1 00:00:04,137 --> 00:00:05,482 How's it going, Terry? 2 00:00:05,586 --> 00:00:06,448 Terrible! 3 00:00:11,448 --> 00:00:13,620 I've sunk in about $120,000. 4 00:00:13,724 --> 00:00:15,793 To me, it's everything. 5 00:00:15,896 --> 00:00:18,103 Well, we know he's losing gold, there. 6 00:00:19,034 --> 00:00:20,620 What the heck here? 7 00:00:20,724 --> 00:00:22,344 He's gonna need another hand out here. 8 00:00:22,448 --> 00:00:24,931 The biggest thing we need to work on is his wife. 9 00:00:25,034 --> 00:00:27,793 Since I've gotten so big in the last few years, 10 00:00:27,896 --> 00:00:29,482 she's a little intimidated here. 11 00:00:30,551 --> 00:00:31,827 Heads, you talk to her. 12 00:00:33,137 --> 00:00:35,310 What's your biggest fear here, honestly? 13 00:00:35,413 --> 00:00:37,068 We don't have time to screw up. 14 00:00:39,206 --> 00:00:41,517 Now the generator stopped! 15 00:00:41,620 --> 00:00:42,551 Did it just shut down? 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:00:59,275 I know you wouldn't want to go 17 00:00:59,379 --> 00:01:01,068 off the side of this mountain here. 18 00:01:01,172 --> 00:01:04,206 It's a long, long way's down 19 00:01:04,310 --> 00:01:05,517 to that river, Juan. 20 00:01:05,620 --> 00:01:06,724 Yeah, for sure. 21 00:01:06,827 --> 00:01:08,827 That's a hell of a drop, there, Freddy. 22 00:01:08,931 --> 00:01:10,068 And I can't swim, so... 23 00:01:13,724 --> 00:01:16,965 Freddy and Juan are in British Columbia 24 00:01:17,068 --> 00:01:19,172 traversing the remote northern Rockies 25 00:01:19,275 --> 00:01:21,793 10 miles north of the U.S. border. 26 00:01:22,689 --> 00:01:24,655 en route to a solo miner, 27 00:01:24,758 --> 00:01:26,000 in what may be 28 00:01:26,103 --> 00:01:27,344 his final season, 29 00:01:27,448 --> 00:01:29,275 without a lifeline. 30 00:01:29,379 --> 00:01:31,551 He's doing everything from digging the pay, 31 00:01:31,655 --> 00:01:32,758 to running the plant, 32 00:01:32,862 --> 00:01:34,034 to taking care of the tailings, 33 00:01:34,137 --> 00:01:35,172 to putting everything up. 34 00:01:35,275 --> 00:01:37,862 That's a ton of work for just one person. 35 00:01:37,965 --> 00:01:40,000 He must love gold and gold mining. 36 00:01:40,103 --> 00:01:41,103 That's for dang sure. 37 00:01:42,896 --> 00:01:44,241 In the 1880s, 38 00:01:44,344 --> 00:01:47,379 prospectors first mined along the Salmo River, 39 00:01:47,482 --> 00:01:50,448 as they hiked east along the Dewdney Trail, 40 00:01:50,551 --> 00:01:53,413 from Vancouver to Wild Horse Creek. 41 00:01:53,517 --> 00:01:57,172 Between 1899 and 1979, 42 00:01:57,275 --> 00:02:01,862 almost 800,000 ounces of gold were mined in the area, 43 00:02:01,965 --> 00:02:05,517 worth $1.4 billion today. 44 00:02:18,068 --> 00:02:20,068 Well, this looks like it's it, huh, Juan? 45 00:02:20,172 --> 00:02:21,241 Hey guys, how are you? 46 00:02:21,344 --> 00:02:22,448 - Good. - You must be Terry. Juan. 47 00:02:22,551 --> 00:02:24,000 - Nice to meet you, Juan. - Nice to meet you. 48 00:02:24,103 --> 00:02:25,344 - Nice to meet you, Terry. - Freddy! 49 00:02:25,448 --> 00:02:26,862 Nice to meet you, too, guys. Holy smokes! 50 00:02:26,965 --> 00:02:27,862 You guys made it in. 51 00:02:27,965 --> 00:02:28,931 - Yeah. - Yeah, we made it. 52 00:02:29,034 --> 00:02:30,586 It's not the worst road we've been on, 53 00:02:30,689 --> 00:02:31,689 but it's definitely not 54 00:02:31,793 --> 00:02:33,172 the best road we've been on. 55 00:02:33,275 --> 00:02:35,517 It really lets you know that you're in the backwoods here. 56 00:02:37,551 --> 00:02:42,241 Gold mining is something that I've always had a passion for. 57 00:02:42,344 --> 00:02:44,034 On the weekends, I would go down, 58 00:02:44,137 --> 00:02:46,448 and sit with a couple of old-timers, 59 00:02:46,551 --> 00:02:50,517 and we were pulling out some nice size gold nuggets. 60 00:02:50,620 --> 00:02:52,793 My eyes kind of went to saucers. 61 00:02:53,931 --> 00:02:54,689 I want to know where 62 00:02:54,793 --> 00:02:56,275 the big guy hid his jewelry box, 63 00:02:56,379 --> 00:02:57,586 and I want to dig it up. 64 00:02:59,724 --> 00:03:03,517 Terry bought this 247-acre placer mine 65 00:03:03,620 --> 00:03:05,275 from his uncle, 66 00:03:05,379 --> 00:03:07,689 and began to follow his dream. 67 00:03:07,793 --> 00:03:09,379 My wife and I started out 68 00:03:09,482 --> 00:03:12,344 working with a small trommel, hand mining, 69 00:03:12,448 --> 00:03:15,758 you know, about a yard to two and a half a day. 70 00:03:15,862 --> 00:03:17,241 Oh, it was really exciting. 71 00:03:17,344 --> 00:03:19,896 We'd shovel two, three hours at a time, 72 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,344 go have a beer, come back, do some more, 73 00:03:22,448 --> 00:03:24,310 and actually, we found some really nice gold. 74 00:03:25,689 --> 00:03:28,206 But Terry wanted to go bigger. 75 00:03:28,310 --> 00:03:31,310 In 2020, he cashed in his retirement fund 76 00:03:31,413 --> 00:03:34,758 and his family's life savings to upsize his trommel 77 00:03:34,862 --> 00:03:37,896 to a 15-ton wash plant. 78 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:39,448 I don't know the exact number, 79 00:03:39,551 --> 00:03:40,655 'cause Terry never told me, 80 00:03:40,758 --> 00:03:42,379 but there's a lot. 81 00:03:42,482 --> 00:03:45,000 Like, a lot. We have no savings. 82 00:03:45,103 --> 00:03:47,758 Everything we have is on the line. 83 00:03:48,862 --> 00:03:50,931 I've sunk in about $120,000. 84 00:03:51,034 --> 00:03:52,655 Into this. 85 00:03:52,758 --> 00:03:53,655 Maybe to some people, 86 00:03:53,758 --> 00:03:56,482 120 grand is not a lot of money, but to me, 87 00:03:56,586 --> 00:03:57,517 it's everything. 88 00:03:58,689 --> 00:04:00,103 The huge investment 89 00:04:00,206 --> 00:04:03,344 has become a strain on their relationship. 90 00:04:03,448 --> 00:04:05,344 It's very stressful. 91 00:04:05,448 --> 00:04:06,241 Yeah. 92 00:04:06,344 --> 00:04:07,965 Sleepless nights. 93 00:04:08,068 --> 00:04:09,275 Mmm-hmm. 94 00:04:09,379 --> 00:04:11,310 - Lots of those. - Yes. 95 00:04:11,413 --> 00:04:14,931 Our fair share of arguments as a couple, you know? 96 00:04:15,034 --> 00:04:17,655 All his savings sunk into the equipment, 97 00:04:17,758 --> 00:04:20,206 Terry hasn't been able to hire any help. 98 00:04:21,241 --> 00:04:22,413 He needs help down there, 99 00:04:22,517 --> 00:04:24,931 but, because of the big equipment, 100 00:04:25,034 --> 00:04:26,034 it's scary. 101 00:04:26,137 --> 00:04:28,344 Like, you never know what can happen, right? 102 00:04:28,448 --> 00:04:30,551 Anything can go wrong. 103 00:04:30,655 --> 00:04:32,827 I really don't feel I have a place down there, 104 00:04:32,931 --> 00:04:34,413 because I really don't know what to do. 105 00:04:35,586 --> 00:04:40,137 My dream here is to say I'm an actual miner, 106 00:04:40,241 --> 00:04:42,793 and if I could make this into my livelihood 107 00:04:42,896 --> 00:04:44,206 as I'm getting older, 108 00:04:44,310 --> 00:04:46,448 then I'm a super happy guy, 109 00:04:46,551 --> 00:04:49,551 because that means I'm being successful. 110 00:04:49,655 --> 00:04:51,896 - You're doing all this all by yourself, huh? - Yes, I am. 111 00:04:54,482 --> 00:04:56,586 - So, you're feeding the plant? - Yes. 112 00:04:56,689 --> 00:04:58,103 - Tailings? - I do that, too. 113 00:04:58,206 --> 00:04:59,103 - Digging the pay? - Yes. 114 00:04:59,206 --> 00:05:00,344 - Wow. - Doing the cleanup? 115 00:05:00,448 --> 00:05:01,137 - Yes. Everything. - Everything all by yourself? 116 00:05:01,241 --> 00:05:02,241 All by myself. Yes. 117 00:05:03,413 --> 00:05:05,103 - It's a lot of work for one guy. - It is. 118 00:05:05,206 --> 00:05:06,758 - Yes. - A ton of work. 119 00:05:06,862 --> 00:05:09,103 Last year was actually my really first year 120 00:05:09,206 --> 00:05:10,206 setting all this up, 121 00:05:10,310 --> 00:05:12,620 trying to get everything all up and running, 122 00:05:12,724 --> 00:05:15,344 and of course, it took me all summer 123 00:05:15,448 --> 00:05:16,965 to go through, I would say, 124 00:05:17,068 --> 00:05:18,793 about 40, 50 yards of material. 125 00:05:18,896 --> 00:05:19,931 Oh, wow. 126 00:05:20,034 --> 00:05:21,413 Yeah, not much at all, you know, especially... 127 00:05:21,517 --> 00:05:22,413 So that's all you've ran? 128 00:05:22,517 --> 00:05:24,172 That's all I've ran through this plant. 129 00:05:25,551 --> 00:05:26,655 Are you about out of savings? 130 00:05:26,758 --> 00:05:28,000 Pretty much. 131 00:05:28,103 --> 00:05:31,137 I'm losing a lot of money doing what I'm doing. 132 00:05:31,241 --> 00:05:32,689 We don't have nothing in the account. 133 00:05:32,793 --> 00:05:34,103 It's all invested into here. 134 00:05:35,655 --> 00:05:37,103 You got any of your gold? 135 00:05:37,206 --> 00:05:38,896 Actually, yes, I do. 136 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:40,103 That's really good-looking gold, though. 137 00:05:40,206 --> 00:05:41,517 That's beautiful gold. 138 00:05:41,620 --> 00:05:43,862 What kind of gold are you needing per day 139 00:05:43,965 --> 00:05:44,965 to make a living in here? 140 00:05:45,068 --> 00:05:47,172 Well, I would like to at least pull out 141 00:05:47,275 --> 00:05:49,896 an ounce every second day, you know? 142 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,965 So, last summer how much gold did you get? 143 00:05:53,068 --> 00:05:54,448 About 20 grams last year. 144 00:05:56,965 --> 00:05:58,241 - Twenty grams last year. - Yes. 145 00:05:58,344 --> 00:05:59,275 - Oh, wow. - Yeah. 146 00:05:59,379 --> 00:06:00,827 - Not much at all. - No. 147 00:06:00,931 --> 00:06:02,448 Twenty grams of gold 148 00:06:02,551 --> 00:06:05,241 is worth roughly $1,200. 149 00:06:06,793 --> 00:06:07,862 What's your goal for this year? 150 00:06:07,965 --> 00:06:12,586 I need to make at least 40 ounces a season 151 00:06:12,689 --> 00:06:15,103 to get out of the red, to get into the black. 152 00:06:15,206 --> 00:06:16,137 Okay. 153 00:06:16,241 --> 00:06:17,413 - You know? - It's a big jump, yeah. 154 00:06:17,517 --> 00:06:18,620 It is a huge step. 155 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,896 Terry needs more than 50 times that amount, 156 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:28,068 around $70,000 in gold, to make up his losses. 157 00:06:28,172 --> 00:06:31,137 Well, let's fire the plant up, and run four hours... 158 00:06:31,241 --> 00:06:32,206 - Let's do it. - ...see what we see. 159 00:06:32,310 --> 00:06:33,620 All right. That sounds good with me, guys. 160 00:06:36,517 --> 00:06:38,206 Okay, Freddy! Firing it up! 161 00:06:44,655 --> 00:06:45,620 All right! 162 00:06:51,724 --> 00:06:52,965 Let's clock it, Juan-o. 163 00:06:53,068 --> 00:06:53,931 Set the time. 164 00:06:54,034 --> 00:06:55,724 Four hours. 165 00:06:55,827 --> 00:06:58,000 The first step in his process, 166 00:06:58,103 --> 00:07:01,689 Terry sifts out large boulders with a rock grizzly. 167 00:07:01,793 --> 00:07:03,241 He then feeds the pay 168 00:07:03,344 --> 00:07:05,172 into his five-yard hopper feeder. 169 00:07:06,448 --> 00:07:09,689 A 35-foot conveyor belt carries this material 170 00:07:09,793 --> 00:07:12,172 to a prewash and shaker deck, 171 00:07:12,275 --> 00:07:13,586 where it is grated 172 00:07:13,689 --> 00:07:17,103 before it passes down into the sluices. 173 00:07:17,206 --> 00:07:18,758 Pretty wet material, eh, Juan-o? 174 00:07:18,862 --> 00:07:20,137 - Yeah, very wet material. - Pretty damp. 175 00:07:20,241 --> 00:07:21,827 - He almost needs a vibrator on that. - Yeah. 176 00:07:21,931 --> 00:07:24,241 Yeah. He does, if it's not gonna fall through. 177 00:07:24,344 --> 00:07:27,896 Stuff's just plugging up on that grizzly. 178 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,275 Time to go have a look here, see what's going on. 179 00:07:35,275 --> 00:07:38,034 This material's been sitting since last year. 180 00:07:38,137 --> 00:07:39,137 So it's pretty wet, huh? 181 00:07:39,241 --> 00:07:42,862 It's still wet. Like, it's already two years old. 182 00:07:42,965 --> 00:07:44,655 I'm very frustrated right now. 183 00:07:44,758 --> 00:07:46,310 I thought for sure that the material 184 00:07:46,413 --> 00:07:47,724 would be a little bit better. 185 00:07:47,827 --> 00:07:50,310 But even though I inlined my hopper feeder, 186 00:07:50,413 --> 00:07:52,379 it's still sticking to the inside walls. 187 00:07:52,482 --> 00:07:54,896 So it's actually not sliding down where it's supposed to. 188 00:07:56,586 --> 00:07:58,000 Let's see what the heck here. 189 00:08:00,034 --> 00:08:01,689 Now I gotta bang the side, you know, 190 00:08:01,793 --> 00:08:03,655 just to keep the material moving. 191 00:08:08,586 --> 00:08:10,137 Whew, okay. 192 00:08:13,137 --> 00:08:14,551 Once through the hopper, 193 00:08:14,655 --> 00:08:16,310 and into the shaker deck, 194 00:08:16,413 --> 00:08:19,586 the paydirt splits into three different sluice runs, 195 00:08:19,689 --> 00:08:22,344 coarse, medium, and fine. 196 00:08:22,448 --> 00:08:24,896 A fourth run, for extra fines, 197 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,344 passes through a centrifugal bowl 198 00:08:27,448 --> 00:08:30,758 that separates the gold by rotating at high speed. 199 00:08:30,862 --> 00:08:32,172 What do you think, Juan? 200 00:08:32,275 --> 00:08:33,448 I don't know, Fred. 201 00:08:33,551 --> 00:08:35,034 I'm not a big fan of that bowl. 202 00:08:35,137 --> 00:08:36,206 No, I don't need it. 203 00:08:36,310 --> 00:08:37,413 Let me get a gold pan. 204 00:08:37,517 --> 00:08:40,724 I want to see what that bowl is puking out. 205 00:08:40,827 --> 00:08:43,931 A centrifugal bowl is lined with rubber riffles. 206 00:08:44,034 --> 00:08:48,413 Mounted on a vertical shaft, it spins at over 100 rpm. 207 00:08:48,517 --> 00:08:51,896 This centrifugal force causes gold to travel upward 208 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:53,482 along the inside of the bowl, 209 00:08:53,586 --> 00:08:54,551 to be pressed against the walls, 210 00:08:55,655 --> 00:08:57,275 and caught beneath the rim, 211 00:08:57,379 --> 00:08:59,551 but if it becomes clogged with wet pay, 212 00:08:59,655 --> 00:09:02,620 gold escapes into the tailings pond. 213 00:09:02,724 --> 00:09:03,931 Bit of material in there. 214 00:09:10,206 --> 00:09:12,000 Two colors, Juan. 215 00:09:12,103 --> 00:09:13,310 Maybe three. 216 00:09:13,413 --> 00:09:16,206 It's so fine, it might need a magnifying glass. 217 00:09:16,310 --> 00:09:17,413 Yeah. I see two, Fred. 218 00:09:17,517 --> 00:09:19,241 Two really fine ones, huh? 219 00:09:19,344 --> 00:09:21,793 I have a lot more faith in a really good sluice box, 220 00:09:21,896 --> 00:09:23,068 - than that bowl in there. - I do, too. 221 00:09:23,172 --> 00:09:25,068 The problem with, you know, those bowls, Freddy, 222 00:09:25,172 --> 00:09:26,689 is just, there's no capacity. 223 00:09:26,793 --> 00:09:28,034 - Nope. - There's no capacity. 224 00:09:28,137 --> 00:09:29,758 - It eventually starts puking material out. - Yep. 225 00:09:29,862 --> 00:09:32,310 So, two colors in, you know, 226 00:09:32,413 --> 00:09:34,965 a quarter of a cup, half a cup of sand. 227 00:09:35,068 --> 00:09:37,310 Well, we know he's losing gold there. 228 00:09:40,275 --> 00:09:42,000 So, right now, we'll be taking a look at his screen, 229 00:09:42,103 --> 00:09:43,448 see what it's doing. 230 00:09:43,551 --> 00:09:45,517 Remember, he's screening several different sizes. 231 00:09:46,413 --> 00:09:47,827 At the screen deck, 232 00:09:47,931 --> 00:09:50,275 Freddy and Juan spot another problem. 233 00:09:50,379 --> 00:09:51,827 That counterweight. 234 00:09:51,931 --> 00:09:53,448 Stuff's just plugging up on that. 235 00:09:53,551 --> 00:09:54,517 Yeah. 236 00:09:56,965 --> 00:09:58,965 Two and a half hours into the run... 237 00:09:59,068 --> 00:10:00,482 Back out I go. 238 00:10:00,586 --> 00:10:03,586 ...Terry still battles the jammed hopper. 239 00:10:07,241 --> 00:10:08,965 How's it going, Terry? 240 00:10:09,068 --> 00:10:09,896 Terrible! 241 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,586 I'm working like a dog. 242 00:10:11,689 --> 00:10:13,034 - Whoa. - I got blisters happening. 243 00:10:13,137 --> 00:10:14,689 You're getting blisters on that rock. 244 00:10:14,793 --> 00:10:15,586 Don't kill yourself. 245 00:10:15,689 --> 00:10:16,620 No, I'm trying not to. 246 00:10:16,724 --> 00:10:17,965 - Can we just-- - So, this is what I do 247 00:10:18,068 --> 00:10:19,620 on a daily basis when I am out here. 248 00:10:19,724 --> 00:10:21,379 How many buckets have you put in so far? 249 00:10:21,482 --> 00:10:22,275 Uh, that is my second, 250 00:10:22,379 --> 00:10:23,827 but if you look inside my hopper, 251 00:10:23,931 --> 00:10:25,862 I bet you there's, like, one full, complete bucket 252 00:10:25,965 --> 00:10:28,793 - still hung up in there. - Yeah. Yeah. 253 00:10:28,896 --> 00:10:30,689 Uh, I don't know how to get it, you know, 254 00:10:30,793 --> 00:10:31,827 without, you know, get in there 255 00:10:31,931 --> 00:10:32,896 with a pick and a shovel. 256 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:34,310 Mild explosives? 257 00:10:34,413 --> 00:10:35,793 That would work. 258 00:10:35,896 --> 00:10:37,827 - Sometimes I feel like blowing the damn thing up. - Yeah. 259 00:10:45,103 --> 00:10:46,137 But he's not running 260 00:10:46,241 --> 00:10:47,413 - a lot of material per hour, is he? - No. 261 00:10:47,517 --> 00:10:49,275 Maybe, what, three yards? 262 00:10:49,379 --> 00:10:50,793 Two and a half yards an hour? 263 00:10:51,689 --> 00:10:52,965 It should be at 10 yards an hour 264 00:10:53,068 --> 00:10:54,103 through that plant. 265 00:10:54,206 --> 00:10:56,241 More than anything, I think he just needs help. 266 00:10:56,344 --> 00:10:57,827 He's working his ass off. 267 00:10:57,931 --> 00:11:00,241 Feeding it, tailings, starting it. 268 00:11:00,344 --> 00:11:01,551 Well, you know, between that feeder 269 00:11:01,655 --> 00:11:02,448 and everything else, you know, 270 00:11:02,551 --> 00:11:03,827 he's got a lot of little issues, 271 00:11:03,931 --> 00:11:05,344 but really, I think his biggest problem is 272 00:11:05,448 --> 00:11:06,551 he's gonna need another hand out here. 273 00:11:06,655 --> 00:11:07,620 Yeah. 274 00:11:16,344 --> 00:11:18,241 Oh, man! 275 00:11:18,344 --> 00:11:20,241 Aw, the generator. What's going on? 276 00:11:21,482 --> 00:11:22,862 What happened? Did it just shut down? 277 00:11:22,965 --> 00:11:24,275 Yeah, it did. Let's go look at it. 278 00:11:24,379 --> 00:11:26,034 Right now, we're at three hours. 279 00:11:26,137 --> 00:11:27,827 The generator stopped! 280 00:11:27,931 --> 00:11:30,758 I think I ran out of propane, so I gotta turn the pump off. 281 00:11:32,965 --> 00:11:34,655 Hey, Freddy. Hey, Juan. 282 00:11:35,827 --> 00:11:37,655 Just letting you know I ran out of propane. 283 00:11:37,758 --> 00:11:38,724 Oh, okay. 284 00:11:38,827 --> 00:11:40,206 Well, at least we made three hours, though. 285 00:11:40,310 --> 00:11:42,275 Probably knew you were getting too many blisters. 286 00:11:43,241 --> 00:11:45,551 Well, I think do a cleanup, and weigh it up, 287 00:11:45,655 --> 00:11:46,551 and see what we got. 288 00:11:46,655 --> 00:11:47,482 - Okay. - Okay. 289 00:11:47,586 --> 00:11:48,413 Sounds good. 290 00:11:48,517 --> 00:11:49,448 All right, guys. 291 00:11:53,655 --> 00:11:56,310 I got my whole life investment into this. 292 00:11:56,413 --> 00:11:58,103 I got two granddaughters 293 00:11:58,206 --> 00:12:02,000 that I get to also have out here, 294 00:12:02,103 --> 00:12:03,896 Audrey and little Zadie, 295 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,758 out to Papa's gold claim, and go find treasure, 296 00:12:07,862 --> 00:12:10,344 as she says, you know, so hopefully, 297 00:12:10,448 --> 00:12:13,137 I got a future for them and in the mining world. 298 00:12:22,275 --> 00:12:24,310 You know, really, we only had three hours, 299 00:12:24,413 --> 00:12:26,931 but for a one-guy operation, man, you know, 300 00:12:27,034 --> 00:12:28,241 he worked his ass off. 301 00:12:28,344 --> 00:12:29,379 In the loader, out of the loader, 302 00:12:29,482 --> 00:12:30,793 in the loader, out of the loader. 303 00:12:30,896 --> 00:12:32,379 And I don't know what his situation is 304 00:12:32,482 --> 00:12:34,275 with his wife, but we really need 305 00:12:34,379 --> 00:12:35,758 to talk to her about maybe helping. 306 00:12:35,862 --> 00:12:36,793 Exactly. 307 00:12:36,896 --> 00:12:38,413 You know, whether it's feeding the plant, 308 00:12:38,517 --> 00:12:40,310 or something, because he can be doing other things. 309 00:12:40,413 --> 00:12:41,517 Well, 'cause right now, 310 00:12:41,620 --> 00:12:43,517 he's only doing two yards an hour, 311 00:12:44,620 --> 00:12:46,172 which is unsustainable. 312 00:13:06,758 --> 00:13:08,241 - Hi Terry. - Hey, how's it going, guys? 313 00:13:08,344 --> 00:13:09,448 Doing all right. How are you? 314 00:13:09,551 --> 00:13:11,379 I've got some gold here for you to weigh up. 315 00:13:11,482 --> 00:13:12,655 Well, let's weigh it up. 316 00:13:14,068 --> 00:13:15,482 Running out of fuel 317 00:13:15,586 --> 00:13:18,655 means one-man band Terry's test run 318 00:13:18,758 --> 00:13:20,068 was just three hours, 319 00:13:20,172 --> 00:13:22,206 and with material constantly clogging, 320 00:13:22,310 --> 00:13:25,000 he only ran six yards of pay. 321 00:13:25,103 --> 00:13:26,413 Moment of truth, here. 322 00:13:26,517 --> 00:13:28,379 Yeah, gotta make sure we get all that out. 323 00:13:32,655 --> 00:13:34,172 ...06. 324 00:13:34,275 --> 00:13:36,482 ...06 for a three hour run. 325 00:13:36,586 --> 00:13:38,586 Juan and myself, we've seen a lot of stuff, 326 00:13:38,689 --> 00:13:40,068 but this is almost 327 00:13:40,172 --> 00:13:42,172 no worse than gold that we've found. 328 00:13:42,275 --> 00:13:45,034 You aren't gonna buy a new house with it. 329 00:13:45,137 --> 00:13:50,551 0.06 ounces, worth around $100. 330 00:13:50,655 --> 00:13:52,137 That's $15 a yard... 331 00:13:52,241 --> 00:13:53,000 Okay. 332 00:13:53,103 --> 00:13:55,241 ...which, if you can run yardage, 333 00:13:55,344 --> 00:13:56,310 you can make money on it. 334 00:13:56,413 --> 00:13:57,241 - Awesome. - All right? 335 00:13:57,344 --> 00:13:58,379 Well, that's what I was hoping. 336 00:13:58,482 --> 00:13:59,862 So, if you can go from two yards an hour 337 00:13:59,965 --> 00:14:01,517 to, let's say, 10, 338 00:14:01,620 --> 00:14:03,206 instead of $30 an hour, 339 00:14:03,310 --> 00:14:05,965 like you're running now, it's 150 bucks an hour. 340 00:14:06,068 --> 00:14:07,172 You just got to get more material 341 00:14:07,275 --> 00:14:09,172 going through that plant. You got the gold here. 342 00:14:10,862 --> 00:14:13,344 If Terry can run 80 yards of pay, 343 00:14:13,448 --> 00:14:14,758 instead of 16, 344 00:14:14,862 --> 00:14:17,068 he could make $1,200 a day, 345 00:14:17,172 --> 00:14:19,413 and could exceed his half an ounce target 346 00:14:19,517 --> 00:14:21,482 to turn a profit. 347 00:14:21,586 --> 00:14:22,758 The material that he's running 348 00:14:22,862 --> 00:14:24,482 - is super sticky. - It's sticky. Well, here's my thought. 349 00:14:24,586 --> 00:14:26,448 He's got that static grizzly over there. 350 00:14:26,551 --> 00:14:27,482 - Yeah. - Right? 351 00:14:27,586 --> 00:14:29,620 So, the material he's putting through there, 352 00:14:29,724 --> 00:14:30,724 it's in the shade. 353 00:14:30,827 --> 00:14:32,862 So, we take the material out from under there, 354 00:14:32,965 --> 00:14:35,068 and windrow it, and spread it out. 355 00:14:35,172 --> 00:14:37,068 What about on his hopper here, Fred? 356 00:14:37,172 --> 00:14:38,379 What about maybe putting 357 00:14:38,482 --> 00:14:41,724 a little vibrator here to help that material vibrate down? 358 00:14:41,827 --> 00:14:42,965 I like it. 359 00:14:43,068 --> 00:14:44,689 If we're gonna do that let's put two vibrators on it. 360 00:14:44,793 --> 00:14:46,758 But on top of this, he's got issues 361 00:14:46,862 --> 00:14:48,206 down at the recovery side of it, too. 362 00:14:48,310 --> 00:14:49,344 Honestly, if he's good with it, 363 00:14:49,448 --> 00:14:51,068 I think we eliminate that bowl altogether. 364 00:14:51,172 --> 00:14:53,448 Then we could put an additional sluice out here. 365 00:14:54,862 --> 00:14:57,137 Freddy and Juan plan to set out the pay 366 00:14:57,241 --> 00:14:59,689 into V-shaped piles called windrows, 367 00:14:59,793 --> 00:15:02,448 to dry it out before going through the plant. 368 00:15:03,931 --> 00:15:05,758 Two vibrators on the hopper 369 00:15:05,862 --> 00:15:09,517 will stop any pay sticking to the walls. 370 00:15:09,620 --> 00:15:12,206 They will modify a counterweight on the prewash 371 00:15:12,310 --> 00:15:14,620 to help shake off any remaining pay. 372 00:15:16,620 --> 00:15:19,965 Finally, a new plumbing system will divert material 373 00:15:20,068 --> 00:15:22,413 away from the centrifugal bowl 374 00:15:22,517 --> 00:15:24,862 and into a brand-new sluice box. 375 00:15:27,241 --> 00:15:30,758 But wash plant improvements are just half the battle. 376 00:15:30,862 --> 00:15:31,724 Really, I think the biggest thing 377 00:15:31,827 --> 00:15:33,206 we need to work on here is his wife. 378 00:15:33,310 --> 00:15:35,068 - That she's scared of the equipment. - One of us... One of us... 379 00:15:35,172 --> 00:15:37,482 If we could turn this in from a one-man operation 380 00:15:37,586 --> 00:15:38,758 to a couples operation... 381 00:15:38,862 --> 00:15:41,827 And two people are gonna be twice the production as one. 382 00:15:42,758 --> 00:15:43,551 Financially, 383 00:15:43,655 --> 00:15:45,862 Terry's already at rock bottom, 384 00:15:45,965 --> 00:15:48,551 and these fixes won't come cheap. 385 00:15:48,655 --> 00:15:50,172 I know he's on a budget, but... 386 00:15:50,275 --> 00:15:51,413 - Each one of these... - ...the vibrators are 387 00:15:51,517 --> 00:15:52,758 a few hundred bucks apiece, probably, right? 388 00:15:52,862 --> 00:15:53,862 That sluice run and carpets 389 00:15:53,965 --> 00:15:55,724 and everything else come up to 3,200 bucks. 390 00:15:55,827 --> 00:15:57,655 - So, at 3,200 bucks. - Yeah. 391 00:15:59,931 --> 00:16:01,896 You making more blisters, Terry? 392 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,482 Hey, guys! Yeah, I'm working on 'em. 393 00:16:04,586 --> 00:16:06,724 Well, Juan and myself put some ideas together. 394 00:16:06,827 --> 00:16:08,241 Starting with your grizzly, 395 00:16:08,344 --> 00:16:09,724 the way that you store your material. 396 00:16:09,827 --> 00:16:11,172 You actually leave it underneath the grizzly. 397 00:16:11,275 --> 00:16:13,724 Well, the problem there is it gets just sopping wet. 398 00:16:13,827 --> 00:16:17,172 So, our thoughts were grizzly it, 399 00:16:17,275 --> 00:16:18,965 and then windrow it out here, 400 00:16:19,068 --> 00:16:20,758 so the wind hits it, and the sun hits it, 401 00:16:20,862 --> 00:16:22,724 and then put it in your plant. 402 00:16:22,827 --> 00:16:24,586 The next one's gonna be, obviously, your hopper. 403 00:16:24,689 --> 00:16:27,000 - Yes. - So we talked about putting a vibrator on the top, 404 00:16:27,103 --> 00:16:29,655 so it can help that material vibrate through the hopper. 405 00:16:29,758 --> 00:16:31,551 Next, we're gonna eliminate your bowl... 406 00:16:31,655 --> 00:16:32,827 - Okay. - ...and actually have it all 407 00:16:32,931 --> 00:16:34,827 go down one sluice, and extend it out, 408 00:16:34,931 --> 00:16:36,275 And probably the... 409 00:16:36,379 --> 00:16:37,172 Biggest. 410 00:16:37,275 --> 00:16:38,862 - ...biggest fix... - Yeah? 411 00:16:38,965 --> 00:16:40,344 This is gonna be the hardest fix, 412 00:16:40,448 --> 00:16:41,551 possibly, as well. 413 00:16:41,655 --> 00:16:43,034 It'll be the cheapest fix, 414 00:16:43,137 --> 00:16:44,724 - but the hardest fix. - But hard. 415 00:16:44,827 --> 00:16:47,310 We'd like to get your wife introduced into being able 416 00:16:47,413 --> 00:16:48,275 to help a little bit more. 417 00:16:48,379 --> 00:16:49,517 You know, I know that this is something 418 00:16:49,620 --> 00:16:50,724 - that you guys started together. - Yep. 419 00:16:50,827 --> 00:16:51,827 - You guys really loved it, right? - Yes. Yes. 420 00:16:51,931 --> 00:16:53,000 Now that it's a little bit bigger, 421 00:16:53,103 --> 00:16:54,482 she's a little scared of it. 422 00:16:54,586 --> 00:16:56,379 - Yeah, she could be. - Well, what if we took a little time, 423 00:16:56,482 --> 00:16:57,758 and we taught her how to run the excavator? 424 00:16:57,862 --> 00:16:58,965 Okay. 425 00:16:59,068 --> 00:17:00,689 Well, my hat's off to you guys if you could do it. 426 00:17:01,931 --> 00:17:03,068 - I see that, too. - Honestly, you know, 427 00:17:03,172 --> 00:17:04,413 I've been wanting her to be a part 428 00:17:04,517 --> 00:17:06,482 since I've got this going, 429 00:17:06,586 --> 00:17:08,689 but she's intimidated due to the size of the equipment. 430 00:17:08,793 --> 00:17:09,620 Yeah. 431 00:17:09,724 --> 00:17:11,344 Now, the money part of it. 432 00:17:11,448 --> 00:17:15,310 We figure that it's gonna take about $3,200 in materials 433 00:17:15,413 --> 00:17:17,137 to do what we want to do here this week. 434 00:17:20,931 --> 00:17:23,517 Well, I'm on a very tight budget, 435 00:17:23,620 --> 00:17:27,000 you know, so, uh, almost breaking the bank, 436 00:17:27,103 --> 00:17:30,827 but I'm just happy you guys are here to do this. 437 00:17:30,931 --> 00:17:32,137 Deal, then. Good deal. 438 00:17:32,241 --> 00:17:33,448 - Thank you very much, guys. - Sounds good. 439 00:17:33,551 --> 00:17:34,724 I appreciate it so much. 440 00:17:37,965 --> 00:17:40,862 Freddy and Juan mentioned to me about maybe seeing 441 00:17:40,965 --> 00:17:42,620 about getting Stephanie, my wife, 442 00:17:42,724 --> 00:17:44,586 to jump into an excavator. 443 00:17:44,689 --> 00:17:46,655 I thought I would never, ever see the day, 444 00:17:46,758 --> 00:17:48,965 and maybe still not, you know? 445 00:17:49,068 --> 00:17:51,827 I think that's gonna be one of the biggest things of all 446 00:17:51,931 --> 00:17:54,310 is to get her to feel confident enough 447 00:17:54,413 --> 00:17:56,551 to even try, you know, 448 00:17:56,655 --> 00:17:58,310 so I guess time will tell. 449 00:18:04,310 --> 00:18:06,206 While they wait for Stephanie to arrive 450 00:18:06,310 --> 00:18:07,310 at the claim, 451 00:18:07,413 --> 00:18:10,034 Juan begins work in his cut trailer. 452 00:18:11,379 --> 00:18:12,655 So, we're gonna add a couple vibrators 453 00:18:12,758 --> 00:18:13,551 to his feed hopper. 454 00:18:13,655 --> 00:18:15,344 The way these vibrators work, 455 00:18:15,448 --> 00:18:16,586 you gotta put 'em on a base plate, 456 00:18:16,689 --> 00:18:18,206 and then you actually weld them to the structure, 457 00:18:18,310 --> 00:18:19,758 but whatever you do, you want to make sure 458 00:18:19,862 --> 00:18:21,137 that the material that you're welding to 459 00:18:21,241 --> 00:18:23,103 is strong enough to be able to hold up to the vibration. 460 00:18:23,206 --> 00:18:24,551 So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna add 461 00:18:24,655 --> 00:18:26,586 a half-inch plate as a base plate for it, 462 00:18:26,689 --> 00:18:29,000 and that'll transfer the vibration to the hopper, 463 00:18:29,103 --> 00:18:30,620 so that way, it can properly clean 464 00:18:30,724 --> 00:18:32,137 the material down in the hopper. 465 00:18:43,586 --> 00:18:45,068 By the wash plant, 466 00:18:45,172 --> 00:18:48,034 Freddy starts teaching Terry to windrow, 467 00:18:48,137 --> 00:18:49,482 an old miners' trick 468 00:18:49,586 --> 00:18:52,172 to dry out dirt going to the plant. 469 00:18:53,172 --> 00:18:55,344 Start, put one there, 470 00:18:55,448 --> 00:18:58,689 one there, one here, loader bucket, 471 00:18:58,793 --> 00:19:01,034 and then one next to it, boom, boom, boom, 472 00:19:01,137 --> 00:19:02,655 and then next to it, boom, boom, boom. 473 00:19:05,137 --> 00:19:06,379 All right! 474 00:19:08,689 --> 00:19:09,724 Back in the hunt. 475 00:19:17,172 --> 00:19:19,172 - Oh, this is perfect. See how it... - Yep. 476 00:19:19,275 --> 00:19:21,620 Just keep it veed at the top, like you got it, right... 477 00:19:21,724 --> 00:19:23,931 - Okay. - ...then put the next one next to this one, 478 00:19:24,034 --> 00:19:25,482 and the next one, and the next one, all right? 479 00:19:25,586 --> 00:19:28,137 It's hard to do, but don't pile 'em into each other, 480 00:19:28,241 --> 00:19:29,862 - so you got this Vee... - Yes. 481 00:19:29,965 --> 00:19:32,827 - ...and then you got this Vee, so that water can run off. - Gotcha. 482 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,206 Windrowing allows air to get 483 00:19:38,310 --> 00:19:40,862 to a large surface area of paydirt, 484 00:19:40,965 --> 00:19:43,827 and encourages excess moisture to evaporate. 485 00:19:43,931 --> 00:19:48,344 Dry pay should mean less clogging at the plant. 486 00:19:48,448 --> 00:19:50,000 Sometimes it's the little things 487 00:19:50,103 --> 00:19:51,551 that make a big difference. 488 00:19:51,655 --> 00:19:52,655 No difference here. 489 00:19:52,758 --> 00:19:53,724 If we can keep the material dry, 490 00:19:53,827 --> 00:19:55,172 it's gonna make a huge difference here. 491 00:19:55,275 --> 00:19:57,000 It sounds like a little thing. 492 00:19:57,103 --> 00:19:58,862 "So your dirt's got water in it." 493 00:19:58,965 --> 00:20:00,586 Well, it's a huge thing. 494 00:20:03,344 --> 00:20:05,724 As Terry dries the pay, 495 00:20:05,827 --> 00:20:08,965 wife Stephanie arrives at the mine site. 496 00:20:09,068 --> 00:20:10,862 I think just one person does it. 497 00:20:10,965 --> 00:20:12,275 - Yeah. - That way, it doesn't look like you're 498 00:20:12,379 --> 00:20:13,931 - ganging up on her. - Like, ganging up on her, yeah. 499 00:20:14,034 --> 00:20:16,206 So, uh, flip a coin on it? 500 00:20:16,310 --> 00:20:17,931 - Yeah, let's do it. - You call it in the air. 501 00:20:18,034 --> 00:20:19,068 All right. Heads. 502 00:20:19,172 --> 00:20:20,241 Heads you talk to her. 503 00:20:20,344 --> 00:20:21,448 Okay. 504 00:20:21,551 --> 00:20:22,724 - Heads it is. - Argh. All right. 505 00:20:22,827 --> 00:20:24,206 I guess it's me, Fred. 506 00:20:24,310 --> 00:20:26,034 - It's you. - Well, I'll take the quarter, then. 507 00:20:29,103 --> 00:20:30,793 I've never won a coin flip, and that's one 508 00:20:30,896 --> 00:20:31,758 I didn't want to win. 509 00:20:36,896 --> 00:20:38,655 Hey, Stephanie. Hey, killer. 510 00:20:39,586 --> 00:20:40,344 What was her name again? 511 00:20:40,448 --> 00:20:41,310 Athena. 512 00:20:41,413 --> 00:20:44,103 Athena. Athena, you little cutie! 513 00:20:45,689 --> 00:20:47,241 Is she part pit bull? 514 00:20:47,344 --> 00:20:48,413 - No. - No? 515 00:20:50,758 --> 00:20:52,689 I had a pit bill that thought he was a chihuahua. 516 00:20:52,793 --> 00:20:55,896 He's 120 pounds, and he'd want to get on your lap, and... 517 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:57,620 ...lick you like a popsicle all the time. 518 00:20:57,724 --> 00:20:58,896 I'm like, "Come on, get off me." 519 00:21:01,103 --> 00:21:02,827 So what's your biggest fear, here, honestly? 520 00:21:02,931 --> 00:21:04,068 You know, when you guys started out, 521 00:21:04,172 --> 00:21:05,241 you really enjoyed it. 522 00:21:05,344 --> 00:21:06,448 - Mmm-hmm. - You enjoyed being a part of it... 523 00:21:06,551 --> 00:21:08,482 - Yeah. - ...and it was kind of a family adventure. 524 00:21:08,586 --> 00:21:10,068 It's huge. 525 00:21:10,172 --> 00:21:10,931 I don't know. 526 00:21:11,034 --> 00:21:13,206 It just is intimidating. 527 00:21:13,310 --> 00:21:14,482 I worry about injury... 528 00:21:14,586 --> 00:21:15,758 - Yeah. - ...you know, for one. 529 00:21:15,862 --> 00:21:17,137 I'm a nurse's aide, I'm not a nurse, 530 00:21:17,241 --> 00:21:20,793 - but my arms and legs are my livelihood, right? - Yeah. 531 00:21:20,896 --> 00:21:22,896 So, I really can't get hurt here, 532 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,413 and then not be able to work. 533 00:21:24,517 --> 00:21:26,206 I get that. 534 00:21:26,310 --> 00:21:28,413 So, what we wanted to talk to you about is 535 00:21:28,517 --> 00:21:31,586 seeing if you would be willing to get in the excavator. 536 00:21:31,689 --> 00:21:33,310 Um... 537 00:21:33,413 --> 00:21:34,413 I don't think so. 538 00:21:35,551 --> 00:21:36,655 Terry would bring you the material. 539 00:21:36,758 --> 00:21:38,551 You just drop it into the hopper. 540 00:21:41,068 --> 00:21:42,241 No. 541 00:21:42,344 --> 00:21:44,000 I'm not gonna be able to even try it. 542 00:22:02,206 --> 00:22:04,758 All the work that Terry's doing on his own is just... 543 00:22:04,862 --> 00:22:07,000 It's way too much work for one person to do. 544 00:22:07,103 --> 00:22:08,551 In order to be able to make this 545 00:22:08,655 --> 00:22:10,413 cash-positive or feasible, 546 00:22:11,379 --> 00:22:12,448 Terry really could use the help, 547 00:22:14,517 --> 00:22:17,000 so it'll go from being two and a half yards an hour 548 00:22:17,103 --> 00:22:19,724 to 10, 15 yards an hour, where you guys need to be. 549 00:22:21,310 --> 00:22:22,275 I don't know. 550 00:22:24,103 --> 00:22:27,206 Well, my wife she's a five-foot-nothing, 551 00:22:27,310 --> 00:22:28,344 you know, a little Hawaiian gal, 552 00:22:28,448 --> 00:22:31,103 and she's actually a better operator than me. 553 00:22:31,206 --> 00:22:32,517 Whenever we're doing stuff at the shop, 554 00:22:32,620 --> 00:22:35,724 she's actually the one that runs the excavator for me. 555 00:22:35,827 --> 00:22:36,931 You know, it's something that she enjoys, 556 00:22:37,034 --> 00:22:38,620 and once you kind of get the hang of 557 00:22:38,724 --> 00:22:40,379 how the controls in that excavator work, 558 00:22:40,482 --> 00:22:42,206 it's actually pretty simple to run. 559 00:22:48,310 --> 00:22:49,241 Okay. 560 00:22:50,137 --> 00:22:51,275 - Good sport. - I could try. 561 00:22:51,379 --> 00:22:52,758 I'm not gonna promise anything, but... 562 00:22:52,862 --> 00:22:55,310 Well, that's all we can ask for. 563 00:22:58,689 --> 00:22:59,689 I'm a little nervous. 564 00:22:59,793 --> 00:23:01,034 A lot nervous. 565 00:23:01,137 --> 00:23:02,206 But I'm willing to try. 566 00:23:05,586 --> 00:23:07,275 Hey, Freddy. Well, I got some good news. 567 00:23:07,379 --> 00:23:08,241 I talked to Stephanie 568 00:23:08,344 --> 00:23:10,517 and, you know, she's open to the idea. 569 00:23:10,620 --> 00:23:12,137 - Good job, man. - Now I'm happy. 570 00:23:12,241 --> 00:23:14,206 You know, I told her, I'm like, "Hey, you know what? 571 00:23:14,310 --> 00:23:15,413 At the end of the day, 572 00:23:15,517 --> 00:23:16,448 your husband really needs the help." 573 00:23:16,551 --> 00:23:17,551 And she's like, "I know, I know. 574 00:23:17,655 --> 00:23:18,620 You know, I want to help." 575 00:23:18,724 --> 00:23:20,172 I'm like, "Well, this is an opportunity 576 00:23:20,275 --> 00:23:21,551 - for you to help, so..." - Yeah. 577 00:23:21,655 --> 00:23:24,517 Well, I'm glad I lost that coin toss, 'cause... 578 00:23:24,620 --> 00:23:26,655 - Put that on me, yeah. - Yeah, you're a lot better talker 579 00:23:26,758 --> 00:23:28,620 - than I am when it counts. - Yeah, I got the gift of gab. 580 00:23:28,724 --> 00:23:29,620 You do. 581 00:23:42,310 --> 00:23:43,344 So what do you think, Stephanie? 582 00:23:43,448 --> 00:23:45,413 - You ready to give it a shot? - Sure am. 583 00:23:47,137 --> 00:23:48,862 All right, Stephanie. Come on up. 584 00:23:48,965 --> 00:23:50,206 Made you a little ramp here. 585 00:23:52,482 --> 00:23:56,068 I'm not too sure how things are gonna turn out, 586 00:23:56,172 --> 00:23:58,793 but I never thought I would ever see her in an excavator 587 00:23:58,896 --> 00:24:00,275 coming down and doing it. 588 00:24:05,206 --> 00:24:07,241 Let's go through the... the controls on this. 589 00:24:07,344 --> 00:24:10,068 First off, we have your throttle there. 590 00:24:10,172 --> 00:24:12,172 Also, it's a kill switch. 591 00:24:12,275 --> 00:24:14,689 So, you go all the way forward, it actually kills the... 592 00:24:14,793 --> 00:24:16,344 kills the motor, shuts off the fuel. 593 00:24:16,448 --> 00:24:18,448 Pull it back towards you lifts up the boom, right? 594 00:24:18,551 --> 00:24:19,758 - Lifts up the boom, yeah. - Okay, perfect. 595 00:24:19,862 --> 00:24:22,344 So then you push it away from you, drops the boom. 596 00:24:22,448 --> 00:24:24,413 Then you go to the left, bucket in, right? 597 00:24:24,517 --> 00:24:25,793 - Bucket in, yeah. - Okay. 598 00:24:25,896 --> 00:24:27,586 And to the right, opens up the bucket. 599 00:24:27,689 --> 00:24:29,344 So then here, bring this one towards you, 600 00:24:29,448 --> 00:24:31,448 - that brings your stick in, right? - I can't wait. 601 00:24:31,551 --> 00:24:33,241 Stick in, stick out. 602 00:24:33,344 --> 00:24:35,482 - So that goes to the right, and that's to the left. - ...to the left. 603 00:24:35,586 --> 00:24:38,275 - Well, let's start it up and let's give it a shot. - Okay, ignition... 604 00:24:38,379 --> 00:24:39,758 Pull that throttle back just a little bit... 605 00:24:39,862 --> 00:24:41,965 All right, right there. All right. 606 00:24:42,068 --> 00:24:45,000 We'll just grab a bucket of dirt right there out of that pile. 607 00:24:45,931 --> 00:24:46,965 You can drop your boom now. 608 00:24:51,413 --> 00:24:52,965 Yeah, now remember stick in... 609 00:24:54,827 --> 00:24:55,793 - Other way. - Okay. 610 00:24:56,620 --> 00:24:58,448 You're fine. 611 00:24:58,551 --> 00:25:00,551 Now you're gonna want to lift your boom up at the same time. 612 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:04,413 Okay, then now curl. Now curl. 613 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,551 - That's pretty good. - Not bad, not bad. 614 00:25:10,586 --> 00:25:11,344 Well, that's pretty cool, 615 00:25:11,448 --> 00:25:12,482 your wife rode on that tractor. 616 00:25:12,586 --> 00:25:14,068 I know, right? 617 00:25:14,172 --> 00:25:17,241 I... I can't believe Juan actually convinced her to, uh, get in there. 618 00:25:18,931 --> 00:25:22,620 At the plant, Freddy and Terry get started on the first fix... 619 00:25:26,862 --> 00:25:28,551 Old meat hammer. 620 00:25:28,655 --> 00:25:32,344 ...diverting water from the malfunctioning centrifugal bowl. 621 00:25:33,586 --> 00:25:36,206 During that three hour run, 622 00:25:36,310 --> 00:25:40,206 we noticed that that bowl had gold coming out of the end of it. 623 00:25:40,310 --> 00:25:42,896 Did a few test bands on it, so... 624 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:48,137 ...we're gonna bypass the bowl and get the material feeding in to this line here... 625 00:25:48,241 --> 00:25:51,241 ...which will go into a sluice, so that end of the new sluice system 626 00:25:51,344 --> 00:25:55,344 strictly designed for that really, really fine gold. 627 00:25:55,448 --> 00:25:58,103 Unlike most wash plants which are joined up, 628 00:25:58,206 --> 00:26:00,172 Terry's uses an elaborate system 629 00:26:00,275 --> 00:26:02,344 which takes dirt from the wash plant 630 00:26:02,448 --> 00:26:06,206 to the sluice spots in four large pipes. 631 00:26:06,310 --> 00:26:10,827 Freddy plans to disconnect the bulb and use a T-junction to divert the water 632 00:26:10,931 --> 00:26:13,000 into the new, wider sluice system. 633 00:26:15,551 --> 00:26:17,551 There's always an unknown here somewhere 634 00:26:17,655 --> 00:26:20,137 when you start playing with this water and that material. 635 00:26:20,241 --> 00:26:22,758 Let's just hope it works the way we think it's gonna work. 636 00:26:22,862 --> 00:26:24,620 I mean, we only got quite a few days, 637 00:26:24,724 --> 00:26:26,344 so we don't have time to screw up. 638 00:26:26,448 --> 00:26:28,344 - How's that? - Oh, that sounds... You know what? 639 00:26:28,448 --> 00:26:30,172 - Let's get to work. - Yeah. 640 00:26:30,275 --> 00:26:32,517 What we're gonna do is unhook this, 641 00:26:32,620 --> 00:26:34,896 - and we're gonna put a T in here. - Okay. 642 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:36,206 Got her, yup, I did. 643 00:26:36,310 --> 00:26:37,862 - Here we go. - All right, there we go. 644 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:44,896 Damn, rubber a little bit on the tight side, isn't it? 645 00:26:47,896 --> 00:26:49,724 We should be able to make this work. 646 00:26:49,827 --> 00:26:52,034 - Square peg, round hole. - Yup. 647 00:26:52,137 --> 00:26:54,000 Oh, there... it went almost a good foot, eh? 648 00:26:54,103 --> 00:26:56,482 You'd think there'd be enough flux in that. 649 00:26:56,586 --> 00:26:58,517 Let's try to get this one over here. 650 00:26:58,620 --> 00:26:59,724 - Okay. - On here. 651 00:27:05,310 --> 00:27:07,137 So, I guess that we're gonna have to try to bend it 652 00:27:07,241 --> 00:27:08,827 - and put it on here, right? - Yep. 653 00:27:10,586 --> 00:27:11,758 - You ready? - Yup, I am. 654 00:27:12,896 --> 00:27:14,620 Here's where I pinch a finger... 655 00:27:14,724 --> 00:27:16,827 - I think she's close. - Yeah, I think she looks pretty good. 656 00:27:16,931 --> 00:27:19,068 You bugger. 657 00:27:19,172 --> 00:27:20,275 - Okay? - Okay. 658 00:27:20,379 --> 00:27:21,275 Here we go. 659 00:27:21,379 --> 00:27:22,344 Look at that. 660 00:27:24,413 --> 00:27:26,965 That went on there really nice, Freddy. 661 00:27:27,068 --> 00:27:30,379 Sometimes you look at it, you go, "Oh, that's gonna take... 662 00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:33,931 ...10, 15 minutes," and it ends up taking two hours. 663 00:27:34,034 --> 00:27:35,620 So, we're kind of running behind. 664 00:27:39,103 --> 00:27:41,000 So, start opening your bucket slowly. 665 00:27:42,448 --> 00:27:44,172 Okay, stop. 666 00:27:44,275 --> 00:27:45,827 All the way to the right. 667 00:27:45,931 --> 00:27:46,931 Okay, stop. 668 00:27:48,448 --> 00:27:50,206 You got this, okay? 669 00:27:50,310 --> 00:27:53,275 One hour into her excavator master class, 670 00:27:53,379 --> 00:27:55,517 it's time for Stephanie to go it alone. 671 00:27:55,620 --> 00:27:57,793 If you feel at any moment, you know, you panic, 672 00:27:57,896 --> 00:27:59,103 - just let go of everything. - Let go. 673 00:27:59,206 --> 00:28:01,931 - Put your hands on your lap and regroup, okay? - Okay. 674 00:28:02,034 --> 00:28:03,034 Let me just jump out. 675 00:28:05,689 --> 00:28:07,172 Go ahead and drop that in, Stephanie! 676 00:28:09,689 --> 00:28:10,827 Okay. 677 00:28:14,448 --> 00:28:15,758 I'm gonna try right... 678 00:28:15,862 --> 00:28:17,482 Ooh, no, I'm gonna go up. 679 00:28:17,586 --> 00:28:18,655 Doo-doo-doo... 680 00:28:21,275 --> 00:28:24,379 Turn left, oh... Turn left... 681 00:28:26,206 --> 00:28:28,068 Yeah, lots of nerves. 682 00:28:28,172 --> 00:28:31,724 You gotta move those hand pedals simultaneously, 683 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,379 and pull the boom out, arm out, 684 00:28:35,482 --> 00:28:37,137 all of... kind of at the same time. 685 00:28:40,068 --> 00:28:41,793 Anything can go wrong, and... 686 00:28:43,586 --> 00:28:44,413 ...they're big. 687 00:28:46,724 --> 00:28:47,724 Again... 688 00:28:50,793 --> 00:28:51,827 Try it again. 689 00:28:52,862 --> 00:28:55,586 Straight back into the lock command... 690 00:28:55,689 --> 00:28:57,000 Oh, big rock. 691 00:28:58,482 --> 00:28:59,551 Little nerve-wracking still... 692 00:29:01,034 --> 00:29:03,103 ...especially when the machine shakes. 693 00:29:03,206 --> 00:29:04,965 My wife's very supportive, 694 00:29:05,068 --> 00:29:06,965 but to jump in, in the sense of having 695 00:29:07,068 --> 00:29:08,620 no fear jumping into equipment, 696 00:29:08,724 --> 00:29:09,793 is a huge step. 697 00:29:11,758 --> 00:29:13,827 It was nerve-wracking... 698 00:29:13,931 --> 00:29:15,620 ...heart-racing, hand-sweating. 699 00:29:16,517 --> 00:29:17,862 Yeah, lots of nerves. 700 00:29:17,965 --> 00:29:19,758 I'm hoping by tomorrow or the next day, 701 00:29:19,862 --> 00:29:23,103 we'll have her running that efficiently and being able to feed the plant. 702 00:29:23,206 --> 00:29:25,310 But, she was really nervous, so I'm worried about it. 703 00:29:41,206 --> 00:29:43,551 Get that... stupid thing in there. 704 00:29:45,137 --> 00:29:47,482 Nothing's ever as easy as you think it's gonna be, is it? 705 00:29:47,586 --> 00:29:48,620 No. 706 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:52,689 At the wash plant, time is running out 707 00:29:52,793 --> 00:29:57,551 as Freddy and Terry continue to battle the unusual plumbing system. 708 00:29:57,655 --> 00:30:00,793 We want the gold in his pocket not laying there in that hose. 709 00:30:02,206 --> 00:30:04,137 If the pipes sag in the middle, 710 00:30:04,241 --> 00:30:06,068 gold could settle in the bottom 711 00:30:06,172 --> 00:30:08,517 before it even reaches the sluice boxes. 712 00:30:11,931 --> 00:30:14,655 - Okay, you're gonna have to do all the... - Yup, don't worry. 713 00:30:14,758 --> 00:30:16,896 I'll bench press this and this again. 714 00:30:18,206 --> 00:30:19,862 Okay, Freddy. Hold it. 715 00:30:19,965 --> 00:30:25,344 Eh, you don't have the most comfortable rocks around here, I'll tell you that much. 716 00:30:25,448 --> 00:30:27,137 - Okay, I'm gonna take her up. - Do her. 717 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:29,931 She looks good! 718 00:30:31,931 --> 00:30:33,482 Here we go, Freddy. Let her go! 719 00:30:35,310 --> 00:30:38,068 - So far, so good, huh? - It's holding! 720 00:30:38,172 --> 00:30:40,103 We got the plumbing work done... 721 00:30:40,206 --> 00:30:42,379 ...to bypass the bowl down there, 722 00:30:42,482 --> 00:30:43,586 and get it into the sluice. 723 00:30:43,689 --> 00:30:44,827 But, we won't know... 724 00:30:46,068 --> 00:30:48,241 ...how good it's gonna work until we fire the plant up. 725 00:30:48,344 --> 00:30:49,758 Juan and myself have done a lot of stuff, 726 00:30:49,862 --> 00:30:51,793 but that doesn't mean we... 727 00:30:51,896 --> 00:30:54,413 ...aren't gonna get bit in the butt on this one, on that plumbing. 728 00:30:54,517 --> 00:30:57,172 So, I got a... I got a little bit of reservation going on. 729 00:31:10,551 --> 00:31:12,172 We're running out of time, right now I'm trying to finish 730 00:31:12,275 --> 00:31:13,931 up this sluice box, Freddy's up at the mine site. 731 00:31:18,241 --> 00:31:19,448 Ah! 732 00:31:19,551 --> 00:31:22,448 Freddy and Juan have less than 36 hours left 733 00:31:22,551 --> 00:31:25,758 to help struggling miner Terry Lind and wife Stephanie. 734 00:31:27,793 --> 00:31:29,517 There we go. 735 00:31:29,620 --> 00:31:34,793 And, there's still a new innovative sluice box to build. 736 00:31:34,896 --> 00:31:37,137 You know, this sluice box is gonna be just a little bit different. 737 00:31:37,241 --> 00:31:39,827 It comes in, it's only a seven and a half inch opening. 738 00:31:39,931 --> 00:31:42,793 But where it comes out to the sluice itself, it's gonna bell out, 739 00:31:42,896 --> 00:31:44,827 it's gonna go to 26 inches wide. 740 00:31:44,931 --> 00:31:46,620 So that way that material that's coming through, 741 00:31:46,724 --> 00:31:50,965 has enough time to be able to spread out and properly get sluiced down that box. 742 00:31:51,068 --> 00:31:53,896 The wider sluice will slow down the water flow, 743 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,310 allowing gold to settle into the riffles. 744 00:31:56,413 --> 00:31:58,586 So we got it all cut out, all the pieces are ready to go, 745 00:31:58,689 --> 00:31:59,758 we're gonna let 'em cool down a minute, 746 00:31:59,862 --> 00:32:00,931 then we're gonna clean them up, 747 00:32:01,034 --> 00:32:02,344 we'll start assembling the sluice box. 748 00:32:04,172 --> 00:32:06,586 As Juan races towards the finish line... 749 00:32:09,206 --> 00:32:10,448 I'm a little short. 750 00:32:11,413 --> 00:32:13,103 Okay. 751 00:32:13,206 --> 00:32:15,448 Stephanie is back in the excavator. 752 00:32:16,655 --> 00:32:18,620 I never actually thought I would... 753 00:32:18,724 --> 00:32:20,793 ...drive one, ever. 754 00:32:20,896 --> 00:32:25,034 For the Linds to achieve their dream of profitable full-time mine, 755 00:32:25,137 --> 00:32:27,344 they must be a team operation. 756 00:32:28,931 --> 00:32:30,482 I wanna try, I wanna help him. 757 00:32:31,827 --> 00:32:34,551 If this doesn't work, I don't... I don't know. 758 00:32:34,655 --> 00:32:37,344 I don't even wanna think of that if it doesn't work. 759 00:32:42,241 --> 00:32:43,586 Hey, Terry. You wanna spin her around? 760 00:32:43,689 --> 00:32:45,344 Let's get this counterweight here... 761 00:32:45,448 --> 00:32:47,137 - Oh. - ...down to the bottom. 762 00:32:47,241 --> 00:32:49,724 - Okay. Right there? - Right there, sir. 763 00:32:49,827 --> 00:32:53,034 Before Juan's sluices attach to the plant, 764 00:32:53,137 --> 00:32:57,206 Freddy has one final clog point to sort on the shaker deck. 765 00:32:57,310 --> 00:33:00,241 - We'll put a heavier counterweight in here. - Yes. 766 00:33:00,344 --> 00:33:03,241 And it'll give it more throw and it's gonna wash your rocks better. 767 00:33:03,344 --> 00:33:04,896 And it'll keep these grizzlies cleaner. 768 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:06,689 That sounds awesome. 769 00:33:06,793 --> 00:33:10,586 Right now, up there, that's only shaking about a sixteenth of an inch, 770 00:33:10,689 --> 00:33:13,275 which isn't enough to get that rock really moving, 771 00:33:13,379 --> 00:33:16,068 and to get it really washing and flipping over in there. 772 00:33:16,172 --> 00:33:17,758 So, we're just gonna have to weld some more 773 00:33:17,862 --> 00:33:20,862 counterweight onto the weights that are inside of there. 774 00:33:20,965 --> 00:33:24,586 It'll either, uh, work or it won't work. Time will tell. 775 00:33:24,689 --> 00:33:26,931 A heavier counterweight will not only 776 00:33:27,034 --> 00:33:29,448 vibrate the screens more violently, 777 00:33:29,551 --> 00:33:34,758 it will also prevent clogging, allowing more paydirt to reach the sluices. 778 00:33:41,413 --> 00:33:42,689 Now, the fun stuff... 779 00:33:45,172 --> 00:33:48,000 For Freddy, no job is too tight. 780 00:33:51,413 --> 00:33:54,517 Oh! Those bolts are comfortable. 781 00:33:54,620 --> 00:33:56,965 I had more room when I was born! 782 00:33:57,068 --> 00:33:58,000 - Eyeballs! - Yup. 783 00:34:04,620 --> 00:34:07,103 - How's it going? - It's not going great. 784 00:34:07,206 --> 00:34:08,724 Have you been to yoga before, or what? 785 00:34:09,827 --> 00:34:12,103 I'm probably the least flexible person... 786 00:34:13,586 --> 00:34:15,137 ...you've ever known. 787 00:34:15,241 --> 00:34:16,724 Okay, that's welded on. 788 00:34:16,827 --> 00:34:18,310 - It's all good. - Yes, sir. 789 00:34:18,413 --> 00:34:19,827 Now the fun part, getting out. 790 00:34:22,241 --> 00:34:23,655 Who designed this thing? 791 00:34:31,655 --> 00:34:33,241 - Got her. - You're out. 792 00:34:33,344 --> 00:34:34,689 - I think... - Yeah. 793 00:34:34,793 --> 00:34:36,137 You're not tagged on anything here, either. 794 00:34:38,517 --> 00:34:40,103 You know, Freddy had struggled a little bit there, 795 00:34:40,206 --> 00:34:41,931 but, uh, you know, he's hoping by... 796 00:34:42,034 --> 00:34:44,655 by adding that extra weight, this'll, uh, solve the problem 797 00:34:44,758 --> 00:34:48,000 and, uh, get me more yardage at the end of the day. 798 00:34:48,103 --> 00:34:49,724 Fire it up! 799 00:34:49,827 --> 00:34:51,448 Let's see what she does. 800 00:34:51,551 --> 00:34:52,448 Firing it up! 801 00:34:54,965 --> 00:34:56,965 Well, it definitely sounds a little bit better! 802 00:34:57,068 --> 00:34:58,862 Can hear a little bit more of a shake on there. 803 00:35:00,931 --> 00:35:03,206 Well, I'd say we run her like that, 804 00:35:03,310 --> 00:35:05,517 - see what she does. - All right, okay. 805 00:35:05,620 --> 00:35:06,896 That sounds good to me. 806 00:35:08,896 --> 00:35:10,827 Well, another pretty productive day. 807 00:35:10,931 --> 00:35:13,551 Once again, things took longer than they should've. 808 00:35:13,655 --> 00:35:17,413 We already assume they do, but we got a lot done. 809 00:35:17,517 --> 00:35:20,931 Go check on Juan now, he's out finishing that sluice box. 810 00:35:31,034 --> 00:35:33,034 You know, honestly, it's all hands on deck right now. 811 00:35:33,137 --> 00:35:35,103 Divide and conquer, hopefully we'll get it all done in time. 812 00:35:36,517 --> 00:35:38,448 You know, it doesn't matter how great of a shaker you have, 813 00:35:38,551 --> 00:35:39,655 or how great of a trommel you have. 814 00:35:39,758 --> 00:35:41,758 If your sluice box is inadequate, 815 00:35:41,862 --> 00:35:43,310 that means nothing. 816 00:35:43,413 --> 00:35:45,206 So I'm hoping that this sluice box that we're building for 'em 817 00:35:45,310 --> 00:35:46,482 is gonna take it to the next level, 818 00:35:46,586 --> 00:35:48,448 'cause right now he's puking gold out of that bowl. 819 00:35:48,551 --> 00:35:49,655 We can't have that. 820 00:35:56,689 --> 00:35:58,413 I'm happy with that. 821 00:35:58,517 --> 00:35:59,551 Looks good. 822 00:36:05,206 --> 00:36:06,241 How's it going, Juan? 823 00:36:06,344 --> 00:36:08,241 Well, Fred, we're just getting cleaned up. 824 00:36:08,344 --> 00:36:09,413 Sluice is pretty much done. 825 00:36:09,517 --> 00:36:12,310 I got, uh, the base plates for the vibrators 826 00:36:12,413 --> 00:36:14,724 all cut out, drilled, and tapped, ready to go. 827 00:36:16,379 --> 00:36:18,206 - It looks good, Juan. - Came out good, I'm happy with it. 828 00:36:18,310 --> 00:36:19,310 It looks really good, yeah. 829 00:36:19,413 --> 00:36:20,896 You got the carpets and ripples, too? 830 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:22,172 We got it done. 831 00:36:22,275 --> 00:36:23,413 Ready to go, so tomorrow morning, first thing, 832 00:36:23,517 --> 00:36:25,172 we'll be able to get in there and get it all installed, 833 00:36:25,275 --> 00:36:27,137 and hopefully by the end of the day, we'll be ready to run. 834 00:36:27,241 --> 00:36:28,413 We need to be ready tomorrow. 835 00:36:38,413 --> 00:36:39,896 I see there's an old cabin here. 836 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:41,655 Yeah, this is an old miner's cabin. 837 00:36:41,758 --> 00:36:46,275 On Terry's claim, evidence of the old-timers near a running stream 838 00:36:46,379 --> 00:36:49,172 could mean good gold is still in the ground. 839 00:36:49,275 --> 00:36:50,448 They'd have panned their way through here, 840 00:36:50,551 --> 00:36:52,344 and when they got to here, they're like... 841 00:36:52,448 --> 00:36:53,896 well, the gold's better here, most likely. 842 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:55,965 So, that's why they built the cabin. 843 00:36:56,068 --> 00:37:00,172 This water running down here probably reconcentrated some gold right here. 844 00:37:00,275 --> 00:37:03,689 I'm just looking at it through the grass and the trees and stuff, 845 00:37:03,793 --> 00:37:05,931 trying to read it while we're standing here. 846 00:37:06,034 --> 00:37:07,827 I imagine she's pretty good water too, huh? 847 00:37:11,413 --> 00:37:12,344 It's good and it's cold. 848 00:37:12,448 --> 00:37:14,000 Yes. 849 00:37:14,103 --> 00:37:17,655 But gold isn't the only thing this water might carry. 850 00:37:17,758 --> 00:37:19,965 Growing up, where I grew up in the mountains of Colorado, 851 00:37:20,068 --> 00:37:22,586 our water was just right out of a creek like this. 852 00:37:22,689 --> 00:37:24,965 Everybody up there would die of beaver fever 853 00:37:25,068 --> 00:37:27,103 or something, you know, or Giardia. 854 00:37:27,206 --> 00:37:30,931 But, uh, it makes you poop your pants once in a while till you get through it. 855 00:37:44,931 --> 00:37:46,827 It's the final day of fixes 856 00:37:46,931 --> 00:37:48,344 at Terry Lind's claim. 857 00:37:48,448 --> 00:37:50,172 Well, let's get it loaded up and get it up there. 858 00:37:52,413 --> 00:37:53,758 - You got her, bud? - Oh, yeah. 859 00:37:56,517 --> 00:37:58,275 - Hold on, let me get my hand out of there. - Hurry. 860 00:38:01,172 --> 00:38:02,068 I got it. 861 00:38:06,413 --> 00:38:08,034 - Yup. - Go in, bud. 862 00:38:08,137 --> 00:38:09,034 Ready to go. 863 00:38:14,034 --> 00:38:16,413 How's that sluice box doing on the back of the truck? 864 00:38:16,517 --> 00:38:18,689 It's still lookin' strapped down tight. 865 00:38:18,793 --> 00:38:21,517 Yeah, it's still pretty tight. Looks good, Freddy. 866 00:38:21,620 --> 00:38:24,965 With just hours to go until the final test run, 867 00:38:25,068 --> 00:38:29,931 Juan's new funnel-shaped sluice heads for the Lind's wash plant. 868 00:38:30,034 --> 00:38:31,724 Okay, stop, stop... 869 00:38:31,827 --> 00:38:33,310 Oh, wow. 870 00:38:33,413 --> 00:38:35,310 She looks really good. 871 00:38:35,413 --> 00:38:36,620 Juan did a good job on it. 872 00:38:36,724 --> 00:38:38,103 Yeah, he sure did. 873 00:38:38,206 --> 00:38:41,000 Well, let's pick it up and set a new sluice box, Terry. 874 00:38:41,103 --> 00:38:42,241 Coming your way... 875 00:38:45,344 --> 00:38:46,379 Oh, look at that. 876 00:38:46,482 --> 00:38:47,517 Look at that, Terry. 877 00:38:47,620 --> 00:38:49,275 Hey, fit in there just perfect, Freddy. 878 00:38:49,379 --> 00:38:51,206 Well, I like it. 879 00:38:51,310 --> 00:38:53,896 This one's gonna be rigged up strictly for fine gold. 880 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:55,689 - It'll catch little nuggets, too. - Yes. 881 00:38:55,793 --> 00:38:58,758 We're gonna make it where it's in love with the fine gold. 882 00:38:58,862 --> 00:39:00,896 Before you were divorcing the fine gold. 883 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,689 - Okay. - Now, we wanna make this box fall in love with it. 884 00:39:05,137 --> 00:39:06,586 Awesome. 885 00:39:06,689 --> 00:39:10,551 As Freddy and Terry weld on the sluice, 886 00:39:10,655 --> 00:39:14,793 Juan has a double fix for the extra wet paydirt clogging the hopper. 887 00:39:16,137 --> 00:39:17,482 You can see all these marks right here. 888 00:39:17,586 --> 00:39:19,655 This is where Terry's been beating on the side of this hopper 889 00:39:19,758 --> 00:39:21,482 trying to get all that material broke free. 890 00:39:21,586 --> 00:39:23,965 So what we're gonna do is we're gonna cast one mound in horizontally 891 00:39:24,068 --> 00:39:27,551 and one vertically, so that way we have two different motions going on. 892 00:39:27,655 --> 00:39:29,586 It's gonna increase the material through the plant, 893 00:39:29,689 --> 00:39:32,275 and at the end of the day, it's gonna increase his gold recovery. 894 00:39:32,379 --> 00:39:34,620 We've never done that before, and hopefully it works. 895 00:39:34,724 --> 00:39:37,000 Because the truth is, this is his biggest bottleneck. 896 00:39:39,827 --> 00:39:43,310 At the sluice, there's one last thing to check. 897 00:39:43,413 --> 00:39:45,379 I got multiple boards here, right? 898 00:39:45,482 --> 00:39:48,862 So I can change the wets, 'cause we don't know exactly your water flow. 899 00:39:48,965 --> 00:39:51,103 I'll have you fire the water up, and, uh, 900 00:39:51,206 --> 00:39:53,517 - we'll watch that water flow through there. - Okay. 901 00:39:53,620 --> 00:39:55,413 And we may add more to one side, 902 00:39:55,517 --> 00:39:56,827 and we may take away from one side. 903 00:39:56,931 --> 00:39:59,758 But it gives us that option to do it on the fly. 904 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:02,827 Changing the width of the boards 905 00:40:02,931 --> 00:40:06,344 will control the water, allowing Freddy to set the sluice 906 00:40:06,448 --> 00:40:08,379 at exactly the right speed. 907 00:40:08,482 --> 00:40:09,310 There we go. 908 00:40:10,551 --> 00:40:11,931 First water there... 909 00:40:12,034 --> 00:40:13,172 I like it. 910 00:40:13,275 --> 00:40:15,586 I think that water's just about right for what we need. 911 00:40:16,448 --> 00:40:17,931 The water looks pretty good, there. 912 00:40:19,206 --> 00:40:20,827 Now it's time to, uh... 913 00:40:20,931 --> 00:40:22,655 Get some material with gold in it 914 00:40:22,758 --> 00:40:24,827 running through the plant, see what it does. 915 00:40:30,896 --> 00:40:32,310 - We'll show you what we did. - Awesome. 916 00:40:32,413 --> 00:40:34,310 During our initial test, we actually came down here 917 00:40:34,413 --> 00:40:36,241 and panned some of the material that was coming out the bowl. 918 00:40:36,344 --> 00:40:38,103 - Yup. - And there was still color in it. 919 00:40:38,206 --> 00:40:40,724 So what we did is we redirected all the material and water. 920 00:40:40,827 --> 00:40:42,068 It's not going through the bowl anymore, 921 00:40:42,172 --> 00:40:43,896 it's gonna strictly come through the sluice. 922 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:45,344 Set up strictly for fine gold here. 923 00:40:45,448 --> 00:40:47,068 Now, that's pretty cool, guys. 924 00:40:47,172 --> 00:40:50,034 Well on the screen, Terry, it wasn't shaking quite hard enough. 925 00:40:50,137 --> 00:40:51,620 That's right. 926 00:40:51,724 --> 00:40:53,896 But we, uh, put that extra weight on that counterweight. 927 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:55,275 It can scrub the material better. 928 00:40:55,379 --> 00:40:57,137 The more material we can get feeding through here, 929 00:40:57,241 --> 00:40:59,172 - the more gold you're gonna have in your sluice box. - Yup. 930 00:40:59,275 --> 00:41:02,482 But the biggest thing is out here on this feeder. 931 00:41:02,586 --> 00:41:05,448 Your material is just so gummy. 932 00:41:05,551 --> 00:41:06,655 - Yes. - So while Juan 933 00:41:06,758 --> 00:41:08,206 was cuttin' plates for the sluices, 934 00:41:08,310 --> 00:41:10,482 he cut mounting brackets for those vibrators. 935 00:41:10,586 --> 00:41:13,586 The vibration probably won't solve 100 percent your problem with feeding, 936 00:41:13,689 --> 00:41:15,103 but it'll eliminate a lot of it. 937 00:41:15,206 --> 00:41:16,551 That sounds really good to me, guys. 938 00:41:16,655 --> 00:41:19,034 You know, anything's better than what I was doing before. 939 00:41:21,172 --> 00:41:23,241 There's one more piece to the puzzle... 940 00:41:24,517 --> 00:41:25,689 Well, Stephanie, you ready for this? 941 00:41:25,793 --> 00:41:27,344 Moment of truth, huh? 942 00:41:27,448 --> 00:41:28,448 I think so. 943 00:41:29,965 --> 00:41:33,793 ...making this a true two-person operation. 