Welcome to opalholicsanonymous.com where opal season lasts forever.

Heyyyy! I went back to the Virgin Valley last week and dug for two days at the bank at the Royal Peacock again - like I did last year when I found The Black Hole.

I worked so hard! Words cannot describe how hard I worked. Over 10k swings of my arm in two days. Maybe 20k. I brought along a friend this time, another hard working fella who knows what hard work is all about.

We moved, busted and shoveled at least 5 tons of hard ass clay. I am not exaggerating, and if anything this is an underestimate. We went for the hard stuff. Best for making the opals!

Took home enough opal specimens to keep me busy through winter.

Here's the most interesting find....

Is this a root bulb??? It's very interesting. I showed it to Jacob, the son of the mine owner at the Royal Peacock and he said he'd never seen anything like it - and Jake has certainly seen a lot of VV opals over the decades.

Got an idea of what this is? Should I skin one side off to make a window to view inside the thing?

I don't yet know if the crystal opal is contraluz, or completely lacking POC... The rind is blocking adequate angles of light to determine this.

The black opal core expands quite a bit into the bulbous part, if you watch the video where I turn over the opal you can see the black sitting close to the edge/bottom of this area.

So folks, what should I do with this amazing opal?

Glue it back together?
Glue it back together and skin the whole thing? Skin a window?
Make cross-section slices of it for jewelry?









Thanks!

Beautiful photos, but I couldn't get the video to play. I'm wondering if what you have is a branch that was infected with Black Knot, Witch's Broom or similar infection that caused the swelling and death of the branch beyond it? Or perhaps a root with a similar problem. I think you might want to send pics to a paleobotanist familiar with the Miocene flora in that area of Nevada, just in case it is something more valuable left whole as a specimen. Probably wouldn't hurt to cut a small slice off the non-swollen broken end to check what is inside, though.

Whatever that is, it's awesome, Shea, nice find! I kind of thought it looked like a branch, too, but don't have any experience with the area or VV opals, so all I can really say is I hope it turns out to be something special. I also agree with r2d, that cutting a small slice off the broken end ought to be alright, unless you have another piece of it that would fit into the break. I couldn't get the video to work either, but love the pics. Thanks for sharing it with us, and do keep us posted on what you find out about it.

PinkDiamond wrote:Whatever that is, it's awesome, Shea, nice find! I kind of thought it looked like a branch, too, but don't have any experience with the area or VV opals, so all I can really say is I hope it turns out to be something special. I also agree with r2d, that cutting a small slice off the broken end ought to be alright, unless you have another piece of it that would fit into the break. I couldn't get the video to work either, but love the pics. Thanks for sharing it with us, and do keep us posted on what you find out about it.

I got the youtube link to work...

What if it’s a cattail root bulb? The cross section of the stalk in the below image has an inner fleshy (edible) part that may be similar looking.

Thanks rocks2dust, i’ll look into it!

Possible femur, but more likely a budding stem I guess without more defined muscle attachments. The surface texture would be the only clues if it made good surface imprints, otherwise, cool shape. Id not bother to glue it together whatever it was so the inside could be seen. (no good for water glue vs air) I think id keep it wet unless a slice dried, or chip fine as its a good indication of what the rest would do. As far as what to do with it as a cutter, need to stare at it for awhile. I dont cut for contra, just straight up. Now it may be hydrophane and go opaque when dried. Another reason to try a chip before committing the whole piece.

awesome find !
it looks like bone although I have no XP with VV opals
I would keep it as specimen since it doesnt have too much fire there is no point of cutting it

Weighed it last night

Just over 650ct (both halves)

Anyone have an idea what kind of multiplying factor to take into consideration of value for uniqueness and having the complete specimen?

I don’t need exact numbers but for those of us here who might be gemologists or VV miners, is any extra value at all applicable?

It does have POC, it’s just that the “skin” or “rind” is blocking too much of any light path to see it very well