Aussie family reveals secret to rare backyard finds worth ‘thousands’

Imagine finding thousands of dollars in your own backyard. It’s something the Betteridge family do on a weekly basis and now they’re keen to share their secret with the rest of Australia.

After years of holidaying in Queensland’s gem fields, Matt, his wife Amber and son Riley, now seven, decided to pack up their lives and move there from Townsville to become full-time sapphire hunters. Digging on the property they bought in 2018, and sometimes just kicking up the dirt, turns up gems worth thousands.

“Last week I got one that could be $20,000 when its been cut. It’s an 81-plus carat stone and I just dug it up,” Matt said. Amber and Riley have also got in the action with both unearthing huge finds. Riley’s big discovery happened when he and his dad were out for a walk. His 14.5-carat stone could be worth upwards of $10,000.

Amber, 33, who cuts the rough gems ready to set, has also had her fair share of luck. Her de ella $3,000 found de ella hit the news back in February when she was out specking with their nine-month old baby, Elise, in her arms.

Specking is the most basic form of collecting sapphires. It’s simply walking around, looking for color and then picking the gems up off the surface, generally after heavy rain you have washed away the top soil.

Tourists strike it lucky too

But you don’t have to live in the gem fields to strike it rich and Matt is encouraging people to come for a holiday like they did, and have a go. And with the cooler weather, now’s the time to make the trip.

“Tourists have great finds too. A couple of years ago an old couple who were up here specking found a sapphire in the wall of a dig. They sold it for about $250,000,” Matt says, referring to a 69-year-old woman, Carmel Ash, who made the huge find on a caravan trip in 2020.

Visitors have their pick of holiday parks in the town of Rubyvale or Matt advises picking up a camping ticket online which means you can camp anywhere on the fossicking ground. You’ll also need a fossicking permit. “It’s not expensive, about $13 for a family, and then you find your own patch in the bush and start digging,” he said.

Expert dad reveals top tips for Aussies

Matt said, “it’s good to pick up some knowledge before you go.”

“My number one tip is to start at a fossicking park where they give you a bucket of stones and teach you how to sift and what to look for,” he said. “There was actually a surprising find at to fossicking park recently. “It was an epic stone that blew everyone away.”

You can pick up a pair of sieves and a shovel but the real beauty of sapphire hunting is that you don’t need much equipment.

“There’s heaps on the surface. After a big rain they’re all washed and clean, waiting for you to pick up,” Matt said.

His other top tip is to pick a site that other people have dug before.

“Look for the hills and evidence of digging. Someone else has done the hard work for you and if they didn’t know what they were looking for there will be sapphires around. That’s how I found my biggest (834 carat) one. Someone left it there for me,” Matt says.

And then it’s all about a bit of patience and enjoying the hunt.

“It’s addictive,” Matt said. “Finding sapphires is a bit like fishing but the rewards are more rewarding.”

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