"Outback Opal Hunters" From The Last Hole

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,600 NARRATOR: On Outback Opal Hunters... 2 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:07,000 Whoa! I've never seen the opal fields like this before. 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,080 Record breaking floods mark the end of the mining season... 4 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,000 We have to call it quits, 5 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:15,680 this weather is just too unpredictable at the moment. 6 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,880 ..forcing the Misfits to abandon their open-cut mine. 7 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:20,640 She's hard! 8 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,400 ..and excavate an overworked claim with customised machinery. 9 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,120 These are failed as far as I'm concerned. 10 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:33,400 This is the last roll of the dice to meet our season's target. Look out. 11 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:37,520 In their final week, Sofia and Isaac, the Opal Whisperers... 12 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,800 Come on, baby! I've got red! 13 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,920 ..go deep underground in a crumbling mine... 14 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,080 Constantly thinking... ..risk versus reward. 15 00:00:47,160 --> 00:00:49,720 ..to unearth a haul of exquisite opal. 16 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,280 Look at that. Are you kidding me? 17 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,600 I can tell by the sound that it's still blocked. 18 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:57,520 After a disastrous year, 19 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,120 the Bushmen's overworked machinery... 20 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,600 What's going on, Les? ..fails again... 21 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,640 Engine mounts have cooked to pieces. 22 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,560 ..forcing emergency repairs for a final chance 23 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:10,360 to rescue their season. I've had colour! 24 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,520 You ripper!Good piece.Yeah. 25 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:14,920 Les, you're a beauty! 26 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:19,840 # Money 27 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,320 # And fancy clothes # 28 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:33,074 29 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,120 Because it's this late in the season, 30 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,400 and we're not doing real good, 31 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,440 we've sort of decided to split the team up. 32 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:50,440 We're hoping it'll double our chances. 33 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,200 So, Les and Ty have gone over to Dead Dog. 34 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,360 And I'll do all this here on me own. 35 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,840 It's not ideal working by yourself with this big machinery. 36 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:01,680 If something happens to me down here, 37 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:03,440 ain't no-one to save me. 38 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:09,920 A little bit of peach up here, a little bit of black. 39 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,040 All you need is a bit of colour 40 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:14,320 in the top of that, you got some serious money. 41 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,360 That's the most valuable opal you can get. 42 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,080 Black opal. I'm gonna have another swipe. 43 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:27,240 Can't be serious. 44 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,360 The digger arm's frozen. It won't turn. 45 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:33,240 I'm pulling the stick to make it go left, it won't go left. 46 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,200 It'll only go to the right. Why? 47 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:43,280 The Bushmen, Rod Manning, Les Walsh, and Ty Gross... 48 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,920 Not looking good. It's just blocked. 49 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:48,880 ..have just days to rescue 50 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,240 one of their worst seasons on record... 51 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:53,200 Still a fair bit of water down here. 52 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,440 ..as once in a generation flooding 53 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,000 and extreme temperatures shut down the season. 54 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,720 Yeah, this year has been pretty tough for us. 55 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,160 We've changed a lot of different mines. 56 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,360 Put it down. We haven't found hardly anything. 57 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,240 Yeah, I think we're sitting at about 110,000 for the season. 58 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,760 Between the three of us, that doesn't go far. 59 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,120 Their plan is to divide and conquer. 60 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,760 Les and Ty are working the Dead Dog claim, 61 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,720 and Rod at Ding Dong, 62 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,680 operating a four tonne digger and blower alone. 63 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,120 ROD: This late in the season, we've got to do something drastic. 64 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,160 And drastic is splitting the team up. 65 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:33,440 Any opal the Bushmen find, 66 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,000 they want to sell on their new website... 67 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:38,880 What, for real?Yeah, for real. 68 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:40,640 ..launched at the eleventh hour 69 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,240 in a desperate effort to increase profit. 70 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,040 ROD: You know, of course, the biggest problem we got now, 71 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,560 it's always the same, no matter who you sell it to 72 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,440 is finding enough. Opal's 10,000 times rarer than diamond. 73 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:54,360 So, it's hard to find. 74 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,360 Oh, hello, she's going again. She's going again. 75 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,560 It's got to be here in this controller. 76 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,520 Started working again, so I'll keep an eye on it, 77 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,920 and then I'm gonna have to go and get some tools. 78 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:15,280 The ground is wet from all the water that's coming through. 79 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,200 You got to constantly bang your pipes, 80 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:19,960 trying to loosen up the mud that's on the inside of them. 81 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,440 The blower is a huge vacuum that extracts waste dirt 82 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,720 from the mine through 11-inch pipes 83 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,320 and dumps it into a truck above ground. 84 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,040 I can tell by the sound that it's still blocked. 85 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:34,240 The end of me pipes folded in. 86 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,960 The folded section of pipe is preventing a proper seal, 87 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,760 jamming rocks and decreasing suction power. 88 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,680 This quarter-inch pipe takes a hell of a lot bending. 89 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,280 Never stops, does it? 90 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,280 ISAAC: Have a look at this. 91 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,120 See this plate?Oh, wow. That's fallen off the roof. 92 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,440 Yeah, it looks fresh, doesn't it? Listen to the difference. Ready? 93 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,440 And here. Definitely a death trap. 94 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,480 OK, so this this area doesn't have the clear to mine. 95 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:13,880 We shouldn't even start the jackhammer up in here 96 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,040 so the vibration...Really? Yeah.So, what's the plan then? 97 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,880 Well, this level, it dips down directly towards the shaft 98 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,000 and it's on a downward slope, so if there's any opal in it, 99 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:26,760 it would be better down there. 100 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:30,360 Yeah, let's go. I think that's a good idea. 101 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:32,080 Safely. 102 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,160 In the last days of the mining season, 103 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,440 siblings Sofia and Isaac Andreou, 104 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,600 the Opal Whisperers, are risking their lives working 105 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,200 a crumbling, 30-year-old mine. 106 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,480 It's super hot now. We're getting close up to the 50s. 107 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,200 Anybody in their right minds has left this entire area. 108 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:56,960 Opal waits for no man. 109 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,720 We need this new mine for a payload. 110 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,520 I want to come back in next season with big machinery. 111 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,440 Time's ticking. 112 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,000 Now to walk into another one of our mines. 113 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,280 Dad's had this one for a while. Yeah, come on down, love. 114 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:16,280 Our family legacy is one of the most important, 115 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,120 dynamic driving forces of this entire operation. 116 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,200 Well, I'm just looking at 117 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:25,080 a number of pieces that have just been finished. 118 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,520 Magic, sheer magic. 119 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:32,760 Our parents did this before us, and opal's all I've ever done, 120 00:06:32,840 --> 00:06:35,080 and Opal is all I'm ever going to do. 121 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,320 Our season target is $150,000. 122 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,200 If we don't find opal in the new underground mine 123 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:47,040 and we go home empty handed, we've officially failed. 124 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:49,640 Let's go. Let's go inside. Come on. 125 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,680 With most of the mine too dangerous to work, 126 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,680 Sofia and Isaac must find a section stable enough to dig for opal. 127 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:02,200 Constantly thinking... ..risk versus reward. 128 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:04,560 I'm getting out of here. 129 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,600 Sofia, have a look at this. This is boulder layer. 130 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:14,400 It's a big layer of pure ironstone, and it disappears here. 131 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,960 What happens is all of a sudden it reappears down here, 132 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:20,680 the ground has slipped, and when you get a slip, 133 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,560 you get opal pooling. 134 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,200 So, we should most likely dig right here then. 135 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,280 It's written on the wall. Absolutely.OK. 136 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,400 We're running out of time. 137 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,760 We're looking for a needle in a haystack. 138 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,640 We need a bit of colour amongst all this beige. 139 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:41,320 Brown's not enough. Can we have some red, please? 140 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,000 Hey, Angel, this rain's starting to come down. 141 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,720 What do you reckon? Still give it a crack or not? 142 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,960 Come down a little bit, we'll try it out, it gets too slippery, 143 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,760 I am going to call it. OK. Heading up. 144 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,240 The end of the opal season is just days away 145 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:07,760 as summer storms break over Andamooka, 146 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,440 forcing Angel and Izzy to work dangerous conditions 147 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,360 in one last push. 148 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,480 That rain's getting pretty heavy. 149 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,720 Yeah, hopefully it'll stop otherwise you'll have to climb back out. 150 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,600 Just be careful, Angel.All right. 151 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:37,200 Oh, you're sliding there, Angel. Whoops.Get out of there.Whoa. 152 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:43,280 The Misfits, rookie miner Angel Dempsey, 153 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,800 new recruit Izzy Glenn, and mentor and financier, 154 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,680 Opal Joe Kalmar, are on the brink of a massive season failure. 155 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,280 We set a pretty big benchmark of 160,000. 156 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:57,640 And the last thing on my mind was the weather. 157 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,600 JOE: Already on the field there's been excavators sunk. 158 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,560 And one got completely drowned, submerged. 159 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,360 It's dangerous to mine this time of year with the weather. 160 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:10,800 The season is coming to an end, 161 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,440 and I've got people that are relying on me 162 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,960 to bring the bacon home, to keep our gym running. 163 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:21,160 So, for me to fail is not on the cards. 164 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,120 It cannot happen. 165 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,080 I want to be a fully independent miner one day. 166 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,160 It's probably gonna take me a few seasons 167 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:31,440 to get the money to buy a $50,000 excavator, 168 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:33,960 buy $ 100,000 bulldozer. 169 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:36,560 But I'm going to keep going until that day comes. 170 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,880 We need to find what we've got to find. 171 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,280 We need to hit that target to make it worth our while. 172 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:48,360 Whoa!Angel, you gotta get out of there. You're plodding. 173 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,080 Get out of there! 174 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,320 This is not the ideal situation. 175 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:58,440 As much as we want to find opal, 176 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,720 I don't want to be going scraping around in a hole. 177 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:03,680 Check out all that mud. 178 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:13,640 Whoo. Ruddy hell. Oh, much better. 179 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,560 We have to call it quits. It's slippery, 180 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:19,560 we're not prepared to die for it either. 181 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:22,880 So, you know, call it quits. Try again later. 182 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:24,600 We'll see how this weather goes. 183 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,160 The last couple of months has been really hard. 184 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:36,160 You know, the rain, the storms, the flooding has just not stopped. 185 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:42,600 It is next level frustrating. I've only got probably 186 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:45,360 a couple of weeks' worth in the bank, and then that's it. 187 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,160 It is quite concerning. I need to get out and find opal. 188 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,200 I can't be wasting time watching the creek run in bed. 189 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:53,960 Yeah. What do you do? 190 00:11:01,560 --> 00:11:03,600 Time to ground up Dead Dog Gully. 