Amber and Matt Betteridge quit their jobs and packed up their lives to mine, cut and sell precious stones in central Queensland's Gemfields.
They set up a business on a small piece of land in 2021 and went about hand mining sapphires with a pick and shovel.
But six weeks later, the state government announced a 12-month ban on new small-scale mining claims as part of the draft Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan (QRIDP) – meaning the Betteridge's could not explore further afield.
