Washington's Forgotten Opal | Full Documentary 

What's his name

tell us his name

Thanks much! My background is also geology so I didn't want to screw that part up!

HELLO, I'M NOT A GEOLOGIST, WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO ABOUT ME ?????

All hail our algorithmic overlords. Glad they brought you here!

When I went to WSU my best friend looked at rocks for a major. The only local rockhounding he ever mentioned was a crystal formation just across the border... beryl, maybe? No opal.

I didn't want to get into it, but we have an older family friend who has also been farming the Palouse all their lives, including some land maybe a couple miles from Barbara, and they'd never heard of the opal mine before, either. It really was a flash in the pan.

I think there's beryl and mica and some other stuff northeast of Moscow, but most of it is private property now unfortunately.

@@DonohueLabs I'm wondering why you never mentioned Virgin Valley opal in Nevada. I've dug there twice, the first time, my friend and I struck beautiful opal on day 3. This was back in the mid 80's, and my friend was in the hole digging while I was sorting the material coming off when he struck a piece. It was a fossilized branch about 6 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. He struck it in the very center of it's length, I couldn't have cut it in half more perfectly with a saw if found in it's length without breaking it. So we each had a perfect piece and it was beautiful. Coffee black with the brightest play of color like the rainbow. I had it appraised at the time by a jeweler in Seattle (Fox jewelers) and they were the highest end jewelers in Seattle. They appraised it at $86,000 for my half alone. Now I live in Florida, ain't no opal here to dig. lol. But I do travel to India and have brought back beautiful Ethiopian opal. Thanks for the very interesting history of Washington opal, never knew about it.

Fossilized corral in floriduh fire opal in nevada

Sorry for the loss. Stuff like that really stings.

Glad you liked it! It was a lot of fun to put together.

Thanks so much! What should I interview you about next?

Glad you enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun.

Thanks!

I wonder how many other failed rushes there were back in the day.

@@DonohueLabs look at what happened after the diamond discovery in South Africa. Pretty wild. Also the gold rush went around the world for a time. First Australia then California then the Yukon. Don’t remember what came after. Cool video.

Thanks!

Very cool, common opal can be pretty as well.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Glad to hear it! I couldn't have done it without all the help in the credits.

Many thanks!

There are much better things to do with your time, for sure.

Many thanks! I've watched a documentary or two in my time, and was trying to live up to some of the shows I'd seen in the past.

Many thanks!

Haha I'm glad at least one person made the connection!

Leo is incredibly knowledgable and a clear communicator. If you haven't seen it, Lapidary Dave did an interview with him a few months ago at a gem show. Well worth a watch.

Dave does a good job on his interviews.

More to come! At some point...just got to find the right stories.

Thank you!

Glad you liked it! I appreciate the kind words, and have been subscribed to your channel for a while now as well.

@@DonohueLabs Really? Thanks! Small world. I finished this video today. Loved how it ended.

My pleasure! And thank you for watching the premiere with us all.

Yes you really have to be careful about opal. $600 sure is a lot. My understanding is the Spencer Opal doesn't craze, but I haven't done testing on the material I collected while there.

Thanks for sharing! Yes, opal is more complex than I'd originally thought.

All opal is amorphous, not just Australian.

I think many of those types hear opal and see dollar signs.

@@DonohueLabs this is why paleontologists hide their fossil sites. They sometimes rebury them.

Interesting!

At least Mexican and Australian* precious opal had been previously found. *I said in the documentary it was before lightning ridge, which is true, but precious opal from elsewhere in Australia had been found previously.

Thanks for watching the premiere with us!

Glad you enjoyed it! I'm curious what hidden gems might have been lost on your side of the mountains.

the one cool thing i found all by myself was up near the town of enumclaw. there was a old mine and town by the name of franklin. if you hike to it, there’s a horizontal mine shaft that goes down close to 1200’ and behind it in the rock bank there what looks like shale but upon close inspection it’s all fossilized leaves. there’s tons of it❤

I saw something about U, but it was too in the weeds to dig into for this. Certainly an interesting prospect. There's a lot of uranium in northeast Washington, maybe somebody should start looking for opals there!

and u even got jared (currentlyrockhounding)...hes also super knowledgeable. great video

I can't say I have opal fever, but I can certainly appreciate its beauty. Especially when it comes with a story like being part of a fossil.