Coolomon Mining

A gem miner's life is tough with endless changes in all things. Here is the real story of a miner and his passion for stones.

(via Gemmology Queensland, Vol.8, Issue 5, May 2007) Jim Elliot writes:

It seems a very long time since my last report as there has been so much going on in our lives. We live in a world of seemingly endless change in all things—except, of course, the damned dry weather over most of the continent.

The Central Queensland Gemfields had sufficient rain over the summer months to bring up a body of grass, which has now dried off and is likely to pose a serious fire threats in the winter months. However, there was only very patchy heavy rain and, as a result, our mine dams are either very low or empty—thus preventing a start up of mining operations once again.

Our cattle property at Calliope is in a belt of very badly droughted country and like many others, we are forced to continue hand feeding our stock and are finding it continually harder to source any supplies of hay for this purpose.

On the other extreme, we have still not been able to commence mining this year at our Lava Plains operation in North Queensland, because it will not stop raining. Once you get north of a line roughly west from the Mackay—Bowen area, everything is green, the creeks have water in them and the cattle are fat. It is only eighteen months since we put a very expensive deep bore down at Lava Plains because it was so dry there, and it worked well—it has rained ever since.

The Gemfields
The Gemfields is just awakening from its quiet time during the hotter months, and there appears to be a steady stream of tourists and hand miners returning to the area, which augurs well for the coming winter season.

By all the reports received, the local jewelers and tourist outlets enjoyed a good season last year despite the dire predictions that people would not travel because of the high fuel prices, and I expect that this year might even improve on the last one. The Sunday markets are well patronized and there are a number of new stalls among the familiar faces.

The very dry conditions will make life difficult for a lot of miners, especially as the Emerald Shire Council has not relented on its decision not to provide the reticulated water to mining claims, but miners are a determined lot and will overcome most difficulties thrown up by bureaucracy.

Our mining operations
Our plans to cut back our activities in order to make life easier do not seem to be working. The demand for quality natural Australian sapphires has grown to the point that, while we are prevented from actual mining by dry conditions in Central Queensland and by wet weather at Lava Plains, we are busier than ever.

We had already moved our Lava Plains mine to the new area on the east side of the Kennedy Highway and were producing very high grade blue sapphire. Just when we were considering selling the Lava Plains operation, our supervisor John Fischer moved the mining pit area and found what we believe to be some of the nicest sapphire that has ever been found anywhere in Australia. It is still mainly of smaller size, but quite the most beautiful blue.

We are also in the process of relocating our Gemfields operation from the ‘Rush’ and ‘Ricebowl’ areas at the Sapphire end, where we have mined for several years, back to the 50 acres of lease area we hold in the ‘The Scrub’ at the Rubyvale end. The Scrub area is famous for its larger and most beautiful blue and particolor stones and was one of the first areas to be worked by the machine miners. We have hung on to this area, waiting for the market conditions to support the increased costs resulting from the more difficult treatment process, and the lower amount of sapphire recovered from the very clay-bound wash.

While the ‘Rush’ and ‘Ricebowl’ areas produce a greater amount of sapphire, it is mostly of a quality more suited to the ‘commercial’ trade end and, as such, was largely sold to visiting Asian buyers. Since the visits of the Asian buyers have all but stopped, our business is now based on the supply of high quality cut sapphires to Australian jewelers, and we hope that the move back to the Scrub area will enable us to produce larger, top grade material, albeit in smaller quantities.

We will offer our 200 acres of leases, plant and plantsite at the Sapphire end for sale. While they no longer form part of our planned operation, they remain a valuable commodity for anyone who has a need for proven larger, efficient treatment system to produce the commercial sapphire found in this area.

Gem shows and jewelry fairs
We have already attended the North Brisbane Lapidary Club show, the Brisbane JAA Jewelry Fair and the Australian Gemboree, which was held at Gatton this year. All these shows were excellent, both in their organizational aspects and in the commercial returns achieved.

It appears to me that, for the last few years, many discerning buyers have been aware that the sale of faked gemstone material, whether it be synthetic, dyed, chemically treated, irradiated or whatever, has largely been undisclosed, and they have lacked the confidence to buy.

