"Outback Opal Hunters" The Reward of the Effort

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,080 NARRATOR: On Outback Opal Hunters... 2 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,560 ISAAC: I'm excited. SOFIA: Just be careful, hey. 3 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:06,360 Whoa!Hey. Whoa!Ah!Zac. 4 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:08,840 ..Sofia and Isaac, the Opal Whisperers, 5 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,280 finally return to their house claim... 6 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,000 There's elements here I've never seen before in my life, 7 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,320 cutting or mining. Here, this is coming out there. 8 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,360 ..and unearth a massive Yowah boulder opal. 9 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:21,800 Sofia, look at this! Oh, my God. 10 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:23,520 What! 11 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,080 ANGEL: Ah, whoa! Get out of the way, guys, 12 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,240 get out of the way. 13 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,880 The Misfits' open-cut mine drives Angel and Issy 14 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,320 into dangerous underground territory... 15 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,160 I hope you're not claustrophobic. Too late now. 16 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,200 ..and deep into the high-stakes world of opal sales. 17 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,960 Here's a million dollars worth of opal. 18 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,240 SECURITY GUARD: You can't be seen filming this. 19 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,320 You need to leave the premises now, please. 20 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,720 RORY: We've nearly undercut it completely, so there's gonna be nothing holding it up. 21 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,160 The Cheals' epic four-year dig finally comes to an end... 22 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,880 You will all have to stand back. 23 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:05,320 ..risking their lives on the hunt for huge back-to-back opal hauls. 24 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:07,480 OSCAR: Oh, yeah! 25 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,480 Over half a mil, boys. Oh. 26 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:16,840 # ASH GRUNWALD: Money 27 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,160 # And fancy clothes # 28 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:30,074 Support us and become VIP member to remove all ads from www.OpenSubtitles.org 29 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,920 ANGEL: First time I've ever worked this type of ground. 30 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,200 I'm finding it tricky to follow and read. 31 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,040 I mean, Issy's down there, she's paying attention to the wall. 32 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,040 Easy to forget about, you know, the obvious dangers 33 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:52,600 of the rock hanging loose above your head. 34 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,280 Anything that's falling 35 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:56,720 is caused by the vibration from the excavator. 36 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,320 We've just got to be mindful of what's going on around us. 37 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,520 A boulder from that height would probably kill me. 38 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,800 But these are the risks we take to find opal. 39 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,040 Oh! Oh!Angel! 40 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:21,800 The Misfits, Angel Dempsey, 41 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:23,800 new recruit, Issy Glen, 42 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,440 and mentor, "Opal" Joe Kalmar, 43 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,360 have started an ambitious open-cut mine 44 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,040 to access dangerous opal-rich tunnels 45 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:33,720 eight metres down. 46 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,000 This is the first time I've ever done an open cut 47 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,760 with drives under me and a ballroom under me, so I'm pretty nervous about that. 48 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,040 Angel's done really well with the bulldozer. 49 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,160 I don't really give her a choice. You know, she's got to learn or run. 50 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,120 His digging days over, 51 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,680 "Opal" Joe is financing a younger generation. 52 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,560 I've basically stepped back because my health's up the creek. 53 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:03,360 Too many strokes. So I've stepped back and hoping 54 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:05,800 that Angel can take over everything. 55 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:07,720 Might get you to go to Lightning Ridge, 56 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:11,520 we'll meet some buyers, meet some different people, learn more about opal values. 57 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:13,360 I'm sending Angel to Lightning Ridge. 58 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,400 And the best way to learn is to be thrown in the deep end. 59 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,720 Founded in 1971, 60 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,200 the Lightning Ridge Opal and Gem Festival 61 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:24,680 is the biggest event on the Australian opal circuit, 62 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,640 attracting over 4,000 people across four days, 63 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,360 with millions of dollars of opal for sale. 64 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,480 The idea is to put her in a situation where I'm not needed. 65 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,120 Joe's health, you know, is not the best at the moment, 66 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,320 so I'm really wanting to get the pressure off him a bit and, 67 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,280 you know, get myself up and running, so I need opal to do that. 68 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,560 Issy is my new mining partner. 69 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:55,120 Her job is mainly to spot the opal, so without Issy, we can't find opal. 70 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,000 My goal is making enough money 71 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,200 to keep my husband and I's gym running. 72 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,720 OK, are we set? Go! 73 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,760 A lot of the kids can't afford gloves and headgear, 74 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:07,760 cos at the moment, it's all coming out 75 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:09,840 of our life savings. One, two.. 76 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,000 So we've headed for a target of $160,000. 77 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,120 For me, that little bit that I do get out of the partnership 78 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:19,840 is really gonna help my gym. 79 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:21,520 Good on ya. 80 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,840 If it gets any closer to us, we're gonna have to do something about that. 81 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,480 Yeah, no worries. I'll keep my eyes open. 82 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:32,200 We got a bit of movement up there, 83 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:36,320 so at the moment, it's just a bit of dust, which is OK. 84 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,800 It's the boulders we don't want to come down. 85 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,320 When Angel's driving the excavator, 86 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,400 I've always got to know where I'm positioned, 87 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:54,160 because if anything happens, you know, it's run. 88 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,200 So, get rid of that hole cos it's a bit, er, a bit wonky. 89 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:04,640 I feel really small around these machines. 90 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,040 They're actually really daunting to watch. 91 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,560 Ah, whoa! Get out of the way, guys, 92 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,080 get out of the way. 93 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:31,280 I've put these into different parcels. 94 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:33,840 I'll get you to check them before we go, hey?Yeah, OK. 95 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,080 Got heaps of rough. We've got polished stones, 96 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:37,760 processed stones. 97 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:41,240 Anything you think I should cut to take along with us, you know, 98 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,160 I could probably cut 20 stones before we go. 99 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,040 We are preparing for Lightning Ridge Festival. 