191 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:06,920 It's our bread and butter claim. Come down here and find a few bucks. 192 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,280 Rod's down there at Ding Dong on the digger. 193 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:13,880 Yeah, hopefully more chances of finding opal. 194 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,960 Desperate for cash to survive the unworkable 195 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,800 40-plus degree days of the off season, 196 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:27,000 the Bushmen are mining two claims simultaneously. 197 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:31,400 Don't look too bad. There's a good bit. 198 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:37,040 What's going on? 199 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:39,760 Ah, the engine mount's all busted. 200 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:43,920 Can't keep the generator running until I get that fixed. 201 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:48,040 40 ft underground, pitch black dark. 202 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:50,280 The generator here runs the lights, 203 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,800 jackhammers, and also runs the hoist. 204 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:55,680 You there, Les? 205 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,040 Ty would have wondered what happened when the lights got turned off. 206 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,720 What's going on, mate? Got no power or nothing down here. 207 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:12,480 If I put the bent end up this side, it will be OK 208 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:16,160 because the rocks will be going the other direction. 209 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,720 Working alone at Ding Dong claim, Rod needs to bush fix 210 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,040 a bent blower pipe to extract waste dirt 211 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:24,720 before he can continue mining. 212 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,720 If it was easy, everybody would do it. 213 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,480 See how that goes. 214 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,800 We have found a couple of nice stones this year. 215 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,160 It barely all goes in diesel. 216 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,400 It's just getting a bit like desperation states at the moment. 217 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:50,120 Fill out then. 218 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,480 I might hit that with a screwdriver, there's a bit of a lump there. 219 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:01,840 Ooh, that's hard. 220 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,760 There just might be something behind this. 221 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,200 Could be 200 or 200,000. Here we go. 222 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:14,320 I love this moment. Nine times out of ten, you're disappointed. 223 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:19,840 That one time when you drive the screwdriver in there 224 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:23,160 and it's just full of gem colour, there's nothing like it. 225 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:24,840 I love it. 226 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,640 Ah, here we go. 227 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:37,800 Oh-ho-ho! Pickle me grandma! We got a bit of colour. 228 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,800 Blue, deep blue. Purple. Green. 229 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:46,320 There you go. There's the other half. 230 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:48,240 There might be a few grand in this. 231 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,720 Whoa, look at that. 232 00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:54,960 Look at the colour in that one. That's a big chunk. 233 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,880 That cheese right there. Look at it. 234 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,600 Finally. Finally. 235 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:14,960 It's quick. We're slidin'. Whoa! 236 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,600 That's a lot of water. Here we go again. 237 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,640 Whoa.Whoa.Whoa, can't see a thing. 238 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:28,400 I've never seen the opal fields like this before. 239 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:34,840 Oh, wow, this is not good. That's not good. Not good at all. 240 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:39,720 The end of the mining season is lapping at the boots of the Misfits, 241 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,160 with heavy overnight rain flooding their open-cut mine. 242 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:47,280 That's the end of this claim. It is the end of this claim. 243 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,160 This water, it's going to take months to dry up. 244 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,600 Well, if this is like this, I wonder what my claim looks like. 245 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,840 If this has got water in it, most likely yours has got water in it. 246 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,960 Which means, you know, all we got left is the black light. 247 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,440 Well, that's all we've got. 248 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,560 One good thing about the rain is that it would have exposed 249 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:10,360 a lot of opal in the opal fields. 250 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,960 When night falls, the Misfits will use 251 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:20,120 ultraviolet light to hunt for opal in unpegged mine dumps. 252 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,360 This is our UV light. When opal reacts to it, it will glow. 253 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,320 Another beauty down here. 254 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,640 But there's other creepy crawlies that will shine up like opal. 255 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,320 You take the torch away, it'll glow a few seconds after, 256 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,920 and that's how you know it's definitely opal. 257 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,440 If it's a scorpion, gecko, a spider or anything like that, 258 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,400 soon as you take the light off, it won't fluoresce like that. 259 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,280 How you doing over there? Not too bad. 260 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,080 Picking up some pieces. Pretty good.Oh, frog. 261 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:53,160 Who'd think you would see a frog out in the middle of the desert? 262 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:57,280 Whoa, look at this. 263 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,240 That's a chunker. That makes me smile. 264 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,320 When you're black lighting, you don't know if it's got colour. 265 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,600 You know it's some kind of opal. You just don't know its value. 266 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:09,720 So, you know, we'll pick it all up. 267 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,280 Chuck it in our pockets. Take it home. 268 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,840 Ooh. Angel!What? 269 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:17,920 Oh, come and have a look at this beauty. 270 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,480 Oh, my God.Hang on. 271 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:27,960 It had colours off the reflection of the torch. 272 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,080 And there's another little chip there. 273 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,760 Oh, wow, another one in a washout. 274 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,040 It's massive. Look at that. 275 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:39,960 I'm happy with what I've got so far. 276 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,120 Just going to go back to the car to see what I actually have. 277 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:48,200 We're about to find out if it's got colour or not. 278 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:50,440 Whoa.How are you feeling? 279 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:54,760 I don't know. Let's have a look. OK. 280 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,160 Oh, look at that. Isn't that purple there?That one? 281 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:04,240 It could be a bit of dirt. Yeah, I think it's a bit of dirt. 282 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:09,680 Potch, potch, potch. Big chunk of potch. 