Some people, it seems, have all the luck. Not content with being Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer is now the proud owner of the country's only ruby mine, a treasure trove expected to boost his fortune by several million dollars.
The rare gems were found on a cattle station owned by the billionaire media tycoon in the picturesque Hunter Valley wine region of New South Wales, about 160km north of Sydney. Mr Packer, renowned for once losing US$20 million during three days of gambling in Las Vegas, is estimated to have a personal fortune of US$3.7 billion.
The rubies will be extracted by an Australian mining company, Cluff Resources Pacific, under a deal signed with Mr Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings.
Peter Kennewell, Cluff Resources' managing director, acknowledged 'a certain irony' in such a rich seam of gems being found on land owned by one of the world's wealthiest businessmen. 'I don't think there'll be sour grapes from ordinary people, though. I think most Australians will wish him well with it,' Mr Kennewell said. The ruby deposit was found 30 years ago by a gold prospector, but the cost of processing the stones meant their extraction was not viable. 'These days, though, you can have them cheaply cut and polished to a very high quality in countries like Thailand,' Mr Kennewell said.
While Australia is well-known for its diamonds and other gems, this is the country's first ruby mine. Most of the world's rubies come from Burma, Sri Lanka, Africa and Madagascar. The deposit, on Mr Packer's Tomalla cattle station near the small town of Gloucester, is expected to yield about 14 million carats of rubies.
But Cluff Resources insists ruby prices vary so widely it is impossible to assess the value of the find.