"Outback Opal Hunters" Episode #4.9

1 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,280 This has really thrown a spanner in the works. 2 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:11,200 And Young Guns risking abandoned mines... Get in there, brother. This is deep. 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:13,480 ..for a new source of Opal. Are we insane? 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,600 Chris and Oscar Cheal battle their toughest ground yet... 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,440 That's not working. ..and find another miner... That had a bit of work in here. 6 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:23,760 Look here, look. ..has beaten them to it. 7 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:29,120 And the Poms' opal hunting dream... Carl, the tipper is stuck. 8 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,880 ..could be about to shatter. Could that thing just work for a day? 9 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:41,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 10 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,120 All right, we are pushing, pushing for the target. 11 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,800 OK, let's do it. Let's go down. 12 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,960 In remote New South Wales, temperatures are pushing 40 degrees. 13 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,840 The Young Guns, JC, Jaymin and Noah, have just a few weeks 14 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:09,480 to hit their target before extreme temperatures end their season. 15 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:11,920 It's like an oven in there during the day. 16 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,680 And our machinery is starting to struggle a bit 17 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,440 and we don't know how much longer it can take it. 18 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:21,840 But there's been no sign of opal for two weeks. 19 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:26,000 We came out to show people that we could actually do this and there is actually money in it. 20 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,760 And so we don't want to come back with nothing. 21 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,600 The key is, literally, the more dirt you move, the better your chances are gonna be. 22 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,040 Woo-hoo! Let's move some dirt, boy. 23 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,920 They're hunting White Cliffs famous pineapple opals, 24 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,080 worth up to half a million dollars a piece. 25 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,880 I mean, if we find one...that would, literally, be amazing. 26 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,960 You know, there's nothing that could compare to that. 27 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,720 Bloody hell, having a bit of a rough day today. 28 00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,160 Everyone's just digging pretty much their hardest. 29 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,120 We're taking it in shifts at the moment. We just rotate out. 30 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:04,720 Hey, Noah? 31 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,080 So I'll jump in and have a bit of a dig as well. 32 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:16,880 Argh! 33 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:19,560 Nos? Oi, what happened? Is it the roof? 34 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:22,800 What, what, what? 35 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:24,800 Where are you? Up here! 36 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:26,600 What happened? 37 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,240 What's wrong? What's wrong? I got a nail...through...the foot. 38 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,920 Look at that! I think one of those went through his foot or something. 39 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:42,920 Dude, I don't know what to do right now. 40 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,320 Do we just chuck him in the back? I think, yeah, I think we just got to put it him the back. 41 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,480 All right, Nos. Let's go. 42 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,480 Two kilometres from their mine is Jaymin's parents Opal Base Camp. 43 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:56,840 Noah, how are you, mate? We're here. 44 00:02:56,920 --> 00:02:58,800 We just got here. OK. 45 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,040 I'll grab Mum. 46 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,280 Take him over to this bench. Look at the foot. Look at the foot. 47 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,760 What's going on? He's got a nail hanging out his foot. 48 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,080 You have to leave it in there because you don't ever pull anything out like that. 49 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,840 That's when the damage is done. I'm heading to town... so let's just go. 50 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,120 You are gonna be all right. Don't worry, you'll be all right. 51 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:20,920 We'll take you in, sort your foot. 52 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,120 Just watch your foot, watch your foot. 53 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,000 OK, you ready? Just keep your phone on you. Just give us a call. 54 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:31,000 The nearest hospital is 240 kilometres away in Broken Hill. 55 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:32,080 You'll be all right. 56 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:36,200 And Noah will be out of action for an unknown period of time. 57 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,360 This has really thrown a spanner in the works. 58 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,400 It's kind of confusing now as to where we will go from here. 59 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:46,920 To avoid conflict over any fines... 60 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,520 Look at those colours. 61 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,200 ..the Young Guns have an agreement not to set foot in their shared mine 62 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:54,240 if one of them is ill or injured. 63 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,120 Look at that! That is ridiculous. 64 00:03:58,200 --> 00:03:59,760 With Noah gone... 65 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,480 their season has suddenly been thrown into doubt. 66 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,880 We can't really do our mine without him. 67 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:06,760 I don't want to be - The thing is... 68 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,320 We've all worked so hard to get that mine where it needs to be. 69 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,400 If we find opal and he's not there, that's our team split up. 70 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,000 I am really hoping that this will be the end of our troubles. 71 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,400 Soon as we get out there, get out on the jackhammers and maybe drop the digger this arvo? 72 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:30,080 If not, tomorrow morning? Yeah. 73 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,480 Hopefully drop the digger this afternoon. 74 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,320 Anyway, just have to do the best we can. 75 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,520 The opal season is just weeks away from ending, 76 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:43,560 but Chris Cheal and 18-year-old son Oscar have only just started their hunt. 77 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,120 There's a lot riding on the next two weeks. 78 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,720 It's stressful. There's debt that I just want to tidy up... 79 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:51,560 And I'm probably gonna need a miracle. 80 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,360 But the miracle is not gonna happen if I don't try. 81 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:01,520 Australia's worst drought in a decade has destroyed Chris's grain trucking business, 82 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,120 forcing him to return to hunting opal. 83 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,560 With over ten years of opal mining experience in the past, 84 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:14,200 Chris knows the world's most valuable opal, black opal, worth up to $43,000 a gram, 85 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:16,680 could offer a quick payday. 