Travel to Australia, and watch this real life documentary, of people mining the Opal gemstone.
Season 5 has 8 episodes.
See our other videos, for the latest, HIGHEST QUALITY episodes of the Australian series Aussie Gold Hunters, Gem Hunters Down Under and MORE!
Season 5 has 8 episodes.
See our other videos, for the latest, HIGHEST QUALITY episodes of the Australian series Aussie Gold Hunters, Gem Hunters Down Under and MORE!
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TVTranscript
00:00On Outback Opal Hunters.
00:03Right, I'm in a cave, we need to watch out.
00:05The Boulder Boys push their machines deeper than ever before.
00:09I'll just keep taking it down.
00:11Yeah, just keep doing it.
00:12Chasing a 16 metre deep opal level in a waterlogged mine.
00:17I'm sliding off the front.
00:19The Cheels expand their operation with a second expensive super digger.
00:25It will double our costs, but it also doubles our chances of finding an opal.
00:29But spiralling depths threaten to send them broke.
00:32I need to keep food on the table.
00:34I need to keep up with the fuel.
00:36Bills to be paid.
00:37And on a new claim, the Blacklighters are forced to shut down Opalzilla.
00:42You're not going to see anything on this.
00:43Shut it down!
00:44After the harsh desert conditions caused more machine breakdowns.
00:48No!
00:49Ah!
00:59I see bones.
01:15I'll give this a shunt back and get on with the ramp, man.
01:18Righto.
01:2040 kilometres south of Coober Pedy, the Blacklighters are setting up on a new claim.
01:26We moved Opalzilla into position last week.
01:28She's pretty close to spot on, but we just want to come back a little bit more.
01:33You've got yay far before it's actually going to hit,
01:35so don't bang it slowly at the start.
01:38We've just made the pad for the wheels,
01:41so hopefully we can get it sitting nice and level
01:44so all the belts run nice and true.
01:47That's it!
01:48Whoa!
01:49Whoa!
01:51So, yeah, that's where she lays for the next bit.
01:55Last week, they moved their 10-tonne processing plant Opalzilla
02:00700 metres from Mayor Jess's trench claim to their nearby Bedframe claim.
02:06So we can chase all these dumps behind us, test them all,
02:10and see what we can come up with.
02:13Bedframe is littered with old miners' diggings
02:16excavated over the past half-century.
02:19Righto, we've got our first bucket going in.
02:21Pretty excited.
02:23We'll do a little bit of noodling just to keep the money rolling in.
02:27Searching through pre-mined dirt for opal, or noodling,
02:31avoids the expenses of heavy-duty mining machinery.
02:35We're going through the old tailings from the old timers back in the 60s.
02:40Hopefully they have missed a bit.
02:42Using technology that didn't exist then,
02:45Opalzilla can detect the smallest piece of missed opal.
02:49You load it up into the hopper and it goes through a trommel,
02:52shakes all the dust off, so you've got no dust on the opal-bearing rocks
02:56when it hits a darkroom.
02:58Darkroom's got ultraviolet lights,
03:00so all the opal will glow on the belt in the darkroom.
03:03So, very efficient.
03:05Once we uncover what's sitting in all the holes,
03:08we'll have a good look and see if we can get some more mining done here too.
03:14They closed mid-to-mid, so we've moved on
03:17and re-established ourselves in Koopati.
03:20Last season, the government shut down
03:23the Blacklighters' former hometown of Mintibi,
03:26forcing their three families, totalling 12 people,
03:29to start from scratch in Koopati.
03:32We've got kids, we've had to pull them out of school
03:35and just the cost itself in moving all the machinery and everything
03:40came into the tens of thousands of dollars.
03:43Oh, yes!
03:45In their first week mining, the team struck it lucky.
03:48That's just stunning top opal.
03:50With a mammoth haul of Koopati crystal.
03:55Couple of little pretty bits, but they're tiny.
03:58But now that claim has dried up.
04:01No point digging dirt that's not giving us any reward.
04:04Forcing them to gamble on a move to their new location.
04:09Hey!
04:11Our first little bit.
04:13First bit, no spot.
04:15Good to start off now, finally get some movement on the belt here.
04:18Hopefully we can pick up a few gems today and we'll be happy.
04:22We need to find opal to stay afloat.
04:24It's the only source of income. No-one can live for free.
04:27You can't mess around. It's not something that we take lightly.
04:30Moving the machine, there's a lot of people relying on us
04:33to make the right choices.
04:35See? The noodling's awesome.
04:37But we want to find something really big.
04:40So the ultimate goal is to hit a big pocket.
04:44Yeah, we need to build the bank up a little bit
04:46cos, yeah, we want to get the big machines in here soon
04:49and, yeah, take it down and see what she holds underneath.
04:52As well as putting food on the table,
04:55the Blacklighters are counting on the opal from noodling
04:58to pay for some big machinery to start mining underground.
05:02If we can get 50,000 in the next few weeks,
05:05it'll go a long way to what we need to do.
05:09We've got so many places to explore.
05:11I don't know which one to start with, eh?
05:19Couple of chunks just come through.
05:22What could there be?
05:25Uh, the generator just cut out.
05:27Cooney's going to go have a look.
05:29I reckon by the sound of that earlier,
05:31it might have spat the fan belt off,
05:33but, yeah, we'll have a quick look, eh?
05:38As you can see, it's the fan belt.
05:41It's chewed it to pieces, so, yeah.
05:44The 14-kilowatt generator is Opal's illustration
05:48for the Blacklighters.
05:51The 14-kilowatt generator is Opal Zilla's only power source.
05:56We've got some belts. I don't know if we've got a new one, though.
05:58Me neither.
05:59She blow it? Yep.
06:01You know where the spare one is? No.
06:03Spare one's sitting in a f***ing box in the shed at home.
06:09What good's the belt at home?
06:11Oh...
06:13It's no good at home, eh? No.
06:15No.
06:17That's a long way away.
06:19F***ing miles away.
06:21This is going to be an 80km round trip.
06:25Got her down!
06:27Argh! Argh!
06:36See these two bolts here? Mm-hm.
06:38Those two?
06:39Can you just reach under and pull the nuts off the bolts
06:41and pull the bolts out?
06:42What are they? Those two? Yeah.
06:45This is my big digger.
06:47Some repairs. I haven't used it for a couple of years.
06:50It's not making any money sitting here in the shed,
06:52so we might as well put it to work.
06:54In Lightning Ridge,
06:56Chris Cheal and sons Rory and Oscar
06:59are dusting off Chris's newly repaired second digger.
07:03It's what they call a super digger.
07:05It's basically the biggest one that's been built.
07:08It's probably about 2.5 tonne.
07:10It's got 30 tonne of breakout pressure.
07:12It's a beautiful machine as far as diggers go.
07:15To increase their opal production,
07:17Chris wants to use the super digger
07:20alongside his other smaller digger,
07:2245km away at his mine.
07:25It just makes sense to me to get both sets of gear going.
07:29It will double our costs,
07:31but it also doubles our chances of finding opal,
07:33and that's what we need.
07:40So how do you reckon we're going to go getting it down?
07:42Putting the digger down,
07:43you're either going to have a real good day
07:45or a real shit day.
07:46Yeah.
07:48Jeez, you know,
07:49just burn a heap of diesel,
07:51and if we don't see nothing,
07:52well, it's going to be disappointing.
07:54With little opal to show two months into the season,
07:57the Cheals are trying to avert a cash flow crisis
08:00on their giant lease,
08:02covering 22 separate claims.
08:05All the money that we've got over the last few weeks
08:07have gone straight back into fuel money.
08:09Pressure's definitely on Dad.
08:10A few hundred bucks last week,
08:11it's, you know, not enough to pay the bills.
08:13Relentless running costs, modest opal fines,
08:17and a 30% cut going to partner Scott Macmillan
08:20have left Chris questioning if he can keep mining.
08:24You sort up around the $200 a day in fuel,
08:26and that all adds up fairly quickly.
08:28It's paramount we get something this week.
08:30If we don't, look,
08:31I might have to go away for a little bit and do some work,
08:34you know, try and get some fuel money together
08:36so we can keep going.
08:37Adding to the pressure,
08:39Chris's son sacrificed their university studies
08:42to chase opal with him.
08:44Rory and I both come home from university.
08:46It's been a couple of months since I've left Sydney.
08:49Juggling online study in the evenings
08:52with days spent opal mining,
08:54they hope to make enough to pay for their tuition.
08:57It does get tough when we're, you know,
08:59working really hard, putting in big hours and not getting paid.
09:02We need that hit to just put us in a good spot to keep digging.
09:05If not, Dad's probably going to have to go away working,
09:07and then that leaves Rory and I out of work.
09:17You all right for fuel and oil and everything?
09:19Yeah.
09:20The old crank are up then, eh?
09:25All right, we've got to drop this digger down.
09:27It's a heavy bit of gear, and, you know,
09:29if something happens, you can get crushed pretty easily.
09:32So we just take our time, do it right,
09:34and keep our communication up.
09:36And I don't know whether it's going to fit with the hoist ladders in.
09:40If it doesn't, it's going to turn into, like, a two- or three-day job.
09:46Whoop!
09:47The hoist ladders are still in the hole.
09:49I think we can get it down.
09:51I've never done it with the ladders in the hole before.
09:54May not work, I don't know, and if it doesn't work,
09:56it means that there's going to be an extra day and a half
09:59added to get it down there.
10:01So, yeah, I'm trying to take a shortcut.
10:04Mate, are you out of the way?
10:06Can we line up and send this thing down?
10:08Yeah, all good to come down.
10:10The mine shaft's 44 inches in diameter.
10:13The digger's 42.
10:14So it's going to be a real tight squeeze to get it in there.
10:18That's as good as you're going to get it.
10:34Over with.
10:36It's just not enough room.
10:39We're going to have to take the rings and ladders out.
10:51While I'm at Overland, I might go and have a look.
10:53I've got to go and do it up at the Dragonfly.
10:56Aaron Grotchen is heading for the Badlands claim
10:59after a 200km supply run into town.
11:03While I'm here, I'll go and have a look around here.
11:05I've missed this place.
11:07But on the way back, he's stopping to check on his own claim,
11:11Dragonfly, which is also where his parents were laid to rest.
11:17This is Mum and Dad's memorial.
11:19Their houses are here.
11:21Whenever I've got time, I come and say hello.
11:23This on the Dragonfly list is where Dad and Mum wanted to be buried,
11:27so we put them up here.
11:30I'll never sell this claim.
11:32This is a family sort of place.
11:35Dad was one of the first back out here after the old timers left.
11:40Aaron's father and mentor, Arno,
11:42was one of Queensland's pioneering opal miners.
11:47Dad, when he found opal, he named it Boulder Opal.
11:50So everyone started calling it Boulder Opal after that.
11:53He spent, like, 45 years out here.
11:56He's told me a few places we've got to go and have a look at,
11:59so one day I'll get there.
12:00At the moment, I'm happy to pay me bills back,
12:03and one day we'll get back here.
12:13To keep hold of Dragonfly and buy his father's house,
12:17Aaron borrowed $80,000 from fellow miner Eric Hugh.
12:23Come to an agreement, I'm giving Eric a hand.
12:25We're working for a percentage.
12:27I'll get a bit of money to pay my loan back.
12:30Aaron is now working for Eric for 15% of any opal found
12:35100km south on the Badlands claim.
12:40There's been a lot of money panned out there years ago.
12:43The people before us panned over $900,000 worth of opal out.
12:50But so far this season, Aaron and his mining partner Ron
12:54have found barely enough to cover their food.
12:57How did it go?
12:58No worries. All good. Got everything.
13:00Aaron's finally got back. It's good.
13:02And bought a bit of supplies.
13:05So we'll be right for a month or so, I reckon, now.
13:11Key to their operation is a recently repaired 50-tonne loader.
13:16Up until now, it's just been two wheel drive.
13:19The mechanics came out and we've just put it in.
13:22Whoa, drive again.
13:24And a 100-tonne excavator.
13:28Both machines are working a deep pit
13:31close to where almost $1 million worth of opal was found 20 years ago.
13:38Previous people that were here,
13:40they pre-drilled and they hit rock at 53ft.
13:43So a bit of luck maybe from here to there,
13:45we've got a chance of getting some opal.
13:48Boulder opal is formed when liquid silica
13:51drains into the voids of a host rock, like ironstone.
13:55Without hard rock, boulder opal can't form.
13:58Eric was told that they drew it ahead and they were hitting rock.
14:03Previous exploration holes
14:05indicated a hard ironstone opal level at 16m.
14:10Claim owner Eric wants Aaron and Ron to find it.
14:14I'll just keep taking it down.
14:16Yeah, just keep doing it.
14:19Just hoping that we can hit the level.
14:23In the past, we've heard a lot too,
14:26that it's not always what people say.
14:28Getting down this deep has already used up
14:32over 5,000 litres of diesel and weeks of their time
14:36with no sign of an opal level.
14:40We've got a few sandy boulders starting,
14:43but they're just too soft.
14:46I want to hear a big crunch, Ron.
14:49Crunch.
14:52Nah.
14:53Nah, you can tell no good straight away.
14:56Oh, look at...
15:01We can still go down a few more foot, that's it.
15:04Two, three foot.
15:05Yeah.
15:06If this hole's no good, we might be able to come over a bit
15:10and put this one bucket of whiting over it.
15:13I'll just keep going, see what it does.
15:15Well, that's what you'd do.
15:17Yeah.
15:18You'd sit here for a few days and just keep going.
15:21It wouldn't be a few days, would it?
15:23There's no level there, there's no level there.
15:26Well, we keep going, we're going to put it to bed.
15:29Steady as she goes, Aaron.
15:31I'll just keep going down.
15:33We've got no choice.
15:34Eric wants to find out what's going on here.
15:41WHIRRING
15:44Can't go any deeper, Ron.
15:46All right.
15:49That's as deep as we can go, mate.
15:58Yeah, just got back from town, we got the new belt.
16:01The Blacklighters have lost a valuable hour in the cool of the day
16:06on an 80-kilometre round trip to Coober Pedy
16:09in search of a fan belt crucial to Opal Zilla's generator.
16:14Oh, hang on.
16:15We've got to find some money.
16:16We've got a little bit in the bank, but that's pretty well going fast.
16:20A lack of Opal at their previous claim
16:22forced them to make a difficult 700-metre trek to this claim.
16:27Now they need the move to start paying off.
16:30It's myself, Rachel, we've got four kids and the boys,
16:34their families, you know.
16:36We can't just find a chip here, a chip there.
16:38We've got to keep finding plenty.
16:42We don't want to see that.
16:44That was arcing out because of the battery.
16:47We've got to pay our bills and look after our family,
16:50but we want to put a bit back into mining.
16:52The ultimate goal is to find a big pocket.
16:54The Blacklighters want to progress from noodling using Opal Zilla
16:58to digging into virgin ground,
17:00a potentially lucrative but expensive plan.
17:03You need at least 50 grand to buy the sort of machinery
17:07we need to do the job properly,
17:09so, yeah, that's not easy to come up with.
17:12Righto, I think we're done now.
17:14We can go back and start finding some Opals.
17:22All the things keep ringing in my ears
17:24that my dad used to tell me about the Opal business.
17:27Mark's father introduced him to Opal mining 40 years ago
17:31during family holidays.
17:33We used to come up here when I was seven years old.
17:36We'd get in, we'd sleep in a tent.
17:38I absolutely loved it.
17:41Now I just want to get some Opal, make him proud.
17:46And same with my family, really.
17:48Just pay the bills and make everyone proud.
17:51That's all my ambitions are, actually.
17:55Ooh, we're not going to see anything on this.
17:58No. Muddy.
18:00Yeah.
18:01It is mud.
18:03Some of the stuff is coming through coated,
18:05so it'll sort of be hard to see.
18:07Yeah, I got a copy out there, Mark.
18:09Yeah, mate. What's going on?
18:11Oh, we're just thinking maybe shutting down for 10, 15 minutes,
18:15just to have a bit of a look where you're digging.
18:18Yeah, no worries, mate.
18:20Yeah, no worries, mate.
18:24What have you got there? Anything?
18:26No. Well, there could have been something in it,
18:28but it'd be hard to see, hey, cos it was actually...
18:30You pick the rock up and you could smear the mud off.
18:34Opalzilla only works if dirt is dry.
18:38If rocks are coated in mud,
18:40the opal won't fluoresce under the UV light.
18:46They're going, this dirt's too wet,
18:48this dirt's got too big of rocks,
18:50it's like, you know, they want the porridge just right,
18:52so I'm trying everything.
18:54I do feel the pressure.
18:56It's something you sort of can't get away from
18:58because you're striving so hard,
19:00you're pushing the people around you to sort of get the best as well,
19:03so, yeah, yeah, you do feel the pressure.
19:14Stuck, is it?
19:16On what? I don't know.
19:24It's hitting those rings.
19:27See these rings here?
19:29The rings that go around to hold the ladders in place.
19:32The diggers won't fit through them.
19:36The Cheels are losing precious mining time,
19:39struggling to lower their 2.5-ton super digger
19:42into their mine shaft.
19:44Essentially, it's too big.
19:47We're going to have to pull the rings and the ladders out.
19:50It's turned a two- or three-hour job into a few days, so...
19:57With barely enough cash to cover their $200-a-day running costs,
20:02if they don't find opal this week,
20:04Chris will be forced to return to his old job as a truck driver.
20:09Oscar?
20:12I'm wondering whether we leave the ladders on
20:15and try taking the rings out.
20:17We might just have enough room,
20:19so it's not as bad as having to do everything, but...
20:27So what I'm going to do is I'm going to take those rings off
20:30and then we'll try and lower it down again.
20:34The rings attach to the ladders,
20:36basically to hold your ladders firm against the wall.
20:39They don't take up much room,
20:41but it's enough room to stop the digger getting down there.
20:47Rory, we're going to try again, mate.
20:49Yeah, all good to come down.
20:58So far, so good.
21:10Yes! Yeah, we got it down. We're stoked.
21:13Hey, Rory. Hey, mate.
21:15I got the big girl down here.
21:17Probably saved ourselves the day's work
21:19by not having to rip them ladders out.
21:24With the digging arm attached,
21:26they now have two diggers in working order.
21:30We'll quickly swap the hoses and we'll drive this round the corner.
21:34Just move it out of the way.
21:36But they can't afford to run both machines yet.
21:39With the two sets of gear, we've doubled our chances of finding opal.
21:43The downside is our fuel costs are going to double,
21:46so we need to find some opal, really.
21:48Using both diggers relies on finding good quality opal
21:52they can sell quickly.
21:54Put it back up the drive there
21:56and hopefully in a week or so,
21:58we should be able to set up and get it digging some dirt.
22:02All right, let's keep going.
22:05Until they have the funds to run both machines,
22:08Chris will rely on his smaller, cheaper-to-run digger.
22:12This smaller digger of mine is ploughing the dirt out really good.
22:15There's a couple of hard bands there, but a lot of it's soft.
22:19We need to get paid this time round to be able to keep digging,
22:22so, yeah, there's a fair bit of pressure there at the moment.
22:28If we don't find opal this week,
22:30then I'm going to have to go away and do some work
22:33and try and get a bit more fuel money together
22:35so we can keep digging.
22:37The Cheels are mining for black opal,
22:40worth up to $43,000 a gram.
22:43It forms in small, hard-to-see nodules known as knobbies
22:49and also in seams visible in the rock face.
22:53Hey, Oscar! Have a look at this.
22:56The colour here.
22:58Colour? Yeah. Good?
23:00Yeah, it's a nice colour, look.
23:02Oh! Bloody hell, that's good.
23:12We'd be probably from the original dirt about 75 feet down.
23:17They reckon they hit a rock with the drill at 53,
23:21so we're already past that, and we haven't had a level yet.
23:26In search of a deep boulder opal level,
23:29rumoured to be 16 metres down,
23:31the Boulder Boys have found nothing but soft sandstone.
23:35What do you reckon?
23:37Well, I'd like to see if I can open them ones
23:40where the drill holes were,
23:42just to put my mind to rest, you know?
23:44Yeah.
23:45Exploratory drilling done from the surface near the pit wall
23:49indicated the unusually deep opal level.
23:52Aaron and Ron now want to dig to the bottom of those drill holes.
23:56You can flatten that out with the loader for me
23:58and I can come in there.
24:00All right, I'll go get the loader.
24:02To get the excavator to the pit wall,
24:05Ron needs to flatten a five-metre-wide strip
24:08between the freshly dug test hole and a drainage pond,
24:12favoured by Aaron's dog, Nettie.
24:15Oh, buddy dog.
24:17Nettie's safe with his swimming hole.
24:20He spends all day in there, eh?
24:28Oi!
24:30I'm going to have to be very careful.
24:32It wouldn't be a very good sight in the loader down the hole.
24:37It is a bit slippery, Aaron.
24:39Just wait there, Ron. I'll dig it out.
24:41Right, mate.
24:43There's too much water there. There's too much moisture.
24:46What Aaron's doing is taking all the wet
24:49and hoist up away so I can drive out.
24:52Make it up a bit.
24:54I'll watch you. Y'all don't fall in.
24:58Everybody careful. Water's close to the edge here.
25:09Oh, shit, that's all right.
25:11Thick serene. Nice green, eh?
25:13With running costs threatening to send them broke,
25:17the Cheels have uncovered a narrow seam of opal,
25:20but it's low-grade, known as trace.
25:24Oh, I just got some nice trace.
25:26You know, there's green and blue in there.
25:28Knock it out.
25:32Trace opal has little value,
25:34but it's often found near precious gem-grade opal.
25:38Hey, check this out.
25:40Anything decent? Yes, sir.
25:42Just come across a bit of trace.
25:44Bit of trace. Really nice, bright colour.
25:47And, yeah, it's got Rory and I both a bit excited.
25:50Good stuff, mate. Yeah, mate.
25:53I'm laughing cos I think they've got the opal fever.
25:57Right-o. See what else comes out here.
26:02We've got all the signs.
26:04It's really hard not to get too excited.
26:07It's still stressful, though, because bills to be paid.
26:11The truth is, I need to keep food on the table,
26:15I need to keep up with the fuel
26:17and I need to get the second set of gear going,
26:19so we need pay.
26:22It's good-looking ground.
26:24You're not seeing much, but it's so soft, you know.
26:27I don't think you'd really see it because it's soft.
26:30The soft ground means the digger can move more earth
26:34than normal with every scoop.
26:36It also means any opal
26:38is likely to be deeply encased in dirt.
26:41The only way to see trace is if we break it in the wall
26:45and with this dirt, it's basically impossible to break
26:48because it's so soft, it's coming out too easy.
26:50So, you know, we can't tell if there's, you know,
26:53any opal in there or not until we wash it.
26:56All of the dirt they dig is hoisted to the surface,
27:00600 kilograms at a time.
27:03Let's go and get in an agitator.
27:05Transported 45 kilometres into Lightning Ridge
27:09and washed overnight in their agitator wash plant,
27:14leaving only clean rocks,
27:16which are checked for opal in the tailout.
27:21If we don't get anything in this tailout,
27:23like, Rory and I have come out from Sydney,
27:25you know, and Dad's forking out all the money to keep us going,
27:28and realistically, if we don't find something,
27:30then he could go back to working
27:32and it would leave Rory and I, you know, hung out to dry
27:35because we've got no work
27:37and we've already committed to that online uni,
27:39so, yeah, it's really important
27:41and we're all praying that there's going to be something in there.
27:44There's going to be something in there.
28:01What, nothing now?
28:03Yeah.
28:05Righto.
28:08Well, that's not a good sign.
28:10Can't find a bloody thing in there.
28:12It's day one at their new claim
28:14and Mark Ianson is under increased pressure
28:17to find opal-bearing dirt
28:19amongst the waste dumps of old diggings.
28:23We've got to keep going hard.
28:25We've got a little bit in the bank from the other week,
28:27but it's quickly dissolving.
28:29Moving the 10-tonne opal zilla to this location took days of work,
28:34but they've barely seen any opal for their effort.
28:37It's just like any other job. You need to keep getting paid.
28:40If you don't, you feel like you're just working for nothing, you know?
28:43The Blacklighters' long-term goal is to mine virgin ground,
28:48but that requires even more money.
28:50If we want to go deep,
28:52we'd probably look at getting ourselves a bit of a tunnelling machine.
28:54They're tens of thousands of dollars.
28:58Oi, Mark, that's just not doing anything.
29:01Was there... Has there been colour?
29:04Looks like potch.
29:06Hello.
29:09It's just not producing at the moment.
29:11I'll keep going wider and wider and looking, looking, looking.
29:18Johnny kept hassling me to put through this little dump back here by the car,
29:23and I just didn't want to.
29:25There's been a noodling machine through here years ago.
29:28They would have got the cream of what's here.
29:30This pile contains clean stones,
29:33but they've already been processed by a machine similar to Opalzilla.
29:38In the old days, it was all about just powering as fast as they could.
29:41They'd have it heaped up on the belt and that, and they were missing it.
29:45A lot of money has been found
29:47putting through noodling machines the second time.
29:52Oh, chunky. Chunky.
29:54Nice, nice little chunk.
29:56How'd those tailings go? You guys get anything?
30:00Yeah, actually doing all right, mate.
30:02I don't know if I've got time to talk on the radio.
30:05Oh, that busy, eh?
30:09We've hit a sweet spot with the old tailings.
30:12It looks like the machine they were using was just basically useless
30:16because they've missed so much.
30:18We've found a few nice chunks already,
30:20so hopefully we can sneak a few more nice bits in before the weigh-in.
30:24Nice chunkings.
30:25Could be the winner, winner, chicken dinner.
30:27Hopefully that's the winner.
30:29Still coming through?
30:31Some crackers coming through, but we don't know if they're colouring it.
30:34Righto.
30:35Under the UV light, any opal will glow,
30:38from colourless, worthless posh to the most valuable reds.
30:43Last bucket for the day going in.
30:47HE LAUGHS
30:49There we go.
30:50It's too much to look through, eh?
30:52Very productive day, mate.
30:53Coated, eh?
30:54Yeah, you can't really see much.
30:56Coated, coated, yeah.
30:58Johnny Quist, my arm, put through this little dump.
31:00Of course, there's stuff in it, so now he's proved me wrong,
31:03which he's pretty happy about.
31:05So, yeah, it's been a fun day.
31:07Let's go back and tumble this out.
31:09Flies are ten out of ten today.
31:11Yeah, I know.
31:12It'd be a beautiful evening if it wasn't for the flies.
31:24I'm still slipping, mate.
31:28I'm sliding off the front.
31:33I was starting to slide into the hole.
31:35Yeah.
31:36Ron Selig's 50-tonne loader
31:38is just inches from tumbling into an eight-metre-deep pit.
31:43It's a bit too steep at the back there.
31:45Every time we're spinning, we're going more towards the big hole,
31:48so we're going to go get the excavator
31:50and pull it out with the chain.
31:52It's yet another costly delay
31:54as they search for a rumoured opal level.
31:57That's been about 5,000 or 6,000 litres of diesel
32:00we've used to get the ramp in and clean that hole out,
32:03and we haven't seen any sign of opal.
32:13All right, mate.
32:15Joining the 100-tonne excavator to the 50-tonne loader,
32:19a single chain rated to just 30 tonnes.
32:23You all right? You all right?
32:28There she looked, but I'm bloody close.
32:34I said, Ron, you should be right now.
32:37Well, wasn't that a drama, eh?
32:41Yeah, I'm out. I'm filling the hole in.
32:43All right, good on you, mate.
32:45We'll put another soul in it if there's nothing there.
32:47Give Eric a ring, mate.
32:49The Badlands claim belongs to fellow miner Eric Hume.
32:54Aaron and Ron are working it for a 30% cut of any opal they find,
32:59but for the last three weeks, they haven't earned a cent.
33:03Eric lent me a bit of money last year to buy Dad's house,
33:06but it's up to us to find opal to try and pay it off as quickly as I can.
33:10Aaron doesn't do well with debt,
33:13and so for him it's an urgent thing to get it paid off.
33:18After finding nothing but soft sandstone so far,
33:22they're searching for the exploration drill holes
33:25that are rumoured to have hit the type of hard rock
33:28perfect for forming boulder opal.
