"Outback Opal Hunters" Episode #4.5

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,240 NARRATOR: On Outback Opal Hunters... 2 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:04,440 Les! Come have a look at this. 3 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:06,920 The Bushmen risk it all, mining the rock 4 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,200 that holds up their roof. 5 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,880 I think we can make it safe, Les. Yeah, and the (BLEEP) roof could fall in on us. 6 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,080 It's not worth dying for a few bucks. 7 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:18,160 Ugh! 8 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:20,600 CARL: We're spending money faster than we're making it at the moment. 9 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,520 The Poms get their first taste of real mining... 10 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,040 MARY: I'm just a bit concerned that he's not looking after himself. 11 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,680 ..struggling to find their first piece of opal underground. 12 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:33,960 Shattered. Absolutely shattered. 13 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,400 It's more your mirror on the tree that I'm worried about. 14 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:39,840 Pete Cooke nurses a busted shoulder... 15 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,000 I'm frustrated as hell. I should be down there on the ground, shovelling sand. 16 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,120 ..forcing rookie Sam to take on more than he can handle. 17 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,080 You've got to be really careful. What's this button do? 18 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,120 You OK? (RUMBLING) 19 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,200 (THEME MUSIC PLAYING) 20 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:04,074 Support us and become VIP member to remove all ads from www.OpenSubtitles.org 21 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:19,480 ROD: Bondi has ended up being a pretty good claim. 22 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,440 You know, we haven't dug a great deal of it. 23 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:24,640 We've got good money, 24 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,520 but we've had a bloody lot of things gone wrong. 25 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,720 Blower's broken down. 26 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,520 If the blower don't go, there's nothing we can do... 27 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,800 Yeah. ..until we get it going. 28 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,760 Yeah. I don't know what's the cause of the bloody problem. 29 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:41,920 In outback New South Wales, 30 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,120 the Bushmen's recent run of success is under threat 31 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,560 from a broken-down rock extractor. 32 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,200 The blower's so important 33 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,800 because once you've got a pile of dirt on the ground, 34 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,040 you can't move your digger forward any more. 35 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,560 So, you've got to suck all that dirt out. 36 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:02,400 So without the blower, it stops everything. 37 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:06,840 (EXCLAIMS) 38 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,800 We think it's this coupling. 39 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,320 Till we get it off, we won't actually know. 40 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:21,040 That's what it is. Yeah. 41 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,080 This coupling goes on to the shaft that drives the fan, 42 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,000 and all the inside in here is all flogged out. 43 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,240 So, to get a new one of these, we'll have to send this away. 44 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,480 Yeah. Oh, Jesus. That's, what, 45 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,520 three or four weeks, probably? Yeah, probably. 46 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,320 (SIGHS) If it's not one damn thing, it's another. 47 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,440 You ready? Yeah. 48 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:47,520 BOTH: Oh! 49 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:49,680 Yeah, that's money. That's money, mate. 50 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,680 This season, The Bushmen have steadily closed in 51 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:54,880 on their $60,000 target, 52 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,160 hunting legendary black opal. 53 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,280 Because we haven't found money for so long, 54 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:01,400 I've, erm, racked some bills up. 55 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,400 And now we've got a bit of money, we do have to spend it 56 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,880 on the machinery. There's things that need fixing. 57 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,200 Recent family news gives even more reason 58 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,280 to find opal fast. 59 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,480 Our youngest daughter, we've just found out 60 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:20,800 that she's pregnant with our latest grandchild. 61 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,880 Amanda wants to be there at the week of the birth 62 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,360 so that she doesn't miss anything. Yeah. 63 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,320 And if we just get a little tiny bit more money, 64 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,120 we should be able to- No. We can do it. 65 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,080 We're fine. We'll be doing it. Yeah, I know we can do it. 66 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,240 At the moment, we haven't probably got enough money. 67 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,720 I haven't told Amanda yet. She still thinks everything's rosy, 68 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:47,120 but there's no other way to get there than finding more opal. 69 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,520 Well, I've had a bit of an idea come to me, Les. 70 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,120 Yeah? Now, I don't know 71 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,720 whether you remember, Brian had that claim down there 72 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:58,800 that you called it The Maze. Yeah. 73 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,120 Well, he got over a million dollars out of that. 74 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,960 And when he retired... (CLEARS THROAT) ..he told me 75 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,000 there was money still in the columns down there, 76 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,920 that the columns are a bit dodgy taking it out 77 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:11,960 cos the roof down there is not real good. 78 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:15,400 How dangerous is this mine? We can go there and have a look. 79 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:17,480 Oh, yeah. 80 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,800 Eight kilometres from their Bondi mine lies The Maze, 81 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,640 abandoned by a retired Lightning Ridge miner... 82 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,640 No wonder he called this The Maze. There's drives down in every direction. Yeah. 83 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,440 ..a labyrinth of hundreds of metres of tunnels 84 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,520 held up only by unstable columns of rock. 85 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,040 This is where he told me, I'm pretty sure, Les, 86 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,720 cos he said there's paint on the two columns. 87 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,680 I'd really like to take these out. 88 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,040 I reckon there's money in them. There might be, but I don't know. 89 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,240 You can only take out a certain amount of dirt. 90 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,640 You have to leave columns in there to hold the roof up. 91 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,200 You can go pillar bashing, which is just that. 92 00:04:56,280 --> 00:04:59,800 You're gonna go in with a jackhammer and take the pillar out. 93 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,520 Before you do that, you've gotta put props all the way around it 94 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,360 so the roof has still got some support. 95 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,160 We put a double row of props here, 96 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,120 then one row of props, say, here. 97 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:14,920 I think we can make it safe, Les. I really do. 98 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,480 We might take them out for money. And the (BLEEP)-ing roof 99 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:19,600 could fall in on us. Well, it could. 100 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:22,440 Yeah. I'm not crazy about knocking the pillars out. 101 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,560 That's not worth dying for a few bucks. 102 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,400 If it falls in on top of you, you can't spend any of it. 103 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,040 Put a plaque up top, "He was stupid and he's still here." 104 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,240 So, you're in? Uh... 105 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:42,360 500km to the south west... 106 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:48,760 CARL: I'm just shovelling and shovelling and shovelling. 107 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,120 The task at hand at the moment is to dig down another two or three feet 108 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:58,680 before I can start to make any progress forwards 109 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,640 towards the face to really chase the opal. 110 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:03,920 It's a big task to be doing on your own 111 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,080 with just a shovel at the moment. 112 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,200 ..school teacher Carl Grice and jewellery maker Mary McMillan 113 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:13,960 have sold up their home and most of their belongings 114 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,920 and travelled 3,000km to seek an opal fortune 115 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,040 in the remote town of White Cliffs. 116 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,000 Population, 148. 117 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:27,080 There's no safety net for us. We haven't got a home waiting for us to come back to 118 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,800 if all this fails. Everything we own is now in an RV. 119 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,480 The last of the rookie miners' savings have gone 120 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,200 towards $3,000 worth of equipment 121 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:38,360 and a lease on a 120-year-old mine, 122 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:40,440 hunting for crystal opal 123 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:43,160 worth up to $5,000 a carat. 124 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,880 My profession has been a teacher, so, really, 125 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,760 most my adult life, I've been in the classroom 126 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:50,960 rather than on the tools. 127 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,760 Mary's in the workshop making jewellery. 128 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:58,280 And the idea is that I find the opal and cut it and Mary sets it. 129 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,360 Carls' been busy digging, digging, digging, digging. 130 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,160 We've left a lot of kind of conventional living behind. 131 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,560 I'm really pleased we've done that because we love this lifestyle. 132 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,680 But obviously, I need to have opal to create jewellery. 133 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,160 I'm working all the hours that I possibly can. 134 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,720 I'm down there straight after I finish my breakfast, 135 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,800 and I'm coming out when it's dark. This is really hard work 136 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,720 cos with the sole tipper, I'm continually shovelling, 137 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:26,800 the time it takes to tip and come down, 138 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,480 I've shovelled two buckets, they go in, and I'm shovelling again, 139 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,080 so, yeah, there's only breaks when you take them. 140 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,600 With limited experience and equipment, 141 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,680 the Poms have barely dented their $100,000 season target. 142 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,120 I'm at a bit of a turning point at the moment 143 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,720 because this drive here, which has already been begun, 144 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:48,080 it's half full of all this backfill. So it's gonna take me at least a couple of weeks 145 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,760 to get all this backfill out before I can continue it to get opal. 146 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,080 But this here, I could start attacking this with a jackhammer, 147 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:00,280 and straightaway, there's a chance there could be opal there. 148 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,880 Funds are running low. We need to be finding opal and making a bit of money 149 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:06,360 because there is no plan B for us at the moment. 150 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,400 I was a bit apprehensive going down the mine for the first time, 151 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:14,480 didn't really know what to expect. 152 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,200 Welcome. Welcome to our mine. Ooh! 153 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:19,600 (CHUCKLES) This is cool. 154 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,680 What I'd like to do is go through here and create our own drive. 155 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,720 Yeah. What do you think? It's bloody exciting. Yeah. 156 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,160 So I can see ash band. 157 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:30,280 Ah, well spotted. Yeah. 158 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,480 We've been told there's been a lot of opal found around ash bands. 159 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:36,520 We're in the right place. We could be finding opal any moment. 160 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:38,680 Wow. (GIGGLES) 161 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:43,000 Ash bands are formed by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. 162 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,120 The ash is rich in silica, 163 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,840 the primary mineral that creates opal. 164 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:51,880 Next step, jackhammer. 165 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,640 This is virgin ground, no-one's ever been in here before. 166 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,040 Ten minutes from now, we could have a million dollars. Who knows? 167 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,120 All right, just watch your branches. Straighten up. 168 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,200 Am I gonna get past that ladder? Yeah, the ladder's all right. 169 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,040 It's more your mirror on the tree that I'm worried about. 170 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,960 In Lightning Ridge, outback New South Wales, 171 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:30,200 Pete Cook and apprentice, Sam Westra... 172 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:32,360 Over that way, if you can. 173 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:36,560 ..are one arm down in the fight to rescue their season. 174 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,800 I'm frustrated as hell. I don't like getting wounded. 175 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:41,880 It slows the whole show down. 176 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:43,960 It's uncomfortable, it's painful, 177 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:46,040 and I'm not doing my bit. 178 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,080 Pete has severe tendon damage in his shoulder 179 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,160 after an epic effort to get 180 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,240 their one-tonne digger into the Allawah claim. 181 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:59,240 With me arm out of action, I can't go up and down these ladders. 182 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,840 I'd rather be down there underground, showing him how to drive the digger. 183 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,880 If you're not careful with it, it can be a bit unpredictable 184 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,960 when you're working the levers. 