I became disabled young… i discovered rockhounding “old” and with a poor beat up body. Rocks have saved me. Opals are my favorite. I’m in Texas, I’m always on the hunt. Even though I’m told it’s impossible. Thank you two ladies for sharing this amazing part of history. I had no idea anything like this existed, and I’m almost half a century. It’s amazing. Rocks and fossils have saved whatever years I may have left from certain unbearable depression. I go treasure hunting every day I’m well enough to. I sure wish y’all were so far away. I’d love to listen and take in every bit of knowledge i could cram into this ol noggin! Oh also the pictures of you young. Stunning now, and then!! This story made my day. Thank you again
Australia needs to have a set process whereby important opalised fossils care purchased for fair and generous cost, why should the hard working miner still be broke after finding such a thing. How else can we keep them safe for future generations, surely its Australian heritage. In Coober Pedy an opalised plesiosaur was found. It mysteriously 'went missing' 'stolen' . 😢 That would have been incredible to see!!!!
They are only donated because of the massive tax breaks you get. Basically the museum does there own appraisal saying this tooth’s worth $10000 which is a taxable deduction. Big benefits by donating
exactly right, look at john reeves in Alaska who finds mammoth tusks and even full intact carcasses, once you report that to an agency they confiscate it, pay you nothing, and close down your site where it was found, which is commonly a private gold mining claim so the owner is forced to loose revenue on that site for one or more seasons while the agencies complete their academic work. im all for science and research into ancient history, but asking hard working people to sacrifice so much income because its in the name of science is ridiculous. its got to the point now where they dont report the tusks and just collect them or sell them privately for up to $500k for a set. there are even reports of ancient human remains being found but no one reports it because thats even worse. you will be shut down indefinetly, possibly many years. and not compensated at all. johns reeves company also loaned tens of thousands of ancient bones, tusks, sabre tooth lion skulls, short faced bear skulls ect, to an museum or academic agency i cant remember which, after 30+years of asking for them to be returned they agreed to return the bones. shortly after agreeing they stated the room they are stored in is contaminated with asbestos and needs to be removed before anything can be returned, this was years ago and still no effort to return the bones has been made. the museum then admitted that up to 50 tons of ancient animal, human, and recent human medical studies bones had been dumped in the east river with an exact location of the dumping. this agency has strung this man along for 20-30 years saying they will return them when in reality likely 75% of the collection on loan was dumped in a river and the other 25% was highly valued bones like tusks and skulls would of been given to friends, or the donors to the mueseum who make a sizeable donation, and family members of staff. john reeves is a collector and has established a legacy to protect his "bone yard" which he never intends to sell any significant finds, has so far removed upwards of 750,000 individual bones, some showing significant scientific and anthropological value, but will never be "loaned" to any academic institute due to the past wrong doing by them. He even spent over a million dollars building a lab area so that scholars and scientists can study the bones on his property but not remove them as he refuses to let any bones off the property and for good reason. very interesting story look him up if youd like more info, hes all over youtube even with a few documentaries and been on joe rogan podcast twice and intends to return to the JRE podcast yearly to give updates on their discoveries. the fact no scientist is willing to spend time on his property and review the bones in his own lab speaks volumes to the story he tells. sorry but the title of this video has triggered me a bit these fossils are not "hiding in private collections" they are owned buy private citizens who payed for them or mined them there self with their own blood, sweat, tears, and usually hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars invested into there own mines. you can study these fossils without needing to own them, or take them into your possession, the entitlement demonstrated by a lot of these scientists and scholars is frustrating to say the least. YES these precious finds need to be protected and studied but you can do it without either stealing them or guilting the owner into selling them for pennies in the name of science. A lot of work needs to be done to rekindle the relationship and stigma that has been caused between academics and the collectors / miners.
Federal government commits $100mill to road upgrades, which lead to the prime minister's new residence. I think we can find a couple bucks for people that find some interesting pieces.
It was a joy to watch this production, it has a lot of quiet wisdom like the importance of keeping fossil finds in their context of the environment they were discovered in. Thanks!
Opal miner here Lightning Ridge NSW know the 3 mile well great doco indeed. Nice 2 see ABC with the comment section open for a change unlike some of the other departments mainly the news feeds. May I add the AOC will be opening their new complex at the somewhat large open cut within a year or so its still under construction at this point and nearing finish, thanks to funding and perseverance, new chum here, for those that don't know the ridge new chum is a very old mining field. For the locals that know yes its me Saturday morning on Opal FM yes G shhhhh.
A guy I used to work with from that area told me about an opalized crocodile fossil that his friend has hidden because he doesn't want it to be seized.
