Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
Latest activity
Members
Registered members
Current visitors
Charts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Gemstones and Minerals
❓Your Mineral Identification Questions answered here
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Help Support Prospecting Australia:
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lefty" data-source="post: 404798" data-attributes="member: 2976"><p>Yep, that's a good read that article. I've spoken to quite a few diggers out on the field who agree that the arguments Jim advances there make a lot of sense in their own experience.</p><p></p><p>Jim used to own a local earthmoving business in my home town and moved to the field to start sapphire mining around the same time we were working our claims at Russian gully.</p><p></p><p>I'd agree with him that many of the quartzite "billy boulders" do have a surface appearance that looks more sort of heat-glazed rather than stream-worn. </p><p></p><p>I'm not sure why he didn't continue with the lease at Lava Plains - I have a feeling he didn't actually make all that much out of it. The stones tend to be fairly small in general for one, so I've been told at least. Could also be the area's isolation, lack of reliable washing water in the dry season, the torrential rain of the FNQLD wet season making mining impossible for a good part of the year - not too sure of the reasons?</p><p></p><p>There is a bit of a caveat to his statement "the size and quality of the sapphire tended to diminish the further we went from the basalt plugs". There seems to be a zone immediately surrounding the plugs (on the Anakie field) where the stones appear almost absent - this seems to be common knowledge among the miners on the field and I think I've read it in a geological publication as well. They are generally not found either embedded in the basalt plugs nor immediately around the plugs but start to appear further out.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lefty, post: 404798, member: 2976"] Yep, that's a good read that article. I've spoken to quite a few diggers out on the field who agree that the arguments Jim advances there make a lot of sense in their own experience. Jim used to own a local earthmoving business in my home town and moved to the field to start sapphire mining around the same time we were working our claims at Russian gully. I'd agree with him that many of the quartzite "billy boulders" do have a surface appearance that looks more sort of heat-glazed rather than stream-worn. I'm not sure why he didn't continue with the lease at Lava Plains - I have a feeling he didn't actually make all that much out of it. The stones tend to be fairly small in general for one, so I've been told at least. Could also be the area's isolation, lack of reliable washing water in the dry season, the torrential rain of the FNQLD wet season making mining impossible for a good part of the year - not too sure of the reasons? There is a bit of a caveat to his statement "the size and quality of the sapphire tended to diminish the further we went from the basalt plugs". There seems to be a zone immediately surrounding the plugs (on the Anakie field) where the stones appear almost absent - this seems to be common knowledge among the miners on the field and I think I've read it in a geological publication as well. They are generally not found either embedded in the basalt plugs nor immediately around the plugs but start to appear further out. [/QUOTE]
Verification
Post reply
Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Gemstones and Minerals
❓Your Mineral Identification Questions answered here
Top