"Outback Opal Hunters" Episode #4.2

1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:03,240 On Outback Opal Hunters... 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,520 I haven't gone through all this for some other to get my money! 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,120 ..the Bushmen are victim to an underground robbery. 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,320 Hey, you . You dug my claim, mate. 5 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:14,400 No. Yes, mate. 6 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,600 New team the McFarlanes explore a condemned mine field... 7 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,280 Holy ! ..desperate to find opal 8 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,040 to repair their broken home. Whoa, whoa, whoa! 9 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,920 Dad, come up. Can you hear him? Can you see him? 10 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:29,200 What do you want me to do? Come and get us. 11 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,880 The Young Guns battle to find a new claim... 12 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:33,960 This spot is is what I think. 13 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,240 ..as their mine becomes too dangerous to work. 14 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:45,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 15 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,480 Well, let's hope we have a good day underground, mate. 16 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,440 Yes. We gotta be getting close to that good ground. 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,000 In outback New South Wales, 18 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,600 the Bushmen Rod Manning and Les Walsh 19 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,560 are closing in on a group of nine-inch drill holes 20 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:18,640 they believe hold opal. 21 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,200 The story is that, when it was drilled 20 years ago, 22 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,080 really nice colour came out of this group here. 23 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:28,240 If our measurements are right, 24 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:31,000 we should be about three foot away from the ridge ground. 25 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,000 Whoa-ho-ho! I've just hit a nine-inch, Les. 26 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:42,800 That should be the start of the good ground just there. 27 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:47,280 Hang on, that don't look right. No. That's more than a nine-inch. 28 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,920 That's a drive in there. Can't be a drive in there. 29 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,040 It is a drive! 30 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:57,160 We should be nowhere near it. 31 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,560 No, absolutely nowhere near our boundary. 32 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,680 Rod and Les have just discovered a horizontal shaft, known as a drive, 33 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,080 illegally cutting through their claim. 34 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:12,440 They've come right in on that trail! 35 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,320 The Bushmen have lived for years off the grid, 36 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:29,680 with little money, in survival mode. 37 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,320 Last winter season was a shocker. 38 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,680 The summer season was a disaster for us. 39 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:37,840 We were broken down. 40 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:40,200 I was thinking about it: "Yeah, it won't be long, 41 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:42,440 I'll be able to get myself another good car." 42 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:44,720 Don't know how far down the track that is now. 43 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,160 So far, Rod and Les have made $31,000 44 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,840 of their season target hunting black opal. 45 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:57,040 With the money we got, we pretty much paid all our debts. 46 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,480 We've pretty much come back to square now. 47 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,480 With ongoing diesel, food costs and machine repairs, 48 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,000 the Bushmen have to find more opal. 49 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,400 Power keeps going out. 50 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,480 Lately, it's been going on and off 51 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,560 probably five, six times a day. 52 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,360 Rod's wife Amanda is also close to breaking point. 53 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,240 I'm stuck here in the middle of nowhere, with no power. 54 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,000 The generator that Les gave us, 55 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,440 it's old, it needs work. It's really affecting the power. 56 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,560 I promise, soon as we hit some opal, 57 00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:36,480 I'll get a new generator. I'm gonna hold you to that. 58 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,280 For us, our answer to just about everything is opal. 59 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,760 Hey, look at this! They've got a digger parked here. 60 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,000 They've come right through on our seam, Les. 61 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,320 Yeah? Right through to the back of where we're supp... 62 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,920 They've taken it all. Ah, someone's paying for this, Les! 63 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,160 Today it's going to be a bit of a busy day. 64 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,800 We're heading straight underground with the machine 65 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,920 and doing a bit of work, moving some dirt, 66 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,000 clearing our way through. 67 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:17,800 In White Cliffs, rookies the Young Guns 68 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,680 are battling to expand their new opal claim 69 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,040 with an expensive hired mini loader - a Kanga. 70 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,000 We've really stepped it up, getting the Kanga, 71 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:31,600 but at the same time, it just means 72 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,080 we need to find opal even more now. 73 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,160 200 bucks a day is really taking it out of us. 74 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:39,280 We're not finding the quantity of opal 75 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,360 that we need to run it. 76 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:46,240 The Young Guns are digging out an old mine attached to their camp, 77 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,320 bought with their last savings. 78 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,680 But to reach the opal level they hope is buried deep within the mine walls 79 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:57,360 means clearing tonnes of dangerously unstable rock. 80 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,960 I reckon we'll dig pretty late today. What? 81 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,240 JC? Are you all right? Yeah, yeah, I'm right here. 82 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:11,320 What was that? 83 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:16,680 All this area here is old diggings. 84 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,400 I don't think this part's been touched in over 12 years, 85 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:21,840 so all that dry dirt, when that comes out, 86 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:23,960 it can just make cave-ins like that happen. 87 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,320 All in their early 20s, 88 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,120 team leader Jaymin, JC and Noah 89 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,320 have had a tough start to their first mining season together, 90 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,920 hunting crystal opal worth up to $25,000 a gram. 91 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,920 When I got the boys out here, I did have this idea in my head 92 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,400 that we'd kind of come out here, move a bit of dirt 93 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:48,520 and get rich the end of the day. 94 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,680 We can't just stop and just set up all our equipment in one area 95 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,760 and then just move as soon as you find another interesting hole. 96 00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:57,680 It's not about that. It's about checking our other options. 