Description
Pale blue, colorless, and golden-orange Opal Butte opal sphere with areas of yellow-green, red, rust, pink, and mustard colored rhyolite. This sphere is from a mine located on privately owned land, 35 miles south of the town of Heppner in Morrow County, northeastern Oregon. It lies on the western slope of Opal Butte, at an elevation of 4700 ft. This beautiful sphere is magnificent and magical!
Diameter: 5″
Weight: 5.8 lbs
ABOUT OPAL BUTTE – In the southwest corner of the Blue Mountain range in Morrow County, northeastern Oregon, is the site of a large opal mining operation in an area called Opal Butte. The Opal Butte opals occur in rhyolite geodes (also called thundereggs) embedded in decomposed perlite (altered to a pastel clay). These geodes look like regular rocks on the outside but, when broken open, can reveal hidden treasures on the inside! The geodes may contain agate stalactites, banded agate, quartz crystals (rarely), common opal, or various types of gem-quality opal.
OPAL is a hydrated silica with a hardness of 5.5 to 6.5. It comes in a variety of forms, one of the most popular today being “boulder opal,” which forms in an ironstone matrix. Opal forms when silica-rich water fills the cracks and voids of rocks, clay, and fossils. Though opal has been the subject of historical misconception and superstition, it has an even longer history of being both exalted and coveted for its beauty. It was the ancient Romans who provided the first real market for opals, raising the opal to gemstone status around 100 B.C. Today, opal is said to encourage optimism, confidence, playfulness and curiosity. While it can be found in many different locations such as the US, Mexico, Ethiopia, Brazil, Guatemala, and Japan, it is primarily found in Australia.
https://geoclassics.com/product-category/rocks-minerals/opal/
https://geoclassics.com/product-category/rocks-minerals/opal/oregon/
