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Thanks for posting, especially because Jenni's tireless work (and that of colleagues Elizabeth Smith Ph.D. and Phil Bell U.N.E., Ph.D.) within the AOC have been vital in preserving and showcasing so many opalised fossils that are unique to Oz. 👍:).

Thank you, mate. Driving there and back from Adelaide at my age is 'work', for sure. Some of the cutting is, too. However, I get the singular pleasure of people bringing me rocks to look at, sometimes eye-wateringly beautiful rocks, and I look at them happily whether I buy them or not. My...

I've just returned to Adelaide after my most recent trip to Lightning Ridge, NSW, home of Australia's gorgeous Black Opal but also renowned for its beautiful and rare Opalised Fossils for which I am a total sucker/nerd 😍, and lucky Collector. Every now and then, maybe every 12 to 18 months, a...

Grubstake, mate, thanks for your interest and reply. You'd be amazed. Opal miners in general are not looking for opalised fossils which are accidental finds, or "by-catch". There are some claims eg at EMU/ Allawah and Kellie's that produce a lot of opalised fossils , among the rarest of which...

Some time ago, among other purchases of rough and rubbed opal parcels, there was a small, old and dusty bag of bits'n'pieces which had been gleaned over months from several jars of miscellaneous opal specimens bought here and there in and around Lightning Ridge. The previous owner had saved up...

I don't know a lot about the WA opal. Did some Googling, interesting. Finding gold AND black opal would be fantastic. Do you know anyone who has?

@Sandta, @7.62marksman, @grubstake, @spoon, @Chiron52, Here's the opalised whelk that I referred to, above. Not in situ, after all:

G'day everybody :) I'm new to this site, but intend to make this the first of several posts. Back in 1985, I left teaching (Maths and English) to pursue my love-of-opal hobby and turn it into a business, to buy/sell opal. Along the way I've acquired many opalised fossils from Coober Pedy and...

It's quite small (about 30mm long), but very pretty. I have another photo of the same piece with two smaller bits of opalised wood, all from Kelly's field. The largest piece has not been rubbed but the other two have :(

Is it geological or fauna, do you think?

Beautiful colour, fascinating shape --- are they fossils?

Wonderful find, great character!

Nail/head. I'm not so much a collector as a hoarder (lol @ myself :rolleyes: ). About 2 years ago, my exasperated, long-suffering partner convinced me to go through a pile of boxes in the spare room, some dating back to the early 1990's :o . It turned out to be like a treasure hunt! I found a...

Google "opalised belemnites" and go sideways from there. They're fascinating.

It had some soft-ish host rock in places, which I skritched out carefully with a very sharp, pointy scalpel, then brushed with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Sandblasting nearly always damages the surface. Until you mentioned it, I'd never thought of using an ultrasound cleaner. Seems obvious now...

Could be opalised wood. You'd have to sandblast away the hard white exterior --- veryvery carefully --- so as not to damage any ridges etc. Opalised bones have a typically smooth exterior surface, while opalised wood usually shows bark striations, sometimes knotholes, even when crushed flat and...

1) Yes, I know that area well. It's been prospected by many over the years. 2) ... and heavy!

Very hard to tell, even from your very good photos. To my eye, it has a "bone-y" look to it, but I'd be guessing. The hard white outer casing looks like a kind of host rock known colloquially as "dog stones" which sometimes contain precious opal. More often, they are just hard, white lumps...

G'day Like yourself, I am enchanted by and have a passion for opalised fossils, mostly from the Ridge, but also from Coober Pedy/ Andamooka and White Cliffs. They are singularly rare National Treasures and I believe strongly they should stay in Australia for future generations to study or just...