WELCOME TO HIGH DESERT OPALS

WE ARE A GROUP OF DEDICATED MINERS & MASTER CUTTERS & OPALHOLICS FROM UTAH TO TEXAS, & YOUR SOURCE FOR ONE OF THE RAREST GEMS IN THE WORLD! GEM QUALITY HYALITE OPAL, OR "SATIN FLASH OPAL" THAT COMES IN VEINS THICK ENOUGH TO CUT. IT COMES FROM ONLY ONE PLACE ON EARTH(that we know of). A SMALL KNOLL IN SOUTHERN UTAH, & MOST OF IT IS GONE LONG AGO!

WE WILL ALSO BE OFFERING SOME UTAH "FLAME OPAL", THE LAYER FOUND ABOVE THE HYALITE OPAL.

ITEM DESCRIPTION: RARE UTAH STRIPE/SATIN MIX OPAL ROUGH!

ORIGIN: UTAH

WEIGHT:  76.90CTS/15.38g

SIZE: 60 X 18 X 9mm

SHAPE: FREEFORM

TYPE: STRIPE/SATIN MIX OPAL

NOTE: THIS OPAL CAN BE TREATED WITH OPTICON TO AID IN CUTTING, BUT THIS CAN BE CUT WITHOUT TREATING IT. THIS IS VERY HARD OPAL, MUCH HARDER THAN THE FLAME OPAL ROUGH

NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE GEM GRADE HYALITE OPAL DESCRIBED BELOW. IT DOES HAVE A THIN LAYER OF THE SATIN HYALITE BUT IS NOT THE HIGHEST GRADE. PLEASE SEE OUR OTHER AUCTIONS TO VIEW THE GEM GRADE HYALITE OPALS!!!

FREE INFO ABOUT THIS OPAL

UTAH HYALITE OPAL(opalized sinter)

There are only about two dozen known places on earth where sinter is formed - usually in mineral hot springs, geysers and other geothermal activity such as in Yellowstone National Park and Tapau, New Zealand. Siliceous sinter is a deposit of opaline or amorphous silica that occurs as an incrustation formed around geothermally active sites. It sometimes forms conical mounds or terraces.

Usually white to light gray in color, and sometimes clear to semi-transparent, siliceous sinters are deposited as the hot subterranean waters cool after having been supersaturated with silica and minerals that had been picked up at depth. The sinters were frequently deposited on algea that lived in pools around the hot springs, the solidified by evaporation or a combination of heat, pressure and millions of years. In all other known locations around the world where sinter is found, it is usually thin, fractured, dull, quite soft and virtually useless as gem material, except for one truly unique and isolated location in Southern Utah, USA.

In Utah's Mineral Mountains lies a large geothermal font, and nearby is a small mine deposit of highly silicated opalized sinter that formed in layers thick enough and hard enough to cut into gemstones.

Some of the more spectacular and highly uncommon opal pieces that are cut and polished from this material reflect a bright clear or bright white light from the stone, created by the refraction of light rolling off internal botroyds(likely anciently formed within clear silicates). These special stones are called "SATIN FLASH OPAL", and can sometimes show a display of color, but different than the play of color associated with other, more familiar opal. The gem rough material comes in a wide variety of colors and clarity, ranging from pure white, to water-clear, with varying shades of yellow, tan, maroon, brown, and shades of bronze and gold and oftern reflect intricate patterns and amazing contrasts of swirls and circles and gemoetric wonders. All of the gem material is "HYALITE OPAL", but only a tiny percentage of the stones are graded as "SATIN FLASH OPAL".

The mine from which our gemstones are taken is small and the opal found there is EXTREMELY RARE. These factors, coupled with the surreal beauty of the stone, make it truly one of the rarest gemstones in the world.

There are four partners who collect and cut the material into gemstones, and control the mine property under lease from the State of Utah. A small amount of rough material is now available to opal lovers everywhere in the world, thanks to HYALITE OPAL MINING CO. & our affiliates here on OpalAuctions HIGH DESERT OPALS & LEQUARION.

You can bid with confidence, knowing Lequarion is a long time top rated seller here on OpalAuctions, with OVER 4700 positive feedback!

We hope you enjoy and appreciate these truly rare wonderful gems!