My Uncle drowned in an opal mine of My pop's when he was 4yo. Pop Viv lived in lightning ridge for yonks, There's a song about him "chew'n the fat with Uncle Viv" what a character he was 😂
Interesting, if one sided. Opalized clams are found by the thousands and opalized wood is quite common. If not for private collectors most of the opal fossils would have been cut for jewelry and completely lost for scientific study. Most private collectors are happy to have their specimens studied, and a large percentage of material in museum collections was found and donated by private citizens. It is a shame that so many professionals forget or ignore the importance of citizen scientists.
So true. The scientist are looking for those grants and they get them because of donations. While the man that finds them walks with nothing. I'd rather a private collector sell and someone enjoys them than to sitnin a museum making the establishment making a fortune off them.
Why should they donate for them to profit from them. Sell them for all you can so the buyer can enjoy them for a lifetime. These museums make a killing off of donations. I can't remember the last time a museum gave back to society to those who need help.
I have an opalised peice of petrified wood, my aunt and I dug it up in her garden. She had a tree growing too close to the house, so we pulled it out and discovered a cache of various fossils and gold nuggets in a tin. All of this was buried under a layer of tightly packed melon sized boulders of obsidian, quarts, agate, jasper, as well as a bundle of geodes of amethyst and quarts, and some unopened. All of this filled two wheelbarrows and has been buried in a location known only to my aunt and myself.
Sounds like a mighty fine treasure to find as a kid if you have any to pass it onto. I would have cried in happiness if the tooth fairy left me an opalised shell instead of money. 😂
Here’s the thing does the country or museum pay for those opal fossils or do they steal them by passing a law? In the U.S. for instance if you find anything of value on public land like Spanish gold coins you can’t claim them. You may give them to the government and you’re paid nothing. The government is incentivizing people to melt down gold objects so poor people have some money. In England those if you metal defect a gold coin etc the country may take the object but they don’t outright steal it since they compensate the owner. It may not be top dollar but it’s more then what the U.S. pays which is nothing.
More than likely you get a multi million dollar fine and a lawful ransacking of your private property if the government can smell it on you. This ABC slop is just cover for how you actually get treated for your hard work on prison island.
This brings back a memory of my high school days mid 1970s, there was an exhibit on tour ( laid out on a table in the science room ) was a 3-4 foot long fossil of some extinct marine animal and that was mostly opal.!
we mine in andamooka and good fosils are found here, from opalised eggs, opalised fish, opalised frog, plesiour etc shells, cant get bugger all for them here in australia, so generally cut up, or sold overseas to collector
I saw a picture of an entire opalized salamander skeleton, I just about imploded it was so beautiful and perfect. Thank you for this, I hope the right people see it and it inspires them to do the right thing with their fossils.
My mate Roger, his old man run the service station at the old eight mile coober pedy, he says back in the old times people were using opalised dinosaur bones as door stops...
Love the combination of history and opal, it's a shame the Government isn't providing some funding though for the finders, to encourage them more to find and donate. It's valuable and an asset for government ownership, they really need to get on board with this even if its 50% of market.
It’s not really an asset. Politicians only care about money and lobbying or bribes going to them. Australia has billions in sunken gold ships around Australia but bans ships from being recovered. The U.S. has probably billions sitting in the ocean but instead of recovering ships they make massive areas be national monuments where you can’t even fish. The government knows there’s thousands of ships on the ocean floor but they would rather those ships be destroyed then recovered. Remember they hate companies making money and paying taxes. They only want non profits to recovers ships and follow tons of laws and have museums etc. To recover everything and do all the archeological stuff you really need a ship with valuables if a company is going to pay all the added cost. But the government doesn’t even want that done which is why areas are totally banned.
What a joy to stumble across this doc. We are avid mineral collectors and part time fossil collectors on the shores and inlets of the southeast USA. So rare to have both worlds meet with these opalized treasures, and we see them often at the major mineral shows all across the country here. Wish we could bring them all back home for you guys. I’ve made quite a few new discoveries in the mineral world, including new mineral species, and there is nothing that beats that feeling of discovery. Is there a link or somewhere we could donate to help?
