Comments by "Helmuth Schultes" (@helmuthschultes9243) on "American Reacts to Beautiful Opal Uncovered in Australia!!!" video.
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Have been involved with Opals since end og 1960s when my father operated a petrol station in Adelaide for a couple of years. There he befriended a number of Opal miners, who happened to visit his petrol station/mechanical workshop. Among a good business was getting usable secondhand tyres. The opal miners due to the sharp rocks and rough roads regularly were destroying tyres in as little as a few days even several in one day, punctured by sharp roots, slashed and/or punctured by sharp rocks. No matter if old or new, so old tyres were more than adequate.
To that end dad would buy for a few dollars any second hand tyres from other workshops, if not damaged, had even minimal tread, and were usable fir a few thousand km or until damaged. Once a month or two, some miner would roll in with a large, even twin axel, with frame cage, and load up the huge stack of tyres, and pay double what dad payed. Real true recycling in action.
Anyway he got multiple invitations to visit the opal diggings, and finally visited Andamooka field. There he was allowed to go through an open cut by the miner he visited. An open cut then cost close to $100,000, to get a bulldozer remove top soil layer, say typical 20m wide and 50m long, and when reaching suited rock base, the miner would walk behind the dozer until seeing evidence of reaching potential or actusl opal layers. Then stop digging by dozer and start manual mining. In this open cut the owner had already found near $750,000 of precious opal so well payed back the open cut, which were not always successful. My dad and his friend were allowed free roaming and hand pick digging for 2 days. They found maybe 1 kg , 2.2lb, of semi precious opal, several ounces precious opal. Several kg worthless opal material with no colour, called potch. Once rock my dad got would today sell for thousands of dollars it is a several mm layer of opal civering one end of the rock chunck, area nearly 10 sq inches. This is among my present rock collection. They were allowed to keep anything they found while the owner took the two days to rest. By the way in the following week he found more than $200,000 opal.
In later years we setup a polishing rig in our garage, where opal and other gems were cut and polished.
Also I had several light aircraft trips, with a coworker of my mother, who with commercial license, rented a plane fir a week or so a few times each year to fly tourists to the main opal fields. Sometimes he had one spare seat, and offered it to me at half the price of the standard tourist price. I even sat co plilot seat, and even flew the aircraft a few times, while he chatted with his guests. I visited Andamooka, Coober Pedy both in SA and White Cliffs NSW. One one Andamooka trip I dreamt to buy some rough opal, and took $250 expecting to get some nice pieces. Only the lowest priced bags of pieces were $3000 and up. The most costly bag I was shown ran to over $50,000. Very disappointed and dejected I went back to the accomodation, and even mistakenly did not buy a jar full of pieces offered by a old miner looking for beer money, only wanted $20, and I foolishly did not buy it thinking to keep the full $250 planned incase I could get a deal still. That old timer flogged the jar for $5 at the bar.
I did fossick a few bits on roadway and dirt piles around town. But our accomodation for the tourists was at a guest house run by Rudi Duke, also known as Andamooka Opal King, reputed to have upto tons stashed to prevent price collapse of opal trade. He ran some secrete mines in deep desert, where he travelled for upto a week, observing to prevent being followed, then vanish for a month to reappear, travelling again days to mislead any person trying to follow him. Carrying back as much as 100kg that he progressively sold to tourists cutting opals himself or via daughter working in Adelaide as a proffessional opal cutter and rough material to intrrnational buyers flying in to the opal fields. Some days Andamooka airfield, jokingly with a large Andamooka International Airport sign would have several hundred aircraft coming and going. Rudi took pity on me and on the morning of departure, he offered a small glass bottle/jar with really prime opal for my $250. The pilot a week later let me know the bottle had previoudly had a pen label of $2500, and Rudiverased a zero off the end. It has one piece that could polish teo sizable opal cabochon, domed oval shaped gem that each could exceed $10,000. The entire bottle contents could reach near $50,000 once cut and polished.
Over year years to 2000, I visited these opal fields many times travelling as part of my car testing work, and holiday travel by 4WD. Have picked up pieces especially in Coober Pedi where we often worked from Motel accomodation. In the garfen and around parts of the motel room carpark where buyers rented rooms while buying, good pieces were lying around. Waste smaller stuff often swept out of rooms or thrown away as not bought potch much still having good appearance.
