Part-7 Taking Care Of Opals
Taking Care of opals
A variety of tools are needed to mine the opals, some more complex or more effective than others.
There has been a rapid increase in the use of mining machines since the 1970s. Tunneling machines with revolving cutting heads and small underground front-end loaders (boggers) have been introduced to streamline opal mining and dra-matically increase productivity.
Miners soon saw the benefits of t e c h n o l o g y – drilling test shafts to gauge their chances before beginning serious excavation, using jackhammers instead of pickaxes, blasting with dynamite, or bringing in the bulldozers. Bulldozers are employed to remove overburden and expose the level where it is shallow. Spotters follow behind watching for traces of opal, and any seam found is then worked over by handpick.
Just like any other gemstone, opal should be stored separately to your other stones and should be taken off when gardening, washing up etc to avoid any minor scratching that could occur. They can be polished with a soft toothbrush or a cloth to maintain their finish and even a little toothpaste with water can restore the opal to its original brilliance. (Toothpaste contains talc which is a light abrasive.)
Solid opals are made up from between 6 – 10 % water so placing your opal in a glass of luke warm water for 15 minutes every 12 months or so will help your opal and prevent it from drying out especially if the opal has been exposed to very dry conditions.
Equal to Jade on Moh’s hardness scale, opal is around 6.5. Not as tough as diamond but certainly easy enough to take care of. Common sense and knowledge about your opal is all you need in order to know how to take care of your opal.
Doublets and triplets have multiple layers and are best not to be in wet conditions for a prolonged period of time as this may cause a cloudy effect in the opal or cause it to delaminate from its layers. However well-made opal doublets and triplets will resist delamination and Australian Opal Cutters sell them with a lifetime guarantee against delamination.
