Oregon Opals are becoming an interesting and attractive American Natural Gem. These Opals are in an area actually in Northern Nevada as well as South Central Oregon not that far from the Oregon Sunstone Mines. The original and most famous mine was actually was more north in the Central part of Oregon. It was called Opal Butte and it produced some incredible Opals. We are fortunate enough to have a few of those on our Website, but that mine closed in the late 1990's, and it is no longer in operation, but some superb material was produced at Opal Butte and is in the hands of private collectors, and the product is stunning.

What we currently observe is a new area of Opal discoveries being made in South Central Oregon. These discoveries are being found in a big area called Juniper Ridge. There is a mine there by that name, but there are also many claims being made in a very wide area. Explorations are underway and some attractive Opals have been found. These Opals are not the Hyalite Blue associated with Opal Butte, nor are their other colors quite equal to the colored stones from Opal Butte, but there are some very nice oranges, reds, and yellows. Sometimes these are called Fire Opals. We wish Opal Butte was not mined out, because the colored Opals found at that location are out of this world. They equal and in our view exceed any fire opal in the world, but finding the few private collectors holding them is not easy.

We are prepared to make a prediction and it is as follows. We believe the Oregon Opal has the potential to challenge the Oregon Sunstones in sales in the coming years as new areas are continually being discovered with some really nice colors, and blends of colors. We do however want to make one thing clear. So far these Opals are not look alikes for the more well known Australian Opal, and nobody should pretend that they are. They are generally of one color rather than a complexity of color colors, but they are Opals and they are beautiful, and we believe that they represent an excellent opportunity for investment, because there are few opportunities left in the entire world to get in on the ground floor of new gem discoveries. Most of the Gem world is already claimed and controlled, but we see the Oregon Opal as a potential ground floor buying and investment opportunity.