Located in the north of South Australia, Coober Pedy is a town of not more than a few thousands inhabitants and the owner of a high-sounding title – the opal capital of the world! But, when you learn about its history and importance its more than 70 opal fields have in the market, you’ll have to admit that this town deserves its somewhat pretentious name. Although the Aboriginal people have lived for thousands of years in this area, the Coober Pedy’s real life began in the dawn of the 20th century when an unsuccessful gold prospector Jim Hutchison and his son found small pieces of opal on t...

Are you addicted to Opal like us? Well you might want to put a trip to Coober Pedy on your to do list. The Opal mines at Coober Pedy are producing a staggering $15m worth of Opals every year! Reported by the Mining Department Program Leader Peter Lane, he goes on to say the figure could even be higher because a lot of miners don't report their findings and sell for cash.   The attraction of the Opal hunt has drawn miners to Coober Pedy for generations. Many expect to stay a few months, maybe a year but the desire to discover the next big find can keep them there for many years. One of the ...

While you probably know some of the things on the following list we hope you will find some little nugget about opals that you find interesting. There is certainly more to learn about opals so we hope that the following is enough to get the interest flowing. 1. 97% of the Worlds Opal comes from Australia Breaking that down further a massive 90% of that 97% is either White Opal or Crystal Opal. The majority of the other 3% of the worlds Opal can be found in the following areas: Czech Republic, Indonesia, Brazil, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Slovakia, Hungary, Turkey,and Ethiopia. 2. Black...