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NARRATOR: On Outback Opal Hunters...

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We've got no time at all.

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The Young Guns battle a severe storm
in a race to save their season.

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JAYMIN: We've got to just keep
moving this dirt into place.

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If this floods,
we're in serious trouble.

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GAVAN: Digging out my floor
would be a massive job.

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I think I've got to get a drill rig
and see what's down there.

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The McFarlanes hunt for opal
in the floor.

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Oh, look at that. Let there be
colour in there, please.

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As they struggle to put a roof
over their heads.

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This stuff just brings down
dust and dirt.

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I can certainly say
my confidence is not growing.

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That won't cut it.
That's too high. That's gone.

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A new team hits the opal fields.

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I'm (BLEEP) off already.

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I want to get on top of the bills.

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I want to be able
to provide for the kids.

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Big debts force the Cheals
to take big risks.

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# Money

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# And fancy clothes #

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This is one of the old entrances
to the out mines.

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So this goes directly under where we
are now and look at that,

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we've got water
(BLEEP) down the shaft.

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It's all starting to sink in.

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So we got to really quickly
build a barrier

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just to stop
all this water flowing down.

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We've got no time at all.

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We've got to just keep moving
this dirt into place,

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and stop the mine from flooding. If
this floods, serious trouble.

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I can't even touch the bottom there.

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If the mine gets flooded,
I mean, really,

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we're not going to be able to mine
it.

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Not with all the electrics and
stuff.

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It's too dangerous to work down
there with electricity, obviously.

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We're starting to flood.

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In remote White Cliffs,
New South Wales,

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a sudden summer storm is causing
havoc for the Young Guns.

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As outback temperatures rise,

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humidity can also build,
causing violent torrential downpours,

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dumping hundreds of millimetres
of rain in just a few hours.

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This may seem like half an hour,

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but we've had so much rain,

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more than we've seen
in the last three years.

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Jaymin can get a big barrier
at the top of that decline.

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Now we just dug a little trench
here, we've made a little barrier,

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so hopefully,
no more water gets in.

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All right, we really just need
to get out of the rain now

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and just hope for the best.

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We've done pretty much everything
we can

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to make sure the mine
doesn't flood too much.

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In their first season,

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it's a massive setback
for the rookies from the coast.

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Still over $22,000 short
of their season target.

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If this goes for much longer,

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if this goes for like
another hour or two,

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you know, our mine would
almost certainly get flooded.

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That's going to suck
if that does happen,

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and we have to shut it down early.

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You know, that's going to
really be a bummer.

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Just 500 kilometres away,

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the landscape is very different.

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Bloody dry. Dry. Right.

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Heading to Lightning Ridge,

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former miner Chris Cheal
and 18-year-old son Oscar

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are entering a region that's been
ravaged by a three-year drought.

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It's probably gonna be
a bit stressful,

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but I just hope it's not too hot.

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Yeah.

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Chris is returning to opal mining

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after the worst drought in a decade
destroyed his trucking business.

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Had a road train,
and I'd cart grain with that.

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Obviously with no rain
in the last three years,

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I think the last harvest I did
was 2016.

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The drought has just gone on and on.

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As you can see from the landscape,
it's as dry as (BLEEP).

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I've just had to park the truck up
and source work elsewhere.

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I just graduated high school
a few days ago.

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I finished my last exam.

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Dad managed to get us
down to Sydney for school.

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He worked his (BLEEP) off
seven days a week, every week.

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And yeah, I'm just so grateful
for that.

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I'm really looking to give back

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now that I'm kind of moving
into the workforce.

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The Cheals are back
in Lightning Ridge,

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hunting legendary black opal
worth up to $43,000 a gram.

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Lightning Ridge produces
the best opal in the world.

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And when you're mining,

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you've got a chance to change
your life just in one day.

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You can get yourself ten years
in front financially,

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and there's not many places
in the world you can go and do that.

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I'm back here to try
and find some decent money

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cos I want to get
on top of the bills.

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I want to be
able to provide for the kids.

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I'm just trying to give my kids
the opportunities that I never had.

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But only weeks are left

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until 50 degree temperatures
make it too hot to mine.

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We've got a very small window
to put a hole down,

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get the gear set up,
and get as much dirt out as we can.

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If we could find ten grand,
it'll cover the cost for this time

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and we'll have a bit in the kitty
to come back.

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Old mining mate Scott McMillan
has a claim

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he's willing to subcontract to Chris.

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Hey. Hey, Chealsy,
this is my claim, this one here.

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Yep. So that's a boundary?
Yep. This is your claim.

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And it goes 50 -
50 by 50 metres that way. Yep.

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Scott offered this claim to work.

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He's done some work in here
about 12 years ago.

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The holes have been filled back in.

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And, you know, you got a
bit of money here.

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Before he takes on the claim,

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Chris wants proof the ground has
the potential to produce opal.

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Can we have a look down?
Yeah, sure.

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All right. Let's do it.
We'll suit up.

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We just want to go down,
have a little scratch.

