BLACK OPAL

Hokitika Guardian, 30 November 1928, Page 5

BLACK OPAL

RICH AUSTRALIAN FIND

WORLD DEMAND FOR GEMS

)SYDNEY, Nov. 15.

The discovery of a perfect specimen of black opal on the Garwin opal field, near Walgett, New South Wales, will put hojie into the hearts of the miners who have lingered there. The new gem has been called “The Light of the World,” and in the rough it weighs about lib. and is said to be worth anything from £3OOO to £SOOO. Australia is now the only country in the world where the' black opal is found, and the gem is becoming scarcer each year. The Itofhans of old procured their opals, including the black variety, from Austria, but the supply of black opal in 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 erazv about them,” and when the rich Americans go crazy about any article the market is always worth following uyl. Tt is probable, therefore, that “The Light of the World” will soon find its way to America The expert referred to has just returned from a world tour, and he expressed himself as follows:—“T made enquiries when I was in' America some months ago, knowing that Australia cannot consume all her opal outpiit, and I found that the .opal market was booming. Certainly Mr Hakkis president', of the American' Pearling Co., 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 ring which, ten years ago, woubl have brought £5, would easily bring £29 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 <thc Lightning Ridge field in the same district as tl(e present find. It weighed 253 carfits. Tt was in 1923, when the opal supplies ■from the famous White ClifFsj fields .were beginning to‘dwindle, tl\at two prospectors along the Upper Darling River struck opal at Lightning Ridge, in the Walgett district. This type was distinguished by’'the black bodyground in which the colours gleamed. The hodyground of a normal opal is colourless and milky. For some years the new variety was difficult to market, specimens Fetching only £1 or £2 an ounce at a time when the White Cliff’s product was selling-at prices up to £SO an ounce. In a very few years, however, Lightning Rulge was yielding two-thirds of the Australian output and in 1914 fully 80 per cent of it. White Cliffs meanwhile had practicaly been abandoned.

The White Cliffs opal field was discovered in 1880 by a kangaroo hunter who picked iup a brilliant: piece of 4 opal lyingUon; "tW. surface, jj The neighbourhood was at' once prospected and a rush set n. In a remote part of Western New.-South Wales. White Cliffs is noted for its heat, and was noted for the' 1 “seam' opal” besides opalised shells, fossil hones and bunches of crystal which the miners called pineapples. The Australian opal fields are very limited.