"Outback Opal Hunters" Episode #4.4

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,600 . 2 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:04,720 On Outback Opal Hunters... I'm going to go on an angle run. 3 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:09,800 ..unstable ground almost costs the Boulder Boys... 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,800 You've got to be careful. ..their $60,000 excavator. 5 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,360 The McFarlanes... Looks like there's some nasty weather coming in. 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,560 ..race a storm. If the rain comes, it'll shut me down. 7 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:29,080 And the family ties of the Tunnel Rats... It's throwing money out the window. 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:31,160 It's (BLEEP) me off. 9 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:34,640 ..are torn apart. (ROARS) 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,600 He was just getting more aggressive and more sarky. Get out of my camp. 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,040 (RUMBLE) 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,320 # Money 13 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,560 # And fancy clothes # 14 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:54,960 (DIDGERIDOO MUSIC) 15 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,040 In the harsh 34C degree heat of Central Queensland... 16 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:15,480 ..Boulder Boys Aaron Grotjahn and Ron Sellick... 17 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,320 ..are battling to get their crippled excavator to the main pit 18 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:25,600 on their Dragonfly claim, where last year they found over $100,000 of opal. 19 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:31,640 Ho, ho, ho! Look at that! 20 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:35,640 We've decided to go up to the pit and attack that. 21 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:40,080 So far this year, it's been out of reach, 22 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,280 flooded by summer storms, 23 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,160 but with the pit finally dry, Aaron and partner Ron 24 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:53,680 have just a few short months before monsoon rains sweeping down from the north flood it again. 25 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,360 I'm finding already a bit of potchen colour. 26 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,760 It's a sign. It's a bloody good sign! 27 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,320 See? Look, we've got sandstone here, too, Ron. 28 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,640 With 1,200 litres of diesel, we've got a good chance of getting opal with what we've got. 29 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,440 'We're just gonna start up top and work our way into it.' 30 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:17,840 Trouble is, Aaron's 40-year-old Kato excavator is not up to the job. 31 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:19,960 Limps around on one track... 32 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:25,560 ..and you saw the thing it does when it's on one track going up the hill. 33 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:29,880 And going down is dangerous, too. 34 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:35,760 With just one working track, taking the excavator into the pit is too risky. 35 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,960 It could get stuck or even roll. 36 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,120 Poor old girl! Yeah... 37 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,400 Before they can tackle the pit, they need to repair the excavator's broken track. 38 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,600 That's the part that's stripped, there's the gears that's stripped. 39 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,840 The cog's stripped in that final draw. 40 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,240 Pull this one out, put the new one back in 41 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,800 and fill her up with oil and we'll get going. 42 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,560 It will fit. It won't. 43 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:10,640 I reckon that's bigger than that. 44 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,280 Well, we got some parts, but they didn't fit. 45 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,000 Yeah, we'll just have to bodge it, Ron. What are you gonna do, weld it? 46 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,480 No... See how long it lasts. 47 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:24,880 (BUZZING) 48 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:27,520 If we do a good job, we could last a while. 49 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,480 Let's see what we've got. 50 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,880 Too late. 51 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,760 Walk away from the smoke. Might as well do a Rubik's cube (!) 52 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,120 We've tried to fix the Kato. We're not getting a win. 53 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,200 There's deep ground out there and we can't do everything with this machine, 54 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,760 so we're gonna ask Eric if we can borrow his machine, work out a percentage. 55 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:04,400 Neighbouring miner Eric Hume owns a modern 35-ton excavator they've borrowed before. 56 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:07,720 Hi, Eric. How are you? 57 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,840 It's your mates from down the road again. 58 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,320 Wonder if we could borrow your machine. 59 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,560 All right, mate, see in about ten. Thanks, Eric. Thank you. Bye. 60 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:22,280 He's on his way. Oh, good. 61 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:24,720 I hate asking all the time, but with a bit of luck 62 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:29,080 we'll get stuff sorted out a bit better, eh? Maybe get a bit better excavator. 63 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:34,120 A former coal miner, Eric switched to mining opal 12 years ago. 64 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,440 How are you, Eric? Hey! Good. All right! (CHUCKLES) 65 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:42,720 We're on the board again. Are you? Haven't you got it fixed up properly yet? 66 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,840 We've had a lot of troubles with it. Aah, OK. 67 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,600 Aaron and Ron will have to give up part of their profits in return for Eric's machine. 68 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,640 Erm, we'll work out a percentage. 69 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,600 A-ha! What's the percentage? Well, we'd better get this sorted out first. 70 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,240 Well, 25%. What? 25? (LAUGHS) 71 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,200 You boys can do better than that! 72 00:05:06,280 --> 00:05:09,760 We wouldn't (BLEEP) without it. Yeah, all right. Well, Ron 20... 73 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:14,080 Yeah. I get 40 and you get 40. All right. That's a deal. 74 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,600 Yeah, and you supply the fuel. I'll get the fuel. 75 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,520 And when it comes back, I want a full tank of fuel. Yeah. 76 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,080 Three kilometres northwest is Eric's mine and excavator. 77 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,560 Eric's lent us his machine. We're gonna take it up the top 78 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:31,640 and try and find and find some opal. 79 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:34,880 She talks to you, this machine. 80 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,240 (ELECTRONIC CHIME) AUTOMATED VOICE: "Turn the machine on." 81 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:46,520 (ENGINE STARTS UP) Engine is running. Dig, dig, dig. 82 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,640 Now it's a long, slow, cross-country crawl 83 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,880 at a top speed of just five kilometres per hour. 84 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,760 Get there in another hour or so and we'll start digging. 85 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:10,074 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=- 86 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:17,200 (HISSING / LIQUID FLOWING) Oi! Oil leak! 87 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:19,960 Oil leak, Ron! 88 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,360 What a spray! Where did that come from? 89 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:26,800 (HISSING) 90 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:30,280 Oh, mate... 91 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,400 900 kilometres southeast, in Lightning Ridge... 92 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,960 Holy Dooley! This is worse than I can remember. 93 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,560 Looks like there's some nasty weather coming in. Maybe get serious about this roof, eh? 94 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:57,160 Gavan and Connie McFarlane are surveying the leaking roof of their ageing shack. 95 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,280 Some of the sheets - the screws are going. They lifted. 96 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,960 The weather has been getting through the roof. The amount of drops 97 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,600 that are actually coming through is a bit hellish. 98 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:11,520 (CRUNCHING OVERHEAD) Get off the roof, Dad! 99 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:16,640 It's like a mercy dash, I guess, for me, to try and get this roof sorted out. 100 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:25,040 The McFarlanes are a family of underground miners chasing premium black opal. 101 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,960 We want the good stones - the stones that produce the black with the colour. 102 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,040 Red on black is the ultimate opal. 103 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,720 My palms are getting itchy. I was hoping that's money coming! 104 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:44,280 So far this season, they've only found small trace opal. 105 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,680 This is one of those businesses you're not always guaranteed a pay at the end of the week. 106 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,440 You don't want to give up. You go six inches a foot and...bang! 107 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,800 You know, it's there. 108 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:02,000 With a target of $20,000, getting a payday is becoming urgent, 109 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,960 but approaching rains now threaten their mining operation. 110 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:07,720 (DRAMATIC MUSIC) 111 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,800 Just give me a little window of opportunity to try and get some money, 112 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:13,640 get some opal out of the ground. 113 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,920 How are you gonna go out mining when Pete's got to work this week? 114 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:21,440 You're not going down there on your own - seriously, I don't like it. It's not safe. 115 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,080 Gavan's regular mining partner Pete Driscoll is away 116 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:28,480 supplementing his opal income, working as a bus driver. 117 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,320 'She doesn't like me going mining by myself.' 118 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,240 The area around Gavan's claim is full of old mine workings 119 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,640 dating back to the 1920s. 120 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:41,680 Dangerous ground, prone to roof collapses. 121 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,600 Most of the claims around me are all condemned now due to fall-ins, and all that... 122 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,120 and the older stuff - it crumbles. It falls. 123 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:54,840 We got a couple of friends. I'm gonna have to make some phone calls 124 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,200 and see if they're available to give me a hand 125 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:01,560 to get a couple of loads out from underground and a wash and a tailout 126 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,280 so we can get some... try and hopefully find some opal, make some money. 127 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:07,360 (RINGING TONE) 128 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,720 I need to move some dirt, buddy. 129 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:13,880 Awesome. Yeah. 130 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,640 Gavan's managed to wrangle two mates to help him down the mine. 131 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:22,880 I've got a bit of a game plan. 132 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:27,280 I'd like to get at least eight or ten loads out of that particular area. 133 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,520 Oh, great (!) The pink one. This is for beginners (?) 134 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:33,400 (LAUGHTER) 135 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:35,520 Paul Martin is visiting from Sydney 136 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,200 and normally works as a pawnbroker. 137 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,560 Again - safety, safety, safety, buddy, hm? 138 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,680 'Another set of eyes, so Tim and I can concentrate on the machinery.' 139 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:48,000 Tim Bryant is a Lightning Ridge local 140 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:50,240 with some underground experience. 141 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:53,840 He's a road-train driver and an excavator operator 142 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,760 and I know in the past he has mined, as well. 143 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,200 (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) 144 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:06,000 All right, guys, this is it, eh? 145 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,240 I really need to get some dirt, more dirt moved out of here. 146 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,520 This is looking really promising over here. 147 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,800 Six metres underground, safety is paramount. 148 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,560 See that there? Yeah. Just keep an eye on stuff like that. 149 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,680 In particular over here. It's only cos it's dry. 150 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:27,600 This claim hasn't been touched in ten-plus years. 151 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,200 The ultimate price anyone can pay you in this game is death. 152 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:35,600 'At the end of the day, no pretty rock or no amount of money is worth your life.' 153 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:38,160 The best thing to come out of the mine... 154 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,160 is the miner. Time to work, boys! 155 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,840 First job is to move the opal dirt 156 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,120 that Gavan and Pete have already dug out of the mine face 157 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,040 using a machine commonly known as a "bogger". 158 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:56,360 Got myself a bit of a happening, so give the digger a rest. 159 00:10:57,480 --> 00:10:59,760 Laid him into the... into the bogger, 160 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,400 bring him over and drop him into the hopper. 161 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:07,600 It goes up the hoist into the back of the truck. 162 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:11,120 The dirt will be washed and checked for opal later. 163 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,560 That's our goal, that's our aim - to find the elusive black opal 164 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:17,680 with the gem-quality colours on top. 165 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:20,240 (CLINKING) 166 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,200 After three hours, most of the dirt has been cleared. 167 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,360 Oh, where's that your pick? 168 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:30,440 Yeah. Here you go, Gav. 169 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,960 And the mine face is showing promising signs. 170 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,240 I don't know if that's a nobby in the wall or if it's just mud. 171 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:40,440 This is really interesting for me. 172 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,280 Outside the isolated town of Mintabie, South Australia... 173 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,880 Hmm... That's interesting. I'm just testing the roof 174 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,000 and I'm not liking what I see. 175 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:05,000 A potentially deadly crack has opened up 176 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:07,360 in the ceiling of the Tunnel Rats' mine. 177 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,280 It has to go. Yep. It's too dangerous. 178 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,800 Yeah, there could be a good six, seven tons of rock there. 179 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:19,240 If that drops on you, you're dead. Not ifs, buts of maybes. You...you're dead. 180 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,800 Get rid of it. The Tunnel Rats' favoured mining technique 181 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,320 is using homemade ammonium nitrate explosives. 182 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:30,040 Put some holes in there, blast it down. 183 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,920 Put a couple of shots in there now and it'll deal with that, because it's very unsafe. 184 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,560 Busted it and... eliminate the issue. 185 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:43,680 (HISSING) 186 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:45,760 Right-oh, go and make some noise! 187 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,200 (EXPLOSION) 188 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,720 After striking it lucky eight weeks ago... 189 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,720 WOMAN: Woo! Ho, ho, ho! That is what I call Mintabie opal! 190 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,040 Yes! Yes! (LAUGHS) 191 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,440 The Tunnel Rats - Bayden Pearse, his dad Rodney 192 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,640 and Bayden's girlfriend Lise Grobe 193 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,600 are chasing an elusive seam of opal through concrete-like sandstone. 194 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:23,640 We've still got a lot of potch but no opal, unfortunately. 195 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:27,800 Thin stuff over this side, but it's no good. 196 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,200 Times have been tough for the Tunnel Rats. 197 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:36,400 It's caused a lot... a lot of stress on me, knowing 198 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:39,480 that the end is coming very close for us. 199 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:41,880 After nearly 100 years, 200 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,720 the world-famous 213-square-kilometre opal field 201 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,640 and the entire town of Mintabie will soon be closed 202 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,160 and the land handed back to traditional indigenous owners. 203 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,640 It's looking at all your hard work that you've been working for 204 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,160 and getting that ripped away from you, knowing that, 205 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:02,720 "Hey, there's still opal in the wall, but sorry, mate, 206 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,200 you can't mine that any more. We're kicking you out." 207 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,640 I've got no words to express how angry I am about that. 208 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:15,040 Faced with eviction, the Tunnel Rats need $200,000. 209 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,600 Their home, belongings and all their mining equipment 210 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,960 must be moved out of Mintabie in just two months' time. 211 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:28,520 Fail, and they'll be forced to abandon whatever's still on site. 212 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,600 (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) 213 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,320 Every day, I feel that we're running out of time. 214 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:36,960 (DRAMATIC MUSIC) 215 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,240 Er...I've got an oil leak. 216 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:46,480 Erm, good drops of oil on the ground, a puddle underneath. 217 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:50,920 We really need to shift the dirt so we can find opal. 218 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,920 For the team, the Bobcat is essential. 219 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,520 I don't know what his problem is. 220 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,160 With it out of action, they can't clear their mine 221 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,440 and they're opal hunt has ground to a halt. 222 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:07,880 (ROARS IN FRUSTRATION) 223 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:19,560 1,500 kilometres away, at the McFarlanes' camp in Lightning Ridge... 224 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,920 If it rains, this becomes a pool and the tiles become slippery. 225 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,400 (GROANS) Connie McFarlane and daughter Tegan 226 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,720 are hoping that forecast winter storms stay away. 227 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:35,280 The roof in there, as you can see, is just...bad! 228 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,320 And you can see that we've had to replace the wall. 229 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,160 If it rains, we're all gonna get wet - the floor gets wet, 230 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:43,240 the furniture gets wet... 231 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,600 Six metres down the McFarlanes' crumbling old mine... 232 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:51,240 It's the sort of thing I look for. 233 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,920 If it's a nobby, I like to rescue it before it goes into the digger. 234 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,080 You know, I think it's just mud. Yeah, it's just mud. 235 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:04,080 Gavan McFarlane is on the lookout for the prized black opal 236 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,160 this field is famous for. 237 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,480 It's usually found in nobbies - small rocks scattered amongst the sandstone. 238 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,280 Until they wash the excavated dirt, 239 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,680 Gavan won't know whether it holds the elusive gem. 240 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,360 With nobby country, it's not like seam. 241 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:24,720 Seam, you see it all the time. Nobbies... 242 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,840 Who knows what this dirt's holding in the way of nobbies, 243 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:30,640 but this is really interesting for me. 244 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:32,920 I'm getting a bit of a hurry-up with myself. 245 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,840 I really want to get my digger into that. 246 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,720 Once Gavan is up on there, we'll shift the digger into place. 247 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,520 You use your boom to move it. 248 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,560 So you put it where you want it to go 249 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,720 and then you lift your forearms up, 250 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,040 let it back down on the wheels and bring your roof frame down. 251 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,840 That's it. That's good. 252 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,640 See, you should be able to pull yourself in there now. 253 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:01,880 The ram holding the one-ton digger 254 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:06,360 against the mine's dry, unstable ceiling needs to be set firmly. 255 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,640 'When the roof frame goes up on the digger, it can bring it down on you.' 256 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:14,720 (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) 257 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:18,520 Just watch the roof. 258 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,880 Buy me a nice bucket of gooseberries, team! 259 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,240 Got some red on black, there. 260 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,600 'We place the digger in the centre of the face and we dig 261 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,840 and we just keep removing dirt.' 262 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:38,680 Where's the colour? 263 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:40,920 (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) 264 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,200 That's the roof, Tim! (THUD) 265 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,560 It's pushing it back. (BANG) Whoa! 266 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,600 The Bobcat was leaking oil, so we tracked down the oil leak and fixed it. 267 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,080 The bleed-off hose from the hydraulic motors 268 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,800 just hadn't been done up quite tight enough. 269 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,520 Tensions have been high in the Tunnel Rats team. 270 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:24,680 Now, with the Bobcat working again, 271 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,760 their race to find opal can get back on track. 272 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,080 Bayden is just drilling our next set of holes 273 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:34,160 to set off another set of shots. 274 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,360 We've got, actually, one in mind which is about at Bayden's head height. 275 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,480 We just want to sort of keep tracking it to the right, 276 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,680 because it tends to always give us a little bit on the right. 277 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:52,120 In just two months, Mintabie and their mine will be closed down for good. 278 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,520 Possibly drill some holes after that. All right. 279 00:18:55,600 --> 00:19:01,720 To speed up their operation, Bayden has enlisted 16-year-old family friend Setho Williams. 280 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,640 It is a bit of a hard time being, you know, close to the Mintabie closure. 281 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:13,240 You got a lot going on, so any kind of help you can give us, man, would be great. Yep, no worries. 282 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:15,720 Sweet as! Yep. We've got the Bobcat up and going, 283 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,080 so you can be the Bobcat man. OK. (CHUCKLES) 284 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:21,560 (STARTS ENGINE UP) 285 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:26,040 (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) 286 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,000 The Bobcat's running pretty bad at the moment. 287 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:43,520 The hydraulic oil's leaking out somewhere 288 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,840 and so the hydraulics don't have much pressure in them 289 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:48,920 they're kind of a bit jittery. 290 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:51,680 Rodney's repair hasn't worked... 291 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,280 ..and son Bayden isn't impressed. 292 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:58,440 I'm not liking what I see with that Bobcat. 293 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,800 There's a hole in a pipe somewhere, 294 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,760 leaking hydraulic oil like a sieve, 295 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,920 so whatever leak we tried to fix didn't fix. 296 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:13,720 Utter waste of time. 297 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,560 Sometimes, you've just got to take things to a mechanic. 298 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:21,640 But the nearest Bobcat mechanic is over 1,000 kilometres away! 299 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:24,760 'I'll have to send it down to Adelaide.' 300 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:27,840 It could take two weeks, but the way I see it is, 301 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,600 Dad has already fixed that three times. 302 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:35,880 If I add all that up, that's nearly 14 days of working and breakdowns. 303 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,320 Yeah. And time. 304 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,480 (OMINOUS MUSIC) It's throwing money out the window 305 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,800 and it just...it (BLEEP) me off. 306 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:50,080 (DIDGERIDOO MUSIC) 307 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:56,440 Keep coming! Keep coming! 308 00:20:56,520 --> 00:20:59,160 After an oil leak... 309 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:02,880 (HISSING) Oh, she's blown, all right! 