Victorian fossickers encouraged to keep searching for 'underrated' semi

Picture this: you are wandering through the outdoors, and a glint of something unusual catches your eye.

You look down and see a stone, but not just any stone. The colour or texture, or shape makes it stand out from any other mineral in the area. Perhaps it was disturbed by recent flooding, or perhaps it has been washed clean by the rain.

Such is the joy of fossicking.

You may never stumble upon a sapphire or diamond, but there are other treasures to be had, even if it is just the thrill of the hunt.

Precious stones are, by definition, extremely hard to find. However, there are a variety of semi-precious stones you can find across south-eastern Australia without too much effort.

They include amethyst, turquoise, olivine, topaz, garnet, and agate. Even common old quartz — with just a little care and work — can look spectacular.

Helen Butrumlis, president of the Warrnambool Gem Club, describes many of these gems as "underrated".

"As far as I'm concerned, they're all 'precious' in their own way," Ms Butrumlis said.

"I like to remind people diamonds are not especially rare. The only rare thing is getting a big one.

"There are lots of varieties of quartz, and many of them are beautiful — as beautiful as what you'd call a precious stone."

Ms Butrumlis said her main interest was in lapidary — the practice of cutting and polishing stones — rather than the fossicking itself.

"I have been fossicking once or twice," she said.

"I guess the nicest thing I've found is some olivine 'bombs' up in Mortlake.

"That said, I know people, especially up north, but sometimes down here, who have stumbled across a sapphire or similar."

Many semi-precious stones are difficult to identify for a novice. On the outside, an olivine bomb looks like nothing more than a nearly spherical volcanic rock.

"Those who have been looking for some time can pick them up very easily," she said.

"You cut [an olivine bomb] in half, and you find the olivine in the middle.

"The crystals are just beautiful and just so fascinating."

Edie May is a fossicker from Colbinabbin and a member of the Bendigo Gem Club.

She said she had made many exciting discoveries among the familiar rock piles and creek beds of regional Victoria.

"Almost every paddock you see, you'll see piles of rocks," Ms May said.

"You may see the same rock piles along the side of the road or in creeks nearby. They are a great place to start, although if it's a paddock, you will need the farmer's permission."

Ms May said she often looked out for "shiny things".

"After it's been wet is a good time to look. Any time it rains, it will clear dust off any surface gems and with the sunshine, you may get a glint off any crystal surface," she said.

"What I also look for is any kind of soapy surface.

"If it's smooth and soapy, like a jelly bean, it's likely to be something interesting."

Ms May said it would be easy to bring out the shine of an "interesting stone".

"Banded jasper is my stone of choice," she said.

"You'll find that the quartz stuff like jasper and agate will come up nicely.

"When you put these harder stones in a tumbler with water and enough grit, you can get quite a nice, polished stone without a lot of work."

Stones can also be cut, shaped or polished with tools that can be used at most lapidary and gem clubs.

Source: Parks Victoria Area Chief Ranger Goldfields Karen Doyle

There are rules every fossicker should follow.

Some, according to Parks Victoria Area Chief Ranger Goldfields Karen Doyle, are a legal requirement.

Others are about doing it in a manner that "treads lightly" on the fossicking environment.

In Victoria, a fossicker must buy a miner's right, although it is not expensive.

A 10-year miner's right costs just $26 and allows fossickers to remove and keep minerals discovered on Crown land, own land or private land — after getting the landowner's permission, of course.

There are many attractive stones you can find while fossicking in Victoria and southern NSW. These are just some you may discover.

AGATE: quartz mixed with other silicate crystals, which form concentric layers in a complex pattern. They are formed within the cavities of volcanic rocks.

AMETHYST: a purple, semi-precious variety of quartz. The colour is caused by exposure to radiation. Once considered a precious (or cardinal) gemstone, its value has declined as more has been found.

CITRINE: a yellow, orange or brown form of quartz. The colouring is from iron compounds.

JASPER: a combination of quartz and other silicates with various impurities in striking patterns.

MOONSTONE: a sodium potassium and aluminium silicate crystal which refracts light to have a shimmering, opalescent appearance. Often polished into a sphere.

PERIDOT: It is gem-quality olivine and a magnesium iron silicate. It is lime green in colour.

QUARTZ: the same chemical compound as sand (silicone dioxide). Pure quartz is common and colourless. Coloured varieties (including amethyst, citrine and smoky quartz) are caused by natural impurities.

TOPAZ: sometimes mistaken for quartz but is a silicate of aluminium and fluorine. Most found in Victoria are clear to pale blue or yellow, although orange, brown and pink ones can be found too.

TOURMALINE: a crystalline silicate that includes boron and other elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium and sodium. Most commonly black, brown, dark blue and often multicoloured.

TURQUOISE: blue to green mineral of copper aluminium phosphate. It can be fragile and easily damaged by weather.

ZIRCON: the silicate of the metal zirconium. It is found in a variety of colours, including champagne.

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