Mexico has been the world’s primary source of fire opal for nearly 100 years. The Mexican fire opal deposits produce significant amounts of transparent to translucent, bright orange to orange-red material. Some of the transparent material is faceted, mounted in commercial jewelry, and described as “tangerine opal” because of its color.

In the 1990s, Ethiopia became an important source of opal. Much of the Ethiopian opal is fire opal and precious fire opal. Much of the Ethiopian fire opal is yellow.

Smaller amounts of fire opal are produced in Australia, Brazil, Honduras, and Guatemala. In the United States, Nevada and Oregon produce some beautiful fire opal.