Shovelling grime is a far cry from Lynette Bailey’s extra glamorous enterprise consultancy work in New Zealand.

However, with husband Gregg Smith, she digs and strikes as much as 2 tonnes of grime from 12 metres underground whereas engaged on their sapphire mine in Queensland’s Gemfields.

The couple first bought the mining declare after Smith toured the area on a visit round Australia in 2013, after which they determined to get off the company “hamster wheel”.

“We bought a contact of gem fever to begin off, after which the life-style simply took over,” Smith stated.

“Individuals are fascinated by what we do as a result of we simply cannot do this kind of stuff at house.”

The pair go away NZ each winter to hunt for treasured gems in Australia after which return to their lives when the climate warms up.

Whereas Bailey is a enterprise marketing consultant, her husband works in NZ’s upkeep trade.

A ‘big studying curve’

Bailey stated their lives couldn’t be extra completely different after they had been residing on their mining declare.

“In New Zealand, we have got an acre [0.4 hectares], we have got a model new home, we have got all of the bells and whistles … over right here we have now a protracted drop,” she stated.

“We’re off the grid, the world actually stops and it is like [how it was] 100 years in the past.

“So long as we have got sizzling water for a bathe and meals within the cabinet, it is all we want.”

Smith stated after they first started chasing sapphires eight years in the past, it was a “big studying curve for his spouse” as she had by no means labored a guide job.

“She crashed each evening,” he stated.

In 2021, the couple discovered a 52-carat sapphire valued at about $29,000.

Within the a number of years since they purchased their declare, Smith stated they’ve solely had about 5 days with out discovering a gem.

“I typically inform folks which can be visiting us … after they decide a sapphire out on the finish of the day and maintain it as much as the sunshine, that stone hasn’t seen daylight for perhaps 50 million years,” he stated.

“You are saving that little stone from being caught in the dead of night for the remainder of its life.”

How do they mine it?

Whereas small-scale mining claims might be purchased in Queensland, using heavy equipment is restricted to common mining and exploration.

Small-scale claims are additionally at the moment topic to a state authorities dialogue paper, with proposals to reform the sector.

Smith stated their mine had a rounded roof with pillars to help it in some sections.

He says on the coronary heart of it, the couple “simply shift grime.”

“We won’t use equipment however we will use jackhammers, so it is jackhammer the grime off the wall, break it up … to about fist measurement, so it goes by means of the plant higher,” Smith stated.

The pair load the grime right into a wheelbarrow after which ship it up their mine shaft by means of a pulley system to be sorted above floor.

Bailey stated they aimed to maneuver about 20 wheelbarrows price a day.

“We’ve got followers circulating within the space, so we have all the time bought contemporary air down there,” she stated.

“It is all the time 23 levels [Celsius]. Even when it is a moist day, we will come down right here and have a dig.”

Pioneers in ‘tummy tunnels’

Whereas the couple’s operation permits for some energy instruments, small-scale mining has come a good distance for the reason that days of its pioneers.

Michelle Jarvis works as a vacationer information at Miner’s Heritage in Rubyvale, which provides the most important underground walk-in sapphire mine tour in Australia.

Jarvis stated the mine, which is 440m-long, contains unique “tummy tunnels” that date again so far as 1906.

At the moment, miners would dig with a decide and shovel.

“Again then, it was all on their abdomen and in very low-roofed tummy tunnels. It would not have been a lot enjoyable,” Jarvis stated.

As an alternative of ladders, Jarvis stated miners would shimmy up and down the mine shaft utilizing their again, palms and toes to maneuver.

-ABC