100 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,440 Er, it's coming up really soon. 101 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,080 Lightning Ridge, it's the most famous opal town in the world. 102 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,840 Yeah, I'll get this machine ready to go anyway, so we can polish whatever you think.All right, bro. 103 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:00,080 There's a lot riding on this operation. 104 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,400 I'm having a look at everything, I'm sorting out lots of parcels, 105 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:07,240 but in my opinion, most of it's low-quality stuff. 106 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:09,120 We need some King stones on the table. 107 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:13,000 We need something that we can really present, erm, to stand out amongst the rest. 108 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,080 Oh. There's Uwe now. 109 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,320 Wonder what he's up to. Whoo! Yeah! Mr Boss. 110 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:26,600 How you going, Uwe? UWE: Hey, guys. 111 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,800 What do we owe the... Hello, buddy...pleasure of your visit, mate? 112 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,120 Or have you come to help us parcel and price for Lightning Ridge or...? 113 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,520 Well, I'll be away, actually, I'll be, er...Hey. 114 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:37,400 I'll be away for a few days. A few days. 115 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,080 Well, I don't know exactly when. I'm waiting to hear 116 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:41,880 when the appointment is, but yeah. 117 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,760 All right.Got to go for some tests and... Some tests? What? 118 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:46,880 What sort of appointment? Oh, prostate. 119 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,480 The Flying Docs has been on at me for a while 120 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,680 and I got to sort of chase up all this medical stuff. 121 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,120 Any water come out at all, Sofia? 122 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:02,960 There's nothing moving through here. 123 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,280 The start of the mining season saw record-breaking rain 124 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:08,680 flood Sofia and Isaac Andreou, 125 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,360 the Opal Whisperers' only working claim. 126 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:13,920 We had to figure something else out. 127 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,560 Uwe's a family friend and Ricardo's his son. 128 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:19,840 They have a mining claim out here. 129 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,440 Uwe's one of the old legends around here, the Godfather. 130 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,920 So, Uwe and Ricardo were definitely a good prospect to partner up with. 131 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,400 Let me show you what we'd be mining for. 132 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,520 The Angel of Yowah. 133 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,520 Yowah is famous for the Yowah nut, 134 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,360 small ironstone boulders 135 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,600 with intricate opal patterns at their centre. 136 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:42,480 Each stone is formed over millions of years, 137 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:44,920 and individual pieces have been valued 138 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:46,960 at one million dollars. 139 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:50,600 This... This stone is phenomenal. 140 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:54,000 Our season target is $150,000. 141 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,960 So far, we're just shy of 25 grand. 142 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,040 The pressure's definitely on at the moment. 143 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,880 Isaac and I are travelling to the Lightning Ridge Opal Festival. 144 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:06,040 We're going to meet our lovely mother there. 145 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,960 We've been going to Lightning Ridge when we were very young, 146 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:13,240 maybe when Sofia was just born. It's a very competitive market. 147 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,520 These people are coming to see big, beautiful, bright opals. 148 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:19,640 The festival is literally days away, 149 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,200 and we don't have anything of top, top quality. 150 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,000 That sounds a bit more serious than a few tests. 151 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,880 Oh, just one of those things that happens, I suppose. 152 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:31,800 You just got to do your own thing then. 153 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,200 So our own thing at your mine or...? No, you can't. 154 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:38,400 You got to do your own thing, gotta go and find your own mine. 155 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,040 Uwe's, er, he dropped some bad news on us. 156 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,200 He told us he's got prostate cancer. 157 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,320 All right. Yep. Take care. Thanks.And find plenty of opal. 158 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,560 It's a lot to take in. I mean, obviously our first concern is Uwe. 159 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,440 We love this guy. We're obviously worried, 160 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:55,440 erm, and then Isaac and I need to talk. 161 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,720 What does that mean for us? Oh, well, the trench is still full of water. 162 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:02,560 We need to get deeper, don't we? 163 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:05,200 Yeah, well, that's an excavator.OK. 164 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:06,960 Everyone's mining their own claims. 165 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,600 I don't blame them. We'd have to ask a big favour and then we'd have to pay. 166 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:12,400 A thousand dollars a day, like. 167 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:14,600 Well, I'll scrape together whatever I have. 168 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:16,600 I'll make some calls.All right. 169 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:22,600 Good day. Ben, how you doing? BEN: Good day. 170 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:25,360 You digging at the moment? 171 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,360 We've got a bit of a favour to ask you. 172 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,240 We don't have options here. We need someone with an excavator 173 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:32,760 to give us at least a day's work. We'll pay for it. 174 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:34,440 Yeah, yeah. 175 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:38,520 Mate, this would be a massive favour. 176 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:40,200 It would be... We'd owe you one. 177 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,080 Smashing through it, aren't we? Like, look how far we've come. 178 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:54,080 RORY: Yep. Yeah, it's come in a long way. 179 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:57,520 We're coming to the end of the work that we want to do in this pillar, 180 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,200 and, erm, by extension, you know, in this whole claim, 181 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:02,440 cos once this is done, we've got to get out. 182 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,120 You know, been here four years, 183 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:08,000 we've had a lot of tough times in this claim, but also a lot of really good ones. 184 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:10,720 Yeah, to sort of see the last dirt right in front of us, 185 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:12,960 erm, yeah, ah, nah, it's an interesting feeling. 186 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,480 I just hope it pays and we can leave on a good note. 187 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:17,760 The Cheals, dad, Chris, 188 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,680 sons Rory and Oscar, and rookie miner, daughter Luca, 189 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:24,560 are in the final days working a dangerous mine 190 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,840 they believe still holds a fortune in opal. 191 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,680 Ooh. Ooh.CHRIS: Oh. 192 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,080 I think we busted through. 193 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,960 Put your helmet on. Come down. We'll take turns on the hammer. 