"Outback Opal Hunters" Episode #4.7

1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:05,440 We've got no time at all. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:09,440 The Young Guns battle a severe storm in a race to save their season. 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,400 We've got to just keep moving this dirt into place. 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,920 If this floods, we're in serious trouble. 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,400 Digging out my floor would be a massive job. 6 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,120 I think I've got to get a drill rig and see what's down there. 7 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,680 The McFarlanes hunt for opal in the floor. 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,360 Oh, look at that. Let there be colour in there, please. 9 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,680 As they struggle to put a roof over their heads. 10 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,360 This stuff just brings down dust and dirt. 11 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,400 I can certainly say my confidence is not growing. 12 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:39,440 That won't cut it. That's too high. That's gone. 13 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:41,680 A new team hits the opal fields. 14 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:43,760 I'm off already. 15 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:45,480 I want to get on top of the bills. 16 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:47,440 I want to be able to provide for the kids. 17 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,760 Big debts force the Cheals to take big risks. 18 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:58,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 19 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,080 This is one of the old entrances to the out mines. 20 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,040 So this goes directly under where we are now and look at that, 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:22,960 we've got water down the shaft. 22 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:24,680 It's all starting to sink in. 23 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,120 So we got to really quickly build a barrier 24 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,320 just to stop all this water flowing down. 25 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:34,520 We've got no time at all. 26 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:36,760 We've got to just keep moving this dirt into place, 27 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,960 and stop the mine from flooding. If this floods, serious trouble. 28 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,040 I can't even touch the bottom there. 29 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,120 If the mine gets flooded, I mean, really, 30 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:46,840 we're not going to be able to mine it. 31 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,160 Not with all the electrics and stuff. 32 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,760 It's too dangerous to work down there with electricity, obviously. 33 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:54,840 We're starting to flood. 34 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,520 In remote White Cliffs, New South Wales, 35 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,520 a sudden summer storm is causing havoc for the Young Guns. 36 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,320 As outback temperatures rise, 37 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,880 humidity can also build, causing violent torrential downpours, 38 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,280 dumping hundreds of millimetres of rain in just a few hours. 39 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,520 This may seem like half an hour, 40 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:19,080 but we've had so much rain, 41 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,040 more than we've seen in the last three years. 42 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,920 Jaymin can get a big barrier at the top of that decline. 43 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,200 Now we just dug a little trench here, we've made a little barrier, 44 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,120 so hopefully, no more water gets in. 45 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,560 All right, we really just need to get out of the rain now 46 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:41,160 and just hope for the best. 47 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:43,240 We've done pretty much everything we can 48 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:45,480 to make sure the mine doesn't flood too much. 49 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:53,400 In their first season, 50 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,280 it's a massive setback for the rookies from the coast. 51 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,320 Still over $22,000 short of their season target. 52 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:01,920 If this goes for much longer, 53 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:03,760 if this goes for like another hour or two, 54 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,560 you know, our mine would almost certainly get flooded. 55 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:09,280 That's going to suck if that does happen, 56 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,360 and we have to shut it down early. 57 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,560 You know, that's going to really be a bummer. 58 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,680 Just 500 kilometres away, 59 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:28,880 the landscape is very different. 60 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,880 Bloody dry. Dry. Right. 61 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:33,920 Heading to Lightning Ridge, 62 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,080 former miner Chris Cheal and 18-year-old son Oscar 63 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:41,040 are entering a region that's been ravaged by a three-year drought. 64 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:42,920 It's probably gonna be a bit stressful, 65 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:44,560 but I just hope it's not too hot. 66 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:46,640 Yeah. 67 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:48,720 Chris is returning to opal mining 68 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,720 after the worst drought in a decade destroyed his trucking business. 69 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,720 Had a road train, and I'd cart grain with that. 70 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,400 Obviously with no rain in the last three years, 71 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:00,960 I think the last harvest I did was 2016. 72 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,720 The drought has just gone on and on. 73 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,520 As you can see from the landscape, it's as dry as . 74 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,520 I've just had to park the truck up and source work elsewhere. 75 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,360 I just graduated high school a few days ago. 76 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:19,640 I finished my last exam. 77 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,720 Dad managed to get us down to Sydney for school. 78 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,560 He worked his off seven days a week, every week. 79 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,600 And yeah, I'm just so grateful for that. 80 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:30,560 I'm really looking to give back 81 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,120 now that I'm kind of moving into the workforce. 82 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,960 The Cheals are back in Lightning Ridge, 83 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:42,480 hunting legendary black opal worth up to $43,000 a gram. 84 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,000 Lightning Ridge produces the best opal in the world. 85 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:47,160 And when you're mining, 86 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,520 you've got a chance to change your life just in one day. 87 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,040 You can get yourself ten years in front financially, 88 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,560 and there's not many places in the world you can go and do that. 89 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,080 I'm back here to try and find some decent money 90 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:02,880 cos I want to get on top of the bills. 91 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:04,960 I want to be able to provide for the kids. 92 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,240 I'm just trying to give my kids the opportunities that I never had. 93 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,760 But only weeks are left 94 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:17,440 until 50 degree temperatures make it too hot to mine. 95 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,040 We've got a very small window to put a hole down, 96 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,920 get the gear set up, and get as much dirt out as we can. 97 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,320 If we could find ten grand, it'll cover the cost for this time 98 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,600 and we'll have a bit in the kitty to come back. 99 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,320 Old mining mate Scott McMillan has a claim 100 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,720 he's willing to subcontract to Chris. 101 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,320 Hey. Hey, Chealsy, this is my claim, this one here. 102 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,320 Yep. So that's a boundary? Yep. This is your claim. 103 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,040 And it goes 50 - 50 by 50 metres that way. Yep. 104 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,320 Scott offered this claim to work. 105 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,760 He's done some work in here about 12 years ago. 106 00:05:57,840 --> 00:05:59,800 The holes have been filled back in. 107 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,120 And, you know, you got a bit of money here. 108 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:04,320 Before he takes on the claim, 109 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,200 Chris wants proof the ground has the potential to produce opal. 110 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:10,400 Can we have a look down? Yeah, sure. 111 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,880 All right. Let's do it. We'll suit up. 112 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,960 We just want to go down, have a little scratch. 113 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:17,440 This is Scott's claim, 114 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:19,520 but it'll give us a good idea of what we can expect. 115 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,120 For Oscar, the opportunity to mine again 116 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:25,400 with his dad is a long-held dream. 117 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,360 Pretty much my whole life, I've been into opal mining. 118 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:30,680 It's a passion of Dad's. 119 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:33,800 As a young kid, I'd love to come out, hanging off him, 120 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,520 and jump on the digger and all sorts of stuff. 121 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,520 That's all right, Scott. Look. Broken one, eh? 122 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,960 Is the other half in there somewhere? I don't know. 123 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,120 There you go. Yeah, that's the other half. 124 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,040 Nice blue bar in it. 125 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,000 Well, that's convinced me. Yeah, and I'm happy with that. 126 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:54,880 In with a chance. If you're happy with it, 127 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:56,560 we can strike a deal, Scott? 128 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,280 The going rate's usually70. Yeah. 129 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:01,560 I'm pretty happy with that if you guys are. 130 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,320 Yeah, right. That will work. You get 30, we get 70. 131 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,600 Hopefully we can make you some money. 132 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,320 Yeah. Cos if you're making money, we're making money. 133 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,760 Where we're digging is supposed to be good opal ground. 134 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,720 We've been up there digging now for quite a few months, 135 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,760 and all we've got out is a few grams, 136 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,400 so we don't want to push our luck. 137 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,040 It's dangerous ground. We have had collapses around us, 138 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,320 but we've just got to get some opal, you know. 139 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:37,640 Otherwise the family's going to suffer. 140 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,040 That's the end of the story. The family suffers. 141 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,320 So maybe we can buy you a car. Yeah. 142 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,800 Seven years ago, Gavan McFarlane, 143 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,960 wife Connie and 16-year-old daughter Teagan 144 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,880 moved to Lightning Ridge from the coast to escape the rat race. 145 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,760 Before opal mining, I was a computer engineer. 146 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:58,880 Sometimes I'd work seven days straight 147 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,040 or I'd be out seven, eight, nine o'clock at night, 148 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:02,640 still working, you know. 149 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,720 But there was something missing. 150 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:08,440 I think the treasure hunter in me was ignited. 151 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:12,680 You can go to work, $10 in your wallet 152 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,200 and go home a millionaire. 153 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,640 Everybody wants to be a millionaire. 154 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:21,720 Hunting legendary black opal, 155 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:23,800 the McFarlanes are struggling, 156 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,840 with the family home in desperate need of repair. 157 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,840 In there is my parents room, so I can see in, 158 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,360 and then there actually is a window there, 159 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,240 but it's kind of fallen through a little bit. 160 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,560 And then that wall is just, by the heat and everything, 161 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:40,120 is just getting deformed. 162 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:45,200 Australia has experienced its hottest decade on record. 163 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,080 For opal miners, the conditions are the toughest they've ever been. 164 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:50,960 We have extreme weather here. 165 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:53,280 At the moment, it's 45 degrees I heard, today. 166 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:55,960 Tried to put the air conditioner on the other day, 167 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,800 and the load was too heavy for the solars, and it just stopped. 168 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:03,920 And in the dead of this heat, it is killing me. 169 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,680 Even if we had air conditioning or a fan or whatever else, 170 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:11,000 because the ceiling is in the condition that it is, 171 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,840 and it doesn't quite meet the walls in places, 172 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,920 any cool air we do have 173 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,080 escapes faster than is practical to keep us cool. 174 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:23,680 This season, Gavan has found little more than $2,000. 175 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,240 So it's time for some new tactics. 176 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,440 Mines around me, they've got millions of dollars out of here, 177 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,240 and they are now condemned mines. 178 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,440 And they all were digging deeper. 