A day in the life of Coober Pedy opal miners using a Kanga 825 loading a self tipping hoist breaking ground with a combination of explosives and spiking. 
Featuring the Graceopal.pty.ltd mining brothers Lochy (worldclassopal.net) and Shannon (Kimberleyopal.com) on the relentless hunt for the BIG patch! 
A huge THANK YOU to all of our customers past, present and future!

 Song: Rushmere by Mumford and Sons

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:

It’s late July 2023 and we are back at it on our Olympic claim. When working virgin ground there’s a lot of maintenance and repetitive work that needs doing to get us to the hypothetical prize of that big pocket. 
while Shannon is developing a ‘shovel free’ way to load the tipper, I’m scratching around in some level we drove under about 25 years ago and discover a small pocket of stunning crystal seam. As is often the case, a few little geckos have fallen down the mine and we try to get them back up and out into the bush wherever possible. 
The opal is thin, the ground is bloody hard, but the weather is beautiful and we even drill an air shaft with our old mate Nick. No complaints from God’s country.. One of these days we will crack it.. 

This video is now hosted on Young Guns Outback Opal Hunters YouTube Channel!