Lots of Dirt

Opals are bloody hard to find! Soooo much dirt all those levels of sandstone (an ancient inland sea) and when you hear the chink sound of a black opal nobbie damned if it isn't only potch. Potch is common opal meaning opal structure without any fire. The silica shperes must be lined up in an egg cartons stacked upon each other type of pattern to produce fire. Potch's silica spheres are irregular in size and no stacking just squashed together producing no fire. The regular stacking pattern creates a defraction grid and the assorted sizes of the sheres determine the color of the fire! So you toil thru tons of dirt to get to the opal bearign level or I should say the possible opal bearing level to find naught or to find only potch. So it is really a big deal when you hit real precious and semi precious opal in that level. It amazes me still that opal can be purchased so cheaply when I know the costs both finacial and blodd sweat and tears cost to find it. I can hear the opal screaming to me as I drive thru opal country but I also look out at the vast vistas of Australia's sunburnt country and think, "All that dirt that is mixed with it." So I drive on both excited and exhausted feeling knowing what it will take to pull my favorite gem from the earth.