Many trade people were also content to buy the cheap, mostly Asian, products in the knowledge that they could resell them at a significant profit to less discerning buyers, even though they had no idea of the true nature of the product they sold.

As a result of TV programs about problems in the jewelry industry, and with the assistance of the brochures put out by the ACCC which both reminded sellers of their responsibilities under government legislation and buyers of their rights and protection, buyers now seem to be even more aware of the adulterated gem material that is on the market, but are prepared to take the trouble to ask questions so that they can satisfy themselves that they are getting what they want—and very importantly, once satisfied, they are prepared to buy.

It was very pleasing to note that, at the shows we have attended, the true nature and treatment status of gemstones was generally clearly displayed for the customers to see, and I hope that all future shows insist on this, and monitor compliance.

There is nothing wrong with a treated or synthetic gemstone, as along as it is sold as such, and is priced accordingly. I was personally very disappointed that the show that the ‘Jewellery World’ magazine had planned for Sydney later this year is not going ahead, as many of the principles espoused by the organizers mirrored my own convictions on what is in the best interests of the genuine Australian manufacturing jewelers, in order to provide for the longevity of our Australian Gemstone and Jewellery manufacturing industries.

Website sales list
We have experienced a significant increase in the demand for significant sapphires, particularly greens, parti-colors and the rarer yellows. Many of these fancy sapphires are found in the hand mining areas and many of the hand miners have some absolutely fabulous stones, but no way to market them.

We have therefore set a system on our second website http://www.australiansapphire.com/ to allow the small scale miners and others to present their stones for sale. We intend that this service may be used for any genuine Australian gemstone, and not just sapphires. We do not collect any cut or commission from the sale of other people’s stones on this website. Any dealing is solely between the buyer and the seller.

We do require that sellers sign a declaration that all gems placed on this sale list be guaranteed to be genuine, natural gemstones of Australian origin and, as always, we recommend that buyers ask for a clearly written certificate of authenticity or similar statement signed by the seller.

Faceting courses
The faceting courses organized by the Queensland Sapphire Producers Association in conjunction with the Gemfields Lions Club and run by John Broadfoot have continued to be a great success, with every course fully subscribed, which gives hope for the continuation of the cutting of at least a portion of our production within Australia, thus retaining jobs in our own area.

There also now seems to be a growing shortage of trained jewelers, by that I mean real manufacturing jewelers, not those who just resell goods that were manufactured overseas and imported into Australia, and I hope that the people in charge of our training systems will address this problem before it too has an impact on our ability to produce genuine local products, at an affordable price, for those customers who are proud to buy Australian.

Chrysoprase
As I detailed in an earlier report, we were given the opportunity to mine and purchase a quantity of chrysoprase from the Marlborough deposit, north of Rockhampton. We have completed that mining, but we have some 50 tons of rough chrysoprase stockpiled on our Calliope cattle property.

The rough chrysoprase varies from smaller pieces to boulders of several kilos, up to a ton (or several tons), with the largest being over 16 tons. The color varies from the darker green to a bright, translucent peppermint green, to the paler colors of the parent chalcedony. We do not intend to break down the larger boulders as we believe that, in time, they will become quite valuable as major carving pieces.

We have now had time to produce a fair quantity of finished material from this stockpile, including good quality cabochons, lovely beads and some amazing carved pieces. The beads are most beautiful, and start at less than 40 cents per carat for the paler colors, but can go up to $5.00 per carat for the jade green colors.

In keeping with our philosophy on gemstones, all this material is sold as completely natural, with no treatment or dyeing whatsoever. We have also used our 24 inch slabbing saw to produce slabs which can be used for bases for clocks, desk equipment or just for the beauty of the material itself.

Our partner in the chrysoprase venture is Rick Hodel who lives in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, and is willing to visit potential clients in the south east corner of Queensland. You can contact him on: 07 3888 3280 or on mobile 0427 265 045

Black spinel
For many years, the sapphire miners have recovered a gemstone called black spinel (a.k.a pleonaste) which has always been discarded as being of too low a value to worry about. When either cabbed or faceted, polished beads or carved, this material actually produces the most beautiful gems. It is harder and more lustrous than onyx, and takes a very fine polish.

