1 00:00:03,482 --> 00:00:05,965 I don't think that what I'm doing here 2 00:00:06,068 --> 00:00:07,379 needs to be addressed. 3 00:00:08,689 --> 00:00:09,758 This may be a tough one. 4 00:00:09,862 --> 00:00:11,655 [Mike] Yee-haw! 5 00:00:11,758 --> 00:00:14,620 When I got here, I saw Mike needed help. 6 00:00:14,724 --> 00:00:17,448 I think Freddy, he might learn something from what I'm doing. 7 00:00:17,551 --> 00:00:19,206 You know, I'm curious to watch it run, Freddy. 8 00:00:19,310 --> 00:00:20,379 There's a lot of moving parts here. 9 00:00:20,482 --> 00:00:22,275 So, there's about four, 10 00:00:22,379 --> 00:00:24,689 five, six, seven, eight, nine pieces of gold. 11 00:00:25,344 --> 00:00:27,034 It's a bad sign. 12 00:00:27,137 --> 00:00:29,206 [Freddy] If there's nine pieces in a pan, 13 00:00:29,310 --> 00:00:30,689 that could be millions. 14 00:00:32,448 --> 00:00:33,655 I've brought my wife and kids. 15 00:00:33,758 --> 00:00:35,137 So, this needs to work out well. 16 00:00:36,793 --> 00:00:38,172 [Freddy] Sharp mother-- [groans] 17 00:00:38,275 --> 00:00:39,931 - [Will] You all right? - [Freddy] Yeah. 18 00:00:40,034 --> 00:00:41,448 [Mike] This mountain is my life. 19 00:00:44,034 --> 00:00:45,068 [Will] This is all he has. 20 00:00:45,172 --> 00:00:46,448 He has no one else up here. 21 00:00:46,551 --> 00:00:47,793 [Mike] This place... 22 00:00:47,896 --> 00:00:49,000 [voice breaks] it's where my heart is. 23 00:01:04,586 --> 00:01:07,103 Good to be with my buddy in his home state of Nevada. 24 00:01:08,620 --> 00:01:09,793 So, what do you know about Miner Mike? 25 00:01:11,413 --> 00:01:13,172 He's been at it for a long time. 26 00:01:13,862 --> 00:01:15,448 So, he's a seasoned miner. 27 00:01:17,068 --> 00:01:18,655 [Freddy] Sometimes, it takes us coming in 28 00:01:18,758 --> 00:01:19,965 before they're willing to shut down 29 00:01:20,068 --> 00:01:21,758 for a day or two to fix stuff. 30 00:01:21,862 --> 00:01:24,344 'Cause they just wanna keep making gold, you know. 31 00:01:24,448 --> 00:01:26,827 This might be our first mine intervention, Juano. 32 00:01:30,172 --> 00:01:32,862 [narrator] Freddy and Juan are in the Snake Mountain Range 33 00:01:32,965 --> 00:01:34,827 south of Nevada's great basin, 34 00:01:34,931 --> 00:01:36,862 en route to a struggling claim 35 00:01:36,965 --> 00:01:39,206 run by veteran miner, Mike Stephens. 36 00:01:41,586 --> 00:01:44,310 Gold was discovered here in the 1860s 37 00:01:44,413 --> 00:01:47,137 by miners on their way west to California. 38 00:01:47,241 --> 00:01:50,068 Historically seen as big gold's country, 39 00:01:50,172 --> 00:01:54,275 in 1865, a 25-pound gold nugget, 40 00:01:54,379 --> 00:01:57,310 worth over half a million dollars today, 41 00:01:57,413 --> 00:02:00,586 was discovered a few miles north of Mike's claim. 42 00:02:03,172 --> 00:02:04,344 [horn blows] 43 00:02:09,793 --> 00:02:11,896 - [Freddy] It's beautiful here. - [Juan] I like it a lot. 44 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:13,103 [Freddy] Yeah. 45 00:02:13,206 --> 00:02:14,862 [narrator] For nearly three decades, 46 00:02:14,965 --> 00:02:17,344 Mike has made a living hunting nuggets here. 47 00:02:18,448 --> 00:02:21,137 But struggles of the past two seasons 48 00:02:21,241 --> 00:02:22,517 threatened to sink more 49 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:24,586 than just his own livelihood. 50 00:02:24,689 --> 00:02:25,896 - I'm Juan. - Hi, Juan. 51 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:27,034 - Will Mercer. - Will. 52 00:02:27,137 --> 00:02:28,241 - Mike, nice to meet you. - Will. 53 00:02:28,344 --> 00:02:29,689 - Yes, sir. - [Freddy] And Mike I assume. 54 00:02:30,965 --> 00:02:33,068 [Juan] Well, it's a cool-looking little plant you got here. 55 00:02:33,172 --> 00:02:35,413 [Mike] Thank you, it's a work in progress. 56 00:02:35,517 --> 00:02:37,206 [Juan] So is it just you two guys out here right now? 57 00:02:37,310 --> 00:02:39,206 - Right now, yes it is. - [Juan] Okay. 58 00:02:39,310 --> 00:02:41,172 [Freddy] How much gold have you done this year? 59 00:02:41,275 --> 00:02:43,655 Well, we just got started so far. 60 00:02:43,758 --> 00:02:45,482 Bad year would be hundred ounces. 61 00:02:45,586 --> 00:02:48,620 [Will] We need four ounces a day, and we're just not getting it. 62 00:02:49,827 --> 00:02:51,758 [Mike] Well, this is my 28th season up here. 63 00:02:52,620 --> 00:02:53,689 You know, there was nothing here. 64 00:02:53,793 --> 00:02:55,137 I built this place 65 00:02:55,241 --> 00:02:56,379 from experience. 66 00:02:57,137 --> 00:02:58,586 I didn't open up a textbook. 67 00:02:59,275 --> 00:03:00,793 No one told me how to do this. 68 00:03:00,896 --> 00:03:02,275 It was all from experience. 69 00:03:03,896 --> 00:03:06,551 The resulting operation is all things that work. 70 00:03:08,137 --> 00:03:09,482 What seemed to be the... 71 00:03:09,586 --> 00:03:11,206 the main issues? What do you need out of us? 72 00:03:12,517 --> 00:03:14,310 [Mike] Thanks for coming, but right now... 73 00:03:14,413 --> 00:03:16,275 we do a pretty good job on catching everything 74 00:03:16,379 --> 00:03:17,620 with about a two percent loss. 75 00:03:21,931 --> 00:03:23,586 So, Will's the one that called you in. 76 00:03:26,931 --> 00:03:29,896 I'm on my second season in Nevada with this great guy. 77 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,448 But, there's a lot of things that I'm seeing that need a lot of help. 78 00:03:33,551 --> 00:03:37,689 Um, he doesn't want to accept the fact that he's probably throwing gold away. 79 00:03:37,793 --> 00:03:39,620 He's real big on catching nuggets. 80 00:03:39,724 --> 00:03:43,103 I think we're not focusing on the other gold that we could be capturing. 81 00:03:43,206 --> 00:03:47,068 Um, if there's any way that we can get y'all out here to give us a hand, 82 00:03:47,172 --> 00:03:49,758 we could probably get this thing dialed in and make more money. 83 00:03:51,517 --> 00:03:53,724 There's a lot of things that I saw right when I got here 84 00:03:53,827 --> 00:03:54,965 that I didn't even know how to fix. 85 00:03:55,482 --> 00:03:56,275 [Mike] Oh, yeah. 86 00:03:56,931 --> 00:03:58,172 [Will] I'm pretty sure that 87 00:03:58,275 --> 00:04:00,379 - we're losing a lot of money. - [Mike] Okay. 88 00:04:00,482 --> 00:04:03,172 [narrator] Will joined the operation two seasons ago. 89 00:04:06,068 --> 00:04:07,448 [Will] Mike is looking for a partner 90 00:04:07,551 --> 00:04:09,068 to come up and help him with his mine. 91 00:04:10,620 --> 00:04:12,379 So, I contacted him and 92 00:04:12,482 --> 00:04:14,862 next thing I know, I brought my family across the country 93 00:04:14,965 --> 00:04:16,068 to do some mining. 94 00:04:17,965 --> 00:04:20,689 When I got here, I saw Mike needed help. 95 00:04:22,137 --> 00:04:24,068 I could see there's a lot of problems. 96 00:04:26,241 --> 00:04:27,965 If Freddy and Juan didn't come this week 97 00:04:28,068 --> 00:04:31,689 to help to get his mine more productive and catching more gold, 98 00:04:31,793 --> 00:04:34,241 I don't know that Mike would be able to sustain mining. 99 00:04:36,862 --> 00:04:39,206 And, you know, I get it. But, you know, 100 00:04:39,310 --> 00:04:41,137 I brought my wife and kids, so... 101 00:04:41,241 --> 00:04:42,172 that's a lot of mouths to feed. 102 00:04:45,275 --> 00:04:46,862 Well, you got any of your gold with ya? 103 00:04:46,965 --> 00:04:49,965 I do, I do, it's uh, this stuff is near and dear to me. 104 00:04:50,068 --> 00:04:51,379 - So... - We won't steal it, promise. 105 00:04:51,482 --> 00:04:52,862 [Mike] I'd like you to see some of the... 106 00:04:52,965 --> 00:04:54,482 some of the typical stuff we get up here. 107 00:04:54,586 --> 00:04:56,379 - [Juan] Ah, it's beautiful. - [Mike] Very chunky. 108 00:04:56,482 --> 00:04:58,068 [Freddy] Yeah, nice. 109 00:04:58,172 --> 00:04:59,793 In the 28 years I've been doing this... 110 00:05:01,344 --> 00:05:05,172 I would put it the certainty at about 100% that I've thrown away 111 00:05:05,275 --> 00:05:07,689 - a large nugget, something very big. - [Freddy] Mmm-hmm. 112 00:05:07,793 --> 00:05:08,896 That would make my eyes water. 113 00:05:10,551 --> 00:05:12,827 Concentrate on your small stuff. 114 00:05:12,931 --> 00:05:15,310 I'd rather have a bucket of that, than... 115 00:05:16,103 --> 00:05:17,206 [Will] Oh, yeah. 116 00:05:17,310 --> 00:05:19,000 [Freddy] ...a bucket of those, to be honest with ya. 117 00:05:19,103 --> 00:05:21,172 - That's real space. - I'd rather have a bucket of both. 118 00:05:21,275 --> 00:05:23,586 - [all laugh] - [Freddy] Right. Yeah. 119 00:05:24,862 --> 00:05:26,310 Well, show us around your plant, guys. 120 00:05:26,413 --> 00:05:27,931 Okay, how about we start at the beginning? 121 00:05:28,034 --> 00:05:28,827 [Freddy] Works for me. 122 00:05:31,137 --> 00:05:33,379 [Mike] I think that when they see it... 123 00:05:33,482 --> 00:05:35,137 they're going to respect what I've done. 124 00:05:36,068 --> 00:05:37,586 I do things a little differently here 125 00:05:37,689 --> 00:05:39,827 than most placer operations do. 126 00:05:39,931 --> 00:05:42,068 But, maybe Freddy and Juan can figure a way out 127 00:05:42,172 --> 00:05:43,068 to catch those nuggets. 128 00:05:43,793 --> 00:05:46,620 This is my CAT 773 haul truck. 