Opal Butte, Morrow County, Oregon, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Opal Butte | Table/Butte |
| Morrow County | County |
| Oregon | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
45° 2' 37'' North , 119° 36' 48'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Excerpts from Kevin Lane Smith's article (1988):
Recent mining at Opal Butte in northeastern Oregon has produced a wide variety of large flawless opals. The most common gem-quality varieties are hyalite and rainbow opal, but the less common play-of-color varieties contra luz, hydrophane, and crystal opal are economically more important. Fire, blue, and dendritic opal are also found. The opal occurs in rhyolite geodes embedded in decomposed perlite. More than 100 kg of material was uncovered from November 1987 through November 1988. The opal varies greatly in stability, but the finest stable material makes excellent carvings, cabochons, and even faceted stones.
The northeastern Oregon deposit of precious opal at Opal Butte has been known to collectors since at least 1892 […] but because of the inconsistency with which opal was found and the highly variable stability of the gem material itself, it was not considered to have significant commercial potential. Recent exploratory work, however, has established that there is enough stable gem-quality opal […] to make commercial mining feasible. In November 1987, West Coast Gemstones began the first systematic mining of this deposit.
The mine is located on privately owned land in Morrow County, 35 miles (ca. 56 km) south of the town of Heppner. It lies on the western slope of Opal Butte, at an elevation of 4,700 ft (ca. 1,433 m). Opal Butte is part of the Blue Mountain Range, which covers much of northeastern Oregon. Snowy winters make mining possible only from May through November. Summers are quite dry, however, and temperatures up to 90 °F (ca. 32 °C) are common in July and August.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsMineral List
2 valid minerals.
Rock Types Recorded
Note: data is currently VERY limited. Please bear with us while we work towards adding this information!
Select Rock List Type
Alphabetical List Tree DiagramDetailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Opal Formula: SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ Opal var. Blue Opal Formula: SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ Opal var. Contra Luz Opal Formula: SiO2 · nH2O References: |
| ⓘ Opal var. Crystal Opal Formula: SiO2 · nH2O References: |
| ⓘ Opal var. Fire Opal Formula: SiO2 · nH2O References: |
| ⓘ Opal var. Hyalite Formula: SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ Opal var. Hydrophane Formula: SiO2 · nH2O References: |
| ⓘ Opal var. Jelly Opal Formula: SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ Opal var. Opal-AN Formula: SiO2 · nH2O References: |
| ⓘ Opal var. Precious Opal Formula: SiO2 · nH2O References: |
| ⓘ Quartz Formula: SiO2 |
| ⓘ Quartz var. Chalcedony Formula: SiO2 |
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Quartz var. Chalcedony | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| ⓘ | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 | |
| ⓘ | Opal var. Opal-AN | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O | |
| ⓘ | var. Blue Opal | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ | var. Precious Opal | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ | var. Fire Opal | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ | var. Hydrophane | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ | var. Contra Luz Opal | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ | var. Crystal Opal | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ | var. Jelly Opal | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
| ⓘ | var. Hyalite | 4.DA.10 | SiO2 · nH2O |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Opal-AN | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Blue Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Precious Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Fire Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Hydrophane | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Contra Luz Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Crystal Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Jelly Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| H | ⓘ Opal var. Hyalite | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Quartz var. Chalcedony | SiO2 |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Opal-AN | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Blue Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Precious Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Fire Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Hydrophane | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Contra Luz Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Crystal Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Jelly Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| O | ⓘ Opal var. Hyalite | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz var. Chalcedony | SiO2 |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Opal-AN | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Blue Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Precious Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Fire Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Hydrophane | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Contra Luz Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Crystal Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Jelly Opal | SiO2 · nH2O |
| Si | ⓘ Opal var. Hyalite | SiO2 · nH2O |
Other Databases
| GeoNames ID: | 5744178 |
|---|
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Clarno BasinBasin
- Columbia Basin and RangeWide Rift
- Foothills-Wallowa DomainDomain
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Opal Butte, Morrow County, Oregon, USA