1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:03,880 -[slow dramatic music playing] -[distant birdcalls] 2 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:09,840 [crossing bell dinging] 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,080 [Ryan Merritt] What I do know about gold is it's in the ground... 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,400 [chuckles] ...but I'm having a hard time getting it out. 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:24,240 I have all my money invested in this mine. 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,360 We're trying to find gold and we can't pay our bills and this stresses me out. 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:32,000 My boy, Nolan, 8 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:33,480 he's real green. 9 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,240 He likes to get his hands dirty. 10 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,440 Alls he wants is a career in gold mining. 11 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:42,720 Once you see that first glimpse of gold, 12 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:43,960 you're kinda already hooked. 13 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,880 [Ryan] I'm doing the best I can to try to teach him the ropes, 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,080 but I'm learning a lot as we go as well. 15 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:55,400 It would be my dream to pass this mine on to Nolan 16 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,960 and let him take control of it one day. 17 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:02,040 [Nolan] I sacrificed my day job to come up here, 18 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,080 and I'm really excited to start my next journey 19 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,960 and try to pursue a gold-mining dream. 20 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:09,200 [Ryan] This is the last season 21 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:11,920 we're gonna be able to be up here if we can't make it and find gold. 22 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:14,960 And that's gonna be a real hardship for my boy. 23 00:01:15,039 --> 00:01:16,840 And I don't want to let him down. 24 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:18,720 I'm his dad, so... 25 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,080 it's pretty... It hits home. 26 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:30,000 [Freddy] Let's make some gold, guys. 27 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:31,840 [narrator] Freddy Dodge... 28 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:33,920 There's no guarantees in gold, buddy. 29 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,479 [narrator] ...and Juan Ibarra... 30 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:38,080 All right. Well, let's do it, huh? 31 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,400 [narrator] ...have mastered the art of getting gold out of the ground... 32 00:01:41,479 --> 00:01:42,479 [Juan] Look at that. 33 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,520 [narrator] ...in the most rugged places on Earth. 34 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:47,360 [Juan over radio] I'm feeling a little sick, Freddy. 35 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,840 [narrator] Now, they rescue struggling miners. 36 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:51,880 Ooh, that's not good. 37 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:54,840 [narrator] ...who risked it all to be rich... 38 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:56,560 [man] Whoa, whoa, whoa! Shut it down! 39 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,800 [narrator] ...but are about to lose everything. 40 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:00,200 [man] Eyeballs. 41 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,200 [narrator] To revive these failing mines, 42 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,480 Freddy and Juan engineer the impossible... 43 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:07,520 [man] Well, I've never heard of an undersluice before. 44 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:09,639 [narrator] ...deliver some hard truths... 45 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,680 This material you're digging now is totally worthless. 46 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,160 [narrator] ...and track down the gold. 47 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,120 That's what dreams are made of right there. 48 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:21,320 [narrator] But if they don't at least double the miners' gold recovery, 49 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:23,760 they won't take a dime in return. 50 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,400 -Collected ten times the amount of gold. -[man] That's awesome. 51 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:27,560 [all laugh] 52 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:35,360 [humming] 53 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:40,440 -Thanks for the coffee, bud. -No problem, buddy. 54 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:41,840 I'm sorry I'm not gonna be 55 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:43,480 -much help this week. -No worries. 56 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:44,680 I'm sitting there looking at it. 57 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:45,800 It's really not that noticeable. 58 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:47,520 That little support thing you've got going on. 59 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:48,600 No, you know, you barely see it. 60 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:50,800 I tore my shoulder up pretty bad. 61 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,120 So I'm not supposed to lift anything with this hand. 62 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:54,640 Just move it. 63 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,400 [Juan] It's a good thing that Travis and Alex are here to give us a hand. 64 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:58,680 Yeah. I got one good arm to hug you with, buddy. 65 00:02:58,760 --> 00:02:59,880 [both laughing] 66 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,600 [narrator] Freddy and Juan are in Baker County, Oregon, 67 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,800 heading for the Mammoth Mine, 68 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,840 a 13-acre claim owned by Ryan Merritt. 69 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:13,680 Historically, one of the richest 70 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,280 hard-rock mining areas in the region. 71 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:19,960 The site is six miles outside the mining town of Sumpter, 72 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,400 famed for producing millions of dollars' 73 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,120 worth of placer gold annually 74 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,720 in the early 1900s. 75 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:29,160 [Freddy over radio] It's good to be back here, 76 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,400 but, you know, this area's been hit pretty hard. 77 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,960 A lot of the gold that was around here is in somebody else's bank account now. 78 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,120 So what do we know about Ryan, Freddy? 79 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:38,840 Well, he bought this property up here 80 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:40,640 and he said his recovery system, 81 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,240 he thinks it's pretty lacking, but we'll see when we get here. 82 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:44,520 [truck horn blares] 83 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,120 [birds chirping] 84 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,160 -[Juan] Good morning. -[Ryan] Freddy. Juan. 85 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,240 Wow. We're very glad to see you guys. 86 00:03:58,320 --> 00:03:59,560 -How's it going? -[Ryan] Good. 87 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:01,120 -Nice to meet you. -What's your name? 88 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:02,320 -Nolan. -Nice to meet you, Nolan. 89 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:03,400 It's good to meet you guys. 90 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:05,080 It's a beautiful spot you guys got out here. 91 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:06,360 -[Ryan] Thank you. -How long you been out here? 92 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,280 About the last three years we've been actively mining it. 93 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:11,320 Okay. So what's the relation? 94 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:12,800 -So this is my boy Nolan. -[Juan] Okay. 95 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:14,840 Yeah. He really wants to be a gold miner. 96 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,560 Sure, if it's profitable and I can make a living out of it. 97 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,360 Is that your end goal then, to one day take this over, then? 98 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,280 Yeah. Hopefully upgrade my wash plant so I can run more material 99 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:25,680 and be profitable. 100 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,880 [narrator] Two years ago, 22-year-old Nolan Merritt 101 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,000 quit his pressure washing business in Central Oregon 102 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,720 to join his dad and follow his dream 103 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:36,560 of gold mining. 104 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,440 [Nolan] Leaving my day job to come up here, 105 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,200 and you're basically gambling, essentially. 106 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:43,159 I'm not an expert by all means, 107 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,400 but I'm hoping to get a future in this industry. 108 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:48,840 [speaking] 109 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,440 But the main problem is we're finding very minimal gold. 110 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:55,960 [narrator] Two hundred miles from his home, 111 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,320 the lack of gold is taking its toll. 112 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:00,600 [Nolan] I'm bringing in no money. 113 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:02,160 I've got bills to pay 114 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:03,640 and, I mean, it's an expensive world 115 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:05,440 for a 22-year-old to grow up in. 116 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:08,120 I kind of grew up my whole life being told, "Never work for free," 117 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,040 so now I'm working for free and, uh... 118 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:12,920 it's kind of hard to wrap my head around. 119 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:16,000 I'm just gonna keep chipping away 120 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,080 and hopefully start seeing some color. 121 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:21,520 [Ryan] We actually have a hard-rock pit over there. 122 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,640 I've heard from all the local people in town 123 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,680 that the values of the ore in there 124 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,680 were some of the richest around. 125 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,280 So it would be really neat trying to get the trommel 126 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:35,800 to make enough money that we can actually go underground someday. 127 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:37,159 That gets expensive fast. 128 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:38,240 [Ryan] Yeah, that does. 129 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:39,720 [Juan] Yeah. A whole different animal. 130 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:41,240 So how's your season gone so far then? 131 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:42,920 [Ryan] We're not doing real hot. 132 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,159 I mean, we're roughly getting about a tenth of an ounce a day right now. 133 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:48,159 -[Juan] Ooh. -It's just not covering the costs. 134 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,440 Yeah, 150 bucks a day, 170 bucks a day? 135 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,120 Yeah. A couple of 100 dollars a day isn't doing it for us. 136 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,120 That's not enough to cover the fuel. 137 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:56,400 -Fuel. Exactly. -[Nolan] Mm-hmm. 138 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,040 [Ryan] The last three years, the best season, 139 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:00,640 it's been $5,000. 140 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,520 -Yeah, it's not good. -[Juan] Mm-mm, it's not. 141 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:04,600 Realistically, what do you need daily 142 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:06,000 to be able to make this work? 143 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,600 About an ounce a day, really, is what we need. 144 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:10,040 -[Freddy] I can see that. -Yeah. 145 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,320 So if you can't make enough gold here, then what are you gonna do? 146 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:14,560 You know, if we can't make something happen this year, 147 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,760 then this'll probably be the last season we mine. 148 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,800 It's a dream to me to watch my boy be able to carry on the tradition of mining, 149 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:24,480 and it would be a real kick in the gut 150 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,520 if, you know, I couldn't watch him carry that on. 151 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:28,680 So it's kind of a legacy thing then? 152 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,440 -Yeah, building one, for sure. -[Nolan] Yeah. 153 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,520 -Well, we're here. -Let's watch it run. 154 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:33,720 -See if we can help you. -Yeah. 155 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:35,640 [dramatic music playing] 156 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:37,080 [distant bird cawing] 157 00:06:37,159 --> 00:06:39,280 [narrator] The Mammoth claim is staked over 158 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:43,720 a number of ancient river channels near Bear Canyon. 159 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,760 Although this land has been mined before, 160 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:49,560 Ryan hopes, with modern machinery, 161 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,840 he can retrieve the gold they left behind. 162 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:55,440 -A four-hour test? -Yep. 163 00:06:56,159 --> 00:06:57,159 The timer's going. 164 00:06:58,080 --> 00:06:59,400 Let's go. 165 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,440 -First bucket, Juan. -[Juan] First bucket. 166 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,120 [dramatic music continues] 167 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:13,400 Hopefully, I can haul some good pay here. 168 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,960 [narrator] Nolan drops pay through grizzly bars 169 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:20,760 into an 11-foot hopper, 170 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,960 which funnels down into the rotating trommel, 171 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:27,440 where a spray bar washes gold off the rocks, 172 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:29,920 to be caught in the 10-foot sluice. 173 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:33,640 Look at that sluice box, Fred. That's not good. 174 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,640 That's the worst sluice box I've seen. [scoffs] 175 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:38,440 Now, that's a gold-losing sluice box, 176 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:39,960 -that's for dang sure. -Yeah. 177 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,760 -It's like it got ran over by an excavator. -[chuckles] 178 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,159 I'd be embarrassed to take that in for scrap iron. [chuckles] 179 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:48,640 [Juan] I can see why they're only getting a 10th of an ounce. 180 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:51,480 I'm gonna look at that box real quick. 181 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,640 Freddy and Juan aren't gonna like that sluice box. 182 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,520 Feel that nugget riffle up top right here. 183 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:02,160 Half the riffles are popped up. 184 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:03,600 None of the riffles are touching. 185 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,200 That hold-down system is not good at all. 186 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,240 I can just imagine what they're thinking of that sluice box right now. 187 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,360 I've always had an infatuation with digging in the dirt, 188 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:18,680 and I always wanted to buy a mine. 189 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:20,880 And ended up up here with the realtor 190 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:22,480 showing us around some properties, 191 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:24,360 and they said this is for sale 192 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,560 and there's rumors that 193 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:28,840 there's really good gold, so we jumped on it. 194 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,400 [narrator] Inspired by stories of huge gold hauls, 195 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:36,159 Ryan subsidized the mine with his construction business. 196 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,200 But now, the falling market has changed his luck. 197 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,480 I have a construction company in Central Oregon. 198 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:47,560 Times are very slow right now, as far as construction goes. 199 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:49,640 There's been a lot of hardship. 200 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:51,480 We're not guaranteed anything right now. 201 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:55,360 To be able to pay my bills and get out of debt, 202 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:56,920 for the last three years, 203 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,120 we decided we were gonna hit this mining operation hard. 204 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,200 [narrator] Originally a weekend mine, 205 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,880 it's now become his lifeline. 206 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,960 This doesn't give me enough money to pay our bills. 207 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,800 I have a family counting on me to find gold, 208 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:13,880 especially my boy, Nolan. 209 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:16,080 I really want to watch my kid prosper. 210 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,760 I want to pass this mine on to Nolan 211 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,320 and let him take control of it one day. 212 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,720 But we can't find gold. 213 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:25,920 This is a big, big week. 214 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,920 Freddy and Juan coming up is gonna 215 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,000 either make us or break us. 216 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:34,640 We got a problem here. 217 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:36,280 [dramatic music playing] 218 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:40,360 It's just boiling over. Nolan, get that bar. 219 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:42,440 [Nolan] Whoa! 220 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,720 Not good. We've got a rock plugged in there, 221 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,480 jammed stuck. It's overflowing with water. 222 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:52,960 Looks like it's clogging up our trommel. 223 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,040 It's not getting down in there. 224 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,280 [narrator] If the jammed rock isn't dislodged in time, 225 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,480 gold could be lost over the side of the hopper. 226 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:03,440 [Ryan] There it goes, there it went. 227 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:05,920 Yeah, you got it. 228 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:10,320 [metal clanging] 229 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:13,720 [Juan speaking] 230 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,200 Juano! 231 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:20,320 [Ryan] I was pretty sure we had a gold nugget 232 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,360 stuck in there for a minute, but it ended up being a rock. 233 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,320 [Nolan] Getting ready to run again. 234 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,200 That was a bit scary for me. 235 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:32,320 What I want to do is, I want to grab a handful of that material 236 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:33,800 coming off the end of the trommel, 237 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:35,160 pan it and see what's in it. 238 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:37,720 You know, it seems to me that there's a lot of material coming out 239 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,720 that should be getting down into the sluice box and getting recovered. 240 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:42,760 [suspenseful music playing] 241 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,640 Oh. [bleep] Juan's got a gold pan in his hand. 242 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:55,120 That makes me nervous. 243 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:57,680 [Juan] The reality is, out of one pan, 244 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,520 all that material should have gone into the sluice box 245 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:01,680 to get recovered. 246 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:03,080 I don't see any gold though. 247 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:05,080 I didn't have any gold in the pan, but still, 248 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:06,520 if we're losing that much material, 249 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:07,920 there's a chance we're losing gold. 250 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:11,520 I took a pan out of the tailings, 251 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:12,720 coming off the end of the trommel. 252 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:15,000 There was a lot of fine material, but there was no gold. 253 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:16,320 How about off the sluice? 254 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:18,760 I haven't done that yet, but I want to take a pan from the pay. 255 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:20,840 -[Freddy] It doesn't look good to me. -[Juan] Yeah, it doesn't. 256 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,600 Doesn't look like anything spectacular. 257 00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:28,480 [narrator] Panning the pay should show gold is going into the wash plant, 258 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:32,320 even if it's being lost out the other end. 259 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:33,640 [Freddy] What are you seeing, Juano? 260 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:35,160 [Juan] Nothing yet, Fred. 261 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,240 [suspenseful music playing] 262 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:42,080 Nothing to speak of. 263 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:43,360 [Freddy] That's not good. 264 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:45,720 Let's go look at their pay where they're digging it. 265 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,840 [narrator] With two hours still left on the test, 266 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,320 Freddy and Juan need to track down the pay. 267 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:57,000 -[Juan] Nice old boiler. -[Freddy] A lot of history here. 268 00:11:57,080 --> 00:11:58,240 -[Juan] Oh, yeah. -[chuckles] 269 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:01,600 [Freddy] That's where he's getting it from. 270 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:04,720 No wonder they're only getting a 10th of an ounce a day. 271 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:06,480 This is all garbage. It's all tailings. 272 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:07,880 Every bit of it's tailings. 273 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:09,840 Yeah. Let's see what you get in this pan. 274 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:11,600 [Juan] There'll be nothing in it. 275 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:14,160 [Freddy] This creek is completely mined out. 276 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:17,640 -Nothing. -[Juan] Not a speck. 277 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:19,320 It's pretty consistent ground. 278 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,160 Pretty consistent garbage. 279 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,360 -That's not good, Freddy. -What do you think? 280 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:25,560 Should we stop 'em? 281 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:27,360 -I think you shut 'em down. -Shut 'em down. 282 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:28,800 Yeah, he's just burning fuel. 283 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:32,280 Let's just call it. 284 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,080 -[suspenseful music playing] -[distant birdcalls] 285 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:47,640 It's not worth running. 286 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,000 No, it's mined out. It's weird that they didn't see that. 287 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,520 But, you know, they haven't been around like us, you know. 288 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,440 [narrator] In the Beaver State of Northeast Oregon, 289 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,480 Freddy and Juan face a mining nightmare. 290 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:03,280 [Freddy] Well, right now, we're in a dilemma. 291 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:04,920 We panned out of their pay pile, 292 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:06,520 that they're calling their pay pile, 293 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,800 which is actually a garbage pile 294 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:10,080 because it's already been run. 295 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:13,600 This whole creek's been mined out, 296 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:16,160 and they're just digging tailings and running them. 297 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:18,360 So they're out of business here. 298 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:21,600 [Freddy] Hey, Nolan. 299 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:23,400 -[Nolan] Huh? -Last bucket. 300 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:24,800 [Ryan] What the... 301 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:26,800 [Nolan] We've got to shut it down. 302 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:28,640 [narrator] After just two hours, 303 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:31,480 -Freddy and Juan pull the plug. -[motor stops running] 304 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,800 [Freddy] The reason why we shut you down at two hours instead of going four... 305 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,760 -Right. -Everything here's tailings. 306 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,040 It's not virgin. It's been run multiple times. 307 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,960 This whole 13-acres as far as placer goes... 308 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:48,760 -It's dead. -It's dead. 309 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:50,880 -Nothing. Yeah, not even worth it. -[Freddy] Mm-mm. 310 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,280 The hill you own over there, that's all tails. 311 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:55,200 -Yeah. -[Freddy] On the lower part of it. 312 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:58,120 Everything. Everything here is tailings. It's all been run. 313 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,440 They hit her side to side and upside down. 314 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:02,240 We hate to be the bearer of bad news. 315 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,680 -[Ryan] Yeah -But the truth is, right now it's not worth it. 316 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:06,560 [Ryan] Yeah, we want honesty. 317 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:09,760 Definitely not what we want to hear. 318 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,120 Kind of like a kick in the gut. 319 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,200 We don't have good ground. 320 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,440 There's nothing we can do about it. 321 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:20,720 [Nolan] My father's invested a lot of money and time to come up here 322 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,040 and try to get things going for me, 323 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:24,760 and he tries to hand it off to me, 324 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:27,880 but if there's nothing to hand off, then, um, 325 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,120 there's no sense in being up here and wasting my time. 326 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:35,640 [Freddy] What's your thoughts, Juan? 327 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:38,480 Well, Freddy, you know, that ground is completely played out. 328 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,360 -[Freddy] Mm-hmm. -You know, and we took pans 329 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:42,080 and, uh, not a speck of gold. 330 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:43,880 -It was all tailings. -Every piece of it. 331 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:45,920 I think it had been run more than once. 332 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,320 That sluice box is probably the worst we've ever seen. 333 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:50,720 -[Freddy] It's a disaster, that sluice box. -[Juan chuckles] Yeah. 334 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,200 [Freddy] The bottom of it's shaped like a banana. 335 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:54,680 You can't hold the riffles down. 336 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:56,160 Even if there was gold there, 337 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:57,560 the gold would just shoot right under the riffles. 338 00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,360 Oh, this is the first sluice box we've ever seen 339 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,240 where the riffles are actually just for show. 340 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:03,800 -They're not doing anything. -[both laugh] 341 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:05,320 -Show riffles. [laughs] -Yeah. 342 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:09,840 Yeah, Well, all we can do is put our heads together and figure this out. 343 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,320 -But I think we're in a pretty tough spot here, bud. -I agree. 344 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:14,400 [distant birdcalls] 345 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,440 [pleasant music playing] 346 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:22,560 [distant bird cawing] 347 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:26,160 Good morning, guys. 348 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,560 -Good morning. -[Freddy] How's it going? 349 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:31,000 That's the flattest spot I could find to weigh it. 350 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,880 [narrator] To get a true read on the ground, 351 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,600 Freddy and Juan want to weigh the two-hour test cleanup. 352 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:38,840 [Juan] How are we looking? 353 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:41,080 [Ryan] Yeah, it's a little light. 354 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,360 -[Freddy] Little light? -I don't think there's much but fly poop in there. 355 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:48,120 [Freddy] That's all pyrite. 356 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,120 -[Ryan] Yeah. -[Freddy] That's a nightmare. 357 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,160 [Ryan] Yeah, that is a nightmare for us. 358 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,960 [Freddy] There is 10-cents worth of gold, 20-cents worth of gold. 359 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:56,920 Yeah, right. 360 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:58,560 So there's no use weighing that. 361 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:00,640 I don't think my scale can even weigh it. 362 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,280 This will be the first cleanup we don't attempt to weigh, 363 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,200 -because this scale here... -Won't weigh that little. 364 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:08,200 [Freddy] No. 365 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,000 But right now, you just got to stop. 366 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:11,160 [Ryan] Okay. 367 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:14,520 I don't know what to do. Yeah. 368 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:16,680 You guys can tell us what we should do. 369 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,480 You know, this may not be the property that you're gonna be on forever. 370 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,160 -Right. -[Juan] So, let's put our heads together 371 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:25,480 and come up with a game plan and we'll go from there. 372 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,520 [Ryan] Thinking of that, it doesn't make me feel very good. 373 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,240 And I feel like I've let my kid down. 374 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,720 Back to square one, starting over again. 375 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:40,800 Freddy and Juan said that's the worst they've ever seen, 376 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:42,880 which is definitely not what we wanted to hear, 377 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,200 but what we've seen now, 378 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,160 after doing cleanups, there's nothing here for us, 379 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,760 so we've got to pursue something different. 380 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,680 [narrator] With one of the worst gold results on Mine Rescue, 381 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,200 they have just four more days to take the Merritt mine 382 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:03,120 from zero up to one ounce to keep their dream alive. 383 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,000 [Freddy] It's a tough one, Juan. This may break 'em from gold mining. 384 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:07,680 I hope not. What are your thoughts? 385 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:09,160 My thoughts, I'd go prospecting. 386 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:10,760 Well, really, I honestly think 387 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:12,599 -that's the best use of your time here. -Yeah. 388 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,200 If you can go out and start doing some prospecting, help them out, 389 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:16,680 -that's gonna be first and foremost. -Yeah. 390 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,000 One of the things we can do, Juan, is, 391 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:20,640 -you know, teach Nolan. -Yeah. 392 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:22,880 -Give him our experience and our knowledge. -For a young guy, 393 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,240 -Nolan's heart's already set on being a miner. -Mm-hmm. 394 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:27,119 So let's at least give him some of the tools 395 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:28,680 -that he's gonna need to be able to do that. -That's right. 396 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,480 -Yeah. -We didn't know there was no gold here. 397 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:33,240 No, and... 398 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:35,120 We kind of walked into a hornet's nest is what we did. 399 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,200 [suspenseful music playing] 400 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,640 [narrator] First lesson for greenhorn Nolan, 401 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:47,480 learn how to prospect. 402 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:49,880 [Freddy] So even without seeing your cut up here, 403 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:51,720 -I knew it was all tailings. -[Nolan] All right. 404 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:53,160 [Freddy] Looking at the tree growth, 405 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:56,320 everything we're walking on, everything you see here has been ran. 406 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:59,920 Well, how can you tell by the tree growth that it's been mined? 407 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,000 [Freddy] Because all the trees in the valley here, 408 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:04,560 where the placer gold was, 409 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,120 -they're all younger trees, you know, 30, 40 years old. -Right. 410 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:09,840 You've got old growth up on the hill 411 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:11,320 where they didn't mine the gold, right? 412 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:13,760 And there's probably trees up there that are a 100 years old. 413 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,000 -[Nolan] Right. -[Freddy] But not down in the valley. Yep. 414 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,400 So, you can see, this is where your cut was the other day, right? 415 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:23,440 [Nolan] Yeah. 416 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:24,800 [Freddy] Why don't you grab the trackhoe 417 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:26,520 and let's dig a little trench right here? 418 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:27,600 Okay. 419 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:30,040 [narrator] A trench will expose 420 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,880 the geological timeline of the ground 421 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,760 and show if it's been previously mined. 422 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:37,560 [Freddy] Nolan! 423 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:41,200 Come on down here, buddy. 424 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:45,960 You guys thought it was virgin ground. 425 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:47,040 [Nolan] Up here, right. 426 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:48,960 Right. No, it's... It's not. 427 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,360 So, if it was virgin material, 428 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,400 you'd have layers of material, right, 429 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:55,880 that have rhyme and reason to them. 430 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,000 Your flat rocks would be laying flat from water, right? 431 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:01,240 Because when they get in water, they're gonna lay flat, right? 432 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:03,120 Like my hand. They're not gonna lay like that, right? 433 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:04,840 -And it's gonna be tight-packed. -Okay. 434 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:06,800 [Freddy] You see how water is running through it? 435 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,080 -[Nolan] Yeah. -[Freddy] If it was tight-packed, 436 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:09,960 -it'd running on the surface. -[Nolan] Okay. 437 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,080 And you're gonna have different layers from different eras. 438 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:14,440 -Right? -[Nolan] Right. 439 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:16,800 The stream flowed here, slow for a while, you get a sand layer. 440 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:18,320 It's faster, you've got more rocks in it. 441 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:19,960 They're just all jumbled up 442 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,160 -and you see how easy it is digging. -[Nolan] Right. 443 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:26,600 They had hundreds of thousands of years to become a puzzle, all locked together. 444 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:28,720 Now the puzzle is just in pieces everywhere, 445 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:30,520 and all the gold taken out of it. 446 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,080 -But right now, this is just pure tailings. -Right. 447 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,880 And I bet the old-timers probably hit it in the 1800s. 448 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,840 But somebody else has mined it since then with heavy equipment, 449 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,000 probably in the 1980s, looking at the trees. 450 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:43,800 But what we could do is we could knock this tree down here, 451 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:45,720 get a chainsaw and look at the rings in it. 452 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:47,800 [dramatic music playing] 453 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,640 [tree creaking] 454 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,000 [Freddy] Perfect, bud. You wanna go grab a chainsaw? 455 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:57,240 [Nolan] Yes, sir. 456 00:19:57,320 --> 00:19:58,800 [chainsaw buzzing] 457 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:01,400 [Freddy] You see how easy that fell over? 458 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:03,280 -[Nolan] Yeah. -[Freddy] 'Cause there's loose soil, right? 459 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:05,280 [Nolan] Right. 460 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:08,160 Perfect. Let's bring it out here in the sun and count rings. 461 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,280 -Forty-four. -Forty-four years ago. 462 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:20,920 -Yep. -That was when it was last done. 463 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:22,440 Well, that's when that tree started growing, 464 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:25,840 probably a few years after they were done mining when it started growing. 465 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:27,960 So, you know, 44 years... 466 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,760 -Nineteen... -'79, let's call it? 467 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:30,880 -Yeah. -1980. 468 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:33,400 -I was guessing 1980s, so right in there. -Yeah. 469 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:35,080 But whoever mined it did a good job. 470 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:36,640 They stripped it pretty clean of gold. 471 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,040 The only gold they lost was the hardest-to-catch gold. 472 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,440 [narrator] With their placer mining dead in the water, 473 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,960 Freddy explores their only other option on this land. 474 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:50,000 Hard-rock mining. 475 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,920 [Freddy] I've seen a vein over here when I was wandering yesterday. 476 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,400 We can look at it because that's your only shot here. 477 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,680 -[Nolan] We'll go up over this way. -[Freddy] Okay. 478 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:01,360 [narrator] Hard-rock prospecting 479 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,160 involves searching for underground veins 480 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,520 rich in deposits of high-grade gold. 481 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,040 It's a prosperous but perilous form of mining. 482 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:13,720 With miners digging deep shafts, 483 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,640 then punching tunnels into the mountainside 484 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,280 to chase the gold-bearing veins. 485 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,520 [Freddy] You can tell the old-timers punched into the mountain here, 486 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:25,960 -and they didn't do it for their health, right? -[Nolan] Right. 487 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:27,760 [Freddy] So they found something on the surface, 488 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:30,920 and then they started in to see if it was gonna be good enough gold. 489 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,000 Did they mine it out? 490 00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:35,280 -Or is there a whack of gold still living in there? -Yeah. 491 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:36,760 -There's only one way to find out. -Right. 492 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:38,480 Have a look at it. 493 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:49,920 -[grim music playing] -[birds chirping] 494 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,480 [Freddy] I don't know, Juano. It's not good. 495 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,240 [Juan] No. 496 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,200 [Freddy] They are screwed as far as the placer goes. 497 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,880 [narrator] At Ryan Merritt's Mammoth Mine... 498 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:04,440 [Juan] It's in somebody else's bank account now. 499 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:06,160 [Freddy] Mm-hmm. 500 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,600 [narrator] ...the placer deposit has played out. 501 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,480 So Freddy is on the hunt for hard rock, 502 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,400 and the flooded shaft might be the answer. 