Australian boulder opals and Chlorastrolite

The Australian boulder opal with its fire like flashes has come to be a stone of much wealth, sometimes reaching the price way above diamonds. Here is one of those gem stones. This black opal from Australia. The gem was cut by my brother Kirk Meinke. When you reach into the red colors of these opals and large carat sizes like this one you can get into the millions of dollars, for these gems. The very small circles in the opals is what gives them the fire like colors. Although we have not found them in Michigan at the present time who is to say some day that we don't find them. Unlike opals with small circles to reflect light the Michigan Greenstone(Chlorastrolite) has very small lines to reflect light, giving it the high opalescence look. The 1/4 inch stars with in the the gems are rarer than the rest so when you see large stars they are worth more. Most of the best Chlorastrolite gems come from the Delaware mine in the copper country of Michigan. They are very hard to find so if you go gem hunting in the copper country for them, don't give up that easily. It always seems better to find any gem after it rains out. The colors of gems usually always stand out. Here are some pictures of some fine gems from Michigan and over seas.