Idaho yellow opal dig

[BackCountryGal]

A long while back I asked if anyone knew of any yellow opal that had come out of Idaho; a couple pics were posted, one of rough and one of a faceted stone, but was not certain of its origin. This little dig in central Idaho, has been out of sorts for about 15 years, as it''s owner cared for an aging wife and then got rather old himself (92 this year); we will be going in again starting this summer to dig again. What I found last October after the forest fires quit was encouraging.
Although there were only 3 days for digging before snow set in for good (not good when you''re in a backpacking tent) there were very clean pieces showing. Facet grade even under my 10x glass and not sleepy in lemon, yellow and golden hues. A tiny bit was bicolor, yellow into golden and clear, but small.
I was told by a jewler that yellow is a "hard sell" in any stone; that was not so encouraging.
Your comments? I''m going to go dig for the stuff anyway, but sure would be more fun if people liked it.

 

[BackCountryGal]

Here is some of the pink rhyolite with opal and loose rough.

 

[BackCountryGal]

Here is a cut stone the ''Old Timer'' dug and gave to grandma about 25 years ago. I think that dendrite is pretty unique, most of what I find are nowhere near that symetrical, look more like branches. The dendrites are manganese oxide. Some guy in Boise Idaho cut it, wish I could find out who. Would also love to see other pieces anyone has that came from The Yellow Gem mine in the 70''s or 80''s.

 

[RevolutionGems]

I think that the Hard Sell is probably true though it depends on the color. I think bright yellow would be easier to sell that a brownish yellow.

In any case, I would sure like to get my hands on a few pieces of that rough and cut a few stones myself. Looks quite nice. I have some nice clean Ethiopian opal of the orange variety that cuts a reeally nice stone. I''ll bet this stuff would be just as tasty.

 

[chrono]

The bright yellow ones will go faster than the browner ones. That pear with dendrite looks very unique. That is also another possible selling point.

 

[wen104]

I cannot say anything about cutting or the material itself but as a buyer I love yellow. I would buy a yellow stone if I found one I really liked. The pendant is very pretty!

 

[LegacyGirl]

Date: 4/1/2008 12:36:05 AM
Author: BackCountryGal
Here is a cut stone the ''Old Timer'' dug and gave to grandma about 25 years ago. I think that dendrite is pretty unique, most of what I find are nowhere near that symetrical, look more like branches. The dendrites are manganese oxide. Some guy in Boise Idaho cut it, wish I could find out who. Would also love to see other pieces anyone has that came from The Yellow Gem mine in the 70''s or 80''s.

Ohhh that is really pretty!!

 

[movie zombie]

i''d like it as a cabachon!!!!!!!!!

movie zombie