1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:04,567 [Todd] So far, everything's looking pretty good. 2 00:00:04,567 --> 00:00:08,100 [narrator] Five weeks into the summer mining season in Alaska, 3 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:09,767 the Hoffman team is on track 4 00:00:09,767 --> 00:00:12,000 for their most lucrative season ever. 5 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,367 It's our duty to hit this 3,000 ounces for Jack. 6 00:00:15,367 --> 00:00:17,100 This is his last season. 7 00:00:17,100 --> 00:00:20,700 [narrator] But when unseasonably warm temperatures and rain 8 00:00:20,700 --> 00:00:23,233 bring unexpected changes to the terrain... 9 00:00:24,266 --> 00:00:27,500 [Todd] I got a serious problem up here. 10 00:00:27,500 --> 00:00:30,767 [Andy] What I'm seeing right now is, uh... it's not good. 11 00:00:30,767 --> 00:00:32,934 The, uh, hillside's moving. 12 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:35,700 I don't know how to fix it. 13 00:00:35,700 --> 00:00:38,367 [narrator] One man's mistake puts them all at risk 14 00:00:38,367 --> 00:00:41,166 of serious federal and state violations. 15 00:00:41,900 --> 00:00:42,734 It's bad. 16 00:00:43,467 --> 00:00:45,500 If we don't get this stopped... 17 00:00:45,500 --> 00:00:47,100 there's not gonna be any stopping it. 18 00:00:47,100 --> 00:00:48,367 [narrator] Forcing the Hoffman team 19 00:00:48,367 --> 00:00:50,066 to race against the clock 20 00:00:50,066 --> 00:00:52,734 to save the mine and their entire operation. 21 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:56,734 We have to get this done or we're screwed. 22 00:01:17,767 --> 00:01:19,166 [Mike] We're doing pretty good. 23 00:01:19,166 --> 00:01:23,166 It's actually great working with the people you love around you. 24 00:01:23,166 --> 00:01:25,967 When you're here at the mine, everyone's a brother. 25 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:28,367 We have a great team. 26 00:01:28,367 --> 00:01:29,567 We have good equipment. 27 00:01:29,567 --> 00:01:30,667 We have good pay dirt. 28 00:01:30,667 --> 00:01:31,734 What could stop us? 29 00:01:37,166 --> 00:01:39,734 [Todd] I'm actually feeling pretty optimistic. 30 00:01:40,867 --> 00:01:42,567 Me and the guys, we really wanna get 31 00:01:42,567 --> 00:01:44,734 a big payday for Jack. 32 00:01:45,867 --> 00:01:49,467 If this is my dad's last hurrah, 33 00:01:49,467 --> 00:01:51,100 I'd sure like it to be good. 34 00:01:51,100 --> 00:01:52,734 I'd sure like to get a lot of gold. 35 00:01:53,667 --> 00:01:56,266 So far, everything's looking pretty good. 36 00:02:14,166 --> 00:02:15,467 [automated voice over phone] 37 00:02:23,166 --> 00:02:26,166 The weather in Alaska could be pretty unpredictable 38 00:02:26,166 --> 00:02:27,200 here in the summer. 39 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:29,000 You know, rain could come in quickly 40 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,767 and make conditions dangerous for my crew. 41 00:02:32,266 --> 00:02:34,066 You can have flash floods, 42 00:02:34,066 --> 00:02:35,800 equipment gets stuck, 43 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:37,467 visibility goes down. 44 00:02:37,467 --> 00:02:39,867 Sometimes you just gotta shut down 45 00:02:39,867 --> 00:02:41,667 and that's happening right now. 46 00:02:48,667 --> 00:02:50,567 Hey, guys, it's raining pretty hard. 47 00:02:50,567 --> 00:02:52,000 I'm gettin' a little bit nervous. 48 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:53,634 [on radio] I think we ought to shut down. 49 00:02:54,367 --> 00:02:56,367 And then, uh, let this storm pass 50 00:02:56,367 --> 00:02:58,734 - and then fire back up. -Copy that. 51 00:02:59,567 --> 00:03:01,133 Okay. ten-four. 52 00:03:02,166 --> 00:03:03,667 [Andy on radio] Thanks, buddy. 53 00:03:03,667 --> 00:03:06,300 You know, I get why Todd's shutting us down right now. 54 00:03:06,300 --> 00:03:08,667 This much rain can cause a lot of different issues. 55 00:03:08,667 --> 00:03:10,867 Extremely difficult to run the plant. 56 00:03:10,867 --> 00:03:12,100 But, at this point, I'm concerned 57 00:03:12,100 --> 00:03:14,166 about the cut holding up. This much rain, 58 00:03:14,166 --> 00:03:16,734 you can get a lot of flooding and a lot of mudslides. 59 00:03:22,066 --> 00:03:23,567 [Mike] We had really good weigh-ins 60 00:03:23,567 --> 00:03:25,166 up until the storm rolled in 61 00:03:25,166 --> 00:03:27,734 and we're on track for a really great week. 62 00:03:28,567 --> 00:03:30,934 So hopefully, the storm passes by quickly. 63 00:03:32,467 --> 00:03:33,700 [Hunter] Okay, go get a little nap in. 64 00:04:06,767 --> 00:04:10,567 [narrator] After losing 48 hours of valuable sluicing time, 65 00:04:10,567 --> 00:04:12,400 Todd returns to the Holy Roller 66 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:16,066 in hopes of restoring his money-making operation. 67 00:04:16,066 --> 00:04:17,800 [Todd] We've had a lot of water. 68 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:19,467 We're just double checking everything 69 00:04:19,467 --> 00:04:22,567 because once you get all these storms, you get flooding 70 00:04:22,567 --> 00:04:24,867 and, uh, everything just heads down 71 00:04:24,867 --> 00:04:26,166 and then heads our direction. 72 00:04:27,100 --> 00:04:28,367 But it didn't do too bad. 73 00:04:28,367 --> 00:04:30,900 There wasn't too many issues, but we gotta keep pushin', 74 00:04:30,900 --> 00:04:31,934 so we're gonna keep goin'. 75 00:04:32,367 --> 00:04:33,567 Good enough to sluice. 76 00:04:33,567 --> 00:04:36,166 Here we go. All right, let's go. You ready? 77 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:37,767 [Mike] Yup. 78 00:04:37,767 --> 00:04:39,033 [Todd over radio] Let's haul some dirt. 79 00:04:45,367 --> 00:04:48,333 You know, a bunch of bad luck here with the weather. 80 00:04:49,266 --> 00:04:51,500 But, uh, here we are goin' again. 81 00:04:51,500 --> 00:04:53,233 We're back up and running. 82 00:04:54,100 --> 00:04:55,166 We're working good. 83 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:56,800 We're running gold. 84 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,133 Hopefully, we have a good cleanup on top of it. 85 00:05:05,300 --> 00:05:06,900 [narrator] Back at the Lost Cut, 86 00:05:06,900 --> 00:05:11,033 Andy returns to assess the impact of two straight days of rain. 87 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:17,467 [Andy sighs heavily] 88 00:05:20,767 --> 00:05:23,333 [Andy] Oh, man. It's exactly what I was worried about. 89 00:05:24,467 --> 00:05:26,634 What I'm seeing right now is, uh... 90 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:28,767 It's not good. 91 00:05:29,367 --> 00:05:31,800 The, uh, hillside's moving. 92 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,266 And it's moving in the wrong direction. It's moving downhill. 93 00:05:37,166 --> 00:05:38,266 [narrator] Here in the Lost Cut, 94 00:05:38,266 --> 00:05:41,000 the overburden pile is the top layer of earth, 95 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,166 including moss, ice and frozen topsoil. 96 00:05:45,467 --> 00:05:48,100 Early in the season, Andy stripped that overburden 97 00:05:48,100 --> 00:05:50,200 and piled it to the west side of the cut 98 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,266 to expose the underlying pay dirt 99 00:05:52,266 --> 00:05:54,533 the crew is actively mining for gold. 100 00:05:56,266 --> 00:05:58,066 But as the warm weather and heavy rains 101 00:05:58,066 --> 00:06:00,100 start melting the permafrost, 102 00:06:00,100 --> 00:06:03,400 the location Andy chose is becoming unstable, 103 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:04,700 threatening to collapse 104 00:06:04,700 --> 00:06:07,367 and contaminate the nearby creek with silt. 105 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,166 [Andy] It shouldn't be like that. 106 00:06:12,166 --> 00:06:14,233 I may have been the one that... 107 00:06:15,166 --> 00:06:16,900 made a really bad mistake 108 00:06:16,900 --> 00:06:18,967 and I don't even know what I did wrong. 