"Outback Opal Hunters" Episode #4.8

1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:03,400 On Outback Opal Hunters... 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,840 This is the home of the black opal. Gives me goose bumps. 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:08,640 ..The Tunnel Rats... 4 00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:10,280 I'm really hoping this could be it. 5 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,240 ..are fighting to make a new start in unknown ground. 6 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,040 Right on the black too. 7 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:18,160 Yes! 8 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:21,480 Solo prospector Col Duff feels the heat... 9 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:23,800 Really good for catching the opal. 10 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:27,280 ..hired to find new opal in the vast Outback. 11 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,720 There's some good areas to drill that haven't been looked at. 12 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,120 And with Pete Cooke out of action... I'm running out of ideas. 13 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,000 ..it's the last roll of the dice for apprentice Sam. 14 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:40,400 It's not working. 15 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:48,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 16 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:09,720 So lucky that we're able to come up here and make a new start. 17 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,200 In the Grawin Opal Field, 18 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,600 the temperature is pushing 40C. 19 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,120 The end of the season is just weeks away. 20 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,120 But for Tunnel Rats Bayden Pearse and Lise Grobe, 21 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,560 their season here is just beginning. 22 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,880 There's a lot of people who've come from Coober Pedy and other places 23 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:31,440 and had a fresh start. You're not the first. Yeah. 24 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,760 They've come here to seek one of the most valuable gemstones in the world: 25 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:40,640 black opal, worth up to $43,000 a gram. 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,960 If I can find some of that stuff - 27 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,880 one stone, you could be looking at $20,000, 28 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:48,040 just like 17 grand, 20 grand. 29 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,560 We're not used to that kind of material. 30 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,680 Whoo! 31 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,600 That is what I call Mintabie opal. 32 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:00,040 Yes! Yes! 33 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:04,040 Two months ago, the Tunnel Rats hit the jackpot. 34 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,280 It's just made things a lot easier for us. 35 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,880 That's really changed a lot. 36 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,480 In the mining township of Mintabie, 37 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:21,080 Bayden and dad Rodney worked their 40,000m-sq claim - 38 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,160 Grasshopper. 39 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:31,800 Look at that colour. That is beautiful colour, son. 40 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,120 Yay! Whoo! 41 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,200 The mine produced their biggest-ever opal find 42 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,480 worth $100,000. 43 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,640 But the find of a lifetime ripped the family apart. 44 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,840 Bayden came and got me, 45 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:53,200 and sort of started pushing me back, 46 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,280 and I started pushing back against him, 47 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,320 and he just dropped me down on the ground. 48 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,840 He's suspicious of me taking money. 49 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,040 He and I were mates. 50 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,680 Mates. Not father and son, we were mates. 51 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:11,760 We spoke about everything. 52 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,160 There's Bayden when he was little. 53 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,760 Not sitting on his mother's knee, sitting on MY knee. 54 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,280 Who's feeding him? His father. 55 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:24,320 Who took him out on the tractor? 56 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,600 Who looked after him? 57 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,280 It's been pretty depressing, really. 58 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:41,160 Makes it hard when there's someone that you used to idolise... 59 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:45,160 ..that doesn't want to talk to you any more. 60 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,800 For the Tunnel Rats, there is no turning back. 61 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,440 The town of Mintabie is being closed down by the authorities 62 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,560 and handed back to its traditional owners. 63 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,120 So I've got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. 64 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,120 Rodney must abandon his off-grid home. 65 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,080 The stress of having to move, 66 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,120 it's very emotional. 67 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,440 Nothing's in place, 68 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:23,720 and everything's stressful. 69 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:25,360 I don't know what the future holds. 70 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:29,040 Well, I've got to make sure that everything that I own 71 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,920 is taken out before D-Day. 72 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,080 This is home for my four dogs and myself. 73 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,080 It's not a nice feeling. 74 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,160 The place you've called home for 26 years... 75 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,200 It's a strange feeling. 76 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,520 1,500km away to the east... 77 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,480 Reliable - you mean stability-wise? 78 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,160 Stable opal, it doesn't crack. Yeah, stable. 79 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:05,760 Bayden and Lise are starting again 80 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:08,640 with old friend Murray - Muzz - Cantwell. 81 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:10,920 So, this area that we're coming into now, 82 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,680 this is what they call Millionaires Road. 83 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,880 A lot of opal came out of this area. I like the sound of that! 84 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,920 Muzz, Bayden and Lise have done a deal... 85 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,160 Alrighty. So this is it. 86 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,200 ..explore an abandoned mine on Muzz's claim 87 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:30,480 for a half share of any opal found. 88 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,160 No-one's been down this hole for probably about seven years. 89 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,320 Oh, wow. You said that claim was flooded. 90 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:38,080 The claim down the bottom level 91 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:39,840 used to get a lot of water in it... Yep. 92 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:41,920 ..from all the other claims around. 93 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:46,600 I don't know what to expect. It's all new to me. 94 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:48,560 One person at a time. Yep. 95 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,320 Just hang on to the handrails. Three points to contact. 96 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,440 Keep your feet on the rails, and you'll be all right. 97 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,720 Mintabie's a lot more stable ground. It's very hard. 98 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,880 Here they're having to put props up to stabilise the ground. 99 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:03,720 I'm really, really nervous, 100 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,720 cos it's jumping into a bit of ground that you don't know about. 101 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,240 Righto. OK, I'm coming down. 102 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,480 This ground's no joke. 103 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:13,560 It can collapse on you. 104 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,480 I'll show you a couple of spots where you're not allowed to go. 105 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,440 That's a particularly bad area going in through there. 106 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:29,680 This is where it's been mined. 107 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,440 This is all out of bounds in through this direction here. 108 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,840 You can see where there's been a fall in there from the roof. 109 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,040 That area off that section is out of bounds. 110 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,520 You can see the stability of those pillars here. 111 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,920 We don't want to be getting anywhere near these. 112 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,200 Everything here, all that... 113 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:47,480 Is collapsed. ..is roof. 114 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:50,880 No props in it. That's what happens. It all comes down. 115 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,880 I quite often wonder whether anyone was underneath this stuff 116 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:55,960 when it happened. 117 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:09,480 For Pete Cooke... 118 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,080 Yeah? Let it down. 119 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,440 ..and Sam Westra the season is coming to an end. 120 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,760 Temperatures are rising... Rightio. 121 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,680 ..and so is the pressure on the master and his apprentice. 122 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,480 It's been a pretty tough season so far. 123 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,360 Haven't found much opal, and now Pete's torn his shoulder. 124 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,560 So, uh, yeah, it's pretty tough going. 125 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:42,640 I busted up my shoulder. 126 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,160 That's my main niggle at the moment. 127 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:46,920 That's a bit of a big , 128 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:48,840 climbing 50ft of ladders with one arm. 129 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,000 It makes it difficult even just to get dressed, 130 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,080 let alone getting anything done. 131 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,640 Pete's injury has slowed their operation down, 132 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,880 forcing 20-year-old rookie Sam underground alone. 133 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,520 You know, we haven't found any money in the last couple of seasons, 134 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:07,480 which is virtually two years of my life 135 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:09,560 where I haven't really got paid. 136 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:15,240 The partners are not even halfway 137 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,000 to their $50,000 target 138 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:18,960 with only one more week 139 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,960 before the summer heat will force them to shut down. 140 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,880 They too are hunting the most valuable opal in the world: 141 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,200 Lightning Ridge's black opal, 142 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,720 500 times more expensive than gold. 143 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:36,760 It's a very rare, elusive gem to find. 144 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,520 That's why it's worth so much, because it's so scarce. 145 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:45,720 It's pretty tough down here, mining by yourself. It's really slow. 146 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,480 We're not gonna operate both machines at once. 147 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,160 We'll call that a day. Home time. 148 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:01,800 Better find some opal, mate. 149 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,960 It's all well and good for me when I'm by myself, but... 150 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:13,120 ..having Corinne in the equation definitely changes that. 151 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,560 So, I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about it. 152 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,360 Hello. How are you? Good, how are you? 153 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,560 How was your day? Good. How was mining? 154 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,760 Find anything? No. 155 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,640 Just like every other day! 156 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,720 If I found some opal to finish the season off, 157 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,920 I'd have to stay, but if we don't find anything, 158 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,480 it's probably time just to look at the reality of it 159 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:40,160 and work out whether this is 160 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,120 a good thing for me and for us. 161 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,680 Hey, mate, have a look at these happy snaps. 162 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:56,080 You see, all that should be full of tendon. 163 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:57,920 So, I think there's four in total, 164 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,280 and I've torn three of them completely off. Right. 165 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:03,600 I've got surgery in a week. 166 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:05,840 Well, can we do anything in that week? 167 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,200 You can't do that sort of work, 168 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,960 drive a truck or anything? I can still weld. 169 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,440 I have a plan. Rightio. Let's go and have a look. 170 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:16,800 All right, mate. 171 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,400 Their hydraulically powered one-tonne digger 172 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,560 moves by dragging itself slowly across the floor. 173 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:29,440 Pete has a plan to speed up both it and their mining operation. 174 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:32,200 Looking at it from the side. So what I'm gonna do... 175 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:34,800 is try and put some tracks or wheels on it - 176 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:37,320 a drive wheel. 177 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,200 And in the middle, we've got a hydraulic motor. 178 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:42,080 So you just hit some levers, 179 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,160 and it's like a little Bobcat or an excavator, 180 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:46,960 in that it drives itself along. 181 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,440 So if this works how I hope it works... Yeah. 182 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,760 ..you'll be able to do this by yourself underground without me. 183 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,240 Pete's got this new concept, 184 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,480 which will work well if it works, 185 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:02,320 but got to build 'em first! 186 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,920 At the moment it's just a drawing. We'll see how it goes underground 187 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,720 cos if it doesn't work, we can't mine. 188 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,440 Got a big drive, 189 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,480 so, erm, got to make sure everything's right. 190 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:32,760 Veteran prospector and self-taught geologist Col Duff 191 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,600 is preparing for an opal hunt in remote wilderness country. 192 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:39,000 You've just got to have the stuff you need, 193 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,600 so you're not stuck in the middle of nowhere. 194 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,520 If you're broken down and you've got to sit there for a few days, 195 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,680 you wanna have some water. 196 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:52,240 Where Col's going, temperatures can hit 40C in the shade. 197 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:58,000 Out here without water, an adult can be dead within a matter of hours. 198 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:01,600 There we are here in Winton... 199 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:04,440 and we're going to Opalville 200 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:06,680 via Jundah. 201 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:08,760 Dirt most of the way. 202 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,600 He's heading 400km south 203 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:17,240 to the remote opal claim of old mate Ron Benny. 204 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,440 It's one of the biggest opal operations in Australia, 205 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,200 a multi-million-dollar mine-to-market business 206 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,720 where the opal is mined, cut, 207 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,680 set and sold directly to customers 208 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:32,760 in big city Sydney. 209 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:36,080 Righto. 210 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,360 Ron's hired Col to find new sources of opal 211 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:42,000 using his expertise in satellite imagery. 212 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:43,840 That's the lease there, 213 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,640 and that's a big fault structure coming through there. 214 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:51,240 Opal is formed in ancient underground fault lines. 215 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:53,040 Over millions of years, 216 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,880 silica-rich water trickled through these natural cracks 217 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,920 into pools and cavities known as gutters, 218 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:00,680 forming opal. 219 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:02,960 So these dark bits we can see - 220 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,200 what we call gutters - 221 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,200 which are really good for catching the opal. 222 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,360 And it shows up as like a shadow. 223 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,440 I've got a bunch of squiggly little shadows, 224 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,840 and we're gonna go straight to those places and see what's there. 225 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,240 Col has two days to complete his mission. 226 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:25,960 Starting to get a bit of excitement, a bit of adrenaline. 227 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,800 We must be getting close. 228 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:30,880 Can you smell the opal yet, Finn? 229 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,280 Col, good to see you. Good on you, Ron. 230 00:13:41,360 --> 00:13:43,880 I found the place all right. Yeah, that's good. 231 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:45,800 Yeah, she's a big place. 232 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,000 You can see those big structures there. 233 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,400 This here is what I'm very interested in 234 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,480 because you've got the Black Mine and the Galaxy Mine here. 235 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:56,280 What's going on in between? 236 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:58,040 What's going in between there? Mm. 237 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,320 Talk to you soon. Good on ya. Cheers, mate. 238 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,200 The first task in the field is to get 239 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,040 a more detailed bird's-eye view of the area. 240 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,360 Basically, we're looking for surface trace. 241 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:13,280 If we can't find any surface trace, 242 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:15,880 we should be able to pick where the ground's changed. 243 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,040 That's gonna fly down the valley a bit 244 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,520 and see what we can see that sticks out. 245 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:31,440 The aerial view is very important 246 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,120 because it shows you some of those main structures. 247 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:36,720 With a bit of manipulation, you can see 248 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:40,120 some of the underlying stuff that's hidden from us. 249 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,440 Turn off, cancel. 250 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:50,800 Cancel. 251 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:52,880 Go home. OK... 252 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,840 Yeah, totally lost the video feed. 253 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,120 Don't break it. Not a good thing. 254 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,720 Just looking for any kind of loose rocks that might be hung up, 255 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:21,360 so no rocks jump on our head and try to kill us. 256 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,640 Tunnel Rats Bayden and Lise are entering unknown territory. 257 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,040 Watch your head. Yep. 258 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,400 With new partner Muzz, they're scouting out 259 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:39,600 a heavily worked abandoned mine in the unfamiliar ground of Grawin, 260 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,800 1,500km from their native Mintabie. 261 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:47,240 All of that roofing there would be sort of quite unstable. 262 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,120 Well, unstable to the point whereby that's just a big slab, 263 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,360 and you can see separation in here. 264 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,400 Just a whole different kind of ground, like it's... 265 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:59,480 With Mintabie ground, it's more white sandstone like this. 266 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:03,160 But as you can see, you've got the blow, as they call this... 267 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,360 It's just all mixed-up dirt. 268 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:09,040 The problem with these walls is is that they're that dry 269 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,280 that they start to separate. 270 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,920 Put your hand out, there's just as much likelihood 271 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:15,840 that could fall down and fall on you. 272 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:22,000 That tells a story that it's paid money. 273 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,880 I can show you around here how well it's paid money. 274 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,400 The miners who started this claim before had a fairly good run. 275 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,920 There's more trees down here than what there are trees on the surface, 276 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,000 with all the props. 277 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,080 And they didn't mine like that for nothing. Yeah, yeah. 278 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:46,800 Knowing that this is the home of the black opal, 279 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,280 it gives me goose bumps. 280 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,600 Getting Bayden back into the swing of things 281 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,000 is probably the best thing for him. 282 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,080 Just comes and goes so quickly. 283 00:16:57,480 --> 00:16:59,800 Get plenty of leads, but all of a sudden... 284 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,000 Just little tiny... Tiny little bits and pieces. 285 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:04,760 A bit frustrating. 286 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:17,760 The fabrication's nearly done. 287 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,080 We've just got to finish the plumbing and... 288 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:23,880 yeah, we'll be right to test them out and see how they go. 289 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,040 In a last-ditch effort to hit their target, 290 00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:29,000 Pete and Sam are building 291 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,000 hydraulically powered wheels for their digger 292 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,560 to move it faster and single-handedly. 293 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:36,920 I hope this works, cos once you're in for your op, 294 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:38,680 then I'm a bit stuck. 295 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,680 With Pete out of action due to injury, 296 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:46,160 Rookie Sam is carrying the entire operation on his shoulders. 297 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,280 I don't wanna leave opal mining. 298 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:50,360 I love what I do up here. 299 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,720 I'd hate to throw it all away and leave it. 300 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,560 But sometimes you've got to look at the reality of things. 301 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:02,480 Personally, I'm struggling a bit financially to make ends meet - 302 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,880 a bit over just going to work eight till five, 303 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:06,960 and not getting anything in return. 304 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:10,240 It's time to have a bit of a think about it and see whether... 305 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,240 how long I continue to do that. 306 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,720 I can't see Sam staying here if we don't find any money. 307 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:18,480 We've got to find some opal. 308 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,880 You can't just keep putting all your time in and all your money in 309 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,440 months and months on end without pay. 310 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:26,880 I just hope I've got all the plumbing right. 311 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,080 I hope it all goes together. 312 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:32,680 Yeah, well, we're not gonna know until we put it in. Mm. 313 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:42,760 20m below ground, 314 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,800 Sam's task is to connect wheels to the digger 315 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:47,880 designed to give it more grip. 316 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:51,200 Whoa! 317 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:55,800 Trying to get these wheels on myself, 318 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:57,600 but it's not really a one-man job. 319 00:18:57,680 --> 00:18:59,720 It'd be a lot easier if Pete was down here. 320 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:09,240 Oh, you... 321 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,440 We didn't make these things light, that's for sure. 322 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,160 They're nice and strong, but they're bloody heavy. 323 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,720 So far so good. 324 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,280 Right. Let's test this thing. 325 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,800 All right, I'm starting it up. Moment of truth. 326 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:38,920 And it's not working. 327 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:52,440 Oops. Too far. 328 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:54,520 Deep in the Queensland Outback... 329 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:57,640 ..Col Duff is struggling with his drone. 330 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,120 Yeah, totally lost the video feed. 331 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,720 With only two days to find new opal sites, 332 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,560 he needs the drone's aerial capacity to help him cover vast distances. 333 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:11,760 I'll just bring it down manually. 334 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,360 Do you know what I mean? Didn't think of that, eh? 335 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,760 It's all good when it works, but, gee, sometimes it's an adventure. 336 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,240 The drone has taken the images Col needs 337 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:33,800 to analyse the landscape and pinpoint areas likely to hold opal. 338 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:35,600 We just took a couple of aerials, 339 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,280 a video, a few oblique photos. 340 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:41,920 There's some interesting features up here. 341 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,960 You can see where some creeks join, 342 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,560 and the sort of stuff that looks interesting, 343 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,040 you know, for an opal mining perspective. 344 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:53,120 Righto. Let's find some opal. 345 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,640 Col's first target is a nearby dry creek bed. 346 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:00,440 I need to walk it and just have a look 347 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,920 cos if there's anything coming out on those levels, 348 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,160 usually it concentrates in the creek, and you'll see something. 349 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,120 Where there is water, there is a chance of opal. 350 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,240 Once you've found some in the creek, 351 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,640 you've got to work out where it's coming from. 352 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,800 Col's hoping to find signs of boulder opal 353 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,160 that occurs in this area of Australia. 354 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,680 Formed when liquid silica flows and solidifies into cavities 355 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,400 in ironstone rocks deep underground. 356 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,800 Over millions of years, movement of the earth and erosion 357 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,440 have brought these boulders to the surface. 358 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,360 So we can see these different boulders here 359 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,600 lying on the ground that are weathering out. 360 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:41,880 You can see this has got big cavities in it. 361 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:43,760 When that fills up with opal, 362 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:46,520 that makes the most beautiful black opal. 363 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:48,520 So we've got the rocks and the cavities. 364 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,200 In the right place, that'd make beautiful opal, 365 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:53,280 but we need to find some trace. 366 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,760 Finding one with opal would be a good sign of a major deposit. 367 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:11,880 There's a bit of trace. 368 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:16,040 We've got a bit of black potch in a boulder cavity here. 369 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:19,120 Black potch is fairly exciting cos you don't see it very often. 370 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,040 When it makes colour, it makes the best black opal. 371 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:25,320 Somewhere that'll get better and start loading up and making colour, 372 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,080 and then you've got a payday. But where? 