ORGIN of OPALS

December 24, 2019

There are three types of opals WHITE OPALS , FIRE OPALS & BLACK OPALS they were all formed in similar ways but vary in the location in which they are found .They are all as a result of Cyanobacteria that lived in shallow seas as far back as 371 million years ago. Over a matter times these bacteria formed colonies called Stromatolites they adsorbed carbon dioxide from the water and expelled oxygen . When they died as they rotted away they turned into sulfuric acid . As inland sea’s dried the bacteria would be killed off making the content of sulfuric acid more concentrated and in places it seeped through cracks in rocks and mixed with grains of sand driven by gravity as the liquid worked its way downwards it dried out and solidified as opal crystals . The best quality of white opals was mined in Hungary but there was only small quantities. Fire Opal which are an orange red colour can be found in North America . The most common opal is white opal is found in the desserts of Australia centered a round a town called Coper Predy The area is so hot that the miners use their old digging sites as homes as it is much cooler several feet below ground .This town and its surrounding have been used in two Mad Max films as a location also for the Pitch Black movie . The most beautiful Opals are called Black Opals that show a great play of colour .These stones are mined in another part of Australia called Lightning Ridge and the opals are formed in the narrowest of seems . The Bizarre fact about opal know for its magnificent variations in colour .is that when viewed under a microscope the opals are in fact colourless it is actual formed of silicon beads stacked in layered lattice . As light rays penetrate the stone to