Tuesday, June 12, 2007
New Diamond Newsletter
(via JCK) Diamond Finance describes itself as the only newsletter dedicated to finance and accounting in the diamond and jewelry industry. It includes an interview with HSBC's Jeff Pfeffer. Check out the first issue here (PDF).
The Keshi Pearl Issue
Nick Sturman (Directorate of Precious Metals and Gemstone Testing, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Bahrain) writes:
The word Keshi has traditionally been used to describe small natural saltwater pearls (seed pearls) as well as similarly sized pearls that resulted as a byproduct of the Japanese cultured pearl industry. Nowadays, the term is predominantly used to describe cultured pearls with sizes well above those that would be considered seed-like. Hence, Keshi is now used generically to describe any pearl byproduct without a bead nucleus that is produced by the culturing process regardless of the ocean in which the pearl farm is located.
The contentious aspect of Keshi cultured pearls revolved around the following questions: Can gemological laboratories differentiate between all Keshi cultured pearls and natural pearls? In our opinion and experience, the answer to this question is no. Some Keshi cultured pearls are instantly recognizable by their overall visual appearance, and their cultured origin can be further validated by their internal structural features, as revealed by X-radiography. In other cases, laboratories are faced with an identification issue that may either straightforward (i.e., the X-radiographic structures are quite distinct, classifying them as tissue-nucleated cultured pearls) or difficult (i.e., they exhibit natural-appearing structures).
Quantity testing of Keshi cultured pearls (i.e., in rows, necklaces, or parcels) may be thought of as less complicated because the test results are based on those samples that show the most evident structures. However, this is not always true, and we often have to issue mixture, majority/minority, or even natural reports on parcels of what appear to be Keshi cultured pearls. When individual pearls are submitted (i.e., for a full test as opposed to batch testing), the situation may be trickier since only the structure of a single sample, and not a group of pearls, is available to the gemologist. If the structure appears natural by X-radiography, then a natural report can be issued. In our experience, individual pearls with internal structures that are undoubtedly natural will pass as such in most, if not all, laboratories.
We do not have a solution to the differences in opinion that exist in the trade regarding what constitutes a Keshi pearl, and believe that a good deal of research still needs to be carried out on the subject.
The word Keshi has traditionally been used to describe small natural saltwater pearls (seed pearls) as well as similarly sized pearls that resulted as a byproduct of the Japanese cultured pearl industry. Nowadays, the term is predominantly used to describe cultured pearls with sizes well above those that would be considered seed-like. Hence, Keshi is now used generically to describe any pearl byproduct without a bead nucleus that is produced by the culturing process regardless of the ocean in which the pearl farm is located.
The contentious aspect of Keshi cultured pearls revolved around the following questions: Can gemological laboratories differentiate between all Keshi cultured pearls and natural pearls? In our opinion and experience, the answer to this question is no. Some Keshi cultured pearls are instantly recognizable by their overall visual appearance, and their cultured origin can be further validated by their internal structural features, as revealed by X-radiography. In other cases, laboratories are faced with an identification issue that may either straightforward (i.e., the X-radiographic structures are quite distinct, classifying them as tissue-nucleated cultured pearls) or difficult (i.e., they exhibit natural-appearing structures).
Quantity testing of Keshi cultured pearls (i.e., in rows, necklaces, or parcels) may be thought of as less complicated because the test results are based on those samples that show the most evident structures. However, this is not always true, and we often have to issue mixture, majority/minority, or even natural reports on parcels of what appear to be Keshi cultured pearls. When individual pearls are submitted (i.e., for a full test as opposed to batch testing), the situation may be trickier since only the structure of a single sample, and not a group of pearls, is available to the gemologist. If the structure appears natural by X-radiography, then a natural report can be issued. In our experience, individual pearls with internal structures that are undoubtedly natural will pass as such in most, if not all, laboratories.
We do not have a solution to the differences in opinion that exist in the trade regarding what constitutes a Keshi pearl, and believe that a good deal of research still needs to be carried out on the subject.
Emerald Crack-Up
Gary Roskin writes about a new development in the field of emerald enhancement that could mean trouble for retail jewelers @ http://www.jckonline.com/article/CA6447698.html
Tomorrow’s Dirty Diamonds
Chaim Even-Zohar writes about Alan Bond, the flamboyant entrepreneur and his contacts in southern Lebanon @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=27430
What Percentage Of Gold Is Used In Jewelry, Industry And Investment?