194 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,200 Erm, I'm going to jump down there with him. 195 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,400 When Dad and I started in that claim four years ago, 196 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,280 we belled out with jackhammers. 197 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,200 We just squeezed the digger down there. 198 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,200 Four seasons ago, the Cheals' ambitious plan 199 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:58,680 was to dig from a new shaft through opal-rich ground 200 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,160 80 metres to another mine. 201 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,080 I've seen it go from that point 202 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,120 where you could barely get two of us down there to, 203 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,680 you know, a massive open area where you can stand and look 80 metres. 204 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,440 Oh. Shore the axle off. 205 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:17,080 Over the last four years, we've been faced with really, really big breakdowns. 206 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:18,920 Righto, that's the end of that. 207 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,000 Last season was an absolute horror show. 208 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:24,200 Definitely been, you know, times where I questioned what I'm doing 209 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,000 and questioned why I'm out here. 210 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,440 Opal mining is so unpredictable with income, 211 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,360 and just to keep bringing the money in, 212 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:33,360 Dad had to take on, you know, shearing and driving trucks. 213 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,880 He's just done what he's had to for us. 214 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,120 Our $200,000 target was, you know, there to, erm, 215 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,400 cover a bit of last year, cos we ran at a loss. 216 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,840 Hey, hey, hey! Look at that one! 217 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:48,640 Look at that.Beautiful. 218 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,080 I've just got these beautiful, clean nobbies with massive bars. 219 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:56,920 Last tailout, $200,000 came out, so that's, like, insane for us. 220 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:02,280 How good is that? 221 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:04,800 We smoked our $200,000 target 222 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:06,680 which we set at the start of the year, 223 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:10,160 so we've decided to go bigger and better and aim for half a mil. 224 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,760 Two seasons ago, Oscar and I pitched the idea 225 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:14,720 of the business and the website to Dad. 226 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,160 We've got the website up. You know, we poured a lot of money back in, 227 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,400 we did do it tough, but what we got, we put back into the business. 228 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:23,840 Really, the pressure is to keep finding opal 229 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:25,520 to keep the stock up. 230 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:30,320 All right. 231 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:35,960 Oi, Dad, I think this has let go. It's gone.Oh, ! 232 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:40,240 That's not good. It's starting to crack up pretty well. 233 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,080 I reckon if we don't pull up now and fix that, 234 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,440 we're going to end up with, er, a lot more work to do. 235 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,720 How's it looking, Issy? Cos I'm on a really freaky angle. 236 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:05,880 Well, you're scaring the out of me. 237 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:07,640 You're definitely on an angle. 238 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:09,600 I'd be getting out of there if you can. 239 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:12,120 All right, I'll go out slowly. 240 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,080 Just be careful. 241 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,360 The excavator's gone down on an angle. 242 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,240 This, the whole machine is tilting to one side. 243 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:34,520 Ooh. What happened there? 244 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:36,320 Come have a look. 245 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,240 I was digging, pushing down cos the ground was... 246 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:43,840 .. hard, and I've just uncovered this tunnel. 247 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,360 Oh, wow. 248 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,080 Eight metres down, in their open-cut mine, 249 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:53,040 the Misfits have exposed dangerous old-timers' tunnels. 250 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:56,840 Oh, look how deep that is. 251 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,040 They've done the shaft and they've belled out 252 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,000 and then gone that way, that way. 253 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,080 Hopefully, they've left some stuff behind, 254 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:05,280 because back when they dug these tunnels, 255 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:07,920 only certain colours were worth money. 256 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,520 And we'll start clearing an entrance into these old drives. 257 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,240 I think I'm going to give Joe a call, 258 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,240 get him to come down and have a look cos, 259 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,200 you know, I'd rather be safe than sorry. 260 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,600 I don't have the experience to say, you know, this ground is safe or not. 261 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:26,360 Obviously, we've had massive vibrations through this hole 262 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,040 as the excavator and bulldozer's been up and down, 263 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,760 so I would rather be safe than sorry, you know. 264 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:34,440 Opal's no good if you're dead. 265 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,160 Let's get out. Out! Out! Out! 266 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,320 Whoa!Whoa! That's not good. Yeah, I think it's time to call Joe. 267 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:44,000 Yeah. 268 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:55,920 All right. 269 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:57,800 God, this is good ground. 270 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:03,000 There's opal here. Two pockets, they took out of here. 271 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,720 Yeah, lucky. Good on them. How do you know that? 272 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:08,040 Hey, because of the depth of the dig in the top 273 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,800 and cut in the sides on the right-hand side of the drive. 274 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,000 Sounds promising, Issy.You need to dig this out and clear it out. 275 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,880 It's safe enough to go under, but don't be jackhammering. 276 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,720 So you think we're safe to go in all of the shaft...Yeah. 277 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:21,800 ..and all of the drive? Yeah. That's fine. 278 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:23,760 Just no jackhammering. No jackhammering. 279 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:25,440 This is good ground. 280 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,000 All right, well, you got a lot of work to do. 281 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,080 No risk-taking.All right. All right.Good on you, Joe. 282 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,760 I understand that, man. Like, you're digging your own opal 283 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:47,800 and you, yeah, look... BEN: Buddy, erm... 284 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:57,680 Like, five hours or so? Four, five hours? 285 00:15:57,760 --> 00:15:59,520 Yeah, that's... Mate, that, that... 286 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:01,280 Would that do?Legend. 287 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:03,720 You're a legend, Ben. Absolute gold. 288 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,040 Heavy rains in Yowah have left Sofia and Isaac's 289 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,920 only working mine inaccessible. 290 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,320 Desperate for high-quality stock 291 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,200 to sell at the Lightning Ridge Opal and Gem Festival, 292 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:19,720 they've called in a favour from local excavator operator, 293 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:21,560 Ben Bowen. 294 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,520 Yeah, here we go, Sofia. 