{"id":128,"date":"2010-02-14T03:02:16","date_gmt":"2010-02-14T08:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richardcarew.userblogs.ganoksin.coms\/?p=128"},"modified":"2010-02-14T03:02:16","modified_gmt":"2010-02-14T08:02:16","slug":"south-to-guatemala-and-brazil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/richardcarew\/2010\/02\/14\/south-to-guatemala-and-brazil\/","title":{"rendered":"South to Honduras"},"content":{"rendered":"

Heading south to Honduras where some fine Black Opal is produced as well as some interesting Boulder Opal.\u00a0 Actually it’s all Boulder Opal the Black Opal is a crystal clear opal that is overlaid on top of a black basalt, which is considered a Black Opal.\u00a0 In Australia it is often the case where a band of crystal opal overlays some black potch and that is most certainly considered Black Opal so we will allow the Hondurans to have their Black Opal too.\u00a0 It is found in vertical seams that are the highlight of a Honduran’s day if he can find one.\u00a0 These seams run anywhere from as thick as a hair to a half an inch thick (13mm).\u00a0 Other wise there are several types of Boulder Opal.\u00a0 One type is in the basalt where tiny vesicles of gas pockets are filled in with precious opal.\u00a0 This stuff comes in different grades, from common opal which is said to be as common as street gravel all the way to very nice precious opal that is as rare as it is nice.\u00a0 The other kind of boulder opal is found on an andesite volcanic rock where again the best is found in vertical seams.\u00a0 This ranges from crystal to milky white to sky blue and can be very bright.\u00a0 Sometimes they find a horizontal seam that is mixed with the matrix rock. Next up Brazil.\u00a0 Here are a couple of examples from Honduras:<\/p>\n

These are the “Don Pablo” on the lefta Black Opal from Honduras weighing in at 8.22 carats , and the Sosoalito on the right weighing in at 9.2 carats also from Honduras.\u00a0 You can see what I mean they are both just as bright as they can be.<\/p>\n

The guys who mine this stuff do it with the most primitive tools, basically a hammer and chisel so they are in no danger of mining themselves out of business.\u00a0 Here are some more photos.\u00a0 There are Black Basalt Opals on the left, Andesite Boulder Opal in the bottom middle, Andesite Matrix Boulder Opal on the Right and “not road gravel” Basalt Matrix Opal on the bottom.\u00a0\u00a0 My thanks to Tony Dabdoub of members.cox.net\/tropicalgems<\/strong>\/Hopals.htm.<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n

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