1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,160 ROGER: Yeah, copy, Lee. 2 00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:03,840 LEE: (ON RADIO) Gotcha, Rog. 3 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:06,560 Yeah, mate, gonna have to get that bloody truck up in here. 4 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:08,920 We, erm, need to dig out some material. 5 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,440 Yeah, man. On my way over now. 6 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,600 So this is one of the things that we've got to do. 7 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,240 Get all the material out. Make sure that we clean up as we go. 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,440 Once you finish, we'll, erm, we'll find another spot 9 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,400 because we're not having too much of a good run. 10 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,560 Yeah, copy that. You're all right to go, mate. 11 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:36,080 Gonna take off now. 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,160 I'm just finding somewhere to just dump this. 13 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,360 Hole eight. Go into hole eight. 14 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,360 Nah, it's all lumpy here, man. The truck won't get over anything. 15 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,920 Yeah, copy that. I'm just gonna dump it here. 16 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,360 That's gonna be right there. About to find out. 17 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:58,000 Tailgate. 18 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,120 Oh. (EXHALES) All good. 19 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:07,360 Ah, you are kidding me! 20 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,240 There's too much weight at the back end. 21 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,400 Oh! (BLEEP) 22 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:17,840 Nah. You're kidding me. 23 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,400 (ENGINE STRAINING) 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:33,240 Try putting the bin down. 25 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:35,680 Nope. The bin won't even come down. 26 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:37,800 It's actually stuck in the pile of silt. 27 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,600 I put it up too hard against it. 28 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,520 Yeah, these wheels are spinning, but I ain't going anywhere. 29 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,920 If you can give us a hand to push this bin down, we'll be fine, maybe. 30 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,920 The wheels are spinning because there's too much weight at the back end. No traction. 31 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,640 Normally, you creep forward as you're dumping your dirt. 32 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,560 I didn't do that. Took my eyes off the prize for a little bit. 33 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,120 All right, Lee, we might be able to get it out 34 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,960 if we put a little bit of pressure back on these other tyres. 35 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,400 Try to drop that bin down, man. I'll try to give a little bit of a push. 36 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:08,160 Righto. Going down now. 37 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:13,720 Yeah, I can't get no movement out of that at all. 38 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:16,760 Argh. Righto. 39 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:18,960 I've got another idea, man. Here we go. 40 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:20,720 Oh, yeah, I got it, I got it. 41 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,240 Try and lasso that little bit of rope up there 42 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,360 so we can try and pull that bin down. 43 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,200 Ha, how much we got on this? Okay, 50 bucks. 44 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,720 Ha! Fifty bucks! 45 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:37,520 No, no, no.(LAUGHS) 46 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:39,840 No, no, no, no. We didn't shake on it, bud. 47 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:41,800 Right, grab a hold of it, pull it down. 48 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,880 Here she goes. Oh, that's the money, mate. 49 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,280 All righty. Jump back in and see how we go. 50 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:49,560 Ready! 51 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:52,160 There she goes. (CLAPPING) Yee-ha! 52 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,560 In Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, 53 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:59,240 Slim Pickings' Lee Hobden and Roger Williams... 54 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,240 We aren't really picking up too much opal over this side, are we? 55 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,200 We'll have to rattle our brains a little bit and figure out where we need to go next. 56 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,920 ...are looking for fragments of opal left behind in the waste silt 57 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,880 from over a century of mining at their Government Tank claim. 58 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,840 You see all these lines here? These are all from different fields, 59 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:22,440 and this stuff was washed up to over 80 years ago. 60 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:29,520 The 200x200-metre claim is on the site of an historic water dam, 61 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:31,840 one of the few places old-timers 62 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:35,240 could wash their pay dirt to reveal any opal. 63 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,960 So they'd bring it here, tip the truck up, and it'd chute in. 64 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,360 These old puddlers here, they were around for about 50 or 60 years. 65 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,880 So as they put the dirt in, the water in, spinning it around, 66 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,280 throw all that mud out through this mesh here, 67 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,280 carrying all those chips and small stones into the silt bay. 68 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,680 So, how we do it is we'll come as close as we can 69 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,600 up to the puddler, that silt rump. And that's what we're after. 70 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,560 Then you'll have your black soil or whatever it's sitting on. 71 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:03,720 Not worth taking. It's not even silt at all. 72 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,640 Right now, we're not making exactly what we really need to keep ourselves running. 73 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,080 My kids, my family, we all depend on it. 74 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,720 This is... This is our only income. 75 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,520 You know, we've definitely got to keep that money flowing. 76 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,280 These machines, they don't fill themselves up. 77 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,200 How are you, mate? 78 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:27,000 (MAN SPEAKING ON PHONE) 79 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:33,280 Don't have anything at the moment. If you're coming, 80 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:35,320 we might have a parcel for you. 81 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:37,000 All right, mate. 82 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,320 Well, I just got off the phone with a buyer. He's keen as mustard. 83 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:43,520 Well, mate, if he's a buyer, he's a buyer. 84 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,720 Pretty much the only thing is that we don't have anything for him. 85 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,200 Let's go have a scratch, let's try up the road, if we find silt up there. 86 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:53,280 Let's do it, then. Righto, bro. Come on, Bosco. 87 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,000 (ROGER SPEAKING) 88 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,240 Swing him over this direction here. I reckon this is a good spot. 89 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,120 We'll probably take a bit of dirt out here. 90 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:27,760 Hold on! 91 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:30,400 That's black soil, mate. 92 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,520 Don't have to come any further up this way. 93 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,200 Shut it down. 94 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,240 You don't find any silt in the black soil. 95 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,240 It's not even silt at all. 96 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:41,960 I don't know. It doesn't look good at all. 97 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:43,800 Really, we're after the silt. 98 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,480 We come up to the black soil here, and - Doesn't look like this is gonna pay. 99 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:54,520 (MACHINE DRILLING) 100 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,920 Not really any colour coming out that I can see anyway. 