Royal Peacock Opan Mine - Denio, NV

Over the weekend I drove to Denio, NV to visit the Royal Peacock Opal Mine. My roommate this summer is a geology student and I heard her speak many times of wanting to go and mine for opals. It was a long drive into the middle of nowhere Nevada but very scenic and as the majority of the drive was on backroads I could drive as fast as I wanted to which I enoyed very much. The mine is located within a wildlife refuge that offers camping and lots of nature viewing. When I got there I was greeted by a very nice woman who was more than happy to take my money and explain how to mine the opals. I went for the more expesive option which was mining the bank for $180/day which also allows you to mine the tailings which is $75/day. When she said that mining the bank was hard work she wasn't kidding. She sent me with a guide who turned out to be a seismologist from Fiji who was there visiting for a week and her two kids that were around the age of 10. We drove out to the mine and I was shown how to use my little pick ax to break away the rock on the bank and what to look for. Before that day I didn't know what an opal was. I was told to look for white streaks in the rock which indicate water and mine them down until I found rock that looked glassy or like petrified wood. I cannot stress enough how hard this was. It took a lot of hard work and patience to find the tiny little glassy areas. When I found them I would mine around them until I could get the chunk of rock out and then stowed it in little plastic bags to take home and remove the opals later. I really enjoyed having my guide and the kids there mining with me. It took my mind off how hard the work was. The guide was also realy good about finding pockets where he suspected there might be opals and then letting me mine them out. I mined for three hours all the while conversing about Fiji and working in the mines and letting the kids show me how they mine. It was really a neat experience for me to actually get to mine instead of being the safety person analyzing the miner's jobs and protecting them. It gave me a new perspective as to how hard they work and why they don't like wearing personal sampling pumps at the same time. It also made me grateful for the career choice I made. I can't imagine doing that type of physical work for 12 hour shifts. My body just isn't designed for it but for a few hours it was fun.

On the way home I stopped the only gas station in Denio which also happens to be a greasy spoon diner. I don't know if it was the heat and my hydration but they served me the best philly cheesesteak sandwhich I have ever eaten in my life. When I got home I put my rocks in a bucket of water and they all immediately dissolved. I was skeptical at first. At that moment I really felt as if I had just thrown $180 in the trash. After soaking them over night I used my sifter to wash all the dirt away so I could see what I was left with and too my surprise there was a decent amount of opals left in my sifter. No two look alike and they come in all different colors and they change in the light. They are really neat looking rocks and I can't wait to dislay them in my house back in Missouri. It's defintely an experience I would recommend in anyone who happens to find themsevles in Nevada. Click here to learn more about http://royalpeacock.com/.


Royal Peacock Mining Bank
Location: Denio, NV 89404, USA

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