Damon Mcknight
Opals are precious gemstones that can be found all over the world. However, Australia is the leading nation in opal production, with 95-97% of the world's opals found in the country. Opals are Australia's official national gemstone, and the country is known for its high-quality opals, which are predominantly fossil and mineral in origin. The unique conditions of the Australian outback, where inland seas once existed, provided the perfect environment for silica-rich water to seep into the Earth's cracks, leading to the formation of opals over millions of years.
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What You'll Learn
Opals are found outside Australia
Opal is a precious gemstone that is rare and expensive to mine. While Australia is the largest producer of opals, accounting for 95-97% of the world's supply, opals can be found in other parts of the world as well.
Opals have been found in various regions outside of Australia, including Ethiopia, Brazil, the United States, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Canada, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Indonesia, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and even as far back as ancient Northern Africa. The Wollo Province in Ethiopia, in particular, has become a significant source of opal, with its light background and vivid play of colors resembling the sedimentary opals of Australia and Brazil.
In the United States, the Virgin Valley opal fields in Nevada are known for producing a wide range of opal varieties, including precious black, crystal, white, fire, and lemon opal. Utah is also home to unique opals, such as the Utah lace opal and the Candy stripe opal. Moving south to Mexico, the Crystal fire opals from this region display deep orange to yellow sunset hues and are often crafted into artistic jewelry pieces.
Opal deposits have also been discovered in other parts of the world, such as the Czech Republic, Canada, and several countries in Central America. The oldest recorded opal mines are located in Slovakia, which produced crystal opals. Tanzania is known for its green-colored Prase opal, while Peru offers pink and blue-green opals found high in the Andes Mountains.
While Australia remains the primary source of opals globally, these diverse locations outside of Australia contribute to the worldwide supply and showcase the unique characteristics and beauty of opals found across the globe.
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Australian opals are fossil and mineral in origin
Opals are found all over the world, but Australia produces 95-97% of the world's precious opal. Opals are formed from silica-rich water that seeps deep into the Earth's cracks, a process that took millions of years. This unique geological formation is why Australia is the main source of opals.
Australian opals are of two types: precious opal and common opal. Precious opal is prized for its brilliant play of colours that change with the viewing angle, a property known as iridescence. The body colour of most precious opal is white, but it can also be black, transparent, or red-orange. The latter is known as fire opal and its colouring is caused by the presence of small iron oxide impurities, or rust. Common opal is translucent and does not show any play of colours, but its body colour differs depending on the impurities present.
Opal is Australia's national gemstone and is valued for its beauty. Opals are unique among gemstones because they display a rainbow-like array of colours due to their intrinsic microstructure, which diffracts white light into all the colours of the spectrum. Opals are multi-coloured and consist of small spheres of silica arranged in a regular pattern, with water between the spheres. The spheres diffract white light, breaking it up into the colours of the spectrum. This process is called opalescence.
Australia is the only part of the world where opalised animal and plant fossils have been found. At Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, small opalised dinosaurs and primitive early mammalian remains, together with shallow marine shellfish and crustaceans, have been discovered. The most famous opalised fossil is Eric the Pliosaur (a Cretaceous marine vertebrate) found at Coober Pedy in South Australia. Not only is the opalised skeleton of this animal preserved, but the stomach contents of its last fish meal are also replaced with opal.
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Opals are Australia's national gemstone
The unique conditions of the Australian landscape have made it a prime location for opal formation over millions of years. The Australian outback, once covered by inland seas, provided the perfect environment for silica-rich water to seep deep into the Earth's cracks, initiating the long process of opal formation. The silica gel, mixed with the remains of plants and animals, seeped through the natural faults and thick layers of sandstone, eventually hardening into the precious opals that Australia is famous for.
The most famous opal locations in Australia include Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy, Andamooka, White Cliffs, and the Cunnamulla districts in Queensland. Lightning Ridge, a small town in New South Wales, is known for its highly prized and rare Black Opal, distinguished by its opaque canvas and magnificent colour saturation. The Black Opal is particularly rare due to the high manganese content found in the soil, which gives it its distinctive dark body tone.
Coober Pedy in South Australia is another significant source of opals, yielding the world's largest and most valuable gem opal, the "Olympic Australis", discovered in 1956. The town of Andamooka in South Australia is also a major producer of matrix opal, crystal opal, and black opal, with its famous Painted Lady Opals formed naturally without any artificial painting.
