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Subscriber only A Whitsundays brother and sister have struck it rich unearthing an opal deposit valued at $1.2m on a hunt in southwest Queensland. It is a reversal of fortunes and culmination of a lifetime of work and expertise for Isaac and Sofia Andreou, who own Opal Earth in Airlie Beach, in what is the continuation of a family legacy chasing opals. Their astonishing expedition to the small town of Yowah, their "spiritual home" 900km southwest of Brisbane, was filmed and broadcast to the world by the Discovery Channel's Outback Opal Hunters. Mr Andreou operates Opal Whisperers and he and his team - which includes his sister - uncovered a whopping 150kg haul containing the iconic and rare boulder opals known as the Yowah nut and Koirot nuts, or matrix opals.