Man’s incredibly rare 3.2kg discovery in Aussie backyard: 'It's amazing'

An Aussie man has stumbled upon a rare and lucrative discovery in his backyard which, unbeknownst to him, had been sitting in his garden for years. Gold Coast man Wayne Sedawie cracked open a 3.2 kilo rock to discover the "rarest" form of boulder opal which he values at about $1000 — although some say it could be more.

The incredible stone originally came from Quilpie, a rural town in Queensland, and was gifted to Wayne, roughly over five years ago. But because it was "too tough to cut" the reseller, who owns Opal and Gem Stone Auctions, chucked in his "reject" pile in his garden where it remained until now.

"The current demand for opal" is what made him give the stone another crack. "It's gone through the roof," he told Yahoo News Australia — and it's a good thing he did because it had "rare red fire opal" hidden inside it.

"It's amazing. This one's actually got a film on top of it, so it makes it milky," he said. "The more you go down polishing, the brighter it's going to get."

Getting 'harder and harder to find' Australian opal

Boulder opals form on ironstone in Queensland and are often cut with the ironstone left attached. The opal itself forms within the cavities of the rock and varies in shape and size. Red opal, also referred to as fire opal in Australia, is the rarest kind with blue being the most common. Because of its rarity, an opal displaying any red colouring is considered quite valuable.

"It's getting harder and harder to find good opal in Australia," he said. This one in particular is "hidden" in the ironstone "and really, everyone would just miss it".

It was a stubborn rock to crack open, but after "bashing it" with a pick and then a hammer, he was finally able to get a glimpse of what was inside. "It's like hitting iron or stainless steel, it just wouldn't do a thing. Then when I turn it over and crack it open, and here's this colour bar sitting there," he explained.

The Opal reseller said it's the biggest and best he's found in his 25 years in the industry, describing it as "crazy" and "pretty unique" noting the "colour vein" which features tones of red.

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Miners and resellers excited over valuable finds in Aussie dirt

Despite a quarter of a century working in the industry, the Gold Coast man said it's still exciting to come across such a stone. "We were all on such a high that night", he said.

"It is a buzz. You're the first one to see something that's been around for 30 or 40 million years. It's a wild factor. It's a complete buzz. That's what hooks you in this industry".

And it seems that excitement is shared by other miners and resellers too.

Sue Cooper, a Queensland-based minor previously told Yahoo that "a beautiful opal is more than a gem, it represents the timeless beauty and tranquillity of the outback" after stumbling upon a"'mesmerising" 100-million-year-old find.

Meanwhile, the father of a young boy detailed his son's rare find metres from his front doorstep. The Australian sapphire is thought to be worth "thousands".

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