33:31I just want to see one of them drill holes,
33:34and that one we're going to follow down until we hit whatever they hit.
33:38All we need to do is just get to the level and follow the level,
33:41and if she makes a pocket with the material in,
33:44it'll produce good quality opal.
33:47Can't see a drill hole.
33:53Drill hole.
33:56Drill hole there, Ron.
34:05Looks good.
34:07I like your confidence.
34:10To cover running costs and avoid shutting down their mine,
34:14the Cheels and business partner Scott must find opal in this tailout.
34:19If we tail out nothing, well, we've just worked, you know,
34:22for the last seven days for nothing,
34:24and burned a fair bit of diesel,
34:27so, yeah, this is either pay day or nay day.
34:31If we don't find opal this week,
34:33Dad's probably going to have to go away and find work elsewhere,
34:36and so if he goes, then we're out of work as well.
34:41That's a good-looking little crystal.
34:43Yeah, wow.
34:44Nice green iron, isn't it?
34:46Tiny, though.
34:47We just need that big stone, good floater.
34:49We're just getting a lot of crystal stuff with some nice colour.
34:52We just need it to form on knobbies, I think.
34:55Knobbies are larger nodules of opal.
34:58Look at that, you.
35:01It's too small.
35:03There's a bit of money there, but it's not enough.
35:06Night you out anyway.
35:10Bloody hell.
35:11Nice colour.
35:12Close, eh?
35:13Oh, it's beautiful.
35:14Gem colour.
35:16It's too small and it's not sitting on black potch.
35:20Colourless opal is known as potch,
35:23but a coloured opal layer with a black potch base
35:26produces black opal, the most valuable opal in the world.
35:30You want black potch under that, then you've got some money.
35:34At the moment, we've got colour like that
35:36and knobbies that big with no colour in them.
35:38So it's close, but not quite there.
35:40Yeah.
35:42Ooh.
35:44Oh.
35:45Jeez, look at that one.
35:47Hey, that should be better.
35:50Ooh, that's nice.
35:52All we need is a few more of them.
35:54Check out this pearler.
35:56Jeez, that's nice, eh?
35:58Yeah.
35:59Cutting that up there, aren't I?
36:01That's a nice little peanut.
36:02Oh, wow.
36:05We'll put it out on the table and have a look at it
36:08and put a value on it.
36:14We'll pick a few out that they're going to rub.
36:19What do you reckon, Scott? Three grand in them three at least?
36:22Yeah, sure.
36:23Look at that three grand there.
36:25That's six.
36:26At a minimum, yeah.
36:27At a minimum.
36:29And, you know, you'd have a thousand bucks
36:31worth of potch and colour there, as you know.
36:34You'd have to ask probably...
36:40..9,000 for it.
36:41Yeah.
36:42That's awesome, mate.
36:43Bloody good, mate.
36:44Snoke.
36:45The Cheels have found crystal opal.
36:48It's in the rough.
36:50There's a mixture of greens, blues, purples and oranges.
36:54Several high-quality stones
36:56amongst a larger amount of lower-value material
36:59brings its value to $9,000.
37:03We're going to run into some serious money, I reckon,
37:05but I'm really happy with what we're seeing here.
37:08This is awesome.
37:09Well, at least for the time being,
37:11you don't have to go away.
37:12Yeah, we've got you here.
37:13We can keep going.
37:14Yeah.
37:15Keep doing what you love, mate.
37:16Absolutely.
37:18I don't have to go away working for fuel,
37:20which is great.
37:21The boys, they don't want me to go anywhere
37:23and I don't want to go anywhere,
37:24so that sets us up for the next dig.
37:26I feel like we've got a lot more work to do down there
37:29and I think we'll be down there for the most part of this season.
37:31Yeah, you're probably right.
37:33Every sign's there for a really, really big hit
37:35and I don't think it's far away.
37:38Well, I reckon it's pretty awesome.
37:39Mate, I'm stoked with it, mate.
37:40I'll drink to that.
37:41Carbon.
37:42Cheers, boys.
37:43Cheers.
37:51There's that drill hole.
37:52Mate, we're on it.
37:53So we follow that until we hit the rock.
37:56The rumour has it that that drill hole,
37:59Black Boulder, down lower.
38:02After eight weeks of work,
38:04the Boulder boys have finally discovered the exploration hole
38:08that indicated an opal-rich ironstone rock level.
38:12If the level exists,
38:14it could help pay off an $80,000 debt hanging over Aaron.
38:19Aaron's ever more desperate.
38:22It does make it hard to try and keep a clear head.
38:25We've been working here for probably about two months,
38:28cleaning it up, putting some test holes in.
38:31If we don't hit level now,
38:33it's been another job we've done for nothing, really.
38:35Very interesting to see when we get to the bottom of the drill hole
38:38if it is what we were told.
38:40At least we will be able to see what sort of rock it is
38:44and certainly does it have colour?
