Chapter 814 Carving Out Gemstones (1/2)

Chapter 814: Carving Out Gemstones

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The mine owners and miners in Lightning Ridge were not stupid. As all of them had survived among rumors and lies, it was not easy to get them to believe the news.

Despite that, in regards to the relationship between Li Du and Blanchett, people did not believe the rumors that Blanchett was scamming Li Du.

This was because Li Du had never found trouble with Blanchett. On the contrary, Li Du was seen carrying presents to his visits with Blanchett, who then invited Li Du into his house and even treated him to dinner.

Everyone in Lightning Ridge knew what kind of a person Blanchett was. If Blanchett was to have scammed someone, he would definitely not invite them into his house, let alone treat them to dinner.

Consequently, people started to wonder if the news of Li Du buying Blanchett's dogsh*t mine of his own accord and having dug out gemstones from it was true.

On the morning of the second day after visiting Blanchett, Li Du went to an ore cutting workshop. Workshops like this had tools such as waterjets, angle grinders, and handheld grinders specialized for grinding ores.

Right after Li Du and his group entered the workshop, a staff member came over and attended to them. ”Hello guys, is there anything you need help with?”

After Godzilla opened up a container and revealed the dozen pieces of rock inside, Li Du said, ”Help us grind them and take out the gemstones inside.”

As Li Du had already carried out the initial steps for the grinding of the rocks, faint traces of black opal could be seen.

Seeing the rocks, the staff member exclaimed, ”So many gemstones? Oh my God, you sure are lucky. You must have found a black opal vein.”

Li Du hurried him along. ”Yes, my luck is decent. A friend of mine helped me procure a good mine. Hurry, I can't wait to see the gemstones.”

Grinding a piece of rock required 100 AUD. In total, 1,200 dollars was required to grind all the rocks.

Immediately after Li Du handed over the money, someone brought tools out and began grinding the rocks next to Li Du.

The removal of black opal was rather complicated and required the use of various types of tools.

The first tool used was a wet saw. Although wet saws were similar to waterjets, they were less sophisticated, used an iron saw for cutting, and were mainly used for cutting and polishing.

The advantage of using a wet saw was the high efficiency, while the disadvantages of using a wet saw were the large amount of waste, high level of danger, and likelihood of causing an accident.

Despite that, the staff member operating the wet saw was experienced, and his mastery over it was as if he were using his own arms and fingers.

The staff member picked up a piece of rock and placed it on the wet saw operating table. The wet saw operating table was approximately one meter high, 60 centimeters wide, and 80 centimeters long, and could be used to used to cut thick rocks.

With the on-off switch switched on, the wet saw began spinning and splashing droplets of water. After the staff member placed the piece of rock onto the operating table, a crunching noise could be heard, and pieces of shattered rock started flying out.

The staff member concentrated his attention on the rock. Once a small trace of the gemstone within the rock was exposed, the staff member would immediately stop the wet saw and change the angle at which the rock was cut.

Having briefly watched the staff member, Li Du felt that the money was very well spent, as it was very rare for someone to be able to grind rocks and not harm the gemstone in the slightest.

There were also a few miners shopping in the workshop. After noticing that there was someone removing gemstones, the miners came over excitedly. Seeing the gemstone becoming more and more visible in the wake of the rock being cut by the wet saw, the miners exclaimed, ”A large piece of gemstone. With Mother Mary watching, I bet that the gemstone is four times the standard size.”

”Definitely a large gemstone. Its color is so good, look at its play-of-color. Even if it isn't four times the standard size, this fella is still extremely valuable!”

”Oh my God, why am I never this lucky?”

”Not just lucky, mate. It's an explosion of luck! It has been a long time since I have seen such an outstanding gemstone.”