185 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:10,760 Now he's just got to try and figure it out himself. 186 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,080 So those two are your legs. Right, yeah. 187 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:15,840 They put the feet down. Yeah. And then, erm, 188 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:17,920 that one's your roof ramp. Yeah. 189 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,240 If it falls over, make sure you're not under it. 190 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,160 The digger is now Sam and Pete's best bet 191 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,000 for reaching their $50,000 target, 192 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,800 hunting the most valuable of the rainbow gem: 193 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:31,880 black opal. 194 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:35,840 I'm in Lightning Ridge to find opal. 195 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:37,920 I'm putting a lot of work in. 196 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,480 We go to work eight to five every day. 197 00:10:40,560 --> 00:10:43,480 Don't have too much to show for it, that's for sure. 198 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:45,560 To make ends meet, 199 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,640 Sam has taken a second job at the local pub. 200 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,320 Now I've got to work 16 hours a day, every day, 201 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:55,120 and at the end the day, I could be earning more money doing something else. 202 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,240 I'll have one of that. No worries. 203 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,120 If we don't find opal at the end of this season, 204 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:05,080 I'd be a bit, you know, questioning my choices in a way, I suppose. 205 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:08,840 I've now got someone else to think about, too. 206 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,440 My girlfriend, she supports me 207 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,840 doing opal mining at this stage. 208 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,000 But because I still work every night, 209 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,720 it puts strains on our relationship. 210 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,800 We only see each other half an hour for lunch, half an hour for dinner. 211 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,680 And then, one day a week on a Saturday, that's it. 212 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,800 Really putting a lot into opal mining, 213 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,080 so, erm, hopefully, it can give something back. 214 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:41,000 I suppose I'm a bit nervous about the digger. 215 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,480 Erm, I've never used one before. 216 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:47,000 They're just not real well-designed, and they're dangerous. 217 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:52,560 I'm a bit concerned. I'd much rather be down there with him, 218 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:54,680 showing him how to do it, 219 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,040 but I can't be there to hold his hand. 220 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,240 He'll just have to go down there and do it. 221 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:04,080 It has been a long time coming to finally get set up digging dirt. 222 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,400 It's the start of us being able to come out here and mine, 223 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,440 you know, properly, conventionally, with a digger 224 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:15,640 and a bit quicker and, yeah, 225 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,760 hopefully pull out quite a bit of dirt. 226 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,040 The more dirt you move, the bigger chance you've got of finding opal. 227 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,680 But this digger's very precarious to move. 228 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,560 If you fall back and grab a hold of the levers 229 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:31,720 it can pin you up against the wall. 230 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,560 Just gotta be really careful. 231 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,120 You've got to be stable on your feet 232 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,400 and make sure you've got a good floor. 233 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,720 Cos, yeah, this whole thing could come back and just crush me. 234 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:57,520 You OK? 235 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,320 CARL: It's been continuous digging and carrying 236 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,960 and lifting and jackhammering. 237 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:16,360 It's getting to the point where we need some kind of breakthrough. 238 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,200 Even a little bit of colour would just give me the energy, 239 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,280 I think, to keep going. 240 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,920 I'm probably pushing myself to my absolute limits right now. 241 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,120 I haven't had a day off since we arrived here. 242 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,280 But we are living our dream. 243 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:35,680 The last piece of that dream is finding the opal. 244 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,920 While Carl still dreams of finding their first opal underground, 245 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,920 Mary's expertise as a jeweller is being wasted. 246 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,200 Carl's done a huge amount of digging, but we haven't found any trace of opal at all. 247 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,760 We're just keeping our fingers crossed every day 248 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,840 and really trying to stay positive. 249 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:56,920 It's a very physical game, erm, hunting for opal, 250 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,680 and Carl is very much one to go in all guns blazing. 251 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,080 It's very easy to see how people can become obsessed with this. 252 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,720 I'm probably part way there myself... 253 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,960 because literally, as soon as I jump out of bed in the morning, 254 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,440 I just want to be down here and digging. 255 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,040 I will dig until I physically can't any more. 256 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,680 (GROANS) Shattered, absolutely shattered. 257 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,160 Barely have enough energy to climb up the ladder. 258 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,160 We're spending money faster than we're making it at the moment. 259 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:38,640 I think it's a case of all hands on deck right now, 260 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:40,960 so Mary's gonna come down and give me a hand. 261 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:44,520 I'm not used to lifting a 15kg bucket. 262 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,200 So, it's gonna be quite hard work going down there. 263 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:51,880 I'll be going here with the jackhammer, 264 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,880 and all the loose stuff will fall down here. 265 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:00,400 You start clearing some of that. Just mind this cable, darling. 266 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:06,680 Mary's job is to move the rubble to allow Carl access to the wall 267 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:08,800 that shows signs of volcanic ash, 268 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,880 a silica-rich material that can form opal. 269 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,760 It's bloody hard work. I don't know how Carl 270 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:17,040 has energy to do it for so long. 271 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,200 I find it hard to stay enthusiastic 272 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,840 when you're just digging through dirt, dirt, dirt. 273 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:25,560 There's no sign of anything. Hard rock there. 274 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,800 Carl's keeping me going at the moment. 275 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,440 He's just like a tunnelling mole. 276 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:36,600 He just can't stop. 277 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,000 Hey, Mary, look at this. What is that? 278 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:43,720 It looks like a really, really thin fault line. 279 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:47,000 Can you see? It's coming down. You can see it. Yes, quite clear. 280 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:49,960 This is exactly what we want. This is a vertical fault line. 281 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,880 Cos if this goes all the way to the surface... Yeah. 282 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:55,600 ..that's the crack that the water can come through. 283 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,760 As it goes through the sand, it picks up the silica... Yeah. 284 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,720 ..and then, if it hits something like this level... Yeah. 285 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:05,080 ..which is harder, it can pool out, and over millions of years, 286 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,040 the water disappears, leaves the silica, which is opal. 287 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:10,200 So, this is a really good sign. Oh, wow. 288 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,360 And it's the first one I've seen since we've come down here. 289 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,760 Oh, that's well exciting. OK, get on with it, then. Come on. 290 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:21,560 Carl hasn't found any fault line 291 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,040 since he's been digging all this seven meters. 292 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,520 Erm, so, it's a really exciting find for us 293 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,960 because where there's fault lines, potentially, there could be opal. 294 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,680 Oh, (BLEEP), Mary. What? Look at this. 295 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,240 What is it? Does that look like colour? 296 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,400 (GASPS) Oh, my God. Oh, my God. 297 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:01,000 Oh, my God, look. 298 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,880 What? (LAUGHS) What? 299 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,720 It's green. Look at that colour! Wow, I'm speechless. 300 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:11,160 And there's more, Mary. There's a bit of green there as well, to the left. 301 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,200 Oh, my God. (GASPS) 302 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,480 Wow, Carl. We found our first opal! I know. 303 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,400 Proper, proper, you know, underground. 304 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:22,880 I know. (SQUEALS) I can't believe it. 305 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:24,960 I'm not sure what to do now. Is there any more? 306 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,400 I was literally just about to plant my jackhammer 307 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,480 and something green just winked at me just at the last second. 308 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,560 It'd be cool to clean these up and see what they look like. 309 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,800 I couldn't quite believe it when Carl was like, "Mary, what's that?@ 310 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:37,880 You know, "I think there's something here." 311 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:39,960 I just thought, you know, this is crazy. 312 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:44,000 I've been smashing at that wall and shifting dirt for weeks, 313 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:48,320 so to have something wink at you out of that was just fantastic. 314 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:50,640 Let's go. OK. (SQUEALS) 315 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,480 I think there's money in these columns... 316 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:09,280 ..and I think if we prop it the right way, it'll be safe enough. 317 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,520 In the labyrinth of the Maze mine, 318 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,040 Rod's trying to convince partner Les 319 00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:17,680 to dig out the columns of rock that hold up the roof. 320 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,600 Just say we took these two out... Yeah, if you took them all away, 321 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:22,680 what have you got here? A football field? 322 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,200 Yeah, I know, but... Well, OK. 323 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,200 Look, we've got a good haul out of the last one. 324 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,080 Why not sit it out for a while? Nah, stuff that. 325 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:33,680 The way I figure it out, we're about... 326 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,720 ..80 percent safe. 327 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,080 (LAUGHS) I reckon it's good odds. 328 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,360 If I don't come down and help, you'll do it on your own, won't you? 329 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,240 Yeah, and I'll get all the money on me own too. 330 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:48,320 So, you're in? (LAUGHS) 331 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,400 Good on you, Mate. Well done. 332 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,280 OK, we're doing it. You beauty. 333 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:55,440 Rod's promise to wife Amanda, 334 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,600 to visit their pregnant daughter 700km away, 335 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,000 relies on him finding opal to pay for the trip. 336 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,640 She'll be devastated if I have to go home and tell her that we're not going. 337 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,560 And I'm not gonna do it. I'm gonna make it happen. 338 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,000 OK, drop 'em. 339 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:13,200 Righto, here it comes. 340 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,160 Rod, he knows the consequences if things go wrong. 341 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:24,720 The only way to be safe down there when you're doing that 342 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:26,840 is to prop it properly. 343 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:32,400 A reasonable size lump of timber could be eight foot long. 344 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:34,960 Cap it top and bottom, drive wedges in 345 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:37,520 so it's tight up against the roof. 346 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,800 Here, give us another one. 347 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,000 You put enough of them in, 348 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:44,480 it'll be good enough then to take the pillars out. 349 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,520 It should hold the roof. 350 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,200 So we'll be able to start jackhammering, eh? 351 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,680 Orange sandstone, and that's as hard as the hobs of hell. 352 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,160 A little jackhammer won't bust through it. 353 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:09,680 You need something 60, 70lb. 354 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,440 After being hanging on to it for a bloody hour or two in there... 355 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,040 ..it gets heavy, and you wish you'd never seen one. 356 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,000 Ah! Jesus, Les. 357 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,440 I don't know how long I can do that. That's so bloody hard. 358 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:29,520 I've got colour up here. 359 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,160 Have a look at this. It's nice colour. 360 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:34,240 But Jesus Christ, this is so hard, mate. 361 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,040 I don't think I'm gonna be able to take all this out. 362 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:39,680 And I bloody know you're not gonna be able to do it. 363 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:56,520 OK? What's this button do? 364 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:59,920 (CLANKS) Oi! 365 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,880 Of course you're nervous when you're operating new machinery. 366 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,280 Obviously, probably jumped into things a bit quick. 367 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:10,640 I've heard of a lot of blokes getting pinned up against walls. 368 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,760 We heard of another bloke, I think he broke his arm. 369 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,640 For rookie Sam, Pete's shoulder injury means 370 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,320 he's operating the dangerous digger alone 371 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:23,400 for the very first time. 372 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,560 I'd really like to see some money come out of Allawah. 373 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,440 That'd just be great. 374 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,600 You do think about it sometimes. 375 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:39,680 I'm just sitting still, 376 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,760 and everyone is sort of moving forward with their lives. 377 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,240 To ensure the one-tonne digger doesn't topple over, 378 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:52,360 Sam needs to secure it to the roof with a hydraulic post called a ram. 379 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,400 The roof here isn't really well-defined. 380 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,560 It can just be too soft, and when you go to work it, it can move. 381 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:01,640 And when it moves, 382 00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:05,400 it'll rain down clods of sandstone and oval dirt on you. 383 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,320 I was a little bit nervous. 384 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,760 There's bound to be rocks coming down. 385 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,280 Just gotta make sure you wear your hard hat and stay out of the way. 386 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:26,480 Once I've got going, once I've worked out what lever did what, 387 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:28,600 we dug some dirt. 388 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,960 With that digger I could knock down in one swipe, 389 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,600 and that was taking me an hour with the jackhammer. 390 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,720 Pete, I'm sending the first bucket up! 391 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,800 Yep. 392 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,080 Oh, he's getting the hang of it now. 393 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,680 He'll start pulling a few buckets of dirt and hope we'll get a truckload. 394 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:02,720 Just so I can remember how many buckets go in, keeping track on how it's going. 395 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,720 But with Sam due at his second job at the pub, 396 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,800 this shift must be cut short. 397 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:11,880 Oh, I got to get to work. 398 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,640 So, that's the last hoist bucket for the day. 399 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,160 The digger is bit of a thing to move. 400 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,520 It will take a bit to get used to. 401 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:23,600 But that's all right. 402 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,000 We got some dirt out today, and we'll go up and call it a day. 403 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,680 All right, mate, so there's a bit of a load in. Yeah. 404 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,400 Good old Allawah dirt, mate, you dug yourself. That's it. Yeah. 405 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,320 If there is anything in it, it'll make all the hard work worth it. 406 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,640 There's colour there. There's very nice colours just there. 407 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,400 And it runs around to here, 408 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,960 but it's bloody hard stuff and it is hard to get out. 409 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:07,240 In a desperate effort for quick cash, the Bushmen are undertaking 410 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,360 a highly dangerous mining technique known as pillar bashing. 411 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,160 If you run out of luck pillar bashing, that's it. 412 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,400 They're gonna put a cross on top of the hole. 413 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:20,720 They're digging for opal in stone columns, holding up the ceiling. 414 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,920 Above them, 15m of solid rock. 415 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,400 You've got to keep your bloody wits about you. 416 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,600 If you are not careful and go stupid, well... 417 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:31,760 you'll probably will be buried down there and stay down there. 418 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:33,840 To carve through the sandstone, 419 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,840 they use jackhammers weighing 30kg apiece. 420 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,920 These jackhammers are too heavy for us to lift up. 421 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,880 It'll just bust us trying to hold the bloody things up. 422 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,360 I could probably make something up 423 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:51,240 to sit the jackhammer on, to hold it up there to take the weight. 424 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:55,200 Well, that might be a good idea. Would you have stuff at your place? 425 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,800 Oh, yeah, I'll be able to find something to do. Silly question. 426 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,120 Well, we will have something lying around here. 427 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,880 It's a matter of the finding the right piece, isn't it? 428 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,400 In Les' scrapyard backyard, 429 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:12,760 the Bushmen hope to find parts to create a prop for the jackhammers. 430 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:15,280 It needs to be strong enough to hold the weight, 431 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:19,440 but also adjustable to accommodate different digging heights. 432 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,360 Let's see if I can find one of them old Ford jacks. 433 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,400 I got one around here somewhere I've seen the other day. 434 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,480 Here they are. Oh, yeah. 435 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:35,160 She works, Les. That's a good idea. Yes. 436 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:38,600 There's only one of these here. What else are you gonna use? 437 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:40,680 I reckon... 438 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:44,840 I'll try a Hills Hoist clothesline stem. 439 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:46,960 Yeah, we can make that work. 440 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:50,080 Lot of those bits and pieces lying around the place. 441 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:55,000 People say it's only rubbish but rubbish comes handy at times. 442 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,000 Cool, cool. 443 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:01,360 Les is good value, you know? He's always got an idea or two 444 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:03,920 on how to dodge things up. 445 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:07,840 Let's see if this works, Les. Look at that. 446 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,400 (EXCLAIMS) 447 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:14,760 Hey, that's bloody fantastic, Les. 448 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:22,400 All right. That works. 449 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,480 It's taken all the weight off my shoulders. It's not easy. 450 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,040 You're not carrying the bloody weight. 451 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:37,600 Oh, it's good. Yeah, no, it's real good. This works well. 452 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,280 But the more dirt they remove from the column, 453 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:44,200 the more weight has to be taken up by their timber props. 454 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:54,000 This is while I was jackhammering, and I was getting a fair bit of movement up there. 455 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,080 It's starting to get a bit of weight on it. 456 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,720 We got 50ft of bloody dirt on this roof. 457 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,040 The more dirt we take out, the less support there is. 458 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:06,640 So, the roof will start to sag. 459 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,600 If it starts to sag, it'll crack and that's when they come down. 460 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:12,680 So you just gotta keep an eye on it. 461 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,360 Just see where it's just on the edge, it's starting to flare. 462 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,360 I have developed a very hairline crack up here. 463 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,520 Even a rock that big comes down straight on the head, 464 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,160 it's got a chance of killing you, breaking your neck. 465 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,760 SAM: If I'm finding opal, I'm moving forward. 466 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,600 I'm saving for a house, I'm setting myself up for life. 467 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:47,680 But if we're not finding anything, 468 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,840 well, then, I'm just sitting stagnant. 469 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:55,680 Money, money money. See if there's any gems. 470 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,800 In Lightning Ridge, 20-year-old Sam 471 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,960 desperately needs his load of freshly-dug sandstone 472 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:04,760 to deliver opal. 473 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,440 Nothing yet, mate. No. 474 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,320 Oh, here's one. Ooh, that's got to be a colour in it, too. 475 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:14,760 Look at that. We can see a bit of green. Yeah. 476 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:17,800 It's a bit of orange. Look at this one, mate. 477 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,600 He's tiny. Tiny but look at that pattern. 478 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,440 Oh, right. Nice lines in there, innit? 479 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,040 They're bright. Yeah. 480 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:29,840 That's pretty rare. That's what they call Chinese writing. 481 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:34,280 Bit like a Chinese pictogram. Yeah, righty-o. Yeah. 482 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:37,040 Nice blue rolling flash across it too. Is it? 483 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:39,920 A little bit of black. Yeah. 484 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,000 Well short of their target, 485 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,240 Pete and Sam need to get the maximum they can for this stone. 486 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,240 And polishing the opal can triple its value. 487 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:51,800 I'm not sure how I'm going to go one handed. Yep. 488 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:56,040 How do you feel about giving that one a bit of a rub on the wheel? 489 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:00,400 It might be up to you, mate. You're going to bang her on the wheel and spin it round. 490 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,000 Let's see how we go. 491 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:07,720 When you put the stone to the wheel, you can make mistakes on it. 492 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:13,320 If you wreck a nice stone then, we'll be paying for it. 493 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,560 Don't let me rub too much off. No, you'll be right. 494 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:18,640 Let's go have a look. Yeah. 495 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:23,520 Takes a lot of experience to become a good cutter, and I'm quite an inexperienced cutter. 496 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:27,440 Nice, gentle touch. Slow and steady. We don't make any mistakes. 497 00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:33,000 What do we do, just roll it a little? 498 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,840 Just roll, just try to take that edge off, I reckon. 499 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:38,480 It's a nice colour coming out. Yeah. 500 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,560 A few blues and golds. 501 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,640 Might just get a bit of the stone out of this one too. 502 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,280 What do you reckon? I reckon that's pretty good. 503 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,800 Yeah, it's come up all right. Yeah. 504 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,960 So, I reckon we leave it like that, the buyer might decide to cut a bit more off it. 505 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,160 There'd be four or five grand in that. 506 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,800 Yeah. Now I reckon. Look at the colour in that. 507 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,520 I'll bag that up and take it in, see what we can get for it. 508 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:14,600 Yes. 509 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,360 Sam and Pete have two cut stones. 510 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,600 The first is crystal opal, 511 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,720 predominantly blue green with flashes of red and yellow. 512 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:26,160 weighing 10.5 carats or 2.1g. 513 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:30,200 They hope to sell it for at least $5,000. 514 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,280 The second stone is a black opal 515 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,240 with green and blue patterning called Chinese writing. 516 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,360 It weighs only one carat, 0.2 of a gram 517 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,120 with a potential value of $500. 518 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:45,960 We'll go get some cash from these opal, eh? That'd be good. 519 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:55,760 Mary's entrusted me with our entire opal find, 520 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,080 to go into town and meet a lady called Linda, 521 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:03,200 who knows a thing or two about white crystal opal, and definitely about how to cut it. 522 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:05,800 Money's drying up quicker than it's coming in. 523 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,680 So it's up to me to try and cut something good enough to make some from today. 524 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,200 We've found a little bit. OK. Interested to see what you think of it. 525 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:20,920 With ten years' experience, Linda George has offered to guide 526 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,160 rookie Carl in the art of cutting opal. 527 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,840 I was quite nervous. We only had one really good stone. 528 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:30,440 This is the one to start with. That's my favourite piece as well. Yeah. 529 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:34,160 One mistake and I could wipe out our best stone in the parcel. 530 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,640 What I want you to do is just hold it very gently 531 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,320 against the wheel there and move it around. 532 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,120 But not so much like that. 533 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,640 More like, put it on there flat... 534 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:46,920 Oh, OK. ..and move it around like that. 535 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,440 Yeah. We're just removing that surface, the clay and staining... 536 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:54,320 OK. ..so that we can see what the colour is underneath. 537 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,040 Keep moving it. All right. Always moving, moving. 538 00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,800 Move it around. Yep. 539 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,720 Keep checking. You don't wanna go too far. 540 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,480 Go too hard in the beginning and then you have lost it. 541 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,440 We have done a lot of digging to find this. That's right. 542 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,760 We don't want to lose it. No. 543 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,760 Let's have a look at that one. I think you've probably almost done it. 544 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:24,320 With the clay and staining removed, it's time for evaluation. 545 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,760 It's blue, green. There's a little bit of yellow. Yeah. 546 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,440 It's what we call sheeny. OK. Sheeny isn't worth as much. 547 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:34,120 But it is pretty. So I'm gonna say $200 a carat. 548 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:39,800 So, we put that on the scales. And it's 5.45. 549 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:43,520 And my estimation is that it's worth about $200 a carat, 550 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:45,600 which brings it to $1,090. 