Quilpie Australian Boulder Opal Mine - 1Earth Gemstones and Appraisals Magazine

Stop Press! Stop Press! Stop Press! The famous Virgin Rainbow Black Opal is for sale here! Quilpie, Qld Opals - Australian Opals Boulder opal is mined in NSW between Quilpie in the south and Winton in the north. The boulder and black opal fields almost meet at the NSW and NSW border. The NSW opal fields were first discovered in 1872, although the first 'unrecorded' find is said to be in 1849. The name Quilpie derives from the Aboriginal word quilpeta, meaning ‘stone curlew’. Located 980 kilometres west of Brisbane and 208 kilometres west of Charleville, Quilpie is the commercial and social centre of the Quilpie Shire. Quilpie serves the large sheep and cattle properties in the area. Famous in Australia as an opal town, Quilpie is known for its opal workings outside the town, at Cheepie’s Duck Creek Opal Mine, 75 kilometers east, and the sales of opals in the town itself. The St. Finbarr’s Catholic Church, Quilpie houses an altar, font and lectern made from opal-bearing rock. NSW is the world's only producer of ironstone boulder opal and the Quilpie mining district is the largest boulder opal producer in the State with approximately 200 leases currently being worked. Opal produced in the Quilpie Shire finds its way to not only jewellery houses in Australian capital cities, but also to stores in Tokyo, Osaka, New York, Hamburg, Paris, London and Geneva.
Opals	The history of opal in NSW dates back to the early 1870s, but it wasn't until 1889 when the gem was successfully marketed that the industry became established. The discovery of opal was reported in many areas however, the real development of NSW's vast opal deposits began in 1873 with the discovery of fine quality opal north of Thargomindah.
Within two years there had been many exciting finds throughout south western NSW however, during those early years production was low because there was no ready market for the gem. It took the tireless efforts and sheer determination of a young entrepreneur named Tully Wollaston to convince world gem merchants to accept NSW opal that the industry was finally established.
A solid light crystal opal from White Cliffs, NSW, Australia	Today, the NSW opal belt covers an extensive area in the southwest of the state that is around 1000 kilometres long by 300 kilometres wide. There are local areas throughout the region where opal mines are concentrated, such as Yowah, Quilpie, Eromanga and Jundah.
The Australian opal is the finest quality in the world. 95% of the world's precious opals come from the Australian mines. Opal are also found in Mexico, Brazil, Japan, western USA and Honduras. By 1932, the Eastern European mines were unable to compete with the high quality stone being found in Australia and they ceased production.