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Outback Opal Hunters Season 13 Episode 6
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00:00What have we got here, Sam?
00:04Well, I've been working on something for a little while now.
00:07I decided to get Dad to show me a few little spots that he knows about.
00:11And this one is one of his old claims.
00:14He found a lot of nice opal around here.
00:17And you know what, guys, this belongs to me.
00:21This is my claim.
00:22Oh, it's your claim.
00:23It is my claim.
00:24Ah, well.
00:25I've got these holes down.
00:26I want to connect these two,
00:27and then I plan to go from this hole over that way.
00:29Hoist on this hole.
00:31Escape letters this hole.
00:33Alright, let's do it.
00:34There's just a little bit of a problem.
00:36Truck.
00:37Battery's flat.
00:38It has a hoist on the back.
00:39I need a jumpstart.
00:40So, we'll jumpstart your truck?
00:42Yep.
00:43You go home and get our truck?
00:44Yep.
00:45Alright, let's do it.
00:46Right on, Sam.
00:48Where's your truck?
00:49It's our Dad's house.
00:50Dad's house?
00:51Yep.
00:52Let's go get it.
00:53Well, you're on the edge of a really good field, so...
00:56Yeah.
00:57I think you'll do alright.
00:58I hope so.
00:59Yeah.
01:00That's it.
01:01The pink hoist.
01:02You can't get any better.
01:03You can't get any bloody pink or I don't know that.
01:06Righto.
01:07Well, I'll hook this up.
01:08Yep.
01:09Then I'll give you a bellowing to starter.
01:10Yeah, okay.
01:11Sounds good.
01:12Angus in.
01:13Good boy.
01:14No, Sam.
01:15Let's go.
01:16Fire in the hole.
01:17I'll do.
01:18I'll do it.
01:19I'll do it.
01:20Do it!
01:21I'll do it.
01:22I'll do it.
01:23I'll do it.
01:24And then we'll do it.
01:25No.
01:26No, no.
01:27You old f***er.
01:45Just let her sit for a bit longer and I'll give her another drink.
01:48We were so f***ing close.
01:50Once she starts to fire, you're pumped the f*** out of it.
01:54That's how you need to be doing it when it starts to fire.
01:57Hang on, I've got to get some more fuel.
01:59I have to get the hoist because it's my key piece of machinery.
02:02It's how I get the dirt out of the ground.
02:03We just thought it was going to be a jump start, but this is holding us up even longer before getting the claim started.
02:09We're not digging and we're not finding any money.
02:12Righto, Sam.
02:16Pump, pump.
02:17Yes, let's go.
02:22Good work, Sam.
02:24Righto, Sam.
02:26We'll go down that way.
02:27Sounds good.
02:27You just follow me.
02:28If you've got any problems, let me know.
02:30Yeah, I'll call you.
02:35Bit of a low branch there.
02:37Just be careful.
02:40Whoa, mate.
02:42Just watch them bloody bumps, mate.
02:44You'll tip it over.
02:45You hit one of them bumps fast enough.
02:47Grawan Opal Fields, New South Wales.
02:55After the discovery of Opal in 1905, thousands have called this desolate landscape home.
03:02I'm a third generation miner.
03:05My grandfather was a miner and so is my dad.
03:07And it's really important to me to keep going with what we do as a family.
03:12I'm so fortunate that dad used to have this claim and I'm very excited to get down there and make it my own.
03:18The Bushmen.
03:20Righto, Les.
03:20Do you reckon if you brought the truck straight in here, you'd reach that to lift it off?
03:24Rod Manning and Les Walsh.
03:27And what I'll do, I'll go out there and bring the truck in here.
03:30You don't have to tell me your life story.
03:32Just do it.
03:32Are helping their mine partner, Sam Meehan.
03:35Right, I'm going to do it.
03:36Set up her new claim.
03:39Whatever we find, we're just going in equal thirds.
03:42But if we don't find Opal, then I won't be able to spend as much time Opal mining as I'd like.
03:47I'm going to have to find a second income.
03:50Wally's doing that, Sam.
03:52Yep.
03:52I might climb up there and chuck some ladders at you.
03:54Yeah, sounds good.
03:55We've had a slow start to the season.
03:57Robbie's is just kicking our arse lately.
04:00We're sick of it trying to kill us.
04:01Everybody stay back.
04:03I want to get the digger well out of the way if this roof comes down.
04:07Instead of getting $20,000, $30,000, we've got two and a half grand.
04:11It's all broken up.
04:13What did you use, an explosive ball, a bloody crowbar?
04:16Since that find the other day, there's not been much turned up at all.
04:20And we've just got to find somewhere else.
04:22Hopefully we can find a bit of money that helps us along.
04:26I haven't got enough money to retire on and do what I want.
04:29So, yeah, we'll just have to hang in here.
04:33Hey, Sam.
04:33Yep.
04:34Do you reckon you can get there somewhere and just give the old bloke instructions?
04:38You know what he's like.
04:38He's deaf, I suppose.
04:41Sam will be your translator.
04:42I'm giving you directions.
04:46I don't know this end of the field all that well.
04:50Right, just slowly up.
04:52Slowly up.
04:54Oh, Jesus Christ.
04:57Wait.
04:58I just want to get out of the way before you kill me.
05:00Yep.
05:01All right.
05:08Slowly take the weight.
05:10Slowly take the weight.
05:11Now, this is it for me.
05:12I'm an opal miner and I'll die an opal miner.
05:15I'm not doing anything else.
05:16How's that?
05:17Bit more?
05:17Bit more.
05:18There could be a lot of money here.
05:20And I hope there is.
05:21But that is a fair bit of work for us setting it up.
05:23Slowly.
05:24Slowly.
05:27Slowly.
05:27Slow.
05:28Slow.
05:28Slow.
05:31Stop.
05:32Stop.
05:34Hold it.
05:35Hold it.
05:36Just let it down a little.
05:38Down a little.
05:38Hey, Sam.
05:39Yep.
05:40Do you know it's been bent to ****?
05:42No.
05:43It's sitting up a foot and a half.
05:44It's been bent straight up.
05:46Oh, my gosh.
05:47That ain't good, Sam.
05:48No, it isn't.
05:49That ain't good because this here is supposed to be flat on the deck.
05:54That's where your hole is, in the middle.
05:57And this is supposed to be flat.
05:59It seems that the hoist got damaged in transit when we're getting it over to the claim.
06:04The part that goes around the hole is bent up like this.
06:06It's meant to be flat like this.
06:08So we could put the ladders down and actually get down there.
06:11It's fairly thick steel.
06:13I don't reckon we'll bash that down.
06:16I don't feel good at all.
06:17This is...
06:19I don't have words.
06:20This is not good.
06:21Get some dirt.
06:28Get some dirt.
06:29Yeah, mate.
06:30Let's get this pay dirt in.
06:32She's loaded up, mate.
06:33Ready to go.
06:33Oh, let's run out.
06:34Yeah.
06:35All right.
06:35Let's get some opal out.
06:37Whenever you're ready, fire him up, mate.
06:40Kill her.
06:40The mill's running, so we're off him, mate.
06:45We've got pay dirt going in there now.
06:49The bloody rims aren't working, so I've got to try and lever the door up.
06:53Get rid of any jams, unblock them.
06:58That's not going to move.
07:00Hey, Cosi's stopping the machine, mate.
07:02What's wrong, mate?
07:04Got it down.
07:05They got a jam.
07:06We can't get it out.
07:08Howdy.
07:08He keeps getting blockages out there, so he's got to sit there and poke them to get them
07:15unblocked.
07:16It's really inconsistent.
07:18Not much dirt coming through.
07:19There's no opal coming through either.
07:25How's it going, man?
07:28Yeah, just give me a minute, mate.
07:31What was that?
07:33A minute, mate.
07:38F***ing hell.
07:40Shut it down, mate.
07:42Shut it down, man.
07:44What's going on?
07:45Let's get out of here now.
07:46F***ing me, man.
07:48You all right?
07:50Sorry, bro.
07:51You said go.
07:53You said give me a minute.
07:55Can't hear s*** in there.
07:56Sorry, man.
07:59You all right, mate?
08:00Yeah, I just need a minute, man.
08:05Andamooka, South Australia.
08:08Beneath this hot, desolate landscape lies some of the world's best opal.
08:14But the Mooka boys, brothers Matt and Koza Kathigan, are struggling to find it.
08:20I'm stuck on this door trying to open and close.
08:22Nearly taking my fingers off.
08:24I'm jamming, bro.
08:25And that, f***ing be, man.
08:27What do you reckon?
08:27We try and get hydraulics working.
08:29There is a switch in there, so I don't know.
08:31Let's have a try.
08:32I'll hit all these breakers and see if we can't get it to roll.
08:35We've run the Noodler this year already.
08:36It's got some issues that we've got to constantly fix because it's so old.
08:40Leif is here.
08:41I'm sure he'd fix it pretty quick.
08:43Leif's moved down south for his business.
08:45He's got another contract down there.
08:46So, yeah, we really miss his knowledge of machines when we have little breakdowns.
08:51Yeah, this is pretty frustrating because I really don't know what I'm doing.
08:55Koza and I just have to scrape together and do our best just to keep the show on the road.
08:59We've barely got any machines left.
09:0290% of everything we've got is downed.
09:04All we've really got is a digger and a Noodler running right now.
09:07So we're really relying on a few piles that we brought up here from horse batting a couple of seasons back.
09:12And hopefully find some stuff that we left behind.
09:16Kozzy, just found a couple of loose wires here.
09:20Just tighten them up just one second.
09:22Hopefully this works, bro.
09:24All right, fingers crossed.
09:26Ready.
09:28Yeah, she's working, bro.
09:30Yeah.
09:31Oh, man, that's awesome.
09:33Again, a little bit of a hiccup, but we worked it out.
09:35Let's get back to work, eh?
09:36Sounds good to me.
09:37Moved some dirt.
09:38Yeah.
09:38Yeah.
09:40Yeah, things are looking good for us right now.
09:42Just a faulty switch, eh?
09:44And now we're keen to get some opal in the bucket.
09:46The Noodler machine is basically comprised of a big hopper here that we load up.
09:54It's got a belt that feeds it out to what we call the travel belt.
09:57Drops into our shaker and the dirt runs through this room here.
10:00That's where Kozzy will be sitting and just picking all the glowing rocks off that belt.
10:03The black light's definitely a perfect thing to find the opal.
10:07It fluoresces really well.
10:09But you really just got to try and keep your eye on the ball.
10:13Because if I don't find it and it goes out there, no one will find it.
10:17Finding itself just costs us all a bloody fortune.
10:19We're looking to try and bring in $200,000.
10:22It's kind of the figure we need to be able to run this as a proper company.
10:25We've got families to feed, so we've really got to get going and find some opal this year.
10:31Yeah, so it's really make or break season for the Mooka boys.
10:33We've really got to start making some money.
10:35Otherwise, none of us are going to be able to do this next year.
10:37What's going on out there, Matty?
10:47Dirt's stocked?
10:50Whoa, what'd that stop?
10:52Hang on, mate.
10:53She's just stocking and starting here.
10:59That's no good, mate.
11:00Shut it all down, mate.
11:01She's no good.
11:04F***, mate.
11:07I think we get a better result out of dinosaurs.
11:23Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:25All right, let's get this in the agi, man.
11:27Yeah, man.
11:28So, George, our dry rumbler, she's running pretty sweet at the moment.
11:33Yeah, that dust is travelling a little bit, man.
11:38I know we're...
11:40Yeah, I can see that dust travelling.
11:44Not much wind around, but there is...
11:46Yeah, a bit of dust travelling.
11:48It's going to be a problem, for sure.
11:50In Lightning Ridge, at their government tank claim, Slim Pickings, Lee Hobden and Roger Williams are fighting a man-made dust storm created by processing waste dirt from over a century of mining.
12:05It's definitely going to travel over top of that dam there, isn't it?
12:07Yeah, once we get these southerly winds, man, I'm pretty much more sure we're cactus, eh?
12:15That dust is basically pluming around.
12:17You can sort of see wind does shift.
12:19You can see it go on either side of George.
12:22Towards the highway.
12:24We reckon we'll pull him up, mate, and we'll see what we can do.
12:28Yeah, roger that, roger.
12:29It's time to come up with a plan.
12:31Once it's a highway...
12:37That's when we're in trouble.
12:38We're in a lot of trouble, then.
12:40Yeah.
12:40The authorities will shut us down.
12:41Yeah.
12:43I've got a plan.
12:44All it's going to cost us is our time.
12:46Yeah, it's time we don't have, mate.
12:48I know.
12:49The plan is we're going to be putting up a shade sail dust suppression.
12:53We're going to weld a curvature from an old trampoline frame.
12:56I've got a bit old shade cloth here.
12:57It's been laying in the grass for a while.
12:59It saves it going to waste.
13:02This is going to be part of the sale.
13:06I'm hoping that we can get this dust suppression up and running like ASAP.
13:10I've got six kids.
13:11Pretty much I've got to provide for the whole lot of us.
13:13Oh, my God!
13:16I really want to succeed in just building a life up here for my family.
13:21You attacked?
13:23Yeah.
13:23Yeah.
13:23I set myself on fire, eh?
13:27We do this for a living.
13:29So if I shut down here, I'm not getting paid.
13:32The price of fuel and oil through the roof at the moment, and it doesn't get any cheaper.
13:37It never has.
13:38And it probably never will.
13:41It's actually starting to take shape.
13:43Let's look at this part.
13:44So, I just hope that it does this part.
13:49As a target this year, we bumped it up to $120,000 because we've got Georgian to play.
13:54Just like every machinery, you have to make sure that you can recoup the money that you spend on it.
13:58When we put the frame works up, we're going to screw the shade block onto it.
14:03As much as I don't want to be working at night time, I don't know if we're going to have it 100% done today.
14:07The league's really stressing out.
14:10We've got a couple of buyers coming up, Elon and Rayanne.
14:13They've asked for a big parcel.
14:15So, we're trying to push through.
14:17We're trying to keep our activities running.
14:19I know what it's like.
14:20He's trying to run a business.
14:22They're serious buyers.
14:23We've got to make it worth our while for driving all the way up here from Melbourne, or they'll back out.
14:27And I hope they don't back out.
14:33I'll pull this up and over.
14:34Watch yourself, bro.
14:37You might slip off because we're almost finished.
14:40Quicker we can attach this, man.
14:41Quicker we can get some opal.
14:43Just be careful, man.
14:44Yeah, mate.
14:48Last screw?
14:49Yeah, bro.
14:50Do you want to grab me that ladder so I can climb down here, please?
14:53Just swing off there, mate.
14:54I'll catch you.
14:54No, yeah, no.
14:55That's a great idea.
14:57Where is that ladder?
15:00This is going to be the first couple of truckloads of dirt in.
15:03Well, since we put that suppression up, and we can see how it goes.
15:12Tell you one thing, Lee.
15:13That's looking pretty goddamn good, isn't it?
15:16Of course it's good, mate.
15:20What a brilliant idea.
15:24Well, it's working.
15:25That's just all the dust coming off that shade sail.
15:28It's actually preventing all that dust going over the dam towards the highway.
15:32At this present stage, we're in a bit of a rush to get a path full up.
15:35So we're feeding, George.
15:40Hey, Roger.
15:41Stop, stop, stop.
15:43Stop, man.
15:44Oh, what's up?
15:46I'm over this.
15:47The problem is the dirt building up on the side here.
15:50We haven't dug the hole out further enough.
15:52So after about three or four truckloads, it actually reaches the framework.
15:57The whole barrel lift up and bounce off.
16:00All right, I'll put the bucket down, man, and I'll come and have a yard.
16:04Right, man, I'll shut it down.
16:05I'll shut it down.
16:07Now, if we hit George, we're up for a whole heap of money.
16:09So we've got to figure out a solution.
16:10Just hold him there.
16:19Righto, down.
16:23Righto, you want to chain that down?
16:28What we're going to try and do is use the crane truck
16:31to put a bit of weight on where that steel's been bent.
16:35See if we can't get enough pressure to bend it down again.
16:38A little bit.
16:40In Grawan, Rod and Les are helping mine partner Sam set up her own claim.
16:51Go down again.
16:53But they're struggling to fix her hoist,
16:56vital for extracting waste dirt from underground.
17:00The part that goes around the hole is bent up like this.
17:03It's meant to be flat like this.
17:04So we could put the ladders down and actually get down there.
17:07We want to try and do it as quick as we can.
17:09We can't be f***ing about here forever.
17:12We need to get underground.
17:14Oh no!
17:16Give her a gutful.
17:22Whoa!
17:24Yes.
17:26That's pretty close.
17:27Well, that's about as good as you're going to get.
17:29Yeah, I don't think we're going to get it much better.
17:30I could not be more thankful to have Rod and Les helping me out.
17:34The hoist being bent up, we wouldn't have been able to put the ladders down and actually get down there.
17:38So I'm at the point that I need to connect the holes.
17:40I asked Boggle Wallace to come help me out.
17:43Start bringing them over, we'll start dropping them down.
17:46I've been open mining for about a year or so.
17:49Sam's got a bit of a job there for me.
17:50She's belling out on her new claim that she's got happening.
17:52So I thought, fair enough.
17:54Keeps me busy, keeps me out of trouble.
17:56The most dangerous part of open mining is this now.
18:00Putting all ladders together or doing any sort of work at all on the surface.
18:04You all right, Sam?
18:05Yeah, I just, this is my least favourite thing.
18:07Yeah, it's horrible.
18:09I hate being near open holes and when you're carrying the, holding the weight, you don't want to fall.
18:15All right.
18:15Yep.
18:18The hole here is extremely deep.
18:21Fun part's over.
18:23I'm going to be at least 70 foot underground.
18:26I'm going to go down and find the opal level.
18:28This claim in particular, it's quite hard because the opal plate and sandstone look very, very similar.
18:33But I'm going to give it my best shot.
18:36This ground's really hard to read.
18:38Bogger may not be able to recognise the difference in this ground because he hasn't worked it.
18:44So you're going to have to go down, boss.
18:47Just take your time.
18:49And just remember, I will not let you fall.
18:54Most people don't realise the courage it takes to climb down something like this.
18:58This is on a ladder that's swinging all over the place.
19:01What's going on?
19:17Not working?
19:18No, man, it's not going to work.
19:19What is it?
19:20That motor?
19:21I don't even know right now, but it's got to be an easier way to make money, I tell you.
19:26At their Hellion Hill claim, the Mooka boys are battling to keep their mining business alive with our chief mechanic, Leif Tanzer.
19:36We've got some pay dirt to run and we really need the opal, but we can't get any dirt out of the feed hopper into the darkroom.
19:42So, all right, what have we got here?
19:45This motor is the one that feeds everything to the rest of the machine.
19:49Without this, nothing works.
19:51So, we're going to pull this apart.
19:53Hopefully we can find something we can do about it.
19:57It's hard to get information on these things.
19:58It's so old.
19:59Oh, man, how does this come apart?
20:04Oh.
20:08That's a clutch, man.
20:10Oh, man, that doesn't look good.
20:12It's been wearing off like crazy.
20:15The clutch is just made out of different material.
20:17That rubs up against the steel cone and grabs the friction and makes it spin, but it's been worn out too much, so they're not grabbing enough.
20:26It's obviously that they need to make hard contact, and it's just worn so far that it's just not making that contact anymore.
20:34So, any weight we put on the belt on this drive, it's just going to keep slipping, and it'll only get worse from here.
20:42Let's see if we can go out to the boneyard and find another one.
20:47This is where we just store a lot of the old parts and stuff we come across, just in case we might need something in the future.
20:56Let's move all this s*** here.
20:58Oh, wait a second.
21:00Wait a second.
21:02Is that it?
21:02Oh, man.
21:03That's it, mate.
21:04They all line up.
21:06Yep, look at that.
21:07You can see how far's worn off.
21:08Yeah.
21:10Yeah.
21:12Mate, I can't believe how lucky we got just then.
21:15Yeah, but it looks more grippy.
21:16Should do the job.
21:18See, this one is about another, I don't know, it's five mil bigger, so it means it's going to get a good grip.
21:24Put her in, Matty.
21:25Yep.
21:26Yep.
21:26Yeah, so we're lucky.
21:27We just got six bolts that hold on this clutch here.
21:31Four bolts to put the motor back on, we're good to go.
21:33Hopefully.
21:35All right, I'm going to crank the jenny back on, eh?
21:37Yeah, get that jenny on.
21:39Let's get these belts rolling, mate.
21:40We need some opal.
21:49Let's get this show on the road, brother.
21:51Time for that drive.
21:57Yeah.
21:59Good melody.
22:02There's dirt coming through on the belt, say.
22:04The machine's definitely working, doing everything we need it to do.
22:08You got much in there, mate?
22:11I found a couple little pieces, man, say.
22:14Yeah, it's not too bad.
22:16There we go, there's another bit.
22:18That's what it looks like.
22:20I'm not too sure if it's got colour in it or not.
22:23As soon as we get out there in the sunlight, we're going to know if it's got colour.
22:26All right, the last bit's coming now, Cosi.
22:29Is that hopper empty, is it?
22:32Yeah, it's there, mate.
22:33Shut her down.
22:34Oh, what have we got?
22:39God, tell me we've got something good.
22:41Please tell me we've got something good.
22:46All right.
22:47Yeah, show me.
22:49Oi.
22:50There's colour.
22:52There's colour in there, bro.
22:53There's some size in here, too.
22:55That'll work then, eh?
22:57Mate, I can see plenty of colour.
22:59It's what we call blue-green jelly here in Annamooka.
23:02But, look, we've still got a bit of work to do.
23:10Start it down, start it down.
23:13And I'll cover it over you.
23:14In Lightning Ridge, Roger Williams and Lee Hobden have been forced to shut down before mountains of waste dirt engulf their dry rumbler.
23:25George.
23:26After about three or four truckloads, it actually breaches the framework.
23:30The whole barrel lifts up and pounce off.
23:32We need the dirt to go on this side of the hole.
23:35Yeah, well, what can we do?
23:36That's the thing.
23:37We've got a couple of buyers coming up, and they've asked for a big parcel.
23:42So we've got to figure out a solution.
23:44That's the main thing.
23:45You could probably spin George the other way, and then all the material will fall out this side.
23:50It's a cracking idea, man, but those wheels pull the barrel clockwise, so I'm wondering if there's going to be enough power.
23:54Throwing an anti-clockwise, so it's pushing the barrel up.
23:56Well, what do you reckon?
23:57I'll jump back in.
23:58We'll rotate in the opposite way.
24:00Yeah.
24:00Put a bit of a load in, huh?
24:02Let's test it.
24:03Let's test it.
24:04It's going to be a bit scary because the way it rotates, it pushes all the weight down onto the diff on this side.
24:11I'm hoping if we rotate it the other way, it doesn't slip.
24:15Fire shut down here.
24:16No money.
24:17No Opel, no money.
24:19I hope that motor has got enough power.
24:22Instead of pushing it this way, pulling it that way.
24:26So normally, that was the direction, but we're going this way now.
24:31We're about to say a bit of dirt.
24:35All right, we're good to go.
24:36Go with this test.
24:37Yep.
24:38Test him, test him.
24:50It's rolling, man.
24:52Oh, yeah.
24:53Look out here, brother.
24:55Well, pretty happy at the moment.
24:59It's working.
25:01Looks good.
25:03What we need to do now, go open mining.
25:06Right now at the moment, I'm reaching down inside the hole, and the hole's probably around about close to 15 foot deep.
25:12We're just reprocessing all the old silk from these old-timers, old puddler sites.
25:20It could have been put here back in the 60s or 70s, so it's pushing 50-odd years, and we're hoping it's full of cracking gems.
25:27Well, let's put him into George.
25:29Yep.
25:30Get this thing running.
25:32Let's see if we can make some money.
25:34We feed George from the hopper end.
25:36He'll send through.
25:37All that fine stuff's going to come out.
25:39In the center is the cage.
25:41It's going to catch all those bigger pieces we don't really want at all.
25:43That stuff that stays in the barrel itself will come out onto another conveyor.
25:47Into the adjuice, we've got water going through.
25:49That will brine that stuff down.
25:51Once we saw it get it in there, a couple of hours down the track, we're ready to tail out.
25:56I guess you've washed down a bit, or what?
25:58I guess ready.
26:00Let's put it on the table and see what we get.
26:02Get this over for these boys, eh?
26:04Hopefully it provides.
26:11No colour.
26:13Usually on a good tail, I will see a couple of nice pieces sitting on top, man.
26:17Not in this case, is it, you know?
26:19No.
26:21Bit of purple.
26:23I don't even know when I'm going to throw that in the bucket, really.
26:25Throw it over your shoulder for good luck.
26:28Open the lucky side, mate.
26:30Yeah, yeah.
26:31Well, Rog, I ain't seen too much of this at all, eh?
26:34Yeah, it's looking pretty dismal.
26:36Mate, it's looking like a flop.
26:38Tell you the truth.
26:40Wow, well, the price of the aluminum's going up, isn't it?
26:45Oh, it's cold and dismal.
26:48This wasn't worth two knobs of goat crap.
26:52We've had days just finding nothing.
26:54We are running out of time.
26:56Yeah, well, it's bloody heartbreaking.
26:58Yeah.
26:58Tip him up.
26:59All right.
27:00Are you able to reach that last ladder?
27:06Let me see.
27:08See, that's the trouble with these swinging ladders.
27:11They're only hooked.
27:12The last run has fallen off.
27:15I've got to pull another run.
27:17If it's touching the ground, one way you can do it.
27:20Yeah.
27:20Climb down to the bottom.
27:22You definitely got me.
27:24I got you.
27:24You won't fall.
27:25Okay, I'm on the bottom.
27:30Hook it up onto the ladder?
27:33Yeah.
27:39There we go.
27:40You got it?
27:41Yeah, I got it down the side.
27:43Good work.
27:45Put a scratch down the wall so Bogga can see where you are.
27:49Yeah.
27:49That's it?
27:51At Angus Clang, the Bushman's Sam Meehan
27:54has identified what she thinks is the opal-bearing level
27:58at 19 metres below the surface.
28:01You coming up, are you?
28:02Yeah.
28:03Now they can start digging horizontally,
28:06creating a drive that connects the two vertical mine shafts.
28:11One shaft for the hoist, extracting the waste dirt,
28:15and one shaft for emergency evacuation.
28:18Bogga's going to keep on digging,
28:19and he's going to push through as much as he can
28:22through to the other hole
28:23while we wait to put the other ladders down
28:25so I can get down there too.
28:27Hopefully you find a 100-gram pocket.
28:29Yeah, well, that's right.
28:31Got to find something down here.
28:33No, no.
28:33If you need anything, just bell her at us.
28:35Will do.
28:38I'm excited because this area here,
28:40the opal form's under sandstone,
28:41and then just under there, I have the opal clay.
28:44I've been doing a lot of mining the past five years,
28:47but this year I'm really finding my feet
28:48and confidence opal mining.
28:49So once this claim's set up and the holes are connected,
28:52I can come mining any time I want.
28:57Hey, Rob, Sam.
28:59What?
29:00Yeah, Jake?
29:01I've got a bit of green colour here.
29:03Really?
29:04Yeah.
29:04Might have been off the roof here.
29:06Oh, that's what we want.
29:07Yeah, probably be on the roof.
29:09That's where you find the opal in this area,
29:10just under the roof.
29:12Oh, it's only thin, but it is green.
29:14That's the main thing.
29:14It's a great indicator.
29:16Don't lose it.
29:17He's only gone in that far.
29:19Yeah, I know.
29:20That's a good sign, Sam.
29:21He sure is.
29:22Well, I have Rod and Les with me and Jake helping me.
29:25It's really important that we're finding opal
29:27and turning over money.
29:31Oh, dear.
29:32Yeah.
29:32It's just started raining.
29:34Hey, Jake.
29:35Yeah, mate?
29:36I think we might have to pull you out of there, mate.
29:38It's starting to rain.
29:39Yeah, no worries.
29:41I don't want him climbing that wet.
29:43Exactly.
29:44You there, Rod?
29:46You all right?
29:47Yeah, mate.
29:47Ready when you are.
29:48Start climbing.
29:50Mud, opal mines, water.
29:52Just don't mix.
29:54It's too dangerous down there as it is,
29:56let alone climbing wet swinging ladders.
30:00Good work.
30:01When you have a 70-foot hole,
30:03if you slip, you're not going to come back up.
30:06All right, it's time to fill her up again.
30:17Yeah, Koza?
30:19All good?
30:20I'm just going to jump in the digger for a minute.
30:23Do it easy.
30:25Struggling to keep their ageing machinery operational,
30:28Mooka boys, Matt and Koza,
30:30are searching for opal in the stockpiled dirt on their claim.
30:34So we're just running through the last of it,
30:36just trying to hope we've got some opal left in there.
30:39These poor old diggers then put through a fair bit of work
30:43these last couple of years.
30:45So at the moment, without her a fix,
30:46she's no good for digging in the ground,
30:48but she's good for loading out stockpiles.
30:51So we'll make the best of it for now.
30:53Keep filling this hopper up,
30:54then hopefully we'll get enough opal to get it fixed again.
30:57Black light on my side is completely shut off.
31:00The 40-year-old fittings, the 40-year-old lights,
31:03so they get a bit of corrosion on them every now and then
31:06until you're going to use an old machinery.
31:13Oi.
31:16Oh, s***.
31:18Hey, Koza, it just started raining, mate.
31:23Oi, it's raining.
31:25Yeah, bud, it's pouring.
31:26Let's pack it up in there, mate.
31:27I'll bring the ute around.
31:28Yeah, you really can't mind this type of machine in the wet
31:32because you start running this dirt,
31:34it's going to clog everything up,
31:35make everything heaps heavy,
31:37and it'll all fall apart probably,
31:39so we've got to stop working now.
31:43All right, mate.
31:43The hopper's empty, eh?
31:45That's empty, mate.
31:45That's shut up.
31:46Everything's shut down.
31:47You got the opal?
31:48No, it's still in here.
31:49Grab the opal, man.
31:50We've got to get out of here
31:51before we get bogged in here.
31:52If we kept going in the rain
31:54with this noodling machine,
31:56it would take us days to clean it all up
31:57before we could run it again.
32:00All right, let's go, mate.
32:12We're down for days, who knows,
32:14maybe even a week.
32:15Being opal miners,
32:15we've really got to make the best
32:17out of every minute we've got out here.
32:19Hey, bro.
32:20Got a few slabs?
32:20A few slabs, yeah.
32:21Oh, nice.
32:22We're up here
32:23in the Mooka Boys cutting room.
32:25We're going to try
32:25and make some doublets today.
32:27A doublet is just one slab
32:28of cheap opal,
32:30a real nice piece of better opal.
32:32Stick it with some black epoxy resin together
32:34and then we can cut them all out again
32:37and then try and make some gems.
32:40You want to put it on a black backing
32:41to make it pop.
32:43Yeah, it's a little bit
32:43of a factory process, you know.
32:46We can work together here
32:47and work in a bit of a chain line.
32:49Aren't they good at the polishing parts, though?
32:51Yeah, this is my job.
32:54Thank you very much.
32:56Yeah, I've been spending a fair bit of time
32:58on the cutting wheels over summer here.
33:00In the rough,
33:00we can only get a dollar a carrot
33:02if we're lucky.
33:04Once I've cut them into doublets,
33:06we're looking at maybe $20, $30 a carrot.
33:08We're just taking all the sharp edges off now.
33:11The more we polish them up,
33:12get them more like glass,
33:13the more and more you'll see the colour come out.
33:15They don't look much at the start,
33:16but as soon as we're done,
33:18they're going to be beautiful stones.
33:20A bit of pressure on Manny here.
33:22It's just money that we could have had
33:24if he stuffs it up,
33:25but I've got faith in it.
33:28How are they looking like, bro?
33:29I've got a few in-air boxes here already, man, so...
33:32Yeah, we're going to meet the buyer soon, mate,
33:34so I reckon that is what it is now, though.
33:36All right, mate, they look good to me.
33:39The last final process
33:40is to make sure it's all clean
33:41and just use a fingernail,
33:43put it in a box, job done.
33:51I'll have to climb down there, mate,
33:53and I'll be your eyes down in the pit.
33:55When you're down there, mate, stand back
33:56just in case any big rocks come out, mate.
33:58Yeah, yeah.
33:59We really need to get this opal.
34:01I've got these buyers coming into town.
34:03The last tail out was pretty much dismal,
34:05so sort of digging out,
34:08moving into a different area.
34:10It's got to make it work.
34:11I was hoping that silt run would be nice and thick.
34:15Yeah, we might have to change strategies
34:17and go down and take out behind you.
34:20That's probably where the money is.
34:21Yeah.
34:26With high-end opal buyers
34:28arriving in Lightning Ridge today,
34:31Roger and Lee are racing to find colour
34:33in the waste dirt left over
34:35from decades of mining.
34:38We've got sandstone.
34:39It's all the pieces they didn't want
34:40and we don't want either.
34:42Then underneath that,
34:43there's a good one to two metres
34:44of our pay dirt.
34:46So that's what we're after at the moment.
34:47Yeah, mate, this last bug
34:49has got a fair bit of tail in it,
34:50so might just leave it at that.
34:52We'll start feeding it in.
34:53It needs to be opal in this.
34:57We need money.
34:58The boys have got money.
34:59They'll want to buy our opal.
35:01Hopefully it's in this barrel right here.
35:03Once we let that wash down,
35:04we're going to tail it out this afternoon.
35:08I've been waiting for this
35:09all bloody day, I'll tell you.
35:11So am I.
35:12First try out, big fella?
35:18Yeah.
35:19Woo!
35:20That water's cold.
35:21Oh, yeah.
35:22Now we know already
35:23that the boys really love red or black.
35:25Really bright crystals too.
35:27Hopefully we can find some.
35:29You know, that's the main thing at the moment.
35:31Hopefully because we've gone to a different spot,
35:34we zigged instead of zagging,
35:35I hope we picked up some decent opal here today.
35:37Oh, that is a nice little gem.
35:42That's nice.
35:43That is beautiful.
35:44Hey, hey, hey.
35:46Oh, hey.
35:48Look at that crystal.
35:49Pure crystals, hey?
35:50Yeah.
35:51Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi.
35:52Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi.
35:55Get out of the play.
35:56You've got to stop that.
35:57You need to stop.
35:59Oh, look at...
36:00That was on my side.
36:02Right on that line.
36:03100%.
36:03This is looking good, man.
36:06This is looking good.
36:07Oi, oi, oi, oi.
36:09Look at that.
36:10And there's a few carrots in that too.
36:11Yeah.
36:13Oh, wait there.
36:14Here comes the light.
36:14See, as soon as you picked up that piece, the light come out.
36:16Here we go.
36:17Like I said, it looks like a double-sided bend.
36:19Double-sided is worth a lot more money.
36:21We know that much.
36:23I'm starting to feel that back pocket.
36:25It's been getting empty for a while.
36:26Yeah.
36:27We got this.
36:28Oh, well.
36:35Let's chuck a few of these ladders in the truck, eh?
36:38Sounds good.
36:38I know.
36:39Yeah, well, she's been a bloody challenge in week, this one.
36:42Once everything dries up, we'll come back and finish the job.
36:45All we're hoping to do is find some money, but in the end, the weather beat us and we just
36:52have to pack up.
36:54The hoist has actually settled into this wet dirt and leant over.
36:58It's just an accident waiting to happen.
37:00So what do you do now is probably go to the pub.
37:03There's not much else you can do when it's like this.
37:05I know.
37:07I know.
37:08I have a little bit of a thank you gift.
37:10What have we got here?
37:11We've got surprises here.
37:13See them?
37:13Oh, Liz.
37:15Look at this.
37:16Oh.
37:17Hey?
37:17They're looking nice.
37:19See it?
37:19Move the box.
37:20Look at that.
37:21Do you like the colour?
37:22I love the colour.
37:23All pink.
37:23Really good.
37:24All right.
37:26That's yours.
37:28That one.
37:28Thank you very much.
37:29I'm going to have a crack at all of them, but this one will start off.
37:32Yeah.
37:34Oh.
37:35Remember that rock that Bogger pulled out with a little tiny bit of greeny blue on the top?
37:39Yeah.
37:40Look at that.
37:42Check that out.
37:43When you actually opened that rock up, it was nearly all opal inside.
37:47That's a lot better than a little bit of trace.
37:49Mm.
37:49Mm.
37:53The Bushmen have found singum opal, displaying vivid blues and greens.
37:59The stone is partially cut and polished and weighs 1.4 grams.
38:05I thought I just found a bit of trace.
38:06No.
38:07I reckon there's maybe a gram's worth than that.
38:09That's a good start.
38:10Okay.
38:11Yeah.
38:12It's looking good.
38:13Well, you know what?
38:14We've overcome a lot this week, but it's handed in really tasty cupcakes and a stone.
38:19Yes.
38:20So.
38:20Well, Sam, good on you, mate.
38:22Cheers!
38:22Cheers!
38:23Cheers!
38:23Oh, yeah, the boys are here, eh?
38:33Here they come.
38:34Let's get our game face on.
38:36Let's do it.
38:38Oh, look at this bloke.
38:41How we doing, boys?
38:43You look like a sexy red on black.
38:45Mate, that's what we're here to buy.
38:46Elon and Rayyan from Melbourne.
38:50They've asked for a big parcel.
38:51We've produced what we can produce right now at the moment, so I really do.
38:55Hopefully they buy it.
38:56Elon and Rayyan buy premium opal to use in the high-end jewellery for their international clients.
39:03They bought opal off us before.
39:05Eh, a bit of a hard task to sort of get their money off them, but they wanted our opal at the end of the day.
39:10I'm pretty sure it's going to be no different today.
39:12You know what we do here?
39:13Our stones, they're not big stones.
39:15They're perfect ring stones.
39:16Jewellery stones.
39:17Yeah, and that's, look, that's our market.
39:19Jewellery.
39:20That's what people do with them.
39:21Yeah, yeah, I know that, man.
39:22Look the best on gold.
39:23Yeah.
39:24I don't see much red in there, though.
39:25So there you go.
39:26There's one nice little piece there.
39:29And we wish we had a lot more red on black.
39:34Lee and Roger's parcel of mixed opal features the full spectrum of colours
39:39and valuable red flashes on a black base.
39:4370 stones are cut and polished and together weigh 600 grams.
39:52Well, Glenn, Glenn is a cutter.
39:53Glenn, what do you reckon?
39:54Plenty of colour.
39:55Looking very nice.
39:56You can get around the wheel with these.
39:58So talk to us.
39:59Are we buying the whole thing as bulk or...?
40:02The whole lot.
40:03You know how it goes?
40:03Tell us what you think.
40:04Looking at the materials and what we can do with them,
40:07could probably look at 12 grand.
40:11Yeah, this is coming down quite a bit.
40:14So tell me, what do you want for it?
40:16Well, I've been having a chat with Rog.
40:17We think it's pretty fair.
40:1916k.
40:22A bit steep.
40:24They're worth it.
40:26Mate, there's some beautiful little pieces there.
40:28Take a look at the patterns.
40:29Yeah.
40:29Take a look at the clarity in it.
40:33Work with us a bit.
40:34Work with us, yeah.
40:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
40:35Work with us.
40:35I think the best we could look at would be 14,000.
40:44And we'll throw in a sweetener there.
40:46What have you got?
40:47Look, I'm in the wagon industry.
40:49It's a porterhouse.
40:50Slab called street loin.
40:52We'll check out this little bit of wagon you've got here.
40:54It's worth it.
40:54All the...
40:55Good marbling and very, very, very good beef.
40:58We do love your cuts of meat, man.
41:01Ah, Bosco!
41:01Look at Bosco.
41:03Bosco, is it a deal?
41:04It is a nice cut of meat.
41:05Nice piece of meat.
41:06It is.
41:06They're getting rarer and rarer.
41:08Same as the oats.
41:09Mate, we'll look.
41:11Deal?
41:12We've got a deal going?
41:13What do you reckon, Rog?
41:15All right, let's do it.
41:16Got a deal.
41:17Got a deal.
41:18Done.
41:18Done.
41:19Done, boys.
41:20Done, guys.
41:21Done.
41:22Done well.
41:22Well, we're going to take your meat.
41:24You guys can take your jambies.
41:26We're out of here.
41:27Come on, Bosco.
41:27I'll leave you still.
41:28We're done.
41:29Hitting a nice little sail like we did.
41:35You know, most of us probably going back into the machines and diesel and keeping our operation
41:39running, but I'm pretty happy with that.
41:41Thanks for the slab of meat.
41:42Thanks for your cash.
41:44Thanks for your time, boys.
41:45Appreciate it.
41:46We'll do it anytime.
41:47Cheers.
41:47Today we've come up to Cow's sculpture studio.
41:59He's been here for a while.
42:00He's a well-known sculpture artist.
42:03If we could make a deal with Cow today, it might be a really good contact in the future.
42:08Beautiful tiger.
42:09Yeah, it is an incredible amount of work.
42:12All right, so you brought me some opal.
42:13Yeah, I've got some opal in here, man.
42:15Better go and have a beer and show them to him.
42:17All right.
42:17Sounds good to me, mate.
42:18Cheers.
42:19So, yeah, I've been hard up.
42:20We've got a lot of doublets here.
42:22We picked up a lot of blue-green jelly this week, so I thought I'd try and make something
42:26with it.
42:27Yeah, there's a few.
42:29It's all right.
42:30Yeah.
42:33The Mooka boys have a mixed parcel of Andamooka jelly and white-based crystal opal with vibrant
42:41blues and greens.
42:42Some stones are cut into doublets with a dark backing.
42:47Ready to be used as jewellery, there's a total of 23 grams.
42:53So, what do you want for this?
42:55Well, we've been thinking six.
42:57Yeah, six grand would be great for this set.
43:00No.
43:01What are you willing to pay for it?
43:04Probably half of it.
43:04Three.
43:05Three.
43:08Put a fair bit of effort in.
43:10What about four?
43:12Whatever we get out there, Noodler, you can have first look.
43:16Okay.
43:17Right.
43:17Okay.
43:18Look at your beauty, mate.
43:19Thank you very much.
43:21Excellent.
43:21How are you doing?
43:22It's like the sun's coming out, so we'd better get back to work, mate.
43:25Sale went good.
43:25Works out.
43:26We got four grand.
43:27Something that Matty, you know, he reckons might have been lucky to get a hundred bucks.
43:30So, definitely worth him cutting them.
43:33It's good to cow here would buy them from us.
43:35So, you know, no, bloody good day.
43:36Oh, well, not a week, not a dollar.
43:42Yeah.
43:42We're cruising from now, mate.
43:44We might have to split our time up from digging and cutting.
43:46Yeah, man.
43:46Well, you made it worth a bit more than what it was, so, no, that's excellent, Ian.
43:51He's the opal.
43:51Yeah, he is the opal.
43:52Ha, ha, yeah.
43:53Yeah.
44:06He's the opal.
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