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Idaho Opal Triplets

This is a chunk of Idaho opal rough. If you look close. The white opal in the
foreground has many small layers. Most of these layers are just plain white opal.
However a few of the layers will be a very high grade opal, called black crystal.
Black crystal opal is a very clear opal, with many different colors flashing through it.

This type of opal should not be confused with true black opal. Idaho opal is also very
much like the boulder opal found in Australia. Boulder opal is also a black crystal type
of opal. It was naturally formed on a dark host rock called ironstone. Unlike Australia's ironstone base, Idaho's white opal base, is too unstable to use as a backing.

So we cut away the white opal to expose the fire layer. A black basalt backing is then
epoxied to the exposed precious opal. The white opal on the other side is then removed.
Now this opal has a dark background and looks like the Australian boulder opal. We then
take the process one step further, to protect the brittle precious opal. We also epoxy a clear
quartz cap to the top. This is what makes up an opal triplet.

Idaho Opal Triplets

Spencer Opal is found in southeastern Idaho near Duboise. The Spencer Opal mine is located about 70 miles West of Yellowstone National Park. The mine was discovered by hunters in 1948, and filed on as a mining claim in 1952. The primary formation of the mine is a rhyolite and obsidian flow, full of gas pockets. The opal solution, a silica, was a secondary deposit caused by geyser activity, which settled in the gas pockets. As a result of many eruptions over a long period of time, the opal lays in layers. Most of the layers are very thin, resulting in some of the most brilliant and beautiful triplet opal in the world.

New Kids On the Block

Spencer Opal Mines is no longer the only opal producing mine In Idaho. The new kids on the block. Are Bob and Susan Thompson. They purchased their opal mining claim in 1991. After
a couple of years of hard work developing the mine, they found an incredible amount of gem grade opal to work with.

They were very gracious in supplying their precious opal. To jewelry stores and custom goldsmiths, like ourselves, in Idaho. Since then they opened their first retail store in
Dubois, Idaho, off Interstate 15, where the tourists stop to rest and gas up.

After that they bought the old general store in Spencer, just 13 miles north of Dubois off Interstate 15. If you find yourself in the area, stop in at one of their stores. You have to see this amazing stuff first hand. Our pictures just can't show the true beauty of these stones. Their store name is "Opal Mt. Mine". Since the store is also the old Texaco gas station,
they inherited one gas pump, which is very popular in this desolate area of the U.S.

They tell everyone they are the only jewelry store in the world with a gas pump. You can find more information about Bob and Susan on their website. We have their site in our useful links page.

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