109 00:06:19,767 --> 00:06:21,667 Um, that's the scary part. 110 00:06:21,667 --> 00:06:23,467 I've never made a mistake like this before. 111 00:06:24,166 --> 00:06:24,900 Um... 112 00:06:26,667 --> 00:06:28,400 We have to do something to fix it. 113 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:29,533 What it is, I don't know. 114 00:06:34,867 --> 00:06:36,600 For me to make mistakes, 115 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:38,166 costs everybody. 116 00:06:38,166 --> 00:06:39,934 Costs money, costs gold. 117 00:06:40,567 --> 00:06:41,734 I gotta tell Todd. 118 00:06:42,467 --> 00:06:44,333 Not gonna be a pleasant conversation. 119 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:48,433 [Andy over radio] 120 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:50,767 Yeah. 121 00:06:51,467 --> 00:06:52,900 [Andy] I need you to come down 122 00:06:52,900 --> 00:06:54,634 and look at this overburden pile with me. 123 00:06:58,300 --> 00:06:59,567 Okay. 124 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:10,900 [Andy] So I wanted to bring you down here and show you this. 125 00:07:10,900 --> 00:07:12,567 I think I might have screwed up. 126 00:07:12,567 --> 00:07:16,500 The whole picking pile is moving downhill towards the creek. 127 00:07:16,500 --> 00:07:17,600 [Todd] I can see it. 128 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:19,500 -[Andy] You see it slopin', huh? -I can see this, yeah. 129 00:07:19,500 --> 00:07:20,567 -It's like a landslide. -[Andy] It's going... 130 00:07:20,567 --> 00:07:21,734 It's like a mudslide. 131 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:24,367 And if that water goes in the creek, 132 00:07:25,166 --> 00:07:26,133 I know we're screwed. 133 00:07:26,967 --> 00:07:28,834 That mud goes in the creek, it's over. 134 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:30,233 Yeah. 135 00:07:31,767 --> 00:07:33,634 [Andy] [bleep] I don't know what I did wrong. 136 00:07:34,967 --> 00:07:37,867 If we can stop it, we need to fight it right now. 137 00:07:38,900 --> 00:07:40,500 [narrator] Quartz Creek is one of Alaska's 138 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:42,700 major spawning grounds for salmon 139 00:07:42,700 --> 00:07:46,333 and a nutrient rich habitat to water dependent wildlife. 140 00:07:48,166 --> 00:07:51,266 If the overburden silt runoff reaches Quartz Creek, 141 00:07:51,266 --> 00:07:53,266 it could endanger the ecosystem. 142 00:07:54,867 --> 00:07:55,700 What's more... 143 00:07:55,700 --> 00:07:58,000 it could result in citations and fines 144 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,266 from multiple federal and state agencies, 145 00:08:01,266 --> 00:08:03,667 shutting down the entire operation. 146 00:08:04,867 --> 00:08:05,900 [Todd] It's bad. 147 00:08:05,900 --> 00:08:09,467 If that mud gets into the creek, it could be over. 148 00:08:09,467 --> 00:08:11,667 The whole summer could be over. The whole season. 149 00:08:12,266 --> 00:08:13,567 I don't know what to do. 150 00:08:13,567 --> 00:08:14,367 Like... 151 00:08:15,166 --> 00:08:16,166 I don't know how to fix it. 152 00:08:18,066 --> 00:08:19,333 We got a big problem. 153 00:08:20,367 --> 00:08:21,367 [Andy] Yeah. 154 00:08:21,367 --> 00:08:22,667 A really big problem. 155 00:08:26,266 --> 00:08:29,200 [narrator] Government regulations require overburden dirt 156 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:30,767 on unmined ground 157 00:08:30,767 --> 00:08:34,000 to be set back 35 feet from the creek. 158 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,867 Andy set the pile back 150 feet from the creek, 159 00:08:37,867 --> 00:08:39,100 but the rain and heat 160 00:08:39,100 --> 00:08:42,600 are causing the overburden to melt toward the creek. 161 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,300 This could potentially contaminate the freshwater 162 00:08:45,300 --> 00:08:49,033 and put the Hoffmans at risk of being fined and shut down. 163 00:08:49,867 --> 00:08:51,700 I don't even wanna move anything right now. 164 00:08:51,700 --> 00:08:53,000 I don't even know what to move 165 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:53,700 or where to move it. 166 00:08:53,700 --> 00:08:54,900 I don't wanna compound it. 167 00:08:54,900 --> 00:08:55,800 So just... 168 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:57,834 Let's just hold until we figure it out. Okay? 169 00:08:58,100 --> 00:08:58,967 Yeah. 170 00:08:58,967 --> 00:09:00,667 [Todd] This is beyond us. 171 00:09:00,667 --> 00:09:04,367 We need a pro that specializes in erosion management. 172 00:09:04,367 --> 00:09:05,734 I'm gonna call around and get some help. 173 00:09:06,567 --> 00:09:08,100 Okay. You okay with that? 174 00:09:08,100 --> 00:09:09,333 -Yeah. -[Todd] Okay. 175 00:09:10,266 --> 00:09:11,634 [line ringing] 176 00:09:14,100 --> 00:09:15,734 [line continues ringing] 177 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:19,000 [Todd] Hey, Izak. 178 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:19,967 [Izak on phone] How you doing, Todd? 179 00:09:19,967 --> 00:09:21,166 [Todd] Hey, thanks for picking up. 180 00:09:21,166 --> 00:09:23,100 I appreciate it. Um... 181 00:09:23,100 --> 00:09:26,166 I got a serious problem up here. 182 00:09:26,166 --> 00:09:28,533 I wanna run it by you, if you got a minute. 183 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:31,200 We got, it looks... 184 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,066 What looks like a landslide off the back side... 185 00:09:34,767 --> 00:09:36,900 of our overburden pile. 186 00:09:36,900 --> 00:09:39,433 And it is heading towards the creek. 187 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,133 Mmm-hmm. 188 00:09:41,133 --> 00:09:44,233 I would love to see you come up here, man, if you could. 189 00:09:44,867 --> 00:09:45,667 All right. 190 00:09:46,500 --> 00:09:47,266 Perfect. 191 00:09:49,300 --> 00:09:50,300 Thank you so much. 192 00:09:50,300 --> 00:09:51,867 Yeah. I'll see you. 193 00:09:52,767 --> 00:09:53,767 I'll see you when you get here. 194 00:09:57,567 --> 00:10:00,400 [Todd] I just wanted this to be the best season 195 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:02,767 for my dad, the most gold he ever got. 196 00:10:02,767 --> 00:10:05,800 And I just don't think that's gonna happen. 197 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:07,667 But we may not even be able to run. 198 00:10:07,667 --> 00:10:10,200 We don't get that stopped on that back side, 199 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,834 we're probably gonna be done anyways. 200 00:10:22,867 --> 00:10:24,400 [Todd] I think we're in trouble. 201 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:26,467 [Izak] I heard that in your voice when you called me. 202 00:10:26,467 --> 00:10:28,100 -[Todd] Mmm-hmm. -That's why I'm here. 203 00:10:28,100 --> 00:10:30,667 You're probably the most knowledgeable guy 204 00:10:30,667 --> 00:10:33,867 on this type of thing that I ever met. 205 00:10:33,867 --> 00:10:35,567 I think that the water content 206 00:10:35,567 --> 00:10:39,767 in the particular ice on this section is way higher. 207 00:10:39,767 --> 00:10:42,166 Because we had rain then heat, 208 00:10:42,166 --> 00:10:45,266 very hot day and then more rain. 209 00:10:45,266 --> 00:10:48,700 And the back side of that pile is just let go 210 00:10:48,700 --> 00:10:51,567 and it's heading towards the creek. 211 00:10:51,567 --> 00:10:55,200 So if that silt makes its way to the creek, 212 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:56,333 gets in the creek, 213 00:10:57,000 --> 00:10:58,934 we would be shut down. 214 00:11:01,066 --> 00:11:02,567 Yeah. You can't have, uh, 215 00:11:03,567 --> 00:11:06,567 any sort of processed water leaking into a water shed. 216 00:11:06,567 --> 00:11:08,967 Mud and creeks do not mix. 217 00:11:08,967 --> 00:11:10,900 Certainly sounds like a mistake. 218 00:11:10,900 --> 00:11:13,667 You know, having this, my dad's last season, 219 00:11:13,667 --> 00:11:15,934 hopefully, this doesn't set us back too far. 220 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,266 What we need to do is assess it really quick, 221 00:11:20,266 --> 00:11:23,467 get the plan of attack and get on it right away. 222 00:11:23,467 --> 00:11:24,767 Absolutely. 223 00:11:24,767 --> 00:11:26,867 [Todd] We've got to stop it. 224 00:11:26,867 --> 00:11:29,066 [Izak] It's that or you guys are shut down. 225 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:33,133 [grunts] 226 00:11:37,767 --> 00:11:39,266 Right there on the back side over there. 227 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:43,834 Whoa. 228 00:11:48,700 --> 00:11:49,567 [Todd] What it looks like, 229 00:11:49,567 --> 00:11:52,667 that whole side has got so much ice in it. 230 00:11:52,667 --> 00:11:57,066 it's just sliding towards the creek, literally moving. 231 00:11:57,066 --> 00:11:59,166 -[Izak] It's pushing from the inside. -[Todd] Yes. 232 00:11:59,166 --> 00:12:00,166 [Izak] This is a little bit different 233 00:12:00,166 --> 00:12:01,800 than I've dealt with in the past. 234 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,867 This permafrost is melting from the inside out 235 00:12:04,867 --> 00:12:06,667 on top of the rains that they had, 236 00:12:06,667 --> 00:12:08,767 and it just amplifies it dramatically. 237 00:12:08,767 --> 00:12:10,867 There's way more water that we have to deal with, 238 00:12:10,867 --> 00:12:11,967 so we're gonna have to hit this 239 00:12:11,967 --> 00:12:13,533 with something extremely hard. 240 00:12:13,900 --> 00:12:15,000 This is bad. 241 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,166 We don't have any time left. 242 00:12:17,166 --> 00:12:20,700 If the runoff from the overburden pile goes into the creek, 243 00:12:20,700 --> 00:12:23,600 it could potentially damage ecosystems, 244 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,166 fish habitat, drinking water supplies 245 00:12:26,166 --> 00:12:28,934 many other things, so this is extremely important. 246 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,367 That's why the EPA has such a tight grip 247 00:12:32,367 --> 00:12:34,467 on mine activities 248 00:12:34,467 --> 00:12:36,834 such as this to make sure that it doesn't happen. 249 00:12:37,567 --> 00:12:39,867 [Todd] Is there any way to stop this? 250 00:12:39,867 --> 00:12:42,600 [Izak] There's a chance, but we need to jump on this right away. 251 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:44,667 -You gotta put lotta hands on it. -Right. 252 00:12:44,667 --> 00:12:47,266 And I hope you got a lotta good hands. 253 00:12:47,266 --> 00:12:48,166 -[Todd] I do. -So if-- 254 00:12:48,166 --> 00:12:49,266 -You do? Okay. -Yeah. 255 00:12:49,266 --> 00:12:50,767 Well, let's... Let's get 'em together right now. 256 00:12:50,767 --> 00:12:52,767 -Okay. -[Izak] We get one shot at this. 257 00:12:53,467 --> 00:12:54,467 We're gonna have to get control 258 00:12:54,467 --> 00:12:56,000 of the water that's coming down, 259 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:57,567 to make sure that we can manage that 260 00:12:57,567 --> 00:13:00,166 and put it elsewhere where we can deal with it. 261 00:13:00,166 --> 00:13:03,200 If we can't get this done and that stuff goes in the creek, 262 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,400 this is going to be shut down for the season. 263 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,667 It's gonna take everything you have. 264 00:13:07,667 --> 00:13:10,400 Andy, I need everybody to stop what they're doin' 265 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,900 [on radio] ...and everybody meet up at the dome right now. 266 00:13:12,900 --> 00:13:13,934 ASAP. 267 00:13:24,367 --> 00:13:26,333 [Todd] Hey, we got a serious problem out there. 268 00:13:28,266 --> 00:13:32,533 We literally have silt working its way into the creek. 269 00:13:33,300 --> 00:13:34,500 Me and Andy... 270 00:13:34,500 --> 00:13:36,767 we watched the back side of the pile, 271 00:13:36,767 --> 00:13:39,634 which has ice in it, give way. 272 00:13:42,166 --> 00:13:44,700 And, guys, if it gets to the creek, 273 00:13:44,700 --> 00:13:46,000 we're out of compliance. 274 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:47,166 We're not gonna mine. 275 00:13:47,166 --> 00:13:47,867 We're done. 276 00:13:50,500 --> 00:13:52,967 So I brought my friend in, Izak. 277 00:13:52,967 --> 00:13:57,166 He's got a lot of experience with erosion control. 278 00:13:57,166 --> 00:13:59,567 Tell us your assessment. 279 00:14:00,867 --> 00:14:01,734 It's bad. 280 00:14:04,166 --> 00:14:06,100 If we don't get this stopped, 281 00:14:06,100 --> 00:14:08,166 there's not gonna be any stopping it. 282 00:14:08,166 --> 00:14:10,767 It can shut you guys down for the rest of the season. 283 00:14:11,166 --> 00:14:12,266 So, I got a plan. 284 00:14:12,266 --> 00:14:13,567 I'm gonna show you guys right now. 285 00:14:16,166 --> 00:14:18,867 You got your mountain over here of sludge. 286 00:14:18,867 --> 00:14:22,567 We need to stop this from going into the creek. 287 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:24,567 First thing is... 288 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,500 as you're walking along the creek, 289 00:14:27,500 --> 00:14:30,767 make a couple of tracks with your excavator. 290 00:14:30,767 --> 00:14:33,867 It's gonna sink down. It's gonna knock the tundra down a little bit. 291 00:14:33,867 --> 00:14:35,767 You got a nice big berm there. 292 00:14:35,767 --> 00:14:37,700 We're gonna put a silt fence in right here, 293 00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:40,266 2200, 2300 feet of it. 294 00:14:40,266 --> 00:14:41,400 This will be the primary. 295 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:43,000 This will be the secondary. 296 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:44,367 If this muck comes down 297 00:14:44,367 --> 00:14:47,100 and somehow breaches this first silt fence, 298 00:14:47,100 --> 00:14:48,567 you have a second one there. 299 00:14:48,567 --> 00:14:51,100 If it breaches the second one for some reason, 300 00:14:51,100 --> 00:14:52,166 you got a berm there. 301 00:14:52,166 --> 00:14:54,033 After our silt fence is in, 302 00:14:54,367 --> 00:14:55,433 straw wattle... 303 00:14:56,166 --> 00:14:57,867 is gonna go right here. 304 00:14:57,867 --> 00:15:00,367 And what that does is if this starts to flow 305 00:15:00,367 --> 00:15:02,767 instead of the mud picking up velocity 306 00:15:02,767 --> 00:15:04,000 and just going all the way to the bottom 307 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:05,667 and knocking these fences down, 308 00:15:05,667 --> 00:15:06,800 it checks it. 309 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:08,433 So if we can get that done... 310 00:15:09,300 --> 00:15:10,433 there's no chance... 311 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:12,634 of it going... 312 00:15:13,467 --> 00:15:15,533 into your nice, blue stream down here. 313 00:15:16,767 --> 00:15:19,400 [narrator] In order to protect the creek from melting silt, 314 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,367 the crew must excavate a trench 315 00:15:21,367 --> 00:15:25,000 along the edge of the creek, install two silt fences 316 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,767 to limit water runoff and lay multiple rows 317 00:15:27,767 --> 00:15:29,867 of fiber filled mesh tubes 318 00:15:29,867 --> 00:15:31,166 known as straw wattle, 319 00:15:31,166 --> 00:15:33,166 across the top of the overburden, 320 00:15:33,166 --> 00:15:36,433 effectively stopping the silt from entering the creek. 321 00:15:38,100 --> 00:15:42,567 Some of you have put silt fence in before, and it's not fun. 322 00:15:42,567 --> 00:15:46,967 Silt fence in this tundra is gonna be even worse. 323 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:49,266 Any questions? 324 00:15:51,367 --> 00:15:53,567 So are you saying that we can't mine, 325 00:15:53,567 --> 00:15:55,400 we can't do anything... 326 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:56,600 -until we do this? -[Todd] No. 327 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,967 We're shut down, guys, until we get this fixed. 328 00:16:00,567 --> 00:16:01,734 [sighs] 329 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:04,066 [Hunter] Honestly, we've been killing it this season. 330 00:16:04,066 --> 00:16:05,467 We've been bringing in good gold, 331 00:16:05,467 --> 00:16:07,100 you know, over 100 ounces per week. 332 00:16:07,100 --> 00:16:08,600 And so right now we're on track 333 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,400 to make my grandpa's last season the best one ever. 334 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,367 We need to jump on this and get it fixed immediately. 335 00:16:14,367 --> 00:16:17,367 We cannot let any dirty water into the creek. 336 00:16:19,100 --> 00:16:22,467 [Izak] Sacrificing a few days to fix this problem 337 00:16:22,467 --> 00:16:24,834 is better than sacrificing your mining careers. 338 00:16:31,266 --> 00:16:33,533 I just don't usually make these kind of mistakes. 339 00:16:35,667 --> 00:16:37,233 Not this kind of a mistake. 340 00:16:38,567 --> 00:16:39,667 I just never... 341 00:16:40,667 --> 00:16:41,867 -[Todd] Hey, look at me! -You know... 342 00:16:41,867 --> 00:16:42,734 [Todd] Get over it! 343 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:43,967 Get over it. 344 00:16:43,967 --> 00:16:45,800 -[Andy] Yup. -[Todd] Stop. 345 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:47,567 -Forget it. Forget it. -But it's like, all the stuff-- 346 00:16:47,567 --> 00:16:48,867 But all the stuff we've ever done up here, 347 00:16:48,867 --> 00:16:50,967 it's like I've never felt like... 348 00:16:50,967 --> 00:16:52,533 we're out of control. Ever. 349 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,367 Yeah. 350 00:16:54,367 --> 00:16:57,467 [Mike] I've never seen Andy this bummed out. 351 00:16:57,467 --> 00:16:59,667 I'm sure it's really weighing in on him, 352 00:16:59,667 --> 00:17:01,567 but we're gonna try to fix this problem 353 00:17:01,567 --> 00:17:03,400 the best, you know, the best way we can. 354 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,367 But If we can't, it's really gonna crush Andy. 355 00:17:06,967 --> 00:17:07,767 You can't lose heart. 356 00:17:07,767 --> 00:17:09,100 You're our leader. 357 00:17:09,100 --> 00:17:10,533 But you don't know everything. 358 00:17:11,767 --> 00:17:13,400 I wanted to bring Izak in 359 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,200 to help us with a plan. 360 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,367 But we have to implement it or we're done. 361 00:17:18,367 --> 00:17:20,900 Izak, you didn't have to come up here. 362 00:17:20,900 --> 00:17:24,367 -[man] Yup. -Thank you for comin' up and helpin' us with this. 363 00:17:24,367 --> 00:17:26,000 Get us through this thing, man. Will ya? 364 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:27,266 Just... Just give us the bet... 365 00:17:27,266 --> 00:17:29,166 What you've learned over the years, 366 00:17:29,166 --> 00:17:30,900 help us get past this. 367 00:17:30,900 --> 00:17:33,767 We're just a little tiny team up here by Siberia. 368 00:17:33,767 --> 00:17:36,467 There's no mines anywhere around us. 369 00:17:36,467 --> 00:17:39,867 And, uh, we've... We've carved out a little home out here, 370 00:17:39,867 --> 00:17:43,266 a little weird spot, and I don't wanna see that end. 371 00:17:43,266 --> 00:17:44,567 Now, it ain't gonna be easy. 372 00:17:44,567 --> 00:17:46,400 Everybody's gonna be muddy. 373 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,266 It's deep. It's... it's... It's nasty. 374 00:17:49,266 --> 00:17:51,133 I'm not gonna... I'm not gonna lie to you. 375 00:17:52,166 --> 00:17:53,166 It's not gonna be fun. 376 00:17:54,567 --> 00:17:55,433 I wanna win. 377 00:17:55,867 --> 00:17:58,500 To win is to fix this. 378 00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:00,867 I think everyone here has seen enough problems together 379 00:18:00,867 --> 00:18:02,400 that it's not gonna be a problem. 380 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:03,700 We're gonna figure it out. 381 00:18:03,700 --> 00:18:04,667 It's gonna be tough, 382 00:18:04,667 --> 00:18:07,266 but we got a hell of a team so... 383 00:18:07,266 --> 00:18:10,367 I know you guys are taking this pretty serious, 384 00:18:10,367 --> 00:18:13,000 which I think all of you should. 385 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:14,767 Do I think we're going to beat it? 386 00:18:14,767 --> 00:18:15,567 Yes. 387 00:18:16,066 --> 00:18:18,800 Don't lose faith. 388 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,734 Do what's right and you'll be successful. 389 00:18:22,667 --> 00:18:24,767 [Todd] Get your clothes on. Get your boots on. 390 00:18:24,767 --> 00:18:26,100 Go get the silt fence. 391 00:18:26,100 --> 00:18:27,500 Young guys get ready. 392 00:18:27,500 --> 00:18:29,100 We need shovels... 393 00:18:29,100 --> 00:18:31,000 axe, some hatchets. 394 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:32,700 Let's get the 360. 395 00:18:32,700 --> 00:18:33,867 -[Andy] Yup. -All right? 396 00:18:33,867 --> 00:18:34,867 -Yeah. -[Andy] Let's do it. 397 00:18:34,867 --> 00:18:36,233 All right. Let's go. 398 00:18:42,100 --> 00:18:44,567 [narrator] While the Hoffman crew awaits for supplies to arrive 399 00:18:44,567 --> 00:18:46,300 to fix their silt problem, 400 00:18:46,300 --> 00:18:49,033 the team pulls the mats from the sluice boxes. 401 00:18:49,967 --> 00:18:51,767 [Micah] We start on this one... 402 00:18:51,767 --> 00:18:53,300 Then this one, then this one, this one. 403 00:18:53,300 --> 00:18:55,834 [Sterling] Okay, instead of doing all four at once... 404 00:18:56,467 --> 00:18:57,700 -Yup. -[Sterling] I like it. 405 00:18:57,700 --> 00:18:59,867 [Mike] We're clearly finished running for the week. 406 00:18:59,867 --> 00:19:02,300 We got a few good days in, so me and the boys 407 00:19:02,300 --> 00:19:03,767 are gonna go pull some mats 408 00:19:03,767 --> 00:19:05,100 and, uh, bring it up to Jack 409 00:19:05,100 --> 00:19:07,266 and Thurber in the gold room and see what we got. 410 00:19:07,266 --> 00:19:09,166 [Sterling] Okay, I like it. 411 00:19:09,166 --> 00:19:10,967 Little nugget party in there. 412 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:13,767 It's very important that we get 413 00:19:13,767 --> 00:19:15,734 all the material off these mats. 414 00:19:16,567 --> 00:19:18,667 -[man] That is... -There is a technique 415 00:19:18,667 --> 00:19:20,934 taught and perfected by Jim Thurber. 416 00:19:22,667 --> 00:19:24,533 First little rinse, let everything run off. 417 00:19:25,467 --> 00:19:28,166 Let the face of it kind of slap the water. 418 00:19:28,166 --> 00:19:30,533 Shake up anything that might be stuck. 