By Chrissy Arthur

Posted Fri Feb 26, 2010 9:05am AEDT Opal miners and retailers in western Queensland say they are worried about the future of their multi-million dollar sector because of a lack of young people.
James Evert from the Queensland Boulder Opal Association says it has been a tough few years for the industry because of the global financial crisis and tourism slump.
He says while the boulder opal is still renowned worldwide, encouraging young people into small-scale mining is a challenge.
"We're not seeing young people coming in ... and we're still relying on the old hands that have been out there for many years to supply the markets and a lot of the older hands are either passing on or moving out of the industry and we don't have enough young ones out there to get out there and create the supply," he said."We need the mining [industry] working at full swing. We need the people to move into these regional areas like Winton and Longreach and Barcaldine and Quilpie ... we need them out there exploring and trying to discover new deposits but because of where we are at this stage, we're not seeing young people coming in."

Source ABC News website


November 2009.


Hi everybody,

Well it has been quite a busy time for us over the last few months.
There has been some very positive feed back from the industry with people starting to ease back into a close to normal way of life after the hectic 12 months the world has been through.
During this time we have felt it best to suspend our trips to the US, but we are still only an email away.
I have been regularly communicating with our contacts across the world to keep tabs on how things are going "on the ground" and with no political spin.
I am pleased to report that I am only hearing good stories at the moment.
Lets hope it continues it's positive upswing!
And I hope all is well wherever you are.

All the best,

James

April 2009

We hope everybody had a happy and safe Easter.
For those of you who are computer savvy.
We have been working hard over the last few months to raise our entry on Google to the highest level.
This week we have been consistently in the top 10 when Opal is typed into the search bar.
If you want to get your site up the list there is no hard and fast rules just relevant content and regular updating.
Also a lot of our success can be attributed to you, the general public, so keep spreading the word.

Thanks,

James


March 2009

Coming up next month is the annual Opal festival.
Always a great place to catch up with the locals and somewhere you can talk to the guys who dig out this precious gem.
It starts with the traditional street parade where you can generally find someone you know wearing something funny.
The festival is on Easter Saturday which leaves you a few days to check out the rest of the area.
If you haven't been to Coober Pedy yet, it's a really great excuse to jump in the car and head up.

All the Best,

James.


Feb 2009

Opal is one of the most beautiful gemstones in the world.
As regular visitors to our site would be aware, Opal has all the colours of all the other gemstones in one package.
That is why we believe that Opal is by far one of the best accessories a girl can have.
With all the colours it can go with any outfit.
So if I was you boys I would be seriously looking at getting an Opal for my better half.
For two reasons, one is that they are beautiful and the other is that she won't need to spend so much on jewellery.
So keep that in mind, until next time.

All the Best,

James.


Jan 2009

Happy New Year Everybody.

Well like most of you I'm stunned that it is already 2009!
Last year was an extremely eventful year.
We visited all our old haunts (Tucson, Las Vegas & New York) as well as some new ones (Dubai).
And on these trips we have found lots of people that have never been exposed to top quality Opal.
We have done our best to give everybody the chance to actually touch some of the highest quality Opal Coober Pedy has produced.
Over this next year we will be hoping to continue our overseas growth whilst also increasing our exposure here at home.
So keep you eyes open for us around the place.
But remember that you can always view our range right here 24/7.
From all the team at Aussie Opal Market we wish you a happy New Year.

All the Best,

James.

Click here for our Diary for 2008

Click here for our Diary for 2007