Precious opal have been discovered in Ethiopia relatively recently. The most common species is the so-called Hydrophane opal from Welo province. The first shows appeared on the market around 1994, although local people knew it very long. The opals are located on the Yita Elevation in the Menz Gisha district of Shewa Province, about 240 km northeast of the capital, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.