Follow along on our opal gemstone hunting adventures as we chase down the allusive Australian opal. Driving all over the Aussie outback we travel to remote places like Lightning ridge, NSW in search of Black opal, Coober Pedy, SA, where we mine for white opal, crystal opal, fire opal and opalised shells and fossils. Videos are constantly being uploaded on our Facebook and Instagram pages where you can ask us questions and comment.
In this little Blog we discuss the process of treating the raw matrix opal. Basically its the technique of making the colour of the host rock (sandstone) darker to highlight the opal disbursed throughout the stone.
In this Blog we talk about treating matrix opal without using harsh acids! This process can be used on certain types of matrix gem opal stones to darken up the existing host rock (sandstone) therefore making the opal disbursed throughout the stone really stand out. This treatment has been around for donkeys years as the old time miners would just throw the raw matrix into their campfire at night after soaking it in either sugar syrup or in some cases used sump oil ( I don't recommend this) Lol.
In this Blog I talk about the fun and games you can have by getting family involved with opal. Opal Fever can take over! The kids are now cutting and making their own opal jewellery!
This is a brief insight of the different methods of mining used throughout the Australian opal fields. Click on the Blog to see some short videos and interesting facts about where our awesome Australian Opal comes from.