419 00:19:32,066 --> 00:19:32,834 And then... 420 00:19:34,100 --> 00:19:35,233 Lift it in and out. 421 00:19:35,967 --> 00:19:37,467 Going side to side 422 00:19:37,467 --> 00:19:38,433 as you come up. 423 00:19:39,967 --> 00:19:42,834 And in no time all your gold's washed out. 424 00:19:48,900 --> 00:19:49,934 Look at all that. 425 00:20:10,367 --> 00:20:12,400 [Jack] You know, Thurb, if they don't get 426 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:13,867 this thing solved down there, 427 00:20:13,867 --> 00:20:16,467 we're not gonna have any more cleanups. 428 00:20:16,467 --> 00:20:18,200 [Jim] Andy takes a lot of blame for it, 429 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:19,266 but the stuff's out of his control. 430 00:20:19,266 --> 00:20:20,567 [Jack] If he hadn't done that... 431 00:20:20,567 --> 00:20:21,900 -you know, we'd be done. -Stacked all the ice. 432 00:20:21,900 --> 00:20:23,967 -Started thawing and... -But he did do that. 433 00:20:23,967 --> 00:20:26,266 So now here we are fightin' it. 434 00:20:27,066 --> 00:20:28,867 That was disheartening. 435 00:20:28,867 --> 00:20:30,200 Such a pain in the keister. 436 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,266 I'm not kidding you. It is so bad. 437 00:20:33,266 --> 00:20:36,266 I'm tired of fighting that kind of fight. 438 00:20:36,266 --> 00:20:38,367 I can't be out there helping 'em. 439 00:20:38,367 --> 00:20:40,100 They're doing it. 440 00:20:40,100 --> 00:20:44,266 Hopefully, they are successful. 441 00:20:44,266 --> 00:20:47,567 And we get to do some more cleanup. 442 00:20:47,567 --> 00:20:50,367 Otherwise, we're not even gonna make it to 1,000. 443 00:20:50,367 --> 00:20:52,867 We won't have a mine. They'll shut us down. 444 00:20:52,867 --> 00:20:53,934 -So... -Yeah. 445 00:20:58,266 --> 00:21:00,467 [tense instrumental music] 446 00:21:09,667 --> 00:21:12,567 [Jim] We got 65 bundles of the wattle. 447 00:21:12,567 --> 00:21:14,767 We got 19 bundles of stakes. 448 00:21:14,767 --> 00:21:17,667 Got 950 stakes in the bottom. 449 00:21:17,667 --> 00:21:19,767 I can't believe we found this in town. 450 00:21:19,767 --> 00:21:21,900 [Mike] Yeah, I know. What were the odds? 451 00:21:21,900 --> 00:21:24,166 I won't tell you how much it costs. 452 00:21:24,166 --> 00:21:25,867 [Mike chuckling] I don't wanna know. 453 00:21:25,867 --> 00:21:27,767 [Jim] Crazy, crazy. 454 00:21:27,767 --> 00:21:29,667 -Yeah, I'll do the wattles and the second one up. -[Sparky] Okay, cool. 455 00:21:29,667 --> 00:21:31,967 And all the silt fence in the back. 456 00:21:31,967 --> 00:21:34,266 [Sparky] Okay, silt fence in the back. 457 00:21:34,266 --> 00:21:37,100 Andy's already out by the creek stripping vegetation, 458 00:21:37,100 --> 00:21:39,800 so that he's prepping for us to put in the silt fence. 459 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,166 And I know it's killing him right now. 460 00:21:42,166 --> 00:21:45,100 It's killing us, too, man. I'd rather be out there digging for gold. 461 00:21:45,100 --> 00:21:47,266 I have no idea if this is gonna work. 462 00:21:47,266 --> 00:21:49,166 But, hey, we're going to war. 463 00:21:49,166 --> 00:21:51,066 We're gonna stop this mud pile, 464 00:21:51,066 --> 00:21:52,900 and we're gonna make it to the end of the season. 465 00:21:52,900 --> 00:21:55,233 We're gonna work our ass off. 466 00:21:57,567 --> 00:21:58,767 [Micah] We don't have any time to waste. 467 00:21:58,767 --> 00:22:00,767 These guys gotta get this stuff in here. 468 00:22:00,767 --> 00:22:03,166 We gotta get this out there so they can get it installed 469 00:22:03,166 --> 00:22:05,266 before that mud makes it to the creek. 470 00:22:05,900 --> 00:22:07,533 Burying Caleb alive. 471 00:22:08,500 --> 00:22:10,567 [Micah] So, if they can get it installed tonight, 472 00:22:10,567 --> 00:22:13,367 we can hopefully have an answer by morning if this is gonna work. 473 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:15,467 [Tater] Let's go. 474 00:22:15,867 --> 00:22:18,100 Sparky, let's go! 475 00:22:18,100 --> 00:22:19,300 Time to go, buddy. 476 00:22:19,300 --> 00:22:21,300 We're gonna become men today. 477 00:22:21,300 --> 00:22:23,300 [Tater] Are you guys ready for this? 478 00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:24,634 All right, we're out of here. 479 00:22:27,066 --> 00:22:28,667 So Andy's ahead of us. 480 00:22:28,667 --> 00:22:30,900 He's just pulling off the vegetation 481 00:22:30,900 --> 00:22:34,066 so that we're able to actually put the silt fence in. 482 00:22:34,066 --> 00:22:36,266 You can't put it over the vegetation. 483 00:22:36,266 --> 00:22:38,767 It'll just create places where silt will make its way 484 00:22:38,767 --> 00:22:40,700 under the fence 'cause it's not sealed down, 485 00:22:40,700 --> 00:22:43,533 and it makes it a lot easier for us to put it in. 486 00:22:48,367 --> 00:22:50,767 According to Izak's erosion plan, 487 00:22:50,767 --> 00:22:52,367 we're gonna dig a trench 488 00:22:52,367 --> 00:22:56,367 right alongside the tall mound from the stripped vegetation and topsoil. 489 00:22:56,367 --> 00:22:57,500 We call this a berm. 490 00:22:57,500 --> 00:23:00,367 And it's going to be a tight barrier against the creek 491 00:23:00,367 --> 00:23:03,400 to protect the creek from the runoff and silt. 492 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,533 [tense instrumental music] 493 00:23:11,667 --> 00:23:13,567 Andy's building that berm. 494 00:23:13,567 --> 00:23:16,300 I've been out in front marking the top edge of the creek 495 00:23:16,300 --> 00:23:19,467 because this brush, he can't see in that excavator 496 00:23:19,467 --> 00:23:20,867 where the drop-off is. 497 00:23:20,867 --> 00:23:23,166 It hangs out five, six feet over the creek, 498 00:23:23,166 --> 00:23:25,667 and the last thing we need is him in the creek with the excavator. 499 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,767 After Andy builds the berm and the trench, 500 00:23:32,767 --> 00:23:37,200 this is where the crew is going to install the two rows of silt fencing. 501 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,300 The silt fence is a semi-permeable fabric 502 00:23:40,300 --> 00:23:43,967 designed to filter sediment from the melt and rainwater 503 00:23:43,967 --> 00:23:47,000 as it seeps out of the overburden pile. 504 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,400 [Tater] Hey, Andy, we'll follow 100 feet behind you with this fencing, 505 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,500 'cause it rolled out backwards. 506 00:23:52,500 --> 00:23:55,200 It'll save us if we just do it that way, 507 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,967 messing around, trying to get a turnaround. 508 00:23:57,967 --> 00:24:00,066 [Andy speaking on radio] 509 00:24:00,066 --> 00:24:01,834 [Tater] Yes, we do. Thank you. 510 00:24:03,066 --> 00:24:04,900 [Hunter] This is something we've never had to do before, 511 00:24:04,900 --> 00:24:08,734 literally dig through the tundra and put up two layers of silt fence. 512 00:24:11,367 --> 00:24:14,800 Go another 15 feet. 513 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,200 It's all hands on deck. Everybody's in here getting muddy, 514 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:20,166 digging trenches, hammering stakes in. 515 00:24:21,467 --> 00:24:23,467 Our family's been mining for a long time now, 516 00:24:23,467 --> 00:24:26,567 but we've really never dealt with water issues quite like this. 517 00:24:26,567 --> 00:24:28,533 So, we're just dealing with it on the fly. 518 00:24:31,467 --> 00:24:34,200 My boots were causing problems, 519 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,166 so you do what you gotta do and get rid of them. 520 00:24:38,100 --> 00:24:40,100 And, then, if I get frostbite on my toes, 521 00:24:40,100 --> 00:24:43,066 I'll get a couple of days off. So, I'm down to my socks. 522 00:24:43,900 --> 00:24:47,400 [Izak speaking] 523 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:48,533 Why not? 524 00:24:49,467 --> 00:24:50,734 I didn't know that part. 525 00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:58,700 [Hunter] That won't go in anymore. 