Dream fossicking trip to Rubyvale

Last year my dream of fossicking in the central Queensland gemsfields for sapphires and zircons finally came true! Today I want to share my adventure here with you so you can get a taste of what it was like to see where these amazing Australian gemstones come from!

My childhood was spent searching for quartz in my pops creek every school holidays, my cousins and I would have adventures through the running water cracking large volcanic rocks hoping to find a quartz centre and the excitment of the hunt never left me. 

Fast forward to 10 years of running my jewellery business and learning about every gemstone I could find, I always found I was drawn back to Australian sapphires and zircons over all others. I was fortunate enough to meet some true blue Aussie legends and aquire some of their parti sapphire and zircon collections early in my career. After hearing their tales of hard work and their glittering reward I found myself being drawn towards the fossicking world once more.

Luckily I found a kindred spirit and friend who shares a love of adventure, jewellery and gemstones and we set off to Emerald, Rubyvale and Sapphire in the Qld Gemfields.

After a 15hr drive we arrived and wow it did not disappoint. We settled into the Rubyvale Motel (kid free) it was so pristine and the wildlife was an added bonus! 

We spent our first day with Keith from Fascination Gems and Crystals for a dig it yourself guided tour. We wanted to see where these gems came from and to experience the hard work and sweat that goes into each find. After a half day of digging, sifting and washing all by hand it really drove home just how much effort goes into finding these Aussie gems.

We were extremely fortunate to find a 7ct clean sapphire on our first day and lots of other small goodies. 

After experiencing the hard work firsthand we set our sights (and sore muscles) on some tourist spots and after an underground mining tour at Miners Heritage we were so lucky to see the Richardson Sapphire collection on display (dream come true). 

These sapphires were unbelievable in their size and colour and so incredibly rare today to find.

We then decided to find a few places to buy bags of dirt and after reading that one spot gets their virgin dirt from the Richardson's mine we knew we had to try our luck there. We were blown away by the experience at Gemfields Fossicking Park ,it was fun and informative and alot less work and wow did we find some fabulous gems!

Another day and another bucket of dirt, we then tried our luck with Armfest sapphires. I had previously read on Instagram about how they had recently recovered some very valuable sapphire rings after they were stolen by their best friend nearly 30yrs ago on their way to be auctioned off in London. We were so lucky to see the ones they got back in person and speak to Carol the owner. She just also happens to spend her days showing anyone who wants to learn how to sieve, sort and grade sapphires. Her passion was unparalleled she was so generous with her time for anyone that was interested. We came away with knowledge to help us when looking for uncut gems and a few good parcels of partis and zircons! We even took a few bags home for friends and family.

The town was so welcoming and the pubs at Rubyvale and Anakie were charming and exactly what we needed after a hard day digging and sifting. We thoroughly enjoyed every moment and it was very affordable as we drove ourselves. I recently had some of my small finds faceted and wow they were stunning!

I would go back in a heart beat, nothing beats the thrill of what might be in the next shovel of dirt, it is totally additive and Im planning my next trip as soon as I can!

Until my next adventure x