Rusty Gems

Arriving in The Gemfields of Central Queensland feels like the opening scene of a dystopian novel. Eccentric resident characters, shaped by an unforgiving arid wasteland, burrow underground to unearth hidden gems. A manhole opens to parched land, and nestled amongst the sandpiles lies an old, rusty, mid-50's Bedford truck, seemingly abandoned, with four flat tyres and smashed-out windows. The back tray was modified with a makeshift piece of machinery, often still in use, heaving buckets of gravel and soil dug from old creek beds beneath, sputtering sand through a process of pumps and cylinders.

There is no official name for these unofficial contraptions but the locals refer to them as “up & over trucks”, “mobile wash plants” or “mobile mining rigs”. They first appeared during the sapphire mining boom that began in the early 1970s. An invention that allowed processing equipment to be shifted around on a claim site, commonly used for one-man operations. It has been said that the combination of truck and processing gear was first used to mine sapphires at Inverell NSW, and the up and over hoists from the opal fields in Lightning Ridge NSW and Coober Pedy SA.

To me, these iconic, weather-beaten articles of virtue embody the essence of The Gemfields. Brought into existence by enterprising resourcefulness, each construction is unique, often an assemblage of repurposed castoffs. Although they played a leading role in the Australian fossicking story, their historical significance is unrecorded. As a photographer, I am drawn to the visually captivating authenticity of their presence, and in my depictions, they take centre stage.