🤣 I hear ya! That’s actually one of the reasons/curiosities that got me interested in trying to mine, “Surely not all opal has cracks, they must be mining it wrong, let me try.” One thing I learned was that there’s more than one reason the opal is damaged, from explosives to heavy machinery, Jack hammers and hand tools, even when poorly clipped/snipped when checking for colour (I picture a “Rupert’s drop” kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rstdmZeY1NG2cqc.html ). 🤪👍

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I only have hand tools but willing to give it a go, I haven’t cut and polished a kidney stone in a long,…… er,… i mean ever! 🤪👍

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There’s definitely a certain thrill associated with underground opal mining, thanks to you, Lindi and Angel, I have this memory. 🤪👍

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G’day Paul, yeah it’s gonna take some cleaning and a bit of repair work, but a fresh coat of paint will bring it up like new. 🤣👍

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It's Australia. That snake could, would, and wanted to kill a elephant

Thanks mate. First Andamooka 20ct all colour, that’s a flying start, I hope it turns out well for you. 🤪👍

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🤣👍 cheers!

Yes, the dips can be a great indicator. 🤪👍

We have yellow coloured glasses that protect the eyes from UV when blacklighting, they don’t do much for making the opal stand out more. 🤪👍

Yeah, 🤣 I had to mute some of it but forgot to add music to fill the silence.

G’day Jon, there’s no substituting the grinding process, although fossils have to be carefully prepared to keep the detail. An ultrasonic cleaner only sends out a frequency that pulsates the water, creating pressure in waves/ripples stacked so closely together that the high, low, high, low pressures in turn create microscopic voids in the water/solution that implode with enough force to create heat, essentially lowering the boiling point of the water/solution for a gentle, low temp steam clean that not effective enough. I was asked recently about acid cleaning opal, this also wouldn’t work due to the content of silica in both the opal and the sand. 🤪👍

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G’day mate, yes, it’s on my “wishlist” 🤣, for some of the fossils I have. 🤪👍

🤣👍 if I found 20k/oz material you’d hear me from up there!

@@theopalmillsI’ll keep an ear out! 😁

🎶I feel pretty and witty and gay, And I pity Any girl who isn’t me today.🎶 No,… wait,… what?

G’day mate, yes there is a state limit of 110km/hr here in a South Australia. 🤪👍

Scroll down to Gary Hughes comment, he asked the same and Joe has answered better than I can. 🤪👍

True, especially the birds. 🤪👍

G’day Robert, I wouldn’t go throwing the stuff around, but dropping it in a bucket won’t hurt it at all, consider the tumbling opal undergoes in a wash plant or a dry trommel. 🤪👍

G’day mate, yes, I think it was a baby eastern brown snake. 🤪👍

G’day Tina, I still have the open cut, just need to get a skid steer to move the dirt. I was offered to dig with Angel and thought why not, I think I can find the time to do both. There are a few openings for ventilation, it’s good to feel a slight breeze. I run power down the hole for lighting and Jack hammer, also there’s rechargeable torches and my head lamp. Cheers, 🤪👍

@@theopalmills oh that's good to catch ip with what your up to You found some great stuff with Angel

🤣 that’s what I did, I did, I Hulk smash.

@@theopalmills 🤣🤣🤷‍♂️

eagtac or eagletac purchased from the led light shop in melbourne, its 365nm, they have dropped considerably since they first hit the shelves only about 300 now

G’day Tasha, no, rough opal can take some seemingly hard treatment, as in consider a trommel/dry tumbler. Though it may scuff up the surface it won’t cause it to fracture or crack. 🤪👍

G’day mate, welcome to the channel, yes that’s Andamooka opal, don’t go feeling any kind of way, Andamooka isn’t the most talked about opal field. 🤪👍

@@theopalmills I’m only familiar with matrix. Those look like proper bars of color! I wasn’t aware. It is embarrassing a bit.

That wasn’t bars! That was amazing crystal! Took me a review. My humble apologies. I’d feel privileged to cut but one of that material!

🤣 I’d send them a resume with my screen shots, but I have a face for radio.

www.ledtorchshop.com.au/product/eagletac-mx30l3-6x365nm-ultraviolet-led-torch/ 🤪👍

G’day Shannon, the opal that I wouldn’t consider setting have issues ranging from very little/dull colour, inclusions cracks, sand or potch, too thin/fragile, or too big to set. Most of them end up in the specimen side of my collection, some i giveaway as gifts. Trying to make the most from each piece of opal rough does salvage some decent cuts, but the rest is time and effort put in with no financial reward, but I can’t throw it away. 🤪👍

@@theopalmills that is great! I would 100% do the same thing! I love the stone and don't care for jewelry, I would love to just be able to make rubs with the unusable opals just to be able to appreciate the stone and what they do have.

I do kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oNeCf5qnpsjGh6s.html 🤪👍

Take everything you learned on those shows and go mining and see how successful you are.

Mate, relax, skip what you want, no pressure, and I clearly addressed the fact that they look magnified in the jar, and to view outside the jar before deciding to purchase, which I did, and they were shown outside the jar. Not only am I doing everything in these videos and more that doesn’t get included, but also all the behind the scene preparation, the filming, the editing, the funding, family life, and another business, I try to include video material of what I get up to with opal, I try to cater for everyone, I film what I do as I do it in one take, and make the most of it. The opal in the jar is meant to tease until later when we get a good look at it. I’m not trying to sell you anything, and all footage is real, take it or leave it. Thanks for your time, 🤪👍

I'll happily drool over jars of opal, any size, and thank you for the opportunity! 🤗

Yeah, I’m a real Magoo.

Agreed, I carefully put it in a bucket, took it back to the house and left it a few weeks on an ant nest, now the skeleton is a garden feature in a pot plant. 🤪👍