295 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:25,200 Whoo! 296 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,480 The existing trench which is full of water, 297 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:31,920 17-foot-deep, is just past the bucket 298 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,640 and it runs about 30 foot that way. 299 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:37,520 So he's going to make an extension of that trench. 300 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:44,600 It's an important time to start spotting, because in Yowah, 301 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,760 er, it's well-known there's multiple levels. 302 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,920 The shallowest level can be as low as three foot, 303 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:52,040 35 foot and then 50 foot. 304 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,800 So we need to be spotting from the very outset. 305 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:57,520 There is a slip running down on the side of the wall 306 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:01,040 and this is what's coming out of it. That's coffee potch, 307 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,880 and what coffee potch is, it's basically silicide clay, 308 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:07,520 clay that's been impregnated by silica. 309 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,560 You need silica to be present in order to find opal. 310 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:12,680 But the other thing you need is ironstone. 311 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,120 We haven't found ironstone yet. 312 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,960 Finally digging. Check it out. Purple clouds. 313 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,000 Like, deep purple. 314 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:24,960 That's a big storm and it's coming fast. 315 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,280 Mate, I just hope that Ben can get his work done 316 00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:29,880 cos we're guaranteeing him a certain amount of hours. 317 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:32,400 Hear that? That's thunder. 318 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,400 This has got to get called off. 319 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,920 The bucket's starting to tear out, like, it's, 320 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:51,800 you know, it's quite thin in here now, 321 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,120 it's done a lot of work. And we've moved 322 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:55,960 thousands of tonnes of dirt with it. 323 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,720 Kind of a bit critical at the moment.RORY: Yeah, it's cracked right around here. 324 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,080 Well, I think we're gonna have to pull up, mate, 325 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:05,000 because if we keep going and it tears itself apart, 326 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:06,760 it'll be a major job. 327 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,920 The Cheals' final days of digging an opal-bearing pillar 328 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,040 holding up the mine roof have been shut down 329 00:18:15,120 --> 00:18:17,400 by a busted bogger bucket. 330 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,840 This whole thing's custom-built, so there's no chance of just replacing it. 331 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:27,520 Whatever we need for this thing, we've gotta build ourselves. We can't just buy one off the shelf. 332 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:37,040 I really probably wouldn't be mining if I didn't know how to do a lot of this stuff myself. 333 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,560 You know, to get someone out here, you know, costs an absolute fortune. 334 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,560 Dad's a bloody wizard. I mean, without him, we'd be stuffed. 335 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,840 Luca! I'm going to lower this down, OK? 336 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,000 LUCA: Yep. 337 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,000 It's MIG wire, it's welding wire, 338 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,400 and, erm, you want to run gas with it. 339 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:56,520 The gas keeps the, er, oxygen out of it, 340 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:58,840 otherwise it gets impurities in the weld. 341 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,040 Oscar and I always give him a bit of crap for spending his, erm, 342 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:05,040 his spare change on all this gear, but when we're in a pickle, 343 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:06,920 he's always got something to fix it. 344 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,120 On?It's on, Dad. 345 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:17,120 We got to get this job done, cos if we don't, then we can't shift any dirt, so, 346 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,440 you know, a bit of a time factor here happening, 347 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,360 because we're trying to take that pillar, 348 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,200 and we can't do that without this machinery. 349 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:30,600 He's, erm, pretty good on the tools, Dad. 350 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,520 Throughout all of my life he's, like, 351 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,640 been able to fix literally anything. 352 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:37,400 He's, erm, yeah, pretty clever. Always comes up with a way. 353 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:39,840 I figured while I'm here fixing the bucket, 354 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:44,520 I may as well brace it up and make it as strong as I can. 355 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:48,480 Chris wants to weld a one-centimetre-thick steel plate 356 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:50,680 onto the corner of the damaged bucket, 357 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,880 which will repair the tear and strengthen the join 358 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,280 beyond its original capacity. 359 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,440 All right, well, I reckon that's good enough, Luca. 360 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:02,800 Good job, Dad. 361 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,320 Hey, Rory.Yo! 362 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,600 I reckon this is right to go, mate. 363 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,560 Not much left of this now, so I don't really want any more holdups. 364 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:13,880 Once it's all gone, there's no reason to be here 365 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:15,880 and, er, there's no reason to, you know, 366 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,680 have ourselves in any sort of, erm, hazardous situation. 367 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,400 Once this is undercut and that's hanging off there, 368 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,800 just stand back, cos there's enough there that if it comes out at once, 369 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,680 it'll knock a prop out. You don't want to be under that. 370 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:33,720 Obviously, when we take out its support, 371 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:35,840 there's a chance that it's gonna drop down. 372 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,480 We've nearly undercut it completely, so there's gonna be nothing holding it up 373 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,920 except where it's stuck to the roof. Thirty-five feet underground. 374 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,280 Er, there's a lot of weight up there. 375 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:50,040 And you will all have to stand back. 376 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,200 ANGEL: You want to go first, Issy? Yeah, I was gonna do that. 377 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:08,360 Under the instructions of mentor "Opal" Joe, 378 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,720 Angel and Issy are exploring old-timers' workings 379 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:13,600 on their open-cut mine. 380 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,440 I hope you're not claustrophobic. Too late now. 381 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,400 It's very, very difficult to breathe down there, 382 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,880 but it's opal. That's what we're there for. 383 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:27,560 It's quite tight in here, 384 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,840 but I reckon I'm just going to slide down on my belly, Angel. 385 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,840 Probably only got a couple of feet. 386 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,640 Yeah, just be careful. 387 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,680 I'm right underneath where I was running the bulldozer. 388 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,320 I've only got three, four feet of ceiling above me. 389 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,880 Any vibration can send it down. 390 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,640 Ooh, Issy, I found trace already. 