Rubyvale Qld

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I mentioned in my last blog post how Emerald was in the midst of the largest sapphire gemfields in the world, hence our next place to visit was nearby Rubyvale. After checking in to the caravan park, we headed out to the Heritage Underground Sapphire Mine for a tour, which was very interesting.

We booked a Tag Along Sapphire Fossicking Tour for the next day, and followed an old prospector out to a fossicking area, where we proceeded to dig for sapphires. The process was to dig through the topsoil until you reach the shale level, as this is where the sapphires are found. Then fill the large buckets with the shale and dirt, and carry them to the tumbler, which sorts out the large rocks from material which may contain the sapphires. The material is then carried to a washing barrel and placed in scree trays and repeatedly dunked in the barrels, until you are left with clean stones. The scree trays are tipped on a cloth and the search begins for sapphires. It was very hard work over several hours, however, we were rewarded with around twelve small sapphires. It was a great experience to fossick for sapphires.

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