283 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,600 Potch is colourless opal with little commercial value, 284 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,240 and it makes up the bulk of the Misfits' findings. 285 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,360 Oh, what a shame. 286 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,520 Looks like we've got at least a couple 1,000 there, 287 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,680 which is a pretty good haul for black lighting, 288 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:31,320 but, you know, we need at least another $100,000 to make our target, 289 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,080 and black lighting it is not going to cut it. 290 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,440 It's just not happening at the moment. 291 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,560 SOFIA: Yeah, we're on a nut. ISAAC: Colour? 292 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:51,280 I don't know. 293 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:55,720 But we're getting patterns, and we've got a nut formation now. 294 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,320 Just days are left in their mining season, 295 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,840 and siblings Sofia and Isaac Andreou 296 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,680 are honing in on a promising opal pocket. 297 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:05,480 Is there colour in that? 298 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:07,440 I don't know yet. I gotta bring 'em out. 299 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,560 It is a conglomerate, you know? 300 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:16,000 A conglomerate is a boulder containing Yowah nut and matrix opal 301 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,320 fused together by ironstone. 302 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:24,120 I'm getting her out in one piece. Come on, baby. 303 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,000 It's sort of like a tooth extraction. 304 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:27,680 Come on, baby. 305 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,160 Whoo! Oh, here we go. 306 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,160 Hey. What do you reckon? 307 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,640 Let's have a look. I was really hoping that it would be full of colour. 308 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,080 We'll take it and check it. Put it in the bucket. 309 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,800 Worth storing opal I'd say instead of -You're right. 310 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,000 Right, time. Swapsies. No more pussyfooting around. 311 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,600 We're gonna try and get that level at eye level. 312 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,400 Not afraid of a bit of hard work, are we? 313 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,160 Certainly not. 314 00:18:56,360 --> 00:18:58,480 Where'd it go? 315 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,920 Well, that's come out. Look at that. That's some nice nut. 316 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:07,040 And there it is there. Colour, baby! 317 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:11,320 Red! Red! I've got red! Found colour?Yep.Really? 318 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,880 Red is the rarest opal colour... 319 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,480 Let's see.You can't miss it. 320 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,040 ..the most valuable and highly desired by buyers. 321 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,480 Nice.Whoo! 322 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:24,600 Even a tiny bit gets you so excited. 323 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:29,320 That's electric red and green. Nice job. 324 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,040 This is a really nice stone. 325 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:34,160 Look at that. 326 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,920 Yeah. So, what do you reckon, hand tools from here? 327 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,560 That's already Yowah nuts, no? 328 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,840 Yeah, there's nuts up here, like this one. 329 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:47,160 Awesome.That's a floater. Time to take the babies home. 330 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:50,520 This level, definitely a pocket. 331 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,680 Yeah, it looks like it. There's a few there. 332 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:55,640 How many nuts have we got? We've got about half a bucket now. 333 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,400 Half a bucket of love! 334 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,560 The proof is in the pudding. It's time to get these bad boys home 335 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:03,680 and see what's inside 'em. 336 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:06,280 Moment of truth. 337 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,200 My hands are stiff from mining. 338 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,600 Isaac must cut the Yowah nuts with a 10-inch saw 339 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,440 in the hope of revealing a crystal centre. 340 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,520 Pull up.Yeah, no dice. 341 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,320 It's all right. 1,000 to one, we got a few to get through. 342 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,560 We don't have a 1,000 though. No, we don't. 343 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:31,520 Empty. Empty. 344 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,160 We're clutching at straws. 345 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,280 No colour. 346 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,480 Throw it as far as you can. I don't wanna see it anyone. 347 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:57,840 What's going on, Les? 348 00:20:57,920 --> 00:20:59,880 Engine mounts have shook to pieces. 349 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:03,240 They're that old, the rubber's disintegrated. 350 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,720 On the last dig of the season, 351 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,360 the Bushmen's generator powering their mine 352 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:10,840 has torn off its mounts. 353 00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,840 How do we fix that? Go and get a bit of timber. 354 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:15,760 Put under it. 355 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,120 What do you want? A bit of gum tree, stick? 356 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,640 Yeah, yeah, something like that. Anything will do. 357 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,400 The last thing I want you doing now. 358 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,000 You're dodging it up, mate, aren't you?I am. 359 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,040 This should hold it in place. 360 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:39,520 That'll do for a quick fix. 361 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,640 I'll go down and dig a bit more out, Les. 362 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,000 Righto. 363 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,400 We haven't had a real pretty big pocket yet, 364 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,440 but I just got to keep trying. 365 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,280 Yeah, only one way to do it is keep digging. 366 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:01,280 I've hit colour. Look at that! 367 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:04,080 Well, there's blues, yellows, greens. 368 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,400 Look at that. That's me favourite colour, red. 369 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:10,640 Les!Yeah? 370 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,880 We're on colour!I'll come down and have a look at it. 371 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:15,640 Come down dig it out with me, mate! 372 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,880 Here, look at her. Look at that. Got red in it too. 373 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,400 Yeah, red, green, yellow. That's very good. Very good. 374 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,400 Let's dig the bloody thing out, Les. 375 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:27,240 Look at this bit, Les!Oh! 376 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,480 Ah, beauty, mate! Beauty! 377 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:32,280 Don't kiss me.No! 378 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:34,240 Well, you can if you want. Look at that! 379 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,280 We're on some good money here, Les. I reckon. 380 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:40,160 You ripper!I reckon. 381 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:49,440 Hey! You still alive down there? 