373 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,160 Well, not much opal today, 374 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,120 but that's how it goes. 375 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,040 You don't find traces every day. 376 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:40,320 We need a bit more than potch to get anyone excited. 377 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:44,640 If Col doesn't find any opal tomorrow, 378 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:49,480 his mission to discover new deposits for mate Ron will fail. 379 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:02,840 What's happening? 380 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,720 The motors are getting oil, but they won't spin. 381 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:08,400 Right. 382 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,240 20m below ground, 383 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:13,680 Pete's plan to speed up their operation 384 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,760 has come to a grinding halt. 385 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,000 It's not working. 386 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:27,960 Damn thing. 387 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:32,160 The wheels on their modified hydraulic digger aren't working. 388 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,800 Still no good, eh? Yeah, I don't know, mate. 389 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,920 I'm bloody...a bit stumped. 390 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,720 Another failure risks putting their opal mining partnership 391 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:43,840 on shaky ground. 392 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:45,600 I really don't know, mate. 393 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,120 Maybe I've got to come down. 394 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,560 I'm running out of ideas unless I'm down there looking at it, you know? 395 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:55,560 I wasn't real keen on climbing 50ft of ladder 396 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:57,920 with only one shoulder working properly. 397 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:03,920 Sometimes you've just got to get right there and hands-on. 398 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:08,840 I was a bit trepidatious cos you've got 50ft of ladder 399 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:10,920 you've got to climb up. 400 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,160 See you at the bottom. Righto, mate. 401 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:16,920 I really didn't want Pete coming down the hole. 402 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,120 Climbing ladders with one hand is just so dangerous, 403 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,120 but you've got to do what you've got to do sometimes. 404 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,000 Phew! 405 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,280 Rightio. See if we can get this thing fixed. 406 00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,520 OK... 407 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,440 Look at that little plug. 408 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,800 It's obviously blocking an oil path. 409 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:52,720 So, if we take it out, 410 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:56,200 maybe it'll let the flow through when the lever's on, mate. 411 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,360 Wow, I wouldn't have seen that. 412 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,560 Oh, no, you wouldn't pick that. 413 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,000 You'd hope all our problems were this tiny little plug, 414 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,760 wouldn't you? Really? 415 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:10,160 We'll just try it, I reckon. We'll just put this hose back in. 416 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:13,920 Rightio, I'm gonna fire it up. 417 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,000 See if that fixes it, eh? 418 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,280 There we go. There we are! Whoo! 419 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:31,240 Well, that's good. That IS good. 420 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:34,280 Bloody river! Bang... 421 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:37,240 The wheels are spinning round, it's spitting out dirt. 422 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:39,720 Sam can manage that digger by himself. 423 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,520 He can manoeuvre it. I don't have to be underground there with him. 424 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:47,600 Nice and easy now. 425 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,320 It's nowhere near as jumpy as it used to be. 426 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,000 That's good, mate. Well done. 427 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:00,200 The end of their season is only days away. 428 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,960 For Sam, this load needs to contain opal. 429 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,480 Hoist coming up. 430 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:08,840 It's costing me more than I'm making, 431 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:10,800 and you can't really ignore that fact. 432 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:19,880 One single load of good black opal could turn their season around. 433 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:22,960 Could be a million dollars spinning around in there. 434 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:35,920 Just starting to get a little bit of colour in the black. 435 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,800 Right in here. Ooh, yes. OK. 436 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,400 In Grawin, the Tunnel Rats are also on the hunt for rare black opal. 437 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,040 That's nice. 438 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:49,440 Oh, beauty! That's got good colour on the... 439 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,800 I found its partner. Yeah, there's the stone. 440 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,840 Yeah. That's good dark potch, 441 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,280 and you've got a colour bar sitting on the top of it. 442 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:00,560 It's running around to about here at the moment, 443 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,920 so there's probably a good - I don't know - 444 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,200 probably seven, eight-carat stone in there. 445 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,200 Whoo! Yeah. That's got good orange. 446 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,720 That's your black opal. 447 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:12,840 Yes! 448 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:14,760 Knew I was gonna get it. 449 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,360 After opal tore their family apart 450 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,240 1,500km away in Mintabie, 451 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:24,240 this black opal might be their chance for a new start. 452 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:27,840 That's a fairly big piece. 453 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:29,560 Ooh, hello. 454 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,240 This rock looks like red on black from my angle. 455 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:34,520 Well done, Muzz. That one's got it too. 456 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,360 It's pretty good luck to go from one field to another, 457 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,600 and all of a sudden be on opal. 458 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,720 You can't pay someone to do that. It just doesn't happen. 459 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:44,800 But maybe I've brought some luck with me. 460 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:46,840 Bloody hell. 461 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,920 It's the best bit of opal I've seen for a couple of years. 462 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,480 It's got every colour in it, and it's thick and clean. 