Rockhounding for Stunning Blue Opal Geodes! (Thundereggs)

What a find! Huge thanks to Doug for taking us out to this amazing place!
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#TheFinders #RockHounding #Gemhunting

[@jimellis936]

Amazing material. I've never seen blue opal before. I think I'd call it blue berry meringue opal. It looks to me like when the void in the rhyolite fills, the denser, yellow silica (with maybe iron in it) settles to bottom, the blue silica (with maybe copper in it) settle on top of the yellow, and the the lighter white silica floats to the top. Geology is a hobby for me and I'm certainly no expert, but that is how it appears. Thoughts?

[@theruggedrockhound]

I agree with the iron and copper, and the white would be mostly pure opal. Of course, no way to tell for sure unless I take it to a lab.

[@jenhenwinters4983]

Thanks for the experience of seeing beautiful rocks. Means alot when you are home all the time.

[@theruggedrockhound]

You are welcome! I hope to get more out soon.

[@thecommonthreadworks]

Positively GORGEOUS!!! What fascinating landscapes these create!!! Like little glacial lakes or something. So beautiful!!!!!!

[@theruggedrockhound]

Glad you enjoyed it! They do look like ice and water

[@largent45]

Oh wow! Those are stunning! That blue is super dark and beautiful some of them! Wow they are just so cool! amazing colors and such vivid blue! Amazing finds!

[@theruggedrockhound]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@dennisyoung4496]

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

[@theruggedrockhound]

Absolutely!

[@jenhenwinters4983]

Great video and beautiful rocks. I love his videos because I have ringing in my ear ,and I can hear clearly this video.

[@theruggedrockhound]

Thank you! I do hope to get a better microphone eventually so that the sound quality is even better!

[@Herb7676]

wow. very cool. thanks for sharing.

[@theruggedrockhound]

Thanks for watching! glad you enjoyed

[@gregderksen1996]

amazing materials!

[@theruggedrockhound]

Thanks!

[@kylaabegglen1275]

My favorite color is blue so I love these! What do you guys do with everything you find clean and cut? Do you make jewelry or anything with all of the fantastic materials you bring home? Thanks for sharing!✌️🤠

[@theruggedrockhound]

Right now I do not, but I do have plans for it in the future.

[@adventuresamNfam]

Those little tiny geodes make awesome pendants! Now I want to go break my grandpa’s big Boulder!😂🤣

[@theruggedrockhound]

Haha! Make sure it is a geode before you try to break it!

[@adventuresamNfam]

@@theruggedrockhound 😂🤣😂🤣 he would kill me if I broke his yard Boulder. It’s defense not a geode!

[@theruggedrockhound]

@@adventuresamNfam Haha I get it now!

[@nikkibranigan7888]

So cool!!

[@theruggedrockhound]

Thanks!

[@dustinfindsrocks]

What a great find! These are cool man!

[@theruggedrockhound]

Thanks! I was so lucky that he was willing to share the location with me

[@karengatz3022]

Opal is my favorite!! I am so jealous. If you ever take a group out there let me know, I am totally in!!

[@theruggedrockhound]

I'll let you know, but for now I have been asked to keep the location secret.

[@rachaelb9164]

If you ever take a group there for a day trip I will drive from oregon to join y’all. So beautiful.

[@CityRockhounding]

What, wow, Holy wow! No way, that's stuff is incredibly gorgeous. I would be here everyday if I could. Love the color so much, it's amazing. Love it!!!!!

[@theruggedrockhound]

It is the most intense blue I have ever seen in pretty much anything I have collected personally, just wish there were not so many fractures. But yes, it is still amazing!

[@CityRockhounding]

@@theruggedrockhound Yeah, seriously the best blue!

[@keithcunningham7925]

That is some amazing stuff that blue is stunning I would be so happy if I could get some of that thanks for sharing

[@theruggedrockhound]

Thanks for watching! Right now I am deciding what to do with them, but I may sell some of them down the road.

[@keithcunningham7925]

@@theruggedrockhound let me know what ever you decide

[@theruggedrockhound]

@@keithcunningham7925 Will do!

[@MTGalterBoy]

Sooo cool

[@brucethorne3547]

Great find, smart to not tell everyone the location or nothing will be left ! Would love to buy one from you.

[@theruggedrockhound]

Yes, it is such a small area that it would be gone within a year probably

[@jeytex3161]

What a great time out with friends! Have any idea what minerals are making the blue color? Thanks for posting.

[@theruggedrockhound]

Great question! My first guess would be a mix copper and possibly iron, but there are some many elements and mixtures that can cause a blue color that i won't know for sure unless i have it tested at a lab.

[@rachaelb9164]

Wow that is the most beautiful blue color! I wish I could explore that area. I freaking love opal. Very delicate though. Doesn’t it need to sit in water for a while after digging out to help keep it from fracturing more?

[@theruggedrockhound]

Depends on the opal. I will have to study these ones further, but I think they are fairly stable

[@kennethchristie5167]

Great material, beautiful color. These would better qualify for opal thunder eggs vs geodes?

[@theruggedrockhound]

Yes, these are definitely mostly thundereggs but decided to call them geodes in the thumbnail and intro since more people are familiar with geodes. Some of them actually were geodes, but the blue opal ones are indeed thundereggs.

[@Rock_K9]

Gee, that’s some gorgeous blues. Envious

[@theruggedrockhound]

They are stunning

[@susanmorseart4984]

Very beautiful blues in your thunder eggs. What are you doing with them? They may be fractured, but would work in jewelry. Please let us know. We enjoyed watching and subscribed.