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This is Scott's claim,

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but it'll give us a good idea
of what we can expect.

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For Oscar, the opportunity
to mine again

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with his dad is a long-held dream.

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OSCAR: Pretty much my whole life,
I've been into opal mining.

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It's a passion of Dad's.

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As a young kid, I'd love to come
out, hanging off him,

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and jump on the digger
and all sorts of stuff.

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That's all right, Scott. Look.
Broken one, eh?

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Is the other half in there
somewhere? I don't know.

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There you go.
Yeah, that's the other half.

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Nice blue bar in it.

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Well, that's convinced me.
Yeah, and I'm happy with that.

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In with a chance. If you're happy
with it,

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we can strike a deal, Scott?

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The going rate's usually 30:70.
Yeah.

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I'm pretty happy with that
if you guys are.

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Yeah, right. That will work.
You get 30, we get 70.

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Hopefully we can make you some
money.

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Yeah. Cos if you're making money,
we're making money.

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Where we're digging is supposed to
be good opal ground.

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We've been up there digging now
for quite a few months,

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and all we've got out
is a few grams,

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so we don't want to push our luck.

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It's dangerous ground.
We have had collapses around us,

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but we've just got to get
some opal, you know.

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Otherwise the family's
going to suffer.

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That's the end of the story.
The family suffers.

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So maybe we can buy you a car.
Yeah.

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Seven years ago, Gavan McFarlane,

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wife Connie
and 16-year-old daughter Teagan

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moved to Lightning Ridge from the
coast to escape the rat race.

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Before opal mining,
I was a computer engineer.

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Sometimes I'd work
seven days straight

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or I'd be out seven, eight, nine
o'clock at night,

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still working, you know.

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But there was something missing.

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I think the treasure hunter in me
was ignited.

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You can go to work,
$10 in your wallet

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and go home a millionaire.

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Everybody wants to be a millionaire.

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Hunting legendary black opal,

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the McFarlanes are struggling,

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with the family home
in desperate need of repair.

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In there is my parents room,
so I can see in,

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and then there actually
is a window there,

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but it's kind of fallen through
a little bit.

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And then that wall is just,
by the heat and everything,

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is just getting deformed.

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Australia has experienced
its hottest decade on record.

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For opal miners, the conditions are
the toughest they've ever been.

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CONNIE: We have extreme weather
here.

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At the moment,
it's 45 degrees I heard, today.

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Tried to put the air conditioner on
the other day,

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and the load was too heavy
for the solars, and it just stopped.

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And in the dead of this heat,
it is killing me.

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Even if we had air conditioning
or a fan or whatever else,

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because the ceiling is
in the condition that it is,

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and it doesn't quite meet
the walls in places,

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any cool air we do have

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escapes faster than is practical
to keep us cool.

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This season, Gavan has found
little more than $2,000.

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So it's time for some new tactics.

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Mines around me, they've got
millions of dollars out of here,

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and they are now condemned mines.

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And they all were digging deeper.

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So where we're at,
where we're digging at the moment,

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we have a hard roof,
but we have a really soft base.

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I'm looking for
a hard sandstone base...

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..below me, where the opal has got
an opportunity to form.

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Gavan's plan is simple.

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Explore a nearby mine to see

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what depth the previous miners
found opal,

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then dig to the same depth
in his mine.

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00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,280
Offsider Tim Bryant will measure
from above.

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00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,400
All right, mate, I'll go down.
I'll give you an "oi"

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00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:07,880
when it's right for you

193
00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:09,760
to come down for the first
measurement. OK?

194
00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,240
Yeah, no worries. You be careful.
I'll be careful.

195
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There is a mine next door
that hasn't been worked.

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00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,160
It's been pretty much abandoned
for ten years.

197
00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:29,600
This is so dangerous in here.

198
00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,240
This has been exposed open
for ten-plus years.

199
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Air coming in dries it out,
so it makes it even crumblier.

200
00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:44,440
You have to be aware of stuff
like this falling in on you.

201
00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,280
It's not solid.

202
00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:50,760
God forbid, if the roof fell on you,
it'd kill you.

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I'm just gonna venture up
this other hole.

204
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Hopefully there could be
something solid below me.

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Well, there's a really,
really narrow level

206
00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,800
underneath what they been calling
here, the second level.

207
00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,120
You see that? In there.

208
00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,320
It's like a little narrow level
in there.

209
00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,640
Certainly could be exactly
what we're looking for.

210
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,840
We'll get all this loose stuff
behind us here.

211
00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,920
We'll put that in the water,
and that'll soak up all that water,

212
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,800
and then we can just bucket out
those muddy buckets of dirt.

213
00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:39,760
In White Cliffs, the clean-up
has begun for the Young Guns

214
00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,000
after extreme summer storms
flooded their mine.

215
00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,240
Still well short
of their season target,

216
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,880
the rookies want to expand
their operation

217
00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,640
as they hunt for crystal opal
worth up to $25,000 a gram.

