A DAY AROUND THE GEMFIELDS OF QLD

Well, we thought about where next from Emerald and that was going to be Clermont, as we are aiming at being at Moranbah for next weekend.  Clermont was unlikely to be as interesting as Emerald, so we've stayed an extra day.  

The day is cold and overcast, but we headed on out to the Gemfields (aka Anakie, Sapphire and Rubyvale), only a shortish trip.  I was totally unprepared for what was there.  There are dirt heaps everywhere, which is hardly surprising.  Most of the dwellings are only shanties, surrounded by old caravans and some new, various earth moving machinery, and a few ancient dongas/dongers, however you prefer to spell it.  Some of the quirkiest sights!  I've taken a few photos which you can view.  Devonshire coffee and scones went down like a shower in a dust storm, we looked around one gem shop, but mostly just drove around slowly in wonderment at the scruffy, untidy way people live rough out there.  You can buy property out there (a lot of people who can't afford rent in Emerald are said to be picking up properties complete with the shanties and caravans for around $100g).  To be able to stay there on a mining lease they must have evidence that they are actually fossicking/mining.  Fascinating.....

A few facts taken from a brochure:  "Sapphires were first reported in the Sapphire Gemfields by J A Richardson in the 1870's.  By 1890 commercial mining had begun in Retreat Creek in the present town of Sapphire.  It was incredibly hard work in an isolated spot in harsh conditions with a lack of water.  Mines were dug by hand using picks and shovels in open pits or trenches.  The early miners also dug square sided shafts, which they climbed with their backs braced against the walls.  In the earlier days the main buyers were Germans, Russians and other European nationals.  After 1935 the Sapphire Fields went into a decline until the 1960's when a new phase began with tourists and recreational mining and fossicking becoming popular.  By 1970 an increasing price for rough sapphires led to large scale mechanised mining, which resulted in huge amounts of sapphires produced by a large number of miners, and 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 increase in productions from Asia and Africa led to a massive downturn in the Australian Sapphire Market, which continues today.  An active tourist industry was established in the early 80's and separate areas were set aside for fossicking, hand mining and large-scale machinery mining.  Sapphires occur in all colours.  They are all called sapphires except for the red ones which are called ruby.  Metallic elements occurring as impurities in the crystal lattice cause the colour seen in sapphire.  Sapphires are almost as hard as diamonds.

That'll do for today.....