Opal - Mineral Specimen

Locality: Coober Pedy, South Australia, Australia

Description: This opal comes from Coober Pedy in the outback of South Australia, often called the opal capital of the world. On 1 February 1915, 14-year-old Willie Hutchison, out with his father's gold-prospecting party, found pieces of opal lying on the ground. The first opal claim was pegged eight days later. The field was first called the Stuart Range Opal Field, and in 1920 it was renamed Coober Pedy, from the Aboriginal words kupa piti, usually translated as 'white man in a hole'.

The name fits. To escape the desert heat, miners began living underground in dugouts cut into the soft sandstone, and many residents still do. Deep mining took off after an Italian partnership struck high-quality opal at Eight Mile in 1957, and by the 1960s and 1970s Coober Pedy opal was a multimillion-dollar industry. Its opal fields now cover close to 5,000 square kilometres.

This Australian opal specimen is presented in rough form within its natural host rock, showing pale grey to milky translucent opal along the edges with a soft waxy luster. The silica contrasts against a light, porous sandstone matrix, with iron-rich staining creating subtle orange and reddish patches throughout. The opal itself shows conchoidal fracture surfaces and internal cloudiness, with faint hints of blue and soft internal glow in certain angles rather than strong play-of-color.

This material formed in a sedimentary environment where silica-rich groundwater moved through porous sandstone layers and slowly deposited hydrated silica into cavities and fractures. Over time, this silica gel hardened into opal, often preserving the shape of voids or replacing earlier material. The surrounding matrix reflects the original host rock, typically a mix of sandstone and claystone, with iron oxides contributing to the earthy coloration. Australian deposits like Coober Pedy are known for this type of formation, producing both high-grade gem opal and more common material used for carving and study.

Opal is often associated with creativity, emotional balance, and personal insight. This more subdued, matrix-bearing material is typically seen as grounding, offering a steadier, more subtle energy compared to highly colorful opals, making it appealing for those drawn to calm focus and gradual progress.

Quantity: 1pc
With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph.