We better get some of this. Reading the article, it suggests the opal could be ground, then heated, to release the water content in the opal. www.forbes.comNASA Rover Discovers Gemstone On MarsA research team using new methods to analyze data from NASA's Mars rover was able to verify that fractures contained opal, on Earth a gemstone formed by the alteration of silica by water.
Haha I saw this. Since I make space chambers to mimic other planet conditions (second job) maybe I could look at creating an artificial Opal in a Mars environment?