Winton, Queensland Opals - Australian Opals - 1Earth Gemstones and Appraisals Magazine

Stop Press! Stop Press! Stop Press! The famous Virgin Rainbow Black Opal is for sale here! Winton, NSW Opals - Australian Opals Boulder opal is mined in NSW between Winton in the north and Quilpie in the south. The NSW opal fields were first discovered in 1872, although the first 'unrecorded' find is said to be in 1849. The boulder and black opal fields almost meet at the NSW and NSW border. Winton is located on the Matilda Highway, 173 kilometers northwest of Longreach. Winton is at the headwaters of the Diamantina River, a major sheep area.
Opals	Aside from being a famous Australian Opal town, Winton is the birthplace of QANTAS, the NSW And Northern Territory Aerial Service, Australia's national airline. In 1895, on Dagworth Station, Banjo Paterson wrote Australia’s Waltzing Matilda and the ballad had its first public airing in Winton.
During September, in odd-numbered years, Winton holds the Outback Festival. 40 kilometres south and 115 kilometres south, respectively, are Aboriginal paintings and bora ceremonial grounds at Skull Hole and Opalton’s ghost town and gemfields.
A solid light crystal opal	Preserving the tracks of a dinosaur ‘stampede’ is the Lark Quarry Environment Park, 11 kilometres southwest, while Combo Waterhole is accessed via the Matilda Highway, 141 kilometers northwest.
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.