Montana
Crystals abound at Crystal Park
Welcome aboard! |
Montana
Crystals abound at Crystal Park |
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Spencer Opal - Idaho 9/17/04  |
Thundereggs 3/23/08 
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7/06/03 
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Virgin Valley Opal dig June 2004
 Dust Devil Sunstones June 2004-2005
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Contra luz  |
| Its Nevada in the middle of summer, its time to find some shade and sit down for
awhile. Drinking soda from an ice chest and cooling off is a good break. As I rest I Watch the progress of
the miners as they dig relentlessly for the precious fire opal of the Virgin Valley. Piles of tailings are
stretched for several acres in all directions and a busy cat works to take away the overburden. Virgin Valley
is the one place where opal is formed as a wood replacement and pieces of fossilized wood are opalized with
precious opal. As I rest I watch a grizzled looking man scour the tailing piles hoping to find a piece of
stable opal. The opal found in Virgin Valley is usually too high in water content to use for anything but a
pretty display in a water tight dome. Finding just a couple pieces of stable opal may mean more than an
average days wage, but its a gamble, some find opal, some don't. I return from my break to the pile of opal
bearing dirt, the pile is as high as a mans head and I climb to its summit. On top of the heap and in the
center I spy a cylindrical object nestled between some dirt clods. I reach down in between the rocks and
pull up a three inch crystal covered with a film of dust. The opal looks like all the other dirt around
it except for the cylinder shape, I look closely and I can see into it and I see its play of color. I yell
"allright!" and rush to show my find to the nearest person. The color of my opal is brilliant in the sun
and it lights up with a rainbow of colors. The treasure is rushed to my water filled bin and laid inside.
Later it will be put into a dome and displayed with some special lighting to bring out its fire. Nothing
beats the feeling of when you've found an opal!
[Royal Peacock]
[Rainbow Ridge]
Royal Peacock 2003 
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More Opal Pics Don't Miss This! Virgin Valley Pictures A collection of quality opal photographs. Parts of my collection and of others are shown. This opal was all mined on a fee dig basis over the past two years at either the Royal Peacock or at Rainbow Ridge. Pictures of finds from June 2006! Awesome! Shirley's Opal 2006! All I can say is WOW!!!! NEW! Here are some shots from our June 1st & 2nd 2007 Dig at Rainbow Ridge! Click Here! |