218
00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,960
We're just gonna go down the back
hole in the corner of the claim,

219
00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,640
just to go and see
what's down that hole.

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The plan is to connect their mine
to a neighbouring one

221
00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,640
and open it up enough for the Kanga
digger to get through.

222
00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:08,880
OK. Slowly.

223
00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,000
But first, Jaymin and Noah

224
00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,800
need to descend nine metres
to find the right location to dig.

225
00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:18,840
I'm a little bit nervous, yeah.

226
00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,520
The shafts like this that are
that deep and unexplored.

227
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,040
On a swinging ladder,
it's still a little bit scary.

228
00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:39,960
(BLEEP) It's a bit sketchy.

229
00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,600
Dude, it's a little mine.
Still one more place to go.

230
00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,120
A downstairs level, and that's just
the other side of this level, so...

231
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,200
Some of the ground looks pretty
good.

232
00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,160
Could've been ten, 15 years ago
that whoever was last in here

233
00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:53,920
gave it a bit of a go and then
just never turned back up.

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00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,040
Whoa.

235
00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,160
That must be like the underneath
part, but bloody hell.

236
00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,240
I think maybe we check out the
bottom level

237
00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,080
and see what's down that way.

238
00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:05,680
So I think that's probably where

239
00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:07,520
we're going to end up breaking
through.

240
00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,840
The bottom level is nine metres down,
the same depth as their mine.

241
00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:13,960
This is where Jaymin believes

242
00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,600
they can dig through
to join them together.

243
00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:20,040
Let's try and focus on connecting
them up and getting the loader in

244
00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,440
and clearing out these walls,
making them wider,

245
00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,640
giving us a bit more room
to walk through.

246
00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,480
I'm going to draw up a plan
of how it looks down here,

247
00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:30,600
and then we'll head back up
and draw a plan of our mine there

248
00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:33,880
and try and figure out exactly
in relation to where we're digging

249
00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,160
to make sure we're going in the
right direction to push through.

250
00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:43,080
Ooh, nice. Nice!

251
00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,160
Got it? (GRUNTS) She's a heavy one.

252
00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:49,280
Key to the plan is this
1.5 metre long auger drill,

253
00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,600
hired for $700,
that attaches to the Kanga.

254
00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:55,560
Say hello to my little friend!

255
00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,520
Yeah, there we go. Whoo!

256
00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,000
For the plan to work,
the boys are banking on the drill

257
00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,560
punching through to the other side.

258
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,520
We're going to use that to try to
drill a hole through there,

259
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,840
see if we can break through into it.
That'd be really good.

260
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,680
Just go straight ahead first.
Straight ahead first.

261
00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:21,360
I haven't seen any opal or anything
like that

262
00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:22,920
come out from the drill yet,

263
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,320
but at this stage,

264
00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,000
we're really just trying to find
that mine and break through there.

265
00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,080
Well, it's not a metre that way.

266
00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,480
Think how long it would take to
jackhammer that far.

267
00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,080
I know. And now we know
it's not in that direction.

268
00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:35,920
So now we're gonna come over
this way

269
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:37,960
and we think it's,
you know, now that way.

270
00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,680
Go right down the other hole.

271
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,160
Climb down that ladder and see if we
can hear and see how close it is.

272
00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,280
We've kind of worked it out
by putting two holes in either side.

273
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:57,200
Now we need to go
straight in the middle.

274
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:58,920
That's what we're doing right now.

275
00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:11,440
That sounds close.

276
00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,880
Like they could be a full metre away
right now and they just...

277
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,280
Oh, it sounds really close.

278
00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,240
GAVAN: I'm thinking that's
my hard sandstone level there.

279
00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,440
Righto, if you send it down,
the tape.

280
00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,480
Whoa. What do you got?

281
00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,640
That's 10.8 metres. OK.

282
00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:46,560
I've found a floor that's probably

283
00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,440
roughly two and a half metres
below where my floor is.

284
00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:54,120
So I'm hoping that carries
through into my claim.

285
00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,840
That's where they were talking about
where the opal is.

286
00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,360
In a dangerous, abandoned mine,

287
00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,280
Gavan and offsider Tim
have located the opal level.

288
00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,880
Next step, dig to the same level
in Gavan's mine.

289
00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,320
Digging out my floor
would be a massive job.

290
00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,200
Hundreds of tons of soil
down there below me.

291
00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:14,800
For us to get down into there,
we're gonna have to...

292
00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,960
I don't know, we're gonna have to
come up with a plan, something.

293
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,480
I've been playing with the idea
of possibly drilling underground

294
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,400
instead of spending weeks or months
digging down with a digger

295
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:30,880
and just moving dirt
to get down there.

296
00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,200
We've sort of thrown
a few ideas around.

297
00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:39,120
The best one we've come up with is
basically a small underground drill.

298
00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,440
Gavan's gambling the last
of the season

299
00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,080
on this 23-centimetre diameter drill

300
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,720
to dig 2.5 metres
into the floor of his mine.

301
00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,920
To me, the most important thing
in my life is my family.

