I am here for the first time. I have seen other members stating they buy kilos of rough opal from Africa. I have been buying bulk black opal from Australia and several "Sudan fire opals" from Thailand. These Sudan opals don't dry and pale like wello opal. Is there any place to buy direct from the mines instead of going through these Thailand sellers?
Any information will be much appreciated. Larry in Pefferlaw, Ontario, Canada
Last edited by Pefferlaw on Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'm very sceptical to whether there really is any gem opal deposits in Sudan. To this day I've only seen various kinds of Ethiopian opals misrepresented. Still doesn't mean that there isn't any, if anybody knows more about a specific location or deposit it would be interesting to hear it!
What kind of opals are the ones you've got? Base type, colour and POC type?
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I understand Sudan and Ethiopia are on the same deposit. I really don't know much about it other than the 14 I have bought from Thailand on ebay all say Sudan fire opal, unheated. I have dried them for weeks and they stay bright, colorful and flashing. I want to find out anywhere in the world that I can buy gem quality rough other than Asia.
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It might be the same kind of deposit, but it for sure isn't part of the same formation. It is several hundred kms to the Sudanese border from the opal deposits in Ethiopia.
Have you soaked them in water and had them dry out to check if there is any hydrophaneity at all? The rind don't look like the Ethiopian material so it could be an independent find.
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Dear Larry, Sudan does not have any opal. The Sudanese boarder is hundreds of miles away from the opal areas in Ethiopia. I was in Bangkok and was also shown opals which were supposed to have come from Somalia. But to my knowledge neither Sudan nor Somalia have any opal. I have been dealing with Ethiopian opals for no less than 12 years! A lot of opal from Ethiopia is smuggled annually through its vast boarders - through Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia. Basically, Ethiopian opals are found in the volcanic mountainous regions of the country, and neither Sudan nor Somalia has similar geological features to the Ethiopian highlands. By the way, the term ‘desert opal’ when speaking of Welo opals is fake and only a gimmick to sell this type of opals, there are no deserts anywhere near the opal areas. Adriano
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 11:10 am Posts: 2698 Location: Rock and Roll Heaven
Pefferlaw wrote:
Are the pictures I posted Ethiopian? Are they Wello? Why don't they dry white if they are?
I've seen brownish orange based cut & dried Wollo Opals, their not that rare. As far as buying from the source, your better off dealing with a reputable Thailand dealer, unless you want to take a trip personally to Ethopia.
OK thanks for the information. I still want to get some of these great opals directly from Africa or someplace other than Thailand! Any suggestions?
If you want them directly from Africa, then you have to go there and buy them in person. Otherwise there won't be any meaning to it, as you'll only buy from brokers far from the mining sites, whom are no different from Thai dealers. Except maybe that most of the Thai dealers are more knowledgeable about gems in general.
I know some people mining in Wollo, but buying from me wouldn't be straight from Africa either since I live in Sweden. Unless you want unsorted rough straight from the ground, then I can tell my guys working on site to send a parcel for you directly from Ethiopia, but it would be a lot of crap in such a lot and even if there is a pretty good chance to get good pieces in it, you would need to buy several kilos to be sure that it would pay off.
Sounds like Adriano should have a source too.
Pefferlaw wrote:
Are the pictures I posted Ethiopian? Are they Wello? Why don't they dry white if they are?
The opals in the picture looks Ethiopian, but the rind looks a bit darker than most of the Wollo material, is it the photo that is dark/overly saturated or is it that light chocolate brown in real life too? And I say looks, because judging ID from pictures is a risky business, you simply can't say for sure without examining it in person.
As for the dry white thing, I don't know what you've heard, but not all opals dry white, it is only some of the hydrophane variety from Wollo that does, and there is a lot of other deposits in Ethiopia. The largest opal fields are in Semin Shewa and produces reddish brown opaque opals. Wollo has become more known lately because it has the largest percentage of stable material. But even there it is found several different kinds of opals. White/yellow tint is the most common, but there is orange, brown, green, blue, yellow, cognac and purple base colours too.
Edit: I see Adriano answered while I was writing. It is as he says. Or rather, you must send an equal amount of cash to an Ethiopian bank as the amount paid for the opals, what you do with them after that is up to you, but as long as you don't plan to stay there it would be most logical to pay for the stones with it.
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I received a few more today that are dry and crystal clear with many large flashes of red and green. The rinds are all tan to light chocolate. The problem I am having with Thai items is that none are as described. All the opal say's Sudan. The thousand dollars worth of sterling silver jewelery I bought is all nickle plated copper stamped 925! It seems there is a gem broker in Ethiopia that will ship 1/2 Kilo of top quality, stable, crack free rough for $2500.00. Is the a good deal? Thanks again for the information.
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Last edited by Pefferlaw on Thu Jan 13, 2011 6:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
This one is 111 carats and the Thai seller again said it is from the Sudan! Obviously it is not! This is also very clear, not opaque like I understood the Ethiopian ones. Any ideas? Larry
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I'm pretty sure that it is Wollo material you've got, it looks like the pictures are oversaturated though, which makes it hard to judge. And it is only the Shewa opals that are opaque in general, most of the material from Wollo and Gondar is translucent to transparent when dry.
As for price, just shop around, you seems to be good at it, but I don't think you'll find a better deal than that without actually going there.
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Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 11:10 am Posts: 2698 Location: Rock and Roll Heaven
Pefferlaw wrote:
I received a few more today that are dry and crystal clear with many large flashes of red and green. The rinds are all tan to light chocolate. The problem I am having with Thai items is that none are as described. All the opal say's Sudan. The thousand dollars worth of sterling silver jewelery I bought is all nickle plated copper stamped 925! It seems there is a gem broker in Ethiopia that will ship 1/2 Kilo of top quality, stable, crack free rough for $2500.00. Is the a good deal? Thanks again for the information.
What are you planning to do with the opal rough? Resale the rough? Cut & polish the rough & sale it? Are you an experienced Opal cutter, or are you going to have someone else do it?
I guess what I'm getting at, unless you cut & polish the rough your self to resale, there is not much point in buying Wollo opal rough. If your going to make jewlery out of it, your better off buying already cut stones, like the one's at http://www.multicolour.com Then you'll have to decide what channels your going to sale it through, the internet, brick & mortar retail? Are you going to try & wholesale to retail, or retail it your self?
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