| Searching for this exclusive gem takes a patience, time, persistence and expenses. Fossickers, rock hounds and miners of other gems can appreciate how difficult it is to find precious stones such as opal. Australian opal is regarded by most as the finest opal in the world. It comes in many forms such as White, Black, Crystal and Boulder.
Most of the opal is found in South Australia, with other major deposits found in New South Wales and Queensland. |
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The two major ways of mining are "open cut" and "tunnelling" (pictured). Open cut uses large bulldozers to scrape down to levels containing opal whilst tunnelling involves drilling shafts into the ground and then using tunnelling machines to dig through the earth. If you are visiting Australia, you may have the opportunity to visit the major opal fields and see some mining first hand. Please contact us for more information. |
