The guy buys a $30.00 rough Yowah opal nut from me and sells it for $30,000.00!!
This is why we opalholics stay hooked. Whether you are a serious miner or a rockhound that does their treasure hunting at rock and gem shows that jackpot is just around the corner> I have lectured that a miner can not ever double and triple check all his Yowah nuts and not miss a thing. If you are in the opal mining game, you often have to sell opal in the rough to finance your mining. You can’t cut it all and sell it all in time to meet the mining season. Also your business may depend on the revenue made selling rough.The facination of the Queensland ironstone concretions is that you never know what is inside. There is always that jackpot waiting for you in one of them.Thousands of them have absolutely no opal. And then voilla! somewhere in the midst of the $30.00 specimens is a double Yowah nut and the lucky buyer bought it from me, rubbed it down further and evidently found a real beauty. I received an email from an opal enthusiast (opal was in his email address) He said that he had spoken to a man who told him that he had bought that Yowah nut from Barbara McCondra for $30.00 and when he bought it, he thought it was worth at least $50.00. So he also had no clue what lay within.Now I never was informed about it until a few days ago. And all I could say was good luck to him.
That’s the opal game. A miner toils for months in a mine and then leaves without finding a pocket. The next miner starts where he left off and finds a $100,000 pocket of opal one foot further in the face of the drive(tunnel). You play a slot machine for two hours and leave broke. The grey haired granny sits in the seat and hits the jackpot on the first go. Barbara McCondra sells the goodlooking specimen nut for a price she reckons is a bit cheaper that ohers would sell it for (I always try to beat the going rate) the opalholic who has been searching opal vendors tables for years, buying specimens for his collection, buying rough opal for a bit of lapidary fun, hits the JACKPOT!
Well, that is just more fuel for the fire. It came out of my mine. I never before mined and sold such an opal from that mine in 12 years, but that doesn’t mean there is not another one in there and this time for me (or you if you buy some of those lotto tickets that look like Yowah opal). So I go now to practice shrugging my shoulders and saying c'est la vie.
Major Opal Addict
Me shoveling 70 feet below ground into my rickshaw.
About Me
- Parched Earth Opals
- Mayer, Arizona, United States
- I hunt for treasure and I find it in wild, rough as guts, crazy places. The booty I have unearthed includes gems, gold, and big oil pipeline paychecks. I have worked with the crackle of the Aurora Borealis overhead and the crunch of Arctic ice beneath my feet. For the last twenty-five years, I have mined opals below ground and camped beneath the Australian sky. This considerably skewed my city girl perspective of life. Because I lived without electricity 6 months out of the year for so many years, I had plenty of time to observe, write, and cartoon the saga of the thrilling side of my dual life. I am Barbara McCondra, mother, teacher, commercial real estate agent, Arctic oilfield worker, Aussie opal miner, gem dealer, and freelance writer/lecturer. I live with one foot each in two hemispheres. When I am asked, “How did you DO that?” I always respond,” If I dress it, speak it, and walk it, I become it,” Simple and exciting. My life is a perpetual adventure. I love it.
