Outback Opal Hunters, which officially premiered on 8th February, 2018, had made their first announcement in the previous year and has since been a crowd favorite especially among the Americans and Aussies.
The show has consistently had strong ratings, and it became so well-liked in the US that subsequent seasons were immediately purchased after the initial season finished.
It swiftly rose to the top of the list of most-watched shows on Discovery Channel Australia and was later broadcast on US television due to its immense popularity. Season 9 of Outback Opal Hunters made its premiere on 16th February, 2023.
Outback Opal Mining is till date, the only factual TV show that extensively documents the process of opal mining. This article will be providing all the necessary information you need to know about the show- from the airing of its upcoming episode to where you can watch.
Synopsis
This show documents the lives of actual opal minors who travel to different mining locations across various Australian locations and follows their exploration journeys. Over the years, the miners have visited various places including Laverton, White Cliffs, Mintabie, Lightning Ridge,New South Wales, and Opalton.
The cuts on the Opals must be made by a skilled miner because a single poor cut might significantly reduce the value of the stone. The majority of the groups on the episode either engaged in mining as a group with others in the area or inherited the places and customs from their parents.
The typical structure of the show follows each miner as they explore several mines and gather materials they believe may contain an opal fossil. The only way to know whether or not their mining was successful was to take those stones home, wash them, and then eventually cut them through the center.
Mining Groups in Outback Opal Hunters
The series initially had The Rookies, The Opal Queens, The Gerang Gang, and many others when it first began, but now there are entirely new groups that work on the mining operations.
Currently, there are about 9 different mining groups in the series, all of which are dispersed over Australia. Rod Manning and Les Walsh make up ‘The Bushmen’ at this time. They mine in New South Wales’ Sheepyard. Carl Grice and Mary McMillan form ‘The Brits from White Cliffs’, another mining team. Since season 3, these two teams have been appearing on Outback Opal Hunters alongside ‘The Young Guns’.
In addition to ‘The Blacklighters’ consisting Paul Coon, Mark I’Anson, John Nassar, and Xavier Montgomery from Coober Pedy, we’ll also see ‘The Cheals’ – Chris Cheal, Oscar Cheal, Farren Lamb, and Rory Cheal from Lightning Ridge. While The Cheals have been around since the fourth season, the Blacklighters made their debut in Season 5.
The Opal Whisperers, the famed Opal miners who are frequently featured on the show’s YouTube channel, will also appear in the new season along with ‘The Bishops’, Scott Evans and Greg Scully.
The Tarantos, The Misfits, and The Mooka Boys are the other three groups that have recently joined. Juan Vasco, Angel Dempsey, and Joe Kalmar make up the whole team of The Misfits. Leif Tanzer, Colin, and Matthew Kathagen are The Mooka Boys. Usually, these final two groups mine in Andamooka. This season, we saw a brand-new set of groups. The Digi Diggers being one of them.
Outback Opal Hunters Season 9 Episode 3 Release Date
Episode 3 of Outback Opal Hunters Season 9 will be airing on 2nd March, 2023 at 4:30 am (EST). The release date and time of the episode in different regions is given below-
- 2nd March, 2023 at 8:00 pm (ACDT)
- 2nd March, 2023 at 8:30 pm (AEDT)
- 2nd March, 2023 at 6:30 pm (AWDT)
- 2nd March, 2023 at 4:30 am (New York City, USA)
- 2nd March, 2023 at 6:30 pm (JST)
- 2nd March, 2023 at 3:00 pm (IST)
- 2nd March, 2023 at 5:30 pm (MYT)
- 2nd March, 2023 at 6:30 pm (KST)
Where to Watch Outback Opal Hunters Season 9 Episodes
The show will be available on the local Discovery Channel and Foxtel for Australians. For those in the UK, the local Quest TV channel will be showcasing Outback Opal Hunters while Canadians can access the episodes on CTV.
For those who can’t access either of these, Discovery+ will also be having all episodes of Outback Opal Hunters available to stream. In case the show is unavailable in your region, consider using a legal VPN to gain access.
