The Gemfields is a former

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the Central Highlands Region,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , The Gemfields had a population of 1,449 people. On 17 April 2020, the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

re-drew the boundaries of localities within the Central Highlands Region by removing the locality of The Gemfields in order to create three new localities of Rubyvale,

Sapphire Central Sapphire Central is a rural locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. The town of Sapphire is within the locality (). Sapphires are mined extensively in the area. At the , the locality had a population of 1214 people. Sap ...

and

Anakie Siding Anakie Siding is a rural locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. The town of Anakie is within the locality (). It is a sapphire mining area. In , the locality of Anakie Siding had a population of 155 people. Geograph ...

(around the towns of Rubyvale,

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...

, and Anakie respectively).

Geography

The locality contained three small towns: Anakie, Rubyvale, and Sapphire. The nearest major town was

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

. The Western railway line passed through the locality from east (

) to west (

Willows Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

). There was a railway station at Anakie () and a railway siding at Taroborah (). As the name suggested, the main industry in The Gemfields was

sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, supported by

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

History

Anakie Provisional School opened on 27 July 1885. It became Anakie State School on 1 January 1909. Due to low attendances it opened and closed at times, but continues to operate to the present day. Taraborah Provisional School (also written as Taroborah) opened in 1900. On 1 July 1909 it became Taraborah State School. It closed on 1911. In the , The Gemfields had a population of 1,630. In the , The Gemfields had a population of 1,449 people. On 17 April 2020, the

re-drew the boundaries of localities within the Central Highlands Region by discontinuing the locality of The Gemfields in order to create three new localities of Rubyvale,

and

(around the towns of Rubyvale,

, and Anakie respectively).:

Amenities

The Central Highlands Regional Council operated a public library at 7 Burridge Road, Rubyvale.

Education

Anakie State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Cook Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 83 students with 7 teachers (6 full-time equivalent) and 7 non-teaching staff (4 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 77 students with 7 teachers (6 full-time equivalent) and 9 non-teaching staff (5 full-time equivalent). There were no secondary schools in The Gemfields. The nearest government secondary school was Emerald State High School in Emerald to the east.

Events

GemFest was an annual

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

in the region, attracting large numbers of visitors.

References