391 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,200 Bit of trace there. 392 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:53,960 Ah, ah. 393 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,320 I've just gotten into the first drive 394 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,600 and I've spotted trace straightaway. 395 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,240 Oh, that's even got colour, Issy. Oh, has it? 396 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,440 Yep. Bit of green, bit of blue. In the top corner. 397 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,600 Anything that glows, it's going in our bucket. 398 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,240 Huh.Look at that. Awesome, Issy. 399 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,600 Wow! That's actually heaps good. That's massive. 400 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:21,600 Oh! Oh! 401 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:23,600 Ooh, ooh, oh. Oh, there it goes. 402 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:25,480 Caught it. Caught it? 403 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,440 Look at the size of it. Oh, look at that. 404 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,840 Hey, Angel, did you just feel that vibration?I did, aye. 405 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,320 Issy just felt a vibration from a neighbour claim, 406 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,880 so now we're going to get out, but... 407 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,680 ..as you can see, the smallest cave-in 408 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:46,560 could, you know, trap us in here. 409 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:48,720 Let's get out of here quick. 410 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,280 That was not good. That was not good at all. 411 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:55,560 You all right, Issy? I'm right behind you. 412 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:57,640 Let's get out, out, out. 413 00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:59,640 Ooh, fresh air. 414 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:01,640 We could feel tremors through the ground, 415 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,160 and well, yes, there was... There's opal there, 416 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,480 but it's not worth dying for. Yeah, I myself when I felt that. 417 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,440 Yeah, could have been enough to send this whole ceiling down. 418 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,160 All right, let's have a look at what we've got, aye. 419 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,040 Ooh. Wow, look how dark that is. 420 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:21,800 Ha-ha. Wow, look at the neon green. 421 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:23,480 I just got a flash. 422 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,040 Look at... Look at this piece. 423 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:28,600 Oh, look at that. 424 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:30,520 Look at it winking at us. 425 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,120 Issy.Are you kidding me? Look at the red. 426 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,320 That's awesome. We got money here.We have. 427 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,200 We got money here. 428 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:44,240 The Misfits have a parcel of Andamooka crystal opal. 429 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,600 Featuring the full spectrum of colour, 430 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,760 it's in the rough, and there's 226 grams. 431 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:54,880 I know Joe's gonna be proud. Oh, I can't wait to show him. 432 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:06,640 ISAAC: Twenty mils of rain last night. 433 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,240 I know. It's been absolutely hammering down. Do you think the mine's OK? 434 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:13,000 I think it'll be a swimming pool, personally. 435 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:14,960 In desperate need of stock 436 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,960 for the Lightning Ridge Opal and Gem Festival, 437 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,040 Sofia and Isaac are relying on a freshly-dug 438 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:24,840 eight-metre-deep trench on their house claim to find opal. 439 00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,600 All right, well, it's not completely filled with water.Yeah. 440 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:33,280 How are we gonna get down there? Abseiling's a good idea. 441 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:37,080 There's steps there. We just tie it off on the tree. That's one way of doing it. 442 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:39,280 Sofia's brought along the, erm, abseiling rope. 443 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:41,000 This is strong, this stuff. 444 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,840 We're just gonna use this, erm, tree as an anchor point. 445 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,960 Just gonna do a really basic reef knot. 446 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:48,760 Basic but strong. 447 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,560 Compressor and jackhammer was lent to us by Uwe, er, before he left. 448 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:54,360 And always have an exit strategy. 449 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:56,400 We might need to get out of there fast. 450 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,160 See you at the bottom. 451 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,000 All clear. Whoo, it's not the safest. 452 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:11,200 There's a fair bit of rock still coming down. 453 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,600 There's a lot of loose ground on top. 454 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,680 All good?OK, all clear. All right. I'm excited. 455 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:18,960 Just be careful, hey. 456 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,080 Whoa!Wait. Whoa.Ah!Zac. 457 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:25,040 Oh, mate.Find your step. Find your step.Ah, 458 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:27,120 that whole side just gave in. 459 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:29,000 Watch your head! 460 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,400 That's a good start, isn't it? Jesus Christ. 461 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,000 You all right?Oh.Geez. 462 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,560 So what do you reckon? I mean...There's a level just down to that point. 463 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,080 So this area actually looks good under there?Yeah. 464 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,040 That's black ironstone in that. Awesome. 465 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:46,400 There could be seam opal here or nuts or anything. 466 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,440 That's a great sign. It is a good sign. 467 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,280 Er, it's ironstone and coffee potch. 468 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,760 Erm, two huge pointers that there's Yowah opal nut here. 469 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,040 Shall we have a dig?Yeah. All right, we'll get in there. 470 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,480 Just drop that cliff down. 471 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:08,880 Hey! Look at that! Sof, that. 472 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,800 Look, look at the... Look how black and shiny this is.Yeah. 473 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:15,040 Another good sign. All we need now is opal. 474 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,120 It's, like, purple.Yeah. I don't know what's going on, 475 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,600 but there's definitely elements here I've never seen before in my life, cutting or mining. 476 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:25,560 The ironstone's really starting to form. 477 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:28,760 Yeah. It's getting more colourful. 478 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,560 I might get you to spot here. Yeah. Is that ironstone? 479 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,600 Yeah, that's gone solid. Look at that! You can see it's shining. 480 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,480 OK.Now that is a boulder. That's a boulder. 481 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:42,360 Listen to it. It's like glass. All right.We have to get that out by hand, I think. 482 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,560 Get it, Sofia, you'll get it out. Just do it. 483 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:46,360 Just don't break it, whatever you do. 484 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,520 Do you want me to try and wiggle it out?Oh. 485 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,040 I'll see if I can, it's pretty wedged in there, aye? 486 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:53,360 Yeah, here, this is coming out now. Here we go. 487 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,480 That's it, that's it. Oh, that's a nice chunk. 488 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,440 That's a boulder.Yeah. There's more there. That's what we want. 489 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,160 Yeah.Zac, there's tiny, little nut formations in there. 