"Outback Opal Hunters" Soldier of Fortune

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,960 NARRATOR: On Outback Opal Hunters... 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:04,880 Hit me with it.Well, we're busted-ass broke at the moment. 3 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:08,960 The Bushmen call in a desperate favour to start a new mine... 4 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:12,120 Keep that leg tucked in. I can see it from up here. 5 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,200 We've got millimetres. ..and rescue their season. 6 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,840 I might go to four because of that big piece here. 7 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,720 You got to sharpen your pencil a little bit more than that. 8 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,200 MATT: Mate, we're gonna need a noodler for this. 9 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,240 The Mooka Boys, with 15 tonnes of paydirt to process... 10 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,800 You blew the tyre. Yeah. It can't handle the weight. 11 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,200 ..face catastrophic equipment failure. 12 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,400 Hey! Shut it down! Hey! Hey!Shut her off! 13 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:39,360 I don't know why we do this some days, boys. 14 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,440 And the Digi Diggers... I hope there's no snakes down there. 15 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,480 ..scavenge for parts eighteen metres underground 16 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,840 to fix their busted hoist... Dead end.LISA: What do you mean? 17 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,520 ..before striking their biggest find to date. 18 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,560 Whoa! That is gorgeous. 19 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:56,600 And their biggest sale ever. 20 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,120 Would you go to 15,000 on that? 21 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,520 That's a big jump. $5,000. Yeah, it's a big jump. 22 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:03,600 What were you thinking? 23 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,760 # Money 24 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,240 # And fancy clothes # 25 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:21,074 26 00:01:28,960 --> 00:01:31,600 ROD: Come here. Good morning.Good day, brother. 27 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,080 How are you? How are you doing? Good. Yourself?Good to see you. 28 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:37,480 Nino. How are you? You good? Good, mate. 29 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:39,800 How you doing, buddy? Heya, boys. Heya, Les. 30 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,440 This is the spot. You found your way in all right? 31 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:44,400 Yeah. It's a very old field in here. 32 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:46,920 And yeah, we got it, we found it. 33 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,600 That's the spot where we want to put the hole down.Right-o. 34 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:56,040 But there's a little bit more to the story, mate. 35 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,160 Hit me with it. 36 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,120 Well, we're busted-ass broke at the moment. 37 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,920 We were reckoning that if you put this hole down, 38 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,560 you keep everything that comes out of the bucket. 39 00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:11,920 And we don't pay you. You just keep what's in the bucket. 40 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,560 Like I said, we have drilled colour here.OK. 41 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:16,800 You know the story. I can't guarantee 42 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:18,720 you're gonna get stuff in your bucket. 43 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:20,800 But there's a chance. 44 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,000 The Bushmen, Rod Manning, Ty Grass, 45 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,760 Les Walsh and rookie member Ben Moses 46 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:33,640 have hit rock bottom. 47 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:36,800 ROD: Extremely hard ground. 48 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,360 We got a pretty big season target this year, 49 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:43,800 and we are not really on track to hit it. 50 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,080 I reckon we start looking for another claim. 51 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,120 She's finished.That's it, then. 52 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,680 We're nowhere near, and everything's gone wrong. 53 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,400 Ah.That's cracked. 54 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,480 Ah, Jesus. Jammed a rock in it down there, 55 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:58,600 and cracked these $18,000 heads. 56 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:02,360 $90,000 worth of machinery 57 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:04,480 has failed to unearth opal 58 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,800 in two mines, Slims and Conrod. 59 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,440 GROSS: This wasn't in the brochure, was it?ROD: No. 60 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,240 As we are at the moment, down in Conrod, we found nothing, 61 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:17,080 so we have run out of money. 62 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,000 What happened, mate? Too wet? 63 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:20,960 There's so much more pressure on me now. 64 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,280 It used to just be me and Les. It was easy. 65 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,160 But now I've got Ty, Benny's on the drill. 66 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,080 I've got to provide for those two, 67 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,240 plus try and get enough money for the old bloke to retire. 68 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,560 At the end of the day, no matter what you do, you need to find money. 69 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:38,680 You can't live on fresh air. 70 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,080 The Bushmen's last hope is a claim they've just pegged 71 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:46,360 on an abandoned 40-year-old field, Dead Dog Gully, 72 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:50,400 where Ben found crystal opal with the exploration drill. 73 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,720 BEN: Oh, strewth, look at that. That's a beautiful bit of crystal. 74 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,680 Absolutely stoked when I'd come across this little patch down here 75 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:00,720 and consistently drilling up colour. 76 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:02,480 Such an unbelievable feeling. 77 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,000 So, the other mine, we got all the big machinery, 78 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,400 and it costs a lot of money to run. 79 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,320 But down there at Dead Dog, we can just set that hoist up, 80 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,320 and we can mine with jackhammers. 81 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,680 The Bushmen want Homer to drill a fresh one-metre wide shaft. 82 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:18,720 And if they hit a promising opal level, 83 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,640 expand the shaft to start a new mine. 84 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:25,680 LES: Putting all our hopes in that. See what it says. 85 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,080 Whether it's gonna be big pieces or little pieces. 86 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,320 Well, I suppose any piece is better than none. 87 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:35,360 Now, like I said, we have drilled colour here.Right. 88 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:37,280 It was crystal.Mm-hm. 89 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:39,080 So there is a chance.OK. 90 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,680 I know you love to have a gamble. Rod. 91 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:46,440 Yeah. 92 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:54,600 Look, I'll tell you what. 93 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:56,920 Um... Yeah? Ah. Good on you, mate. 94 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,400 Good on you.Right. No worries.Good stuff. 95 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,520 Sounds good. Nino, you're not getting paid for this one. 96 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,560 For him to do this deal for me, it's a pretty special thing. 97 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,320 I think he's got a good chance of finding some colour. I really do. 98 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,000 And if he does hit a bit of colour in the shaft, 99 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,600 that means we're going to be on it when we get there. 