The Sapphire Gemfields lie almost half way between Rockhampton and Longreach and not far from Emerald in central Queensland. The area covers about 900 square kilometres and includes the tiny townships of Sapphire, Rubyvale, Anakie and The Willows. I had made a fleeting visit to Sapphire in the past about a year ago on the trip to NT and WA with my good friend Marj et al. I have returned because Marj has become a Miner or more correctly, a Fossicker of Sapphires and other gemstones by taking over a Fossicking Claim very close to the Sapphire township. These Fossicking Claims are situated within an area known as The Miners Common, an 11,000 hectare property that includes Sapphire and Rubyvale that was created in the 1890's and is the last of such titles in Queensland. Each claim is either a pegged or fenced portion of land of 900 square metres that after application and payment of registration etc allows the occupier to mine, build a non permanent dwelling or otherwise use as they wish whilst in possession. For some it is an opportunity to establish a getaway and to try their luck at fossicking for the big one. Camping is also permitted more than 1.5 km from the Sapphire and Rubyvale Post Offices for up to 3 months. Marj says that she initially took over her claim to provide a winter retreat and to lean the art of Fossicking from the friendly locals. I was surprised at how quickly she became competent having found enough specimens to fuel her enthusiasm before my arrival and many more during my stay. I must say that I was entirely hopeless at the process and would surely starve if fossicking was my occupation.
There are other advantages here other than fortune hunting. The area reminds me somewhat of the Opal Fields of Lightning Ridge with many individual claims scattered throughout a dry bush environment seemingly following no plan. An informal building code, if one exists in reality, allows for construction of home made do-it-yourself dwellings that reinforce the similarity. Cattle, horses, camels and goats freely roam throughout, at times even wandering the streets and kangaroos, wallabies and birdlife are abundant due to the many dams and old open cut mines that provide water. All this contributes to provide a charmingly pleasant place to counter the undesirable aspects of winter further south or to simply escape for a while.
Although little of the early history of the Sapphire Gemfields was recorded it is known that the first find in the area were by John Archibald Richardson in the 1870's near Retreat Creek. Commercial mining began in the 1880's but was hampered by drought and poor demand. How this was carried out at all is amazing in what was and to some extent still is a harsh, isolated environment.
In 1899, a display of stones in London, some of which were purchased by the Russian nobility resulted in an upturn in demand. Camps at Sapphire and Rubyvale became the centre of established mining industry by 1903. A series of brief periods of boom followed by those of slack markets persisted until the early 1950's. In 1955 an influx of tourist miners for winter and weekend mining began a new phase. Such activity continued until machine mining which began in the 1960's when an increase in prices was sparked by interest from interstate and overseas based buyers. By 1970 a further increase in the price of rough Sapphires led to large scale commercial mining providing a huge quantity of gems that were purchased by buyers from Thailand. During this period Australia produced over 80% of the world's Sapphires. High production continued until the early 1980's when an significant increase in production in Asia and Africa led to a massive downturn in the local industry that continues today. Finally, in 1985 the potential for an active tourist industry led to The Mining (Fossicking) Act 1985 that created Designated Fossicking Areas that were eventually established in 1986. In early 1995, the new Fossicking Act 1994 was introduced that continued the previous arrangements for recreational and fossicking tourism and is still in place today.
It was fortunate that my visit coincided with the local "Gemfest, festival of gems" held in nearby Anakie during August each year which I attended. Here I learned much about Sapphires and Gemstones in general and about the equipment and methods employed in fossicking and marvelled at the impressive stones on display and for sale.
Sapphire, the birth stone of September and the 45th anniversary stone, was also thought in earlier times to protect the wearer from danger in epidemics and gave them honour and good will. It was also thought to protect the wearer from envy, attract divine favour and was the gem of devoted love. Sapphire is the gem variety of the mineral corundum that consists of Aluminium Oxide aka Alumina with chemical formula Al2O3 and a hardness of 9 on Moh's scale second only to Diamond making it very suitable for jewellery use. Pure Alumina is colourless but very rare in nature as various elemental impurities in the crystal lattice impart colours to the mineral. I always thought that Sapphires were clear and blue due to Titanium and Ferrous Iron impurities but nowadays, it is common to include green and yellow Sapphires with varying amounts of Ferric Iron and Ferrous/ Ferric Iron respectively. (Sorry but I am a Chemist). It is interesting to note that a red Sapphire is known as a Ruby. On the these Gemfields the general colours are blue, green and yellow or Parti-colour, where all three occur together. Another type that is common is called a "Star Sapphire" that is bronze or black and shows a starlight sheen in certain lighting. Rich golden yellow Sapphires fetch the highest prices.
Many famous Sapphires have been found in the Gemfields of this area. The "Pride of Queensland" is the world's largest cut yellow Sapphire at 169 carats. A large Blue-Black Sapphire of 1,156 carats known as "The Black Star of Queensland. was found in 1938 by 12 year old Roy Spencer. Incredibly, it was used for the next nine years as a doorstop in the family home. It was recently offered for sale at $90 million! Other famous gems from the area include:
Tomahawk Tiger - 82.4 carats, the finest multi-coloured Sapphire crystal ever found.
Autumn Glory - 30.25 carats, a magnificent orange Sapphire found in 1993. Although the owner was offered up to $100,00 when found he wanted more and sent it overseas for sale however, it "disappeared" and is still missing.
Millennium Sapphire - 200 carats found by a tourist in 2000 who sold it for $85000 at the annual Gemfest 5 days later.
Good Luck Marj!
