This site is to promote recognition of the Australian Sapphire Industry, the source of many international sapphire products on the market today. The web site provides accurate and factual details of the Industry.

In geological terms gem quality sapphire is rarer than diamond. Sapphire is the term for Aluminum Oxide (corundum). This durable material is the second hardest natural substance and is found in a broad range of colours. Ruby is red or pink corundum, all other colours are called sapphire. Blue is the traditional colour but sapphire can also be clear, green, yellow, gold, purple, peach, colour change or a mix of colours (sometimes called parti, rainbow or bi-colored).

Gem Stone List

Australian Sapphire

Sapphire has been mined in Australia for over 100 years and Australian mines have produced commercial quantities for at least 50 years. For several decades recognition of the quality and quantity of sapphire produced in Australia has been concealed by many international vested interests in an effort to control the supply and price of sapphire gems.

As a result the best Australian sapphire has often been sold as being "Ceylon" or "Thai" material and this has concealed the very high quality and outstanding colour range of Australian Material.

The History of the Australian Sapphire Industry
Marketing Problems World Wide
Geological Information
Australian Sapphire Reserves
Heat Treatment - Layman's Explanation
Famous Australian Sapphires
Photo Gallery of the Gemfields
Area Maps
Industry Links
We would be happy to answer your questions
Central Queensland Annual Gem Festival

Queensland Sapphires
gemstones

Australian Sapphire World Marketing Facts
Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka are still widely perceived as major sources of Sapphire. The truth is that most of the commercial deposits in these countries have been depleted for years and stone that is sold as coming from these sources is really renamed material for other countries with Australia and Madagascar being the most probable sources of the better quality material.

Recent years have seen Australian producers start to take a more active role in the marketing and promotion of the quality Sapphires that they produce. This site is just part of the effort to correct the misrepresentations of the past and strive to provide a true picture of the quality of sapphires produced in Australia

Marketing - read on ...

Heat Treatment of Sapphires
Heat treatment technology has been greatly extended in man's quest to turn lower quality material into brighter stone in the endless search for more profit - and some quite dubious if not actually false practices have resulted in recent years

Heat Treatment - read on ...

Australian Sapphire History
The history of  sapphire gems in Australia stretches back over 150 years. One of the first reports is from 1851 when sapphire was recovered during gold mining on the Cudgegong and Macquarie rivers in New South Wales. In 1854 sapphire was reported from the New England area of New South Wales and in 1875 Sapphire was discovered in Retreat Creek, Central Queensland.

History - read on ...

Sapphire Reserves
Most of these deposits are alluvial in nature and follow existing or former watercourses. The most widely held theory is that sapphire formed deep within the earths crust and was subsequently carried to the surface by volcanic activity. Basalt is often associated with Australian sapphire deposits. Generally sapphire has been eroded from this basaltic host and concentrated in various streams and river systems. Due to the high specific gravity of sapphire it does not travel far from its original source

Reserves - read on ...

Sapphire Description
Sapphire is the gem quality form of Corundum. It is second only to Diamond in hardness. The hardness of corundum is due in part to the strong and short oxygen-aluminium bonds. These bonds pull the oxygen and aluminium atoms close together. This makes the crystal not only hard but also quite dense for a mineral made up of two relatively light elements.

Description - read on ...

Sapphires and other Australian Gemstones on the market.
Authenticated and Guaranteed that :

  • The Gemstone must be natural and of Australian origin.

  • No Beryllium treated sapphires or other forms of chemical modification.

  • No radiation treated stones.

  • No dyed or otherwise artificially coloured stone

Gem List - read on ...

This Information Resource on the Australian Sapphire Industry is sponsored by Coolamon Mining

Australian Sapphire - The World's Quality Gemstone

genuine sapphire - made by nature

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