World First? - We LiDAR Scanned an Opal Mine @ Lightning Ridge!

We 3D scanned a 25+ year old Lightning Ridge opal mine and created a visualisation of the entire mine.
Special thanks to Shaun Galman for allowing access to the mine, providing safety briefings and supporting this creation of this video.
Curiosity Mine t-shirts, caps and posters: curiositymine.com/shop
Follow Shaun on Deviantart: deviantart.com/syndyne
I cannot stress this enough - mine safety is important. Opal mines, opal mining claims and opal fields are dangerous places with hazards you may not be familiar with and cannot predict. Entering a mineral claim without the express permission of the claim owner is considered criminal trespass and can be prosecuted. Entering mine diggings without the presence of a trained and experienced miner is an extreme risk and is never, ever recommended.
0:00 Mine Safety
0:09 Outtakes
0:37 Introduction
2:09 The Process
2:53 About LiDAR
3:58 Scanning the Mine
6:00 Other 3D Scanning Projects
6:59 Finishing up the Scan
8:12 Putting it All Together
11:07 Discoveries from the 3D Scan
12:17 Back to the Mine
16:10 Conclusion
16:56 Rescue Mission
17:26 Acknowledgements
3D Scanner App (not affiliated): apps.apple.com/au/app/3d-scan...
Alternatives include Matterport: matterport.com
and Polycam: poly.cam
‪@GhostTownLiving‬ (Brent Underwood @ Cerro Gordo): / ghosttownliving
‪@CorridorCrew‬
/ corridorcrew
Graham Brothers cottage video (home of the Lightning Ridge Historical Society): • The Graham Brothers' C...
Graham Brothers cottage 3D scan:
sketchfab.com/3d-models/lrhs-...
Music by the ever-amazing fraxyl:
"Under The Ground" (V1 & V3), "IDU Theme" (remix), "A Bass Jam Floating in Space"
fraxyl.bandcamp.com
Other music by Russell Gawthorpe
"Bendybass", etc
/ datazoid
--
Follow Curiosity Mine on...
Facebook: / curiositymine
Twitter: / curiositymine
Instagram: / curiosity.mine
The web: curiositymine.com/
Thank YOU for watching!
#lightningridge #opalmining #3dscanning

[@addahanna4844]

Great video, thank you. I have an old opal mine I purchased about 80km from Lightning Ridge. Next year am planning to commence mining, before I do I will follow your instructions and map the mine to the claim boundaries. Excited to give it a go. Cheers

[@CuriosityMine]

Thank you so much. I wish you well with your opal mine! All the best, and thank you for watching.

[@LawrenceOwen]

I'm surprised that there are not more miners there doing this very same thing. Some of those mines go on for who knows how far and it would be so awesome to see them mapped out like that. And it would be helpful to have it for a map maybe find new places to dig off from or connect tunnels. There is so much that can be done with that info.

[@CuriosityMine]

Absolutely - it’s pretty mind blowing technology, and so relatively simple to use. I can see this becoming a pretty normal process for this kind of mining in the future, for sure. Thanks for commenting! 👍

[@MissMorph]

Your videos are always such a wonderful mix of information, innovation, history and of course opal related 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I think you will find there are more than 9 subscribers though …plus other channels may have more subscribers but I’m sure your channel would win on genuinely interested and engaged viewers & we all love how you find ways of inspiring, entertaining and educating us too. Thank you. Looking forward to the next curiosity you decide to mine!

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much, I really appreciate the kind words! 😁

[@wisencareful4645]

As usual, interesting, informative, educational & just plain amazing. We’ll done & all the patience paid off. Bravo great vid.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thank you again! Always appreciated. 😁

[@confetticartel1265]

So cool! And great to see Shaun on camera again :)

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! Always great to work with Shaun! 😁👍

[@dragonballfan1909]

Those two beared lizard sat there like holy shit sunlight!!! Thanks lads. Well done ✅

[@CuriosityMine]

Haha, yeah! They practically teleported back to the surface. 😂 thsnks for watching and commenting!

[@dragonballfan1909]

@@CuriosityMine no problem mate happy to help the algorithms been loving the opal vids from big to small channels but mainly between you and big boy black opal direct Justin.. it's all inspiring and IV loved opals forever and these awesome videos from these channels inspiring me to consider visiting opal country next year and taking it more seriously :)

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much, you have no idea how much I appreciate the great feedback - hopefully the algorithm does too 😁 Always good to be in the same category as Justin, he does great work! Thanks again and I hope you get to visit the fields soon!

[@geedub7912]

Very cool indeed!!!! I bet Justin from Black Opal Direct would love this as well. P.S. ~ Glad you rescued the Bearded Dragons too!!! I subbed 🐉🐉🐉

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! Justin’s videos are great, always good to see Lightning Ridge and the opal industry getting out there. The lizards were very grateful to be out, Shaun found and rescued a third one only a few days ago. 🦎 thanks for watching! 😁

[@nancycurtis7315]

Brilliant. I'm astounded. Love the channel. Opals, history fossils, new technology. Thank you. I appreciate every video and your time. Greetings from Dimboola, in Victoria.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks Nancy! Always appreciate your support and kindness. Thanks for watching. 😁

[@bentationfunkiloglio]

Great idea! Amazing that the same type of scanning can now be done with an iPhone and IR. Easy to appreciate how much this technology could improve prospecting results.

[@CuriosityMine]

The speed of technology really creeps up on you. One day we're playing Snake on a Nokia, the next day we're 3D scanning a quarter mile of underground tunnels on an iPhone. The detail isn't the same as professional LiDAR, but for a piece of glass in your pocket it's awfully close! 😁

[@SideShowAli]

This is freakin awesome!!!🤯Thanks so much for sharing this with us!!

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much and you’re very welcome! 😁

[@saintdeora]

Wow, what an incredible piece of technology, really interesting to see what the inside of one of these mines really looks like! It was also awesome to hear from a miner first hand the ways in which this type of scan would be useful to them in the field. How long do you think it took to scan the entire mine and then stitch everything together to create the final model?

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! It probably took about two hours to scan the entire mine, although the scan was admittedly quite rough and we missed getting good detail in some areas. Stitching was fairly painless and only took a few hours, mostly because it was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle that needed a lot of manual figuring out. 😂

[@anasevi9456]

What a great effort, thanks for your hard work as seeing the inside of that mine and how the yield pursuit digging went. Love Lidar, thanks to that finally had a robot vac that did not need to be shepherded to cover the entire house and not get stuck. More so given it works in the pitch black, will always prefer it over purely video reliant smart robovacs.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much Ana! It turned out really interesting. Still lots to learn, we'll be analysing the 3D model for some time yet! Maybe our next video should be letting a robot vac loose in an opal mine? 😂

[@pthomson9736]

Absolutely brilliant work. ❤❤😊

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! Really appreciate the kind words. 😁👍

[@2HighNoon]

Now that’s an amazing idea! Looking forward to watching this video! Already hyped and commenting. 😅✌️

[@2HighNoon]

Sub’d 🏆

[@2HighNoon]

Matio’esk music was great! 😂✌️

[@2HighNoon]

I think the Young Guns would find this useful and informative. Betting they’d map their mines.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! 😁👍

[@Gunjaroo]

Great video!

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! 😁

[@singularityscan]

if i might add, at 2:47 it is using the images to create a texture for the 3d model. not using the images to create a 3d model(not photogrammetry).

[@CuriosityMine]

Yes, that is a much more accurate way of explaining the process. Thank you!

[@scarlettardis2018]

Bloody awesome mate

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! I really appreciate the comment. 😁👍

[@scarlettardis2018]

@@CuriosityMine I appreciate the footage and effort even more mate 😉👍

[@craigsfiero2007]

That's an amazing tool for your miner friend. On top of making his mining safer.

[@CuriosityMine]

Absolutely! I regret not mentioning more about the safety aspect; just knowing where NOT to dig is an incredible outcome for this project. 😁

[@craigsfiero2007]

@@CuriosityMine He is able to use that information to plan his next drives. He already was in the video, you could see it in his eyes. I see the value in being able to plan almost exactly your drives so as not to create weak walls and risk cave ins. As well as staying within his claim boundaries too. That could even be used to settle claim/boundary disputes.

[@CuriosityMine]

100% - it’s an amazing tool for accurate surveys. Definitely extremely useful for planning. I’ve had a few comments from geologists and experienced miners who have identified major features in the mine layout already. It’s a really eye-opening perspective. And also handy for claim border disputes - we discussed that during the second underground visit, but I cut it from the video because it was getting a bit long-winded. 😂

[@canadiangemstones7636]

Amazing tech, love it!

[@melissajones9080]

Very, very cool!

