About Opal
Opal is Australia’s national gemstone, and the most magnificent and colourful of precious gems. Like all fine things, precious opal is exceedingly rare. Opal can boast any colour of the visible spectrum, from deep clear blues and greens to golden orange; from delicate pink and violet to rich turquoise, shocking red or fuschia. An opalContinue reading “About Opal”
Types of Opal
Natural opals are those which have not been treated or added to in any way by mankind, other than by cutting and polishing. Natural opals are usually described as light, dark/black, boulder, and matrix. Although boulder opal has an ironstone backing, it is regarded as a solid natural opal because this backing occurs naturally. TheContinue reading “Types of Opal”
The Australian Opal Fields
The major outcrops of opal in Australia occur along the shoreline of what was once The Great Inland Sea.The important opal mining areas in Australian opal production over the last century have been White Cliffs, The Queensland Fields, Lightning Ridge, Grawin & Glengarry, Coober Pedy, Andamooka, Mintabie and Lambina. WHITE CLIFFS Commercial mining commenced in the lateContinue reading “The Australian Opal Fields”