A gemstone is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals may also be used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some softer minerals such as brazilianite may be used in jewelry because of their color or luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. However, generally speaking, soft minerals are not typically used as gemstones by virtue of their brittleness and lack of durability.
Topaz is a silicate mineral made of aluminum and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO4(F, OH)2. It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural state is colorless, though trace element impurities can make it pale blue or golden brown to yellow-orange. Topaz is often treated with heat or radiation to make it a deep blue, reddish-orange, pale green, pink, or purple.
Peridot, sometimes called chrysolite, is a yellowish-green transparent variety of olivine. Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color.
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·nH2O); its water content may range from 3% to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6% and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are considered minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt.
Lapidary is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems, and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A lapidarist uses the lapidary techniques of cutting, grinding, and polishing. Hardstone carving requires specialized carving techniques.
Lustre or luster is the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral. The word traces its origins back to the Latin lux, meaning "light", and generally implies radiance, gloss, or brilliance.
Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia, 846 km (526 mi) north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. A blower truck is raised above the town sign, representing the importance of opal mining to the town's history. Coober Pedy is also renowned for its below-ground dwellings, called "dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat.
Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking.
Amateur geology or rock collecting is the non-professional study and hobby of collecting rocks and minerals or fossil specimens from the natural environment. In Australia, New Zealand and Cornwall, the activities of amateur geologists are called fossicking. The first amateur geologists were prospectors looking for valuable minerals and gemstones for commercial purposes. Eventually, however, more people have been drawn to amateur geology for recreational purposes, mainly for the beauty that rocks and minerals provide.
Lightning Ridge is a small outback town in north-western New South Wales, Australia. Part of Walgett Shire, Lightning Ridge is situated near the southern border of Queensland, about 6 km (4 mi) east of the Castlereagh Highway. The Lightning Ridge area is a centre of the mining of black opal and other opal gemstones.
Gold prospecting is the act of searching for new gold deposits. Methods used vary with the type of deposit sought and the resources of the prospector. Although traditionally a commercial activity, in some developed countries placer gold prospecting has also become a popular outdoor recreation. Gold prospecting has been popular since antiquity. From the earliest textual and archaeological references, gold prospecting was a common thread for gaining wealth.
Douglas Maxwell Stone is an Australian geologist, author, publisher, farmer and businessman. He was born in Kew, Victoria, and is the son of Lawrie Phillip Stone and Josephine Alexander Proctor. He is manager of Outdoor Press, and a farmer on the property known as Granite Springs, Kelvin View, Victoria. He is an author of numerous publications on geology, gold prospecting, and maps.
Nundle is a village in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It was formerly the centre of Nundle Shire, but most of this area, including the village of Nundle, was absorbed into Tamworth Regional Council in 2004. The village is 400 km north of Sydney and about 56 km south east of Tamworth past Chaffey Dam via a good sealed road. In the 2006 census Nundle had a population of 289. Nundle is located at the southern end of Fossickers Way.
Mintabie is an opal mining community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia. It was unique in comparison to other communities situated in the APY Lands, in that its residents were largely not of Aboriginal Australian origin, and the land had been leased to the Government of South Australia for opal mining purposes since the 1980s.
Torrington is a small village in northern New South Wales in Tenterfield Shire. It is 29 kilometres north west of Deepwater and south west of Tenterfield and 61 kilometres from Glen Innes (South-East). It is situated on a plateau known as the Mole Tableland in close proximity to the Queensland border on the Northern Tablelands. A feature of Torrington is its abundance of boulders and rocky outcrops. The most notable boulder outcrop located in the village being "Goat Rock" and just out of town is "Old Mystery Face"
Recreational gold mining and prospecting has become a popular outdoor recreation in a number of countries, including New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Wales, in Canada and in the United States especially. Recreational mining is often small-scale placer mining but has been challenged for environmental reasons. The disruption of old gold placer deposits risks the reintroduction of post gold rush pollution, including mercury in old mining deposits and mine tailings.
Yowah is an outback town and locality in the Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Yowah had a population of 126 people.
Tomahawk Creek Huts is a heritage-listed group of huts at Argyll near Rubyvale, Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 16 October 2008.
Rainbow lattice sunstone, also known as rainbow lattice, is a type of orthoclase feldspar that exhibits a rare combination of aventurescence, adularescence, and a distinctive iridescence lattice pattern. The iridescence lattice pattern consists of inclusions that are the result of crystallographically oriented exsolution crystals within the feldspar crystal. Sunstone refers to its physical appearance instead of its chemical composition.
The Yowah nut is a type of precious opal, found within the Yowah opal fields situated in Yowah, Shire of Paroo, South West Queensland, Australia since the latter part of the 19th century. These opals are known for their distinctive nut-like shape, opalescent patterns, and vibrant colours.