551 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,680 Wow. That much. That's quite a valuable stone. 552 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:50,840 That is. That's a very good first find. 553 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,520 How are you doing, love? Hello, hello, hello. 554 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,320 I've got something to show you. Have you? Yeah. 555 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:01,600 Have a look at this. Yeah. 556 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,320 What do you think? That really came out like of that? Yeah. 557 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,040 What we found? Yeah. That came out of our mine. Wow. I know. 558 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:13,480 That is a really nice ring stone. It's a beautiful ring stone. Yeah. 559 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,240 Mary will now have to call on her expertise as a jeweller 560 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:20,200 to turn the opal into something they can sell. 561 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,280 So the first step of the process 562 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,120 is to make the bezel to go around the opal. 563 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,840 This is one of my favourite parts 564 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:32,880 I'm gonna form the bezel around the stone. 565 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:36,600 I like this part because it's kind of different with each opal 566 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:39,800 but especially because I like to use free form opals. 567 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:44,080 You're really just reading the stone and reading the metal and just trying to, obviously, 568 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:49,040 make them marry up so that they sit as closely together as possible. 569 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,360 When you're wearing it, you know, 570 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,440 knocking your hands, if it's a ring especially. 571 00:33:55,520 --> 00:34:00,080 Bezels are just nice and smooth and comfortable to wear as well. 572 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:08,360 Are you there? 573 00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:14,120 Hiya, love, how are you getting on? Yeah, I'm finished. You wanna come up and have a look? 574 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,600 OK, I'm on my way up. Bye. 575 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:21,040 I'm really pleased with it. It's always a bit nerve racking seeing what he thinks of it, 576 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,480 but I don't think he's realised that it turned out so well. 577 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,640 So I'm excited to show him, yeah. 578 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:29,880 Hey. Hello. How'd you get on with it? 579 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:33,920 What do you think? 580 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,360 Oh, wow, that is gorgeous. 581 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,480 Do you like it? Yeah, I really like it. Are you pleased? 582 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:42,400 Yeah. I am actually. Yeah, it's stunning, Mary. 583 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:46,440 Mary's ring features a crystal opal, blue green in colour. 584 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:49,280 It weighs 5.45 carats. 585 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:53,360 Set in silver, it has an estimated value of $1,400, 586 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:57,160 bringing their season total to $7,900. 587 00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:01,680 It's a really special gem stone cos it's the first opal that we've found since we were mining 588 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:04,480 in White Cliffs, and it's really spurred us on to keep going 589 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:07,280 and believe in ourselves and know that we can do it. 590 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:11,200 More than the money, just to boost in morale is absolutely priceless for us 591 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:15,240 cos now I just want to get down there more than ever and find the rest of the stuff. 592 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,160 SAM: I'd really like to see some money. 593 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:28,680 That'd be just been great to keep everything ticking along. 594 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:32,400 Yeah, come in. Paul. How you going? Good. 595 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:34,480 In Lightning Ridge, 596 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,840 Sam and Pete are meeting prominent buyer Paul Sedawie. 597 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,520 They're hoping to get $5,500 598 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:42,600 for their two stones. 599 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,760 He doesn't undersell his opal. He knows how hard it is, 600 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:50,040 so you can't knock someone for being a bit over the top. He pushes it to a limit. 601 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:52,560 That's the king stone there. 602 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,160 There's ten-and-a-half carats in there. Yes. 603 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:59,320 The stone's got to sell itself. I can't really sell it. 604 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:02,720 It's gotta stand on its own merits, you know. 605 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:07,040 A couple of a little bit of sand spots in the middle there. But she is not too bad. 606 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,120 What sort of money do you have on it? 607 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,600 I reckon 1,000 a carat, Paul. 608 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:16,240 Mm, it's a nice stone. It's a pretty stone. 609 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,000 But I think it may be a little bit too high for me. 610 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,560 I'd be interested in probably 600 a carat. 611 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:25,920 600 a carat. Yeah. Yeah. 612 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,320 We were talking, you know... 613 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,760 6,000, slightly better than 6,000. 614 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:34,840 And what you have on this other one? 615 00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:38,440 Well, this is a unique little stone with Chinese writing in the corner. 616 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,520 Yeah. 617 00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:45,840 And I reckon that's worth a cool $1,000. 618 00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:49,800 It's unfortunately got a little chip on the bottom of it 619 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:52,960 so it's not actually gonna cut a carat stone. 620 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,720 I'd probably go 550 on it. 550? Yeah. 621 00:36:55,800 --> 00:37:00,000 So those two together, seven grand? 622 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:02,920 Might be a bit too high. 65. 623 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,760 I think 65 would pull me up. Yeah. Yeah. 624 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:10,480 Yeah, it's a fair offer. 625 00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,960 Oh, well. I think we can do business with that. 626 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,240 OK, cool. That's good. Done. Perfect. 627 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:23,320 Thank you. Good on you. Happy days. 628 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:25,400 It's a good result. 629 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:28,000 $6,500 brings Pete and Sam's 630 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:32,040 season total to $24,000. 631 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:34,800 Yeah, I was really impressed with the bigger stone. 632 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:38,760 It's a rich crystal. You see all this colour jumping out, it's dazzling. 633 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,080 And it's just like a trick of nature to delight us. 634 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:46,960 Oh, happy, happy enough. Yeah, that's fine. I mean, you've gotta come in a bit high anyway. 635 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,280 And they usually knock you back a bit, 636 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,400 but keep us going a bit longer. 637 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:57,120 Yeah, I'm pretty happy with that. There's money in our pocket. It's good for me. 638 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:00,920 Let's me keep on moving forward when we're actually making a bit of money, 639 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,000 not just covering costs. 640 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,440 So, yeah. Bit on the side, it's nice. 641 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:17,560 You've got to remember how much dirt's above us, you know. 642 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:21,200 And the more dirt you take out, the more weight's coming down on top of you. 643 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:25,400 At the Maze mine, the Bushmen's heavy weight jackhammers are removing 644 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:28,680 more rock from the pillars holding up the roof. 645 00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:31,280 This stuff's extremely hard. 646 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:33,960 The opal is nowhere near as hard as it, 647 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,160 so the weakest point in the opal. 648 00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:39,480 So it tends to fracture. 649 00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:44,360 Rod and Les need to be careful removing one shard of rock at a time. 650 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:50,320 A single wrong move could destroy the opal 651 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:54,160 or bury them both under thousands of tonnes of rock. 652 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:05,880 Some nice bloody stuff starting to appear here, Les. 653 00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:09,120 Oh, yeah? Oh. You got a little bit? 654 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:14,160 Oh, Les, come here. Oh, that looks good, mate. 655 00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:17,560 Look at this. Ooh, that's even better. 656 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:21,240 That's bloody beautiful. That is. That's a nice piece of bloody rock. 657 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:23,800 I've still got a bit of colour up there. 658 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,720 Yeah. It's in the roof, Les. Get into the roof. I'm getting there. 659 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:30,840 That's where it's at. 660 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,880 Holy... Les! 661 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,480 Holy... Man. Look at that. 662 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,960 (LAUGHS) Ho-ho! 663 00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:47,840 Got a couple of bomb-bomb there. That's nice. 664 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:51,760 We still got the whole bloody Mother Luck on our shoulder, mate. 665 00:39:51,840 --> 00:39:53,920 There it is. 666 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,280 (GRUNTS) 667 00:39:56,360 --> 00:40:00,360 It's the end of that other piece. Look at the colour in that, Les. 668 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,640 Ooh. That's nice. We're getting a nice parcel, Les. 669 00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:10,000 Beautiful, this is the best opal we've found in a while actually. 670 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:12,520 That's the stuff dreams are made of. 671 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,680 Oh, we might be in for a few dollars, Les. 672 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:19,720 The Bushmen have found high quality black opal, 673 00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:22,760 blue green with flashes of yellow and red. 674 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:28,160 They have 14g and are hoping it's worth $3,000 to $4,000. 675 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:32,880 Well, we're in the big smoke now. 676 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:35,120 Yeah, head to town. 677 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:37,880 To find out how much their parcel is worth, 678 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:42,360 Rod, Les and Amanda travel 70km to Lightning Ridge 679 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:45,920 to visit the Miners Association Evaluation Service. 680 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:49,080 Let's see what the verdict is gonna be on this one. 681 00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,600 Righto, hope it's a good one. 682 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:56,080 I guess the reason why we're bringing it in is that we've found a bit of opal recently, 683 00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:58,480 but before that, it's been quite a long time. 684 00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:01,120 So we're a bit out of touch with what the prices are. 685 00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:05,320 You put them all in there. All these good ones will go in there. 686 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:07,400 It's in our interest, I guess, 687 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:11,960 to make sure that we're asking enough money for it. 688 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:15,040 Chuck that filler in for good luck, eh? 689 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:19,040 If we get three or four grand out of it, we've paid for pegging the client, 690 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:23,440 we've paid for the repairs and we've got a little bit left for diesel. So we're in front. 691 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:25,800 Money is also needed for Amanda 692 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:30,480 to visit their pregnant daughter, 700km away on the coast. 693 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:32,560 If I told Amanda that we couldn't go, 694 00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:36,680 she's gonna be terribly disappointed, and I don't want to disappoint her. 695 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:43,600 The Miners Association is an impartial, voluntary panel of experts. 696 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:48,600 Open just two hours a week, giving free valuations on opal. 697 00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:51,880 Well, what they doing in there is looking at our stones. 698 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:56,200 They're trying to put the same price on them that a buyer would put on them. 699 00:41:56,280 --> 00:42:00,160 It's pretty bright. Little pattern in there. 700 00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:02,920 Gold and green. 701 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:06,040 Yes, you sort of are a little bit nervous, actually. 702 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:09,640 If we saying it's worth three grand and they come back and say, 703 00:42:09,720 --> 00:42:13,600 "Fellas, it's worth 500 bucks", that's a bit of a kick in the ass. 704 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:18,280 Right, this has got sand all across the inside of it. Yeah, this one, yeah. 705 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,400 Too soon anyway. 706 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:23,760 Number one, that's us. That's us. Yeah. 707 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:32,320 Yeah. 708 00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:39,280 That's a very good price. 709 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:46,240 That's three grand, close enough, yeah. 710 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:49,440 Yeah. Because they always want to knock you down a little bit. 711 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:52,440 Oh, of course. You gotta let them knock you down a little bit. 712 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,360 I appreciate that, mate. Thank you very much. We'll see ya. 713 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:57,720 Thanks. Hopefully, we'll see you soon. 714 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,000 With their evaluation of $3,000, 715 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:04,160 the Bushmen have a total of $50,500, 716 00:43:04,240 --> 00:43:07,360 putting their season target within reach. 717 00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:11,040 Yeah, I reckon the valuation that they've done at the LRMA, 718 00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,640 yeah, I reckon it was really good. 719 00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:16,200 So we are still on the ball with our pricing 720 00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:18,720 of what we want for the opal we sell. 721 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:21,480 I'm as happy as a pig in (BLEEP) at the moment. 722 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:24,000 Our season this year this is a bloody ripper. 723 00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:26,080 We're real close to our target, 724 00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,800 and things are looking fantastic for the end of season 725 00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:31,400 for us getting away to see the kids. 726 00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:37,360 It's for the baby. Oh, yeah. Good. That's great. 727 00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,400 Aww, beautiful. Yeah. 728 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:44,400 That doesn't mean we're slowing down, but we've got to keep on hammering 729 00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:47,200 cos we gotta catch up on 18 months of no pay. 730 00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:49,280 subtitles by Deluxe 730 00:43:50,305 --> 00:44:50,486 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=-