179 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,680 So where we're at, where we're digging at the moment, 180 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:42,200 we have a hard roof, but we have a really soft base. 181 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:45,680 I'm looking for a hard sandstone base... 182 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,640 ..below me, where the opal has got an opportunity to form. 183 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,160 Gavan's plan is simple. 184 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:55,320 Explore a nearby mine to see 185 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,960 what depth the previous miners found opal, 186 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,720 then dig to the same depth in his mine. 187 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,280 Offsider Tim Bryant will measure from above. 188 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,400 All right, mate, I'll go down. I'll give you an "oi" 189 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:07,880 when it's right for you 190 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:09,760 to come down for the first measurement. OK? 191 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,240 Yeah, no worries. You be careful. I'll be careful. 192 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:14,800 There is a mine next door that hasn't been worked. 193 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,160 It's been pretty much abandoned for ten years. 194 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:29,600 This is so dangerous in here. 195 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,240 This has been exposed open for ten-plus years. 196 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:40,680 Air coming in dries it out, so it makes it even crumblier. 197 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:44,440 You have to be aware of stuff like this falling in on you. 198 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,280 It's not solid. 199 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:50,760 God forbid, if the roof fell on you, it'd kill you. 200 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:53,920 I'm just gonna venture up this other hole. 201 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,120 Hopefully there could be something solid below me. 202 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,640 Well, there's a really, really narrow level 203 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,800 underneath what they been calling here, the second level. 204 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,120 You see that? In there. 205 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:12,320 It's like a little narrow level in there. 206 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,640 Certainly could be exactly what we're looking for. 207 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,840 We'll get all this loose stuff behind us here. 208 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,920 We'll put that in the water, and that'll soak up all that water, 209 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,800 and then we can just bucket out those muddy buckets of dirt. 210 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:39,760 In White Cliffs, the clean-up has begun for the Young Guns 211 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,000 after extreme summer storms flooded their mine. 212 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,240 Still well short of their season target, 213 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,880 the rookies want to expand their operation 214 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,640 as they hunt for crystal opal worth up to $25,000 a gram. 215 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,960 We're just gonna go down the back hole in the corner of the claim, 216 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,640 just to go and see what's down that hole. 217 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,680 The plan is to connect their mine to a neighbouring one 218 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:05,640 and open it up enough for the Kanga digger to get through. 219 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:08,880 OK. Slowly. 220 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,000 But first, Jaymin and Noah 221 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,800 need to descend nine metres to find the right location to dig. 222 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:18,840 I'm a little bit nervous, yeah. 223 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,520 The shafts like this that are that deep and unexplored. 224 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,040 On a swinging ladder, it's still a little bit scary. 225 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:39,960 It's a bit sketchy. 226 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,600 Dude, it's a little mine. Still one more place to go. 227 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,120 A downstairs level, and that's just the other side of this level, so... 228 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,200 Some of the ground looks pretty good. 229 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,160 Could've been ten, 15 years ago that whoever was last in here 230 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:53,920 gave it a bit of a go and then just never turned back up. 231 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,040 Whoa. 232 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,160 That must be like the underneath part, but bloody hell. 233 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,240 I think maybe we check out the bottom level 234 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,080 and see what's down that way. 235 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:05,680 So I think that's probably where 236 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:07,520 we're going to end up breaking through. 237 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,840 The bottom level is nine metres down, the same depth as their mine. 238 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:13,960 This is where Jaymin believes 239 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,600 they can dig through to join them together. 240 00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:20,040 Let's try and focus on connecting them up and getting the loader in 241 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,440 and clearing out these walls, making them wider, 242 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,640 giving us a bit more room to walk through. 243 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,480 I'm going to draw up a plan of how it looks down here, 244 00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:30,600 and then we'll head back up and draw a plan of our mine there 245 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:33,880 and try and figure out exactly in relation to where we're digging 246 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,160 to make sure we're going in the right direction to push through. 247 00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:43,080 Ooh, nice. Nice! 248 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:45,160 Got it? She's a heavy one. 249 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:49,280 Key to the plan is this 1.5 metre long auger drill, 250 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,600 hired for $700, that attaches to the Kanga. 251 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:55,560 Say hello to my little friend! 252 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,520 Yeah, there we go. Whoo! 253 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,000 For the plan to work, the boys are banking on the drill 254 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,560 punching through to the other side. 255 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,520 We're going to use that to try to drill a hole through there, 256 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,840 see if we can break through into it. That'd be really good. 257 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,680 Just go straight ahead first. Straight ahead first. 258 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:21,360 I haven't seen any opal or anything like that 259 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:22,920 come out from the drill yet, 260 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,320 but at this stage, 261 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,000 we're really just trying to find that mine and break through there. 262 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,080 Well, it's not a metre that way. 263 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,480 Think how long it would take to jackhammer that far. 264 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,080 I know. And now we know it's not in that direction. 