The Gemfields Queensland - Fossicking

[Guest The Pom Queen]

 

We have just returned from the Sapphire Gemfields located in Central Queensland. I will do a Town by town report later, but just thought I'd give you some insight in to the area.

The area is 900 square kilometres of Sapphire bearing ground and is the largest in the world.  

 

The Gemfields as they are known by the locals are situated 1040km from Brisbane, or 322km from Rockhampton.

 

 

They consist of four small towns (villages) which are Sapphire, Rubyvale, Anakie and The Willows. According to the 2016 the population of the Gemfields was 1449, 11% were children and 30% were over 65 years, with a median age of 56. Most of the population are single, obviously their love is with mother nature and not each other.

 

 

Although 65% of them are born and bred Aussies you have English, Germans and Americans all searching for that special stone.

A high percentage of property in the Gemfields are of a temporary structure. The reason behind this is that you can purchase a vacant block of land, pay the Mines Department approximately $310 for a license which lasts anywhere between 5 to 10 years and throw up a house as long as it's classed as a temporary structures. The only stipulation is that they must look like they are digging for Sapphires, so you will see the odd piece of machinery or a few holes dug here and there.

 

Unfortunately a lot of those who work in the nearby coal mines have realised it's a great way to get cheap accommodation and are abusing the system rather than pay the high rents in nearby Emerald. It is also being used as a way to produce income by purchasing a mining claim (currently one is available for $50,000 with two caravans on site) and renting them out on the side for $200 a week. You could probably even fetch in $400 a week renting to tourists or backpackers.

Take a drive through the towns you will see everything from a roman castle, a bottle house, Billy boulder and bush dwellings.

 

History

Sapphires were first reported in the Gemfields as far back as the 1870's by John Archibald Richardson when he spotted one lying on the surface of Retreat Creek. Word soon spread like wildfire and people travelled from all over to try their luck. It was very hard going with extreme temperatures and the lack of water the men dug by hand using their picks and shovels often working from dawn till dusk. 

A hotel was relocated from Comet in 1903 and was called the Kitchener Hotel. A town was formed soon after which included a first aid station, a hall, cemetery and racecourse.

In 1904 a school was built for the children and they named it Sapphire, this name has stuck throughout the years.

 

The early miners started digging square sided shafts using their backs to climb up and down. The sapphires found were sold to Germans and Russians.

In 1921 the population had reached 299 until it declined in 1933 and only 79 people remained.

 

 

In the 1970's casual fossickers and tourists started returning to the area. The price of rough sapphires started to increase and people started bringing in the large machinery which resulted in huge amounts of sapphires being found and sold to Thailand. At this time Australia produced over 80% of the worlds sapphires.

 

Fossicking

So let's be perfectly honest, unless you want to fossick there isn't a lot else to do out here, although many people come to escape the hustle and bustle and just chill.

I will write what each of the towns has to offer and the areas to fossick later but I wanted to tell you what has been found in the Gemfields that is newsworthy. 

 

The Pride of Queensland - This is the largest cut yellow Sapphire in the world at a whopping 169 carats. It is owned by a private collector in America.

 

Black Star of Queensland - This Sapphire was 1,156 carats and found by a 12 year old boy back in 1938. Nobody knew what this rock was and it was used as a door stop for many years. At this time no one knew that sapphires could be black. In 1947 they realised what they had and found a buyer who was called Harry Kazanjian a jeweller in Los Angeles who travelled all the way to Queensland to purchase the stone for $18,000. Being a jeweller he realised that if it was cut correctly it would reveal a 6 pointed star. Once finished the sapphire was now 733 carat but was revalued at over 1 million in 1949. The stone was valued again in 2002 as part of the Kazanjian estate at $100 million. It has exchanged hands a number of times since for an undisclosed sum and an anonymous buyer.

Autumn Glory - this rare orange Sapphire was found by a fossicker in 1993. Another fossicker offered him $30,000 within an hour of the find but he refused. He then received another offer of $100,000 but again the owner refused and decided to send it overseas where it would bring him a higher return. Unfortunately the Sapphire never arrived and even today, no one knows where the gem is.

 

The Millennium Sapphire - in 2000 a tourist was walking along the Gemfields and found the Sapphire just lying there. That week the annual Gemfest was being held in Anakie and she sold it for $85,000

 

The Centenary Stone - A 2020 carat yellow Sapphire was found in 1979. It is recorded as being the largest gem quality Sapphire ever found. It was stolen in 1980 and was recovered 6 years later. The gem was then sold to an anonymous person in America for a multi million dollar figure.

 

 

Wildlife

The Gemfields are the habitat of many species of birds and animals. The Western Grey Kangaroo is in abundance, its common to have to slow down whilst the wild camels cross the road. You usually catch a glimpse of the emus in the mining fields. Lorikeets, Kookaburras, Brolgas and Frogmouths are often spotted.