Opal is a mineraloid gel which is deposited at a relatively low temperature and
may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found
with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl and basalt. The word opal comes from the Latin opalus.

The water content is usually between three and ten percent, but can be as high as twenty percent.
Opal ranges from clear through white, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
magenta, rose, pink, slate, olive, brown, and black.
Of these hues, the reds against black are the most rare, whereas white and greens are the most common.
These color variations are a function of growth size into the red and infrared wavelengths.

Opal is Australia's national gemstone.