Opal - Facts About the Gemstone

 Opal Jewelry is a type of silica that is composed of water, silicon, hydrogen and oxygen. It is the national gemstone of the land down under, which supplies 95 percent of the world's opal. This precious stone is used to add beauty to ornaments, jewelry, carvings, mosaics and inlays.

Some facts about the opal include:

1. This precious stone got its name from the Latin word "opalus" which literally means stone. It is the birthstone of people who are born in the month of October.

2. The dominant colors of this gemstone are the colors of the rainbow. These are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The more colors it has, the more precious it will be. Its colors are actually caused by the gem's selective absorption of specific wavelengths of light.

3. This beautiful stone symbolizes purity, hope and innocence.

4. You should take extra care of this stone as jewelry because it is soft. You should not wear it when doing manual work or playing sports. Never apply chemical to clean it; you can clean it by simply wiping it with mist cloth.

5. If you are not wearing your opal jewelry for quite a while, you need to store it with a wet napkin in a small plastic bag to prevent it from cracking.

6. According to NASA, Opal deposits were discovered in Mars in 2008. This signifies that the planet was soaked in water for billions of years. This is also an indication that Mars may have supported life somehow.

Mining the Gemstone

There are four major types of opals. These are white or milk, which is the most common type, crystal, black, which is the most expensive type, and the boulder opal which costs about $3,000 per carat. All of these precious stones are mined in the land down under. They are usually found in volcanic or sedimentary rocks. There are at least three known types of mining opal. These are:

Sink a Shaft

This is the simplest and most basic way of mining opal. This is done by sinking a shaft straight down underground until it hits what miners call "opal dirt." Opals can be discovered at depths of between three to 20 meters.

Open Cut Mining

This method uses heavy machinery to remove the top soil which is then inspected for the presence of the gemstone. This method is however expensive. This is only used for mining boulder opal.

Noodling

Noodling is a type opal mining which can be done by ordinary townsfolk. The search for the gemstone is performed by scouring discarded earth materials from abandoned opal mines with the use of rakes and sieves.