It seems there isn’t much this man can’t do. Veteran outback truckie Steve Grahame, 72, was recently called upon to help unearth a 22.5-tonne amethyst cluster in the WA’s Pilbara region.
It’s the largest amethyst cluster ever to be found in Australia, with Cairns-based crystal hunters and jewellers, Patrick Gundersen and Kirsty McMullan, making the valuable discovery – estimated to be worth around $1 million – at the Pilbara’s Great Australian Amethyst Mine.
The pair is one of five recreational gem hunting teams appearing in season one of new reality television series Outback Crystal Hunters.
It’s produced by Prospero Productions, which is also behind Outback Truckers, with the first episode aired on 7Mate on Monday September 30.
The first episode begins with Patrick telling viewers about the excitement of finding a 1.5 tonne amethyst cluster that he believed at the time was the largest ever to be found in Australia. Just days later, he discovers another one about 20 times the size of it – approximately the size of a large mini bus.
“I couldn’t believe it, it was like something out of a dream,” Patrick said. “We tried to drag it out of the pit and couldn’t move it. We didn’t have the right gear. It was a real challenge.”
The first attempt to unearth their mammoth find took Patrick, Kirsty and their team over three months, at a cost of almost $50,000. Patrick made the decision to rebury it and return months later, making the 4500km road trip from Cairns to the Pilbara to have another go – this time enlisting the help of trucking legend Steve Grahame and his trusty 1994 model Kenworth C501.
“It was a very interesting job,” Steve told Big Rigs. “They’d seen the exposure I had on Outback Truckers so though this old bloke might be the guy to do it!”
The plan of attack was for Steve to reverse down a 25-degree makeshift red dirt ramp.
Because the ramp was so steep, there were concerns over the truck losing traction on its way down, so as a precaution they hooked a tow strap onto the excavator as an added safety measure.
“It was a very steep incline and I knew from the get-go that I wouldn’t be able to get back up without being pulled out with the excavator,” he said.
“Off-road work is what we do but this is definitely one of the more unusual tasks I’ve been involved in. It was a very different load and was very confronting once I got there. I had to put my truck down that hole and put myself in the hands of people I hadn’t worked with before, but I was very quickly impressed with how they worked.
“I could see the pressure it had on Pat, the owner of the crystal. If it had of broken, it would have devastated him. That was my biggest drama as a truckie.”
All up, unearthing the giant amethyst cluster cost Patrick and Kirsty around $108,000.
To try and pull out the cluster, they used a custom made $1000 tow strap rated at 50 tonne. “But we completely destroyed it in the end,” said Steve. “It broke while we were putting the cluster onto the trailer, and then we completely destroyed it when they were dragging me out of the hole.
“In order to not damage the trailer, they pulled dirt up to it and placed sheets of plywood up against the combing rails, but as I started to move, the ply wood collapsed and the dirt came in – but we managed to get it out with no damage to the truck, trailer or the rock.”
Steve says his rig handled the job really well. “The truck is used to handling anything up to 120 tonne, so it did a good job as per usual and my Freightmaster trailer took it in its stride too.”
Though he admitted, “Once they got the amethyst cluster onto the trailer, I was so fearful that the thing would break or snap in half. I was very glad to get it off.”
Following the dig, Steve transported the unique load some 1500 kilometres from the Pilbara down to a gem factory in Perth.
“As a truckie I was pleased to be part of it, as it was something different. It was scary on the way through it all but it was fun in the end. You get that really good sense of satisfaction once the job is done.”
Steve also got to take home some souvenirs from the adventure too. “Pat was kind enough to allow me to wander around and pick up some amethyst crystals at the site, so now there are a few amethysts floating around in the family. All of the grandchildren and a lot of friends of mine are now owners of some amethysts!”
Outback Crystal Hunters airs on Mondays at 8.30pm on 7Mate. You can catch Steve in episode one by streaming it through the 7Plus app. He will also appear in episode two, which airs this coming Monday October 7.