Sapphire, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Sapphire is a town in Queensland
, Australia. Situated in a region called the Gemfields
, sapphire
s are mined
extensively in the area. At the 2006 census
, Sapphire had a population of 550.
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia. Situated in a region called the Gemfields
The Gemfields
The Gemfields is a district in Central Queensland in Australia, near the town of Emerald. As the name suggests, the main industry in the Gemfields is sapphire mining, supported by tourism....
, sapphire
Sapphire
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
s are mined
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
extensively in the area. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Sapphire had a population of 550.