying to his friends "I'll be back". A lifetime went by and a very old man was in the Lightning Ridge Hotel showing a piece of opal that he had mined and carried with him through the Great War. At the time he was showing it a buyer offered him 1500 pounds Australian for the stone. The old man said, "1500 quid? Not on your life, mate - I wouldn't accept fifteen thousand quid. I carried this opal through the war with me and I remember one time when I thought it was my last day on earth. Men were killed all around me. Night time, it was, and there was the flashes of the guns and the shells bursting all around us. My hair was standing up and I was sweating. I was really frightened. I had the opal in my tunic pocket.
I took it out and looked at it and something sort of calmed me down. I looked at the opal in my hand and I thought , some day, I've got to go back to the Ridge. And I'll get back! And I'll take this stone back to where it came from. No mate, money can't buy this stone. " A couple of old miners finally realised who this old man was. They had grown up with him as kids and it was their old mate Mick who had been true to his word and had finally brought his stone home. Despite all of this and more, the bad rap against opals has stuck through the ages. This can be partially explained by human nature. For most people, a bad opal will always have more appeal than a good one, a cursed opal more fascination than an opal that brings good luck, wards off wicked influences, or cures. We humans love a mystery, and the darker the mystery, the better we like it. "Opals", by Fred Ward, Gem Book Publishers, 1997. "Australian Precious Opal", Andrew Cody, 1991. "Fatal Attraction", by D. Douglas Graham, Colored Stone magazine, September / October 2001. Read Jan Stirling the head coach of the ladies world champion basketball team simply known as the Opals , endorsement of the Australian Opal industry .
I must emphasise all Opal gemstone lovers I would highly recommend this course, as you will learn how to price Opals and other gemstones. You then can distinguish between high-quality Opal gemstones and the lower quality opals, solid opals , triplets opals, Black Opal, white opals, Queensland opals, seem opal, synthetic opals . Along with a great understanding of rough opals.
Introduction to Gemology: Barbara Smigel, PhD, GG. Web Lectures: These are the heart and soul of the course. As some of them are fairly lengthy, and all contain many pictures, depending on your connection speed, they may take a few minutes to download.
Lesson 1: Basic Terms. Lesson 2: Naming and Measuring Gems. Lesson 3: Physical Properties of Gems. Lesson 4: Optical Properties of Gems. Lesson 5: Magnification and What it Reveals. Lesson 6: Optical Phenomena in Gemstones. Lesson 7: Gem Fashioning. Lesson 8: Gem Enhancement. Lesson 9: Synthetics and Simulants. Lesson 10: Gem Formation.
Web Essays: These short, to moderate length, one-topic, pictoral essays supplement and enrich the web lectures for each lesson. Lesson 1: Chrome Diopside, Jet, Benitoite, Aquamarine, Rock Crystal Quartz, Red Beryl, Coral, Ivory, Danburite. Lesson 2: Labradorite, Mexican Opal, Chrysocolla Chalcedony, Morganite, Charoite, Tsavorite. Lesson 3: Moldavite, Drusy Gems, Fire Agate, Nephrite, Botryoidal Gems, Hardness, Jadeite, Specific Gravity. Lesson 4: Pyrite, Andalusite, Peridot, Ruby, Rhodocrosite, Dispersion, Tanzanite, Fluorite, Chrysoprase. Lesson 5: Included Quartz, Rubellite Tourmaline. Lesson 6: Aventurescent Gems, Chatoyance, Star Stones, Color Change Stones, Iridescent Gems, Cat'seye Stones. Lesson 7: Considering Faceting, Less Common Organic Gems. Lesson 8: Tanzanite, Zircon, Blue Topaz, Iolite, Oregon Sunstone, Spinel, Uvarovite Garnet. Lesson 9: Synthetics, Simulants and Fakes, Assembled Stones, Natural Pearls, Freshwater Cultured Pearls, Saltwater Cultured Pearls. Lesson 10: Sugilite, Malachite, Turquoise, Fossil Plants as Gems, Birthstones, Lapis Lazuli, Meteorites as Gems. Pronunication Guide: Alphabetically listed audio files with the correct pronunciation for some of the terms in the Web Lectures and Essays. How do you say that word? Bonus information: Survey of Gemstones A-Z (Very little lecturing here, just a bunch of cool pictures of common and rare gems with a few bullet points on each), downloads as Powerpoint presentation in pdf format. Pictoral Survey of Gems A-Z: (PDF document). Text Books and Reading Assignments: These are not absolutely necessary for enjoyment of the course materials, but as they are referred to in the lectures, some of you might like to have them. Each is available inexpensively from Amazon. com, and other, on and off-line, booksellers. The Smithsonian Handbook of Gemstones, Cally Hall & John Taylor, Dorling Kindersley, 2002. Simon and Schuster's Guide to Gems and Precious Stones, Kennie Lyman, Editor, Simon and Schuster, 1986.
