Topic: More common opal from Nevada. (Read 5090 times)

VegasJames · « **on:** November 05, 2019, 06:43:44 PM »

20180107_044622 by James Sloane, on Flickr

20180107_044408 by James Sloane, on Flickr

20180107_044215 by James Sloane, on Flickr

20180106_131834 by James Sloane, on Flickr

20180106_131044 by James Sloane, on Flickr

20180106_130852 by James Sloane, on Flickr

20180413_143224 by James Sloane, on Flickr

20180413_141515 by James Sloane, on Flickr

hummingbirdstones · « **Reply #1 on:** November 06, 2019, 06:47:04 PM »

Those are yummy!

lithicbeads · « **Reply #2 on:** November 07, 2019, 01:12:17 PM »

The first and fourth pieces are dead ringers for opal from the old pit on dodson road in eastern Washington.The head wall was 30 feet high with layers of opal about a foot high of one color and pattern followed by dozens more types. There was a surprising amount of agate mixed in . You had to hit the wall with a sledge and the sharp opal shards were brutal. When the quarry was abandoned a corporation bought it and regraded it and hauled in dirt and made an apple orchard. The wonders they buried ! You have very nice rough there , good for you.

vitzitziltecpatl · « **Reply #3 on:** November 07, 2019, 06:05:39 PM »

We got a chunk of the gray opal in some rough from a friend of ours who used to live in SW Idaho. Always assumed it was from Nevada, but given where he lived (30 years ago) it could be from Washington.

VegasJames · « **Reply #4 on:** November 07, 2019, 08:47:11 PM »

Quote from: lithicbeads on November 07, 2019, 01:12:17 PM

The first and fourth pieces are dead ringers for opal from the old pit on dodson road in eastern Washington.The head wall was 30 feet high with layers of opal about a foot high of one color and pattern followed by dozens more types. There was a surprising amount of agate mixed in . You had to hit the wall with a sledge and the sharp opal shards were brutal. When the quarry was abandoned a corporation bought it and regraded it and hauled in dirt and made an apple orchard. The wonders they buried ! You have very nice rough there , good for you.

Common opal is very abundant in Central Nevada and comes in a wide variety of colors.

Some of it is in the transition from opal to jasper. Basically opal starts as a silica gel. As the molecules move closer together water gets squeezed out eventually forming opal. If the opal loses all of its water it converts in to chalcedony or chert.

There is a spot up in Lund, Nevada where I got some great pieces of an opal-agate mix.

VegasJames · « **Reply #5 on:** November 07, 2019, 08:51:49 PM »

Quote from: vitzitziltecpatl on November 07, 2019, 06:05:39 PM

We got a chunk of the gray opal in some rough from a friend of ours who used to live in SW Idaho. Always assumed it was from Nevada, but given where he lived (30 years ago) it could be from Washington.

I love the gray opals.