Price of Opal

[mick]

Folks what I am seeing lately, Opal is very expensive and of lower quality than what miners tried to flog in previous years over our summer when it is far too hot to mine.

IMHO the prices miners are asking reflect their costs, not the quality of the material. Good luck with that strategy.

I am confident anyone holding gems will do very well over the next few years.

[PinkDiamond]

Wow, mick, thank you for sharing that little tidbit with us. It's a gem of a tip, and I'm delighted to know the opals I have sitting in storage waiting to be cut are earning their keep by gaining value, but that's not good for the miners, or the trade in Oz; especially when there are so many other types of opals.

It seems to me they're shooting themselves in the foot with that strategy, because people will turn to Ethiopian, Mexican, and other types of opals, so I agree with you that is not a good idea. From what I hear, the costs keep going up as the gov't regulations and fees increase their burden, and the cost of everything else invariably goes up and not down, but to charge more for less quality isn't going to sustain them for long.