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.
"I left a quite high-level job to come out here and do this for a living and then the rug was pulled out from under our feet with that," Ms Betteridge said.
What is the mining moratorium?
The November 2021 suspension was part of a Queensland Government proposal to remove mining claims from the Mineral Resources Act (1989) to introduce "a more effective" regulatory system for small-scale mining.
While the moratorium continues, no new mining claim applications are being processed but existing claims are still operating.
For The Gemfields, one of the largest sapphire-bearing areas in the world, an ongoing ban could have devastating impacts on the economy, culture and history of their towns, according to the Rubyvale Progress Association.
The state government has given no guarantee the ban will lift in November, and miners who rely on the industry said they still feel in the dark about their future.
"It's been a difficult time because we don't actually know how long we can live in this lifestyle for and we gave everything up to come out here and do it," Ms Betteridge said.
While the relaxing atmosphere of the Gemfields has been a welcome change from their busy north Queensland lifestyle, the Betteridge family is frustrated their plans to expand have been halted.
"Nothing can happen now," Mr Betteridge said.
A Queensland Government spokesman said it had "consulted extensively" since the moratorium was introduced but a decision on whether it will continue "has not yet been made".
"While the government continues to refine options for small-scale mining reform, the moratorium will remain in place," it said.
If a decision is made to change legislation, it said options "may" be presented on paper in 2023 for public consultation.
An uncertain community
Hand miner Murray Ungerer pegged his first claim in the region in 1986.
"[The temporary ban] has thrown a bit of fear into the community, we don't know where it's going with this," he said.
Last year, the Queensland Sapphire Miners Association said many thought the moratorium was introduced to crack down on people living on claims without mining them.
"At the moment we've got a major housing crisis, and a rental crisis, so to come in and say, 'Everyone go' – that's just not going to happen," Mr Ungerer said.
A Department of Resources spokesman said it had looked at more than 200 written submissions and met with several small-scale mining associations since the moratorium was introduced.
It has committed $200,000 to a planning study with the Central Highlands Regional Council.
"The department is currently finalising its next steps and will provide further advice to the small-scale mining sector, and the communities that host them, in the coming months," he said.
Rubyvale Progress Association vice president Mitchell Brown said he understood changes needed to be made to ensure miners were fulfilling the obligations of their resource authority.
"There's nothing wrong with putting in some things in our framework to help enhance what we're doing, not diminish it," he said.
"They probably are realising now that they may have completely underestimated how much we value this lifestyle and protecting small scale mining."
'Living mining culture'
Mr Ungerer said a decision to remove small scale mining claims from the Act would have dire consequences.
"If we do that, a mining lease, that still puts us in the same as oil and gas and petroleum and everything else," Mr Ungerer said.
"That would be absolutely cost prohibitive to any of these people and people would just leave in droves because they just couldn't afford to be here any longer.
"They need to come up with some sort of a tenure arrangement where it allows us security as to where we live, and to keep on mining."
Mr Brown is hopeful the outcome will consider all the communities' concerns.
"We're working very hard to make sure that our voices get heard to protect our way of life here, it's so important," he said.
"In Australia we have historic mining towns and the tourism associated with that – this is living mining culture right now and if it's done right we can continue that for hundreds of years."
