In Australia, lapis lazuli is a stone most often seen in the form of jewellery and has gained tremendous popularity for its healing capabilities and a reputation for bringing down levels of stress while restoring inner peace.
Musgravite is one of the newest and most rare gemstones in the world. Musgravite is a silicate mineral whose main ingredients are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg) and aluminum (Al). It was named 'musgravite' after the area Musgrave in Australia from where the material was first found.
Today, lapis lazuli is mined at the ancient deposits of Afghanistan. Additional deposits are mined in Chile, Siberia, the United States, and Myanmar.
Australia. Quartz is found all over Australia, both as crystals and as fine-grained material. Rock crystal and smoky quartz are found in all states, while amethyst and citrine are less common. Chalcedony, agate and jasper is found Australia-wide.
Opal, also known to Indigenous people as the fire of the desert, is a powerful symbol of Australia's arid interior. Australia is home to the world's highest quality, precious opal. The most famous is black opal from Lightning Ridge in New South Wales.
Australia is the world leader in opal production and produces 95 per cent of the precious gemstone. As such, opal is regarded Australia's national gemstone.
Today, Australia produces over 95% of the world's supply of precious Opal and 100% of the highest quality gems. They are mined in key areas of three states along the shoreline of what was once an inland sea called the Great Artesian Basin.
Travellers continue to try their luck at striking it rich by discovering a despoit of colourful gems . In our smallest towns and most remote areas lies some of Australia's most renowned fossicking sites: try Killiecrankie for topaz, Harts Range for garnet and the gemfields of Central Queensland for sapphires.
Australian Rosemary Blue Gem is an excellent shrub to plant in gardens for hedges, flowerbeds, and for terraces in large pots. Evergreen up to 1.5m with rounded shape. The leaves are rosemary-like, small, narrow, flat and dark green. Profuse blue purple flowers almost all year long.
Painite : Not just the rarest gemstone, but also the rarest mineral on earth, Painite holds the Guinness World Record for it.
Prices. Lapis lazuli is not an expensive stone, but truly fine material is still rare.
Only Afghanistan and Pakistan yield the finest lapis lazuli in commercially interesting quantities. The Colorado material is quite fine but of limited availability. Badakshan, Afghanistan: among the oldest operating mines in the world (7,000 years).
Because of how coveted and rare the stone is, real lapis lazuli can be hard to find, but getting the real thing over a cheap imitation is definitely worth it!
Sapphires and rubies have been found in all eastern Australian states, including Tasmania. In New South Wales, sapphires and rubies are mined in the New England region, around Inverell and Glen Innes, and north-west of Goulburn, near Oberon.
Chrysoprase. An unusual and eye-catching gemstone, chrysoprase is a variety of chalcedony with inclusions of nickel-bearing minerals that impart bright green hues. Cabbed or carved, this translucent gem is another great jade lookalike. If you're looking for a stone that will last, make sure it originated in Australia.
Currently, Cowell in South Australia is the only commercial jade mine in Australia. Mining is done using excavators in open pits. They extract large boulders from the ground that contain the jade.
The Australian sapphire is extremely valued by gem collectors, jewellers and wearers alike. The crystals can vary in size which may influence value, but the average sapphire measures to be about three carats.
Mount Isa in Queensland has beryl-bearing metamorphic rocks and, small volumes of aquamarine have been found near Mount Surprise in Queensland and Olary in South Australia.
It is said that for every 25 million carats of diamonds extracted from the Argyle mine, a single blue diamond is found. Only 42 Argyle blue violet diamonds have been included in over 30 years of Argyle pink diamond tenders.
It's illegal
Similarly, the collection or removal of bushrock from state forests and Crown land reserves is prohibited. Some local councils regulate bushrock removal. Blue Mountains City Council and Hawkesbury City Council have prohibited the collection or removal of bushrock from bushland areas.
It is illegal to remove rocks, pebbles, stones, driftwood and branches from Tasmanian beaches without a permit from the Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service. Beach rocks and pebbles play an important role in slowing down wave action, and reducing coastal erosion.
While Turquoise mineral deposits have been found in many Australian states, including New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia, these extremely limited occurrences do not produce high quantities or good qualities, with most specimens incapable of being ...
The rarest and most valuable of all are diamond, emerald (green beryl), sapphire (blue corundum) and ruby (red corundum). Opal is the national gemstone of Australia.
Quartz [image left] (silica) is the most abundant mineral on earth. It is the name for a large family of rocks including the jaspers, agates, onyxes and flints. Quartz is used in concrete, glass, scientific instruments and watches.
The Black Star of Queensland, also known as the Brimstone of Queensland, named after its nature and place of origin, is a 733-carat (146.6 g) black sapphire, and was the world's largest gem quality star sapphire until The Star of Adam was discovered.