382 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,800 You want me to take that, Les? 383 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,680 Oh! 384 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,160 Not bad, aye?Well done. 385 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:01,640 Look at that. That's nice calibre, Les. 386 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:03,880 Hang on a second. What's he got, Les? 387 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:07,200 I got no idea. Oh, no, he's got the colour tin out. 388 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,840 Look at that, Les. 389 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,120 Oh, that's a ripper! 390 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,040 Good stuff, aye?Oh, yeah. 391 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:19,240 I got half a bucket over there. Look.Yeah, that's good. 392 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,800 Now, something I want to run past youse. 393 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:24,000 Whilst I been down there alone, working away, 394 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:25,760 I've had a brain wave. 395 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,640 If we're going to move forward in this with a website 396 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,640 and all the rest of it, I think we need to really amp things up. 397 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:37,240 Yeah.So, I'm thinking of bringing on a proper professional cutter. 398 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:39,320 Cut our stones and get them on the website. 399 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,600 We'll get more money, will we? We've got this stuff here. 400 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,480 Yeah.We take that to a buyer, 401 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,080 we're going to get 1,500, two, three grand for it. 402 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,560 Yeah.I reckon if he cuts this stuff into little stones, 403 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,000 we're looking at $20,000. 404 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,600 So, the way I see it, there's not much choice. 405 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,000 We've got nothing much to lose. We ain't got nothing to lose. 406 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:09,200 We got a beautiful day going, but it's still pretty wet out there. 407 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:11,960 Angel and I have decided to try and take the Bobcat 408 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,520 out to my claim to the honey hole. 409 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,120 We're going to give it one last nudge. This is it. 410 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,000 In the last week of their mining season, 411 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,200 heavy rain has flooded the Misfits' open-cut mine, 412 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,720 forcing them to dig at Izzy's overworked claim. 413 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,080 This attachment, the back scratcher, is a beast. 414 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:39,120 The back scratcher is a chainsaw made of high quality 415 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,040 heat-treated steel. Designed for digging trenches, 416 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:48,640 it's been modified to cut into walls up to a depth of 1.5m. 417 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,720 Try and dig under the opal level here. 418 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,840 And then I'll bring it all down. Sounds good. 419 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,320 She's hard. 420 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:07,120 This is the last push for us. 421 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,400 You know, if we don't find anything today, we're done. 422 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,000 That'll have to do. 423 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:20,760 We'll go get the jackhammer. 424 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:24,640 Yep. Fingers crossed we got opal in there.I hope so. 425 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,800 Now we're cooking with hydraulic oil. 426 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:34,080 Yeah.I'm pretty keen to see this. 427 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:36,360 I've seen the back scratcher awake now, 428 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,640 so now it's the jackhammer. All right. 429 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:44,440 The 159 kg hydraulic jackhammer mounted on the loader 430 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:50,080 has eight times more impact power than its handheld counterpart. 431 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,440 I'm trying to prove myself to everyone out here, 432 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:54,200 you know, that I am a miner. 433 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,480 I'm not just someone doing it on a whim. You know, it's not easy. 434 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,800 We're just doing whatever we can, because we've got no time. 435 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:03,680 That's a bigger thing. 436 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:07,680 All right. I'm going to try and get out and we'll go through the dirt. 437 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,800 Yay! Slow down. 438 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:23,400 Now, all the hard work we've done, all the breakdowns we've had, 439 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,720 you know, a little reward would be nice right now. 440 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:30,720 Oh, my God! Are you serious? 441 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,840 You see that colour? 442 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:37,440 Oh, no way. Look at it! Yeah, yeah! 443 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,960 Whoo! We got something. Finally! 444 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,240 That's a massive chunk. That's probably an ounce in itself. 445 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,560 Where did that come from? 446 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:49,000 Got a bit of a cavity here. 447 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,720 Oh, Izzy. 448 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,800 I just knocked it. I can see that from here. 449 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,440 That's just as intense as this other piece. 450 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:02,000 Oh, my God, that is absolutely gorgeous. 451 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:03,880 There's gotta be more. 452 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,200 There can't just be two pieces. 453 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,600 And they both got clean breaks on them too, so... 454 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,840 Angel, Angel, Angel, look!Oh! 455 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:14,840 That's a massive piece. Oh, my God! 456 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,840 Oh, my God, look on the angle, that pink and the blue. 457 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:20,560 That is awesome. 458 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:22,800 Keep finding pieces like this, Izzy, please. 459 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:24,640 I'm going to try. 460 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,720 Yes! Yes! Yes!Show me!Look at it! 461 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:39,360 Oh, my God, that's a chunker. 462 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,240 Oh, my God! Done it!Whoo! 463 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:44,040 What an effort. 464 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:46,400 Whoo! We've done it! 465 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,160 Whoo-hoo!Look at it! 466 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:53,920 ANGEL: Hey, Joe!JOE: Yeah? 467 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:57,040 Have a look at what we got. You got the week's findings there? 468 00:27:57,120 --> 00:27:59,400 Yep. 469 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,320 Back at home base, the Misfits are about 470 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,840 to get a dollar value of their final haul of the season. 471 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,480 Come stand here. We're too excited, Joe. 472 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,280 Are you? 473 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,640 Oh, yeah. No, they're nice. They're nice, Angel. 474 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,080 That's what we found when we were black lighting. 475 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,760 They're pretty well finished for the season. 476 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,200 Well, you haven't hit your target, man. 477 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:24,120 You know, like, I mean -No. 478 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,280 You're not going to make it with this. 479 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:29,840 These are failed as far as I'm concerned, you know? 480 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:33,520 We're gonna find what we can find. 481 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,240 But we do have one last surprise for you. 482 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,080 What do you got there? 