Lucky Visitors find Black Opal Gems
 April
23, 2007
Mary and John from the
South Coast of NSW are counting their blessings
after finding a whopping 14.92ct gem red on black
opal in the specking dump at the visitors centre
in Lightning Ridge. Along side the big stone was
another red opal weighing in at 5.78ct when
polished.
After a bit of fossicking in
the afternoon Mary was hooked and decided to
arrive early the next morning at the specking
pile so as to take advantage of the bright early
morning light - and it paid off! The early bird
really does get the worm!
Having
recovered from the excitement of their find, Mary
and John took their rough stone to Lost Sea Opals
where the proprietor Jo Lindsay painstakingly
carved the opal into its beautiful final form.
The smaller piece was cut into a stunning
triangular shaped red stone. Mary and John plan
to keep the gemstones to remind them of their
fabulous trip to Lightning Ridge. But they will
eventually pass the opals on to their grand
children.
Mary said if she hadn’t
been on the Outback Opal tours and watched the
opal cutting demonstration at Lost Sea Opals she
would never have known what to look for and would
never have known that she had found anything so
special.
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