129 00:05:46,724 --> 00:05:47,793 [Will] I think he's gonna be a little guarded 130 00:05:47,896 --> 00:05:49,000 because this is his baby. 131 00:05:49,103 --> 00:05:51,655 This is all he has, he has no one else up here. 132 00:05:51,758 --> 00:05:52,827 He has his excavators, 133 00:05:52,931 --> 00:05:54,413 his rock truck and his trommel. 134 00:05:55,793 --> 00:05:58,862 [Mike] Cut 1,700 holes in there with the torch. 135 00:05:58,965 --> 00:06:02,448 Diamond shape seemed to work best instead of round. 136 00:06:02,551 --> 00:06:03,965 Does a really good job. 137 00:06:04,068 --> 00:06:05,896 [Will] And I think anyone trying to make a change to it, 138 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:07,827 I think he might be a little stubborn. 139 00:06:09,241 --> 00:06:10,310 [Mike] It used to be 140 00:06:10,413 --> 00:06:12,931 gear-driven, and a couple years ago, 141 00:06:13,034 --> 00:06:14,931 14 teeth snapped off of it. 142 00:06:15,034 --> 00:06:17,034 So, instead of trying to repair that, 143 00:06:17,137 --> 00:06:19,655 I just ripped the gear off and then put a drive system in 144 00:06:19,758 --> 00:06:21,448 - and driving it with a tire. - [Freddy] Yeah. 145 00:06:21,551 --> 00:06:22,896 [Mike] So, that works great. 146 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:24,793 Well, what do you think? Let's run it for four hours 147 00:06:24,896 --> 00:06:26,586 and see how much gold you get. 148 00:06:26,689 --> 00:06:27,655 - [Will] Hell, yeah. - Let's do it. 149 00:06:27,758 --> 00:06:28,551 [Juan] Right on. 150 00:06:29,517 --> 00:06:30,793 [Mike] They may see some things that 151 00:06:30,896 --> 00:06:32,482 may not work in their minds, 152 00:06:32,586 --> 00:06:35,758 but after a little bit of explanation, I think that, uh, 153 00:06:35,862 --> 00:06:37,620 Freddy, he might learn something from what I'm doing. 154 00:06:37,724 --> 00:06:39,344 Now, I'm not a rookie. 155 00:06:39,448 --> 00:06:41,275 And I believe I know the ground. 156 00:06:41,379 --> 00:06:42,758 I know how to catch gold. 157 00:06:44,275 --> 00:06:45,793 Let's go! 158 00:06:45,896 --> 00:06:47,551 - [machine whirring] - Get some gold! 159 00:06:56,275 --> 00:06:57,310 First bucket, Juan. 160 00:07:00,241 --> 00:07:02,275 Hope we can get lucky with some gold today. 161 00:07:04,931 --> 00:07:05,758 Whoo-hoo! 162 00:07:08,172 --> 00:07:09,448 [narrator] Twenty eight years ago, 163 00:07:09,551 --> 00:07:11,758 Mike gave up his job as an electrician 164 00:07:11,862 --> 00:07:13,034 to hunt for gold. 165 00:07:14,310 --> 00:07:15,344 I was making good money, 166 00:07:15,448 --> 00:07:16,862 insurance benefits and whatnot. 167 00:07:16,965 --> 00:07:18,379 Then I said, it's time to go. 168 00:07:18,482 --> 00:07:20,137 It's time to stop this for a little while. 169 00:07:20,241 --> 00:07:21,793 You just take a little vacation. 170 00:07:23,241 --> 00:07:25,896 I drove through this area and, uh, 171 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:27,620 uh, I started seeing these mountains and 172 00:07:27,724 --> 00:07:29,275 the very first thing that came to my mind was... 173 00:07:30,103 --> 00:07:31,655 there's gold there. 174 00:07:31,758 --> 00:07:34,482 I decided I was gonna make a living in these mountains and you know, 175 00:07:34,586 --> 00:07:36,689 I was gonna get this gold that's in the ground out of it. 176 00:07:38,724 --> 00:07:39,793 It was a learning experience. 177 00:07:39,896 --> 00:07:41,931 This is the real deal out here. 178 00:07:42,034 --> 00:07:43,896 There's nobody standing behind ya 179 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,034 showing you how to do this and I had to learn it all... 180 00:07:46,620 --> 00:07:47,413 right from scratch. 181 00:07:49,241 --> 00:07:51,137 [narrator] Mike spent nearly three decades 182 00:07:51,241 --> 00:07:54,551 building this mine into not just his livelihood, 183 00:07:54,655 --> 00:07:55,758 but also his home. 184 00:07:56,862 --> 00:07:58,827 [Mike] This is my life, what I do here. 185 00:07:58,931 --> 00:08:00,241 I wanna keep doing it forever. 186 00:08:02,137 --> 00:08:04,103 To live out in the country, 187 00:08:04,206 --> 00:08:06,137 and look at God's creation every day. 188 00:08:09,586 --> 00:08:11,103 [Juan] You know, I'm curious to watch it run, Freddy. 189 00:08:11,206 --> 00:08:12,862 There's a lot of moving parts here. 190 00:08:12,965 --> 00:08:14,551 Yeah. You know, it's been around a while. 191 00:08:15,965 --> 00:08:17,103 This may be a tough one. 192 00:08:17,206 --> 00:08:18,103 - [Juan] Yeah. - You know, 193 00:08:18,206 --> 00:08:20,310 without rebuilding their plant. 194 00:08:20,413 --> 00:08:22,655 [Juan] It would take us two-three weeks just to get everything redone. 195 00:08:24,172 --> 00:08:27,172 [Freddy] He's worried he may be losing good nuggets. 196 00:08:27,275 --> 00:08:29,793 We'd need to start with what's going to get him the most gold 197 00:08:29,896 --> 00:08:31,862 in his pocket, in the time that we're here. 198 00:08:35,689 --> 00:08:36,862 [narrator] Mike feeds pay dirt 199 00:08:36,965 --> 00:08:40,586 into the 1940s converted asphalt dryer 200 00:08:40,689 --> 00:08:42,275 he uses as a trommel. 201 00:08:42,379 --> 00:08:44,344 Large rocks pass out the end 202 00:08:44,448 --> 00:08:47,137 where Will collects them in a waiting dump truck. 203 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,551 The small material caught by the trommel 204 00:08:51,655 --> 00:08:54,620 passes down through a series of pipes into a jig. 205 00:08:57,034 --> 00:08:59,724 Anything smaller than one-eighth of an inch, 206 00:08:59,827 --> 00:09:01,793 should fall through the jig screen 207 00:09:01,896 --> 00:09:04,000 and into Mike's first sluice run. 208 00:09:05,793 --> 00:09:09,275 The larger material passes into a nine-inch wide chute 209 00:09:09,379 --> 00:09:12,068 which funnels into a repurposed oil barrel. 210 00:09:12,965 --> 00:09:15,206 Calling this a de-watering barrel, 211 00:09:15,310 --> 00:09:17,448 Mike punched holes into the drum 212 00:09:17,551 --> 00:09:18,724 so when it spins, 213 00:09:18,827 --> 00:09:21,137 the material gets broken up and dried out. 214 00:09:22,620 --> 00:09:25,931 This finest material then passes down through the holes 215 00:09:26,034 --> 00:09:28,620 and into his last chance sluice boxes. 216 00:09:36,655 --> 00:09:37,758 [Juan] You know, it's a little rough, but... 217 00:09:37,862 --> 00:09:39,758 you know, he's got it set up the way he wants it. 218 00:09:41,379 --> 00:09:45,068 [Will] Mike believes his plant's still very productive, 219 00:09:45,172 --> 00:09:46,827 but there's a lot of problems, you know, 220 00:09:46,931 --> 00:09:48,275 it's not that Mike's stubborn, it's just, 221 00:09:48,379 --> 00:09:50,000 "Hey, we'll get to it, we'll get to it, we'll get to it. 222 00:09:50,103 --> 00:09:51,241 It's patch, patch, patch." 223 00:09:51,344 --> 00:09:52,965 You know, just, "Let's go, let's go, let's go." 224 00:09:54,413 --> 00:09:55,379 It's a crap shoot. 225 00:09:56,620 --> 00:09:58,586 We've been running this plant for so many years, 226 00:09:59,586 --> 00:10:01,000 there's so many things worn out. 227 00:10:02,793 --> 00:10:04,137 We fix them when we have time. 228 00:10:06,517 --> 00:10:07,655 [Freddy] Look at that sluice down there. 229 00:10:09,172 --> 00:10:11,172 We're only here for a week, so... 230 00:10:11,275 --> 00:10:13,344 just trying to look and see if there's any things 231 00:10:13,448 --> 00:10:16,172 that we can, uh, help them recover more gold with. 232 00:10:18,241 --> 00:10:20,000 And he's doing a pretty good job. 233 00:10:20,103 --> 00:10:22,931 You know, honestly, the big, chunky gold he has, 234 00:10:23,034 --> 00:10:23,965 it's easy to catch. 235 00:10:24,068 --> 00:10:26,000 - Easy to catch those nuggets. - Yeah. 236 00:10:26,103 --> 00:10:27,793 It's the fine gold you gotta worry about. 237 00:10:29,310 --> 00:10:31,482 [Freddy] So, maybe the bottom boxes... 238 00:10:31,586 --> 00:10:32,344 [Juan] That little guy? 239 00:10:33,103 --> 00:10:34,758 What are you thinking? 240 00:10:34,862 --> 00:10:36,586 [Freddy] It's got all nugget riffles in there. 241 00:10:37,758 --> 00:10:39,862 They're just plugged right solid. 242 00:10:39,965 --> 00:10:42,517 Yeah. That's something we're gonna have to address. 243 00:10:44,827 --> 00:10:45,965 Just keep on looking. 244 00:10:48,689 --> 00:10:51,000 [Freddy] This little chute here. 245 00:10:51,103 --> 00:10:54,586 That really isn't gonna do anything, the way he's got it set up. 246 00:10:54,689 --> 00:10:56,793 You know, with the amount of water you got coming off here, 247 00:10:57,965 --> 00:10:59,965 there's gotta be some fine gold in there too. 248 00:11:00,689 --> 00:11:01,689 Yeah, I would imagine so. 249 00:11:07,413 --> 00:11:09,000 Pulling out all kinds of big rock. 250 00:11:10,344 --> 00:11:12,137 Big rock means big gold. 251 00:11:16,689 --> 00:11:18,103 [Juan] This de-watering trommel, 252 00:11:18,206 --> 00:11:19,517 it's just getting packed up. 253 00:11:22,344 --> 00:11:23,241 [Juan] We can fix that. 254 00:11:24,206 --> 00:11:25,241 [Freddy] We'll figure something out. 255 00:11:26,862 --> 00:11:28,586 To keep those holes cleaned out. 256 00:11:28,689 --> 00:11:30,620 [Juan] Keep them getting blinded up. 257 00:11:30,724 --> 00:11:33,965 [narrator] The de-watering trommel spins water off the wet rocks 258 00:11:34,068 --> 00:11:35,793 and reroutes any material 259 00:11:35,896 --> 00:11:38,551 that is 3/16th of an inch or less 260 00:11:38,655 --> 00:11:40,551 into the last chance sluice. 