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00:00:04,793 --> 00:00:06,103
[narrator]
As the winter freeze
2
00:00:06,103 --> 00:00:08,620
threatens to
shut down operations...
3
00:00:08,620 --> 00:00:11,068
God, I miss Palm Springs.
4
00:00:11,068 --> 00:00:13,793
[narrator] ...the Hoffman crew
must find a way to extract
5
00:00:13,793 --> 00:00:15,517
a cool quarter million dollars
6
00:00:15,517 --> 00:00:18,275
in gold
from the frozen ground...
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00:00:18,275 --> 00:00:19,689
[Dakota] That's not supposed
to be there.
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00:00:19,689 --> 00:00:22,689
[Sparky]
Huge ice chunks are just
destroying the Holy Roller.
9
00:00:22,689 --> 00:00:25,931
[narrator] ...or return home
at a heartbreaking loss.
10
00:00:25,931 --> 00:00:27,482
[Jim] There's gold
getting left behind.
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00:00:27,482 --> 00:00:30,827
[narrator] But to glean
the 136 ounces they need
12
00:00:30,827 --> 00:00:32,172
to turn a profit...
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00:00:32,172 --> 00:00:34,793
[Hunter] If we can get
some more good pay,
14
00:00:34,793 --> 00:00:37,206
we might get out of here
without losing our ass.
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00:00:38,103 --> 00:00:39,241
[narrator]
...they'll have to break
16
00:00:39,241 --> 00:00:42,034
the conventional rules
of mining in the Arctic.
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00:00:42,793 --> 00:00:44,896
It's definitely a Hail Mary.
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00:00:44,896 --> 00:00:48,103
We've had some
pretty crazy ideas this year,
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00:00:48,103 --> 00:00:50,517
but this one tops all of them.
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[Todd]
Winter's knocking at the door.
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It's very, very cold.
Sometimes it's wet.
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00:01:21,275 --> 00:01:24,137
It's almost impossible
to mine right now.
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00:01:25,724 --> 00:01:27,344
[Todd]
Keep going, guys. Good job.
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00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:29,241
[Sterling] You betcha.
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00:01:29,241 --> 00:01:32,172
[Todd] Plateau dirt gave us
a great payout last week,
26
00:01:32,172 --> 00:01:35,000
but even that's
starting to freeze up.
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00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,000
We're 136 ounces short
of our goal.
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And the winter's trying
to kick us out of here.
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00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:41,862
But we're not gonna stop
until we get it.
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00:01:43,103 --> 00:01:45,551
The weather's gonna
make it tough,
but we're tougher.
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00:01:48,482 --> 00:01:51,000
Hey, Sparky, you wear
your long johns today?
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00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:51,965
Nope.
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00:01:52,310 --> 00:01:53,206
[Sterling] I did.
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00:01:53,206 --> 00:01:55,000
It's getting cold, dude.
It's nippy.
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00:01:55,517 --> 00:01:56,620
[laughs]
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00:02:01,413 --> 00:02:04,517
This pay is frozen solid.
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00:02:06,689 --> 00:02:07,931
For right now,
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00:02:07,931 --> 00:02:10,206
we're dropping all our pay in
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00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,379
kind of our
small tailings area,
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00:02:13,379 --> 00:02:15,068
because we are processing it.
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00:02:15,068 --> 00:02:16,068
Right now
that's what I'm doing.
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00:02:16,068 --> 00:02:18,241
I'm crushing up
any of the big pieces.
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00:02:20,620 --> 00:02:23,620
We got trucks
bringing pay to me.
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00:02:28,172 --> 00:02:29,482
So I can
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00:02:29,482 --> 00:02:31,724
smash up some of
the bigger ice chunks.
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00:02:32,931 --> 00:02:35,517
So we got to throw
some extra steps.
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00:02:36,517 --> 00:02:38,482
We're running out of time
this season.
48
00:02:38,482 --> 00:02:40,379
And it's just inefficient
49
00:02:40,379 --> 00:02:43,137
with this short amount of time
that we have right now.
50
00:02:58,517 --> 00:03:01,517
[Jack speaking]
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00:03:08,482 --> 00:03:09,551
10-4.
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00:03:11,689 --> 00:03:14,000
Let's go.
Go ahead and fire it up.
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00:03:41,827 --> 00:03:44,724
[Hunter]
Sadly, the Black Pearl
somehow caught on fire.
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00:03:44,724 --> 00:03:46,482
And right now
we're running Jack's plant
55
00:03:46,482 --> 00:03:48,000
as one of our main plants.
56
00:03:48,896 --> 00:03:50,310
We did some
modifications on it
57
00:03:50,310 --> 00:03:51,862
to try to speed up
our yardage.
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00:03:52,793 --> 00:03:54,517
We just need enough gold
59
00:03:54,517 --> 00:03:56,862
to try to get us
at least over a thousand.
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00:03:57,413 --> 00:03:58,793
Then, uh,
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00:03:58,793 --> 00:04:00,482
you know, we might
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00:04:00,482 --> 00:04:02,310
get out of here
without losing our ass.
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00:04:03,793 --> 00:04:06,172
I never ever thought
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00:04:06,172 --> 00:04:08,793
that I'd be running
a plant that I built
65
00:04:08,793 --> 00:04:11,724
on the last season, mining.
You know?
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00:04:11,724 --> 00:04:13,655
My plant's saving their butt.
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00:04:16,103 --> 00:04:17,379
The plateau pay,
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00:04:17,379 --> 00:04:19,137
we know what it pays.
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00:04:20,103 --> 00:04:22,620
121.7.
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00:04:22,620 --> 00:04:25,000
That's pretty good, boys.
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00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,793
Yeah! Woo!
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00:04:27,793 --> 00:04:31,068
[Jack] But it's frozen,
so it is what it is.
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00:04:31,068 --> 00:04:33,896
We're gonna
run this up, and, uh,
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00:04:33,896 --> 00:04:36,379
it will run fairly easy
75
00:04:36,379 --> 00:04:37,724
through this plant.
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00:05:02,793 --> 00:05:03,862
[Sterling speaking]
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00:05:08,103 --> 00:05:09,551
[Dakota speaking]
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00:05:26,172 --> 00:05:29,275
[Dakota] The hopper's got
a pretty thin chute up there.
79
00:05:29,275 --> 00:05:30,793
We don't have
any grizzly bars on it.
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00:05:30,793 --> 00:05:32,379
So all this big frozen pay
81
00:05:32,379 --> 00:05:34,000
is just getting stuck
up there right now.
82
00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:35,931
So every time
too big a one gets stuck,
83
00:05:35,931 --> 00:05:38,206
we got to shut down
and get it out.
84
00:05:38,206 --> 00:05:39,448
I mean, we got
to do it safely,
85
00:05:39,448 --> 00:05:41,689
so everything's got to get
shut down every single time.
86
00:05:41,689 --> 00:05:43,931
So it just
costs a lot of time.
87
00:05:52,172 --> 00:05:54,931
[Todd] At this point,
every minute that we're down
88
00:05:54,931 --> 00:05:56,586
hurts my bottom line.
89
00:05:56,586 --> 00:05:58,689
Every time we have
to stop the Holy Roller
90
00:05:58,689 --> 00:06:00,206
to get these ice chunks out,
91
00:06:00,206 --> 00:06:02,172
we're losing
thousands of dollars.
92
00:06:02,172 --> 00:06:04,310
[Andy] It's gonna be
a battle for a bit.
93
00:06:04,310 --> 00:06:06,413
It just sucks.
94
00:06:06,413 --> 00:06:08,517
But it is what it is, okay?
95
00:06:08,517 --> 00:06:09,758
- Yep.
- Thank you.
96
00:06:18,620 --> 00:06:21,275
- Push that up to the back.
- Hey, maybe we all grab on.
97
00:06:21,275 --> 00:06:23,413
[Sparky] Maybe we grab on.
Tug of war, dude.
98
00:06:23,413 --> 00:06:25,103
Tug of war with pay.
99
00:06:25,103 --> 00:06:27,827
- [Dakota] Oh, yeah.
- [Sparky] Oh [bleep]!
100
00:06:27,827 --> 00:06:29,724
[Dakota] I don't think this
is a normal thing on a mine,
101
00:06:29,724 --> 00:06:31,827
but it's happening right now.
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00:06:32,724 --> 00:06:34,172
[Sparky] Yippee!
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00:06:34,172 --> 00:06:35,655
That's not supposed
to be there.
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00:06:37,172 --> 00:06:39,068
[Sparky] You know,
the plateau is a nice idea,
105
00:06:39,068 --> 00:06:41,482
but we're way too late
in the season.
106
00:06:41,482 --> 00:06:42,896
Huge ice chunks are just
107
00:06:42,896 --> 00:06:45,068
destroying screens
on the Holy Roller.
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00:06:45,068 --> 00:06:47,310
I have no idea
how long we have
109
00:06:47,310 --> 00:06:48,620
to run this through.
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00:06:51,379 --> 00:06:53,241
[Dakota] You know what
that'll do to the screens?
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00:06:54,517 --> 00:06:56,000
[Dakota] But it doesn't
fit through the hopper.
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00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,379
And I can't
go through the chute
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00:06:58,379 --> 00:07:00,482
with the plant on
or the water on,
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00:07:00,482 --> 00:07:02,241
so I have to shut it down.
115
00:07:05,275 --> 00:07:06,172
[Dakota]
That's what I've been doing,
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00:07:06,172 --> 00:07:07,310
but I have to shut off
117
00:07:07,310 --> 00:07:08,931
when it gets stuck
inside the chute.
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00:07:12,482 --> 00:07:14,413
- [Dakota] Are we clear?
- [Sparky] Clear.
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00:07:30,896 --> 00:07:32,206
All right, Sterling, go ahead.
120
00:07:45,068 --> 00:07:46,931
The other one was
twice that size.
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00:07:46,931 --> 00:07:48,206
[Jim] What?
122
00:07:48,206 --> 00:07:50,517
We're just gonna
struggle with it a little bit.
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00:07:51,793 --> 00:07:53,275
We're gonna have
to shut the plant down
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00:07:53,275 --> 00:07:55,137
probably periodically
from time to time.
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00:07:55,482 --> 00:07:56,931
Um, the thing is
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00:07:56,931 --> 00:07:58,206
that we've got to do is,
we've got to get it
fired right back up
127
00:07:58,206 --> 00:07:59,413
and get it running, so...
128
00:07:59,724 --> 00:08:00,827
I've done
129
00:08:00,827 --> 00:08:02,620
all this stuff before,
and I know it sucks
130
00:08:02,620 --> 00:08:03,931
when you can't
get in a rhythm,
131
00:08:04,206 --> 00:08:05,206
but, uh,
132
00:08:06,068 --> 00:08:07,206
we just do the best we can.
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00:08:11,103 --> 00:08:13,103
[narrator] While the crew
battles ice chunks
134
00:08:13,103 --> 00:08:15,344
and downtime
at the Holy Roller,
135
00:08:16,689 --> 00:08:19,172
the Jack Rabbit's
simpler shaker deck design
136
00:08:19,172 --> 00:08:21,517
allows it to
discard ice chunks
137
00:08:21,517 --> 00:08:23,827
without incurring
screen damage,
138
00:08:23,827 --> 00:08:26,172
enabling Jack's
lower-volume wash plant
139
00:08:26,172 --> 00:08:28,827
to run a more consistent flow
of pay dirt.
140
00:08:37,275 --> 00:08:38,931
Trying to get
some more ounces on the board
141
00:08:38,931 --> 00:08:40,896
for Jack's last season.
We had a...
142
00:08:40,896 --> 00:08:42,965
[clearing throat]
Terrible year.
143
00:08:43,482 --> 00:08:44,758
Had a lot of issues.
144
00:08:45,172 --> 00:08:46,275
And, uh,
145
00:08:46,275 --> 00:08:48,000
you know, our gold count
reflects that.
146
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,103
And nothing's gonna thaw
at this point in the year,
147
00:08:50,103 --> 00:08:51,586
so, time is running out.
148
00:08:51,586 --> 00:08:53,172
But at this point, I'm just
149
00:08:53,172 --> 00:08:55,482
committed to do
whatever we need to do
150
00:08:55,482 --> 00:08:57,931
to get as much gold
as possible.
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00:09:21,689 --> 00:09:25,137
[Jim speaking]
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00:09:28,724 --> 00:09:29,931
It's running a little dirty.
153
00:09:29,931 --> 00:09:32,103
Maybe slow it down
just a little bit.
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00:09:34,931 --> 00:09:36,793
[Jim] You know,
running frozen pay
155
00:09:36,793 --> 00:09:39,103
not only plugs up the plant,
156
00:09:39,103 --> 00:09:41,172
now I'm seeing dirty gravel
157
00:09:41,172 --> 00:09:43,517
coming out of the plant,
which, to me,
158
00:09:43,517 --> 00:09:46,275
it means we're losing gold.
159
00:09:46,275 --> 00:09:48,172
I'm gonna test it
to make sure,
160
00:09:48,172 --> 00:09:50,689
but the pay's frozen.
161
00:09:50,689 --> 00:09:52,206
Chunks are
coming through there.
162
00:09:52,793 --> 00:09:53,793
It's not good.
163
00:09:55,172 --> 00:09:57,827
Okay, let's see
what the test tells us.
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00:10:10,793 --> 00:10:12,172
[Jim]
I've been down at the plant.
165
00:10:12,172 --> 00:10:14,655
I see chunks of ice
coming through.
166
00:10:14,655 --> 00:10:16,689
The gravels aren't clean.
167
00:10:16,689 --> 00:10:18,275
That tells me that
168
00:10:18,275 --> 00:10:20,689
they're just not
getting washed properly.
169
00:10:20,689 --> 00:10:23,103
I pan and check the tailings.
170
00:10:23,862 --> 00:10:26,000
A lot of gold in here.
171
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,103
This goes from real super-fine
to pretty coarse gold
172
00:10:30,103 --> 00:10:31,689
that's been through our plant.
173
00:10:31,689 --> 00:10:34,586
So that doesn't
make me feel good.
174
00:10:34,586 --> 00:10:36,172
We're getting a lot of it,
175
00:10:36,172 --> 00:10:38,310
but there's a lot more
that we're leaving behind.
176
00:10:39,551 --> 00:10:41,068
They're pretty proud
that they're running
177
00:10:41,068 --> 00:10:42,862
300 yards an hour.
178
00:10:42,862 --> 00:10:45,689
Uh, that makes me cringe.
179
00:10:45,689 --> 00:10:47,793
And I checked.
180
00:10:47,793 --> 00:10:50,310
And unfortunately,
I was correct.
181
00:10:50,793 --> 00:10:52,448
Doesn't take a scientist
182
00:10:52,448 --> 00:10:54,689
to figure this out.
Dirty rocks.
183
00:10:55,379 --> 00:10:58,137
A lot of mud.
A lot of frozen stuff.
184
00:10:58,137 --> 00:11:00,379
I see chunks of ice
coming through.
185
00:11:01,275 --> 00:11:03,379
I mean, there's gold
getting left behind.
186
00:11:03,379 --> 00:11:05,793
So, uh, it's bad.
187
00:11:06,275 --> 00:11:08,000
We got some stuff
to figure out.
188
00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:09,586
Things to do different.
189
00:11:09,586 --> 00:11:11,448
I gotta get ahold of Todd.
190
00:11:11,448 --> 00:11:12,827
We gotta do something.
191
00:11:21,379 --> 00:11:22,310
Okay.
192
00:11:28,655 --> 00:11:29,931
Hi, Dakota.
193
00:11:43,482 --> 00:11:46,931
[Dakota] Okay.
The situation is not good.
194
00:11:48,137 --> 00:11:50,379
Not ideal. Less than ideal.
195
00:11:50,379 --> 00:11:52,896
When they're not getting stuck
in the trommel,
196
00:11:52,896 --> 00:11:55,482
a lot of these big chunks
are just flying out the end
197
00:11:55,482 --> 00:11:57,068
into the tailings.
198
00:11:59,896 --> 00:12:02,482
So what we're doing,
we're bringing them
back over to Carl,
199
00:12:02,482 --> 00:12:03,758
and Carl's gonna
smash them up,
200
00:12:03,758 --> 00:12:06,068
and then we'll run it
through the plant again.
201
00:12:06,068 --> 00:12:07,137
It's a little tedious,
202
00:12:07,137 --> 00:12:08,827
but we have to give it
everything we got.
203
00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:24,000
[Dakota speaking]
204
00:12:33,689 --> 00:12:34,896
[Jim] Well,
205
00:12:34,896 --> 00:12:38,172
this is a sample
I took out of the tailings.
206
00:12:38,172 --> 00:12:39,620
[Jack] What the heck?
207
00:12:40,068 --> 00:12:41,068
[Jim] Yeah.
208
00:12:41,068 --> 00:12:43,620
I saw a lot of mud
in the gravel,
209
00:12:44,172 --> 00:12:46,689
took baseball-sized clump
of dirt,
210
00:12:46,689 --> 00:12:48,689
put it in the pan, and that is
211
00:12:48,689 --> 00:12:50,034
honest to God...
212
00:12:50,034 --> 00:12:51,793
[Andy] God dang, that is rich.
213
00:12:51,793 --> 00:12:55,068
Yeah, that's been
through the plant, so...
214
00:12:55,068 --> 00:12:56,000
It was frozen,
215
00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:57,862
but that's why
I called you in here.
216
00:12:57,862 --> 00:12:59,379
We got to do something.
217
00:12:59,379 --> 00:13:01,689
That's not kind of
218
00:13:01,689 --> 00:13:02,620
a little bit of gold.
219
00:13:02,620 --> 00:13:04,448
- That's a lot of gold.
- [Andy] Yeah.
220
00:13:04,448 --> 00:13:05,896
We got to make a change, 100%.
221
00:13:05,896 --> 00:13:07,551
$2,000 an hour,
222
00:13:07,551 --> 00:13:09,068
$20,000 a day.
223
00:13:09,068 --> 00:13:10,689
The problem is,
no matter what you do,
224
00:13:10,689 --> 00:13:12,758
you're not gonna get
balls of it to come out.
225
00:13:12,758 --> 00:13:14,482
- We're not gonna get it all.
- [Andy] No.
226
00:13:14,482 --> 00:13:17,310
But that's like
several ounces an hour.
227
00:13:17,586 --> 00:13:18,344
[Jim] Yeah.
228
00:13:18,344 --> 00:13:19,551
[Andy] Right now we're having
229
00:13:19,551 --> 00:13:21,172
a lot of problems
with the plateau,
230
00:13:21,172 --> 00:13:23,655
and that is because we've got
frozen pay in there.
231
00:13:23,655 --> 00:13:25,793
We know there's gold
in the ground,
232
00:13:25,793 --> 00:13:27,137
but right now
it's going through the plant
233
00:13:27,137 --> 00:13:28,586
and it's coming out
with frozen chunks.
234
00:13:28,586 --> 00:13:30,103
It's late enough in the year,
235
00:13:30,103 --> 00:13:31,482
there's just no way
to thaw it.
236
00:13:31,482 --> 00:13:33,551
So I don't know
how much longer
237
00:13:33,551 --> 00:13:34,793
we can run this material.
238
00:13:34,793 --> 00:13:36,586
Maybe we're going
a little too quick, Andy.
239
00:13:36,586 --> 00:13:38,137
Maybe we just
take it down a notch,
240
00:13:38,137 --> 00:13:39,172
bring the water down.
241
00:13:40,034 --> 00:13:41,793
Thurber, I think
you ought to go down there
242
00:13:41,793 --> 00:13:44,241
and just watch it
and try to adjust it.
243
00:13:44,241 --> 00:13:45,896
And with Dakota, too.
244
00:13:45,896 --> 00:13:47,551
- Like, you two work together.
- Right.
245
00:13:47,551 --> 00:13:49,551
We'll go with
what you guys think.
246
00:13:49,551 --> 00:13:51,586
[Andy] God,
it's nasty stuff, though.
247
00:13:51,586 --> 00:13:53,827
- No, I agree.
- Just nasty stuff.
248
00:13:54,896 --> 00:13:56,275
[Todd]
We're losing enough gold.
249
00:13:56,275 --> 00:13:59,551
I think we got to make some
adjustments to the plant.
250
00:13:59,551 --> 00:14:02,379
But with this plateau ice
causing us so many problems,
251
00:14:02,379 --> 00:14:04,482
we're gonna have
to come up with a new plan,
252
00:14:04,482 --> 00:14:06,275
and fast.
253
00:14:06,275 --> 00:14:09,275
We only have maybe one,
maybe two weeks left
254
00:14:09,275 --> 00:14:11,586
to reach our goal of 1,023.
255
00:14:11,586 --> 00:14:13,793
I mean, we definitely need
to make a change.
256
00:14:15,137 --> 00:14:16,620
What that is, I don't know.
257
00:14:24,689 --> 00:14:28,103
Hey, Dakota, what are we gonna
start out with on the water?
258
00:14:28,103 --> 00:14:30,275
[Dakota] Do you want to go
what we were at
259
00:14:30,275 --> 00:14:31,689
or do you want to go lower?
260
00:14:32,448 --> 00:14:34,482
Yeah, let's just go
where we were at
261
00:14:34,482 --> 00:14:36,724
and then we'll adjust
from there.
262
00:14:38,379 --> 00:14:39,689
[Dakota] 10-4.
263
00:14:39,689 --> 00:14:42,241
I want to take a look
at what we were doing.
264
00:14:42,241 --> 00:14:44,379
Same water, same feed.
265
00:14:44,379 --> 00:14:47,689
We're gonna adjust
one or both of those things
266
00:14:47,689 --> 00:14:50,413
to see if we can up
our capture rate on this goal.
267
00:14:51,241 --> 00:14:54,551
1,370 RPMs
268
00:14:54,551 --> 00:14:57,241
is where, uh,
we've been running it.
269
00:14:57,241 --> 00:14:58,758
I just think it's too much.
270
00:14:58,758 --> 00:15:00,896
With all the ice balls
that are coming out
271
00:15:00,896 --> 00:15:02,482
of the plateau dirt.
272
00:15:02,482 --> 00:15:04,620
Hey, Caleb,
are you still down there?
273
00:15:05,275 --> 00:15:06,379
[Caleb speaking]
274
00:15:06,379 --> 00:15:09,241
[Todd] Okay, bring me
down to 1,340.
275
00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:10,827
[Caleb speaking]
276
00:15:13,586 --> 00:15:14,931
[Todd] Better speed.
277
00:15:17,068 --> 00:15:19,000
It still looks quick to me.
278
00:15:19,344 --> 00:15:20,931
It still looks fast.
279
00:15:21,689 --> 00:15:23,000
Give me 1,300.
280
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,172
Bring it down again. 1,300.
281
00:15:26,172 --> 00:15:27,137
[Caleb speaking]
282
00:15:35,655 --> 00:15:37,068
What's your thoughts?
283
00:15:37,068 --> 00:15:38,413
[Jim] I think it looks good.
284
00:15:39,068 --> 00:15:41,379
I mean, I like the speed
285
00:15:41,793 --> 00:15:43,310
at the water, but...
286
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:47,482
Because we were going at
287
00:15:47,482 --> 00:15:50,172
45 seconds
to a minute a bucket,
288
00:15:50,172 --> 00:15:51,896
is what we were at.
289
00:15:51,896 --> 00:15:54,896
And then they started going,
you know, up and up.
290
00:15:58,586 --> 00:16:01,068
[Todd speaking]
291
00:16:03,896 --> 00:16:06,931
Yeah, let's don't go
more than one bucket a minute.
292
00:16:08,482 --> 00:16:10,724
[Tater] 10-4.
[speaking indistinctly]
293
00:16:11,586 --> 00:16:12,586
[Todd] There's a lot to it
294
00:16:12,586 --> 00:16:14,965
to get your plant
to run optimally.
295
00:16:14,965 --> 00:16:17,275
You have to find
the right water speed
296
00:16:17,275 --> 00:16:18,413
and feed rate.
297
00:16:19,241 --> 00:16:21,551
That balance can be changed
298
00:16:21,551 --> 00:16:22,965
according to the pay
299
00:16:22,965 --> 00:16:25,689
that you're actually
putting through the plant.
300
00:16:25,689 --> 00:16:28,241
Unfortunately, I don't think
there's a good way
301
00:16:28,241 --> 00:16:30,206
to run chunks of icy pay.
302
00:16:32,896 --> 00:16:35,137
What I want to see
is the clean rocks,
303
00:16:36,103 --> 00:16:38,000
but I don't want to see that.
304
00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:39,620
That's a big chunk of ice.
305
00:16:40,448 --> 00:16:41,758
I mean...
306
00:16:45,793 --> 00:16:48,482
None of us want to see this
when you're mining.
307
00:16:48,482 --> 00:16:50,724
This is ice. It's not good.
308
00:16:52,896 --> 00:16:55,172
[Todd] I don't know,
I kind of like this speed.
309
00:16:55,172 --> 00:16:57,000
Okay, we're gonna run this at
310
00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,620
one bucket a minute and 1,300.
311
00:17:00,172 --> 00:17:01,758
[Caleb speaking]
312
00:17:01,758 --> 00:17:05,448
I feel better with the changes
we're gonna try and make.
313
00:17:05,448 --> 00:17:07,896
It seems
to be washing cleaner,
314
00:17:07,896 --> 00:17:10,793
but we still have
the frozen chunks of pay.
315
00:17:10,793 --> 00:17:11,965
And, you know,
316
00:17:11,965 --> 00:17:13,965
running frozen pay,
there's nothing we can do
317
00:17:13,965 --> 00:17:17,000
about the fact that we're
blowing gold out of the plant.
318
00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:18,896
We're doing
the best we can with,
319
00:17:19,379 --> 00:17:21,206
again, what we have, so...
320
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,275
[Todd] Let's just slow it down
321
00:17:24,275 --> 00:17:26,827
and get into a really nice
little rhythm here.
322
00:17:31,793 --> 00:17:33,275
It's never easy.
323
00:17:33,275 --> 00:17:34,586
They always say
if it was easy,
324
00:17:34,586 --> 00:17:36,862
everyone would be doing it.
325
00:17:36,862 --> 00:17:39,206
Maybe they're more sane
than we are. I don't know.
326
00:17:53,482 --> 00:17:55,172
[Todd] It's getting cold.
327
00:17:55,172 --> 00:17:57,793
Winter's coming, man.
328
00:17:57,793 --> 00:17:59,793
It's snowing
right over there right now.
329
00:18:01,034 --> 00:18:03,931
I mean, it's getting cold.
Any day could be snow. So...
330
00:18:04,586 --> 00:18:06,379
I think we're
approaching the end.
331
00:18:06,379 --> 00:18:07,413
I mean, in the plateau dirt,
332
00:18:07,413 --> 00:18:09,689
they're starting to get
frozen chunks in it.
333
00:18:09,689 --> 00:18:12,000
[Todd] I can see that.
They're getting ice chunks
334
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:13,275
- coming through the plant.
- Yeah.
335
00:18:13,275 --> 00:18:15,068
It's already a long haul,
336
00:18:15,068 --> 00:18:16,482
and now we're having
to slow the plant down
337
00:18:16,482 --> 00:18:17,896
to get that material
through it.
338
00:18:17,896 --> 00:18:19,965
And we're losing gold
339
00:18:19,965 --> 00:18:22,275
that's not getting washed
because it's frozen.
340
00:18:22,275 --> 00:18:23,344
What do we got left?
341
00:18:23,344 --> 00:18:26,241
Think about what we have left.
342
00:18:26,689 --> 00:18:28,379
Upper Dahl, anywhere.
343
00:18:28,379 --> 00:18:30,482
Maybe even 1,000 yards.
344
00:18:30,482 --> 00:18:32,172
Is there anything we can grab?
345
00:18:32,172 --> 00:18:33,379
Anything.
346
00:18:33,896 --> 00:18:36,551
So last year
when we were at Upper Dahl...
347
00:18:36,551 --> 00:18:38,448
- [Todd] Yeah?
- ...there was
a section of the road
348
00:18:38,448 --> 00:18:41,034
built out of tailings
from the old-timers,
349
00:18:41,034 --> 00:18:43,172
but we left the road in
because we needed the road.
350
00:18:43,172 --> 00:18:44,482
We're not mining
up there right now.
351
00:18:44,482 --> 00:18:45,896
It's not frozen.
352
00:18:45,896 --> 00:18:47,275
Think we could take
a little bit of that?
353
00:18:47,275 --> 00:18:48,793
[Andy] We could probably take
some of that and then
354
00:18:48,793 --> 00:18:50,655
just wash it
and put the gravel
back in the hole.
355
00:18:50,655 --> 00:18:52,689
[Todd]
How long will that get us?
356
00:18:52,689 --> 00:18:54,379
It's not gonna buy us
more than a week,
357
00:18:54,379 --> 00:18:55,689
but it's something.
358
00:18:55,689 --> 00:18:58,448
Could be $20,000,
$30,000 in gold.
359
00:18:58,448 --> 00:19:00,241
- Who knows?
$50,000? Who knows?
- Yeah.
360
00:19:00,241 --> 00:19:02,137
Desperate times
call for desperate measures,
361
00:19:02,137 --> 00:19:03,586
- I guess.
- Yeah.
362
00:19:03,586 --> 00:19:06,000
[Andy] You know,
yesterday Thurber was
panning the tailings
363
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:07,172
and it got me thinking
364
00:19:07,172 --> 00:19:09,379
what happened
to the guys here before us
365
00:19:09,379 --> 00:19:10,586
when they were mining?
366
00:19:10,586 --> 00:19:12,068
And did they have
the same problems?
367
00:19:12,068 --> 00:19:14,551
Because the gravel that's
used out of those tailings
368
00:19:14,551 --> 00:19:16,103
is what you build
the roads with around here.
369
00:19:16,103 --> 00:19:18,000
And maybe, hopefully,
there's some gold in it.
370
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,448
At this point,
it might be our only hope
371
00:19:20,448 --> 00:19:22,344
to finish out
the season strong.
372
00:19:22,344 --> 00:19:24,137
Every little bit
at this point helps.
373
00:19:24,137 --> 00:19:25,793
- [Todd] Yeah.
- So it will be thawed,
374
00:19:25,793 --> 00:19:27,275
so let's try.
375
00:19:27,275 --> 00:19:28,448
[Todd] So digging up the road,
376
00:19:28,448 --> 00:19:31,379
obviously, is unorthodox.
377
00:19:31,379 --> 00:19:33,137
It's a pretty crazy move,
but, you know,
378
00:19:33,137 --> 00:19:34,241
we need to run pay
379
00:19:34,241 --> 00:19:36,482
while we still
have running water.
380
00:19:36,482 --> 00:19:37,965
This whole area is rich,
381
00:19:37,965 --> 00:19:39,551
and we know that there's gold
382
00:19:39,551 --> 00:19:41,137
in the old miners' tailings,
383
00:19:41,137 --> 00:19:43,275
and we know that
there's gold in these roads.
384
00:19:43,275 --> 00:19:44,448
Man, let's take it.
385
00:19:44,448 --> 00:19:46,172
- [Andy] Okay.
- Let's just take
everything we can,
386
00:19:46,172 --> 00:19:47,310
do the best we can.
387
00:19:47,310 --> 00:19:49,379
I know this hasn't turned out
the way we wanted.
388
00:19:50,137 --> 00:19:52,482
All we can do is
control our effort,
389
00:19:52,482 --> 00:19:54,000
not the outcome.
390
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:55,758
And hopefully
get some more gold.
391
00:19:55,758 --> 00:19:56,965
- Okay.
- [Todd] Want to do it?
392
00:19:56,965 --> 00:19:57,965
Yeah, we'll dig it out.
393
00:19:57,965 --> 00:19:59,172
- [Todd] All right.
- [Andy] Sounds good.
394
00:19:59,172 --> 00:20:01,793
[Todd] That road might have
the gold we're after.
395
00:20:20,172 --> 00:20:22,827
[Sparky] Andy, I can't believe
we're running the road, man.
396
00:20:25,137 --> 00:20:26,586
[Andy] There's a little bit
of pay in here,
397
00:20:26,586 --> 00:20:27,965
we might as well get it done
398
00:20:27,965 --> 00:20:29,206
and let's get back to mining.
399
00:20:29,206 --> 00:20:31,586
Finish out the season strong.
That's all that matters.
400
00:20:31,586 --> 00:20:32,448
[Sparky] You got it, buddy.
401
00:20:34,034 --> 00:20:35,482
All right.
Just come up here, guys.
402
00:20:35,482 --> 00:20:36,517
Just whip in.
403
00:20:36,793 --> 00:20:38,793
Back out. Okay.
404
00:20:38,793 --> 00:20:40,689
[Sparky] You got it, Andy.
405
00:20:40,689 --> 00:20:42,689
[Andy] We know that
the end is approaching.
406
00:20:42,689 --> 00:20:44,241
Been here a long time,
407
00:20:44,241 --> 00:20:46,689
and right now,
it's just get every ounce
that we possibly can.
408
00:20:46,689 --> 00:20:49,586
So this part of the road
was never mined,
409
00:20:49,586 --> 00:20:51,586
and there is a little bit of
virgin ground underneath.
410
00:20:51,586 --> 00:20:53,758
So you do what you gotta do
411
00:20:53,758 --> 00:20:56,482
to get the gold,
and it's our last little bit
412
00:20:56,482 --> 00:20:58,724
that we're gonna get
this season, so...
413
00:21:00,103 --> 00:21:02,034
It's the only place
that I know that's left
that's got it,
414
00:21:02,034 --> 00:21:04,241
so we're gonna
haul this material
down to the plant,
415
00:21:04,586 --> 00:21:05,931
wash it.
416
00:21:05,931 --> 00:21:07,758
At the end, you do
what you gotta do
to get the gold.
417
00:21:07,758 --> 00:21:08,896
And this is
what we got to do to
418
00:21:08,896 --> 00:21:11,413
put more, uh,
ounces in the box.
419
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,103
We've had some
pretty crazy ideas this year,
420
00:21:18,103 --> 00:21:19,689
but this one tops all of them.
421
00:21:21,965 --> 00:21:24,655
Digging up the road.
I've never seen this happen.
422
00:21:24,655 --> 00:21:26,689
But you know what?
We have no choice.
423
00:21:26,689 --> 00:21:29,586
This road is just
loaded with gold.
424
00:21:29,586 --> 00:21:31,379
Years and years of gold.
425
00:21:31,379 --> 00:21:34,482
So maybe we can bring home
a little goal bonus.
426
00:21:34,482 --> 00:21:35,310
Maybe I can buy myself
427
00:21:35,310 --> 00:21:37,413
a new pair of boots.
Who knows?
428
00:21:44,448 --> 00:21:47,103
[Andy] Hey, Todd, you copy?
Getting the pay ready to haul.
429
00:21:47,896 --> 00:21:49,620
[Todd] Okay, Dakota,
let's get going.
430
00:21:56,862 --> 00:21:59,103
[Dakota] [bleep]. Andy?
431
00:21:59,586 --> 00:22:00,620
[Andy] Yeah, go ahead.
432
00:22:01,965 --> 00:22:03,413
[Dakota speaking]
433
00:22:03,655 --> 00:22:04,517
[Andy] Why?
