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Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Gemstones and Minerals
❓Your Mineral Identification Questions answered here
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<blockquote data-quote="user 4386" data-source="post: 404724" data-attributes="member: 4386"><p>Sapphires do occur in hard rock in eastern Australia, found in basalt fragments at Frazers Creek and Waterloo near Inverell, in basalt xenoliths of Mt Leura (Hoy Province), in basaltic diatremes of the Green Hills neck, Blue Mountains and elsewhere in the Sydney Basin, in basalt at Duncan's Ck (Nundle) and in basaltic bombs at Camperdown (VIC). Also in basalt-derived soil (not alluvial deposits) in the Argyle, Inverell and Chudleigh, McLean, Atherton and McBride provinces in north Queensland.</p><p></p><p>Volcaniclastic rocks emplaced during volcanism are often not recognised as such, especially when weathered, and are an economic source (can be rich as at Braemar). Mined in New England in the Elsmore, Kings Plains and Reddestone Creek areas. The shape of the sapphires is highly irregular, with little sign of abrasion or rounding.</p><p></p><p>Here is a 2003 observation by a sapphire miner at Lava Plains, that is much what I would expect:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.australiansapphire.com/sapphire_formation_theory.htm" target="_blank">http://www.australiansapphire.com/sapphire_formation_theory.htm</a></p><p></p><p>"We tried some mining techniques which would have had conventional miners questioning our sanity - but they worked, and we found sapphire! We left the alluvial systems and started mining the huge deposits of volcanic ash which blanket the area - and we found excellent sapphire. </p><p>We stripped off layers of lava flow rock to expose further layers of volcanic ash below - and again we found more sapphire".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="user 4386, post: 404724, member: 4386"] Sapphires do occur in hard rock in eastern Australia, found in basalt fragments at Frazers Creek and Waterloo near Inverell, in basalt xenoliths of Mt Leura (Hoy Province), in basaltic diatremes of the Green Hills neck, Blue Mountains and elsewhere in the Sydney Basin, in basalt at Duncan's Ck (Nundle) and in basaltic bombs at Camperdown (VIC). Also in basalt-derived soil (not alluvial deposits) in the Argyle, Inverell and Chudleigh, McLean, Atherton and McBride provinces in north Queensland. Volcaniclastic rocks emplaced during volcanism are often not recognised as such, especially when weathered, and are an economic source (can be rich as at Braemar). Mined in New England in the Elsmore, Kings Plains and Reddestone Creek areas. The shape of the sapphires is highly irregular, with little sign of abrasion or rounding. Here is a 2003 observation by a sapphire miner at Lava Plains, that is much what I would expect: [url]http://www.australiansapphire.com/sapphire_formation_theory.htm[/url] "We tried some mining techniques which would have had conventional miners questioning our sanity - but they worked, and we found sapphire! We left the alluvial systems and started mining the huge deposits of volcanic ash which blanket the area - and we found excellent sapphire. We stripped off layers of lava flow rock to expose further layers of volcanic ash below - and again we found more sapphire". [/QUOTE]
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Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Gemstones and Minerals
❓Your Mineral Identification Questions answered here
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