Thundercloud Behind A Rainbow: Black Opal

SYDNEY - Feb. 13, 2025 - PRLog -- There are several types of opal, including black (dark) opal, boulder opal, light (white) opal, and composite opal. Opal is so precious that 30 tons of Opal "dirt" produces 1 ton of "rough Opal potch" which will ultimately produce only one Opal gemstone; however, the black opal is much rarer than any other type of gem. Black Opal with colour and pattern is 5000x rarer than diamond.

The magical "black"

Black opal does not mean its appearance is completely black (it will also lose value when it is all black), the "black" only refers to the general body tone of the stone. Black opals have carbon and iron oxide trace elements present, which cause the unusual darkness of the stone. Because of their dark body tone, the rainbow colours in a black opal stand out as more stunning beauty than lighter opals. Besides, the type, colour, and size of precious Opal are factors that determine the price paid for the gemstone, so this vibrancy of colour makes black opal the most valuable form of all opals.

Origin of black opal

Black opals are mostly mined in Lightning Ridge, in northern New South Wales. Although White Cliffs is Australia's oldest commercial opal field, Lightning Ridge is famous for the black opal and hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of black opals have been found there. The Ridge is in Northern New South Wales 768km from Sydney, and lies in the Surat Basin, which is part of the vast Great Australian Basin. It is the special topographical structure of the basin that allows the underground sediments to form the raw materials of opals after many years of crustal movement.

There is a legend about the Lighting Ridge from the aborigines which explained the finding of opal, it said a huge wheel of fire fell to earth and sprayed the countryside with brilliant coloured stones. As for the naming of the Ridge, it is also a dramatic story. Frank Leechman's The Opal Book (1961) explains how Lightning Ridge got its name. He tells how one night a shepherd, his dog and a large mob of sheep were sheltering among the trees on the ridge from a wild storm. Suddenly, a mighty bolt of lightning struck right in the middle of the flock, killing over 200 sheep, the others scattering in terror.

The Lighting Ridge has a population of about 1200 which is supplemented by over 80 000 visitors who arrive every year. The Opal Festival is held in the September–October NSW school holidays every year. Other annual events are the Easter Festival and the Opal and Gem Expo in July.

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