Nevada Black Opals - Dig Your Own Gems In the Desert

Nevada is famous for its beautiful, colorful black Opal. The state contains some very rich precious opal beds and has produced some spectacular and extremely valuable specimens. The Virgin Valley opal beds in northwest Humboldt County are perhaps the most famous gemstone locality in Nevada. High quality precious opal emitting a multihued rainbow of color is found replacing wood or other plant material in this remote location.

The Virgin Valley Opal field is in an isolated desert area south of Highway 140 about 25 miles southwest of Denio. Precious opal was first discovered here in 1905 and a number of claims were located at that time. Exploration of these deposits has been continued intermittently by various parties since that time. The opal field lies within an area approximately 5 miles wide and 10 miles long in Virgin Creek Valley.

Dig Your Own Opal
There are areas at Virgin Valley which are open to rockhounds who would like to pay to dig for the fiery precious black opal. You have a couple of different options, tailings diggings or bank diggings. At one mine you may dig directly in the bank, while another they will dig up a section of bank, and haul the freshly dug material in for you to search through. You end up working through the opal bearing material in a safe location, and this eliminates exposing the bigger to any dangers of caving at the bank face.

There are no a free areas open to precious opal prospecting and collecting by rock hounds that do not wish to pay for access. Hundreds of active mining claims blanket the entire area and the owners do not take kindly to trespassers. The pay to dig fees at Virgin Valley are generally much higher than would be experienced and many other pay-dig sites open to rockhounds. Productive mining in Virgin Valley requires the removal of overlying barren beds, which can be quite deep, requiring the use of a bulldozer or other heavy equipment, and the operating costs for this type of equipment is not cheap. There is also always the chance that you will strike a fantastic find and come up with a $50,000 precious opal log.

The road into the opal area is not paved, and a high clearance vehicle is needed to drive right into the opal mine areas themselves (however, a four well drive vehicle is not necessary). There are few gas stations or other sources for supplies in the general area - it is important to be self-sufficient in this wild and remote region of northern Nevada.

About the Area:
While there is no free digging in the opal beds, there is a fair amount of free camping in the area. A nice free campground with shower and pool is located at McGee hot springs. There are also plenty of things to do, and a number of recreational activities in the Virgin Valley area. There are several stocked ponds in the Valley available for fishing. There is sport hunting for Mule Deer and Antelope in their season. There is a naturally heated swimming pool at McGee Hot Springs. There are also caves to explore, fossil fields, and rock hunting for agates, petrified wood and other gems (besides precious opal). A special wild life refuge is not far away. There is no question that the Virgin Valley area is a naturalist's dream and very interesting place to visit and explore.

For More Information:
For more info on the Virgin Valley Opal deposits:
Nevada Black Opal

More info on Opal deposits in other parts of Nevada:
Other Nevada Opal Mines

Mysterious opals contain all the colors of the rainbow at once - the wonders of the skies - sparking rainbows, fireworks, and lightning - shifting and moving in their depths. Opal has been treasured throughout history by many cultures around the world. For more info on Opal as a gemstone:
About Opal as a gemstone

For More of the authors rock hounding adventures, see his website at:
Rock Hounding Adventures

Opal hunting is a great vacation activity for that whole family. For more information on current costs and arrangements at the opal mines, contact the operators at these websites for more information on opal digging. At the time of this writing, the three Nevada areas open for rock hounds are:

1. Rainbow Ridge Mine

2. Royal Peacock Opal Mine

3. Bonanza Opal Mine

For more info about gemstones in general:
Gemstone Information Encyclopedia

Sunstones:
Any rockhounds interested in Nevada Opal would also be interested in the famous Oregon sunstones. Not too many miles away to the north west in Oregon, is the little farming community of Plush. Just north of the town is the famous Sunstone area, where rockhounds can dig beautiful gemstones for free. The Gems come in firey red as well as greens and yellows. For more information on the Oregon Sunstone area check out this webpage:
Digging Oregon Sunstone Gems

Winnemucca:
Winnemucca is located on Highway 80 is more than 100 miles to the south, but is the closest full facility, full service town. Winnemucca is an old ranching, Railroad and mining community. It has several nice full service campgrounds a few small casinos that offer the typical entertainments of those facilities.

Prospecting for Gold:
Northern Nevada is home to the state's best known placer field for nugget shooting with a metal detector, the Majuba or Rye Patch placer district. The area is located west of the Rye Patch Reservoir, about 50 miles South of Winnemucca in Pershing County. For maps of the nugget area and more information, see the following website:
Ryepatch Gold Nugget Location

I like to get out in the field and explore, I hope you will be inspred by this page to get out and do a little exploring for your self, no matter what part of the world you live in.