CANADA'S PREMIERE OPAL MINE

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  • About Us

  • Exploring and developing the first opal mine in Canada

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About Us

Exploring and developing the first opal mine in Canada ABOUT US

Canadian Opals

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Ethically sourced opal // Shop our collections below // Dig your own

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Shop our extensive collections of unique opal jewellery. Find a special piece for yourself or select a piece as a beautiful gift.

Opal jewellery makes a perfect, one-of-a-kind gift, even for the person who has everything, and opal is October's birthstone.

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DIG TODAY: Dig for your own opals

Experience the excitement of discovering your own precious opal right at the minesite. You get to keep what you find.

Let us help you create something uniquely personal from your own personally discovered Opal. Fun for the whole family.

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CUSTOM PIECES: Contact us

Do you have something special in mind? Your own idea for a custom designed piece? Create a special and unique gift that is one of a kind.


We are more than happy to create custom opal designs. Contact us today and let us turn your idea into reality.

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testimonials of our customers

OPAL JEWELLERY CUSTOMER
Wow! That’s really a Fabulous Piece.
Thank you very much, Bob.

Craig Lubbe, South Africa

YOU DIG CUSTOMER
It is definitely worth it!
I highly recommend a dig!

Jerine Klassen

We are a family-run business and put passion behind every piece

What are Opals?

Opal, the birthstone for the month of October, is a mineral comprised mainly of tiny precipitated spheres of silica. Orderly packing of these silica spheres can cause light entering the stone to be diffracted into a rainbow “play of colors”; and is then referred to as “Precious Opal”. Much of the precious opal from the Klinker Opal deposit exhibits a brilliant "play of colors". Each individual precious opal gemstone exhibits a uniquely different pattern, brightness and varied “play of color” that is unmatched by any other gemstone. Precious opal is used exclusively as gemstone material in the manufacture of jewellery. Opal is a mineral composed of Silica with a water content SiO2.nH2O. The water content of opal can range from 3% to 20%. Opal is believed to form as a result of precipitation from low temperature silica rich water solutions. The opal forming silica precipitates in an amorphous mass of closely packed "micro-spheres" which are generally random in size and randomly oriented.

Classifications used for opals

Common Opal

Does not display a "play of color". Incident light passing into or through this material emanating from the amorphous mass as random oriented white light. This is Opal the mineral (common opal) which has only a nominal value. When common opal occurs in a clear (transparent) form which is often used for cutting "facetted" gemstones. This material is often referred to as 'jelly opal or fire opal'; but when it shows a play of color it is referred to as 'crystal opal' and is then classified as Precious Opal.

Opal Resources Canada Inc. is developing product lines to use all of the various types of opal found in our deposit.

Precious Opal

Occasionally, opal formation conditions are such that the "micro-spheres" of silica precipitate in uniform sizes and orderly orientation. When this happens the white incident light which enters the opal is diffracted by the orderly spheres into the colors of the rainbow as it emanates from the amorphous opal mass. The play of color is therefore an optical rather than a chemical property. This play of color is the sole distinguishing feature between common opal and precious opal.

Natural Solid Opal

The sketch above illustrates what a natural solid opal is. Essentially, it is a cut or rough solid opal with no backing or overlay. These are cut from the larger more competent pieces of precious opal. Smaller pieces and chips of opal are used in inlay jewellery. A cut solid opal is referred to as a Cabochon.

Natural Boulder Opal

The sketch above illustrates what a natural boulder opal is. These are cut from the more competent pieces of opal bearing rock utilizing the natural rock as part of the body of the stone. Essentially, it is an opal utilizing the natural rock as a backing.

Location

Contact Us

Opal Resources Canada Inc.
P.O. Box 298
Vernon, BC  V1T 6M2

Phone: 250-558-9135

                     or 

            250-542-5173