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much Melissa! 😁👍

[@410connects]

awesome channel ive been getting into cutting au opal past month its so amazing

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much Jack, I really appreciate it. I hope the opal cutting is going well! 😁👍

[@410connects]

@@CuriosityMine thank you it's going well. I just managed to snag 2 parcels they will be here next week got some gem quality bolder rough and cooper pedy

[@410connects]

Lighting ridge will be my next buy

[@lianefehrle9921]

Thank you for reminding me I have that technology on my phone

[@CuriosityMine]

You're welcome! Don't forget to use it for something awesome. 😁

[@oojagapivy]

This was an amazing view into how the mine meanders and where it sits under the surface. I would have loved to have used this with my dads mines years ago, but I believe he’s been filling in old shafts and sink holes so I don’t think it would be possible now. He hasn’t mined them in a long time.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much! It’s definitely a unique perspective on the underground diggings. Appreciate the comment! 😁👍

[@fishwithandy]

Wow what a Great Video , so interesting ,

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much Andy! 😁👍

[@brettlloyd78]

Another great video as usual. that technology on your phone and laptop would have been great back in the day amazing when digging a drive how much i could miss a 9 inch test hole that has brought up colour or if you were lucky enough sellable Opal

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks Brett! It’s definitely got potential to make prospecting easier and less risky. It’s pretty remarkable how accurate it turned out! Thanks again. 😁👍

[@brettlloyd78]

@@CuriosityMine definitely i agree. thankyou for showing the Tech on your video no doubt it would have taken you some time to do Start to finish

[@8kangaroosbyilnamestate391]

Hi I previously contacted about the LIDAR mapping and have now been able to map the mine and will start to put the scans together in the program blender. If you have some time can you please send through some more info on the transfer and use of files to blender such as what file type to use for the transfer of the files from 3D scanner app Kindest Regards Mark Quinn

[@Dezza71]

yeah pumping 3 footer holes everwhere with smee as same dirts

[@ADDeeJay]

In the gold rush the guy who gets rich owns the store. In the modern gold prospect, the guy who gets rich drills the holes. What you, sir, have done allows for prospectors to more accurately dig test holes with relation to the mine. I can also see this tech being valuable to open cut miners. You need a drone so you can do sketchy mines too.

[@CuriosityMine]

Absolutely! There are huge benefits to improving prospecting accuracy - better mining output, less expense, less damage to the environment, and more accurate data with which to make better future predictions. Pretty cool tech, can’t wait to see where it goes in the future.

[@ADDeeJay]

@@CuriosityMine Talk to the guy at Ghost Town Living. They are talking about doing this very thing in Cerro Gordo. You're years ahead of them I bet.

[@CuriosityMine]

Brent has access to much better and more reliable technology than we used! Hopefully he’ll get the entirety of the mines mapped out at some point, it would be a spectacular thing to see.

[@MissMorph]

Interested to know if you could combine the LiDAR with a sonar and radar and see if it shows up the opal seams …….

[@CuriosityMine]

Ambitious, but you never know…

[@canadiangemstones7636]

Sonar and radar vs solid rock... nope.

[@TheSilmarillian]

Hello from New Chum my have we come a long way from using divining wires to figure out what is underground I still use wires though lol. Miner here and Gary from opal FM have rescued a few skink lizards in my time even had one sit on my shoulder as I went up the ladders guess he knew he was safe

[@CuriosityMine]

Howdy howdy! 👋

[@stevenseltzer3589]

Very cool.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks Steven! 😁👍

[@NoahSpurrier]

Amazing that you can do this with just an iPhone. Good job on rescuing those bearded dragons.

[@CuriosityMine]

Thanks so much, the dragons certainly appreciated it. Modern technology is crazy, the amount of processing power and capability we carry around in our pockets is nuts! Appreciate the comment. 😁

[@thebeautifulones5436]

Mine blowing!

[@CuriosityMine]

I see what you did there! 😀

[@AJShiningThreads]

Blender is also my "favorite" 3d program. 😂😂😂

[@CuriosityMine]

Haha! I’m glad I’m not alone. 🤣

[@Glengarries]

Awesome video I am going to buy 14 pro iphone and do this for sure

[@CuriosityMine]

Fantastic, let us know how it works out! Thanks for watching. 😁👍

[@Glengarries]

@@CuriosityMine could you tell me what file type I need to save the scans as to put them together in blender and does the 3d scanner app convert them. Kindest Regards Mark

[@CuriosityMine]

I exported directly from the 3D Scanner app as OBJ files, should have no issues importing that file type into Blender.

[@Glengarries]

@@CuriosityMine thank you again. Just brought 14 pro and will be at the mine Monday. I will let you know how it goes. Kindest Regards Mark

[@harryukraine]

Is it mineblowing ;)

[@CuriosityMine]

Haha, perfect! 😁 thanks for watching!