Mining for Opals at the Spencer, Idaho Opal Mine

Last year Renita and I started to work opal rough, some of which were opals from Spenser, Idaho. We needed to make a trip to Idaho Falls to pick up my new prescriptions and so we decided we would also drive a little further and hunt opals at the Spenser Opal Mine.

Looking up the tools we needed, we found that we already had our boots, rocks hammers, safety goggles, and water spray bottles. We also needed good gardening hand rakes for sorting thought the opal scree. This tool turned out to be the one tool we needed the most and luckily, we found good ones at the Fred Meyer Store, (if you have ever been to Alaska you know how great the Fred Meyer Stores are).

It was about sixty miles to the small town of Spenser, and pulling off at the exit, we easily found the signs leading us to the mine. Now it’s not really the actual mine, (they don’t let you in there anymore), but it’s a huge pile of opal bearing rock hauled and dumped behind the one cafe in town.

Going inside the cafe/rock shop we went through the safety talk and signed the liability waiver form, before heading out to the scree pile. There were already people working through the material, including an expert mine employee who showed us what the opal looked like.

Finding a spot, we started to rake the loose scree, looking for the fiery gems. After moving about a hundred pounds of rock I found my first good opal! Renita also found lots of opal, but it took her a bit to find any with fire. After a while of digging and more digging the guide showed her an opal he had found by scanning the surface. He gave her the rough piece and after a bit walked over and handed me another piece he had just found.

A young man, the son of the rock shop owner came by and gave us both further advice on finding the precious stones.  It was quite easy to find common opal material but finding some good workable rough is a skill that it takes a while to acquire.

He told me I was working in the old scree pile and that the actual mine owner brought a new pile of material every two to three days. As it had been three days since the last truck load, the material had been pretty picked over, but we still ended up with quite a few opal specimens, (an opal specimen is a piece of fiery opal that is too small to work but can be submerged in a water filled glass vial and admired).

After three hours of raking material, we had both created quite a few small shallow pits and piles of rock. It reminded me of the movie about blood diamonds in which prisoners were being guarded at gunpoint as they hunted for gems.

The difference of course was that we had paid for the pleasure and that we got to keep what we found! We learned several things that would be helpful when we return. These were to bring a foam pad to sit on, knee pads, or perhaps a small low folding chair as the opal scree was sharp and painful.

It was almost comical as we left when I slipped on the scree slope and nearly dumped my opal finds. However, I was just able to keep my bucket upright, and saved what I had found. Renita and I both had fun and we do plan on returning to the mine this summer. After all, how often can you go someplace nearby and find fire opals? Clear skies