490 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:04,840 There's something in this for sure. Ah, here we go. 491 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:09,040 Oh.Oh, the weight of that. Ironstone nut. No colour. Whoo! There's a fair few of them. 492 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:11,560 Yeah, that's a whole bucket full. We're so chuffed. 493 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:15,160 Like, that's the first sign of colour on this dig in this trench. 494 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,560 I can't wait to open them up and have a look. 495 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,160 Break this up. 496 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,560 We've got the remote bogger, we can bog that out. 497 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,040 Whatever you do, no-one goes down in there, righto? 498 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:40,680 RORY: Yep. No reason to be there. 499 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,960 Yeah, all the dirt that we want to dig in this mine's done. Er, it's taken us four years, 500 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,400 but yeah, finally at that point. It's pretty cool. 501 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,200 So that's it, aye, for this mine? Let's get out of here. 502 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:56,880 Let's go. 503 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:16,960 Yeah.Good. 504 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,720 Been there four years, surely, it looks after us last go. 505 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:21,400 I hope so. I hope so. 506 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,560 The Cheals have washed the last dirt from their mine 507 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,960 for two days in an agitator, 508 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,160 a converted cement mixer that removes clay 509 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:35,320 to expose any nobbies, small nodules of opal. 510 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:44,040 You going to crank her up? Let's get her done.Let's go! 511 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:47,880 Few moments away from seeing what we've got. 512 00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:52,040 It's the last bird in the pillar. I think it's the best pillar we've dug in that claim. 513 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,400 We've got about 80 tonnes to 100 tonne in there, 514 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:58,120 so, you know, I reckon we're in for a big payday, to be honest. 515 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,280 With the tailout leading up to it and throughout the whole thing, 516 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:03,400 you just ride the anticipation, you know. 517 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:07,040 You don't know what's going to come, so within two seconds, 518 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,920 one swipe on a tailout table, you can make a hundred grand. 519 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:11,600 Good to go. 520 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:28,080 Pretty quiet up there, boys. 521 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,160 Yeah, we're only getting started. 522 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,680 Right, I've already seen a few nobbies like that. 523 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:34,360 Have ya?Yeah. 524 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,240 Yeah, hopefully it'll tell us in around in there somewhere. 525 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:40,560 Nothing I'd rave about. 526 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,480 I'm not convinced this is going to be anywhere near 527 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,880 like the last tailout yet. 528 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:49,680 And we're getting a lot of material, 529 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,400 erm, just a bit small, like, no real big money. 530 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:55,960 Yeah, I thought we'd be off to a bit more of a flyer than this, to be honest. 531 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,920 It's time to reveal the magic, hopefully. 532 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:07,760 I've got a bucket full of Yowah nuts. 533 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,160 We're not really sure what's going on with them. There's a bit of colour. 534 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,320 We're definitely going to saw them all open. 535 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,040 I really hope there's something in those boulders.Yeah. 536 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:18,000 Even just one or two would be awesome. 537 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,400 Something that... To take to the festival. 538 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,680 Isaac and I found a pocket full of what seems to be 539 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:25,880 Yowah boulder opal nuts. 540 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,360 Now we're excited to saw them open. 541 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:30,880 This is really the moment of truth for us. 542 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:33,640 We've got Lightning Ridge Festival coming up super quick. 543 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,680 Er, we need some King stones. We need some 544 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:37,720 super stuff to show there. 545 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,160 We call these wet saws or lapidary saws. 546 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:42,240 It's a ten-inch saw, but you can also put 547 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,640 an eight-inch blade on it or a six-inch blade. 548 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:46,960 This is a centred blade, so it's got the diamond 549 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:48,680 going all the way through it. 550 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:50,480 What I'm doing is I'm sharpening it. 551 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:54,480 By tapping the diamonds, you're exposing the diamond and you're making them square, 552 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:58,080 and that running against the rock cuts beautifully. 553 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:03,520 The water is gonna feed into the lapidary saw to, erm, 554 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,040 help to saw through the Yowah boulder nuts. 555 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,320 The lapidary saw is connected to the generator. 556 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,520 Everything's off-grid, but we're ready to go. 557 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,200 Now or never. Give this one a crack. 558 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,520 Let's hope it's a crystal centre straightaway. 559 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:24,160 Nope. That's all right. 560 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,520 It's one in a thousand, so... We don't have a thousand though. 561 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,520 No, we don't. We've just got one bucket. 562 00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,200 This one feels a bit better. All right. Come on, baby. 563 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,040 That is looking... 564 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,680 No.Nah.Useless. That's useless.Clay. 565 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:43,840 We really need that to be. 566 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,960 It's a better cut. Come on, you mongrel. 567 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,400 That actually sounds good. Yeah, it sounds all right. 568 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,400 Hey.Isaac. Ha! Look at this. 569 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,280 Oh, my God.What! 570 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,840 Oh! Oh, my God. 571 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:12,840 Look it, are you seeing what I'm seeing? This is unreal. 572 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,320 Sofia, that is tens of thousands of dollars. 573 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,880 That is... That is the maddest thing I've ever seen. 574 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,880 I've never seen a rock like that. That's our King stone.Oh. 575 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:24,640 We got it, babe. We did it! We did it! 576 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:27,720 I think we're both shaking. 577 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,400 Erm, we thought we were going home with nothing, 578 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:32,080 but, I mean, this is opal mining. 579 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,760 You... You really... It's a lot of hard yakka, 580 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:36,560 it's a lot of, erm, disappointments, 581 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,000 and then it's all really just for stuff like this. 582 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,120 Erm, this is beautiful. 583 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:43,040 It's an absolutely epic Yowah nut. 584 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:45,760 There's nothing I can imagine that can happen in my life 585 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:48,440 that would give me the same buzz as what just happened. 586 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,600 The Opal Whisperers have a Yowah boulder nut, 587 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,800 blue-green with red and yellow highlights. 588 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,720 It's been split, and weighs three-and-a-half kilograms. 589 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:00,440 The King stone that we need 590 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:02,720 to turn up proudly at Lightning Ridge Festival 591 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,920 and has something unique that I'm certain no-one else will have. 592 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,200 At the Lightning Ridge Opal and Gem Festival, 593 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:18,840 the streets and local businesses of the town 594 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,840 transform into a store-laden market place. 595 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,240 Hello, little darling. You're late, guys. 596 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:28,280 Hello, Mummy.Let's get going. How are you, sweetheart? 597 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,720 My beautiful mum, Suzanne Andreou. 598 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,920 Er, for me and a lot of people that know her, 599 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:39,000 she is the ultimate original opal queen. 600 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:41,680 This lady knows everything there is to know about opal. 601 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,360 She's been in the business since the beginning of time. 602 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:46,040 Thank you. 603 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:51,640 I got a couple of people pre-arranged... 604 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,920 Yeah, you told me. ..over Facebook and everything. We need the money. 605 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,440 That's the thing.Here he is. We do need the budget. 606 00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,960 Hello, Isaac. How you going? Hey, you made it.Yeah. 607 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:01,680 How was the drive? Yeah, nah, good. 608 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:03,840 You met Sofia?Yes. No, I haven't, actually. 609 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:05,520 Nice to meet you.About time. 610 00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:07,920 What was your name again? Eric.Nice to meet you. 611 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,440 I'm not going to muck around. I remember you told me 612 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,920 you had a pretty special piece. You want to see the specimen? Yeah.Yeah. 613 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,840 OK, I'll get it. I'll get the specimen. Yep, OK. Sounds good. 614 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:21,120 Fresh out of the ground. All right. 615 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:23,160 Doesn't look like much, does it?Ah, no. 616 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:25,440 Just a dirty old rock. Not at the moment. Yeah. 617 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,280 Look at that. 618 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,960 Yeah, not bad. You can see it from here. 619 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:38,560 I'm sure you have a sum in mind.ISAAC: Yeah, let's get to it. 620 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:40,720 I don't want to insult you either, so.Yeah. 621 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:42,400 Thank you.Tell me what you want 622 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,520 or what you're looking at. All right, OK, we'll cut to the chase. 623 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:47,680 It's 40 grand for both, for the pair. 624 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,200 Yeah. 625 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:54,440 That's, you know, that's more than I've got to spend. 626 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:56,440 I... I don't want to let it go. 627 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,880 Erm, would you consider splitting the two up? 628 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:02,000 Just out of interest, Eric, 629 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,760 what did you have in mind for half? 630 00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:06,840 Half? 631 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,000 Twenty thousand. It's got to be at least 30. 632 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:11,040 What about 23? 633 00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:14,560 No.I don't want to let it go, cos if you...I don't blame you. It's nice. 634 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:16,800 I'm... I'm here now. Erm, I want to make... 635 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,480 I want to make a deal on this. At least half of one. 636 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,280 And, er, look, I... I can probably do... 637 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:26,160 Meet me halfway between 27 and 23, 25? 638 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:28,360 Twenty-five-thousand for one?Yeah. 639 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,640 Deal.All right. Congratulations, buddy. 640 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:33,080 Thank you, thank you very much. 641 00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,920 SUZANNE: Makes me so happy that my children are interested 642 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:37,680 in taking on our legacy. 643 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,320 Got to let it go now, Mum. Yeah, I know. 644 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:42,600 The kids have grown up having their holidays 645 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,840 in an opal mine all their lives... 646 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:47,640 ..so it's pretty much in their blood. 647 00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:50,880 Bye-bye.It's all right, Mummy. I'll find you another one. 648 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:52,560 Makes me really, really proud. 649 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:05,160 This opal we found, erm, I got to clean that up ASAP, 650 00:36:05,240 --> 00:36:07,720 get it all ready to go to Lightning Ridge. 651 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:11,680 Angel is travelling 17 hours to New South Wales 652 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,640 for the Lightning Ridge Opal and Gem Festival 653 00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:16,760 to sell her and Issy's parcel 654 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,680 and part of "Opal" Joe's precious haul 655 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:21,840 mined 40 years ago. 656 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,680 The reason I'm sending Angel to Lightning Ridge 657 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:30,400 is because it'll expose her to the best of the best this country's got, 658 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:33,440 particularly to the buyers. Buyers are ruthless. 659 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:36,520 Got a lot of pressure on me. I'm hoping, 660 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,360 you know, I do Joe proud, cos he's trusting me with... 661 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:42,160 ..all his opal. 662 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,800 Here's a million dollars worth of opal. 663 00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:52,400 I'm just setting up our booth for the show, 664 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:56,400 make sure the stones are displayed very nicely and professional. 665 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,280 Angel is set up in the high rollers' booth 666 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:04,520 reserved for high-end opal with armed guards standing by. 667 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:08,000 All right, we put that here cos that... I need that yellow light. 668 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:09,800 That's the main...Yeah. 669 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:11,640 Er, Haroon and I are sharing a booth. 670 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:15,200 He's one of our main cutters. He's really good at his job, 671 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,360 like, if I have a $20,000 stone, I'm giving it to him. 672 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:21,680 Joe's wife, Lindy, made the pendant, 673 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:23,960 cut the stone, the earrings, 674 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,640 a bit different to, you know, greasy hands covered in dust. 675 00:37:27,720 --> 00:37:30,240 A bit out of my comfort zone, but it's the way it is. 676 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:33,200 You've got to look the part. Good day, Angel. How's it going? 677 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,840 Good day, Paul. Good to see you. Nice to see you. Yeah. 678 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,160 Have you got any new stock, have you or...?Yes. 679 00:37:38,240 --> 00:37:40,640 Got some, a fair bit of new stuff here.All right. 680 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:43,480 Are you negotiable on these prices? Yeah, I'm negotiable. 681 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:46,800 So, like virtually, as a low, 682 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,640 it'd be $5,000 for a low, as a parcel group. 683 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:52,760 Can you do $5,500? No. No. Sorry. 684 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:57,880 There's not a lot of cutters there. $5,300? 