BLACK OPAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3898, 27 November 1928, Page 23

BLACK OPAL.

RICH AUSTRALIAN FIND. . WORLD DEMAND (FOR GEMS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) q,i ~ SIDNEY, November 15. hl /rt d!S f oVel < of , a perfect specimen of black opal on the Garwin opal field near Vaigett, New South Wales, ViD pS Im, e nto the hearts of the miners who have Th er i’- '\ eW gem has been called The Light of the World," and in I? 6 / 0 ? 8 ? | fc wel S h s ab out one pound and to £sooo° A® Tr an^thl "g fr °“ AJ3UOU to £5OOO. Australia is now the only country in the world where the black opal is found, and the gem i s becoming scarcer year. The Romans of old “procurei their opals, including the black‘variety from Austria but the supply of black opal >n that country has long been exhausted there is a growing demand for opals of all kinds and according to an Australian expert the Americans are “ just crazy about them, and when the rich Americans go crazy about any. article the market always worth following up. It i s probate, therefore, that “The Light of the World will soon find lts way to America, lhe expert referred to has just returned irom a world tour, and he expressed himself as follows: “ I made inquiries when 1 was in America some months ago, knowing that Australia cannot consume all her opal’ output, and 1 found that the opal market was booming. Certainly Mr Hakkis, president of the American Pearlin'* Company, one of the biggest dealers in precious stones in the U.S.A., said that opals were a fashion and not a staple, such as diamonds, and in New York another expert said much the same thing. But there is a strong demand for opals’ all the same.” It is pointed out that an opal r ing which 10 years ago would have brought £5 would easily bring £2O to-day, so greatly have the prices of the gems risen. Hitherto the most notable opal discovery in Australia was the famous “Flame Queen,” which was found on the Lightning Ridge field, in the same district as the present find. It weighed 223 carats It was in 1923, when the opal supplies from the famous White Cliff fields were begmniii" to dwindle, that two prospectors along the Upper Darling River struck opal at Lightning Ridge, in the Walgeti district. This type was distinguished bv the black bodyground in which the colours gleamed. The bodyground of a normal opal is colourless and milky. For some years the new variety was difficult to market, specimens fetching only £1 o r £2 an ounce at a time when the White Cliffs product was selling at prices up to £5O an ounce. In a very few years, however. Lightning Ridge was yielding two-thirds of the Australian output, and in 1914 fully 8u per cent of it. White Cliffs, meanwhile, had practically been abandoned. The White Cliffs opal field was discovered in 1889 by a kangaroo hunter, who picked up a brilliant piece of opal lying on the surface. The neighbourhood was at once prospected and a rush set in. In a remote part of Western New South Wales, White Cliffs is noted for its heat, and was noted for the “ seam opal,” besides opalised shells, fossil bones, and bunches of crystal which the miners called pineapples. The Australian opal fields are very limited.