Opal Hunters S05 E04

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Travel to Australia, and watch this real life documentary, of people mining the Opal gemstone.

Season 5 has 8 episodes.

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Transcript
00:00On Outback Opal Hunters, the Bushmen battle unbreakable rock in a rich but
00:07deadly mine. One pull on this lever, your whole life changes. Pete Cook suffers a
00:16serious injury. No I won't be able to go underground, we're gonna have to change
00:20our plans a bit. Forcing an emergency sale of their prized $50,000 Opal. I like
00:26the sternum. I don't really like the price. This side here could slip into the hole if you go too close that way.
00:33And the Boulder Boys are forced out of the Badlands pit. Can't go any deeper, right?
00:38Onto machine-breaking shallow ground. You're leaking coolant. It's why I bloody can't
00:44keep up, you've been dripping out the mungle.
00:56Is it up there too? Yep. Holy s***, it's not good. There's a hole here in the suction pipe too.
01:15The Bushmen, Rod Manning and Les Walsh are tackling emergency repairs on their 25
01:22year old blower. Wouldn't be able to open mine without this stuff, Les. No, it's the only thing that holds things
01:27together. Oh f*** hell, Les. I can see what's happening now. She's worn. The blower is the
01:36only way they can clear waste rock from the mine. A 30 centimetre pipe sucks rock
01:42to the surface to a two ton hopper, emptying into the back of a truck. Powered
01:47by a fan spinning at 750 revs per minute, it has enough suction to move two
01:53and a half tons of rock an hour. We might have a bloody issue here, Les. Yeah. The top
01:58plate of this fan has been worn all the way along that back bleeding edge. Right
02:03back to the centinele. It's on every blade and we can seriously blow this up
02:09like that plate could come off. Well, we'll have two halves. We haven't got anything
02:14else. If it goes down, there's no B. That's it.
02:20After signing up to a lucrative 50-50 Opal deal with mine owner Martin
02:26Hutchison on his plow boys claim, the Bushmen have had a disastrous start.
02:32That can't be good. Oh no. The fan has moved on the shaft out. Jesus Christ.
02:41This is 30, 40 grand to fix. Ordinarily last week's effort at five grand would be
02:47okay, but we made five grand and destroyed a blower, so I guess we're 30
02:53behind now. Last week, yeah, that was a real blow to us, you know. We had to go
03:00back to the old one, which as we know now, she needs some repairs. All we can do is
03:04duct tape the holes up, put this plate back up in there. That'll do. Tighten it
03:13up, say a prayer, and let's get underground. Plowboys mine is considered
03:18one of the most productive in Grawen, but Rod and Les are going to have to find
03:23Opal to prove they're worth keeping on as partners. Looking pretty good, Les. It
03:28is. She's got iron stone and quartz pebbles right through it, Les. Right, righto.
03:33You'll often find good Opal around these. Righto, I'm going to shift some dirt.
03:44Now that's hard ground.
03:48I'm only just skimming it like that.
03:52Bloody hard.
03:56Holy goats, that's bloody unbelievable.
03:58You might have to go a bit higher, I think.
04:00Just keep an eye on it up there.
04:04Whoa, did you see the sparks fly off that one?
04:07Yeah.
04:08You could have started a campfire with that, Les. Holy ghost.
04:16We ain't getting through that, Les.
04:18No, that's as hard as me first wife's heart.
04:21Yeah.
04:21Right. I'll take her in, Rod. More. There's a little bit more here.
04:38He wants to get in a position where he can dig this test hole out. You don't want too steep
04:44incline because it's wet down there and we don't want to slip in.
04:48In a dangerous 12-metre deep pit, the Boulder Boys, Aaron Grotchen and Ron Selig,
04:54are attempting to clear flood water to reach the level partner Eric thinks contains Opal.
05:00I'd like to clean that right down. We've got to still be another 23, 24 foot down to a level.
05:06Oh, he's got to go forward further. He can't come back because it's soft here.
05:11It's too risky to reverse on the loose ground.
05:14Rotating the cab towards the hole could also unbalance the 30-tonne excavator.
05:19This side here could slip into the hole if you go too close that way.
05:30The Badlands is two massive claims on Opal-rich ground,
05:34worked for over 30 years and recently purchased by local miner Eric Hume.
05:39Me and Ron are working for Eric and we're on 15% each. We're at 30% between us.
05:45Eric borrowed me a little bit of money. I just bought Dad's estate and I'm in the process of
05:51cleaning it up. I want to open it up as a bit of a museum. Yeah, it'd be nice to get a big
05:56find and pay that Dad off. Aaron owes Eric $80,000. To pay him back and survive the season,
06:03they need to find $150,000 from Badlands, which they can mine with Eric's heavy machinery.
06:10Previous owners had a nice pocket. It was just under a million dollars.
06:16Dig along and it'll be just a little bit of trace, trace and then bang.
06:20That made beautiful colour.
06:24I just slid over a bit and the back of the excavator's hitting the mulley.
06:28Aaron's positioned the excavator close enough to reach the hole they need to empty.
06:33The pile of waste dirt, known as mullock, is stopping him from rotating the arm and bucket to
06:39dig. You can pick the tracks up and move them over. Yeah. And spin him back that way and then move it
06:44back. I'm going to take the bucket up and over then I can turn it here. Yep, no worries. Be careful.
07:04I think that'll be all right. I'm hoping we can get in there,
07:07I hope it's not going to keep making water. Flooded ground can bog or overturn the heavy
07:12machinery or collapse the pit. The water has to be removed and dumped where it will evaporate.
07:18We're getting the water down, eh? Bloody hell, you've got a lot of water out.
07:26Can't go any deeper, right? That'll have to do. We reached the bottom, you can see the
07:31teeth marks all the way. Yeah, that was full extension on this.
07:36Just got to let it sit for a few days, clear up and we'll drop the pump back in it. That's it.
07:40The excavator arm isn't long enough to reach the remaining water. Their only option is to pump it
07:46out once the sediment settles. But that means leaving the part of the claim Eric believes
07:52holds the most opal. We'll go and have a look at that shallow ground. Come on, time's a-wasting,
07:57let's go. So what do you reckon, mate? We'll go out, pull a load, maybe another big gem?
08:10Yeah, wouldn't it be nice to get another one of the one we've already got? Just get its bigger
08:14brother. I want its granddaddy. What a start to the season that would be. Just days after finding
08:22a single piece of opal worth an estimated $50,000, Sam Westra and Pete Cook are heading
08:29back down the mine they pulled it from. Do you want to have a look at it again,
08:32mate, so you know what you're looking for? You carry it around everywhere, don't you?
08:36Not everywhere. The way that industry is right now, I'm not getting real good vibes from the
08:43buyers. They're all doom and gloom. You've got three different patterns. You've got Chinese
08:47writing, all the colours. On the other hand, when you show them a nice gem like that,
08:52they still get excited. Gorgeous looking thing, isn't it? Look at it, precious.
08:58This year, Pete and Sam want to expand into contract washing, going from one to five agitators
09:05to allow them to wash other miners' dirt for a cut of any opal found.
09:10It's as simple as the more dirt you wash, the more chance you've got of finding opal.
09:17The only problem is what we're doing at the moment. We've got two faces going at once,
09:21so I don't know which one that stone came from. So we've got to keep doing both.
09:28It's anyone's guess of where that opal came from. We've got pretty good slips and slides
09:34in both ends of our claims. We've just got to keep moving the dirt. We don't know until it
09:39comes out the other end of the agitator. I've just marked them on the door of the box.
09:46I've just crossed off number 10. Good to keep count of how many, when it's time to go up and
09:51move the truck forwards. Otherwise you're overflowing the dirt and putting it on the
09:54ground. That's not where we want it. We want it in the truck. In just his third season mining,
10:04rookie Sam Westra has big plans for his share of the opal.
10:10I'm currently saving for a house deposit. I've got a camp in town, which is fine, but it's not an in-town house.
10:20I think if my cut got a house deposit down pat for me and Corinne, that'd be a
10:25dream come true for us. It's the next step in our life taken care of.
10:39What's going on, mate? What's the problem? I thought it was making a funny noise.
10:46We're losing a little bit of oil. Yeah. You can hear it, can't you?
10:53Somewhere I can hear it squirting. You've got a leak.
11:03Another long day with nothing to show for it.
11:06Look at all that. The sun's gone down, mate. Fine. We've been working that long. Yeah. Bloody dark, mate.
11:13All right, mate. I'm going to take the truck home, so I'll see you tomorrow. Righto, mate.
11:18Three kilometres from the Bushman's mine lies Rod's camp, which is completely off the grid.
11:26How are you doing with the torch? I've got no power. None at all. None at all? None at all.
11:32Yeah, well. Yeah, do you want the torch? Well, there's the problem, look.
11:40It's these bloody batteries, darl. They're getting worse. Well, they can't get any worse than this.
11:45Nah, they're buggered. How long's the fridge been off, darl? Oh, the same. We just lost power, completely.
11:55Oh, mate, what a bastard of a day. These batteries are completely gone.
11:59These batteries are completely gone. I assume dinner's not cooked neither or anything?
12:04No. Oh, Jesus Christ.
12:11We can't keep running this bloody Jenny 24-7, darl. It's going to end up broker than we already are, so.
12:18Yeah. I've got to do something about the batteries, so I might give Ian a ring, find out how much they are.
12:25With his diesel generator too expensive to run around the clock,
12:29Rod needs to find replacements for his solar batteries, which can no longer hold charge.
12:35Without batteries, we really are buggered because the fridges can't run, so.
12:39What do you do? Gotta have power.
12:43Hi. Ian. Yes. Yeah, Rod Manning, mate. How are you?
12:47Oh, not too bad. Nah, it's good, mate.
12:51I was just wondering, have you got any solar batteries in there?
12:57Yeah. It'll be 280 a battery, will it?
13:03Get your calculator out, girl. 280 times 18.
13:085040. Oh, 5040. I've got to be a grand.
13:13What about opal? Yeah, trade for opal. I haven't got enough opal.
13:17So what if we offer him that?
13:21What is collateral? Yeah.
13:23The ring means a lot more than money. You know, I'd made it for her and give it to her, so,
13:28you know, it means a lot and it means a lot to both of us.
13:31I can't think of anything else to do. No, I can't think of anything else to do too.
13:37Yep. All right, do it. You take it.
13:41It's a huge thing and it's going to weigh heavily on my shoulders until I can bloody,
13:46you know, dig a bit of money to make it all right.
13:50Hey Ian, how you going, mate? Pretty good. How you going, mate?
13:54I'm good, mate. You've got what I'm after, some batteries.
13:57These are the batteries, all ready to go.
14:00Problem I've got, mate, is I've only got a thousand dollars cash.
14:03Yeah. But I know you like opal and I bought in
14:06But I know you like opal and I bought in Amanda's good opal ring.
14:11I'll have a good look at it, eh?
14:13All right, eh? Seven thousand dollar ring, so,
14:17if I don't come back at the end of the week, you can keep that.
14:20If I do come back, I'll get it back off you because that's Amanda's favourite ring.
14:24All right. End of the week.
14:26End of the week. End of the week, yep.
14:28Thanks, mate. I appreciate it.
14:30With half of any opal going to mine owner Martin
14:33and the remaining half being split with Les to cover the batteries,
14:37Rod needs to find $16,000 of opal in just five days.
14:51Well, let's go and have a look.
14:54We're just trying to find a shallow level, something easy to dig,
14:57get a bit of cash flow happening.
14:59The Boulder Boys are waiting for muddy sediment to settle
15:03before they can pump out their promising Badlands pit.
15:07They're now searching for virgin opal-bearing ground on the claim.
15:12There's a little outcrop just off the creek.
15:15Creeks are faults.
15:16So we're just having a look around here, see if we can pick up some service trace.
15:20There you go, a bit of trace.
15:22Yeah, I know a bit of trace, Rod.
15:23Yeah, purple.
15:25Oh, there's another one.
15:26Oh, there's another one.
15:27Guess what that?
15:28Just a few rocks around.
15:29That's nearly colour on, eh?
15:31Well, it's been sitting in the sun for probably 100,000 years or more.
15:35All right.
15:36What do you reckon we start at the creek here somewhere, Rod?
15:39Look, most creeks usually are the slip or a fault.
15:43Yeah, let's do it.
15:44Pop it under that lucky tree.
15:47Aaron will use his 30-tonne excavator to dig a trench
15:51where Rod believes the opal-bearing fault lies.
15:57He'll need to dig through sandstone to an ancient layer of sediment
16:02scattered with opal-bearing ironstone rock.
16:06OK, go on, Rod.
16:07Go a little bit deeper here.
16:09We're looking for ironstone boulders.
16:12So we keep going till we hit them.
16:16Sandstone's starting to change.
16:18I think so.
16:18Try and go through it now, eh?
16:20I'll go down till we hit level.
16:22Yeah.
16:26Plenty of rocks.
16:31Oh, that's what we're looking for.
16:34Boulder, ironstone, please.
16:36That's good rock.
16:37That's what we're after.
16:38Aaron and Ron have found small traces of boulder opal.
16:42Was that out of the last bucket?
16:44Yeah.
16:44What a bit of a look, mate.
16:47Formed when water deposits silica in voids in ironstone rocks,
16:52the most valuable can be worth $20,000 a gram.
16:56We've got a nice band here with a bit of purple in it,
16:58boulders with a bit of colour.
17:00Yeah, we've got a chance it might make here somewhere, a little dip.
17:04At four metres, they've found the level,
17:07the depth at which the opal is forming.
17:09But what we might do, if you get rid of that dirt,
17:12and I'll strip a bit off the top, we should face that, eh?
17:15The excavator needs to get close to the pit edge to dig into the exposed opal level.
17:21Ron brings in the 50-tonne loader with a 13-tonne bucket to clear the mined dirt.
17:27I've got Ron to clean up the top,
17:29and we're going to start facing this level that we don't miss anything.
17:40My temperature's just coming from 100,
17:43bouncing backwards, so I might need a bit more cooling.
17:46I might have airlock in it.
17:47We'd better check it, eh?
17:49Bit of a problem.
17:51The temperature's just bouncing from 90 to 100.
17:54Hey, Ronnie, you're leaking coolant.
17:57I am?
18:03You've got a leak.
18:04I reckon that pump.
18:05It's making a weird noise here, too.
18:07I reckon it's low oil.
18:09Oh, yeah.
18:10We're going to have to fix that hose, I reckon.
18:1319 metres underground,
18:15Pete Cook and Sam Westra's digger is leaking hydraulic fluid.
18:19If they don't fix it,
18:21their ambitious plans to fund their mega wash plant with opal will be in ruins.
18:26Look at it.
18:26It's all sunburnt and bloody...
18:29Yeah.
18:30...decayed.
18:32A couple of hoses have started leaking.
18:34I'd just like to redo the fittings on the end of them before they blow and cock us.
18:39You know, $100 worth of hydraulic oil.
18:42But it is a physical job,
18:44but they reckon what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so any crap in there?
18:49Yeah, heaps.
18:50Last season, Pete had surgery on his left shoulder
18:54after tearing the tendons, repairing the same digger.
18:57Got to try and look after the old fella, not let him lift too much,
19:01and wrestle the spanner out of his hand.
19:03He just loves it that much.
19:06He just doesn't stop.
19:07He reckons if he hasn't grown up by 50, he doesn't have to grow up.
19:12Oh!
19:14You all right?
19:20Oh, it's no good.
19:21I've done something there, mate.
19:22You're going to have to finish that off.
19:24Oh, I'll have to go see something about that.
19:28Let's just get this fixed.
19:30Sure, you're right.
19:32I'll do this.
19:33You just stand there.
19:34All right.
19:35You're right, hold that.
19:36All right, give me that.
19:37You're all right.
19:40I've done something in there.
19:42Torn something.
19:43I think I'd better go and get it looked at, just see what I've done.
19:46The real test will be going up the ladder, see how I go there.
19:49Yeah, well, I suppose I'll go up first and unload these tools.
19:54You going to get up, all right?
19:55Oh, I hope so.
19:56I'm a bit worried about Pete and his arm.
19:58Could put him out of action for a while, you know.
20:00I think it's a bit more serious than it is.
20:03All right then, well, I'll see you out there.
20:07You shall.
20:09Makes it look easy, doesn't he?
20:10I haven't Pete out of action, I've thrown a massive spanner in the works.
20:17We won't be mining.
20:19It's not safe to be underground by yourself.
20:23You're all good down there, mate.
20:24I'm going to put the arm in.
20:25I'm going to put the arm in.
20:27I'm going to put the arm in.
20:28I'm going to put the arm in.
20:29I'm going to put the arm in.
20:30I'm going to put the arm in.
20:31I'm going to put the arm in.
20:32You're down there, mate.
20:33Yeah.
20:35Flying steady, so hopefully it's not too bad and we can keep on going.
20:41Nearly there, mate.
20:48Right.
20:50You made it.
20:52Feeling any worse?
20:53Oh, yeah.
20:54Look at that coming out.
20:57Yeah, you're going to have to go see someone about that.
21:00Yeah, no, that's not good.
21:03Oh, well, all right.
21:04We'll have to get you in to get checked out, I suppose.
21:07I don't like going to hospitals and I'll avoid them like a plague if I can.
21:12But, you know, sometimes you just got to suck it up and go and see them.
21:17It could be a real blow if they say put a sling on and stop work.
21:22Well, that's what I'm supposed to do.
21:24So we'll just have to see what happens, I think.
21:32Yeah, unfortunately, this is when reality kicks in, you know.
21:45See you down there, Liz.
21:46When you realise that I've hocked Amanda's ring and I've got to find something.
21:51So we've just got to do what we have to do to get a result.
21:56You ready, old fella?
21:57Yeah, mate.
21:58I'm going to take the top out of this side.
22:01So just keep an eye on it.
22:05Nothing in the wall there?
22:07No, nothing.
22:08All right, I'll keep moving across.
22:12Oh, look at that.
22:14That's a big blow.
22:15That's a bloody big blow.
22:17A blow's a geological thing that's happened millions of years ago.
22:21And it's like compressed gases and water from deep underground have blown up.
22:28It's a different type of clay and that in there that drives like hard bloody concrete.
22:33Of course, this ground's so hard, we're going through the teeth really quickly.
22:37So we're just putting another set of new teeth on it.
22:41That's the difference.
22:43Other ground, you'll go years without wearing them down that much.
22:47So what do you reckon?
22:47I think that looks pretty friggin' good.
22:49Yeah.
22:49In this country here.
22:50That goes down there.
22:51Yeah, this yellow stuff, this blow, they're all good signs.
22:55Only thing we're missing is bloody opal, old fella.
22:57That's it.
22:58All right, we'll have a look at this level though.
23:00Where do you want me to start?
23:02Right-hand side or left-hand side?
23:04I don't give a shit.
23:05Well, you've got to pick a side.
23:07That way, if I don't find anything, it's your fault.
23:10Ah, we might as well go to the left.
23:12Now, I can't see a thing, so you've got to guide me.
23:15Yeah, righto, in a bit.
23:22Oh, what have you done?
23:25Don't tell me I put it through some colour.
23:27You went too f***ing high.
23:29Well, you're my spotter.
23:30Only bit of colour we've seen in ages,
23:32and I put my teeth through the middle of the bloody thing.
23:34Well, put your f***ing proper eyes on.
23:38F***ing hell.
23:40Tonally shit.
23:42Oh, that bit's not.
23:47Yeah, we'll just go straight in and look like that.
23:51Just in this situation here, you know,
23:53you can be standing here behind your digger absolutely broken,
23:56and in one pull on this lever, your whole life changes, you know.
24:01There's nothing else that you can do that in these days.
24:05How dare you?
24:10What was that?
24:11Big piece of roof fell out.
24:15Pretty shitty roof, Les.
24:17Just watch yourself, mate.
24:19Yeah, it's a pail up of rock.
24:22They're coming down on your head.
24:23You'll know about it.
24:25If I didn't have this, these would be falling on me head.
24:29I can't put a proper anything under it, because we're under it with the digger.
24:36Oh, that's not good.
24:39Up under there's a big hollow spot.
24:41That means your bedding planes have let go.
24:43That's why it's drummy.
24:46We'll just have to get stuck into this wall, Les, and get in there.
24:49As quick as we can, mate.
24:50We can only go forward.
24:51We can't go back.
24:52No.
24:54Right, you want to hold the cray under?
24:57And we need to get it out as big as we can, Les.
25:02Come on, old fella.
25:03Dig some colour for us.
25:08It's looking good, Les.
25:09Look at this.
25:10Yeah, nice and big.
25:12It goes right through.
25:14Better than nothing.
25:16About there?
25:17Yeah.
25:19Whoa.
25:20You got any colour in it?
25:23Oh yeah, that doesn't look too bad.
25:25Tell you what, that's hell of a bloody seam up there, Les.
25:29And this big thick stuff, it could develop into something, you know.
25:33It's not worth a fortune, but it's worth something.
25:39Don't break it.
25:40Looking good, Les.
25:41Looking good, mate.
25:43This might be it.
25:45It's not brilliant, but it's got colour all the way around.
25:49Let's get into it.
25:52Everything's looking real good.
25:54If it keeps going, we might get the ring today.
26:01You didn't want that bastard to come down, it would, you know.
26:10Hey, Ronnie, you're leaking coolant.
26:12So we've got to lose something.
26:15Leaking radiator fluid on a 30-year-old loader
26:18has stalled Aaron and Ron's efforts to find opal
26:21and pay off Aaron's debt to Eric Hume.
26:24Where's that coming from, mate?
26:25With no loader to clear dirt,
26:27they can't get the excavator close enough to the wall to dig for opal.
26:32I think it's out of this top hose here, Ron.
26:34You all right, Ron?
26:35I'll just tighten this clamp up, mate.
26:36You reckon that's all it is?
26:37Yeah.
26:38That's why I bloody can't keep up.
26:40You've been ripping out the mungle.
26:41I'll go get a spanner and tighten it, mate.
26:44We don't want to waste that **** as a deer, too.
26:46Yeah, I know.
26:47We've just got to tighten it up and then top her up again.
26:50That's pretty loose, Ron.
26:51Yeah.
26:52Luckily, we spotted it.
26:53If it runs out of coolant, we can cook the motor
26:55and then we're up for more money.
26:57It's still dripping, but anyway, yeah.
26:58Hi there.
26:59I'll tighten this other one, too.
27:00It's loose, too.
27:02How?
27:03What about this one here?
27:04I've got liquid running out of here.
27:05Just look.
27:07See there?
27:08That's where our coolant's been going, Ron.
27:10Mmm.
27:11Hey, is there any in the radiator?
27:13No.
27:15Bucket will do it, eh?
27:16Maybe a couple of buckets, yeah.
27:19All right, mate.
27:19Here she comes.
27:20Yeah.
27:21Go on, cordial.
27:26Yeah, little things like that, if you don't catch it,
27:29can create big problems.
27:31You've always got to keep an eye out, you know?
27:33See if she's back down to the right temperature.
27:36No worries.
27:40Yeah, it's going to clean this front bit out.
27:52We're going to start basing that level.
27:55So all we're doing is we're taking that top layer off
27:58and you can see the sandstone there.
28:00We want to keep that darker line on the bottom,
28:02the beigey line on the bottom.
28:10You see that big rock in front of the track there?
28:14You reckon that might be something?
28:17We'll have a look, eh?
28:30A lot of voids that could have been filled.
28:32Yeah, nice rock.
28:34There's a bit of green there too, look.
28:35Yeah, a bit of green there.
28:39Right.
28:42That's bloody green blue, Aaron.
28:48A bit of matrix there's going into the matrix too, Aaron.
28:51Oh yeah.
28:53Matrix opal is diffused within the host rock.
28:56It's considered of lesser value than opal that forms in one pocket within the stone.
29:01We'll give her another crunch, right, eh?
29:03Yeah.
29:10Whoa, whoa, whoa.
29:13No, don't go any further.
29:15I can see a colour, Ron.
29:17Colour.
29:18It's coming down.
29:21Wow.
29:23Isn't that something?
29:25It must be more than ground, Ron.
29:26It's broke, eh?
29:27Oh yeah.
29:28Look at that.
29:29That's got lines right through it.
29:32Hey, isn't that bloody good?
29:34Get a little bit of red in that one, Ron.
29:36There you go, that's that same purple we've been finding,
29:38but at least that one's in the line.
29:40Yeah.
29:40Oh, look at that.
29:42See that one there's got a line running through.
29:44Look at that, right through.
29:46Well, a couple of grand.
29:49Say 1,500.
29:52Would that be a safe bet?
29:53Yeah.
29:53All right.
29:54New beauty, Ron.
29:55Yeah, mate.
29:57Hey, a bit of weight.
29:58That's all right, Ron.
29:59No, no worries.
30:00A bit more weight in the bucket, mate.
30:01Well, after all the rocks we've been bashing, at least we've got some.
30:06All right, mate.
30:08All right.
30:12G'day, Sam.
30:12Can you hear me?
30:13Yeah, I can.
30:14How are you?
30:15Oh, not the best, mate.
30:17They've re-aggravated an old wound, and it looks like I'm going to have to take it easy
30:23for maybe a couple of weeks.
30:25Oh, so you can't fight fighters?
30:29No, no.
30:31No, I won't be able to go underground.
30:33No.
30:34We're going to have to change our plans a bit for the next couple of weeks anyway.
30:39Not a good result, really.
30:41Unable to work for two weeks, Pete and Sam need to find another way to pay the bills
30:47and fund the next stage of their mega wash plant.
30:52Last week, getting that nice big gem.
30:5550 grand.
30:5650 grand.
30:57That kicked us off to a pretty good start.
31:00So if we can sell that stone for anywhere near what I'm hoping to get, that'll be just
31:03fantastic.
31:04That'll be real good.
31:05We need that kickstart, need a bit of cash behind us.
31:07All right, mate, well, let's see if we can sell something.
31:10Yeah.
31:11Pete has set up a meeting in Lightning Ridge with buyer Paul Sadawi, who specialises in
31:17high-end stones.
31:18You got the stone there, mate?
31:20I have.
31:20Good.
31:23Hey, where do you reckon we'll go in there asking?
31:26Well, I've revised it a bit, mate.
31:28I reckon it's worth more than $50,000.
31:31It's a bloody beautiful gem.
31:33I reckon we'll go in there at 80k.
31:3580k?
31:3680,000, mate, yeah.
31:37Bloody hell, if we go in there at 80, what's the lowest we're going to take, then?
31:42Oh, I'm not going to go below 50.
31:44Right, so 50 is the bottom dollar.
31:56Pete and Sam have a high-quality black opal, featuring the full spectrum of colours.
32:02It's a partial rub by Pete and weighs 41 carats, or 8 grams.
32:08Paul's a buyer.
32:09They want to get it for as cheap as they can get it, and I want to get as much.
32:12So we've just got to try and find some middle ground that we both agree on.
32:16We'll see how we go.
32:20Okay, guys, how's it going?
32:22How are you, Paul?
32:22Good, Paul.
32:23Good to see you, Peter.
32:24You too, mate.
32:24Come in the office.
32:25Great, thank you.
32:27Yeah, I've been dealing with Peter, oh, for probably 15, 20 years.
32:30It's been a long time.
32:31I've got the lights on.
32:32I've had runs sometimes.
32:33He's got good quality stuff.
32:34He never lets his stuff go cheap, though.
32:36You've got to bargain with him, and I've got to make sure I don't lose.
32:40Well, so how you been?
32:41Good, mate.
32:42Good, good.
32:42Good, yeah.
32:43You've found a nice stone recently.
32:45We've got a little gem to show you.
32:47It's a little one, is it?
32:48It's just a little one, mate.
32:49Yeah, it's good.
32:50What field are you working in?
32:51This is from Alois Field.
32:53Oh, cool.
32:54Are you interested in having a look?
32:55Yeah, I'd love to.
32:58Oh, wow.
33:00That's a pretty stunning stone.
33:01Wow.
33:0341.4 carats, as it is.
33:06Yeah.
33:08We don't see these every day.
33:11Yeah, it's nice.
33:12It's got a little bit of gypsum in it and parts too.
33:15Yeah, I'll just...
33:17Get your big laser light on it.
33:19Yeah.
33:20And I can see how far the needles go into it.
33:24Yeah, there's that one little bit there in the middle that looks a bit of a worry.
33:29Yeah, still, it's an attractive stone.
33:31But what sort of money do you have on it?
33:33Well, like I said, there's just over 40 carats, and I'm looking at two grand a carat.
33:43You know, I like the stone.
33:44I don't really like the price.
33:51You can see the bastion coming around the front here.
33:53Yeah, it doesn't look real good at all, does it?
33:56You try not to come back here, all right?
33:58Yep.
33:58I got this to protect me, you haven't.
34:01Yep, all right.
34:02Let's get into here as quick as we friggin' can, mate.
34:05The Bushmen are onto good opal, needed for Rod to get Amanda's ring back.
34:10But they're in danger of being crushed by a crumbling roof.
34:13Regardless of the roof at the moment, I just got to keep on going.
34:19There's no option for me at the moment.
34:21I got to get that bloody ring back.
34:24What's that?
34:25Bit of purple.
34:28We're just going to keep chasing it because it's looking good.
34:31It's improving all the time.
34:33Oh, it's big and it's cheesy, Les, look.
34:37That's a nice piece, too.
34:38All the way around it goes.
34:42We're into the dollars again.
34:44That's not looking too bad, Les.
34:46Might even put the glasses on for this.
34:47That's nice, look at that.
34:49There's a bloody heap of it.
34:50Jeez, if we get a seam like this, it's real good stuff, mate.
34:55Oh, f**k yeah.
34:56We'll be eating that flash chicken, mate.
34:58That's looking good.
34:59And they're starting that up, mate.
35:01Oh yeah.
35:04You just got to keep going.
35:05You can't leave it in the wall.
35:07When you're on Kali, you just keep on bloody going.
35:10Oh, I just found it.
35:13Oh, look at that.
35:18That's it.
35:19That'll get the ring out of hock, Les.
35:21That'll save your life, mate.
35:22Oh, jeez.
35:24No, she's got some good colours in it.
35:26Oh, what a bloody relief, mate, I can tell you.
35:29Oh yeah, it takes the bloody pressure off me, right.
35:33How good's this, Les?
35:35Ah, it's good, been a good day.
35:36Finally going to tip a bit of apple out on our table, mate.
35:39Yes.
35:40The big fella first, Les, look at that.
35:42That's a nice plate, isn't it?
35:43Big plate of loveliness, mate.
35:45Wood colour.
35:46Take the top off that, there could be anything under that.
35:48Well, that's right, yeah.
35:49And then here, tip them out.
35:55How good's all that, mate?
35:57Yeah.
35:59And that one there, that's the kingstone, that fella.
36:01That's a nice stone, that is.
36:03The Bushmen have found seam opal, predominantly blue in colour,
36:08with a kingstone featuring highly priced reds.
36:11It's in the rough, and there's a massive eight kilograms.
36:15I reckon we'll get eight grand for that, don't you?
36:18Yeah.
36:18And that kingstone.
36:19Yeah.
36:20And we've got all this stuff here.
36:22Three, four.
36:23Five on that, I think I'll get five for that.
36:25We've got eight, we've got five.
36:28Thirteen.
36:28And I reckon this big pile of stuff is 20, 25, don't you?
36:33Yes, I'd reckon, yeah.
36:3538,000, mate.
36:36Good day's work, mate.
36:38I can't wait to take this home show Amanda and say you definitely got your ring back.
36:42That's it, yes.
36:42The only trouble is, she might say, you got the money now,
36:44what about buying me another one?
36:49Yeah, 38 grand, you know, it's been a bloody good week.
36:52You know, got the ring back, picked the spirits up a little bit,
36:55proved there was some bloody opal down there.
36:58Best week we've had in a long, long time.
37:00The best is to come yet.
37:02I think Ploughboys has got it now, and I reckon it'll be there in big lumps.
37:07Tomorrow, we might be walking around in suits.
37:10Dutch Edos.
37:11You never know, mate.
37:12Dutch Edos.
37:13Wow.
37:19Lucky you spotted that, mate.
37:211,500, that'd be a safe bet.
37:23Yeah.
37:24With a debt of $80,000 to repay, Aaron is keen to sell their opal find.
37:29They've set up a meeting with Eric Madsen.
37:32Oh, good day, boys.
37:32How are you, Eric?
37:33Yeah, good, mate.
37:34Who's been in the opal business for over 45 years.
37:37Yeah, I think they probably respect me reasonably well,
37:40because I'm actually another miner.
37:44I'm not just a buyer coming up.
37:46Have you got any opals for me?
37:47We've found a nice boulder, eh?
37:49Oh, yeah.
37:50There's some nice thick lines coming through here to the other side here.
37:54Yeah, you might get some big stones out of it, eh?
37:56Yeah.
37:57That's the biggest one of the lot, this one, isn't it?
37:59Yeah.
38:00And the opal is quite thick in it, so that's good.
38:04Aaron and Ron have mainly boulder opal, blue-green with flashes of purple.
38:09It's in the rough, and there's four and a half kilograms.
38:13They hope to get $1,500.
38:18What sort of money have you got on the parcel?
38:21Well, what were you thinking, Ron?
38:24You caught me there.
38:25A couple of grand, maybe?
38:27No, no, no, no.
38:28What do you think it's worth?
38:30Well, it's sort of what we call big, cheap stones, you know?
38:34All right, yeah.
38:36Look, $1,500 would pull it up for me, $1,500.
38:39$1,500?
38:40Yeah.
38:40Can we go halfway, $1,750?
38:42No.
38:43No?
38:43No, it's a bit, uh...
38:45It's a bit lower than material, you know?
38:46I'd like to support you, because we want to hopefully buy a lot in the future from you.
38:51We can throw all the matrix in, too.
38:54Yeah, okay, okay.
38:55Well, uh...
38:55There's a couple of buckets of matrix.
38:57Okay.
38:57Green, blue, red.
38:59Well, look, you throw that in, make it $1,700.
39:02All right.
39:03Yeah?
39:04No worries.
39:04Not a deal.
39:05Yeah.
39:05Okay.
39:06No worries.
39:06Okay, I'll get a bucket for this.
39:08No worries, mate.
39:10I was happy to buy that from them, to keep them going.
39:13It's a little drop in the bucket, but I guess every little bit helps.
39:18It's not big opal, but it pays the bills.
39:22Every week we've been finding a bit, so it's a good thing.
39:26We've just got to open the ground up a bit more and have a good look at it.
39:37This stone's nice.
39:38It is, it's a beauty.
39:40I reckon it'll cut a nice 30-carat clean stone.
39:44Yeah, just trying to figure out the 30-carat stone.
39:48You're all right?
39:49Yeah.
39:51That's my main concern.
39:54To survive the downtime of an injury to Pete and to help fund a mega wash plant,
39:59Pete and Sam are relying on a big sale price for their prized opal.
40:04There's a lot riding on this sale, you know.
40:07It's all good having a pretty rock,
40:08but if you can't sell it, well, it's not worth anything.
40:11So it's probably in the range of an N3 stone.
40:14N3, yeah?
40:15Well, I think N4, didn't you?
40:16Yeah.
40:16I was actually hoping to be a little bit blacker.
40:19Opal tone is the gem's neutral or base colour, measured on a scale of N1 to N9.
40:25Only stones from 1 to 4 are considered black
40:28and are the most sought after, as the colours appear more vibrant.
40:32Even if you've got skill, you can't make it better if that's what nature's given you.
40:37That's right.
40:38We do have to deal with what nature's given us.
40:40I've actually been a bit heavy on price, but I'd probably be close to 48 on it.
40:4748?
40:48Yeah, yeah.
40:48Because I think any more than that,
40:51I don't think I'm going to have much room for much profit on it.
40:55So what do you think about that?
40:5760 would sound better to me.
40:59I could lose money at 60.
41:02There's a possibility I could lose that money.
41:04Yeah.
41:05So it's up to you guys.
41:06And I'm afraid that's probably the maximum I think I'd be comfortable to go.
41:11Do you know?
41:12All right.
41:13Okay.
41:15A lot riding on this sale.
41:16If I can get some cold hard cash, I can get a lot more done on my wash plant.
41:21I'm going to have to have two weeks off with this shoulder.
41:24So things, you know, the bills still happen.
41:27Why don't we make it even 50, Paul?
41:30Actually, I've virtually, I think I've pushed myself to the limit.
41:34I've got a few ideas of problems.
41:36And, you know, I think that might be pull me up.
41:41We've been to quite a few Opal deals now.
41:44And a lot of the time you walk out with nothing.
41:46So I'm feeling pretty nervous, but we really need this deal to go through.
41:51So we got a bit of cash and yeah, keep things sticking along.
41:54Well, that sort of stuff, I would have thought,
41:57you know, three and a half, 4,000 of carats.
41:59Well, I would have thought that, what they call it.
42:01It has to be a little bit darker for that.
42:04Yeah, it's a black Opal, but we're at the bottom end of the spectrum.
42:07So it's a little bit darker.
42:09Well, then we'd put another nought on the figure.
42:11You know, I reckon we could do business at an even 50.
42:14I reckon, Paul, if you could just squeeze that little bit more out of it.
42:1849.
42:1949?
42:20That'd be me done.
42:21Yeah.
42:23Jeez, I'd like to get a sale, but oh, jeez, this is a bit of a thing.
42:30Yeah, actually, I'd like to buy it, but like, I don't want to lose money.
42:35I honestly feel I'm pushed to 49.
42:3850 would turn me off, actually.
42:40Yeah.
42:4149 turns you on?
42:43Yeah.
42:46Done deal.
42:47OK, great.
42:47Good on you.
42:48Thanks for that.
42:49And I'll let you know when I cut 30 carats.
42:53I'm happy with the result.
42:55Of course, you would have always liked to get more, and I was hoping for more.
42:59But at the end of the day, I got a pretty good price for that stone.
43:02It had a couple of problems, which is why I didn't cut it.
43:05I wanted someone else to take the risk.
43:07So now it's on Paul's shoulders.
43:09Thanks for offering it to me.
43:11Great, for sure, Paul.
43:12It's exciting.
43:13We had a beautiful gem and finally got some cash for it.
43:17So you don't get to look at it anymore.
43:20Yeah, money means more to us right now than having a beauty gem.
43:24Thanks for the business with you again.
43:25Thank you.
43:27At the end of the day, we're stoked.
43:28That means Sam's guaranteed a stone.
43:31He can see that there is money in this opal mine and caper.
43:34A whole lot more can happen to our wash plant.
43:36And I can have this a couple of weeks off to rest his shoulder without any worry about the bills.
43:41It's a terrific outcome.