Why We Love Lightning Ridge Opal

By Neville Ryan – EarthGallery.com Lightning Ridge is a small opal mining town in north-western New South Wales near the border of Queensland in Australia. It is home to the world famous black opal. This opal is the rarest and most expensive opal found in the world today. How rare? Some miners persevere for years […]

What’s the Scoop About Lapis Lazuli

By Neville Ryan Until recent years it was almost impossible to obtain large pieces of top quality Royal Blue Lapis because of the difficulty of mining and export from Afghanistan. The easing of restrictions means that large polished pieces are now possible. How long will it last? No one knows! For most of its history […]

Marra Mamba Tiger Eye

Marra Mamba Tiger Eye Marra Mamba tiger eye is regarded as the finest quality tiger eye available. It is highly sought after by cutters, jewelers,  and collectors around the world. Marra Mamba tiger eye is famous for its intense tiger eye colors of red, orange, blue, copper and yellow. Tiger eye isn’t the only contributor […]

Rare Louisiana Sand Opal

Louisiana Sand Opal showing a range of colors. Louisiana Opal was found in the Catahoula Formation in Vernon Parish, Louisiana. The only commercial producer was the Hidden Fire Opal Mine which operated on leased land and was closed down in the early 1990’s. Only small quantities were mined and rough material, in quantity, is very […]

Andamooka Rainbow Matrix Opal

Andamooka Rainbow Matrix Opal Andamooka is a small mining town in the desert of South Australia and is the only area that produces Rainbow Opal Matrix. This type of opal is found in minuscule pores interspersed throughout its limestone host rather than in seams such as found in Coober Pedy. The limestone is white and […]

Rare Ellensburg Blue Agate

A Large Specimen of Ellensburg Blue Agate The Ellensburg Blue agate is regarded as the third rarest gemstone in the world. It is the only blue agate regarded as a “precious gemstone.” Ellensburg Blue agate is only found in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains northwest of Ellensburg, Washington, USA. Volcanic action, millions of years […]

Boulder Opal

Queensland Boulder Opal is mined in the desert regions of the state of Queensland in Australia centered mainly around the towns of Winton and Quilpie. As is implied by the name the opal is found in or nodular or boulder ironstone formations, in vertical and horizontal cracks, which are cut open to see what gems […]

Opals

Opal comes in many different forms from countries throughout the world. Australia has been the biggest producer for many years and includes boulder opal from Queensland, black opal from Lightning Ridge, crystal and white opal from Coober Pedy and crystal and matrix opal from Andamooka. The mining town of Mentabie used to be a major […]

Malachite

Malachite is a copper based mineral and can vary between botryoidal, fibrous, stalagmitic or massive forms. The color varies through bright green, dark green, blackish green with some being almost black. The Democratic Republic of Congo is currently the largest producer of Malachite but it is found worldwide including Australia, France, Mexico, Namibia, Russia, and […]

Chrysoprase

Chrysoprase is a beautiful stone that is often sold in Asia as Australian Jade. It isn’t! The stone is a form of chalcedony that has been colored green by the inclusion of nickel and is formed mainly in veins and nodules.  Chrysoprase is found in various countries including Russia, Brazil and Tanzania but the finest […]

Chrysocolla

Chrysocolla is a copper derivative mineral that may contain an assortment of minerals including malachite, azurite limonite, cuprite and quartz. It is generally found either in veins, botryoidal or in rounded masses. It has a Moh’s hardness rating ranging from 2 to 7. This large variation is dependent on the amount of silica included with […]

Geode Information

  This site has a wealth of information on geodes. If you are wanting to know what they are, how they are formed or where they are formed, you will find answers here. Enjoy! Guide to Geodes

Lapis by the Gram, Color or Style

By Neville Ryan EarthGallery.com Lapis by the gram? Lapis by color? Lapis by style? How do you choose your Lapis piece? For most of its history Lapis was sold in small rough pieces priced by the gram and a fist size piece was considered a large stone. High quality Lapis was very difficult to find […]

What is a Tektite?

By Charli Lundholm EarthGallery.com The origin of tektites, also called impact or meteoric glass, is still debated by scientists. Some people feel they were originally meteoric material that become separated from it’s iron content as it came through our atmosphere. Others think that as meteorites have impacted the earth, the surrounding rock, or pieces of […]