Australia's Black Opal Field by Nikkei Asia

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Australia's Black Opal Field by Nikkei Asia

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Australia's black opal fields lure dreamers and prospectors
Part-time miners flock to desolate but colorful Lightning Ridge in search of riches
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One of the most beautiful black opals from Lightning Ridge is the 180-carat Aurora Australis, on display at the Altmann & Cherny retail store in Sydney. (Courtesy of Altmann & Cherny)



LIGHTNING RIDGE, Australia -- Hudson pear sounds like something a fancy restaurant might serve on its dessert menu, topped off with a dollop of cream. But in the hot, dry wilds of the Australian Outback, the Hudson pear is a cactus intruder from Mexico, and far from a tasty or benign addition to the landscape.

It comes armed with long barbed spikes that can pierce a car tire, the sole of a miner's boot or the paw of a hapless animal that stumbles into its jagged embrace, and is just another of the hardships that face prospectors in their hunt for riches around the black opal capital of the world, Lightning Ridge.

All sorts of people, including drifters, gamblers, optimists and escapees from big-city drudgery, inhabit this inland town in the state of New South Wales, 600 km northwest of Sydney, where the addictive lure of a black opal is ever-present and fortune beckons for diggers prepared to put up with 40 C and a blindingly harsh environment.

Precious gems do not come much rarer or more valuable than these black beauties, which blaze in a kaleidoscope of colors against a dark background. At their best, they can command up to US$15,000 a carat (0.2 grams) and before the COVID-19 pandemic were much in demand from customers in the U.S., Japan, China, India and Europe.

Prospectors found white opals in the state of South Australia around 1850, but the start of black opal mining at Lightning Ridge dates back only to about 1902. ...

(cut to the chase)

The trip from Lightning Ridge includes prospecting time at a couple of different spots, and with Borkovic's help we were able to pick our way through rock piles and come away with examples of common opal, known as "potch." But alas, no valuable black opals. The trip is also a chance to see how life is lived in this part of the world, where miners, buyers, cutters and polishers operate in their own financial ecosystem and deals are done quietly.

Small-scale mining is mainly a cash business, so getting a fix on opal prices is hard. Five years ago, miners were struggling to keep up with demand from U.S. buyers, who began replacing Japanese as the main customers for Australian opals in the late 1990s. Until mid-2020, U.S and other international tourists would head for The Rocks district in Sydney, where most of the opal retailers are located. But the pandemic has stopped tourism dead in its tracks for now, and sales have plunged.

here is the link https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/ ... rospectors
I'll jump over my shadow. https://www.virginvalleyopal.com"
Opals & more at my ESTY store https://swordfishmining.etsy.com"
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