We only work with & sell natural, solid, Australian Boulder Opal; in all of its forms
Boulder Opal is found in the state of Queensland, Australia
Subsets of Boulder Opal;
These are Opals that are Queensland Boulder Opal, however due to their distinct traits, how they have formed and/or locations where commonly found have fallen into sub categories/names they are also known by
Subsets of Boulder Opal;
- Pipe Opal
- Crystal Opal
- Crystal Pipe Opal
- Black Boulder Opal
- Matrix
- Wood replacement/ Fossilised wood opal
- Koroit Opal
- Yowah nut
Our Opals are sourced from a range of Queensland Boulder Opal felids;
Our opal mine is located in the Jundah region, Southwest Queensland, and we also source rough material direct from our fellow Boulder Opal miners in neighbouring regions
Boulder Opal Subsets
- Pipe Opal; Pipe opal is opal that has formed within cylinder/tubular shaped voids within the host rock. The host rock can be sandstone or ironstone. This type of opal can sometimes be cut to remove all or most of the host rock
- Crystal Opal; What makes an opal a crystal opal is when light can fully or partially pass though the opal ie. It is fully or partially transparent or translucent
- Crystal Pipe Opal; This is a mix of the above two, it has formed in cylinder/tubular shaped voids within the host rock and is fully or partially transparent or translucent
- Black Boulder Opal; (Not to be confused with Black Opal from Lightning Ridge) What makes an Opal a black Opal is the Opals body tone; a dark grey-black body tone produces brighter, more luminescent & vivid colours.
However, Black Opal is almost exclusively found in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales (It’s what they are famous for) and using the term “Black Opal” is a reference to Opal from there
We strongly believe in the importance of opal education & traceability; this includes ensuring we label our Opals correctly & clearly as to not cause any confusion or put out any misleading information into the world. For this reason, it is important if we are referring to a Black Opal that is not from Lightning Ridge, we label it correctly ie. Black Boulder Opal
- Matrix; is opal that has disbursed throughout tiny veins between the grains of the ironstone host rock
- Wood replacement/ Fossilised wood opal;
Wood replacement opal is petrified wood that has been fully or partially replaced by opal. These can also form with a mix of wood/timer particles & opal
- Koroit Opal; This mining region in Queensland is known for their dark rich colour of ironstone with the unique formations of the host rock.
While this style of opal can be found in other Queensland mines, though Koroit is known for producing a lot of this material.
Koroit opal fields also produces the other subsets of Boulder Opal
- Yowah nut; This mining region in Queensland is known for their distinct nut shaped rocks/boulder. Like above this style of opal can be found in other Queensland mines, Yowah is known for producing a lot of this material.
Yowah opal felids also produces the other subsets of Boulder Opal
