Sapphire miner Matt Betteridge revealed his discovery of a 394-carat sapphire on social media. He explained that with the area recently hit with heavy rain, he decided to undertake some fossicking.
In an interview with Yahoo, he said that the gemstone had been ‘waiting to be found’. While it won’t be faceted into a gemstone and has a modest commercial value, Betteridge said it will be kept as a prized possession.
“It's not going to be faceted into a big gem or nothing. It's going to stay exactly the way it is because it's a pretty cool crystal structure," he explained.
“It'll be kept that way for its natural beauty. I want to cut it as it's just sacrilege because it's so beautiful.”
Betteridge and his partner run Betteridge Sapphires, based in the mining region in central Queensland.
This is not the first time the family has made headlines. Betteridge's seven-year-old son discovered a 14-carat sapphire valued at $10,000 within walking distance of the family home in Rubyvale in early 2024.
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