Hi CNT watchers, I recently stumbled across your website and tv show watching most of the podcasts on my lazy sunday afternoon, seeing as it isn't Broadcast down here in AU. So I thought I would share the recent discoveries from down under from our tiny little mining lease. The specimen in the photo below is a 550.00 carat (110.0 grams) gem quality blue star sapphire. It has been inspected and indentfied by gemologists, museums and lapidarists. Shortly thouhgh the speicmen will under go a slight transformation in the coming months as lapidarists study it for the cutting phase. So far this specimen ranks in at #3 largest in the world by weight in its rough form compared to other famous blue star sapphires, and will most likely remain there or end up around between the 3rd-6th placings when it has been cut en cabochon.

The smaller specimen next to the stone weighs in at a mere 5 carats and is a translucent blue sapphire crystal with a yellow zoning through the center. Just to give a universal comparison the first photo is the specimen next to a golfball. Enjoy

http://myfitness.net.au/images2/550ctSSapph.jpg

http://myfitness.net.au/images2/550ctSSapph03.jpg

Man that is a monster! I guy to do well finding a few of them. lol

Paul