503 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,240 So how the old-timers would find the hard-rock gold, 504 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:19,120 which can be the richest, 505 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:20,440 they'd start with the placer gold 506 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:21,960 and they'd pan their way up a creek valley, 507 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,280 and then when it ended, they'd back up, 508 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,800 and then they'd start looking up the mountain for the hard rock. 509 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:28,960 There's a reason they stopped mining it, though, right? 510 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:30,640 Was that because gold prices went down? 511 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,520 Was that because the claim owner passed away? 512 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,160 Or maybe they got to a depth where the ore played out, you know. 513 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:38,280 There could be a lot of factors. 514 00:22:38,360 --> 00:22:40,680 [dramatic music playing] 515 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:43,280 [narrator] To find out more... 516 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:44,720 Well, thanks for driving for me. 517 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:46,880 Oh, not a problem, man. I'm sorry you're hurt. 518 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:51,360 [narrator] Freddy seeks out some local knowledge in nearby Sumpter. 519 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:52,520 Right here, isn't it? 520 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,560 Uh, yeah, this is it. 521 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:58,400 [Freddy] How's it going, Greg? 522 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:00,680 -Hey, Fred. How are you? -[Freddy] I appreciate your time. 523 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:02,080 Hey, thank you. 524 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,000 [narrator] Ex-Mayor Greg Lucas 525 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,320 has access to the county records, 526 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,480 so is the go-to guy for the mining history of the area. 527 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,760 [Freddy] It sounds like you probably know more about it than anybody in town. 528 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,200 So what information can you help me out with on this mine route? 529 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:19,880 It was actually founded 530 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,000 through the placering process, about 1872. 531 00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,960 -Okay. -They were working their way up the creek, 532 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,520 they got to a point where there was no more placer gold. 533 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:30,680 -Mm-hmm. -Backtracked, 534 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:32,760 and that's where they found the hard rock. 535 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,840 -Yeah. -The original founder was James Reilly. 536 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:38,920 Um, he had some partners. 537 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:40,920 They worked the lode 538 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,560 and got what was easily available. 539 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:48,160 But that mine has had boom and bust over the years. 540 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:49,800 [Freddy] From what I can tell, 541 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,800 the placer has been completely mined out on that property. 542 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,880 When was the last time the hard rock was mined on it, do you know? 543 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,080 My best guess is 544 00:23:58,160 --> 00:23:59,920 -back in the 1930s. -Yeah. 545 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,120 -Before World War II. -Yes. 546 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,000 There's about 300 feet of tunnel, 547 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,080 -almost all of them filled up with water. -Mm-hmm. 548 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:09,120 When I was a kid, it wasn't full of water. 549 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:10,280 Okay. 550 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,320 There's at least two shafts in at least two levels. 551 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,560 And they discovered another vein 552 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,800 that ran about 200 feet, 18 inches 553 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,280 into the rock from the main tunnel. 554 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:24,400 So the potential is there. 555 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:26,840 It's just that hard rock's an expensive game. 556 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:29,080 -It is. -Especially on one that's been full of water 557 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:30,760 for a long time and everything else. 558 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:32,960 -Yeah. -All we can do is have a look in there. 559 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:34,200 -Yeah. -See what it looks like. 560 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,400 -See if it's not caved in or anything and then... -Mm-hmm. 561 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,000 And then maybe try to get that water out of there. 562 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:40,080 [Greg] Yeah. 563 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:41,880 [Freddy] Well, I sure appreciate your time, sir. 564 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:43,440 -[Greg] You're welcome, Fred. -Have a great day. 565 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,720 [Greg] Good luck. 566 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,360 [Freddy] That mineshaft is the last chance for this piece of property. 567 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:50,880 From the surface, it's a guessing game. 568 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:52,160 What's in there? 569 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:54,880 I wanna see underground. 570 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,160 [birds squawking] 571 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,480 [birds chirping] 572 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:12,360 -[Freddy] Thanks for coming up. -My pleasure. 573 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:14,480 -Let's go over and... -It's pretty cool to see this. 574 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,480 Well, let's hope we can find something for you. 575 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,120 [narrator] To explore the flooded mineshaft, 576 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,560 Freddy calls in some high tech. 577 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,160 [Tristan] So this here, we've got our underwater ROV. 578 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:29,160 And on the front, we've got a 4K camera. 579 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,000 Along with a sonar on here as well. 580 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,880 We've got six thrusters, two on the top to bring us down 581 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,840 and then four on the side so we can move in any direction. 582 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:39,040 [narrator] Mountain springs have flooded the shaft 583 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:41,520 on the west of the Merritt's claim, 584 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:42,880 where there's an entrance 585 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,160 to an abandoned hard-rock mine, 586 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,480 first excavated in the 1870s, 587 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,360 with records suggesting a network of tunnels 588 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,840 stretching over 300 feet long 589 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,160 and on different levels up to 80 feet deep. 590 00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,000 If structurally sound, 591 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,760 they could be pumped out and explored 592 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,400 for highly profitable hard-rock mining. 593 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,200 I'm excited about getting down in there 594 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:09,800 with the underwater drone 595 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,760 and seeing what could be under there, because that could be the future. 596 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:14,440 [Ryan] Find the gold. 597 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:15,720 [Freddy] There it goes. 598 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:25,000 How deep can you go down? 599 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,360 So this unit here will go down to a 1,000 feet deep. 600 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,040 So right now I'm just trying to find the access. 601 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,520 We're able to see that there is rock formation right there. 602 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:39,800 And then as we get closer to the walls, 603 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:41,680 we'll be able to see more. 604 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,040 [Ryan] I'm hoping to see at least an entrance 605 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:46,680 or some kind of timbering in there 606 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:48,920 that's gonna give us hope to, you know, 607 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,800 carry on our dream of mining up here still. 608 00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:55,320 [Ryan] It's murky. 609 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:57,440 Yep, I was afraid of that. 610 00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:59,200 But you never know until you try, right? 611 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:00,760 [Tristan] Absolutely. 612 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,800 We may be able to go a little bit deeper here. 613 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:08,800 [Ryan] Looks like we got something, huh? 614 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:10,800 [Tristan] Yeah, it looks like we've got something right in there. 615 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:12,440 [Freddy] That's pretty cool, huh? 616 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:15,720 Some timbers. 617 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,440 [Tristan] It looks like I can see the timbers right there. 618 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:22,520 [narrator] The timbers form the opening to an old-timer's tunnel. 619 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:24,760 [Tristan] We can see the entrance here. We just can't get in there. 620 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:26,360 Unfortunately can't get in. 621 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:28,480 Yeah, full mud, it looks like, huh? 622 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:31,600 It's definitely full of something. 623 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:33,400 Hopefully gold. 624 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,240 But you definitely are seeing some evidence of a tunnel. 625 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,960 It could be the original mine timbers in there still. 626 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,080 We're butting right up against it. 627 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:44,480 -There's no access. -Yeah. 628 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:48,720 Unfortunately, I think it's just caved in. 629 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,120 This is not good news. 630 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:53,640 [Freddy] That's a shame. 631 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,040 We'll have to hit it another direction. 632 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:58,480 [narrator] The tunnel opening is caved in. 633 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:02,240 Meaning it's inaccessible for Ryan. 634 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,600 His last hope is flooded out. 635 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,400 [Ryan] To pump the water out of the mineshafts underground, 636 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:13,960 it really is lots of money. 637 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,240 There's nothing we can do about it. 638 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,520 I got to try different avenues now, I think. 639 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,080 The hard rock they've got here, 640 00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:21,600 it looks like it's a nightmare. 641 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,040 We couldn't get that ROV in the mineshaft 642 00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:25,840 because it's evidently caved in, 643 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,720 so it's not the end of their dream. 644 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:30,000 At least I hope not. 645 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,480 -[grim music playing] -[birds calling] 646 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,320 -You know, this has been one of our nightmares, right? -Mm-hmm. 647 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,560 You know, coming up to a mine site where there's no gold. 648 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,360 [Freddy] It's a disaster. 649 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,760 They are screwed as far as the placer goes. 650 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:50,920 That ground is completely played out. 651 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:54,000 And the hard rock, it's just a nightmare 652 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:55,800 because it's caved in. 653 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,800 So we're really gonna have to come up with something to help him up. 654 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,160 [contemplative music playing] 655 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:20,160 [Freddy] What's your thoughts, Juan? 656 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,640 We're here, we need to take advantage of the time we have here. 657 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:24,280 Let's fix the plant. 658 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,560 So that when he does move to the next spot, he'll have the plant. 659 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:29,360 -To be able to run that ground. -Mm-hmm. I agree. 660 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:31,240 [narrator] In Northeast Oregon, 661 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,680 with no mineable ground left on the Merritt's claim, 662 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,280 Freddy and Juan hatch a plan. 663 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:38,720 [Juan] What I'd like to do on the wash plant, 664 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,520 -I want to build a straight... -[Freddy] A whole new sluice. 665 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:41,640 -A whole new sluice. -That's garbage. 666 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:42,840 It's completely bowed. 667 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:44,920 It's got problems. So let's build a whole new sluice. 