310 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:10,560 ..Aaron and Ron have been forced to stop and fix their newly-borrowed excavator. 311 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:15,680 These two hoses here...I'll just join them in line together 312 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,160 and then they can circulate and it'll be fine. 313 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,560 Hey, when you get in this, it tells you to find opal. 314 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,120 (MIMICS AUTOMATED VOICE) "You go find opal. You go find opal. Treasure!" 315 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,840 Thankfully, not too much hydraulic oil's spewed out. 316 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,760 A quick fix, and they can start moving into the big pit 317 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,120 where their best chance of finding opal lies. 318 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,320 We're just gonna start up top and work our way into it. 319 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:46,960 After rains destroyed the previous ramp, Aaron must build a new one 320 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,640 down to where he last found good opal... 321 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:56,440 ..using up to 1,000 bucketloads of earth - nearly 500 tons. 322 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:05,520 After a tough start, this opal-hunting season has turned out well for Aaron. 323 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,600 Money's going all right at the moment, cos we found that parcel. 324 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:13,160 Whoa-ho! 325 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:16,560 Paid all the bills and we got diesel money and we got food. 326 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:23,720 My goal is to find enough opal to buy at least a D8 or D9 dozer. 327 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,040 'You need $100,000 to do that. 328 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:30,520 Not having a dozer slows you up a bit.' 329 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,240 You need the machinery to do the job. 330 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,640 What you're trying to do right now is put a bit more filling here, 331 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:41,240 so that you can dig around to the bottom of the slip. 332 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,360 Let's hope that he gets it high enough. I don't want to see him slip down. 333 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:50,840 Whoa! 334 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,320 Aaron knows how to be careful. 335 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:58,640 One side's still firm. The other side just feels like it's sliding sideways. 336 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:05,920 Creating a stable platform for their borrowed $60,000 excavator 337 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,440 is proving more difficult than expected. 338 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,240 You gotta be careful, mate. I've gotta go on the angle run. 339 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,160 But Aaron's determined to get to the opal. 340 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,280 No screening allowed on the hill. No. 341 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:29,960 Not the waste stuff! You shouldn't be putting the waste stuff there. Oi! 342 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:32,120 (DRAMATIC MUSIC) 343 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:38,080 Water hidden under the dry surface of the pit has turned into muddy slurry. 344 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,000 That's only the crust. It's like a skin on a pudding. 345 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,720 By depositing it in front of the excavator, 346 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,520 Aaron hasn't realised he's making the ramp more unstable 347 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,480 and weakening the ground under the 35-ton machine. 348 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,200 It's just like... It'll just ooze out. 349 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:02,200 You've got it hard, because if the compression goes, it will just leak out everywhere. 350 00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:07,400 Like quicksand, the more Aaron struggles against the mud, 351 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,480 the worse it gets. 352 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,320 Six metres beneath the New South Wales outback... 353 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,520 Yeah! Yeah! 354 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,160 Yeah, I knew that was loose. 355 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:28,400 Gavan McFarlane and his crew are clearing a potentially dangerous, crumbling ceiling. 356 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:31,360 (MACHINERY WHIRS) 357 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,560 (RUMBLING) 358 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:37,960 You just got to chip away at it. 359 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,160 The dirt they've dug out will be washed at Gavan's agitator plant. 360 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,320 Hopefully, we got some opal going up here. Hopefully! 361 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,800 Only then will he know if it holds the rarest of black opal. 362 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:01,920 Truck's full! 363 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:08,520 Might as well enter the agi, put it in and we'll go from there, eh? 364 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,280 Oh, there's gotta be something in there! 365 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:18,800 My bones are sore! (CHUCKLES) 366 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:21,160 Up you get. In the back. 367 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,600 Their wash plant is located three kilometres away 368 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:30,720 at a site where the land and water is supplied by the local mining association 369 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,160 and is shared with a dozen other miners. 370 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,000 I'll try to get this laid in, if I can, 371 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,480 cos if the train comes, it'll shut me down. 372 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,240 (OMINOUS MUSIC) Don't like the looks of that! 373 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,160 Fingers crossed, we'll have a good tailout. 374 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,280 I'll try and let him wash for a whole day. 375 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:50,840 This is the Field of Dreams! (DOG WHIMPERS) 376 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,040 The agitator, formerly a cement mixer, 377 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:04,080 washes the six tons of excavated dirt 378 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:08,320 using 900 litres of water to remove mud and clay. 379 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,320 All that's left is the rocks 380 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,240 and within them, hopefully, black opal. 381 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,800 'You can see the nobbies or all the trace as it comes down. 382 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,840 Those are the sort of things to keep an eye out coming down.' 383 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:29,040 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Look! Look what the digger hit. 384 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,600 Ah! We've obviously hit an RV with the digger. 385 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,080 If that had some colour, that would pay for my roof! 386 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:40,240 That colour ain't in, but it's a beautiful, big, black nobby. 387 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:45,040 That makes me feel heaps better. Heaps better. It's black. 388 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:49,000 Oh, mate! If we get a colour bar on the red side, 389 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,880 the reds on the black, anything on black's the best-quality opal you can get. 390 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:55,960 The best opal in the world. 391 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:01,800 Gavan won't know if there's opal until the wash is complete in 24 hours' time. 392 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,520 Maybe the opal gods are smiling on me, hopefully, this time round, you know? 393 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,040 Hope they're not teasing me saying, "That's all you're gonna get." 394 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:22,560 I'm not wasting no more diesel here, Ron. 395 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,760 Stopped dead by muddy quicksand, 396 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:31,960 Aaron and Ron's plan to dig the rich opal level at the bottom of their big pit has failed. 397 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,800 If you're not careful, you could sink the excavator, 398 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,000 because that's all total mud under there. 399 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,280 I nearly went off the side there, then. 400 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:46,920 But Aaron's determined to find some opal. 401 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,920 I'm going to go back up here where them little rocks is starting to come in. 402 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,760 At least there are rocks here. Yeah. 403 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,080 It's a little bit safer. It's safer up there. 404 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:06,920 Near the top of the ramp is a smaller opal level that could be worth digging. 405 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:32,960 Eh? 406 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:39,960 We're in the colour! 407 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,720 Ah! Mamma Maria! 408 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,040 Mwah! Mwah! 409 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,680 (SPITS) (LAUGHS) Here, here! 410 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:55,560 (LAUGHS) All right! That is a bit of colour! 411 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:57,640 (CONTINUES TO LAUGH) 412 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,160 See? They are here, Ron. There's a lot back here, too. 413 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,760 Starting to get a few rocks coming in here, getting closer to this edge. 414 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,360 So we'll go at it this way. 415 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:11,400 Opal's like that. It sends you thinking it's not there, 416 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,480 then it turns up. 417 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,560 The other part, it was up here. Far out! 418 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,440 Nothing wrong with that colour! 419 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:31,680 Yeah, nice rock! Very nice rock! 420 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,000 Ooh! 421 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:40,600 Hey, Ron... Oh, yeah! 422 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,400 Oh, hey, that's a nice stone. 423 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,800 That's a gem! I wouldn't think there'd be nothing in that rock, 424 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,920 you know. Then I hit it and it must have just hit on the rock break. 425 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:53,040 She's loaded! 426 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:56,360 There's gonna be two nice stones. Look at the colours everywhere! 427 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,840 That's thick, too, eh? It is. Those two colours, eh? Yeah! 428 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:06,040 Aaron's gamble to dig in the shallower ground has paid off. 429 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,720 Them two stones will pay for the diesel for this! 430 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,120 That was good, to have a look-in. 431 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,240 Hello, boys! Pointy end of the business. 432 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:30,080 The McFarlane's agitator has been churning dirt over the last 24 hours. 433 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:33,400 Let's go get some opal, eh? Right, let's do it! 434 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,320 Now the agi will be reversed 435 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,000 and Gavan and the team will check through the washed rocks by hand 436 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,160 for opal in what's called the "tailout". 437 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:48,040 This is the exciting part now! Let's see if all our hard work pays off! 438 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:52,600 A leaking roof back at camp and forecast bad weather 439 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,360 means the McFarlanes need this to be a successful tailout. 440 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:02,320 I've got my fingers crossed, because really, until such times as you find something half-decent, 441 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,960 we're going to have to deal with this roof, which is not...nice. 442 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,120 I'm not coping with that very well at all. 443 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,080 (WHIRRING) 444 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:15,840 (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) 445 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,640 I'm going into reverse. 446 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:26,840 Without reverse, there's no way of getting the rocks or the opal out of the agi. 447 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:31,520 Don't know. Might have done the gearbox. 448 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:37,160 (FEEBLE WHIRRING) 449 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,920 (STARTS UP) It's working. 450 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:44,280 It's working. 451 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:49,480 'Dodged a bullet there. A bit of perseverance, jiggling around with the gear stick.' 452 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,560 Relieved? Yeah! 453 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,160 There's gotta be some colour in there, boys - fingers crossed. 454 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,320 The sedimentary sandstone level Gavan has been mining 455 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,640 is renowned for good opal. 456 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:07,080 If we get the right colour, and all that, 457 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,920 the buyers will be actually ringing ME to buy my opal. 458 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,000 That's what I'm told. 459 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:14,840 I'm looking for the elusive red-on-black. 460 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:16,920 That's the best of the best. 461 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,880 Oh! One nobby. 462 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:25,160 (CHUCKLES) Big, black nobby. One coloured nobby. 463 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:40,360 TV: "In 2018, the South Australian government announced it planned to close the town of Mintabie 464 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:42,840 and hand the land back to the traditional owners." 465 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:47,000 Bayden and dad Rodney are already at loggerheads over repairs. 466 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:52,240 Still over $52,000 short of the money they need to relocate, 467 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,880 the reality of the impending closure of the town 468 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,320 and losing all they have invested 469 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,360 is putting their relationship under extra pressure. 470 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:06,480 My own superannuation, I've invested $60,000 into that. 471 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,560 Thanks to that, I've got nothing left. 472 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,720 (OMINOUS MUSIC) 473 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,400 (THUNDERCLAPS) 474 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:35,840 (DISTANT BARKING) 475 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,720 Next morning, and no-one's mining. 476 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:48,600 We had a little bit of a... rough night, last night. 477 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:52,800 The pressure to find enough opal to move out of Mintabie 478 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:55,000 has caused the team to crack. 479 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,040 It just started off with money - the whole money issue. 480 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:04,200 He's suspicious of me taking money. I'm selling opal and not erm... 481 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:06,800 Giving him all the money. Giving him all the money. 482 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:08,800 And then I stood up for Bayden 483 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,560 and then that made the situation a whole hell of a lot worse. 484 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:14,600 From an argument to a full-on fight. 485 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,520 Tempers flared. He took it a little bit too far, 486 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:22,120 and unfortunately, the son had to step up... 487 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,720 ..and they knew where he stood after that. 488 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:28,640 (DRAMATIC MUSIC) 489 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:32,480 RODNEY: 'Yeah, it got physical, all right. Yeah. Yeah.' 490 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:37,160 I was up to the doorway telling Lisa to get out of my camp. 491 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:43,360 Bayden came and got me and sort of pushed...started pushing me back 492 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:45,680 and I started pushing back against him 493 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:47,840 and he just dropped me down on the ground. 494 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:52,680 'Well, I'd never thought that I'd face that with my son - ever.' 495 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:59,240 Like, I'm 6'1" and...you know, and he just handled me like a... 496 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:02,880 ..I don't know - a bucket of feathers. 497 00:35:04,720 --> 00:35:07,880 Kicked me out of my own home. Out of the door. Said, "Get out of my home. 498 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,360 Get out of my home. Get out of my home." 499 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:14,240 I said, "Don't forget, it's my home, too, old boy." He didn't care. 500 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:17,840 He was just getting more aggressive and more sarky, so I thought, "Well..." 501 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:19,480 (INDISTINCT CONVERSATION) 502 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:23,760 The disintegration of the team leaves Bayden with a major problem. 503 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,400 'Dad and I are no longer in partnership.' 504 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,440 The only access to the mine and the rich opal seam 505 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:33,680 is on Rodney's claim. 506 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:40,040 'I need to use Dad's claim for entry to go into my claim.' 507 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:43,480 Grab my mining drill... 508 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:48,800 He can be nasty and say, "No, you're not entering my claim," 509 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,400 so realistically, where my claim is, I have no access. 510 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:54,880 (DRAMATIC MUSIC) 511 00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:59,880 At this point, reconciliation? Nah - not at this point. 512 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:02,680 (MUSIC SWELLS) 513 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,760 In their camp at Dragonfly... There's one of the better bits. 514 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:18,200 There's a gem. 515 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,600 I'd say this was 400-500 carat. 516 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,640 ..Aaron and Ron are examining their find of boulder opal. 517 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:27,840 We might get a couple of stones in the bottom here. Yes. 518 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:29,880 OK! 519 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:34,640 Aaron's determination to find opal...has paid off. 520 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:36,240 Hey, that's nice! 521 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,920 We looked a bit further up in the level just next to the sandstone 522 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,880 and we got a bit of colour - nice colour. 523 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,920 Hey, look at that. There's a stone in that. That looks green. 524 00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,840 That's, like, a green-blue. Yeah. 525 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,600 Perfect cutting stones for boulder-opal jewellery. 526 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,880 Gorgeous! Nice colour, innit? 527 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:00,200 Their boulder opal is a variety of colours 528 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,760 with some sought-after reds and yellows. 529 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:09,520 Even in the rough, it's worth a solid... 530 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:12,480 Oh, it's a nice colour, innit? 531 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:17,080 We gotta get more supplies. You're right. You're probably going to get 10 grand out of it. 532 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:20,200 Their 60:40 deal with excavator owner Eric 533 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:26,600 means they'll get $6,000, bringing their total up to... 534 00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:29,840 ..within reach of their season target. 535 00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,640 Until we cut these up, you don't know - could be 20 grand. 536 00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:35,720 Could be. 537 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:38,920 It's a good start - very good start. 538 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:40,560 (BOTH CHUCKLE) 539 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,400 For Aaron, this opal find is the encouragement he needs 540 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,240 to keep expanding his mining operation. 541 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:52,080 On good days, pulling up here next year, we'll need a good $100,000 to get a machine, eh? 542 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,160 Nothing's cheap. 