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Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Gemstones and Minerals
Opal mining in lightning ridge 1995.
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<blockquote data-quote="dezman" data-source="post: 43549" data-attributes="member: 1018"><p>Oh I pulled this pic off my IG site! </p><p>This was our best stone from the run which lasted eight day and produced $80,000 worth of opal all up. This piece sold for $8400 as it had a bit of sand in it and had to be cut down some. For some reason this one was a about six inches lower down from the band I was digging the others out of, and gee I hit it hard! </p><p>I was just kicking myself in not being more careful, but lucky it survived with out any damage. </p><p>This proved to be the last good patch I'd find from then on. Then the market crashed in Japan who were our biggest buyers and you couldn't give it away. </p><p>Summer was coming fast and my wife was in Dubbo giving birth to twins, I had no fuel money left to dig and couldn't sell want I had anyway.</p><p>So I packed up and had an auction to sell everything and move south and start a new venture. Lucky for me as the ridge just died without Japan's support in buying opal, with hindsight it was the right decision to make. </p><p>I'm tempted to try again next winter and see if my luck and ageing body will hold, I must be mad for iv very little money. But to find enough to buy some land would be magic, see how I go with the sapphires over summer.</p><p>Thanks for reading.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dezman, post: 43549, member: 1018"] Oh I pulled this pic off my IG site! This was our best stone from the run which lasted eight day and produced $80,000 worth of opal all up. This piece sold for $8400 as it had a bit of sand in it and had to be cut down some. For some reason this one was a about six inches lower down from the band I was digging the others out of, and gee I hit it hard! I was just kicking myself in not being more careful, but lucky it survived with out any damage. This proved to be the last good patch I'd find from then on. Then the market crashed in Japan who were our biggest buyers and you couldn't give it away. Summer was coming fast and my wife was in Dubbo giving birth to twins, I had no fuel money left to dig and couldn't sell want I had anyway. So I packed up and had an auction to sell everything and move south and start a new venture. Lucky for me as the ridge just died without Japan's support in buying opal, with hindsight it was the right decision to make. I'm tempted to try again next winter and see if my luck and ageing body will hold, I must be mad for iv very little money. But to find enough to buy some land would be magic, see how I go with the sapphires over summer. Thanks for reading. [/QUOTE]
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Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Gemstones and Minerals
Opal mining in lightning ridge 1995.
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