265 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:35,920 So now we're gonna come over this way 266 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:37,960 and we think it's, you know, now that way. 267 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:44,680 Go right down the other hole. 268 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,160 Climb down that ladder and see if we can hear and see how close it is. 269 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,280 We've kind of worked it out by putting two holes in either side. 270 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:57,200 Now we need to go straight in the middle. 271 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:58,920 That's what we're doing right now. 272 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:11,440 That sounds close. 273 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,880 Like they could be a full metre away right now and they just... 274 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,280 Oh, it sounds really close. 275 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,240 I'm thinking that's my hard sandstone level there. 276 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,440 Righto, if you send it down, the tape. 277 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,480 Whoa. What do you got? 278 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,640 That's 10.8 metres. OK. 279 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:46,560 I've found a floor that's probably 280 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,440 roughly two and a half metres below where my floor is. 281 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:54,120 So I'm hoping that carries through into my claim. 282 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,840 That's where they were talking about where the opal is. 283 00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:59,360 In a dangerous, abandoned mine, 284 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,280 Gavan and offsider Tim have located the opal level. 285 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,880 Next step, dig to the same level in Gavan's mine. 286 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,320 Digging out my floor would be a massive job. 287 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,200 Hundreds of tons of soil down there below me. 288 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:14,800 For us to get down into there, we're gonna have to... 289 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,960 I don't know, we're gonna have to come up with a plan, something. 290 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,480 I've been playing with the idea of possibly drilling underground 291 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,400 instead of spending weeks or months digging down with a digger 292 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:30,880 and just moving dirt to get down there. 293 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,200 We've sort of thrown a few ideas around. 294 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:39,120 The best one we've come up with is basically a small underground drill. 295 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,440 Gavan's gambling the last of the season 296 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,080 on this 23-centimetre diameter drill 297 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,720 to dig 2.5 metres into the floor of his mine. 298 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,920 To me, the most important thing in my life is my family. 299 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,000 For us to find opal would just make our life that much more better. 300 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:02,920 Is it going to work underground? 301 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,960 Is everything going to work in our favour? 302 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:11,320 These pins are gonna come out, 303 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,920 that's got to come off, and then we're gonna sample them. 304 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:19,560 The plan is to use the one-tonne hydraulic digger to drive the drill. 305 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:23,400 All right. Coming. 306 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,320 Hold it there. 307 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:30,680 Beautiful. Beautiful. 308 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,680 From here, it should be reasonably simple for us now. 309 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:39,520 A few hydraulic hoses, and we'll be ready to give it its first run. 310 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,760 The final step is to connect 311 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,120 a hydraulic hose from the digger to the drill motor. 312 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,200 There we go. 313 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:50,960 See how you go. 314 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,480 It doesn't fit, Gav. Are you kidding me? 315 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,800 It all hinges on the hole, whether you can get down or not. 316 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,600 The more time setting up, the less chance of making money. 317 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,200 Just weeks away from the end of the season, 318 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,680 new team, the Cheals, are making a last-ditch effort 319 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:23,160 to find $10,000 in opal to pay mounting bills. 320 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,320 We are starting from scratch, and it's the backend of the season. 321 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,400 It's getting so hot out here. 322 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,040 We've got a short period 323 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:32,440 to come out here and smash out as many loads as we can. 324 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:37,920 Rema, how are you? Pretty good. 325 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,800 We're gonna have to put a three-foot hole there, 326 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:42,920 so we get the big rig in. 327 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:46,960 Chris's plan is to dig a metre-wide shaft 328 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,000 through a layer of hardened rock called silcrete, 329 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,280 to the opal-bearing fault line 13 metres down, 330 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:57,040 then widen it by hand in a process known as "belling out" 331 00:18:57,120 --> 00:18:59,680 to make enough room for a tunnelling machine. 332 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,840 So, there's a pretty hard cap 333 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:08,640 they say at about eight, ten feet, and it's about two foot thick. 334 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:10,720 Yeah, that's fine. 335 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:12,880 At a cost of $1,300, 336 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:17,600 Chris has hired experienced drill rig operator, Homere Rema Remaili, 337 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,680 to drill the 13 metres. 338 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,560 Probably bit of a slow go, but she should get through. 339 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,240 All right. OK. I need you to get through. 340 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:30,960 Getting the taste of it. 341 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,680 The teeth on a drill bucket are made of tungsten steel, 342 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,880 designed to carve through earth and rock. 343 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:42,800 The bucket machine, that bucket, basically, it gets forced down. 344 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,520 It fills the bucket. It's usually about one foot. 345 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,520 Sorry. We have to change a few teeth from the cover. 346 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,560 It used to have a tungsten tip like that... 347 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,440 ..and it's just worn out. 348 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,720 That's how hard the silcrete is. It's harder than metal. 349 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:18,640 Bore's only three metres down. 350 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,120 I've only really just started in that silcrete. 351 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,040 You wouldn't really expect to be changing teeth already. 352 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,560 Replacing teeth takes up valuable time. 353 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,200 Round two. Back to the grindstone. 354 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,360 We want to get down to about 43 feet. 355 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,320 If we can get to that stage today, hopefully by tomorrow afternoon, 356 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:53,840 we're down the hole and actually digging some dirt. 357 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:57,680 Another one bites the dust. 358 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:02,160 That's gone. Another one gone. 359 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,240 He's down two more teeth. 360 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,640 Seven feet. They've been at it for a while for seven feet. 361 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,440 I can certainly say my confidence is not growing. 362 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,440 Three hours and nine teeth later... 363 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,000 Getting through slowly, but I don't know 364 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,640 how much longer he's going to keep trying. 365 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:30,760 Eight feet. 366 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:36,880 The teeth are gone again. 367 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,200 Right now, we're really keen to get through, 368 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:01,760 so we don't want to stop now. 369 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:03,920 Still well short of their target, 370 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,240 the Young Guns' plan to break through into a neighbouring mine... 371 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,800 Ah, where are you? 372 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,040 ..has proved harder than expected. 373 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:17,840 There it goes. There it goes. 374 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,760 Go on, little drill. 375 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,680 I reckon you're really close, but... 376 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:35,280 Guys, you're in! The tip! The tip is in! 377 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:37,360 I can hear them. Listen to this. 378 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,560 Oi, hello! Oi, the tip is in! 379 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,840 What? The tip is in! 380 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,680 The tip's in. We were thinking of giving up, and the tip was in. 381 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:55,800 We literally just gave up. 382 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:02,680 Look at that. 383 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:04,800 Oh, how're you doing? 384 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,080 Definitely very happy to be through, 385 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,960 and definitely going to open up so much more options for us 386 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,640 in terms of opening the mine up in a huge way. Perfect. 387 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,560 Just about to do that last little bit of jackhammering, 388 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:24,600 make it so we can actually walk through into our new mine. 389 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:26,680 Let's dig. 390 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,040 We'll walk all the way through. It is so satisfying. 391 00:23:41,120 --> 00:23:43,760 You're satisfied now? I'm happy. 392 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:48,200 The new mine has 45 metres of tunnels that can now be accessed 393 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,400 by their digging and mining equipment. 394 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,480 Oh, this is pretty sick. 395 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,120 Checking out a whole new mine, it's just awesome. 396 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,920 You know, it's going to increase our potential 397 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,000 to find opal by magnitudes. 398 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,400 Oi, have you guys checked out this pit? 399 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,000 What's up there? 400 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:07,640 Oh, lots of backfill. 401 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,920 We are going to be shovelling all this dirt up here. 402 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,200 Bloody old timers and their backfill. 403 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,400 Holy ! Look. Here. Look. 404 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,160 What have you got? You got something? Opal. Look at that! 405 00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,040 Dude, this mine is pin-up! 406 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,720 As you can see, look, it's just cutting grooves. Yeah, yeah. 407 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,280 In a desperate effort to clear debts, 408 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:43,080 former trucker Chris Cheal and son Oscar 409 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,600 are attempting to open up a new mine. 410 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:47,840 But their efforts have hit a roadblock. 411 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:49,520 His clutch is burning out 412 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:51,720 cos it's too hard for the reams to get through. 413 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,440 At a cost of $1,300, 414 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,840 the hired Caldwell drill can't break through a hard layer of silcrete rock 415 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:00,920 to reach the opal level. 416 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,960 What if I just go down the hole and took that out? 417 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,760 Chris will tackle the hole with a full-face mask 418 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,400 to stop silica dust damaging his lungs, 419 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,680 and a 15 kilogram jackhammer 420 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,680 that can deliver more pressure to a single point. 421 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,040 We can't get through, so the only thing I can think of 422 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:24,560 is to get the jackhammer, 423 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:26,520 just get in the hole, and knock it out by hand. 424 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,720 The temperature at the bottom of the one-metre wide hole 425 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:38,400 is nearing 45 degrees with high humidity. 426 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,480 Yeah, he's definitely going hard down there. 427 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,880 He's got probably about that much to go around the hole, so... 428 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,000 Working in these conditions, 429 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,000 Chris is at risk of severe dehydration. 430 00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,760 He's got about a third left to go. 431 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,160 It's the hardest ground I've ever dug with a jackhammer. 432 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:16,960 Oh, great. Thanks, mate. 433 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,320 Let's give it a shot now. 434 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,480 Just hoping I've taken off enough down there 435 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,200 for him to get through that cap. 436 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:36,080 All good. Beautiful. 437 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,760 He's through that hard stuff. Thank goodness. 438 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,920 Yeah, I'm pretty happy, eh? 439 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:48,360 Thirty-nine. 440 00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:51,480 Thirty-nine feet. 441 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:56,480 After six hours of labour, the drill has finally reached the opal level. 442 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,320 With nearly a full day lost and $1,300 down, 443 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,920 Chris needs the next step of his operation to go smoothly. 444 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,200 Just going over there to get the blower. 445 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,560 I'm gonna bring it over here closer to the hole. 446 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:15,360 The blower is a 30-year-old, ten-tonne high-powered vacuum 447 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,200 that can suck dirt up and out of the bottom of a mine shaft. 