{"id":24057,"date":"2021-02-01T08:25:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T15:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platearjewels.com\/?p=24057"},"modified":"2021-02-01T12:55:43","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T19:55:43","slug":"black-matrix-opal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/black-matrix-opal\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Matrix Opal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Black Matrix Opal Is a porous white Opal found only in&nbsp; <strong>Andamooka, Australia <\/strong>is known as <strong>Black Matrix Opal or Mass Opal.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It has been popular since the 1950\u2019s when it was discovered that this very white opal could be dyed almost black giving the colour patterns in the opal a better background in which to dance and play. It is usually dark ironstone, but occasionally a light sandstone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cBlack\u201d<\/strong> is a generic term for the base or background color after the <strong>Andamooka Opal Matrix<\/strong> stone has been treated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cOpal\u201d<\/strong> is basically silica which has retained small water content sio2 and a nh2o with variations from almost worthless opal silica without fire(potch), through to high grade gem opal silica with fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cMatrix\u201d<\/strong> the matrix is a host stone where the opal silica has infused into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Process<\/u><\/strong>-:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Matrix opal is cut and polished.<\/li><li>Soaked in a sugar solution.<\/li><li>Boiled in sulphuric acid depositing carbon in the available pore spaces which enhances its colour.<\/li><li>Demonstration of this process can be found at <strong>Opulent Opals<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Hardness<\/u><\/strong>-: 5.5-6.5 on the Mohs scale with the trigonal crystal structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Lustre<\/u><\/strong>-: Sub-vitreous to waxy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Transparency<\/u><\/strong>-: Opaque, translucent, transparent and is usually seen cut into carvings, cabochons&nbsp; and beads and is occasionally faceted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Birthstone<\/u><\/strong>-: October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Zodiac Sign<\/u><\/strong>-: Cancer, Libra, Pisces and Scorpio, and said to be ruled by Mercury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Occurrence<\/u><\/strong>-:&nbsp; Andamooka , South Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Metaphysical Properties<\/u><\/strong>-:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Highly protective and is a stone of inspiration.<\/li><li>Opals are said to be very powerful in ritual magic.<\/li><li>The human body needs all seven color-rays to maintain healthy function.<\/li><li>Associated with the assimilation of proteins.<\/li><li>It helps one release inhibitions and enhance memory.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Black Matrix Opal Is a porous white Opal found only in&nbsp; Andamooka, Australia is known as Black Matrix Opal or Mass Opal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[251],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24057"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24201,"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24057\/revisions\/24201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platear.in\/platearjewels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}