This episode the Grace Opal boys check out a newly torched hit and run vehicle, descend down a hairy 12 foot diameter shaft, weave through red back nests underground before nearly getting pulled through the pulley at the top of a 60 foot shaft.. We do manage to find some beautiful colour in a long abandoned claim where a fortune in top opal may still be hiding! Fingers crossed our renewed explosive licenses come through so we can blow some big holes to get to the big opal. On the way home we narrowly avoid beasts of feathers and hide and survive to push towards the dream to retire... And go opal mining..

See the video, slightly edited and hosted on Young Guns Opal Hunters site:

We had a disappointing day in an interesting claim we have had an eye on for years when I badly damaged some opal digging it out, a story i will tell another time.. 

Exhausted and mentally filthy, morale was dwindling in the late afternoon as i drove to another spot i'd mined some eye popping opal shells and verticals in about 20 years back. 

Although the claim reeked of opal, i didnt have the energy to go and start a new adventure. Theres always next time, that is, until there's not.

Suffice to say, i was so disgusted at the senseless loss of gem opal, and particularly in the absence of anything else noteworthy, that i had determined to pack up shop and head south for the summer, seeing the trip was a dud..

However.... 

As is often the case, hope springs with the sunrise and blasts off with a heavy shot of caffeine..

With new faith and froth 'Fraith'? I set off before the sun and went down with nothing but my trusty jackpick. The idea is that i knew i'd left some nice traces around back in the day and a jackpick gives the ability to chase it much harder than just a hand pick.

Sure enough, the trace came good in a few small patches and yielded some outstanding quality material as seen in the video and pictures.

We hope there's more opal adventures to come and will bring the colour as it appears beneath the desert at the behest of the pick and shovel.. 

See the YouTube short video here: