GEMS and minerals of the
Fossickers way
he Fossickers Way takes in natural
Tgeological wonders and some of the most mineral-rich areas of NSW. Here’ s just a few of the treasures you might find – with a little bit of luck on your side!
SAPPHIRE
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide( Al 2O 3). While typically associated with the colour blue, they also occur in yellow, purple, orange and green colours, while‘ parti sapphires’ show two or more colours. Australia is one of the richest sources of sapphire in the world. Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires( 9 on the Mohs scale – the second hardest mineral after diamond), they are also used in some nonornamental applications such as shatterproof glass and armoured vehicles.
GOLD
Gold is a chemical element which, in its purest form, is a bright, slightly reddish-yellow, dense, soft, malleable and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, and is solid under standard conditions. The metal therefore occurs often in free elemental( native) form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks, in veins and in alluvial deposits.
QUARTZ
Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth’ s continental crust, after feldspar. There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Since antiquity, varieties of
quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewellery and hardstone carvings. The ideal crystal shape is a six-sided prism terminating with sixsided pyramids at each end.
TOPAZ
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine. Pure topaz is colourless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities; typical topaz is wine-red, yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange, or blue-brown. It can also be white, pale green, blue, gold, pink( rare), reddish-yellow or opaque to transparent / translucent. Topaz is commonly associated with silicic igneous rocks of the granite and rhyolite type. It typically crystallises in granitic pegmatites or in vapour cavities in rhyolite lava flows.
ZIRCON
Zircon is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. It forms in silicate melts with large proportions of high field strength incompatible elements. The crystal structure of zircon is a tetragonal crystal system. The natural colour of zircon varies between colourless, yellow-golden, red, brown, blue and green. Colourless specimens that show gem quality are a popular substitute for diamond and are also known as‘ Matura diamond’.
5