Opal Fields of Australia

Opal Fields of Australia Map

Where are the opal mines? Go Underground here

It is said that over 95% of the worlds opal comes from Australia.

Most of the Opal Fields of Australia are located in three states:

Boulder Opal

Queensland . Boulder opal is mined in a large area between Quilpie in the South and Winton in the north. The boulder and black opal fields nearly meet at the border between Queensland and NSW. They are a significant example of very remote opal fields of Australia.

More details of Opal Fields

A report on this subject would not be complete without mentioning the famous mines in South Australia . This is the home of the Coober Pedy, Mintabie, and Andamooka mines, famous for light opal, which includes crystal, grey and white. Sometimes called ‘milk’. Here are some examples of light colored opal set in gold and silver as pendants and earrings. These stones haver  been backed with a dark background giving it a dark foreground appearance. At least twelve of these opal pendants are from south Australia. See if you can recognize them.

3. Black Opal

New South Wales is the home of  the famous Black Opal. In fact its known worldwide for dark opals. White cliffs further south toward the South Australian border, is all but mined out but was probably the largest opal mine in the world before Coober Pedy which is now one of the largest opal fields of Australia, was discovered.

This section  describes opal mining in Australia, yesterday and today. Many of the photos you’ll see on these pages are displayed, with permission, from the reference books. If you are interested in these publications, please Contact Us for prices and details.

We have a new movie on the subject so please leave your details on this blog if you would like to know how to get it.  Other parts of this site go into more details of the Opal Fields of Australia, so please enjoy the information and take as many notes as you like.