302
00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,000
For us to find opal would just make
our life that much more better.

303
00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:02,920
Is it going to work underground?

304
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,960
Is everything going to work
in our favour?

305
00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:11,320
These pins are gonna come out,

306
00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,920
that's got to come off,
and then we're gonna sample them.

307
00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:19,560
The plan is to use the one-tonne
hydraulic digger to drive the drill.

308
00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:23,400
All right. Coming.

309
00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,320
Hold it there.

310
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:30,680
Beautiful. Beautiful.

311
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,680
From here, it should be
reasonably simple for us now.

312
00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:39,520
A few hydraulic hoses, and we'll be
ready to give it its first run.

313
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,760
The final step is to connect

314
00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,120
a hydraulic hose from the digger
to the drill motor.

315
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,200
There we go.

316
00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:50,960
(GRUNTS) See how you go.

317
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,480
It doesn't fit, Gav.
Are you kidding me?

318
00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,800
It all hinges on the hole,
whether you can get down or not.

319
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,600
The more time setting up,
the less chance of making money.

320
00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,200
Just weeks away
from the end of the season,

321
00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,680
new team, the Cheals,
are making a last-ditch effort

322
00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:23,160
to find $10,000 in opal
to pay mounting bills.

323
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,320
We are starting from scratch,
and it's the backend of the season.

324
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,400
It's getting so hot out here.

325
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,040
We've got a short period

326
00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:32,440
to come out here and smash out
as many loads as we can.

327
00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:37,920
Rema, how are you?
Pretty good.

328
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,800
We're gonna have to put
a three-foot hole there,

329
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:42,920
so we get the big rig in.

330
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:46,960
Chris's plan is to dig
a metre-wide shaft

331
00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,000
through a layer
of hardened rock called silcrete,

332
00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,280
to the opal-bearing fault line
13 metres down,

333
00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:57,040
then widen it by hand
in a process known as "belling out"

334
00:18:57,120 --> 00:18:59,680
to make enough room
for a tunnelling machine.

335
00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,840
So, there's a pretty hard cap

336
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:08,640
they say at about eight, ten feet,
and it's about two foot thick.

337
00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:10,720
Yeah, that's fine.

338
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:12,880
At a cost of $1,300,

339
00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:17,600
Chris has hired experienced drill rig
operator, Homere Rema Remaili,

340
00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,680
to drill the 13 metres.

341
00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,560
Probably bit of a slow go,
but she should get through.

342
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,240
All right. OK.
I need you to get through.

343
00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:30,960
Getting the taste of it.

344
00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,680
The teeth on a drill bucket
are made of tungsten steel,

345
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,880
designed to carve
through earth and rock.

346
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:42,800
The bucket machine, that bucket,
basically, it gets forced down.

347
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,520
It fills the bucket.
It's usually about one foot.

348
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,520
Sorry. We have to change
a few teeth from the cover.

349
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,560
It used to have a tungsten tip
like that...

350
00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,440
..and it's just worn out.

351
00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,720
That's how hard the silcrete is.
It's harder than metal.

352
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:18,640
Bore's only three metres down.

353
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,120
I've only really just started
in that silcrete.

354
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,040
You wouldn't really expect
to be changing teeth already.

355
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,560
Replacing teeth
takes up valuable time.

356
00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,200
Round two. Back to the grindstone.

357
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,360
We want to get down to about 43
feet.

358
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,320
If we can get to that stage today,
hopefully by tomorrow afternoon,

359
00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,840
we're down the hole
and actually digging some dirt.

360
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:57,680
Another one bites the dust.

361
00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,160
That's gone. Another one gone.

362
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,240
He's down two more teeth.

363
00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,640
Seven feet. They've been at it
for a while for seven feet.

364
00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,440
I can certainly say
my confidence is not growing.

365
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,440
Three hours and nine teeth later...

366
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,000
Getting through slowly,
but I don't know

367
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,640
how much longer
he's going to keep trying.

368
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:30,760
Eight feet.

369
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:36,880
The teeth are gone again.

370
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,200
Right now, we're really keen
to get through,

371
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:01,760
so we don't want to stop now.

372
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:03,920
Still well short of their target,

373
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,240
the Young Guns' plan to break through
into a neighbouring mine...

374
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,800
Ah, where are you?

375
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,040
..has proved harder than expected.

376
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:17,840
There it goes. There it goes.

377
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,760
Go on, little drill.

378
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,680
I reckon you're really close, but...

379
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:35,280
(MUFFLED) Guys, you're in! The tip!
The tip is in!

380
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:37,360
I can hear them. Listen to this.

381
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,560
Oi, hello! Oi, the tip is in!

382
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,840
What? The tip is in!

383
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,680
The tip's in. We were thinking of
giving up, and the tip was in.

384
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,080
(CHEERING)

385
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:55,800
We literally just gave up.

386
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:00,600
(LAUGHING EXULTANTLY)

387
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:02,680
Look at that.

388
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:04,800
Oh, how're you doing?

389
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:06,880
(YELLING)

390
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:09,920
(LAUGHING)

391
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,080
Definitely very happy to be through,

392
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,960
and definitely going to open up
so much more options for us

393
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,640
in terms of opening the mine up
in a huge way. Perfect.

394
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,560
Just about to do that last
little bit of jackhammering,

395
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:24,600
make it so we can actually
walk through into our new mine.

396
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:26,680
Let's dig.

397
00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,040
We'll walk all the way through.
It is so satisfying.

398
00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,760
You're satisfied now?
I'm happy.

399
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:48,200
The new mine has 45 metres of tunnels
that can now be accessed

400
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,400
by their digging
and mining equipment.

401
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,480
Oh, this is pretty sick.

402
00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,120
Checking out a whole new mine,
it's just awesome.

403
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,920
You know, it's going to increase
our potential

404
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,000
to find opal by magnitudes.

405
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,400
Oi, have you guys
checked out this pit?

406
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,000
What's up there?

407
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:07,640
Oh, lots of backfill.

408
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,920
We are going to be shovelling
all this dirt up here.

409
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,200
Bloody old timers and their
backfill.

410
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,400
Holy (BLEEP)! Look. Here. Look.

411
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,160
What have you got? You got
something? Opal. Look at that!

412
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,240
(LAUGHING)

413
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,040
Dude, this mine is pin-up!

414
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,720
As you can see, look, it's just
cutting grooves. Yeah, yeah.

415
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,280
In a desperate effort to clear debts,

416
00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:43,080
former trucker Chris Cheal
and son Oscar

417
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,600
are attempting
to open up a new mine.

418
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:47,840
But their efforts
have hit a roadblock.

419
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:49,520
His clutch is burning out

420
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:51,720
cos it's too hard
for the reams to get through.

421
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,440
At a cost of $1,300,

422
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,840
the hired Caldwell drill can't break
through a hard layer of silcrete rock

423
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:00,920
to reach the opal level.

424
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,960
What if I just go down the hole
and took that out?

425
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,760
Chris will tackle the hole
with a full-face mask

426
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,400
to stop silica dust
damaging his lungs,

427
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,680
and a 15 kilogram jackhammer

428
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,680
that can deliver more pressure
to a single point.

429
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,040
We can't get through,
so the only thing I can think of

430
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:24,560
is to get the jackhammer,

431
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,520
just get in the hole,
and knock it out by hand.

432
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,720
The temperature at the bottom
of the one-metre wide hole

433
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,400
is nearing 45 degrees
with high humidity.

434
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,480
Yeah, he's definitely
going hard down there.

435
00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,880
He's got probably about that much
to go around the hole, so...

436
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,000
Working in these conditions,

437
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,000
Chris is at risk
of severe dehydration.

438
00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,760
He's got about a third left to go.

439
00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,160
It's the hardest ground
I've ever dug with a jackhammer.

440
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:16,960
Oh, great. Thanks, mate.

441
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,320
Let's give it a shot now.

442
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,480
Just hoping I've taken off
enough down there

443
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,200
for him to get through that cap.

444
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:36,080
All good. Beautiful.

445
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,760
He's through that hard stuff.
Thank goodness.

446
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,920
Yeah, I'm pretty happy, eh?

447
00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:48,360
Thirty-nine.

448
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:51,480
Thirty-nine feet.

449
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:56,480
After six hours of labour, the drill
has finally reached the opal level.

450
00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,320
With nearly a full day lost
and $1,300 down,

451
00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,920
Chris needs the next step
of his operation to go smoothly.

452
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,200
Just going over there
to get the blower.

453
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,560
I'm gonna bring it over here
closer to the hole.

454
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:15,360
The blower is a 30-year-old,
ten-tonne high-powered vacuum

455
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,200
that can suck dirt up and out
of the bottom of a mine shaft.

456
00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:23,880
So this thing will suck a brick
50 metres within a few seconds.

457
00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,440
We'll hook it up and tow it out.

458
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,520
But the blower doesn't have
a working engine.

459
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,800
It must be towed into position
right over the newly dug shaft.

460
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:37,880
Yeah, slow. Looking good.

461
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,200
Your wheel's gonna be good.

462
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:46,760
Right on.

463
00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:51,120
That one's good.

464
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,200
Yeah, that way.

465
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,160
It doesn't fit, Gav. Uh-oh.
Fittings are too big.

466
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,240
These are too small.
On the head, oh...

467
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,320
Eight metres underground,

468
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,320
Gavan McFarlane's hopes of finding
opal this season are slipping away.

469
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,840
Fittings on the motor
was different to their hoses.

470
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,400
Unable to fit the hydraulic hose
onto the drill motor,

471
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,000
Gavan and Tim
can't dig the floor of the mine.

472
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,360
I have some fittings up in the
truck.

473
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,120
Just a heap of spares.
I'll go up, see what I've got.

474
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,040
Gavan needs to make this work.

475
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:51,120
The family's off-the-grid home
is in urgent need of repairs.