(via Commodity Online) Around 70% of gold demand is jewelry, 11% is industrial (dental, electronics) and 13% is investment (institutional and individual, bars & coins). Gold jewelry has strong investment attributes in all countries, and in markets such as India and Middle East is sold by weight at the prevailing daily rate with a supplementary 'making charge' which varies according to the complexity of the piece.
Golden Amphibolite (GoldStone) From Near Port Hedland, W.A
I have seen the rough and cut specimens. The cut specimens are attractive. I also know that a famous temple in Thailand is buying the stones for making amulets and carvings. This goldstone is natural, but there is also man-made glass called goldstone which is a simulant/substitute for sunstone.
Dr Robert R Coenraads (Nikiticorp Australia Pty Ltd) writes:
Summary
Samples of a gem material called ‘Goldstone’ provided to Dr Coenraads by Nikiticorp for gemological testing have proved to be amphibolite, a rare metamorphic rock consisting almost entirely of the mineral amphibole. The amphibole mineral has now been largely altered to hematite, goethite and quartz and it displays a magnificent golden iridescence. This rare material is known only from two other localities in the world, Greenland and Wyoming, USA. Trial lapidary work carried out on this material shows it to be hard (approximately 6 of Moh’s scale) and capable of taking a high polish. The golden iridescence is best displayed at certain orientations so some care must be taken when cutting the rough material.
Introduction
Several kilograms of rough material being called ‘goldstone’ were provided to Dr Robert Coenraads by Nikiticorp Pty Ltd for examination. The material was sliced using a slabbing saw at the Wingala Lapidary Association in Sydney. The rough was sawn in three perpendicular directions, polished and photographed. This was to look for any observable difference in appearance of the material at different orientations. Cabochons were also prepared from some of the slices. A sample was provided to Mr Rad Flossman of the University of New South Wales in Sydney to prepare a microscope thin section for petrological study. Another sample was given to Dr Peter Williams for X-ray diffraction analysis at University of Western Sydney.
Description of the samples
The rough material is not particularly attractive being dull yellow or rusty red brown and powdery in appearance. The rough pieces provided were plate-like, that is larger in two dimensions than the third. When polished, however, the samples show a brilliant and unexpected golden iridescence. Noting the orientation of the cuts with respect to the shape of the material revealed that most beautiful iridescence was obtained when the sample was cut in one of the directions perpendicular to the large face of the rough material. In this direction almost all the grains will appear golden in polished surfaces. In the second direction at right angles and perpendicular to the large face, and in the third direction parallel to the large face of the rough most of the grains appear dark brown, although some show the golden iridescence.
X-ray diffraction analysis
The XRD work shows that the samples from Port Hedland are quite similar to those from Wyoming in that the original amphiboles have been largely altered to the iron oxide minerals, hematite and goethite, and quartz as a result of some form of secondary alteration process. This alteration is probably responsible for the iridescent color being so rich and golden. The XRF pattern also showed that traces of the original amphibole remain within the rock and identified them as either grunerite, manganogrunerite (dannemorite) or cummingtonite.
The thin section also reveals that the original amphibole crystals are oriented, probably as a result of directed pressure causing them to grow in that alignment during their metamorphic formation. It also appears that in some of the samples, the layers that were almost entirely made up of amphibole are interlayered with thin layers of almost pure quartz.
Gemological testing
The four ‘goldstone’ cabochons were tested at the Gemological Association of Australia laboratory. The material was found to be inert under LW and SW ultraviolet light, to have an indeterminate spot refractive index around 1.5 to 1.6, and a specific gravity around 2.60 to 2.80. Being a rock rather than a single mineral the tests for specific gravity and refractive index were considered not to be of use in identification of this gemstone. The binocular microscope and hand lens provide the most positive form of identification; that is this gem stunning visual appearance of the interlocking grains and distinctive golden iridescent sheen.
Previous studies
Amphibole is known from only two other localities in the world:
1. A gem quality iridescent orthoamphibole found near Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
2. A gem quality iridescent orthoamphibole found near Douglas, in Converse County, Wyoming, USA.
The orthoamphiboles from Greenland were shown by Appel and Jensen (1987) to be solid solutions between the end members anthophyllite and gerdite. The iridescence colors are green, blue, through yellow to gold, red and violet (rare), and are caused by diffraction of light from lamellae of amphibole less than 0.2 um thick. The material has a hardness of 6 and an SG between 3.18 and 3.37. Refractive index is 1.64 to 1.66, with a birefringence of 0.02.
The material from Wyoming is different in that it now consists almost entirely of goethite and/or opaline silica which appears to be derived from weathering of the original ferroanthophyllite. The iridescence of the Wyoming material is mainly golden or dark brown with some red or silver gray.