448 00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:23,880 So this thing will suck a brick 50 metres within a few seconds. 449 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,440 We'll hook it up and tow it out. 450 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,520 But the blower doesn't have a working engine. 451 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:35,800 It must be towed into position right over the newly dug shaft. 452 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:37,880 Yeah, slow. Looking good. 453 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,200 Your wheel's gonna be good. 454 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:46,760 Right on. 455 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:51,120 That one's good. 456 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,200 Yeah, that way. 457 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,160 It doesn't fit, Gav. Uh-oh. Fittings are too big. 458 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,240 These are too small. On the head, oh... 459 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,320 Eight metres underground, 460 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,320 Gavan McFarlane's hopes of finding opal this season are slipping away. 461 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,840 Fittings on the motor was different to their hoses. 462 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,400 Unable to fit the hydraulic hose onto the drill motor, 463 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,000 Gavan and Tim can't dig the floor of the mine. 464 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,360 I have some fittings up in the truck. 465 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,120 Just a heap of spares. I'll go up, see what I've got. 466 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,040 Gavan needs to make this work. 467 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:51,120 The family's off-the-grid home is in urgent need of repairs. 468 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,040 I don't understand not having a flushing toilet. 469 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:56,800 It's just normal to other people. We don't have that. 470 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,720 Coming down. 471 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,480 Luckily, I keep a little box of mixed fittings, 472 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:08,560 brand new fittings up in my truck. 473 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,800 Hopefully they fit. Let's do it. 474 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:18,560 Give me some good news. 475 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:23,640 Guess what? Yes? 476 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:25,880 It fits. Ah! 477 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:27,960 Thank God for that. 478 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,000 All right. The moment of truth. 479 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,080 You're ready? Ready. 480 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,560 All right! Yeah! It spins! It's spinning. 481 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,720 Whoo-hoo! Good going, mate. Excellent. 482 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,960 Ready to drill. Ready to go. 483 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,000 Mother Nature produces a beautiful gem, 484 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,640 and she's pretty darn good at hiding it too. 485 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,320 So that's what we're here for, the treasure hunter in us 486 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,240 is trying to find out where she is, where she's hiding it. 487 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,920 Two and a half metres of drilled dirt is sifted through a mesh, 488 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,560 catching any small opal-bearing pebbles or "nobbies". 489 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:16,680 Like sieving for gold. 490 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:20,320 Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's it. Whoa, look at that. 491 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,400 Look, look, look, look. Look at that. 492 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,400 That a nobby? 493 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:31,880 Wow. Wow. 494 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,280 God, let there be colour in there, please. 495 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:45,680 That one's good. 496 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,480 That's not what we want. 497 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,360 I thought you were coming down. Too soft. 498 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,120 Right, I'll have to fire the big truck up, sneak her out of there... 499 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,240 ..and put another hole cover in. Right. 500 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,400 Just added two hours to the day. 501 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:10,920 Deep in debt, and with the season running out, 502 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,240 the Cheals have got their ten-ton blower 503 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,560 stuck in the entrance of their new mineshaft. 504 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:17,920 We were trying to get the blower nice and close. 505 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,920 Just the dirt around the hole was a bit soft. 506 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,000 And, yes, it just went straight down. 507 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:26,200 Stand clear. I don't want the chain flying off and hitting anyone. 508 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,320 To get the blower out, 509 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,920 Chris needs the might of his 570-horsepower haulage truck. 510 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,400 At the moment, we're at the start of day four. 511 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,440 It's a bit worrying considering we haven't actually gotten down 512 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:46,640 and started digging. We've only got the hole. 513 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:49,960 Money is going out. Nothing's coming in 514 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:51,840 cos we're not getting through any dirt. 515 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,080 And we've got this really, really short window to make some money, 516 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,280 and at the moment, every day counts, 517 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,360 and just these little things are just chewing up so much time. 518 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,440 I've got some 40-mil steel plate. 519 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,120 I'll put steel plate over it. 520 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,160 It cannot fall in there, can it? 521 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,520 It's all good to go now, hopefully. 522 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,560 All we got to do now is put the pipes down, and we can start work. 523 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,960 At the bottom of the 13-metre shaft, 524 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,040 Chris will bell out, widening the hole for a digger 525 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,120 that will create the tunnels. 526 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,440 Like that sound. 527 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:53,800 Jackhammering this cement-like sandstone is slow, 528 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:56,840 with only two cubic metres cleared in an hour. 529 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,280 Put your helmet on and come down. We'll take turns on the hammer. 530 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,360 I'm gonna jump down there with him. 531 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,960 When you start up there, start on a bit of an angle. 532 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,160 Once your tip gets in there, then lift it up. 533 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,480 He hasn't had much of an opportunity the last few years 534 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:16,640 because he's been studying so hard, 535 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,080 and obviously, the best way he can learn 536 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:20,920 is just to be put on it and left alone. 537 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:22,720 He picks things up pretty quick. 538 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:24,800 That's it. 539 00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,080 Yeah, it's really nice being down here and actually digging. 540 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,560 We better be able to because we're at the end of the season 541 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:54,200 and this is our only shot. 542 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,240 OK. Here's hoping. Right here. 543 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:09,800 Now what you do, all right, 544 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,200 just around the edges. OK. 545 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:14,920 For the McFarlanes, their entire season 546 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,440 rests on Gavan's find of an opal nobby 547 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:19,520 that could be worth thousands. 548 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:21,960 You're probably better off doing these back here. 549 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,160 You got more... OK, yeah. I like the idea. 550 00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:26,840 He's putting faith in his budding miner daughter, 551 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,880 16-year-old Teagan, to cut away the outer layer of sandstone. 552 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:32,960 Here you go. Oh, gosh. 553 00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:36,720 You see OK? Yeah. Ah! 554 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:41,320 So Dad wanted me to, like, chip at the nobby 555 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:45,080 to get, like, the dirt off it and see if there was anything in there. 556 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:47,560 We need to get a little one. 557 00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,680 It's been nerve-wracking when you first do it cos you're like, 558 00:34:50,760 --> 00:34:53,680 "What happens if it's a big, expensive one, and you break it?" 559 00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:55,760 A little bit more there. 560 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,400 Yeah, now it's getting into the opal. Ooh! 561 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:05,080 I feel like if Dad wasn't there, I would've chopped it right in half. 562 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,200 Yep. Can I take that much? Yeah, go on if you can. 563 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,080 There you go. Oh, look, there's... 564 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:16,840 I mean, you can see it's purple and blue. Look, in there. 565 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:18,640 We're gonna give it a rub so we can see. 566 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:20,360 Give it a rub and have a look. 567 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,960 Connie's skill at rubbing the stones on her polishing wheel 568 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:29,720 will reveal the true value of the opal, a gem or a dud. 569 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:31,520 So I get to rub the stones. 570 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,920 It's my way of helping, being part of the team. 571 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,480 There's a lot of sand in it. Yeah, I know. 572 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:41,520 I'd take it all the way to the black. 573 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,600 Yeah? Yeah. 574 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,600 It's not quite what we want, but she's pretty. 575 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:55,480 You can see little bits of purple, a little bit of green, and... 576 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,960 but I think the sand's definitely got to the middle of it. Yeah. 577 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:02,440 It's not gonna get us a new roof. No. No. 578 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:06,240 The nobby kind of like came out nice, 579 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:08,840 but there was sand straight through. 580 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:13,040 The McFarlanes' nobby is a black opal called "sunflash". 581 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,800 It has no colour bar, with only specks of floating green. 582 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,640 There are three to four grams or 15 to 20 carats. 583 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:23,640 No money in it, sadly. No money. 584 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:25,720 Heading in the right direction. OK. 585 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:27,800 We just got to keep it going. That's right. 586 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:29,840 Colour was in the potch, 587 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,960 and Gavan tells me that that is what we're looking for. 588 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:34,680 If he keeps on digging where he is 589 00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,520 or moves a couple of centimetres to the left or to the right, 590 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:39,600 we might find that elusive opal. 591 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,760 It just tells me to keep going, keep trying, keep working. 592 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:44,640 I guess when I do find it, 593 00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:47,640 I'll be probably doing backflips and handstands and... 594 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,000 Oh! Up there. 595 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:09,480 Look at that. We got opal in the wall. 596 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:11,560 After surviving torrential storms 597 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,000 that threatened to wash out their claim, 598 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:18,080 the Young Guns have broken through to a new opal-bearing mine. 599 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:21,480 Some colour, for sure. Oh, it keeps going. 600 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,560 This looks good, boys. Come on. 601 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,880 Keep going. Keep going. 602 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:27,960 That's the money going in. 603 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:31,440 Whoa. Oh, that's a big boy. 604 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,160 That's a big one. That's some red and green. 605 00:37:34,240 --> 00:37:36,520 Boys. I think that's probably it. 606 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:38,600 Our bucket's pretty much full there. 607 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,080 Let's do some cutting, boys. 608 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:50,200 Jaymin's decided that to up the price 609 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,880 of the opal that we found, he's gonna cut it. 610 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,920 Jaymin Sullivan has been learning to cut opals 611 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,080 from his experienced mining father for the past year. 612 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,240 I'm just going to grab a couple of stones and clean up the edges 613 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:04,440 and just see, you know, what opal is beneath. 614 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:06,720 Using his dad's polishing and cutting wheels, 615 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:10,120 the value of the stones is now in Jaymin's hands. 616 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:11,840 Every time I touch this bit of opal 617 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,200 to the grinding wheel there, we're losing money. 618 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:15,880 So we don't want that to happen. 619 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:17,800 We want to take off as little as possible. 620 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:20,840 All the stones we cut right now are all going to be freeform. 621 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:25,760 Opals can be cut freeform, which maintains the irregular edges, 622 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,360 or they can be cut into a calibrated stone, 623 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:30,560 which has perfect symmetry. 624 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,560 So if we want to make a nice calibrated circle, 625 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:35,960 you would draw with a little pencil around there. 626 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:38,240 So you'll be able to just follow your outline. 627 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:40,240 But if you're making something like that, 628 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:42,760 that means you're losing that other beautiful stone. 629 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,600 You've got to decide if you want to keep it as a freeform 630 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,560 or, you know, you take more of your opal away 631 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:51,440 and make something that might sell a little bit quicker. 632 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,520 So it's always a bit of a gamble. 633 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:57,680 Look at that. 634 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:01,040 That's awesome. 635 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,160 That's that parcel done. 636 00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:06,080 Just got to get a value now and see what we've actually got. 637 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:10,280 Jaymin has asked local veteran miner 638 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,560 and opal buyer Micah to value their find. 639 00:39:13,640 --> 00:39:16,000 So these are the opals I was calling you up about. 640 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:19,080 Hey, man. What do you think, Micah? 641 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:23,520 What weight? Uh, we got about 18 carats. 642 00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:28,400 That one's probably the best one. Oh, mate, that's beautiful. 643 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:32,800 That's a kingstone there. That's six or so... Six, right... 644 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,600 The anticipation is killing me. Yeah, mate. 645 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:39,160 Another six and... 646 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,240 Mate, I'd say between seven and eight thousand. 647 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,040 That's fantastic. Thank you for that, Micah. 648 00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:50,360 That's all we needed to hear, I think. 649 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,160 The Young Guns have found crystal opal, 650 00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:56,040 featuring the full spectrum of colours. 651 00:39:56,120 --> 00:40:00,160 It has been cut and polished, and there's 3.6 grams, 652 00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:03,360 with a top-end value of $8,000. 653 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:10,080 That's like three months of working our dead-end jobs at home. 654 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:13,120 We're opal miners now. 655 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,200 We had problems with flooding. 656 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,680 Everything just seemed to be against us. 657 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:19,640 The next moment, you just see this sparkle, 658 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:21,280 this rainbow behind the wall, 659 00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:23,360 and that's what makes it worthwhile. 660 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:25,600 When you see that buried treasure underground, 661 00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:27,280 it's just something special. 662 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,440 Right now, I've become completely adjusted 663 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:31,200 to the lifestyle of an opal miner. 664 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:33,360 You know, it's just so rewarding. 665 00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:35,600 You move enough dirt, you're gonna find opal. 666 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,680 That's just something you can't get in other jobs. So that's why 667 00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:40,840 it's just one of the best jobs in the world. 668 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:53,080 I just hope we get something by tonight, it's already... 669 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:56,600 It's already cut the grain going out. 670 00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:03,120 I just hope it's not for nothing, you know. Yeah, exactly. 671 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:05,320 After the worst drought in a decade 672 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,040 destroyed their grain trucking business, 673 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,760 father and son team Chris and Oscar Cheal 674 00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:14,360 are banking on their first truck load of dirt holding opals. 675 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:16,040 Scott's been kind enough 676 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:18,320 to let us use the agitator, so we'll get this in. 677 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:20,520 The agitator's free this afternoon. 678 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:22,840 Chris and Oscar are going to put a load through that, 679 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:24,440 just to help him out. 680 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:26,400 Scott said you see bugger all 681 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,120 when you're digging it, so let's hope he's right. 682 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,000 Cos we didn't really see much down there, did we? No. 683 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:35,160 A converted cement mixer, 684 00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:38,000 the agitator uses thousands of litres of water 685 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:42,640 to wash away dirt until all that remains are rocks and any opal. 686 00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:44,240 Scott's here with his family, 687 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:46,200 and then there's Dad and I, and a few others. 688 00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:48,800 We could find absolutely nothing. 689 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,080 We could find a million dollars, you never know. 690 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:54,800 Yeah, it all comes down to money, doesn't it? 691 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:57,600 With no money there, we need to cover the costs, 692 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,240 or, you know, we don't go ahead. 693 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:05,360 Whatever Chris and Oscar find will be split30 with Scott, 694 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:08,600 so they'll need to find over two and a half thousand dollars... 695 00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:10,960 Bunch of the same. ..just to cover their costs. 696 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:26,000 Hey, look at that. 697 00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:29,040 Nice bit of colour in it. 698 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,960 Oh, yeah. That's a good sign. 699 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,760 Oi, Dad, found a nice bit of colour. 700 00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:47,040 You can make a little green bar in it. 701 00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:53,080 Hey, check that out. Could be the colour, nice, big nobby. 702 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,080 Oh, hey, it's going on, eh? 703 00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:01,440 A little bit of red down and it's on black. Ah, it's bloody good. 704 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,320 The Cheals have found crystal opal, 705 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,960 green and blue, with some of it on a valuable black base. 706 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:11,440 In the rough, there are 20 grams of it. 707 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:16,520 Some good colour here. Nice little pea nobbies, nice bright colour. 708 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,840 In the rough, at a guess, two grand. 709 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,160 Their $1,400-share won't cover costs, 710 00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:26,200 but it's the sign the father and son team need. 711 00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:29,640 There was a bit of colour there, so it's given me a bit of spark. 712 00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:33,200 We'll certainly put the digger down and rip some more dirt out. 713 00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:35,560 Yeah, I'm really confident. Hopefully, you know, 714 00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:38,600 it leads us in the right way that we can hit a massive pocket. 715 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:41,720 He's been great, Oscar. Just being able to teach him a few things 716 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:44,920 and just getting time with him, I mean, he's great to have around. 716 00:43:45,305 --> 00:44:45,897