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On Outback Opal Hunters...

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Maybe there's good opals just there if we can get the excavator through.

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Col Duff reunites with partner Greg and pilot Stoney,

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in one last push to find opal before summer heat ends the season.

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It looks like she's running hot.

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Maybe the motor's getting sick. I don't know.

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I think that bucket's stuck.

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Cos it's so hot, it's not got the cooling power

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to get it over the top once it heats up.

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The Cheals struggle with the extremes of the Outback...

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Our steering  itself smashed. Very frustrating.

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..threatening the final days of their season.

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We just didn't need this today, you know?

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If they've left their tools here, they're coming back here.

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After weeks of poachers threatening his livelihood...

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A pick handle ain't much good against a shotgun.

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..bushman Rod Manning battles to drive out thieves from his mine.

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Hey, you thieving ! You better run!

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Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE
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This year's been, er... Doing a lot of solo missions.

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Prospecting, looking at new country.

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You just gotta be extra careful when you're by yourself.

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If you hurt yourself, erm, you got no one to help you.

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There's no room for error.

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It's the final sweltering weeks of the opal season

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in Australia's hottest year on record.

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Unworkable temperatures of 47 degrees Celsius are about to hit.

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The clock's ticking. There's places to go and I'm not there yet.

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I've still got to dig a bit of ground.

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I definitely need a payday. This car's having a bit of trouble.

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It'd be good to find five grand, get a set of teeth

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so I got a smile again and can eat steak.

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It's good when you got a good crew, you know.

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It's a hard job to do by yourself.

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In some ways, it's nearly impossible.

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Hey, how are you? Fine. Good, man, how you going?

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Good to see you today. How are ya? Good to see you.

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After downing mining tools for most of the season,

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opal hunter Greg Geran, and his sister Margie,

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are back to join forces with Col.

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I had a bit of a late start to the year

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cos I had a pretty hard run last year.

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Had about five months off, cut a heap of opal,

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now it's time to go digging.

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Oh, look at that.

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Queensland boulder Opal, mate. Not bad, eh?

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Last season saw the end of a successful mining run

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with former partner, Aaron Grotjahn.

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I don't know. You don't know much, do you?

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People change when opal comes.

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There was a bit of a disagreement,

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and he told me to get  off his lease,

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and that's exactly what I've done.

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Can you see that line there? This is from the seismic data. Yeah.

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Greg and Col have teamed up to dig on a huge

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ten square kilometre exploration permit, The Knob.

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We have an exploration permit here of four sub blocks.

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And by the end of the year, we need to drop two off,

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so, we're gonna go to a few places and dig 'em

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to see if it's viable to put leases down.

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It's worth having a try here,

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because we know opal has come out in this area

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by a few different parties that have dug it.

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They have less than a week before summer temperatures end their season,

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and they're forced to abandon their mission

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to discover signs of new opal ground.

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Might be a few hard lumps in amongst there.

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You got a big excavator, we can only give it a try.

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While Greg has the big machinery to dig,

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he's relying on Col's expertise to pin-point opal.

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It's been a while since I worked with Col.

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He is a professor of opal.

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He's been studying mapping and imagery

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for the last 25 years that I know of.

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And he's getting close to hitting the nail right on the head.

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Greg's sister, opal dealer, Margie,

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will sell whatever boulder opal they find,

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worth up to $20,000 a gram.

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When you've got bills to pay and everything else,

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that's the sort of stuff you wanna have.

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But got a bit of ground to get through before we get there.

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Critical to giving the team a competitive edge

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is an eye in the sky.

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Completing the team, helicopter cattle musterer

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and opal miner, Stoney Cain.

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Cobber. You getting in? Seatbelt on.

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I've been mustering cattle in a helicopter

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for 19 years now or something.

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But I'm sort of bloody over it, eh.

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It's dangerous, and not only that, but I got a little boy now.

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He's about two.

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They're asleep in the morning when you go to work and when you get home

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All right, Dad's gotta go to work. No. No?

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And they gotta grow up without you. You don't get much of a family life.

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Have a good day.

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He'll be back.

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I wouldn't mind kicking back a bit on the flying, doing a bit less,

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and doing a bit more opal mining.

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I've been mining with Greg for six or seven years.

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And over the years, I've taught myself

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to read the ground from the helicopter.

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You need the faults

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and changes in the ground for the opal to form.

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That sort of gives you an idea to go have a look.

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When you break that rock and it's full of colour,

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it's an amazing rush, it's hard to explain.

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This mark here is a big fault that's marked on the seismic survey.

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And that's why the opal's there. It's the underlying feeder.

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I reckon it looks good ground. Let's go and get some opal, mate.

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Stoney's first task is to help Col locate fault lines,

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where millions of years ago, ground water deposited silica

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in ironstone rock, forming opal.

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Yeah. That looks good, buddy.

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Cos of the drought, we've been getting bloody terrible dust storms.

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We got a real bad one last night about 12 o'clock.

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Everything's covered in dust today.

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Makes a mess, you can hardly breathe.

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Bushman Rod Manning is racing to reach his season target

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in the final scorching days of the mining season.

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It's  the heat, because yesterday was nearly 50.

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When you get that layer of dust, it traps the heat in.

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So, it just makes it real humid and real bloody hot.

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And it just  everything up.

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Even tougher, Rod is without mining partner, Les.

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What's that?

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Les is away getting us a bogger.

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A bogger's like a little front end loader

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that we use underground to move dirt.

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A mate of ours has got one for sale.

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It needs a little bit of work. So, he'll do that down there,

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if he decides to buy it.

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How are you? Hey, doll. How was your trip?

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Good. Yeah? Yeah.

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So, yeah, I got the mail from the Mines Department.

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Dodgy's is up for renewal. Oh, yeah?

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How much is it? $350. Ooh.

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With the claims, you gotta renew them every year.

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So, every year, they're gonna cost you 350 bucks.

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I kept the claim because we got real good money out of there.

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We had a break from it, then when we went to go back to it,

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that's when we discovered the ratters.

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When the ratters went in there, they made it unsafe.

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Ratters are opal thieves

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that illegally mine on claims they don't own.

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Where the ratters got in, it's not safe.

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We can't work down there,

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but there's a bit of solid ground we might be able to work in.

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OK. I'll go and have a look, and see what's happening, all right?

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OK. Night.

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You can't just keep paying renewal year after year after year.

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So, I've gotta make up my mind, and if we're gonna work it,

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we'll go and work it, and if we're not gonna go and work it, then I'll hand it in.

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Choosing which mine to keep is a gamble with serious consequences.

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Let the wrong one go,

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and Rod could be forfeiting a fortune in opals.

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Stay there, Nige.

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Well, hello.

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This is not us.

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We didn't do this. This is ratters. This is all ratters here.

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Jesus! They're unbelievable. Look at that.

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Little pile of potch they've left there.

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They could've left me some bloody colour.

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If they've left their tools here, they're fairly certain

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that I'm not coming back here and they are.

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So, we might have to do something about that.

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We're just gonna dig out in there.

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We got opal in the floor. That's why we're taking the floor.

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In Lightning Ridge, Chris Cheal and 18-year-old son, Oscar,

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are also pushing hard before the mining season is shut down

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by unworkable 47-degree summer temperatures.

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Hoping that we can get a full load before it gets too hot.

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We've moved into our last week here.

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I guess the main objective for this week is

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prove this claim is worthy of digging

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and if it's still carrying a lot of opal,

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we're gonna come in here, and rip it all out.

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That's the bogger. Scoop it again.

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You dig on a digger, obviously, there's a lot of dirt lying around.

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So, it comes in, scoops it all up.

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Chucks it in here and then you back her into the bucket,

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pull it off and she goes straight up into truck.

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We've been loading the bucket up. It hadn't come back down.

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Looked up and it was stuck, so... We don't know why.

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With a busted hoist, there's no way

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of getting opal-rich dirt out of the mine.

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Chris has returned to opal mining at the end of the season,

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after a crippling three-year drought destroyed his trucking business.

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I don't know if there's many other industries that you can go into

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and go to work one morning and come home that afternoon

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and be set up for the rest of your life.

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Leasing a claim and taking a 70% cut of any opal found,

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the Cheals made a dream start...

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Oh, that's beautiful.

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..finding $20,000 worth of black opal.

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Just given me a little bit extra that I can put back into gear too,

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which is good.

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We've only got a week left here,

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so we just decided we'd set the bogger and the super hoist up,

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and not mess around, just get into it.

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My main priority next year

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is being able to put myself through uni and college.

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That's why I'm out here opal mining.

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This definitely could be life-changing.

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One day, you could have nothing, next day you could be a millionaire.

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Joining the team is long-time family friend,

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19-year-old Farren Lamb.

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Farren, I treat him like a son,

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he's been part of our family for a lot of years now.

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Years ago, he got suspended from school,

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so, he just mined with me for the week,

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and I actually was really impressed with the way he worked.

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So, it would be good to have him here for the week.

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And it'll take the pressure off Oscar himself a bit.

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My mum lives in Goodooga, like, 70Ks away from here.

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There's not much work out there for me,

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so, Chris is trying to help me a bit for work.

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He's like another brother or friend, pretty much a dad.

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If we were to hit a really good pocket

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or a really good run of opal this week,

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with the boys working with me,

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it'll take the pressure off us that bit more,

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and that'd be a dream come true.

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But with struggling equipment, exposed to the scorching sun...

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Bucket's stuck, he's up there checking it out now.