543 00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:57,240 (INSPIRING MUSIC) 544 00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:07,600 In Mintabie... 545 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:09,400 I just want one more bag. 546 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,680 Lise and Bayden are packing to leave town for good. 547 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:18,400 After their fight ending 22 years of working together, 548 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,000 dad Rodney has made himself scarce. 549 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:29,280 He's gone for a little drive somewhere. I don't know where, but...it's out of my way. 550 00:38:32,240 --> 00:38:35,880 I believe that finding the opal has definitely caused a lot of issues. 551 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,440 'We've never really had opal before, so we've never fought before.' 552 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:43,880 (MELANCHOLY MUSIC) 553 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,240 I'm taking the opal with me. People will think, 554 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:52,320 "Oh, my son's ripping me off still! He's ripping me. He's taken all my opal!" 555 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:56,440 At the end of the day, he's old school and he's just gonna sell it for nothing, 556 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,480 so I'm actually gonna cut stones and make more money out of it. 557 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:02,760 Regardless of the relationship that we have, I'm a man of my word 558 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:07,960 and I'll make as much money as I can to even put in his pocket - still. 559 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,040 (POIGNANT MUSIC) 560 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,080 Time to say goodbye... to Mintabie 561 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:19,560 and the opal Bayden knows is still waiting to be found at the Grasshopper claim. 562 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,760 Oh, I'll miss Mintabie. I'll miss living here, 563 00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:27,880 but...yeah. 564 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:30,640 I'm not gonna miss everything else that come with it. 565 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:32,800 (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) 566 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,480 Yeah, still, I'll get over it. I'm done. 567 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:42,920 (SIGHS) 568 00:39:43,440 --> 00:39:47,680 I'm sad about everything, but... just what happens, innit? (ENGINE STARTS UP) 569 00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:00,520 I need to regroup. I really need to get my head back on my shoulders. 570 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:03,120 I'll need some time to think. 571 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:09,960 (MUSIC INTENSIFIES) 572 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:15,000 'Oh, I feel very disgusted to have your son treat you like... 573 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:21,800 I'll march on. I don't need anybody.' 574 00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:27,640 I'll just keep on working myself...until I've either got no money left, 575 00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:30,800 or the government come and shut the door on me. 576 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:36,600 He's got all the opal. I've got nothing, so I'll just keep on going.' 577 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,280 (DIDGERIDOO MUSIC) 578 00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:52,160 Pretty sad. It's not looking good. 579 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:56,920 (WHIMPERS) Plenty of good trace, but... no money. 580 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,920 No money, unless it's up in that last one. 581 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:08,960 Gavan and his crew have so far searched through 150 kilograms of rocks from their mine 582 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:11,040 without finding a single opal. 583 00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:14,640 Last cable coming out. Last chance! 584 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:24,240 (DRAMATIC MUSIC) You looking for 'em, boys? 585 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:26,560 (BOTH MURMUR) You better look harder! 586 00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:28,640 Whoa! Cheers, mate! 587 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:31,520 Looking...wow! Eh? 588 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,080 It's not a full roof, but I'll tell you what... 589 00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:38,160 It's a good start to one, though! 590 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:40,840 Woo-hoo! That's good! 591 00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:44,960 Oh, I gotta lick it. 592 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,680 Oh, look at that! (EXCLAIMS IN WONDER) 593 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:50,440 Don't it rub up beautiful! 594 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,480 Sensational! (BOTH CHUCKLE) 595 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:57,920 Guys, I couldn't have done it without yous. Really thank you for what you've done. 596 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,000 That's awesome, you know? 597 00:42:05,720 --> 00:42:07,920 Can you give me that? Salt and pepper... 598 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,400 Can you can hear a car? I can hear a car. 599 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:14,480 Is someone coming? I'm gonna go have a look. I think that might be Pete. Just chuck it. 600 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:20,560 Gavan's regular mining partner Pete has finally made it back. 601 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,000 Hey, Gav! Hey, mate. How are you? Oh, pretty good. 602 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:30,000 Another week down. Good, yeah. How did it go? 603 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:32,680 Er...we got a trace. 604 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:35,640 What have you got there? 605 00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:37,560 Oh, you little pearler! 606 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:41,960 The single crystal opal with blue-green colours is only in the rough. 607 00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,600 It weighs 2.4 grams, making its value... 608 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,120 Two-thirds of what Gavan needs for his roof repair. 609 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:54,480 I got something for you, too. Really? Best I can do, but... 610 00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:57,600 That one bad little patch... Oh, mate! 611 00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:02,440 We'll make it waterproof. That's fantastic. No problem. That's brilliant. 612 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:06,320 Well, let's get it tacked down. (DRILLING) 613 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:16,080 That's excellent. Thank you, mate. No worries. She's all right, buddy. Appreciate it. Awesome. 614 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:18,800 Well, I couldn't think of a better spot to have a beer. 615 00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:22,640 Another day in paradise, mate! Here's one I prepared earlier (!) 616 00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:24,720 (LAUGHS) He's good at that! 617 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,280 To many more days like this! No problem. 618 00:43:31,720 --> 00:43:33,720 subtitles by Deluxe 619 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:53,680 # Money 620 00:43:57,040 --> 00:43:59,040 # Money # 620 00:44:00,305 --> 00:45:00,617 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm