Sapphire Central is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Central Highlands Region Central Highlands Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. In the , the Central Highlands Region had a population of 27,836 people. History '' Wadja'' (also known as ''Wadjigu'', ''Wadya'', ''Wadjainngo'', ''Mandalgu'', a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The town of Sapphire is within the locality ().

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, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

s are mined extensively in the area. Sapphire was one of three towns within the locality of The Gemfields (the others being Anakie and Rubyvale) until 17 April 2020, when the Queensland Government decided to replace The Gemfields with three new localities (Sapphire Central, Anakie Siding and Rubyvale) based around each of the three towns respectively. The boundaries of the locality of

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

were also modified to accommodate the introduction of the locality of Sapphire Central with an area of . In the , Sapphire Central had a population of 1,214 people.

Geography

Mount Bullock is in the north-west of the locality and west of the town (). It is above sea level. In the south-west of the locality is The Three Sisters Range (midpoint ) which extends south into Anakie Siding. It contains a number of unnamed peaks rising to above sea level. Apart from the west of the locality, most of Sapphire Central is relatively flat at above sea level.

History

Sapphire Provisional School opened in 1904. On 1 January 1909 it became Sapphire State School. It closed in 1939. Sapphire was one of three towns within the locality of The Gemfields (the others being Anakie and Rubyvale) until 17 April 2020, when the Queensland Government decided to replace The Gemfields with three new localities (Sapphire Central, Anakie Siding and Rubyvale) based around each of the three towns respectively. The boundaries of the locality of

were also modified to accommodate the introduction of the locality of Sapphire Central with an area of .

Demographics

In the , the town of Sapphire had a population of 550. In the , the town of Sapphire had a population of 572 people. In the , the locality of Sapphire Central had a population of 1,214 people.

Education

There are no schools in Sapphire Central. The nearest primary school is in Anakie. The nearest secondary school is Emerald State High School in

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 ...

References

External links