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Hopefully, he can work it out, we can keep digging.

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..their season could be over.

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That's a hydraulic reservoir. Cos it's so hot,

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the oil's heating up. It's not got the cooling power

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to get it over the top once it heats up.

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If the pump gives out, it's game over.

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I got the map Col put on me iPad,

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and we can see where the coordinates are to go to.

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Yeah, there is hard ground here, but I think we'll handle it.

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We'll be able to rip that hard stuff with the machines,

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we just gotta dig in the right place.

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Greg's excavator has crawled three kilometres in two hours

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to the site identified by mining partners Stoney and Col.

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This is really interesting looking ground.

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You can see the different layers.

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This sort of stuff here on the top is fairly hard,

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and suddenly there's a bit of a level there of clay,

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and there's some rocks.

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Those rocks had a bit of opal in them.

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Clock's ticking, if it's a good place, we put a lease on it.

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That's what we want.

246
00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,200
The team have less than a week to secure a claim on the permit

247
00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,000
before they lose access to the land.

248
00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:59,360
But it's only worth it if they can find a rich pocket of opal.

249
00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:02,600
All the signs are there, you'd be mad not to have a go here.

250
00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:07,440
Greg's excavator is able to move one tonne of dirt in a single bucket,

251
00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,520
vital in the search for the ironstone rocks that hold the opal.

252
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:13,960
While you've got a good chunk of that level,

253
00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,040
we'll just see if there's any rocks.

254
00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,000
This is what we're looking for. They're opal tracks.

255
00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,840
Basically, these rocks are hidden in that level.

256
00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,720
So, we're gonna be real careful and check it really well.

257
00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,000
I'm gonna have to check the oil, I think.

258
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,480
I'm down on oil pressure and temperature's up, Stoney.

259
00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,520
In the 40-plus degree heat,

260
00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,520
Greg's 40-year-old excavator is beginning to feel the strain.

261
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:52,080
It looks like she's running a bit hot, I better turn her off.

262
00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,200
Eh.

263
00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:57,720
Might not be a good thing at all.

264
00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,560
Bloody hell. I can't see any oil dripping.

265
00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,960
Hey, she got nothing on the stick. Oh.

266
00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,320
Maybe the motor's getting sick, I don't know.

267
00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,280
You got any oil?

268
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,320
I don't think I've got any at the camp.

269
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:14,400
I'll go and see what I can find, boys.

270
00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,800
We bloody hit a bit of drama, we're out of oil.

271
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,720
We are in the bloody middle of nowhere here.

272
00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:26,280
The nearest town is 130 kilometres away.

273
00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,280
It's two-and-a-half, three-hour trip at least to go to town, and get some oil.

274
00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,760
I'll just jump on the two-way, give a couple of local farmers a call.

275
00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,120
A veteran of 20 years mustering cattle,

276
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,000
Stoney has worked many of the farms in the region.

277
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,920
We only got a few days to dig. Hopefully, somebody's got

278
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,600
a spare 20 litres of oil that we can borrow.

279
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,400
We've invested thousands of dollars

280
00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,840
and a lot of blood, sweat and tears into it.

281
00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,760
Then  come down, and in one night,

282
00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,960
take what you've been working for months for.

283
00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:20,440
Battling ratter thieves, and without partner Les to watch his back,

284
00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:25,240
Rod Manning's deciding whether to renew his dangerous Dodgy's claim.

285
00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:31,680
Dodgy's was a good mine, a lot of money's come out of there.

286
00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,040
There's still money in there, but where,

287
00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,040
potentially, there's good money I can't get into.

288
00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:42,000
Ratters have taken too much column out and I've got too wide a space.

289
00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:44,640
Even if I tried to work here, I'd have to put 20 or 30

290
00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,440
bloody props in the hole, strong possibility of collapse.

291
00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:51,360
So, I think I might get the bloody hell out of here,

292
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,800
and go up where they were scratching around up there

293
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,200
in the safer stuff, cos this is way unsafe.

294
00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,280
I do not like even being down here.

295
00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,520
This is where the ratters have been scratching around.

296
00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,880
They've been scratching around here, so I guess I'll have a look here

297
00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:10,400
and just see.

298
00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,240
Potch absolutely everywhere.

299
00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:15,520
This here...

300
00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:17,080
That's all opal.

301
00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,120
Not coloured, of course.

302
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,440
If this is all full of colour, every stone that falls down there

303
00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:29,040
is probably worth between $3,000 and $20,000.

304
00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:32,320
So, in 30 seconds, I can have...

305
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:36,080
..a couple of hundred thousand dollars in me hand.

306
00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,640
Good potch. Where's the colour?

307
00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:47,200
You're not gonna have ratters unless you've got colour.

308
00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,960
I think what I'll do is come back down with a jackhammer.