97 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,800 It's been a little bit of a wake-up check, I guess, for me, 98 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,600 just to come out here and seeing how much work has to go 99 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,200 into running this team, running the Young Guns. 100 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:10,120 The rookie miners live in a sparse camp with no running water. 101 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:12,560 I just want a morning coffee. Are you kidding me? 102 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:18,120 'The biggest decision I ever made in my life is probably coming out here. 103 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:20,240 Everything's a bit harder than normal.' 104 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:24,400 You have to grow up a lot, cos you're completely self-sufficient. 105 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,080 Where we are in terms of finding opal at the moment... 106 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,640 You know, it's not really the millions 107 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,280 or the fortune that Jaymin promised us in the beginning. 108 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,240 We're not pulling out heaps of colour at the moment. 109 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:41,400 It started caving. What? Oh... 110 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,840 Bloody hell. Look at that. It still looks like there's a lot right around the top there. 111 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,360 Obviously, that's not the size of the actual shaft. 112 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:50,440 Let's get down there and just clear it out 113 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,720 and maybe take off some of this. 114 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,800 It's always been my responsibility bringing the boys out here 115 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:58,720 to this different life. I need to send them home safely. 116 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,920 But as Jaymin clears away the landslide, 117 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,000 another threat begins to build from the Kanga exhaust. 118 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,160 There's smoke in here. Yeah. 119 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:13,200 Deadly carbon monoxide. 120 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,200 Some of the best opal in the ridge come out of this area. 121 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,280 Back in the day? In the day. 122 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,760 I think it's just a go. There's something about it. 123 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,280 It's a gut feeling - that's fine, but how safe is it? 124 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,720 Well, I won't really know until I get in and have a look. 125 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,760 In Lightning Ridge, outback New South Wales, 126 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:38,840 Gavan McFarlane, wife Connie 127 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,000 and 16-year-old daughter Teagan 128 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,840 are heading to one of the richest but most dangerous 129 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,760 mining fields in the region, Potch Point. 130 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,240 I was told that the neighbouring claim, 131 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,920 they got $25 million out of it. 132 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,920 We're here? We're here. We're ready to go? OK. 133 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,560 'I'm as keen as to get in there and have a go.' 134 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,120 So we got this one, one next door and the one here. 135 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,680 'Looking at the catch there, erm, surrounded by condemned claims.' 136 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,080 The mines close to Gavan's claims 137 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,600 were shut down ten years ago by authorities 138 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:13,680 after massive cave-ins. 139 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:15,760 'I never left anything structural there 140 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:17,960 to help hold the ground up and it collapsed.' 141 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,400 If it doesn't look safe, I'll be up straight away. 142 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:22,480 I won't hesitate. Keep on talking to me 143 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:25,560 so I can hear your voice, and I'll be happy. All right? 144 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,280 She knows about that, and her concerns are that... 145 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,480 that could potentially happen in this claim, as well. 146 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,080 Righty-oh. I'm going down. 147 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,440 Well, don't be too long. No. 148 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:39,640 Oh... What? 149 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,040 Uh, it's just a bit of movement. Nothing. I've seen worse. 150 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:45,120 Righty-oh. 151 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,120 'When all else fails, burn the splitting block.' 152 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:53,160 Seven years ago, Gavan escaped the life of a software engineer 153 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:55,320 700 kilometres away on the coast, 154 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,400 to mine for opal. 155 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,320 I always wanted to come and visit Lightning Ridge. 156 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,800 When you see opal in the raw and in the rough, 157 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,320 it's that absolutely beautiful gem. I just fell in love. 158 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,720 'I think the treasure hunter in me was ignited.' 159 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:14,320 'I'm a city girl born and bred from the eastern suburbs of Sydney. 160 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:19,240 Yes, it's quirky, but it's great. It's a community that I'd, like, taken to grow up in.' 161 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,640 Everyone's out here, helps each other when anyone's in need. 162 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,280 I thought, "That's so much nicer than being in the city." 163 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,680 Welcome underground, my darling. 164 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:29,760 It's fun. I'm learning new things 165 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:31,840 and being with my dad 166 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,280 and having fun being down mine holes when I'm allowed to be down them. 167 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:38,360 Why go shopping when you can literally find 168 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,000 your own piece of jewellery and make it all yourself? 169 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:46,040 But the path to opal riches is a constant struggle. 170 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,440 We live completely off grid. All our power comes from solar. 171 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:51,960 I have to truck our water in from in town. 172 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:55,760 This is my room. 173 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:57,840 I don't think you can call it a roof. 174 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:00,600 It's kind of just sitting there. Sometimes at night, 175 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:02,680 some of the stuff just falls through. 176 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,160 We've got gaps and breezes in places. 177 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,640 It's all money to seal it all up. 178 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,360 So in winter, we freeze to death and in summer, we overheat. 179 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,680 A new house would be good, eh, chicken? Yeah, a new house. 180 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,800 That would be so good - like, a bigger and better house. 181 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:21,840 Just more of our own space 182 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,080 cos we're all, like, piled in at one place. 183 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,400 I just want to make it a home. I want to make it comfortable for us. 184 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:30,520 To rebuild their family home, 185 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,320 the McFarlanes have set a modest season target 186 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,440 of $20,000. They're pinning their hopes 187 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,720 on famed Lightning Ridge black opal. 188 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,640 I'm driven to go to work to provide for my family. 