Gem fields

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We departed Moranbah early and headed south. Before too long we had the opportunity and passed our third vehicle, a very heavily laden road train.



As we approached Claremont Greg noticed that the front stone guard on the caravan had opened again! This time the reinforcing of the struts worked and they did not tear out. We decided that the guard was flexing and the tongue of the lock was pulling out, so out came the duct tape again. Thank God for duct tape!



We stopped for a break in Capella and discovered that the seafood truck had come to town. It visited every four to five weeks, but since it was there we could not resist some smoked trout. The owners had found a business opportunity and filled the niche – impressive.



In Rubyvale, the first of the gem field towns, we stopped at a gem ‘store’ to find out more about the area. The lush garden was a delight and it even came with its own tame Kookaburra! The information we received helped us to decide that a mine tour was a good idea.



Caravan parked and ticket purchased we headed underground with a guide all to ourselves. We discovered that sapphires are found in the “wash” which is a layer of water washed pebbles deposited by ancient creek beds. The early miners certainly did it tough but even the modern miners have a difficult life.



We just had to purchase a bucket of “wash” and try to find our very own sapphires. A very helpful guide showed us how to sieve the dust out, and then vibrate the pebbles in water to concentrate the heavier material in the centre of the sieve. The result was turned out on a bench and then painstakingly checked for any stones that looked like chips of coloured glass. To our surprise we began to find obvious small chips that definitely looked correct. This was slow and back breaking work as we had to bend over the benches, but it was worth the effort. We ended up with a handful of “tourist” sapphires and two gem quality stones. One was a green sapphire and the other a clear zircon, small but big enough to cut into a gem stones. Unfortunately this will not be enough for us to retire on!



In Sapphire we paid the most so far for fuel, demonstrating that there is more than one way to strike it rich in the gem fields. The town of Sapphire was also unusual as it had cattle wondering through the town and across the streets.



As we left the gem fields we also crossed back below the Tropic of Capricorn, so we are no longer in the tropics.



Our gem fever sated we headed onward to our overnight stop in Alpha.

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Photos

Inside the mine.
Almost a cave, Greg!