I know of 4 turtles that were opalised they went back in the hole and they blew it in one of my mums friends was droving cattle in Queensland he found a whole opalised tree I think its amazing how some matter trades minerals from fossilised to opalised I found a small dinosaur fossil I turned it over to protect it my cousin found a crocadillian fossil under a tree the tree fell over and while her boyfriend was cutting wood the owner of the land rang police to go to there house he was subdividing land and didn't. Want anyone to know
My ex & I used to go pig shooting at Lightning Ridge ( i didn't shoot anything ). I had no idea about this, but it was 40 yrs ago. What a little gem of a program to come across, but sad too knowing what became of that croc & all.❤
I have 4 opal fossils that I found when my brother was living up there. 1 sea urchin and 3 bivalves (a clam and 2 scallops). 1 of the scallops is my favourite best colour and entire fossil (the urchin is pretty intact too but not as opaque)
I am Lakota Sioux, Sicangu Rosebud S.D. USA. I have come to LOVE Australia , Lightening Ridge, particularly, through my complete fascination with Opal. I honestly hope to cut some Opal myself someday soon. But, I didn’t come here to say that, however… As a Native American, I couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly. The fossil record found in Australia’s Opal fields absolutely belong in Australia, to Australia and her peoples. ALL of her peoples. I would obviously very much enjoy seeing these fossils records, but I know if I want to I must travel to Australia to do that. For me, that would be a bucket list item. The point being, if you want to see them make the effort, don’t buy them and take them away from where they BELONG. I see it no differently than someone going to my peoples ancient burial grounds and helping themselves to artifacts they KNOW do not belong even to their own culture. ALL artifacts like that must be returned for proper disposition. Thank you for this content, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it.
Unless the bones are from a Complete skeleton tiny fossils are of little to no scientific value, so these ideas are virtually useless. Opalized fossils are highly valuable mainly because of the fossil having an opal covering. This value is virtually all commercial. I live in Canada, ad in my particular part of the country there is a significant deposit of Ammonite fossils, COMPLETE ammonite Fossils. Meaning That the shell of the fossil is Jewelry grade and of the highest value. One Complete Ammonite Fossil can be worth up to and exceeding $65,000 depending on how many jewelry pieces can be made from it. Those fossils are of ZERO Scientific value to ANY Paleontologist. And the same stands for these fossils. and the idea of "rescuing fossils" from miners who work incredibly hard to dig these from the ground. And since they have virtually no scientific value these women are simply being dishonest about the true Scientific value of these small pieces. A small toe bone from an extinct Crocodilian species or shark tooth is worthless to paleontologists. The only way any of these pieces could be of any value to Paleontologists is if it is of a species completely unknown to science, but really without an entire or partially preserved skeleton, even bones not seen before, without reference or examples of other species if would be pointless to have, except to these disingenuous ladies who want these fossils for themselves, regardless of whether they deny it or not. Honestly, if these ladies want fossils like these opalized ones, they can go out and dig them out themselves. Because the massive sense of entitlement of paleontologists is nothing less that completely aggravating to me. I see it everywhere when I am in the Badlands of Alberta and in the Drumheller valley. I have found countless fossils of my own, and the laws of our nation that make it illegal to dig fossils ourselves is ridiculous since almost all fossils found my the layman are of no scientific value. the ammonite fossils are photographed and shown to a specialist in Fossils and they have the opportunity to decide if the ammonite fossils are of any scientific value, unless they find an ammonite fossils with bite marks and some teeth from an unknown shark species the fossils are not worth taking for the Tyrell Museum of Paleontology. SO the miner who have a claim in the region where they are dug out, they are always passed over by the paleontologists. for this reason these fossils are equally valueless to science, but they are certainly happy to take them and put them on display. And the fossils of Ammonite in Alberta can be as large as 16 inches in Diameter and are much larger than the tiny "worthless" fossils that are found, in Australia other than the opal they have on them, they have no value. and I challenge these ladies to justify their "professional interest" other than personal value because of the opalized nature of them, I bet they would be far less interested in ones that have no opalization on them. This entire video is a simple joke.
Wow, I don't know who hurt you but clearly something or someone did... Consider giving your playlist of anger management videos another go. May the remedy of peace and betterment be in your future
The area doesn’t appear to be a part of the original inland sea. However there was a time in history when the continents were still emerging from the water. Is it possible the deposit site in the area is old enough to have had sharks while still submerged by ocean before rising and then dinosaurs came once plant and vegetation grew to be able to accommodate such life. Then over time they also contributed to the deposits?
I have a whole heap of uncut opal rock a previous boyfriend gave to me that I would like looked at - the people went looking in 1980s for the lot I have which is substantial.
Quite the complex, convoluted issue. On the one hand, there's the obvious continued need for reliance on private funds for expanded fossil digs owing to a dearth of public funding and on the other, there's the obvious contention of fossils being privately owned when it seems so logical and reasonable that these long buried treasures should belong to everyone and allowed to further the advances of science. The solution: more public funding for research and digs.
Was told about a total opalized dinosaur (bones) somewhere in NSW , that an elderly couple found on their property , they covered it back up and kept quiet about it so no scum lowlifes wouldn't steal it ! Unfortunately I was told , so how many more people did the person that told me , told others ? Poor dears , not interested in money just peace and quiet .
Not all ABC reports are woke thankfully, if she had been anything like that they would have run her out of town, the people of the Outback do not tolerate fools.
The opal industry is about to be shut down, has been in white cliffs NSW no opal mining for 6 years , the town is dead , if the government and native title keep going the way it is we are doomed
What is truly meant by "rescuing them from private collections"? Because to me it sounds like paleontologists think in their minds just because these are opalized fossils they should be kept by who,... gov, museum, the paleontologist? I should think not. Unless the owner agrees to such a thing, it would be theft in my eyes to rip away something that some miner dug out himself just for science to come along and take it due to "historical significance" or some nonsense. It truly amazes me sometimes how you have people like this who will not do the work to dig them up themselves, yet feel they should be granted access to them to "study" giving the hard working miner nothing to compensate the seizure of the fossils by Gov or museums. This sounds like you all want these fossils just because of their market value not scientific value. Because they have no real scientific value. smh Not to the point where you should feel entitled to something that belongs to another because science. smh
I'm a collector of Tektites (Australites) and fossils. I find them on my own property, wink wink nudge nudge. If you find Tektites in W.A they are property of the western Australian government.
Cool my Great Great Grandfather Gave my Father who gave me a complete Bottom Jaw bone from an Ancient fish of some kind. It has teeth like a Mackerel and boy does it shine like the rainbow. It is incased in a Display cabinet that has the humidity kept at a very good internal environment. You can see multiple rows of teeth that I assume would replace the teeth like a shark. Every part of this bottom jaw is complete and it is 100% lost all its. Calcium and the minerals of Lightning Ridge once was lying 26 meters underground found in 1930 c…👍👍
Just watching this channel 100% several buckets of rough Opals as Sadly the old fellas have met their maker and the four (4) 20 litre buckets full of colour. He never got to sell his finds . Well he obviously sold opal but kept a very large surplus…The Jaw bone is truly beautiful..👍🇦🇺
Yeah and capitalised TV networks are as honest as a lyrebird. Propaganda a plenty. Independent journalism is vital. Besides your so called fossil of a broadcast network just helped put these guys on the map to sell their products to fund their not so great except on a not to common occurrence costs of living and lives.
I became disabled young… i discovered rockhounding “old” and with a poor beat up body. Rocks have saved me. Opals are my favorite. I’m in Texas, I’m always on the hunt. Even though I’m told it’s impossible.
Thank you two ladies for sharing this amazing part of history. I had no idea anything like this existed, and I’m almost half a century. It’s amazing. Rocks and fossils have saved whatever years I may have left from certain unbearable depression. I go treasure hunting every day I’m well enough to. I sure wish y’all were so far away. I’d love to listen and take in every bit of knowledge i could cram into this ol noggin! Oh also the pictures of you young. Stunning now, and then!! This story made my day. Thank you again
Bless your soul
Goodluck and happy hunting! Much love from Western Australia xoxo
Keep it up!
Australia needs to have a set process whereby important opalised fossils care purchased for fair and generous cost, why should the hard working miner still be broke after finding such a thing. How else can we keep them safe for future generations, surely its Australian heritage. In Coober Pedy an opalised plesiosaur was found. It mysteriously 'went missing' 'stolen' . 😢 That would have been incredible to see!!!!
They are only donated because of the massive tax breaks you get. Basically the museum does there own appraisal saying this tooth’s worth $10000 which is a taxable deduction. Big benefits by donating
exactly right, look at john reeves in Alaska who finds mammoth tusks and even full intact carcasses, once you report that to an agency they confiscate it, pay you nothing, and close down your site where it was found, which is commonly a private gold mining claim so the owner is forced to loose revenue on that site for one or more seasons while the agencies complete their academic work.
im all for science and research into ancient history, but asking hard working people to sacrifice so much income because its in the name of science is ridiculous. its got to the point now where they dont report the tusks and just collect them or sell them privately for up to $500k for a set. there are even reports of ancient human remains being found but no one reports it because thats even worse. you will be shut down indefinetly, possibly many years. and not compensated at all.
johns reeves company also loaned tens of thousands of ancient bones, tusks, sabre tooth lion skulls, short faced bear skulls ect, to an museum or academic agency i cant remember which, after 30+years of asking for them to be returned they agreed to return the bones. shortly after agreeing they stated the room they are stored in is contaminated with asbestos and needs to be removed before anything can be returned, this was years ago and still no effort to return the bones has been made.
the museum then admitted that up to 50 tons of ancient animal, human, and recent human medical studies bones had been dumped in the east river with an exact location of the dumping. this agency has strung this man along for 20-30 years saying they will return them when in reality likely 75% of the collection on loan was dumped in a river and the other 25% was highly valued bones like tusks and skulls would of been given to friends, or the donors to the mueseum who make a sizeable donation, and family members of staff.
john reeves is a collector and has established a legacy to protect his "bone yard" which he never intends to sell any significant finds, has so far removed upwards of 750,000 individual bones, some showing significant scientific and anthropological value, but will never be "loaned" to any academic institute due to the past wrong doing by them.
He even spent over a million dollars building a lab area so that scholars and scientists can study the bones on his property but not remove them as he refuses to let any bones off the property and for good reason.
very interesting story look him up if youd like more info, hes all over youtube even with a few documentaries and been on joe rogan podcast twice and intends to return to the JRE podcast yearly to give updates on their discoveries. the fact no scientist is willing to spend time on his property and review the bones in his own lab speaks volumes to the story he tells.
sorry but the title of this video has triggered me a bit these fossils are not "hiding in private collections" they are owned buy private citizens who payed for them or mined them there self with their own blood, sweat, tears, and usually hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars invested into there own mines. you can study these fossils without needing to own them, or take them into your possession, the entitlement demonstrated by a lot of these scientists and scholars is frustrating to say the least. YES these precious finds need to be protected and studied but you can do it without either stealing them or guilting the owner into selling them for pennies in the name of science. A lot of work needs to be done to rekindle the relationship and stigma that has been caused between academics and the collectors / miners.
Bradmoran
Is it a tax credit or tax deduction? If a fossil is worth say $10,000 does that mean the company owes $10,000 less in taxes?
For real man. Countless billions dumped into government garbage but can't preserve these beautiful finds and compensate the dude who found them?....
Federal government commits $100mill to road upgrades, which lead to the prime minister's new residence. I think we can find a couple bucks for people that find some interesting pieces.
It was a joy to watch this production, it has a lot of quiet wisdom like the importance of keeping fossil finds in their context of the environment they were discovered in. Thanks!
Opal miner here Lightning Ridge NSW know the 3 mile well great doco indeed. Nice 2 see ABC with the comment section open for a change unlike some of the other departments mainly the news feeds. May I add the AOC will be opening their new complex at the somewhat large open cut within a year or so its still under construction at this point and nearing finish, thanks to funding and perseverance, new chum here, for those that don't know the ridge new chum is a very old mining field. For the locals that know yes its me Saturday morning on Opal FM yes G shhhhh.
Black Opal is so beautiful. My grandma was 80 years old when i showed her a pic of black O and she loves it
A guy I used to work with from that area told me about an opalized crocodile fossil that his friend has hidden because he doesn't want it to be seized.
That’s hella nice bro hell yeah
Yeah there are few who still care good for him!
My Uncle drowned in an opal mine of My pop's when he was 4yo. Pop Viv lived in lightning ridge for yonks, There's a song about him "chew'n the fat with Uncle Viv" what a character he was 😂
Interesting, if one sided. Opalized clams are found by the thousands and opalized wood is quite common. If not for private collectors most of the opal fossils would have been cut for jewelry and completely lost for scientific study. Most private collectors are happy to have their specimens studied, and a large percentage of material in museum collections was found and donated by private citizens. It is a shame that so many professionals forget or ignore the importance of citizen scientists.
So true. The scientist are looking for those grants and they get them because of donations. While the man that finds them walks with nothing. I'd rather a private collector sell and someone enjoys them than to sitnin a museum making the establishment making a fortune off them.
I recently found a beautiful little crystallized opal in south east Qld. Australian opals are absolutely stunning!
Why should they donate for them to profit from them. Sell them for all you can so the buyer can enjoy them for a lifetime. These museums make a killing off of donations. I can't remember the last time a museum gave back to society to those who need help.
I have an opalised peice of petrified wood, my aunt and I dug it up in her garden.
She had a tree growing too close to the house, so we pulled it out and discovered a cache of various fossils and gold nuggets in a tin. All of this was buried under a layer of tightly packed melon sized boulders of obsidian, quarts, agate, jasper, as well as a bundle of geodes of amethyst and quarts, and some unopened. All of this filled two wheelbarrows and has been buried in a location known only to my aunt and myself.
Tell me
Yep tell me....
The previous owners retirement fund, sounds like! A genuinely nice score! You DID let yourselves drool over them for a while in the sun, I hope!?
Why not put them in a glass cabinet with lighting and enjoy them.
I saw an opalised claw ( looked like a mammals claw) in a jewellers shop in Hurstville about 45 years ago. Never forgot it.
I have an opalised shell. I'd happily give it to a museum. I didn't know how special it was
Ooooo what a thing to have!
Leave it to someone very special.. that Will treasure it , museums have enough stuff.. lol.😏
Sounds like a mighty fine treasure to find as a kid if you have any to pass it onto. I would have cried in happiness if the tooth fairy left me an opalised shell instead of money. 😂
@@TalmageL-pn2pv and most never gets on display just sits in boxes in some vault !
@@sheepsfoot2 to be studied!
Beautiful story ❤️
Here’s the thing does the country or museum pay for those opal fossils or do they steal them by passing a law? In the U.S. for instance if you find anything of value on public land like Spanish gold coins you can’t claim them. You may give them to the government and you’re paid nothing. The government is incentivizing people to melt down gold objects so poor people have some money.
In England those if you metal defect a gold coin etc the country may take the object but they don’t outright steal it since they compensate the owner. It may not be top dollar but it’s more then what the U.S. pays which is nothing.
More than likely you get a multi million dollar fine and a lawful ransacking of your private property if the government can smell it on you. This ABC slop is just cover for how you actually get treated for your hard work on prison island.
This is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your incredible knowledge and experience. 🙂👍❤
This brings back a memory of my high school days mid 1970s, there was an exhibit on tour ( laid out on a table in the science room ) was a 3-4 foot long fossil of some extinct marine animal and that was mostly opal.!
Probably an old sheeps foot or something
we mine in andamooka and good fosils are found here, from opalised eggs, opalised fish, opalised frog, plesiour etc shells, cant get bugger all for them here in australia, so generally cut up, or sold overseas to collector
How big are the eggs you've found. sounds amazing
How rude to think that miners should generously give such priceless finds to the museum. Australia do better.
Great documentary, really enjoyed it
Awsome doco. Well done :)
How exciting thank you for sharing your valuable information opals are beautiful, such an informative program. All of you people are so knowledgeable.
I saw a picture of an entire opalized salamander skeleton, I just about imploded it was so beautiful and perfect.
Thank you for this, I hope the right people see it and it inspires them to do the right thing with their fossils.
So interesting and great presentation. Thankyou🤩
Absolutely spectacular world we all live in.xxxxx Magic pudding!!!!❤
Awesome documentary
Thank you!
Red on black opalised crocodile fossile is as precious and beautiful fossile that i could imagine.
My mate Roger, his old man run the service station at the old eight mile coober pedy, he says back in the old times people were using opalised dinosaur bones as door stops...
I just use a baby dinosaur as a door greeter
Rescue? Strange choice of wording.
This is amazing too see. Thank you so much for creating, sharing & educating. ✨🌈🌼
I meet both these ladys at the fossil centre in lightning Ridge have my fossil poster off opal loved it
RIP Peter Carroll.... a legendary digger...
Love the combination of history and opal, it's a shame the Government isn't providing some funding though for the finders, to encourage them more to find and donate. It's valuable and an asset for government ownership, they really need to get on board with this even if its 50% of market.
It’s not really an asset. Politicians only care about money and lobbying or bribes going to them. Australia has billions in sunken gold ships around Australia but bans ships from being recovered.
The U.S. has probably billions sitting in the ocean but instead of recovering ships they make massive areas be national monuments where you can’t even fish. The government knows there’s thousands of ships on the ocean floor but they would rather those ships be destroyed then recovered. Remember they hate companies making money and paying taxes. They only want non profits to recovers ships and follow tons of laws and have museums etc. To recover everything and do all the archeological stuff you really need a ship with valuables if a company is going to pay all the added cost. But the government doesn’t even want that done which is why areas are totally banned.
What a joy to stumble across this doc. We are avid mineral collectors and part time fossil collectors on the shores and inlets of the southeast USA. So rare to have both worlds meet with these opalized treasures, and we see them often at the major mineral shows all across the country here. Wish we could bring them all back home for you guys. I’ve made quite a few new discoveries in the mineral world, including new mineral species, and there is nothing that beats that feeling of discovery. Is there a link or somewhere we could donate to help?
A friend has a 10cm Squid tenticle that was fully opalised from memory it was found in NSW! Its kept in his bank vault!😎🇦🇺
Really interesting! Thanks
I know of 4 turtles that were opalised they went back in the hole and they blew it in one of my mums friends was droving cattle in Queensland he found a whole opalised tree I think its amazing how some matter trades minerals from fossilised to opalised I found a small dinosaur fossil I turned it over to protect it my cousin found a crocadillian fossil under a tree the tree fell over and while her boyfriend was cutting wood the owner of the land rang police to go to there house he was subdividing land and didn't. Want anyone to know
Facts are the greatest to learn and do from.Exceptional documentary. Let people talk to do these donations . Great❤
My ex & I used to go pig shooting at Lightning Ridge ( i didn't shoot anything ).
I had no idea about this, but it was 40 yrs ago. What a little gem of a program to come across, but sad too knowing what became of that croc & all.❤
She is awesome for this!
I have 4 opal fossils that I found when my brother was living up there. 1 sea urchin and 3 bivalves (a clam and 2 scallops). 1 of the scallops is my favourite best colour and entire fossil (the urchin is pretty intact too but not as opaque)
I am Lakota Sioux, Sicangu Rosebud S.D. USA.
I have come to LOVE Australia , Lightening Ridge, particularly, through my complete fascination with Opal. I honestly hope to cut some Opal myself someday soon.
But, I didn’t come here to say that, however…
As a Native American, I couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly. The fossil record found in Australia’s Opal fields absolutely belong in Australia, to Australia and her peoples. ALL of her peoples.
I would obviously very much enjoy seeing these fossils records, but I know if I want to I must travel to Australia to do that. For me, that would be a bucket list item. The point being, if you want to see them make the effort, don’t buy them and take them away from where they BELONG.
I see it no differently than someone going to my peoples ancient burial grounds and helping themselves to artifacts they KNOW do not belong even to their own culture.
ALL artifacts like that must be returned for proper disposition.
Thank you for this content, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it.
Unless the bones are from a Complete skeleton tiny fossils are of little to no scientific value, so these ideas are virtually useless. Opalized fossils are highly valuable mainly because of the fossil having an opal covering. This value is virtually all commercial. I live in Canada, ad in my particular part of the country there is a significant deposit of Ammonite fossils, COMPLETE ammonite Fossils. Meaning That the shell of the fossil is Jewelry grade and of the highest value. One Complete Ammonite Fossil can be worth up to and exceeding $65,000 depending on how many jewelry pieces can be made from it. Those fossils are of ZERO Scientific value to ANY Paleontologist. And the same stands for these fossils. and the idea of "rescuing fossils" from miners who work incredibly hard to dig these from the ground. And since they have virtually no scientific value these women are simply being dishonest about the true Scientific value of these small pieces. A small toe bone from an extinct Crocodilian species or shark tooth is worthless to paleontologists. The only way any of these pieces could be of any value to Paleontologists is if it is of a species completely unknown to science, but really without an entire or partially preserved skeleton, even bones not seen before, without reference or examples of other species if would be pointless to have, except to these disingenuous ladies who want these fossils for themselves, regardless of whether they deny it or not. Honestly, if these ladies want fossils like these opalized ones, they can go out and dig them out themselves. Because the massive sense of entitlement of paleontologists is nothing less that completely aggravating to me. I see it everywhere when I am in the Badlands of Alberta and in the Drumheller valley. I have found countless fossils of my own, and the laws of our nation that make it illegal to dig fossils ourselves is ridiculous since almost all fossils found my the layman are of no scientific value. the ammonite fossils are photographed and shown to a specialist in Fossils and they have the opportunity to decide if the ammonite fossils are of any scientific value, unless they find an ammonite fossils with bite marks and some teeth from an unknown shark species the fossils are not worth taking for the Tyrell Museum of Paleontology. SO the miner who have a claim in the region where they are dug out, they are always passed over by the paleontologists. for this reason these fossils are equally valueless to science, but they are certainly happy to take them and put them on display. And the fossils of Ammonite in Alberta can be as large as 16 inches in Diameter and are much larger than the tiny "worthless" fossils that are found, in Australia other than the opal they have on them, they have no value. and I challenge these ladies to justify their "professional interest" other than personal value because of the opalized nature of them, I bet they would be far less interested in ones that have no opalization on them. This entire video is a simple joke.
Exactly what I thought. They are like two mother figures and the opalized fossils are their babies. The whole premise of this video is a joke.
That's exactly what I was thinking..
Nice! Colorado, usa where I am has a small ammolite deposit, and the pieces I've seen are gorgeous!
Wow, I don't know who hurt you but clearly something or someone did... Consider giving your playlist of anger management videos another go. May the remedy of peace and betterment be in your future
Another whiney Seppo that's angry because everyone thinks he's a joke😂😂😂😂
Agree. Hence ,rock hounding,built into all folks,hundreds of folk,saving remembering items,their family keep sakes.❤. Stay precious, prayers.
Another expensive thing I'm obsessed with now !!! Thanks. I wonder if A laboratory could trun my bones into opal????
Would it be possible to cast the fossil opals from the miners if they can't get fair price?
They cut up an opalised crocodile fossil, is that what she meant at the beginning? How much would such a thing be worth intact. It would be amazing.
tbh ... smashing the colour out the bones is really bad
I recall Eric the opalised dinosaur, and the successful public appeal to raise funds to keep it here
What an absolute gem of video on Australian opal! I want to order an opal , mens,wedding band now. It really is the most beautiful stone!
It belongs to who found it and picked it up
There is a beautiful opalised plesiosaur in the Adelaide Museum
The area doesn’t appear to be a part of the original inland sea. However there was a time in history when the continents were still emerging from the water. Is it possible the deposit site in the area is old enough to have had sharks while still submerged by ocean before rising and then dinosaurs came once plant and vegetation grew to be able to accommodate such life. Then over time they also contributed to the deposits?