38:50Not very exciting, right, is it?
38:52No, it's not.
38:54I can see where that drill hole fizzled out and hit that sandy.
38:58So, yes, that was what they hit,
39:00a sandy that really wasn't even that hard, was it?
39:03No.
39:04Right, I'm going to cover it in. Watch out.
39:10Well, we know for sure now at least there's no level here.
39:14And what they hit was just a soft sandy boulder.
39:18Normally a drill would go through that,
39:20so that drill can't have much power
39:22to not go through a sandy boulder like that.
39:26Well, Eric will be happy that at least he knows what it is,
39:30but it's not good for us, is it?
39:32No.
39:33Looks like Nettie got a win, he's still got a swimming hole.
39:36Well, he's the only winner with his swimming pool.
39:40I think it's about 3.5g, 3.8g, whatever we've got so far.
39:44We're a little bit short of the total.
39:46That'll make Aaron a little bit more jumpy.
39:49Well, we might as well go back and have a look.
39:52That'll be good.
39:53We'll sit around the table and discuss the future.
39:57This hole is finished, we're out of here, it's done and dusted.
40:02I've got to ring Eric and tell him we tested that hole,
40:05there's no level.
40:06Me and Ron would like some hope of coming out,
40:08you know, you need money going back in.
40:10But it's just the start of the season,
40:12you get it like a downfall, you've got to pick yourself up.
40:16I've got some nice rib bones.
40:17Yeah, and I've got some nice drumsticks.
40:20Between the two of us.
40:21Yeah, a bit of potato, whatever.
40:23We can do a teppanyaki tonight out on the deep plains.
40:27What's a teppanyaki?
40:29That's where you cook food and eat it straight off the hot plate.
40:33We can now concentrate on another area that can produce.
40:39There's areas here that can produce,
40:42there's areas here that we want to try out,
40:45but we've been concentrating on doing this one project.
40:49Tamanaki, eh?
40:51Teppanyaki.
40:53Teppanyaki.
40:56I'd say all the obvious stuff's gone here,
40:58but there's got to be hope there.
41:00We're not beat, just a little bit battle-wounded.
41:03No, we're good.
41:05That's a bit of teppanyaki style, see?
41:07Good?
41:08Oh, beautiful.
41:09Cheers.
41:12What do you call it, Ron?
41:14Teppanyaki.
41:15Taman...
41:16Teppanyaki.
41:18Yeah, Ron.
41:25Tumble time.
41:27It's an annoying sound, but it's bloody good.
41:30It is.
41:31After a long day cleaning their hall in their homemade tumble dryer,
41:37it's valuation time for the blacklighters.
41:40Yeah, maybe tip it up that end, I'll wash the other shit off.
41:44That's just tight.
41:46Oh, wow!
41:48Oh, that's brilliant colour.
41:50You sure it wasn't my idea to go through these tables?
41:52No, I'm pretty sure it was mine.
41:54Wow.
41:55What would your guess be, mate?
41:56I'd say 10 grand.
41:58Man, I'd be leaning more towards 15 myself, eh?
42:01Well, instead of us putting a figure on it,
42:05how about go and get Rach out?
42:07Yeah, let Rach...
42:08See what she's got to say.
42:09Well, she's selling it, so she'll know.
42:11Mark's wife Rachel has been marketing and selling Opal for 10 years
42:15and is responsible for the team's sales.
42:18This is what we got for the week,
42:20so we're just wondering if you could give us a bit of a value,
42:23if you can.
42:26Look.
42:27Oh, wow.
42:28I know.
42:29This grade's got plenty in it, you know.
42:31Wow, there's heaps here.
42:34Mmm, not bad, guys.
42:36Good haul for the week.
42:38There's some really good colour in here.
42:39Ooh, that looks nice.
42:40Nice crystal, yeah.
42:42They have found crystal Opal.
42:45It's in the rough.
42:47There's a mix of blues, greens and oranges.
42:51And it weighs 10 kilograms.
42:53I'm impressed with your efforts this week, boys.
42:57I reckon you're up around $20,000, $22,000 mark.
43:04Yes!
43:05Excellent.
43:06That's good, man.
43:07Thanks, Rach.
43:08Thanks, Rach.
43:09Yes.
43:10$22,000 for the team this week puts money in everyone's pocket
43:13and a bit more in the kitty for these machines we're desperately needing.
43:17Thanks to the Opal we've got this week,
43:19we'll get all our bills and fuel and everything up to date
43:22and do a bit of drilling.
43:23It's time to start.
43:25We're going to try and get some holes drilled
43:27and see what sort of levels are left.
43:29Hope to be maybe underground.
43:31I don't mind going underground, it's pretty good.
43:33There's no flies, which is the biggest bonus.
43:36We won't give up.
43:37We'll find a pocket.
43:38We're just going to keep going until we do.
43:55We're going to keep going until we do.