MINING AND CUTTING

Mining

Opal occurs in layers of 1 metre, down to around 30 metres underground, and is retrieved by basic tunnelling methods with pick and shovel and small machinery such as jackhammer and hand drill. Dynamite is used for blasting to access Opal producing areas. Each miner is permitted 2 claims, with a claim measuring 50 x 50 metres. This area costs around $150 per year, and the miner gets to keep whatever he finds.

There are no large companies or corporations controlling the Opal industry. The shaft are sunk using a 3-foot Auger drill, and then loose rough Opal is brought to the surface using a hand or hydraulic winch, or a blower - a large vacuum cleaner that dumps the rough Opal into a tip truck. The Opal is then "puddled", or washed, to remove the loose sandstone and expose any potential colour.

Cutting

About 2% of all Opal found, is actually worth cutting. Most Opal is cut by hand, using Diamond tipped grinding and sanding wheels. Every cutter will have their individual preference for the wheel combination. Personally, I use 2 grinding wheels (120 & 220 grit), 2 sanding wheels (600 & 14,000 grit) and a felt polishing wheel, with cerium oxide (polish powder).

Rough Opal is cut by hand to about 80% complete, and then adhered to a Dopstick for easier cutting.

At Lightning Ridge Opal Mines, we cut about 90% of the solid opal ourselves. We specialise in the cutting & polishing of the opal and we have specific local jewellers make the settings.

We deliberately leave most of our solid opals unset so that our International visitors can take the opal they have bought back overseas and design their own piece of jewellery. If you take an unset opal out of Australia, you won't need to pay any tax or duty. The reason you don't have to pay any duty is because it is not a finished product and you would most likely have your own local jeweller set it for you, and you would buy the metal of your choice in your own country. Please ask us for more details!