OPAL
You will find a Opal to suit every occasion every budget Opal is the birthstone for October and you will rarely ever see two of the same Opals as they are so individual rarely ever having the same colours and patterns shapes clarity etc, Opal gemstone is truly in the eyes of the beholder when it comes to the individual purchasing Opal jewelry. Boulder Opal is becoming more and more popular throughout the world often being used in carving belt buckles sculptures as well as jewelry , there are so many types of Queensland boulder Opal from the Western southern Opal Fields of Queensland to the central western boulder fields through to the far north western region of the state, the distance between the southern and northern fields would be about 2000 km.
Australia produces the vast amount of Opal gem stones that is found in jewelry throughout the jewelry shops of the world, Japan and America you will find very high-grade black Opal from the mining fields around the township of lightning Ridge in the State of New South Wales Australia. As gem quality black Opal is the most valuable Opal gemstone by far then you will not find a lot of high-quality black Opal throughout South-East Asia or the Third World countries, China is a huge market for Australian crystal Opal from the mining fields in South Australia ,Germany and Europe also love crystal Opal. Black Opal is also quite sought after in the European Union countries like Britain Italy Germany Austria etc. Queensland boulder Opal along with white Opal from South Australia is usually semiprecious gemstone found in vast amounts throughout Australia and is found all around the world from jewelry shops in North America and South America, Europe China South-east Asia and the middle east. The more affluent countries of the middle east love their expense gemstones so it is natural to find high-quality black Opal jewelry there also. A lot of the high-quality black Opal from around the gemstone fields of lightning Ridge is usually set in 18 carat gold and higher ,often black Opals are surrounded by much smaller clear diamonds particularly in rings and pendants.
If you are interested in being a Opal producer then simply pack up your car grab your wallet Visa card and head to one of the Opal locations, South Australia and New South Wales are quite similar in that there are towns set up by the industry, you can find all the machinery you need regardless of what type of the mining method you choose and there are always Opal claims available to lease partnerships etc. Black Opal mining at lightning Ridge you need to finish a mine manager course along with a safety course which takes no more than a few days to receive your certificate and you can become a prospector. Queensland boulder Opal is usually open cut mining or trench mining which is usually undertaken with the use of large machinery a 22 tonne excavator and if the ground is not that hard and the mining ore is not deep a wheel tractor back hole can be used. Once you find the Opal you will often find buyers travelling out to the gem fields looking to purchase either rough Opal, rubs which is roughly shaped Opal not completed or cut and polished gemstones, you can try your luck and go direct to the jewelrs in the city trying to cut the wholesaler out that buys the Opal from the fields and supplies the jewelry industry. And in the modern times the Internet has become very popular with Opal Web shop’s online available for purchase from any country in the world as long as the customer has access to a computer and Internet. Don’t forget it is a very good idea to have some cutting equipment to at least face the gemstone before heading off to the professional cutter. Please remember Queensland boulder Opal is situated in iron stone country so you are basically cutting iron stone and as you can imagine this is very hard on your equipment unlike black Opal and crystal Opal the cutting does not take a toll on your cutting machines as much as boulder Opal does.
Written by : GrahamBlackOpal.com
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