Australia's national gemstone is the opal, a stone famous across the world for its brilliant colours. In Indigenous stories, a rainbow created the colours of the opal when it touched the earth. Opal, also known to Indigenous people as the fire of the desert, is a powerful symbol of Australia's arid interior.
The Australian South Sea pearl is the largest, rarest, and most valuable of all Pearls. Produced in the remote and pristine waters of the Kimberley, they are vastly known for their incredible lustre and unsurpassed quality.
Australia is the world's biggest producer of diamonds and opals and major supplier of sapphire, ruby, emerald, garnet, topaz and jade has also been mined in Australia.
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.
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.
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.
Painite : Not just the rarest gemstone, but also the rarest mineral on earth, Painite holds the Guinness World Record for it. After its discovery in the year 1951, there existed only 2 specimens of Painite for the next many decades. By the year 2004, there were less than 2 dozens known gemstones.
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.
Ancient zircon crystals discovered in Western Australia have been positively dated to 4.374 billion years, confirming their place as the oldest piece of Earth ever found, according to a new study.
Resources. Opal is found around the world (Brazil, Mexico, Honduras and the western US) however Australia produces 95% of the world's precious opal and it is our official national gemstone.
1. Blue Diamond. The stunning blue diamond is arguably the most prized of all precious gemstones.
Australian Gemstones - Black Tourmaline
This unusual deposit of Black Tourmaline, also known as Warrierite, is located on an island in the middle of a normally dry salt lake.
Australia's national gemstone is the opal, a stone famous across the world for its brilliant colours. In Indigenous stories, a rainbow created the colours of the opal when it touched the earth. Opal, also known to Indigenous people as the fire of the desert, is a powerful symbol of Australia's arid interior.
Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires are known as the "Big Four" gemstones. These are the most valuable kind of precious stones.
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.
Zircon has a broad range of prices. It can be bought for as little as $30 per carat, with the rarest pieces fetching over $3,000 per carat. Like all gemstones, Zircon's value is dependent on the cut, clarity, color, and carat (size) of the stone.
The Crystal Caves will rock your world! One hour from Cairns on the Atherton Tablelands, share one man's passion for crystals and fossils at the Crystal Caves. Journey through 300 square metres of tunnels and grottos that Rene built to feature his million year old natural crystals and prehistoric fossils.
Hand mining gems in a creek in north-east Tasmania (Ann Jones) Dark blue Tasmanian sapphires can sell for thousands of dollars and so long as you don't mind spending your days waist deep in bitterly cold water, you can pan for them yourself.
Emeralds have been commercially mined in Australia in three main deposits Poona and Menzies in Western Australia, and Emmaville in New South Wales. The emeralds are usually in rocks among layers of other minerals such as mica.
Which colour of Sapphire is the most valuable? In terms of price, pure blue sapphires are the most highly prized and are the most expensive. The best color for a blue sapphire is an intense, velvety, deep royal blue.
The rarest gemstone color is red. These include red diamonds, red emeralds and the coveted Burmese ruby. Gemstones of a rich crimson color are incredibly difficult to discover in nature, and rank among the rarest gemstones in the world.
Ammolite. In 1981, the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) declared ammolite a new organic gem. Occurring in limited deposits in the Rocky Mountains, this gem material is much rarer than diamond.
Kyawthuite, found in Myanmar, is the rarest mineral in the world. There is only one specimen of the rarest mineral on Earth, and it's from Myanmar. The rarest mineral on Earth is kyawthuite.
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 ...