309
00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,600
And I'll have a bit of a dig here, and just see what it looks like.

310
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,080
They've showed me the way there, haven't they?

311
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:06,680
I think it might be the oil.

312
00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,120
It was definitely the oil wasn't letting it come up in the first place.

313
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:15,160
45-degree heat has caused the Cheals' bucket hoist to fail,

314
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:20,200
the only way of getting opal dirt out of their 13-metre deep mine.

315
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,840
The oil's too hot, we started too late in the day.

316
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,960
We gotta be starting earlier, getting out here earlier.

317
00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,560
Getting the load over and done with, no messing around.

318
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:31,640
I'm just gonna try to cool 'em down.

319
00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:33,800
We might be able to get the last two buckets on.

320
00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,240
The heat has thinned the hydraulic oil,

321
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,160
reducing pressure in the hoist's pump.

322
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,440
A quick fix is ice-cold water on a rag,

323
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,880
to cool the oil and increase its thickness.

324
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:48,640
When I start this, hoist up again.

325
00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,800
And I want you to hit the up button and see if she'll get over.

326
00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:54,680
Righto. Righto, give it a go!

327
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,560
While it's back in action, the hoist could fail at any moment,

328
00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:15,360
leaving Chris with no way to find opal to pay off business debts.

329
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:25,880
We've been getting our opal down deep,

330
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,480
so, we'll take a bit more floor out and have a look.

331
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,120
Not too happy with the amount of dust coming out of the face.

332
00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,920
Just bad for your lungs.

333
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,480
Dirt's real hard in the corner here. And it's too dusty.

334
00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,280
I can't extract the dust out, cos I haven't had a chance

335
00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:49,280
to put a ventilation shaft down.

336
00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:52,960
So, if I keep digging here, it's gonna fill my lungs with dust,

337
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,600
and that's no good cos you end up with silicosis.

338
00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:01,600
Silicosis is chronic lung disease caused by inhaling silica particles,

339
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,320
a primary mineral in opal creation.

340
00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:08,840
I'm just gonna pull up on this, and we're gonna go straight in there

341
00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,520
where it's softer and it's not as dusty.

342
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,880
When we got that really good find, we were just two or three feet from this wall.

343
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,440
We were seeing gems everywhere.

344
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,840
Decided to head this way. See if it's carrying on that level.

345
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,120
We put props up to reinforce the roof,

346
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,200
so make sure it doesn't fall down.

347
00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:27,480
If you go straight in there and start digging it out,

348
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,880
eventually it'll fall down, so you put them up to avoid cave-ins,

349
00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,560
bits of rocks falling down and hitting you, cos it's too dangerous.

350
00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:36,560
Chainsaw.

351
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,600
And lead.

352
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:41,480
240 volt lead, please. Where's the leads?

353
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,560
Come on, boys. You gotta get with it.

354
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:55,680
We need that one out of the way.

355
00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:00,760
Can you put that cap in? All right. Just grab that little hammer.

356
00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:02,840
It'll be on the chair, Oscar.

357
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,960
Doesn't take long to put a couple of props in and make it safe.

358
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,760
You gotta support the roof, cos if it comes in, you're not getting out.

359
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,000
We should be able to load this truck pretty quick.

360
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,280
If the hoist stops, that's the end of our dig,

361
00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:27,160
so we just wanna concentrate on getting this load out before it gets too hot.

362
00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,840
In this really tight space, I've gotta be careful of the wires.

363
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,040
Last thing we want, being so cramped for room...

364
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:39,800
Last thing we want is me reversing over the wires, ripping it all up.

365
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:41,880
Yeah, that'd put us back for days.

366
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,440
Hopefully, there's a few gems in there, and, you know...

367
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:55,720
Hopefully, it covers the cost,

368
00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,160
but then, obviously,

369
00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,520
you want a good pot of money out of that, but we'll just see.

370
00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,960
I think there'll be money there, I just don't know how much.

371
00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,080
Bucket's starting to play up again,

372
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,440
and I think now it's starting to heat up.

373
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:17,000
Midday, and the mercury's hitting 47 degrees.

374
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:21,240
Too hot to mine. Couple of beers, we'll tail out.

375
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,200
And I'll see we got at the end of the day.

376
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,720
They still need to transport the mine dirt 40 kilometres

377
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,400
to their agitator, to be washed, and examined for opal.

378
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:36,000
Pull up, boys, I think it's a tie rod.

379
00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,480
So, we dropped a tie rod end

380
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,160
on our beautiful roads that we got here at the moment.

381
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:54,680
We just didn't need this today, you know?

382
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,640
We've decreased our chances of actually finding opal

383
00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:00,400
by the end of the week. I'm frustrated.

384
00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,560
Travelling at 180 kilometres per hour,

385
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:25,000
Stoney's desperately hunting for engine oil on Weona cattle station.