100 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,080 So that will be a real good outcome for all of us. 101 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,120 Homer Remaili, originally from Lebanon, 102 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,200 has been drilling mine shafts for 20 years. 103 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,400 Here we go. 104 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:36,080 It's a Coldwell drill. It's a 30-years-old rig. 105 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,680 The Coldwell drill uses an attachment 106 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,480 with an array of tungsten-tip teeth to bore out a shaft, 107 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:44,920 and a bucket with a one tonne capacity 108 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,720 capturing the dirt to assess it for opal. 109 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,680 If you're lucky, it can turn a million bucks 110 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:53,960 coming up on the bucket. 111 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,160 TY: Benny's drilled up colour with a nine-inch drill. 112 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:01,440 This drill's a 42 inch, so we've got more of a chance of finding it. 113 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,120 We're on level.We got the level. 114 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,840 Yeah, we need to check that.Yeah. 115 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,600 We just hit the level. about fix, six inch of it. 116 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,840 It could be colour on top of the heap or - 117 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,520 Les has found a bit of colour. 118 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:24,920 Whoa!LES: Colour. 119 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:30,240 Look at that, Rod. Oh, Les, you little ripper.Beautiful. 120 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,080 We're pretty excited about this. 121 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:33,960 It's about time we had a bit of luck, 122 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,600 so maybe there's more down there waiting for us, boys. 123 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:53,920 Moving a bit of the overburden so we can have a good look 124 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:55,960 at what's actually here in the ground. 125 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,840 We seem to be pulling up a lot of the old mud, too, 126 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,720 so I think we might be missing a lot of stuff. 127 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:08,480 COZZA: Bit of colour down in here. 128 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,080 Really?Yeah. 129 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,000 Leif, wanna come over and check it out? 130 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,160 We might have a bit of colour down in here.You've got something? 131 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,120 Couple of chips here in the mud. 132 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,360 Only come up a little.Oh, yeah. 133 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,840 It was just sitting on the top of this mud pocket. 134 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,840 Yeah, right. Let's have a scratch here. 135 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,800 Is it good colour? Ah, nice.Yeah, man. 136 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:36,120 The Mooka Boys, Matt Kathagen, brother Cozza, 137 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,800 and team leader Leif Tanzer, 138 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:42,000 are working Horse Paddock. 139 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,120 Oh! 140 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,040 A dangerous 400 metre wide opal field 141 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,800 featuring a tangled mix of virgin and mined out ground 142 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:52,560 still riddled with opal. 143 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:54,320 Opal mining's all good and fun. 144 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,120 But at the end of the day, we've got to feed our families. 145 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,680 Cozza, Leif already got families that we have to feed. 146 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,760 And this year, I'm about to start my own. 147 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,240 So all three of us have got the same challenges now. 148 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:11,200 Yeah, mining opal is tough to try and provide for the family. 149 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:14,040 But, you know, we make do. We get by. 150 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,520 We all hang in there for those bigger wins. 151 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,880 We've set our target for 150. 152 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,760 Leif's father, Paul, was a full-time miner. 153 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,000 He was quite successful at what he did. 154 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,280 I know Leif definitely feels the pressure 155 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,680 to be able to do the same in his life as well. 156 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:37,760 Paul's last words to Leif were, "Make sure you finish everything 157 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,720 that we've got open". It's been hanging on Leif's head. 158 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:46,160 It's not just a bloody career choice or, you know, an activity. 159 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,240 It's a lifestyle. We make into a lifestyle, what we're doing. 160 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:56,040 There is actually colour, yeah? I know.Yeah, man. 161 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:57,960 That's not bad at all. We'll have to go 162 00:08:58,040 --> 00:08:59,920 look through what you just dumped there. 163 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,160 Bloody small. Bloody hell. 164 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,440 I just dumped that last bucket across here. 165 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:06,520 Look at that. There's a little bit here. 166 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:08,200 Oh.Here's a chip. 167 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:10,320 There we go. There's heaps here. 168 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:13,160 Leif, come and have a look at this. We got colour, 169 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,520 but it's all just flaky, trace seams. 170 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,800 Tiny little ones in there. They're hard to see. 171 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,040 It's all covered in the mud.Yeah. 172 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,760 That's what we're finding here. Look at that.That's good. 173 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,640 This is gonna take us a freakin' long time, man. 174 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,160 I don't know, boys. No way we're getting through 175 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,680 this whole floor this season like this. 176 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,560 Mate, we're going to need a noodler for this. 177 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,000 Can we get the noodler down here? It's set up as a stationary plant. 178 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,560 That was not rough enough to get it to where it is. 179 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:44,560 Starting to realise it's such a big job. 180 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:48,280 A noodler is really the tool we need for this job now. 181 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,520 Our noodler is across the other side of the field and can't be moved. 182 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,040 At 14 metres long and weighing 14 tonnes, 183 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,320 the Mooka Boys' noodler can process 50 tonnes of dirt an hour, 184 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,960 under black light, which causes the opal to fluoresce, 185 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,920 if they can find a way to transport the payload. 186 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:11,080 We got to try and come up with a solution 187 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:12,880 to try and get this dirt over there 188 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,640 and give our best chance of getting every piece of colour 189 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:17,840 out of this ground because we really need it. 190 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:19,640 All right. 191 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,880 We've got a couple of old busted trucks around. 192 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,440 Our friends have told us we can loan if we get it up and running. 193 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,000 You're the diesel mechanic, Leif. What do you reckon? 194 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,280 I can try, eh? The motor looks like it's there. 195 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,240 Doesn't look it's been pilfered. Can we get that jump pack? 196 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,640 Jump pack? Yeah, I'll get the jump pack, man. 197 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,240 The jump pack connects to the truck's battery 198 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,720 and delivers 650 amps to the starter motor 199 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:46,920 to kick-start the engine. 200 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,320 All right, here we go.Go. 201 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,520 Hey!Whoa! What was that? 202 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,200 They've melted the terminal. What the heck? 203 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:09,360 LISA: Well, Josiah, what do you reckon? 204 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,400 Is it gonna be today? JOSIAH: Yeah, mate. 205 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,360 See how this level here's gotta taper. It's heading down. 206 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,600 It's tracking deeper. So we're chasing this level downwards. 207 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:20,840 All this dirt in front, we gotta get through it to get to the opal. 208 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:26,080 So, yeah, a lot of blood, sweat and tears in that direction. 209 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,200 All right, Josiah, 50 metres. There we go. 210 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,360 Rookie miners Lisa van Heijningen and Josiah Kotzur 211 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,120 are halfway through their first season, 212 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,480 working 8.5 metres below ground with a minimal setup, 213 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,600 two jackhammers and a 40-year-old hoist. 214 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:51,360 This is our hoist, a very crucial part of our daily activities. 215 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,160 It takes up all the soil and dumps it on the top side, 216 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:57,360 and that allows us to keep driving forward. 217 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:00,680 We're another bucket closer, Lisa, 218 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:04,560 to fame and fortune, riches and treasures. 219 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:13,840 Oh, what's that?What is it? 220 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,800 Bearing just fell out. Off the bucket? 221 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:18,640 The bucket is just... 222 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,240 It's come off the rails and got stuck. 223 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,040 I don't know how that happened. 224 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:31,520 The Digi Diggers are a new breed of opal miner, 225 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,360 with ambitious plans to go green. 226 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,360 We're at bush. We just can't plug into 240 volt. 227 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,760 We're in Outback Australia. There's no power around. 228 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:43,640 We survive off the sun's power. 229 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:47,440 The setup costs to date are $100,000, 230 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,960 but their ultimate goal is to sell opal in the metaverse, 231 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,000 using a virtual marketplace. 232 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,560 We're advancing. We've got our bus, there's a tree. 233 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,800 We're rebuilding the whole mine in the metaverse, 234 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,280 and we want this digital shop 235 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,400 where everyone, over the whole world, can buy our opals. 236 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:09,760 But for that, we need to find opals because it's gonna cost us a lot. 237 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,000 Oh.Whoo! 238 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,920 Our season target is $60,000. 239 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,920 So we're on our way. 240 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,280 Living off opal's risky business, you know. We've got no plan B. 241 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:25,400 So we've just got to find opal to bring our dreams to fruition. 242 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:33,040 It's a bearing. It's come off the bucket on the hoist. 243 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:35,720 It just got stuck. Every time we're close, 244 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,600 it's just problems with this hoist. Hoist. 245 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:41,960 Every time.Don't know what it's doing. Always keeps breaking. 246 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,200 All right, let's go see. Maybe we can fix it. 247 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:49,440 I don't even know where I'm gonna get this from. 248 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:51,600 To get spare parts out here in the Outback, 249 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:56,000 it can take weeks or even months. We're in the middle of nowhere 250 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,440 so you can't just walk to the hardware store. 251 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,280 "Oh, yeah, I need this part. I need that part". 252 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:03,160 OK, I'm gonna slowly bring it up. 253 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:12,600 OK, slide under. 254 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,120 Yeah. That's the one that fell off. 255 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:19,240 We can't really put it back on, huh? 256 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,120 Yeah, well, it's sheared off. 257 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,160 This here is what keeps the bucket on the back of the rail. 258 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,640 Yeah.Without it, no digging. 259 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:39,400 We've just sunk so much money into our whole operation this year. 260 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:42,320 It looks like we might get a bit of a reward from our money. 261 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,520 And this bucket here, this is gonna have some in it. 262 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,320 On the long-abandoned Dead Dog Gully opal field, 263 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,080 the dead-broke Bushmen have done a deal 264 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:54,240 with drill operator Homer. 265 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:59,240 He won't charge for the new shaft, ordinarily worth $1,000. 266 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,960 But any opal found will be his. 267 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:07,280 HOMER: OK, guys, have a good look. 268 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:09,200 There should be more there. 269 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:13,560 Oh, snap and duck. Look at that! 270 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:16,640 LES: Beautiful.That's nice, eh? 271 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:18,880 Beautiful. Oh, look at that. 272 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:22,040 How do you keep finding this stuff, Les? 273 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,640 Years of experience, Les, isn't it? That's it. 274 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,280 Lovely.Hey, Nino's has got some, too. Look. 275 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:31,320 Oh, well done. 276 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,080 Well done. All around. It's everywhere. 277 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,040 3,000 bucks in here already, so I'm very happy. 278 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,720 I mean, look at this. Nice, antique, colourful stones. 279 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:46,840 As good as it was for him to drill that hole for me, 280 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,160 he actually made way more than he would have 281 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:53,440 had I paid him to do it, like one of them bittersweets, I suppose, 282 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,320 because if I'm ever stuck in the future, 283 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:58,520 I think he'll do that deal again. 284 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,840 But then again, you think of it the other way, 285 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,280 like I've probably given away $4,000. 286 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,200 All right, yell out and stop me when you want. 287 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,320 TY: Well, this is the hoist. It's got a diesel engine in there. 288 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:15,000 So we're going to set this hoist up down the hole we just drilled. 