189 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,040 Enough's enough. The means is to find some opal and get some money. 190 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,480 But Connie's fearful the previous miners 191 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:55,000 left Gavan's new claim because it was too dangerous. 192 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:57,880 'They still can get caught in mine collapses 193 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,080 and all of that sort of stuff, so someone has to worry about it, 194 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,240 cos Gav's not worrying about it.' 195 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:07,000 Teagan's a teenager. She don't see it. I'm worried about it. 196 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,840 If we let that fear take over us, 197 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,560 we wouldn't even get in the ladders and go underground. 198 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:20,160 I'm at the roof now. OK. I can't see you any more, so make sure you keep on talking. 199 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:22,480 I'm here. You're all right. 200 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:25,160 They've left a fair bit of gear here. Have they? 201 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:27,240 Gloves... Oh. OK. 202 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,920 ..bits and pieces, cords... 203 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,160 But they've just left in a hurry. 204 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,480 I think what's happened is that they've had side fall-ins. 205 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:39,160 And it scared them out. 206 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:43,400 Don't panic, but it could be a bit of roof separation towards that... 207 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:45,640 Holy ! 208 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,320 Are you all right? What was that? Dad, come up. 209 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,000 Can you hear him? Can you see him? No. 210 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:00,640 See? 211 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:04,920 It's all gone. The whole lot - it's all gone. 212 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:09,800 With their hopes of survival resting in one mine, 213 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,920 the Bushmen have discovered the rich seam opal they're chasing is gone. 214 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:19,120 Yeah. That'd be quite a few dollars, I would say, that come out of there. 215 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,080 Well, they don't cross boundaries for nothing, do they? 216 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:25,600 Well, that's right. Only if they're really on it and it's good . 217 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:29,080 They've crossed the boundary by five or six metres, probably, 218 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:31,600 and that's where the pocket is - just behind there. 219 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,680 Can you imagine what they've got here out of all this? 220 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,400 Well, we can't do much about it, now they've taken it. 221 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:41,480 I haven't gone through all this 222 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:44,000 for some other to get my money! 223 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,160 Taking ! I'm going to see him. 224 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,840 Rod and Les are heading to the makeshift camp of John Scheepers. 225 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,640 He's recently started mining the claim next door to Bondi 226 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,720 and is Rod's primary suspect. 227 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,400 He doesn't want to be on our mine. I can tell you, Rod, I'm furious. 228 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,320 Don't do anything stupid. 229 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:11,560 Hey, you ! 230 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,800 You want to cross the boundary and dig my claim, you ? 231 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:20,000 Trucked your frame out. Good job I don't know what you're talking about, mate. 232 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,440 You dug my claim, mate. No, mate. Yes, mate! 233 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,440 Oh, he lost the plot, just about. I thought he was gonna kill him. 234 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,160 Settle down there, Rodney. Settle down? 235 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:33,640 Mate, I didn't dig any drive in your claim. 236 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:38,720 Yeah, it doesn't look fresh, anyway. I know, we get hot up the collar quick, but... 237 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,680 Yeah, it doesn't look like a... What do you mean? 238 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:43,840 The drive doesn't look like a fresh drive. 239 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,000 I haven't dug the drive there, mate. 240 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,240 I reacted before I actually thought about it, 241 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,320 and if I wasn't so wild and had a look at the drive, 242 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,920 I would have realised it was an old drive. 243 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,240 It wasn't me, mate, honestly. That drive was there before I got there. 244 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,520 Where that dig is, I'm only starting digging there now. 245 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,360 I'll take your word for now, but it's only for now. 246 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,920 I'm gonna go and have a look. Yeah, I understand. 247 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,400 I think I've engaged the mouth before I engaged the brain, Les. 248 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:22,480 Yeah. Yes. 249 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:26,880 'It turned out he wasn't at fault at all. It was the people he'd bought the claim off.' 250 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,800 The old neighbour crossed the boundary 251 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,000 and came in on the seam that we were looking for. 252 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,080 He's taken it all out. 253 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,680 We'll go and have a cup of tea. There you go. 254 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,560 Do you want a nip in it? It should be all right, mate. 255 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,200 That'll fire me up worse. 256 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:46,600 I mean, after all that bloody effort, 257 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:48,760 all that trouble to get over there, 258 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,240 it's coming good, you're just getting good opal, 259 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,960 and bang! You find out someone... Someone's beat you to it. 260 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:59,000 With no money, part of Bondi gutted 261 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,080 and the opal taken, 262 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:03,640 the Bushmen are back at rock bottom. 263 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:19,000 I don't feel like I'm breathing in the best of air right now. 264 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:21,080 In White Cliffs, the Young Guns 265 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:23,280 are battling to dig a new drive 266 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,040 in search of an opal level in a tight, unventilated chamber. 267 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,600 Oi! What's up? 268 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:37,320 What's up? Turn that thing off. Yeah. 269 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,400 These fumes are getting too full-on. Yeah. 270 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,240 Vital for shifting dirt, their hired mini loader 271 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,440 is belching out deadly smoke. 272 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,120 But we're getting a little bit further underground now. 273 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,120 Before was all right, cos we still had all this space here, 274 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,240 but what do you reckon? Now that we stopped, I don't feel good. 275 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,320 I reckon we need to get out of here. 276 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:58,400 Prolonged exposure to diesel fumes 277 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,480 and poisonous carbon monoxide 278 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,800 can result in organ failure and be fatal. 279 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,400 'I started to feel pretty sick down there.' 280 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:11,320 That's concerning, so now we're pretty stuck for things. We're not quite sure what to do. 281 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:13,400 I think we're gonna need to get, erm, 282 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:15,480 an extraction fan, a heap of ducting. 283 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:17,560 If we get it shipped out, can we afford 284 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,880 to let the Kanga be sitting there for five days? 285 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,760 Erm... It's costing us, like, a grand just for it to sit there for five days. 286 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:25,920 We could find a nice spot to dig, I mean... 287 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,480 Yeah, we can have a look. We'll scout around the field 288 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,680 and see what's out there and then, of course, 289 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:32,760 we'll have to peg a claim, which will cost 290 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,080 another $200, or something. I can't believe... 291 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,160 We can't afford to let it sit there. 292 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,600 'It's basically gonna be me and JC gonna jump in the car, 293 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,360 have a look at the west field, some new area over there 294 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,120 - I know there's a lot of opal cutting been happening - 295 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:53,000 to see if we can find somewhere we can use the Kanga above ground and start gouging.' 296 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,360 Oh, yep! Let's have a look down here. 297 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,320 There, the whole thing's not pegged. 298 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,520 Just drive in down there? Erm, might as well. 299 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:06,440 Oh, it looks kind of... We should have a look at this. 300 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:08,520 I'll try and get back here first. 301 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:22,960 Set, go! 302 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,080 No. I can't get any foothold. 303 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:41,920 Where are you? I just heard something drop. 304 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,120 Dad? Yeah, I'm fine. 305 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:46,920 Dad, come up. Hold on. Something's just fallen. 306 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,320 In Lightning Ridge, Gavan McFarlane 307 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,240 is down a dangerous, newly-acquired mine. 308 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:55,560 He's assessing whether it's safe enough to work, 309 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:58,200 as wife Connie and daughter Teagan watch on. 310 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:02,160 It's fine for you. You know what's going on, we don't. Yeah, yeah. 311 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:04,720 'The earth's always moving. It's a fright. 312 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,240 It certainly scares you. Brings the hairs up at the back of your neck.' 313 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,320 I'm going in now. 314 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,280 With their family home in urgent need of repairs, 315 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:16,000 Gavan has to find a new opal-bearing mine 316 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,320 to pay for the house overhaul. 317 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,120 He has his sights set on a shaft at Potch Point, 318 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:24,360 a rich but dangerous opal field. 319 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:27,720 There'd been a major fall-in where the big money was got. 320 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:31,080 That could potentially happen in this claim, as well. 321 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:33,640 Wow! "Wow" what? 322 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,320 Nice slide. Nice slide? 323 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,000 Hm! What do you mean? There's been a cave-in slide? 324 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,760 No, no, no. Ground slide. Oh, OK. Good signs. 325 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,720 Slides or faults occur when rock separates 326 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,520 and silica, washed down into the cracks by water, 327 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,120 forms opal over millions of years. 328 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:55,840 You're confident that it's safe? 329 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,800 My gut feels that if it's worked correctly 330 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,720 and all of the safety procedures are followed, 331 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:03,800 you know, I won't have a problem. 332 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:08,520 I've gotta do this. Yeah, I know. 333 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:10,600 This one I gotta do, but... 334 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,200 I say there's a lot of risk. It's a gamble I think all opal miners take. 335 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,280 The run could be right in here and they've missed it altogether. 336 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:20,760 Oh, perfect. Left there for us? Us. Exactly. 337 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,640 It's our turn. This is the one? This is the one. 338 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,560 OK. Might give Pete a ring, see what he's doing. 339 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,760 I'll see if I can get him up here today. 340 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,720 'Peter Driscoll - he's been in the area 30-odd years more. 341 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,080 He knows all the fields like the back of his hand. 342 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,640 To have a partner, especially who understands 343 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,360 what can happen and what to look for and all that, 344 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:45,440 is extremely important.' 345 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,760 As long as you've got props in there, it's as safe as houses, mate. 346 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:53,200 The first four rules of mining are: one, two, three, four - all safety. 347 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,640 With no crane, Gavan's employed 348 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,320 fellow Lightning Ridge opal hunters Pete Cooke and Sam Westra 349 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:06,600 to get his machinery, including a second-hand one-tonne digger, down the shaft. 350 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,640 We're gonna try and get it down without catching on the wall 351 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,360 or snagging on the collar. 352 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:13,400 I need millimetre directions. 353 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,480 But anyway, we'll see how we go. 354 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,200 The six-metre shaft is only 90 centimetres wide. 355 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,480 Righto. Can you come down? Yeah, I'm good. 356 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:33,720 Yeah, we're good. 357 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,680 Whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa, blue! 358 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,480 Ah, hang on. It got me in a pickle. Get it upright. 359 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:42,400 Tug? Yes, please. 360 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,480 We're gonna have to put the legs on out here. 361 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:47,560 Righto. Holding there, brother. 362 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,120 Can you just hold it from swinging? No, I'll pin it. 363 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,360 With the digger hanging by 14-millimetre cables, 364 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,200 Gavan must crawl underneath the one-tonne machine 365 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,280 to attach the legs and arm... 366 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,360 and hope the crane holds. 367 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,040 This is the part of the job I hate, 368 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:07,320 getting underneath of this pin. 369 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,400 The pin itself, I've been on a... 370 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,080 ..with a mate's digger, and it's taken hours. 371 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:15,960 We had to get sledgehammers and all sorts of wonderful things in. 372 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,400 Pete's Crane has already cost $150. 373 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,880 With the day almost gone, Gavan needs to complete the job. 374 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,480 I can finish this off now. 375 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:27,920 That's it. That's wonderful. 376 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,080 Woo! Yeah. 377 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:34,640 Ah! Success! 378 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,280 That was good, eh? Nothing to it, mate. 379 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:41,880 'In the original line, they found millions 380 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,040 and millions of dollars with this digger, 381 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:46,160 so it's my turn.' 382 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:52,000 Welcome home. Find some gems. 383 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,240 The people crossing our boundary 384 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,960 and taking our big pocket was a major disappointment, 385 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,280 but next week, we could be flush, you know? 386 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:10,040 The Bushmen need to get back on their feet 387 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,960 after long-gone miners illegally dug part of their claim, 388 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,560 clearing it out of opal. 389 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:19,560 You'll have a bit of tin lying around somewhere, won't you, Les? 390 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,840 In Les's backyard scrap yard... 391 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,680 That'll do. ..they're looking for fencing material 392 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,040 to clearly mark their claim's boundary. 393 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:31,280 All we do is opal mine, 394 00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:33,720 so we don't find opal, we don't have any money. 395 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,040 'If we find opal, it means Les can have a car. 396 00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,120 He can go to town when he wants to. 397 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:43,120 We need a lot of things. 398 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,800 New solar batteries... 399 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:51,320 And Amanda's been asking for a new generator for a long time.' 400 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,400 If we find opal, it means we get all that stuff. 401 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,480 All right, coming down. 402 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,960 'Me and Les work pretty well together because he has his way 403 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,520 and I have my way, and we meet in the middle.' 404 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:14,800 Don't throw it through the hole. 405 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:16,880 you! 406 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:19,920 'We generally get through things.' 407 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:21,760 That'll do. 408 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,320 The fence ensures new neighbouring miner John 409 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,400 knows exactly where the boundary is between claims. 410 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:30,040 'That fellow next door that I ripped into, 411 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:32,560 it wasn't his fault, he didn't do it. 412 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,120 The people that done it are long gone. 413 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,840 They've taken our promise away. 414 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:39,920 That's where it was all supposed to be.' 415 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,000 You can imagine how much money, 416 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,520 potentially, they could have got out of there. 417 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:50,120 It's all part of opal mining. If you can't handle disappointment this isn't a job for you. 418 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,720 It's not the end of everything here at Bondi. 419 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:58,800 We'll find it again. 420 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,040 Just gotta head in another direction. We now know where it isn't. 421 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:04,200 There's no point going any further that way, 422 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,280 so we brought the digger back out. 423 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:08,600 We're going to skim down this side wall. 424 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,960 This might be the seam that they came in on 425 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,480 and we might get a little bit of colour out of this. 426 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,400 Oh, that's a big piece of black! 427 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,480 They might have left us a bit, Les. Woo, yeah! 428 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,240 It's not even that bloody steep! 429 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,240 And I can't move the car back out. 430 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,080 In search of a new mine to dig for opal, 431 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,160 the broke Young Guns have balked their car. 432 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:47,320 I can just smell my tyres! 433 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,320 'Probably wasn't the best idea driving down here. 434 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,960 I thought it'd be fine, reversing back out.' 435 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,120 We have so much costs already, 436 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,000 and now stuff like this happens and it just wears you down. 437 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,960 Wanna have a look? No, I want to just go back! 438 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,800 300 metres away from their camp, Noah is on foot, 439 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,000 also looking for a new opal hotspot. 440 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,080 I was looking for a spot 441 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,360 that hasn't already been pegged, claimed. 442 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,880 Makes it a little bit more difficult to find a spot. 443 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,520 The Young Guns' existing mine is off limits 444 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,600 until a ventilation fan arrives 445 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:30,360 to remove diesel exhaust, making it safe to work. 446 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:32,800 I've been walking around for a while now. 447 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,400 You know, a lot of it is just not big enough 448 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,040 to fit the Kanga around here. 449 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:41,480 The Kanga is the Young Guns' digging workhorse. 450 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,320 It's costing them $200 a day to hire. 451 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,240 Noah needs to find an area that's shallow 452 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,240 and easily accessible. Oh, well, have a look at that. 453 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,960 This looks really good. It even looks like it has a nice little ramp in there. 454 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,640 It looks like they were using some sort of mini loader 455 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,640 or a machine to get right in here. 456 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,720 Look at all these rocks. 457 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,120 Oh, wow! So here, look at that. 458 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,720 There's really blue opal in that rock there. 459 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,360 That's all my water. Look at that! 460 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,600 This is a good sign - really good. It looks really nice, as well. 461 00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:19,880 It's a really nice colour. Really nice blue. 462 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:22,840 I mean, the spot is almost perfect, 463 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:24,960 I think, in my opinion. 464 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,360 So just heading back to the camp now. Gonna surprise them. 465 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,400 With all this opal in this spot, hopefully they're, uh, 466 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,040 as excited as I am about it. "Where are you, mate?" 467 00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:37,800 Maybe they're already here. Hey, how you going? 468 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:43,520 "Not good. Jaymin's got us bloody stuck." Stuck? 469 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,520 "Yeah, what do you want me to do?" "We need you to..." 470 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:49,760 We need you to come and get us. 471 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,040 Yeah, I think I'm almost there. I think I can see you guys. 472 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,800 Are you ready? Yeah. On three. 473 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:05,120 One, two, three. 474 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,520 I don't know what we do. I think we're gonna need someone else 475 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:15,720 to help us push it out or either pull it out 476 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:17,800 with some straps, or something, 477 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:19,920 but if we had at least another person, 478 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,120 we'd be able to push it straight back out. 479 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,040 I'm hot. 480 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,440 Noah's van doesn't have the power 481 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:30,520 to pull the bogged vehicle out. 482 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:36,560 The Young Guns decide to wait for anyone passing by. 483 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,680 Oh, you hear that? How you going, boys? 484 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:49,160 How you doing? Can you see down there? 485 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,240 You're a bit stuck, eh? 486 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:53,520 We got our car a little bit stuck down there. 487 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:58,200 If we can just get a couple of people pushing, that'd be sweet. All right. We'll get onto it. 488 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:00,280 Thanks, mate. Absolute champions. 489 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:06,640 On three. One, two, three. 490 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,760 Now let it rock forward a bit. Let it rock forward a bit. 491 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,600 Yeah, that's it, go on! Get up there! 492 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:18,720 That's it! 493 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:21,960 Go on, mate! 494 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:31,360 Thanks a lot, boys. No worries. Cheers, man. No worries. 495 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:35,280 Don't know what we would have done if you guys didn't rock up, man. 496 00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:37,360 With an entire day lost, 497 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,080 the Young Guns need to make a decision. 498 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:44,520 Is Noah's find worth paying $230 for a mining lease? 499 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,800 Where did you find the opal? Just down there. There? Yes. 500 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:53,320 If you found opal there, that's all that matters. 501 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,960 We can definitely bring the Kanga down the ramps. 502 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,320 But if we're gonna do some digging, 503 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,480 we're going to need to peg it. Hm. 504 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,520 That's going to cost us. Yeah, $200 or so. 505 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,680 The last of their money is reserved for food and fuel. 506 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:11,640 The Young Guns gamble it all on Noah's find. 507 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:14,000 That about cover it? I think that'll do it. 508 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,080 This spot of yours better bloody pay off! 509 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,520 Always in the beginning it's cramped, getting my head where I'm gonna start work. 510 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:33,600 I think I'll start that end. At notorious Potch Point, 511 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,480 Gavan and mate Pete are setting up a new mine 512 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,960 in a claim abandoned for ten years. 513 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,440 Fairly underworked, talking to some of the guys that worked up here. 514 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,080 They've all said to me that the potential's there. 515 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,080 Millions have been made in surrounding claims, 516 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:53,320 but dangerous mining practices causing massive roof collapses 517 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,920 shut most of them down. 'In the beginning, 518 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,160 there's a risk of it falling where the walls have dried, 519 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,400 because the drives have been open for so many years.' 520 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,520 The ultimate price anyone can pay in this game is death, 521 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:10,120 so we're putting as much safety and precaution as we can 522 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,360 to stop anything like that happening to us. 523 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,160 Gavan's hoping to find opal to repair the family home 524 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,440 for daughter Teagan and wife Connie. 525 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:20,560 Could mean a roof. 526 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,560 It could mean walls and more doors 527 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,160 and a little bit more luxury out here. 528 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,160 Down the mine, the first step is to reinforce 529 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,680 weak points in the sandstone walls with pinewood struts. 530 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:35,960 I need to get it firm in there. 531 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,520 Where's that cheap pick? Might come in real handy. 532 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,600 I'm beginning to think that... 533 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:46,840 Did you hear that? Oh, I did hear that. 534 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,560 Opal! I'm not exactly mining, 535 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,800 but I'm trying to make a bit of an area, so I can get this timber in, 536 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,560 and I heard a little chink there before. 537 00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:00,400 That's the noise I used to listen for in the old days. 538 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,480 Thud, thud, chink! 539 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,480 And it's like metal hitting glass. 540 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,240 Now, whether it could have been just this tiniest bit of trace... 541 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,440 With the promise of opal in the wall, 542 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:13,800 Gavan is keen to get on the digger. 543 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:19,320 We're just trying to get the digger into position so we can start work. 544 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,800 It's too close to the edge of the hole. We gotta move it back a bit. 545 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,840 And the roof ram goes up all the way up to the roof and holds the whole thing steady. 546 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,880 But in the small eight-metre-square mine, 547 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,560 the hydraulic arm can't extend far enough out to dig. 548 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,600 It's tight. 549 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:45,520 I'm limited in movement in my digger. 550 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,520 Gavan gouges away at the rock face, 551 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:53,640 trying to give the machine some room. 552 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,720 A painstaking task 553 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:57,880 that still produces a pile of dirt. 554 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,720 It's amazing how it doesn't look like very much has come down out of that wall, 555 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,760 but we've got a pile of dirt in front of us to clean up. 556 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:06,840 Then we can get into that roof. 557 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:10,840 For the digger to be moved closer to the wall, 558 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,640 first the loose sandstone needs to be shifted. 559 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,400 Even in this dirt, valuable opal could be hidden. 560 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,120 Gavan and Pete need to get it to their agitator 561 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,200 for the sandstone to be washed. 562 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,280 Opal can be anywhere. 563 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,040 The old saying is that you can move 10,000 tonnes of dirt 564 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:31,480 and it wouldn't make enough money to buy you lunch, 565 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,360 or you can move two wheelbarrowfuls and be a millionaire. 566 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:37,040 And that's how it happens. 567 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,400 Keep on digging, mate. We're close. 568 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,400 Smell that? Oh, that's colour! 569 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,840 In their Bondi mine, the Bushmen are chasing 570 00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:59,200 what's left of a stolen opal seam. 571 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:04,440 We're hoping that there's a little bit in this side wall 572 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:06,840 and trying to salvage what we can 573 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:09,080 out of the area that's gone. 574 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,560 With ongoing diesel, repair and living costs, 575 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,600 to survive, they need to find opal soon. 576 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:18,880 No, not there yet. I'll just see. 577 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:21,960 No colour? No. 578 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,680 'Someone's coming over the boundary and taken it, 579 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:29,320 it blows all your dreams apart and what you was gonna do with that money.' 580 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:33,640 You just have to pick yourself up 581 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:35,720 and just keep on digging. 582 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:37,800 Are you ready? Yeah. 583 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:41,360 I'll just bust that out. 584 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:49,920 Stop, stop, stop! 585 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:53,800 Right, hang on. Hang on, you hold it there. 586 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:58,200 Cor, that's nice! Told you I could smell it, didn't I, eh? 587 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:02,520 Come on, baby. Come on. We're getting a new generator! 588 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,120 Oh, ho, ho! You ready? Yeah. 589 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,800 Whoa! 590 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:10,960 That's good. 591 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:13,080 Oh, look at it! 592 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:16,360 Blue, green... Put it in the washing machine 593 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,200 All right, mate. Let's get this bit here out. 594 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,320 Oh! Beautiful, mate. There you go. 595 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,000 Some good there, Les. Yeah, that's money. 596 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:34,480 That's money, mate. So much of it's on black. 597 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,600 Look at that - that's a nice piece there. 598 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:39,960 That's a good piece! Beautiful greens! What do you reckon? 599 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:42,800 I reckon we'd have to be up around the 20. Don't you? 600 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,240 I'd reckon. 601 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,040 The disappointment of them coming through and taking most of the seam, 602 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,640 me going over and seeing the bloke and jumping up and down like a goose... 603 00:34:52,720 --> 00:34:57,520 All that frustration, all that anger - it's all gone now, cos we're on colour. 604 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,000 You know, it just makes such a difference. 605 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,440 The Bushmen have found black opal. 606 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:04,920 It's medium-quality in the rough. 607 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,520 They're hoping to get $15,000 for the package. 608 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,640 'We heard this bloke was up at the dump, buying. 609 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:21,960 I hadn't dealt with him before, he's an American fella.' 610 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:25,400 Dealer and cutter Jim Runkle travels the world 611 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,720 buying opal for his high-end jewellery design business. 612 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,120 'We're a bit apprehensive, cos obviously 613 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,480 we want the most for them that we can get, 614 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:35,800 and he wants the less for them that he can get.' 615 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:37,960 Hey, Jim. Hey. How are you, mate? 616 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,520 That's Les. Nice to meet you. Jim here. 617 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:42,840 You wanna have a look at that? Yeah. 618 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:55,600 It's not too bad. 619 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:58,600 I guess it all depends on what you're asking for it. 620 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:01,040 Well, had a good look through it 621 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:03,960 and I reckon a fair price is 20 grand. Hm. 622 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,720 'When you don't know the buyer, it's a little bit tougher, 623 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,120 cos they always argue.' 624 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:13,480 Tell you what, I can see 15 in it. 625 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:16,000 I'm sure you can 626 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,800 Are you doing five? Hm... 627 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:20,880 I'll tell you what, I'll go 16. 628 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,360 I'll tell you what, if you go 17, we got a deal. 629 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,040 How about if I meet you in the middle? $16,500. 630 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:32,360 You'll get more from me? I'll buy more. I'll be back in November. 631 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,680 Les? Oh, yeah. 632 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:41,240 All right. OK? $16,500. All right. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Thanks, Jim. 633 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:43,680 It's all yours. All right, let me get the money. 634 00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,240 That's what we need now. That's what we need now. 635 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,960 With the sale of $16,500, 636 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:55,800 it brings the Bushmen's season total to $47,500. 637 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,560 This sale was real good. We're really, really happy. 638 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,400 Yeah, we've got a couple of bucks in our pocket now again, for a while. 639 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:08,720 It'll just take the pressure off. Not eat bloody goat for a while! 640 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:15,960 'Be able to get the generator for Amanda, which she's pretty happy about.' 641 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,840 It's not enough for Les to buy a big, flash car yet, 642 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:21,680 but it's getting close. It's been a good day. 643 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:31,960 Oh, you got the bucket there. Got the bucket. 644 00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:37,200 That's good - bit of confidence. Confidence. No expectations, but confidence. 645 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:39,560 In Lightning Ridge, outback New South Wales, 646 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:41,760 after 24 hours, 647 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:44,880 Gavan and Pete have returned to their agitator, 648 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,480 a 6,000-litre water-filled drum 649 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,680 that washes the dirt off mined rock 650 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:51,960 to make any opal visible. 651 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:54,480 He's just gone up now to reverse the agi... 652 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:58,680 ..and when it's running in reverse, all the stuff comes up, 653 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:00,760 come down the chute onto the table, 654 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,560 and that's when we start going through it. 655 00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:07,040 This is your payday or lay day - one of the two. 656 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,160 Gavan and Pete are looking for Nobby opal 657 00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:15,600 formed by silica in small, pebble-sized voids. 658 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:17,680 This is a nice pocket of Nobby. 659 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,080 It should be lovely. I need a new pair of jeans 660 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:28,920 Ah! 661 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,960 Nobby. Yeah! Looking good. 662 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,040 Some nice bits of trace. 663 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:36,560 Yeah, that's a perfect bit there. Look at that. 664 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:38,720 That's what we like to see happen. 665 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:40,800 A cross between purple and blue. 666 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:43,760 It's good trace. It's in here everywhere. 667 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,160 This is a great indicator. 668 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:49,440 Yeah, mate, I'm beside myself. Yeah, that's awesome. 669 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:51,520 Oh, I can't wait to get back there 670 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:54,280 and back on that digger, mate. Oh, absolutely. 671 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:58,480 In the first small load, Pete and Gavan have found... 672 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,040 It has an estimated value of $200. 673 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:09,440 But more importantly, it reveals 674 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:11,880 the massive potential of the new mine. 675 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:14,520 For that little bit of dirt in the back of the truck, 676 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:16,840 that's an indicator that there is colour there. 677 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:19,200 So what we've got is the start, 678 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:21,520 the makings, the colour happening. Good one. 679 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,600 Good one. Oh, I love this. 680 00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,440 'It is just amazing - that first, you know, truckload, 681 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,440 that first wash, that first go to the edge and we actually found something.' 682 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,560 Let's hope there's more! What a lovely sound. 683 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:40,240 'It could change everything. I'm so excited.' 684 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:43,080 Might even be able to get a wall in my bedroom! 685 00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:45,840 Here's to a million chances. 686 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:49,320 I'm really, really pleased that I got this opportunity on this mine. 687 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:51,920 This could mean a lot of things. First and foremost, 688 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:54,560 family and comfort. A new roof over our head. 689 00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:57,680 It'd be even nice to surprise the girls at the end of the year 690 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:00,960 and say, "I've planned us a holiday." That would be really amazing. 691 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,280 'Hopefully, there's actually opal here, 692 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,160 and I didn't just lead everyone on a wild-goose chase.' 693 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:17,560 That would be disappointing to everyone, I think, 694 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:20,520 but we'll soon find out, I suppose. 695 00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:26,920 The Young Guns, broke and losing $200 a day on equipment hire, have spent their last cash 696 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:29,720 on a 50x50 square metre lease 697 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:33,680 they've named Noah's Ark after Noah's opal discovery. 698 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,440 But we need big stuff. You guys keep digging. 699 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:40,480 I'm gonna keep doing this. We need to make up for all the time we've lost and wasted 700 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,800 not using the Kanga, so I'm not getting off it. 701 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:45,320 No happy boss until we get the real big stuff. 702 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:48,520 The opal could be in any rock 703 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:51,600 that JC and Noah jackhammer from the mine face. 704 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:56,520 Each load has to be meticulously sifted through. 705 00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:03,000 Holy . Oi! 706 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,080 Holy ! 707 00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:10,480 What is it? What are you freaking out about? 708 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:12,560 You're not gonna believe this! 709 00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:14,800 Whoa! 710 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:16,880 Dude, what the ! 711 00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:19,880 Dude! , dude! Where would that have come from? 712 00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:22,520 I wanna know where that's from. So do I. 713 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:24,960 I am scouring the dirt 714 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:28,200 because Jaymin's found a really nice piece 715 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:30,360 and we have no idea where it's come from. 716 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:35,040 I think this was the last spot, so I'm just seeing and making sure that it's not still down here 717 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:37,120 in this little pocket he did. 718 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,200 And we keep finding little bits, 719 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:41,440 so it might have all smashed off one rock. 720 00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:46,680 There's some opal right in the wall here. Look at that. Oh, yeah? 721 00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:51,160 Holy ! Look at that! 722 00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:55,680 That must be where it came from then. 723 00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:57,800 Hey! 724 00:41:57,880 --> 00:42:01,040 We were finding bits and pieces. Noah's Ark, baby! 725 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:03,640 Noah's Ark, baby! Dude, look at that! 726 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:08,400 Dude, there might be more. Look at that! Yes. 727 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:12,080 'So I actually found a bit of something, 728 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:15,520 so it's already starting to pay off. It's really, really cool-looking. 729 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:20,680 It's good, because we're already kind of starting to pay for the Kanga here, which is awesome. 730 00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:22,800 Some of the best opal we've ever found.' 731 00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:25,200 Noah's Ark! 732 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:27,640 Woo! Howzat? 733 00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:30,480 The young guns have crystal opal 734 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:34,360 ranging from specimen to high-quality cutting pieces, 735 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:36,800 featuring the full spectrum of colours. 736 00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:40,600 ..with an estimated value of... 737 00:42:42,240 --> 00:42:44,240 ..bringing their season total to... 738 00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:51,160 Put a price on them all. 739 00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:53,960 'We did amazingly well. It's been absolutely fantastic.' 740 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,560 It was when we really needed it the most, as well, 741 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:58,640 so it was good to see that happen. 742 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:01,000 'Noah was the one that took the ropes this week. 743 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:03,480 He pointed us in the direction of Noah's Ark.' 744 00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:07,040 It's completely paid off, so Noah's our big winner for this week. 745 00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,120 There's just a big pressure there, 746 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:14,680 but I'm really happy that it actually came up with something and it wasn't just a waste of time, 747 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:17,600 and the spot I picked, which is awesome, really exciting. 748 00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,520 I'm so glad it's one of our biggest hauls, if not our biggest haul. 749 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:24,240 I'll drink to that. Absolutely. 750 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:26,640 Well done, boys. I'm so digging into this! 751 00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:29,360 I can't remember the last time we had food like this. 752 00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,640 I can't even believe it, mate! 752 00:43:45,305 --> 00:44:45,897 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm