Thread: The truth about opal formation

I thought you were going to talk about the Opal Cards used on public transport in the Sydney/Newcastle area.........silly me.

I thought it might be about the petroleum product sold in indigenous communities to combat the problem of using petrol as an inhalant.

Yeah...........whatever.

Originally Posted by bob10

An oldie, but a boldie. Bob


Uncovered: the truth about opal formation - Australian Geographic

I asked one the 'rock doctors' at work how they formed she said something very similar to the article,but she also pointed out that it was something only lightly touched on in uni. She is so passionate about her job and really loves to share her knowledge,I never used to give much thought into how or why veins of copper and gold form,I only used to worry about getting it out of the mine,but after a few conversations with her it became very interesting to me.

The photo looks like the Painted Desert.
My dad was a bit of an amateur opal miner and went to a number of places around Australia like Lighting Ridge, Cooper Pedy, Mintabi Andamooka and White Cliffs.
He was always amazed at the eclectic collection of people that inhabit these places. He said it felt like being on Mars in some of these places.
Very secretive to start with but once they got to know you, very friendly.
I have a jar of uncut opals he gave me which one day I will get cut and polished and made into something nice for Er Indoors.

Lived in Coober and Andamooka, white Dam etc for a number of years each.. loved it!

Also worked in Mintabie fields...

Andamooka Opal is more stable and therefore much better quality than almost any other Opal worldwide... but much harder to find therefore so hard to get.