289 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,200 Whoa! 290 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,480 Right-o. That looks pretty good. Reckon your bucket's gonna fit? 291 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,680 It's not too big, that bucket?No. Needs to get that way any more? 292 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:25,760 I don't think so.All right. 293 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:31,440 Misses by about that much. 294 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,680 The 200 kilo hoist is vital for removing the mine dirt 295 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,720 out of the nine-metre deep, one-metre wide shaft. 296 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,160 Not a real lot of air down there, Benny.Yep. 297 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,280 If you start to struggle, come straight up. 298 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,960 Yeah, no worries. Start digging. Dig out some colour. 299 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:48,720 All right. 300 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,080 What's the air feel like, Ben? Good, mate. 301 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,320 Ben needs to create an alcove in the side of the shaft, 302 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:02,000 where he can sit, to allow the hoist bucket to travel up and down. 303 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,760 What Benny's doing down there, he's digging the little hole 304 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:09,120 into the wall to get into, and at the same time, he's digging colour. 305 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:12,160 And he'll bring the colour up when he comes up out of the hole. 306 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:13,920 How's it going there, Benny? 307 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,720 I've got this bucket pretty much full now. 308 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,000 I think we've got just about enough room. 309 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,680 And we can get this bucket going up and down.Right-o. 310 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,920 Don't stick your big boof head out to have a look what's happening. 311 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:28,800 No, I won't until I see that bucket come back down past me, mate. 312 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:32,000 We've got millimetres. Just keep that leg tucked in. 313 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,280 I can see it from up here. Here we go. 314 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,400 Do not get out once the bucket comes past ya. 315 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,480 Don't worry. I bloody won't. 316 00:17:47,120 --> 00:17:49,240 LEIF: Uh, put it on there again. 317 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,120 Yeah.What's the battery charge at? Read it out. 318 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,480 It's 100.MATT: There we go. 319 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:03,400 We might have just fried it, eh? 320 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,360 Might have to pull it out the sink spin. 321 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,640 The Mooka Boys are desperately trying to jumpstart 322 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:12,520 a 50-year-old truck, which hasn't run for ten years. 323 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,640 Just try again quickly. Let's see. 324 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:19,200 She turns over, boys! 325 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:21,600 Right. 326 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,720 You beauty! 327 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,440 Oh, man.Yeah! 328 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:37,880 The 15-tonne dump truck is vital to transport mine dirt 329 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:41,600 from the Horse Paddock claim to their opal processing plant 330 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:43,680 two kilometres away. 331 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,280 About to back the truck out to the digger for the first load. 332 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:49,240 Bit of exciting times. 333 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,640 I hope we can get a few loads up and get that noodler fired up. 334 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:54,920 See if we got some opal in the ground here. 335 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,760 First time we've had the truck out, and we're getting it loaded. 336 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,040 So that's definitely excellent. 337 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,640 Whoo! First load done! 338 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:13,640 First load in the truck! 339 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:15,800 First load, man. Ready to go. 340 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:21,680 Ah, first load. I'm so happy. 341 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,280 Blew the tyre. Shredded the tyre out. 342 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,200 I don't think it can handle the weight. 343 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,440 It's blown that other side out. These two here got cracks in 'em, 344 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:47,320 so they're about to blow out as well. 345 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,360 Yes, it's definitely not good. 346 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,840 Hopefully we can get this load up to the noodler 347 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,080 and run it through it and find some money. 348 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,840 Tyres, once they sit out in the Outback sun here, 349 00:19:56,920 --> 00:19:59,720 for year after year, they really dry out, start cracking. 350 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,240 Now that we put weight on those tyres, 351 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:04,840 a couple of them have just blown out instantly. 352 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,080 Slow and steady wins the race. Yeah. 353 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:16,520 JOSIAH: Here, we have to rely on innovation, 354 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,800 and we have to find answers in the most craziest, abstract places. 355 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,720 That can be the rubbish dump, that can be old equipment 356 00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:25,480 down an old mine shaft. 357 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,480 A sheared bearing on their 40-year-old hoist 358 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:32,480 has brought the Digi Diggers' operation to a grinding halt. 359 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,520 LISA: Brad is an old friend of us. He has, um, 360 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:38,640 some bearings for us that we can use. 361 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:43,440 The only thing is that they are in his old mine shaft, 362 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,160 and he hasn't been down there for I don't know how long, 363 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:48,680 so he doesn't really know what's the go. 364 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,720 Whoa.Looks a bit wobbly from here. 365 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:55,920 That is really sketchy. 366 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,400 There's no way of going down the hole. 367 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,160 But there's no bucket on the hoist, so it must be down there. 368 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:03,920 All right, there's more holes. 369 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,040 I can see three holes from here. 370 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:09,600 The solution is to abseil in. 371 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,760 I've got some experience, Lisa's had some experience before. 372 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,080 The idea is to go down the second shaft 373 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,040 and find a way to the shaft that the ladder's in. 374 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:20,760 Cool. You've checked everything? Checked it. 375 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,440 Hope there's no snakes down there. 376 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:26,600 So, yeah, just be careful on your way down. 377 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:29,880 It's about a 60-foot shaft, 378 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,480 so hopefully it connects to the other one, 379 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:36,200 because we need to get there to get the bearings. 380 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:38,680 All good, Josiah?All good. 381 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:40,440 All right. 382 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,360 How are you doing?We made it. Yeah, good work. We're down. 383 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,960 Oh, that's so cool. 384 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,000 So, that's the direction that we need to go in. 385 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:02,560 It looks like there's a wall just before the shaft. Like, what? 386 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:06,800 Oh. No, it's a dead end. 387 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,480 Dead end. What do you mean, dead end? 388 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:11,800 This way. I'll have a look over here. 389 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:13,560 That's backfilled. 390 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:16,840 That's backfilled. 391 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:18,600 All right, this way. 392 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,600 That's where we just came from. Oh, man, this is a maze. 393 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:26,480 And a sketchy maze. 394 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,640 This is no way. This is no way. Which way did we come? 395 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,480 I think this one. 396 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,160 This looks pretty sketchy. 397 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:37,920 Lift this. 398 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,440 Looks sketchy. 399 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:46,880 No, no, let's go back. 400 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:48,640 We have to go back. 401 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,000 ROD: Stay in your hole. 402 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,560 NARRATOR: In Grawin, New South Wales, 403 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:59,760 the Bushmen are attempting to clear the first load of dirt 404 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:03,120 from the bottom of a freshly dug nine-metre shaft. 405 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,680 Right-o, Benny. It's coming back to you, mate. 406 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,280 Stay in your hole. I'm not moving down here. 407 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:13,040 Don't worry about that. 408 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,680 Just stay in your hole. 409 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,480 I'm glad it's Ben down there and not me. 410 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,000 He's doing all the hard yards, so... 411 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,760 Gone past ya?It's past me. 412 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,960 Good stuff. Right-o, mate, you're safe. 413 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,880 Stretch your legs out. 414 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,480 Ah. It's fun, mate. 415 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,280 You can see him digging the seam 416 00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:41,480 and picking places out, so that's colour. 417 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:46,080 The good news is, it is turning. It's not just blue and green now. 418 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,120 So a little bit of red showing up now, boys.Yeah. 419 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,280 What have you got there, bud? Oh, mate, she's gone dark. 420 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:54,680 The colour bar's just hitting off the black. 421 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,160 He sounds too excited. I got to go and have a look. 422 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,560 Oh, geez, Rod. I'm liking the look of this.Yeah?Yeah, I like it. 423 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:03,640 Whoa! 424 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,480 Nice. Hey, Les.Yeah. 425 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,720 It's starting to get a bit exciting down here. 426 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:10,920 Is it getting thicker? 427 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:12,880 Hey, Les.Yeah. 428 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:17,200 It's big and it's cheesy. Good. 429 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,120 Whoa! 430 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:23,680 Oh, Benny. Benny. 431 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,640 You ought to be able to see this bit from up there too, boys. 432 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,720 TY: We can see it. Right-o. I'll pull the bucket up. 433 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:31,480 You can turn that genny off, Les. 434 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,760 Look at that red there, Les, eh? That's gemmy, isn't it? 435 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:38,520 Pigeon blood red, that. 436 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,520 Yeah, that's got a good flashing in that one. 437 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,480 About time we got a bit of luck. 438 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,000 Look at that. Ooh, that's a very nice piece. 439 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,560 I think we got a saleable parcel here, boys. 440 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:53,400 The Bushmen have seam opal, blue green, with flashes of yellow, 441 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:55,840 and rare, highly sought after red. 442 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,960 It's in the rough, and weighs 95 grams. 443 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,400 Go and see Herman? Yeah.Make some money. 444 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:06,680 At the moment in town, there are a few buyers kicking around. 445 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,160 Most of the motels have got a buyer in them. 446 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,160 But for this sort of material, one of our local buyers, 447 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,520 Herman the German, I think he'd like this material. 448 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,440 He's a bit of a legend out here. He's been here a long time. 449 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:20,840 Over 50 years, to my knowledge, 450 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:22,880 he's had this shop for an awful long time, 451 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:24,640 and he's been an underground miner, 452 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,240 so he's always been real fair with us. 453 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:29,560 He knows how hard it is, you know. 454 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,640 Right-o, mate, we'll go and see Herman.Yep. 455 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,920 Six is our absolute cut-off, OK? 456 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,600 So don't let him talk you into anything less. 457 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:44,640 How you doin', Herman?Hello, folks. 458 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,720 Good to see you...How are you? ..on a cold morning like this. 459 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,640 You're tough. What can I do for you? 460 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,840 We got a little bit of material we want to offer you, Herman. 461 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,200 Straight out of the ground this morning, Herman. 462 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:03,760 OK. This piece here, now, that's not bad. 463 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:07,440 Give me a rough idea. What's the lowest you'll take? 464 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,320 Well, Herman, you've always looked after us, 465 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,640 so I would charge anyone else 15,000 for this, 466 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,000 but for you - I love optimism when I see it. 467 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,720 Well, for you...Yeah? 468 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:21,480 ..we'd take eight grand. 469 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:23,360 Only cos you're a good bloke. 470 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,760 Well, you see, through my mind, 471 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:31,640 what I would look at here is round about 3,000, 3,500. 472 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,760 I might go to four because of that big piece here. 473 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,320 I think you've got to sharpen your pencil a bit more than that, mate. 474 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,720 MATT: Yeah, we made it. Most of the tyres are still on. 475 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,800 Truck just made it. The Mooka Boys have finally hauled 476 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,040 15 tonnes of opal-bearing dirt 477 00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:57,920 to their 40-year-old processing plant. 478 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,840 We'll try and fire up the noodler. First time this season. 479 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,400 And it can be a bit temperamental straightaway, 480 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:05,160 so let's see how it goes. 481 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,480 Yeah, the generator's running. 482 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:13,080 That's our power plant for this whole machine. That's a good start. 483 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,080 Hopefully, all these belts and motors are gonna roll for us, 484 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,160 and we might be all right. 