The nature and origin of pigments in black opal from Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

Black opal (opal-AG) owes its dark coloration to a fine-grained pigment commonly inferred to be mainly carbon, yet chemical compositions for black opals suggest there may be additional components. Here we search for such components in pigment concentrates prepared by dissolving black opal nodules (nobbies) from Lightning Ridge (NSW) in hydrofluoric acid, using electron microscopy (scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy), X-ray diffraction and laser-ablation ICP-MS. The results demonstrate the presence of sulfides—predominantly pyrite and chalcopyrite, with minor galena and Ti-oxide phases, as additional components of the pigment. ATR-FTIR analysis indicates the presen..