A fossicker panning for precious stones and sapphires in the Retreat Creek at Blue Gem in the gem fields in a small town of Sapphire in the gem fields

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A fossicker panning for precious stones and sapphires in the Retreat Creek at Blue Gem in the gem fields in a small town of Sapphire in the gem fields near Emerald in the Central Highlands of Queensland in Australia. The town lay in the largest sapphire fields in the Southern Hemisphere. Sapphire got its name after the findings of blue sapphire stone in the late 19th century. Visitors and locals fossick in the surrounding abandoned workings such as rivers, etc for these precious stones If, and when a discovery is made, it is taken to some of the town’s local jewellers to be valued and cut.

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Size: 4288px × 2848px
Location: Sapphire, Queensland, Australia
Photo credit: © richard sowersby / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: australia, australian, central, creek, equipment, fossicker, fossicking, gem, highlands, panning, queensland, retreat, sapphire, stone