Travel to Australia, and watch this real life documentary, of people mining the Opal gemstone.
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See our other videos, for the latest, HIGHEST QUALITY episodes of the Australian series Aussie Gold Hunters, Gem Hunters Down Under and MORE!
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TVTranscript
00:00On Outback Opal Hunters,
00:03Last chance to find a bit of open before it gets too hot.
00:05The Boulder Boys risk their only excavator.
00:08What?
00:09Chasing an opal legend.
00:10Dad found 240,000 probably where that big rock is.
00:14Chamberlain! We got a car!
00:18The Bushmen hit a dead end.
00:20What do we do, Les?
00:21Completely friggin' gone.
00:24And disaster.
00:25No, no, no!
00:27And the Young Guns
00:28Woah!
00:30Face the fury of the Outback.
00:32Oi! Close up all the house!
00:34Oh my God.
00:59Hello! Hello!
01:01He's got the blower going.
01:04Get on ya, Les!
01:05So we can keep on digging.
01:08In Sheep Yards Opal Field, New South Wales,
01:11after a series of mechanical breakdowns,
01:13Bushmen Rod Manning and Les Walsh are finally mining.
01:17This one here, Les, doesn't pull out a big lump of colour.
01:20We've got to make a decision, I think.
01:28What do you think?
01:30Nothing there.
01:31Nothing there, is there?
01:32Yeah.
01:33It's getting worse, isn't it?
01:35Yeah.
01:36I think it's nearly all gone.
01:38You hate stopping.
01:40You always think that when you stop,
01:42another inch and you would have hit it.
01:45Well, what do we do, Les?
01:47Because that's completely gone.
01:52Over halfway to their season target,
01:54Rod and Les are struggling to find elusive black opal,
01:5815 metres below ground in their Bondi claim.
02:03At up to $43,000 a gram,
02:05it's worth 500 times more than gold.
02:09With gold, you can see the veins that it runs in.
02:12You see lots of things with diamonds.
02:14I know, you know, no-one knows where opal is.
02:16It's a mystery.
02:18Hang on, hang on.
02:20We've got oil everywhere.
02:23The season's been pretty hard bloody grind.
02:26You know, everything that we've had's broken down at one stage.
02:30But that is opal mining, you know.
02:32It's harsh conditions out here
02:34and the machinery has just as hard a life as we do.
02:38Hello, doll.
02:39Hello, how are you?
02:40All right.
02:41We've had a few little just life problems, you know.
02:44Amanda's had some pretty major problems with her leg.
02:49She can't move much.
02:51She's in a lot of pain.
02:53It's a bit of a concern and you do think about it.
02:58It puts more pressure on us
03:00because she's got to go to appointments,
03:02which is a 700km drive, which is money.
03:05If she does have to go and have an operation,
03:07there's more money there.
03:09So we need to hit our target
03:13and we need to probably go a little bit more than our target.
03:17It got pretty hard in here too.
03:19It's completely frigging gone.
03:21Do you reckon I can talk you into going in here?
03:25Yeah, I reckon.
03:26Here's where I'd like to go.
03:28Yeah, go through here and see what it says.
03:30Excellent.
03:33We're going to duck over to this other side.
03:35It's sort of opposite where the colour ran on this side.
03:38Hopefully it'll continue through over that side.
03:41To move the 12-year-old two-tonne digger,
03:44Rod has to use the hydraulic digging arm
03:46to lever it through the tunnel.
03:48They're pretty weighty
03:49and it's real easy to dig at a tip because it's so short.
04:01It's in that frigging hole.
04:05No, no, no!
04:07No, no, no!
04:10Jeez!
04:12Oh!
04:15Bug into this soft ground here in the floor.
04:20Oh, that hurt.
04:34This year hasn't been a bad year.
04:35We've had some good finds, we've had some not-so-good ones.
04:39But the season ain't over.
04:44In Opelton, Queensland,
04:45Boulder Boys Aaron Grotchen and Ron Selig
04:48are facing temperatures of over 40 degrees
04:51as they close in on their $100,000 season target
04:55on Aaron's late father's claim, Dragonfly.
05:00Do this little bit here for me.
05:02Where, mate?
05:03Just there.
05:05I'm watching.
05:06There's a rock there.
05:09Oh!
05:12I've been digging these leases for the last three years
05:15since Dad passed away.
05:17Missile fire a bit too.
05:20There's a few spots where I'd like to continue
05:22where Dad followed the fault,
05:24and I always get in Opel.
05:26And there's still virgin ground there,
05:27so it needs to be dug.
05:29Well, this week Aaron would like to check out
05:32three different areas.
05:33Bit slippery, mate.
05:34They're related to his dad and what his dad dug,
05:37so he wants to finish it off in his own mind
05:40and finish it off for his father.
05:43He wants to be able to find that one big rock
05:46like his dad used to find.
05:49Opelton is famous for rare veins of boulder opal
05:53worth up to $20,000 a gram
05:55found inside rocks scattered through underground faults.
05:59On Dragonfly, a major fault and several minor ones
06:03run right through the claim.
06:05Aaron's plan is to target three areas on these faults
06:09where he believes his father found opal decades ago.
06:12It's worth a go. Plenty of rock.
06:14Well, I'll give it a go.
06:17The first is an area between two outcrops
06:20with signs of the fault running through it.
06:22You've got to be on the ball, mate, on these levels
06:25because they're not set,
06:26they're just rocks here, there and everywhere.
06:30We've got to go through a bit more.
06:31A bit more?
06:32Yeah, yeah.
06:33I think you need that red stain and run, eh, on rocks.
06:35It's... Yeah, it would look that way, yeah.
06:45Hard levels to read, eh?
06:46Yeah.
06:47Well, then we've got a problem.
06:50Very messy ground.
06:53See, there's rocks there, there's rocks there.
06:55This is just all over the show.
06:58Even though there was a little bit of colour in the rocks,
07:01once we actually got stuck into it,
07:03didn't have clay under the level to capture the stones.
07:12Boulder opal forms when silica-rich water
07:15trickling through sandstone
07:17settles in cracks in brown ironstone boulders.
07:20But only one boulder in 100 will contain any opal.
07:27Sort of dead ground, eh?
07:28There's boulders out there, but there's not much.
07:30We're going to go broke digging there.
07:33Yuck.
07:34Too messy, isn't it?
07:36Yeah, it is.
07:39We're going now around to the other side.
07:42No good wasting fuel.
07:44If you can see, it's not going to pan out.
07:47Aaron and Ron's second spot is on the other side of the ridge.
07:52I'm going to drive the machine up the top,
07:54strip about 15 foot off it,
07:56then we're going to come chase them big boulders in
07:58and see how we go.
07:59You just don't know what can happen.
08:12The season is coming to an end.
08:14We've only got a month or two left
08:16before temperatures hit 50 degrees.
08:18So it's going to be absolutely crucial
08:20that this week we find some opal.
08:22If we don't find anything,
08:23then we're going to be in serious trouble.
08:25And I'm already starting to doubt
08:27whether we're going to make our season target.
08:31If we can't nail this,
08:33it's not looking good for the young guns.
08:36Rookie team The Young Guns are hunting crystal opal
08:40worth up to $25,000 a gram.
08:43But short on cash after their first three months of mining,
08:47pressure is mounting.
08:49Absolutely nothing coming out of the walls of the mines.
08:52Nothing.
08:53We just keep finding more dirt and rocks.
08:56It's like a constant, constant struggle.
08:59Ozzy, you can't grab it?
09:00You can't grab it? Yeah, mate.
09:01I'll go up and grab it.
09:02It's going to take a little bit of time to shift this dirt
09:05that we've just made.
09:06But, you know, just got to keep moving dirt.
09:08Keep moving forward.
09:09Hey, guys.
09:10What's up?
09:11Guys.
09:12What's up?
09:13Giant dust storm out there.
09:14Really?
09:15A huge one, yeah.
09:16Whoa!
09:17Whoa!
09:18Oh.
09:19Oh, my God.
09:23It blows up all the house.
09:25Jesus!
09:26We've just got to close everything up,
09:28otherwise our whole house is going to be full of dust.
09:31Got to take the window shut.
09:33It's not just the dust, it's the wind as well,
09:35so we've got to make sure everything's not moving around too much.
09:41High temperatures combined with dry conditions
09:44create dust storms,
09:46with winds reaching speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour.
09:50This one's full on.
09:52I don't think we can do anything right now.
09:54I guess we're just going to have to wait this out.
09:57God!
09:58It never ends.
10:00What next?
10:08All right.
10:09Well, it looks like it's cleared up a bit.
10:11We'll head down and have a look at the mine.
10:13We'll go chuck some fuel in the genny, get it started up.
10:16Yeah, sounds good.
10:17Meet you down there.
10:18Get the first bucket out.
10:21Oi!
10:22Come back down, boys.
10:24Don't worry about that.
10:26What's up?
10:33Oh, dude, in the engine bay, it's absolutely chocked.
10:38We've just got a heap of, I don't know,
10:40root fallout straight on top of the genger,
10:43and I guess that wind coming down has dried stuff out
10:46and made it fall in a bit.
10:48Oh, this is going to be a nightmare to clean up.
10:53There's another bit falling down right now.
10:55Yeah, we didn't need this first thing in the morning.
10:57It's going to be a fair bit of work
10:58just to get all these rocks off it and clean it all out.
11:01We don't want anything going through the radiator
11:03and the fans or anything like that,
11:05so it's going to be a bit of a job.
11:10The Yungung's entire operation depends on the Kanga loader,
11:14on hire for $200 a day.
11:16The Kanga, we're responsible for it.
11:18We're very concerned that all the moving parts,
11:21the engine bay, all dirt had made its way into there
11:24and fallen into those areas,
11:26which is not good for machinery, you know?
11:30Our biggest concern is rocks going through
11:32any of the fans and stuff like that,
11:34so we've just really taken it piece by piece
11:37and just taken out every little rock that we can.
11:39I mean, if we wreck this machine, you know,
11:41then we essentially owe them a machine,
11:43so it's absolutely ridiculous.
11:45Like, we can't afford to spend $25,000
11:48replacing something that we've broken.
11:50That is a lot of dust.
11:59So we're just about ready to get rock and rolling again
12:03and get back into it after another setback.
12:12We're back in business, boys.
12:14Whoop-pa!
12:15Acting.
12:21No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
12:26Jeez!
12:27What the...going on down here?
12:2915 metres underground at their Bondi claim.
12:33I just tipped the...over.
12:36Rod and Les' overturned two-tonne digger
12:39has brought their mining operation to a halt.
12:42Where the nine-inch come down, the ground's real soft.
12:47One of the wheels just tipped into the soft stuff
12:50and over she went.
12:52Think Christ, Les wasn't over the other side there
12:54cos he'd have been a goner.
12:58Nothing we can do about it.
13:00Stand her up and back into her.
13:02And back into her.
13:04What do you reckon?
13:05Drop a sling down the nine-inch?
13:07Higher, you see.
13:08That's right, in line too.
13:10They're generally buggers to stand up when they're like that,
13:13but we were just lucky that there was a nine-inch hole
13:16in the right spot,
13:18so we could drop a chain down that nine-inch.
13:22Oh, Jesus!
13:23Hook that to the top of the digger
13:25and slowly bring it up back onto its legs.
13:28Just a minute!
13:31Righto.
13:39She's not slipping on that bottom leg, Les?
13:42No.
13:45Yeah, just get it up a little bit further.
13:53Ho!
13:54She's the right way up.
13:56Well, that's better, Les.
13:58It could have been a lot bloody worse.
14:01Look at me frigging elbow!
14:03SHE LAUGHS
14:06What the bloody hell were we doing, Les, before all that?
14:09We were trying to shift it back down there.
14:12Yeah, we've wasted all bloody morning
14:14getting this back on its feet,
14:16so it's time to start mining.
14:22It's always a bit exciting when you start a new drive.
14:25You don't know what's going to be in there
14:27or where you're going to hit it.
14:29We haven't been across this way,
14:31so we'll have a look across this way and see what happens.
14:36The new spot where we started in,
14:38plenty of action in there.
14:39You know, I've got nice seams running where they should be.
14:42Bloody good-looking dirt in there, Les.
14:44Yeah, it's looking really good.
14:50Bloody hell.
14:52What's gone wrong?
14:53We're losing a fair bit of hydraulic oil from somewhere.
14:56This? Yeah.
14:58Without hydraulic oil, the digger arm can't operate.
15:02Well, that's going to be a fun fix.
15:05900km to the north-west.
15:10Dad and his mate Joe found 240,000,
15:13probably where that big rock is.
15:15That's where I want to finish this job.
15:18Aaron is driving hard to fulfil his late dad's Opal dream.
15:23They got a nice pocket close to where we're digging now.
15:26That's 240,000.
15:27That was 15 years ago, so it's probably half a million now.
15:31To reach the Opal level,
15:33Aaron must first remove four metres of overburden
15:36whilst being careful not to undermine his excavator
15:39and risk a rollover.
15:46All right.
15:47Now, that's enough to have a look.
15:49I'll make a little ramp down.
15:51We'll go down and you get into it.
15:54Aaron's next move is a precarious one.
15:56He must drive the 35-tonne excavator
15:59down the loose dirt ramp to the bottom of the pit.
16:02We've got about four metres to go down,
16:05and he's making a ramp.
16:07He'd want it at about 20 degrees, Frank.
16:10We'll see how he goes.
16:27Aaron's got the excavator down.
16:29We've got a bit of a track going up and down now,
16:31so that'll make it easier.
16:33And now he's starting to dig down to the actual level.
16:41Concentrato.
16:47It's good, eh?
16:48Well, look at it.
16:49It looks different now, eh, once you open it up.
16:51It's a messy-looking level, too.
16:53Yeah.
16:54We're taking a little bite out of it.
17:00It's as bad as the other side.
17:02It's too mixed up.
17:03There's no defining levels.
17:06It's a band, but it's not really a level.
17:14You're wasting fuel.
17:16It doesn't look real good.
17:17That's the same as the other side.
17:19Crap.
17:20Crap.
17:21Well, let's get out of here.
17:22Get into a fresh bit that might have a bit more promise.
17:25Yeah.
17:26Darren's quest to continue his father's legacy on Dragonfly
17:30is turning into an uphill battle.
17:33Yeah, you'll go right digging there.
17:44Right now we're just doing a little bit of a make-safe,
17:47pulling off all the really loose bits of the roof,
17:50just so they obviously don't fall on us.
17:53Oh, my eyes!
17:54A massive dust storm...
17:56Oi! Close up all the house!
17:58..has dried out the roof of the young gun's 100-year-old mine,
18:02putting it at risk of collapse,
18:04and team leader Jamin must make it safe
18:07before their opal hunt can restart.
18:11We're only taking away the stuff that's going to come down.
18:14Anything hard, like over in this area here,
18:16we just want to leave it,
18:17because that gives us a nice, solid bit of roof.
18:20All right.
18:21But with the end of the season in sight,
18:24the young guns are struggling to make ends meet.
18:27We're nearing the end of the season.
18:29We've got a month or two left
18:30before those temperatures soar up to 50 degrees.
18:33We've not got much time left.
18:35We really need to find something to get us where we need to be.
18:41I mean, it's not really about finding millions,
18:43it's about being able to actually live comfortably out here, you know?
18:46Barely got a change of clothes now.
18:48Don't have enough money to wash clothes,
18:50but, yeah, we're getting kind of sick of all this dirt.
18:54I don't really know if I can handle much more of this.
19:04That's a shaft. That's a shaft.
19:07Yo, J, come down here.
19:09What's up?
19:12It's going to fit another shaft.
19:14Serious? Yep.
19:16In another setback,
19:18the mineshaft contains tonnes of worthless dirt
19:21that will take days to shift.
19:23I think we just leave it for now,
19:25and we'll just chop in that side of the wall there.
19:27I don't want to keep shifting dirt that's been looked through.
19:30There's no money in that.
19:34We need to be finding stuff.
19:36We can't be digging through dirt that's just, you know,
19:38clearing out a shaft that's just full of dirt,
19:41and there's going to be no overwind.
19:43So we've cracked into some old workings up here.
19:47We've got this little smudge mark here from a candle.
19:50So the old timers in here,
19:52which is, like, we're talking, like, 100 years ago,
19:55no electricity or anything.
19:56All they had was a little handpick.
19:58You know, it would have been much more of a struggle
20:00than what we're doing, but we're moving heaps more dirt.
20:05Here we go. A little bit of trace.
20:07You can see this little bit up here.
20:10Holy moly, that's actually nice.
20:12So they probably dug through,
20:14but with their little lights, with their little candles,
20:16they wouldn't have been able to see
20:18the kind of little bits and pieces around.
20:20This is really, really awesome,
20:22because there's actually some opal in here.
20:24And we haven't seen opal in a while.
20:26Hey, boys, come up here.
20:28What do you mean? Some opal?
20:30Yeah. It's only a little, but it's actually got a bit of colour.
20:33So...
20:34Finally some opal.
20:36That's really good.
20:39Ah!
20:43It's coming out of there now.
20:4515 metres below ground,
20:47Rod and Les' digger is hemorrhaging hydraulic fluid.
20:52Ah, yeah.
20:55Tastes like... Yeah, it does, that oil.
20:58Without the two-tonne digger,
21:00they'll be forced to return to hand tools.
21:03I'm not sure. I think it's the connection with the elbow.
21:06It might be loose.
21:08We're not real sure what it is.
21:10But for now, it's only going to get worse.
21:12It's already spraying.
21:14Hopefully it's just the nut that's come loose.
21:16Otherwise, the elbow's probably cracked,
21:18as I felt, and dropped her over.
21:21You all right?
21:23Do you know what it is?
21:25It's not going to be as easy as it...
21:27End of the tube split.
21:29Cracked on the weld. Wonderful.
21:31End of the ram here,
21:33underneath here,
21:35and it's getting worse,
21:37so oil's too bloody dear to waste.
21:39When the digger broke,
21:41you sort of know it's game over
21:43until you can fix it.
21:45We're not going any further with this thing, Les.
21:47And that's more than a quick fix, mate.
21:52This is showing nice promise.
21:54I mean, we've only just started in here.
21:56We're getting twinkles all over the place.
21:58Do you want to have a bloody half-hour
22:00dig with the jackhammer
22:02and just see if we can...
22:04I'd have liked to have got a little further forward in there.
22:06Yeah.
22:17There's a fair bit of activity up here.
22:19I'd be kind of surprised if this don't do something.
22:27I've got a few glints of colour up here, Les.
22:29Bring that bloody tray up here, mate.
22:32Hold her up under there.
22:38There's a bit of colour in that, Les.
22:40A little bit of colour.
22:42Any money?
22:44No.
22:46Only what it cleans up like.
22:51That's a nice shiny bit.
22:53Tell you what, mate,
22:55we need to get this bloody digger going.
22:57This is developing in here real nice.
22:59Yeah, that's not a bad bit in there, call it that.
23:01The further you go in there, hopefully the better it'll get.
23:04So for now, all we need is some quick dollars
23:06to get the digger up and running.
23:08Without the digger,
23:10the Bushman's operation has slowed to a crawl.
23:12And for Rod,
23:14it's about to get even tougher.
23:1774-year-old partner Les
23:19must leave for a vital medical check-up
23:22350 kilometres away.
23:26So what time is your appointment tomorrow?
23:2811 o'clock, I think.
23:30You want anything in town?
23:32Need a digger.
23:34Yeah, right.
23:39I think me dad was digging here about 30 years ago.
23:42So we're just seeing if it's running more this way,
23:44a bit of luck we can pick up a lead and start it in place.
23:47It's hotting up on Dragonfly Clay,
23:50with Aaron's father's old leads turning up nothing
23:53and costing the Boulder Boys hundreds of dollars in fuel.
23:57He knew what he was doing.
23:58Where he told me to dig around the shaft,
24:00that's where there's opal.
24:01As we're getting away, we're not getting onto anything decent.
24:04Their last chance site
24:06is an old area known as The Cut.
24:09Strip the top off and we can get into it.
24:11Looks all right, eh?
24:13Well, look, the sandstone's pinching out here, you see?
24:16Yes.
24:17All right, so that's got chances there.
24:19Last chance to find a bit of it before it gets too hot, Rod.
24:22All right, man.
24:24With their season target almost in reach,
24:27everything rests on Aaron's dad's final location.
24:31It is opal ground.
24:33We've just got to see what we can find.
24:36Hopefully we get some nice rocks.
24:55Rod, how do I put my pipe?
24:57Yeah, I think you should.
25:01It's nice and moist, Aaron.
25:03There's our level there, eh?
25:05All right.
25:10We've got a few butterflies down in The Cut.
25:13Usually when we've got butterflies, we get opal.
25:19Yeah, Rod, I want a bit of colour here, mate.
25:21Like a pipe or something.
25:23It's very nice, blue.
25:25It's like a pipe, eh? Well, it is.
25:27Yeah, I reckon we saw that, eh?
25:29You don't know what's up in the centre of it.
25:31No, you don't.
25:32We'll keep going, eh?
25:33All right, man.
25:37All right, boys, we've got some colour.
25:40Got colour.
25:41Hey, that's a good sign.
25:42Oh, yeah.
25:43Nearly gem.
25:44Nice, blue, electric.
25:46Looks all right.
25:48Do this little bit here for me.
25:54All right.
25:55We've got colour.
25:57It's got a line running through it.
25:59Blue to green there.
26:01It could be loaded, that end.
26:02Oi, Rod.
26:03Bit of purple.
26:05You beauty.
26:06Up.
26:08Bit more up.
26:09There you go.
26:10It's got a little bit of electric in it.
26:12If it makes it into a line here somewhere.
26:14Yeah, yeah.
26:15There needs a saw, mate.
26:17Oi, Rod.
26:18More colour.
26:19That's fantastical.
26:22Shangri-La.
26:23We've got a car.
26:25Whoa.
26:26Now, that is nice colour, Rod.
26:27Hey, look at that red in that.
26:29They all need a saw, eh?
26:31Should be able to split it, eh?
26:33Hey, Rod, that's nice colour.
26:35Good on you, Rod.
26:37Lucky Rod strikes again, mate.
26:39All right, well, come on.
26:40Let's have an early day, Rod.
26:41We'll cut this up.
26:44Lovely, Rod.
26:45That ain't a bad morning's work, mate.
26:52Yeah.
26:59Any keys, mate?
27:00Oh, no, thanks.
27:01Good luck with it?
27:02Yeah.
27:03Bring us and let us know how you went.
27:05I'll do that.
27:06We've got to go to Dubbo to see the heart specialist down there
27:09for a check-up and see what he's got to say.
27:13Les's visit to the doctor is a 700km round trip,
27:17leaving Rod to mine alone.
27:21If Les happens to go to Dubbo for the doctor's appointment,
27:24it steps your workload up a little bit.
27:27Without Les or a working digger,
27:29Rod's only option is a mine
27:31where he and Les recently found good opal.
27:35The maze.
27:36Hundreds of metres of unstable tunnels.
27:40I've got a little column I want to dig out.
27:43I just want to dig in a little bit because I found a bit of colour.
27:47Oh!
27:50It's called a maze for a reason.
27:52You can get lost down there very, very easily.
27:55Where am I?
27:57And it's a horrible feeling when you get lost underground.
28:00You can wander around underground for frigging hours
28:04trying to find a way out.
28:06This is where we were working the other day.
28:11This is where we took the columns out.
28:15They were out here before we took them out.
28:19The rock columns or pillars are vital for holding up the roof.
28:23That's not a bad thing, that, you know.
28:26While they could still contain good opal,
28:29mining them risks a fatal roof collapse.
28:37Pillar bashing is probably one of the most dangerous things
28:40you can do mining.
28:43Not too bad.
28:45This pillar that I'm working on now,
28:48that's all that holds the roof up.
28:51If something happens, there's no-one to go for help.
28:56But we need opal.
29:03Frig, it's nice ground here.
29:06A little bit of green up in there,
29:08but it might turn into something.
29:15Oh, ho, ho, ho!
29:17It's bigger, that's cheesy.
29:19Look at that.
29:21How good's this?
29:23I've taken our frigging half a bucket of dirt.
29:26That's good money.
29:28There's more in the wall, so...
29:30Oh, happy, happy, happy.
29:32Happy, happy, happy.
29:34That's a week's pay just there.
29:36Oh, it's starting to get exciting.
29:39Beautiful colour all the way around.
29:42Another couple of grand.
29:44Now, how good's this?
29:46Straight in the bank.
29:48You know, lately, everywhere we dig,
29:50we're getting a little bit of colour, so, yeah.
29:53Hope it continues.
30:02See that?
30:04That's $100 stone right there.
30:06Stoney.
30:08In their first season mining...
30:10You got that other little stone?
30:12..the Young Guns have finally hit a promising opal scene.
30:14Slow and easy, slow and steady.
30:16Finds the opal.
30:22I'm just getting covered in dirt, eh?
30:24Yep, me too.
30:26Ooh, is that a bit up there?
30:28What have we got?
30:30Look at that.
30:32Holy...
30:34That's ridiculous.
30:36That's, like, gem-grade opal.
30:38Look at that thing.
30:40That's wild.
30:42That's wild, dude.
30:44That's some nice green-blue, gem-grade opal.
30:46Let's hope.
30:48Let's keep digging this, and we'll see what happens.
30:54Oh, hear that? That's a big crack.
30:56Oh, there's a bit of green up in the wall.
30:58See that?
31:00Oh, yes.
31:02Dude, look at that bit in the bucket, dude.
31:04Whoo!
31:06What the hell?
31:08There's, like, dead-set 20 pieces just down there.
31:10Oh!
31:12Oh, there's 20 on the other side!
31:14My hands are literally shaking.
31:16Look at that!
31:18That's a nugget! Look at the size of that!
31:22We just broke through a whole big seam.
31:24It's actually... Dude, it's thicker.
31:26Look at that. Holy... Look at that.
31:28Look at that!
31:30There's, like, handfuls of it!
31:32Yeah, baby! Yeah!
31:34This is so beyond anything
31:36that we've found before.
31:38Holy moly.
31:40So there's that bit of trace in the wall that we're following,
31:42and we just dropped that whole shelf down,
31:44and it just went bang.
31:46Look at that!
31:48That's incredible. We just pulled out a massive pocket.
31:50I mean, look at this stuff.
31:52I mean, it's absolutely...
31:54You know, it's so validating. It's so good.
31:56Like, I've really friggin' needed this this week.
31:58It makes it all friggin' worth it, you know?
32:00Come on, let's go get it in the tumble.
32:02I want to see what we've got
32:04as soon as possible.
32:06Do not spill that!
32:08There's, like, no tomorrow.
32:10It's the biggest find
32:12of their short careers.
32:14But to discover its true value,
32:16there is an important step
32:18to take.
32:20Yeah, dude, let's have a look.
32:22All right, you know the drill, boys.
32:24Chuck it on.
32:26All right.
32:28Put her on there. There we go.
32:30Washing the clay-covered stones
32:32in water overnight will reveal
32:34just how much opal they've found.
32:36Now, unfortunately,
32:38we have to wait for, like, 12 hours.
32:40It's just going to be pure wonder
32:42what will actually come out of the other side.
32:44Dude, there's some nice colour.
32:46Just stand and wash and wait.
32:48Wonder.
32:50Ah!
33:00Hey, Les. How you going, mate?
33:02How are you, mate?
33:04After a 700-kilometre round trip,
33:06Les is back from the doctors.
33:08What'd the vet say?
33:10He'd give me another six months.
33:12Six months? Well, we should hit our fortune
33:14in six months, I'd reckon, wouldn't you?
33:16Well, I hope so.
33:18You got it on it yesterday.
33:20Yeah, well, that's good.
33:22I got a little bit while you were away.
33:24All right, eh?
33:26With a clean bill of health,
33:28Rod's opal hole from the maze
33:30is a welcome surprise for Les.
33:32Oh, that's nice.
33:34Got a bit of red in her, eh?
33:36Oh, yeah.
33:38Nice pieces in there.
33:40A couple of real nice pieces, actually.
33:42Yes, you can get a stone out of that.
33:44After all the breakdowns
33:46that was bloody good.
33:52Rod has arranged a meeting
33:54with a local opal buyer.
33:56I'm not going to do too much
33:58because she's a cutter and she'll want to cut them.
34:00So I'm just trying to get them to look
34:02as pretty as they can.
34:04Cleaning up the rough stones
34:06on a grinding wheel gives a better chance
34:08of getting a higher price.
34:10Oh, that's a nice piece.
34:12That's a nice piece, that.
34:14Nice little stone, isn't it?
34:16That's a nice little green in it.
34:18It's just all flashy.
34:20Now what we've got to do is decide on a price.
34:22I'm going to ask for eight.
34:24Yeah.
34:26And then our lowest price will be, say, five.
34:28Yep, yeah.
34:30If we get five or six for this,
34:32I reckon we're going to come pretty close
34:34to our season total.
34:36For a bloody change.
34:38The Bushman's stones
34:40are mainly crystal opal
34:42with good greens and blues.
34:44They're rough but rubbed clean
34:46and there's approximately 15 grams.
34:48Rod and Les are hoping to get
34:50between $5,000 and $6,000 for them.
34:52OK, Jenny.
34:54Hello.
34:56How are you, mate?
34:58Good? Yeah, good.
35:00Nice day for it.
35:02An experienced buyer, Jenny Tolo,
35:04has been dealing opals for 20 years.
35:06You know, going into a sale,
35:08you've got to have a bit of anticipation
35:10because this is what it's all about, you know.
35:12Grab a seat there, Jenny.
35:14It all comes down to when that buyer
35:16walks through your door,
35:18how much they're going to give you for it.
35:20Well, this is what I've got, Jenny.
35:22Rough from down the maze.
35:24And this is a little bit I got
35:26from our mother mine that I rubbed yesterday.
35:28Mm, looking good.
35:30Yeah, it's a nice colour in there.
35:32Let me have a closer look at this.
35:34Sure, it's got nice colour
35:36but they're only going to cut little stones.
35:42So what are you asking for this again?
35:44I want an eight and a half for it.
35:46Ooh.
35:50I more like six.
35:52Nah, unless it built me up the back of the head
35:54if I give it to you for six, Rhi.
35:58Seriously, eight's a bit too steep.
36:00This is beautiful colour.
36:02I'm not knocking it.
36:04I'm lucky to find stuff like this.
36:06The only thing is I'm going to end up
36:08with smaller pieces, you see.
36:12I tell you what, the lowest,
36:14and this is me rock bottom,
36:16the lowest I'll do is six-three.
36:18I think six-three is...
36:20I won't go any lower than six-three.
36:22Well, I reckon it's worth a little bit more
36:24but we'll come to the...
36:28No, I think that's fair.
36:30Six-three?
36:32Thank you.
36:34It was a bit more than we wanted
36:36so we were real happy with the sale
36:38and she was happy to pay that.
36:40You only need a couple of good stones
36:42and you're right back in there.
36:44The sale brings the Bushmen
36:46within reach of their season target.
36:48Everything's sort of turning around for us.
36:50If Lady Luck stays with us
36:52for a little bit longer
36:54we're going to do all right.
37:03Well, we've found a little bit of opal.
37:05Cut it up, see if we can get some surprises.
37:07Be good.
37:09Aaron's gamble chasing his late father's old leads
37:11has turned up promising stones.
37:13Bye, mate. You know what you're doing.
37:15But to discover their true value
37:17the stones must first be split
37:19on the diamond tip cutting wheel.
37:21Do what you can do, Ron.
37:26If the opal runs right through the rocks
37:28it could more than triple their price.
37:30Put another one through that one, I reckon.
37:32All right.
37:34Cut too close to the opal
37:36and Ron could render the stone worthless.
37:38We're just grinding the sides down
37:40to see how big the stone's going to be.
37:44It's running there, you can tell.
37:46Well, it is running all the way
37:48so what we've got to do is split him.
37:51Splitting a seam can mean
37:53they get two opals from one rock
37:55instantly doubling its value.
37:57Split him.
37:59All right.
38:01See if it will split.
38:03There you go.
38:05That was a good little surprise, wasn't it?
38:07That was a surprise.
38:09That split good too, Ron.
38:11Yeah, mate.
38:13Bloody hell, look.
38:15Nice.
38:17Nice electric gem, green.
38:19Beautiful, isn't it?
38:21That's our pipe we found.
38:23What do you reckon, Ron?
38:25Well, how do you get two stones out of that?
38:27It comes through the guts.
38:37Told you.
38:41That's the better stuff, Ron.
38:43Well, that's our king stone.
38:45Nice red in it, isn't it?
38:47That's two of them, eh?
38:49That's that other surprise that we got.
38:51That is, isn't it, really?
38:53This one was very good, I thought.
38:55There you go, mate.
38:57That's earrings.
38:59That's got a couple of nice ones, eh?
39:01So they're our king stones, really.
39:05Bear opal is boulder opal
39:07with rich greens and blues.
39:09It's still in the rough
39:11but they have two kilos
39:13making its value approximately $4,800.
39:17Well done, mate.
39:19Well done, mate.
39:21The boys have passed their season target
39:23with six weeks' mining still to go.
39:27Good on you, Ron.
39:29It does feel good following Dad.
39:31It's good to finish the job, you know?
39:33It would have been good if he was here
39:35to show me a bit. He would have said,
39:37don't dig there, don't do this.
39:39That's rubbish. This is good.
39:41But the year ain't over, so anything can happen.
39:53Here we go.
39:55Our moment of truth.
39:57We are very excited.
39:59For the young guns,
40:01a disappointing season so far
40:03all rests on the results
40:05of 12 hours washing their stones
40:07in a homemade tumbler.
40:11Look at this.
40:13Holy moly.
40:15There it comes.
40:17That'll do for today, then.
40:23Woo-hoo-hoo!
40:25Dude, look at those colours.
40:29Look at that.
40:31That's enormous.
40:35That is beautiful, boys.
40:39It's like a mountain of hope.
40:41Holy moly.
40:43The mountain of a day.
40:45Dude, that stone alone is probably
40:47two or three grand.
40:49What the hell?
40:51Reds, greens, blues.
40:53Damn. Holy...
40:55There's definitely thousands of dollars
40:57here, like right here.
40:59Look at that.
41:01Look at that. That is, like, ridiculous.
41:03Jesus Christ. I don't know how much something
41:05like this would even go for. This is just
41:07ridiculous. I reckon it'll make your dad jealous.
41:09For sure. Opal doesn't get
41:11nicer than that. Here we go.
41:13Dad, what's going on?
41:15Hey, Jay. Hey, fellas.
41:17We've got something pretty cool to show you this morning.
41:19Jayman's dad, Graham Doughton,
41:21is one of Whitecliffe's
41:23foremost opal valuers.
41:25Yeah, we thought we'd better bring this one to the professional.
41:27Oh, wow.
41:29That's actually really good stuff now.
41:31Oh, that is
41:33actually gem, that one.
41:35That's the best stuff there, for sure.
41:37Yeah, look, that is really
41:39beautiful Whitecliffe's crystal there.
41:41Gem.
41:43The young gun's find is
41:45crystal opal.
41:47Two centimetre thick, it is
41:49highly desirable for high-end
41:51jewellery. It has
41:53clear blues and greens. It's in the
41:55rough, and once cut,
41:57they will have 30 grams.
41:59When I look around,
42:01just looking at the
42:03quantities that you've got,
42:05I think
42:07just as a bit of a rough ballpark,
42:09you know, you're probably looking at least
42:1120,000.
42:13Oh,
42:15geez.
42:17Well done.
42:19That's hectic. That is so good.
42:21That is unbelievable.
42:23You guys start to make a bit of a go of it now.
42:25Doing well. Absolutely.
42:27You must be feeling relieved.
42:29It's great, yeah.
42:31Well done. Power to you guys. That's massive.
42:33So, what do you reckon? You reckon
42:35we're real opal miners now?
42:37You've still got a bit to go now.
42:39You've still got a bit to go now.
42:41There's still
42:43a few things, you know, to learn.
42:45Yeah, yeah. So, what do you reckon, boys? You're sticking
42:47around for the rest of the season?
42:49The big
42:51one's coming, boys. This is just
42:53one of them. The little fish today,
42:55the million dollars might be next week.
43:03With this haul valued at
43:05$20,000, their
43:07total is now over
43:09$37,000.
43:13$20,000.
43:15Cheers, boys.
43:17Yeah.
43:21We did it, boys.
43:37Money.
43:49Money.