685 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,840 Well, $5,200, we'll call it a deal. 686 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:08,040 All right.OK, no worries. OK...Congratulations, Paul. ..thanks for that. No worries. 687 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:11,280 Found a buyer for mine and Issy's opal. 688 00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:13,960 He's one of the biggest buyers of the Eastern States. 689 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:18,080 $5,200, good deal. It's the biggest sale I've done so far on my own, 690 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:19,760 so, you know, I'm pumped. 691 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:28,960 Joe's given me his high-end parcel 692 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,640 which is worth, you know, as much as a house. 693 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:35,960 It's a rare earth material. Joe found it in 1982. 694 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:37,640 Erm, he's trusting me with it. 695 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:40,680 It's getting a lot of attention. 696 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,640 This is our parcel, 697 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:46,280 16.3 ounces in total. 698 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:49,680 Wow, Angel. It's just amazing. 699 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:51,600 Been in the industry more than 30 years 700 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:53,920 and I've never seen anything like it. 701 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:58,320 I do have a customer in America. Yeah.He knows if I ring him, it's something good. 702 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,960 Yep, I know it's late. Yep. You... You're really going to want to hear this. 703 00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:04,800 This is worth a lot of money, 704 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,640 so yeah, hopefully, this deal can be made. 705 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:09,520 Hey, Elaine. How'd you go? 706 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,040 Yeah, he does want me to make an offer on it.OK. 707 00:39:13,720 --> 00:39:15,520 Facing red on every angle. 708 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,160 The asking price of "Opal" Joe's parcel is so high, 709 00:39:25,240 --> 00:39:28,480 the international buyer requests the negotiations 710 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:30,360 not to be filmed. 711 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:36,960 Ah, that was so good. I'm happy. 712 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:42,680 All went well with Elaine. Erm, we ended up, you know, making a deal, 713 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:46,760 so I'm happy, she's happy, Joe's happy. 714 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:48,520 It's been a good day. 715 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:52,200 Now it's time to pack up and head back to the desert. 716 00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:08,200 RORY: That's the last of it. 717 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:11,000 After four years of back-breaking work, 718 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:14,320 the Cheals are scouring through the last load of washed 719 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:17,120 opal-bearing dirt from their shutdown mine. 720 00:40:21,240 --> 00:40:24,120 Woo-hoo! Starting to fire up now. 721 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,280 What have you got, bro? That one. 722 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:30,280 Big green bar around him.Wow. Oh, bang, another one. That's a nice little stone. 723 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:32,560 Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a bit better. 724 00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:36,400 That's a bit better. Starting to find them now, aye? Shaping up to be all right, 725 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:38,960 but yeah, we're hoping the big one's still in there. 726 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:41,120 Way, hey, hey!What? 727 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:42,880 Guess what?We got one? 728 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,480 Let's go. Far out. Look at that. 729 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:50,480 Look at the size of that. Woo-hoo!Oh, that's a big one, mate. 730 00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:53,480 Oh, yeah, that's a stone and a half there. 731 00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:55,160 Fifteen, 20 grand. 732 00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:57,440 Look at that one. What have you got there? Ooh. 733 00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:00,640 Whoa!Nice one, sissy. 734 00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:03,160 Hey, that's faced up already. Yeah.Yeah. 735 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:05,080 Oh. 736 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:08,160 Whoa! 737 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:10,960 We got a nobby with a big red colour bar right around it. 738 00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:12,960 OSCAR: Oh, yeah! 739 00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:14,760 Unbelievable. 740 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:18,880 That's it, aye. Let's go and check this out 741 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,840 with our last bit of light for the day.Keen as. 742 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:28,520 Some material there. Wow. That's phenomenal. 743 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,360 That's better quality than last week.For sure. 744 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:33,880 There's a lot more black there. Yeah. 745 00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:37,280 I reckon we've well and truly hit our revised target. 746 00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:39,560 Oh, there's got to be at least another 200 there, 747 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:41,960 and it's better than last week. 748 00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:43,960 There'd have to be 250 there. 749 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:45,760 Quarter of a milly. 750 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,840 Oh, wow, that's... We were looking for it and... 751 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,960 Unreal, aye. 752 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:56,880 Oh, I'm a bit... Oh, I'm just... I'm gobsmacked really, like... 753 00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,360 I would have never have picked it from last season. 754 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:02,400 Never have picked it. 755 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:06,520 NARRATOR: The Cheals have rare black and crystal opal nobbies 756 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:09,360 displaying the full array of colours. 757 00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:11,920 In the rough, there's 700 grams. 758 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:17,480 They estimate the value to be $250,000. 759 00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:21,080 The most valuable opal haul they've ever found. 760 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:24,920 This is unbelievable. So what's that, 761 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:26,840 250 grand, 762 00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:29,280 plus our 330 grand we got for the year? 763 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,160 $580,000 this season. 764 00:42:32,240 --> 00:42:34,360 Over half a mil, whoa! Over half a mil. 765 00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:38,040 That is crazy. That's huge. 766 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:41,360 Absolutely speechless after that tailout. 767 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:43,800 I mean, quarter of a million dollars, 768 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:46,560 erm, yeah, it's an absolute dream come true. 769 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:53,080 When you're going through the tough times opal mining, you know, the rush of finding opal, 770 00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:56,040 being on opal and having a tailout like we did today, 771 00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:58,720 and yeah, I'm just, you know, soaking it up. 772 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:03,840 Yeah, to see Dad succeed doing what he loves is, 773 00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:06,320 yeah, it's a great feeling. 774 00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:11,000 Dad deserves this, like, so much. 775 00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:13,680 So I'm glad that he's finally gotten there, 776 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:15,960 because, you know, he's worked incredibly hard, 777 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:18,960 and yeah, this is exactly what he needed. 778 00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:20,920 RORY: Good stuff, mate. CHRIS: Yeah. 779 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:22,680 I'm already a winner. 780 00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:26,640 You know, my kids are unbelievable. Like, you know, 781 00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:28,760 I don't really want much in life. 782 00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,280 I just want what they're giving me right now, 783 00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:32,960 and that's love and support. 784 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:50,960 # ASH GRUNWALD: Money # 784 00:43:51,305 --> 00:44:51,265