?Assignments: ?f1 Lesson 1: Hall: pgs. 6-11, Lyman: pgs. 10-13 & 272 . ?f1 Lesson 2: Hall: -- , Lyman: pg. 41 . ?f1 Lesson 3: Hall: pgs. 16 - 19, Lyman: pgs. 34 - 37, 42 - 47 & 55 . ?f1 Lesson 4: Hall: pgs. 20 - 22 & 38 - 47, Lyman: -- . ?f1 Lesson 5: Hall: pgs. 24 - 25, Lyman: pgs. 52 - 55 . ?f1 Lesson 6: Hall: pg. 23, Lyman: pgs. 112 - 115 & 222 - 229 . ?f1 Lesson 7: Hall: pgs. 26 - 31, Lyman: pgs. 58 - 68 . ?f1 Lesson 8: Hall: pg. 37, Lyman: --- . ?f1 Lesson 9: Hall: pgs. 34-37, Lyman: pgs. 316 - 328 . ?f1 Lesson 10: Hall: pgs. 12 - 15, Lyman: pgs. 37 - 41 .
I must emphasise all Opal gemstone lovers I would highly recommend this course, as you will learn how to price Opals and other gemstones. You then can distinguish between high-quality Opal gemstones and the lower quality opals, solid opals , triplets opals, Black Opal, white opals, Queensland opals, seem opal, synthetic opals . Along with a great understanding of rough opals. Keywords that are related to a Internet search on Google for websites that have been indexed under terms and words that are related to the opal industry, the terms and words listed below are many People choices which are type into their browser to search for websites on Google. : Opal jewelry, Opal necklace , Opal pendant, Opal earrings, opal gemstone for sale , Opal gifts, Opal jewellery gifts, jewellery,Opal ,Buy opal, opal gemstone forum, jewelry, crystal opal, black crystal opal, black Opal,black Opal, opal black , Buy Opal jewelry,opal jewelry for sale,blackopal,opal black,opal gemstones,birthstone opal,jewelry,opal ring, opal merchant, mens opal jewelry, ladys opal jewelry,ladys opal ring,mens black opal ring,ladys black opal jewelry, opal jewellery dealer, mens black opal jewelry, ,Opal History, opal information, Opal industry, Opal books, about opal gemstones, opal seller, Opal necklace, Opal pendant, Opal earrings, Opal gifts, testing Opal, purchase Opal, Opal cutting, Opal education, pricing opals, Opal mining, lightning Ridge Opal,black Opal necklace, black Opal pendant,black Opal earrings, Opal jewelry business , retail Opal gemstone jewelry, business related to gemstones,wholesale opal stone, opal internet site,Opal page, opal face book ,opal blog,Black Opal, opal forum .
Today's BLOG,OPALS BLOG SECTION.