Comparisons between the polished Western Australian ‘goldstone’ and photographs of polished samples from Greenland and USA suggest that the Western Australian material has a larger percentage of its surface displaying the golden iridescence and therefore it is a more attractive material.
Dr Robert R Coenraads (Nikiticorp Australia Pty Ltd) writes:
Summary
Samples of a gem material called ‘Goldstone’ provided to Dr Coenraads by Nikiticorp for gemological testing have proved to be amphibolite, a rare metamorphic rock consisting almost entirely of the mineral amphibole. The amphibole mineral has now been largely altered to hematite, goethite and quartz and it displays a magnificent golden iridescence. This rare material is known only from two other localities in the world, Greenland and Wyoming, USA. Trial lapidary work carried out on this material shows it to be hard (approximately 6 of Moh’s scale) and capable of taking a high polish. The golden iridescence is best displayed at certain orientations so some care must be taken when cutting the rough material.
Introduction
Several kilograms of rough material being called ‘goldstone’ were provided to Dr Robert Coenraads by Nikiticorp Pty Ltd for examination. The material was sliced using a slabbing saw at the Wingala Lapidary Association in Sydney. The rough was sawn in three perpendicular directions, polished and photographed. This was to look for any observable difference in appearance of the material at different orientations. Cabochons were also prepared from some of the slices. A sample was provided to Mr Rad Flossman of the University of New South Wales in Sydney to prepare a microscope thin section for petrological study. Another sample was given to Dr Peter Williams for X-ray diffraction analysis at University of Western Sydney.
Description of the samples
The rough material is not particularly attractive being dull yellow or rusty red brown and powdery in appearance. The rough pieces provided were plate-like, that is larger in two dimensions than the third. When polished, however, the samples show a brilliant and unexpected golden iridescence. Noting the orientation of the cuts with respect to the shape of the material revealed that most beautiful iridescence was obtained when the sample was cut in one of the directions perpendicular to the large face of the rough material. In this direction almost all the grains will appear golden in polished surfaces. In the second direction at right angles and perpendicular to the large face, and in the third direction parallel to the large face of the rough most of the grains appear dark brown, although some show the golden iridescence.
X-ray diffraction analysis
The XRD work shows that the samples from Port Hedland are quite similar to those from Wyoming in that the original amphiboles have been largely altered to the iron oxide minerals, hematite and goethite, and quartz as a result of some form of secondary alteration process. This alteration is probably responsible for the iridescent color being so rich and golden. The XRF pattern also showed that traces of the original amphibole remain within the rock and identified them as either grunerite, manganogrunerite (dannemorite) or cummingtonite.
The thin section also reveals that the original amphibole crystals are oriented, probably as a result of directed pressure causing them to grow in that alignment during their metamorphic formation. It also appears that in some of the samples, the layers that were almost entirely made up of amphibole are interlayered with thin layers of almost pure quartz.
Gemological testing
The four ‘goldstone’ cabochons were tested at the Gemological Association of Australia laboratory. The material was found to be inert under LW and SW ultraviolet light, to have an indeterminate spot refractive index around 1.5 to 1.6, and a specific gravity around 2.60 to 2.80. Being a rock rather than a single mineral the tests for specific gravity and refractive index were considered not to be of use in identification of this gemstone. The binocular microscope and hand lens provide the most positive form of identification; that is this gem stunning visual appearance of the interlocking grains and distinctive golden iridescent sheen.
Previous studies
Amphibole is known from only two other localities in the world:
1. A gem quality iridescent orthoamphibole found near Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
2. A gem quality iridescent orthoamphibole found near Douglas, in Converse County, Wyoming, USA.
The orthoamphiboles from Greenland were shown by Appel and Jensen (1987) to be solid solutions between the end members anthophyllite and gerdite. The iridescence colors are green, blue, through yellow to gold, red and violet (rare), and are caused by diffraction of light from lamellae of amphibole less than 0.2 um thick. The material has a hardness of 6 and an SG between 3.18 and 3.37. Refractive index is 1.64 to 1.66, with a birefringence of 0.02.
The material from Wyoming is different in that it now consists almost entirely of goethite and/or opaline silica which appears to be derived from weathering of the original ferroanthophyllite. The iridescence of the Wyoming material is mainly golden or dark brown with some red or silver gray.
Comparisons between the polished Western Australian ‘goldstone’ and photographs of polished samples from Greenland and USA suggest that the Western Australian material has a larger percentage of its surface displaying the golden iridescence and therefore it is a more attractive material.
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.
(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.
Monday, June 11, 2007
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