485 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,200 Tank is working. I'll try the belts out. 486 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:27,520 Long conveyor.COZZA: Yep. 487 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:29,280 It's your feed belt. 488 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:32,720 I'll run the feed bit. All right.OK. 489 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:34,560 Feed belt's on. 490 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,120 It's not spinning.LEIF: Hold up. 491 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:43,480 I think it's jammed on here again. 492 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,400 Looks like it's starting to turn it, but something's jammed in there. 493 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,240 That's how we get all the dirt out. 494 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,520 Without that hopper belt, it's not gonna work at all. 495 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,000 What's going on, boys? I don't know how it doesn't move. 496 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:03,160 Oi! Shut it down! Hey! Hey!Shut her off. 497 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,840 Shut it off, bro. 498 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:10,400 Motor keeps going on and off. It's hot. 499 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,560 Running hot? Something wrong with the motor. 500 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,120 You can't touch it.Yeah. It's smelling something. 501 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:20,160 That's not good.Yeah, man. Oh, damn. 502 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,440 man. 503 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:26,240 It's unreal, eh? 504 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,760 Without that belt, we can't get no dirt up in it. 505 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:31,720 Always something broken. 506 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:33,880 I don't know why we do this some days, boys. 507 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,800 Just always freaking fixing . 508 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:40,080 No good, boys.What else can we do? 509 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,280 The best thing we can do is just tip it out. 510 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:46,160 Look for it with black lights. We believe something's in there. 511 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,440 There was opal all over the place. 512 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,600 Spread it out with the loader. We only need a couple of ounces 513 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:55,080 to get some money up so we can get the fixed.Yeah. 514 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,440 We have to wait for it to get dark, yeah? 515 00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:59,200 It's all we can do for now. 516 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:03,680 Just got to make do with what we got. 517 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,520 So we got a loader, we got some black lights. 518 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,920 Spread this load out, and hopefully we can find something the old way. 519 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,920 Quick, Matty. That sun's nearly gone, mate. 520 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,640 Theory is, the opal is gonna sit on top of these little humps, 521 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:21,640 and we're going to find it all. 522 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,440 I'm just hoping and praying that there is enough in there 523 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:26,200 so we can keep going. 524 00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:35,000 LISA: I don't even know any more if we came from left or right, so... 525 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,080 Lost in an abandoned mine, Lisa and Josiah are scavenging 526 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:43,840 for a wheel bearing to fix their hoist, 527 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,160 the only means of getting dirt to the surface. 528 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,840 JOSIAH: It looks like someone's... You see equipment? 529 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:53,280 Yes. And lights.Oh, my God! Yes. 530 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,760 We must have taken the longest way around. 531 00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,160 Yep. There it is. 532 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,760 There's a ladder.And? 533 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,480 There's bearings on there. Yes. 534 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:09,640 They're good.We only need one, really, but we'll take two. 535 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,040 Bloody bearings. 536 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:15,120 Oh, well, we've got it. Bloody opal mining. 537 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,520 Let's fix this thing. 538 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:25,160 So, yes, this is going to help us get back to work and find some opal. 539 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:29,440 That fits? 540 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,720 Yep. That'll be it. Nice. We're on it again. 541 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:38,760 Josiah and I, we've invested everything we have in this project. 542 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:42,240 We need opal to set everything up. 543 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,560 But once we've got everything working on solar, 544 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,120 we've got a huge competitive advantage. 545 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,520 Because the fuel right now, the prices are crazy. 546 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:52,600 So we take it out the whole section. 547 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,360 Some colour here. 548 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:05,080 Very good.Yow! 549 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:16,040 Wow, Josiah. 550 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,400 Josiah! Look at this. 551 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,320 Oh ! Whoa! 552 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:24,760 Looks like it goes all the way, and there's more in the wall even. 553 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,840 Look at that. Wow. Blue, green. 554 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:30,800 Wow.Let's drop it down. 555 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:32,920 Yep. Both hands. 556 00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,520 OK. Just wait. Slowly, slowly, slowly. 557 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:43,880 Look at that. It's like a heart. Turn it around. 558 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,040 All right. 559 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,680 Oh, it's like a heart. 560 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:52,080 A broken heart.It's a broken heart. 561 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,440 OK. I'll have this piece. You have that piece. 562 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,760 Oh, that's funny. We found an opalised broken heart 563 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:00,640 thirty foot underground. 564 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,240 It's got everything. Red, green. The whole rainbow is there. 565 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:06,000 Well, there's still colour there. 566 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:10,360 This is the moment we get our whole yearly target in one day. 567 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,160 Yeah.Yeah. 568 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:15,400 Just gonna pull it. It's there. 569 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,800 Whoa! Look at that! 570 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:24,680 Look at that.Holy ! 571 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,800 That there is gorgeous. 572 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,000 What a big hunk of crystal. Look at it. 573 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,960 And there might be more. 574 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:37,320 Whoa! Look at that. 575 00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,800 Holy ! 576 00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:46,760 Just a little awestruck by this, you know. 577 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,320 We're in a bit of a shock, what we're seeing right now. 578 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,520 So... 579 00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:54,560 Look at that. This is gorgeous. 580 00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:00,040 Tear. 581 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,040 You're the one that's supposed to cry, Lisa. 582 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,920 I'll tell you what, we just got this in a bell out. 583 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,040 So we've only just started this mine, right? 584 00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:24,880 OK.And we need some operating capital. 585 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:29,680 If you bump it up a little bit - Can I just make an observation, Les? 586 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:32,920 He's now going to get me to go up in price 587 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,560 with the promise that when he gets some of the good stuff, 588 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,840 he'll bill the good stuff in here as well.Oh, we will. 589 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:44,160 Watch him operate like that. He's good at it. Yeah. 590 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:48,040 That's exactly right, Herman. You saved me a lot of talking. 