Looking Inside a 50+ Pound Boulder Opal

Australian opal miner Rod Griffin dropped in The Arkenstone Gallery to deliver our newest acquisition, a giant 50-pound boulder opal that he carefully split into a dozen or so pieces to reveal the rich, blue and green opal hidden within this “normal“ looking rock. M: All right guys, so Rob picked this Opal up at AGTA in Tucson this year and we’re getting it delivered and we’re getting a little bit of history on how this thing was broken up. Rod: Okay, my name is Rod Griffin. I’m very good with a hammer and I’m very good miner. Okay, I’ve been doing this since I was five years old and I’m now 78. And this particular boulder came from southwest Queensland in Australia and it’s quite a remarkable boulder for the context that it’s a complete boulder and it hasn’t been broken up to be cut to stones. Now you might think why would I pick this up off the ground? Rob: I think why would I buy this from you? Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking.