[birds chirping]
[dramatic music playing]
[narrator] On this episode of Parker's Trail.
[Parker] We're trying to expand into Alaska.
It's good timing to make this trip.
New Zealand's awesome,
so I'm looking forward to actually, like,
digging into the country and checking it out.
Checking out the mining that's going on.
Check out the gold they're finding.
[Tyler] It looks like you got a bit of ground here.
[Iain]
- [Parker] That's really nice. - [Iain] Yeah.
I really like this plant.
[Iain]
There is some gold in there.
[Iain] Yup.
That is wicked.
[Parker] They're mining super-efficient.
They're all getting [bleep] rich.
Oh, yeah.
That's awesome. Look at that.
Awesome.
[engine accelerating]
Hope this is the right way.
[Parker] Tyler, this is not a road.
- Yeah. - [all chuckling]
This is an old dirt track.
[narrator] Parker Schnabel and his crew,
Danny Etheridge, Tyler Mahoney
and new recruit, wash plant engineer,
Jeff Turnell
are on the search for a plant
in the home of mining innovation,
New Zealand.
To get it back to the States in time for the season,
Parker has just seven weeks
to find a needle in a haystack.
[Tyler] So, this is a shortcut.
Who's there?
He's a local miner
and he's got a wash plant for sale.
[narrator] The team begin their search
on the south island's gold rich west coast.
For their first stop,
they're heading 204 miles south
to a claim near the historic mining town
of Hokitika.
So, Iain has given me a pin for his location.
I think we're gonna have to pass through some old tunnels to get there.
Like, train tunnels?
[Tyler] No, like, tunnels from the old gold miners.
Guys.
- This is clearly the wrong way. - [Jeff] Yeah.
- [Tyler] Relax... Guys. - [Danny] What do you mean relax?
[Tyler] Parker just tasked me with finding the contacts.
But yeah, it's proven hard in New Zealand,
people are secretive, you know.
It's the gold game. Everyone likes to keep their cards close to them.
I also did not have much time to set this trip up.
It was very rushed.
[Jeff] Left or right?
Go straight through there.
- Straight through here. - Yeah.
[water splashing]
Oh, my [bleep] That's it, there.
- Oh, my [bleep] - [bleeping]
[Jeff] We're going in there?
Wait, wait! Hang on a minute. Whoa, whoa. Jeff, Jeff.
[Tyler] Stop! It's like a [bleep] river.
[Jeff] [bleep] It looks deep on this right hand side.
We should check it.
[Parker] Tyler has boots on.
Go on, Ty.
[Danny] Holy [bleep]
- I don't know. - [Danny] It's dark on the right there.
[Jeff] So, what's the conclusion?
We're actually going through that?
[Danny] I think so. And just stay to the left, yeah.
[door closes]
[Jeff] Okay, we're gonna get stuck in here.
Okay, okay, okay.
You need to be the one that's confident, Jeff.
All right. Are we ready?
- [Tyler] No. - Stay left, Jeff.
[dramatic music playing]
[Jeff] Holy [bleep]
That's too deep.
Oh, my [bleep] Oh, my!
[Danny] Shh... Oh.
[Tyler] Oh, my [bleep]
This is like Indiana Jones.
- [Danny] Wow! - [Parker] That is cool.
So, this is all handmade, right?
[Tyler] Yeah. By the old timers in 1870s.
[narrator] Built in 1878,
miners hand dug the tunnels
to divert the original creek
and expose gold-rich ground.
This area has produced
750,000 ounces of gold,
worth today over a billion dollars.
[all] Oh, yeah!
Good idea, Jeff.
[Jeff chuckles] Yeah.
Look at the layers.
Yeah.
See, that would be like a, it looks like a sand layer.
[Danny] Look at that.
[Tyler] This is like, the prettiest place I've ever seen.
[Jeff] Yeah. Yeah.
I'm just waiting for the dinosaurs.
I feel like I'm in Jurassic Park.
[engine revving]
Oh, we have to go up there.
- [Tyler] Oh, absolutely not. - [Danny] What?
That's [bleep] steep.
Like, I can't even stop, like, once we set spinning out on this.
I believe in you, Jeff.
Ban the hatches, Dan.
[engine roaring]
Easy, boy.
[bleeping]
- Wow! - [Tyler] Oh, my [bleep]
[Danny exclaiming]
- [bleep] - [tires screech]
[engine revving]
[Danny] Nearly, eh?
[Jeff] Oh, so close.
- [Danny] Very close. - [Jeff] We're definitely in a hole now.
[door closes]
- Where's the winch control. - [Jeff] I don't know. I'm trying to find it.
[Danny] I reckon it's in that back drawer.
[Danny exclaims]
Is it in there?
No, this is a tool box.
Do you need help?
Ah, [bleep] Tyler.
[Parker] This is why you always test your equipment
before you go.
[Tyler] He's right.
The only other place we haven't looked
is in that little side compartment on this side.
[Danny] Let's try that.
Here we go.
There it is!
Yeah! Come on!
Hey, this literally feels like Jurassic Park now.
Get ready to fire up.
[engine starts]
[Danny] Oh, yeah! Go on!
[Tyler] Get it!
[Danny] Go on!
- Come on! - [Tyler] Get it!
Go, Jeff!
[Danny] Oh, yes!
- Woo-hoo! - [Danny] Get in there.
- Nice! - [Tyler exclaims]
[Parker] Well done, Jeff.
[Danny] That was awesome.
Some shortcut. There's probably about another eight of these.
[Parker] Maybe we should keep this somewhere we know where it is now.
[Danny] Yeah, I would.
Woo!
[narrator] After a four and a half hour journey,
the team finally hit the gold fields
of Hokitika.
[Tyler] So, the guy who we're about to see, Iain Whyte.
He has lots of cool technology here that is concentrating on finding fine gold.
And separating it from the blacks and it refines.
He hasn't told me a lot, to be honest.
But from what I can gather he knows what he's doing.
[Danny] Good stuff.
[narrator] Founded on gold mining in 1864,
Hokitika was at the heart of the west coast gold rush.
By 1866,
it was one of New Zealand's most populous areas.
And home to some of the country's
most successful gold fields.
In total, the west coast has produced
almost nine million ounces in gold.
[Tyler] Beautiful place to work.
- Oh, there he is. - Oh.
[narrator] Now, almost an 160 years later,
miners like Iain Whyte...
How's it going?
[narrator] ...are still finding the gold
with state-of-the-art equipment.
[Tyler] It looks like you got a bit of ground here.
Right.
[all laughing]
But yeah, thanks for agreeing to meet with us.
- [Iain] Yeah. - [Parker] We're looking at buying a wash plant.
[Iain chuckles] Yeah.
Yeah, that'd be great.
[all chuckling]
[narrator] With over 45 years' experience
spanning three continents,
Iain is one of the most successful miners in New Zealand.
They're big.
[narrator] He's been working this 44 acre plain
since 2019.
[Iain]
[Parker] Yeah, that'd be great.
[Iain]
[Parker] How long have you been in this spot?
[Iain]
[Parker] The ground here from what I know,
it's fairly similar in Alaska.
In that, like, the ground that's left,
- a lot of it is deeper ground. - [Iain] Yeah.
And then you'll take
probably not even anytime soon,
but you'll take a strip off that whole side then, huh?
[Iain]
[Iain laughs]
[Parker] Right.
[Iain]
- [Parker] Right. Should we go check out the plant? - [Iain] Yeah.
[machine whirring]
[Iain]
[Parker] Right.
[Iain]
- [Parker] 'Cause these have hydraulics on them, huh? - [Iain] Yeah.
[narrator] Iain is offering up a pair of five-foot trommels
that runs side-by-side
and can churn through a 160 yards of gold rich pay per hour.
And have a price tag of $200,000.
So, why run two plants side-by-side
instead of one big one?
[Parker] Right.
[narrator] A saving of 30 minutes
every 12 hours,
could amount to extra $500,000 a season
for Parker in Alaska.
[Parker] All right. Well, mind if I have a go?
[Tyler] Sweet.
And what kind of, like, a bucket per minute or?
[Iain]
Okay.
[Iain]
[Parker] All right.
[plant starts]
[Danny] First bucket.
[Parker] This is a cool operation.
Minds like Iain's are why I came to New Zealand.
[Iain]
[Danny chuckles]
[Iain]
- Cheating? - [both laugh]
Really glad that Iain let us come here because
this is a cool operation.
[narrator] In the gold fields of Hokitika, New Zealand,
Parker is testing out a double trommel setup.
We're definitely gonna be able to get some really good ideas here.
I think that all New Zealanders that are miners
really put a lot of effort into thinking about
what they're doing and why they're doing it.
And Iain's obviously a thinker.
[Parker] Um, yeah. I mean, this seems like
a pretty good setup,
But running two small plants,
isn't something I'd really consider for my current operation.
I get the reasoning behind it.
Having two smaller plants,
it's really no different than having one big plant.
Except...
the odds of having both plants break down are pretty slim,
so you'll always be able to keep running. Right?
It's definitely making me think about
the two wash plant things.
And the yardage for these two plants
is about the kind of yardage that we're aiming for,
so the yardage works.
[narrator] Parker needs to run at least 150 yards an hour
at his Alaska operation.
If he can maintain that pace or beat it,
he could mine out the claim
and bank the $11 million
estimated to be in the ground.
They're very short loose boxes, Jeff.
[Jeff] Yes, they are.
The only way you can do that
is by having hydraulic riffles.
- So, if you reach in here... - [Danny] Yeah.
[Jeff] And you can feel that the material is loose?
Oh, yeah.
So, now come down to the Hungarian riffles.
Feel, it's harder.
So, that's the difference between Hungarian and hydraulic riffle.
[narrator] In Hungarian riffles,
the iron angles in the sluice
create a swirling vortex that agitates the dirt
and catches the heavier gold.
Whereas, hydraulic riffles stir the material
with water injection.
[Jeff] On this particular plant,
80 percent of its recovery is here.
And additional ten percent here.
Anywhere from four to six months,
he'll clean the end.
And he's cleaning up here every day or two,
depending on how much material he's running
and how long he's running.
That's key because,
you know, over the course of a mining season,
you know, that's down time.
And it's key to have the most you put through your plants
in a mining season.
[narrator] Hydraulic riffles also allows
for shorter sluice runs
which could mean faster cleanups.
Perfect for Parker's Alaska operation.
Oh, it's really good seeing a miner like Iain,
you know, he's really just shaving seconds
off of each hour.
And at the end of the year
that adds up to be a lot of time.
[Tyler] Having Jeff here is great.
It kinda takes the pressure off my back
'cause wash plants aren't my thing.
The fact he's here and he's all over that side of things,
it's one less thing that I have to worry about.
So now I can concentrate on finding new contacts.
[cell phone ringing]
[Tyler] Hey, how are you?
Yeah, I'm good. Good.
Thank you for getting back to me.
I was just hoping that maybe you wouldn't mind
if we headed up to your site
and put some wash plants and...
Hello?
H... Hello?
Yes, sorry. I can just hear you.
You're just breaking up a little bit.
Yeah, I don't think tailings for these plants
would be a full time job.
Tyler's doing tailings right now.
But it's probably something where
the loader operator also helping
get the material close enough to the plants more.
Sweet. Okay, thank you.
Oh [bleep]
Oh [bleeping]
[Tyler] [bleep] that was so stupid.
[engine starts]
[engine revs]
Parker has 100 percent noticed that.
Hurry up, Tyler. I've got a box walk free.
Yeah. Roger.
That's like, number one rule when you're in the loaders,
don't let the [bleep] tailings back up.
I hope Iain hasn't seen that.
But the phone call was actually a positive.
I've been trying to get a hold of Ben for literally days now.
Ben's got a wash plant for sale.
That's a positive if I can make it happen.
How're you going, up there?
Yeah, just peachy.
[on radio] I figured if it was really bad,
somebody would have said something.
Yeah, fair enough.
[on radio] What are your thoughts on the two wash plants?
I don't know. Lot of moving parts.
[on radio] I think probably the only thing
I really don't like about this is the...
the feed.
Feeding two plants,
you pretty much have to excavator feed them.
Excavator feeding
makes things easy.
But I just... I like to take
the human element out of the consistency
of the feed to a plant.
And our big line of conveyors and feeders do that.
You can conveyor feed into two separate plants,
but it takes this big splitter bin
to split the material from one conveyor belt going in
into two separate feeds
and the two separate plants.
I've never seen one of those work,
like I've seen them not work.
[Jeff] Hey, Danny.
I'm noticing, there's another plant being fed.
[Danny] Oh, yeah.
[narrator] Across the claim,
Jeff and Danny find the real reason
Iain is selling his double trommel.
[Danny] That one looks fresh.
[Jeff] I'm liking what I'm seeing here.
- [Danny] Oh, nice! - [Jeff] Yeah!
She's beautiful. Brand new.
[Jeff] It's got a base hopper.
Six-foot trommel. Check.
And this is pretty unique here.
It's got a bit of a primary catch tray
that can lower down with hydraulics here.
I'd like to see what this looks like once it shuts down.
And I can see hydraulic riffle,
so this is what we're looking for.
Right here.
[Danny] We should go find Parker.
[Tyler] Iain's just turned off the pump.
Parker's about to park up.
I think we're wrapping up for the day.
[Parker] Is there any gold in it?
[Iain]
Your plant operator is probably throwing all the gold away.
[all chuckling]
[Iain]
[J] Yeah.
[Iain]
[Jeff] I'm totally with you on hydraulics. I love 'em.
Parker is used to using Hungarian riffles.
And on this plant,
there's hydraulic riffles
and that's something I'd like to kind of move him towards.
I know it's gonna take a little convincing.
But if it's ran properly and it's done properly,
it can be a big time saver for cleanups sort of season.
[Parker] Um, that is just finicky, you know.
Like, too much water pressure blows everything out of 'em.
Not enough, they're packing up super tight.
[Iain]
Myself and Jeff were having a little look round.
We spotted a nice kinda new looking
six-foot trommel.
[Jeff] Yeah. Parker, it's wicked, I really like it.
I think there's gonna be some good stuff on here for you to see.
[Parker] Mind if I check it out?
[Danny] Let's get over there.
[Parker] It's quiet.
- Really quiet. - Yeah.
[Iain]
[narrator] Iain's compact six-foot super trommel
can run 235 yards of dirt per hour
and is custom built for fine gold recovery.
A one of a kind hydraulic powered catch tray drops down.
Allowing for up to 70 percent of Iain's gold to be cleaned up
in a quick ten minute shutdown.
An innovation, which can save Parker days in downtime across the season.
- That's really nice. I really like this plan. - [Iain] Yeah.
He likes it.
- That's really nice. I really like this plan. - Yeah.
He likes it.
So does Jeff.
[narrator] But Iain Whyte's claim.
Parker is decoding Iain's new,
six foot super trommel.
- Again, this is the primary path trail. - Yeah.
No, I don't wanna shut your plant down.
[Iain]
[Jeff] We shut her down,
so we can take a look in the primary.
The primary catch tray is, it's a small sluice run
underneath the belly of the trommel
and Iain's catching around
70 percent of his gold in that.
So, he does a quick cleanup of that each day.
- There's some gold in there. - [Iain] Yup.
- Nice system, innit? - [Parker] Oh, yeah!
Super easy cleanup.
Oh, yeah.
That is awesome, look at that.
That is wicked.
[Iain]
So quick!
That was on, like, 15 minutes
and we probably slowed you down.
[Paul] Catch tray cleanups on Iain's new Super Trommel
can be performed by one person in ten minutes,
whereas cleanups on Parker's Slucifer Plant
can take at least three crew members over an hour.
What's, uh, what're your thoughts here, like?
It's going through a hydraulic riffle,
something you would think about?
Yeah, I think the only change I'd want, is expand the metal.
[narrator] For his entire mining career,
Parker has preferred to use long sluice runs
with a combination of Hungarian riffles
and expanded metal
giving him more areas to catch gold.
In contrast,
the Kiwi miner's secret to success
is short sluice runs with hydraulic riffles.
[Parker] These short little runs that these guys use are just,
I'm not used to it.
- [Jeff] They're very short. - [Parker] We usually have like,
three different types of riffles.
I mean, you could convert this one to have a longer...
- ...runs. And a lot of variation. - [Jeff] Yeah.
This could work for you up north.
[Parker] Yeah. It's a nice plan.
[Iain]
[Jeff] Yeah, simple.
I think we should get out of here, they're talking price here.
- Is he asking him now? - All right. Bye, bye.
[Jeff] This trip could be over.
A nice setup.
- That's definitely a very quick cleanup. - Yeah.
Would you change anything?
Um...
You wanna sell me your plant?
[Iain laughs]
So, Parker's asking for a price.
[Jeff] He's asking him right now and I mean,
in all honesty, if the price is right
and shipping was to work out,
he could have this plant for the beginning of the season, no problem.
What's something like that worth, Jeff?
- I've gotta say it's probably around six, seven. - [Danny] Right.
[narrator] At $700,000,
it would be within Parker's $1,000,000 budget.
So, I guess
it's all gonna come down to uh--
Yeah, the big dollar!
All right.
[Danny] What do you reckon?
Um...
I mean, he had that twinkle in his eye when I asked him if he'd sell it.
Of like...
probably could.
But...
it's his baby.
- [Danny] And it's pretty new. - Like, he's just not gonna do it.
We started talking money a little bit,
but by the time I pry it out of his hands,
cut it up and get it in containers,
ship it to Burbank's
and put it back together,
a million dollars would be long, long gone.
[Danny] Yeah.
This sets a very high standard for what we're looking for.
[Jeff] I like those words.
I like those words.
The pressure's on, but I like 'em.
Well, thank you for showing us around and sharing all your
- tricks and wisdom. - [Iain laughs]
- [Jeff] Really appreciated. - [Parker] Thanks, buddy.
[Jeff laughs]
[Parker] That new trommel that he's got
is very close to perfect.
I wish he would've sold it.
But Iain obviously runs a very good mine site,
that is super well-organized
and I'm coming away from here with a lot of good ideas.
[Danny] I thought you were gonna buy a wash plant at one point.
[Parker] Yeah, so did I!
[Jeff] True. For a minute there.
Would've been nice to have gotten it.
- An early win. - [Tyler] Mmm.
Yeah.
You know how quiet that thing was?
- [Tyler] So quiet. - It was very quiet.
[Parker] I mean, since he wouldn't sell that thing,
it makes me think, okay, what we could change.
- Mmm-hmm. - [Parker] The only major thing is,
hydraulics, they're super finicky.
I do like having longer sluice runs
that have a bunch of different variations in them.
With a few little changes, that plant would have been
super usable for us.
- [Tyler] Good. - It was a very nice trommel.
We have to go see someone who actually has a wash plant
for sale tomorrow which is really exciting.
- Let's call it a night. I'm shattered. - [Tyler] Bed.
- Yeah. - Night, guys.
[Parker] Nighty night.
- [Tyler] This is beautiful. - [Jeff] It is. It's gorgeous.
Oh, my [bleep]
Look at that.
[narrator] After striking out at Iain Whyte's claim,
Parker's search for the perfect wash plant continues.
I did really like that trommel at Iain's.
It's good, though.
Good feeling for moving forwards.
- Mmm. - Right?
Yeah, we are in the right spot, on the trail.
[Tyler] So, we're going to see a guy called Ben Ferguson.
[Parker] Who's that?
He's a local miner and farmer
and he's got a wash plant for sale.
[narrator] Parker and his team travel 62 miles north
to Ben Ferguson's farm
in the heart of New Zealand's agricultural district
to tour a flat.
- What kind of plant? - Um, I don't actually know a lot about it.
But, you wanted to see the wash plants
that were for sale in the area.
We are on the west coast, this one's for sale.
So, I thought while we're in the area
we might as well pop by and see it.
- Ben. - [Ben] Hi, guys.
Hello, mate. How are you?
- [Parker] How you doing? - [Ben] I'm good, buddy.
- It's all right. Here we go. How you do? - Good, good to see you.
Nice to meet you, Ben. It's Jeff.
- Hi, Jeff. How are you? - Hi, Ben.
- How are you doing, mate? - Oh, I've been good. I've been good.
- [Ben] You guys? - [Parker] Good.
- Hi, lovely. [laughs] - Who's that? Are you shy? You wanna say hello?
- [Parker] There he is. - [all laughing]
[Paul] Ben Ferguson is a sheep and cattle farmer
who prospects his 415 acres of land for gold
on his days off.
[Tyler] Hear you got a wash plant for sale, eh?
- Everything's for sale for the right price, so. - [Danny laughs]
So, this is the gold screen.
So, this actually was a cross section plant
but I'm gonna get something that can wash gravel and might as well
- do the whole lot, you know? - [Parker] Yeah.
[Ben] All those tables, they just fold up.
- There's hand winches. - Gotcha.
[narrator] Ben's 15-year-old plant
chugs through 30 yards of gold rich pay an hour.
Its fold-up sluices make it quick to move.
At $50,000,
it's way under Parker's $1,000,000 budget.
I'm guessing we're not buying this. [laughs softly]
- Why would say that? - Um, just a hunch.
[laughs]
I mean, we're here. We may as well see it run.
We could go resurrect that thing.
[Ben laughs]
I'll go get some tools.
- You get started? - [Jeff laughs]
- Do you like that truck? It's for sale, too. - [Parker] I like that, yeah.
- [Danny] Is it? - Yeah, you can... Two for one.
Yeah, why not?
Okay, coming down.
[Ben] Yeah, she'd be good. Some water.
What do you think?
- Yeah, some water, eh? - See what happens.
Moment of truth.
Here she comes.
- Yeah! Hah! - Holy [bleep]
- [Parker] We got a hole. - [Ben] Yeah, it's just a little one.
[Ben] Shut her down.
There's a couple of holes.
[Parker] Holy moly.
- [Ben] There is leakage. - [Jeff] Leaking everywhere.
Um, gaffer tape?
I mean, even if you got this for free,
you'd have to get it to Alaska.
I mean, not to [bleep] on someone's wash plant,
but it's just not what we're looking for.
Jeff, so...
I mean, is there anything that you can see for us to not waste our time?
Why don't we see if we can, uh,
do a bit of a riffle test?
We can disconnect one of the hydraulic riffles on one of the sides
and run one side with hydraulics and the other side
with Hungarian and maybe we can prove to Parker that
hydraulic riffles work a lot better.
That's a great idea.
There's been a lot of chat about yay or nay to hydraulic riffles.
Yeah, he's not convinced, but if I can sell him on this, then I can sell him on
hydraulic riffles.
That would be, uh, pretty cool.
Mate, let's, um I think we should put that up the...
up the, what's the word?
- The what up there? - [Danny laughs]
You know when you put the idea up there to the boss.
[Jeff] Oh, um...
[laughs] What is that? I'm just trying to think of that, too.
Let's put it to the boss.
[both laugh]
[Tyler] So...
feel like if this is gonna be a waste of a day or not?
Well, to make it not a complete waste of the day,
- Parker... - [Parker] Mmm-hmm.
what about we do a bit of a test
and we run one side with hydraulics and one side,
just the standard Hungarian style
to prove that hydraulic riffles work a lot better?
That's not a bad idea.
[narrator] Jeff's plan. Swap out one side with hydraulic riffles
and to do a test to see which one is better.
[Parker] And this wash plant is probably not worth
shipping over to North America from here.
But, Jeff had a good idea, it is worth
testing out these hydraulic riffles.
For me, they've always been a bit finicky.
They plug up, but everybody in New Zealand's using them and so,
it's a kind of a good chance for us to
just try 'em out.
Did you find some lead shot or something?
- [Danny] Lead shot? - [Jeff] Yeah.
So, Ben, we were just wondering,
I'm guessing that your plant might not be like, mega gold rich.
- [Ben] No. - [Danny] Jeff was just suggesting,
- maybe if we could get some lead shot? - Yeah.
- to run through it, so we run a bit of a test. - Sure.
- Is that cool? - That's good, man. Yeah, I could get some.
This is something that we do quite often
to try and test plants.
And we do choose lead pallets.
[narrator] Lead is cheap and significantly heavier than black sand and gravel
making it the ideal substitute for gold
when running tests.
- [Danny] Any ideas where we'd get it from? - Uh...
hardware store or anything like that.
- [Danny] We could go get the lead pallets. - Okay.
[Jeff] So, should we put like a wager on which side's gonna work better?
You have that side. I'm gonna be on this side.
My bet that we get
the lead shot in, within these first two riffles on this side.
[narrator] The winner will be determined by who has the most lead
at the top of the sluice box.
- [Parker] So, you gonna fix this hose? - [Ben] Yeah.
Ahh!
[Parker] It is coming down now.
[Jeff] Yeah, it is.
[narrator] Danny and Tyler arrive in Reefton
in search of lead shot for the riffles test.
[exclaims]
[alarm blaring]
What the [bleep]
What the [bleep] is that!
It's a flood or something?
[Tyler] Earthquake?
[alarm blaring]
- [Tyler] Hello! - [Danny] Hi, guys.
We're a little bit worried about
the air raid sirens going off.
[woman] No, that's not an air raid, that's a fire alarm.
- [Tyler] Bit eerie, isn't it? - It is, it is quite an eerie sound.
You're probably gonna be able to help us,
I'm after some, like, lead pellets or something like that.
Sure, I think we might have something out--
[Danny] So, you got a couple of bits of people to go out prospecting and--
[woman] Yes, yes we have.
[Danny] Look at that!
- [Tyler] Dan, that'll work perfect. - [Danny] Boom!
- I'm happy with that. - [Danny] Winner!
- Oh, wow! Should we get a coffee? - Yeah.
Coffee it is.