476
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,040
TEAGAN: I don't understand
not having a flushing toilet.

477
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,800
It's just normal to other people.
We don't have that.

478
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,720
Coming down.

479
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,480
Luckily, I keep a little box
of mixed fittings,

480
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:08,560
brand new fittings up in my truck.

481
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,800
Hopefully they fit. Let's do it.

482
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:18,560
Give me some good news.

483
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,640
Guess what? Yes?

484
00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:25,880
It fits. Ah!

485
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:27,960
Thank God for that.

486
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,000
All right. The moment of truth.

487
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,080
You're ready? Ready.

488
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,560
All right! Yeah!
It spins! It's spinning.

489
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,720
Whoo-hoo!
Good going, mate. Excellent.

490
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,960
Ready to drill. Ready to go.

491
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,000
Mother Nature produces
a beautiful gem,

492
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,640
and she's pretty darn good
at hiding it too.

493
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,320
So that's what we're here for,
the treasure hunter in us

494
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,240
is trying to find out
where she is, where she's hiding it.

495
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,920
Two and a half metres of drilled dirt
is sifted through a mesh,

496
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,560
catching any small
opal-bearing pebbles or "nobbies".

497
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:16,680
Like sieving for gold.

498
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,320
Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's it.
Whoa, look at that.

499
00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,400
Look, look, look, look.
Look at that.

500
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,400
That a nobby?

501
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:31,880
(CHUCKLES) Wow. Wow.

502
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,280
God, let there be colour
in there, please.

503
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:45,680
That one's good.

504
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,480
That's not what we want.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)

505
00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,360
I thought you were coming down.
Too soft.

506
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,120
Right, I'll have to fire the big
truck up, sneak her out of there...

507
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,240
..and put another hole cover in.
Right.

508
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,400
Just added two hours to the day.

509
00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:10,920
Deep in debt,
and with the season running out,

510
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,240
the Cheals have got
their ten-ton blower

511
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,560
stuck in the entrance
of their new mineshaft.

512
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:17,920
We were trying to get the blower
nice and close.

513
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,920
Just the dirt around the hole
was a bit soft.

514
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,000
And, yes, it just went straight
down.

515
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:26,200
Stand clear. I don't want the chain
flying off and hitting anyone.

516
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,320
To get the blower out,

517
00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,920
Chris needs the might of
his 570-horsepower haulage truck.

518
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,400
At the moment,
we're at the start of day four.

519
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,440
It's a bit worrying considering
we haven't actually gotten down

520
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:46,640
and started digging.
We've only got the hole.

521
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:49,960
Money is going out.
Nothing's coming in

522
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:51,840
cos we're not
getting through any dirt.

523
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,080
And we've got this really, really
short window to make some money,

524
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,280
and at the moment, every day counts,

525
00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,360
and just these little things are
just chewing up so much time.

526
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,440
I've got some 40-mil steel plate.

527
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,120
I'll put steel plate over it.

528
00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,160
It cannot fall in there, can it?

529
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,520
It's all good to go now, hopefully.

530
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,560
All we got to do now is put the
pipes down, and we can start work.

531
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,960
At the bottom of the 13-metre shaft,

532
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,040
Chris will bell out,
widening the hole for a digger

533
00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,120
that will create the tunnels.

534
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,440
Like that sound.

535
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,800
Jackhammering this
cement-like sandstone is slow,

536
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,840
with only two cubic metres
cleared in an hour.

537
00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,280
Put your helmet on and come down.
We'll take turns on the hammer.

538
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,360
I'm gonna jump down there with him.

539
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,960
When you start up there,
start on a bit of an angle.

540
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,160
Once your tip gets in there,
then lift it up.

541
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,480
He hasn't had much of an opportunity
the last few years

542
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:16,640
because he's been studying so hard,

543
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,080
and obviously,
the best way he can learn

544
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:20,920
is just to be put on it
and left alone.

545
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:22,720
He picks things up pretty quick.

546
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:24,800
That's it.

547
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,080
Yeah, it's really nice being down
here and actually digging.

548
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,560
We better be able to because we're
at the end of the season

549
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:54,200
and this is our only shot.

550
00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,240
OK. Here's hoping. Right here.

551
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:09,800
Now what you do, all right,

552
00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,200
just around the edges. OK.

553
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:14,920
For the McFarlanes,
their entire season

554
00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,440
rests on Gavan's find of an opal
nobby

555
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:19,520
that could be worth thousands.

556
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:21,960
You're probably better off
doing these back here.

557
00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,160
You got more...
OK, yeah. I like the idea.

558
00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:26,840
He's putting faith in his
budding miner daughter,

559
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,880
16-year-old Teagan, to cut away
the outer layer of sandstone.

560
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:32,960
Here you go. Oh, gosh.

561
00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:36,720
You see OK? Yeah. Ah!

562
00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:41,320
So Dad wanted me to, like,
chip at the nobby

563
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:45,080
to get, like, the dirt off it and
see if there was anything in there.

