Australia's toughest treasure hunters are back, taking on the extreme hardship of the Australian outback in pursuit of opal riches. Outback Opal Hunters Season 9 aired on February 16th, 2023.

Opal greenhorn James "JC" Caruana and veteran miner Rod Manning embark upon a roadtrip across Australia where JC tries to learn about opal mining before becoming a father. Record-breaking floods block ...

A new era is born.

Cloaked in white dust and surrounded by expansive plains, the town of Lightning Ridge produces the bulk of the world’s precious black opal. This rare gemstone, prized for its dazzling play of color, ...

The world’s finest uncut opal, a 998-gram gem called the Fire of Australia, has gone on permanent public display for the first time since its discovery more than 60 years ago. Valued at more than $675 ...

The red dirt in central Australia might be a close mimic for the red surface of Mars, suggests research that sheds light on how opals formed in the land Down Under. Precious opal is Australia’s ...

Paleontologists in Australia have identified a previously unknown plant-eating dinosaur from the mid-Cretaceous. Remarkably, the fossilized bones of these creatures, which glisten in hues of blue and ...

When Mike Poben, an opal buyer and and fossil fanatic, bought a bucket of opal from an Australian mine, he was surprised to find to find what looked like an ancient tooth in the pile. Later, he also ...