While the widespread rain in much of the country hasn’t been universally celebrated by grey nomads, there is one group that has been very much looking in the bright side … fossickers.
Gem hunters tend to enjoy a good deluge as it gives them a better chance of finding something sparkling on the ground after some topsoil has been washed away.
And, in the Central Queensland gemfields, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said it recorded 194 millimetres of rain in Sapphire from October 16 to October 21, and Rubyvale recorded 182mm during the same period.
Matt Betteridge was one of the lucky ones.
Hard work, but the rewards can be great ... in the sun or the rain. PIC: Cizza
He told the ABC he was on an evening walk about 100 metres from the mining claim he lives on at the Reward fossicking land near Rubyvale when his eye caught a ‘glimmer sticking out of the dirt’.
“The rain unearthed it that little bit … I thought it was going to be an average-sized stone until I couldn’t pull it out,” Mr Betteridge told the ABC. “It seemed very heavy, popped out a nice ball, like a small child’s fist, but very heavy like a lump of lead.”
It turned about to be a ‘very, very rare’ 834-carat sapphire, which is estimated to be worth $12,500.
Mr Betteridge told the ABC that the rain had brought plenty of people out to ‘speck’, or walk around scanning the ground for stones, and said that his find should give other would-be gem hunters hope.
“It was found on general fossicking grounds, everyone can have a go … grab a fossicking ticket and camping permit and try your luck,” he said. “All the speckers are out covering ground, even in-between the showers.”
Mr Betteridge told the ABC his prize find would be kept as a family heirloom and would be displayed during the region’s annual Festival of Gems.
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I found a nice piece of kimberlite, 127 carrots worth, it is in a safe in a bank for my daughter and her family after I am no longer here.
Wow…that’s a lot of Carrots…!