261 00:11:40,655 --> 00:11:42,862 Anything larger is sent up the conveyor 262 00:11:42,965 --> 00:11:44,448 to the tailings pile. 263 00:11:46,793 --> 00:11:49,551 I'll keep looking around, you wanna start panning? 264 00:11:49,655 --> 00:11:51,758 - Yeah, I'll take a look at it, see what we're losing. - Okay. 265 00:11:54,931 --> 00:11:58,310 [narrator] Juan will sample the tailings out of the de-watering trommel 266 00:11:58,413 --> 00:12:02,724 where, if Mike's right about catching 98% of his gold, 267 00:12:02,827 --> 00:12:04,931 there should be nothing but clean gravel. 268 00:12:09,137 --> 00:12:09,931 [Juan] And there's gold in it. 269 00:12:12,551 --> 00:12:13,655 See, right there. 270 00:12:13,758 --> 00:12:15,689 There's about four, 271 00:12:15,793 --> 00:12:17,896 five, six, seven, eight, nine... 272 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:19,551 nine pieces of gold. 273 00:12:19,655 --> 00:12:21,724 One of them's actually pretty sizeable. 274 00:12:21,827 --> 00:12:23,068 The other eight, they're not real big 275 00:12:23,172 --> 00:12:24,137 but they're there. 276 00:12:24,896 --> 00:12:25,896 It's a bad sign. 277 00:12:28,758 --> 00:12:30,172 You know that de-watering screen? 278 00:12:31,275 --> 00:12:33,137 What we're doing there, I think we're actually 279 00:12:33,241 --> 00:12:34,896 creating kind of, a muddy mass, 280 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,172 and we're actually pushing it out the tailings conveyor. 281 00:12:37,275 --> 00:12:39,379 We're never even having a chance to be able to sluice it. 282 00:12:42,206 --> 00:12:44,758 Last bucket. One more. 283 00:12:48,137 --> 00:12:50,275 Hoping to see some big nuggets. 284 00:12:50,379 --> 00:12:52,000 Come on, big gold. 285 00:12:58,206 --> 00:12:59,034 [Will] Shut it down. 286 00:13:05,551 --> 00:13:07,310 [Juan] Now, Mike... 287 00:13:07,413 --> 00:13:09,586 so I panned some of your tailings coming on that conveyor. 288 00:13:11,034 --> 00:13:13,241 Out of one pan, it was three-quarters full. 289 00:13:13,344 --> 00:13:14,344 Had about nine pieces in it. 290 00:13:16,137 --> 00:13:17,000 [Freddy] Freaking dumping gold. 291 00:13:17,965 --> 00:13:19,103 They're little, but they're there. 292 00:13:20,206 --> 00:13:21,137 [Mike] I'm shocked. 293 00:13:22,275 --> 00:13:23,517 [Juan] And, that's out of one pan. 294 00:13:23,620 --> 00:13:25,965 - Whoa! - [Freddy] We send pans through, all day, every day. 295 00:13:27,448 --> 00:13:28,827 Damn. 296 00:13:28,931 --> 00:13:31,517 [Juan] If there's nine pieces in a pan going up, 297 00:13:31,620 --> 00:13:33,241 that could be millions. 298 00:13:36,482 --> 00:13:38,275 [Freddy] Heart-broken? 299 00:13:38,379 --> 00:13:39,931 [Juan] Don't be heart-broken, that's why we're here, Mike. 300 00:13:43,137 --> 00:13:45,896 Freddy and I, we're here, we wanna help as best we can. 301 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,793 Uh, I'm just hoping that he's gonna be open to changes, you know. 302 00:14:01,172 --> 00:14:02,137 [Juan] What's going on, Mike? 303 00:14:04,034 --> 00:14:05,620 [Mike] Today was quite a shocking day. 304 00:14:06,724 --> 00:14:09,931 When I saw the gold that was in the conveyor, 305 00:14:10,034 --> 00:14:11,793 it's made my belly churn a little bit. 306 00:14:14,137 --> 00:14:15,551 [Juan] Honestly, you got a lot of it down. 307 00:14:15,655 --> 00:14:17,344 You know, you've done a lot of work out here, 308 00:14:17,448 --> 00:14:19,448 and you did all this with your money. 309 00:14:21,068 --> 00:14:23,655 [Mike] This mountain is my life. 310 00:14:23,758 --> 00:14:25,379 And I put my heart and soul into this place. 311 00:14:27,310 --> 00:14:29,413 I met my ex-wife and we got married. 312 00:14:31,448 --> 00:14:33,413 So, I took her daughter under my wing 313 00:14:33,517 --> 00:14:35,793 and, uh, did the best I could to be her father. 314 00:14:36,551 --> 00:14:38,310 And, uh, you know, 315 00:14:38,413 --> 00:14:40,310 I worked really hard to be that... 316 00:14:40,413 --> 00:14:41,827 that person in her life. 317 00:14:42,586 --> 00:14:43,620 [voice breaks] That was solid. 318 00:14:47,413 --> 00:14:49,034 But when she was 19, 319 00:14:51,517 --> 00:14:52,379 she passed away. 320 00:14:55,137 --> 00:14:57,000 [Juan] I'm sorry to hear that. 321 00:14:57,103 --> 00:14:59,034 That's a tough thing, man, that's a tough thing. 322 00:15:00,793 --> 00:15:01,758 Shortly thereafter, 323 00:15:02,620 --> 00:15:04,862 uh, I got divorced, so, lost my wife, 324 00:15:05,931 --> 00:15:06,862 lost my daughter. 325 00:15:08,620 --> 00:15:09,655 So, this place... 326 00:15:11,241 --> 00:15:12,137 it's where my heart is. 327 00:15:15,517 --> 00:15:16,517 This has been my crutch. 328 00:15:18,275 --> 00:15:19,620 - That's real. - Yeah. Yeah. 329 00:15:20,103 --> 00:15:21,448 Real. Man. 330 00:15:24,724 --> 00:15:27,586 It's a big concern that I've invested my life, 331 00:15:27,689 --> 00:15:30,310 I've given up my career, to be out here. 332 00:15:30,413 --> 00:15:32,551 Like, right now, I need help. 333 00:15:34,344 --> 00:15:37,137 [Juan] Honestly, this mine's more than just a mine for him. 334 00:15:37,241 --> 00:15:39,241 This is what's holding him together, this is his purpose. 335 00:15:39,344 --> 00:15:41,172 This is his reason for being right now, so... 336 00:15:42,137 --> 00:15:43,896 we really gotta pull out all the stops 337 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:45,310 and help him out as much as we can. 338 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:51,758 [thunder rumbling] 339 00:16:07,448 --> 00:16:08,793 [Freddy] Time to lay some gold up, huh? 340 00:16:08,896 --> 00:16:11,241 Yeah, and this is the gold we got from that four-hour run. 341 00:16:12,344 --> 00:16:13,103 Dump her in. 342 00:16:14,655 --> 00:16:16,758 [narrator] To cover the soaring cost of fuel, 343 00:16:16,862 --> 00:16:19,379 repairs and make a profit... 344 00:16:19,482 --> 00:16:21,517 [Will] There's some chunky stuff in there. 345 00:16:21,620 --> 00:16:22,689 [narrator] ... Mike needs around 346 00:16:22,793 --> 00:16:24,103 four ounces per day. 347 00:16:24,206 --> 00:16:25,827 [Juan] And there's some fine stuff too. 348 00:16:27,793 --> 00:16:29,655 [narrator] This four-hour test must deliver 349 00:16:29,758 --> 00:16:31,965 no less than two ounces. 350 00:16:33,689 --> 00:16:35,241 There's 1.37. 351 00:16:36,482 --> 00:16:37,689 Drop that guy in there too. 352 00:16:38,448 --> 00:16:39,551 [Freddy] 1.60. 353 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:45,413 We have some ideas. 354 00:16:45,517 --> 00:16:47,482 One thing is, we know we're losing fine gold 355 00:16:47,586 --> 00:16:49,379 and we need to focus on that, so, 356 00:16:49,482 --> 00:16:51,068 it's not the most ideal situation, 357 00:16:51,172 --> 00:16:52,896 but I know you're worried about your nuggets, right? 358 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,793 - [Will] Yeah. - [Juan] Those big nuggets going off the end. 359 00:16:54,896 --> 00:16:56,172 [Freddy] A guy I know... 360 00:16:56,275 --> 00:16:58,206 he's a metal-detecting professional. 361 00:16:58,310 --> 00:17:00,758 I thought about bringing him in to just 362 00:17:00,862 --> 00:17:03,000 swing a metal detector around your tailings piles 363 00:17:03,103 --> 00:17:04,931 and see if he finds a nice nugget there. 364 00:17:05,517 --> 00:17:06,551 [Mike] Sounds great. 365 00:17:06,655 --> 00:17:07,931 - [Will] Sounds good. - See you in a minute, guys. 366 00:17:08,034 --> 00:17:10,310 You know my... my deal structure with Mike 367 00:17:10,413 --> 00:17:13,137 is I get a percentage of the gold at the end of the season. 368 00:17:13,241 --> 00:17:16,379 If he can't get his mine more productive in catching more gold, 369 00:17:16,482 --> 00:17:18,448 eventually, it's all gonna give. 370 00:17:18,551 --> 00:17:20,586 It's truly, financially, it's a burden. 371 00:17:22,862 --> 00:17:24,862 [narrator] Looking for lost nuggets, 372 00:17:24,965 --> 00:17:26,482 - [Steve] Freddy! - How's it going, Steve? 373 00:17:26,586 --> 00:17:28,000 [Steve] Oh, man, great. 374 00:17:28,103 --> 00:17:30,620 [narrator] Freddy calls in an old friend and treasure hunter 375 00:17:30,724 --> 00:17:33,586 to search hundreds of tones of coarse tailings. 376 00:17:33,689 --> 00:17:35,206 [Freddy] Mike, the claim owner here, 377 00:17:35,310 --> 00:17:36,793 he is worried and I can see why 378 00:17:36,896 --> 00:17:39,793 that's he's losing some substantial size pieces of gold. 379 00:17:39,896 --> 00:17:41,206 [Steve] Okay, sure. 380 00:17:41,310 --> 00:17:44,000 What I was hoping you'd do, Steve, is uh, 381 00:17:44,103 --> 00:17:47,206 get your detector and start hitting some of his tailings piles. 382 00:17:47,310 --> 00:17:48,931 Sure. Yeah, I'd be more than happy to. 383 00:17:49,034 --> 00:17:50,724 I know you know what you're doing, so... 384 00:17:50,827 --> 00:17:52,551 - All right. - ...I'll let you be and let you get busy. 385 00:18:01,758 --> 00:18:03,965 I have dug some half-pound nuggets. 