Chapter 811 810. Snakes Guard Black Opal (4/5)

Chapter 811. 810. Snakes Guard Black Opal (45)

Next came the serious and hard-working life of a miner.

The collection of fire opal depends on picking, while the collection of black opal depends on dry work.

Today, the coastal areas have become colder, and the autumn wind sweeps across the coastline of Australia, but in the southwest and northwest, the temperature is still very high.

Without him, the surrounding area is either a desert or a desert. As long as the sun is out, the temperature in the inland will keep rising. Can it not be hot?

Brother Lang operated a small excavator, and the alloy bucket 'clicked' down all at once. When it was dug up, it was a pile of rubble and a big pit appeared.

One of the reasons why Lightning Ridge can become a gold mine for black opal is that the ground is hard and suitable for digging holes.

Black opal veins have also been found in other places in Australia, but the geology is too soft to open mine tunnels, so that mining cannot be done deep underground.

If the ore cannot be mined, naturally it is impossible to find the hidden black opal.

The formation process of black opal is similar to that of fire opal. Under certain geological conditions, water flows through the soil and takes away the silicon and oxygen in the sandstone, so that the water rich in silicon and oxygen flows into the cracks and cavities between underground stones. When the water evaporates, the silicon oxides left behind are beautiful gemstones.

Compared with fire opal, black opal is more difficult to form, and it takes about four to five million years to form a one-centimeter-thick gemstone layer.

Because of the different geology and terrain conditions, the shape of the black opal here in Lightning Ridge and the fire opal in the national park are also different.

In national park locations, fire opals tend to occur alone, in lumps, rounds and ovals, and in Lightning Ridge, black opals exist as thin veins.

Therefore, we must be very careful when digging the veins here. The layer of the veins is too thin, and one carelessness may damage the gemstones.

Li Du knew that there was no vein layer on their side, so he ordered Brother Lang to operate the small excavator as long as he worked hard.

The excavator bombarded the ore belt on the ground indiscriminately, and quickly dug a large pit with a depth of one and a half meters.

At this point, the work of the excavator is over. Its outstretching arm is only one and a half meters, and it has to be excavated manually.

The Australian government attaches great importance to protecting the environment. Just as there are many restrictions on fishing black gold abalone, there are also many restrictions on mining black opal.

For example, mines are not allowed to damage the green vegetation on the ground, that is to say, where there is a piece of grass or woods, it is not allowed to dig holes from the ground.

Fortunately, the area where Lightning Ridge is located is a desert area, and there is not much green vegetation on the surface, and there are many places where holes can be dug.

After digging a big hole, the next step is to change the machine. Godzilla came over with the rock crusher.

This kind of machine is like a big tamping machine. Put it into the stone pit, hold it up and plug it in, it will turn its head and go down deeper.

Li Du energized the machine, and Godzilla grasped the machine with his hands like giant steel tongs. With a roar, the drill bit of the machine began to drill down.

The underground stone was shattered by the sharp alloy turning head, and a large amount of gravel was splashed out. They hit Godzilla's body and made a "bang bang" sound. Godzilla didn't seem to notice it, and was still working.

"Is this the time to be a hero?" Li Du said angrily. He took a sheet of iron and covered the pit. Suddenly, there was a crackling sound, like hail.

There are different tools at different stages, and it took a day. The mine went three and a half meters underground. Li Du signaled them to stop, and this depth was enough.

The gem ore belt in the No. 114 mine is only about three meters above the ground. From this depth, it extends to the northwest. As long as the direction is correct, he will encounter this ore belt sooner or later.

At sunset, Li Du took them down the mountain. From tonight onwards, they could not all live in the town, and they had to keep watch at the mine to prevent anyone from stealing equipment at night.

Mine No. 115 is not useless. It has a good place, that is, there is a very sturdy cabin, which can be lived in after cleaning.

Li Du and the others chose to live here. He and Sophie shared a room. Brother Wolf, Godzilla, and Lu Guan randomly chose two people to live in a room, and the remaining one went out to watch the night.

At night, the weather was gloomy. Sophie checked the weather forecast and said, "It might rain tomorrow. I'll go buy some umbrellas and raincoats in the morning."

It was still early, and several people lit a bonfire in the mine, sitting around the bonfire, roasting things and drinking beer.

Ali bounced around Sophie, and Ah Miao quickly gave it a paw while no one was paying attention, and slapped it towards the fire.

With sharp eyes and quick hands, Li Du brought Ali back, glared at Ah Miao and said, "What are you doing? Why are you so bad?"

Ah Meow pretended not to hear, and wagged her long tail into Sophie's arms.

Ali now also knows that Li Du will protect it, and runs to Li Du when he has nothing to do.

It sat beside Li Du and trimmed its short fur with its mouth. When it turned around occasionally, it saw two green eyeballs in the darkness behind it.

Ali was startled, jumped up and hid between Li Du's legs.

Li Du glared at those two green eyes again, Ah Ao let out a lazily roar, and followed Ah Miao to join Sophie.

He simply lay face up in front of Sophie, enjoying the comfort of Sophie scratching his belly. He rolled his white eyes and squinted at Ah Miao and Ah Ao, full of superiority in IQ: You two idiots!

After a while, Ah Ao stood up vigilantly, his green eyes staring at the path leading to the mine.

Soon, several miners appeared on the way, and they waved to Li Du at the door: "Hey, buddy, can we have a fire together?"

The temperature difference between day and night in the desert area is very large. At night, the sun sets and the temperature drops rapidly. It is necessary to light a bonfire to keep warm.

Li Du nodded, and several people walked in.

They sat by the campfire, took out the iron jug from their pockets, roasted it on the fire and drank.

Li Du has a lot of meat and hamburgers here, and he signaled that everyone can grill them casually. Several miners were overjoyed, and after thanking them, they ate barbecue with drinks.

Later, someone came over again, because Li Du provided barbecue for free, they called the night-time friend in the mine to come over.

In this way, more and more people came to Li Du's place, and eventually dozens of people gathered.

Li Du would not refuse anyone who came, so he asked Brother Lang to drive to the town to buy some barbecue and entertain everyone to drink and chat here.

He asked the miners about Blatche, and sure enough, as Bob said, this man had a bad reputation and liked to play tricks and tricks. The miners shook their heads when they mentioned him.

The miners were drinking and chatting and revealed a lot of news. Li Du listened silently by the side, and realized that it was almost an impossible task for him to find rich gemstone mines here.

It was getting late at night, and Sophie was about to go back, and said, "Li, I'll take Ah Miao back, watch out for Ali and Ah Ao, I'm afraid there will be snakes in the house."

A miner laughed and said: "If there are snakes in your mine, then congratulations. The snakes guard the black opal, which means that your mine will be rewarding."

After hearing this statement, Li Du became interested.