1 00:00:06,667 --> 00:00:07,800 [phone rings] 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:09,934 [Juan] Hey, buddy. 3 00:00:09,934 --> 00:00:11,767 - [Freddy] Hey, you got a minute? - [Juan] Yeah. 4 00:00:11,767 --> 00:00:14,133 [Freddy] You wanna meet me down at my truck? 5 00:00:14,133 --> 00:00:15,600 [Juan] Yeah, I'll meet you down there in a second. 6 00:00:22,634 --> 00:00:23,967 Hey, Freddy. 7 00:00:23,967 --> 00:00:25,166 [Freddy clears throat] 8 00:00:25,166 --> 00:00:26,600 - You doing all right? - [Freddy blows raspberry] 9 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:28,767 [Freddy] No, I'm not feeling good. 10 00:00:28,767 --> 00:00:30,867 I just gotta get home and get to the doctor. 11 00:00:30,867 --> 00:00:33,867 [narrator] It's the first day of a new rescue. 12 00:00:33,867 --> 00:00:38,033 And Freddy Dodge faces a serious health crisis. 13 00:00:38,033 --> 00:00:39,667 Well, do you want me to stay here and help these guys? 14 00:00:39,667 --> 00:00:40,800 Yeah, we've got to. 15 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,066 - All right, I'll do that then. - [Freddy] Okay. 16 00:00:43,066 --> 00:00:44,300 Once I'm done here, I'll head down to Colorado. 17 00:00:44,300 --> 00:00:45,567 - Come see you. - [Freddy] Okay. 18 00:00:45,567 --> 00:00:47,100 All right, brother. Love you. 19 00:00:47,100 --> 00:00:47,967 [Freddy] Ditto, Juan. 20 00:00:48,967 --> 00:00:50,133 [Freddy sniffles] 21 00:00:52,967 --> 00:00:55,000 - [Freddy speaking] - [Juan] I know, buddy. 22 00:00:55,266 --> 00:00:56,100 Go home. 23 00:00:56,700 --> 00:00:58,600 I'll take care of this. 24 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:00,900 - All right, buddy. - Juan, I hate letting you down like this. 25 00:01:00,900 --> 00:01:01,867 You're not letting me down. 26 00:01:01,867 --> 00:01:03,066 You're not letting anybody down. 27 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:05,266 See you in a bit. 28 00:01:05,266 --> 00:01:06,634 - I'll see you soon, bud. - [Juan] All right. 29 00:01:09,133 --> 00:01:10,000 [Freddy sighs heavily] 30 00:01:26,333 --> 00:01:30,200 [Juan] No one ever likes to see their friends be hurt or sick and... 31 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,133 [sighs softly] especially knowing how Fred... 32 00:01:32,133 --> 00:01:34,333 Fred's the type of guy that he just goes and goes and goes. 33 00:01:34,333 --> 00:01:36,200 You know, it doesn't matter what's going on and, uh... 34 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:38,066 For him to say that he's gonna go home and... 35 00:01:38,066 --> 00:01:39,300 and take some time off, you know, 36 00:01:40,367 --> 00:01:42,133 he's gotta really not be feeling right, so. 37 00:01:45,066 --> 00:01:46,266 It's a tough spot to be in. 38 00:01:46,266 --> 00:01:47,166 We'll do what we can. 39 00:01:51,533 --> 00:01:55,500 [narrator] On this episode of Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue, 40 00:01:55,500 --> 00:01:56,433 [Mark] We'll go fire it up. 41 00:01:57,433 --> 00:01:58,600 [Juan] [bleep] Hey, Rick. [bleep]. 42 00:01:58,600 --> 00:01:59,467 That's not good. 43 00:02:00,500 --> 00:02:01,634 This is a big treasure hunt. 44 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,066 The bond of military brother to brother, 45 00:02:05,066 --> 00:02:06,867 it's always there. 46 00:02:06,867 --> 00:02:09,400 [Mark] Montana weather is always a challenge throughout the year. 47 00:02:10,634 --> 00:02:11,700 There's so much to do. 48 00:02:11,700 --> 00:02:13,734 I'm trying to do it all on my own. 49 00:02:13,734 --> 00:02:15,033 We need help. 50 00:02:15,033 --> 00:02:16,600 It's just gonna be a long night. 51 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:19,200 [Juan] I got a huge favor to ask. 52 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:20,467 I could really use your help. 53 00:02:22,300 --> 00:02:23,266 [horn honks] 54 00:02:23,266 --> 00:02:25,033 [Juan] Hey, guys, my reinforcements are here. 55 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:41,867 I'm a little stressed, you know? 56 00:02:41,867 --> 00:02:43,400 I worry for Fred. 57 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,467 This is serious. This is not a joke. 58 00:02:47,233 --> 00:02:50,533 This is the first time I've done something like this without Fred by my side. 59 00:02:50,533 --> 00:02:51,934 I'm confident in my abilities. 60 00:02:51,934 --> 00:02:53,300 I know I can get this done. 61 00:02:54,900 --> 00:02:56,000 This one's for Freddy. 62 00:02:57,133 --> 00:02:58,200 [narrator] Juan wheels his way 63 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,433 through Lewis and Clark County, Montana, 64 00:03:01,433 --> 00:03:04,066 en route to the remote Birds Eye Mine. 65 00:03:06,900 --> 00:03:09,033 If the name sounds familiar, 66 00:03:09,033 --> 00:03:10,900 Dave Turin and his crew... 67 00:03:11,266 --> 00:03:12,834 We got water. 68 00:03:12,834 --> 00:03:16,100 [narrator] ...fought tooth and nail here in 2019... 69 00:03:17,367 --> 00:03:21,433 and recovered more than 200 ounces in ten weeks. 70 00:03:21,433 --> 00:03:22,467 [man] Tons of gold! 71 00:03:22,467 --> 00:03:23,467 - [man 2] Yeah! - [man] Man. 72 00:03:23,467 --> 00:03:24,767 - [man] Yeah. - [man 2 laughs] 73 00:03:24,767 --> 00:03:26,033 [man 3] All right, man! 74 00:03:28,367 --> 00:03:32,634 [narrator] Today, two miners struggle to pick up where Dave left off. 75 00:03:34,500 --> 00:03:36,300 You know, I've actually been out here once before 76 00:03:36,300 --> 00:03:38,667 when Dave-- Dave was mining out here. 77 00:03:38,667 --> 00:03:39,834 And, uh, helped him out. 78 00:03:43,100 --> 00:03:44,567 Freddy filled me in a little bit. 79 00:03:45,634 --> 00:03:46,700 Both are vets. 80 00:03:47,266 --> 00:03:48,467 So, uh, we feel like, uh, 81 00:03:48,467 --> 00:03:49,634 you know, we own 'em something. 82 00:03:58,767 --> 00:04:00,133 [Juan] Gentlemen, I'm Juan. 83 00:04:00,133 --> 00:04:01,834 - [Juan] Mark's your name? - Juan, it's an honor to meet you, man. 84 00:04:01,834 --> 00:04:02,867 [Juan] Nice to meet you, Mark. 85 00:04:02,867 --> 00:04:04,634 - Rick. Pleasure. - [Juan] Rick, nice to meet you. 86 00:04:05,934 --> 00:04:07,834 Unfortunately, Freddy had, uh... 87 00:04:07,834 --> 00:04:09,967 some personal things he had to take care of. 88 00:04:09,967 --> 00:04:11,700 So, uh, he-- he's not gonna be able to make it. 89 00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:12,800 But, uh, you got me. 90 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:14,033 [Rick] Half the crew is still just as good. 91 00:04:14,033 --> 00:04:15,300 - Yeah, well, yeah. - [Juan laughs] 92 00:04:15,300 --> 00:04:16,667 - Yeah. - [Juan] We're gonna-- we're gonna give it hell, so. 93 00:04:16,667 --> 00:04:17,600 [Rick] Absolutely. 94 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:19,000 How long have you guys been mining here? 95 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,066 Uh, I've been mining here approximately three years. 96 00:04:21,066 --> 00:04:22,266 - [Juan] Three years, okay. - [Mark] Mmm-hmm. 97 00:04:22,266 --> 00:04:23,400 Is this your full-time job, 98 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:24,800 - or do you guys have full-time jobs, or? - [Rick] No. 99 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,634 [Rick] No, we-- we both have full-time jobs with the Army Reserve. 100 00:04:27,634 --> 00:04:28,500 [Juan] Oh, okay. 101 00:04:30,266 --> 00:04:32,300 [narrator] In 2017, 102 00:04:32,300 --> 00:04:35,467 Iraq veteran staff sergeant Mark McDonough 103 00:04:35,467 --> 00:04:38,200 transferred to an army base in Montana, 104 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,367 working as a military instructor. 105 00:04:41,333 --> 00:04:42,500 [Mark] When I got to Montana, 106 00:04:42,500 --> 00:04:44,900 I found an army in it that I've... 107 00:04:45,300 --> 00:04:46,333 loved ever since. 108 00:04:47,467 --> 00:04:48,867 [Rick] I met Mark through work. 109 00:04:49,634 --> 00:04:50,800 Since we work in the same building, 110 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:52,834 we get to see each other a lot. 111 00:04:54,533 --> 00:04:56,567 [Rick] You're looking really good on the tailings, bud. 112 00:04:57,066 --> 00:04:58,133 Sounds good. 113 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:01,500 I've been prospecting and mining 114 00:05:01,500 --> 00:05:04,000 since approximately 2014. 115 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,767 I started out in Nugget Lake, Wisconsin. 116 00:05:06,767 --> 00:05:08,734 Eventually, uh, 117 00:05:08,734 --> 00:05:11,834 I realized, you know, I like to see bigger gold. 118 00:05:11,834 --> 00:05:12,767 And the best way to see that 119 00:05:12,767 --> 00:05:14,667 is to go where the gold fields are, 120 00:05:14,667 --> 00:05:15,667 in Montana. 121 00:05:17,467 --> 00:05:18,467 In the long run, 122 00:05:18,467 --> 00:05:19,800 Rick would like to work with me more 123 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:21,000 and I'd want him to. 124 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:22,800 It would help not just his family, 125 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,233 but hopefully, we can make this sustainable 126 00:05:25,233 --> 00:05:26,734 where it's profitable for everybody. 127 00:05:28,033 --> 00:05:30,767 [narrator] While serving together in Montana, 128 00:05:30,767 --> 00:05:33,600 Mark and Rick cemented their ultimate goal. 129 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,333 To make a living mining full-time 130 00:05:36,333 --> 00:05:37,967 once they leave the military. 131 00:05:41,734 --> 00:05:43,967 Do you have any of the gold that you've recovered from here? 132 00:05:43,967 --> 00:05:45,734 [Mark] I do, and I'd like you to look at this. 133 00:05:45,734 --> 00:05:48,133 This is, uh, this total season right here. 134 00:05:48,133 --> 00:05:49,367 And it's 16th of an ounce. 135 00:05:49,367 --> 00:05:50,367 - That's your season? - [Mark] That's it. 136 00:05:50,367 --> 00:05:51,233 [Juan] That's it? 137 00:05:52,500 --> 00:05:53,467 Between the work, 138 00:05:53,467 --> 00:05:56,033 the weather can also be a-- a factor out here. 139 00:05:56,033 --> 00:05:58,200 And breakdowns are continuous. 140 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,266 So I think maybe 40 days. 141 00:06:00,266 --> 00:06:01,533 So you kind of have a limited season? 142 00:06:02,066 --> 00:06:03,200 Yeah, absolutely. 143 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,166 [Juan] So what do you got invested into this operation? 144 00:06:05,166 --> 00:06:07,700 - [Mark] Almost $30,000. - [Juan] Wow. Okay. 145 00:06:07,700 --> 00:06:08,867 [Juan] That's a big chunk of money. 146 00:06:08,867 --> 00:06:12,100 What do you need to make it profitable for you guys? 147 00:06:12,100 --> 00:06:13,900 Five ounces a season. 148 00:06:13,900 --> 00:06:14,900 You know, one thing that, uh, 149 00:06:14,900 --> 00:06:16,433 that Freddy and I, we've always told people is, 150 00:06:16,433 --> 00:06:17,767 we come in, 151 00:06:17,767 --> 00:06:19,367 we can assess what you guys got going on, 152 00:06:19,367 --> 00:06:20,634 your plan and everything else, 153 00:06:20,634 --> 00:06:22,266 but we can't put gold in the ground, right? 154 00:06:22,266 --> 00:06:24,433 Absolutely. 155 00:06:24,433 --> 00:06:27,600 [narrator] Mark currently mines just two days a weeks. 156 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:29,533 But he hopes to go full-time. 157 00:06:30,433 --> 00:06:31,900 Each mining day, 158 00:06:31,900 --> 00:06:35,467 he must recover at least .12 ounces of gold 159 00:06:35,467 --> 00:06:38,767 to hit his five ounce season target. 160 00:06:38,767 --> 00:06:42,200 That would give him the potential to upscale production, 161 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,500 and make at least $36,000 a year. 162 00:06:45,500 --> 00:06:48,233 A healthy addition to his retirement fund. 163 00:06:51,133 --> 00:06:52,533 [Juan] You guys haven't seen that at all yet. 164 00:06:52,533 --> 00:06:53,734 [Mark] I definitely need help. 165 00:06:53,734 --> 00:06:56,133 I've actually stayed out here overnight just to 166 00:06:56,133 --> 00:06:58,634 conserve travel cost to and from the mine. 167 00:06:58,634 --> 00:07:01,367 I spent all my money. gold mining for nothing. 168 00:07:02,567 --> 00:07:03,467 So it's serious? 169 00:07:03,467 --> 00:07:05,133 - It's very serious. - [Juan] Wow, this is-- 170 00:07:05,133 --> 00:07:06,467 [Mark] The stakes are high. 171 00:07:06,467 --> 00:07:10,100 At this time, the mine is definitely unsustainable. 172 00:07:10,100 --> 00:07:11,533 I could use all the help I could get. 173 00:07:13,033 --> 00:07:14,433 [Juan] Well, do you want to show me your plant, Mark? 174 00:07:14,433 --> 00:07:15,867 Let's fire it up and see what she does, huh? 175 00:07:15,867 --> 00:07:16,867 - All right, let's do this. - Let's do it. 176 00:07:16,867 --> 00:07:17,800 [Juan] All right. 177 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:19,266 [motor whirring] 178 00:07:19,967 --> 00:07:21,567 [Mark] There we go, there we go. 179 00:07:21,934 --> 00:07:23,400 You have it. 180 00:07:23,967 --> 00:07:24,834 We got it. 181 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:32,834 [narrator] The Birds Eye Mine sits on an 18,000 acre claim on Silver Creek. 182 00:07:32,834 --> 00:07:36,066 Six miles from the historic Drum Lummon mine. 183 00:07:36,900 --> 00:07:39,600 Discovered in 1876, 184 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,133 Drum Lummon was mined until the 1950s, 185 00:07:43,133 --> 00:07:45,867 producing a million ounces of gold. 186 00:07:45,867 --> 00:07:51,066 Today, worth around $1.8 billion. 187 00:07:51,066 --> 00:07:53,934 [Mark] The gold here at Birds Eye Mine is very sporadic. 188 00:07:53,934 --> 00:07:55,734 It's hard to read the ground. 189 00:07:55,734 --> 00:07:58,500 Where you think there's gold, the gold's gone. 190 00:07:58,500 --> 00:08:00,567 And sometimes, where there's no gold, 191 00:08:00,567 --> 00:08:01,867 you're getting gold. 192 00:08:01,867 --> 00:08:03,667 We're gonna run the first test run here. 193 00:08:03,667 --> 00:08:04,867 We're gonna throw the first bucket in, 194 00:08:04,867 --> 00:08:06,734 and once he does, I'm gonna start the timer. 195 00:08:06,734 --> 00:08:08,200 [Mark] First bucket, Rick! 196 00:08:10,567 --> 00:08:12,934 [narrator] Mark's small wash plant was Macgyvered 197 00:08:12,934 --> 00:08:17,266 by a fourth-generation gold miner back in the 1980s. 198 00:08:17,266 --> 00:08:20,033 Now, Juan's four-hour test 199 00:08:20,033 --> 00:08:21,934 will determine its efficiency. 200 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:24,500 The name of the plant is Spruce Goose. 201 00:08:25,166 --> 00:08:26,166 Hopefully one day it'll fly, 202 00:08:26,166 --> 00:08:28,033 but right now, it's just weighing me down. 203 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,133 [narrator] The only machinery Mark has on site 204 00:08:36,133 --> 00:08:39,400 is a 61 horsepower skid-steer 205 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,967 which he uses to load dirt into the hopper. 206 00:08:42,967 --> 00:08:45,834 It's like a video game where you gotta shuffle the bucket. 207 00:08:45,834 --> 00:08:47,367 Back and forth, up and down. 208 00:08:47,367 --> 00:08:49,200 If too much goes in at one time, 209 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:50,934 it'll unbalance the whole system. 210 00:08:52,300 --> 00:08:53,867 [Juan] To move a mountain of dirt like that 211 00:08:53,867 --> 00:08:55,133 - with a little, tiny skid-steer, - Oh. 212 00:08:55,133 --> 00:08:57,433 [Juan] that's quite the task. 213 00:08:57,433 --> 00:09:01,166 [narrator] The material is then washed by two-inch spray bars 214 00:09:01,166 --> 00:09:04,400 before it heads through the 20-yard long trommel 215 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,033 and into the 12 foot sluice box, 216 00:09:07,033 --> 00:09:10,033 where the gold should settle in the riffles. 217 00:09:12,133 --> 00:09:15,100 Hey, Mark, everything's looking pretty good. 218 00:09:15,100 --> 00:09:16,333 I'm liking the feed rate. 219 00:09:16,333 --> 00:09:18,900 That looks good. We'll let this plant eat. 220 00:09:18,900 --> 00:09:22,433 [narrator] While Mark loads just a quarter bucket at a time, 221 00:09:22,433 --> 00:09:25,767 Rick's job is to check it can eat what it's fed. 222 00:09:26,734 --> 00:09:28,634 Slowing down a little bit. 223 00:09:28,634 --> 00:09:31,967 [narrator] But the low power trommel is easily overloaded. 224 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,700 Uh, my electric motor is kind of worn out. 225 00:09:35,700 --> 00:09:38,767 I can't get the amount of pay I want through the plant 226 00:09:38,767 --> 00:09:39,900 to get the yardage. 227 00:09:42,233 --> 00:09:43,400 [Juan] They got a lot of problems. 228 00:09:44,266 --> 00:09:45,767 One of the biggest issues he has 229 00:09:45,767 --> 00:09:47,934 is that trommel drum, it's not perfectly round. 230 00:09:47,934 --> 00:09:51,033 So what it's doing, it's actually separating away from the cog. 231 00:09:51,033 --> 00:09:51,934 And when it does, 232 00:09:51,934 --> 00:09:53,467 that's causing that trommel to slip. 233 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:55,767 We'll have to keep an eye on it. 234 00:09:58,467 --> 00:10:00,867 [Rick] You know, all the amount of hours that he sacrificed on this, 235 00:10:00,867 --> 00:10:02,667 - just unbelievable. - [Juan] Yeah. 236 00:10:02,667 --> 00:10:05,233 You know, a lesser man would come out here after about two days, 237 00:10:05,233 --> 00:10:06,867 - be done with it. - [Rick] Yep. Be done. 238 00:10:06,867 --> 00:10:09,266 [Rick] I'm glad I can come out here and help him with it, too. 239 00:10:09,266 --> 00:10:10,700 [Juan] Well, you're a good friend. 240 00:10:10,700 --> 00:10:11,934 [Rick] Well, that's what it's all about, you know? 241 00:10:11,934 --> 00:10:13,266 We're brothers in arms. 242 00:10:13,266 --> 00:10:15,200 We fight in wars together and... 243 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:16,634 come out here and we always do things together. 244 00:10:16,634 --> 00:10:18,133 - [Juan] That's awesome. - [Rick] That's what it's all about. 245 00:10:18,133 --> 00:10:19,333 [Juan] That's what it's about. 246 00:10:21,300 --> 00:10:24,433 [Rick] I got injured in Iraq in 2003 and... 247 00:10:24,433 --> 00:10:26,433 over the years, it's gotten worse. 248 00:10:26,433 --> 00:10:29,433 It makes everyday work a struggle, for sure. 249 00:10:30,567 --> 00:10:32,800 But what am I gonna do when I retire? 250 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:35,066 I can't just sit around. I'm not that guy. 251 00:10:36,667 --> 00:10:37,700 [Mark] Stakes are high. 252 00:10:37,700 --> 00:10:40,700 It's very important that I am able to keep mining 253 00:10:40,700 --> 00:10:41,900 and if I can't do that, 254 00:10:41,900 --> 00:10:44,367 my dream to sustain a retirement, 255 00:10:44,367 --> 00:10:45,533 it's just dying. 256 00:10:46,700 --> 00:10:47,634 [Rick] There's a lot on the line. 257 00:10:47,634 --> 00:10:49,033 Mark spent a lot of money. 258 00:10:49,033 --> 00:10:51,100 If this doesn't work, what do we do? 259 00:10:51,100 --> 00:10:54,000 We're still gonna have bills at the end of the day. 260 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,467 [man 4] I'm 100% here to help Rick. 261 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,667 [Mark] Rick has his wife, Ashley, and has his four daughters. 262 00:11:01,667 --> 00:11:03,934 [Rick] Mark doesn't have a lot of family. 263 00:11:03,934 --> 00:11:06,100 And we try to be his family for him. 264 00:11:06,100 --> 00:11:09,066 We celebrate thanksgiving together every year. 265 00:11:09,066 --> 00:11:10,600 And it's, you know, 266 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:13,533 there's a bond there that can't be broken. 267 00:11:19,567 --> 00:11:22,200 Just a little bit more than I wanted to go into it. 268 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:26,500 [Juan] Hey, Rick. That's not good. 269 00:11:28,367 --> 00:11:30,900 Got the sprocket, just sitting there, running. 270 00:11:30,900 --> 00:11:32,233 Not turning the trommel. 271 00:11:33,634 --> 00:11:34,600 [Rick] She's doing all right, bud. 272 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:36,734 You just dumped her a little heavy is all. 273 00:11:36,734 --> 00:11:39,066 [Juan] It happens every time you over fill the trommel. 274 00:11:39,066 --> 00:11:41,066 It starts slipping on that sprocket, 275 00:11:41,066 --> 00:11:42,000 and it does nothing. 276 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,100 So, uh, we'll try to correct that issue. 277 00:11:48,100 --> 00:11:51,333 [narrator] The trommel isn't Mark and Rick's only issue. 278 00:11:54,066 --> 00:11:55,967 [Juan] Every one of these dribbles all the way up the box, 279 00:11:55,967 --> 00:11:57,700 it's completely packed solid. 280 00:11:57,700 --> 00:11:59,133 So there's really no where for that gold 281 00:11:59,133 --> 00:12:01,233 to be able to go in and get stored. 282 00:12:02,834 --> 00:12:04,834 So I got a pan full of material coming off the sluice box. 283 00:12:04,834 --> 00:12:07,266 I'm gonna see what lives in there. 284 00:12:07,266 --> 00:12:09,934 [narrator] Gold coming out of the end of the sluice 285 00:12:09,934 --> 00:12:13,266 means Mark and Rick are in trouble, 286 00:12:13,266 --> 00:12:15,934 If you're gonna work that hard to get the materials to the plant and run it, 287 00:12:15,934 --> 00:12:17,433 you wanna catch as much as you can. 288 00:12:17,433 --> 00:12:19,867 And right now, we got about three pieces in that one pan. 289 00:12:19,867 --> 00:12:21,600 So, uh, that's not good. 290 00:12:32,967 --> 00:12:34,000 [Juan] Hey, Rick. 291 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:35,500 - You wanna call last bucket? - [Rick] Yeah, Juan? 292 00:12:35,500 --> 00:12:37,834 - Last bucket, last bucket. - Okay. 293 00:12:37,834 --> 00:12:38,867 [Juan] We'll shut it down, 294 00:12:38,867 --> 00:12:40,533 take a look at the sluice box, and go from there. 295 00:12:45,066 --> 00:12:46,467 [Mark] Well, hopefully we got something. [sighs] 296 00:12:46,467 --> 00:12:47,600 [Rick] Yeah, let's check her out. 297 00:12:50,867 --> 00:12:52,533 Well, let's clean it up and we'll go from there. 298 00:12:52,533 --> 00:12:53,767 - [Rick] All right, it's a good plan. - Awesome. 299 00:13:08,867 --> 00:13:11,200 Beautiful view up here, guys, holy cow. 300 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:12,900 - [Mark laughs softly] Yeah. - It's, uh... 301 00:13:13,433 --> 00:13:15,066 It's top of the world. 302 00:13:15,066 --> 00:13:15,934 Well, you wanna pour? 303 00:13:15,934 --> 00:13:17,233 - It's your gold. - [Mark] Sure. 304 00:13:17,233 --> 00:13:18,100 [Juan] Pour right here. 305 00:13:19,133 --> 00:13:20,600 [narrator] After the benchmark test 306 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,200 on Mark McDonough's Montana plain, 307 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:28,734 he and Partner Rick need this gold to weigh to deliver .06 ounces. 308 00:13:32,433 --> 00:13:34,100 Well, that's .037. 309 00:13:34,100 --> 00:13:36,200 You know, that's about 60 bucks worth of gold. 310 00:13:36,500 --> 00:13:38,667 Yep. 311 00:13:38,667 --> 00:13:42,200 [narrator] This first test delivers only half the target amount. 312 00:13:43,133 --> 00:13:44,467 [Rick] We need help. [chuckles softly] 313 00:13:44,467 --> 00:13:47,300 [sighs] Barely covers, uh, the fuel let alone the cost 314 00:13:47,300 --> 00:13:48,834 - of running. - [Rick] Yeah. 315 00:13:50,767 --> 00:13:51,667 [Juan] Let me sit down for a minute. 316 00:13:51,667 --> 00:13:53,033 Let me come up with a game plan. 317 00:13:53,033 --> 00:13:54,934 - And, uh, we'll meet back up at the plant. - [Mark sniffles] 318 00:13:54,934 --> 00:13:55,834 - Awesome. - [Mark] Okay. 319 00:13:55,834 --> 00:13:57,200 - [Rick] Thanks, man. - [Mark] All right. 320 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:58,300 - See you in a bit. - [Rick] Thanks again, Juan. 321 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,533 It's very important that, you know, 322 00:14:02,533 --> 00:14:04,600 we drive the gold up for our accounts. 323 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,300 And that way, we can actually make this a sustainable operation. 324 00:14:08,100 --> 00:14:09,266 I have full faith in Juan. 325 00:14:09,266 --> 00:14:11,867 I believe in the end, we'll have more gold. 326 00:14:11,867 --> 00:14:13,600 [Rick] It's frustrating to see that. 327 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,967 Mark spent a lot of money to get to this and... 328 00:14:15,967 --> 00:14:17,433 it's really hard for a guy to make a go out at it. 329 00:14:17,433 --> 00:14:19,266 You can't cover fuel. 330 00:14:19,266 --> 00:14:21,467 And-- and I'm really hoping that we can increase it. 331 00:14:23,834 --> 00:14:25,900 [Juan] I did notice a lot of the things that needed to be repaired. 332 00:14:25,900 --> 00:14:27,066 One of the biggest problems that he has 333 00:14:27,066 --> 00:14:28,033 is the drive system. 334 00:14:28,033 --> 00:14:29,100 That actually slows it down to the point 335 00:14:29,100 --> 00:14:31,400 where it actually starts skipping the chain. 336 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,634 And the rollers that he has for the trommel, 337 00:14:33,634 --> 00:14:35,500 they're positioned wrong. 338 00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:37,166 The sluice box is completely wrong. 339 00:14:37,166 --> 00:14:39,200 And-- and on top of that, to add to my list, 340 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,367 really, I would like to take a look at the ground. 341 00:14:41,367 --> 00:14:43,700 Usually Freddy and I, we divide and conquer. 342 00:14:43,700 --> 00:14:44,767 You know, he'll focus on one thing, 343 00:14:44,767 --> 00:14:46,467 and I'll focus on the other. 344 00:14:46,467 --> 00:14:47,567 I'm a little overwhelmed right now 345 00:14:47,567 --> 00:14:48,867 just because Freddy is not here to help them. 346 00:14:48,867 --> 00:14:51,734 You know, usually we have, you know, two guys on the ground. 347 00:14:51,734 --> 00:14:54,300 But now I got double the work and just one guy, so. 348 00:14:59,567 --> 00:15:00,600 [Juan] Hey, guys. 349 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:01,967 - [Mark] Hey, Juan. - [Rick] How you doing, Juan? 350 00:15:01,967 --> 00:15:03,433 - Absolutely. - [Juan] Kind of wanted to go over just a few things. 351 00:15:03,433 --> 00:15:05,567 - [Mark and Rick] Sure. - Um, 352 00:15:05,567 --> 00:15:07,533 [Juan] there's a lot of things I really wanted to do with the plant. 353 00:15:08,867 --> 00:15:10,800 With ground that's marginal, 354 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,900 the key is, get as much ground through it as you can. 355 00:15:13,900 --> 00:15:14,800 - Right. - [Juan] And we can't do that 356 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,000 when we're constantly worried about 357 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:18,100 - the-- the plant. - [Rick] Yeah. 358 00:15:18,100 --> 00:15:19,800 So if we can set it up where you can just feed 359 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:21,834 as much as you want through it, 360 00:15:21,834 --> 00:15:23,200 then-- then we don't have to worry about that. 361 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,266 - [Rick] That's huge. - That-- yeah, that's beyond huge. 362 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:29,667 [Juan] That sluice box, your riffle system, 363 00:15:29,667 --> 00:15:31,800 you know, they're set up for-- for really coarse gold. 364 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:32,934 So what-- what I wanna do is 365 00:15:32,934 --> 00:15:34,834 build a new box, put new riffles in it. 366 00:15:34,834 --> 00:15:36,667 Tailor it for-- for fine gold and coarse gold. 367 00:15:38,300 --> 00:15:39,266 So that's the first fix. 368 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,266 That gear box, your assembly there. 369 00:15:42,266 --> 00:15:44,000 It's just completely worn out. 370 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,166 That motor, that's probably from the '60s. 371 00:15:46,166 --> 00:15:47,767 We're gonna build a new drive system. 372 00:15:47,767 --> 00:15:49,000 - Okay. - You'll be able come over here 373 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:50,233 and just start it right up. 374 00:15:50,233 --> 00:15:52,066 Sounds good. I'm excited to see how this is gonna turn out. 375 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:57,900 Realistically, 376 00:15:57,900 --> 00:16:00,266 what we just talked about in material alone, we're gonna be... 377 00:16:02,100 --> 00:16:03,567 probably close to $4,000. 378 00:16:06,100 --> 00:16:07,066 But... 379 00:16:07,066 --> 00:16:09,500 Freddy feels terrible that he's not here. 380 00:16:09,500 --> 00:16:11,600 So Freddy and I wanna pick up the entire tab on this. 381 00:16:15,066 --> 00:16:16,166 We're not gonna charge you guys a dime. 382 00:16:17,333 --> 00:16:18,700 That is awesome. 383 00:16:18,700 --> 00:16:20,333 - Yeah, thank you so much. - [Juan] You know we wanna... We wanna do it. 384 00:16:20,333 --> 00:16:22,100 That is beyond awesome. I appreciate it. 385 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:28,900 [Juan] Between the three of us, it's a lot of work. 386 00:16:28,900 --> 00:16:31,266 Really, we have no time to waste, we should probably get going on it. 387 00:16:31,266 --> 00:16:34,000 If you guys wanna start getting some of this stuff ripped apart. 388 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,333 And I'm gonna start making some calls, getting some parts. 389 00:16:36,333 --> 00:16:37,567 - I like it. - [Juan] All right guys. 390 00:16:37,567 --> 00:16:38,433 [Mark] Let's get it started. 391 00:16:40,233 --> 00:16:41,767 [Rick] Juan's gonna have a lot of good positive things 392 00:16:41,767 --> 00:16:44,634 that he can change and help us out with. 393 00:16:44,634 --> 00:16:47,400 I'm happy Juan's here. It's always great to have, uh, 394 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:48,834 a professional's eyes on the ground. 395 00:16:50,867 --> 00:16:55,533 [Paul] Juan plans to increase runtime and volume through the plant. 396 00:16:55,533 --> 00:16:58,467 The 60-year-old motor is underpowered. 397 00:16:58,467 --> 00:17:02,800 And the worn out drive system is causing the chain to skip. 398 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,166 Juan will replace the old electric motor 399 00:17:05,166 --> 00:17:08,567 with a new 420cc gasoline engine. 400 00:17:08,567 --> 00:17:10,767 And he'll upgrade the drive system 401 00:17:10,767 --> 00:17:13,100 so it can turn the trommel without skipping. 402 00:17:13,700 --> 00:17:15,900 Mark's sluice is too small 403 00:17:15,900 --> 00:17:18,600 and only set up for coarse gold. 404 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,367 Juan will build a bigger sluice box with adjustable legs, 405 00:17:22,367 --> 00:17:24,066 to get the perfect pitch, 406 00:17:24,066 --> 00:17:26,634 adding riffles specifically designed 407 00:17:26,634 --> 00:17:29,700 to catch the fine gold Mark was losing. 408 00:17:33,667 --> 00:17:35,533 [phone trilling] 409 00:17:35,533 --> 00:17:36,400 [Fred speaking] 410 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:37,266 Hey, Freddy. 411 00:17:38,266 --> 00:17:39,166 How you doing, buddy? 412 00:17:39,166 --> 00:17:41,233 [Fred speaking] 413 00:17:44,834 --> 00:17:46,634 Nah, shoot. Don't worry about that. 414 00:17:46,634 --> 00:17:49,467 We did out gold weigh today. Uh, it wasn't great, Fred. 415 00:17:49,467 --> 00:17:50,900 The ground's pretty marginal. 416 00:17:50,900 --> 00:17:53,033 At least the stuff he's running right now, it is. 417 00:17:53,033 --> 00:17:55,367 Between the plant issues and... 418 00:17:55,367 --> 00:17:57,233 And everything else going on, I'm kinda limited 419 00:17:57,233 --> 00:17:59,800 on what I can do as far as the time goes, so... 420 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,333 They're not doing too well financially 421 00:18:01,333 --> 00:18:02,700 and I don't know there is a... 422 00:18:02,700 --> 00:18:04,834 There's really a lot to spare to be honest with you. 423 00:18:04,834 --> 00:18:06,467 I'm just gonna waive the fee. 424 00:18:06,467 --> 00:18:08,533 [Fred speaking] 425 00:18:10,634 --> 00:18:11,934 I agree. 426 00:18:11,934 --> 00:18:13,900 I'll make a few phone calls, Fred. I'll keep you posted on what... 427 00:18:13,900 --> 00:18:15,400 What we decide and we'll go from there. 428 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:18,634 All right, buddy. Talk to you in a bit. 429 00:18:18,634 --> 00:18:19,767 - Feel better. Bye. - [Fred] Bye. 430 00:18:25,066 --> 00:18:26,567 [Paul] Back at the wash plant, 431 00:18:26,567 --> 00:18:29,767 Mark and Rick are getting started on the first fix, 432 00:18:29,767 --> 00:18:32,000 replacing the old drive system. 433 00:18:34,300 --> 00:18:36,367 Let's start with the motor. We'll get the motor out. 434 00:18:36,367 --> 00:18:37,233 All right. Sounds good. 435 00:18:39,500 --> 00:18:40,333 Look at that. 436 00:18:41,166 --> 00:18:42,700 Chain off. Ta-da. 437 00:18:44,967 --> 00:18:46,767 - How's your back, Rick? - Uh, getting a little sore. 438 00:18:46,767 --> 00:18:48,667 But that's all right, bud. Gotta keep moving. 439 00:18:48,667 --> 00:18:50,500 - Need a hand? - No, I'll be all right. 440 00:18:52,300 --> 00:18:53,433 [Mark] As veterans, 441 00:18:53,433 --> 00:18:55,367 it's very difficult to adjust back 442 00:18:55,367 --> 00:18:58,066 and sometimes all it takes is a helping hand of a fellow veteran 443 00:18:58,066 --> 00:19:00,133 who's been through the same exact stuff. 444 00:19:01,233 --> 00:19:03,967 [Paul] For Mark, a profitable mine, 445 00:19:03,967 --> 00:19:05,266 would be life changing. 446 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:07,667 [Rick] Having coping mechanisms 447 00:19:07,667 --> 00:19:10,033 and... And different hobbies and such, 448 00:19:10,033 --> 00:19:11,734 take your mind off of things. 449 00:19:13,567 --> 00:19:14,667 We're taught how to be soldiers 450 00:19:14,667 --> 00:19:16,300 we're not taught how to be human. 451 00:19:25,333 --> 00:19:26,233 Right now this is the beginning 452 00:19:26,233 --> 00:19:28,033 of the new sluice box for Mark. 453 00:19:28,033 --> 00:19:29,800 What we're gonna do is, we're gonna actually make it 24 inches 454 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,133 of actual sluicing area, so we're gonna widen it out a little bit 455 00:19:32,133 --> 00:19:33,834 to be able to accommodate more material. 456 00:19:35,333 --> 00:19:37,200 - How's it going, Juan? - Hey, Mark. How you doing, buddy? 457 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:38,800 Oh, we're getting there. 458 00:19:39,567 --> 00:19:41,533 Have you done much fabricating, Mark? 459 00:19:41,533 --> 00:19:44,300 I've used a stick welder a few times. 460 00:19:44,300 --> 00:19:46,333 Trying to keep the old plant together. 461 00:19:46,333 --> 00:19:47,333 [Juan] Oh, yeah. 462 00:19:47,333 --> 00:19:48,400 You wanna give it a shot? 463 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:49,900 - You wanna weld a little bit? - [Mark] Sure. Okay. 464 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:53,600 Easiest thing, Mark, scratch it. 465 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:55,233 Scratch it like you're starting a match. 466 00:19:55,233 --> 00:19:56,100 [Mark] Okay. 467 00:20:00,100 --> 00:20:00,967 [Juan] There you go. 468 00:20:02,433 --> 00:20:04,500 Move a little faster, a little faster. 469 00:20:04,500 --> 00:20:06,967 A little, a little... Okay, that's good, that's good, that's good. 470 00:20:06,967 --> 00:20:08,266 [chuckles] 471 00:20:08,266 --> 00:20:10,367 You know, if you're gonna have a mine, 472 00:20:10,367 --> 00:20:11,533 you're gonna have to be able to weld well. 473 00:20:11,533 --> 00:20:13,033 - Fabricate. Yeah. - That's... 474 00:20:13,033 --> 00:20:14,200 - That's key... - Like I said, 475 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:15,834 my welds aren't the prettiest. 476 00:20:15,834 --> 00:20:18,200 Aye, you know, they never are in the beginning. 477 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,400 Without a welder, without a fabricator, without a mechanic, 478 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:21,400 you don't have a mine-site. 479 00:20:22,900 --> 00:20:24,233 Keep her hot. That's good. 480 00:20:25,333 --> 00:20:27,600 So, how long have you been in the military, Mark? 481 00:20:28,066 --> 00:20:29,800 Just shy of 23 years. 482 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,000 - Twenty three years. Wow! - Yup. 483 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,300 You've been a lot of places, seen a lot of things. 484 00:20:34,300 --> 00:20:36,166 Oh, yeah. Uh, Kuwait, Iraq... 485 00:20:36,166 --> 00:20:38,467 - Wow. - Had one of the longest deployments over there. 486 00:20:38,467 --> 00:20:41,200 So, we were at about, uh, 22 months 487 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:42,834 is the record on that. 488 00:20:42,834 --> 00:20:44,400 That's unreal. That's a long time. 489 00:20:45,100 --> 00:20:46,166 Man, it shaped your world. 490 00:20:46,166 --> 00:20:48,734 I bet it changed your outlook on a lot of things 491 00:20:49,934 --> 00:20:51,500 [Mark] One of the biggest challenges, 492 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:53,400 is you need to fill the voids in your life. 493 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:56,433 Otherwise, you can kinda get just swallowed up. 494 00:20:56,433 --> 00:20:57,834 You know mining for you is kind of a way to... 495 00:20:59,100 --> 00:21:00,367 probably de-stress, huh? 496 00:21:00,367 --> 00:21:02,767 Oh, yeah. For some people they like to garden. 497 00:21:02,767 --> 00:21:03,934 For me I like to turn rock. 498 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:05,266 Yeah. 499 00:21:11,667 --> 00:21:15,000 I'm a little concerned about the time that I have here. 500 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,367 The amount of work that the plant needs and then 501 00:21:17,367 --> 00:21:21,266 on top of that we need to get up there and prospect a little bit of the ground. 502 00:21:21,266 --> 00:21:23,900 Freddy can spot where the gold's great. 503 00:21:23,900 --> 00:21:26,433 I'm not good at it. So I'm gonna see if there's a couple of people 504 00:21:26,433 --> 00:21:28,634 that we can call in to give me a hand because, 505 00:21:28,634 --> 00:21:30,233 Freddy not being here, 506 00:21:30,233 --> 00:21:33,200 it's, it's gonna take some, uh, some help to be able to get this done. 507 00:21:37,433 --> 00:21:38,433 Hey, what's going on? 508 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:41,433 Well, I got a huge favor to ask. 509 00:21:41,433 --> 00:21:42,934 Are you available for a couple of days? 510 00:21:44,667 --> 00:21:45,667 You are. 511 00:21:45,667 --> 00:21:46,567 But only a couple of days. 512 00:21:47,734 --> 00:21:50,900 Well, I could really use your help here in Helena, Montana. 513 00:21:50,900 --> 00:21:52,100 Yeah, just grab what you need. 514 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:54,834 Yeah, bring him too. Perfect. 515 00:21:54,834 --> 00:21:55,834 Appreciate it. 516 00:21:55,834 --> 00:21:56,900 We'll see you in a bit. Thanks. 517 00:22:12,533 --> 00:22:14,100 [Mark] This is perfect weather for welding. 518 00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:15,967 I'd rather it be snowing than raining. 519 00:22:15,967 --> 00:22:16,834 [Mark] True. [chuckles] 520 00:22:21,700 --> 00:22:24,200 Montana weather's always a challenge throughout the year. 521 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,233 We have everything from 522 00:22:26,233 --> 00:22:27,967 snow sometimes in July 523 00:22:27,967 --> 00:22:31,533 to, uh, warm weather in January. 524 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,300 [Paul] With Freddy out of action, 525 00:22:34,300 --> 00:22:38,100 Juan has just three days left to upgrade the wash plant 526 00:22:38,100 --> 00:22:39,567 and find better ground. 527 00:22:40,333 --> 00:22:41,400 But... 528 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:42,600 He has a plan. 529 00:22:43,300 --> 00:22:44,934 - [engine whirring] - [honks] 530 00:22:44,934 --> 00:22:46,667 Hey, guys. My reinforcements are here. 531 00:22:47,367 --> 00:22:48,500 Whee. Nice. 532 00:22:53,734 --> 00:22:54,600 Turino! 533 00:22:55,767 --> 00:22:56,634 What's going on, Dave. 534 00:22:57,133 --> 00:22:58,233 Good to see you brother. 535 00:22:58,233 --> 00:23:00,233 I didn't expect snow and mud. 536 00:23:00,233 --> 00:23:02,066 I told you, good time. 537 00:23:02,066 --> 00:23:05,333 [Paul] Master miner and prospector, Dave Turin, 538 00:23:05,333 --> 00:23:07,967 along with Juan's brother-in-law, Travis, 539 00:23:07,967 --> 00:23:09,734 an expert mechanic 540 00:23:09,734 --> 00:23:13,266 and longtime friend, Alex, a skilled welder, 541 00:23:13,266 --> 00:23:16,233 give Juan some much needed reinforcement. 542 00:23:16,233 --> 00:23:19,133 - Dave, Richard. - Richard? Nice to meet you. 543 00:23:20,033 --> 00:23:21,300 [Paul] Four years ago, 544 00:23:21,300 --> 00:23:24,033 Dave prospected and mined at Birdseye. 545 00:23:24,533 --> 00:23:26,133 Gimme some gold. 546 00:23:26,133 --> 00:23:29,967 [Paul] He pulled nearly 226 ounces of gold 547 00:23:29,967 --> 00:23:33,800 worth over $400,000, out of the ground 548 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:37,767 from a cut just 100 yards from where Mark now mines. 549 00:23:39,266 --> 00:23:40,133 [together] All in! 550 00:23:41,667 --> 00:23:43,967 [Dave] We were a full season here. 551 00:23:43,967 --> 00:23:46,467 Learned a lot about the ground. It's really hit and miss. 552 00:23:46,467 --> 00:23:48,266 I don't know every spot you hit or... 553 00:23:48,266 --> 00:23:50,000 - Yeah. - ...tested or dug, so... 554 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,567 That's a wealth of knowledge I need. 555 00:23:51,567 --> 00:23:53,000 [Dave] Anything I can do to help out. 556 00:23:53,634 --> 00:23:54,934 Freddy's got big shoes to fill. 557 00:23:54,934 --> 00:23:57,066 - They're tiny feet but they're big shoes to fill. - [Dave] Yeah. 558 00:23:57,066 --> 00:23:58,200 [all laugh] 559 00:23:58,200 --> 00:23:59,400 You know, I know he feels a lot better 560 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:00,700 that you're here to help me out. 561 00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:03,033 So, I can appreciate you making the trip out here, Dave. 562 00:24:03,033 --> 00:24:04,333 - [Dave] You're welcome. - I really do. And you guys too, 563 00:24:04,333 --> 00:24:05,467 Travis and Alex. You know. 564 00:24:05,467 --> 00:24:06,634 [Alex] Any time. 565 00:24:06,634 --> 00:24:08,166 We got the plant ripped apart. 566 00:24:08,166 --> 00:24:11,433 I got boxes I gotta build, I got a drive system I gotta build as well. 567 00:24:11,433 --> 00:24:14,133 And then also on top of that we got the ground issue. 568 00:24:14,133 --> 00:24:16,667 I know what we're gonna do to the plant is gonna help him tremendously 569 00:24:16,667 --> 00:24:18,700 but we need to find gold in the ground. 570 00:24:18,700 --> 00:24:20,066 [Dave] It's why I'm here. 571 00:24:20,066 --> 00:24:22,767 So what I'd really like to do is kinda divide and conquer. 572 00:24:22,767 --> 00:24:24,967 You and Mark can go out and start prospecting 573 00:24:24,967 --> 00:24:26,700 and find some better ground for him. 574 00:24:26,700 --> 00:24:29,834 That's, uh, that's what I wanna do and then the rest of us, uh... 575 00:24:29,834 --> 00:24:32,133 Rick, Alex, Travis and myself, 576 00:24:32,133 --> 00:24:33,467 we'll get the plant up and running. 577 00:24:33,467 --> 00:24:34,667 - Okay. - We only got a few days. 578 00:24:34,667 --> 00:24:36,300 We gotta buckle down and get a lot of this done. 579 00:24:36,300 --> 00:24:37,667 - [Mark] Sounds good. - [Dave] Sounds like a plan. 580 00:24:39,700 --> 00:24:41,967 [Dave] Juan and Freddy have helped me many times. 581 00:24:41,967 --> 00:24:45,100 And so, the least I can do is come out here, help him. 582 00:24:45,100 --> 00:24:46,467 But I've only got two days 583 00:24:46,467 --> 00:24:48,300 to help Mark find gold. 584 00:24:48,300 --> 00:24:50,200 And find some good ground. 585 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,700 [Juan] I'm really happy Dave, Travis and Alex made it. 586 00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:55,467 You know, uh, if anyone knows this property, it's gonna be Dave. 587 00:24:55,467 --> 00:24:58,834 Right now, we don't really have a lot of time. We had to divide and conquer. 588 00:24:58,834 --> 00:25:01,100 Dave can help me out on the prospecting side 589 00:25:01,100 --> 00:25:02,467 and I can concentrate on the plant. 590 00:25:09,266 --> 00:25:10,400 [Dave] Let's see what you've been doing. 591 00:25:17,867 --> 00:25:20,634 Was this your cut here? Where you been... 592 00:25:20,634 --> 00:25:23,400 [Mark] Yeah, right in here. We got a sand layer on top if it. 593 00:25:30,667 --> 00:25:33,033 [Dave] This is kind of an interesting 594 00:25:33,033 --> 00:25:35,066 geology, because this, it looks to me, like... 595 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,500 Probably some type of, uh, glacier. 596 00:25:40,333 --> 00:25:43,400 Because you got some, like, clay. 597 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:45,367 You've got some washed rocks. 598 00:25:45,367 --> 00:25:47,700 [Mark] Yeah the gravels are mixed all throughout it. 599 00:25:47,700 --> 00:25:49,667 Could definitely have gold in it. 600 00:25:49,667 --> 00:25:52,834 Right. And tests have proven there is a little bit. 601 00:25:52,834 --> 00:25:54,900 [Dave] The problem with it and you probably know this, 602 00:25:54,900 --> 00:25:57,567 is this got some serious clay in it. 603 00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:59,467 That starts to ball up. 604 00:26:00,734 --> 00:26:03,000 Lot of times those travel down to your sluice box 605 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,200 it collects gold. 606 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,033 This is about the level that we were running here, Mark. 607 00:26:07,033 --> 00:26:09,200 - [Mark] Okay. - [Dave] I think we oughta run a test. 608 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,266 - Sample some of this. - [Mark] Okay. 609 00:26:11,266 --> 00:26:13,266 You know, maybe run five yards of it. 610 00:26:13,266 --> 00:26:15,400 The other spot that I was thinking, Mark, 611 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,000 is over there where we left off. 612 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:19,834 Yeah, I've never touched it over there. 613 00:26:19,834 --> 00:26:21,567 So, that's all new to me. 614 00:26:24,533 --> 00:26:27,967 We were just running outta time and running outta weather. 615 00:26:27,967 --> 00:26:30,433 Uh, we never really finished this area up. 616 00:26:30,433 --> 00:26:33,066 I think there's a possibility of some good gold under there. 617 00:26:34,734 --> 00:26:36,166 I think what we ought to do, 618 00:26:36,166 --> 00:26:37,800 is run two tests. 619 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:39,567 - Okay. - Let's run five yards 620 00:26:39,567 --> 00:26:41,133 of what you were mining. 621 00:26:41,133 --> 00:26:42,600 We'll do the upper gravels. 622 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,033 And then we'll go to where we ended, 623 00:26:45,033 --> 00:26:46,934 do another sample and see if we can find 624 00:26:46,934 --> 00:26:48,367 some gold the old timers left us. 625 00:26:49,667 --> 00:26:53,233 [Paul] Dave plans to run two five yard tests 626 00:26:53,233 --> 00:26:56,233 to see which has a higher yield in gold. 627 00:26:56,233 --> 00:26:59,166 The first, from Mark's existing cut. 628 00:26:59,166 --> 00:27:01,634 The second, from untouched ground 629 00:27:01,634 --> 00:27:05,233 next to where Dave finished mining in 2019. 630 00:27:07,867 --> 00:27:09,033 [Dave] We ought to bring 631 00:27:09,033 --> 00:27:10,266 excavator in here and... 632 00:27:11,166 --> 00:27:12,533 pull some samples, check it out. 633 00:27:23,967 --> 00:27:25,300 [Juan] Everyone's doing something. 634 00:27:25,300 --> 00:27:26,533 Hopefully we get it done in time. 635 00:27:27,667 --> 00:27:29,066 [Paul] At the trommel, 636 00:27:29,066 --> 00:27:30,800 Juan needs to find a solution 637 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,300 to the drum's irregular spinning 638 00:27:33,300 --> 00:27:34,800 and the skipping sprocket. 639 00:27:36,100 --> 00:27:37,467 So, what I'm doing, is I'm going in there 640 00:27:37,467 --> 00:27:40,333 and I'm adjusting it. I'm gonna shim it away from the, the drum. 641 00:27:40,333 --> 00:27:42,467 So that way it's as close as it can be 642 00:27:42,467 --> 00:27:44,800 to the sprocket, so that way it doesn't have any separation. 643 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,834 We're gonna eliminate the chance of it slipping. 644 00:27:46,834 --> 00:27:49,200 Yeah, this'll be a great fix, Juan. 645 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:50,767 You know, when Freddy and I do these, uh, 646 00:27:50,767 --> 00:27:52,400 type of repairs, he's kind of, uh, 647 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:53,467 the voice of reason. 648 00:27:53,967 --> 00:27:54,967 [Rick laughs] 649 00:27:54,967 --> 00:27:57,166 Me by myself, I wanna take it all on. 650 00:27:57,166 --> 00:27:59,100 - But, uh... - [Rick laughs] 651 00:27:59,100 --> 00:28:00,266 I get it, big man. 652 00:28:00,266 --> 00:28:02,100 [Juan] He has to ground me sometimes. 653 00:28:02,100 --> 00:28:04,066 [Rick] I get it. 654 00:28:04,066 --> 00:28:05,567 - [Juan] I'm happy with that. - [Rick] Tell you what, Juan, 655 00:28:05,567 --> 00:28:06,934 that is way better. 656 00:28:06,934 --> 00:28:08,567 Not flapping all over the place. 657 00:28:08,567 --> 00:28:10,533 Yeah. Everything's looking really good. 658 00:28:10,533 --> 00:28:13,433 Making it a lot easier to turn, a lot smoother. 659 00:28:13,433 --> 00:28:15,233 [Juan] You just lead, I'll follow. 660 00:28:17,567 --> 00:28:18,433 Yeah, that looks straight. 661 00:28:19,033 --> 00:28:20,200 Straight-ish. 662 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:21,433 We're dead nuts, right there. 663 00:28:23,166 --> 00:28:27,900 [Paul] Juan welds a base for the new 420cc motor and drive system. 664 00:28:30,834 --> 00:28:33,000 [Juan] So, this thing really wasn't designed to have this much weight 665 00:28:33,700 --> 00:28:34,734 off to the side of it. 666 00:28:34,734 --> 00:28:36,033 It's putting a lot of leverage. 667 00:28:36,033 --> 00:28:38,467 It's actually pulling this gear away from the, the trommel. 668 00:28:38,467 --> 00:28:40,567 So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna put a few stiffeners in there 669 00:28:40,567 --> 00:28:42,967 and just support it, so it doesn't rip itself off. 670 00:28:42,967 --> 00:28:43,834 Perfect. 671 00:28:44,967 --> 00:28:47,867 [Paul] The new motor will turbocharge the plant 672 00:28:47,867 --> 00:28:50,900 allowing Mark and Rick to run twice as much paydirt. 673 00:28:52,367 --> 00:28:54,634 - Well, that's it. - It's a hell of an improvement. 674 00:28:56,467 --> 00:28:58,800 I'm really hoping that Dave's on the gold. Because really, 675 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,233 if we don't find the gold, all these repairs are for nothing. 676 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,600 Whoo! Rock and roll. 677 00:29:07,934 --> 00:29:09,433 [Paul] Over at the cut, 678 00:29:09,433 --> 00:29:11,367 Dave has called in a favor 679 00:29:11,367 --> 00:29:13,300 to get the right tool for the job. 680 00:29:14,700 --> 00:29:17,000 [Dave] The land owner, Towie, is a good friend of mine. 681 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,734 He's got an excavator he'll let us use. 682 00:29:19,967 --> 00:29:22,133 - Hey, Mark. Good. - How's it going, Mr. Turin? 683 00:29:22,133 --> 00:29:25,066 [Dave] Oh, man, this is quite a little unit here. 684 00:29:25,634 --> 00:29:28,066 It's a road legal excavator. 685 00:29:28,066 --> 00:29:29,166 On wheels. 686 00:29:29,166 --> 00:29:30,800 We got teeth. We can dig now. 687 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:32,767 Well, we can certainly dig some holes. 688 00:29:35,967 --> 00:29:40,033 [Paul] Dave first pulls five yards of dirt from Mark's existing cut. 689 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:44,300 [Dave] Right here, this, 690 00:29:44,300 --> 00:29:46,133 should be virgin ground. It's... 691 00:29:46,133 --> 00:29:48,066 It's sand, it's got some rocks in it. 692 00:29:48,066 --> 00:29:51,700 I'm trying to go down to just above what Mark ran. 693 00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:53,767 We'll run that as our first test. 694 00:29:55,166 --> 00:29:57,233 [Paul] Dave then takes another five yards. 695 00:29:57,967 --> 00:30:00,333 This time from untouched ground 696 00:30:00,333 --> 00:30:02,767 under his old haul road. 697 00:30:02,767 --> 00:30:04,133 All right, this will be exciting. 698 00:30:07,634 --> 00:30:09,133 [Dave] There's your pay, right there. 699 00:30:10,066 --> 00:30:10,934 Digging tight. 700 00:30:11,266 --> 00:30:12,300 Big rocks. 701 00:30:13,700 --> 00:30:15,500 That's what we're looking for, right there. 702 00:30:27,066 --> 00:30:27,934 Good to go! 703 00:30:28,767 --> 00:30:29,767 Start running some dirt. 704 00:30:32,100 --> 00:30:33,700 [Paul] At Birdseye mine, 705 00:30:33,700 --> 00:30:36,066 Dave Turin and mine owner Mark, 706 00:30:36,066 --> 00:30:39,967 are ready to run back-to-back tests from two paydirt samples. 707 00:30:41,500 --> 00:30:42,967 [Dave] Give it a little more water. 708 00:30:46,333 --> 00:30:47,300 I brought The Beetle in. 709 00:30:48,367 --> 00:30:50,200 Juan and I built that thing. 710 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,367 You know, a few seasons ago in the off season. 711 00:30:53,367 --> 00:30:56,867 [Paul] The Beetle is Dave's custom-built test plant 712 00:30:56,867 --> 00:30:58,767 designed for prospecting. 713 00:30:58,767 --> 00:31:02,200 It gives a quick indication on the quality of material. 714 00:31:02,867 --> 00:31:04,066 [Mark] It's exactly 715 00:31:04,767 --> 00:31:06,233 what we need here. 716 00:31:06,233 --> 00:31:07,900 I mean, what's the point of upgrading a plant 717 00:31:07,900 --> 00:31:09,500 when we don't have dirt in the ground? 718 00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:11,000 These tests are so important 719 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,066 to make sure I know what's in the ground. 720 00:31:13,066 --> 00:31:16,100 Otherwise, I'm not gonna be able to sustain with the operation. 721 00:31:19,433 --> 00:31:20,600 Right here, 722 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:22,834 where it dumps in, just keep an eye on it. 723 00:31:22,834 --> 00:31:24,667 Sometimes it plugs up and it'll start overflowing. 724 00:31:28,634 --> 00:31:32,600 Mark first run the upper layer of dirt from Mark's current cut. 725 00:31:34,867 --> 00:31:36,867 I'm in my element right now. 726 00:31:36,867 --> 00:31:38,400 I love this stuff. 727 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,967 You know, you got dirt, trucks and seams. What more could a guy ask for? 728 00:31:44,533 --> 00:31:46,066 This is my last bucket. 729 00:31:46,066 --> 00:31:48,767 And this could be the end of the first test. 730 00:31:48,767 --> 00:31:51,667 And hopefully, we got some good gold here. 731 00:31:56,567 --> 00:31:59,066 - Well, let's pull the mats. - Okay. 732 00:31:59,066 --> 00:32:02,000 We'll just wash 'em out in the tub, 733 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,800 put 'em back in, and then we'll go for test number two. 734 00:32:06,300 --> 00:32:07,934 [narrator] Next, through the Beetle, 735 00:32:07,934 --> 00:32:11,734 the pay from the old hall road Dave never mined out. 736 00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:16,333 I'm pretty confident in this one. 737 00:32:16,333 --> 00:32:18,734 It was about this time we had to leave, 738 00:32:18,734 --> 00:32:21,033 because it was starting to get froze out. 739 00:32:21,033 --> 00:32:22,634 And we had to leave the haul road. 740 00:32:22,634 --> 00:32:24,900 So hopefully that works out for Mark. 741 00:32:28,467 --> 00:32:30,133 Right now, it's all hands on deck. 742 00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:32,233 We have Dave, 743 00:32:32,233 --> 00:32:34,266 Juan's steadily working on the plant. 744 00:32:34,266 --> 00:32:36,634 And we're over here. We're testing, 745 00:32:36,634 --> 00:32:38,700 But all this has to work together, 746 00:32:38,700 --> 00:32:40,533 otherwise it's all for nothing. 747 00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:45,400 Well, Mark, we're losing daylight. 748 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:46,700 Let's get this outta here, 749 00:32:46,700 --> 00:32:48,834 and start panning the concentrates. 750 00:32:48,834 --> 00:32:50,033 - Okay. - Let's get her done. 751 00:33:06,700 --> 00:33:07,834 We've got it right there. 752 00:33:07,834 --> 00:33:10,133 And then find the center, wherever that is, 753 00:33:10,133 --> 00:33:11,900 and cut it in the center and we got both legs. 754 00:33:13,333 --> 00:33:15,000 [narrator] At the Bird's Eye mine, 755 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,667 Juan and his A-team are under pressure to finish the fixes. 756 00:33:20,166 --> 00:33:21,367 [Juan] I got the right team for the job. 757 00:33:21,367 --> 00:33:23,066 Everyone's working hard. 758 00:33:23,066 --> 00:33:25,200 Travis and Alex are working on riffles. 759 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,533 Rick and I are working on the sluice box. 760 00:33:28,533 --> 00:33:30,133 We still got a ton of work to do. 761 00:33:30,133 --> 00:33:31,867 If we don't hit it hard, this doesn't get done, 762 00:33:31,867 --> 00:33:33,400 we don't have a final test. 763 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:34,467 We really don't have a rescue. 764 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,066 All we want to do is get the gold to find where it, like, so it sits. 765 00:33:39,066 --> 00:33:41,834 Hopefully this block should have a nice, yellow color to it 766 00:33:41,834 --> 00:33:43,934 - by the time we nick it. - I like it. 767 00:33:43,934 --> 00:33:45,400 All we need is the gravel now. 768 00:33:52,166 --> 00:33:53,634 Well, we're almost there, Mark. 769 00:33:54,300 --> 00:33:55,333 This is, uh... 770 00:33:55,900 --> 00:33:57,634 First pan. 771 00:33:57,634 --> 00:34:01,967 [narrator] Dave has panned the concentrate from their two-five yard bulk tests. 772 00:34:04,166 --> 00:34:06,266 Out of the top levels above the clay, 773 00:34:06,266 --> 00:34:08,300 where we ran five yards through the plant, 774 00:34:08,300 --> 00:34:09,266 that's this test. 775 00:34:09,500 --> 00:34:11,233 Okay. 776 00:34:11,233 --> 00:34:16,033 There's you know, three to four grams. I've done this quite a bit. 777 00:34:16,033 --> 00:34:18,500 Three or four grams is gonna give you, you know, 778 00:34:18,500 --> 00:34:20,867 - six to eight bucks a yard. - Okay. 779 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,734 [narrator] $6 per yard 780 00:34:24,734 --> 00:34:27,367 is worth around $400 a day. 781 00:34:28,900 --> 00:34:32,066 This pan was over there from the haul road? 782 00:34:32,066 --> 00:34:33,033 Yeah. 783 00:34:33,834 --> 00:34:36,000 There's five or six grams. 784 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,400 That's gonna run you ten to 12 dollars a yard. 785 00:34:38,667 --> 00:34:39,734 Oh, wow. 786 00:34:41,266 --> 00:34:43,000 [narrator] Paydirt from the haul road 787 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:47,800 could potentially deliver more than twice the gold Mark currently brings in. 788 00:34:48,834 --> 00:34:50,066 [Dave] To me, it's pretty obvious. 789 00:34:50,066 --> 00:34:52,300 I think you oughta go after the haul road. 790 00:34:52,300 --> 00:34:53,934 I think we start hauling some dirt here. 791 00:34:53,934 --> 00:34:56,033 - Yeah, let's get her done. - All right. Let's go. 792 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,834 [Dave] We had our chance. We're like the old-timers. We're gone, right? 793 00:35:03,834 --> 00:35:05,634 I mean, we left outta here. 794 00:35:05,634 --> 00:35:08,934 So if I can get it for Mark, I'm happy. 795 00:35:08,934 --> 00:35:12,467 I don't have any regrets that we didn't get it. We gave it our best shot. 796 00:35:20,133 --> 00:35:23,867 Let's jump in there and I'll give you an understanding of the excavator. 797 00:35:23,867 --> 00:35:27,000 - Okay. I'm not gonna know unless I do it. - All right. Let's do it. 798 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,433 [narrator] To succeed, Mark will need to extract gold-rich 799 00:35:30,433 --> 00:35:33,100 paydirt as quickly as possible. 800 00:35:33,100 --> 00:35:37,000 So, expert operator Dave shares some nuggets of wisdom. 801 00:35:38,033 --> 00:35:40,433 So that one you gotta pull up, 802 00:35:40,433 --> 00:35:42,333 and this one wants to dig and dive. 803 00:35:42,333 --> 00:35:46,100 So you're pulling both of them so you keep a constant flat. 804 00:35:46,100 --> 00:35:47,467 Smooth altogether motion? 805 00:35:47,467 --> 00:35:49,533 And then when you get ready to dig, 806 00:35:49,533 --> 00:35:52,133 put your blade all the way down and it stabilizes you. 807 00:35:52,133 --> 00:35:55,066 And then that way, you don't pull the machine into your hole. 808 00:35:55,266 --> 00:35:56,133 Okay. 809 00:35:58,233 --> 00:36:01,000 Play with it a little bit so you kinda get the feel for it. 810 00:36:01,734 --> 00:36:02,600 Okay. 811 00:36:03,900 --> 00:36:06,667 Now take your right hand and... Yeah. 812 00:36:06,667 --> 00:36:08,033 Swing a little bit. 813 00:36:10,533 --> 00:36:14,000 And this is exactly what Mark needs. He needs an excavator. 814 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,533 Spend some time in it, get proficient at it. 815 00:36:16,533 --> 00:36:18,800 This could really help his operation out. 816 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,867 - How's that for a full bucket, Dave? - [Dave cheers] 817 00:36:22,867 --> 00:36:24,000 Full bucket! 818 00:36:24,533 --> 00:36:25,600 There's your pay. 819 00:36:26,734 --> 00:36:28,967 [Dave] Obviously he's been around equipment a lot, 820 00:36:28,967 --> 00:36:31,166 and I'm impressed. 821 00:36:31,834 --> 00:36:33,000 Getting full buckets. 822 00:36:33,700 --> 00:36:35,734 He's careful, he's smooth. 823 00:36:36,133 --> 00:36:37,100 Doing good. 824 00:36:37,100 --> 00:36:39,200 I believe this is the key to his success. 825 00:36:42,166 --> 00:36:43,100 [Mark] Hi-five. 826 00:36:43,967 --> 00:36:45,600 [Dave] All right. Good job. 827 00:36:48,166 --> 00:36:50,200 [narrator] Masterclass complete, 828 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,967 Dave heads to the cut trailer for some final heavy lifting. 829 00:36:54,767 --> 00:36:56,367 [Dave] That is a hell of a sluice box. 830 00:36:56,367 --> 00:36:57,767 [Mark] Thanks, Dave. Came out nice. 831 00:36:58,467 --> 00:36:59,900 You think Freddy would approve? 832 00:37:02,133 --> 00:37:05,266 He probably wouldn't wanna give it to me, but he'd give me the seal of approval. 833 00:37:07,567 --> 00:37:10,367 Mark's pretty fortunate to have you guys helping him out. 834 00:37:10,934 --> 00:37:12,500 Yeah, you too. 835 00:37:12,500 --> 00:37:14,967 It's really a big deal. I appreciate you coming out here giving us a hand. 836 00:37:14,967 --> 00:37:17,200 You and Freddy have helped me out many times. 837 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:18,967 So the least I can do is pay back. 838 00:37:18,967 --> 00:37:20,834 You know, when it comes down to it, the brotherhood of 839 00:37:20,834 --> 00:37:22,233 miners is kind of a tight-knit group. 840 00:37:22,233 --> 00:37:25,233 - It is. - We help each other out when we can. 841 00:37:25,233 --> 00:37:27,900 Appreciate it, Dave. Let's jump on and let's get those moved. 842 00:37:28,734 --> 00:37:30,600 [excavator backing up] 843 00:37:32,166 --> 00:37:36,834 [narrator] Dave's discovery of high-grade pay and the drive system upgrade 844 00:37:36,834 --> 00:37:40,700 will count for nothing if Juan's custom sluice box 845 00:37:40,700 --> 00:37:42,533 isn't finished in time. 846 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:48,900 - That's perfect right there, Dave. - You good there? 847 00:37:48,900 --> 00:37:50,033 Yeah, I like it. 848 00:37:50,033 --> 00:37:51,367 All right. I'm gonna go dig. 849 00:37:51,867 --> 00:37:53,133 Bye-bye. 850 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:58,634 We're in a hurry right now. It's getting dark. 851 00:37:58,634 --> 00:38:01,233 We're gonna be working late. We got a lot to do. 852 00:38:01,233 --> 00:38:02,634 And very little time to do it. 853 00:38:04,066 --> 00:38:06,200 It's just gonna be a long night, but we'll get through it. 854 00:38:21,700 --> 00:38:24,133 [Dave] Hey, Juan. Remember building this? 855 00:38:24,133 --> 00:38:27,367 Yeah. I'm actually kind of excited to see you're still using it, Dave. 856 00:38:27,367 --> 00:38:29,567 It's a great little plant. 857 00:38:29,567 --> 00:38:33,166 You know, the only thing I don't really like about it is the name. 858 00:38:33,166 --> 00:38:35,333 I like the Beetle, but we should've called it the Dung Beetle. 859 00:38:36,033 --> 00:38:37,533 - Dung Beetle? - The Dung Beetle. 860 00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:40,367 I think that would've been more fitting. 861 00:38:40,367 --> 00:38:42,634 Yeah, because dung has a lot to do with gold. 862 00:38:42,634 --> 00:38:45,800 Well, no. You know, a lot of times, we're going after the scraps, right? 863 00:38:45,800 --> 00:38:48,100 Oh, I see. [all laughing] 864 00:38:48,967 --> 00:38:50,233 It's a dung beetle. 865 00:38:50,233 --> 00:38:51,634 [laughing continues] 866 00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,300 [Juan] Guide me in right here, please. 867 00:39:06,300 --> 00:39:12,734 [narrator] It's the final 24 hours at soldiers Mark and Rick's Bird's Eye mine. 868 00:39:12,734 --> 00:39:17,133 Juan's crew rush to complete the fixes before their time here is up. 869 00:39:20,634 --> 00:39:23,634 We worked late into the night last night. Honestly I didn't think we'd get it done. 870 00:39:23,634 --> 00:39:26,100 But we're here, we got the motor mounted. 871 00:39:26,100 --> 00:39:29,467 Put the sluice box in, so we're that much closer to running. 872 00:39:29,467 --> 00:39:30,934 You know, better late than never. 873 00:39:32,567 --> 00:39:34,767 We've had Juan building everything here, 874 00:39:34,767 --> 00:39:38,400 and then we got Dave helping us find some new ground. I tell you what, 875 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:40,767 you combine those two things, we're gonna find some gold. 876 00:39:42,266 --> 00:39:44,467 - That's pretty damn close. - Pretty close. 877 00:39:45,700 --> 00:39:47,000 Hold on. 878 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,400 Pull Alex's side down or yours up. 879 00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:50,567 Close enough. 880 00:39:50,567 --> 00:39:52,233 Well, I'll tell you what, Juan. 881 00:39:52,233 --> 00:39:55,767 You said it'd be in by two o'clock. I got 1:57 right now. 882 00:39:57,300 --> 00:40:01,367 [narrator] The adjustable sluice is the final piece of the jigsaw. 883 00:40:02,033 --> 00:40:03,233 Come up on it, guys. 884 00:40:03,233 --> 00:40:04,634 Make sure it's one to one. 885 00:40:04,634 --> 00:40:08,634 Two, three, four, five, six, seven, 886 00:40:08,634 --> 00:40:11,266 - eight, nine, ten. - Right there is good. 887 00:40:11,734 --> 00:40:13,834 Okay, okay. Good. 888 00:40:13,834 --> 00:40:16,967 The whole trick to having a good sluice box, you wanna have it as level 889 00:40:16,967 --> 00:40:18,567 and have the right elevation for it. 890 00:40:18,567 --> 00:40:21,266 So we made it a 100 per cent adjustable so that way, on the fly, 891 00:40:21,266 --> 00:40:22,834 we can make change it as we need it. 892 00:40:22,834 --> 00:40:24,066 Well, we're adjusted. 893 00:40:24,066 --> 00:40:25,000 Where we need to be. 894 00:40:25,467 --> 00:40:26,500 I like it. 895 00:40:26,500 --> 00:40:28,000 We're pretty much ready to run. 896 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:29,233 I have no words. 897 00:40:29,233 --> 00:40:31,600 [Juan laughs] Well, hopefully it catches gold. 898 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:36,533 Hopefully somebody gets 'em on the gold so the gold isn't lost. 899 00:40:36,533 --> 00:40:39,834 You know, when we came out here and Freddy wasn't feeling the greatest, 900 00:40:39,834 --> 00:40:41,400 first guy I thought about was Dave. 901 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:43,600 So I'm really happy he was able to give us a few days of 902 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:45,300 - his time to come up, give us a hand. - You bet, you bet. 903 00:40:45,967 --> 00:40:47,467 I appreciate it so much, Dave. 904 00:40:47,467 --> 00:40:50,233 You're welcome, you guys. You know, Juan and I have talked. 905 00:40:50,233 --> 00:40:51,734 We got a lot of respect for you guys. 906 00:40:51,734 --> 00:40:52,800 You served our country. 907 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:54,000 You know, you're vets, 908 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:55,567 so whatever we can do to help, 909 00:40:56,133 --> 00:40:57,500 we're all about that. 910 00:40:57,500 --> 00:40:58,500 Helping each other out. 911 00:40:58,500 --> 00:40:59,934 - That's it. - Thank you. 912 00:40:59,934 --> 00:41:02,066 Well, now you know, you guys are in the brotherhood of miners, right? 913 00:41:02,066 --> 00:41:03,533 Yea, we do. 914 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:06,166 What do you guys say? Let's run the plant? 915 00:41:06,166 --> 00:41:07,700 - Yeah. Oh this is awesome. - All right. 916 00:41:07,700 --> 00:41:09,934 Hey, guys. I've gotta head out, you know. 917 00:41:09,934 --> 00:41:11,533 I told you I had two days, 918 00:41:11,533 --> 00:41:12,867 and my time's up. 919 00:41:12,867 --> 00:41:15,500 I'd love to stick around and watch this thing run, 920 00:41:15,500 --> 00:41:17,467 see the gold in the box, but I gotta go. 921 00:41:18,367 --> 00:41:19,667 All right, Dave. Totally understand. 922 00:41:19,667 --> 00:41:20,533 Thank you so much. 923 00:41:20,533 --> 00:41:21,867 - Yeah, man. - Appreciate everything. 924 00:41:21,867 --> 00:41:24,000 - Pleasure, thank you. - Thanks for coming out. 925 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:25,700 Thanks for your time. We really appreciate it. 926 00:41:25,700 --> 00:41:28,433 - You're an awesome teacher, Dave. Really appreciate it. - Oh, [laughs] 927 00:41:28,433 --> 00:41:29,400 All right, brother. 928 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:32,033 - All right, guys. Thanks. - Be safe, Dave. 929 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:35,567 [Juan] Well, gentlemen. I guess it's us. 930 00:41:35,567 --> 00:41:37,233 Let's run it, huh? Let's get it going. 931 00:41:37,233 --> 00:41:38,200 The final test run? 932 00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:39,767 All right. You get that. I'll get the pump. 933 00:41:39,767 --> 00:41:41,233 - Okay. - Fire her up. 934 00:41:42,900 --> 00:41:44,400 [engine starts] 935 00:41:48,433 --> 00:41:50,634 - We got the water. - You got water? 936 00:41:50,634 --> 00:41:51,800 Let's throw some dirt. 937 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,333 [narrator] Juan's had five hard days without Freddy. 938 00:41:56,333 --> 00:41:59,700 Battling Montana's snow storms and a lack of equipment. 939 00:41:59,700 --> 00:42:03,967 Now it's time for the crucial second test. 940 00:42:04,967 --> 00:42:06,967 Let's do it! 941 00:42:06,967 --> 00:42:13,567 Mark's 12 foot-long sluice box was too narrow and set up for course gold. 942 00:42:13,567 --> 00:42:19,233 Juan built a wider sluice box with adjustable legs to optimize pitch. 943 00:42:19,233 --> 00:42:25,934 And added new riffles to catch both course and the previously lost, fine gold. 944 00:42:25,934 --> 00:42:29,400 Mark's old motor and drive system was worn out, 945 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:32,100 and would regularly skip the chain. 946 00:42:32,100 --> 00:42:35,900 Juan's powerful new gas motor and sprocket system 947 00:42:35,900 --> 00:42:41,367 means the wash plant can process twice the pay without any stalls. 948 00:42:41,367 --> 00:42:44,900 Finally, the upgraded wash plant will be fed 949 00:42:44,900 --> 00:42:50,333 with the new paydirt Dave found, which could contain twice as much gold 950 00:42:50,333 --> 00:42:52,900 as the pay from Mark's old cut. 951 00:42:52,900 --> 00:42:55,000 First bucket going up the ramp. 952 00:42:56,166 --> 00:42:57,634 - Start that timer. - Start! 953 00:43:01,567 --> 00:43:04,333 - [Juan] What do you think, Mark? - [Mark] Good. 954 00:43:04,333 --> 00:43:07,000 You see how all the material's getting tumbled right in the water? 955 00:43:08,266 --> 00:43:09,800 Washing it really good. 956 00:43:17,233 --> 00:43:18,867 Oh, that motor's great. 957 00:43:18,867 --> 00:43:21,934 It works a heck of a lot better than the old one. 958 00:43:22,834 --> 00:43:25,200 Up to my fourth bucket. 959 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:27,133 Everything's looking good right now. 960 00:43:27,133 --> 00:43:30,934 Trommel's spinning faster than I've ever seen it spin before. 961 00:43:30,934 --> 00:43:34,166 Probably five times speed than what I'm used to. 962 00:43:34,166 --> 00:43:38,367 Box is looking great with those Hungarian riffles, we've removed those 963 00:43:38,367 --> 00:43:39,700 for the fine gold. 964 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,166 We may have a fully operational plant that 965 00:43:44,166 --> 00:43:46,000 produces a good amount of gold. 966 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,934 Yeah, I think she's looking really good, bud. I'm super excited. 967 00:43:51,033 --> 00:43:52,834 Where we at? Four hours, huh? 968 00:43:52,834 --> 00:43:54,000 Just hit four. 969 00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,100 Well, let's call last bucket. That's the end of the run. 970 00:43:56,100 --> 00:43:57,667 Hey, last bucket! 971 00:43:59,934 --> 00:44:02,000 Awesome. 972 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,900 We'll shut the pump down, shut the trommel down. See what we got in the box. 973 00:44:11,433 --> 00:44:13,367 You better come take a look at this real quick, Rick. 974 00:44:13,367 --> 00:44:16,333 - What do you got, Juan? - Look at all that there. On the carpets. 975 00:44:16,333 --> 00:44:17,734 All the way through it. 976 00:44:17,734 --> 00:44:19,600 I've never seen it packed like that before. 977 00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:20,634 Ever. 978 00:44:22,834 --> 00:44:25,467 We ran the plant for four hours, the box looks halfway decent. 979 00:44:25,467 --> 00:44:27,934 But really, we don't know until we dry it up and weight it. 980 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:31,200 This is pretty fast. 981 00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:34,467 I don't think we're gonna have to worry about the box ever again. 982 00:44:34,467 --> 00:44:36,667 No, I don't think we will, bud. 983 00:44:36,667 --> 00:44:39,166 This could be your retirement right here, bud. 984 00:44:39,166 --> 00:44:41,000 Well, we'll find out. 985 00:44:59,433 --> 00:45:01,934 You know, I'm a little nervous about this gold weigh. 986 00:45:01,934 --> 00:45:03,734 Because there's so much riding on it, right? 987 00:45:03,734 --> 00:45:04,834 Yeah. 988 00:45:04,834 --> 00:45:09,233 [narrator] The last gold weigh was 0.037 ounces. 989 00:45:09,233 --> 00:45:11,934 To hit Mark's five-ounce season goal, 990 00:45:11,934 --> 00:45:17,900 This four-hour test needs to deliver at least 0.06 of an ounce. 991 00:45:17,900 --> 00:45:20,266 Well, guys. Travis, I'mma let you pour it. 992 00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,200 Oh. Nearly... 993 00:45:33,834 --> 00:45:35,433 Oh, look at that, guys. 994 00:45:35,433 --> 00:45:36,300 Whoa. 995 00:45:37,834 --> 00:45:39,000 0.54. 996 00:45:39,700 --> 00:45:41,233 That's over half an ounce. 997 00:45:41,233 --> 00:45:44,100 - We slammed it. - Yeah, in four hours. 998 00:45:44,100 --> 00:45:45,233 [all laughing] 999 00:45:45,233 --> 00:45:49,634 [narrator] 0.54 ounces. A massive increase 1000 00:45:49,634 --> 00:45:53,900 of 1300 percent on the first gold weigh. 1001 00:45:53,900 --> 00:45:55,734 - That's nuts. - Over half an ounce. 1002 00:45:55,734 --> 00:45:58,533 So on a four hour test, we did a little over half an ounce. 1003 00:45:58,533 --> 00:46:01,000 Now imagine if you did a full-day run, you know? 1004 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:03,567 - Eight, ten, 12 hours? - Yeah. 1005 00:46:03,567 --> 00:46:05,367 You can actually make some real money with that. 1006 00:46:07,133 --> 00:46:09,567 Thank you. good meeting you, Mark. 1007 00:46:09,567 --> 00:46:14,900 [narrator] In a six-month season, Mark could net over a quarter of a million dollars. 1008 00:46:14,900 --> 00:46:19,800 More than enough to keep his dream alive of retiring from the military. 1009 00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:22,000 And mining full-time. 1010 00:46:25,867 --> 00:46:27,900 I've never seen that much gold. 1011 00:46:29,133 --> 00:46:31,567 We can have the brotherhood of mining. 1012 00:46:31,567 --> 00:46:35,300 You know, we go from combat vets into gold vets now. 1013 00:46:36,567 --> 00:46:37,867 This is life-changing. 1014 00:46:37,867 --> 00:46:39,367 And you guys deserve it for sure. 1015 00:46:39,367 --> 00:46:42,000 I know you guys have worked your butts off and sacrificed a lot. 1016 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:43,033 Thank you, Juan. 1017 00:46:43,033 --> 00:46:45,867 - Thank you. - No problems. 1018 00:46:45,867 --> 00:46:49,867 I have gotten absolute confidence from working with Juan and with Dave. 1019 00:46:49,867 --> 00:46:54,000 I am beyond grateful. I will never be able to thank those guys enough for what they did 1020 00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:55,300 for me and Rick. 1021 00:46:55,300 --> 00:46:57,767 I am now in the position to retire, 1022 00:46:57,767 --> 00:47:00,333 and do this full-time. 1023 00:47:00,333 --> 00:47:04,367 You know, there's no words to describe how I feel right now. It was a great outcome. 1024 00:47:14,166 --> 00:47:16,367 [dialing tone] 1025 00:47:16,367 --> 00:47:17,600 [cell phone ringing] 1026 00:47:19,900 --> 00:47:22,033 - Hello? - Hey, Freddy. How you doing, buddy? 1027 00:47:22,033 --> 00:47:23,667 Doing all right. How are you, Juan? 1028 00:47:23,667 --> 00:47:25,867 Doing excellent. Hey, I just wanted to call you. 1029 00:47:25,867 --> 00:47:27,767 We just had our final gold weigh, Fred. 1030 00:47:27,767 --> 00:47:29,133 How'd it go, bud? 1031 00:47:29,133 --> 00:47:32,000 - It was damn good, Freddy. - No kidding, huh? 1032 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:34,834 Yeah. Honestly, Freddy, I'm relieved, bud. 1033 00:47:35,567 --> 00:47:37,033 How you feeling? 1034 00:47:37,033 --> 00:47:38,967 Oh, doing all right. Starting to feel better. 1035 00:47:38,967 --> 00:47:43,200 Yeah, I went to the doctor. All the bloodwork and stuff came back okay. 1036 00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:45,400 Awesome. I'm happy to hear that. 1037 00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:49,266 - Drive safe, okay? See you soon. - All right, Freddy. Thanks. 1038 00:47:49,266 --> 00:47:50,166 Bye. 1039 00:47:54,900 --> 00:47:56,600 I'm happy that Freddy's feeling better. 1040 00:47:56,600 --> 00:47:58,533 It was a great week helping those guys out. 1041 00:47:58,533 --> 00:47:59,734 I'm ready to go home.