463 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:54,920 You don't see this every day. 464 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,000 I'm really hoping that this could be it. 465 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,800 I'm hoping, if all goes well, this is where I'll be. 466 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,840 Reasonable size stone. That's huge. 467 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,960 Whoa! Nice. Yeah! 468 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,080 Look at that. 469 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,400 You're after a black stone... Yeah! 470 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:14,000 There's more there. It's going back... 471 00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:16,520 Yes! That's what I think. Yes! 472 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,720 I've got more in my hand too. Right on the black too. 473 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:21,800 Oh, that's red. Oh, bloody hell, Muzz. 474 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:23,880 Got the red and orange, 475 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:25,920 which is very, very rare colour. 476 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,560 I'm pretty happy. 477 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:29,200 Whoo! 478 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,040 I definitely could live here. 479 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:32,880 The opal's beautiful, mate. 480 00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:35,920 I can't wait to see what they actually look like rubbed up. 481 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,120 I'm holding my breath. I'm thinking I hope that they just come out 482 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,760 the way they should, and if we do, we could be talking a few grand. 483 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,880 Don't put numbers in your head. We don't put numbers in our head. 484 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,200 If we get any more than 50 bucks, we're happy. 485 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:49,720 Well, that's it. 486 00:28:57,760 --> 00:28:59,440 We'll get up the top of this hill, 487 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:01,320 so we can look over the whole valley, 488 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:04,000 see if we can see some of those big fault structures, 489 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:06,080 some of the changes in the ground. 490 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,920 In remote Outback Queensland, 491 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,160 Col Duff is on the hunt. 492 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,200 Oh, beautiful. 493 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:21,760 Mining mate Ron Benny has hired him to find new opal sites. 494 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:27,680 As payment, any opal he finds, he keeps. 495 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,520 It's good to get a good overview of what's going on, 496 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:33,600 where everything's sitting. 497 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,840 Those faults coming in, they're sort of separating in a few places. 498 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,040 There might be opal in the creek 499 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,200 cos it's fairly deep ground, eh? 500 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,760 You'd have to do a few test holes there. 501 00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:50,120 Definitely, there's some good areas to drill 502 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,520 that haven't been looked at very much. 503 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:58,400 Let's go for a walk around, 504 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:00,840 see if we can see some stuff on the surface. 505 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,880 Col's 30 years of experience hunting opal 506 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:06,720 has taught him to spot surface clues 507 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,800 that could indicate an opal-rich area underground. 508 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,800 You get the sun to your back, 509 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:15,360 and you've got the best chance of it reflecting. 510 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,240 Yeah. 511 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,400 Oh, hang on, here's a nice bit of colour here. 512 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:23,600 That's a nice purple bar, 513 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:25,520 goes all the way through the rock. 514 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:29,640 So you can just see purple along there and green. 515 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:31,480 That might be a nice stone. 516 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:33,280 Ladies love purple! 517 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,920 Where you find one, you might find some more. 518 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,360 Yeah, some nice green. 519 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:41,840 Beautiful laser-beam green. 520 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,160 I think they're good cutters. 521 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,080 To the edge of the level, 522 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:48,160 which has just come out on the surface, 523 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,120 and there's nobbies lying everywhere. 524 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:52,720 That's not from a back or anything, 525 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,920 that's just naturally where the levels hit the surface. 526 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,680 It's a shallow dish of opal. 527 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,720 With a good opal area pinpointed... 528 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:04,440 Yeah, now that's beautiful colour. 529 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,120 ..Cole can return to Ron with the good news. 530 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:23,920 Rightio, mate. 531 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:27,040 See if there's any gems. 532 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,800 Over $25,000 short of their target, 533 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:35,200 Pete and Sam are banking everything on their last load of the season. 534 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:39,600 At least I can do this one-handed. Yeah, that's it. 535 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:41,400 In the tail-out room, 536 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:45,280 Sam's future in opal hunting is riding on this one load. 537 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,760 You can only live in this world if you're pulling out some gems, 538 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,360 and if you're not, you've got to go back to reality a bit 539 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,000 and go and get that nine-to-five job. 540 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:57,720 Oh, there's a bit there. 541 00:31:57,800 --> 00:31:59,320 Nice black potch. 542 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,800 Any colour in it? I can't see any colour in it, 543 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,160 but that's all right. Bit of good trace. 544 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:08,040 We need to see opal now. That's it. 545 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,160 We've got the trace in here, but... Yeah, yeah. 546 00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:13,400 Little bits and pieces, bit of grey potch. 547 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,160 Oh, yeah. Look, look. 548 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:25,320 Any colour in that one? 549 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,160 Not that I can see. 550 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:28,960 Not from an initial glance. 551 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,040 The key to opal is colour. 552 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:35,880 No colour, and the stone will be worthless. 553 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,320 I reckon we just put it on the wheel, mate. 554 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,080 A full spectrum of rainbow colours, 555 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,120 and the stone could be worth $30,000, 556 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,360 saving their season and their partnership. 557 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,640 There could be a nice gem in here. We just don't know until you rub it. 558 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:55,800 Windows of colour rolling there. 559 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,920 I think we're gonna lose it, mate. We're gonna have to go through 'em. 560 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,760 They're, like, teasing you that there could be more. It just... 561 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:11,160 There's a nobby there that had a little bit of potential. 562 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,160 Could see a little bit of colour in it, 563 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:15,120 but it rubbed down to nothing. 564 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:16,920 Worthless. No money. 565 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,080 What have we got there? Yeah, pretty ordinary tail here. 566 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,680 Not much at all, mate. Didn't turn into much? 567 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:25,880 in that, really. 568 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,360 With zero opal from their final load, 569 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,760 Pete and Sam's total for the season 570 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,080 remains at just $24,000, 571 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:39,840 not even enough to cover their costs. 572 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:44,160 I don't know if I can keep going like this, to be honest, mate. 573 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,040 I don't know whether I'll be able to do another whole year 574 00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:49,720 with just finding that stuff. 575 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:51,720 I understand what you're saying, mate. 576 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:53,920 It's cost us a grand a week to mine. 577 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,720 You know, dig it, cart it, wash it. 578 00:33:57,800 --> 00:33:59,920 Probably just need a bit of time to think about 579 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:01,880 what next, what the next step is for me. 580 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:12,480 He's saying now he's not sure if he can keep going, 581 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:14,560 and I can understand that. 582 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:16,640 It's a big financial commitment. 583 00:34:16,720 --> 00:34:19,240 He's a young bloke, he hasn't got anything behind him. 584 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:20,960 He's got his future to think of. 585 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,640 I moved up here with a little bit of money, 586 00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:28,000 but by the time I bought myself a camp 587 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:31,160 and I've been mining for two years, 588 00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:33,960 there's not much left in the savings account. 589 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:38,400 I've got to weigh up what's best for me and Corinne 590 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:41,960 and what's gonna put me in good stead for the future. 591 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:44,840 If that's to give up opal mining, it is what it is. 592 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:47,480 And that's a decision I've got to make. 593 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,160 It's decision day for Sam, 594 00:34:56,240 --> 00:34:58,760 as Pete leaves for his shoulder operation. 595 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,400 So, young fella, you've been home, and had a bit of a think? 596 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:09,960 What's the verdict? What are you gonna do? 597 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:13,440 Erm, yeah, 598 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:17,480 I reckon I'll stay on another year. I reckon we can go around again. 599 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:20,240 In the ring for another swing, mate? 600 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:22,160 Yeah, I reckon. Ah, good. Excellent. 601 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:24,840 Hate to give up on those two seasons. 602 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:28,520 I reckon we can give it another go and see how we go, I reckon. 603 00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:30,880 Hopefully, next season, we pull out some gems 604 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,200 and, yeah, keep everything ticking along. 605 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:38,200 I've decided I'll give it one last season. 606 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,720 We've found enough opal to keep me encouraged 607 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:43,840 that there could be some more down there. 608 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,120 Next truck might have a million bucks in it. 609 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,640 I think we were hoping for 50 grand to cover costs, 610 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:52,720 but halfway there. 611 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:54,640 So, yeah, we'll have to look on it 612 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:57,720 as a cup half full instead of half empty. You've got to be positive. 613 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:00,560 I'll give you the keys to the city, mate. 614 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,920 Excavator, truck, shed. 615 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,120 You can keep that ticking over for us 616 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:08,240 for the next couple of days. Yeah. 617 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:10,400 Well, you go get cut and shut. Absolutely. 618 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:12,960 Good luck with it all. I'll give you a ring tomorrow. 619 00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,600 I'll come back stronger than ever. I'll give you a call, 620 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:17,520 see how it all went. All right, mate. 621 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:19,320 All right, mate. Safe trip. 622 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:21,760 Bit of trust in this, but that's good. 623 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:24,200 That just shows that we are partners. 624 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:28,640 The keys to Cooke City. 625 00:36:28,720 --> 00:36:31,160 It's not a bad city to have the keys to, actually. 626 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,200 Yeah, we had a good day today. 627 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:53,160 Col Duff's outback survey has come to an end. 628 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:56,240 He's identified potential new sources of opal 629 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:58,480 on a massive Outback claim. 630 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:01,760 We narrowed down a bit of a shallow show 631 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:05,080 if they're interested in chasing some shallow stuff. 632 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,080 They'll get something there. 633 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,880 These fault structures that we can see just now in this image, 634 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,040 they're massive. 635 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:17,200 You can see how that's a really strong bit of movement. 636 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:19,920 Yeah, I think they'll find this stuff useful. 637 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,160 So we'll make up a data package and give it to 'em. 638 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:27,120 Here we go. 639 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:31,120 Time to report back to claim owner Ron Benny. 640 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:32,920 Hey. 641 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,000 Hey, Col. 642 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:39,640 How did it go? Yeah, good-oh. 643 00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:42,560 Put the drone up in those places that you pointed to, 644 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:45,080 and got some really good shots of all three places. 645 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:47,240 You can see where the level's coming out. 646 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:49,560 I've got a USB stick for you 647 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:52,800 with all the aerials and information on it. 648 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:54,560 Thanks for that. Really clear. 649 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:57,640 You see those big faults coming through each way. 650 00:37:57,720 --> 00:38:00,120 Might be some ground in between. 651 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:03,520 I'll have a look at it tonight and I really appreciate it once again. 652 00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:05,560 Anyway, thank you very much. Good on ya. 653 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:07,200 Yeah. And I'll talk to you. 654 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:09,280 No worries. Cheers. 655 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,200 Well, there's our little haul of rocks. 656 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:19,040 So we'd better cut some stones. 657 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:21,120 As payment for his work, 658 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,040 Col keeps any opal rocks he's found. 659 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,680 Maybe half a dozen nice cut stones. 660 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:28,800 Some of it's very flashy. 661 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:33,240 And, really, I don't know what we'll get until we saw it up. 662 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:36,600 But I can see some potential, and there's some beautiful purple. 663 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:40,680 They're big bars, so I'll go from side to side of the stone. 664 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,600 I'll have to do a bit of work to value-add it. 665 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,320 This is boulder opal in the rough, 666 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:49,840 mostly green and purple in colour, 667 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,680 weighing about 5k. 668 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:54,800 $300... 669 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:56,360 Not bad for a walk in the paddock. 670 00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:00,840 For Col, opal mining is about much more than just money. 671 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:05,240 When you do see really good opal, it's exciting. 672 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,320 It's an emotional stone. 673 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,520 It flashes so many different ways. 674 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,080 This magic-looking bunch of rainbows 675 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:16,080 bouncing around with laser beams and little squares and hexagons. 676 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:19,120 Very satisfying. 677 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,840 When you find good opal, it's really rewarding, 678 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:23,720 but it's not easy. 679 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:26,480 But because you love it, you just keep doing it. 680 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:39,480 700km to the south, in the opal field of Grawin... 681 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:43,240 Got these bits here, guys, some of those other bits we had in the wall. 682 00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:46,120 We'll go through, clean them up, clean the edges, 683 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:47,840 see what we've got. Yeah. 684 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:52,640 After losing their claim and home in Mintabie, 685 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:54,840 Bayden and Lise are relying on this find 686 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,400 to help them decide whether to make Grawin their new home 687 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:00,480 or keep moving on. 688 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:02,560 I've got no home. 689 00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:04,360 I've got nowhere to live. 690 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:06,960 I need to start finding opal. 691 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,640 I'm raring to go, have a crack 692 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:11,760 and definitely a new future, hopefully. 693 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:18,840 The good thing is it's a nice stone and it's clean. 694 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,240 I'll be happy to leave that as it is at the moment. 695 00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:23,960 That's a pretty good-sized stone. 696 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:26,640 You're looking at, what, a ten-carat stone there, Muzz? 697 00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:28,600 Yeah, we'll weigh that up in a minute, 698 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:31,560 but that's going gonna be a ten-carat stone, without a doubt. 699 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,040 We've got all the stones pretty much rubbed now. 700 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:39,040 Muzz is just finishing up on one of the last ones, 701 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:42,680 and then we're gonna put a valuation on what we've got for the day. 702 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:46,960 At the end of the day, that's 65 carats. 703 00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:50,400 It's a mixed bag. There's a couple of black stones in there. 704 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:52,920 That stone there in the middle... That middle one. 705 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:55,520 That's the black stone. That's 3.9 carats. 706 00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:58,560 You could almost take that out and put 1,000 a carat on it. 707 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:01,480 1,000 bucks a carat for that?! Yeah. 708 00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:04,400 There's some crystal, there's some paler stones, 709 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:06,480 but they've all got a different colour. 710 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:08,640 They're all clean-faced, all sellable. 711 00:41:08,720 --> 00:41:10,280 There's a red stone there. 712 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:12,160 That's beautiful. That is beautiful. 713 00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:16,760 Their haul is a mix of crystal and black opal. 714 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:22,360 It's rubbed with a weight of 65 carats or 13g 715 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:26,760 with colours of blue, green and highly prized red. 716 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:32,160 65 carats, if we go out and ask for 6½ grand, straight off the bat, 717 00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:34,920 I don't think you're gonna have too many problems. 718 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,320 Man, that's awesome. Well done. Excellent. 719 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,160 Well done, honey. 720 00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:41,000 For their half share, 721 00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:44,640 Bayden and Lise will net at least $3,000. 722 00:41:44,720 --> 00:41:46,400 I'm actually stoked. 723 00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,120 For a couple of days - 3,000 bucks. 724 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:51,200 That's pretty damn good. 725 00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,160 Yeah, I'm pretty happy to stay. 726 00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:00,280 The opal's beautiful, mate. 727 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:02,400 Just go up to the dump, 728 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:04,200 and have a bit of a scratch around. 729 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:05,960 Yeah. 730 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:09,120 Well, you get a bit of a bird's-eye view of everything. 731 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,440 Did you ever think that you would like opal mining so much? 732 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:24,920 Do you wanna keep on mining with me? 733 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,240 Yeah. Would you marry me? 734 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:29,440 Was that a proposal? 735 00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:31,200 It is. Really? 736 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:34,360 Will you marry me? Really? You're kidding. 737 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:36,280 Elisa Grobe, will you marry me? 738 00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:40,720 Yes. 739 00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:47,120 You ! 740 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:51,520 It feels like a new beginning. Yeah. 741 00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:54,400 Everything felt right, so I want you as part of my life. 742 00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,240 I can't live life without you. You're fantastic. 743 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:05,680 I do love her, yeah. How can I not? 744 00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,200 She loves opal! 745 00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:14,240 Cheers to new beginnings, honey. 746 00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:16,560 Yeah, for sure. Let's find some more opal, eh? 747 00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:18,360 Yeah. 747 00:43:19,305 --> 00:44:19,319 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=-