101 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:04,960 Give that one a go. 102 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,160 Is there any in that?Nah.Nothing? 103 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,560 Yeah, Kell, I reckon we got all the opal out of this pocket, mate. 104 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:15,480 You reckon? Yeah, it's not carried on. 105 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,400 We need to get the excavator and get down to that bottom level. 106 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,560 Yep.That's money, you know what I mean? It's heating up too. Like - 107 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,360 Yeah, it is hot.The weather changed like that, didn't it? 108 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,840 But can I just show you something around there? 109 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:28,600 Yeah. What have you got to show me? 110 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,040 I think it might be colour, but I just want you 111 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,560 to have a look at it. Just in case. 112 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:35,800 Yep. I'll meet you over there.Okay. 113 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,200 In Yowah, Queensland, the Opal Whisperers, 114 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:43,960 Isaac Andreou and rookie miner Kelly Taylor, 115 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,320 are attempting to open cut mine 116 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,560 dangerous old-timers' underground workings 117 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,520 on the hunt for Yowah nuts, 118 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,320 rare ironstone boulders with an opal centre. 119 00:06:56,840 --> 00:06:59,160 What've you got, Kelly? Correct me if I'm wrong, 120 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,520 but let me see if I can point to it. 121 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:03,400 Can you see? Yeah, that's glistening. 122 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:05,320 There's colour right there in the wall. 123 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:07,560 That's shining under the sun. It's beautiful. 124 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,120 Ooh!Yeah, it's a very nice colour. That's pretty. 125 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,280 That's what we need, but we can only get that with an excavator. 126 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,000 Whole thing could fall on you if you start getting at it 127 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,760 with a jackhammer and all. The vibration, that'll bury you. 128 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,480 Yeah. Okay, well, we really need Kim to be here.Yeah. 129 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,360 Okay. Well, I'll go make a phone call 130 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,920 and see what is going on with him. 131 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,520 All right. Kim is part of the team now. 132 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,640 He's on the excavator to get us down to that bottom level. 133 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:36,560 KIM: This little knot's part of mining. 134 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,280 You'll spend quite a few hours in between levels. 135 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:42,880 If I can just break off the hard stuff, we'll be right. 136 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,000 Without an excavator, heavy machinery, we're just pushing uphill. 137 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,760 Imagine the old blokes who did it all by hand. They didn't get very far, did they? 138 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,520 So we've got the technology, we've got the machine, we just need the driver. 139 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,280 But he's sort of, er, not here today. 140 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,120 So, we don't know why. Hopefully, Kelly will find out. 141 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:02,760 I'm gonna go up to the bluff 142 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,000 where I can get some reception to give him a call. 143 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,840 You know, its limited ability that I do have with the excavator. 144 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,120 Oh, that's... That is bloody rough. 145 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,320 I just don't really have the confidence. 146 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,640 It's so much better if we have Kim here to help us out. 147 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,200 He is so much faster. 148 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,680 And, you know, the season's only gonna get hotter. 149 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:27,680 We've got to get it done quickly. 150 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:32,760 Kelly onboard means big machines. Her partner hires out big machinery. 151 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,520 Not had much of an opportunity to operate one of these. 152 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,120 I drive the loader every now and again. 153 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,120 This is a whole different kettle of fish. 154 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,800 No-one around, so... 155 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:44,520 ...can't make too much of a fool of myself. 156 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:46,480 I'm gonna have a bloody go. 157 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:49,240 Kim not showing up really has slowed us down quite a lot. 158 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,320 We're away from family. I've got a little girl, my little Zali. 159 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,360 She's everything to me. She's why I'm doing this job. 160 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,840 (BEEP)Passcode. Guest. 161 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:03,680 We need to find opal, or I'll be letting everybody down. 162 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:06,760 My family have been in opals. I'm second-generation. 163 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,080 So, you know, I've got to live up to the legacy. 164 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,920 Oh! (BLEEP) 165 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:19,240 I just want to go forward, but it seems to go left and right. 166 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,400 Hopefully, I can work it out. I'll just have a little practice run here. 167 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:25,360 Ooh, wrong way. That's the wrong way. 168 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:33,720 What is going on here? 169 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,640 (BLEEP)Hey! What are you doing? 170 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:41,520 Just having a crack.Dude. 171 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:44,120 Yeah.You break this, man... 172 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:48,080 I'm not gonna break it. I wanted to get it over there and put it in the right spot. 173 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,400 Righto. All right.Man, it's, like, 200 grand for another one of these. 174 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,440 Fair enough.Just in case. 175 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,240 Yeah, well, we've got to do something. I'm sitting around. 176 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:59,280 What's going on with Kim? Did you get on to him?Yes. 177 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:00,960 Not good news. 178 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:02,760 He's got something on with his family. 179 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:04,440 He needs to be there, so... 180 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,600 All right. Do you wanna have a go? You can get it. 181 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:10,560 We've got colour sitting there in the wall. 182 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,040 And I believe there's more just below it. 183 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,440 I'm happy to, like, maybe ramp down a bit, 184 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:17,480 but I don't want to damage it, dude. 185 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:21,120 I believe in you. You've got so many hours of experience to be able to do that. 186 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,560 All right.And I'll spot. And hopefully, you'll be all right. 187 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:26,600 Kelly is concerned about breaking the opal, 188 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:29,360 but I'd rather have some broken opal than no opal at all. 189 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,360 Right. Find me a million bucks, mate. 190 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:34,920 Been here for the whole day and nothing's happening. 191 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:37,600 I'm a little bit out of my depth here. 192 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:40,880 It's pretty hard to not be thinking about the tunnels 193 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:45,120 that are literally underneath me, but, you know, no risk, no reward. 194 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,200 So, Kelly's putting the machine into position now. 195 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:51,520 It's on an angle there, so it's across the drive that's underneath it. 196 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,000 It's a big, deep pit right in front of us here. 197 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,000 The last thing you want is a 32-tonne machine 198 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:58,680 that falls in a hole. 199 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:00,920 May as well bury the thing and leave it there. 200 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:03,760 This is the last of the fluffy stuff on top here now. 201 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:05,560 We're getting rid of the overburden. 202 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,560 That's the old workings from under the ground they've put on top. 203 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:10,840 We're a couple of digs, couple of buckets away 204 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:13,160 from that bit of colour you can see in the wall. 205 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:17,160 Yeah, I'm really hoping that we can find something in this 206 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:22,200 because we've got a massive target, and the days are long and hot. 207 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:27,320 And unless we find something, it's really not worth us being out here. 208 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,520 That arm's pretty extended, Kell. 209 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:37,040 Roger. 210 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:40,600 Yeah, look, hold on, mate. Hold on, mate! Whoa, whoa. 211 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:42,280 Ooh! (BLEEP) 212 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,040 2 (HAMMERING) 213 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,400 I think they're moving. ROD: (ON RADIO) Any success at all down there? 214 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:56,680 We're getting sunburned sitting up here. 215 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:58,760 It's just very, very slow. 216 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:00,880 So, you haven't got the pin out yet? 217 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:02,880 Not at the moment. 218 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,360 LES: It's coming, but, yeah. Les said, "It's coming, but, yeah." 219 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,080 Hey, Rod. ROD: (ON RADIO) Yeah, mate. 220 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,320 Just in the back of the ute, there's a... 221 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:24,200 A sauce bottle there. Put some diesel in it, please. 222 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,600 Might decide to make it slip a bit better.Yeah, I got it. 223 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:32,720 Not making any money. Haven't made any money since we've been in here. 224 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,160 And that's what we're here for, to try and make a bit of money. 225 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,360 So, hopefully, the next place we go, 226 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,720 we have a little bit more better luck. 227 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:47,600 Deep beneath the sun-blasted Grawin Opal Fields, the Bushmen... 228 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:49,520 I just dropped that sauce bottle down. 229 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,280 ...Rod Manning... It's got diesel in it. 230 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:58,800 ...Les Walsh, and Sam Mehan are relocating their entire operation. 231 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,800 Pretty excited about the new claim, but all the money's going out. 232 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,920 I've got Jacque sitting up here twiddling his bloody thumbs. 233 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:07,600 He's on an hourly rate. 234 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:12,040 Whilst ever this pin stays stuck, it's just costing us money. 235 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,680 If that doesn't come off the digger, you just can't lift the body out. 236 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,040 Yay! Woo-hoo! 237 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:22,960 Woo-woo-woo! 238 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:24,680 We've finally got it done! 239 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:26,680 Did you get it?Sure did. 240 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,640 Okay. Take it up. All the way. JACQUE: Righty-oh. 241 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:32,320 It's a huge relief. 242 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,160 Every minute we spend down here 243 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,400 doing things like that, it's costing us money. 244 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:38,560 So, to get that pin out is fantastic. 245 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,320 Our target this year is 150 grand. 246 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:43,600 And we haven't even hit 50 grand yet 247 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,000 and we're halfway through the season. So... 248 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,120 yeah, I'm getting a little bit worried. 249 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,760 That was a challenge, Les.It was. 250 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,240 I don't need that (BLEEP). Nah.(LAUGHS) 251 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:58,800 Things have been really hard recently. 252 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,720 I love opal. I love mining. But I have to pay for fuel. 253 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,240 I have to eat. My dog has to eat, so I'll have to pick up more shifts 254 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,960 at work where I'm an opal mine tour guide, meaning I'll have less time to dig. 255 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:12,520 Good-bye and good riddance to Robbie's. 256 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,840 Go somewhere else and shift dirt for a while. 257 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:17,920 She's been a real rough season, this one. 258 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:19,800 Costs a fair bit of money to move. 259 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,480 You got to pay the crane operator, you got to get new holes put down 260 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:25,200 and you've got to bell 'em out, so... 261 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,680 I got Bogger over there trying to race to get that belled out 262 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:32,320 so we can get this underground, put it together, and away we go. 263 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,560 Righto. Let's get out of this joint. 264 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:37,760 There's awful lot of pressure on me 265 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:41,040 because I'm the one that talked everybody into coming here. 266 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,280 Nobody really knows nothing about it. 267 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:46,360 It's not been mined for at least 40 years, but... 268 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,680 ...me and Sam were lucky enough to find a bit of colour underground. Oh!Oh! 269 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,360 Was a lot of little, tiny clues that I got from the place, 270 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,440 so, you know, this might be the one that sets us up. 271 00:14:57,320 --> 00:14:59,520 Let's get things moving here, hey? 272 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:01,440 G'day, mate. BOGGER: How are you, mate? 273 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,680 Good. Got the, er, digger here. 274 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,000 We'll lower the digger down. Start the, er, start work. 275 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,920 Erm, about that, I haven't broken through yet. 276 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,240 What do you mean you haven't broken through? 277 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,480 I don't know what the story is. I've either gone past it or I've... 278 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:21,680 You've been following your pointer? Yeah. 279 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:24,840 I'll go and get a compass.Righto. 280 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,680 Before mining can start at Froggie's, 281 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,440 Bogger must connect two mine shafts 282 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,120 by digging a horizontal drive underground. 283 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,600 One shaft is used to extract the waste dirt, 284 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,840 while the other is kept for emergency evacuation. 285 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,080 He's taken out over three truckloads. 286 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,960 So, I don't understand how he could not have broken through that hole. 287 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:51,080 It's only five metres. 288 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,960 You got to go down, right.Yeah. 289 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,480 Stand with the blower pipe behind ya. 290 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:01,280 Your bearing is 140 south.Righto. 291 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:03,760 Changes things a little bit. 292 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,600 Can't lower the digger yet because they haven't dug through yet. 293 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,920 Righto. I'll try and work out where we're headed here. 294 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:16,240 So, whereabouts are you? 295 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,160 Erm, yeah, I'm a little bit off, mate. (CHUCKLES) 296 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,200 What do you mean you're a little bit off? 297 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,800 Well, the way I was going, that seems to be off to me left. 298 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:28,080 How far off to your left? 299 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:31,760 Oh, I don't know, it's probably a couple of metres. 300 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,520 I don't know. Honestly, I reckon this is gonna take a couple of days to get there. 301 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:37,760 Oh, Jesus bloody Christ. 302 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,480 Righto, mate, I'm gonna start getting into it. 303 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:44,800 (BLEEP) this. 304 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:48,840 Now that's gonna put us majorly behind schedule 305 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,840 with getting everything down here, so that's not good at all. 306 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:04,800 We're after the silt, but I'm not seeing enough for us 307 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:06,760 to sort of wanna put it in right now. 308 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:08,680 Yeah. We just hit the black soil, so... 309 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,520 What are we gonna do, man? Because it doesn't look like this is gonna pay us. 310 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:14,200 Well, I've got an idea. 311 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,800 Maybe all the puddlers were situated back up closer to the dam... 312 00:17:18,360 --> 00:17:20,480 ...25, 30ft away from where they are now. 313 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,920 That means underneath the puddler is old-timers' silt. 314 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,520 Struggling to find opal-bearing silt, 315 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,280 Lee Hobden believes the silt run-off 316 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:33,480 that's normally found tens of metres from the puddler wash plants 317 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:38,840 is now directly beneath the puddlers after they were moved by old-timers. 318 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,840 Definitely, man. Like, we've made a few dollars behind it.Yeah. 319 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:43,880 What do you reckon we'll go over there, hey? 320 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:45,600 Let's take it. See what's in it. 321 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:49,320 So, Roger's just getting himself in position there now. 322 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:54,320 Our best chance to find opal right now is underneath that old puddler. 323 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,280 Hopefully, there is some opal under it. 324 00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:58,760 Well, let's get the money, baby. Let's do it, then! 325 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,800 Mate, I'm gonna start swinging this digger. 326 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,480 So, the old-timer had to have been on opal. 327 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,360 He's taken all the good stuff. We're licking the dinner plate. 328 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:09,760 So if the dinner plate's had a healthy meal on it, 329 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:11,480 we'll still get something out of it. 330 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,040 There needs to be opal underneath this puddler. 331 00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:16,280 I've invested a lot of money into the operation. 332 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:19,120 We've got a buyer coming in. We haven't got anything yet. 333 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,760 So, Roger, from here down, that's all pay dirt. 334 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,040 That's all the old-timers' hard silt runs. 335 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,680 If there's money in that, I'm pretty excited for the next bit, that's for sure. 336 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,040 Having no opal, the pressure is on us. 337 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:39,000 Hang on. 338 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,040 There's colour here. Look at that. It's even got red in it. 339 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,400 Ooh.Look out. That's a decent piece, isn't it? 340 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,480 It looks like it's almost a cut stone. It's a bit of seam, isn't it, a bit of crystal? 341 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,000 Yeah.Nice. Colour's colour, man. 342 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:55,680 Well, I'll go and get the truck. 343 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:58,760 Definitely.We might as well take this whole lot out. 344 00:19:03,360 --> 00:19:05,800 (BOTH SPEAKING ON RADIO) All yours, Lee.Okay. 345 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:08,240 Look out, Bosco! Go on! 346 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:11,280 Lee and Roger process the pay dirt 347 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:14,520 in their makeshift plant called George. 348 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,400 A trommel removes large rocks and sand. 349 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:21,000 And a repurposed cement mixer washes and agitates 350 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,480 the remaining dirt to reveal opal. 351 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,880 Get in the agitator, hopefully, we'll have a parcel 352 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,440 for the buyer at the end of the week. 353 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:36,480 It's about fine tuning this machine to make it going all nice and neat. 354 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:41,720 (LOUD CLANG) 355 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:44,320 (BLEEP) 356 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:46,280 Everything good at your end, Lee? 357 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,160 This conveyor is still playing up again, mate. 358 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:52,160 I think we're eventually gonna have to 359 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,080 swap that out down the track, you know.Righto. 360 00:19:57,720 --> 00:19:59,320 That clip right there. 361 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:03,000 Because it's coming apart, 362 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,480 every time it goes over the rolling part 363 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:09,280 on each end of the conveyor, it wants to jam up a little bit. 364 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,760 Come on! Come on! What a (BLEEP). 365 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:18,680 I don't wanna keep on doing this all day long. 366 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:20,640 (LOUD CLANG) 367 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:27,880 Whoa, whoa, whoa, Kell! 368 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,680 Oh, (BLEEP)! (BLEEP) 369 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:33,560 Hold on, mate. Hold on, mate. Yeah, just... 370 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,200 We've got a 15, 20ft pit right in front of us. 371 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,880 Yeah, mate. I don't wanna lose you or the machine. 372 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,960 It is rather nerve-wracking being in this particular spot. 373 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:46,920 It's pretty hard to not be thinking 374 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:51,320 about the tunnels that are literally underneath me. 375 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:54,720 On a 22-tonne excavator... 376 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,280 ...rookie operator Kelly Taylor is struggling 377 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,240 to reach a pocket of opal buried deep in their trench wall. 378 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,160 Hey, Kelly! Careful of, just behind you, 379 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:06,840 there's that shaft, all right? 380 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,560 Yeah, you're right on it. Yeah, that's it. Come forward a bit. That's perfect. 381 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,480 Kim not showing up has really slowed us down. 382 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,200 That guy's a machine. He's been doing it for decades. 383 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,200 Thank God we've got Kell, anyway, who's doing her very best. 384 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:22,840 I think we might be pretty close here to the level, dude. 385 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,320 (ISAAC SPEAKING) 386 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,000 Fingers crossed it's a winning bucket. 387 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:34,000 I am going absolute snail pace with this. 388 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:37,800 All right, Kelly, you've cleared all that overburden now. 389 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:39,480 So we're on the nut band. 390 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:43,760 So if we could put that separate to the overburden, we can go through that.Copy. 391 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,000 We're not on the best spot yet, 392 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:50,240 but all through Yowah, you get these beautiful Yowah nuts. 393 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:52,440 One in 1,000 of these will have colour in it. 394 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:54,320 One in 10,000 has a crystal centre, 395 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,480 but they really are few and far between. 396 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,520 Unique to the small Queensland town it's named after, 397 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:06,000 the Yowah nut is an ironstone rock with an opal centre. 398 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,360 2 Around 135 million years ago, 399 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,600 silica-rich water from an ancient inland sea 400 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:17,600 drained deep into the Earth. 401 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,760 Over time, the water hardened inside crevices 402 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,480 in the ironstone rocks to form opal. 403 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:27,520 You can't precision-open every single nut. 404 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,040 We're smashing through them. Once we find a patch that has good colour in it, 405 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:33,280 we'll take that home and saw 'em open nicely. 406 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,040 Every day, it costs us money to be here, you know. 407 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:39,000 Like, it's really not cheap. 408 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:44,760 So, you know, diesel, wages, food, 409 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:49,600 we need to be finding opal literally every day for this to be worth it. 410 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:54,160 Whoa, whoa. Yeah. Swear I saw blue. 411 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,720 The sun might be playing tricks on my eyes, but I swear I saw some blue in this one. 412 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,960 Hey-hey! Check that out! 413 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,560 Look at that. 414 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:14,560 Oh, there better be something there, man. 415 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,800 I don't know if that's the piece we can see in the wall, but -Yay! 416 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,960 I just broke that open and it's perfect. Oh, isn't that stunning? 417 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,720 Look, there's got to be some more in there. Sorry, mate. 418 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:25,400 It's all good. 419 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,080 Nah, nothing in that one. 420 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,800 Wow. There's -Ooh! 421 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,040 (LAUGHS) Look at that, green electric! Oh. 422 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:36,960 That goes all the way through! 423 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,680 This bucket needs to be sifted through really carefully. 424 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,480 All right.If there's any nuts in here, let's not whack 'em. 425 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:46,680 We'll take 'em back and saw 'em, because that's top, top-quality. 426 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:48,360 Finally, dude.Ah. 427 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,080 Now the fun starts, hey? 428 00:23:57,960 --> 00:23:59,760 (DRILLING) 429 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:02,840 (SAM SPEAKING) 430 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,040 Hello.Sammy, what are you doing down here? 431 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:07,320 (SAM SPEAKING) 432 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:12,000 Yeah, right.(SAM SPEAKING) 433 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,080 Yeah, righto. We'll get into it. (SAM SPEAKING) 434 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:23,280 In Grawin, the Bushmen are battling to connect two mine shafts 435 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:28,080 at their new Froggie's claim, stalling their efforts to find opal. 436 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:33,320 Can't lower the digger yet because they haven't broken through 437 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:35,600 into the escape hole, 438 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,840 so if something goes wrong, you've got somewhere you can get up. 439 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:41,400 I feel like a bit of a letdown. 440 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,840 We were supposed to have this done today and have everything down here, 441 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:46,840 so hopefully, I can redeem me self. 442 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:49,320 To speed up the process, 443 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,440 team leader Rod Manning has enlisted the help of friend 444 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,200 and part-time miner James "JC" Caruana. 445 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,560 JAMES: Hey!How you going, mate? 446 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,920 JC's a good mate of mine. We've travelled all around Australia 447 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,280 digging opal, and he's been away for a while. 448 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:09,080 He's been over on the coast and he's missing the Outback and being underground. 449 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,560 So, I told him to get himself out here, and he's gonna dig in 450 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,320 toward Bogger and Sam. And he'll get 'em on the right track. 451 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,040 I am raring right now! 452 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:22,560 There's always a sense of achievement as well when you go down a new shaft 453 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:24,520 and you're linking up with another one. 454 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,440 So, as soon as I got the call off Rod, straight out here. 455 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,600 Rodney, you need to sharpen your pick bits. 456 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:35,480 This is blunt as anything, mate. 457 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,240 (ROD SPEAKING) 458 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,080 There's not enough room for both of us to dig at the same time. 459 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,440 So, Jake's digging and I'm just spotting 460 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,280 in case we find some colour. 461 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:13,600 Hey! What's going on here? 462 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,800 JAMES: Hello, beautiful! Hey, Jimmy. 463 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,320 How you going, mate?Good, mate. Better now seeing you there. 464 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:24,200 (LAUGHS) Keep opening it up. Righto, will do. 465 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,680 Finally got into the other hole! Yes! 466 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:36,880 (ON RADIO) Righto, mate. 467 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:38,880 This is particularly dangerous. 468 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:40,640 If the digger does happen to fall, 469 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,040 you know, it's gonna go rocketing down that hole, 470 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:44,960 and they got nowhere to go in a hurry. 471 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,400 You know, it's a very confined space down there. 472 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:50,240 That's it, Jacque. Come to me a little bit. 473 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:55,840 JAMES: There's a little bit of finesse involved with this part of the process. 474 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,280 You've got three pieces to this digger. 475 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:02,080 And you've only got a small hole to put it down. 476 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:04,680 LES: Up you go. JAKE: Righto. Send him up. 477 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:06,400 All the way, mate. 478 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,320 It's only a three-foot hole, so you've just got to be 479 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,360 very safety-conscious. 480 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,040 Shouldn't take long to get this all sorted now. 481 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:17,080 We're on the last legs of the journey, so... 482 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,120 ...see how this arm goes when it comes down, 483 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,640 and it's pretty well it, then. Ooh, ooh. Hold it. 484 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,360 Just take her up a bit, Jacque! 485 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,360 Right. Go again. 486 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,920 JAMES: Watch yourselves down there, fellas! 487 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,080 He's just about there.Yeah. 488 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:36,760 Oh, whoa. Whoa! 489 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,200 JAKE: Got a fair bit of debris forward down here. 490 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:40,880 ROD: You're not wrong. 491 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:45,760 LES: Hold it. Hold it. Hold it! They've lost it. 492 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:47,920 Ooh! Jesus Christ! 493 00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,400 ROGER: I need that to go down on there. 494 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,520 Oh, had it.You've got to put pressure down 495 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:58,760 and pull over...Yeah. ...at the exact time. 496 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:03,280 Desperate to find opal for a buyer arriving in 24 hours, 497 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:05,520 Lee and Roger's push to process 498 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,360 a new stockpile of pay dirt has ground to a halt. 499 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:11,080 Oh, man, have to go again. 500 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:13,320 Should have let me up there.Ooh! 501 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,200 We're just trying to do a bit of a quick fix on the belt. 502 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,760 The stitching has come out, and what that's doing is 503 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,320 making the whole, whole belt jutter. 504 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:23,800 So, if we can try and bring that in a little bit... 505 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:26,240 ...and get it running nice and straight, 506 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,640 they won't be getting caught on these rollers down the ends. 507 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:35,600 Nah. It's tearing it apart. Torn that screw out. 508 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,720 It's still bringing it over closer. 509 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,400 It's not by much, but... Oh, well, get rid of it. 510 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,880 Yeah, get rid of it. She won't roll with those screws in there. 511 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,160 So, then pretty much all we can do right now at the moment 512 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:51,440 is to persevere and keep on moving, 513 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,560 and hopefully, we can get this parcel up for the end of the week. 514 00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,280 We're just gonna baby it as much as we can. 515 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:01,080 If we can just get away with it, 516 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,240 it means we're still getting opal in the agi, just. 517 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,400 She's all in, by the looks of her, eh? 518 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,680 I'm hoping there's some opal in there. Now I've set it for two hours. 519 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:16,400 Let her run.Yep. 520 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,640 We are under pressure to get this parcel up. 521 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:20,600 Don't have diddly-squat at the moment. 522 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,120 What's in that agi, that's gonna be the parcel. So, fingers crossed. 523 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,440 Coming down to do-or-die time. If this one proves a bit of colour in it... 524 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,440 Righty-oh.Make it rain. 525 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,840 Here we go. It better produce, this tray. 526 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:43,480 A pinch of trace. 527 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,920 That's all it is at the moment. It's just trace. 528 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,160 Ah, a few minor colours. 529 00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:51,720 No real good suspects here, though. 530 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:55,320 At the end of day, you know, Roger needs the money for his family. 531 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:57,600 I need the money to sustain the operation. 532 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,320 And if we don't have any opal here today, well, it is a sticky situation. 533 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:10,040 Ooh, do you see the flash in that, Lee? Damn! 534 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,000 Wow! I can see that with my glasses off. 535 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,560 That is going to be an awesome little piece, man. 536 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:16,800 That's nice.(LAUGHING) 537 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,640 There's some money in this, bro, some money in this. 538 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,360 Mate, we're getting... And look at that!Ooh! 539 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,960 Look at the size of that. Yeah, that's a nice blue stone in it, isn't it? 540 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:28,760 That is some beautiful stuff, man. 541 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,840 And it's quite clean, so that'll cut clean. 542 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,480 So, eh, that's... Mate, that's just adding to the jar. 543 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,680 Dude, couple of grand right there. 544 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,240 Righto, man. Let's keep going. Let's keep on going. 545 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,040 A little bit of a crystal there. Every piece adds up, Rog. 546 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:42,920 That is some beautiful colour. 547 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,040 It's gonna be happy days, that's for sure. 548 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,800 So, what we've got here is, like, you know, 17 bits of rough opal. 549 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:57,720 What we're gonna do is value-add.Yeah. 550 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,040 From 2,000, this could end up tens of thousands. 551 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:04,680 Yeah. Isaac's gonna teach me how to polish and shape a stone. 552 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:08,480 Ah, I'm hoping that we'll be able to make some really nice pieces, 553 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:10,840 and hopefully, I don't break anything. 554 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,720 Just get your palms down so they're stable. Use it as a grounding. 555 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,880 And let the diamond do the cutting. 556 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,920 To maximise the value of this week's haul of Yowah nuts... 557 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:22,880 Roll it forward a little bit. That's it. 558 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,800 Watch the belt on the other side there, you're good. 559 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:29,240 ...rookie Kelly is getting a crash course 560 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,640 on opal cutting by mine partner, Isaac. 561 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,640 Like, roll it a little bit. That's it. It's done. 562 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:38,320 Let's have a look. 563 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,320 Hey!So, nothing. (LAUGHS) Nothing in it, but hey, 564 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,040 that's an absolute textbook cut, mate. 565 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,200 Look, it's exciting when you're mining opal, 566 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:48,040 and you're finding and seeing colour. 567 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,680 The real magic happens right here in the cutting room. 568 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:53,200 This is what I'm good at. This is what I love doing. 569 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,280 Sometimes the end will break because there's a bit of vibration, 570 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,520 if there's any natural fractures in the stone. 571 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:01,080 In other words, you go slowly. 572 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:04,440 Look at that, Kell. Wow! Oh, my God!Got a win. 573 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:08,040 I'll do this one. You do that one. Argh! Okay. 574 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,880 The sawing's the first part. This is our second part. This is grinding. 575 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,160 On your one, you've got the best face showing.It's already showing. 576 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,560 Other side needs to be smoothed out and the shape needs to be refined. 577 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,320 You want to anchor your hands into a good spot, 578 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,800 and just nice, smooth movements. 579 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:26,000 The edge of these grinding wheels are diamonds. 580 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:30,360 So if you get your finger on it or the stone, gauge out a big piece, it can cost you money. 581 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,920 Hey, what will I do with this bit here? Like... 582 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:37,160 Yeah. So, turn your stone, face up, and just grind it flat like this. 583 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,400 Oh, like this?Yeah, like that. 584 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,000 So cool when you see the colour come through. 585 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,960 This makes it all worth it at the end of the day, doesn't it? 586 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,920 Yeah, when you see that colour. Oh, definitely! 587 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,800 How old were you when you cut your first stone? 588 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:56,640 I was eight. Actually, when I saw Zali, my daughter recently, she just turned eight. 589 00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,160 So she cut her first stone as well. 590 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,080 I put it up on the wall. Yeah. 591 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,680 That's so cool. I bet she nailed it. She did.Yeah.She did. 592 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,280 The pressure's on to make our target 300,000. 593 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,040 And I'm feeling the pinch. 594 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,240 All right, let's have a look at it. Getting hot. There's flies. 595 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:15,880 And at this time, I start thinking about home on the coast near my daughter. 596 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,000 Hey, not bad, mate. Not bad at all. 597 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,760 She misses her dad, so I've got to get home. 598 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,280 Time flies. You turn around, and she'll be a teenager. 599 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,800 I don't want to miss all those years. 600 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,440 2 JAKE: They've lost it. (BLEEP) thing. 601 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:33,120 We said to hold it. 602 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:35,400 (ROD SPEAKING) 603 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,800 Apparently, this radio didn't come through, so... 604 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,200 Nearly got us, but it didn't. 605 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:48,320 LES: This is the last piece to go on.You got him, mate. 606 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:50,800 Done enough for today. 607 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:54,280 We're out of light for today. It'll be dark by the time we get this sorted, 608 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,040 so there won't be any digging done. 609 00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,720 Tomorrow, we'll come across some colour if we're lucky. 610 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,200 Hopefully, a bloody good pocket. We're due for one. 611 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:08,800 ROD: Righto, look out, you're in the business end.Yeah, mate. 612 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,080 The Bushmen have finally lowered all their equipment 613 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:15,560 into their new underground mine, Froggie's. 614 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:18,720 Yeah. This was a huge gamble, coming into this mine. 615 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:23,120 So, yeah, we're desperate for a pretty big win here. 616 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,640 Clear a little bit of that out so we can get in there and have a proper look. 617 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:31,160 Bloody bit of a mission to get down here, get it sorted. 618 00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:33,040 But we finally managed to do that. 619 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,480 So down here, my job, basically, it's just to move whatever dirt that 620 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,120 the digger can't reach and put it into the blower pipe. 621 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,800 Sucking it all up makes things a lot easier. 622 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:47,160 Try and get in there close and spot for me. 623 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,880 See this, Sam? See the fault? 624 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,880 Yeah, And also the roof too. Back from there...Yeah. 625 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:55,560 ...all the way over to there. 626 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:58,880 Yeah, I'll give it a bit of a loosen up just to see what's behind it. 627 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:14,400 Anything there, Sam? 628 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,800 There's, like, kind of a light crystally purple. 629 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,960 It's not great, but it could be worth getting the the jackhammer. 630 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:21,640 All right. 631 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,840 Oi! Here we go.Oh-oh-oh! 632 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:27,440 She's getting bigger! 633 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:34,480 JAKE: Oh, look at that, Jimmy. JAMES: Hey. Whoa! 634 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,600 ROD: Hey-hey!SAM: Yeah.Look at that.What have you got, mate? 635 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,440 On black!JAKE: Far out! 636 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,040 Yeah, I think you guys have picked some bloody good ground here. 637 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:48,160 Oh-ho!Hey! 638 00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:52,800 Oh-ho-ho-ho! Sam! 639 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,800 Look at the size of this.SAM: Ah! 640 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:01,640 She'll keep going, don't you worry. God, we've only dug, 641 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:04,160 what's that, a foot and a half into the first drive? 642 00:36:04,240 --> 00:36:06,240 JAKE: That's it. Get us some more out. 643 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,640 When you're actually cutting opal and that, we may potentially have, 644 00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:19,640 you know, an $8,000 parcel, $10,000 parcel. 645 00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:21,320 It all depends on how they cut. 646 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:24,920 At his off-grid camp, 647 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:28,680 Roger Williams is cutting some of this week's opal haul 648 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,080 before a crucial meeting with a buyer. 649 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:35,000 What I'm doing right now at the moment is I'm just taking away the sand. 650 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,800 If I take too much off it, it could turn into nothing. 651 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,800 You know, like, that is the gamble that you do take. 652 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,440 So hopefully, the buyer loves it. 653 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,440 They're not chips at all. Look how big that piece is. 654 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:51,840 It's all got colour in it, that's the main thing. 655 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,560 Every single piece has colour in it. That's full. 656 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:58,400 I was also very busy at cutting. Yep, we'll move this out of the way. 657 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:01,360 This is what we came up with. Seventy stones in there. 658 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:04,360 Wow.Beautiful jewellery stones. 659 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:08,320 Plus, we got all the other little cut cuts that we've got going on. 660 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,000 That's the parcel right there. 661 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:15,600 Roger and Lee have a mixed parcel of seam and crystal opal 662 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:18,200 featuring the full spectrum of colours. 663 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,360 There are over a kilo and a half of stones in the rough 664 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:26,320 and 17 grams of high-quality cut gems. 665 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:30,760 There he is.Yeah. See what we come to. 666 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:32,520 Let's get the business, mate.Yeah. 667 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:37,600 Nathan!Hey, how you going, fellas? 668 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,040 Good to see you.Yeah, yous, too. Thanks for coming. 669 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:43,000 How are ya?Good, mate. Good. Nathan's a good friend of ours. 670 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:45,640 I've known him for a long time. He's an opal miner. 671 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:48,680 And, yeah, he's got his hands in a little buying at the moment. 672 00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:52,880 So, as discussed over the phone, we've got a bit of a parcel for you. 673 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,840 There's some beautiful pieces in there.All right. 674 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:59,120 So, these are pretty much our precious little cut cuts. 675 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,480 Some beautiful little pieces in there, mate. 676 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:04,240 Couple of green oranges. Red on blacks. 677 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,760 Nice, bright, clean little stones. 678 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:11,400 Perfect jewellery stones, as you know, rings, pendants. 679 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:13,760 Yep.We pull out the best 680 00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,240 and we've got the leftovers right here as well. 681 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:18,360 They are the ones that Roger didn't cut. 682 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:20,320 They are the leftover little pieces. 683 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,160 Not all of them probably will cut, but a lot of them will. 684 00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:25,320 Plus chip jar.(LAUGHS) Yeah. 685 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:27,280 So, everybody loves a chip jar. 686 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,600 So that's, erm, all included. 687 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:33,920 What sort of money are you looking at for 'em? 688 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:36,600 Well, for the stones alone, 689 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:38,680 we're looking around that eight-grand mark. 690 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,080 And in those two jars there, 691 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:44,160 look, we'd probably want at least two grand for them. 692 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:45,960 So, that's about ten grand, mate. 693 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,880 They're definitely worth it. Every single place in there has got colour. 694 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:51,800 Yeah, I'd probably be... 695 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,000 ...in it at about seven grand. 696 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,000 Ooh, geezus.Mm. 697 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:01,000 Yeah, well, I'm just looking at what I can see. 698 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:03,040 We'll come down a thousand bucks, mate. 699 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:05,720 Probably still a little bit too high for what I'd pay. 700 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,960 Could come up a little bit to probably eight and half, 701 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:10,640 but that would be me best. 702 00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:13,200 And that's your final? That'd be me final, yeah. 703 00:39:18,240 --> 00:39:19,920 Eight and a half. 704 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:23,520 No worries.Too easy. Sounds good.Done deal. 705 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:25,560 Happy days, bro.Thanks, Lee. 706 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,880 Start of the week, we had nothing. End of the week, we sold a parcel. 707 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:30,640 So, we're pretty happy about that. 708 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:35,360 What a day! Mate, a week! What a week.Yeah. Man. 709 00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,200 Good sale. Nathan's happy. 710 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,040 We've done well. We produced the goods.Yeah. 711 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:43,080 Cheers, mate.Mate, that's what the beers are for. What a week. 712 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:52,000 ISAAC: Check out the final results. 713 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:54,080 This is that one that you, er... 714 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:58,000 ...pulled out of the wall early on - Oh, my gosh, is it, really? 715 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,920 Yeah. I took all the clay off the back. It's pure...Oh, yeah. 716 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:03,560 ...skin-to-skin colour. Oh, that looks so good. 717 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:05,960 I'm actually so stoked at how that turned out, too. 718 00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:07,880 You did a good job, mate. Thanks, man. 719 00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:10,360 You've done a really good job. I really enjoyed that. 720 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:13,760 So pretty.I'm impressed. You come here, doing great on the excavator. 721 00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:16,400 Your work with the stones is just perfect.Thanks, dude. 722 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:19,400 So it's good to have you out here. That's a table full of magic. 723 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:26,720 The Opal Whisperers have a mixed parcel of Yowah nuts 724 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:30,720 and crystal opal featuring the full spectrum of colours. 725 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:33,080 They've been cut and polished 726 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:36,560 and weigh a total of 250 grams. 727 00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:40,280 So, how much do you think 728 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:42,920 we've made? (LAUGHS) Value-wise, ooh, okay. 729 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,680 The rubs are, erm... 730 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:49,320 ...15. And then the cut stones. 731 00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,040 There's, er, 30. And then 39. 732 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,480 $41,500.$41,500. 733 00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:00,840 $41,500 isn't bad.Excellent. 734 00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:02,720 Hey, I mean, there was a point there 735 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,040 where I thought we weren't gonna find anything. 736 00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,800 Yeah, so we're almost halfway. 737 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:09,720 Ooh-ah.Yeah. 738 00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:14,760 We've got a little way to go, but Kelly's really proven to be an asset out here, 739 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:16,760 and there's a lot more to dig up. 740 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:19,000 And it's all way further underground. 741 00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,760 So, the second half of this season's gonna be a deep dig, 742 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:23,600 and it's gonna get bloody hot. 743 00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:25,840 Few firsts this week. 744 00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,720 Dug some ground that I have never approached before. 745 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:32,120 So that was really cool. And the whole cutting 746 00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:34,920 and shaping process, I found really enjoyable. 747 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:38,360 I wouldn't mind wearing that in a pendant myself. Yeah, or even as a ring. 748 00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:40,760 Oh. Mate, let's call it a day. 749 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:44,080 Let's do it. Foot five. Yes! (LAUGHS) 750 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:46,240 Nailed it.Ha! 751 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:56,480 ROD: Well, I'm pretty happy with what we've got here, Les. 752 00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:58,880 Oh, yeah, that's good. See, that bag there, 753 00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:01,080 that's full of some bloody nice colour. 754 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:05,160 Some nice stones in that one. And I think this is gonna be the mine for us, actually. 755 00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:09,120 Mm. We've found more here than Robbie's the entire time. 756 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:12,000 Well, that's it.I didn't realise how tough you were doing it. 757 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:16,360 We were doing it tough. We had nothing to eat but a bloody old kangaroo leg bone.Yeah. 758 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:18,880 We even had to fight the dog for the kangaroo leg. 759 00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:20,800 (ALL LAUGH) 760 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:26,720 The Bushmen have a parcel of dark-based crystal seam opal 761 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:30,480 featuring blue and green with flashes of rare red. 762 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:34,000 It's in the rough and weighs one kilogram. 763 00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:38,120 What do you fellas reckon? JAMES: You've got colour. 764 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:40,800 Can't go wrong with that. That's exactly what you need. 765 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:43,120 LES: So what are we gonna ask? 766 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:45,880 Might be a little bit ambitious, but I think, er... 767 00:42:47,240 --> 00:42:49,440 ...I think we'll get 20 grand for it. 768 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:51,560 And then that'll give you some diesel money 769 00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:53,960 to get back down and find another 20 grand. 770 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,560 SAM: Ooh, yeah.JAKE: That's it, mate.Keep on digging. 771 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:58,520 Well, she was a bit rough along the way, 772 00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:00,760 but she all worked out pretty good in the end. 773 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:04,120 So, 20 grand, which will pay for the move and all the rest of it. 774 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:06,040 So, we're pretty bloody happy about that. 775 00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:09,240 I reckon that we ought to have a beer, 776 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:13,480 but us two old fellas versus you young'uns, the last one to catch 777 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:16,120 a chook has to shout for the rest of us. All right? 778 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:18,280 Righty-oh.You're on, mate. We're ready. 779 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:22,280 All right. So, the rules are... there are no rules. 780 00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:24,960 Hey!(LAUGHTER) 781 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:27,280 Come on, Les!LES: I'm here. 782 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:32,360 JAKE: He's gone over the roof! 783 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:35,000 Hold the door! 784 00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:39,440 We got a chook!(LAUGHTER) 785 00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:42,480 Ours went over the house, mate! Don't wanna hear excuses. 786 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:44,760 SAM: Mate! That was the easy way to get one. 787 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:46,800 No use getting old unless you get cunning. 788 00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:48,680 (LAUGHTER)Yeah, righto. 789 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:51,880 Subtitles by Deluxe