434
00:22:04,896 --> 00:22:07,482
[Dakota speaking]
435
00:22:09,241 --> 00:22:11,655
So this morning we came down
and tried to fire up,
436
00:22:11,655 --> 00:22:14,344
and we had some hydraulics
get plugged up with ice.
437
00:22:14,344 --> 00:22:15,896
It froze last night.
438
00:22:15,896 --> 00:22:18,896
It's kind of
a surprise ice-up we had.
439
00:22:19,379 --> 00:22:22,068
[Andy speaking]
440
00:22:25,379 --> 00:22:26,448
[Dakota speaking]
441
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:29,793
We got our first freeze
last night,
442
00:22:29,793 --> 00:22:31,000
and that means winter's here.
443
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,655
It was 29 degrees
this morning.
444
00:22:33,655 --> 00:22:35,379
So Andy's digging up the road,
445
00:22:35,379 --> 00:22:37,862
so we have some
thawed-out pay dirt to run,
446
00:22:37,862 --> 00:22:39,310
but...
447
00:22:39,310 --> 00:22:42,068
now the Holy Roller
needs thawed out
before we can run it.
448
00:22:47,551 --> 00:22:48,448
You got it.
449
00:22:50,379 --> 00:22:52,172
Gotta get some
heaters on these.
450
00:22:53,275 --> 00:22:55,379
I can get it fired up here.
451
00:22:56,379 --> 00:22:57,482
[Tater] Ah, four-inch pipes
452
00:22:57,482 --> 00:23:00,068
on the side of that
are probably frozen, too.
453
00:23:00,068 --> 00:23:02,000
[narrator] To melt
the ice in the hoses,
454
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,482
the crew must build
a makeshift heating chamber
455
00:23:04,482 --> 00:23:06,586
out of two-by-fours, a tarp,
456
00:23:06,586 --> 00:23:09,137
and an industrial
propane heater.
457
00:23:12,068 --> 00:23:14,586
But while
the four-inch pipes thaw...
458
00:23:14,586 --> 00:23:16,482
[Tater] It's gonna
take a hot minute.
459
00:23:16,482 --> 00:23:18,137
[narrator]
...a bigger problem emerges
460
00:23:18,137 --> 00:23:20,206
in the hydraulic riffles.
461
00:23:25,689 --> 00:23:27,137
Top's frozen.
462
00:23:27,137 --> 00:23:28,620
[Tater] Is it solid frozen?
463
00:23:30,482 --> 00:23:32,034
[Dakota] Yeah.
464
00:23:32,034 --> 00:23:34,172
Did you grab that torch
out of Framers' truck?
465
00:23:34,379 --> 00:23:35,275
[Dakota] No.
466
00:23:35,275 --> 00:23:36,620
I didn't grab it.
467
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,000
[Sterling] So water travels
468
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,241
through these
hydraulic riffles,
469
00:23:41,241 --> 00:23:42,172
and they hold water,
470
00:23:42,172 --> 00:23:44,689
and overnight,
we had our first freeze.
471
00:23:44,689 --> 00:23:47,862
So we have to thaw these out
before we can run.
472
00:23:47,862 --> 00:23:50,103
And right now the best way
to do it is with...
473
00:23:51,172 --> 00:23:52,517
a propane torch.
474
00:23:54,241 --> 00:23:55,379
So, I mean,
if you look around,
475
00:23:55,379 --> 00:23:57,448
there's bellies in pipes.
There's all these places
476
00:23:57,448 --> 00:23:59,551
where water can settle inside
477
00:23:59,551 --> 00:24:01,551
the plant infrastructure.
478
00:24:01,551 --> 00:24:02,517
There's always a lot of, like,
479
00:24:02,517 --> 00:24:04,689
opportunity for frozen water
every day.
480
00:24:04,689 --> 00:24:06,896
Then with the weather
changing right now,
481
00:24:07,275 --> 00:24:08,689
our first freeze
482
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:10,896
slows everything down.
483
00:24:10,896 --> 00:24:13,068
And add this
to our morning routine.
484
00:24:13,068 --> 00:24:14,689
So this is, uh,
with the first freeze,
485
00:24:14,689 --> 00:24:16,137
it's like the final countdown.
486
00:24:20,379 --> 00:24:21,586
[Tater] [bleep]!
487
00:24:21,586 --> 00:24:22,931
[bleep]!
488
00:24:23,275 --> 00:24:24,275
[bleep]!
489
00:24:26,586 --> 00:24:28,827
Hey, Dakota,
we're gonna need some hose.
490
00:24:29,965 --> 00:24:30,862
[Dakota] Are they cracked?
491
00:24:30,862 --> 00:24:31,827
[Tater] Yes.
492
00:24:34,344 --> 00:24:35,482
[Dakota speaking]
493
00:24:38,586 --> 00:24:39,862
[Tater sighs]
494
00:24:39,862 --> 00:24:42,241
Once the hoses
had started to thaw out,
495
00:24:42,241 --> 00:24:44,275
I saw that the ice
had caused them to crack,
496
00:24:44,275 --> 00:24:45,793
which makes them unusable.
497
00:24:45,793 --> 00:24:48,862
So now we need to replace them
before we can run the plant.
498
00:24:48,862 --> 00:24:51,068
Uh, this will
probably set us back
an hour and a half,
499
00:24:51,068 --> 00:24:54,586
two hours, just this morning,
because we weren't prepared.
500
00:24:54,586 --> 00:24:57,034
Pretty sure this means
the end of the warm,
501
00:24:57,034 --> 00:24:59,551
and now the real fight begins
with freezing temperatures.
502
00:24:59,551 --> 00:25:01,000
We can expect this
every morning,
503
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:02,137
probably from here on out.
504
00:25:02,137 --> 00:25:03,931
[chuckles]
And there's still ice in it.
505
00:25:06,793 --> 00:25:08,137
That means less running time.
506
00:25:08,137 --> 00:25:10,068
That means less gold
in the sluice.
507
00:25:10,068 --> 00:25:12,000
We just gotta fight it
and make the best of it.
508
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:13,068
That's all we can do.
509
00:25:13,379 --> 00:25:14,689
Try not to get angry.
510
00:25:15,758 --> 00:25:17,137
We gotta do a little better.
511
00:25:20,482 --> 00:25:23,000
Hey. So the plant's
frozen over here.
512
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:24,965
Don't know
how long it's gonna be.
513
00:25:24,965 --> 00:25:26,206
Well, as you know,
514
00:25:26,206 --> 00:25:29,172
gold mining doesn't come with
term and conditions, man.
515
00:25:29,172 --> 00:25:30,862
The winter
is pretty unforgiving.
516
00:25:30,862 --> 00:25:32,344
I guess, uh,
517
00:25:32,344 --> 00:25:34,379
we have to figure it out.
518
00:25:34,379 --> 00:25:35,241
I mean,
519
00:25:36,241 --> 00:25:37,344
what else we got?
520
00:25:40,586 --> 00:25:42,896
[Tater] Welcome to Nome
when it's cold.
521
00:25:42,896 --> 00:25:44,551
Don't get much better
than this.
522
00:25:44,551 --> 00:25:46,896
[Tater] It's a good time.
It's what we do at Nome.
523
00:25:46,896 --> 00:25:48,137
We thaw things out.
524
00:25:50,689 --> 00:25:53,275
[Todd] We got new pay
coming to the plant.
525
00:25:53,275 --> 00:25:54,655
How's it coming, guys?
526
00:25:54,655 --> 00:25:56,793
[Tater] It's coming.
We're working on it.
527
00:25:56,793 --> 00:25:58,655
[Todd] I know these guys
are doing their best,
528
00:25:58,655 --> 00:26:01,172
but we are literally
running out of time.
529
00:26:01,172 --> 00:26:03,482
We have new pay on the way,
and we need to get
530
00:26:03,482 --> 00:26:05,931
this plant up and running now.
531
00:26:16,689 --> 00:26:18,689
This hose has just been here
for a couple years now.
532
00:26:18,689 --> 00:26:21,379
It's all worn down, so it just
caved in on itself.
533
00:26:21,379 --> 00:26:22,793
So we got some new hose.
534
00:26:22,793 --> 00:26:24,344
We're gonna have to
swap this side out,
535
00:26:24,344 --> 00:26:26,413
and hopefully be running here
by this afternoon.
536
00:26:28,275 --> 00:26:31,000
After this, that means
probably no more thaw.
537
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,000
It's gonna be probably cold
from here on out,
538
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,655
so it's gonna be
a lot more work
539
00:26:34,655 --> 00:26:35,724
and a lot more tedious,
540
00:26:35,724 --> 00:26:37,689
but just gonna have
to push through it.
541
00:26:39,586 --> 00:26:41,689
[Tater]
We got them all covered.
542
00:26:41,689 --> 00:26:44,000
You know what we didn't bring
is any dish soap, did we?
