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Post by Tony W on Jan 30, 2020 18:02:30 GMT -5
Hi. I've been gone a long time. Life jumped up and bit me...but hello to anyone that remembers me and my opal jones  Does anyone have a line on good Koroit rough at a decent price? I saw where a lady had recently posted some good sized rough chunks she bought that had some great patterns and she was looking for opinions about her purchase. Well, my opinion is it was a great buy, just on pattern...don't know what she paid... and I'm assuming it was at a show, so if she reads this, did you get a card from them? A lot of the stuff I see on Ebay is either good stuff already worked, or tiny slaps, or rubs, that's way too expensive, way too small, and won't yield much. I'm looking for a miner, or wholesaler, or show goer, who ships, and offers photos. Thanks, if anyone has the magic to feed my jones. lol. Tony |
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Jan 30, 2020 20:26:14 GMT -5
No opal here. Where in GA are you? The Aiken/Augusta show is coming up soon. Might be a dealer there with some. I saw a local cabbing some last year there.
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 30, 2020 21:03:01 GMT -5
I love Koroit. I bought a parcel years ago and it didn't work out. Now, the math doesn't work. Recutting cabs probably works out better than buying rough. Good material at a reasonable price is hard to find and cabs are sold for less than the cost of the material.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 30, 2020 21:52:25 GMT -5
I love Koroit. I bought a parcel years ago and it didn't work out. Now, the math doesn't work. Recutting cabs probably works out better than buying rough. Good material at a reasonable price is hard to find and cabs are sold for less than the cost of the material. Well, damn, don't tell everyone.  |
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 30, 2020 23:22:45 GMT -5
I love Koroit. I bought a parcel years ago and it didn't work out. Now, the math doesn't work. Recutting cabs probably works out better than buying rough. Good material at a reasonable price is hard to find and cabs are sold for less than the cost of the material. Well, damn, don't tell everyone. Just my opinion. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 30, 2020 23:25:14 GMT -5
Well, damn, don't tell everyone. Just my opinion. I was joking with you. |
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Post by Tony W on Jan 31, 2020 12:08:28 GMT -5
I get the thrill I get from hunting thru the mud and ironstone to find the hidden treasures. No way I'm leaving that fun to someone else I found out the lady who's images of rough I saw was named Jet, and she's in Oz. So Jet, if you see this please pm me. I'd love a line on rough like that. Nice big chunks, with nice pattern, not so many pits, and what looks like good flash. Not the tripe I see on Ebay but nice big chunks of rough you can work with. Many thanks, ya'll. Joshua, please let me know more about this show, or a link/phone number. I'm 50 miles south of Atl, about 100 from the show, but if I could see a vendor list, or get a phone number to make sure an opal vendor is going to be there, it'd be well worth the drive. Since I'm only in the market for opal rough. When I dropped out due to life, I was working thru about 30 flat raters of all kinds of stuff, so I don't need more non opals, lol. I've been drooling over some fire agate I have, but first I have to clean my arbor, dress the wheels, and sort the boxes, lol...and find a way to post pics, since I let my web page go. |
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Post by knave on Jan 31, 2020 12:56:13 GMT -5
Good luck on your hunt and keep us posted please. Evan
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Post by joshuamcduffie on Jan 31, 2020 22:10:09 GMT -5
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Post by Tony W on Feb 1, 2020 17:40:44 GMT -5
Thanks, all. And Joshua many thanks for the link. I've written them, so we'll see. Cut some rough today, in the cold...first time I've used my saw in 5 years. But it still works, and I remember how to do it. Throws water, freezes hands, wobbles roughed out cab blanks... like riding a bike I've got 10 questionable quality vs usability, but maybe, Koroits, and one definitely, fire agate...and well, one definite opal, ready to dop. Hope I remember how that works, lol. I've got double sided tape, and gel super glue ready. Still haven't cleaned the arbor. |
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Post by taylor on Feb 7, 2020 13:03:41 GMT -5
Tony W here is an advertisement from the 2020 gem show catalog 
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Feb 7, 2020 21:23:02 GMT -5
Those are the guys we got this boulder from in Quartzsite.
Unfortunately, when we asked they said they don't sell online. Guess you could email them and set up a deal if they would be willing to do that. Robin and I have had mixed results when buying "on faith" - from one dealer in particular - but sometimes it works out well. It's always a big gamble.
These guys seemed like straight shooters when we talked to them in person. You could ask them about a small "trial" parcel, and go from there.
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Post by Tony W on Feb 8, 2020 9:05:50 GMT -5
Wow, thanks, that's just what I need. I can't quite make out the email Taylor, can you get that for me off that flyer, please. Many thanks.
vitzitziltecpatl...that looks like what I'd want, but I can't tell if it has pin fire, and flash. Looks like the blues are flashing. I bought some from a show out west that had great patterns but no spark. Is that flashing? The size is certainly right. Yep, buying sight unseen is always a gamble, but I can always ask for pics, and get a feel for what's offered, so it's worth a gamble, when you have a Jones like I do, lol. Thanks.
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Post by Tony W on Feb 8, 2020 9:11:18 GMT -5
Joshua, they didn't have an opal vendor, but I appreciate the link! Wish Rod Griffin would come this way |
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Feb 8, 2020 10:15:18 GMT -5
Tony W - the email address is rodgriffinopals@bigpond.com . From the card we picked up at Q.
The chunk we got did have some blue and green flash in it. Not as much as we'd hoped for, but we got three slabs out of it for $50. Robin picked it from their bins there at Q, and it would have worked out to about $225/kilo. Most of what was in there was less interesting, but it had been picked over for a while.
Here's a cropped look at our chunk. |
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Post by Tony W on Feb 9, 2020 17:28:09 GMT -5
Many thanks, vitzitziltecpatl I'll email them tonight, I was going to call, but think I'll email first to find out a good time. That rough does have some flash,and ain't bad for having been picked thru. Was he pricing by the chunk, or just had a bin price? I'll let you know what I hear. Thanks again, and for the photos.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Feb 9, 2020 18:05:05 GMT -5
Tony W They are in Tucson until tomorrow. That's when the show ends. Email is probably your best bet.
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Feb 9, 2020 18:27:35 GMT -5
Tony W - They were pricing by the piece.
For the little nut I picked out, he asked "Where did you get that one?" and wanted to charge me $30 for it. I gave half a shake of my head and took half a step back toward the bins and he said "OK - how 'bout $20?". So I bought it. That worked out to $600/kilo, but it turned out OK.
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Post by pauls on Feb 9, 2020 19:52:26 GMT -5
Try searching for Boulder Opal, Koroit is a very very small mining field on an enormous (10,000 sq Kilometers) Boulder Opal bearing area in Queensland. You might have some luck with Opalton or Yowah or Quilpie or Windorah for specific fields but probably just a generic search might be better.
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Post by stardiamond on Feb 11, 2020 20:50:27 GMT -5
I was looking around ebay and etsy to see what slabs go for and to help price a cab I made and ran across this: BO |
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Does anyone have a line on good Koroit rough at a decent price? I saw where a lady had recently posted some good sized rough chunks she bought that had some great patterns and she was looking for opinions about her purchase. Well, my opinion is it was a great buy, just on pattern...don't know what she paid... and I'm assuming it was at a show, so if she reads this, did you get a card from them? A lot of the stuff I see on Ebay is either good stuff already worked, or tiny slaps, or rubs, that's way too expensive, way too small, and won't yield much. I'm looking for a miner, or wholesaler, or show goer, who ships, and offers photos. Thanks, if anyone has the magic to feed my jones. lol. Tony
