Seven-year-old boy goes viral after finding Australian sapphire worth thousands ... trends now
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A seven-year-old boy has been praised online after he found a 14.5-carat sapphire worth up to $10,000 just 200m away from his home.
Riley Betteridge discovered the precious stone in the middle of Queensland's gemfields in Rubyvale near Rockhampton on Monday.
Riley, still in his school uniform, is seen running excitedly over to his dad Matt to show him the rare stone in a now-viral TikTok video.
'That looks really good mate,' he tells Riley after inspecting it with a headlamp.
'That is your best stone yet by far.'
In the now-viral footage, Riley - still in his school uniform - is seen running excitedly over to his dad Matt to let him inspect the stone with a headlamp (pictured)
Matt and Amber Betteridge run their family business Betteridge Sapphires from the heart of the state's mining region in Central Queensland.
They revealed Riley has been hunting for sapphires since he was just three-years-old when he spotted a stone from up on his dad's shoulders.
'He's got an eye for it,' Mr Betteridge told Yahoo News.
'That's about 300 metres, maybe 200 metres from home.'
Mrs Petterson, who grinds and polishes the stones, said Riley's sapphire appears to have no internal fractures and could fetch up to $10,000.
'The finished colour will make the difference,' she said, explaining that brighter colours tend to sell for more than darker hues.
