Grafton Gem and Lapidary Club

30/08/2026

30/08/2026

2026 State Gem and Mineral Show - 26th & 27th September
Hawkesbury Showground - Clarendon
Come and have a chat with some lapidary Club members!

The Hawkesbury Valley Lapidary Club is a friendly community group in Richmond, New South Wales. Started on August 23, 1964, the club helps people learn how to cut, shape, and polish rocks into bright gemstones and handmade jewelry.
Based in the historic Richmond School of Arts annex for over 50 years.
Run by helpful volunteers who love sharing their skills.
Goal: To teach old crafts and bring rock and gem fans together.
Stone Work: Grinding, shaping, and polishing raw stones (cabochons).
Jewelry Making: Beading, wire wrapping, silver work.
Special Crafts: Faceting gems, making gem trees.

29/08/2026

📍Mary Kathleen Mine, near Mount Isa, Queensland

Have you ever seen an abandoned mine site like this? 👀

Hidden in the Queensland outback are the remains of Mary Kathleen, a former uranium mining town that was abandoned in the 1980s. This place is so cool!!

Today, the ruins and huge open-cut mine sit surrounded by rugged red outback landscapes — and you can actually camp here! 🏕️ Making it one of the most unusual places we've visited in Queensland.

We’ve put together a complete guide with everything you need, plus a FREE MAP!

👇 Read the full guide — link in the comments.

Put this on your bucket list!!!!

29/08/2026

Club will be closed this Thursday 3rd September 2026.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

29/08/2026

Check out this beautiful ribbonstone cabochon cut and polished by one of our junior members Alex.

Well done Alex!

16/08/2026

We were lucky enough to have a 2 day Cabochon Cutting Course.

We would like to extend our sincere Thank you to Paul Sabolta for travelling from Sydney to teach us the correct procedure of cutting cabochons and teaching us basic opal cutting.
We have all learnt so much!
Paul is an amazing teacher, he explained the procedures in terms we all understood and spent ample time with each and every one of us. We hope you enjoyed your time at our club Paul.

Thankyou to Gem & Lapidary Council of New South Wales Inc

Also a big thank you to Keith Barlow for donating opal potch for us to learn with.

Happy cutting ⚒️💎

16/08/2026

Day 2 of our cabochon course.
Today we learnt the basic art of opal cutting.
Again, we learnt so much.

15/08/2026

Day 1 of our cabbing course. Look at these beauties! We learnt so much.