[@theruggedrockhound]

Not sure yet, but I do have a few ideas in mind. I think most of the large broken pieces I am going to clean up really nice, perhaps work it a little bit, and try to make some cool landscapes with them. The smaller pieces would probably be best for jewelry.

[@RGYT86]

Bed of blue opal in Utah is pretty unheard of. I think you'll get better geodes as you get deeper because you'll not be dealing with as much damage from freeze thaw cycles. Amazing spot, Does your buddy sell any of this material . I'd love to make a cab.

[@theruggedrockhound]

I have thought as well that it might be better as we get deeper, but there is the possibility that the fracturing is due to ground/tectonic movement, in which case it won't matter how deep you go. Right now he doesn't sell any, but if he does I will let you know!

[@devinkavid]

stunning!! also slightly off topic, did you know you could find petrified wood at the Little Moab spot that Tim found? Was just there today and found quite a bit!

[@theruggedrockhound]

I did not! We only searched that area and further south a bit, but have not seen the wood. Where did you find it?

[@devinkavid]

I found some pieces at these coordinates: 40.0616667, -112.0575000 There’s a ditch there and there were a few pieces scattered around that hillside (along the deepest part of the ditch). I also found some on my way back east towards the road roughly around 40.0616667, -112.0569444 (I couldn’t find the exact spot on Google earth haha) I avoided the spots you’d explored in your videos. I got too hot after a while so had to head back to my car but there’s some good stuff all around in those hills! I only collected a couple of pieces bc I still wanted to hike around a bit. If you’d like pictures of the pieces I collected let me know and I’d be happy to provide them. I hope this was helpful!

[@theruggedrockhound]

@@devinkavid Thanks! We will check it out next time we visit the location

[@theruggedrockhound]

@@devinkavid Did you cross over the fence? Just want to make sure I got the right spot

[@devinkavid]

@TheRuggedRockhound I did not cross over the fence. I just went right up the road and then started hiking west

[@powelli8779]

south of frisco by squaw peak. thanks for gatekeeping a public spot though!

[@StonemanRocks]

Lol

[@StonemanRocks]

Everyone wants to be the last guy in I guess huh?

[@bjurney85]

A bit jealous! I would love to pick up a piece or two but seems rather fragile for lapidary. Do you know what causes the blue? Copper? Light refraction?

[@theruggedrockhound]

It is extremely fragile, most likely any polished pieces will be small, but still beautiful. Eventually I will test it out. My guess is that there is a mix of iron and copper, but unless chemical testing is done we may never know.

[@alicemiller3139]

So is the area known for thunder eggs? Are they wanna be thunder eggs that haven’t quite made it or past their prime Thunder eggs? Very cool though!

[@theruggedrockhound]

It is not, in fact there is very little in the area and not much known about it. Quite an interesting location.

[@jonsdigs1]

I am certain it will fluoresce quite nicely.

[@theruggedrockhound]

Agreed

[@catherinebittner2110]

Is there a location nearby in west desert you can share that has similar brilliant blue inside the geode/thundereggs?

[@theruggedrockhound]

Not that I know of, this is the only location I know that has blue opal. Sorry!

[@UyenTranonyoutube]

🤩

[@theruggedrockhound]

Thanks!

[@charleskunkle1074]

Is that mic MacIntyre

[@jonsdigs1]

Deeper in the strata of the deposit you should find more solid material.

[@theruggedrockhound]

That is what I was thinking as well, but if it was damaged due to movement/faulting then it won't matter how far down you go.

[@DieKatja492]

Is this area accessible by any car or is 4WD or high clearance needed?

[@theruggedrockhound]

It does require high clearance, would recommend 4wd as well.

[@TheSkippingMan]

Would Doug take payment for the location? I am in slc and would love to collect some of this stuff.

[@theruggedrockhound]

He would not, since he is not the original one to discover the area. he had to get permission from the original person who found it to allow me and Tim to go there, with the simple request that we do not share the location.

[@brutusb1858]

in utah?

[@theruggedrockhound]

Yes it is!

[@peace7501]

Utah Ocean opal

[@V27RV]

In the opal world U guys just hit jackpot So!how can I buy a small parcel of rough from you m8s

[@theruggedrockhound]

Currently not selling rocks, but down the road I do want to open an online store and sell some of my stuff. Just don't have the time for it right now

[@captaincrunch5878]

Seems to fracture too much, Wondering why cut down the centerline ? I would think if you cut the outer shell leaving the center to further Cut / Sand to shape, but if super fractured it would actually be totally worthless...

[@theruggedrockhound]

That is a good thought, but I am guessing that no matter how you cut it it will fracture. I think it might be best to just find broken pieces and leave them the way they are.

[@quarterlimit5838]

Since he doesn’t want to tell where it’s at, is he willing to sell some uncut pieces? My kids would get a huge kick out of cutting these and seeing what’s inside. And let’s be honest, I would too!

[@theruggedrockhound]

Possibly. I will ask him.

[@rebeccaeverett3424]

How is it called opal if it has no fire?

[@theruggedrockhound]

Opal, like most mineral, occurs in many varieties. Very few opals actually have any fire or color-changing properties (hence their high value). Most opal is actually solid white (and is very aptly named Common Opal).

[@ragnarocks9121]

Is it a claim?

[@theruggedrockhound]

It is not a claim

[@matildagreene1744]

Please mention not to GOUGE the Pryor foothills. Thank you

[@StonemanRocks]

So public land blm I take it since its not a claim! If it is its a matter of time before your little piece of paradise isnt! The only way to keep something like this a secret is to never tell anyone! Thank god you didnt post it on the internet!