564
00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:47,560
We need to get a little one.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)

565
00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,680
It's been nerve-wracking when you
first do it cos you're like,

566
00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,680
"What happens if it's a big,
expensive one, and you break it?"

567
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,760
A little bit more there.

568
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,400
Yeah, now it's getting
into the opal. Ooh!

569
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:05,080
I feel like if Dad wasn't there,
I would've chopped it right in half.

570
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,200
Yep. Can I take that much?
Yeah, go on if you can.

571
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,080
There you go. Oh, look, there's...

572
00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,840
I mean, you can see it's purple and
blue. Look, in there.

573
00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:18,640
We're gonna give it
a rub so we can see.

574
00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:20,360
Give it a rub and have a look.

575
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,960
Connie's skill at rubbing the stones
on her polishing wheel

576
00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:29,720
will reveal the true value
of the opal, a gem or a dud.

577
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:31,520
So I get to rub the stones.

578
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,920
It's my way of helping,
being part of the team.

579
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,480
There's a lot of sand in it.
Yeah, I know.

580
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:41,520
I'd take it all the way to the
black.

581
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,600
Yeah? Yeah.

582
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,600
It's not quite what we want,
but she's pretty.

583
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:55,480
You can see little bits of purple,
a little bit of green, and...

584
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,960
but I think the sand's definitely
got to the middle of it. Yeah.

585
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:02,440
It's not gonna get us a new roof.
No. No.

586
00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:06,240
The nobby kind of like came out
nice,

587
00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:08,840
but there was sand straight through.

588
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:13,040
The McFarlanes' nobby is
a black opal called "sunflash".

589
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,800
It has no colour bar,
with only specks of floating green.

590
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,640
There are three to four grams
or 15 to 20 carats.

591
00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:23,640
No money in it, sadly. No money.

592
00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:25,720
Heading in the right direction.
OK.

593
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:27,800
We just got to keep it going.
That's right.

594
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:29,840
Colour was in the potch,

595
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,960
and Gavan tells me that
that is what we're looking for.

596
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:34,680
If he keeps on digging where he is

597
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,520
or moves a couple of centimetres
to the left or to the right,

598
00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,600
we might find that elusive opal.

599
00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,760
It just tells me to keep going,
keep trying, keep working.

600
00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:44,640
I guess when I do find it,

601
00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:47,640
I'll be probably doing backflips
and handstands and...

602
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,000
Oh! Up there.

603
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:09,480
Look at that.
We got opal in the wall.

604
00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:11,560
After surviving torrential storms

605
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,000
that threatened
to wash out their claim,

606
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:18,080
the Young Guns have broken through
to a new opal-bearing mine.

607
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,480
Some colour, for sure.
Oh, it keeps going.

608
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,560
This looks good, boys.
Come on.

609
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,880
Keep going. Keep going.

610
00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:27,960
That's the money going in.

611
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,440
Whoa. Oh, that's a big boy.

612
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,160
That's a big one.
That's some red and green.

613
00:37:34,240 --> 00:37:36,520
Boys. I think that's probably it.

614
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:38,600
Our bucket's pretty much full there.

615
00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,080
Let's do some cutting, boys.

616
00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,200
Jaymin's decided that to up the
price

617
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,880
of the opal that we found,
he's gonna cut it.

618
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,920
Jaymin Sullivan has been
learning to cut opals

619
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,080
from his experienced mining father
for the past year.

620
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,240
I'm just going to grab a couple of
stones and clean up the edges

621
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:04,440
and just see, you know,
what opal is beneath.

622
00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:06,720
Using his dad's polishing
and cutting wheels,

623
00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,120
the value of the stones
is now in Jaymin's hands.

624
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:11,840
Every time I touch this bit of opal

625
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,200
to the grinding wheel there,
we're losing money.

626
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:15,880
So we don't want that to happen.

627
00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:17,800
We want to take off
as little as possible.

628
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,840
All the stones we cut right now
are all going to be freeform.

629
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:25,760
Opals can be cut freeform,
which maintains the irregular edges,

630
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,360
or they can be cut
into a calibrated stone,

631
00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:30,560
which has perfect symmetry.

632
00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,560
So if we want to make
a nice calibrated circle,

633
00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:35,960
you would draw with a little pencil
around there.

634
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:38,240
So you'll be able
to just follow your outline.

635
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:40,240
But if you're making something
like that,

636
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,760
that means you're
losing that other beautiful stone.

637
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,600
You've got to decide
if you want to keep it as a freeform

638
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,560
or, you know, you take
more of your opal away

639
00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:51,440
and make something that might sell a
little bit quicker.

640
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,520
So it's always a bit of a gamble.

641
00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:57,680
Look at that. (CHUCKLING)

642
00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:01,040
That's awesome.

643
00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,160
That's that parcel done.

644
00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:06,080
Just got to get a value now
and see what we've actually got.

645
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:10,280
Jaymin has asked local veteran miner

646
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,560
and opal buyer Micah
to value their find.

