BAKER CITY, Ore. (AP) -- Brian Bolin was a down-on-his-luck would-be gold prospector last August when he kicked a rock and something shiny caught his eye.

But it wasn't gold.

After sending the rock to a mineral lab in Canada, Bolin claimed he had literally stumbled over gem-quality opals.

"At first we were disappointed it wasn't gold, until we found out opal is the second-highest selling gem stone in the world," he said.

Bolin got to work over the winter, researching opals. His family filed a mining claim, called the Red Fern Load, in the area where the rock was discovered.

And he said he found more of the opal-embedded rocks. Bolin and his family decided to go public with their find this past week, before the Miners Jubilee in Baker City.

For visitors to the annual celebration, Bolin told the Baker City Herald he's got one message: "If it can happen to me, it can happen to you."

However, he's not giving too much away: the location where the opals were found is still a secret.

Bolin said he was living in a barn in Arizona when his father called and invited him to come to Baker City and do some prospecting.

He discovered that miners apparently unearthed the opal-bearing rocks while placer mining for gold. They unknowingly exposed at least four veins of opals.

"We found a piece of opal the size of a kitchen table that someone had blasted with a shotgun," Bolin said. "They didn't know what it was. It was a very rare form of opal. It was a form of opal that was thought to be extinct. A lot of people have walked past it. They probably thought it was quartz."

Don McClure, owner of Don's Jewelry in Baker City, said Bolin brought in several cut opals and had him set them in jewelry. One pendant featured a 10-carat opal Contra luz stone.

McClure said Bolin has also brought in samples of what appear to be sapphires and diamonds.

"He seems to have many different finds in the mine he's got out there," McClure said.

McClure said the Bolins have apparently found a number of kimberlyte volcanic pipes, which help bring gems to the surface. The potential for finding such gems could trigger a new mining era in Baker County.

"If he gets the right people behind him with the right marketing plan, this could be a very big thing for Baker County," McClure said.

Since the initial discovery, Bolin said his family has filed seven claims and they expect to file three more. The claims are on Bureau of Land Management land. They were filed through the county, the state, and the U.S. Department of Interior and BLM.

"When we are done mining, the land reverts to traditional uses primarily for grazing livestock," Bolin said.

Because of the high cost of mining, including obtaining bonding required by BLM to guarantee mined land is returned to its natural state, Bolin said he and his father and brother are looking for investors.

And Bolin said he's hoping news of their opal discovery will spur other people to go out and look.