543
00:26:45,379 --> 00:26:47,482
Point the heater at the end
of that hose for a minute.
544
00:26:47,482 --> 00:26:49,310
Don't get it too hot.
545
00:26:52,689 --> 00:26:53,793
We can't mess these up.
546
00:26:53,793 --> 00:26:55,689
If we do,
we're out, officially.
547
00:26:59,172 --> 00:27:00,172
[Dakota] I hate winter.
548
00:27:13,310 --> 00:27:15,448
[Tater] So overnight,
the hoses froze,
549
00:27:15,448 --> 00:27:17,137
the hydraulic riffles froze.
550
00:27:17,137 --> 00:27:18,413
It's just a whole mess.
551
00:27:19,689 --> 00:27:21,034
We knew it was
gonna be a little cold.
552
00:27:21,034 --> 00:27:23,034
We didn't know it was
gonna be this cold,
did we, Dakota?
553
00:27:23,034 --> 00:27:24,137
[Dakota] No.
554
00:27:24,137 --> 00:27:25,103
[Tater] There you go.
555
00:27:29,827 --> 00:27:31,137
We're gonna fire it up,
556
00:27:31,137 --> 00:27:33,172
see if the water all flows
where we need it to flow,
557
00:27:33,172 --> 00:27:34,931
and get to work.
558
00:27:34,931 --> 00:27:37,448
Be clear of the trommel.
Clear the trommel.
559
00:27:59,172 --> 00:28:00,310
[Todd] You guys ready?
560
00:28:00,310 --> 00:28:02,172
[Dakota] Yeah, everything's
looking good so far.
561
00:28:02,655 --> 00:28:03,655
[Todd] Let's get to it.
562
00:28:10,517 --> 00:28:12,137
This is the pay dirt
from the road.
563
00:28:12,137 --> 00:28:13,448
Hoping it's great.
564
00:28:13,448 --> 00:28:15,000
I need it to be good.
565
00:28:21,758 --> 00:28:23,172
How's it going, Sterly?
566
00:28:25,413 --> 00:28:27,413
[Sterling] It's good. Um...
567
00:28:27,413 --> 00:28:30,172
Maybe this section of the road
just has all the gold.
568
00:28:31,620 --> 00:28:33,758
[Todd] This looks actually
pretty damn good today,
569
00:28:33,758 --> 00:28:35,827
but it's definitely
a Hail Mary.
570
00:28:37,413 --> 00:28:39,655
Let's just try to get
every ounce we can, man.
571
00:28:39,655 --> 00:28:41,000
Best we can do.
572
00:28:43,724 --> 00:28:45,000
You know what? I never thought
573
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,896
we'd be running the road,
but we just gotta do,
574
00:28:47,896 --> 00:28:49,655
you know, everything we can.
575
00:28:50,413 --> 00:28:52,413
Just not... It's not ideal,
576
00:28:52,413 --> 00:28:55,862
but we take whatever
we can get at this point.
577
00:28:55,862 --> 00:28:58,000
Get it to the clean-up room
and see what we got.
578
00:29:08,896 --> 00:29:10,827
[Jim exhales, sniffles]
579
00:29:11,517 --> 00:29:12,448
Oh, yeah.
580
00:29:13,206 --> 00:29:15,655
Slurpee. 7-Eleven from a hose.
581
00:29:15,655 --> 00:29:16,620
Perfect.
582
00:29:17,551 --> 00:29:18,620
Come on, baby.
583
00:29:24,517 --> 00:29:25,896
Cold morning.
584
00:29:25,896 --> 00:29:28,172
Just... It's that
time of year.
585
00:29:28,172 --> 00:29:29,655
As you can see,
this is laid flat.
586
00:29:29,655 --> 00:29:30,827
I can't bend it.
587
00:29:31,103 --> 00:29:32,689
It's solid ice.
588
00:29:34,034 --> 00:29:36,827
That lovely building
right there is the back
of the gold room.
589
00:29:38,965 --> 00:29:41,896
That pump fills up this pond.
590
00:29:41,896 --> 00:29:44,551
We have to fill it deep enough
to get the pump
591
00:29:45,206 --> 00:29:46,103
in the water.
592
00:29:46,103 --> 00:29:49,000
This pump here
feeds the gold room.
593
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:50,965
Without water,
I can't run the jig.
594
00:29:50,965 --> 00:29:52,620
Without the jig,
I can't screen.
595
00:29:52,620 --> 00:29:55,586
Without that,
I can't run the gold table.
596
00:29:55,586 --> 00:29:57,137
Can't just throw the pump
down the mud,
597
00:29:57,137 --> 00:29:58,724
'cause that's what you'll have
in the gold room.
598
00:29:58,724 --> 00:30:00,793
So we have it suspended.
599
00:30:00,793 --> 00:30:02,448
Right now,
it's not really suspended,
600
00:30:02,448 --> 00:30:05,275
'cause the water
is so damn low.
601
00:30:05,275 --> 00:30:08,137
Uh, here it is almost noon,
and I'm still not running.
602
00:30:11,344 --> 00:30:13,137
But the sun
is gonna help us here.
603
00:30:15,551 --> 00:30:18,586
Once the sun
hits this dark blue hose,
604
00:30:18,586 --> 00:30:19,758
it should get enough heat,
605
00:30:20,586 --> 00:30:21,586
melt the ice,
606
00:30:21,586 --> 00:30:22,758
and then I'm running.
607
00:30:22,758 --> 00:30:24,344
Just got to wait
for Mother Nature
608
00:30:24,344 --> 00:30:26,241
to help me out here
and thaw this out.
609
00:30:26,241 --> 00:30:28,034
Right now, you could be
in Palm Springs,
610
00:30:28,034 --> 00:30:29,931
or you could be here
where it's freezing.
611
00:30:31,827 --> 00:30:33,482
God, I miss Palm Springs.
612
00:30:34,655 --> 00:30:36,137
Come on, baby, let's go.
613
00:30:55,379 --> 00:30:56,517
Andy's digging dirt
614
00:30:56,517 --> 00:30:58,965
like a madman
on the road, dude.
615
00:30:58,965 --> 00:31:02,000
We're running the road now?
All right. Okay.
616
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,172
Uh, you can bet
your toothpick.
617
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,517
[Hunter] For me, this is
what it's all about,
just being out here.
618
00:31:12,517 --> 00:31:14,206
We're on a crazy adventure
at the end of day,
619
00:31:14,206 --> 00:31:15,344
and so,
620
00:31:15,344 --> 00:31:16,931
you got to just
roll with the punches,
621
00:31:16,931 --> 00:31:19,482
and that's what we're
kind of doing right now, so...
622
00:31:19,862 --> 00:31:20,931
If we can get some more
623
00:31:20,931 --> 00:31:22,551
good pay out of this road
624
00:31:22,551 --> 00:31:24,379
and anything else
we can scrape up,
625
00:31:24,586 --> 00:31:25,620
then, uh,
626
00:31:25,620 --> 00:31:27,482
you know, we might
627
00:31:27,482 --> 00:31:30,413
get out of here
without losing our ass, so...
628
00:31:30,413 --> 00:31:33,034
You know, maybe we'll be able
to do this again someday.
629
00:31:52,275 --> 00:31:54,310
[Todd] How come we're
not playing Lynyrd Skynyrd?
630
00:31:54,310 --> 00:31:55,655
What's going on?
631
00:31:56,620 --> 00:31:59,000
Okay, let's just pull
the whole damn thing, guys.
632
00:32:01,379 --> 00:32:03,517
I know there's at least
10 or 20 ounces
633
00:32:03,517 --> 00:32:05,551
in this bottom half.
634
00:32:05,551 --> 00:32:08,551
Little Caleb, your bonus
is in there, brother.
635
00:32:08,551 --> 00:32:11,172
[Caleb] Yeah. My bonus
could be in here.
636
00:32:12,275 --> 00:32:13,413
[chuckles]
637
00:32:14,344 --> 00:32:15,758
[Todd] Hey, Thurber. Thurber.
638
00:32:15,758 --> 00:32:17,448
Bring all the guys.
Bring everything.
639
00:32:17,448 --> 00:32:19,206
We're gonna do a full pull.
640
00:32:19,965 --> 00:32:21,620
[Jim]
Yeah, that's not gonna happen.
641
00:32:21,620 --> 00:32:23,931
We don't have
a clean-up room right now.
642
00:32:23,931 --> 00:32:25,034
I'm working on it.
643
00:32:25,034 --> 00:32:26,448
[Todd] [bleep]!
644
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,068
[Jim] Well, same problem
I've had all morning here
645
00:32:35,068 --> 00:32:37,413
is, uh, I got ice.
646
00:32:37,413 --> 00:32:39,000
I'm not getting much help from
647
00:32:39,413 --> 00:32:41,241
Mr. Sunshine up there.
648
00:32:41,931 --> 00:32:43,000
So...