483 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,200 A bag of -That's got colour in it. 484 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:45,280 Holy . You don't even need a light. 485 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,440 Holy hell, that's semi-black. 486 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:54,080 That's skin to skin semi-black dark crystal. That's money. 487 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:55,880 That's some of the best you'll see. 488 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,440 I mean, that is about as great opal you can get. 489 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,440 That is absolutely stunning. 490 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,200 I mean, that is absolutely strong as it gets. 491 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,080 The opal from Izzy's claim is stunning 492 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:14,480 semi-black crystal opal. Awash with rare reds and pinks, 493 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:18,240 it's in the rough and weighs approximately 200g. 494 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,920 You know, we found real full spectrum colour opal. 495 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,040 Pretty damn cool.That's money. 496 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,560 That's serious money. What do you reckon it's worth? 497 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,120 Well, I put a guess at 35, 40. 498 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,560 What do you reckon, Angel? I said 40, but yeah... 499 00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,680 I can tell you now, every day of the week, 500 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,200 in one second, you'll get 60,000 for this. 501 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,720 Oh, my God, yes! In a heartbeat. 502 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:45,720 Give us a hug!You know? 503 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,000 I valued it at 60,000 because I figure 504 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:49,960 what Angel's gonna do was quick sell it. 505 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,120 But in truthfulness, that's worth a hell of a lot more than that. 506 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:55,840 We're short of the 160,000 that we set, 507 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,400 but back before I started opal mining, 508 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:00,560 I never even thought about that much money. 509 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,880 So, I'm quite proud of myself. I'm quite proud of Izzy. It's awesome. 510 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:05,640 So, we haven't done too bad. 511 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:09,360 Considering the whole weather has been against you, youse have done all right. 512 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:11,200 I've left nothing on the table. 513 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:14,200 I've put in everything I possibly can 514 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:17,800 to be able to have this opportunity in this partnership. 515 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,680 I'm still going home with some money in my pocket. 516 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,320 You know, all of that money will be going back into my gym. 517 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,600 That was pretty good, but I've got no doubt Izzy'll be back. 518 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:29,360 I've no doubt Angel will be back. 519 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:31,640 Definitely bigger and better things next year. 520 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,080 Joe's given me some hints on what's happening. 521 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,040 And I can't wait to, you know, start moving and do it again. 522 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,200 We've gone through half the bucket. We found nothing. 523 00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,160 I'm going to get that conglomerate. 524 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,600 That big block that you found. That looks good. 525 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:53,320 Sofia and Isaac are down to their final pieces of opal... 526 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,600 I'm glad that he's optimistic. 527 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:58,600 ..desperate to reach target before season end. 528 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:00,920 Really hoping there's something in this one. 529 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:02,720 Nearly there. Come on, baby. 530 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,520 Hey! 531 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:09,640 That's only the tip of the iceberg as well. 532 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:11,760 If there's colour on the outside like that, 533 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,160 hopefully the inside's got more. 534 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,720 Opal always pools to the bottom, so I want to get to the bottom. 535 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:25,440 Here's the first piece. 536 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:31,160 Very good! That's very good! 537 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:37,160 I'm going to keep going. Isaac, have you seen this? 538 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:42,400 Nice colour. Whoo! 539 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:45,000 There's every colour in this. Can you see the red? 540 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,320 Hey. Hey. 541 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:52,080 One more cut, Sofia. This is our money. 542 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,840 We've got a crystal centre in this for sure. 543 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:59,200 And this means that we've got immediate material to sell 544 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,160 right at the bloody end of the season. 545 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:05,760 You know, twelfth hour. Dodged a bullet at the twelfth hour. 546 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,680 It has everything inside. 547 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,520 Whoa! Look at that. 548 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,840 Look at that.Are you kidding me? 549 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,920 This has everything.Oh, shit! A matrix. It's a conglomerate. 550 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:27,920 It's got flaming red inside there. Can you see that?Yeah. 551 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,760 A double-sided crystal centre with matrix around it, so... 552 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:33,560 That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. 553 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:35,560 Yeah, you want red, baby? You got red. 554 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,440 You want matrix, you've got matrix. Crystal centre? 555 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:40,680 Why not?I feel blessed. 556 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:42,440 I really feel blessed tonight. 557 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:44,200 Ah. 558 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:50,280 We've had a big day mining and an even bigger day cutting. 559 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,840 But I can't rest until I've cut all these pieces. 560 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,000 There's a couple of nuts from the level 561 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:56,680 that I've kept to the side, 562 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:58,920 and I need to know what's inside them 563 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,640 now that we've seen that colour out of the conglomerate. 564 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,240 Isaac is using lapidary wheels to strip back the ironstone layer 565 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:08,920 of the Yowah nuts to expose any opal beneath. 566 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,280 I can't believe what I'm seeing. That's black opal. 567 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:13,960 It's red as lightning rich. 568 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:17,200 It's red on black. Um, somebody pinch me. 569 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:19,440 Where's Sofia? This is incredible. 570 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,120 Ho-ho, wow! 571 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:25,120 Wow! 572 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:29,040 It's like an opal party. I never imagined that something like that could come out. 573 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,520 It's a red on black. That's a red on black. 574 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,800 I'm extremely pleased. 575 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,800 I am not really a commercial cutter, I've never been someone 576 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,600 who needs to pump out 50 stones 577 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:42,760 in three days to be able 578 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:45,640 to make quite $40 an hour, that's not me. 579 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,800 I'll treat $50 stone the same as I'll treat $500 stone, 580 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,800 the same as I'll treat... Well, maybe a $5,000 stone, I'll treat a little bit nicer. 581 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:57,240 Would go a bit slower. That's pretty much what we're coming out with. 582 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,600 Look at that. Look at that. Whoo! 583 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:02,920 He's gonna hear me screaming in a minute. 584 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:07,320 Watch this. Look at that under there. How electric that is. 585 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,120 We've got a crystal centre coming up. 586 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,240 There is a risk, mainly that I'm excited. 587 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:16,760 I should really calm down and look at it tomorrow. 588 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:18,520 But I can't stop. 589 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,480 When you get the bug, you know you've got it. I just need to get to the colour. 590 00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:25,680 Red! 591 00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:30,280 I've never seen anything like that. This is incredible. 592 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,280 Look at that. 593 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:38,200 You see what I've got here? Oh, damn!I... I can... Um, yeah. 594 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:41,520 OK. Uh, so there's one, two, three, 595 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,200 four, five, and two of them, these two, 596 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,120 this is double sided. There's four faces. 597 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:49,400 Is this real?Yeah. 598 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:55,600 Isaac has exposed five exquisite Yowah nuts, 599 00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:58,560 including an exceptional red on black opal 600 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:00,800 rarely found in Queensland. 601 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,680 They also have a unique matrix and Yowah nut conglomerate. 602 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,800 The entire package features the full spectrum of colours, 603 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:12,200 has been partially rubbed, and weighs approximately 600g. 604 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,120 We need to confirm the value of this parcel. 605 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,400 We're going to take it to Eddie McGuire. 606 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:22,240 He's been here ever since I remember, since I was a child. 607 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,800 He's a mentor, he's a friend, and he's an inspiration. 608 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:30,520 So?We'd like to get your evaluation, if you will. 609 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:33,800 Yeah.So, I've brought them here. We've brought them here. 610 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:35,720 You want to show? You ready? Go for it. 611 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:37,960 These are the stones we produced. 612 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,160 Wow! Wow, yeah. 613 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,560 Look at this! Electric colours coming from there. 614 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,200 Look at the kernel. I know! Are you impressed? 615 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,480 That's black, this gem. Gorgeous. 616 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:56,640 So, here comes the tough question. The values. What's it worth? 617 00:35:56,720 --> 00:35:59,760 I understand.Your expertise. It's really hard.Yeah. 618 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:01,640 Different colours, different patterns. 619 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:05,160 So, it becomes difficult to sometimes really get this to a value. 620 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:09,960 I think 20 grand for a piece like that.Hm? 621 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,200 Look at this cut. 622 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,160 It's deep, it's black. Yep.Ten grand. 623 00:36:16,240 --> 00:36:19,600 Yeah.That's about 30 for the two stones. 624 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,800 It's a kicker.6,000. 625 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:24,760 So, now we're at 36.Thirty-six. 626 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:26,960 When there's... Without looking closely, 627 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,960 but I can still see it's really clean stone...Yes. 628 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:32,480 Four to five.Four to five? Four and a half.Yeah. 629 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:36,640 So, now we've got a family or a set of conglomerate slabs. 630 00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:38,360 I can see the gem in there. 631 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,640 This beautiful green blends in with the blue. 632 00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:47,320 Nine and a half.Nine and a half plus the 40,500, we're up to 50. 633 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:51,080 I like that one. It's a cool piece. It looks deep. 634 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:55,840 Six or seven.So, that's six and a half?Yeah. 635 00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:58,720 Fifty-six and a half. This little baby. 636 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:02,680 Yeah, the firefly. It's small, but it's bright. 637 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:06,640 Three grand.Fifty-nine and a half, and there's one to go. 638 00:37:06,720 --> 00:37:11,080 And then we have the little baby of the family, tribal pattern, 639 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:13,160 nice, sound, little commercial piece. 640 00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:16,400 It's a vast question of $500, and that rounds up that total. 641 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,800 That makes it 60 grand. Sixty. 642 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,560 Yeah. Yeah.Yee-haw! 643 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,440 Thank you. Thank you. Well done. Well done. 644 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:27,360 I'm just happy that they found some really beautiful stones. 645 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:29,520 You don't see that sort of colour every day. 646 00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:31,400 Not a bad end to the season. 647 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:34,600 The heat, and the bugs, and the cave-ins, 648 00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:37,800 and everything has been worth it because we got 60 grand. 649 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:40,120 We've ended up with a great value, 650 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:41,920 and it's just an awesome way 651 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,520 to end this mining run. So, very happy. 652 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:48,040 We've been dreaming of getting an excavator, we need big machines. 653 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:50,840 Besides that, there's a legacy that we are upholding here. 654 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,240 We didn't just land here by accident. 655 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,200 We were put here by Mum and Dad, and we want to uphold that legacy. 656 00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:59,000 We want to take it to the next level. 657 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:09,200 We're going back home, Les. You doing all right? 658 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:13,320 Oh, yeah. Lost all me grub in the fridge 659 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,640 cos it went off, can't do me washing 660 00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:17,640 cos I've got no power. 661 00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:19,560 Things aren't going real well. 662 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,360 Is that because of those real old solar panels? 663 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,080 Uh, could be, yeah. 664 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:27,160 It's been a tough year, Les. It has been. 665 00:38:27,240 --> 00:38:29,200 We haven't done real well. 666 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:31,880 You're going to have to saddle up for another year. 667 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,520 Yeah, well, it looks that way. 668 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,800 Just need that big seam of opal to go right across the face. 669 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,960 About an inch thick. Mark's here, fellas. 670 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:42,920 There's the cutter. 671 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:45,200 Mark, that's Les. 672 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:49,320 How you doing, Mark?All right, Les. And Ty.Ty, how are you doing? 673 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:53,480 He's been cutting opal for about 30, 40 years, I suppose. 674 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:56,040 And, yeah, he's a magician with a cutting wheel. 675 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:57,920 Come sit down, mate. 676 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,680 In Grawin, the Bushmen are about to witness what Mark, 677 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:04,440 a professional opal cutter, has achieved 678 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:06,680 with their last find for the season. 679 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:09,640 I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with this. 680 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:13,280 This is all the grey stuff. 681 00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:15,880 TY: Wow! Oh, look at all these! 682 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:18,280 Jesus.Holy cow. 683 00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,800 ROD: Look at that, Les. Who said I couldn't retire? 684 00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:25,440 Look at that. Look at that, Les. Bloody beauty. 685 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,600 Look at all the stones! Oh, that's a beauty, that one. 686 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:30,640 Look at what you've been giving away. 687 00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:32,480 Giving away, throwing away. 688 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:34,880 Look at the shape of them, they're perfect. 689 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:36,840 I thought you'd be back with ten stones. 690 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,760 That's the grey stuff. You want to see the black stuff? 691 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:42,680 I forgot about the black stuff. 692 00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:45,760 That's Ding Dong. This is all from Ding Dong. 693 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:47,520 Oh, bring it on, Ding Dong! 694 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,840 Look at that! LES: Whoa, got some fire in that one. 695 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:53,120 That's a beautiful stone, that red one. 696 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:55,240 I told you boys, didn't I? 697 00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:58,720 This is like walking into a jewellery shop.TY: Look at those. 698 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:03,720 Well, originally, we thought we had 10, 15 grands worth of material 699 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:07,040 when we gave it to you. Well, you've now set up a website. 700 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:11,160 So, you are now for all intents and purposes a retailer. 701 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:14,080 Retail, you should be looking around 150 grand. 702 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,480 What? That's too good to be true. 703 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,040 150 grand?150 grand. 704 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:26,000 Les, you're a beauty! 705 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:29,800 That getting me gabsgobbed... Gobsmacked. 706 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:33,480 The Bushmen have black and grey based opal, 707 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:36,520 blue-green with rare red highlights. 708 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:39,360 It's cut and polished to a retail grade, 709 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:42,400 weighing approximately 90g. 710 00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,800 Paid off big time, getting Mark to cut those stones for us. 711 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:49,160 150 grand!LES: Oh, yeah. 712 00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:52,320 Once Mark takes his cut out of 25%, 713 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:56,320 we're still seeing the $220,000 for the season. 714 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:58,880 Good on you, mate. Never in me wildest dreams 715 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:01,200 I'd ever think that I'd see what I seen today. 716 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:04,440 It just feels like we've hit the top market now. 717 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,200 With the website and Mark cutting for us, 718 00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:09,160 I think sky's the limit. 719 00:41:09,240 --> 00:41:10,920 Oh, it's magic. You turn something 720 00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:14,960 from $1,000 into $10,000. 721 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,640 My retirement fund's looking really good at the moment. 722 00:41:17,720 --> 00:41:21,520 Next year, we should have enough to put me in Shady Acres. 723 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,720 Here's to this year, boys. You've all done fantastic. 724 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,480 Thank you, Mark. MARK: You're welcome. You're a legend. 725 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:30,960 We got a little bit of a plan 726 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:33,520 cos we have made a couple of dollars now, 727 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:35,520 we might be able to do something for Les. 728 00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:41,760 I'll bet he's still asleep.Yeah. 729 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:46,480 I think he'll be fairly happy with this. Got 'em? 730 00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:48,600 His solar panels are old and buggered, 731 00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:51,480 and he's not getting enough power to go into his batteries. 732 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:54,840 That's why he keeps running out of power and the fridge turns off. 733 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:58,720 So, me and sort of Ty decided that we'd do something for him 734 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:01,360 and put some panels up, so that he's got electricity. 735 00:42:01,440 --> 00:42:05,640 A whole different view from up here, Ty. 736 00:42:05,720 --> 00:42:08,400 52 acres of steel. 737 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:11,200 Trees growing out of the top of this shed over here. 738 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:18,880 Yeah, this should be pretty easy. Who's wandering around all over me roof? 739 00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:20,960 Hey.What are you doing up there? 740 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:23,680 I'm looking at the view, mate. What are you doing? 741 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:25,680 I'm working on some solar panels for you. 742 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:29,320 We got you some solar panels, so at least you're going to have more power. 743 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:31,800 Oh, OK. That sounds good. 744 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:35,160 I might about do some washing now. Yeah. 745 00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:36,920 I've been waiting until it rains. 746 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:38,840 I hope to hang the clothes on the line, 747 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:42,080 bring a bit of powder over 'em, and get 'em washed that way. 748 00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:45,200 Now I'll be able to get the washing machine going. 749 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:48,120 She's a wailing! 750 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:49,920 Everything has to end. 751 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:53,040 He will have to retire sooner or later. 752 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:55,200 Thanks, boys.No, worries, mate. 753 00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:57,360 Me and him have worked together many years. 754 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,600 I'll miss him when he does actually go. 755 00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:02,680 You'd it's my birthday, the way they're throwing things at me. 756 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:04,880 You don't need any more birthdays, Les. 757 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:07,040 I know.118 of them you've had so far, 758 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:08,760 so you don't need any more. I know. 759 00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:13,080 Subtitles by Deluxe 760 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:28,240 # Money # 760 00:43:29,305 --> 00:44:29,163