Middle Ridge Fossicking Area

A designated fossicking area in the Central Queensland gemfields, reached by the Goanna Flat road west of Rubyvale. Set aside for fossickers alone, its wash layers let you dig for sapphires either near the surface or a little deeper, mostly blues and often large, alongside plentiful zircons and lumps of corundum the miners call 'bombs'. Camping is allowed up to three months by permit, but there are no facilities on site, and a fossicking licence is required as across the Queensland gemfields.