Welcome to opalholicsanonymous.com where opal season lasts forever.

What happens with all the insurance policies issued on the millions of carats of Asian red andesine jewelry that the labs erroneously verified as natural and untreated, that is now verified as artificially treated beyond a shadow of a doubt, and that consumers have been paying premiums on based on t...

The old ways of observational gemology have had to give way to the more advanced method of experimental gemology , to keep up with new treatments being discovered seemingly one right after the other lately, even in stones we don't expect to be treated. This is a well thought out assessment of what's...

Hi Pink, If you want some just let me know as I go down to the mines every year. They are only 6 hours away, and I have known Don for a few years now. My daughter lives just on the other side of Lakeview, so we go sunstone hunting as a family trip every year in the "free" areas, and then ...

Here's a great article on the Sunstone mines in Oregon, with a submission from our own Marty in it. I thought it was great reading, and now that I've got stones from 2 of the mines, I'm on my way to collecting the whole set. Sunstone Mining in Oregon The amazing odyssey from the stark Oregon high de...

This is extremely important for all interested in the andesine/labradorite debacle brought to light by the ISG last year, and confirmed in this report: Interim Report; 14-Sep-2009 The Red Feldspar Project George R. Rossman, California Institute of Technology "...Is There a Mine in Tibet That Pr...

This is a fantastic new website the ISG has just launched, where you can find all the information you could ever want on Oregon Sunstone. Don't miss the information on all the fraudulent mines that some claim exist, because they're all BOGUS, and you can get into a lot of trouble claiming stones fro...

I am SO excited because even though I didn't get to go on the trip to the sunstone mines in Oregon with the ISG in June, I got a gift from them in the mail yesterday, so now I can show you what the Oregon rough looks like up close. Here's a shot of the 15.65ct rough from the Double Eagle mine in Plu...

The ISG recently did a field trip to the Plush mines in Oregon. I'm still upset that I'm tied here without a critter sitter and couldn't go - sniff -, but if you want to see what REAL sunstone looks like right out of the ground, check out this video and enjoy the slideshow of their mining adventures...

Pink,Are they saying those black-leopard spots are burned-smoked wello? I see they forgot to mention untreated black opal from up my way. RR Thanks for the great article Pink..I guess we'll all have to be even more careful buying welo's from now on...how would you tell? If there's a way to treat an...