944 00:41:33,896 --> 00:41:35,862 As long as you did what you did over here the other day, 945 00:41:35,965 --> 00:41:36,758 you'll be fine. 946 00:41:36,862 --> 00:41:39,000 - Okay. - All right? Let's go. 947 00:41:39,103 --> 00:41:42,000 Hopefully everything just runs good and right, smoothly. 948 00:41:43,275 --> 00:41:44,275 He needs help down there. 949 00:41:48,931 --> 00:41:50,310 Well, it looks like Stephanie's ready, 950 00:41:50,413 --> 00:41:53,275 so let's fire up the water pump and fire up the plant, huh? 951 00:41:53,379 --> 00:41:54,344 Sounds great to me, Freddy. 952 00:41:54,448 --> 00:41:55,724 - Fire it up, man. - Sounds good. 953 00:41:58,482 --> 00:41:59,448 All right. 954 00:42:05,172 --> 00:42:06,724 First bucket, Stephanie! 955 00:42:10,206 --> 00:42:11,965 Down from the bucket... 956 00:42:15,310 --> 00:42:18,275 I'm so excited to see her in there, 957 00:42:18,379 --> 00:42:21,620 and to operate, and actually feeding the plant! 958 00:42:21,724 --> 00:42:23,655 I'm so, so happy. 959 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:26,034 Oh. 960 00:42:27,275 --> 00:42:28,827 That was indeed very powerful. 961 00:42:36,103 --> 00:42:37,000 Okay. 962 00:42:39,275 --> 00:42:42,379 Well, it's running a heck of a lot better than it was before, huh? 963 00:42:42,482 --> 00:42:43,448 That it is, Freddy. 964 00:42:56,758 --> 00:42:58,241 Sluice is running really good. 965 00:42:59,172 --> 00:43:00,793 I'm more than happy with it. 966 00:43:00,896 --> 00:43:03,862 They said that bowl was spitting gold out before, 967 00:43:03,965 --> 00:43:07,862 and, uh, hopefully what it was spitting out we'll now catch it. 968 00:43:12,758 --> 00:43:15,379 I know Juan has better eyes than I do, but... 969 00:43:15,482 --> 00:43:16,517 I don't see anything in it. 970 00:43:17,965 --> 00:43:19,068 - Nothing. - Nothing. 971 00:43:19,172 --> 00:43:20,310 - Not a color. - I don't see nothing there either. 972 00:43:20,413 --> 00:43:21,862 Not a... Not a piece missing there, Freddy. 973 00:43:21,965 --> 00:43:23,482 - Are you happy with that? - I'm happy with that. 974 00:43:23,586 --> 00:43:24,724 Well, look at that. I'm happy with that. 975 00:43:24,827 --> 00:43:25,758 It is dropping. 976 00:43:25,862 --> 00:43:27,275 Proof's in the pudding, here. 977 00:43:27,379 --> 00:43:28,758 - Yes. - Proof's in the pudding there. 978 00:43:28,862 --> 00:43:30,448 - Yeah. - Let's hope you got enough gold here 979 00:43:30,551 --> 00:43:32,965 to make a whole lot of pudding. 980 00:43:33,068 --> 00:43:36,724 The vibration up top that counterweight made a huge difference. 981 00:43:36,827 --> 00:43:38,896 You could see that the material that's coming out the end of it, 982 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:40,379 - it's just clean. - Clean. 983 00:43:40,482 --> 00:43:41,827 And we're running three times 984 00:43:41,931 --> 00:43:43,379 - as much material now, too. - Yeah. 985 00:43:44,551 --> 00:43:46,137 You know, that's one thing we never saw before, Freddy. 986 00:43:46,241 --> 00:43:48,793 He never had a full belt. Look at that. 987 00:43:48,896 --> 00:43:51,310 How many times have you had to use the hammer on the feeder today? 988 00:43:51,413 --> 00:43:52,448 Not once. 989 00:43:52,551 --> 00:43:53,862 Right, how many times you had it that first run? 990 00:43:53,965 --> 00:43:56,827 - I... I lost count after five minutes. - Yeah. 991 00:43:56,931 --> 00:44:00,448 - That... You hit it a thousand times? - You know? Yes, yes I did. 992 00:44:00,551 --> 00:44:02,655 - No more blisters on your fingers today, huh? - No more blisters, no. 993 00:44:05,517 --> 00:44:06,965 Stephanie's out here working with him. 994 00:44:07,068 --> 00:44:09,034 You know, honestly, I don't think he could be happier. 995 00:44:15,068 --> 00:44:16,344 Nice. 996 00:44:16,448 --> 00:44:18,034 There you go. Perfect. 997 00:44:18,137 --> 00:44:20,379 - You're not so nervous any more now, right? - Nope. 998 00:44:20,482 --> 00:44:21,551 Actually, I'm gonna go right now. 999 00:44:30,379 --> 00:44:32,586 Well, Juan, we're right at three hours. 1000 00:44:32,689 --> 00:44:34,620 - Let's call last bucket. - Yeah. 1001 00:44:34,724 --> 00:44:35,482 Let's do it. 1002 00:44:35,586 --> 00:44:37,310 Hey, Stephanie! 1003 00:44:37,413 --> 00:44:39,379 That's three hours, last bucket! 1004 00:44:39,482 --> 00:44:40,689 Okay. 1005 00:44:40,793 --> 00:44:42,206 It ran better, huh? 1006 00:44:42,310 --> 00:44:43,310 Ran much better. 1007 00:44:43,413 --> 00:44:45,000 Well, good job. 1008 00:44:45,103 --> 00:44:46,034 Thank you. 1009 00:44:53,793 --> 00:44:55,655 Hey, you! How's it going? 1010 00:44:55,758 --> 00:44:58,655 - Good! - My goodness, you're in the excavator! 1011 00:44:58,758 --> 00:45:00,379 - I did it! - High-five. 1012 00:45:00,482 --> 00:45:01,965 Great, hon. I'm so proud of you. 1013 00:45:03,620 --> 00:45:06,482 I never thought I would ever see her in an excavator. 1014 00:45:06,586 --> 00:45:09,103 This is a great, uh, pivotal moment, uh, 1015 00:45:09,206 --> 00:45:11,517 you know, for her, but also for me as well too. 1016 00:45:11,620 --> 00:45:13,172 We can work the claim, you know, 1017 00:45:13,275 --> 00:45:16,172 and be working towards our retirement. 1018 00:45:16,275 --> 00:45:18,448 She got in there, she grabbed the bull by the horns. 1019 00:45:18,551 --> 00:45:20,965 You know, I'm hoping that now Terry and Stephanie can work together. 1020 00:45:21,827 --> 00:45:22,758 She did great. 1021 00:45:26,482 --> 00:45:27,827 How's it look, Freddy? 1022 00:45:27,931 --> 00:45:30,206 I see a couple little pieces in there, Juan. 1023 00:45:30,310 --> 00:45:31,931 Let's pull some carpets, huh? 1024 00:45:32,034 --> 00:45:34,137 - No time like the present, huh? - No, let's do work! 1025 00:45:36,310 --> 00:45:40,000 Ah, the test run went, uh, actually really well. 1026 00:45:40,103 --> 00:45:44,620 For the first time, my whole plant ran, uh, efficiently the whole time. 1027 00:45:44,724 --> 00:45:46,241 So, I'm excited for the weigh-in. 1028 00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:54,551 Here we go. 1029 00:45:54,655 --> 00:45:57,620 Well, Freddy, I got everything all dried up for you here. 1030 00:45:57,724 --> 00:45:59,379 This is what we got. 1031 00:45:59,482 --> 00:46:01,517 Well, there's definitely more gold there than there was the first run. 1032 00:46:01,620 --> 00:46:02,689 A lot more fine gold, too. 1033 00:46:03,655 --> 00:46:05,620 It's your gold, dump it in there. 1034 00:46:05,724 --> 00:46:06,655 All right. 1035 00:46:08,206 --> 00:46:09,103 That way if he spills it 1036 00:46:09,206 --> 00:46:10,517 - it's his own fault. - It's on him. 1037 00:46:12,137 --> 00:46:15,827 Terry's first run produced 0.06 of an ounce, 1038 00:46:16,758 --> 00:46:18,689 worth around $100. 1039 00:46:20,931 --> 00:46:22,310 Well... 1040 00:46:22,413 --> 00:46:23,241 - Look at that. - ...20. 1041 00:46:23,344 --> 00:46:24,827 Over three times as much. 1042 00:46:25,896 --> 00:46:27,000 - Awesome, - That's pretty good. 1043 00:46:28,137 --> 00:46:30,172 - Not a bad improvement. - That's awesome. 1044 00:46:30,275 --> 00:46:32,000 That works out to about six and a half grams, 1045 00:46:32,103 --> 00:46:35,068 so about, uh, 300 percent, uh, of an increase. 1046 00:46:35,172 --> 00:46:37,931 So that, to me, is a... is a huge success in itself. 1047 00:46:39,034 --> 00:46:42,448 A 300 percent increase means the Linds 1048 00:46:42,551 --> 00:46:45,689 can easily achieve their half ounce target. 1049 00:46:45,793 --> 00:46:47,103 Over a four month season, 1050 00:46:47,206 --> 00:46:53,413 that could give them $120,000 worth of gold. 1051 00:46:53,517 --> 00:46:56,793 This is a real big gamechanger for us. 1052 00:46:56,896 --> 00:46:59,758 Long-term, it means we actually have a future 1053 00:46:59,862 --> 00:47:02,275 doing some mining in this area. 1054 00:47:02,379 --> 00:47:04,000 - A lot of it was yardage, right? - Yes. 1055 00:47:04,103 --> 00:47:05,551 You couldn't run before. 1056 00:47:05,655 --> 00:47:06,758 You know the cool thing, Stephanie? 1057 00:47:06,862 --> 00:47:08,517 That's material you put in the plant. 1058 00:47:08,620 --> 00:47:10,862 I did. It's exciting. 1059 00:47:10,965 --> 00:47:12,620 Very happy. 1060 00:47:12,724 --> 00:47:13,827 With such a big increase, 1061 00:47:13,931 --> 00:47:15,517 we can actually start putting back 1062 00:47:15,620 --> 00:47:18,758 some of this money that we have invested in it. 1063 00:47:18,862 --> 00:47:20,827 I'm excited I actually can be a part now. 1064 00:47:20,931 --> 00:47:25,482 I know how to help Terry, I learned how to drive the excavator and... 1065 00:47:25,586 --> 00:47:26,586 I'm really excited. 1066 00:47:28,310 --> 00:47:31,551 Ah, it makes me feel happy that I can help you again. 1067 00:47:33,103 --> 00:47:35,275 I don't feel like I'm a disappointment. 1068 00:47:35,379 --> 00:47:36,551 Well, you never have been. 1069 00:47:39,620 --> 00:47:40,482 I can't wait to do more. 1070 00:47:40,586 --> 00:47:42,137 I know, right? 1071 00:47:42,241 --> 00:47:44,448 Well, let's get on the road and go help some more gold miners. 1072 00:47:44,551 --> 00:47:45,551 Let's do it. 1073 00:47:47,172 --> 00:47:48,172 What do you say? 1074 00:47:48,275 --> 00:47:50,068 Do you wanna go and, uh, start digging some dirt 1075 00:47:50,172 --> 00:47:52,034 and then start running it through the plant? 1076 00:47:52,137 --> 00:47:53,758 - Absolutely. - Awesome, come here. 1077 00:47:55,034 --> 00:47:56,172 - Love you. - Love you, too. 1078 00:47:56,275 --> 00:47:58,137 All right, let's go. Let's go get some gold.