86 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,800 You can get yourself ten years in front, financially. 87 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:23,560 There's not many places in the world you can go and do that. 88 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,960 And I couldn't think of anything better than digging with my son. 89 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:30,200 Chealsy, this is my claim, this one here. 90 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:32,840 Yeah, 50 by 50 metres is that way. 91 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:38,080 Old mining friend Scott Macmillan has subcontracted his claim to the Cheals 92 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,040 for a 30 per cent share of anything they find. 93 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,720 The task now is to widen or bell out the mine shaft by hand 94 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:48,240 to give their digger room to start tunnelling for opal. 95 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,000 Right on, mate, let's get into it, eh? Let's go. 96 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:55,960 We just started the compressor, 97 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:58,440 will start the blower and start digging. 98 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,280 We've got to get down there and make enough room for the digger 99 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:03,880 so we'll be taking turns hanging off the jackhammer. 100 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,720 Righto, here we go. 101 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:12,480 For Oscar it's the first chance to work underground with his dad. 102 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,560 As a young kid I'd love to come out, hanging off him, 103 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,200 and jump on the digger and go to tunnels. 104 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:23,360 It kind of just seems like it was ticking a lot of boxes for us to come out and work together. 105 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:36,960 I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't stressed about it, 106 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,320 but I just want to make the most of this opportunity and I want to find money. 107 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,840 We just got bugger all time to do that. 108 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,280 We've just two weeks of their season left... 109 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:51,440 the Cheals' need to find $10,000 to cover their debts. 110 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:54,640 I reckon we should have enough room. 111 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,480 I feel confident we can get it in today anyway. 112 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,680 Their two tonne digger can carve through 10,000 kilograms of earth an hour, 113 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,840 many times faster than they could by hand. 114 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,160 To lower it down the 13 metre shaft 115 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,560 they've called on a local crane operator, Jack Pocock. 116 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:13,360 Hey, Jack, good to see ya. 117 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,040 Jack's going to be up top here on the crane most of the time, 118 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,160 gonna make sure the lifting gear is in good condition. 119 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:23,640 Haven't got much weight on it, just take the slack. That's it. 120 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:25,720 Come towards me a little bit more, Dad. 121 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:27,720 Sometimes the hole is a little bit crooked, 122 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:31,240 you got to keep an eye on it and make sure it's not dragging up against the wall. 123 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,200 Sometimes you're told that it's a bigger hole than what it is. 124 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,280 You look pretty good. 125 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,320 'You all right?' No, mate. 126 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:43,480 We haven't taken enough out of the roof 127 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,200 and we should have taken that little lip off there, 128 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,280 and we're jammed up in here for space. 129 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,680 Mining is, physically, one of the toughest things I've ever done. 130 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,280 And mentally at the moment, it's incredibly difficult. 131 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:14,960 I've talked to people around town and the advice that I'm getting back is that we are at the right level 132 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,880 but we're just not seeing it, we're just not seeing the opal yet. 133 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,760 Former primary school teacher Carl Grice and jeweller Mary McMillan 134 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:30,040 have sold everything and travelled 3,000 kilometres 135 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,040 to hunt opal in remote New South Wales. 136 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:38,360 Established in the 1880s, White Cliffs is Australia's oldest opal field. 137 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,920 We just like to do something that's a little bit different. 138 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,200 So we decided to jack in the stability of normal life. 139 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,480 They've sunk $50,000 into a camper van 140 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,320 that doubles as both workshop and home. 141 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,640 Their last $3,000 has been spent on basic tools 142 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,200 and the lease to an abandoned mine. 143 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,480 We chose White Cliffs because we've seen some of the opal 144 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:03,560 that comes from here and it's absolutely beautiful. 145 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,680 Worth up to $25,000 a gram, 146 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,560 White Cliffs crystal opal is coveted around the world. 147 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:15,040 I love the colours, the way they dance and disappear and reappear in different lights. 148 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,080 They really transform and they're really unique and individual. 149 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,760 Because I make custom jewellery, I feel that they represent the person 150 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,640 that I'm creating for perfectly because they're so unique. 151 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:26,720 Mary's ability to make jewellery 152 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,600 can increase the value of any stones they find ten fold. 153 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:32,440 This is a partnership for Mary and I. 154 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,640 And the idea is that I find the opal and cut it, and Mary sets it. 155 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:41,240 Mining is a complete machine itself and everything is an essential cog in that. 156 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,280 The jackhammer, the tipper... 157 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,080 And then Mary and I as well are all integral parts of that machine. 158 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,920 If one part of that goes, the whole system breaks down. 159 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,480 But as the end of their first season closes in, 160 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:57,320 the novice team have barely made a dent in their target and are getting desperate. 161 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,960 I need to be cracking on. I need to be cracking on into the opal ground. 162 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:04,040 Rightio, opal, here we come. 163 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,680 Ah, f... 164 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:16,080 Argh, bloody jackhammer is not working. Really? 165 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:17,160 Yeah. 166 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:21,760 Oh, jackhammered. 167 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,000 What are we going to do? 168 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:28,680 I don't know, Mary. 169 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:30,960 There aren't any jackhammer shops around there. 