While there is currently a limited use of this material as a gemstone in its own right, it produces the most beautiful black beads, which we supply to jewelers in temporary strings in a variety of shapes and sizes, and at prices around 40 cents per carat.

Zeolite
Ad the time of last report, I mentioned that we were fattening some steers in our feedlot on our cattle property with a feed ration that included 5% zeolite powder. I can now report that these steers fattened beautifully, and we were absolutely amazed at the totally spotless condition of their livers and kidneys when they were slaughtered. For those of you who do not recognize the significance of this, it is most unusual for animals subjected to feedlot conditions not to have some form of lesions or marking of the livers and kidneys, and the condition of these organs is considered an important measure of the animal’s health.

We continue to be able to supply, at no cost, this powdered zeolite material to the many persons requesting it for personal use an aid in controlling the effects of many ailments which we understand, includes cancerous conditions and blood related disorders. We do this on firm understanding that persons requesting it do so with no assurances or guarantees, as in this country there still has not been any testing or clinical trials of this naturally occurring material, only a great deal of anecdotal evidence from people who are using it.

Hardly a day goes by without a call from someone to thank for sending them some of this powder and to tell us of benefits they have derived from its use. It is such a pity that this information is not being obtained by trained persons under controlled conditions, and subject to the strict analysis needed for its approval for medicinal use.

We understand the mine which produces this material is being sold at present, and we hope that we will be able to continue obtaining powder from the new owners. We would have loved to purchase the mine ourselves, but we are trying hard to slow down, not to take on new responsibilities. We trust that you will all join us in praying for rain for all those individuals and industries so badly affected by the widespread drought, and all those of you in the flooded northern regions who are sick of rain can join and pray too for a more even distribution of this most precious commodity.

I must admit that I do not entirely agree with the current politically popular theory that this drought is all due to man-induced global warming. Our rough sapphire at Lava Plains is often fractured because it was expelled into a frozen landscape during geologically recent ice age, so there has been a bit of warming going on for several thousand years, and there have been many droughts as serious as the one we are now experiencing.

I think that, to a large extent, the politicians of all colors, State and Federal, are desperately trying to cover their backsides for their failure to take any positive action on either construction of new dams or more importantly on better use by industry of recycled water to minimize the amount of new water required by the reticulation systems in our cities.

It would appear to be commonsense that the first priority would be to ensure the efficient utilization of every drop of water pumped out of the storages, and that it should not be necessary to even consider the use of treated water for human consumption until there is 100% use of recycled water by industry and on parks and gardens, sporting ovals etc.

People in towns and cities in our area have been discouraged for years from having domestic water tanks, despite the fact that many of us in more remote areas have learned to live solely on the water we collect in them. Now the same councils and governments are falling over themselves trying to promote such obvious measures.

I’m sorry for the lecture, but we seem to be governed by blind idiots, but then again, it may just be that I am trying not to sound too cynical about their ultimate agendas.

All The President's Men

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

About China's Gold Production

(via Reuters) It has been reported that China, the world's third largest gold producer will become the second largest producer of gold in 2007.

The real story @ http://in.news.yahoo.com/070608/137/6gscn.html

The Challenges And Opportunities Of Growing And Marketing South Sea Cultured Pearls

Nicholas Paspaley (Executive Chairman, Paspaley Pearling Company Pty Ltd, Australia) writes:

Over the last 50 years, the cultured pearl industry has undergone a significant transformation. It has changed from a period when Japanese and (later) South Sea cultured pearls were effectively the only cultured pearls in the marketplace to the situation today, where there are a large variety of cultured pearls available from many different localities and of many different types.

In the pre-culturing era, all oceanic (saltwater) pearls were classified as Oriental pearls, and South Sea pearls fell into this generic category. With the advent of pearl culturing, however, pearls became more accurately known for the type of oyster that produced them and the region in which those oysters grew—hence the term South Sea pearls.

Naturally occurring pearls from the Pinctada maxima oyster native to the South Seas have been traded for thousands of years. But in past centuries, many natural South Sea pearls were undoubtedly traded simply as Gulf pearls. Because of its spectacular nacre, the South Sea pearl oyster historically has produced some of the most significant natural pearls in the world. Therefore, it follows that this oyster ahs the ability to produce magnificent cultured pearls as well.

However, the competition for market share between gem producers as well as between different pearl types is fierce. At the same time, there are significant gaps in the expertise required to grow pearl oysters and conduct pearl farming compared to many other fields of knowledge. There are very few experts today who have a broad knowledge on a comprehensive range of pearl and pearl farming issues.

The challenge for the South Sea cultured pearl industry today is twofold: to produce pearls of a superior quality, on the basis of which they can be differentiated in the wider pearl market, and to improve the level of knowledge and understanding of pearls in the marketplace.

Useful link:
www.paspaley.com

A Moral Dimension

I wonder how many gem and jewelry companies can survive like the TaTas + Birlas given the restructuring, merging and bankruptcies in the industry. The TaTa and Birla business success story should be a case study for any aspiring entreprenuer.

Jay Dubashi writes:

Why is it that some businesses last a long time, sometimes centuries, while some don't? Take Tatas. They are a 150-year old group and still going strong. Scores of others have come and gone, some even bigger than Tatas but they have fallen by the wayside and vanished into thin air.

Businesses are essentially money-making enterprises. Money is what keeps them going. But money is not enough, nor is it everything. Money is to business what food is to living organisms. You cannot do without food, but you have to have something more to keep you going.

That something is a moral dimension, something bigger than you, or at a level much higher than money. Without such a dimension, you are just like a pig at the trough, using the trough as a sole reason for your existence.

Ghanashyam Das Birla always said that he was not a businessman. He was actually much more than a businessman. He was a political activist all his life, intensely interested in India's struggle for freedom and supported Gandhi through all his ups and down.This at a time when the British were closely watching him. In fact, GD Birla's close association with Gandhi so alarmed his brothers that there was a move at one time to split the family business and get rid of GD. But it does not seem to have bothered him.

It was the same with Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. Jamsetji set up his first industry, a textile mill, immediately after the so-called Mutiny, but what he wanted to do was something much bigger - a steel plant. But the British government in India was deadly opposed to Indians musling in on their monopoly.

Jamsetji received no help at all from the Britishers, and he had to take the help of Americans for his new enterprises. The steel plant at Jamshedpur was set up in the teeth of opposition from foreign vested interests, and it was this, not money, that drove Jamsetji. Incidentally, Tata Steel will be completing its centenary this year.

There were times during the depression of the thirties when it was touch and go whether Tata Steel would survive. There was no money in the kitty and things were so bad that at one time the Tatas have almost decided to close down the factory and go into liquidation. But Jamsetji's two sons and their wives saved the day.

GD Birla was so much involved in Gandhi's politics that at one time the Britishers were seriously thinking of shutting down his jute and cotton mills and throwing him into jail. Somehow he managed to survive, though his brothers were very much cut up with him and almost disowned him.

This is what I call moral dimension, when your drive comes not from money but something bigger than money. I once spent a whole evening with GD in his Delhi residence. He was then past eighty but as perky as ever. Throughout the evening, we did not even once mention business, though it was very much on the agenda. At one point, GD said that he was not a businessman. To call GD a mere businessman is tantamount to calling Gandhi a politician. In fact, Gandhi, a baniya, was more of a businessman than Birla, which is why they got on so well.

Take it from me. Half the businesses you see today will not make it beyond the half-way mark of the 21st century, if at all. But the Tatas and Birlas will still be there, because they are not really business as you and I know them.

More info @ http://www.valueresearchonline.com/story/storyview.asp?str=10007

De Beers Plans Massive Restructuring of Diamdel

Chaim Even-Zohar writes about De Beers restructuring + the Diamdel story, its past and present status @
http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=27378

PearlParadise.com President Buys Chinese Akoya Pearl Farm

Jeremy Shepherd, president of PearlParadise.com says he has become the first American to own an Akoya pearl farm in Asia.

More info @ http://www.jckonline.com/article/CA6450060.html?industryid=46016

Apollo – the World’s Only Everlasting Diamond Mine

Chaim Even-Zohar writes about the scientists and the marketing people behind Apollo, a perpetual diamond mine, with a mining life that lasts forever, something no natural diamond mine can claim @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=27340

Useful link:
www.apollodiamond.com