386 00:18:04,551 --> 00:18:05,862 Metal detecting and, uh, 387 00:18:06,896 --> 00:18:08,793 this machine will do a fabulous job at that 388 00:18:08,896 --> 00:18:09,965 if you just get over one. 389 00:18:11,551 --> 00:18:13,000 [detector beeping] 390 00:18:15,034 --> 00:18:16,896 That's what I would call a screamer. [chuckles] 391 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:17,931 It's really loud. 392 00:18:19,172 --> 00:18:20,862 Really obvious target. 393 00:18:20,965 --> 00:18:22,724 It's exactly what a gold nugget would sound like. 394 00:18:24,241 --> 00:18:26,655 [narrator] If Steve finds nuggets in the tailings, 395 00:18:26,758 --> 00:18:28,482 it will confirm Mike's fear 396 00:18:28,586 --> 00:18:31,379 that his plant's allowing nuggets to pass right through. 397 00:18:32,034 --> 00:18:33,448 And where is it? 398 00:18:37,206 --> 00:18:38,103 [detector beeping] 399 00:18:38,206 --> 00:18:39,517 [Steve] Okay, I got it in a scoop. 400 00:18:41,551 --> 00:18:43,310 Okay, now it's not in the scoop. 401 00:18:43,965 --> 00:18:44,758 Put that down. 402 00:18:44,862 --> 00:18:46,379 [detector beeping] 403 00:18:46,482 --> 00:18:47,965 Back in the scoop and... 404 00:18:52,758 --> 00:18:53,586 unfortunately... 405 00:18:54,793 --> 00:18:56,344 in this case, it was a shell casing. 406 00:18:57,827 --> 00:19:01,241 [narrator] While Steve continues the hunt for lost big gold, 407 00:19:01,344 --> 00:19:02,482 [Juan] Well, honestly Freddy, there's... 408 00:19:03,655 --> 00:19:05,413 there's a few things we can do here. 409 00:19:05,517 --> 00:19:07,344 [narrator] Freddy and Juan devise a plan 410 00:19:07,448 --> 00:19:10,275 to capture the equally valuable finer stuff. 411 00:19:11,586 --> 00:19:13,103 He's got that little trough, right? 412 00:19:13,793 --> 00:19:15,206 I think we, uh, 413 00:19:15,310 --> 00:19:17,241 cut in to here, make a wider sluice, 414 00:19:17,344 --> 00:19:19,068 so that water is just deep in there, right? 415 00:19:19,172 --> 00:19:20,689 It's not catching any gold. 416 00:19:20,793 --> 00:19:22,241 [Juan] This de-watering trommel, 417 00:19:22,344 --> 00:19:24,689 what do you think about maybe putting a spray bar or a jet in here? 418 00:19:24,793 --> 00:19:26,517 - [Freddy] So it's blowing through those holes. - Absolutely. 419 00:19:26,620 --> 00:19:27,689 No, I think that's good. 420 00:19:27,793 --> 00:19:29,689 Then he's got these little sluices here. 421 00:19:29,793 --> 00:19:32,586 But he's got all nugget riffles in there. 422 00:19:32,689 --> 00:19:34,137 They're just plugged right solid. 423 00:19:34,241 --> 00:19:35,896 I think when you pull the nugget riffles out, 424 00:19:36,793 --> 00:19:38,000 get it set for fine gold. 425 00:19:38,103 --> 00:19:40,655 'Cause even if they're losing it here and here, 426 00:19:40,758 --> 00:19:43,448 we get the opportunity to catch it here after that, 427 00:19:43,551 --> 00:19:46,551 that's the number one goal right there. 428 00:19:46,655 --> 00:19:49,413 [narrator] Freddy and Juan will target three key areas 429 00:19:49,517 --> 00:19:51,655 where Mike is losing fine gold. 430 00:19:53,275 --> 00:19:56,931 The jig sends material through a narrow nice-inch chute. 431 00:19:57,034 --> 00:20:00,862 A new 22-inch wide sluice box will slow the water 432 00:20:00,965 --> 00:20:02,551 and allow the gold to settle. 433 00:20:04,551 --> 00:20:07,137 The holes in the de-watering trommel block up, 434 00:20:07,241 --> 00:20:10,517 letting gold pass out onto the tailings conveyor. 435 00:20:10,620 --> 00:20:13,103 A high-powered spray bar will blast it 436 00:20:13,206 --> 00:20:14,620 through the holes in the barrel 437 00:20:14,724 --> 00:20:17,310 and safely into the sluices below. 438 00:20:17,413 --> 00:20:19,827 The nugget riffles on the sluices clog 439 00:20:19,931 --> 00:20:22,241 causing gold to wash over the top. 440 00:20:22,344 --> 00:20:25,620 A new set of fine gold riffles will prevent build up 441 00:20:25,724 --> 00:20:28,517 and catch any gold brought down from the barrel. 442 00:20:33,137 --> 00:20:34,827 After seven hours searching... 443 00:20:34,931 --> 00:20:36,689 [Freddy] How's it going, Steve? 444 00:20:36,793 --> 00:20:39,586 [narrator] ... Steve delivers the result from his nugget hunt. 445 00:20:39,689 --> 00:20:43,655 Well, I think Mike's doing a good job honestly, uh, 446 00:20:43,758 --> 00:20:47,724 found a lot of goodies, but none of it was gold nuggets, unfortunately. 447 00:20:47,827 --> 00:20:50,241 There might be a lost nugget or two out there, but there's not like, 448 00:20:50,344 --> 00:20:52,448 - a pile of lost gold. No. - Nothing to lose sleep over? 449 00:20:52,551 --> 00:20:54,172 - No. I mean... - Good, he'll be happy to see that. 450 00:20:56,172 --> 00:20:57,862 Steve not finding a big piece of gold, 451 00:20:58,689 --> 00:21:00,103 you know, that's the final 452 00:21:00,206 --> 00:21:02,965 decision for me, not to try to catch nuggets. 453 00:21:03,068 --> 00:21:04,517 Thank you. 454 00:21:04,620 --> 00:21:06,620 You know, thank you, Steve, for not finding a nugget, 455 00:21:06,724 --> 00:21:08,413 and I don't know that I'll ever say that ever again. 456 00:21:12,758 --> 00:21:14,517 [narrator] With lost nuggets ruled out... 457 00:21:15,793 --> 00:21:17,724 [Juan] Well, we came up with a little bit of a game plan. 458 00:21:17,827 --> 00:21:20,620 [narrator] Freddy and Juan propose their fixes. 459 00:21:20,724 --> 00:21:22,310 You know, one of the big issues that we did have 460 00:21:22,413 --> 00:21:23,758 that we saw was 461 00:21:23,862 --> 00:21:25,379 that material coming off the end of the conveyor, 462 00:21:25,482 --> 00:21:26,655 it had gold in it still. 463 00:21:28,413 --> 00:21:31,206 Try losing some of your smaller gold off the end of the jig, 464 00:21:31,310 --> 00:21:32,655 we got an opportunity to catch it 465 00:21:32,758 --> 00:21:34,551 with the new sluice box right there. 466 00:21:34,655 --> 00:21:37,413 Which now, you're so narrow, it doesn't have much of a chance to find a home. 467 00:21:39,034 --> 00:21:40,862 So, we talked about it and... 468 00:21:40,965 --> 00:21:43,068 you know, with everything we're doing for you, 469 00:21:43,172 --> 00:21:45,310 we'd like a... two ounces of gold. 470 00:21:48,344 --> 00:21:49,241 Well... 471 00:21:49,344 --> 00:21:50,103 - Each. - [Mike exhales] 472 00:21:51,206 --> 00:21:52,827 - Two ounces each? - [Juan] Two ounces each. 473 00:21:53,793 --> 00:21:55,000 And that would cover our expenses. 474 00:21:57,241 --> 00:21:58,689 [Mike] It's a tough choice, but I'd say, 475 00:21:58,793 --> 00:22:00,310 let's go, let's do it. 476 00:22:00,413 --> 00:22:02,068 - Deal then. - Sounds good, it's a deal. 477 00:22:02,172 --> 00:22:02,965 - Let's do it. - Appreciate it. 478 00:22:03,068 --> 00:22:04,379 Well, we'll start working. 479 00:22:04,482 --> 00:22:06,827 - Yes, sir, sounds good. - Thank you. Thank you. 480 00:22:06,931 --> 00:22:09,172 [Mike] You know, if I'm losing $50,000 a year, 481 00:22:09,275 --> 00:22:12,413 well, that's substantial, and over a 20-year period, 482 00:22:12,517 --> 00:22:14,827 $50,000 a year is a million bucks. 483 00:22:14,931 --> 00:22:18,275 So, that's a good trade-off for four ounces of gold, 484 00:22:18,379 --> 00:22:19,827 and the price of some material. 485 00:22:21,724 --> 00:22:23,241 [Will] I don't know how much 486 00:22:23,344 --> 00:22:25,241 longer that plant would run the way Mike has it. 487 00:22:25,344 --> 00:22:27,965 But he needs to make, you know his last stand on this thing. 488 00:22:28,068 --> 00:22:29,931 And right now, with Freddy and Juan coming up, 489 00:22:30,034 --> 00:22:32,379 I think that they'll help him make that last stand 490 00:22:32,482 --> 00:22:34,379 and get right back on track where he needs to be. 491 00:22:43,758 --> 00:22:46,241 What I'm doing is designing the sluice box that Freddy wants to build. 492 00:22:46,965 --> 00:22:48,206 [narrator] In the cut trailer, 493 00:22:48,310 --> 00:22:52,206 Juan gets to work fabricating the first of their fixes. 494 00:22:52,310 --> 00:22:53,379 [Juan] It's gonna be a little different, 495 00:22:53,482 --> 00:22:54,862 it's not just a regular straight sluice box 496 00:22:54,965 --> 00:22:56,379 it's gonna have a little bit of a taper at the front. 497 00:22:57,862 --> 00:23:01,103 [narrator] A bespoke 22-inch fine gold sluice 498 00:23:01,206 --> 00:23:03,724 to replace Mike's narrow nine-inch chute. 499 00:23:03,827 --> 00:23:05,482 [Juan speaking] 500 00:23:19,241 --> 00:23:21,655 You know, right now fuel costs is just killing everyone. 501 00:23:21,758 --> 00:23:23,413 But it's gone to the point where 502 00:23:23,517 --> 00:23:24,965 this extra percentage could actually mean 503 00:23:25,068 --> 00:23:27,551 the difference of him eating or actually putting fuel in the plant. 504 00:23:46,620 --> 00:23:48,137 [Freddy] One thing you wanna do with materials, 505 00:23:48,241 --> 00:23:49,827 you can't let it have its own way. 506 00:23:51,241 --> 00:23:52,724 You gotta force it into the situation 507 00:23:52,827 --> 00:23:53,931 you want it into. 508 00:23:54,034 --> 00:23:56,172 - Yeah, by funneling it. - Especially with gold. 509 00:23:56,275 --> 00:23:58,551 [narrator] In eastern Nevada, Freddy and Juan 510 00:23:58,655 --> 00:24:00,482 are battling a patched up plant. 511 00:24:00,586 --> 00:24:03,310 It's kinda like putting chutes in for cattle. 512 00:24:03,413 --> 00:24:05,655 [narrator] And a miner who's set in his ways. 513 00:24:06,758 --> 00:24:07,655 [Freddy] This may be a tough one. 514 00:24:08,448 --> 00:24:09,620 [narrator] Freddy's first fix, 515 00:24:09,724 --> 00:24:12,379 converting Mike's nine-inch steel chute 516 00:24:12,482 --> 00:24:15,689 into a 22-inch gold-catching sluice. 517 00:24:15,793 --> 00:24:18,379 If we catch it here, we don't have to worry about losing it farther down. 518 00:24:20,034 --> 00:24:22,241 Let's say if we make that bottom in square... 519 00:24:23,896 --> 00:24:25,448 then we got rock wearing on rock 520 00:24:25,551 --> 00:24:27,551 cause rocks are gonna build up in these corners, right? 521 00:24:29,068 --> 00:24:30,896 Then, when all those rocks are coming down, 522 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:32,517 they're gonna hit that, 523 00:24:32,620 --> 00:24:34,896 they're gonna go over and down, but it's not wearing your steel off that way. 524 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:36,896 - [Mike] It's gonna wear the rocks out. - [Freddy] Yup. 525 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:38,413 - [Mike] I love it. - So, I'll go get started. 526 00:24:38,517 --> 00:24:39,517 - Sounds good. - Laying out material. 527 00:24:39,620 --> 00:24:40,586 - Thank you, sir. - [Mike] Thank you. 528 00:24:45,172 --> 00:24:47,448 [narrator] Water is flowing too fast 529 00:24:47,551 --> 00:24:49,931 through Mike's narrow nine-inch chute, 530 00:24:50,034 --> 00:24:52,689 giving the gold no opportunity to be caught. 531 00:24:54,172 --> 00:24:55,620 The new wider sluice 532 00:24:55,724 --> 00:24:59,000 will allow the material to fan out and slow down, 533 00:24:59,103 --> 00:25:03,000 allowing gold to settle in the new expanded metal riffles. 534 00:25:14,758 --> 00:25:16,482 [Juan] One of the things that we really wanna focus on 535 00:25:16,586 --> 00:25:18,482 is we wanna make sure everything is completely 536 00:25:18,586 --> 00:25:20,413 level and square and straight. 537 00:25:21,896 --> 00:25:23,103 [narrator] At the cut trailer, 538 00:25:23,206 --> 00:25:24,931 the new sluice is taking shape. 539 00:25:25,931 --> 00:25:27,931 [Juan] If there's any kind of bows or bends, 540 00:25:28,034 --> 00:25:31,310 what it'll do, it'll create a spot for that gold to go underneath and get lost. 541 00:25:36,724 --> 00:25:39,000 These magnets are set up, so they're a true 90. 542 00:25:39,103 --> 00:25:40,655 You put 'em in, you turn 'em on, 543 00:25:40,758 --> 00:25:42,689 and it actually holds your plate in place, 544 00:25:42,793 --> 00:25:44,310 so that way you can weld it and when you weld it, 545 00:25:44,413 --> 00:25:46,482 you know it's 100%, it's gonna be a 90 degree. 546 00:25:48,413 --> 00:25:50,896 [narrator] To make the angle stay perfectly straight, 547 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,551 Juan has a clever trick. 548 00:25:54,827 --> 00:25:55,620 So, what we're doing here... 549 00:25:57,034 --> 00:25:59,068 we call these ribs, but what this does... 550 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:04,413 is basically gives the box itself a little more rigidity. 551 00:26:04,517 --> 00:26:06,655 So that way, when we're moving it, or when it's on the plant 552 00:26:06,758 --> 00:26:08,310 and it's turning, it's twisting, you know, 553 00:26:08,413 --> 00:26:09,724 it doesn't get distorted. 554 00:26:09,827 --> 00:26:10,862 So by putting these ribs in, 555 00:26:10,965 --> 00:26:12,344 it doesn't flex, it doesn't move. 556 00:26:12,448 --> 00:26:14,103 And there's no water going underneath the sluice. 557 00:26:16,586 --> 00:26:18,000 All right, we got the last weld here. 558 00:26:23,206 --> 00:26:24,206 Last weld, that was it. 559 00:26:27,896 --> 00:26:29,379 [thudding] 560 00:26:30,931 --> 00:26:32,965 [Freddy] Juan's up there building that new sluice box 561 00:26:33,068 --> 00:26:35,000 for this area right now. 562 00:26:35,103 --> 00:26:39,000 I think he got the easy job, me and Mike got the hard job. 563 00:26:39,103 --> 00:26:41,896 [narrator] Before they can install the new sluice, 564 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,310 Freddy and Mike must remove the old chute. 565 00:26:51,551 --> 00:26:53,689 - Not moving at all. - Mmm-hmm. 566 00:26:53,793 --> 00:26:57,551 [narrator] After 20 years, the old chute is stuck firm. 567 00:26:59,862 --> 00:27:01,620 - Felt like it moved that time. - [Freddy] Didn't budge. 568 00:27:02,241 --> 00:27:03,000 Shoot. 569 00:27:13,310 --> 00:27:16,137 [narrator] While Juan waits for them to remove the old chute... 570 00:27:16,241 --> 00:27:17,965 Some things are nice, you got your family here with ya. 571 00:27:18,551 --> 00:27:19,793 Oh, I love it. 572 00:27:19,896 --> 00:27:21,724 I don't know how I'd be able to do it out here all summer, 573 00:27:22,517 --> 00:27:23,689 you know, without them. 574 00:27:23,793 --> 00:27:25,517 [narrator] He heads to meet Will's family, 575 00:27:25,620 --> 00:27:28,620 who traveled 2000 miles across the country 576 00:27:28,724 --> 00:27:29,827 for a better life. 577 00:27:29,931 --> 00:27:30,862 - [woman] Come on, Calvin. - [Calvin] Hi. 578 00:27:30,965 --> 00:27:33,379 Come say hi to Daddy. Hi, Mr. Juan. 579 00:27:33,482 --> 00:27:35,758 - Nice to meet you. - [Juan] How you doing? Nice to meet you, too. 580 00:27:35,862 --> 00:27:37,275 - Juan. - [Will] Juan, Lauren. 581 00:27:37,379 --> 00:27:38,758 - Nice to meet you, Lauren. How you doing? - Very nice to meet you. 582 00:27:38,862 --> 00:27:40,827 - [Will] Andrew, Mr. Juan. - Andrew, how you doing, bud? 583 00:27:40,931 --> 00:27:41,931 - Good. - [Will] Why don't you show 584 00:27:42,034 --> 00:27:43,896 Mr. Juan what you got going on? 585 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,862 The main reason that I came out to mine is... 586 00:27:47,655 --> 00:27:48,655 because of my son, Andrew. 587 00:27:48,758 --> 00:27:50,655 Maybe he could fix your sluice box too. 588 00:27:50,758 --> 00:27:51,862 - What have you got going on? - [Will] Hey, bud. 589 00:27:51,965 --> 00:27:53,137 He has cystic fibrosis. 590 00:27:54,379 --> 00:27:57,482 It's a genetic lung disease and it's hard on his lungs. 591 00:27:57,586 --> 00:27:59,413 - I just crushed up this. - [Will] Mama. 592 00:27:59,517 --> 00:28:00,862 [Juan] You crushed it? How'd you crush it? 593 00:28:02,827 --> 00:28:04,896 [Will] The average life expectancy right now 594 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,448 in the US is about 42. 595 00:28:08,551 --> 00:28:10,862 [Lauren] As a parent, when you get a diagnosis like this, 596 00:28:10,965 --> 00:28:12,931 specially something you don't fully understand, 597 00:28:13,034 --> 00:28:14,379 it hits you hard. 598 00:28:14,482 --> 00:28:15,724 [Juan] Can I take a look at your pan? 599 00:28:15,827 --> 00:28:17,000 Yes. 600 00:28:17,103 --> 00:28:20,379 [Lauren] On the surface, he's a happy six-year-old, 601 00:28:20,482 --> 00:28:24,206 ready to get out and enjoy life, run, jump, play. 602 00:28:24,310 --> 00:28:27,620 But, you know, if Andrew catches a cold or the flu, 603 00:28:28,931 --> 00:28:31,103 it could lead to permanent lung damage in his lungs. 604 00:28:33,275 --> 00:28:36,896 [narrator] Since birth, Andrew has needed daily treatment. 605 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,068 But the clean Nevada air has made a big difference. 606 00:28:41,482 --> 00:28:43,896 [Lauren] Since coming back from, um, last year, 607 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:45,931 his lungs were crystal clear. 608 00:28:46,034 --> 00:28:48,379 The doctors were just ecstatic, as were we. 609 00:28:48,482 --> 00:28:50,206 And that's why we knew... 610 00:28:50,310 --> 00:28:51,827 we're gonna continue this gold mining. 611 00:28:53,137 --> 00:28:54,689 Andrew's got his rock crusher 612 00:28:54,793 --> 00:28:56,413 that he can do his gold panning, 613 00:28:56,517 --> 00:28:59,103 and find that gold like his daddy does 'cause... 614 00:28:59,206 --> 00:29:01,068 he looks up to everything that Will does 615 00:29:01,172 --> 00:29:03,586 and wants to be just like him. 616 00:29:03,689 --> 00:29:05,517 [Will] I just trickle it on there. 617 00:29:05,620 --> 00:29:07,620 [Andrew] This gold is actually the heaviest 618 00:29:07,724 --> 00:29:09,724 so that means the water can't carry it. 619 00:29:10,931 --> 00:29:13,758 - Or all the dirt will go down. - [Will] That's right. 620 00:29:13,862 --> 00:29:17,413 Cystic fibrosis is a very, um, expensive disease. 621 00:29:17,517 --> 00:29:19,413 - [Juan] Nice to meet you, bud. - Good. 622 00:29:19,517 --> 00:29:20,862 [Will] There are a lot of doctor visits, 623 00:29:20,965 --> 00:29:22,827 there is a lot of medications 624 00:29:22,931 --> 00:29:24,482 he takes in a days' time, 625 00:29:25,413 --> 00:29:27,068 twenty-five pills roughly 626 00:29:27,172 --> 00:29:29,620 that help, you know, keep his lungs as healthy as possible. 627 00:29:29,724 --> 00:29:30,793 [Calvin] Bye. 628 00:29:34,241 --> 00:29:36,068 [Juan] I got four littles ones and... 629 00:29:36,172 --> 00:29:37,931 you know, really, what we do is for them. 630 00:29:38,034 --> 00:29:40,137 You know, so I totally get what you're doing now. 631 00:29:40,241 --> 00:29:41,965 Makes a lot more sense. 632 00:29:42,068 --> 00:29:43,206 Yeah, who else is crazy enough 633 00:29:43,310 --> 00:29:44,862 to drag their family across the country? 634 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:48,482 [Juan] It's amazing what he's doing out here with his son 635 00:29:48,586 --> 00:29:50,068 and honestly, it's helping his son's health. 636 00:29:52,068 --> 00:29:54,241 To me, that's one of the most noble things he could be doing. 637 00:29:55,724 --> 00:29:56,827 Andrew's a great kid. 638 00:29:56,931 --> 00:29:58,655 I'm gonna talk to Freddy, see what we can do 639 00:29:58,758 --> 00:30:00,103 'cause now I wanna do something special for him. 640 00:30:17,620 --> 00:30:19,068 [reverse alarm beeping] 641 00:30:22,172 --> 00:30:22,965 [Freddy] Perfect. 642 00:30:25,965 --> 00:30:26,862 Hey, Juano. 643 00:30:27,689 --> 00:30:29,344 [Juan] Give it a shot, huh? 644 00:30:29,448 --> 00:30:32,000 [narrator] With two build days remaining, 645 00:30:32,103 --> 00:30:35,344 it's all hands on deck to install the new sluice box 646 00:30:35,448 --> 00:30:37,137 in the 20-year-old system. 647 00:30:38,896 --> 00:30:41,931 [Mike] Well, it's gonna be sad to see that old girl go, 648 00:30:42,034 --> 00:30:43,310 but out with the old, in with the new. 649 00:30:45,862 --> 00:30:48,655 [Freddy] We didn't wanna cut it out till we had it safely secured. 650 00:30:48,758 --> 00:30:50,379 'Cause if we'd have just cut it loose before, 651 00:30:50,482 --> 00:30:52,586 it would have just fell before we would have tied on to it. 652 00:30:52,689 --> 00:30:55,206 So, we gotta get it done safe. 653 00:30:55,310 --> 00:30:57,310 - [Juan] All right, it's got tension on it, Freddy. - Okay. 654 00:30:57,413 --> 00:30:59,586 - [Mike] Ready to cut? - [machine whirs] 655 00:31:04,379 --> 00:31:05,793 - [Freddy] Coming up. - [Juan] Let's fly this kite. 656 00:31:07,896 --> 00:31:08,862 [Mike] Bye-bye, baby. 657 00:31:12,344 --> 00:31:14,344 [Juan] There's Mike over there saying goodbye to his baby. 658 00:31:14,448 --> 00:31:15,827 [Freddy] Oh. [laughs] 659 00:31:15,931 --> 00:31:17,724 [Juan] That's part of his life right there. It just got taken away. 660 00:31:18,655 --> 00:31:19,862 [Mike] Nice knowing ya. 661 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:23,517 You know how many patches we put in the damn thing? 662 00:31:27,379 --> 00:31:29,000 [Juan] Let's just get in there see what it looks like. 663 00:31:31,586 --> 00:31:32,965 Cross your fingers, let's hope it fits. 664 00:31:37,344 --> 00:31:40,000 [Freddy] Whoa! Oh, oh, oh! Pull that in that way. 665 00:31:42,896 --> 00:31:44,620 [Juan] Give it a push into that corner over there. 666 00:31:45,793 --> 00:31:46,586 It's almost there. 667 00:31:47,896 --> 00:31:50,379 There it is. The eagle has landed. 668 00:31:50,482 --> 00:31:51,586 Let's weld it. 669 00:31:51,689 --> 00:31:53,275 - Take it down just a smidge. - [Will] I did. 670 00:31:54,931 --> 00:31:57,068 - Right there. - [Mike] You're too high. 671 00:31:57,172 --> 00:31:59,517 - Bring it down just a-- - Mike, I'm looking right at the top of it. 672 00:32:00,137 --> 00:32:01,310 [Mike] Okay. 673 00:32:01,413 --> 00:32:02,965 - [Freddy] You happy, Will? - [Will] Yes. 674 00:32:03,068 --> 00:32:04,103 [Mike] Lock it in right there. 675 00:32:05,827 --> 00:32:06,620 Bingo! 676 00:32:08,241 --> 00:32:09,793 Ready to put some dirt through this thing. 677 00:32:23,896 --> 00:32:27,172 [Freddy] Well, no matter what, we've got a lot to get done today. 678 00:32:27,275 --> 00:32:29,586 It's the last day here we can work on stuff and... 679 00:32:30,620 --> 00:32:32,931 you know, we're behind schedule as it is. 680 00:32:33,034 --> 00:32:34,689 All we can do now is just press on. 681 00:32:36,103 --> 00:32:37,689 And just work, work, work. 682 00:32:37,793 --> 00:32:39,896 [narrator] With just 24 hours to go, 683 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:42,758 Freddy needs to complete the de-watering fix. 684 00:32:43,586 --> 00:32:44,379 Fishing. 685 00:32:46,172 --> 00:32:47,965 I'm gonna throw it right there. 686 00:32:52,034 --> 00:32:53,827 What we're gonna try to do is get some more water 687 00:32:53,931 --> 00:32:55,517 into that de-watering screen. 688 00:32:57,034 --> 00:32:58,620 I know it sounds crazy 689 00:32:58,724 --> 00:33:00,620 but by getting more water into it, 690 00:33:00,724 --> 00:33:02,655 it's gonna clean that material better, 691 00:33:02,758 --> 00:33:04,965 and hopefully get it to those lower sluice boxes 692 00:33:05,068 --> 00:33:07,896 we're gonna modify, instead of it going up in the conveyor 693 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,000 into the tailings pile. 694 00:33:10,793 --> 00:33:12,931 [narrator] The holes in the de-watering trommel 695 00:33:13,034 --> 00:33:14,620 are packed with debris 696 00:33:14,724 --> 00:33:18,172 allowing fine gold to escape up the conveyor. 697 00:33:18,275 --> 00:33:21,793 Freddy and Juan's fix adds a high-powered spray bar 698 00:33:21,896 --> 00:33:23,379 to keep water flowing, 699 00:33:23,482 --> 00:33:27,103 cleaning material and the punch plate at the same time. 700 00:33:27,206 --> 00:33:30,482 [Freddy] There is no chance of catching that piece of gold if it hits that conveyor. 701 00:33:30,586 --> 00:33:33,275 But if we can get it before it hits that conveyor, 702 00:33:33,379 --> 00:33:34,517 it's in these guys' pocket. 703 00:33:40,448 --> 00:33:41,827 Gotta put some spurs on. 704 00:33:43,517 --> 00:33:46,827 Back to my rodeo days. Back when I was barrel racing. 705 00:33:46,931 --> 00:33:48,034 [narrator] Freddy's first step, 706 00:33:48,137 --> 00:33:50,551 weld a bracket to mount the spray bar 707 00:33:50,655 --> 00:33:52,896 inside the free-spinning barrel. 708 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:54,241 [Freddy] Gonna weld the stand there. 709 00:33:55,896 --> 00:33:57,034 Long range welding. 710 00:34:02,379 --> 00:34:04,068 [grunts] Don't roll in. 711 00:34:07,448 --> 00:34:08,793 Sharp mother-- [groans] 712 00:34:10,896 --> 00:34:12,551 When you guys retire this drum, 713 00:34:12,655 --> 00:34:14,965 you can sell it to a razor blade company. 714 00:34:17,724 --> 00:34:19,310 I can't say, it's, uh, 715 00:34:19,413 --> 00:34:22,448 super uncomfortable but I've been a heck of a lot more comfortable. 716 00:34:23,620 --> 00:34:26,103 Well, one more job done. 717 00:34:29,275 --> 00:34:30,965 [narrator] Spray bar installed, 718 00:34:31,068 --> 00:34:33,413 Freddy connects it to Mike's water supply. 719 00:34:34,137 --> 00:34:35,965 [Freddy] Lots of stuff to do. 720 00:34:36,068 --> 00:34:38,827 We gotta cut into his main line, put a valve on it. 721 00:34:38,931 --> 00:34:40,689 Get a hose up there and get it hooked up. 722 00:34:40,793 --> 00:34:42,896 So when we fire this plant back up, it's ready to go. 723 00:34:43,965 --> 00:34:45,689 - Well, you wanna cut that? - Yeah, definitely. 724 00:34:51,827 --> 00:34:53,482 So, you enjoying it out in the west? 725 00:34:53,586 --> 00:34:54,724 [Will] Oh, yeah, I love it out here. 726 00:34:54,827 --> 00:34:57,965 I mean, Mike has been a wealth of knowledge, you know, 727 00:34:58,068 --> 00:35:01,448 and what I've learned in the last few years with him is... 728 00:35:01,551 --> 00:35:03,551 feel like I can go to the Yukon and just strike it big. 729 00:35:04,103 --> 00:35:05,413 [Freddy laughs] 730 00:35:05,517 --> 00:35:06,655 - Nah. - [laughs] 731 00:35:08,379 --> 00:35:09,379 Stick with this spot. 732 00:35:09,482 --> 00:35:10,586 - [Will] Yeah, I like it here. - [Freddy] Yeah. 733 00:35:18,827 --> 00:35:19,862 - There she is. - Yeah. 734 00:35:23,448 --> 00:35:24,724 [narrator] Plumbing complete, 735 00:35:24,827 --> 00:35:26,689 it's time to get back on the horse 736 00:35:26,793 --> 00:35:28,000 for the finishing touches. 737 00:35:28,103 --> 00:35:30,586 - [Freddy] Got some glue? - [Will] Yes, sir. 738 00:35:30,689 --> 00:35:31,655 [Freddy] We'll get this on there. 739 00:35:32,517 --> 00:35:33,931 Kinda see where it's at now. 740 00:35:34,034 --> 00:35:35,310 - What do you think? - [Will] Yeah, make sure it clears. 741 00:35:36,896 --> 00:35:38,172 [Freddy] I think it's going to. 742 00:35:40,172 --> 00:35:42,206 - We're clearing that? - [Will] Yeah, we're gonna clear. 743 00:35:42,310 --> 00:35:43,620 - [Freddy] Oh, yeah. - Yeah, we're good. 744 00:35:43,965 --> 00:35:44,793 I like it. 745 00:35:44,896 --> 00:35:46,103 - Perfect fix. - Perfect, man. 746 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,448 [narrator] Only a few hours of daylight remaining. 747 00:35:50,551 --> 00:35:53,034 Freddy rushes to complete his final fix 748 00:35:53,137 --> 00:35:54,482 on the end sluices. 749 00:35:54,586 --> 00:35:56,344 [Freddy] Well, right now, we're running out of time in here. 750 00:35:56,448 --> 00:35:58,068 We got a lot of stuff to get done 751 00:35:58,172 --> 00:36:01,827 so we can fire this plant up for another four-hour test run. 752 00:36:01,931 --> 00:36:04,482 So we're gonna tune these up with some fine gold riffles. 753 00:36:08,172 --> 00:36:11,206 [narrator] The nugget riffles in Mike's final chance sluice run 754 00:36:11,310 --> 00:36:15,034 quickly pack up, allowing gold to wash over the top. 755 00:36:16,137 --> 00:36:18,448 A new set of fine gold riffles 756 00:36:18,551 --> 00:36:20,068 made from expanded metal, 757 00:36:20,172 --> 00:36:21,724 will prevent that build up 758 00:36:21,827 --> 00:36:24,827 and catch any gold brought down from the barrel. 759 00:36:24,931 --> 00:36:28,068 [Freddy] Do you have those heavy Hungarian riffles that are made... 760 00:36:28,172 --> 00:36:31,310 that are made for coarser material, right? 761 00:36:31,413 --> 00:36:33,896 What those were doing is they were blinding over on ya. 762 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:35,620 So whatever gold you were catching in here, 763 00:36:35,724 --> 00:36:37,448 you were probably catching the first day. 764 00:36:38,862 --> 00:36:40,551 And then, after that, the thing 765 00:36:40,655 --> 00:36:42,137 locked up on you like concrete 766 00:36:42,241 --> 00:36:43,827 and then any gold you would have caught in here 767 00:36:43,931 --> 00:36:45,206 is now in your tailings pile. 768 00:36:46,482 --> 00:36:48,482 So, this will alleviate that. 769 00:36:48,586 --> 00:36:49,724 Win, win, win, win, win. 770 00:36:54,724 --> 00:36:56,724 [Will] It's been awesome to see those guys 771 00:36:56,827 --> 00:37:00,103 find all the problems in someone's plant and operation 772 00:37:00,206 --> 00:37:01,931 and not embarrass 'em, but show 'em 773 00:37:02,034 --> 00:37:03,965 a good, easy, solid fix. 774 00:37:04,551 --> 00:37:05,379 [Freddy] Eyeballs. 775 00:37:05,482 --> 00:37:06,655 [Will] You know, seeing the passion 776 00:37:06,758 --> 00:37:08,241 that they have for it and seeing that they truly... 777 00:37:09,034 --> 00:37:10,275 do care to try to help 778 00:37:10,379 --> 00:37:13,034 us capture more gold, I mean, it's absolutely been amazing. 779 00:37:13,137 --> 00:37:15,482 - [Freddy] How's it look? - [Will] Actually, that one's not square. 780 00:37:15,586 --> 00:37:17,241 [Freddy] We're working late tonight 'cause... 781 00:37:17,344 --> 00:37:19,379 there's more to this than what we initially thought 782 00:37:19,482 --> 00:37:20,896 like just cutting that stuff out. 783 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:22,206 [Juan] Coming along all right down there? 784 00:37:22,310 --> 00:37:24,275 [Freddy] Little by little, it's kind of, uh, 785 00:37:24,379 --> 00:37:26,137 - small. - [Juan chuckles] Yeah. 786 00:37:26,241 --> 00:37:27,896 You burn yourself in one spot 787 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:30,310 to weld to burn your plants off in another spot. 788 00:37:30,413 --> 00:37:31,620 [Juan] Oh, yeah. 789 00:37:31,724 --> 00:37:33,758 You look at it and you think, "I can do that in two hours." 790 00:37:38,206 --> 00:37:39,413 Four hours later, you're still 791 00:37:39,517 --> 00:37:41,000 screwing with it, trying to tear it apart. 792 00:37:42,103 --> 00:37:42,896 [groans] 793 00:37:44,034 --> 00:37:45,206 - [Will] You all right? - [Freddy] Yeah. 794 00:37:46,137 --> 00:37:47,034 We gotta get it done. 795 00:37:48,482 --> 00:37:50,620 'Cause tomorrow's judgement day to see if 796 00:37:50,724 --> 00:37:53,103 what we've done here is gonna work or not gonna work. 797 00:38:09,482 --> 00:38:11,862 [narrator] Gold mining is thirsty work, 798 00:38:11,965 --> 00:38:13,689 and lucky for Andrew, 799 00:38:13,793 --> 00:38:15,689 there's only one stand in town. 800 00:38:15,793 --> 00:38:17,758 - How you doing, buddy? - [Lauren] Hi, Mr. Freddy, hi, Mr. Juan. 801 00:38:17,862 --> 00:38:18,965 - Hey, bud. - Bump. 802 00:38:19,068 --> 00:38:20,172 - [Freddy] How you doin' buddy? - [Juan] Hey, buddy. 803 00:38:20,275 --> 00:38:22,137 [Lauren] All right, tell them what you're selling today. 804 00:38:22,241 --> 00:38:24,137 - AU Lemonade. - [Juan] What? Lemonade? 805 00:38:24,241 --> 00:38:26,413 You probably don't get many visitors out here, huh? 806 00:38:27,724 --> 00:38:29,034 So what's "AU" stand for? 807 00:38:30,206 --> 00:38:32,896 - Gold. - [Freddy] Gold! That's right, give me five! 808 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:34,241 - [Juan] There you go. - [Freddy] Knuckle-buster. 809 00:38:34,344 --> 00:38:35,862 - [Lauren] There you go. - [Juan] Attaboy. 810 00:38:36,827 --> 00:38:38,379 [Freddy] I'll take the yellow lemonade. 811 00:38:38,482 --> 00:38:40,172 - [Lauren] All different... - I'll take one of everything. 812 00:38:40,758 --> 00:38:41,551 Excellent. 813 00:38:44,034 --> 00:38:45,931 [Juan] Do you take debit card, Andrew? 814 00:38:46,034 --> 00:38:47,689 [Lauren] No, but you can give me some gold. 815 00:38:47,793 --> 00:38:49,310 [laughs] I'll tell you what, here you go. 816 00:38:52,206 --> 00:38:53,275 - Thank you, sir. - [Lauren] Oh, my goodness. 817 00:38:53,379 --> 00:38:54,862 What do you say? 818 00:38:54,965 --> 00:38:55,724 - [Juan] Thank you, sir. - Thank you. 819 00:38:55,827 --> 00:38:57,000 - [Freddy] Bye, guys. - Bye, buddy. 820 00:38:57,103 --> 00:38:58,137 - Thank you, pleasure to meet you guys. - [Lauren] Bye. 821 00:38:58,241 --> 00:38:59,620 Don't drink too much of that, okay, Calvin? 822 00:39:02,758 --> 00:39:04,620 [Freddy] World's most remote lemonade stand. 823 00:39:04,724 --> 00:39:06,448 [chuckling] 824 00:39:19,724 --> 00:39:21,724 You know, we've had to go shut down for a couple days now but... 825 00:39:21,827 --> 00:39:23,172 - [Mike] Yes, you have. - [Juan] I'm hoping that... 826 00:39:23,275 --> 00:39:26,103 you know, the improvements we made are gonna help you guys out. 827 00:39:26,206 --> 00:39:29,896 [narrator] It's the final day on Freddy and Juan's mine intervention. 828 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:33,068 Time to see if their fixes can rescue Mike's dream. 829 00:39:33,172 --> 00:39:34,413 You know, it's our goal that 830 00:39:34,517 --> 00:39:37,241 the increased recovery will make up for it in short order. 831 00:39:37,344 --> 00:39:39,379 - I'm really looking forward to seeing the results of it. - Yup. 832 00:39:40,724 --> 00:39:43,689 [Freddy] Right here, we teed into your existing water line. 833 00:39:43,793 --> 00:39:45,068 Now, we've got water 834 00:39:45,172 --> 00:39:47,827 going into that de-watering barrel. 835 00:39:47,931 --> 00:39:49,965 So, it will wash that material more and hopefully, 836 00:39:50,068 --> 00:39:51,827 keep that gold from going up that conveyor 837 00:39:51,931 --> 00:39:52,862 and gone forever. 838 00:39:53,965 --> 00:39:56,896 Well, before, guys, you had some riffles in here 839 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,896 but it wasn't really a sluice box, it was a chute. 840 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,724 It was a good chute to transfer material, 841 00:40:02,827 --> 00:40:04,862 but it was also transferring the gold 842 00:40:04,965 --> 00:40:06,931 to go up that conveyor, right? 843 00:40:07,034 --> 00:40:08,862 [Juan] We actually built you a new sluice run. 844 00:40:08,965 --> 00:40:10,379 Every chance we can give that gold 845 00:40:10,482 --> 00:40:11,862 to get settled out and get trapped, 846 00:40:11,965 --> 00:40:13,000 we want to make sure we can do that, 847 00:40:13,103 --> 00:40:15,517 and that's what we're doing with that sluice. 848 00:40:15,620 --> 00:40:16,931 [Mike] Yeah, we're looking forward to seeing what that 849 00:40:17,034 --> 00:40:18,172 sluice box actually gives us. 850 00:40:19,310 --> 00:40:21,931 Well, in that little sluice down there, guys, 851 00:40:22,034 --> 00:40:23,344 the riffles you had in it, 852 00:40:23,448 --> 00:40:26,172 were the wrong riffle for that type of material. 853 00:40:26,275 --> 00:40:27,793 We simplified it, 854 00:40:27,896 --> 00:40:30,172 and we've got a riffle configuration in there now 855 00:40:30,275 --> 00:40:32,275 that's gonna go after that fine gold. 856 00:40:32,379 --> 00:40:35,103 I'm looking forward to those green mats turning yellow. 857 00:40:35,206 --> 00:40:37,206 [Juan] Well, really guys, there's only one thing left to do, huh? 858 00:40:37,310 --> 00:40:38,448 - Run, run, run. - Let's run it. 859 00:40:38,551 --> 00:40:39,344 - Let's fire it up. - Run, run, run. 860 00:40:39,448 --> 00:40:40,482 - Fire it up! - [Juan] Let's do it. 861 00:40:43,413 --> 00:40:44,517 All right, firing up. 862 00:40:49,793 --> 00:40:50,758 There it is. 863 00:40:50,862 --> 00:40:52,241 - Started our run. - Four hours. 864 00:40:57,206 --> 00:40:59,172 Hope we can get lucky with some gold today. 865 00:41:00,724 --> 00:41:01,517 Whoo-hoo! 866 00:41:03,517 --> 00:41:04,517 [Juan] First bucket, huh? 867 00:41:04,620 --> 00:41:06,275 - First bucket. - This site is ready. 868 00:41:07,965 --> 00:41:09,344 Yee-haw! 869 00:41:11,482 --> 00:41:15,241 Done first scoop with his new riffles. 870 00:41:15,344 --> 00:41:19,241 Boldly put this dirt where no dirt has gone before. 871 00:41:22,827 --> 00:41:25,000 So we built the real sluice box here. 872 00:41:27,241 --> 00:41:30,275 Now the gold that's getting by that jig, has a fighting chance. 873 00:41:31,724 --> 00:41:33,551 As long as it's got a fighting chance, 874 00:41:33,655 --> 00:41:34,896 we've got a chance to catch it. 875 00:41:38,827 --> 00:41:40,655 Well, the final chance sluices are running 876 00:41:40,758 --> 00:41:43,241 a hell of a lot better than they were before. 877 00:41:43,344 --> 00:41:44,965 You can see them doing their job now. 878 00:41:49,310 --> 00:41:51,172 [Juan] You can actually see in the drum. 879 00:41:51,275 --> 00:41:53,310 How the drum from halfway over... 880 00:41:53,413 --> 00:41:54,551 - [Will] Clean. Yup. - ...it's a little cleaner. 881 00:41:54,655 --> 00:41:56,379 And look at the material, a bit cleaner. 882 00:41:56,482 --> 00:41:57,689 [Will] Oh, yeah, definitely. 883 00:41:57,793 --> 00:41:59,655 [Juan] You can see it right now, it's visible. 884 00:41:59,758 --> 00:42:01,482 [Will] It's already clean. 885 00:42:01,586 --> 00:42:03,172 [Juan] Compared to what the drum was before, 886 00:42:03,275 --> 00:42:04,896 - it was completely brown, the whole thing. - [Will] Yeah. Yup. 887 00:42:06,206 --> 00:42:08,620 [Freddy] Moment of truth. I'm gonna take a pan. 888 00:42:08,724 --> 00:42:10,862 - Can it? - Juan took it there. 889 00:42:10,965 --> 00:42:12,310 - We'll see what's in it. - Right off the conveyor. 890 00:42:17,793 --> 00:42:19,551 Well, let's go pan this, guys. 891 00:42:21,758 --> 00:42:22,689 [Juan] It sounds counterproductive 892 00:42:22,793 --> 00:42:24,310 because of the watering trommel. 893 00:42:24,413 --> 00:42:25,724 But what it's doing is help break up 894 00:42:25,827 --> 00:42:27,586 the rest of that material up and get it down. 895 00:42:28,068 --> 00:42:29,758 Get it screened. 896 00:42:29,862 --> 00:42:32,241 [Freddy] Rather lose a little water than a lot of gold. 897 00:42:32,344 --> 00:42:33,517 [Will] Yeah, for sure. 898 00:42:35,931 --> 00:42:37,241 [narrator] The first test run 899 00:42:37,344 --> 00:42:39,344 showed Mike was hemorrhaging gold 900 00:42:39,448 --> 00:42:41,965 with nine pieces in just a single pan. 901 00:42:49,793 --> 00:42:50,724 [Juan] Not a speck of gold. 902 00:42:51,310 --> 00:42:52,344 [Freddy] No. No gold. 903 00:42:53,137 --> 00:42:54,758 Juano. 904 00:42:54,862 --> 00:42:56,827 - Way better. - That's all you wanna see right there. 905 00:42:57,379 --> 00:42:58,172 I'm happy with that. 906 00:42:58,275 --> 00:42:59,241 - [Freddy] Yeah. - Extremely happy. 907 00:43:00,206 --> 00:43:02,620 'Cause you have to make the material 908 00:43:02,724 --> 00:43:04,344 do what you want it to to. 909 00:43:04,448 --> 00:43:06,448 You have to force it to do it. 910 00:43:06,551 --> 00:43:07,827 If you let it go on its own, 911 00:43:07,931 --> 00:43:09,620 it's gonna do whatever it's gonna do. 912 00:43:09,724 --> 00:43:10,655 I'd say y'all did it. 913 00:43:11,965 --> 00:43:14,000 What Freddy just pulled off the conveyor, 914 00:43:14,103 --> 00:43:15,448 I mean, it's a complete game changer. 915 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,517 Mike, last bucket! Four hours! Last bucket! 916 00:43:23,551 --> 00:43:24,620 Moment of truth. 917 00:43:54,965 --> 00:43:55,827 [Juan] So, how does it look? 918 00:43:55,931 --> 00:43:57,000 - It looks good. - Yeah? 919 00:43:58,620 --> 00:44:00,206 [narrator] The results of this test 920 00:44:00,310 --> 00:44:02,689 will determine if Freddy and Juan's fixes 921 00:44:02,793 --> 00:44:07,137 have successfully secured Mike and Will's future here. 922 00:44:07,241 --> 00:44:10,517 If we get a 10% increase, I'll really be happy. 923 00:44:10,620 --> 00:44:13,034 It'll also make me sad because... 924 00:44:13,137 --> 00:44:14,344 we've been throwing some gold away. 925 00:44:17,482 --> 00:44:19,827 This is what we got in the four-hour run. 926 00:44:19,931 --> 00:44:21,241 [Freddy] Okay. 927 00:44:21,344 --> 00:44:23,000 [Mike] And once again, we got a nice, flat nugget 928 00:44:23,103 --> 00:44:24,517 that didn't fit in the vial, 929 00:44:24,620 --> 00:44:25,931 so I'm just gonna pour it in there what we got 930 00:44:26,034 --> 00:44:28,379 in the four-hour run, a little bit better material. 931 00:44:29,931 --> 00:44:33,758 [narrator] The first test delivered 1.6 ounces. 932 00:44:33,862 --> 00:44:37,000 Anything more than two ounces, promises a profit. 933 00:44:38,413 --> 00:44:39,344 [Freddy] 2.20. 934 00:44:40,793 --> 00:44:42,551 [narrator] 2.2 ounces. 935 00:44:42,655 --> 00:44:46,241 A 37% increase on the first run, 936 00:44:46,344 --> 00:44:48,206 - over a 100-day season. - Whoo-hoo! 937 00:44:48,310 --> 00:44:51,862 [narrator] This could deliver Mike 440 ounces, 938 00:44:51,965 --> 00:44:55,379 worth over three-quarters of a million dollars. 939 00:44:55,482 --> 00:44:56,655 [Mike] I am so happy 940 00:44:56,758 --> 00:44:59,448 with you guys coming up here and the work you did. 941 00:44:59,551 --> 00:45:00,620 You're gonna make us a lot of money 942 00:45:00,724 --> 00:45:01,931 in the long run with this stuff. 943 00:45:02,034 --> 00:45:03,172 That's right. 944 00:45:03,275 --> 00:45:04,758 [Mike] That's gonna be a windfall. 945 00:45:04,862 --> 00:45:08,103 It's fabulous. I'm so happy for it. 946 00:45:08,206 --> 00:45:10,586 And now we've got a better outlook on the future. 947 00:45:10,689 --> 00:45:12,034 It's gonna help keep us afloat. 948 00:45:13,551 --> 00:45:14,793 I think it's absolutely amazing. 949 00:45:14,896 --> 00:45:17,379 I mean, y'all took something made an adjustment, 950 00:45:17,482 --> 00:45:20,344 and it's proof right there that, I mean, it's gonna change our season. 951 00:45:20,448 --> 00:45:22,448 When I work with Mike, you know we have a partnership 952 00:45:22,551 --> 00:45:24,034 on this mine and... 953 00:45:24,137 --> 00:45:26,689 just that increase in gold by the end of the year, 954 00:45:26,793 --> 00:45:29,034 what I'll see different, it's gonna be a big change, 955 00:45:29,137 --> 00:45:30,586 it's really gonna make life a lot easier. 956 00:45:31,758 --> 00:45:32,689 It's amazing. 957 00:45:32,793 --> 00:45:34,344 And I appreciate it. Thank you very much. 958 00:45:34,448 --> 00:45:35,620 - [Freddy] Oh, you're welcome. - Thank you. 959 00:45:42,793 --> 00:45:44,793 Well, Andrew, I think Freddy's got a little bit of a gift for you, bud. 960 00:45:51,413 --> 00:45:52,793 - [Freddy] Ready, Juan? - Yeah, let's pull it out. 961 00:45:56,965 --> 00:45:58,862 - [Freddy] This is your wash plant. - [Juan] Your wash plant. 962 00:45:58,965 --> 00:46:01,000 This was Juan's idea. 963 00:46:01,103 --> 00:46:02,137 - It's got your name on it. - Know what that says? 964 00:46:03,689 --> 00:46:04,724 [Andrew] Andrew. 965 00:46:04,827 --> 00:46:05,896 - [Freddy] Yeah! - [Juan] Yeah, it does. 966 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:07,758 - Give Juan five on that one. - Here you go, buddy. 967 00:46:08,862 --> 00:46:10,551 I think at first he was almost speechless, 968 00:46:10,655 --> 00:46:13,103 'cause he wasn't sure what to expect, but... 969 00:46:13,206 --> 00:46:15,137 once they explained to him exactly what it is 970 00:46:15,241 --> 00:46:16,310 and how to use it, 971 00:46:16,413 --> 00:46:19,068 he can't wait to start running some paydirt through it. 972 00:46:19,172 --> 00:46:22,827 If Mike's trommel happens to break down, I'd lease him this for like... 973 00:46:22,931 --> 00:46:24,206 a hundred dollars an hour. 974 00:46:24,310 --> 00:46:26,206 so you can keep making gold out here. 975 00:46:26,310 --> 00:46:28,068 [all laugh] 976 00:46:33,241 --> 00:46:35,310 [Andrew] With my new wash plant, I'll find so much gold. 977 00:46:36,172 --> 00:46:38,862 I'll find more gold than Mr. Mike. 978 00:46:38,965 --> 00:46:41,689 Right on, buddy. It's your own wash plant. 979 00:46:41,793 --> 00:46:42,689 [Will] Thank y'all very much. 980 00:46:42,793 --> 00:46:43,793 - You're welcome. - No problem, man. 981 00:46:43,896 --> 00:46:45,931 Absolutely a pleasure. 982 00:46:46,034 --> 00:46:47,758 [Will] In the last few days that Freddy and Juan have been here, 983 00:46:47,862 --> 00:46:49,689 it's just been absolutely amazing. 984 00:46:49,793 --> 00:46:51,586 For what Mike has going on up here, 985 00:46:51,689 --> 00:46:53,482 I think it's gonna change his outlook 986 00:46:53,586 --> 00:46:55,586 on the production of this mine. 987 00:46:55,689 --> 00:46:59,172 I'm glad Juan and Freddy answered my call to get them to come up here. 988 00:46:59,275 --> 00:47:01,068 - Well, you guys take care. - Bye guys, appreciate it. 989 00:47:01,172 --> 00:47:02,517 - We're outta here. - [Will] Thank you, thanks again. 990 00:47:02,620 --> 00:47:04,000 - Hey, I appreciate it. - Y'all be safe. 991 00:47:05,551 --> 00:47:08,103 [Freddy] Well, what we've done for 'em this week is, uh, 992 00:47:08,206 --> 00:47:10,551 we've emphasized on catching more of that fine gold. 993 00:47:11,758 --> 00:47:13,862 [Mike] Thanks, guys. See ya. Good luck. 994 00:47:13,965 --> 00:47:15,827 [Will and Mike speaking Spanish] 995 00:47:17,344 --> 00:47:20,000 Where these guys were... were losing 996 00:47:20,103 --> 00:47:22,551 quite a percentage of it in the past but, uh, 997 00:47:22,655 --> 00:47:23,827 you know, we got the plant tuned up. 998 00:47:26,344 --> 00:47:28,172 What that means is more gold in his pocket, 999 00:47:28,275 --> 00:47:29,482 means more money in his pocket. 1000 00:47:32,379 --> 00:47:33,862 [Mike] It has been an emotional week. 1001 00:47:35,241 --> 00:47:36,758 It's a tough life. 1002 00:47:36,862 --> 00:47:38,724 And I've had a few issues that I've had to deal with 1003 00:47:38,827 --> 00:47:41,310 but thank God I have this place. 1004 00:47:41,413 --> 00:47:44,137 And it's helped me make it through some of the difficult times. 1005 00:47:45,758 --> 00:47:48,344 Man, I'm sure glad Will's called Freddy and Juan. 1006 00:47:48,448 --> 00:47:51,000 And the changes that they made are awesome. 1007 00:47:52,172 --> 00:47:53,586 And it's gonna help us stay afloat. 1008 00:47:55,034 --> 00:47:56,862 Thank you, Freddy and Juan. 1009 00:47:56,965 --> 00:47:59,862 You helped me out and you taught an old dog some new tricks.