668 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:46,800 -Get rid of those riffle system... -Yeah. 669 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,080 -...they got in there. -Get proper riffles in it. 670 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,680 And then, on top of that, over here on the trommel, 671 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:53,280 he's got a spray bar that comes in 672 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,440 and it's just shooting one little spot on the bottom 673 00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:56,920 -that the material is not even getting hit. -Mm-hmm. 674 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,920 So what I'd like to do is build a proper spray bar for it as well. 675 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:01,760 Yeah, I agree. We're here. He asked for our help. 676 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:03,440 He's gonna have to move. 677 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,920 So, we've got to get out and find them some better ground. 678 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:07,600 Maybe not on this piece of property, but... 679 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,280 It won't be on this property, but they're great guys, 680 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:12,480 and I totally respect what he's trying to do. 681 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,040 So as far as cost goes, I don't want to charge him anything. 682 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:17,000 He's already hemorrhaging money. 683 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,600 Right now, he's spending a dollar to make a dime. 684 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:21,880 Yeah. He's already got a ton of money tied into this operation. 685 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,360 -I agree. -I think we just do this to help him out. 686 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,520 Hopefully, you know, he can keep on his legacy, 687 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,840 build his legacy and be able to do what he wants to do. 688 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,280 [narrator] With the hope of Freddy finding new ground to mine, 689 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:38,960 Juan will replace the spray bar with an angled system. 690 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,080 To better wash pay dirt off the rock, 691 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,120 and we'll cut away the existing buckled sluice 692 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:49,160 and replace with a new box and signature riffle systems. 693 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:54,480 [Juan] I came up with a few ideas. 694 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,600 The plant, there's a bunch of things that are just 695 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:57,960 completely wrong with it. 696 00:30:58,000 --> 00:30:59,600 [Freddy] Fixing the plant up. 697 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:01,840 If you've got more ground later, 698 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:03,800 then you've got a plant that'll catch the gold. 699 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:05,440 -[Juan] Yeah, sluice box is just trashed. -Yeah. 700 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:06,720 -[Ryan] Absolutely. -[Juan] We're gonna throw that away. 701 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:08,240 We're gonna build you a whole new one, 702 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:11,040 and we're gonna set it up properly to be able to catch the nuggets, 703 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,880 fine gold whatever you come into, we'll be able to catch it. 704 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,320 -And spray bar-- -Right now that spray bar you have on the end of it, 705 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:18,080 it's pretty much going into nothing. 706 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:19,840 Freddy wants to really spend some time 707 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,320 and go out and do some real prospecting. 708 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:23,600 If you don't have gold in the ground, the plant's no good. 709 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:25,560 -Yeah. -[Juan] So I think for the next few days, 710 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:26,880 the biggest push is to be able to go out there 711 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:28,600 and see if Freddy can find some decent ground. 712 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:30,640 Okay. 713 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:33,440 We know this is something that you guys want to really do, 714 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:35,640 and you guys already spent a lot of time out here. 715 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:37,280 And with the gold, the way we saw 716 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,040 you know, we don't feel right by taking any money. 717 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:40,040 -Wow -[Juan] So what we're gonna do, 718 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:41,360 we're gonna do 100% free. 719 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:42,880 We're going to do it for nothing. 720 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:44,560 -[Juan] Yeah. -Wow. 721 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:45,760 Just get it done for you guys. 722 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,080 -But if you guys are good with that... -We're awesome. 723 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:49,160 -Yeah. I mean-- -Appreciate it. 724 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:50,280 -That sounds-- -Let's get it done. 725 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:51,360 [Ryan] Yeah. Deal. 726 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,520 Them willing to make the fixes for free 727 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:56,520 is super, super awesome for my dad, 728 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,360 even 'cause, as you know, we're running out of funds. 729 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,080 So, yeah, that's gonna be super awesome. 730 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,600 Biggest thing is having a plant that we can go run, 731 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:07,080 you know, successfully. 732 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,880 Them willing to come up here and volunteer their time 733 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:12,920 and their own hard earned money to fix up our plant. 734 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,680 I think that's an amazing thing you for us. 735 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,160 [narrator] First up, Freddy must find ground 736 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,160 in this valley for the Merritt's to mine. 737 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,080 [Freddy] You know, this area's been hit pretty hard, 738 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:25,480 but there's still some good gold here. 739 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:26,600 You just got to search for it. 740 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:31,960 What we need to do is put our detective eyes on 741 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:34,080 and go looking around here. 742 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:35,800 Make some phone calls. 743 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:38,120 Now it's turned into more of a treasure hunt. 744 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:43,880 [narrator] Since 1862, the mountains of northeast Oregon 745 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:48,360 have witnessed thousands of prospectors searching for gold. 746 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:52,560 By 1913, massive floating dredges raked in 747 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:59,640 over 32,000 ounces of gold worth over 60 million dollars today. 748 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,320 But a patchwork of land ownership in this region, 749 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,800 has left specific areas less hit than others. 750 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,200 So Freddy hopes to track down one of these claims. 751 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,880 That still may have worth in the ground. 752 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,640 [Freddy] So the number one fix that we have to do for them 753 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,640 is to find them some more ground with gold on it. 754 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:23,280 If not, these guys are done. 755 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:28,360 [motor whirring] 756 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:36,320 [narrator] At the claim, Juan gets stuck into the old sluice 757 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:38,840 with helpers Travis and Alex. 758 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:40,160 [thuds] 759 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:41,200 [Alex] That was a rock. 760 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:42,840 -[Juan] You all right, buddy? -I'm good. 761 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:44,240 It's just my bad knee. 762 00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:48,920 You know, it would looked bad 763 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:50,000 before when it was on the plant. 764 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:51,840 Now that we got it off, it looks really bad. 765 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:52,880 [chuckles] 766 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,080 [narrator] Seven miles south, 767 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:02,160 Freddy's gold mining contacts might have struck it rich. 768 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:04,080 [Freddy] I just talked with a claim owner, 769 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:05,880 half hour from the mine 770 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:09,320 Over some ground. It's got a good gold on it that Ryan can lease. 771 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:10,600 So I'm going to see it with Ryan, right? 772 00:34:10,679 --> 00:34:12,800 Because good gold is not what they have 773 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:14,159 up there on that 13 acers. 774 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,159 Once upon a time probably had good gold, 775 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:20,880 but it's been gone over with a fine toothed comb, and then some. 776 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:25,080 [narrator] Downstream from the Mammoth mine is a 70-acre claim 777 00:34:25,159 --> 00:34:27,760 that Freddy is taking Ryan to. 778 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,960 Its owner is looking for a miner to install a wash plant 779 00:34:32,040 --> 00:34:35,920 and line the ground season by season on a profit sharing lease. 780 00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:39,600 The old timers hit this. 781 00:34:42,199 --> 00:34:44,400 -You can see the tailings here. -Right? 782 00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:45,880 [Freddy] So there's definitely gold here. 783 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:48,480 Let's hope they didn't get all of it here as well. 784 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:50,760 That's all we can hope for. 785 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,159 [narrator] If there is gold in this ground, 786 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:56,400 Ryan can move his upgraded wash plant here. 787 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,480 And give the owner a percentage of the gold he finds 788 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,040 each season as the leasehold payment. 789 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:07,600 -[Freddy] How's it going? -Good. How you doing? 790 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:09,000 -[Freddy] Doing all right. -[Ryan] How you doing? 791 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:12,200 -[imperceptible] -[narrator] Jim Eckstein's found gold on his land 792 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,800 and wants someone to mine it for him. 793 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:17,640 [Freddy] That's pretty gold. 794 00:35:17,720 --> 00:35:19,400 -And you're wanting to lease your ground out. -[Jim] Yeah. 795 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:21,960 That's what we're looking for, right there. 796 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:25,480 Well, your property probably was like that before they mined all the gold out of it. 797 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:27,640 How many yards that come out of? 798 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:29,120 Uh, six tractor buckets? 799 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,800 So that's about 600 times better than your gold. 800 00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:33,040 Let me show you where this came from, Freddy. 801 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,040 [Freddy] You have a beautiful place here, Jim? 802 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:38,360 [Jim] Uh, thanks. 803 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,160 I was digging a hole looking for water for my pasture. 804 00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:42,320 -[Freddy] Okay. -[Jim chuckles] I found gold. 805 00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:48,160 So how deep is the bedrock under here, Jim? 806 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:50,320 It's about probably, Freddy... [sighs] 807 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,760 Probably another four foot farther down. 808 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:54,360 [Freddy] Okay. 809 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,440 So most of this up here probably won't contain much gold. 810 00:35:58,120 --> 00:35:59,520 Now we get farther down. 811 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:01,720 You see how we've got tight material, right? 812 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:03,080 Yeah. Compact. 813 00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:06,400 So this is a whole different ball game compared to what you got. 814 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:08,920 Your deposit there's no rhyme or reason to it. 815 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,360 It's how it got put back by man. 816 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:12,880 -Not how it was left there by nature. -[Ryan] Okay. 817 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,280 [Freddy] You can tell this was left here by nature 818 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:16,680 and not put there by man. 819 00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:18,200 It's compact, it's tight. 820 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:19,360 This is all virgin. 821 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:21,360 Yeah, after looking at this... 822 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,400 -[Freddy] Completely different. Yup. -[Ryan] Completely different. 823 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:25,160 -Mine is man-made. -[Freddy] Yep. 824 00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:27,120 And I'm seeing it now. 825 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,360 -I wish you'd have known that months and months ago. -[Ryan] Yeah, that-- 826 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,320 So it would have saved you thousands and thousands of dollars, right? 827 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,040 -[Ryan] Yes. Absolutely. -But if you come over here, 828 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:37,880 if there's good gold here, it's a second chance. 829 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:40,800 Proof's in the pan, right? 830 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:00,880 [Freddy] You've got lots of heavies in it. 831 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,040 -That can be a good sign or a bad sign. -[Ryan] Good sigh? Yeah? 832 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:07,640 [narrator] In northeast Oregon, 833 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:10,400 Ryan Merritt's gold mining future 834 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,880 rests on a pan from the new ground Freddy has found. 835 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:16,720 Well, I've seen a piece of gold there. 836 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:19,320 Look at that. 837 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,360 And a couple of them are decent size too. 838 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:25,640 One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. 839 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:29,440 Nine, 10, 11, 12. 840 00:37:29,520 --> 00:37:31,600 -And there might be more. -[Ryan] What's that mean, Freddy? 841 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:33,960 -That means [bleep] mine it. -[Ryan] All right. 842 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:36,840 That's more gold in the one pan 843 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:38,440 than we did out of 30 yards at your mine. 844 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:40,440 -So look here. -[Ryan chuckles] Yeah. 845 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:41,720 -I like it. -[Freddy] I'm saying that's a good pan. 846 00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:43,400 That's a dang good pan, right there. 847 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:45,120 The way the topography is here, 848 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:47,600 there could be a whack of it. 849 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:49,640 -[Ryan] Okay. -[Freddy] And this one's easier to get to 850 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:50,800 -than where you're at. -[Ryan] Absolutely. 851 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:51,720 -[Freddy] Right? -Yeah. 852 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:53,520 -I'd say... -[Ryan] You say mine it-- 853 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:54,760 ...say this is your future. 854 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,200 Seeing that gold in that pan puts a whole new perspective 855 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:01,640 on Ryan's future, is what it does. 856 00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:03,600 Gives him a spot that he can mine. 857 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,400 All I can say is smiles, ear to ear. 858 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,720 Well, Jim looks like you got some mineable ground here. 859 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:11,080 -[Jim] Oh, good. -Are we in? 860 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:12,440 -Yep. -[Ryan] All right. 861 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,880 [narrator] In exchange for a percentage of recovered gold, 862 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:18,680 Ryan has new ground he could lease. 863 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:21,560 And a gold mining future for him and Nolan. 864 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:23,440 That's great news. 865 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,440 I mean, that's the best news I've heard all year. [laughs] 866 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:30,760 [Juan] Well, let's get to work. 867 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:33,400 [narrator] Back near the claim 868 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:36,440 Juan redesigned a new sluice run. 869 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:38,920 We're gonna build them 100% new sluice box. 870 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,440 One thing that's kind of special about it is we're gonna put ribs on it. 871 00:38:41,520 --> 00:38:44,720 If you look at the sluice box that they have, it's completely twisted. 872 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:45,840 The bottom is not flat. 873 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:47,400 And that's because it has no support. 874 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:50,120 So right here these are ribs. 875 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:51,520 And these are gonna go on the side 876 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:54,320 and on the bottom to reinforce the bottom pan and the side walls. 877 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:57,800 So that way we'll actually keep the bottom of the box true and flat. 878 00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:01,320 I'm gonna hand them over to Travis and Alex. 879 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,800 We'll get them all cleaned up so we can start putting this box together. 880 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:13,000 When you cut them on a plasma table, 881 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:14,920 you get a little bit of a ridge. 882 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:15,960 You just want to flat them off. 883 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:17,560 That way they're nice and flat and flush. 884 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:19,960 Trying to knock off all the big chunks. 885 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:22,160 It's easier for Alex to polish them up. 886 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:24,680 That was the last rib right there. 887 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:25,920 All the ribs are now polished. 888 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:27,200 The ribs need to be welded on. 889 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:32,520 Perfect. 890 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:33,760 All right, guys, we'll flip it. 891 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:37,600 Oh, yeah, it's only heavy. 892 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:44,720 [Juan] If I fully weld it before the ribs are in, 893 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:47,000 it sometimes has a tendency to move around a little bit. 894 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:48,080 So to keep it stiff 895 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:49,720 from shifting around, we'll put all the ribs in. 896 00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:52,800 [buzzing] 897 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:00,360 We've got all the ribs in place where they need to go, 898 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:02,080 so we're gonna start getting it all welded up. 899 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:04,400 And I'll get it flipped around and do the full welds. 900 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:13,600 Juan's having me cut some carpets for this sluice box 901 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:16,040 and then some miner's moss. 902 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:18,120 So one more step closer to getting it installed. 903 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,600 When you weld, you get all these BBs here that are stuck to the floor. 904 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:28,600 So I'm just cleaning these up. 905 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:35,800 [Freddy] How's it going, Juan? 906 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:37,440 [Juan] Oh, we're just about done, Fred. 907 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:39,760 Looks good. It's a stout sluice box there, Buddy. 908 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:41,160 -[Juan] Come out pretty good. -[Freddy] Yeah. 909 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:42,880 Well, that ground we looked at at Jim's, 910 00:40:43,720 --> 00:40:45,680 that uh, Ryan can lease. 911 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,040 Look good, took one pan of it is all. 912 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:49,800 But there was 12 colors in the pan. 913 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:51,040 [Juan] And that's what he needs, you know, 914 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:52,320 so he has other options. 915 00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:53,840 You know, he can keep his dream alive. 916 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:55,400 Well, we're doing this one. 917 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:56,640 We're going to get a dump truck 918 00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:59,120 and take a couple loads of that new material at Jim's... 919 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:00,280 -[Juan] Up to the plant? -...up to the plant. 920 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:01,560 -Perfect. -Yeah, and see what's in it. 921 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:02,680 That's a great idea. 922 00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:04,400 I'll get this finished up and we'll get it up top. 923 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:05,400 -[Freddy] Got it. -All right, Buddy. 924 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:06,800 -See you in a bit. -See you in a bit. 925 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,800 I'm really excited for Nolan and Ryan with that ground. 926 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:12,800 And the sluice box set up properly, catching that fine gold. 927 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:14,400 Their dream is still possible now. 928 00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:16,680 So I couldn't be happier. 929 00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:20,680 [narrator] There's one final modification to complete the sluice box 930 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:22,800 before it goes to the claim. 931 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:25,440 [Juan] I'm gonna weld these jacks on the side of the sluice box. 932 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:26,840 I got the box at the right angle, 933 00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:28,200 where we're gonna have it. 934 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:29,840 And then that way, when I weld these on, I can weld them level 935 00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:32,840 so that with the jack legs coming down they're straight. 936 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:33,920 So if you look at it, 937 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,480 it's got the angle of the sluice box coming down. 938 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:41,200 But the jack, perfectly level. 939 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:43,960 If you put the jacks in wrong, it will actually want to push 940 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:46,240 or pull the sluice box away from the plant. 941 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:49,240 So this way we actually just lift up the front of the sluice box. 942 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:51,160 And we're not putting any unnecessary strain 943 00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:53,120 on the pins or on the bolts. 944 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:56,440 Just ready to go. 945 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:57,920 All we got to do is load it up 946 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,120 and get it up to the mine site and get it in place. 947 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:12,760 [Freddy] While we're digging up the material 948 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:14,960 that we panned that looked good, 949 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:18,520 so we'll take some loads up and get it run through the plant 950 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:21,120 and see what kind of gold lives in it. 951 00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:25,440 [narrator] To give Ryan and Nolan a better idea of the profit they could make. 952 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:29,520 The second test run will use pay from the new claim. 953 00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:31,240 I'm excited to see it. 954 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:32,920 I'm excited as well, Freddy. 955 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,240 -I think it's, yeah it's out-- might be our future. -[Freddy] Excited to run this. 956 00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:36,640 -Yeah. -[Ryan] It's on the line. 957 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:37,560 [laughs] 958 00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:42,280 This is a good feeling, knowing that we've actually 959 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:44,560 got some material with some gold to ride. 960 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:48,160 Get that new sluice box on there. 961 00:42:48,240 --> 00:42:49,920 Get your spray-bar cleaned up 962 00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:52,560 and run this material, it's your future's probably here. 963 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:54,320 [Ryan] Cool, that's what we like to hear. 964 00:42:57,040 --> 00:43:00,760 Our probability of catching gold, I think, just went up 100%. 965 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:01,800 We've got a full load. 966 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:03,240 Hopefully, there's gold in there. 967 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:14,080 [Juan] All right. You guys want to get it unstrapped. 968 00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:17,080 Get it all rigged up, and let's walk it over and get it put in. 969 00:43:17,160 --> 00:43:18,280 -[Travis] Sounds good. -[Juan] All right. 970 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:22,280 [narrator] To have any chance of catching gold. 971 00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,720 Juan's 1000 pound sluice needs to be fitted 972 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,760 onto Ryan and Nolan's existing wash plant. 973 00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:30,200 Lift up. 974 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:33,840 Go up just a little bit. 975 00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:35,600 [thuds] There you go 976 00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:37,280 Okay. Go down just a little bit, Nolan. 977 00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:42,440 Good fit. 978 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:44,920 Right there. 979 00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,040 The most important piece of equipment on that site 980 00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:48,440 is that sluice box. 981 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:50,000 If that sluice box is not up to par, 982 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:51,040 you're gonna lose gold. 983 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:02,560 [honking] 984 00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:06,280 [narrator] Sluice box on and with Ryan trucking pay. 985 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:11,600 Juan hits his final fix. 986 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:13,760 [Juan] The spray bar is just one nozzle, and that nozzle, 987 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:15,960 unfortunately, is pointing right at the bottom. 988 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:17,240 The material is off to the side. 989 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:19,280 So what we want to do is concentrate that water 990 00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:21,480 on the material to be able to wash it properly. 991 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:23,400 And get that gold bearing material and gold 992 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:24,640 down into the sluice box. 993 00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:30,440 I'm using PVC because I don't really want to put a bunch 994 00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:32,320 of weight on it by putting a steel bar. 995 00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:34,240 So by putting the PVC's it's going to be a little lighter, 996 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:36,080 we don't have to worry about this breaking or twisting off. 997 00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:38,680 We want to try to keep all the holes in line, 998 00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:42,400 so what we're gonna do is use the measuring tape as a straight edge. 999 00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:44,640 What we'll do is we'll try to drill them at an angle. 1000 00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:46,840 The water's going to shoot that material back 1001 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:48,800 and give them more time inside the trommel. 1002 00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:50,840 [whizzing] 1003 00:44:57,800 --> 00:44:59,360 Right there. It looks pretty good. 1004 00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:01,400 I think we should be set. 1005 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:10,680 This sluice box will last the rest of your life. 1006 00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:12,400 -You've to take care of it. -Okay. 1007 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:15,040 [Nolan] Freddy's gonna show me how to lay out a sluice box. 1008 00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:16,320 Something I've never done before. 1009 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:18,600 So, I usually have my dad do all that work. 1010 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:22,440 But that's probably why we're not catching gold out of the old sluice box. 1011 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:24,440 I want to be up here finding that gold, [chuckles] 1012 00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:28,600 so it's going to be awesome to hear what he has to say. 1013 00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:30,880 [Freddy] There's our carpets, here's our riffles. 1014 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:32,600 So I want you to take the green carpet 1015 00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:33,560 and run it all the way down. 1016 00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:37,000 Start from the top here? 1017 00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:38,640 But I'd start from the bottom. 1018 00:45:38,720 --> 00:45:39,800 [Nolan] Why? 1019 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:43,160 Because how do the shingle s on a roof work? 1020 00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:45,360 -They overlap one another. Right? -[Nolan] Right. 1021 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:47,600 [Freddy] So if you started your shingles at the top, it'd be wrong. 1022 00:45:47,640 --> 00:45:48,920 [Nolan] Right. 1023 00:45:49,000 --> 00:45:50,400 -And that one goes? -[Freddy] That one, right up here. 1024 00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:51,320 -Okay. -[Freddy] Yeah. 1025 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:52,520 Then we'll leave it long, right? 1026 00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:53,960 -[Nolan] Right. -[Freddy] It doesn't matter. 1027 00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:56,120 So now let's put some miners moss up top. 1028 00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:58,760 What does this miners moss do? 1029 00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:00,680 Well, it's got a deeper loop to it. 1030 00:46:00,720 --> 00:46:02,520 So it'll help hold onto that gold. 1031 00:46:03,560 --> 00:46:05,080 So we're going to leave a little gap here. 1032 00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:07,000 [Nolan] For what? 1033 00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:09,400 -Well, it makes a change in the sluice box. -All right. 1034 00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:10,960 Change is good when it comes to gold, 1035 00:46:12,160 --> 00:46:14,440 So let's put our light expanded in the bottom. 1036 00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:16,680 -[Nolan] That's the smaller stuff here. -[Freddy] Yep. 1037 00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:18,880 -So you see how it's bowed? -[Nolan] Right? 1038 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:21,320 [Freddy] So we want to have where it's bowed in the middle down, right? 1039 00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:22,800 That way when we put the boards down, 1040 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:24,280 -it'll pinch it down. All the way through. -Okay 1041 00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:28,280 -This way? -[Freddy] Good. 1042 00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,040 Okay, let's grab our heavy expanded 1043 00:46:30,120 --> 00:46:31,520 and start at the top there, Nolan. 1044 00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:32,680 -[Nolan] Okay. -[Freddy] There you go. 1045 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:33,680 Perfect. 1046 00:46:33,760 --> 00:46:35,880 Okay, now let's lay our boards in. 1047 00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,120 -[Nolan] These, a long one? -[Freddy] So-- Yeah, grab a long one. 1048 00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:41,240 [Nolan] Okay. 1049 00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:43,720 Yeah, my dad always took care of this part, so. 1050 00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:45,880 -Well, it's up to you now. -Right. 1051 00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:47,240 -[Freddy] 'Cause you're the future. -Yeah 1052 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:49,320 So now grab some wedges. 1053 00:46:50,720 --> 00:46:51,560 Here you go, buddy. 1054 00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:55,480 We want those riffles tight into that carpet 1055 00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:57,680 -so that gold can't get underneath them. -[Nolan] Okay? 1056 00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:03,840 [Freddy] Don't hit your thumb. Watch your hands, son. 1057 00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:05,400 I'd your hand out of there. 1058 00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:07,160 Let me show you something. Here. Here. 1059 00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:08,360 So you're holding right here, right? 1060 00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:09,520 If you slip with that hammer. 1061 00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:10,480 -Bam! Broke thumb. -Right. 1062 00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:13,240 So, bang bang, bang bang. 1063 00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:15,760 So just use your hammer 1064 00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:17,600 to do what you were trying to do with your hand. Right? 1065 00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:18,720 -Okay. -Drive it in. 1066 00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:19,600 Right. 1067 00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:23,960 So if you if you break your hand, then what? 1068 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:25,160 -You're out of work, right? -Yeah. 1069 00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:27,320 -Yeah. Then you aren't making any gold? -No. No gold. 1070 00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:29,520 So use that tool. Use it properly. 1071 00:47:33,320 --> 00:47:34,120 There you go. 1072 00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:35,720 Tap those last four and we're done. 1073 00:47:35,800 --> 00:47:36,600 That's it. 1074 00:47:39,600 --> 00:47:41,480 Well, let's make some, man. 1075 00:47:41,520 --> 00:47:42,480 Yes, sir. 1076 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:46,360 It was great. Freddy taught me a lot. 1077 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:48,800 He even showed me some techniques. How to use a hammer. 1078 00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:51,720 So that was super helpful and stuff I haven't learned before. 1079 00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:54,440 So hopefully, I can get that wash plant running 1080 00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:55,720 and start washing some gold. 1081 00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:09,640 Wow. 1082 00:48:09,680 --> 00:48:11,240 That's an improvement. 1083 00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:14,080 I thing it looks like it'll actually catch some gold now. 1084 00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:15,480 Yeah, and it's adjustable. 1085 00:48:15,520 --> 00:48:17,560 So we put the trailer jacks on the end there. 1086 00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:19,720 So that way, if we need to, we can adjust the pitch up and down. 1087 00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:21,520 Okay. 1088 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:23,720 [narrator] Five days ago, Freddy and Juan 1089 00:48:23,800 --> 00:48:27,080 saw a wash plant that ran on empty 1090 00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:29,960 but the real kicker with no gold in the ground, 1091 00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:31,880 it was game over. 1092 00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:36,840 Now the father and son team have hope. 1093 00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:39,560 On top of that, what we did over here. 1094 00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:42,040 We put a little spray bar in there for you. 1095 00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:43,240 -It's real simple. -Oh, wow. 1096 00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,440 -[Juan] We just used some PVC in there. -[Ryan] Yeah. 1097 00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:47,280 But before you had that little fire nozzle, 1098 00:48:47,320 --> 00:48:49,600 and it really wasn't washing material. 1099 00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:51,080 -No, that looks awesome. -Yeah, that's awesome. 1100 00:48:51,160 --> 00:48:52,800 -Oh God, you guys, did it really, really fast-- -We didn't do a whole lot 1101 00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:55,320 to the plant, but the biggest thing we did 1102 00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:57,200 was try to find your gold. 1103 00:48:57,280 --> 00:48:59,800 -Absolutely. -Because no matter what happens to your plant, 1104 00:48:59,880 --> 00:49:01,080 if there's no gold in the ground 1105 00:49:01,160 --> 00:49:03,360 -like this piece of property is mined out. -[Ryan] Yeah. 1106 00:49:03,440 --> 00:49:06,400 So the biggest thing that Juan and myself did for you guys 1107 00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:08,120 and you were involved in it as well 1108 00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:10,160 is to tell you, you're done here. 1109 00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:13,240 And let's go find some gold somewhere else. 1110 00:49:13,280 --> 00:49:15,080 -Absolutely. And it's a hard lesson. -[Freddy] So, and-- 1111 00:49:15,160 --> 00:49:18,560 And we found it. When we tested it we found gold in it. 1112 00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:22,280 So that pile of pay there that we brought from Jim's. 1113 00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:23,880 It's probably your future. 1114 00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:25,320 So with what Juan's taught you 1115 00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:26,320 -and what I've taught you. -Yeah. 1116 00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:27,960 You're just gonna have to move your plant. 1117 00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:30,200 Absolutely. Well, we're prepared to do that. 1118 00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:31,920 Well, there's only one way to find out 1119 00:49:31,960 --> 00:49:33,560 how much gold's in that dirt, Juan? 1120 00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:34,760 -Let's do it. -Let's do a test run. 1121 00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:36,000 -Run it -All right, let's do it. 1122 00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:36,880 Fire it up. 1123 00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:41,200 I'm really excited to start running. 1124 00:49:41,280 --> 00:49:42,800 We've got some new pay up here, 1125 00:49:42,840 --> 00:49:44,080 so I'm hoping we can start 1126 00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:45,600 washing some gold and make some money. 1127 00:49:57,760 --> 00:49:58,960 [motor starts] 1128 00:50:09,240 --> 00:50:10,200 [Freddy shouts] Juan. 1129 00:50:11,400 --> 00:50:12,600 First bucket. 1130 00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:18,400 [narrator] At Ryan Merritt's Mammoth mine... 1131 00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:20,520 Give her hell, Nolan. Let's make some gold. 1132 00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:23,760 [narrator] The second test is underway. 1133 00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:27,360 Running two hours just like the first run. 1134 00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:30,560 It will give Freddy and Juan a chance to see 1135 00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:32,680 how their fixes have worked. 1136 00:50:32,760 --> 00:50:36,000 And whether the new ground really does have gold in it. 1137 00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:39,600 This material is downstream. 1138 00:50:39,640 --> 00:50:41,520 Quite a few miles from where we're at, right? 1139 00:50:41,600 --> 00:50:44,040 That we're running right now, in the second test. 1140 00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:46,840 Well I guarantee that there is decent gold in there. 1141 00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:48,880 Some of the gold that were running from 1142 00:50:48,920 --> 00:50:52,280 five to six miles away came from this property 1143 00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:54,480 before it was mined out years ago. 1144 00:50:54,520 --> 00:50:57,600 So you know, that's pretty cool. 1145 00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:06,280 This looks like some better pay dad brought me 1146 00:51:06,360 --> 00:51:09,480 [Freddy] You know, we've worked with quite a few father and son operation 1147 00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:11,000 over the years, 1148 00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:12,800 these guys get along well? 1149 00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:14,000 Yeah, they work great together. 1150 00:51:14,040 --> 00:51:15,960 [Freddy] Yeah, they're a good team. 1151 00:51:16,040 --> 00:51:18,440 Nolan, the young man has been very respectful. 1152 00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:19,440 -He's a good man. -Yup. 1153 00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:21,120 -He's not afraid to work hard. -[Juan] No. 1154 00:51:21,200 --> 00:51:23,960 Works hard and he's respectful to his father. 1155 00:51:24,040 --> 00:51:25,480 Can't ask for much more than that. 1156 00:51:27,720 --> 00:51:31,040 [narrator] Straight away the new spray bar hits the mark. 1157 00:51:32,600 --> 00:51:33,400 Look at that, Fred. 1158 00:51:36,200 --> 00:51:37,800 -[Freddy] Pretty darn clean. -[Juan] Yup. 1159 00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:38,760 We can take that. 1160 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:41,680 Take that any day of the week, Juan. 1161 00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:43,600 Yep, that's good. 1162 00:51:43,640 --> 00:51:45,480 Freddy the rocks are getting their hair washed now, 1163 00:51:45,560 --> 00:51:46,760 not just their feet. 1164 00:51:47,760 --> 00:51:48,840 [Ryan] Oh, it's doing great. 1165 00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:50,320 Spray bars that they installed, 1166 00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:53,640 it seems to be washing in the gravel. Awesome. 1167 00:51:53,720 --> 00:51:56,800 I haven't seen any gold yet, but I know it's in the box. 1168 00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:58,320 And it'll be a good cleanup today. 1169 00:52:03,440 --> 00:52:06,120 [Freddy] It's little lean on water. 1170 00:52:06,160 --> 00:52:09,600 [narrator] Not enough water in the sluice could reduce 1171 00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:12,080 the amount of gold the mats can hold. 1172 00:52:12,160 --> 00:52:13,840 Go down a little bit, huh? 1173 00:52:15,560 --> 00:52:16,840 [Juan] I'll get on that side real quick. 1174 00:52:20,200 --> 00:52:21,840 -On four. One, half. -[Juan] One-- 1175 00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:24,240 [narrator] Freddy and Juan dropped the angle of the sluice 1176 00:52:24,280 --> 00:52:28,320 to increase the speed of water and helped the gold get lodged 1177 00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:29,680 in the mats below. 1178 00:52:29,720 --> 00:52:31,680 -[Freddy] Three. -[Juan] Three. 1179 00:52:31,720 --> 00:52:32,920 -[Freddy] Four. -[Juan] Four. 1180 00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:35,240 -[Freddy] Five. -[Juan] Five. 1181 00:52:37,880 --> 00:52:38,960 Much better. 1182 00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:42,080 Spot right there is good. 1183 00:52:42,160 --> 00:52:43,680 -[Juan] Take a look at the box, huh? -[Freddy] Yeah. 1184 00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:46,560 That feels really good, right? 1185 00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:48,760 -[Freddy] Yeah. -[Juan] I like it. 1186 00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:52,520 You know, it was a little lean on water, 1187 00:52:52,600 --> 00:52:53,480 so we had to increase the pitch. 1188 00:52:53,560 --> 00:52:54,920 But it feels really good. 1189 00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:56,520 Yeah, for the amount of material is running 1190 00:52:56,600 --> 00:52:57,960 -in front is just fine. -I like it. 1191 00:53:01,240 --> 00:53:04,560 We can probably pick up the amount of material running less uh, 1192 00:53:04,640 --> 00:53:07,600 -material per hour now than the first run. -[Juan] Yeah. 1193 00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:09,400 [Freddy] But uh, everything's running good. 1194 00:53:11,560 --> 00:53:15,120 I can smell the gold in this what I've been waiting for. 1195 00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:18,560 [Freddy] You know, we weren't able to do a lot here, 1196 00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:22,160 -but what we did is gonna make a huge difference. -[Juan] Yeah, it will. 1197 00:53:22,240 --> 00:53:24,600 So, that sluice they had in here before. 1198 00:53:24,640 --> 00:53:26,280 It was like I said earlier, [chuckles softly] 1199 00:53:26,360 --> 00:53:29,640 -it was two steps below scrap iron. -Yeah. [chuckles] 1200 00:53:29,680 --> 00:53:30,640 It really was. 1201 00:53:30,680 --> 00:53:33,320 Effective sluicing area in that entire box 1202 00:53:33,400 --> 00:53:34,920 it was probably only about a foot. 1203 00:53:35,000 --> 00:53:37,800 -[chuckles] I don't think it was even that. -[Juan] Yeah. 1204 00:53:37,880 --> 00:53:40,280 At least here, they've got a full 12 feet 1205 00:53:40,320 --> 00:53:42,120 -of effective sluicing-- -[Freddy] Sluicing area. 1206 00:53:42,200 --> 00:53:43,160 -[Juan] Yeah. -[Freddy] Yep. 1207 00:53:43,240 --> 00:53:45,120 And multiple changes in it. 1208 00:53:45,200 --> 00:53:46,560 And this will be a sluice box 1209 00:53:46,640 --> 00:53:48,440 that they can have for years to come. 1210 00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:50,680 A 100 times better than it was before. 1211 00:53:52,000 --> 00:53:53,800 [Freddy] I know the plants are covering gold, 1212 00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:55,200 but if there's not enough gold, 1213 00:53:55,240 --> 00:53:57,200 in that material we found, that's on me. 1214 00:53:57,280 --> 00:53:59,320 'Cause that's what I spent my time here 1215 00:53:59,400 --> 00:54:01,040 in the past days doing. 1216 00:54:01,120 --> 00:54:02,920 If there's not enough, gold that dirt... 1217 00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:04,080 That's my butt. 1218 00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:07,080 [narrator] After two hours... 1219 00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:09,200 [Freddy] Hey, Nolan? 1220 00:54:09,280 --> 00:54:11,720 One more. That'll be the last bucket. 1221 00:54:11,800 --> 00:54:14,240 [narrator] Freddy calls time on the test run. 1222 00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:27,040 -There there's gold. -I see gold there. 1223 00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:29,840 [chuckles] I see more gold right there in dirty water 1224 00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:31,400 than you had in that first pan. 1225 00:54:31,480 --> 00:54:33,400 -[Juan] Oh, come on, Freddy. -[Freddy] I'm not [bleep] 1226 00:54:33,480 --> 00:54:34,480 -[Ryan laughs] -[Freddy] Right there. 1227 00:54:34,560 --> 00:54:35,840 -[Ryan] Yeah, I know. -[Freddy] Yeah. 1228 00:54:35,880 --> 00:54:36,920 [Juan] In the money now. 1229 00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:38,240 Well, we'll see. 1230 00:54:38,320 --> 00:54:39,960 [Ryan] It is a better ground anyway. 1231 00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:41,480 [Juan] Look at that. 1232 00:54:42,120 --> 00:54:43,800 [bleep] 1233 00:54:44,400 --> 00:54:45,560 [chuckles] 1234 00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:46,920 [Ryan] That's a nice hey... [chuckles] 1235 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:48,080 [Juan] A nice little flake. 1236 00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:51,320 Right there, that one piece right there. 1237 00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:53,120 -It's 1000 times... -[Juan laughs] 1238 00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:55,640 -the amount of gold you had the first two hour run. -[Ryan] Right? 1239 00:54:55,720 --> 00:54:57,280 -One piece of gold. Right there. -[Ryan] Wow. 1240 00:54:57,360 --> 00:54:59,000 -That's weighable. -Yeah. 1241 00:54:59,080 --> 00:55:00,400 -I think you can weight-- -Yeah, I can weigh that. 1242 00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:01,640 [all chuckling] 1243 00:55:01,720 --> 00:55:04,400 -[Juan] Pack. Pack, pack, pack. -[Freddy] With gold? 1244 00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:06,000 -Yeah. Yeah. -[Freddy] Nice. 1245 00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:07,880 Wow, that's a good one. 1246 00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:10,560 That's gonna be a fine cleanup. Nice. 1247 00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:13,120 From our first test run. It wasn't looking good. 1248 00:55:13,200 --> 00:55:16,040 So I'm glad we found gold, So I'm excited about that. 1249 00:55:16,840 --> 00:55:18,600 I think we found the silver lining, 1250 00:55:18,680 --> 00:55:20,080 you know, at the end of the tunnel, 1251 00:55:20,800 --> 00:55:22,160 in our case, the gold lining. 1252 00:55:31,360 --> 00:55:32,480 Well, Freddy's a little hurt right now, 1253 00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:35,520 so I had to bring a little extra muscle with me. 1254 00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:37,880 Hey, Juanito, can you grab me my gloves? 1255 00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:38,920 [Juanito] No problem, Dad. 1256 00:55:42,680 --> 00:55:44,560 All right. I need my welding hood, please. 1257 00:55:51,800 --> 00:55:52,800 What's taking so long, Bud? 1258 00:55:55,560 --> 00:55:57,600 -Thank you, sir. -[Juanito] It was on the top shelf. 1259 00:55:57,680 --> 00:55:58,760 It was on the top shelf? 1260 00:55:58,840 --> 00:56:01,120 It's a good thing you're taller than Uncle Freddy. 1261 00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:04,240 I'm gonna go work with uncle Freddy 'cause he pays better. 1262 00:56:04,920 --> 00:56:05,840 [Juan] What? 1263 00:56:09,440 --> 00:56:10,520 [Juanito chuckles] 1264 00:56:10,600 --> 00:56:12,320 How's it going, Juanito? 1265 00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:14,000 [Juanito] Can I work with you again? 1266 00:56:14,080 --> 00:56:15,120 Can you work with me again? 1267 00:56:15,920 --> 00:56:17,080 Well, you sure can. 1268 00:56:19,560 --> 00:56:20,800 Let me pay you for yesterday. 1269 00:56:21,480 --> 00:56:22,440 Come on, let's go to work. 1270 00:56:41,400 --> 00:56:42,720 Have you panned much, Nolan? 1271 00:56:43,200 --> 00:56:44,520 No, not much. 1272 00:56:44,560 --> 00:56:47,440 [narrator] Keen to see an early indication on the run. 1273 00:56:47,520 --> 00:56:51,760 Freddy has one last master class for Nolan. 1274 00:56:51,840 --> 00:56:54,080 -[Freddy] So I know it's a round pan. -[Nolan] Right? 1275 00:56:54,160 --> 00:56:56,800 [Freddy] But I'm going to call that the corner of the pan, right? 1276 00:56:56,880 --> 00:56:59,360 We want that gold right in the corner of that pan. 1277 00:57:03,720 --> 00:57:05,120 Hoo-hoo. Seeing gold. 1278 00:57:07,120 --> 00:57:09,760 What this pans telling me is you guys need to move. 1279 00:57:09,840 --> 00:57:10,800 Look at that, guys. 1280 00:57:10,880 --> 00:57:13,000 [all cheering] 1281 00:57:13,080 --> 00:57:14,520 -[Freddy] Holy cow! -[Ryan laughs] 1282 00:57:14,600 --> 00:57:16,000 -All right, all right. -[Freddy chuckles] 1283 00:57:16,080 --> 00:57:17,560 Look at that. 1284 00:57:17,640 --> 00:57:19,560 And that's a quarter of one pan. 1285 00:57:20,200 --> 00:57:21,880 -[Ryan] Wow! -[bleep] 1286 00:57:21,960 --> 00:57:23,200 [Ryan] That's what we're looking for. 1287 00:57:23,280 --> 00:57:25,000 -[Freddy] That's more than I expected that. -[Ryan] Was it? 1288 00:57:25,080 --> 00:57:26,560 -[Nolan] I'm gonna pass out. -Thank you, Freddy. 1289 00:57:26,600 --> 00:57:27,600 -Come on. -[Nolan chuckles] 1290 00:57:28,280 --> 00:57:30,000 -Look at that. -Wow! 1291 00:57:30,080 --> 00:57:31,480 [Nolan] That's fun. 1292 00:57:31,560 --> 00:57:33,000 Yeah, that's fun. I like-- 1293 00:57:33,080 --> 00:57:35,320 -That's the stuff dreams are made of, right there. -[Ryan] Yeah. 1294 00:57:35,400 --> 00:57:37,440 [Freddy] You just gone from going broke fast. 1295 00:57:38,640 --> 00:57:40,040 To make a living, that's what you've done. 1296 00:57:40,120 --> 00:57:41,280 [Ryan] Absolutely. 1297 00:57:43,080 --> 00:57:47,280 [Nolan] Oh, man! I mean, I've never seen very much gold really physically in my life. 1298 00:57:47,360 --> 00:57:48,920 So, unbelievable. 1299 00:57:48,960 --> 00:57:50,800 I'm itching to go get some more right now. 1300 00:57:52,280 --> 00:57:53,240 That's just unreal. 1301 00:57:53,760 --> 00:57:54,560 It's awesome. 1302 00:57:56,360 --> 00:57:57,880 [Freddy] When I put that little bit of gravel 1303 00:57:57,960 --> 00:57:59,400 that was in the mat in the pan 1304 00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:01,000 and panned it, I couldn't have been happier. 1305 00:58:01,080 --> 00:58:02,160 It looked good. 1306 00:58:02,240 --> 00:58:05,080 So basically get it cleaned up now. 1307 00:58:05,160 --> 00:58:06,200 Get it on the scale. 1308 00:58:06,240 --> 00:58:08,400 Because one thing for sure, the scale doesn't lie. 1309 00:58:20,880 --> 00:58:21,680 [Freddy] How's it going, guys? 1310 00:58:21,760 --> 00:58:23,720 [Ryan] Good. How are you guys today? 1311 00:58:23,760 --> 00:58:25,320 -[Freddy] Good. -[Juan] Not bad. 1312 00:58:25,400 --> 00:58:30,560 [narrator] It's time to see if this father and son have a gold mining future. 1313 00:58:30,640 --> 00:58:32,680 [Ryan] Well, we've got some stuff. 1314 00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:34,800 -[Freddy] That's about a 1000 times more than before. -[Juan chuckles] 1315 00:58:34,840 --> 00:58:36,680 -[Ryan] Yeah. -A 100,000 times 1316 00:58:36,760 --> 00:58:37,880 -more than the first run. -Yeah. 1317 00:58:39,440 --> 00:58:43,480 [narrator] Ryan and Nolan need one ounce a day to turn a profit. 1318 00:58:43,560 --> 00:58:46,440 But after a disastrous first cleanup, 1319 00:58:46,520 --> 00:58:47,480 There's no use weighing that. 1320 00:58:47,560 --> 00:58:48,440 I don't think my scale will even weigh it. 1321 00:58:50,160 --> 00:58:52,480 [narrator] Finding new ground was key. 1322 00:58:53,760 --> 00:58:55,160 -Well, let's see. -All right. 1323 00:59:02,640 --> 00:59:03,880 [Freddy] 0.14. 1324 00:59:03,960 --> 00:59:04,800 [Juan] Look at that. 1325 00:59:04,880 --> 00:59:06,160 [whooping] 1326 00:59:06,240 --> 00:59:09,040 That's amazing. That's awesome. What do you think, Nolan? 1327 00:59:09,120 --> 00:59:11,000 -I say yeah. Thank guy's. Appreciate it. -Yeah, I like that. 1328 00:59:11,080 --> 00:59:12,720 -[Ryan] Thank you. -You're welcome. 1329 00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:14,520 You guys are amazing. 1330 00:59:14,600 --> 00:59:18,120 [narrator] The result of the second two hour run is equivalent. 1331 00:59:18,200 --> 00:59:21,720 to three quarters of an ounce of gold per day. 1332 00:59:21,800 --> 00:59:25,280 But they need an ounce in their pocket to turn a profit 1333 00:59:25,360 --> 00:59:29,040 and have to give Jim a percentage of recovered gold 1334 00:59:29,120 --> 00:59:31,120 as part of the lease deal. 1335 00:59:31,200 --> 00:59:35,640 Which means they need at least 1.5 ounces of gold a day 1336 00:59:36,200 --> 00:59:37,720 to have a future. 1337 00:59:37,760 --> 00:59:40,400 -But if you double your production one ounce a day. -That's enough. Yeah. 1338 00:59:40,480 --> 00:59:42,240 -Ounce and a half a day, right? -Yeah. 1339 00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:44,840 The thing is that you were feeding it super slow. 1340 00:59:44,920 --> 00:59:46,600 You can still run a ton more material through the box. 1341 00:59:46,680 --> 00:59:48,480 -The box can handle more -Right. 1342 00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:50,640 -So you could have doubled your production, right? -[Juan] If not more. 1343 00:59:50,680 --> 00:59:53,240 -[Ryan] Yeah. -You can actually get to the point where you know 1344 00:59:53,320 --> 00:59:54,440 you're making an ounce and a half a day. 1345 00:59:55,880 --> 00:59:58,560 That's above and beyond what we would need to, 1346 00:59:58,640 --> 01:00:00,520 you know, stay profitable and keep mining. 1347 01:00:00,600 --> 01:00:01,920 Yeah, that's all. Yeah. [laughs] 1348 01:00:01,960 --> 01:00:04,000 [Juan] I'm really excited for Nolan and Ryan 1349 01:00:04,080 --> 01:00:07,000 because of that second gold weigh is where they need to be. 1350 01:00:07,080 --> 01:00:08,720 Really, the big win here is that their dream of having 1351 01:00:08,800 --> 01:00:11,800 a father son operation is still alive, and it's possible now. 1352 01:00:11,880 --> 01:00:13,440 So I'm extremely happy. 1353 01:00:13,520 --> 01:00:15,640 [Ryan] It's really exciting for Nolan and I 1354 01:00:15,720 --> 01:00:17,080 to be able to work together. 1355 01:00:17,160 --> 01:00:19,280 You know, he was thinking, you know, going home 1356 01:00:19,360 --> 01:00:20,800 with his tail between his legs 1357 01:00:20,840 --> 01:00:22,240 I was thinking the same thing. 1358 01:00:22,320 --> 01:00:23,640 Thinking I was going to let him down. 1359 01:00:23,720 --> 01:00:26,240 So seeing this last gold weigh, 1360 01:00:26,320 --> 01:00:29,080 that just brings a smile to everyone's face. 1361 01:00:29,160 --> 01:00:30,720 After seeing that first gold weigh 1362 01:00:30,800 --> 01:00:32,160 I wasn't very happy. 1363 01:00:32,240 --> 01:00:34,520 I was just wondering if I was wasting my time coming over here 1364 01:00:34,600 --> 01:00:36,840 and trying to pursue a gold mine dream. 1365 01:00:36,920 --> 01:00:38,920 But we found gold. 1366 01:00:38,960 --> 01:00:41,360 So, you know what? I think we've got a future here. 1367 01:00:43,880 --> 01:00:44,960 We were scared to death. 1368 01:00:45,040 --> 01:00:46,640 We were like, "What are we-- What are we going to do?" 1369 01:00:46,720 --> 01:00:48,200 -There's-- There's no gold here. -[chuckles] 1370 01:00:48,280 --> 01:00:50,440 We just went to fix a gold mine where there's no gold left. 1371 01:00:50,520 --> 01:00:52,240 [all laughing] 1372 01:00:52,320 --> 01:00:53,120 We're screwed. 1373 01:00:54,200 --> 01:00:55,240 -You know, Juan. -Yeah. 1374 01:00:55,320 --> 01:00:56,560 Really that-- That's the best-- 1375 01:00:56,640 --> 01:00:58,040 Best possible outcome we could have thought of. 1376 01:00:58,120 --> 01:00:59,240 -Yeah, I think so. -Yeah. 1377 01:00:59,320 --> 01:01:00,840 -[Ryan] All right. -Pleasure. 1378 01:01:00,920 --> 01:01:02,360 -Thank you. -Gentlemen. 1379 01:01:02,440 --> 01:01:03,880 -Hey, Thanks. -Freddy. 1380 01:01:03,960 --> 01:01:04,960 -Thank you. -[Ryan] Thanks a lot. 1381 01:01:05,040 --> 01:01:05,960 -All right, take it easy, Buddy. -Yeah. 1382 01:01:06,040 --> 01:01:07,080 Don't forget your gold. 1383 01:01:07,120 --> 01:01:08,160 [all laughing] 1384 01:01:12,040 --> 01:01:13,800 [Freddy] It's been a fairly difficult week. 1385 01:01:13,880 --> 01:01:15,120 You know, my shoulder hurts. 1386 01:01:15,200 --> 01:01:17,440 Then the biggest thing, though beyond that 1387 01:01:17,520 --> 01:01:20,360 was getting here and finding that there was no gold left on the property. 1388 01:01:20,440 --> 01:01:24,480 So It makes your mood go downhill fast, 1389 01:01:24,560 --> 01:01:26,600 But if we wouldn't have came in here, 1390 01:01:26,680 --> 01:01:28,840 they'd have been out of business pretty quick. 1391 01:01:28,920 --> 01:01:31,840 So now they can mine some ground that's got good gold on it. 1392 01:01:31,880 --> 01:01:33,960 So their future is bright. 1393 01:01:34,040 --> 01:01:35,320 You know, just run, run, run! 1394 01:01:35,960 --> 01:01:36,920 Put gold in your pocket. 1395 01:01:44,960 --> 01:01:46,160 [Ryan] Hey, Freddy and Juan. 1396 01:01:46,240 --> 01:01:47,800 We've got a chance to mine 1397 01:01:47,880 --> 01:01:50,240 a little bit more of that pay dirt from Jim. 1398 01:01:50,320 --> 01:01:52,080 We're doubling our production now. 1399 01:01:52,160 --> 01:01:55,400 So, You know, we're getting up to an ounce and a half a day now. 1400 01:01:55,480 --> 01:01:57,600 [Nolan] Oh, yeah, the gold's in there. 1401 01:01:57,680 --> 01:01:59,600 That sluice box was built so well, 1402 01:01:59,640 --> 01:02:01,800 it might last my whole life. [chuckles] 1403 01:02:01,880 --> 01:02:04,720 [Ryan] Without your guidance help, we would be dead in the water. 1404 01:02:04,800 --> 01:02:07,560 But you know, you showing us some new ground 1405 01:02:07,640 --> 01:02:09,000 and fixing up our plant stuff. 1406 01:02:09,080 --> 01:02:11,560 It's been really a blessing to us. 1407 01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:14,280 Hopefully, we have a future to work together 1408 01:02:14,320 --> 01:02:16,120 and you know, there's nothing better than having a family, 1409 01:02:16,200 --> 01:02:17,320 someone that you can trust. 1410 01:02:19,040 --> 01:02:21,720 -Thanks, Freddy and Juan. You guys are awesome. -Awesome.