[narrator] At part time gold miner,
Ben Ferguson's farm,
Jeff is setting up a comparison
test between hydraulic and Hungarian riffles.
[Jeff] Maybe we can prove to Parker that hydraulic riffles work a lot better.
If I can sell him on this, then I can sell him on hydraulic riffles.
Oh, look at that!
That's good.
Oh they don't look too wet.
- Okay. - Oh, no, Jeff does look wet, look he's drenched.
- [Tyler] Oh, my [bleep] - [Danny] He's drenched.
Did you find something?
- [Tyler] We managed just. - [Danny] Mate, did we?
- You wanna check it out? - Yeah.
- [Parker] Wow! - [Jeff] You got a milk container.
With lead shot!
So, can we pound some of this out 'cause
it's a lot of round gold.
Why do we need to pound it?
- 'Cause gold's not round, Dan. - Gold's not round.
Parker, I'll let you count them out.
[Parker] I'm gonna do groups of five.
I bet you we'd dig some lead up
out of the ground, too.
[Danny] Is that the old timers?
[Ben] So, what used to happen,
the old fellas away for a flood
and then, they'd get the lead shot
and they'd literally toss it in the river.
And then they go pan, once the water go down
pan it into a river bag until they found the lead shot.
When the found the lead shot, that's obviously where the flood goes
and they start digging down.
- [Jeff] Ahh! - No way!
[Ben] Yeah, I have not mined anywhere, I have not found lead.
[Parker] Here, Tyler. You can keep these.
[Danny] That's what we're gonna use.
So, what's the plan, team?
[Jeff] So, the test that we're doing,
on the right hand side of the sluice run, we're gonna be running Hungarian riffles
and on the left hand side, we're gonna be running the hydraulic riffles.
[Danny] We're gonna put some on one side and some on the other?
[Jeff] Yeah, exactly.
More sluice in.
[Jeff laughing]
[Danny] How many pieces have you got each?
- [Jeff] I have 20. - I've got 20.
- [Danny] Okay. - [Tyler] Let's go.
[Parker] Do it!
So now, he's gonna run for a little while
and make sure they stay in there.
Giving a chance for the lad to sink down
and see how far down it makes it down each side.
I'm hoping that the hydraulic riffles,
the lead shot makes it into the first or second riffle.
And on this side, it travels down a little bit further.
[narrator] After ten minutes, the crew shut down.
[Parker] Cleanup time!
[narrator] The crew pan each riffle separately
to determine exactly where each piece of lead was caught.
- Anything, Jeff? - Yeah, I got, I got two.
Gonna put 'em over here.
[Parker] I've got four.
[Danny] Any more, Ty?
Not quite yet.
[narrator] If Jeff can prove that Kiwi-preferred hydraulic riffles are better,
it'll open up more options for potential plants for Parker.
So, Jeff, you've got the last pan, mate.
Yeah, these came out of the fourth riffle here.
[Tyler] So, this one loses, doesn't it?
'Cause they all come too far down.
Well, it caught them all, but,
the hydraulic riffles side caught 'em within the first four.
I'm gonna call this a win.
[Tyler] So, does this prove Jeff's theory on hydraulics are better?
Seems to.
[Danny] I think that was a hard proud out yes there, I think.
- [Tyler laughs] - They're just finicky, you know?
Keeping 'em clean, you're just like, every time you do a big cleanup,
you tip 'em all upside down. It's like an oil change, you just gotta...
- do it, yeah. - [Jeff] Just gotta do it.
[Jeff] Being able to do a hydraulic
versus Hungarian riffle test,
turned out awesome
and I'm feeling pretty confident that Parker's on board a little bit.
I'm used to running big sluice boxes that have
a bunch of variations in them,
but if you can recover the same amount of gold
in a shorter sluice box or a narrower sluice box then,
it's worth looking into hydraulic riffles, right?
So, um, I don't quite think that we'll
be interested in buying and shipping this to Alaska.
Couldn't imagine why, but sure.
[all laugh]
[Tyler] Thanks for having us though, Ben. This has been good.
That's all right, guys.
[Parker] I, of course, am not interested in that wash plant, like,
not only is it old and small, but you just can't
move something like that to Alaska.
I'm just happy that we're still
getting access and people are being super friendly and open and um,
and having those conversations with us.
So, yeah, overall, it's a win still.
[Dan] On to the next place.
- [Tyler] Yup. - [Jeff] On to the next.