Many of my opal pieces arecalso moderately common seashell fossils where the shell has been replaced by the opal silicate material these look so nice with flashes of colour while being distinct seashell shapes
I have cut and polished hundreds of opals mostly sent as presents to relatives in Germany. One aunt having a watch repaired was wearing a necklace with about 12mm oval cabochon opal, rather cheap fitting and chain but really nice opal. The jewler/watch repair manager asked to have a closer look. With only a few minutes to look he made an offer of over Dmark 5000 (today a value equivalent of nearer EU13000) and said even possibly more if he could have a few days to assess it better. My aunt was stunned, never realised its value just that it was a beautiful stone sent by a nephew from Australia. She sadly was then afraid to waer it as was previously frequently done. It ended in a jewel box with her wedding ring and other valuables. On her passing these went to the two daughters, who sold the valuables, but I have no info how much. These opals all would have had values totalling a sizable amount maybe enough to buy a house. To me it was the joy of creating these things of beauty.
I of course have many other gems and semi precious stones and still have much raw material, though have not done anything since before 2000. I need to unbury the work space from garage clutter.
Might try to send a piece of good looking potch , sadly not precious premium opal, in a parcel just now being put together to send.
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@durv13 Yes depends on many factors, 9n the actual opal fields the main trade is to international buyers 2ho really only buy top grade, and nothing thin layer or uncertain depth. Yes I too assisted a cousin from Germany to buy some opal pieces for as little as $25 for a small jar full and up to $100 for a jam jar size of cutting pieces, Also seen some old guys at sunday markets with jars and bottles from $5 to $200 and rarely above $500. Basically up to 50% cutable. These bottles and jars are generally material the miners were unable to sell to the gem trade, does not mean that there is some very nice stuff in there. Also little sample tubes full of tiny chips all very beautiful colours, but too small for other than epoxy potted opal chip jewellery or as curiosity tourist trinkets for from $1 to $5 typically.
I have found many people are very happy to have some lower grade piece with some colour for their rock collection, even seen a cactus potplant surface decorated by potch with colour slivers. Cutting grade opal is wasted laying in some rock box as a curiosity.
If you really have desire to, please feel free to send IWROCKER some terrific Opal sample,
I will try with what I feel is a suitable non gem grade example, depending on finding a suitable piece in the next few days, else it will miss the current parcel being packed now.
As far as local guys selling pieces of Opal, I have in last 5 years not really tried, but used to see such regularly at markets, but have never seen any in 10 years. The local area had three guys selling from their garage, but they have no longer been listed in the local newspaper/council magazine adverts.
But also I should add I have picked up pieces swept from buyers rooms at the Coober Pedy motel where they reside while buying and also pieces dumped in surrounding garden and from ute trays during cleaning the vehicle around town, that equalled or bettered what was in those offered cheap jars.
My first big buying attempt, as mentioned in my first comment for $250 of pieces at Andamooka, on light aircraft trip there was a massive disappointment as the smallest bags at buyer/seller agents, were thousands of dollars, and that not far over 5 oz, at the low cost end. Larger batches were $5000 and up.
All offered pieces were as normally sold to international gem buyers. Premium grade large, thick gem layer, colourful, no sand/rock inclusions, much even clear jelly, and good size pieces, no small chip pieces, suited to make several cut stones each, nothing intended as tiny cut size stones say under 5mm or for doublets and triplets, no cheap gems.
When I talk quality it is for opal that yields cut stones in the thousands of dollars in value.
Yes I too have made nice looking opals polished from what had been throw away rubbish, that is included in the potch class, though seriously potch is really the milky or grey colourless mass, to many though if not gem quality it is lumped together as potch.
Just luck and persistence and trial error and some have enough good opal in there.
Nothing beats digging good stuff yourself, but that needs good miner mates, either having good luck themselves and letting you try a few days, letting you keep what you find or more typically wanting 50/50 share. Certainly if you value living, no illegal access to claims, you may not be found again, and maybe your opalised bones might reappear a few million years in the future.
Else unless you yourself care to invest big in your own claim and spend years, if finance supports it.
There has been a period of very poor Opal yields, many miners abandoning the diggings, and ever more regulations and OHS requirements. Some diggings are now closed, returned to aboriginal ownership, one a bit north of Coober Pedy for example, just the name escapes me now.
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@durv13 ok, thanks, as I am retired a few years now, there is temptation to sort out the workshop, over filled by accumulated stuff to do anything, and get back into a little rather than wasting time on dull trash TV, to using some of 35 years of accumulated precious and semi precicious gem. Opal sapphire, zircons, garnets, even a number of carats Argyle diamond roughs, (very difficult to get), lots of various other materials, quartz forms citrine smoky crystals etc, WA Tiger eye and many other pretty minerals and stones, some bought at rock shops.
Bye.....
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