Quilpie celebrates opal festival
25 August 2004By Sophie MacKinnon (ABC Western Queensland)
This week Quilpie hosts its annual Opal Festival. The population of the south-west Queensland town will swell as miners and buyers come to trade in Australia's signature stone.
Organiser Greg Mackay believes that this year's opal festival is special because it will be open to the public for all three days, so will allow everyone to see the stones in their various stages.
He believes that opals are underrated and undermarketed in Australia, and is very keen to educate people about the beauty of the stones.
Part of the problem is that opal miners and dealers in gemstones are notoriously secretive about their leases and what stones they have.
Also, the outback industry attracts many people who are hobby miners and choose it as a lifestyle profession. They're not all that keen on marketing their products. "They're not necessarily business people" he says, which also makes it very difficult to gauge the true size of the industry.
Most stones are bought as rough parcels, where the opal is embedded in stone, with some opal showing. Opal is also bought as faced parcels, which is the opals in their natural state, before they are cut and polished. Cut and polished stones will also be displayed and sold at the festival.
Greg Mackay says the response has been positive and expects some visitors from coastal areas, as well as locals. Several export buyers from southern Australia are expected.
Sandy Hodges from the House of Quilpie Gemstones says that 80-90 per cent of Australia's opals are exported to markets in Asia, as well as to the United States and Europe, in particular to Germany.
Mr Mackay is positive about the state of Australia's opal industry. "97 per cent of the world's opal comes out of Australia so marketed and promoted properly, then you have a monopoly on the market".
Greg Mackay acknowledges that there's a long way to go before opals are seen in jewellery shops and admired in the same way as diamonds, rubies and other precious stones. But he thinks that increasing the popularity of opals in Australia is simply a matter of proper marketing and educating the public about their beauty.
Source: ABC Western Queensland