647
00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:16,000
So these are the opals
I was calling you up about.

648
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:19,080
Hey, man. What do you think, Micah?

649
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:23,520
What weight? Uh, we got about 18
carats.

650
00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:28,400
That one's probably the best one.
Oh, mate, that's beautiful.

651
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:32,800
That's a kingstone there.
That's six or so... Six, right...

652
00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,600
The anticipation is killing me.
Yeah, mate.

653
00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:39,160
Another six and... (MUMBLING)

654
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,240
Mate, I'd say
between seven and eight thousand.

655
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,040
That's fantastic.
Thank you for that, Micah.

656
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:50,360
That's all we needed
to hear, I think.

657
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,160
The Young Guns have found
crystal opal,

658
00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:56,040
featuring the full spectrum of
colours.

659
00:39:56,120 --> 00:40:00,160
It has been cut and polished,
and there's 3.6 grams,

660
00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:03,360
with a top-end value of $8,000.

661
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:10,080
That's like three months of working
our dead-end jobs at home.

662
00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:13,120
(BLEEP) We're opal miners now.

663
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,200
We had problems with flooding.

664
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,680
Everything just seemed to be
against us.

665
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:19,640
The next moment, you just see this
sparkle,

666
00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:21,280
this rainbow behind the wall,

667
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:23,360
and that's what makes it worthwhile.

668
00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:25,600
When you see
that buried treasure underground,

669
00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:27,280
it's just something special.

670
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,440
Right now, I've become completely
adjusted

671
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,200
to the lifestyle of an opal miner.

672
00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:33,360
You know, it's just so rewarding.

673
00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:35,600
You move enough dirt,
you're gonna find opal.

674
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,680
That's just something you can't get
in other jobs. So that's why

675
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:40,840
it's just one of the best jobs
in the world.

676
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:53,080
I just hope we get something
by tonight, it's already...

677
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:56,600
It's already cut the grain going
out.

678
00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:03,120
I just hope it's not for nothing,
you know. Yeah, exactly.

679
00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:05,320
After the worst drought in a decade

680
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,040
destroyed their grain trucking
business,

681
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,760
father and son team
Chris and Oscar Cheal

682
00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:14,360
are banking on their first
truck load of dirt holding opals.

683
00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:16,040
Scott's been kind enough

684
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,320
to let us use the agitator,
so we'll get this in.

685
00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:20,520
The agitator's free this afternoon.

686
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:22,840
Chris and Oscar are going to
put a load through that,

687
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:24,440
just to help him out.

688
00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:26,400
Scott said you see bugger all

689
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,120
when you're digging it,
so let's hope he's right.

690
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,000
Cos we didn't really see much
down there, did we? No.

691
00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:35,160
A converted cement mixer,

692
00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:38,000
the agitator uses
thousands of litres of water

693
00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:42,640
to wash away dirt until all that
remains are rocks and any opal.

694
00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:44,240
Scott's here with his family,

695
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:46,200
and then there's Dad and I,
and a few others.

696
00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:48,800
We could find absolutely nothing.

697
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,080
We could find a million dollars,
you never know.

698
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:54,800
Yeah, it all comes down to money,
doesn't it?

699
00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:57,600
With no money there,
we need to cover the costs,

700
00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,240
or, you know, we don't go ahead.

701
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:05,360
Whatever Chris and Oscar find
will be split 70:30 with Scott,

702
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:08,600
so they'll need to find over
two and a half thousand dollars...

703
00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:10,960
Bunch of the same.
..just to cover their costs.

704
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:26,000
Hey, look at that.

705
00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:29,040
Nice bit of colour in it.

706
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,960
Oh, yeah. That's a good sign.

707
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,760
Oi, Dad, found
a nice bit of colour.

708
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:47,040
You can make a little green bar
in it.

709
00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:53,080
Hey, check that out. Could be the
colour, nice, big nobby.

710
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,080
Oh, hey, it's going on, eh?

711
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:01,440
A little bit of red down and it's on
black. Ah, it's bloody good.

712
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,320
The Cheals have found crystal opal,

713
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,960
green and blue, with some of it
on a valuable black base.

714
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:11,440
In the rough,
there are 20 grams of it.

715
00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:16,520
Some good colour here. Nice little
pea nobbies, nice bright colour.

716
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,840
In the rough, at a guess, two grand.

717
00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,160
Their $1,400-share won't cover costs,

718
00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:26,200
but it's the sign
the father and son team need.

719
00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:29,640
There was a bit of colour there,
so it's given me a bit of spark.

720
00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:33,200
We'll certainly put the digger down
and rip some more dirt out.

721
00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:35,560
Yeah, I'm really confident.
Hopefully, you know,

722
00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:38,600
it leads us in the right way
that we can hit a massive pocket.

723
00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:41,720
He's been great, Oscar. Just being
able to teach him a few things

724
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:44,920
and just getting time with him,
I mean, he's great to have around.

725
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:52,880
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725
00:43:53,305 --> 00:44:53,208
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