526 00:24:58,700 --> 00:24:59,867 [man] This one's frozen ground. 527 00:24:59,867 --> 00:25:01,066 [Hunter] Is that what's happening? 'Cause everyone saw 528 00:25:01,066 --> 00:25:03,634 -I can't get the stake in it anymore. -[man] It's frozen. 529 00:25:06,266 --> 00:25:08,467 Went in about two inches. 530 00:25:08,467 --> 00:25:12,500 Underneath all of this moss right here, we've got what's called permafrost. 531 00:25:12,500 --> 00:25:17,166 The moss insulates the ground that gets frozen every winter. 532 00:25:17,166 --> 00:25:20,000 Like, right here, it is frozen. 533 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,367 Eight inches under the ground, you've got solid ice, and it's almost August. 534 00:25:24,367 --> 00:25:27,166 It's just solid, clear ice right here on the ground. 535 00:25:27,166 --> 00:25:29,000 And that's what makes digging harder. 536 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,000 That's what makes putting the silt fence in harder. 537 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,867 And that's what makes a lot of water, the stuff we're dealing with. 538 00:25:33,867 --> 00:25:35,934 [somber instrumental music] 539 00:25:37,567 --> 00:25:40,400 [Hunter speaking] 540 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,367 How far more do you have to go? Another four inches? 541 00:25:43,367 --> 00:25:44,634 [Hunter speaking] 542 00:25:44,634 --> 00:25:47,266 Okay, five inches? Cut whatever the distance you need to go off, 543 00:25:47,266 --> 00:25:49,567 but leave a little stub for that to stick in 544 00:25:49,567 --> 00:25:52,100 so it has something to go against. 545 00:25:52,100 --> 00:25:53,367 Yeah, don't... 546 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,066 Give her a little sharpen up, too, if you can. 547 00:26:00,567 --> 00:26:02,266 [Hunter] Yeah, we want more there, yeah. 548 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:07,634 [Izak] Perfect. 549 00:26:07,634 --> 00:26:11,800 We're doing good. Coming up on 200 foot, each side. 550 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:13,900 So, 400 foot out of the... 551 00:26:13,900 --> 00:26:16,767 I think we're gonna try to get, like, 1,200 feet in today. 552 00:26:16,767 --> 00:26:18,967 That'll contain the bad part of it. 553 00:26:18,967 --> 00:26:21,900 Once we have it addressed, you know, to where it's not gonna go in the creek, 554 00:26:21,900 --> 00:26:24,567 we'll start extending it off of either end, 555 00:26:24,567 --> 00:26:26,600 so we can expand the cut and keep on moving 556 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:28,100 and not have this problem happen again. 557 00:26:28,100 --> 00:26:31,266 It's just tedious work, and it's all hand work. 558 00:26:31,266 --> 00:26:33,967 You could have millions and millions of dollars worth of equipment, 559 00:26:33,967 --> 00:26:36,967 and this is where the rubber meets the road. 560 00:26:36,967 --> 00:26:39,066 [sweeping instrumental music] 561 00:26:42,900 --> 00:26:45,800 [scoffs] It's dirty. It sucks. We're getting eaten alive by bugs. 562 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:52,333 But we literally have to get this done or we're screwed, so... 563 00:26:56,100 --> 00:26:58,233 [tense instrumental music] 564 00:27:09,467 --> 00:27:11,266 [Hunter] We're literally in the trenches now. 565 00:27:11,266 --> 00:27:14,400 We're literally digging a trench, putting in two layers of fence, 566 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:17,300 building a berm. And we're doing it all by hand for the most part, so... 567 00:27:17,300 --> 00:27:19,867 We're putting up a silt fence to try to keep 568 00:27:19,867 --> 00:27:22,967 the melting overburden pile from going into the creek. 569 00:27:22,967 --> 00:27:25,367 If this doesn't work and we get silt into the creek, 570 00:27:25,367 --> 00:27:28,967 the EPA can shut us down and, then, there's no more gold at all. 571 00:27:28,967 --> 00:27:32,166 If Andy would have put the overburden on the east side of the cut, 572 00:27:32,166 --> 00:27:34,166 rather than the west side where the creek is, 573 00:27:34,166 --> 00:27:35,700 we wouldn't be dealing with this issue right now, 574 00:27:35,700 --> 00:27:37,667 and we wouldn't all be fighting for our lives 575 00:27:37,667 --> 00:27:39,734 to try to save Jack's last season. 576 00:27:41,100 --> 00:27:43,500 Most of the time, this would be the last thing we'd ever wanna do, 577 00:27:43,500 --> 00:27:45,367 but, right now, we don't have a choice. 578 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:47,533 It's just a pain in the ass. 579 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,166 [Todd] The last step of Izak's erosion plan 580 00:27:52,166 --> 00:27:55,600 is to install three rows of straw wattle, 581 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,367 basically 30 feet apart, across the melting overburden 582 00:27:59,367 --> 00:28:01,667 to stop mud flow downhill. 583 00:28:01,667 --> 00:28:03,867 There's a couple of little streams through here. 584 00:28:03,867 --> 00:28:06,400 I'm gonna lay some straw wattle out across that, 585 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,166 slow down the velocity, let it build up and let the silt fall behind that. 586 00:28:10,166 --> 00:28:12,100 These basically act as a filter. 587 00:28:12,100 --> 00:28:13,500 Any water getting to the stream 588 00:28:13,500 --> 00:28:17,767 will have to run through those and leave the silt behind. 589 00:28:18,567 --> 00:28:22,967 So, what we got going on here is these. 590 00:28:24,567 --> 00:28:27,600 We've got little streams coming down here prominently over there. 591 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,767 I wanna lay this out across those and stop that, 592 00:28:30,767 --> 00:28:33,767 so it hits that and starts building up and filtering through this, 593 00:28:33,767 --> 00:28:36,066 so it can't get down to that creek. 594 00:28:36,066 --> 00:28:38,600 Walk fast. That's the key to this. 595 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:42,567 Don't stand in one spot, or you suction down and you're done. 596 00:28:42,567 --> 00:28:45,200 Find a decent place to walk on top of this stuff. 597 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:46,700 Yeah, right. 598 00:28:46,700 --> 00:28:49,533 [grunting] 599 00:28:51,967 --> 00:28:53,333 Where is the end at? 600 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:55,734 [man speaking] 601 00:28:56,667 --> 00:28:58,166 [Izak] No. 602 00:28:58,166 --> 00:29:00,166 [Izak] No, can't walk on it. 603 00:29:00,166 --> 00:29:02,900 But you can toss it out there like that. 604 00:29:02,900 --> 00:29:03,900 [man speaking] 605 00:29:03,900 --> 00:29:05,266 [Izak] Thirty-two feet each. 606 00:29:05,900 --> 00:29:07,100 [grunts] 607 00:29:07,100 --> 00:29:09,400 [dramatic instrumental music] 608 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:10,734 I'm screwed. 609 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,533 [grunting] 610 00:29:17,567 --> 00:29:20,333 You gonna pull me out now? [chuckles] 611 00:29:21,567 --> 00:29:22,734 [groans] 612 00:29:29,967 --> 00:29:31,233 You stuck? 613 00:29:36,867 --> 00:29:39,000 [Izak grunting] 614 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,300 Overlap it a little bit. 615 00:29:41,300 --> 00:29:44,634 The water velocity is low enough that it's gonna just silt in. 616 00:29:46,467 --> 00:29:48,967 See if you can just pull it out across that. 617 00:29:49,667 --> 00:29:51,934 [straining] 618 00:29:53,567 --> 00:29:55,233 If you can't get to the far end of that... 619 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:57,400 [grunts] 620 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,033 and pull it kind of straight. 621 00:30:01,100 --> 00:30:02,834 Throw me one stake over here. 622 00:30:03,567 --> 00:30:05,266 Throw me two stakes over here. 623 00:30:06,166 --> 00:30:08,634 Three stakes! [laughs] 624 00:30:09,467 --> 00:30:12,133 [grunting] 625 00:30:20,266 --> 00:30:22,100 [Andy] You know, Izak's come up with a good plan. 626 00:30:22,100 --> 00:30:23,767 The guys are putting in the silt fence. 627 00:30:23,767 --> 00:30:26,100 I'm digging a ditch and building a berm. 628 00:30:26,100 --> 00:30:29,400 We've gotta stop this mud from sliding and I think it's gonna work. 629 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,000 If this doesn't work, this is gonna be my fault, 630 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,433 and this is not the way that I wanted Jack to have his last season. 631 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:46,000 [narrator] If the crew gets it right, the melting overburden will run downhill. 632 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,867 As it encounters each line of defense, 633 00:30:48,867 --> 00:30:51,867 the straw wattle, silt fence, and the berm, 634 00:30:51,867 --> 00:30:55,900 the velocity of the runoff will slow, trapping the silt in the barriers 635 00:30:55,900 --> 00:30:59,200 before it can contaminate the creek. 636 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,266 [Hunter] It's looking good. We're gonna go over above and beyond 637 00:31:02,266 --> 00:31:03,867 on the measures that we need to take 638 00:31:03,867 --> 00:31:06,367 to make sure that we keep all this silt out of the creek. 639 00:31:06,367 --> 00:31:08,467 That's what has to be done. 640 00:31:08,467 --> 00:31:10,567 We still have 1,000 feet to go with this fence, 641 00:31:10,567 --> 00:31:12,767 and I'm really hoping it works. 642 00:31:12,767 --> 00:31:16,934 Hopefully, this saves the creek, our paychecks, and Jack's last season. 643 00:31:23,900 --> 00:31:26,033 [soft instrumental music] 644 00:31:29,300 --> 00:31:31,433 [Jack] This is disheartening. 645 00:31:34,166 --> 00:31:36,400 You know, it's kind of a joke. 646 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:41,600 People say, "It's our turn. It's our time to come. Our ship came in." 647 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:45,867 It's about time 'cause it's Jack's last year. 648 00:31:45,867 --> 00:31:48,233 [sobbing] 649 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,967 But, you know, you have to really run a lot of yardage to do that. 650 00:31:57,967 --> 00:32:00,300 We're shutting down because of the creek. 651 00:32:00,300 --> 00:32:02,900 I don't even think we're gonna make 50 ounces. 652 00:32:02,900 --> 00:32:05,567 This thing just hit us right in the teeth. 653 00:32:05,567 --> 00:32:08,634 I blame Andy. It's Andy's fault. 654 00:32:10,567 --> 00:32:12,266 It's been tough. 655 00:32:12,266 --> 00:32:15,834 [Jim] I think if you stick at it long enough, your dream will pay off. 656 00:32:18,367 --> 00:32:20,066 [machine rumbling] 657 00:32:21,266 --> 00:32:22,767 [machine shuts off] 658 00:32:22,767 --> 00:32:24,433 Oh, for Pete's sakes! 659 00:32:26,700 --> 00:32:28,834 Something's going on with the motor. 660 00:32:29,967 --> 00:32:31,266 [Jack] Uh-oh. 661 00:32:32,266 --> 00:32:34,100 I think the motor broke. 662 00:32:34,100 --> 00:32:36,166 [Jim] That's not a good sign right there. 663 00:32:36,767 --> 00:32:38,533 I knew it was going too easy. 664 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:43,367 [Jack] I'll look around. 665 00:32:43,367 --> 00:32:45,867 I might have some brand-new motors. 666 00:32:45,867 --> 00:32:49,500 -[Jim] Well... -Listen, somebody's been in here making a big-ass mess 667 00:32:49,500 --> 00:32:51,100 all right. 668 00:32:51,100 --> 00:32:54,367 Can't wash gold with a broken jig motor. 669 00:32:54,367 --> 00:32:58,767 Before the season started, I knew something like this might happen. 670 00:32:58,767 --> 00:33:01,500 So I ordered all new motors. 671 00:33:01,500 --> 00:33:03,467 Somebody let me down 672 00:33:03,467 --> 00:33:07,266 and didn't get me all the new motors. Dang it! 673 00:33:07,266 --> 00:33:14,000 Very fortunate thing is that I had another single jig. 674 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:20,367 And it has everything that this jig has in it, including a motor. 675 00:33:20,367 --> 00:33:22,400 If this used motor doesn't work, 676 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:24,667 we won't be able to clean any of the gold 677 00:33:24,667 --> 00:33:28,066 the guys brought in before we shut down. 678 00:33:28,367 --> 00:33:29,634 [Jim] Okay. 679 00:33:29,634 --> 00:33:35,467 You know, this is how we separate the gold from the concentrate. 680 00:33:35,467 --> 00:33:39,066 You know, otherwise, it's all hands on deck, everyone panning. 681 00:33:39,066 --> 00:33:44,467 And here we are, down and out, 90 miles north of Nome, 682 00:33:44,467 --> 00:33:47,867 and we got a part. 683 00:33:47,867 --> 00:33:52,634 That motor has been with me since about 2012. 684 00:33:53,667 --> 00:33:56,266 And most of the summers, it's been running. 685 00:33:57,066 --> 00:34:02,567 There's a gear in here, and it turns this, 686 00:34:02,567 --> 00:34:08,000 which, this turns our belt, 687 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,266 which makes the pulsation, 688 00:34:10,266 --> 00:34:15,000 pull, push, on the diaphragm that's underneath. 689 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:19,767 And you see this beard? You know? It's old. 690 00:34:20,367 --> 00:34:22,500 This motor got old. 691 00:34:22,500 --> 00:34:25,166 That motor has gray whiskers. 692 00:34:25,166 --> 00:34:27,567 -What I wanna do real quick, I'm gonna-- -[Jack] Plug it in? 693 00:34:27,567 --> 00:34:32,567 Yeah, but not yet. I gotta get it up there in the hole. 694 00:34:32,567 --> 00:34:34,467 Just real quick. 695 00:34:34,467 --> 00:34:36,600 Let me hang on to it, so it doesn't take off. 696 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:38,600 -Hang on, don't-- -[Jack] I'm not. I'm not. 697 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:43,500 You know, right now, the amount of time that this machine is down, 698 00:34:43,500 --> 00:34:46,100 is costing us thousands of dollars. 699 00:34:46,100 --> 00:34:47,967 [Jack] Give it two squeezes. 700 00:34:49,900 --> 00:34:51,200 That's enough. 701 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,033 [Jim] Okay, I think I got everything started. 702 00:34:54,467 --> 00:34:56,934 Please be... 703 00:34:57,867 --> 00:34:59,166 We hope. 704 00:35:04,367 --> 00:35:06,433 [soft instrumental music] 705 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:12,033 -[upbeat instrumental music] -[grunting] 706 00:35:12,033 --> 00:35:13,767 Came down to check the silt pits. 707 00:35:13,767 --> 00:35:15,367 [grunts] 708 00:35:15,367 --> 00:35:17,567 [Jim] I was walking down and it was looking pretty good. 709 00:35:17,567 --> 00:35:22,867 And, then, I looked up and saw the camera guy ass-deep in mud. 710 00:35:22,867 --> 00:35:27,166 So, being the guy I am, I came up the hill to rescue. 711 00:35:27,166 --> 00:35:29,467 [man] Oh, [bleep] Almost fell backwards. 712 00:35:29,467 --> 00:35:32,100 I've never seen a camera guy scream. 713 00:35:32,100 --> 00:35:33,967 [man] Get my camera. 714 00:35:33,967 --> 00:35:37,667 Tell my mom I'm sorry and I love her. 715 00:35:37,667 --> 00:35:40,834 Then, two more people had to come rescue us, too, so... [chuckling] 716 00:35:42,166 --> 00:35:43,400 No! 717 00:35:47,533 --> 00:35:48,834 [intriguing instrumental music] 718 00:35:49,734 --> 00:35:52,934 [Jim] Okay, red goes to white. 719 00:35:52,934 --> 00:35:55,033 Green, we've got black and black. 720 00:35:55,033 --> 00:35:56,734 [Jack] The motor on her, she broke. 721 00:35:56,734 --> 00:36:01,266 I have a spare motor, but there's no guarantee it's gonna work. 722 00:36:01,266 --> 00:36:03,867 We're not gonna even have a cleanup this week 723 00:36:03,867 --> 00:36:06,233 if I can't get this jig motor going. 724 00:36:06,233 --> 00:36:10,166 Of course, that means no gold, and that would be pretty depressing. 725 00:36:10,166 --> 00:36:11,834 [Jim] Okay, go ahead, Jack. 726 00:36:13,333 --> 00:36:15,500 [Jack] Okay, cord's plugged in. 727 00:36:16,767 --> 00:36:19,467 -Oh, that worked. -[Jim] Perfect. 728 00:36:19,467 --> 00:36:21,567 -[Jack] Okay. -[Jim] Yeah. 729 00:36:21,567 --> 00:36:24,266 Well, she's running really good. 730 00:36:24,266 --> 00:36:27,767 Fired her up, we're going. So, money in the bank, 731 00:36:27,767 --> 00:36:29,266 having extra parts. 732 00:36:29,266 --> 00:36:30,900 [triumphant instrumental music] 733 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:41,000 [bell tolls] 734 00:36:43,533 --> 00:36:45,667 [Andy] I feel a lot better than I did the other day. 735 00:36:45,667 --> 00:36:49,734 We had a problem, and those young guys, they just stepped up 736 00:36:49,734 --> 00:36:51,667 did what they needed to do. 737 00:36:51,667 --> 00:36:53,767 The overburdened pile has melted a lot more. 738 00:36:53,767 --> 00:36:56,767 But Izak came up with a really good plan, and we've implemented it. 739 00:36:56,767 --> 00:36:59,800 And it seems to be stopping it, so I think we're gonna be okay. 740 00:37:00,867 --> 00:37:02,767 I'm thankful for Izak. 741 00:37:02,767 --> 00:37:04,767 He came in with a new perspective. 742 00:37:04,767 --> 00:37:06,567 He's dealt with some of this stuff. 743 00:37:06,567 --> 00:37:10,367 He gave us a really good plan and, right now, it seems to be working. 744 00:37:10,367 --> 00:37:12,934 That crew is amazing. 745 00:37:12,934 --> 00:37:16,266 They got down in there. They were losing their boots. 746 00:37:16,266 --> 00:37:18,834 Stuck clear up to their knees in mud. 747 00:37:18,834 --> 00:37:23,000 They just hammered down and kept putting in silt fence and got it knocked out. 748 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:24,934 I'm very satisfied with the results. 749 00:37:28,266 --> 00:37:31,867 You know, I feel really good how everybody came together 750 00:37:31,867 --> 00:37:36,033 to put in the berm, the silt fences, the wattle. 751 00:37:36,033 --> 00:37:39,467 I'm pretty confident that we're gonna actually stop that silt 752 00:37:39,467 --> 00:37:41,667 from heading towards the creek. 753 00:37:41,667 --> 00:37:43,767 Hopefully, you know, we've done it right, 754 00:37:43,767 --> 00:37:46,667 and we've worked our hardest to actually fix a problem, 755 00:37:46,667 --> 00:37:48,834 and we won't get shut down. 756 00:37:48,834 --> 00:37:51,867 [Hunter] Besides the setbacks and the mud and everything else, 757 00:37:51,867 --> 00:37:54,767 saving Jack's last season is really all that matters to me. 758 00:37:54,767 --> 00:37:58,567 I think everybody, you know, jumping in and working side by side on this fence, 759 00:37:58,567 --> 00:38:02,166 it just really shows how important it is for us to work as a team 760 00:38:02,166 --> 00:38:03,867 if we're gonna be successful. 761 00:38:03,867 --> 00:38:06,734 Now that we have control of the erosion, 762 00:38:06,734 --> 00:38:10,533 we can get back to mining and getting some gold for my grandpa. 763 00:38:10,533 --> 00:38:12,567 [Andy] The tough part is that we haven't been mining. 764 00:38:12,567 --> 00:38:14,934 I just hope that we can make Todd's goal. 765 00:38:14,934 --> 00:38:17,333 And this is Jack's last season. 766 00:38:17,333 --> 00:38:21,834 I can't imagine me messing something up on his last season 767 00:38:21,834 --> 00:38:24,867 and being a failure. So, this has gotta work. 768 00:38:24,867 --> 00:38:26,934 I never wanna let this team down. 769 00:38:30,033 --> 00:38:32,433 [tense instrumental music] 770 00:38:34,967 --> 00:38:36,567 [Todd] Hey, guys. 771 00:38:36,567 --> 00:38:39,667 We all know, a very difficult week. 772 00:38:39,667 --> 00:38:44,266 Talk about a 180 with a pivot in the wrong direction. 773 00:38:44,266 --> 00:38:49,867 But if that mud would have made it down into the creek, 774 00:38:49,867 --> 00:38:52,367 we would have been in violation of our permit, 775 00:38:52,367 --> 00:38:54,834 something we've never had to deal with before. 776 00:38:54,834 --> 00:39:00,400 When I first saw it, I felt like I should have caught it. 777 00:39:02,233 --> 00:39:06,333 It really messed the season up, I mean, for everybody. 778 00:39:07,367 --> 00:39:09,166 [Jack] Mining is this way. 779 00:39:09,166 --> 00:39:13,834 It's up and down, and if it was just easy, everybody would be doing it. 780 00:39:13,834 --> 00:39:17,166 There's gonna be better days in the future. 781 00:39:17,166 --> 00:39:20,867 I know my dad spends months and months thinking about this. 782 00:39:20,867 --> 00:39:22,200 He takes it to heart. 783 00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:25,533 But this is the first year that everybody's really felt like a family. 784 00:39:25,533 --> 00:39:29,000 I feel like everybody's here together, and we're doing it as a team. 785 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,467 -[Todd] We came together. -Yeah. 786 00:39:31,467 --> 00:39:34,066 [Todd] But it's not moving, and it's drying up. 787 00:39:34,066 --> 00:39:36,834 -So, we're good for now. -Yeah. 788 00:39:36,834 --> 00:39:40,533 Well, we had some setbacks this week, but we did get some gold. 789 00:39:40,533 --> 00:39:44,333 So, Thurber, Jack, let's find out. 790 00:39:44,333 --> 00:39:48,233 Here she goes. There, weigh that for us. 791 00:39:48,233 --> 00:39:50,667 -Let's see what we have. -[Jim] Still feels good. 792 00:39:51,467 --> 00:39:52,934 [Jack] Okay. 793 00:39:53,567 --> 00:39:57,533 And there's 12. And 20. 794 00:39:58,867 --> 00:40:03,033 -[Hunter] Doesn't feel like a three-digit number. -And 30, 35, 37, 38, 795 00:40:03,033 --> 00:40:05,100 39, 40... 796 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:11,166 43, 44, 45, 47, 48... 797 00:40:12,033 --> 00:40:16,100 49.5. 798 00:40:18,367 --> 00:40:19,166 Wow. 799 00:40:19,166 --> 00:40:21,467 [somber instrumental music] 800 00:40:21,467 --> 00:40:25,266 It wasn't one of our best days, that's for sure. 801 00:40:25,266 --> 00:40:28,533 That really, really messed us up. Really messed us up. 802 00:40:29,133 --> 00:40:30,900 Not where we wanna be. 803 00:40:31,734 --> 00:40:34,767 But still, look, it's almost 50 ounces. 804 00:40:34,767 --> 00:40:39,433 Probably $80,000 or $90,000. It's not the end of the world, okay? 805 00:40:39,433 --> 00:40:40,900 It's still a lot of gold. 806 00:40:40,900 --> 00:40:43,934 [narrator] With a minimal haul before their shutdown to save the creek, 807 00:40:43,934 --> 00:40:47,033 a cleanup just shy of 50 ounces of gold 808 00:40:47,033 --> 00:40:53,600 barely moves the Hoffmans closer to their 3,033-ounce goal. 809 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:57,467 To be honest with you, I don't know what the total's gonna be this year now. 810 00:40:57,467 --> 00:40:59,467 This is a curveball. 811 00:40:59,467 --> 00:41:01,967 But we're definitely not gonna give up, 812 00:41:01,967 --> 00:41:05,066 and we're still in the game, okay? 813 00:41:05,066 --> 00:41:08,133 Well, as long as we learn from this and move on, 814 00:41:08,133 --> 00:41:09,734 we're going to better places. 815 00:41:09,734 --> 00:41:12,567 [Tater] One setback isn't the end of the world. We got this. 816 00:41:12,567 --> 00:41:15,266 You just keep your head up. Let's keep moving. 817 00:41:15,266 --> 00:41:17,567 Andy, you know the gold's out there. 818 00:41:17,567 --> 00:41:19,767 Get back out there. Go get it. 819 00:41:19,767 --> 00:41:20,867 Okay. 820 00:41:20,867 --> 00:41:22,767 All right, let's go. 821 00:41:22,767 --> 00:41:24,834 [dramatic instrumental music]