The opals found in Australia are predominantly fossil and mineral in origin, making them harder than opals from other parts of the world, which often have a volcanic base. The discovery of vast opal deposits in Australia in the 19th century transformed the country into the main source of opals globally, and it continues to be renowned for its brilliant quantity and quality of these exquisite gemstones.
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Lightning Ridge, New South Wales is famous for its Black Opals
Opals can be found all over the world, but Australia has been the main source of opals for the last century, with 95-97% of the world's supply of precious opal coming from the country. Lightning Ridge, a small town in New South Wales, is famous for its Black Opals, the rarest and most valuable type of opal. The Black Opals of Lightning Ridge are renowned for their dark body tone, which ranges from dark grey to blue-black, providing a stunning backdrop for the play of colours that makes opals so prized. This dark tone is attributed to the high manganese content found in the soil.
Lightning Ridge has become synonymous with world-famous gem-quality black opals, which are sought after due to their unique composition of carbon and iron oxide trace elements. The town's opal fields are unmatched globally, and the discovery of these fields is credited to Charlie Nettleton, an early pioneer in the area. Nettleton walked 700 kilometres from White Cliffs to see the Black Opal and subsequently developed a market for these precious stones. Today, Nettleton is commemorated with a life-sized bronze statue, the "Spirit of Lightning Ridge", located in the town at 7 Morilla Street.
The name "Lightning Ridge" itself is shrouded in legend. According to one story, it was coined after a tragic incident during a fierce electrical storm when a shepherd, his dog, and 600 sheep were killed while seeking shelter in a low ridge in the area. The main street of the town is named after these now-famous opal ridges, derived from the local Aboriginal folklore term "Morillas".
Lightning Ridge is not just known for its opal mining; it is also an important paleontological site. Opalised fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, have been discovered in the Griman Creek Formation. These fossils include ancient mammals, such as the ancestral monotremes Kollikodon ritchiei and Steropodon galmani, providing valuable insights into the ancient world.
The town of Lightning Ridge boasts a range of social and sporting facilities, including a golf course, pistol club, and archery club. It also hosts the yearly Lightning Ridge Opal and Gem Festival, showcasing the region's renowned opal industry.
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The world's largest gem opal was found in Australia
Opals can be found all over the world, but Australia has been the main source of opals over the last century, accounting for 95-97% of the world's supply. The unique geological formations in Australia have favoured the formation of this sedimentary stone. The Australian outback provided unique conditions for silica-rich water to seep deep into the Earth's cracks, initiating the long process of opal formation.
The world's largest and most valuable gem opal, the Olympic Australis Opal, was found in Coober Pedy, South Australia, in 1956. This stone weighs approximately 3.4 kilograms and is now a part of the Altmann & Cherny Collection in Melbourne. The stone was named after the Olympic Games, which were held in Melbourne the same year. Its current estimated value is said to be over $2,500,000 AUD.
Another famous opal discovered in Australia is the Aurora Australis, considered the world's most valuable Black Opal. The Black Opal is the rarest of all Australian opals, recognised by its opaque canvas and magnificently layered colour saturation. The Black Opal's dark body tone is attributed to the high manganese content found in the soil.
The world's largest polished opal, however, was discovered in Brazil in 1976. Weighing in at 3,749 carats, it was fashioned by Scott Cooley from a grapefruit-sized piece of rough opal weighing 5,205 carats.
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Frequently asked questions
No, opals can be found all over the world. However, 95-97% of the world's supply of precious opal is found in Australia, making it the leading nation in opal production.
The most famous opal locations in Australia include Lightning Ridge, Coober Pedy, Andamooka, White Cliffs, and the Cunnamulla districts in Queensland.
Opals found in Australia include black opal, boulder opal, crystal opal, and matrix opal.
The Virgin Rainbow, discovered in 2003 in Coober Pedy, is considered the most valuable opal ever found. It is worth over $1 million and is currently displayed in the South Australian Museum in Adelaide.
Opals are formed when silica gel, created from the remains of prehistoric land and sea creatures, seeps into the voids and fissures beneath the earth's surface and hardens over millions of years.
