What is a Boulder Opal?
Boulder Opal is a beautiful, precious opal unique to Queensland, Australia. Opal typically forms in ironstone but can also manifest in sandstone, referred to as Boulder Opal or Crystal Boulder Opal. Jewelers worldwide favor pendant necklace designs and rings due to their earthy appearance and diverse color spectrum, spanning from blues and greens to rainbows and reds. Any color combination of boulder opal is possible. Boulder Opal can also host fossilized vegetation or wood, which can be very interesting to collect or use in jewelry design. Furthermore, Boulder Opal Nuts is unique to the Yowah and Koroit mining fields. Every piece of boulder opal is unique, one and only.
Where is Koroit and Yowah?
Koroit and Yowah are two separate opal mining locations where you can discover unique types of opals. These mining locations are only a short distance from each other, within 100km. They are located in Queensland’s South West, about 1000km directly inland from the Gold Coast and Brisbane. There are other opal mining locations within the region, including Quilpie and Eromanga.
Mining Boulder Opal in the Koroit / Yowah Region
Typical mines in the Koroit and Yowah regions are open-cut, with heavy machinery/bobcats and excavators often used to cut away at the harsh desert landscape. Some mines are drilled pits that are worked by hand. After identifying a promising section of colored boulder opal, manual labor typically begins using pickaxes or jackhammers. The opal is then sliced by machine and polished into finished pieces, such as those available on our website.
What is so unique about Yowah and Koroit Boulder Opals?
There have been some stunning discoveries of beautiful vein-like opals. These types of boulder opals are very unique to Yowah. They are highly sought-after pieces and are often used in jewelers’ high-end pendant necklace designs. Yowah is also home to the famous Yowah Nut. Yowah Nuts are large boulder-like rocks dug out of the ground. Most yowzah nuts do not contain lovely opals, but now and then, the miner will discover a beautiful, highly valuable Yowah Nut by luck and chance.
In recent years, the Koroit mining location has discovered many beautiful wood and vegetation opal fossils. A common type of opal from Koroit is often an easily distinguishable type of blue, easily recognizable in comparison to the colors from Winton. Koroit has also made some discoveries about nut-like opals. However, they are usually different compared to Yowah nuts, with the vein-like vein-like appearance needing to be more evident.
What is Boulder Opal Worth, and what is it typically used for?
Boulder Opal typically holds the reputation of being the most affordable among all the different types of opals. You can easily find affordable pieces of precious boulder opal for under $100. Some rarer pieces with bright colors can be valuable, up to a few thousand dollars.
Jewelers commonly use larger pieces of boulder opal in pendant necklace designs. It is not uncommon to see boulder opal pendants hanging on rope necklaces at markets worldwide. Additionally, jewelers find value in integrating smaller pieces into ring designs, seeking an earthy aesthetic. Similarly, collectors and investors are drawn to acquiring rare boulder opal specimens, frequently too large for traditional jewelry settings. Our collection has several interesting, rare Boulder Opal specimens for sale.
