Just 40 minutes drive from Emerald and at one time the largest sapphire fields in the world, the Gemfields comprises the towns of Anakie, Sapphire, Rubyvale and the Willows. The majority of the sapphires on today’s market probably originate from these fields. What’s more, they’re very special sapphires, because the stones found here include blue, green, yellow, parti-colour and star sapphires.

Sapphires have been mined commercially in Australia since the late 19th century.
Australia is a major producer of gem-quality sapphires and supplies a wide range of qualities and sizes of stone to world markets. The commercial mining of sapphires and the main production comes from two major fields, the Anakie Gemfields in Queensland and the New England fields in New South Wales.

Gems were first discovered in the area in 1875. A railway surveyor working at Retreat Creek was the first person reported to have found a gemstone, and it turned out that this area was at the heart of significant sapphire deposits. Later, communities built up to create the towns of Anakie, Sapphire and Rubyvale as people arrived to search for gemstones.

While the region has been commercially mined, there are places where amateur fossickers can try their luck once they have obtained a fossicking licence. The designated fossicking areas that can be found in the area include; Divide, Reward, Rubyvale, Sapphire and Willows designated land and Big Bessie, Glenalva, Graves Hill, Middle Ridge and Tomahawk Creek fossicking areas. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines is responsible for the Acts which regulate sapphire mining in the State.

About Sapphires:

Australian sapphires are typical of corundum formed in iron-rich alkali basalt terrains and they have similar gemmological properties to those from other such deposits found in Thailand and Cambodia. Sapphires mainly occur in alluvial gravels, which are found in both present day streams and fossil drainage systems. Mining sapphires involves both hand mining methods and large scale open-cut operations involving the use of heavy earthmoving machinery. The sapphires are separated from the gravels by simple hand sieving and washing or processed in mechanised treatment plants. The commercial blue stone is mainly sold under contract for export in bulk to Thailand for processing, which includes heat treatment and cutting. The smaller size stone is cut into calibrated sizes for use in the mass jewellery market. The best quality sapphires and fancy stones are supplied mainly to niche markets in Europe and the United States as well as the domestic jewellery trade and tourist market. Sapphire and other Gemstones and coloured gems in Central Queensland gemfields and Australia Prized since ancient times, sapphire has been called the "gem of the heavens". Ancient people believed that the power of wisdom is contained within this precious gemstone, enabling the wearer to find the correct solution to challenging obstacles.

Traditionally, the name sapphire was used for clear, blue, corundum stones. Nowadays, except for the red variety which is called ruby, it is common to refer to corundum of other colours as fancy sapphires (green Sapphire etc). The blue colour stems from titanium and ferrous iron impurities, whereas the yellow and the green results from variable amounts of ferric iron and ferrous/ferric iron respectively. The red of ruby comes from chromium. Sapphire has a hardness of 9 on Mohs' scale, second only to diamond. Sapphire is a variety of the mineral corundum. It consists of aluminium oxide (alumina) and has the chemical formula Al2O3.

Newcomers to sapphire mining or specking often make the mistake of looking for stones that have the clarity of glass and although occasionally sapphires have that appearance, it is not very common. "Pick up all kinds of blackish, dark stones and you will be on the right track" is the usual advice given to would be fossickers. Usually sapphires will look a lot more like bits of Charcoal or if you are familiar with iron stone, just like that. The exceptions are yellow and light green sapphires of course. Lifting the just discovered stone to look through it will usually tell the story. If colour is seen, even just the smallest amount, you could be in luck. The best advice is: If in doubt, keep it and let a local look at it; they'll soon let you know if it is a sapphire or not.

Chemical Formula: Al2O3, Aluminum Oxide
- VARIETY OF: Corundum , Al2O3 .
- USES: Gemstone (for high grade material) and abrasive
- BIRTHSTONE FOR: September
- Main Colours: blue, green, parti (a mix of colours) & yellow
- Rare Colours: Golden Yellow, orange, apricot, purple, pink, red (Ruby)
- The pink to red colour of ruby stems from its chromium content, whereas the sapphire's blue results from its titanium content. Yellow and green sapphires contain variable amounts of ferrous and ferric iron.
- INDEX OF REFRACTION: 1.76 - 1.78
- BIREFRINGENCE: 0.009
- HARDNESS: 9
- Luster is vitreous to adamantine.
-Transparency: Crystals are transparent to translucent.
- Crystal System is trigonal; bar 3 2/m
- Crystal Habits include sapphire's typical six-sided barrel shape that may taper into a pyramid, and ruby's hexagonal prisms and blades.
- Specific Gravity is approximately 4.0+
- Cleavage is absent, although there is parting which occurs in three directions.
- Streak is white.
- Other Characteristics: Refractive index is around 1.77; pleochroic (meaning color intensity is variable from different viewing directions); striations on parting surface