G'Day,

My name is Daryl Young.

I am the host of this website, Aussie Opal Books.
I reside in Eden, a small coastal town on the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia, which is about 1,000 km. south from another town which I also love very dearly, Lightning Ridge, home of the Black Opal.

About 15 years ago a mate took me on a fossicking trip to Emerald New South Wales, looking for sapphires. We found quite a few with some very good cutters amongst them.
It was then that I was bitten by the fossicking bug. Since that trip I have been searching out many different gemstones throughout New South Wales and many parts of Queensland. Topaz, Zircon, Sapphire, Garnet, Peridot, to name a few.
On one such trip I called in to a little place called "Yowah" near Cunnamulla in South West Queensland. It was here that I fell in love with Opal.

Back in 1990 a local jeweller by the name of Bud Severs, said I should go to Lightning Ridge for a look around. The people at the "Ridge" were very friendly and accommodating, it was'nt long before I was treated to tours of the fields and some of the opal mines.
I knew that this was the gem that I wanted to work with,so I purchased some cutting and polishing machinery and taught myself how to cut opal.
A very good friend David "Tubby" Smith sold me my first parcel of rough opal.
After that I took up my own opal mine at "Kevin's Rush" on the Coocoran field.

While learning to cut opal I purchased quite a few books on the subject, It was here that my next interest began. My collection over the years has become very extensive which includes some very rare and hard to find books and literature.

This book site is to supply specialised books and literature to other interested people who may have also been bitten by the Opal Bug.