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o o n a Opal Mine & Museum U m o o n a h a s s o m e t h i n g f o r e v e r y o n e Umoona has Coober Pedy's
largest range of opal gemstones and jewellery. This Muti-faceted attraction
has been recognised by the I n t r o d u c t i o n Visit Umoona Opal Mine and Museum - Coober Pedy's premier underground tourist attraction. An original old mine on Coober Pedy's main street, Umoona has been converted into the town's largest single underground tourist attraction -a “must see” in Coober Pedy.
Heritage Museum Admission to Umoona's extensive museum is FREE. Guided Tours
Coober Pedy Located in the Australian Outback, 846 km north of Adelaide along the Stuart Highway to Alice Springs, lies a town fascinating enough to draw visitors from all over the world. It has been described as looking much like the surface of the moon - dotted with mine shafts and mullock heaps from 8 decades of mining. The opal mining town of Coober Pedy (Kupa piti - an aboriginal expression meaning something like "white man's hole in the ground") is a name synonymous with Australia's national gem, and offers a truly unique tourism experience for visitors to this remote outback area. Coober Pedy is the largest opal mining town in the world, and together with Andamooka and Mintabie; it produces more than 90% of the world"s opals.
U m o o n a PO Box 372 Coober Pedy T o u r F e a t u r e s
A b o r i g i n a l I n t e r p r e t i v e C e n t r e Aboriginal Interpretive Centre includes:
O p a l J e w l l e r y The place you MUST see. The biggest range of Coober Pedy opal in rough and cut stones, opal curios such as opalised shells and opal pipes, as well as Boulder, Yowah and Black opal. Exquisite jewellery and opal items designed and handcrafted on our premises.
O p a l Opal is a precious stone composed of silica similar to quartz with a varying amount of water trapped within the mineral structure. 90% of all opal found is valueless "potch" (opal without colour, usually white or greyish white) but the remaining 10% is the brilliantly coloured and highly prized gem. Precious opal often contains 6-10% water. Romans considered opal more precious than all other gemstones, believing that it held the colours, and therefore the combined beauty of all precious gems. Opal is often said to be of the greatest "value" to the person who chooses it. Each piece is different, each seems to have its own personality and its appeal is very personal. Each piece is special, and your piece is the most special of all. Some people like unusual opal specimens such as shells, or pipes (opalised tentacles of sea creatures). Others like only a particular colour or pattern. Opal is classed by colour, brilliance, quality, clarity, variety and pattern of the colourful spheres. The main price determining factors are (1) "base colour" ( a black opal has a dark base and is more valuable than crystal opal which is almost transparent, and it in turn is more valuable than the white or milky opal); (2) "dominant colour"; Red fire opal is more valuable than green opal, and in the same way green is more valuable than opal with just blue colour. (3) "colour pattern" refers to the placement of the crystals for example harlequin opal which has colour in defined patches, is more valuable than pinfire opal where the colour is in small specks. Opals that are cut in a solid piece are known as solids. These are the most valuable. A doublet - two pieces - has precious opal laminated to another stone (usually potch or glass or ironstone). A triplet has three parts. A piece of precious opal in the centre, a clear top and a darkened base (usually potch or glass) to highlight the colour. Retun to
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