386
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:28,520
It is a bit of a wiry machine,

387
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,200
it did get a bit hot, and oil pressure was dropping.

388
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,680
This machine does use oil, it's not a new machine.

389
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,640
The team urgently need oil for their excavator,

390
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,040
to continue digging for signs of opal

391
00:23:40,120 --> 00:23:43,160
on land they will lose access to in a week's time.

392
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:45,600
Got the clock ticking, we've only got so long

393
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,480
and then it's someone else's go.

394
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,960
Nothing worse than dripping oil, blow a hose or get a pinhole in it.

395
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,840
You're always putting oil in it, it all costs money.

396
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,400
Bloody bit of local knowledge, luckily. Bloody...

397
00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,560
Frank and Paula Weona helped us out. I do a bit of work for 'em.

398
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,680
I thought he might have a bit of oil sitting around, so it's good.

399
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,840
The 20 litres of oil will give the team another day of digging.

400
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:44,360
But soon, extreme summer temperatures will shut down all work.

401
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,480
Sounds like he's coming, Col. Bit of luck he's got the oil. Yeah.

402
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,840
No worries. No worries, mate.

403
00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:58,720
OK.

404
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,960
She's right, Col, we can make a start.

405
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:07,520
Cool.

406
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,640
They're searching for good opal colour,

407
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,840
from blues and greens to the rarest and most valuable, red.

408
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,720
We've just run into a little family here of rocks.

409
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,040
This one here come off the end of this one here. Have a look at this.

410
00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,600
See if we can sneak a tooth behind here, pop that whole trunk out.

411
00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,720
Hopefully, it'll come out and that will be sitting on top of it.

412
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,280
There we go. Beautiful.

413
00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:44,600
This is sandstone and this is clay.

414
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,880
And the rocks are stuck up against the sandstone.

415
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,520
So, we've gotta try and separate without hurting them.

416
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:06,880
Gone a bit bloody boring here, mate.

417
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:08,800
We haven't seen any colour for a bit.

418
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,440
And it's getting a bit hot. Hammer's getting heavy.

419
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,280
Decent colour. Look at that one.

420
00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:23,880
That's nice and bright. Bloody hell.

421
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,400
Yeah. Nice bit of blue-green, nice and thick, too.

422
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,720
So, maybe, there'll be more stuff as we go in, I reckon.

423
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,520
Off we go. They're all here. Right along there. Look at that.

424
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,600
Quite a big nest, eh? Yeah, yeah.

425
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:39,440
Oh, here we go.

426
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,040
I'm getting excited.

427
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,800
Wow, check that out, boys.

428
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:54,360
Whoa-ho! Look at this nice colour.

429
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,080
There's some little stones there.

430
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,200
Oi, look at this, fellas. Oh.

431
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,040
Bloody hell. Oh, it's red.

432
00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:06,920
Red! Yeah! Red, mate, look at that.

433
00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,400
There you go, that's how it happens. Oh, flashes to green one way.

434
00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,480
One way green, one way red.

435
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:14,880
That's a kingstone, mate. That is a kingstone.

436
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:16,960
That's bloody beautiful. That's a gem.

437
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,360
Oh, looks pretty! It is red.

438
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,920
That is very good colour. That is beautiful.

439
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,000
That shows what this place is capable of.

440
00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,360
Yesterday, I found a few little bits of trace.

441
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,240
I'm just gonna drop some cables down there now,

442
00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,040
get a jackhammer and some lights down there.

443
00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:52,440
Have a bit of a dig and just see what it looks like.

444
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:58,280
At Dodgy's, Rod faces a $350 lease renewal fee.

445
00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:02,840
Still short of his season target, he needs to prove it's worth keeping.

446
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,760
Now, you stay. Stay.

447
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,920
When you're doing it tough, that's hard money to come up with.

448
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,880
I've gotta sort of figure out if it's worth hanging on to.

449
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:19,040
Complicating matters, ratters have been stealing opal from the mine.

450
00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:22,240
This is where they left that little bit of potch for me, so...

451
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,760
Hook in, I guess.

452
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:36,840
Where's the colour?

453
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,400
Some bloody junky ratter got it, I guess.

454
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,720
Look at that. They missed a bit. That's nice colour.

455
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,160
And that's obviously why they've been digging here.

456
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,080
That's enough to get the old heart beating quicker, I reckon.

457
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:58,040
It's a nice colour, I think we're gonna keep it.

458
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:00,960
That's enough to get me excited.

459
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:03,680
I think we'll keep it, we'll renew the lease.

460
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,560
You can always guarantee if you got ratters in a mine,

461
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:08,640
you've got colour in the mine.

462
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:16,520
These weren't here yesterday.

463
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,840
These definitely weren't here yesterday, and neither was this.

464
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,280
See, that's fresh.

465
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,480
Someone's been down here last night cos that wasn't there yesterday.

466
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,800
Cos we were in here, I would have saw it.

467
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:36,240
Last night, they were here. The only way to stop them

468
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,760
is to be here when they are here, so I'm coming back tonight, stuff 'em.

469
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,640
Well, the ratters are active. They're about.

470
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,480
All I can do is go out to the claim and find myself a box tree

471
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,440
to sit underneath and wait, and see if they turn up or not.

472
00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:58,360
Let's do this.

473
00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:02,800
With partner Les still away, Rod's staking out the claim alone.

474
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,280
The way I gotta do it is get out there,

475
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:07,760
hide this away in the scrub a little bit,

476
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,480
just find a tree and sit underneath the tree and wait.

477
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,320
Can't have any lights or anything on.

478
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,920
I gotta be a bit smart, a bit careful.

479
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:19,840
A pick handle ain't much good against a shotgun.

480
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,520
They won't see us from here, I don't think.

481
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,480
You don't know whether they're going to turn up.

482
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,240
You don't know whether it's one bloke or four blokes.

483
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:37,320
You don't know whether they've got guns.

484
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:40,800
You just have to wait and see what happens.

485
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:43,560
I'd sooner cop a flogging

486
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,960
than let someone steal off me.

487
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:51,600
I've copped floggings before. You heal, you'll get over em.

488
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:55,000
But you don't heal or get over being a dog,

489
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,520
and laying down and letting people walk all over you.

490
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:09,560
Hello, here we go.

491
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:12,560
They're there. Look.

492
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,760
Nah! I think that's just one of the boys going home from the pub.

493
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,560
I think we might put that one down to a false alarm.

494
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,040
Ooh, that sounds like a car.

495
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:39,720
Yeah, this is it. Righto.

496
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,000
This is it, fellas. This is it.

497
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:53,560
Hey, you thieving ! Better run!

498
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:57,400
You, mate! Oi, oi, squitter!

499
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:00,680
I saw ya!

500
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,480
Don't rush, cos I know who you are.

501
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:07,560
He's just a little  grub.

502
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,440
I can pay him a visit.

503
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:13,440
That's the end of our ratter problem.

504
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:23,720
To secure Dodgy's claim, Rod needs to sell the opal he found

505
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,000
to help pay for the $350 renewal fee.

506
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,440
Whenever I get some reasonable stones

507
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,080
that are only little and don't cost much money,

508
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,160
I run 'em down to Sandra. She's very easy to deal with.

509
00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,600
You home, Sandra? Come on in.

510
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,000
I've got something for ya. Oh, beauty.

511
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,240
I've been waiting, I need a little bit of extra.

512
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:48,680
They're not spectacular, but I think you might be able to do something with them.

513
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,480
Yep. There's a couple of them.

514
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:55,240
There's a couple of little ones you can do something with. Yeah, that one I can. Definitely.

515
00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,400
You'll get a couple of rings out 'em and maybe a pendant.

516
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:00,280
That's a nice one.

517
00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,480
That should come up actually quite nice. Yeah.

518
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,000
What are you looking at for the whole lot?

519
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:09,560
Oh, I don't know, Sandra. I reckon, to you, $300.

520
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,640
A bit of work in that one.

521
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:14,440
Hm, $300?

522
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,440
What do you wanna give me?

523
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,280
I reckon about $250. $250?

524
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,200
Well, I say it's fair, $250.

525
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:25,360
That will do me. I'm happy with that.

526
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:28,080
$250 is done. Good on ya, Sandra. Thank you very much.

527
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,240
Yeah, I'll even chuck a tin in.

528
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,000
With $250 from the sale,

529
00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,080
Rod has enough money to renew the lease on the mine.

530
00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:42,160
I'm pretty happy, to tell you the truth.

531
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:45,040
Old Les is away, so he's missed out

532
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,880
on a bit of bloody excitement and a bit of fun.

533
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,080
But with us renewing the lease and going back there to work...

534
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:54,960
To get that bit of colour, I didn't do very much digging at all.

535
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:56,960
So another good sign.

536
00:33:57,040 --> 00:34:00,120
Hold on! Where are we going?

537
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:05,360
How flash is that, eh?

538
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:07,520
Wow! I know how to treat a girl.

539
00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,360
This looks good. That's beautiful.

540
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:13,800
Love you. Love you, too.

541
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,600
Best wife I've ever had.

542
00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,200
It's smashed. I'll have to try him later.

543
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:35,240
Very frustrating.

544
00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:38,880
On the penultimate day of their mining season,

545
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:40,680
the Cheals' truck,

546
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:43,960
full of potentially opal-bearing dirt, is busted.

547
00:34:48,720 --> 00:34:50,520
She snapped off.

548
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:53,880
The nearest town for a new tie rod end

549
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,120
is Walgett, 80 kilometres away.

550
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:59,440
But first, Chris has to get the broken one off.

551
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:06,040
That's not coming out. That's not gonna in a hurry.

552
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:08,680
So me brother's trying to track one down in Walgett.

553
00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:13,480
He said he will come up, give us a hand to get it out.

554
00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:15,560
This is what he does, you know.

555
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:18,360
He fixes trucks and tractors and whatever else.

556
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,240
He's a pretty handy mechanic.

557
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:23,640
How are you going, brother? Good. Thanks for coming up.

558
00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:25,720
Uncle Jeffo just arrived.

559
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:27,840
He's got a new tie bar, crowbar, everything.

560
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,640
We'll try to get the old one off. We had a bit of trouble earlier.

561
00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:33,640
But he's the expert, so he can hopefully sort something out.

562
00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:36,560
And then we'll get the new one on and hopefully get going.

563
00:35:42,720 --> 00:35:46,320
It's off now. We drop this one out and snap the other one.

564
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:50,800
Getting this out here, so we'll take this back to the workshop,

565
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:53,120
undo 'em down there, and fix it all up.

566
00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:55,800
Frustrating, but we'll just try and get back tonight

567
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:57,880
and get it finished off.

568
00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:06,720
The Cheals return from Walgett

569
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,520
with the parts they need to fix the truck.

570
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,000
I'll need one of you on one side to hold it up.

571
00:36:13,080 --> 00:36:15,800
Keep it out of the dirt. We'll start the truck.

572
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,000
I'll get someone in on the steering wheel.

573
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:25,800
Just go right hand down. Just slow. Turn.

574
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:28,360
Turn.

575
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:31,360
Whoa! Whoa!

576
00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:36,480
Good days.

577
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,160
We got it on. Only took a few minutes. Still got light.

578
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:44,320
Righto. Pack that up.

579
00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,840
Yeah, I am happy. Let's just hope...

580
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,320
we have a good, smooth day tomorrow, you know?

581
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:59,480
With the truck fixed, the Cheals can finally deliver the 15 tonnes of dirt

582
00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:03,920
and with it, the hope of Chris being able to pay off crippling debt.

583
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:08,600
We're here, just about to start our last tail out of the season.

584
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:12,400
We had that breakdown yesterday which wrecked the whole day for us.

585
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:14,040
We were all very disappointed.

586
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:16,040
Hopefully, we can finish the season on a high.

587
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:20,280
The agitator, a giant, water-filled rotating drum,

588
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:24,160
strips dirt from the sandstone, revealing any opal.

589
00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:27,080
For us three to find opal together would be pretty special

590
00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:29,160
so hopefully that's the case.

591
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,440
Geez, look at that colour. Ah.

592
00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:40,840
I got him. That is bright.

593
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,320
Holy... Look at the colour in that.

594
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:46,960
That's nice, eh?

595
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:51,480
Yeah, just started picking up really, really nice colour,

596
00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:54,960
so, yeah, it's looking good, it's a good start.

597
00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:57,400
Blue-purple stone.

598
00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,480
Check that one out. Oh.

599
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:01,080
Nice colour on black, too.

600
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,920
That's a nice colour. Oh!

601
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:08,480
Look at that. They're OK. See that one?

602
00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,000
Got one, Oscar, look at that one.

603
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:12,640
Yeah, that's bright.

604
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,200
Could cut a decent stone out of that, it's flashy.

605
00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:19,120
I think we got another little payday there.

606
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:20,480
Fella.

607
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:22,760
Guys.

608
00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:24,840
My man.

609
00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:28,000
The Cheals have found black opal,

610
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:32,400
predominantly blue-green, with flashes of red and yellow.

611
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,840
It's in the rough, and there's an estimated 200 grams.

612
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,360
Fair bit of material.

613
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:41,240
What do you reckon, how much?

614
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,160
There's definitely five grand in the rough there.

615
00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:48,800
And if a few of these rub up, we'll get ten grand.

616
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:50,800
We'll get ten grand for it. Yeah, I reckon.

617
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:53,640
After a basic polish,

618
00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:57,600
the Cheals have an estimated $10,000 worth of opal.

619
00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:01,080
Their 70% share brings their season total

620
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,400
to $29,400.

621
00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,760
The prospects are a lot better going into next year

622
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,280
than what they were at the start of it for me, that's for sure.

623
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:13,000
When we got that bit of opal, I felt the weight of the world lifting off me,

624
00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,440
because I knew it allowed me to just breathe a bit easier.

625
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,920
I had cost going out. Pressure came off me in that instant, really.

626
00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:23,880
I feel proud. Dad never really asked, though.

627
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,920
He asked me to come up here and give him a hand

628
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:28,400
and got it done.

629
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:30,000
We're happy as can be now.

630
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,080
Finding over 20 grand, it definitely helps me next year,

631
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:39,560
there's a lot of expenses with uni and college, and just living in Sydney and stuff next year.

632
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,760
In all the breaks we get, I'll be out here giving him a hand,

633
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:45,920
cos I love it, he loves it, it's good to do it together.

634
00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,320
I'm really happy. It was a good end of the season,

635
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:52,440
knowing I've got country that's worthwhile digging in front of me.

636
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:54,520
We'll be back next year.

637
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:04,920
If I can't see any colour, I'll throw it there.

638
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,920
If I see some colour, I throw it here. Right. Yeah.

639
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,840
Col, Greg and Stoney are about to lose

640
00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:14,080
access to land on their exploration permit.

641
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:16,760
They want to be convinced the site has potential

642
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:18,680
for high-end boulder opal.

643
00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:21,840
Ah, yeah. This is a six-inch trim saw.

644
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:24,560
Very thin blade. Very good for cutting opal.

645
00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:29,080
What do you reckon, this one, eh? Yeah, get into them, I reckon.

646
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,560
What they find in these ironstone rocks

647
00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:33,640
will decide if they stake a claim

648
00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:36,600
and start a bigger operation next season,

649
00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:40,760
or abandon it, wasting four days' mining and thousands of dollars.

650
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:43,360
Let the saw answer your questions.

651
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:45,440
And some do and some don't.

652
00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:46,960
I'll do this one.

653
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:53,840
Greg's had 40 years cutting experience.

654
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:57,240
But one slip of the saw could destroy the opal.

655
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:04,360
Oh, there we go.

656
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:07,760
That's a weight. That's what we're looking for, boys.

657
00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:09,840
Ooh, look at that.

658
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:11,960
Yeah, big chunks. Nice colour.

659
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:14,240
Bloody nice. Good stuff.

660
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:19,000
See how this one looks, Greg. Yeah.

661
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:23,040
This one's kingstone. It's the best quality opal.

662
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:26,040
Hopefully, it runs in here, and it'll be good.

663
00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:29,400
I hope we pick it up on the first cut.

664
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:33,480
The kingstone shows rare red opal on the face.

665
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:38,160
If it continues inside, it could be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

666
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:42,000
Let's see if there's something there.

667
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:45,320
No, it didn't run there. Ah!

668
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:50,560
When I sawed it, the first saw cut didn't show any more opal.

669
00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:56,280
Greg tries a second cut straight through the middle of the stone.

670
00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:58,360
We're getting close.

671
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:00,960
Won't be long.

672
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:04,520
Here we go. Here we go.

673
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,320
That's runnin'. Runnin'!

674
00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:13,480
Runnin'! Goes from side to side.

675
00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:17,440
The most beautiful colour inside. I can see it now, yeah.

676
00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:20,120
That's definitely one chunky stone.

677
00:42:21,760 --> 00:42:25,280
That's what it's all about, eh? Yeah. Meant to be, Stoney.

678
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:27,600
She's worth a few bucks. Don't worry about that.

679
00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:31,040
Definitely. That gives hope. We must keep digging.

680
00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:34,800
They have high quality boulder opal,

681
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:39,640
ranging from prized red through to mid-value blues and greens.

682
00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:42,920
It's been sawn, and there's five kilograms.

683
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:46,360
Potentially, between those two bits, there could be, like, ten grand.

684
00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:48,960
Yeah. And then the other stuff that's with it,

685
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,040
I'm thinking around 15 plus.

686
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:54,360
We definitely didn't dig a dud. There's more to dig.

687
00:42:54,440 --> 00:42:58,360
With an estimated value of over $15,000,

688
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:01,360
this opal find is the proof the team need

689
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,400
to stake a claim, and together, set up a mine.

690
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:07,960
It's great to know that area's producing that material.

691
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:11,960
Good commercial stuff as well. A lot more gems to come yet.

692
00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:15,480
Good on you, Greggy. It was a pleasure. I enjoyed it.

693
00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:17,720
Off to a good start. Good on ya. Good on ya.

694
00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:21,480
Yeah, no, it looks good, eh?

695
00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:23,560
You can't not be happy with that.

696
00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:27,200
That ground is doing all the things that it should do to produce Opal.

697
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:30,320
It's been great working with the team.

698
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:32,400
I've got a good feeling about this one.

699
00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:34,480
Things are coming together for a reason.

700
00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:37,520
And that's so we can find some opal, and be successful.

701
00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:41,520
It's already paid off. I think, in time,

702
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:44,160
we'll find a lot more of that type of material.

703
00:43:44,240 --> 00:43:47,880
We are off to a very good start. Opal will flow.

703
00:43:48,305 --> 00:44:48,464
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