Cloaked in white dust and surrounded by expansive plains, the town of Lightning Ridge produces the bulk of the world’s precious black opal. This rare gemstone, prized for its dazzling play of color, ...

Opalised fossils from Lightning Ridge, N.S.W, Australia. From the collection of the Australian Opal Center. Clockwise from top left: freshwater snail; plesiosaur tooth; crocodile tooth; pine cone; ...

Following is a transcript of the video. Narrator: High-quality black opal can cost over $10,000 per carat, making it one of the world's most expensive gemstones. But mining black opal isn't easy.

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe. 'Ridge' follows main characters Rusty and Kate as life in the Outback ...

THE name Lightning Ridge is said to have originated in the 1870s when the bodies of a grazier, his dog and 600 sheep were found, thought to have been struck by lightning. With such inauspicious ...

Unusually colorful fossils found in Australia belong to a stunning new species of plant-eating dinosaur, scientists report today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The remains not only belong ...