591 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:52,480 That's exactly what we'll do. 592 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:57,440 Well, you see, I'm building my hopes on this stone here. 593 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,800 Yeah, it's a good stone. Yeah. Not bad. 594 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:05,680 Bump it up to 6,500, and I think we'd be happy with that. 595 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,480 Well -As I said, Herman, we've only just started, 596 00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:11,320 and it's showing such good potential. 597 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:15,000 Oh, is it ever. So when we get the better stuff... 598 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,040 We get anything, I'll give you first look. 599 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,280 If you don't mind. As a favour. Not a problem. 600 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:21,680 But I'm happy enough with this deal. 601 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:23,560 6,500.Good on you, mate. 602 00:34:23,640 --> 00:34:25,760 What happened to the 15? 603 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:29,080 I'll take that down the road, but for you, 6,500, 604 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:31,840 because you're such a good bloke to us. 605 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:33,600 That's all good. 606 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:38,120 There we go.Good stuff, Herman. Thank you very much, mate. 607 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:41,200 Thanks, Herman. Right-o, mate. We'll catch you a bit later. 608 00:34:41,280 --> 00:34:43,640 OK. Thank you. 609 00:34:43,720 --> 00:34:46,520 That went pretty good. Yeah, I was happy with that. 610 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:48,280 Boys will be getting a cut. 611 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,480 TY: How'd it go? You see Herman? We saw Herman. 612 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:55,800 BEN: Did you bring beer? We brought beer. 613 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:59,520 So you know that means. You got a sale, did ya?Heck yeah. 614 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:01,760 6,500.Beautiful. 615 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:03,680 Well done, mate. Well done. 616 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:07,160 That's bloody good.Good stuff, Les. Yeah, it's a good start, isn't it? 617 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:09,920 Watch out! 618 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,000 Just a good way to end things, you know? 619 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:15,200 Found a bit of colour, made a sale. Have a beer and a barbe. 620 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,520 Fellas, job well done. 621 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,280 Excellent, actually. 622 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:23,040 This 6,500, we've got it, it's really gonna help out. 623 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:25,000 We've got money for diesel, we got money 624 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:26,760 to continue on with this mine. 625 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,880 So yeah, things are looking pretty bloody good. 626 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:31,640 Dead Dog Gully, eh? 627 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,840 COZZA: Yeah, clock's ticking now. 628 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,760 Getting to the end of the season, and we haven't had a win. 629 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:43,520 So not looking too sharp for the Mooka Boys. 630 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:45,520 Without their processing plant, 631 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,760 the Mooka Boys are resorting to black lighting by hand. 632 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:52,280 MATTA: There's gotta be something in here from everything we found before. 633 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,240 They're searching a 20 centimetre thick layer of dirt 634 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:57,840 in which they found traces of opal. 635 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,320 The opal glows up under UV light. So it's what we do. 636 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:04,520 We run over it with UV light and look for anything that glows. 637 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:06,760 Just like a white shirt in a disco room. 638 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:10,680 All right. What have we got here? 639 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:12,560 Very important that we find something. 640 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:15,880 All our eggs are in this basket. We only got one load up here. 641 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:17,640 There's a piece right there, eh? 642 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,320 Oh, yeah, it seems. Whoo! 643 00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:24,720 Yeah, man. Greens, reds. 644 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:27,320 Yeah, look at that. I can see them from here. 645 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,160 That's a big, bloody stone kind of opal. 646 00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:33,280 Mate.Oh, man. 647 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:35,960 There's opal all over it. That's unreal. 648 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:38,400 That's beautiful.Brilliant colour. 649 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:41,640 I mean, that's only thin, but God, it's all adding up. 650 00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:44,720 Let's keep going, eh? We only need a couple of stones. 651 00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:46,920 All right. Keep looking. 652 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:48,840 Oh, boys. 653 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:50,880 Give me some light. 654 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:56,880 Far out! 655 00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:59,160 Is that honey matrix? 656 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:03,120 Check that out, man. Look at this one.Far out. 657 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:07,000 We got reds, blues, greens. That's nice stuff, too. 658 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:11,280 Check that out! Yeah, that's our money right here. 659 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:13,200 Holy . We got our money. 660 00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:16,640 Oh, that's excellent. 661 00:37:16,720 --> 00:37:19,600 The Mooka Boys have honey matrix opal, 662 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:21,880 named for its orange hue. 663 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:26,320 It's scattered with vibrant flakes of green, red and blue. 664 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:30,200 They also have angel stone, pale sandstone boulders 665 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,120 with deep, colourful veins of seam opal. 666 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,960 Yeah, get 'em on the scale, see what we've got. 667 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,560 We're gonna need some bigger scales by the time we finish this floor. 668 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:45,960 There's some nice reds and greens coming out of that. Big flashes. 669 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:52,960 All right. And that is just a touch over 20 ounces. 670 00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:54,800 Gangster. Right-o. 671 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:57,680 What's that, at 500 bucks an ounce? 672 00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:00,280 Ten grand, boys. That's not bad for the week, eh? 673 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:03,000 For all the we had. That's all right. Not bad. 674 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,440 Yeah, well, we still got these speccy stones, too. 675 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:07,480 I think we'll get 600 bucks for that lot. 676 00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,840 Yeah.That's enough to do the tyres, get the noodler running, man. 677 00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:14,200 We should be able to find a motor for that, too, eh?Hm.Not bad. 678 00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:17,920 Yeah, so, just all up, you know, 679 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:20,520 we're evaluating at about just over 11 grand. 680 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:24,240 That's more than enough for us to get a bit of a payday each, 681 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:26,320 and get tyres for the trucks and fuel. 682 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,400 We can get the show on the road. 683 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:30,880 We're hoping, this year, we can have that big win 684 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,200 to make sure that our families and our partners 685 00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:36,640 continue to support us, uh, in our dreams as well. 686 00:38:36,720 --> 00:38:40,240 Good week, boys. Another struggle, another win. 687 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:44,120 It definitely wasn't an easy week, but there was success at the end. 688 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,760 Yeah. Beauty.Cheers.Cheers. 689 00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:59,200 Well, let's just go through all of this.Yeah. 690 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,720 The buyers coming into town are high-end jewellers. 691 00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:05,560 They've created jewellery for the wealthiest families in Australia. 692 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:08,000 We are suspecting that they're gonna want crystal, 693 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:10,160 and high quality crystal at that. 694 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:12,640 This is our king stone. It's just an amazing piece. 695 00:39:12,720 --> 00:39:15,160 It's just full crystal. You can see it with the sun. 696 00:39:15,240 --> 00:39:17,160 It's just shining straight through it. 697 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:20,240 It's just an amazing piece of art. 698 00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:25,320 Driving from Brisbane, almost 1,000 kilometres away, 699 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:30,640 buyers Kevin, Matthew and Adrian are high-end jewellers 700 00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:34,320 with a focus on bespoke, one-of-a kind designs. 701 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:37,440 ADRIAN: I've been cutting for nearly 13 years now, 702 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:41,680 and I've, sort of, made opals my specialty. 703 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:43,840 We do use the stones as inspiration. 704 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:47,000 So that's a big part of what we do, we find a stone first 705 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:49,240 and let the stone speak for itself. 706 00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:52,040 This looks promising. I can't wait to see what they have. 707 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:56,040 That's mad.School bus.Older sofas. 708 00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:58,560 Hello. Welcome. Matthew. Good to meet you. 709 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:01,320 How's it going?Hi. Kevin.Lisa. Pleased to meet you. 710 00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:03,520 Pleased to meet you. How was the ride? Good? 711 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:06,840 Good. Yeah.A bit long, but... Yeah...we made it. 712 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:12,880 All right. So I'm going to reveal Yowah's heart. 713 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:14,760 Oh.This looks good, man. 714 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:20,240 Whoa.Whoa. Look at that. It's an actual heart. 715 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:24,080 That's...Whoa.It's good.Yeah. 716 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:26,320 But that's not all. 717 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:29,600 That isn't all? Some lovely colour in there. 718 00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:31,960 Sweet. Look at that. Oh. 719 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:35,040 Oh. Look at that. There we go. 720 00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:38,920 There's some colour. That is a beautiful colour. 721 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:41,880 So this is called the Ibiza collection. 722 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,440 The Digi Diggers have crystal opal, featuring rich blues, 723 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:47,720 with green and purple highlights. 724 00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:50,760 It's in the rough and weighs 160 grams. 725 00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:52,520 That's stunning. 726 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:56,760 What are you roughly thinking, asking for these? 727 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:00,840 Our master stone...MATTHEW: Yeah. 728 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:03,960 We're asking 30. We reckon that's worth it. 729 00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:07,600 And for the rest, as a whole, we'll ask 20. 730 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:09,720 Yeah.I love the finds. 731 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,080 If it's all right with you guys, we might have a team meeting. 732 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:16,440 Yeah. That's fair. And discuss some options. 733 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:18,680 OK. All right. 734 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:23,520 JOSIAH: Oh, my God. That's intense. 735 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:26,360 We have never had this much opal to sell before. 736 00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:30,480 We've never spoken and negotiated at these higher levels. 737 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:32,840 It's very nerve-racking. 738 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,680 Yeah, I've sold stuff before. It's always an adventure. 739 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,480 You never know what's gonna happen or how they'll react. 740 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:43,360 And, um, yeah, it's, uh, intense. 741 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:49,040 That's definitely the plan. 742 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:51,200 How's it going?Good. 743 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:52,960 How are you guys going? Doing well. 744 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:54,720 We've had a bit of a chat. 745 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:57,440 We like the colour and everything in the heart of Yowah, 746 00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:01,080 but probably gonna be a little bit too much of a risk for us cutting. 747 00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:05,120 Uh, we are really interested in the king stone there. 748 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:08,160 As an individual piece at the moment, 749 00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:12,520 it's probably a bit more than what we wanted to spend for it. 750 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,200 Give that a bit of a pass for the moment. 751 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:18,600 The rest of the parcel though, we are quite interested in. 752 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:21,720 You were wanting 20,000 for the parcel. 753 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:26,520 Would you go anywhere closer to 15,000 on that parcel? 754 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,760 That's a big jump. $5,000. Yeah, it is. 755 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:33,400 Anywhere closer to that? What were you thinking? 756 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:37,760 I reckon we can definitely be a bit flexible. 757 00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:44,400 I would say we could definitely jump from 20 to 17. 758 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:46,160 Seventeen? 759 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:54,120 Yeah, no worries. Yeah, we can work with 17. 760 00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:57,840 Yeah, no worries. Sweet.Deal. 761 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:01,960 To be honest, we actually really wanted the king piece. 762 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:04,800 Um, but it's just way too outside our budget. 763 00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:07,840 It's not gonna work for today, but it's really nice piece. 764 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:11,760 We want to put it in the metaverse in a collection of Lisa and myself. 765 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,240 So we'd like to entrust this to you guys, 766 00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:16,600 and you guys can make some jewellery out of it. 767 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:18,880 That'd be cool, yeah. Definitely keen. Thanks. 768 00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:21,760 Yeah, well, give us a hug. Come on. 769 00:43:21,840 --> 00:43:24,920 The king stone is very precious, but I really like their work. 770 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:27,480 So I think a collaboration was in order, 771 00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:30,560 one that would allow them to work on this particular stone, 772 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:33,560 and then prepare it for a metaverse-based sale. 773 00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:36,560 Moving forward, we see each other collaborating 774 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,320 with the jewellers from Brisbane. 775 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:41,280 They are making great stuff, and I can't wait to see 776 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:45,160 the jewellery they'll make with Ibiza collection. It'll be insane. 777 00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:49,200 That was amazing. What a day. What a life. 778 00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,560 What a life.What a life. Cheers to that. 779 00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:11,440 # Money # 780 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:13,520 Subtitles by Deluxe 780 00:44:14,305 --> 00:45:14,696 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm