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Outback Opal Hunters Season 13 Episode 1

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00:00I mean, I'm a bit on edge about getting into it today.
00:06I'm actually scared to get on it and have another go.
00:12This feels a bit spooky. This is where I nearly died.
00:15So, yeah, right here where we're standing.
00:18So, yeah, didn't know I was going to make it back here ever again.
00:24End of last season, I had an excavator hit me in the head.
00:27Face got completely caved in.
00:30I had skull fractures and had to have plastic surgery
00:33and, yeah, it was a pretty traumatic experience.
00:38So you'll be all right, mate, getting back on the horse?
00:40Yeah. Be laughing.
00:42Hardest thing about doing anything is thinking about it.
00:47If I can't get back on the dozer,
00:49yeah, basically my career is over.
00:57Hey! Fuck!
01:02You got this, man. Easy. You've been all right.
01:06I've f***ed myself, I'll be honest. I've absolutely f***ed myself.
01:12I've f***ed myself, I'll be honest. I've absolutely f***ed myself.
01:27F***ing, stay!
01:28I can't f***ing get it right!
01:31F***ing all over me!
01:33Open me!
01:36Opal.
01:37Mined in one of the most inhospitable places on Earth.
01:41Surprise!
01:43And go!
01:45The Australian outback.
01:47With our drought, floods, fire, plagues.
01:51But the rewards have long outweighed the risks.
01:58Out of the way!
02:00Until now.
02:0224 hours of chaos.
02:04Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare, causing major shortages.
02:08Families are sleeping in cars and makeshift campsites.
02:12Global turmoil is sending shockwaves through the heart of the Opal industry.
02:17We've got conflict around the world.
02:19They always seem to drive the price on back to the consumer,
02:22the little guy, and we're the little guy.
02:24My food shop every day is like $250.
02:27Oils and diesel.
02:29Everything that you need to Opal mine, it's starting to go through the roof.
02:33Every time you see that puff of smoke, it's a $20 bill going.
02:37As precious Opal bearing land diminishes.
02:41You've got to put a lot of effort in just to file one handful of Opal.
02:43With a new wave of miners seeking their fortune.
02:47Only the toughest.
02:53And most resourceful.
02:55Will rise above the crowd.
02:57I'm getting out of here.
02:59Life's getting harder out here.
03:01But it's getting harder by the minute.
03:05Battling to unearth one of nature's most stunning treasures.
03:09Look at that.
03:10Oh my God.
03:11Millions of years in the making.
03:14Oh, pickle me grandmother Sam.
03:17No, no, no, no.
03:18Charles.
03:19Oh my God.
03:20Oh ho ho ho.
03:21Just burned me face off white, hasn't it?
03:35Only just freaking got over the last episode.
03:38Mark's blown a hose on the big blade on the dozer.
03:42So have to go over there and have a look and see if we can get it fixed this afternoon.
03:47Definitely carry a lot of pressure, these pipes.
03:50You know, if they blow, it'll slice you clean in half.
03:53Yeah, she's just pulled out.
03:54Yeah, totally.
03:55Oh yeah.
03:56Well, we're just trying to get the hose back on.
04:02Trying to line it up straight, you know, we don't want to cross thread it.
04:06And hopefully we can move some dirt today.
04:10The Blacklighter's team leader, Mark Ianson, and mining partners, Paul Kuhn and John Nasser.
04:18If you're going to do it, do it right.
04:19Are back in Coober Pedy after a disastrous last season.
04:23Well, we had a bit of a b****** accident and I sort of smacked Mark in the head with the excavator
04:28and yeah, might have broken his jaw.
04:31Just tell Paul I love him.
04:33I love those guys, man.
04:35Mark will be put into the Royal Flying Doctor and taken down to Adelaide to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
04:42We've got to get back on it.
04:44Family needs me.
04:46This is it.
04:47It's the open cart.
04:48A lot of mouths to feed so it's pretty important that we don't f****** around and we get back on the opal like we were last year.
04:54After the accident, just got no confidence.
05:04Not one bit of confidence.
05:06Remember, I'm here behind you 100%.
05:09I know you are and I'd be lost without you but it's just, can't seem to shake this feeling, eh?
05:16I just don't want to let anyone down, that's all.
05:18You're just thinking about it too much, you just get out there and get it done.
05:23It's taken its toll on the kids as well.
05:25They're quite concerned about us going back to opal mining and they think they might lose one of us.
05:30Apparently if it was like this, it hit me here and if it had hit me here I would have been dead.
05:35So, it's a dangerous industry.
05:38I've reconsidered whether I come back or not.
05:49We're already off the pace.
05:50We've got to find some opal straight away.
05:52Everything we earned last year we've already spent.
05:55That's what powers the pump.
05:57And away she goes.
05:59I had a lot of extra time off.
06:01We're really desperate to find some.
06:03So, we're going to give it everything it's got.
06:05Two claims going at once.
06:07Our new claim at the servo, there's a lot of ground there.
06:10It's all virgin.
06:11We're going to move a massive amount of dirt to get opal.
06:15So, we want that gone.
06:17All of that come down into here?
06:18Yep.
06:19Right?
06:20And then honestly just keep pushing it that way as far as you can.
06:23Yep.
06:24Servo claim is our big chance this year.
06:27We're going to basically level it.
06:29And every time we need money, we turn to opalzilla.
06:33She's a screening plant.
06:35Get the bucket of dirt, go off to the hopper bin, dump it in there.
06:39From there it goes into the trommel which sort of spins around and knocks all the dust and crap off of it.
06:44I need a shaker, just shakes it and feeds it into the darkroom.
06:48Opal fluoresces under the blacklight.
06:50So, I mean that's a small bit.
06:52You can sort of see it just sort of line up a bit.
06:54Season target's 350.
06:57And they used to have million dollar claims all the time out here.
07:00So, we want to absolutely destroy that target.
07:06It looks alright.
07:07We'll see how we go.
07:08You'd have to say this is probably one of the hottest, harshest environments in the world.
07:13Like the dirt just will suck any bit of moisture out of you, it gets a chance.
07:19So, the bulldozer needs to drink.
07:22She's thirsty man.
07:24She overheats.
07:25We have to stop everything, you know.
07:27You can't run with it overheating.
07:30Hydrated.
07:31Now the fun games begin.
07:34I'm not as confident as I usually am.
07:37Just hope I get my confidence back.
07:40Family needs me.
07:44Oi!
07:45What's going on here?
07:46Hang on.
07:48That could be a problem.
07:55Yeah, it's bone dry.
07:57Hold that.
07:58We're out of power steering fluid.
08:00So, we can't steer.
08:02Making a comeback on a dozer that you can't steer.
08:04Uh-uh.
08:05Nah.
08:06Nah.
08:07Not today sunshine.
08:15It's not like Les to be this late.
08:19It's been over an hour.
08:20Yeah.
08:21I'm a bit worried.
08:22I think I'd better go up and see if he's at the camp.
08:23I think so.
08:24Alright mate.
08:25It just worries me at his age.
08:27Living on his own and...
08:29He's busted just about every bone in his body.
08:33A lot of the old blokes out here just drop off the perch at home in their camp.
08:37I've known four or five of them.
08:39And I know Les is going to go that way someday.
08:43We've been mates an awful long time.
08:45If something happens, it's...
08:46You know, I'd...
08:47I don't know how I'd react.
08:55Yeah, here he is.
08:58Really?
08:59Forget about something?
09:00You said come down and do this for boys this morning?
09:03No I didn't.
09:04You didn't turn up for a cup of coffee.
09:06And you frightened the crap out of me thinking that you were cackered at the kitchen table.
09:10You wait.
09:11You old bugger.
09:14Unbloody believable.
09:16Don't you like me beard rod?
09:23No, I don't.
09:24Not a lot, Les.
09:26The old fellow had a rush of blood one day.
09:28Went into town, got his beard dyed red and black.
09:31He reckons that's the only red and black opal we've seen for a fair while.
09:35And you're probably right there too.
09:37But you're a bit old to be a punk rocker, aren't you?
09:40You're never too old, you know.
09:41That's what they say.
09:43Now every year, trying to find the opal, it's getting scarcer and scarcer.
09:51Last season, the government trying to close us down.
09:54Having our minds shut down really affected the team because we weren't able to find opal.
09:58And when we're not finding opal, we're not making money.
10:02It's been a season like no other.
10:04I came very, very close to losing my camp.
10:07Nothing really went real good for us at all.
10:13That was a textbook for a big mine collapse.
10:16I was going to hang up my boots.
10:19Can't even do that.
10:21We tried to retire him and keep him out of the mine.
10:24What's going on here?
10:25Well, can you smell it, you old ****?
10:27Yeah.
10:28But, jeez, it's bloody hard to keep him up there.
10:30I thought you were supposed to be on the surface.
10:32I'll get there slowly, but it's not something that's going to happen to fade away.
10:36Fans have been a really good addition to the crew.
10:40She's a third generation miner.
10:42Growing up out at Railway, I've always been around opal mining.
10:45It's pretty much like purple in the wall here.
10:47I think I proved myself last season.
10:49I've known the Bushmen for a long time.
10:51You done well, mate.
10:52Good work.
10:56Robbie seems to be telling us ****.
10:59Put one more drive in, but if we don't find anything pretty quick, we're out of here.
11:06We're really stuck in a situation where we've got the boundary on one side and then we've got our old workings on the other side.
11:13We need to shift claims, but that's going to cost us money.
11:16So, our season target this year is about 150 grand we need.
11:21So, you know, it's one of those catch-22s.
11:24We need to find a little bit of opal here so we can afford to leave here.
11:28I might scrape a bit more with the digger, Sam, eh?
11:31The thing with diggers is I'm so far away from the face it's hard for me to see.
11:39You've got to have a really good spotter, understand how the other person's thinking,
11:44and Sam's fitted in just fine.
11:47I am looking at Black Potch.
11:49Potch's opal is just common opal with no colour in it.
11:52It's a complete dream to be opal mining with Rod and Les and learning from their experience.
11:57It's extremely important that we find opal.
12:00I've given up everything in the city to come out here.
12:03I'm going to go up a little bit higher to try and get that bad roof.
12:06Yeah.
12:08It doesn't matter how hard it gets, I'm still going to be here opal mining.
12:13That's a bit thicker.
12:15Looks pretty bloody good.
12:17I'll tell you what, bud.
12:18See where these faults run down through here?
12:20Yeah.
12:21Just give it a bit of a sound on either side of that if you can reach.
12:25That's a bit ollerin'.
12:27We've got a little bit of a problem with the roof here.
12:29So when you hit it and you hear that holler sound,
12:32it means that somewhere up there there's a gap.
12:35Oh.
12:36That's coming off.
12:38You only need a little bit of roof to fall down, you know?
12:41That'll kill you.
12:42So what I'm going to do is I'll move back and just try and prise it down.
12:47A little bit might come down or a big bit might come down.
12:51Out of the way!
12:56Out of the way!
12:58Here we are, back again.
13:15Good to find gems, mate.
13:16Oh, yeah.
13:18Grawan Opal Fields, outback New South Wales.
13:22Since 1905, fortune seekers have battled the treacherous landscape
13:26in search of Opal.
13:28We were gouging colour out in the face there, wasn't we?
13:30Yeah, we were.
13:31That corner over there, Chris, right in the corner.
13:35It's only thin, but it can thicken up easy enough.
13:37It can thicken up easy enough, that's right.
13:39So we'll just dig at the face.
13:40Sounds like a plant.
13:42The Cheels, Chris, son Rory and daughter Luca
13:46have returned to their Turner's Rush claim
13:49with mining partner Mark Bresson.
13:52If we do get on some colour there, mate,
13:54we'll give you guys a call.
13:54Oh, yeah.
13:55I'll maybe be with that.
13:56Fuel up, go easy.
13:58Chris and I are going to be doing trenching
14:00and underground work
14:01because we feel we'll get a bit more productivity out of it.
14:04You're right.
14:04The partnership with Mark last year was awesome.
14:08The hardest thing to find in the Opal game
14:10is a decent mining partner.
14:12Welcome to Turner's.
14:13This is what we're looking for.
14:15Is that black magic?
14:16That's black magic, mate.
14:17Wow.
14:18We felt that joining forces,
14:20we'd be stronger and be more productive.
14:22Chris and I, we just click.
14:24He's not just a mining partner or a business partner to me.
14:27He's a mate.
14:29We had a good year last year.
14:31Dug out a million dollars.
14:33Winners are greeners.
14:33That's it.
14:34Cheers, guys.
14:34Cheers.
14:35Cheers.
14:37A million dollars.
14:38It is, don't you know what I'm saying?
14:39It's a lot of money.
14:40But we're using a lot of machinery.
14:42We're not a big company.
14:43We're privateers.
14:44We pay all the bills.
14:45We pay the breakdowns.
14:46You blow a motor up in that Western Star over there,
14:48you're probably looking at 30 grand to rebuild the motor.
14:50So there's pressure there.
14:51There's pressure all the time.
14:53So what we want, Luca,
14:54is this hose to sort of loop around with this one.
14:58Kids have made the decision to value add to the business
15:01and if something were to go wrong,
15:02we'd lose five years worth of work
15:04and, you know, everything we've put in.
15:07Pressure on the kids.
15:08As the business grows,
15:10they're sort of getting pulled in two directions.
15:12Not only are we working here to, you know, find the opal,
15:16we're also working in Sydney.
15:18Oscar's got an office there.
15:20He's working hard all the time.
15:22The business is growing so, so quickly.
15:24Wow.
15:25New stones and designs.
15:27Last year, we hit the million dollar target.
15:30There's no guarantees we're going to find that amount again,
15:33but if we can get close to it or even, you know,
15:36apart from that, we're still winning.
15:38And I reckon if we do $500,000, I'd be happy with $500.
15:43It's not an easy game to gamble.
15:46You can make a lot of money and you can set yourself up for life,
15:49but I've seen plenty of people come here with money
15:50and leave with nothing.
15:56At the moment, we're just moving some dirt over
15:59to start on some fresh ground.
16:01It's very exciting.
16:02It's been a long summer away from it all
16:05and, yeah, we're all eager to jump straight back into it
16:08and find some opals.
16:09It's still fairly warm out here,
16:11but it is cool enough for us to start.
16:13The gear can handle it.
16:15We've all got skin in the game now.
16:18You know, obviously, we want to do that proud,
16:20but this is our livelihood now as well.
16:24No potch on that bit.
16:30Yeah, there's all black potch all through there.
16:32Hopefully, there'll be somewhere along there
16:34where the colour meets it,
16:35and that's where we make the big dollars.
16:3695% of the world's precious opal
16:40is buried in the Australian outback.
16:43Millions of years ago,
16:45an inland sea covered much of the country.
16:49Over time, silica-rich water
16:51drained into cracks and fissures in the earth,
16:54eventually hardening to form opal.
16:57It's a positive sign, anyway,
17:00that there could be something around.
17:03So we just keep digging here,
17:04see if we can get a bit of colour.
17:09I'll move those big chunks out of the way.
17:11Righto.
17:13I'll swing around, mate.
17:14Dropping hard there, mate.
17:24We've been getting opal in around the hard stuff,
17:26so you have a no.
17:29Well, that is, yeah.
17:32It'll come out, though.
17:32No more potches there?
17:50No, not that I can see.
17:53Seems like our trail's gone a little bit cold.
17:56Yeah, looks like it, don't it?
17:57Yeah, well, the dozer at the moment, you can't turn
18:03because it's all run off the hydraulic pressure,
18:06so, you know, you're pulling the lever down
18:08to turn the right track,
18:10and, you know, there's nothing there.
18:12At this stage, we're dead in the water.
18:14If it doesn't turn, it's no good to us.
18:17After a near-death accident last season,
18:20Mark Ianson is attempting to shift tonnes of dirt
18:24from servo clay
18:25with an unreliable 55-year-old bulldozer.
18:29Oh, we're out of power steering fluid.
18:32Keep pumping.
18:34If it isn't, maybe it needs more.
18:36It's still a bit in there, though,
18:38as much as the other side.
18:39Yeah?
18:40Yeah.
18:40Well, that's not good, then.
18:43Pump it.
18:46Stop.
18:47I think it needs more.
18:52Look.
18:53Yeah!
18:53Got pressure all back.
18:55All right.
18:56Well, that just made me f*** myself.
19:02Going to push as much dirt up the hill,
19:05as much dirt down the hill.
19:07The opal is under all this dirt.
19:09About 30 foot below where we're sitting now.
19:11So, this has all got to go.
19:15I've got to make sure I get on top of this dose of stuff
19:19and just do the best for my team and my family and my mates.
19:24Yeah, a little bit nervous for him,
19:25but he'll be right, eh?
19:27He's like a duck to water.
19:28I've got to keep preparing the ground and preparing the ground in the VTOM.
19:34Opal Zill is our best chance of making a payday this week, without a doubt.
19:39Opal Zill is the bread and butter of what we do.
19:42The boys are off knocking the top off the claim,
19:45getting rid of overburden, so that's not going to make us any money.
19:47We pretty well need this going to bring any cash in.
19:50John is processing the waste dirt from nearby claims.
19:54We had some pretty good luck with this dump here that we've been putting through.
19:59Searching for Opal, overlooked by old-time miners.
20:03We're just hoping that they've missed a few chunks for us.
20:05So, yeah, hopefully we'll get something out of Opal Zilla
20:08and we can all get paid at the end of the week.
20:18But look at it.
20:20Well, there was a world outside, now it's all dust.
20:22It's the desert sunscreen.
20:24At the moment, the wing's just going the wrong way for us,
20:27so, yeah, it's a bit of a pain in the arse.
20:30When I was loading it before, I just had a full whiteout.
20:33That's bad.
20:36Probably 20 buckets for the day, which is better than nothing,
20:38but you should be doing probably 150, 200 buckets before lunch.
20:42At the moment, that's all we've got, so we'll just have to do what we can do.
20:51Normal rocks that you don't really want to play with
20:53just come through looking dull and opal fluoresces under the blacklight.
20:58It just gives it a whitish, greenish sort of glow.
21:00But, I mean, you don't know its colour until you give it a wash.
21:06Oh, a little bit of opal.
21:09Another few bits coming through now.
21:13Oh, hang on.
21:15What's going on here?
21:17Doesn't normally stop like that.
21:21Let's see what the hell's going on.
21:22It kind of seems like we've just got to persevere through this hard stuff.
21:28All right.
21:33Opal mining's not easy.
21:36Big machinery, there's big costs too involved.
21:39You really just sort of need to find opal.
21:45At Turner's rush claim,
21:47the Cheels are excavating tonnes of rock to process at their wash plant.
21:52This is our agitator called the wash plant.
21:55This washes the clay away from the opal.
21:57So, you know, that comes up the conveyor here,
22:00into the barrel.
22:02Where's away?
22:02Where's all the dirt away from around the opal?
22:07Washing it is our biggest bottleneck
22:08and it's really holding us up.
22:10The more agitators we've got,
22:12the more opal we're going to find.
22:13Luke, did you want to grab that drill
22:15and see if you can get a couple of these top ones?
22:18Chris is busting his nuts at the moment,
22:21fixing this other agitator
22:22so we can have the two machines rolling this year.
22:24The barrel's pretty thin.
22:27If we were washing soft dirt,
22:28I wouldn't worry about it,
22:29but our dirt's really hard
22:31so it's going to wear the barrel out really quickly.
22:33So what we do is we put a coating of concrete
22:35right around the barrel.
22:37All hands on deck
22:38and we're all spreading ourselves a bit thin.
22:42You've got a heap behind this flight here.
22:45Barrel's all dirty and rusty
22:46and so Luke is going to pluck some concrete out
22:49that's been in there for years.
22:52You want a good clean surface.
22:54You want good ventilation and a dust mask.
23:03You know, you want to extract that dust out.
23:05You don't want to fill in your lungs.
23:07It'll cost you later on in life.
23:12That makes it easier.
23:13Oh, nice.
23:15The boys and Luke have got a great work ethic
23:18and so I'm proud of them.
23:19You're a machine!
23:20Luke is studying visual arts at the University in Sydney
23:24and I think it's a good fit for the business.
23:29Trying to balance doing that,
23:31helping out the family business,
23:32it can get a bit much sometimes.
23:35No reception, no Wi-Fi.
23:36So when Dad needs me, he just bangs on the Archie
23:40and I'm hearing me come over and give him the hands.
23:48Oh, Luca.
23:50Here you come.
23:52As I've kind of spent more time around,
23:54I learn more things,
23:55so it's nice to kind of build up that knowledge.
23:57That's a bit better.
24:03And obviously I've got probably the best teacher I could find.
24:06Look happy, you're doing the best job on earth.
24:10We're going to call it a day.
24:13We've had enough.
24:13So what we're doing here
24:26is trying to navigate a very narrow passage.
24:29We've got the boundary just there
24:31and our old workings on just the other side.
24:34The fear is pitting that old drive that was full of water
24:37because it is extremely dangerous.
24:40At Robbie's,
24:42the Bushmen are digging a narrow corridor
24:44between their old condemned mine
24:46and their neighbour's claim.
24:48We can't cross the boundary, Les.
24:50I know.
24:51Because he was on money over there.
24:53If we cross the boundary,
24:54he's going to think we're chasing money.
24:55Yeah.
25:02We're under a lot of pressure to find Opal here
25:04and I think we're going to.
25:06We've been getting little bits of trace
25:07and I think a big pocket's just in front of us.
25:12Good size at least.
25:16Reality is that you have to take out a lot more dirt to find Opal.
25:20We've had to move back and take down the roof.
25:23It's cost us a lot of time.
25:25It's also brought down very big, hard pieces
25:27that have to go up the blower pipes.
25:29This blower pipe, it's very, very powerful.
25:32It's sucking rocks like that.
25:34It's nearly 70 foot straight up in the air.
25:36It's just waste dirt.
25:37It goes up to the hopper, then falls into the truck.
25:39We take it off to the dump.
25:40We're blocked up here somewhere.
25:51Right up the top, I think, Clas.
26:00Oh, the pipe's got a blockage in it somewhere
26:10and I've got to try and free it.
26:12It's the last thing we bloody need, Sam.
26:15It can be right up into the hopper.
26:17You have to climb up into the hopper.
26:19Sometimes you've got to pull the pipes out
26:21and it can be a two-hour job.
26:27The blower's not working.
26:28We're not working.
26:29We can't get the dirt out of the mine
26:31unless we've got a blower going.
26:34Go on, old fella.
26:34Give it a good hitting.
26:40Yeah, but it's starting to shift at least.
26:49Oh, the problem.
26:57That's the problem right there, Sam.
26:59That's a big problem.
27:00Sam, that's it.
27:02It's what?
27:03It's on the block.
27:04Right-o.
27:06Right-o, I'll move it forward.
27:12Come on, show us the colour, Sam.
27:16That's looking pretty good running through there.
27:18I think so.
27:19All underground mining's dangerous.
27:24There's no doubt about it.
27:27We've had some issues with the roof already.
27:29It's something you've really got to keep your eye on.
27:45Oh, jeez.
27:46What is it?
27:58Well, that's just made the danger go through the bloody roof.
28:02Yeah.
28:04I don't want it, but I've got to go and have a look.
28:07No, no, no.
28:08You fellas stay back.
28:09This is seriously dangerous.
28:10The darkroom belt just stopped.
28:14And normally when the belt stops like that, it's normally a rock stuck under the brawler.
28:19That's all clean.
28:19Sometimes, you know, there's a little lip here they can get under, but that looks fine to me.
28:25We badly know Johnny's have formed opal.
28:27We're stuck without him, actually.
28:29But because it's going to take a while to get to the opal level doing this part that we're doing.
28:36The opal's under where we're sitting.
28:38So we've got a lot of earth moving to do.
28:41And there's, you know, if it was stuck under here, you'd see, like, a big bulge in the belt where the rock's jammed under there.
28:51So the only other place could be in here somewhere.
28:54We've got one.
28:56Oh, there we go.
28:58There she is, jammed in the frickin' light box.
29:00There we go.
29:08There, hopefully solved the problem.
29:12Right, now as we speak, we're putting about $500 in here for today.
29:17We're addicted to opal.
29:19Yeah.
29:19Our habit is $500 a day.
29:21Every time you see that puff of smoke, there's $10, $20 bills going.
29:26I'm going to push the dirt off the cliff.
29:31I'm going to drive right up to the cliff and basically whack the blade of the bulldozer off the edge of the cliff so the dirt rolls down the bloody hill.
29:43I don't like the cliff at all.
29:46See, come up a bit.
29:51Getting to the edge, just looking over, going, oh.
29:56Oh, it's hard getting near that edge, man.
29:58Man, that edge breaks, you'll lose your life.
30:00As soon as you see it start falling.
30:02Get out of there.
30:03Back up next.
30:04Back off.
30:05Righto.
30:06All right, get back into it.
30:07All right, I'm into it.
30:11There's not much safety, no seat belt.
30:13If that tips over and lands on you, instant, you're gone.
30:18Lucky to be here, I think, from what happened last year.
30:20So I feel like there's an accident about to happen at any minute.
30:23Not going to be so lucky next time.
30:26No opal, no money, no life.
30:30This is what we've got to do to survive.
30:32I'm a big, big boy!
30:37That was the hardest thing I've ever done on a dozer.
30:53I feel like I'm back.
30:55Fully yes!
31:01What have you got in that bucket?
31:02I don't know.
31:03Let's have a look.
31:04Can't really see at the moment.
31:05I'm blinded by the light.
31:08Oh, that's a chunk, man.
31:10Look at that for a chunk.
31:11That was all right.
31:12Lucky John found some opal in Opalzilla.
31:15Look at that.
31:15Make a sandwich out of that, man.
31:17There's a fair bit of material here, man.
31:19Done a good job, John.
31:21That's beautiful chunks of Coober Pedy.
31:23It was a bit up and down day, but that's definitely made it better.
31:26Oh, no.
31:40That doesn't sound good.
31:41That's that real dangerous part of the roof and everything.
31:45We've got to get out of here.
31:46I'm going to pull the digger back out of the way.
31:48Everybody stay back.
31:50Fair enough?
31:51I want to get the digger well out of the way if this roof comes down.
31:56Can you keep pulling those leads for me, someone?
32:08It's about as dangerous as it gets.
32:11We've had a look and we've actually broken through to our old workings.
32:15We shouldn't have been nowhere near that.
32:17We can't go to the side because that drive runs right across this side.
32:21We can't go this way because it goes off the claim and we're ****ed.
32:24Yeah, it's not good.
32:28You know, the chances of that coming down now are extremely high.
32:32All that opal that I think's up there can bloody will stay there because I ain't going to die for it.
32:37You could have, you know, 50 tonne of bloody dirt come down on top of you.
32:43Well, you're not going to dig your way out of that, Nari.
32:45We've been working so hard this week, we've dug an awful long way.
32:54We just keep putting pipes on, keep moving forward.
32:58We've been finding a tiny little bit of trace.
33:01Really, I don't think there is that much money there.
33:04We might have a little bit, but it's nothing substantial.
33:06Yeah, maybe Les has got a little bit in the tumbler up on the back of his ute, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for it.
33:19This is a little tumbler.
33:21This material comes from underground here.
33:25We tumble all the stuff in here to clean it up, get the dirt off it as much as we can.
33:30No sign of colour in there, but you never know when to wash the dirt off.
33:33It might be a little bit.
33:35Maybe there's enough money in that to keep us going for a week or ten days until we can get into another hole, maybe.
33:43It doesn't look too good at the moment anyway.
33:47It's just a hope and game.
33:50Hope we do find a bit of colour.
34:05Bloody hell.
34:07Don't think there's anything underneath it, mate.
34:09Can I have a quick look?
34:10Yeah, hold on.
34:10I'll just move this piece.
34:14I can see a flash in the wall where that nine-inch hole is.
34:18Yep, right where you're pointing.
34:20Just come to your left about 100 mil.
34:23Yeah, it's black podge.
34:25Black podge?
34:26Yeah.
34:29And blue-green.
34:30Really?
34:30Yep.
34:32Yee-haw.
34:33And a bit of red.
34:35Whereabouts?
34:36Just in there.
34:38Have you looked in this stuff here, Brett?
34:39No, I haven't at all.
34:40I was just looking at the wall.
34:43Look, look, look, look, look.
34:44Oh, nice.
34:49Bloody oath.
34:50That's jam right there.
34:52On black, thick as.
34:54That's what we're after, mate.
34:56Knew today was going to be a good day.
34:59There might be more in here, mate.
35:01I don't doubt it.
35:04Look more in there.
35:05Oh, yes.
35:06Nice blues.
35:08It's electric.
35:09Yeah.
35:10How's it going?
35:10Got something to show you.
35:12Is it bright?
35:13Yeah.
35:13We literally just rolled the rock over.
35:15In that real hard stuff, eh?
35:17Nice electric blue.
35:18Jeez.
35:19Beautiful blue-green.
35:21Yeah, other bits as well.
35:23Just been picking up.
35:24Oh, here, Rory.
35:25Look, look, look, look.
35:26More?
35:26Yeah.
35:27You timed that well, Luca.
35:28Yeah.
35:28Yeah.
35:28Yeah.
35:28It's going in there.
35:37Oh.
35:39What colour in there?
35:40Jeez, see that green in there?
35:42Red.
35:42Red too.
35:43Yeah.
35:44Nice work, boys.
35:45Probably just fill the truck up and get you guys to take it straight up.
35:48Yeah, we can do that.
35:49Yeah.
35:49All right.
35:50All right.
35:50All right.
35:58We've got rain coming, so we kind of want to get this up to the agitator and that.
36:08If we get rain, we're not going to be able to get the truck up on there.
36:11It's important we get this out of here.
36:20I always got no four-wheel drive.
36:22There should be lights on the dash indicating four-wheel drive.
36:28Hey, Rod.
36:45Oh, we might have something there.
36:47Is this that stuff you've been tumbling?
36:48Yeah.
36:51Oh.
36:53It doesn't look too bad.
36:55You bloody beauty.
36:57Oh, here's another little piece with a little bit of colour in it.
37:03Well, there's another piece.
37:04Look at the green on top of that.
37:07The Bushmen have 65 grams of seam opal.
37:12It's tumbled and features vibrant colours of blue and green.
37:17Oh, well done, lads.
37:18Yeah, nice one.
37:19Yeah.
37:19I wasn't expecting that.
37:20I didn't think there was anything in that.
37:22What do you reckon that's worth, Rod?
37:23That's not a bad bar in that one there, those two little bright ones.
37:27Maybe three grand.
37:34The mine hasn't been doing too good to us.
37:36I feel a little bit more enthusiastic.
37:38It's been a pretty sad week and seeing that just keeps me positive.
37:44It gives us enough money to keep on going to try and find the rest of it.
37:49It should be worth a bit of a celebration anyway, shouldn't it?
37:51What were you expecting us to find, sir?
37:54Thanks.
37:56Cheers, everyone.
37:56Cheers.
37:57Better than nothing.
38:04It's come time to start washing it all, bring the beauty out.
38:07It's all rock, all coated, but once we've done the last couple of days, we've been tumbling
38:16some beautiful stuff.
38:18So it looks like s*** at the moment, but you've got to tumble it.
38:23This is our tumbler.
38:24It's really just a cement mixer that we took the bars out of.
38:27Cleans it beautiful.
38:29Washes the dirt off so we can get a parcel to the buyer.
38:32Clean so they can see what they're getting.
38:34Whereas you look at it now, it's just coated in dirt.
38:35Who knows what's in there?
38:36What have we got, John, from you?
38:41Let's have a look.
38:42We have, voila, your meal is ready.
38:44Oh, well done, John.
38:47You've done awesome, mate.
38:48You've been using plenty of diesel, so someone had to spend the diesel and actually find some
38:52opal with it, whereas we've been just spending it, wanting nothing.
38:56Proud of you, John.
38:57Well done, mate.
38:58You've done awesome.
38:58The blacklighters have white and crystal opal displaying vivid colours of red, blue and
39:05green.
39:06The parcel is in the rough, weighing 570 grams.
39:11What do you think we've got there, Rach?
39:12You've been seeing what we've been getting for stuff on the auctions and all that.
39:18What are we running?
39:18I'm having a bit of a good look at it.
39:23It might be a bit of a low ball, but I think, you know, we're up around 24 grand for the week.
39:28That's a good week.
39:30That's a good week, man.
39:31That's a good week, yes.
39:35I'll have to sit down.
39:36That was a big week.
39:38We've moved a shitload of dirt.
39:41We've found 24 grand.
39:43So if John can spend the season doing that, well, we get this cut down and try and find
39:48a big pocket.
39:49I can't see anything wrong with this year already.
39:52What a start to the season.
39:53You've got back on the horse.
39:55You actually almost look like a dozer driver.
39:56That's actually, though, took the edge off the year a little bit, but as a group, we've
40:01sort of come together a bit more and don't take things for granted as much, I think.
40:04We're not bulletproof out here.
40:06So we're family.
40:08We pull together when we need to.
40:10We're back, mate.
40:10We're back.
40:11You beauty.
40:12We are back.
40:21Open the glove box.
40:22There's a fuse box in there.
40:27Fuses, right?
40:29Ah, we've got it.
40:30It might have just been the fuse there.
40:31See now you've got those green lights in?
40:33Yeah.
40:36There she goes.
40:37Yeah, so Rory and I, we've got some nice pallet.
40:46We've got to watch it, see if we miss anything.
40:49Yeah, cross fingers.
40:50We have nice gems.
40:51How's it going?
41:02Good, mate.
41:03How are you going?
41:03Good.
41:04Ready to tail out, are we?
41:05Ready to rock and roll.
41:06Tail out day is my favourite day.
41:08We work really hard to get those loads into the aggies.
41:12You kind of always have that thought in the back of your head, like this could be the day
41:15that millions of dollars roll out on the table.
41:37Oh.
41:38Oh, no way.
41:41Oh.
41:42Holy crap.
41:43Nice colour.
41:44A bit more of that and they will be right, eh?
41:46Well done.
41:47Well done, mate.
41:50Ooh, ooh, ooh.
41:52Another one?
41:52Hold on your horses.
41:54Oh.
41:55That's unreal.
41:56Still got the eyes of a hawk, mate.
41:59Really good start, guys, for a first table.
42:02It's unreal.
42:03You got one?
42:04Ah, Luca.
42:05Nice one.
42:06Far out.
42:06Well done, Luke.
42:08Ah, look at this.
42:09Another one.
42:09How'd you miss that, mate?
42:11Oh, I've got another one to show you.
42:12Have you?
42:13Why'd you just get one then, too?
42:15Oh, it's red, eh?
42:17Yeah, red bar underneath it.
42:18Oh, yeah, he got red, I only got green on him.
42:23Just the last of it.
42:25All right, well, let's see what we've got, eh?
42:26Yep.
42:26Yep.
42:26Big chunks in there?
42:30Yeah.
42:31It gets better.
42:32Why?
42:33You've been holding out on us.
42:35I went down to the trench this morning.
42:38Look what I stumbled upon.
42:40Oh!
42:41Holy crap.
42:46How's that for a cherry on top?
42:49The Cheels have black and crystal opal, featuring the full spectrum of colours.
42:56Large stones in the rough, they weigh 2.1 kilograms.
43:00Well, what are you thinking?
43:03Well, you'd have to think there's a few hundred thousand dollars there for sure.
43:11There's got to be 225 grand there.
43:13$225,000, guys.
43:15Yeah, boy.
43:16Yeah, mate.
43:17It'll cut that easy.
43:18Oh, how good's that?
43:20How good's that?
43:21Well done, guys.
43:22Well done.
43:23That's what we're in front of you.
43:23That's unreal.
43:25Feeling pretty pumped after that tail out.
43:26It was unreal.
43:28We're at about half our season target.
43:30It doesn't get any better than that.
43:32Oh, that's phenomenal.
43:34The barrel never lies.
43:37I'm extremely proud of my kids, and we've got a business together.
43:40It's just a dream come true.
43:43Cheers, guys.
43:44That's awesome.
43:46It's just an amazing effort.
43:48Bring it on the rest of the year.
43:49Woo!
43:50Oh, this one's great.
43:51That's great.
43:52Thank you, sir.
44:13Thank you, sir.
44:14Thank you, sir.
44:14Thank you, sir.
44:14Thank you, sir.
44:15Thank you, sir.
44:15Thank you, sir.
44:16Thank you, sir.
44:16Thank you, sir.
44:16Thank you, sir.
44:17Thank you, sir.
44:17Thank you, sir.
44:18Thank you, sir.
44:18Thank you, sir.
44:18Thank you, sir.
44:19Thank you, sir.
44:19Thank you, sir.
44:20Thank you, sir.
44:20Thank you, sir.
44:21Thank you, sir.
44:21Thank you, sir.
44:22Thank you, sir.
44:22Thank you, sir.
44:23Thank you, sir.
44:24Thank you, sir.
44:25Thank you, sir.
44:26Thank you, sir.
44:26Thank you, sir.
44:27Thank you, sir.
44:28Thank you, sir.
44:29Thank you, sir.
44:30Thank you, sir.

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