Miner's 'mesmerising' 100-million-year-old find while digging deep hole in outback

An Aussie miner’s typical routine of digging into the outback’s iconic red dirt in search of treasures has taken a remarkable turn when she was suddenly “confronted by the most mesmerising sight”.

Sue Cooper, the owner of Broken River Mining, told Yahoo News she was working on a 10-metre-deep hole on leased land in a remote area in southwest Queensland earlier this month, about 60km west of Eromanga, when she suddenly heard “what sounded like glass breaking”.

“A terrifying sound for an opal miner, as it indicates the excavator bucket is smashing through pure opal!” she said. After immediately halting work, Sue and her crew were stunned to see “crystal gem opals of all colours, glistening in the dirt”.

“It was devastation and joy,” the miner said of the moment she looked at the stash of broken opal at Russells Mine. However, hidden among the fragments, Sue unearthed 100 million-year-old opalised plant fossils.

“Resembling tree roots and branches, [it is] one of the most extraordinary finds in our 35 years of mining,” she said.

In awe of the “perfect example of natural history and beauty” the Aussie filmed one of the stones, neatly packed inside what looks to have once been “a twig, a root or a branch of a tree”.

“This beautiful opal is more than a gem, it represents the timeless beauty and tranquility of the outback,” she captioned the footage of the blue/purplish gem, which has racked up 85,000 views since being posted to social media. Hundreds of people have praised the “exceptional” find.

'Rare and unique' opalised plant fossils are priceless

Speaking to Yahoo, Sue explained her crew found a “patch of opalised wood specimens, and smaller pieces of opalised material” in the hole, most of which generally date back to the Early Cretaceous period.

“Opal forms in cavities within rocks,” she said. “If a plant or animal remains buried in the sediment before it turns to stone, opals can form a fossil replica, preserving external features, or in rare cases, internal details if the silica replaces the organic material before decomposition.

“Our opalised wood fossils beautifully showcase this process, with internal structures visible through transparent opal, creating stunning 3D picture stones.”

The owner of Broken River Mining, a small family-owned and operated company, said it is difficult to assign a value to opalised plant fossils because they are so “incredibly rare and unique”.

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“Experts and collectors have been astonished by their quality, often suggesting we name our price as there are no comparisons,” Sue continued, adding “some pieces” found during the dig have since been “cut and hand-carved to highlight their beauty”.

"They’re regarded as national treasures of global scientific interest," she said.

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