Introduction:

How it all started

    We thought it would be fun to dig around for opal and heard of this opal mine, unpatented and nearly undeveloped in Idaho, that 1/2 interest was for sale.  So, we bought it!  We started a Nevada Sub-S Corporation and call our business "Idaho Opal Mines, Inc."  A few years after we began developing the claim, we bought out our partner.

    We knew soon after we moved a little dirt around that this was probably the best opal in North America, and has proven to even make the Australians raise their eyebrows when they saw what we had.

    We knew, also, that we have to get this claim patented right away, before the government stopped accepting patent applications.  That was in 1993, and in 2003, after much litigation and stress, our patent was granted and signed.

How we made it

    Once we were able to cut our opal and set some jewelry, we had to find our market.  We began by doing a few gem shows in the winter when we were in California.  Then in the summer of 94, we began our sole proprietorship, "Opal Mountain Mine", in Idaho and we set up a sales trailer in Dubois, just 13 miles from Spencer, and sold to the tourists who would get off the Interstate for gas or a rest.

    We began doing the gem show in Tucson in 1995, and started building up a list of wholesale customers.

    In 1997, we bought the old gas station in Spencer to sell opal retail to the many tourists that come thru in the summer.  We found this store to be a "gold mine".  We kept the trailer open in Dubois for a couple years, but the demand (both wholesale and retail) was increasing so quickly, we couldn't keep up.  So we reluctantly closed down the trailer.

What are we selling?

    Idaho Opal Mines, Inc. (IOMI) owns the inventory, mining equipment, cutting equipment and supplies along with approx. 20 acres of land and the wholesale business, with a list of over 500 customers who have purchased our opal.    

    Opal Mountain Mine (OMM) is our retail business and store in Spencer, including 2 lots of real property, furnishings, gas pump and appliances.

    Our residence in Dubois, Idaho.

What's it all worth?

    We had a 3rd party do an assessment of the value of our business by 5 years income tax returns and getting additional information from us.  They came up with a value of between $3-5 million.  They don't take into account the ore in the ground.  In 2005, we mined 25 yards of ore.  From that, we cut 8,500 stones at a value of $125,000.  This gives us an average value of $5,000 per yard.  You must keep in mind that this is a 1-man operation!

    When the BLM did our mineral survey, they estimated there to be 45 years of opal in reserves if we do not go deeper.  We cored to 120' and continued finding precious opal, so the deeper you go the more years of reserves.  If you take these figures, this means there is millions of dollars of opal sitting in the ground.

    We have over $1,000,000.00 in assets, including inventory, real estate and equipment.    

    We feel $2 million is a fair asking  price for everything.

How we came up with this price

    IOMI has an inventory (at the end of 2007) valued at  approx. $941,000 retail or $775,000 wholesale.  We have a list of over 500 wholesale customers who have bought from us. After expenses we realized a profit of approx. $75,000 in 07.   

    The mining equipment, including: backhoe, loader, track hoe with hammer-drill, dozer, dump truck, welder, air compressor, Ford truck, Ford Explorer and miscellaneous hand tools valued at approx. $100,000. 

    OMM owns the store in Spencer, on 2 lots, with furniture, display cases, freezers, coolers, gas pump all valued at approx $65,000. After expenses we realized a profit in 07 of approx. $160,000.

    The ongoing wholesale business and goodwill with our wholesale customers as well as the future opal yet to be extracted has to have a value of several million.

    Our residence, in Dubois is 4 lots on corner 100'X150' with 2 mobile homes and all the furniture with a  huge separate garage, valued at $85,000. 

Conclusion:

For the last 15 years, we have worked hard and reinvested our profit back into the business.  We have sold our opal on QVC (the home shopping channel).  We have been featured on local Idaho Falls (all 3) channels.  We had our mine on the cover on the Mining Journal with a nice article about us and the mine.  We had a Associated Press reporter write a story about our mine, and it was picked up by just about every major paper in the US and even by the Bangkok Post.  When the curator of the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian came to us to ask us to donate Idaho Opal for their exhibit, we were honored to agree and met with our Senator Crapo in Washington when we were there for the presentation.

We have built quite a business out of a hobby.  We are at the stage in our business where we must expand to meet with the demand for our opal.  At our age, it is time to slow down, not speed up.  We want to retire and begin enjoying the type of life we intended 15 years ago.

It is our intent to sell the entire operation, including both corporations and sole proprietorship along with all inventory, land and business contacts.  This would be a turn-key operation.  We would be willing to stay on for a while to make an easy transition.

This would be an excellent opportunity for someone who doesn't mind getting dirty and working hard for 6 months of the year.

        For more information, please feel free to call or email.

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