649
00:32:44,379 --> 00:32:46,379
I'm just gonna
chase it all out of here
650
00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:48,758
'cause I can't wait
for the sun,
651
00:32:48,758 --> 00:32:49,620
that doesn't
652
00:32:50,068 --> 00:32:51,241
seem to be doing
653
00:32:52,068 --> 00:32:53,379
much good right now.
654
00:32:55,862 --> 00:32:58,275
It's okay. I would
just take it off,
655
00:32:58,275 --> 00:32:59,758
turn this on, blow it out,
656
00:32:59,758 --> 00:33:01,137
put it back together.
657
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:07,000
[Jim] Jack's ready
to start that pump, I'm sure.
658
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,413
The guys are
pulling mats as we speak.
659
00:33:09,413 --> 00:33:11,827
And we don't have water
to process the gold
660
00:33:11,827 --> 00:33:13,034
in the gold room.
661
00:33:16,689 --> 00:33:18,413
Seriously pissed off
right now.
662
00:33:19,137 --> 00:33:20,275
You ready?
663
00:33:20,551 --> 00:33:21,896
Hey, Thurb,
664
00:33:22,448 --> 00:33:24,275
if it just gets a little bit,
665
00:33:24,275 --> 00:33:26,172
it'll thaw it right out.
666
00:33:26,172 --> 00:33:27,413
[Jim] Yeah, uh-huh.
667
00:33:27,413 --> 00:33:29,034
- [Jack] Uh-huh.
- [Jim] I've been
doing this all morning.
668
00:33:29,379 --> 00:33:30,724
[bleep]!
669
00:33:30,724 --> 00:33:31,827
[Jack] There's no clean-up.
670
00:33:31,827 --> 00:33:33,586
And if we can't clean up,
671
00:33:33,586 --> 00:33:35,275
we can't mine.
672
00:33:35,275 --> 00:33:36,931
Why mine?
673
00:33:36,931 --> 00:33:40,103
It's just a game
that you have to play.
674
00:33:44,137 --> 00:33:45,827
- Okay. Are you ready?
- [Jim] Start it up!
675
00:33:46,137 --> 00:33:47,413
[Jack] All right!
676
00:34:00,068 --> 00:34:02,448
[Jim] Someone just
[bleep] snipe me right now.
677
00:34:02,448 --> 00:34:04,413
Just boom, it's all over.
I don't need to know.
678
00:34:05,793 --> 00:34:07,241
[Todd] Well, how are
we looking, boys?
679
00:34:07,931 --> 00:34:09,965
- Not too bad?
- Catching some flakes.
680
00:34:10,758 --> 00:34:11,758
[Todd] There you go.
681
00:34:18,586 --> 00:34:20,172
What's going on, Thurb?
682
00:34:21,965 --> 00:34:23,862
- What is it?
- [Jim] Ice.
683
00:34:26,517 --> 00:34:29,758
[Jack] That's it. It won't
throttle up any higher.
684
00:34:29,758 --> 00:34:31,344
How much ice is in this thing?
685
00:34:31,344 --> 00:34:32,620
It's solid.
686
00:34:32,620 --> 00:34:35,862
It's from here
to just over the bank.
687
00:34:42,517 --> 00:34:44,137
[Todd]
Anything coming out at all?
688
00:34:44,137 --> 00:34:45,310
[Jim] Trying to.
689
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,206
Basically pushing a slushy
690
00:34:49,793 --> 00:34:51,413
up the hill, down the hill.
691
00:34:51,413 --> 00:34:53,655
This is just what happens
at the end of the year.
692
00:34:53,655 --> 00:34:56,000
We're gonna be
fighting Mother Nature
693
00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:57,551
from here on out.
694
00:34:57,551 --> 00:34:58,551
It's always a battle.
695
00:34:58,551 --> 00:35:01,758
It's basically us
against ice and water.
696
00:35:02,103 --> 00:35:03,137
Here it comes.
697
00:35:03,482 --> 00:35:04,551
Here it comes.
698
00:35:05,413 --> 00:35:07,068
Let it run for a bit, yeah.
699
00:35:10,655 --> 00:35:12,275
That's it, Thurby. Come up.
700
00:35:13,862 --> 00:35:15,241
Come on up. Let's hook it up.
701
00:35:15,241 --> 00:35:17,931
Let's get you some water
and let's do this thing.
Grab that end.
702
00:35:18,793 --> 00:35:20,137
We got it.
703
00:35:20,137 --> 00:35:22,517
Thurber's been busting
all this ice up in here.
704
00:35:22,517 --> 00:35:24,344
Finally broke loose.
705
00:35:24,344 --> 00:35:26,689
Then these guys can start
to just clean up.
706
00:35:27,620 --> 00:35:28,724
We're getting caught
707
00:35:28,724 --> 00:35:30,551
a little bit behind
on some of these hoses.
708
00:35:30,551 --> 00:35:32,275
So we just got to remember now
709
00:35:32,275 --> 00:35:35,310
that time is drawing near
to us pulling out of here.
710
00:35:35,310 --> 00:35:37,724
So we got to hurry up,
grind out what we can get.
711
00:35:49,551 --> 00:35:52,137
We're out
in the [bleep] boonies, dog!
712
00:35:52,137 --> 00:35:53,137
Being stuck out
in the middle of nowhere
713
00:35:53,137 --> 00:35:55,000
on a mine
with a bunch of dudes is
714
00:35:55,517 --> 00:35:56,517
pretty much...
715
00:35:56,965 --> 00:35:58,172
It's horrible.
716
00:35:58,172 --> 00:36:00,172
There's no women around
at all.
717
00:36:00,172 --> 00:36:02,206
You handing out sausages now?
718
00:36:02,206 --> 00:36:04,137
What's going on?
719
00:36:04,137 --> 00:36:05,689
[man]
Uh, is there a first thing
720
00:36:05,689 --> 00:36:07,448
that you're gonna do
when you get home?
721
00:36:08,620 --> 00:36:10,275
Yeah, probably the first thing
722
00:36:10,275 --> 00:36:11,793
I'm gonna do when I get home,
723
00:36:11,793 --> 00:36:13,137
uh, I can't talk about.
724
00:36:13,137 --> 00:36:15,344
Well, I can't tell you
what the first thing I do
725
00:36:15,344 --> 00:36:17,034
when I get home, but, uh...
726
00:36:18,931 --> 00:36:20,793
You don't want to know
the first thing I'm gonna do
727
00:36:20,793 --> 00:36:22,000
when I get home.
728
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:23,827
Cuddle with my dog.
729
00:36:48,344 --> 00:36:49,862
[Jack] You know what, Jim?
730
00:36:49,862 --> 00:36:52,551
This mine is
such a pain in the keister.
731
00:36:52,551 --> 00:36:54,068
- I mean--
- Well, we're learning.
732
00:36:54,068 --> 00:36:56,482
- We're in
a different area and we...
- [Jack] Yeah.
733
00:36:56,482 --> 00:36:59,586
- ...found out what a pain
in the butt it is.
- [Jack] Yeah.
734
00:36:59,586 --> 00:37:02,034
What do you think about
digging up the road?
735
00:37:02,862 --> 00:37:03,965
Well,
736
00:37:03,965 --> 00:37:05,896
we gotta run something.
737
00:37:06,137 --> 00:37:07,137
[Jack chuckles]
738
00:37:07,137 --> 00:37:08,034
You know,
739
00:37:08,758 --> 00:37:10,586
out of Fairbanks one time,
740
00:37:10,586 --> 00:37:12,241
I was down there and they, uh,
741
00:37:12,241 --> 00:37:13,482
they literally...
742
00:37:14,655 --> 00:37:17,000
The government
had come in and taken
743
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,310
material off of their claim.
744
00:37:20,137 --> 00:37:22,310
They went out there
and took the road and ran
745
00:37:22,310 --> 00:37:25,034
the road through it
like a steeze highway.
746
00:37:25,034 --> 00:37:28,310
- You know, they ran some of
that material through...
- [Jim] Oh, my gosh.
747
00:37:28,310 --> 00:37:29,551
[Jack]
...and then put it back.
748
00:37:29,862 --> 00:37:31,068
Okay, well...
749
00:37:31,068 --> 00:37:32,620
Gold is where you find it.
750
00:37:32,620 --> 00:37:33,586
- [Jack] Yeah.
- Period.
751
00:37:33,586 --> 00:37:35,310
[Jack] They did.
They got gold.
752
00:37:35,310 --> 00:37:36,931
I'm not looking
in the outhouse.
753
00:37:36,931 --> 00:37:38,448
I draw a limit.
754
00:37:38,448 --> 00:37:39,482
[Jack chuckles]
755
00:37:40,172 --> 00:37:42,827
You know,
I appreciate Todd. He...
756
00:37:42,827 --> 00:37:43,965
He's desperate.
757
00:37:43,965 --> 00:37:46,862
He wants to make sure
those guys take gold home.
758
00:37:46,862 --> 00:37:48,034
[Jim] Sure.
759
00:37:48,034 --> 00:37:50,965
[Jack] He's willing to take
a chance there and...
760
00:37:50,965 --> 00:37:53,586
No, that's who Todd is.
761
00:37:53,586 --> 00:37:55,517
- [Jack] Yeah.
- [Jim] Everything
and anything.
762
00:37:56,034 --> 00:37:57,689
Todd's running the road now,
763
00:37:57,689 --> 00:38:00,344
so it kind of looks ludicrous,
764
00:38:00,344 --> 00:38:03,862
but I'm proud of him
that he stuck with it.
765
00:38:03,862 --> 00:38:06,896
He pushes sometimes
where most people won't push,
766
00:38:06,896 --> 00:38:09,379
and I think that he's gonna
come out a winner.
767
00:38:09,379 --> 00:38:11,000
I'm willing to clean it up
768
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,586
if he's willing
to dig it up, so...
769
00:38:13,586 --> 00:38:16,137
That's long
and the short of this job.
770
00:38:16,344 --> 00:38:17,551
Yep.
771
00:38:21,413 --> 00:38:22,586
[narrator]
The team still needs
772
00:38:22,586 --> 00:38:25,000
136 ounces of gold
773
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,689
in order to reach
Todd's new season goal
774
00:38:27,689 --> 00:38:29,620
of 1,023 ounces.
775
00:38:29,620 --> 00:38:32,482
And if they don't reach
at least 1,000 ounces
776
00:38:32,482 --> 00:38:34,586
before winter shuts them down,
777
00:38:34,586 --> 00:38:37,310
Todd will be going home
with a deficit.
778
00:38:45,517 --> 00:38:47,379
All right, guys.
Winter's here.
779
00:38:47,379 --> 00:38:48,586
Everything's freezing.
780
00:38:49,448 --> 00:38:50,413
Yeah, it is.
781
00:38:50,413 --> 00:38:51,620
[Todd] We don't know
how long we have.
782
00:38:51,620 --> 00:38:53,103
Maybe one, two weeks left.
783
00:38:53,103 --> 00:38:54,068
I don't know.
784
00:38:54,068 --> 00:38:56,827
The other morning,
um, hoses froze up.
785
00:38:56,827 --> 00:38:59,241
So we ended up having
to replace some hoses.
786
00:38:59,241 --> 00:39:02,620
So it took a bit of time.
So it's that time of year.
787
00:39:02,620 --> 00:39:04,344
We got to plan going forward.
788
00:39:04,344 --> 00:39:05,206
Think on that.
789
00:39:05,206 --> 00:39:06,655
- Training them?
- Yeah.
790
00:39:06,655 --> 00:39:08,137
How long
were you guys fiddling
791
00:39:08,137 --> 00:39:10,068
- with that...
- [sighs] A day.
792
00:39:10,068 --> 00:39:11,689
- [Todd chuckles] Jesus.
- But then we were
793
00:39:11,689 --> 00:39:12,862
thankful that you showed up...
794
00:39:12,862 --> 00:39:14,586
- Yeah.
- [Jim] ...and fixed
everything. Like...
795
00:39:14,586 --> 00:39:16,379
It's like one of those guys
that comes in
796
00:39:16,379 --> 00:39:18,172
and you got it loose,
the jar loose,
797
00:39:18,172 --> 00:39:20,103
and he comes in and goes,
"Hey, that wasn't even tight."
798
00:39:20,103 --> 00:39:21,655
- That's what happened.
- Yeah. Yeah.
799
00:39:21,655 --> 00:39:22,931
At least we got it going.
800
00:39:22,931 --> 00:39:24,000
- You guys got it going.
- [whistles]
801
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:25,413
[Todd] We were
getting ice chunks.
802
00:39:25,413 --> 00:39:26,724
We had to switch over
to the road.
803
00:39:26,724 --> 00:39:28,827
But hey, we're still sluicing.
804
00:39:28,827 --> 00:39:30,862
- [Jim] Yeah.
- [Todd] And, uh,
805
00:39:30,862 --> 00:39:32,310
some of these roads
806
00:39:32,310 --> 00:39:33,482
are old dirt
807
00:39:33,482 --> 00:39:35,206
- and they got
good gold in them.
- [Jack chuckles]
808
00:39:35,206 --> 00:39:38,241
We did always know
that the roads were
built with tailings
809
00:39:38,241 --> 00:39:40,344
and that we would
run them eventually someday.
810
00:39:40,344 --> 00:39:42,344
And someday
just came a little earlier
811
00:39:42,344 --> 00:39:43,931
than what
we anticipated, so...
812
00:39:43,931 --> 00:39:44,896
[Todd] Exactly.
813
00:39:44,896 --> 00:39:46,965
When we rebuild them,
hopefully we won't
814
00:39:46,965 --> 00:39:48,758
put that kind of material
back in there.
815
00:39:48,758 --> 00:39:50,000
Am I right, Thurber?
816
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:50,862
[Jim] Absolutely.
817
00:39:50,862 --> 00:39:53,206
We've ran
a bunch of it already.
818
00:39:53,206 --> 00:39:54,551
Where are we at with it, Dad?
819
00:39:54,551 --> 00:39:56,551
Well, let me tell you.
820
00:39:56,551 --> 00:39:58,862
Number one is, it's...
821
00:39:59,137 --> 00:40:00,655
it's not bad.
822
00:40:00,655 --> 00:40:02,344
- [Todd] Wow.
- [Jack] I'll lay
it out, Thurb.
823
00:40:07,275 --> 00:40:08,310
[Jim] 10.
824
00:40:08,310 --> 00:40:09,586
Fifteen.
825
00:40:09,586 --> 00:40:10,758
Twenty-two.
826
00:40:11,206 --> 00:40:12,413
Thirty-two.
827
00:40:12,862 --> 00:40:14,000
Forty-eight.
828
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:15,448
Fifty-two.
829
00:40:17,758 --> 00:40:18,689
Sixty.
830
00:40:18,689 --> 00:40:20,724
Seventy-four.
831
00:40:20,724 --> 00:40:22,586
- Oh, my God.
- [Jim] 77.
832
00:40:24,206 --> 00:40:26,551
78.2.
833
00:40:26,551 --> 00:40:28,000
[Todd] Yeah!
834
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:29,310
- [Jim] All right.
- Yeah.
835
00:40:29,310 --> 00:40:30,551
- Good job.
- [Jack] Thank you, old timers.
836
00:40:30,551 --> 00:40:31,413
- [Jim] That's awesome.
- Yeah.
837
00:40:31,413 --> 00:40:32,275
[Jim] Way to go.
838
00:40:32,275 --> 00:40:34,172
The yellow brick road.
Let's go.
839
00:40:34,172 --> 00:40:34,965
[Todd] Yeah.
840
00:40:34,965 --> 00:40:36,000
Even Nuggets.
841
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:37,413
I know.
842
00:40:37,413 --> 00:40:40,724
Hey, Dad, that nugget there's
got a tire track on it.
843
00:40:40,724 --> 00:40:42,275
[Jack] There you go. Yeah.
844
00:40:44,206 --> 00:40:45,896
[Todd] I know we're
getting close to 1,000.
845
00:40:45,896 --> 00:40:47,034
What's our total?
846
00:40:47,241 --> 00:40:49,758
964.9.
847
00:40:49,758 --> 00:40:50,931
[Todd] All right.
848
00:40:50,931 --> 00:40:52,448
[Jim chuckles] Close.
849
00:40:52,758 --> 00:40:53,724
Real close.
850
00:40:54,620 --> 00:40:56,034
[narrator] The Hoffmans
have pulled in
851
00:40:56,034 --> 00:40:58,620
964.9 ounces
852
00:40:58,620 --> 00:41:00,137
of gold this season.
853
00:41:00,793 --> 00:41:03,275
But they may have
less than 72 hours
854
00:41:03,275 --> 00:41:04,793
until the first snowfall
855
00:41:04,793 --> 00:41:06,551
shuts them down for good.
856
00:41:09,137 --> 00:41:10,620
We only got a few days left
857
00:41:10,620 --> 00:41:12,000
for running most of the road.
858
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:13,413
I think it's just about gone.
859
00:41:13,413 --> 00:41:15,586
I don't know where else
we're gonna get any pay dirt.
860
00:41:15,586 --> 00:41:17,241
But, hey, I thought
we were gonna get
861
00:41:17,241 --> 00:41:18,965
sent home early. I really did.
862
00:41:18,965 --> 00:41:20,482
And I'm thankful that we're...
863
00:41:20,482 --> 00:41:21,758
Even to this point,
864
00:41:21,758 --> 00:41:23,517
here we are,
fighting our way through.
865
00:41:23,517 --> 00:41:24,793
- You know?
- Yeah.
866
00:41:24,793 --> 00:41:25,862
[Todd] Everybody should
be proud of that.
867
00:41:25,862 --> 00:41:27,655
- Guys, that's a win.
- [Jack] Yeah.
868
00:41:28,068 --> 00:41:29,000
[Todd] You know?
869
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:30,689
All right, guys,
let's get back to work.