Ratting comes in many forms. A miner rats on a friend. A neighbor rats on his neighbor's claim by mining into it. People come in secret by day or by bight and gouge out opal ratting a friends claim. A miner rats on his partner. Maybe a miner finds opal and never lets his investment partner know, or just shorts him with the hunk opal and none of the good stuff. A miner can be out of money and have to sell his good opal to someone who says it is cracked and worth nothing. There is no end of the ways people dream up ratting for valuable opal when it come into their possession.
Painted Ladies and Boulder Opal
Belemnite fossils (same family as modern squid)
Pineapple (Pseudomorph of Opal after Ikaite) These are just too cool...
While we were in Tucson, Dev and I took a side trip to the Grand Canyon, and Sedona. We stopped by the Meteorcrator. It was pretty darn cool. You can learn more about it here:http://www.meteorcrater.com/index.php
These are the attack ostriches that grabbed Devin feed cup and made a run for it. No, they don't roam the crater, they were at the ostrich farm out side of Tucson on the way back. One of the best parts of the whole trip If you are heading that way, check it out: http://www.roostercogburn.com/
Imperial Topaz found only in Ouro Preto, Brazil
There is so much false information and rumors flying around the internet that I thought it would be good to post a link to the latest and greatest info from the NRC:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/irradiated-gemstones.html
