Opal Mining Newsletter July-31, 2006 on Mining Underground for Opals in Coober Pedy

Good news from the beginning of this month when I sent out the last newsletter, our Granddaughter who had that Brain Tumor and had the Operation to remove it the next day, the Op was successful and she is recovering well, she will need more tests in the future as all of it could not be removed, but the outlook is good so all is well on that side of the family and we wish her all the best for the future and hope it never grows back and is was Benign which was even better.

Now for me, so far it has this month has not been good, I have been waiting for a drill so I can get these next 2 shafts down for me, I have pulled all of the pipes up and brought the machine back ready for starting the new drive going up to the 62 foot level, and have decided to wait until I got the drill and he has done the shafts, just in case anything went wrong with the shaft, not that I expect any problems, but you never know and I have not used this driller before.

So here we are at last with the drill, Nick is his name and no sooner had he started and only got down about 4 feet he was having problems with the Jasper Rocks, they are only small, but he could not get them to stay in the bucket, he did not use any water to help with this dry ground which is the overburden here, now would he put any downward pressure on the bucket to help put the dirt in under pressure, but nothing I can do but watch and feel sorry for myself.

This is the size of the jasper rocks as you can see they are nothing that I thought a drill like this would have to worry over and as these are all over the place and I have not had a drill have a hard time getting through this type of ground before, but this time I have and he quit on the shaft some 8 feet down, I told him that it only goes down to 12 to 15 feet and then it would be gone.

But no he quit and so I was left right where I started, so I had to come home and find another drill and driller that could do the job and I would make sure that the guy knew what was in front of him so I did not waste my time again nor his, this is the first time in 14 years I have never got a shaft down, there are Drillers and then there are Drillers, the drills all do the same job, but not the driller by the look of it.

Here I am 10 days later with another drill, I have not used this drill before either, but know the guy and I explained the situation to him and said that it would be no problem for him, so here we are starting again, he is starting a new shaft and I have had to move the shaft over to the left about 5 feet, I did not want to come any closer to the blower as I need all of this length to get up to the level above and be able to level the machine off again when I get there and to be able to have enough room to open up again around the shaft so I can move the blower onto it and then start tunneling out from that shaft just like the last one, this job is the same on every shaft that I connect too.

Here the driller, (Paul) has just brought the bucket up and the offsider (Dean) has put the rope on a handle on the bucket so he can pull it, which will turn the rod that has a arrow like head on it that keeps the door shut, pulling on the handle will turn the arrow head sideways allowing the door to fall open, this handle is linked to a spring so that when he lets the rope go the arrow head returns back to its locking position, also at the same time Dean has put this rope on the arrow head handle he has put the wire rope hook on to the side of the Kelly head so it can be pulled side ways to dump the dirt from it.

In this photo I am showing you how he puts pressure on the bucket while drilling, it is down by the 2 hydraulic rams, one is hidden by Dean, but the other is in plain view, just in front of Paul the driller, he slowly lets the rams pull down while the bucket is rotating, thus forcing the dirt into the bucket under pressure, it is only this pressure that compacts the dirt enough to make it stay in the bucket so it does not fall out while bringing it back up to empty, this is the main reason the other driller could not get his bucket to contain the loose dry top soil and small rocks, not enough pressure and knowing how much to put on and when, this Paul knows his job, thankfully for me.

At this point we are now just past the jasper rocks as you can see by the color of the dirt on the small dump, it has take Paul about 40 minutes to get this far which is about 15 feet, the Kelly which is the large tick round pipe in the middle is 30 feet long and is a 4 stage unit, inside of this is another 3 square bars, one inside the other until you get to the last one which is solid and takes most of the brute force that is put on it by the drilling process, it is this last bar that is connected to the bucket by a bolt with no nut used as a pin, this other driller took 1 hour and 20 minutes to get down 8 feet and then quit.

In the background where the arrow is pointing is my Mate Peter's equipment, he has just come back to Coober Pedy after being away earning some money to continue Opal Mining, he lives down in Coffin Bay where I went fishing this year, he is about 250 meters from where I am and is mining in completely different ground than me as he is on the other side of a big slide, here I am about ready to move some dirt from the dump, just let him get another couple of buckets and you can also how the releasing of the bucket door works from this angle, sometimes it does get stuck thought dirt jamming it, but is easily worked loose, good drill and a good operator.

Here are 3 photos of the ironstone level that came up in the bucket, it is carrying some potch, not very thick, but that does not matter, it is good that the drill cut material on the level, I drilled in corner again, this is where 2 faults join up, just imagine that the borders of this photo are the fault lines and then the point of the arrow is where I would normal drill, but in this case I had to move the shaft off line a bit due to the first driller not finishing the job, the only good thing about this potch is that it is not white, why does that matter you are asking, well white potch if it turns in Opal, will make Grey Opal and this potch will make into Crystal Opal, Green/Blue or Blue/Green or even just Green = Money.

I have been down the shaft today 07/20/06 and checked it, here you can how I set up on the shaft ready to go down, and there is a couple of big jasper rocks imbedded in the side of the shaft not far from the top, but there is nothing on the 62 foot level except Gypsum and is exactly the same in the other shaft I drilled as well Gypsum on the 62 foot level and it measured exactly at 62 feet as I put a tape down the shaft to 74 feet before I go down so I can tell at depth the level are at.

But on the bottom level, which we call the 74 foot level, it was cut at 73 feet one foot higher than I thought it would be at, it is a beautiful thick ironstone level and has potch 1/2 way around the shaft, the level is falling away towards the bottom right hand corner, but the potch is on the other half of the shaft, I recon that if the other driller had put the shaft down where it should have gone I would have had potch all the way round the shaft, not that I want potch, opal would be nice, but I will settle for potch.

In the background at the end of the arrow points are the other 2 shafts. the closest one I had cleaned out to around the 78 foot mark as it was only 60 feet deep, this was drilled long before I came to 11 mile field, I can use this as it is almost in the middle of the 2 shafts I have just drilled, the 2nd one right at the back there also cut an ironstone level which is good, but no material was in it and the level was not that strong, but that is in that shaft, the ground in front of it may be different, does not matter I have to use this to continue prospecting up the claims and this last shaft in the background is not far from the border of Pats claim which is the one I am working on now, mine joins onto it.

So what I have decided to do now is to continue with the drive I have just pulled out from, the reason being I have changed my mind again, is that again I have cut nothing on the 62 foot level of interest, so there is no encouragement for me to go up and have a look and the way the cost of fuel is right now I would sooner stay where I have the trace and is producing some color here and there.

So the plan is that I have been off for over 2 weeks now the dirt that was the problem in the hopper is now dry and most of it has already fallen out and the rest will come loose as soon as I start working again, so I figure that if I go back in the drive I just pulled out from and continue with it until the hopper becomes a problem again with the wet dirt building up about 15 - 20 feet, then I would pull the machine back again and start a new drive towards this last shaft that cut material, the same shaft I was going to go to but going up to the next level.

If you remember from last month the ground from the elbow to about 38 foot out is dry so if I start a drive here the dry ground will clean out the hopper ( or so we think) once the hopper is clean again I would then go back up the first drive in the wet ground and try to reach the shaft and open up around it, then come back to the dry ground and continue until I got into trouble again, bit of messing around with keep moving the machine around, but until the hot weather arrives I an going to have trouble with the hopper.

It may be that the ground in that drive may not continue much further as it could just be a wet patch that I have come across before, as the ground does change all the time as you are tunneling, so does the wetness of it, this is a wet patch but most of it is damp, all of it cause problem with blockages, just the damp ground I do more footage before the elbows have to be cleaned.

I went back to work today and after re-sharpening the teeth I started to take the machine back up the drive so I could start tunneling again, I had got about 10 feet from the face when something broke inside the differential that drives the right hand track, all of a sudden the machine wanted to go the right and I could not even bring the machine back because it would not drive in a straight line because only one track was working, so I stuck right there up the drive.

This is the equipment I have to take down so I can pull the machine back out of the drive, well I don't have to take the electric jack pick down but never know and I have to change the augers over in the drill as I will have to drill a 2 inch hole in the floor as you will see further below, so here I have a Drill, a 2 inch Auger, Crow Bar, Hand Winch and Rope, Handle and 2 inch bar make from special steel with a eye weld o it so I can use it as an Anchor for the winch, now to take it all down and put it in Action.

My friend Boro has not come back so I managed to get his cell phone number and gave him a ring him last night in Adelaide and explained the situation to him, he said that I may not have to bring the machine out of the drive to do the job, if I could get the tracks off or get the gearbox out where it was.

So went today (07/26) and pulled that 2 inch steel bar out of the floor that I was using as an anchor for the winch, came out like I have just put it in after 5 days ago, so that was nice surprise as I expected it to be stuck in there, the ground is very wet another foot down and I mean very wet, you can compress it in your hand and make a solid ball of it, so anyway got down on the floor and looked under the machine at the diff-gearbox drive unit and did a bit of cleaning around with my hand then had a look at what was holding it in, not to complicated, couple of small bolts are a bit hard to get at, but will manage I think.

Then I managed to get the tension off the tracks, but have more slack on the right side that the left, cannot get the track to clear the sprockets that drives the tracks which would have made it a lot easier if I could have, so went and got the small grinder and managed to get grind the pin down to the chain link, but I have no swinging room sideways to get the pin out which I think is also rusted in, I tried for quite some time, but got nowhere, so quit for the day as my knee was hurting by this time.

So will try another idea tomorrow, it means undoing all the bolts and getting the diff loose ready for coming out, but before I get it all done I have to see if I can get the sprockets loose on the drive shafts ready for coming off, I have to remove a couple of cir-clips and the sprockets are on a spline, so if I can get then loose I may be able to get around taking the tracks apart, I can always weld the pins that I have ground to stop them from coming out, but I think they are rusted in and there is a lot of play on the pins so they are well worn, but that is another job later on when they need doing and that is new chains and a lot of work and the machine will have to be out of the ground for that job.

This is a shot of the drive sprocket, this is on the broken side, the black stuff is grease, I have taken the grease nipple out of the grease ram that keeps the track under tension, then I put a crow bar between the track and the body where the track sits on it and forced the track up to force the grease out as you can see here, this is so I have as much slack as I can get in the tracks so I can try and get this and the other side drive sprocket off, I tried grinding off the head of one of the pins that holds the links together, but could not knock it out do to not having enough side room in the drive to swing the hammer and or being rusted in as well, so if I can get these sprockets off without having to separate the tracks we should be in business, if not I will have to winch the machine back so the rear end is out of the drive and I can work on getting the tracks apart.

I managed to get the sprockets off with no trouble at all, after I had removed the cir-clips off the drive shaft the sprocket came off the very easily much to my surprise, now these were out of the way, I could get down to business of finding out the best way of getting this gearbox out, my biggest problem was where the small Hydraulic motor was connected onto the gearbox, which was under where the arrow is pointing, the motor was connected to a plate that was bolted to the top of this gearbox and I was having trouble getting a couple of the bolts undone as I could reach underneath to hold the nut and have the other arm over the top trying to undo it with a socket, but found a way to over come this and the rest was easy, here I am just undoing the last 2 bolts that are in the main brackets that hold the gearbox/diff in place on each side, then it will be ready to come out.

And here it is, out at last and did not take me long, once I have got the Hydraulic drive motor undone from the drive transfer unit on top of the gearbox/diff and pushed back out of the way, where the arrow is pointing is unit and where the bolts holes can be seen this part faces the top and bolts onto the hydraulic motor, this was the only problem I had in getting it out as it had to be tipped forward and the unit pulled backwards at the same time, but managed by myself, this will be a problem when I have to put it back in and will require 2 men to do it, so I will have friend come and help when its ready.

Now I have to get a friend of mine to come and help me to get this unit back to the big shaft, as this is the shaft I will have to use so this gearbox/diff will not catch on the ladders as it is being brought up, the big shaft has nothing in it, so after we have gone down and brought the unit to the shaft I will have to go up and move the truck to the big shaft and send the winch down to my mate so he can hook the gearbox on and I will then winch it up, then we will pull the other equipment up as well.

And here it is, out at last, now I will send the winch back down and Dave will put the winching equipment on and I will bring it up as it is no longer needed thankfully, now when I get this home I will have to give it a good clean so I can get the broken half off and fix it and that will be tomorrow, the cleaning I mean, then I will see if my friend is back so he can help me with it, he will know how to fix it and where to get any part that may be needed.

Now I just have to hope that it will not take too long to get this fixed as I am very keen to get on with mining, the weather is looking up, been some very nice days in this last couple of weeks and I think that the real cold weather is over for us, this will be of great help in this damp ground, anyway will have to wait until next month (nearly here already) to see how all of this turns out.

Again I Hope you have enjoyed this issue and look forward to the next one, hopefully I will have some more good photos to show you in the next issue and maybe some of Good Looking Opal and lots of it, I am still hoping that this will be a good year for us, but only time will tell, so stay with us over the next few months and find out what goes on in our part of the world as far as Opal Mining goes.

Stay Tuned for the next Issue, who knows what I will have to report.

Until the next issue.........

and wish me lots of LUCK.

Cya Later, Stuart Bird.

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