Bonanza Opal Mines
Weekend opal digging under the horn of Gooch Table, in Virgin Valley
- What you find
- Virgin Valley precious opal, including limb casts and opalized wood
- 2026 season
- From 24 May, Friday to Sunday, plus Memorial Day and Labor Day Mondays
- Tools
- Bring your own or rent them at the mine
- Where
- 43255 Sagebrush Creek Rd, Denio, below the east tip of Gooch Table
- Camping
- Free at the historic Virgin Valley campground nearby
- Shareholders
- Extra digging time for shareholders, with training and rules
Fee dig: pay to search the ground on site
Native material: you search the natural ground on site.
Season: Late May to early September, mainly Friday to Sunday. Dates are posted on their website each year.
Make a weekend of it
9 gem and mineral spots on open public land with no claim on record, within 50 miles.
There are more on the map, some of them with a possible mining claim.
About Bonanza Opal Mines
Bonanza Opal Mines sits just below the horn, the right-hand tip, of Gooch Table, the flat-topped mesa above Virgin Valley in northwestern Nevada. It is one of several mines in the valley where the public can pay to dig for a day, and it bills itself as the best value in the valley.
For 2026 Bonanza opened to fee diggers from 24 May on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, plus the Monday holidays of Memorial Day and Labor Day, and the owners advise checking the website for updates as each season approaches. Staff show newcomers what to look for, diggers can bring their own tools or rent them, and the finds go home with the finder.
The mine also has shareholders, who get more digging time in return for extra training, protective clothing and sticking to the mine's rules. Finds pictured on the website include black opal, limb casts, a large opalized log, pieces of wood and opal together and even a rhinoceros tooth dug by a shareholder in 2022: the same clays that make the opal also keep fossils.
Bonanza sends visitors to the historic Virgin Valley Campground, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression, where camping is free and a natural warm spring feeds a swimming pool and bathhouse, with drinking water and pit toilets. Within reach are Bog Hot Springs, 1000 Creek Gorge, a huge crack in the ground a short hike from the campground, and the top of Gooch Table itself. Pronghorn and many kinds of birds live in the valley, waterfowl peak in late spring, and there is fishing at the Dufurrena Ponds, including one pond set aside for children.
The mine describes itself as being in the middle of nowhere, so plan to bring everything you need for a stay in the northern Great Basin.
Clubs and places nearby
- Royal Peacock Opal MinePay-to-dig · 3 mi
- Rainbow Ridge Opal MinePay-to-dig · 4 mi
- Pink Lady Obsidian MineFree public dig · 63 mi
- Rainbow Obsidian MineFree public dig · 63 mi
- Obsidian Needles MineFree public dig · 64 mi
- Middle Fork Davis Creek Obsidian MineFree public dig · 65 mi
Access
43255 Sagebrush Creek Rd, Denio, in Virgin Valley off NV-140 in the far north-west of Nevada. Remote area: fill up with fuel and bring food and water. The mine publishes directions and a brochure on its website.
Technique
Hand tools: rake and sort the tailings slowly and look for the play of color; wood shapes deserve a second look. Ask the hosts how to store what you find, because Virgin Valley opal can crack if it dries too fast.