Cloaked in white dust and surrounded by expansive plains, the town of Lightning Ridge produces the bulk of the world’s precious black opal. This rare gemstone, prized for its dazzling play of color, ...

Opalised fossils from Lightning Ridge, N.S.W, Australia. From the collection of the Australian Opal Center. Clockwise from top left: freshwater snail; plesiosaur tooth; crocodile tooth; pine cone; ...

Following is a transcript of the video. Narrator: High-quality black opal can cost over $10,000 per carat, making it one of the world's most expensive gemstones. But mining black opal isn't easy.

In a dazzling discovery, fossils brought up from a mine in Wee Warra, near the Australian outback town of Lightning Ridge, belong to the newly named dinosaur species Weewarrasaurus pobeni. The animal, ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Gemstones are precious, especially when they come filled with dinosaur bones. Back in the 1980s, ...

Lightning Ridge Famous opal mining town Although there are lots of opal mining towns in Australia there are four which have become household names - Coober Pedy, Andamooka, White Cliffs and Lightning ...

Timothy Frauenfelder received funding from Dr Phil Bell's Australian Research Council grant. Nicolas Campione receives funding from the Australian Research Council. New insights gleaned from opalised ...