Locations to find different types of Opal in Australia, Lightning Ridge is the place to look for the rarest of all Opal, the famous Australian Black Opal the gem quality is absolutely dazzling and is the most gorgeous of all the Australian opals. Coober Pedy is the home of white Opal and are the largest suppliers in the world, and some of the crystal is of gem quality which is great value for gemstone lovers all around the world. Queensland Boulder Opal Fields are scattered around the country Yowah is famous for its Yowah nut opals for around the world. Winton is known for its Queensland boulder opal boulder opal is also found at Quilpie and a few other locations in Queensland. Opalton also has boulder opal, Andamooka has good quality opal to .
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
To days method of opal mining is very economical specially with to days expensive diesel prices, firstly realise there are no government taxes on diesel for the mining industry. The technology is the underground bogor which was designed to move large amounts of opal clay from the face of the drive where you are working and transport the clay to the hoist, so it then can be transported by the hoist to your truck ready for processing. The bogor is basically a very small truck that is driven by a electric engine and is supply by electricity from a large generate which is situated above ground and electric cables are fitted securer to the shaft wall and of course to the bogor.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
Different Opal mining methods used underground the traditional method was moving soil from the face you are working by pick and shovel, and then came along a new piece of technology the jackhammer which is still the most economical way to go looking for Opal. It is certainly still quite slow but at the same time you are close to the face of the working area which if you have good lighting you can clearly see any opal colour that may appear which allows you to stop put the jackhammer down and use a small miners pick which in good hands then will work slowly and never brake the opal. Obviously if you are on opal and you are making money a lot of people will change over to technology like a opal blower and hydraulic opal digger which eliminates all the back breaking work of a jackhammer and manually removing the Opal Clay up and out to the surface of the claim above ground to allow the guy's to operate freely underground and not be restricted by opal over burden.
Opal Information .
The environment it is becoming more and more difficult to operate a business in the outback of Australia these days as governments regulations and red tape seem to be everywhere, and of course the main population lives in the cities of Australia and are not getting the correct information about the worst drought in the history of the country and the consequences ,of this there are no subsidies for the agricultural industry and as the majority of the businesses have left the out back ,the opal towns are slowly closing down, which makes it more difficult for people to go prospecting for minals like black Opal.
Todays opal mining tip.
Getting involved in the black Opal industry at lightning Ridge New South Wales Australia, lightning Ridge is a one-day drive from Sydney or Brisbane it's easy just jump in your car and drive to the Ridge that all you need is yourself and be there , plenty of mining teams looking for people to work with them also there are many companies that a happy to get involved in partnerships particularly with investors or people who have already purchased trucks or other related mining equipment. It is that easy to start your new adventures and you will never look back specially if you love the out doors fresh air mateship, wide open spaces, wildlife then the black opal mining industry at lightning Ridge is definitely for you and you never know unless you have a go you might even become a multi millionaire.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
Mechanical maintenance in the opal industry ,you are usually a hour a way from the nearest town if not further so your work day is gone by the time you drive back to town the day is over. Another reason to have regular maintenance checks is to avoid the problem in the first place becourse it can take weeks to have spare parts transported from a major capital city to a opal outback town, obviously you do not want to have too much time off from work.
Opal Information .
Safety above ground as there are many dangerous objects and particularly shafts and opal open cut mines, if you are walking around fostering for opal particularly after the rain as it helps to reflect the opal visually to the people which are fostering. Please walk slowly turns slowly because if a cover has been let off the top of a opal shaft then it is a extremely long way down if you fall, or so there are lots of old machinery that is laying around rusting which has very sharp and dangerous edges.
Todays opal mining tip.
Signs for black opal visually underground, you are looking for fault lines vertical horizontal or mixed clay colours in the face of yourclaim which we call a blow, another good sign are dog stones which are sandstone chunks or small rocks possibly carrying black nobby, obviously you can still have seem in the floor or where ever it is carrying, the roof is usually your best chance to find Opal so please do not work fast if you are finding colour be patient and do not break your earnings. And last of all steel ban is considered a good sign and if opal colour forms on the steel ban then you have a very long opal gemstone indeed .
Todays opal mining tip.
looking for signs of opal obove grounds there is a couple of different theories on this particular subject, in today's modern world technology plays a big part, many opal mining companies perfer to use technology when it comes to exploration for black opal with a opal drilling rig or truck, bringing the opal Semple's from deep under the ground to the surface for quick analysis looking for signs of nobby or opal colour and even opal fossils. The other method is the old-fashioned way of designing and making a few divning rods and start divining looking for large fault lines that are not visible above ground with the naked eye, and this is certainly a very cheap way of prospecting compared to the price of diesel and the maintenance of a opal truck.
Todays opal .
The technology of diesel opal blowers which can remove opal clay the fastest of all underground technology. The opal blower is set up above ground and consist of a six cylinder diesel engine this technology is very diesel hungry, with a underground hydraulic opal digger you can move large amounts of opal clay which is sucked up by pipes by the opal blower and delivered into your truck ready for washing and processing.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
Opal cut mining at lightning Ridge, this method of mining is only used when a Opal lease has been mined out and is too dangerous to work underground safely. Before undertaking this method you must be very sure that the claim was producing high-quality opal and there still is sufficient amount of clay that could possibly be carrying more opal. As open cut mining is the most expenses method of extracting opal I can only insist that you do your homework well or otherwise you can spend a lot of money . You can do a lot of prospecting with that type of finances and work very economically working a conventional shaft Underground method.
To days Opal topic.
We have talked a lot about prospecting for opal and different methods of opal mining and the different types of opal machinery used, then we must talk about how to process the opal clay which could be possibly carrying opal. Ok the clay is either in your truck or it has been dumped ready for processing most opal miners use a large cement agitater they remove the agitater from a cement mixer truck either a 6 m or 9 m barrel. The barrel along with a six or four cylinder diesel motor must be mounted on a permanent site and you must lease the position on a dam site which is supplied by underground bore water. Attached to the inlet of the bowel you must have a hydraulic vayer belt to lowed the opal clay from the truck into the agitater ready for washing. Obviously you need a small pump at the water's edge to pump from the dam to the agitater which has been modified having on the opposite sides 2 feet square holes cut out and a fine high grade steel mesh fitted firmly.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
As our last subject we talked about processing opal clay, when all the clay has been clearly washed out of the agitater barrel make sure you turn the engine down so it is running very slow as there will only be solids left in the agitater and you do not want to break any opal in the barrel. Put the agitater into reverse and naturally all the material will come up and out and run down the chute to your processing table, make sure you have a good sorting table with access to water and I cannot emphasise opal tailing out should be done extremely slowly" patient is a virtue" you do not want to miss a gem black multicolour nobby this is where a lot of businesses make a huge mistake , many people opal noodling often come some days after looking for what you have missed. And please this final job you must do in the middle of the day where there is plenty of light and sun available , good luck hope you find gem quality multicolour black opal because you will be very rich, wisely invested you can live off your interest for the rest of your life.
Todays Opal mining tip.
Sorting through the opal tailling's this truly is a very most important opal job. Mostly because it is so easy to miss seeing opal colour amongst the black opal nobbys when you are sorting through this final stage of opal mining, it is important to have a half inch waterholes handy , to keep the tailings very clean and wet you must roatate the nobbys looking for opal colour the whole time . On a sunny day if you follow this procedure and have patience, you are working country which is carrying opal nobbys then you will certainly see and not miss any opal if you follow my advice. After collecting all the opal colour and nobbys that you would like to crack open head back to the cutting office. Some people like to have a small opal tumbler which they will then rewash the opalfor a hour or so before pinching and cracking the sides of the opal nobbys which are not carrying opal colour just to make sure there is not any colour carrying inside the nobbys before discarding this material . Then you are ready to orientate and rub down the opal.
Todays opal tip - {How to study rough black opal } - first step is to Separate the opal colour from the non colour. All the black opal potch I would snip with title pinches around the edges of the material just to make sure there is no colour inside. Ok now down to the business orientation opal there is only one advice lots of practice on inexpensive low-grade opal parcels, of course it always helps if you can purchase a good book on the particular type of opal you wish to learn on. And of course there are also CDs and VCRs tapes available these days, and down the track you will become more comfortable cutting and polishing becomes fluid and of course you can never stop learning about orientating. It is certain that you will be a lot more professional and move into more expensive parcels.
Opal gemstone Information .
{Dimensions of the opal drive} - obviously the thinner the opal drive is the safer it will be, it does not particularly matter about the height of the opal roof as long as you can get easy access to the roof as this is usually your best chance of finding Opal under the sandstone between that and that clay level. And of course you will find pockets of nobby opal and even seen in the floor of your opal claim, there are many methods of working safe underground if you need to have wide drives then you can use wood supports and props which are readily found around the opal leases. I would recommend the Australian cypress pine which has great strength and is quite tolerant to water , many people like to leave the bottom section of their drives and dig wider around the roof this method is no different to removing all the clay and having wide drives it will get more dangerous as the clay drys and starts cracking.
Opal Information .
Open cut mining it is always a great start if there is already a few opal leases that have been cut already adjoining your claim. As this allows you to remove all your benches and have them processed, what do I mean by benches the government department that controls the industry has strict guide lines you must follow ,every 6 metres you must leave a two meter squared bench. It also makes it a lot easier if you have somewhere to dump your over burden and a big hole in the ground close by is a great place to refill.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
Opal open cut mining there are many factors you have to consider in these modern times particularly requirements of government mineral resources department there is a contract you have to fulfil in the black Opal industry around the opal feels of lightning Ridge New South Wales. The good old days are well and truly gone, where you jest when for your life and only hat to consider yourself and your mates. These days you must leave the landscape in the same condition prior to opal open cutting. Over burden must be replaced even if the farmer who owens the western plane grazing lease would appreciate you leaving it open as a dam, and being the driest continent in the world this is not acceptable by the department. Revegetation of the top of the claim is also very important the top soil must be replaced, and a number of native trees must be replanted to its original landscape.
Opal tip.
Tailing out the Opal at the end of the week now this is not just a job this is a avenger, you never know what you might find besides some colour, fossils like seashells and maybe a dinosaur bone or two. Make sure there is plenty of Sun and clean water available as you do not want to miss any opal colour, as you need to know where in the claim is the best location to keep working and washing the soil clay, as it is very expensive to keep washing dead clay soil that is not carrying colour. Please keep your eyes open because if you find colour this often indicates to open this area up and have a good look before moving on to another area in the claim.
Opal tip.
Processing the opal Clay after you have retrieved a large amount of opal Clay and have bought it to the surface, you either stockpile it on your claim and wash it at a later date. or if the clay is being directly dropped into the back of your truck , then off we go to the agitater which is usually a 7 yard or 9 yard cement mixer which has been taken off the truck and placed on a permanent site on a ball which is a deep underground water source which comes to the surface boiling hot and is gathered in a large dam to cool down. Most of these balls you lease a small site from the owener which is often the farmer who has the Western Plains agricultural lease. Some dam sites are also owen by the lightning Ridge mining Association .
Opal & Black Opal tip.
Opal washing and processing as you have left your claim and driven the truck to the dam site, reverse it up to the vayer belt which will load it into the agitater. After applying large amounts of water and agitating the opal Clay do not forget to turn it down slow after most of the clay has turned into sludge and run out of the agitater through the mesh that have been cut on either side of the agitater, as you do not want any opal smashed as there will only be solid material left in the barrel like dogs stones and some sandstone from the roof of the claim and also a rock or too.
Opal orientation first you must pinch with a title cutter the outside of the black nobby, just to make sure there is no colour inside before disregarding any material . Orientation is the most important step in the cutting and polishing of opal, the trip to orientation opal rough is practising on a lot of cheap and low grade rough material for many many years and then you can start processing more expensive opal. The rubbing down and shaping is not all that difficult, to polish the opal can be difficult for some people as this is the finished product that buyers will be looking at.
Opal tip.