I heard an opalised dinosaur skeleton was found, not big, that went out of the country,before the authorities found out
Opal Replacement Casts of organic material that rotted away is not a fossil....it's a cast of a organism
VERY INTERESTING...
I don’t see why if you find something on your land why it’s not yours! Same in Europe they take them away !
You two should go to the bone yard in Alaska. Get you out of the desert and play with permafrost. Thank you for the work.
I have a whole heap of uncut opal rock a previous boyfriend gave to me that I would like looked at - the people went looking in 1980s for the lot I have which is substantial.
In the U.S. we call that a come up not being “Rescued”
Great stuff, not for or against opal hunting, but am against money ... That's why you had to go from home land's
Just think how much more science could flourish and human civilization if we didn’t have to depend on money 😢
Your wrong lady !!! We must protect our local sea life!!!!!!
AS IF someone would donate their opal fossils to sit in some museum so they can make money off admission. tell them to get stuffed and sell them.
I would, as long as the institution gave free access to the public one day a week. What's a piece or two if you have it.
Very cool
Quite the complex, convoluted issue. On the one hand, there's the obvious continued need for reliance on private funds for expanded fossil digs owing to a dearth of public funding and on the other, there's the obvious contention of fossils being privately owned when it seems so logical and reasonable that these long buried treasures should belong to everyone and allowed to further the advances of science. The solution: more public funding for research and digs.
Was told about a total opalized dinosaur (bones) somewhere in NSW , that an elderly couple found on their property , they covered it back up and kept quiet about it so no scum lowlifes wouldn't steal it ! Unfortunately I was told , so how many more people did the person that told me , told others ? Poor dears , not interested in money just peace and quiet .
So cool
Sorry darling there's was no opal on mars how can you prove that
google's free pal...
I have a nice opalised ammonite I got at a yard sale for $5
Finders keepers!
100 million years ... Really?
Grate story but is the ABC, reporters really telling the truth her!
Not all ABC reports are woke thankfully, if she had been anything like that they would have run her out of town, the people of the Outback do not tolerate fools.
The opal industry is about to be shut down, has been in white cliffs NSW no opal mining for 6 years , the town is dead , if the government and native title keep going the way it is we are doomed
What is truly meant by "rescuing them from private collections"? Because to me it sounds like paleontologists think in their minds just because these are opalized fossils they should be kept by who,... gov, museum, the paleontologist? I should think not. Unless the owner agrees to such a thing, it would be theft in my eyes to rip away something that some miner dug out himself just for science to come along and take it due to "historical significance" or some nonsense. It truly amazes me sometimes how you have people like this who will not do the work to dig them up themselves, yet feel they should be granted access to them to "study" giving the hard working miner nothing to compensate the seizure of the fossils by Gov or museums. This sounds like you all want these fossils just because of their market value not scientific value. Because they have no real scientific value. smh Not to the point where you should feel entitled to something that belongs to another because science. smh
Amphorus silica hydrate
45:48 plasma
I'm a collector of Tektites (Australites) and fossils. I find them on my own property, wink wink nudge nudge.
If you find Tektites in W.A they are property of the western Australian government.
Fossilized human gem
If thats a sharks toot i maybe have a toe to something
Cool my Great Great Grandfather Gave my Father who gave me a complete Bottom Jaw bone from an Ancient fish of some kind. It has teeth like a Mackerel and boy does it shine like the rainbow. It is incased in a Display cabinet that has the humidity kept at a very good internal environment. You can see multiple rows of teeth that I assume would replace the teeth like a shark. Every part of this bottom jaw is complete and it is 100% lost all its. Calcium and the minerals of Lightning Ridge once was lying 26 meters underground found in 1930 c…👍👍
Just watching this channel 100% several buckets of rough Opals as Sadly the old fellas have met their maker and the four (4) 20 litre buckets full of colour. He never got to sell his finds . Well he obviously sold opal but kept a very large surplus…The Jaw bone is truly beautiful..👍🇦🇺
Creepy waffles
The ABC is a fossil
Rainbow coloured but no gem ?
@@ianking-jv4hg all potch
Yeah and capitalised TV networks are as honest as a lyrebird. Propaganda a plenty. Independent journalism is vital. Besides your so called fossil of a broadcast network just helped put these guys on the map to sell their products to fund their not so great except on a not to common occurrence costs of living and lives.
you want the fossils pay for em im sure you can find a rich mf to bankroll you
this is proof of an Biblical flood.
Do DNA on it
No way you find it ,its yours nobody should be able to take it from you
Rainbownes