Buying Australian Rough opal
Rough opal is becoming harder and harder to get as production drops and more and more amateur hobbyists want to purchase some to continue their hobby.
In the 1960's it was relatively easy to purchase as there were a number of magazines with advertisements from suppliers at most opal fields offering all the different grades at reasonable prices.
If you went to the opal fields you could also visit opal shops where reasonable quality opal was available at a good price.
Today things are a lot different. Opal availability has dropped quite dramatically as the cost of finding and mining it has risen dramatically and as known mining fields have been almost worked out. A few years ago I went to Coober Pedy and checked out a number of shops asking for opal rough and was asked if I found any could I tell the shop owner where to get it.
In the 1960's you could visit any of the fields and reasonably easily spec over the opal heaps and find some nice opal overlooked by the miners. I have found some nice pieces at White Cliffs, Andamooka and Coober Pedy around that time. My last visit to White Cliffs about 4 years ago was very unsuccessful and I spent many hours speccing and found absolutely none, not even potch. This is because so many people do it now. Most fields have thousands of visitors a year and so the hope of picking up some opal on the ground is very slim.
Also there are more miners removing the mullock heaps and putting the material under UV light and picking out the missed opal. This is especially done at Coober Pedy and Andamooka as the white opal glows for a short while under a specific wavelength of UV light. Black opal does not fluoresce.
At Lightning Ridge the heaps are collected and put into converted concrete mixtures where the opal dirt is washed and opal recovered.
So what do we do if we want to get some rough opal to cut?
There are a number of way, namely:
(a) Visit the gem shows where members quite often have some excess opal for sale. As members get older they often sell their collections and you may be lucky. Just remember these sellers were opal cutters too and have carefully studied what they are selling.
Still you never know your luck.
(b) Visit the opal fields and drive around looking for "opal for sale" signs. These are not that easy to find now as miners know the value of even the poorer quality of opal. I have had some success at the pubs where many miners congregate and after a few drinks may be inclined to sell you some.
(c) Log into Ebay or other opal auction sites and see what is up for sale.
(d) There are many other sites on the internet selling rough opal but usually at inflated prices.
It is much better to actually view the opal before buying it as you cannot really see the imperfections in a photo. Also the photos can make the pieces appear larger and brighter than they actually are. I have had friends purchase parcels which looked good but when they received them they were full of sand and very difficult to cut.
Buying opal in jars is also precarious as the water or glycerine in the jars make the opal appear larger. Also in my experience most of the jars are mainly potch with little or no colour.
I have found it is much better to spend more on a small parcel of reasonable quality rather than buy a lot of poorer quality opal. You will only be disappointed.
I am sorry if I am a bit negative about purchasing rough but the fact is it is a lot harder to get now than it ever was. Suppliers are selling absolute rubbish at inflated prices. If you are going to spend a lot of time and effort cutting opal you want to end up with something you are proud of and not a bit of silicon with no colour.
Best of luck with your purchasing