Re: A Battery That Produces Energy Continuously Since 1950

 I might just give it a try, very interesting, very interesting article.

I'm quite a long way from any opal mines, its mostly gold mining around my area. There are a lot of beautiful quartz crystals in my area though, people plough them up in the paddocks.

I do have access to some very pure silica, would this be suitable?

Actually you would be better off using either diatomaceous earth or clay.  These will provide the aluminum oxide that will help give the opals strength. Although they say opals are just SiO₂ this is not necessarily true.  I am using kitty litter (betonite clay) for some and I found a DE kitty litter that I am going to try next.

My Dad has done a lot of sapphire prospecting and I have several gems that he has found over the years, some very dark blue ones which I've had cut and polished. My friend and I will be going gold nugget hunting next winter, the same area we'll be travelling to, is also known for meteorites, so I'll keep my eyes peeled

If the gold is laced through the quartz or is in natural nugget form both are more valuable than their gold weight alone.  So don't melt these down if this is the form you find.

Keep in mind though that you need export permits on meteorites if you plan to send any out of the country.

Here are some photos of the sapphire I found.  I showed it to a geologist last night to confirm that it was a sapphire.  It has the same general crystal structure as some of my smaller white sapphires and I can barely scratch this with the sharp edges of my white sapphires.  I am hold the cut end in place.  From the interior it appears that it is a blue-green sapphire, though it is hard to say what color it will be after the necessary heat treating.  I cannot recall the actual weight, but I think it was just over 9 pounds (4.08kg or 20,411 carats).