Opal open cut mining first apply once you have received approval for a section 22 open cut method of mining. There are many requirements you must fulfil first step remove and keep topsoil, every 6 m you remove opal burden you must leave a 90° step, in this case you really need quite a large area if you want to look at the second level of opal carrying clay. And the most difficult part is for no reason you may leave the claim un-rehabilitated, all the over burden must be replaced and top soil replaced back before trees must be replanted and established.
Opal gemstone tip.
Opal gemstone buying rough opal ,rub opals and cut opal stones, most of the buyers come to lightning Ridge some have shops others own homes , and many stay at motels or friend's homes. If they have a sign out the front stating that they are buying either rough or rubs or maybe both then jest walk in with your recent find and wait your turn to show them . It will be up to you and the schools you have will determine the money that you come out with, obviously a town like lightning Ridge gem usually always sells at a good price it is only the low grade cut stones and commercial stones that take some wheeling and dealing to obtain the best outcome
Opal Information .
Opal ,Black Opal buying, rough in particular driving out on to the opal feels is always a good way to start, its always best to drive out to the most recent rush and of course the business is done in hard currency cash, I have seen new buyers put large signs on their cars which will in turn attract miners with rough, it is usually a casual business transaction a miner will jest say to buyers are you interested in opal rough, and the answer back usually is not at the moment or you will often hear from experience middlemen the reply, maybe I will have a look if you do not mind. Obviously then it is up to you if you have a lot of schools in purchasing rough opal then take your time and have a good look. The miner in most cases will have a price he is asking and well the rest is between you and him to talk business.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information.
Buying Opals especially Opal & Black opal rough parcels out on the Opal feels, please do not insult the primary producer as he works very hard and will go for a long time between finding his last Opal or Black opal recent parcel. And he might get very angry if you knock his opals, and as you are a long way from any law enforcement officer you could be very uncomfortable driving back to the hospital to have some treatment. A very good softener up is to have a dozen cold beers in a mini fridge in the car, this often relaxes the opal miner and puts you in a better light.
Opals Information .
Opal Buying ,rough opals this is the most difficult to master , the best buyers are usually opal cutters who had spent many years cutting and orientating parcels of opals. You must realise that black opal, is very different from crystal opal, and Queensland bolder opal again is different to cut you need different types of opal cutting machinery. And there are many different bolder opal fields around the State of Queensland, they are all a bit different. Please remember the more parcels of rough opal you get to see before cutting and polishing the better and of course the finished opal gemstone product will let you know how successful your judgment is and if you are improving or not.
Opal & Black opal Information .
Buying opal rubs, tools of the trade a very good set of magnified glasses and experience on the subject along with your hard currencies preferably Australian dollars. Experience counts here a good hard look at the opals, make sure with the opal rub as thay are not polished ,the rule is you lose a lot of size, some very fine scratches made not come out of the face of the opal therefore you will have to cut the opal stones again. If the opals are quite small then they are down valued particularly under one carat.
Opal gemstone & Black opal Information.
Buying cut opals and polished opal's this is not a easy perfession unlike sapphires ,rubies and diamonds. These particular gemstones if they are all facet a particular way and are all the same dimensions and clarity then it is not so difficult to price. Unlike opals you very rarely have a matching pair for examples two opal's shaped the same either symmetrical or free-form. It is nearly impossible to find two opal's with the same pattern and colour play and of course matching weights. This is why opal buyers are very rare it is truly a specialist profession, they also need to keep up with the International price and also of the domestic feel price.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
The famous 3 mile Opal feel of lightning Ridge was the richest area and the highest quality of all the black opal mining areas, great news the large open cut in the middle of the 3 mile is being fenced by the Department which controls all of the opal & black opal leases in the lightning Ridge and surrounding districts. There will also be built a $8 million opal fossil museum underground about 100 m from the famous open cut mine of Graham Black Opal where the European settlers first discovered the most beautiful and rare pattern black opal, the Harlequin pattern opals this is a spectacular tourist attraction and you can clearly see the profile of the different opal clay and sandstone types, and also all the old opal mining shafts, the department has excepted the proposal of a government site because of its rare and unique history.
Opal& gray opal,black opal Information .
Detecting opal traces underground, the opal prospector is looking for signs of poch rich is a selector mineral that opal often forms on, there are many colours from jet black, black light black, grey and white. The nobby producing opal country can carry poch in three usual locations the roof of the claim victory in the clay face and sandstone roof is your best chance, you also have another chance around the middle of the face you are working, and sometimes seen poch running in seams along the floor of the mineral lease. Other signs dog stones which are hard small lumps of sandstone in the clay face which can have nobby and poch inside and mixed around the dog stones.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
There are many signs you can follow if you are a opal lover steel ban running through the face, layers of different colour clay bands of colour being made up of colours such as dark orange, light brown's dark browns and yellow and white. You are also looking for fault lines large slides and faults running through the profile of the face, please remember when these claims dry out after time you can have pieces becoming dangerous. And why we are on the subject of safety, greasy back slides are dangerous sometimes and they do not need to dry out, the answer to keeping it safe, do not open the drive up to wide that you are working along and this will keep the claim in tacked and strong.
Opal,Black Opal gemstone tip.
Other signs of opal underground and tools of the trade for prospecting, a lightweight pick and it is always best to have a prospecting generator left a few metres away from the entrance to the shaft so that your air does not get contaminated by the generator and you will have power underground, just run a few electric leads down the shaft because good strong powerful lighting is the secret to visually detecting signs and traces of opal. And remember a good ear when you are gouging is very handy indeed, as the opal may be millimetres or inches inside the clay and the only way to detect this is with a good ear as opal is silica, and sounds like scratching on glass when you scrape it with the peak, sell listen and take it easy when you hear this noise as you do not want to hit it too hard after you have detected this glassy sound you must work slow than to avoid breaking or chipping the uncut opal nobby.
Opal Information .
Prospecting underground today's modern technology is not the answer forget about computers, metal detectors such as a electric gold detector, as opal is silica and is not a metal this is why the metal and gold detector is out of the question. Patience is a virtue slow and cautiously wander about, other signs are blows, what is a blows in the profile of the clay you will see a extreme mixture of colours splattered with pieces of sandstone and maybe nobby and opal material, these blows travel all the way to the surface usually another way to describe it as you are looking at the face of the claim where you are working stand back and visualise a large painting hanging on the wall and in the middle is a trolling whirlpool, mixtures of colours and solid material is being trolled around. This is what a blow looks like underground and is a very good chance particularly in my case small blows usually carry the opal.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information tips
Opal subject of prospecting for black opal by the use of modern technology. The drilling rig the best vehicle for this work is a dual axle action track at the back of the vehicle, with a differential on the front stealing wheels also. This means you have a four-wheel-drive truck with a 8 inch drill bit reach will allow you to do or to the death of about 80 feet, you must be able to store plenty of water so you can process the clay from the opal levels as you will then be left with only solids in your small tumbler, you can then inspect the tailings four any signs of potch or colour and please make sure this is done in fall sunlight and a little bit of extra water being sprayed on the tailings for final expections to make sure you do not miss a chance at finding what you are looking for as I know personally of people which have missed seeing opal during droughts, as they could not get access to water and along came a specker after rain had fallen and viewing the previous drillers work found red on black after two years work of this claim he and his partner was worth $5 million Australian each.
Opal Information .
Opal mining method of open cut mining, this method you will never miss a patch of Opal. The main reason to open cut a mining lease at lightning Ridge is only because it has been heavily work conventionally by men underground. If the claim was also quite a valuable claim and it is getting too dangerous and difficult to send men underground any more. Then the perfect method is opened cutting, as long as you owen the lease and when you apply for a section 22 at the mining registry office you will have to fulfil all the requirements, firstly you must apply at the local Court for approval.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
Opal washing after all the clay has been thoroughly washed out of the barrel put the barrel into reverse which will bring all the solids to the top, and it will slowly run down the ramp for inspection by the mining team. Remember lots of water and you must have sunshine, collect all the nobby and opal material ready to take back to the cutting room, many guys like to retumble for a hour or two very slowly in a mini tumbler. This will make it extremely easy to identify the opal as every think will be extremely clean after this double processing of the nobby and opal material, you are ready now to orientate the opal first disregard all unwanted material now you are ready for rubbing down the rough material.
Opal,Black Opal gemstone tip.
low cost mining specking around the Opal feels, which is the term used for people that prospect by going through other people's waste material. And some people do make a living out of this type of Opal production, it is always better to work on a clear sunny day looking for potch that might be carrying colour. And there is no better way to find Opal by this method then to go out after heavy rain as the clay and dust has been washed off any Opal material and the colour is so much easier to see with the naked eye.
Opalgemstone tip.
Gouging which is the term use for people that prospect claims that are no longer leased by any mining company. And as the claim has already been open up by mechanised machinery, it is now possible for people with a small gouging pick to lower some hanging lattice , this is a very inexpensive and cheap way to look for colour by chipping away underground looking for Opal trace that the previous miners might had missed. And of course if you find Opal you will naturally head up to the government mining Department and re-lease the claim into your name.
Opal,Black Opal gemstone tip.
Terms used in the black Opal industry around the town of lightning Ridge New South Wales Australia. { Opal trace } this is the term used in the industry among the professionals, and it means fossil material-nobbys any colour potch - and of course Opal colour. Dog Stone's this is the term again used by miners which relates to sandstone of different shapes usually about the size of a man's hand. These dog stones can carry nobbys which can be carrying colour.
Opal,Black Opal gemstone tip.
Sorting through the Opal tailings ? What do we mean by tailings, tailings are the solid materials that are left at the end of the week in your tumbler or processing plant. Your processing plant usually is a 7 or 9 yard cement mixer and if you can process two 8 yards trucks a day then at the end of the week you will have a large amount of solid material left in the agitator barrel. The Opal Clay is a fine clean potting Clay which will turn to silt and run-off through the mesh plates in the side of the barrel of your agitator everytime it rotates, and naturally you have a water flow running constantly in the drum.
Opal gemstone & jewelry Information .
Is a continuation from yesterdays Opal theory. Processing the tailings I cannot emphasise how important this stage in the Opal business is. All the hard work is done and if there is Opal in the tailings then do not miss any colour, the secret is to slowdown work in full sunlight and have plenty of water as the Opal is rolling down the chute onto the expection table, slowly rotate the Opal nobbys and make sure they are washed clean of clay for good viewing. All good-looking nobbys should be taken home for further viewing and to pinch the corners with a hand-held title cutter to view the inner part of the nobby just in case there was Opal forming inside the nobby.
Opal Information .
Continuation from yesterday's theme. We've talked about different Types of Opal and their location in Australia . Today we will talk about the different types of Opal and their qualities, first of all we must talk about the rarest opal , the most famous, and the most gorgeous of all Opal the { Black Opal } what can you say stunning, mind blowing, out of this world like a comet in out of space it is a one of the kind. Queensland boulder opal usually loll grade compared to black Opal and crystal Opal, there are still some gem quality pieces among the huge amount of commercial grade Queensland boulder opal which is on the market, South Australia Coober Pedy Opal the largest suppliers of Opal in the world mainly white Opal and crystal Opal.
Opal Information .
Queensland boulder opal fields this is mostly open cut mining I would advise the use of excavators and a 20 tonne minimum machine. The bulldozers were originally used for this particular type of Opal mining, unlike modern times the 20 tonne excavator is much more economical and is a must more useful machine as it can also lolled the material into a truck unlike a bulldozer you will need a second machine to do this particular type of work. Bulldozers are more expensive as you are pushing a huge weight of soil and also moving a huge machine at the same time and fuel is getting more expensive. Unlike excavators they are working from a stationary position and are only moving the upper part of the machine you will clearly notice the fuel bills are down.
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