170 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:35,560 And I don't wanna drive 1,300 kilometres to buy a new one. It'll cost a fortune. 171 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,440 I'm absolutely stuffed. 172 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:45,920 This is proper old school. 173 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,640 This is how the old boys did it. Hats off to them. 174 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:50,960 They must have been fit blokes. 175 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:59,160 Carl? What? 176 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:00,600 The tipper is stuck. 177 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:02,600 What? The tipper's stuck. 178 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:04,400 It's stuck? 179 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,880 sake! Could everything just work for a day! 180 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,160 I think it's stuck right at the top. 181 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,240 It's just not come back. 182 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,720 I'm sick of everything breaking down every ten minutes. 183 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:22,680 I just want to dig, dig for a day without something breaking down. 184 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:32,440 We need to keep working. 185 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,400 It's nearing the end of the season. Every week's one week closer. 186 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:37,040 It's just one week we can't spare. 187 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:41,040 So we've really got to get to work as soon as possible and find another way to mine. 188 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,400 Go and sort out some other odd jobs we can do, hey? 189 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,840 Jaymin and JC are in desperate need of a plan. 190 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:53,240 With partner Noah out injured, they need a new location to hunt for opal. 191 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,960 What options do we have? We don't really have much... 192 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,720 Our main... Our best bet now is to go and see Pops. 193 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,520 He's got some of the biggest knowledge in White Cliffs about opal mining. 194 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:05,960 You know, he lives and breathes it his whole life. 195 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,520 Let's see what he reckons we should be checking out. 196 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:10,160 All right, here's Pops. 197 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:11,640 See what he's got for us, hey? 198 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,160 How's it going, Pop? It's going all right. 199 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,040 What are you guys up? 200 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,480 You know, just figuring out what our next step is. 201 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:20,880 Jaymin's grandfather, Pops, 202 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,760 is a legendary local miner with nearly 50 years experience. 203 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,240 So we were just coming over to see you and see if you got any ideas 204 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:30,520 of what we could get up to in the meantime. 205 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:32,360 I suppose you could go down my old mine. 206 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,600 I haven't been able to get down there for a while now, till I get my leg fixed up. 207 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:39,160 So if you want to go down there and have a look about? 208 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,000 Have you pulled any opal out of the mine? 209 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:46,160 Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. I'll tell you what... Somewhere around... 210 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,120 Holy . 211 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:52,480 Look at that! Jeez! 212 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:56,760 That's from the mine. That is an enormous bit of potch. 213 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,680 I don't think I've seen potch, even that size before! 214 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,560 Potch is low value, colourless opal. 215 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,520 It's a sign valuable rainbow opal could be nearby. 216 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,960 It's there. I know it's there. 217 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,840 There's still opal showing so, yeah, they should find it. 218 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,280 Just a matter of whether they apply themselves to it. 219 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:21,360 Two kilometres out of town lies Pop's mine, the mousetrap. 220 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,680 Jeez, look at the hole there. Right on the side of the road too. 221 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,400 Almost two decades old, it hasn't been worked in over 13 years. 222 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,760 And its current condition is unknown. 223 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,560 This is it. He said there was a ladder in place. 224 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:36,400 Woo-hoo. 225 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:39,760 Dude, how deep is that? 226 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:44,160 That's deep. That's a big one. 227 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,520 At least 40 foot. I still can't see the bottom. Me neither. 228 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:52,160 Well, you wanna go first? Yes. Sure thing. 229 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:53,240 I'll do the honours. 230 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:00,840 How's it looking? 231 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:03,480 Holy moly, it's massive. 232 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:07,320 God, it's dusty, it hasn't been worked in a good while. Wow. 233 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,480 Nearly missed a step. You at the bottom yet? There's a bit of a drop. 234 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:17,680 Yeah, I just got down. All right. You good? Yeah, I'm coming down. 235 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,280 Jeez, it is a bit of a climb, man. 236 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:27,400 I reckon... 237 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:28,880 Whoo! 238 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,520 Have a look at this. We got some workings. Yeah, right. 239 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,600 Jeez, look at all this. Holy... 240 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:39,640 We got an indoor swimming pool. 241 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:42,040 That's going to be fun. No way! 242 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:47,240 The flooded mine has just made the Young Guns' hunt for opal a whole lot tougher. 243 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:48,400 Holy moly, man. 244 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:58,240 Jack? Yes. 245 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,440 Grab the jackhammer out of the toolbox on my ute. 246 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,840 13 metres underground, father and son team, Chris and Oscar Cheal, 247 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:08,240 have a two ton problem. 248 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,040 The digger they need to get them to their $10,000 goal 249 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:15,800 is stuck at the bottom of the mine shaft. 250 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:18,920 We haven't taken enough out of the roof 251 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,240 and we should have taken that little lip off there. 252 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,440 And we jammed up in here for space. 253 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,720 Without the digger, the Cheals' mining operation will grind to a halt. 254 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:29,800 All right, coming down. 255 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,880 To make it kinda fit properly, 256 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,200 had to jackhammer out a few different bits. 257 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:52,440 Hydraulically powered, it can carve through up to 10,000 kilograms of earth an hour. 258 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:54,440 Now we're talking. 259 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,800 How far do you want it? The more, the better. 260 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,520 All right. I reckon that's perfect. 261 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,600 Here we go. 262 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,640 Once in position, four hydraulic rams lock it against the ceiling and floor. 263 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,720 About time, eh, we go this thing going? 264 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,760 Ooh, staying out of the way. 265 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:39,880 Is that all workings, mate? 266 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:41,480 That's all workings. 267 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,320 Seems like a fair bit of work's done in there, though. So good sign. 268 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,400 We will open it up in there. 269 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:50,560 We'll go in there for a look to see how much work's done. 270 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,480 Long lost, abandoned mines can be a blessing or a curse. 271 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,000 They done a bit of work in here. 272 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,880 Someone's added a little gauge in there. 273 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,520 It could be a sign the area has promise. 274 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:09,160 Falling within the boundary of their 50-by-50 made claim, the tunnel is now theirs. 275 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:11,600 What we wanna do, because we got these old workings, 276 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,240 is try and get the digger in here and clean this floor up. 277 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:18,120 That's the plan today. We want to start knocking this out. 278 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:25,880 I wanna knock that out in there. 279 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:32,600 It's hard... There. 280 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:33,680 Bloody hell. 281 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:41,000 We really need something in the next couple of days for us to be able to keep working. 282 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,120 Look at the sides. Looks like that crystal stuff. 283 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,720 Looks like it's got a bit of colour in it. 284 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,000 Bloody hell. 285 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:57,760 Haha! For all the we went though for a week! 286 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:00,160 Finally! We hit the opal! 287 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,240 It's not bad! 288 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:13,760 Argh, for f... 289 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,720 With the end of the mining season closing in, 290 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:19,560 frustrations are growing for rookie team, the Poms. 291 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:21,040 Bloody bucket is stuck, Mary. 292 00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:23,920 As long as this bucket is not working, we can't get any dirt out. 293 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,000 It's just a I don't need at the moment. 294 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,920 Three metres high and extending 15 metres below ground, 295 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:35,640 the tipper bucket can remove 60 kilograms of dirt at a time from the mine. 296 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:41,040 Something's sticking somewhere but I haven't got a clue what it is. Just be careful with your hands. 297 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:44,840 Does it look like it's twisted to you? If you stand at the end there? 298 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,080 No, it looks straight. So it's not that then. 299 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:53,160 I might just have to give this a hard pull, just to release that bucket. OK. 300 00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,760 Jesus Christ! What the was that? 301 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,000 That was the spring! 302 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,360 You joking? It flew straight past your head, Carl. 303 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,800 Did it? Yeah. Oh, brilliant. 304 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,320 Great day It could've been a lot worse. 305 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:14,760 How could it be worse? We got a broken tipper and broken jackhammer. It could have hit you, Carl. 306 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,760 I can see where it's come off. It's come off that left-hand side. 307 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:19,520 I can see, yeah. 308 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:21,880 sake. 309 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:24,320 Need some help. 310 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:27,240 Carl rings friend and neighbouring minor, Adrian Porch. 311 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,000 'Hello?' Adrian, how you doing, mate? 312 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:31,360 'Hey, Carl, how's it going?' 313 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,280 Ahh, I think I've done something really bad in a past life. 314 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:37,880 I am having the worst day. Bloody jackhammer packed up. 315 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,960 And then the tipper's just literally thrown a spring and nearly taken my head off! 316 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,640 I know! So I've no tipper and no jackhammer. Don't suppose you're about, are you? 317 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,200 Just come and have a look at it for me because I've no idea what's going on, mate. 318 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,960 'Just give me... Erm... I will come over.' 319 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:54,480 Oh, you're a star. Thanks, mate. 320 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,040 We're so grateful for the community here because Adrian 321 00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:01,880 has kindly offered to come and help look at the tipper as well. 322 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:07,400 So it's just another validation of how lovely people are around here and how helpful they are. 323 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:10,880 I'm having one of them days, buddy. 324 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:16,480 Ahh, look at this. This should sort your troubles. 325 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,000 Thanks, mate. Thank you. That's all right. 326 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,800 You star, mate. Thanks for saving the day. Definitely. 327 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:27,720 What you reckon? Is it fixable? Yeah, I reckon we can get it back up there again. Re-attach it. 328 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:28,800 Yeah. 329 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,920 It's hard watching Carl up there, 330 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,680 flapping around in the wind. 331 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,160 A bit nerve-wracking but I am pleased we got someone here with us. 332 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:45,200 Bring it back through the ladder. 333 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:46,920 It's close, hang on. 334 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,480 Yeah, that's it. That's it. 335 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:53,320 Well done. Beauty. 336 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,120 All right. It looks a bit cockeyed but we'll give it a go, eh? 337 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:57,680 Yeah, give it a go. 338 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:07,040 Yes. 339 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,720 Thanks, mate. That's all right. Thanks, mate. Glad I could help. 340 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,240 Start mining. Saved the day. See yous later on. 341 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:17,720 Let's get to it. Right, I'll get down there then. 342 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,000 While the Poms' opal hunt is back on, 343 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:26,560 struggling to make ends meet far from home is taking its toll on Mary. 344 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:29,720 Hello! 345 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,120 Can you see me? I can see. 346 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,720 How are you? I'm OK, Mum. 347 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:36,440 How are you? Good. 348 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:41,120 I know Mary's been finding it quite difficult being so far away from home. 349 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,560 Lots of things have been happening back in the UK, 350 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,640 you know babies being born and weddings, and things like that. 351 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,120 How's the babies? They are coming up tomorrow. 352 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,200 Is she? She's a proper little girl now. 353 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,240 You've missed so much of the baby stage, which is a shame. 354 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:58,720 Mary's been in touch with all those people but I think feeling that distance, not being part of it. 355 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:03,480 I want to come home soon, I think, because I'm just missing you. 356 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:05,560 Hurry up. OK, Mum. 357 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,200 I knew she was feeling a little homesick, 358 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,720 but didn't quite realise how deeply until she got off the call with her mom. 359 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:25,840 You miss her a lot, don't you? 360 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:27,480 Hey? Yeah. 361 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:33,240 You know, it's the longest time that I've been away for. 362 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:37,280 At the end of the day, family is the most important thing 363 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:40,360 so it's important to honour that, I think. 364 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,240 That is an Olympic swimming pool of water. 365 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:54,760 Massive problem. We've gotten down into the mine 366 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,840 and we found several parts of the mine filled with water. 367 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:01,080 With partner Noah out of action, 368 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:05,880 Jaymin and JC are hunting for opal in a disused, flooded mine, 369 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,280 50 metres long and 13 metres underground. 370 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:12,160 So it's going to be a challenge to try and cross that 371 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,560 but it's something we're going to have to do 372 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:16,560 if we want to get to the other side. 373 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:18,040 All right. 374 00:23:18,120 --> 00:23:19,480 You good? 375 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,560 Let's do it. Get in there, brother. 376 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,240 Oh, my God, that is so cold. 377 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,680 With its depth unknown, the water could contain abandoned 378 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:33,000 tools, wire and metal that could seriously injure them. 379 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,080 Dude, this is deep. This is insane. 380 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,760 See anything through there? 381 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,840 I've not seen anything yet...at all. 382 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:47,440 I just wanna check over in this corner. Yeah. 383 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:50,360 I should have brought a boat! 384 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,120 I don't know why we thought this was a good idea. 385 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:54,920 It's not paying off at all. 386 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,000 It's cold. 387 00:23:57,960 --> 00:23:59,080 Are we insane? 388 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,880 Dude, up here. Up there? Up here. 389 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,360 Oh, God, there's some actual ground. 390 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,840 I honestly thought it was going to run out, and just be nothing. 391 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,040 But the mine continues. 392 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:16,040 Here. Ah, that's sore. 393 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:18,320 Ahh! Get up there. 394 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,000 Look at that! 395 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:24,200 There's gotta be something after what we've just gone through to get to here. 396 00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:25,880 This is, like, good ground. 397 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,120 Someone's had a bit of a dig around here. 398 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,440 Oh, check this, bro. 399 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,080 Look at that! 400 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,600 Opal. There's some opal running through the roof there. 401 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,400 Oh, thank, God, we didn't go though all that cold for nothing. 402 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,440 There, look! There's a bit of green and some purple. 403 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:45,120 It's got a bit of colour, it's something. The ground's pretty hard there, eh? 404 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,240 We're gonna have to go back through the water. We need jackhammers. 405 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,240 We're gonna have to bring tools back through that water. Oh, God. 406 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:53,520 What do you reckon? 407 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:55,720 Ah, let's go get wet. 408 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:58,280 You know what? We bring towels down next time. 409 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:01,280 We found a bit of trace in the wall. 410 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:05,560 So when you find trace, you just got to chase it and hope it turns into something. 411 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,600 There's always that day, you know? You can be poor in the morning 412 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,840 and then by the afternoon you can be a millionaire. Type of day I want. 413 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:16,160 I think our biggest challenge today is going to be running our power. 414 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:17,240 Yeah. 415 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,840 It's not worth risking your life and getting electrocuted. 416 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:21,600 No, not at all. 417 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,520 I know there's a drill hole right near the area. That's perfect. 418 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,320 Erm...I think it's this one here. 419 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,920 Yeah. I guess we just take the chance and drop the cable down this one. 420 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:36,240 If we're wrong then one of us is going to have to go back through the water and up the top again. 421 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,520 Let's just hope this is the hole. 422 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:49,160 I know you miss her. 423 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,160 I can tell, I can feel it as well. 424 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,720 I can see it's getting harder and harder as well. 425 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,000 Mmm, it is. Yeah. 426 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,880 It feels a long way away sometimes, doesn't it? Yeah, it does. 427 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,200 Especially when you're in the middle of nowhere. 428 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:04,760 Far from home... 429 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:09,680 cracks are starting to appear in the Poms' Australian opal dream. 430 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,200 It just broke my heart seeing Mary that sad. 431 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,520 So, immediately, I thought, we find opal as quick as we can 432 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,080 and get Mary on a plane home to see her family. 433 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,640 But Carl and Mary haven't found a cent in opal for over a month. 434 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,360 The line's looking good. Is it? Yeah. 435 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,640 This seam's thickening up. It is, isn't it? 436 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:36,320 Yeah, it's getting a lot thicker. 437 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:39,600 All of a sudden you see what's there. 438 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,880 Come on, Mary, bring your eagle eyes down, see if you can see anything. 439 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:56,880 Look, I just found that in the wall. 440 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,800 Looks like potch. It does a bit. It's almost like a shell actually. 441 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,720 When I am scratching, it's making that horrible noise. That's silica. 442 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:07,760 It's really, really silica. 443 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:12,280 The main ingredient in opal, if the silica is deposited unevenly, 444 00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:16,280 it forms a colourless, worthless substance called potch. 445 00:27:16,360 --> 00:27:18,000 It looks like potch, Mary. 446 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,840 It's a sign that valuable opal might not be far away. 447 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:24,800 Let's jackhammer it, see what happens. 448 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,920 Oh, Mary! Yes. Mary, have a look. 449 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:37,200 What is it? Oh, wow. 450 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:42,320 Have you found some? Yeah. Look. It's a vein. It's all through here. 451 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:46,480 Have you got the little pointy, stick thing? Look. 452 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,000 Oh, my God. Look at that colour. 453 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:51,600 Look at that. Bloody hell! That's thick as well. 454 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,240 That's really thick. Ohh! There's lot's more, Mary. 455 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,520 Is there? Yeah, the vein runs all though here. 456 00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,560 Wow! Look at the size of that! Wow. 457 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,080 Oh, my God. It's all through there as well, Mary. 458 00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,960 It goes all the way round to here, Carl. I know, there's loads of it. 459 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:10,600 Wow. Look at that, that's beautiful. That's stunning. Yeah, that's really nice. 460 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:15,240 We've already taken out maybe 20 pieces and it's still going, it's still coming out. 461 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,840 This is brilliant. We got purple, blue. Wow, Carl! 462 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,120 Green... Look how much we got, Carl! 463 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,200 Just look at this! 464 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,960 It's the sound of money, that. That's the sound of a plane ticket, Mary. 465 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:31,040 Let's go. 466 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:41,000 With just two weeks of the season left to find opal, 467 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:43,800 father and son team, Chris and Oscar Cheal, 468 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:45,600 have broken into an old mine. 469 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,680 A bit of purple. 470 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,680 Purple seam. Yeah, that's good trace. 471 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,920 With his trucking business on the rocks, 472 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:58,480 dad Chris desperately needs at least $10,000 to help support his family. 473 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,440 I'm back here to try and find some decent money 474 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,880 because I want to get on top of the bills. 475 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:05,920 I want to be able to provide for the kids. 476 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,160 I'm just trying to give my kids the opportunities that I never had. 477 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:14,000 Chris is gambling on finding highly priced black opal, 478 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,680 so-called because of its black base. 479 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:21,640 Best quality stones can be worth up to $43,000 a gram. 480 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:26,200 This one stone is a clue there could be rich opal in the old mine. 481 00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:28,600 Makes me want to keep digging. 482 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:30,640 Once we take this out, get the digger in here, 483 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,480 that's when the real stuff happens, so I want to get to that point as soon as possible. 484 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:41,400 To get their two ton digger into the old tunnel, they must first lower the mine's floor. 485 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,040 Look here. Look. 486 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:06,600 That's so good. We just came across a bit of opal in the floor. 487 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,280 Really happy to see that. 488 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,080 Ah, that's beautiful. 489 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:15,680 Got black too, right? 490 00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,520 A 140 horsepower suction tube called a blower 491 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,280 sucks the opal rich dirt out of the mine 492 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,800 into their truck so it can be processed in their wash plant 493 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,000 40 kilometres away. 494 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,880 We're pretty excited because we don't know what's in there, 495 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,160 you know, we can see colour all through these. 496 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:31,560 We'll wash them up and see what comes out 497 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,520 once the clay is washed away from all the nobbies. 498 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,600 Hopefully, there's enough in it, you know, and just keep digging. 499 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:39,240 That's what I'm looking for. 500 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:49,440 Woah, it's cold! 501 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:52,400 With partner Noah out through injury, 502 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:57,040 Jaymin and JC are chasing a seam of opal 13 meters underground 503 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:01,120 in a flooded mine owned by Jaymin's grandfather Pops. 504 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:03,440 Whoo! That was good. 505 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:05,200 Here's your cable. What? Is that it? 506 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,920 That's it. You nailed it, mate. Absolutely nailed it. 507 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,640 I think the opal's just up this way, just here. 508 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,800 There it is. There's our flash. 509 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,280 Stop, stop, stop. 510 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,680 Oh, my God, JC, look! That's red. 511 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,640 Look, there's a little bit of red, there's a bit of a red sparkle. 512 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:29,200 Good spot! 513 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,160 That is gnarly, bro. 514 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:33,480 That's the cream of the crop when it comes to opal. 515 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:36,400 That's what you want. You see red, you know you're on the money. 516 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:38,520 And it's looking kind of thick as well, so... 517 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:40,600 Let's get it. 518 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,360 You ready? I'm in. Come to papa. 519 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:58,080 Let's have a look. 520 00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:00,200 Definitely got potential, this one here. 521 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:04,760 That's our boy. That might be the best one so far that's done, that's good. 522 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:12,760 Where did that come from? 523 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:17,040 Very nice. Jeez, there's seams running all over the place. 524 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:18,560 You got it? Ho, ho, ho, ho. 525 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:20,760 Look at that little bit, there we go. 526 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,440 Jeez, that's colour. That is the colour. 527 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:25,520 Hell, yeah. 528 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:30,320 Ohhh... Is there a bigger bit up in there? 529 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:31,560 That's pretty cool. 530 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,800 Ha, ha, ha, look at that beaut right there. 531 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,800 That's some crystal green opal. That's the colour we want. 532 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:41,080 Stop, stop, stop. 533 00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:47,080 You got this? Holy...dude, look at that! 534 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,000 Look at that colour. Look at that stone! 535 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:51,880 That is a rock right there. 536 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,280 That's going straight on the Queen's finger. 537 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:58,200 That is worth doing just about anything for, I'd say. 538 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,880 We're seeing some brilliant colours come out of the ground, which is fantastic. 539 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:03,600 It's why we're here, it's what we're looking for. 540 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,160 Opal like this can change your life if you find enough of it. 541 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,280 This has really turned it around, big time. 542 00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:14,000 This has turned into some really serious colour, good size on it as well. I'm ecstatic. 543 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:16,960 This is what we want. Hell, yes. That's bloody beautiful. 544 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:18,040 What a good day. Mate. 545 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,560 I'll pour it on here, yeah? Yeah. 546 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:30,920 Let's have a look. 547 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,240 After weeks of hard labour, 548 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:37,160 British couple Carl and Mary have finally hit a rich seam of opal 549 00:34:37,240 --> 00:34:39,600 that could turn their fortunes around. 550 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:41,920 Oh, look at the colour. Look at that. 551 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,600 Wow, look at that one. 552 00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:48,560 Ah, gorgeous. Look at that! A bit of purple crystal there. 553 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:51,400 That's beautiful. Wow... Look at that bit, Carl. 554 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:53,920 Look at that. It's perfect. 555 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,360 It's all the way through! All the way through. 556 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,760 I knew it was there. It was just looking more and more like it. 557 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:02,880 I felt it in my bones. 558 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:05,760 This is gonna be worth thousands rather than hundreds. 559 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:08,280 Yeah, I think so, just because of how much is here. 560 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:12,320 For homesick Mary, there's now hope she can see her family. 561 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,720 Looking at the opal there, obviously, I think I'd need a little help 562 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:17,960 from someone who's got a bit more expert eye, 563 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:21,720 but I reckon there is enough there for a plane ticket for me to back to England. 564 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:26,040 We're gonna take the opal to Macko, a local legend. 565 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:28,440 He knows what he's talking about when it comes to opal. 566 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:30,800 We hope he'll give us a valuation, an appraisal of it. 567 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,680 Nice to see you again. Macko, good to see you, mate. 568 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:36,800 Veteran opal miner John Macko McCaskill 569 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,040 is a local legend with 30 years experience. 570 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,560 We did. We had a find. Good on you. 571 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:46,000 We've given it a good scrub and wash so we can try and see some colour. 572 00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:50,400 That's great. Oh, my God, you've cleaned that up well. 573 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:52,880 Yeah, and it's good... 574 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:57,040 It's good White Cliffs opal. It's got that nice sound to it. 575 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,240 Yeah. They look good. 576 00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:04,120 Good stuff. You've probably got 8 or 9 ounces maybe. 577 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:08,520 Hey, just the better side of 10. 578 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:14,840 Oh, that's good. It's pretty clean. It's as though there's no rubbish in it. 579 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,080 So Mary can set. 580 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:21,960 So you've got the chance to be able to do that and increase the value. 581 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:23,240 OK. 582 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,120 Just say you were cutting to size, and not freeforming... 583 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,360 you'd expect to probably get at least... 584 00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:41,200 ..yeah, it brings you into the many thousands. 28,000 - 30,000 minimum. 585 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:44,560 Good on you, kids. You've done well. 586 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:50,400 Carl and Mary's opal is crystal opal with translucent blues and greens. 587 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:55,200 The stones are in the rough but Mary's jewellery making skills 588 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:59,320 could transform them into pieces worth up to $30,000. 589 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:05,600 In just one find, they've made a huge leap from 7,900 to almost $38,000. 590 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:09,400 Exciting. Yeah, that's amazing. 591 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:11,040 That's a ticket home and then some. 592 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:14,640 We realise that we've made, potentially, a good amount of money. 593 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:18,360 But also that means I can afford a plane ticket now to go back and see my family. 594 00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:22,240 So, although, I'm sad to be leaving Carl temporarily... 595 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:24,720 I love you. I love you too, sweetheart. 596 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:27,720 ..I think it's important that I go back and see my family. 597 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,280 Hopefully Carl can find some opal in the meantime to show me for when I get back. 598 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:36,440 On the one hand, I was really excited that Mary was able 599 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:38,960 to go back and spend some time with her family. 600 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:43,840 On the other hand, selfishly, there is a big gap where she she was 601 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,040 and I knew I was going to miss her. 602 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,960 It's a case of me holding the fort here until Mary returns, 603 00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:55,800 and hopefully that fort will be sparkling with opal by the time she does. 604 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:10,120 Oh... Ho, ho, ho. Oh, nice. 605 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:13,360 Very nice. Look at that colour! 606 00:38:14,240 --> 00:38:19,040 Young Guns, Jaymin and JC, are cleaning the excess clay off their find 607 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,040 before washing it to reveal its true value. 608 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:24,360 All right, let's chuck those in. 609 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:26,240 And we'll see what we got... 610 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:28,720 when they're clean. 611 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,920 Let's chuck some water in it. Let's go, Mr Tumbler. 612 00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:38,240 That's it. We'll come back and check it out tomorrow. 613 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:39,720 See how she goes in the morning. 614 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:44,520 Yeah, we'll come back and check tomorrow. There's a couple of nice bits in there. For sure. 615 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:48,960 After losing partner Noah to injury, 616 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:51,680 and still $14,000 short of their target, 617 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,200 they'll need this fine to pay off just to keep their season on track. 618 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,480 See what we got. What we got! 619 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:02,640 Big ol' moment of truth. 620 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,800 Woo, some colour there. 621 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:14,760 That's beautiful. Oh, oh, look at that one. 622 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:17,280 That's got colour. 623 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,240 Oh, fantastic. 624 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,720 You got some of that water still? That is absolute rainbow. 625 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,240 This is the high grade stuff, this is the low grade stuff. It's weaker. 626 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:28,400 We've probably got about an ounce of each. 627 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:30,720 I reckon as a total, we're looking at about... 628 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:34,240 Four grand for the lot. 629 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,600 Mate! Look at that colour. 630 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:39,600 Jaymin and JC have found crystal opal 631 00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:43,480 with blues, greens and flashes of valuable red. 632 00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:46,840 Whilst there's over 50 grams, it's still in the rough, 633 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:50,160 making it worth an estimated $4,000, 634 00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:54,080 bringing their total to over $49,000. 635 00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:58,640 Hello? There he is. There he is! Hey! 636 00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:01,160 How's it going, mate? How's your foot? 637 00:40:01,240 --> 00:40:03,000 Yeah, it doesn't hurt so much any more. 638 00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:07,120 Had an X-ray, but it wasn't as bad, the cut itself. 639 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:10,080 Didn't actually go though Oh, that's good. 640 00:40:10,160 --> 00:40:13,640 Well, look what you've bloody missed out on. Let me flip the camera. 641 00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:15,440 Holy moly. Wow, look at that. 642 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:17,760 And look how big they are! Yeah. 643 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:21,800 Seen that stuff. I'm jealous now. I'm jealous. 644 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:26,520 I bet you are. Hurry up and get that foot bandaged and get on your way back. 645 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:30,920 Hobble back to us, we need you. I'm stinging for it. 646 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:34,280 All right, brother. See you soon. See ya, bye. 647 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:38,600 That's it. Good job. Killed it. All right. 648 00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:49,480 Yeah, it's cleaned up good. 649 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:53,160 In desperate need of at least $10,000 to pay mounting debt... 650 00:40:53,240 --> 00:40:54,240 Beautiful. 651 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,160 ..Oscar Cheal and Chris are about to find out 652 00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:00,920 if their first truckload from an abandoned mine has paid off. 653 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,880 Spinning them in reverse and send it down, I think it's only gonna be one set. 654 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:09,560 Owner Scott is there to help and claim his 30 per cent cut. 655 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:11,640 Let's do it. She's ready, mate. 656 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:16,480 It should come out fairly clean anyway. 657 00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,040 But if there's no opal in this load, 658 00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:22,760 the father and son team will just sink deeper into debt 659 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:26,000 and could be forced to stop mining altogether. 660 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:29,880 Push it down, mate. 661 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,920 There's flashes everywhere. Woo-hoo! 662 00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:35,960 Rightio. 663 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:39,240 They're everywhere. Far out! 664 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:41,880 There's one. 665 00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,840 Look at the colour on that one. 666 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:51,200 Oh, mate, everywhere you look there's colour. They are everywhere. 667 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:57,400 Holy... 668 00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:00,000 Everywhere you look, mate. 669 00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:02,960 Really bright green stone in here. 670 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:05,160 Here, beautiful little clean crystal. 671 00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:07,600 One truckload and we were just... 672 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:10,160 Everywhere you look, there was colour. Unbelievable. 673 00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:13,160 Aren't they? Look at that. 674 00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:16,680 A lot of shift in the colour, isn't it? Yeah, lots. 675 00:42:19,880 --> 00:42:21,880 This is why we do it. 676 00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:28,680 We got some opals. I've never, ever seen it like that before. 677 00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:34,520 With two weeks remaining before the summer heat ends the season, 678 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,840 Chris and rookie son Oscar have hit the jackpot 679 00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:42,280 with a stunning haul of classic Lightning Ridge black opal. 680 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:46,440 With purple, turquoise, green, 681 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:48,520 yellow and orange. 682 00:42:50,720 --> 00:42:55,160 It really is a long time coming, you know? 683 00:42:55,240 --> 00:42:59,280 It's definitely worth more than 10 grand when you look at it like that. 684 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:01,080 100 per cent. 685 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,800 30 odd grand there. That's our target out the window, eh? 686 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:10,400 Worth $30,000, their $21,000 share 687 00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:12,800 means they've smashed their season target. 688 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:14,760 First go, mate. First go. 689 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:17,720 He's seen something that a lot of miners never see. 690 00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:19,520 And he's only been at it a week. 691 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:22,400 You know, I think he's been shoved up the ass with a rainbow. 692 00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:26,480 Do you want to keep mining with me, or what? 693 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:29,680 You might be my good luck charm, mate. Maybe. 694 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:33,720 This whole experience is going to be something I'll look back on 695 00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:35,760 all throughout my whole life and smile. 696 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:40,200 Especially with him. It's something we've been able to do together . 696 00:43:41,305 --> 00:44:41,659 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm