1 00:00:02,206 --> 00:00:04,310 [Tater] That's washpit dirt. 2 00:00:04,344 --> 00:00:06,482 2.4 ounces per 100. 3 00:00:06,517 --> 00:00:09,344 [narrator] Todd's final gamble proved a success. 4 00:00:09,379 --> 00:00:11,551 That's pretty nice gold right there. 5 00:00:11,586 --> 00:00:14,275 [narrator] But with 238 ounces to go... 6 00:00:14,310 --> 00:00:15,965 We're gonna need a monster week. 7 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,793 [narrator] ...and temperatures rapidly dropping... 8 00:00:18,827 --> 00:00:22,379 [Todd] The pay dirt's actually starting to freeze up in the morning. 9 00:00:22,413 --> 00:00:23,896 [narrator] ...the Hoffmans need to mine 10 00:00:23,931 --> 00:00:26,517 as much Lost Cut pay as possible. 11 00:00:26,551 --> 00:00:28,965 [Hunter] Mining about 240 yards an hour right now 12 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:30,482 so that's pretty hot. 13 00:00:30,517 --> 00:00:33,689 [narrator] Can Todd and the crew burn through dirt... 14 00:00:33,724 --> 00:00:34,965 [chuckling] 15 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:36,034 [Hunter] That's the biggest nugget 16 00:00:36,068 --> 00:00:38,517 we've found since we've been at this mine. 17 00:00:38,551 --> 00:00:40,931 [narrator] Or will they get stuck in the mud? 18 00:00:40,965 --> 00:00:43,448 [Todd] Cub, is your... is your truck starting? 19 00:00:43,482 --> 00:00:45,034 [engine sputtering] 20 00:00:45,068 --> 00:00:46,586 Well, what the [bleep]? 21 00:00:46,620 --> 00:00:49,137 Did you hear that? It just shut off. 22 00:00:49,172 --> 00:00:51,896 -[engine sputtering] -Well, [bleep]. 23 00:00:51,931 --> 00:00:53,103 Something's really, really wrong. 24 00:00:54,724 --> 00:00:56,655 [Hunter] The trommel's not spinning. 25 00:00:56,689 --> 00:00:59,000 Looks like my luck's run out on this. 26 00:01:11,275 --> 00:01:13,241 [wind blowing] 27 00:01:21,689 --> 00:01:22,965 [Todd] So, we're running out of time. 28 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,275 It's getting cold. Frost is here. 29 00:01:25,310 --> 00:01:28,965 And, uh, how's that pay coming out of there, Tater? 30 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:30,758 [Tater] Frozen. 31 00:01:30,793 --> 00:01:32,758 Scratched everything we could find. 32 00:01:32,793 --> 00:01:33,793 [Todd] Okay. 33 00:01:34,689 --> 00:01:36,827 Both plants are running the Lost Cut. 34 00:01:36,862 --> 00:01:39,586 But it's got a lot of water in it, 35 00:01:39,620 --> 00:01:42,723 so the pay dirt's actually starting to freeze up in the mornings. 36 00:01:42,758 --> 00:01:45,793 Once the pay dirt freezes, 37 00:01:45,827 --> 00:01:47,965 there won't be much we can do about it. 38 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:49,896 It gets hard like concrete. 39 00:01:49,931 --> 00:01:51,655 We're gonna have to work through the night, 40 00:01:51,689 --> 00:01:53,344 and we're already tired, 41 00:01:53,378 --> 00:01:55,000 stretched thin, but... 42 00:01:55,965 --> 00:01:57,068 gonna run the last pay we got. 43 00:01:57,103 --> 00:01:58,655 Yeah. 44 00:01:58,689 --> 00:02:00,172 [Todd] And it might be closing out our season. 45 00:02:00,206 --> 00:02:01,655 Let's be honest. 46 00:02:01,689 --> 00:02:02,896 We just gotta keep digging dirt, 47 00:02:02,931 --> 00:02:05,482 keep pushing the plants as hard as we can 48 00:02:05,517 --> 00:02:08,310 until everything freezes up, then we're done. 49 00:02:08,344 --> 00:02:09,896 All right, guys. Good job, man. 50 00:02:09,931 --> 00:02:11,033 Everybody hang in there. 51 00:02:11,068 --> 00:02:12,344 We're coming down the home stretch. 52 00:02:12,379 --> 00:02:13,896 This is the hardest part, right? 53 00:02:13,931 --> 00:02:15,724 -Yeah. -All right, let's get to work. 54 00:02:26,103 --> 00:02:27,689 You get her? 55 00:02:27,724 --> 00:02:29,172 -Yeah. -Okay. 56 00:02:29,206 --> 00:02:31,068 I got Ron out here with me today 57 00:02:31,103 --> 00:02:32,930 helping me look over the Black Pearl. 58 00:02:32,965 --> 00:02:34,310 -Okay? -Yeah. 59 00:02:34,344 --> 00:02:35,551 [drilling] 60 00:02:35,586 --> 00:02:37,482 -Okay? -Yeah. 61 00:02:37,517 --> 00:02:40,206 [Hunter] Trying to give it a good bill of health, 62 00:02:40,241 --> 00:02:41,793 because I'm gonna try to run it 63 00:02:41,827 --> 00:02:43,517 for 12 hours today, 64 00:02:43,551 --> 00:02:45,379 of the Lost Cut pay. 65 00:02:45,413 --> 00:02:46,655 Everything looks fine. 66 00:02:46,689 --> 00:02:48,724 We're not seeing any leaks. 67 00:02:48,758 --> 00:02:50,067 We're not smelling anything burning up. 68 00:02:50,103 --> 00:02:51,689 Oh, look at that belt. 69 00:02:51,724 --> 00:02:53,620 [Ron] Oh, one slipped over, I see. 70 00:02:53,655 --> 00:02:55,172 Ooh. 71 00:02:55,206 --> 00:02:56,896 [Ron] That'll be a quick fix. 72 00:02:56,930 --> 00:02:58,344 It'll take two seconds. 73 00:02:58,379 --> 00:03:00,275 [Hunter] Luckily it's a quick fix, but this is why, 74 00:03:00,310 --> 00:03:02,137 you know, I'm taking a little bit of extra time 75 00:03:02,172 --> 00:03:03,275 to look everything over. 76 00:03:03,310 --> 00:03:05,103 Cub, hang tight. 77 00:03:05,137 --> 00:03:07,068 We're gonna fix a belt 78 00:03:07,103 --> 00:03:08,551 so just stay... stay put for a second. 79 00:03:08,586 --> 00:03:09,862 [Hudson on radio] Okay. 80 00:03:09,896 --> 00:03:11,689 [Ron] Just take it right off. 81 00:03:11,724 --> 00:03:13,586 The way this plant works is you have the motor, 82 00:03:13,620 --> 00:03:18,034 which has several rubber belts on it that go to a tensioner, 83 00:03:18,068 --> 00:03:20,655 which turn the big sprocket, which turns the chain, 84 00:03:20,689 --> 00:03:22,310 which turns the drum. 85 00:03:22,344 --> 00:03:24,275 So even a little thing like this 86 00:03:24,310 --> 00:03:26,379 can cause a bigger issue, and I'm glad that we caught it. 87 00:03:26,413 --> 00:03:27,965 [Ron] All right. 88 00:03:29,620 --> 00:03:31,241 Just sneak around there without smearing it. 89 00:03:31,275 --> 00:03:32,379 [Hunter] Yeah. 90 00:03:35,551 --> 00:03:37,551 You wanna try roll her? 91 00:03:37,586 --> 00:03:38,862 -Yeah. You ready? -Yeah. 92 00:03:38,896 --> 00:03:41,275 -Oh, you're going that way? -Yeah, on the gutter. 93 00:03:41,310 --> 00:03:43,965 -Yeah. -There you go. 94 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:45,620 -[Ron] Okay? -Yeah, yeah. 95 00:03:45,655 --> 00:03:47,517 All right, I'm gonna suck her up. 96 00:03:47,551 --> 00:03:48,793 [Hunter] Okay. 97 00:03:48,827 --> 00:03:51,172 Right now we still need 238 more ounces. 98 00:03:51,206 --> 00:03:54,379 The Lost Cut, it's paying about 2.4 ounces per 100 99 00:03:54,413 --> 00:03:55,793 which is really good. 100 00:03:55,827 --> 00:03:58,206 So before it freezes up, 101 00:03:58,241 --> 00:04:00,275 I'm gonna just run this plant till there's no more pay left. 102 00:04:00,310 --> 00:04:02,068 I'm gonna flip this guy on. 103 00:04:03,034 --> 00:04:05,655 [engine starts] 104 00:04:08,724 --> 00:04:10,517 Go ahead and bring the water all the way out. 105 00:04:11,413 --> 00:04:13,448 Full speed on the pump. 106 00:04:13,482 --> 00:04:15,551 I never thought I would say this, 107 00:04:15,586 --> 00:04:17,964 but we still have a chance of beating the Holy Roller. 108 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,344 But at the end of the day we're all on the same team. 109 00:04:20,379 --> 00:04:22,586 All the gold goes into the same pot. 110 00:04:22,620 --> 00:04:23,931 I think every single person on this team 111 00:04:23,965 --> 00:04:25,034 deserves the win. 112 00:04:49,103 --> 00:04:51,379 [birds crying] 113 00:04:51,413 --> 00:04:52,931 [Randy] The old-timers say that 114 00:04:52,965 --> 00:04:55,068 once the sandhill cranes go by, 115 00:04:55,103 --> 00:04:57,655 you got 10 days till you're snowed out. 116 00:04:58,517 --> 00:04:59,931 That's about right. 117 00:04:59,965 --> 00:05:03,137 Last year, once we saw the sandhill cranes, 118 00:05:03,172 --> 00:05:04,482 10 days later 119 00:05:04,517 --> 00:05:06,586 we had two inches of snow on the ground. 120 00:05:06,620 --> 00:05:11,068 Weather at that point starts dropping dramatically. 121 00:05:11,103 --> 00:05:12,551 It doesn't look like it outside, 122 00:05:12,586 --> 00:05:15,172 but at night it's getting real cold. 123 00:05:15,206 --> 00:05:19,310 And we've been punching in about 17-hour days 124 00:05:19,344 --> 00:05:21,068 for six days a week, 125 00:05:21,103 --> 00:05:24,379 and as the weeks go on, 126 00:05:24,413 --> 00:05:26,379 you forget the little things 127 00:05:26,413 --> 00:05:28,241 that you're supposed to do every day. 128 00:05:28,275 --> 00:05:30,344 Everybody has to stay focused. 129 00:05:30,379 --> 00:05:32,241 Nobody can be off their game. 130 00:05:32,275 --> 00:05:34,517 Everything has to stay running. 131 00:05:34,551 --> 00:05:36,517 The weather is approaching us, 132 00:05:36,551 --> 00:05:38,275 the snow is in the mountains. 133 00:05:38,310 --> 00:05:41,068 We need to hit that goal and get out of here. 134 00:05:41,103 --> 00:05:43,448 This town's about to freeze over. 135 00:05:46,344 --> 00:05:48,862 We're both getting gold, really good pay dirt. 136 00:05:48,896 --> 00:05:53,482 Ran probably 6,000 yards between the two of us. 137 00:05:53,517 --> 00:05:55,482 And it's one of those days where you just think, 138 00:05:55,517 --> 00:05:57,862 "Man, this day couldn't be any more perfect." 139 00:06:07,586 --> 00:06:11,103 Hey, guys, so far, things are running smooth. 140 00:06:12,034 --> 00:06:13,379 Oh, yeah. 141 00:06:17,517 --> 00:06:19,586 [Hunter] I grew up doing night shift. 142 00:06:19,620 --> 00:06:22,137 But, I mean, it's not for everybody. 143 00:06:22,172 --> 00:06:24,103 It's hard to see. 144 00:06:24,137 --> 00:06:27,965 But we gotta stay focused on the 1,000-ounce goal. 145 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,827 So we're chugging along. 146 00:06:30,862 --> 00:06:34,758 We all have a common goal, it's to get 1,000 ounces. 147 00:06:34,793 --> 00:06:38,137 So we just wanna speed that up as much as possible. 148 00:06:58,448 --> 00:06:59,655 [Todd] Let's go. 149 00:07:05,551 --> 00:07:08,655 So, our pay dirt's starting to freeze up. 150 00:07:08,689 --> 00:07:09,724 We got a little bit left. 151 00:07:09,758 --> 00:07:10,793 We're just gonna keep grinding. 152 00:07:10,827 --> 00:07:12,068 We're gonna run it till the end 153 00:07:12,103 --> 00:07:13,724 and where we can't run any more. 154 00:07:17,413 --> 00:07:19,206 [Hudson] I wanna get my dad so much gold 155 00:07:19,241 --> 00:07:20,862 on that table that he can barely handle it. 156 00:07:21,793 --> 00:07:23,000 I'm ready to go. 157 00:07:29,724 --> 00:07:31,758 [beep] 158 00:07:31,793 --> 00:07:33,448 [engine sputtering] 159 00:07:36,862 --> 00:07:38,344 Uh-oh. 160 00:07:38,379 --> 00:07:40,413 [engine sputtering] 161 00:07:41,896 --> 00:07:43,827 [bleep] 162 00:07:43,862 --> 00:07:46,103 [Todd] My machine is not starting. 163 00:07:46,137 --> 00:07:48,724 Bunch of things flashed on the computer. 164 00:07:48,758 --> 00:07:50,689 It's definitely something wrong. 165 00:07:50,724 --> 00:07:52,206 [radio beeps] 166 00:07:52,241 --> 00:07:53,724 [Todd] Ron, Ron, Ron, you got a copy? 167 00:07:55,103 --> 00:07:56,896 Yeah, go ahead. 168 00:07:57,862 --> 00:07:59,551 Hey, can you come down here? Uh... 169 00:08:00,586 --> 00:08:02,793 I need you to check out this excavator. 170 00:08:02,827 --> 00:08:05,068 I've never seen it do this. 171 00:08:05,103 --> 00:08:07,241 Yeah, I'll come check it out. Give me a minute. 172 00:08:08,137 --> 00:08:10,068 My problem is, I can't afford to have 173 00:08:10,103 --> 00:08:11,655 even one machine down. 174 00:08:11,689 --> 00:08:13,344 I have just enough machines. 175 00:08:13,379 --> 00:08:15,689 So if one goes down, 176 00:08:15,724 --> 00:08:17,862 then we're gonna lose production. 177 00:08:19,689 --> 00:08:21,793 [beeping] 178 00:08:24,206 --> 00:08:26,965 [engine running] 179 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,413 [engine stops] 180 00:08:33,344 --> 00:08:36,517 Did you just hear that? It just shut off. 181 00:08:41,861 --> 00:08:43,688 -What's going on, Todd? -I don't know. 182 00:08:45,344 --> 00:08:47,931 It's not... it's not something normal. 183 00:08:47,965 --> 00:08:50,103 -All right. -'Cause it's got a bunch of errors. 184 00:08:50,137 --> 00:08:52,827 It's got something... something drastically wrong. 185 00:08:52,862 --> 00:08:54,103 Okay, I'm gonna go ahead 186 00:08:54,137 --> 00:08:55,517 and just pull up some codes real quick here 187 00:08:55,551 --> 00:08:57,310 before we get in too deep. 188 00:08:59,482 --> 00:09:01,241 [engine sputtering] 189 00:09:06,034 --> 00:09:07,965 Well, [bleep]. 190 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:09,344 [Hunter on radio] Hey, guys, are you guys... 191 00:09:09,379 --> 00:09:11,379 Anybody else having any issues? 192 00:09:11,413 --> 00:09:13,137 Cub, you got a copy. 193 00:09:13,172 --> 00:09:15,827 [Hudson on radio] Yeah, go ahead. 194 00:09:15,862 --> 00:09:17,827 [Todd] Cub, is your, uh... is your truck starting? 195 00:09:23,517 --> 00:09:25,137 Well, what the [bleep]? 196 00:09:26,172 --> 00:09:28,793 [on radio] No, it's... it's not. 197 00:09:28,827 --> 00:09:30,448 Okay, guys. 198 00:09:30,482 --> 00:09:33,034 Something... something's really, really wrong. 199 00:09:33,068 --> 00:09:34,448 Just don't touch anything. 200 00:09:34,482 --> 00:09:36,137 I want you guys to just kill it 201 00:09:36,172 --> 00:09:37,862 before something happens to it. 202 00:09:37,896 --> 00:09:39,965 We got other machines, Ron. 203 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,103 We got an issue. 204 00:09:41,137 --> 00:09:42,689 I need to go look at the site glasses... 205 00:09:42,724 --> 00:09:43,931 -Do it. -...on the filter, 206 00:09:43,965 --> 00:09:45,103 and just see what's in there. 207 00:09:45,137 --> 00:09:47,413 This is not normal. 208 00:09:47,448 --> 00:09:48,724 Please. 209 00:09:50,275 --> 00:09:52,206 [sighs] Todd? 210 00:09:52,241 --> 00:09:53,689 This thing's full of water. 211 00:09:53,724 --> 00:09:55,413 Oh, my gosh. 212 00:09:55,448 --> 00:09:57,689 [Ron] The moisture going through these is not good. 213 00:09:57,724 --> 00:09:59,931 It can take out the injection pumps. 214 00:09:59,965 --> 00:10:01,896 It can take the end off the injectors. 215 00:10:01,931 --> 00:10:03,586 It can blow the tops off the pistons. 216 00:10:03,620 --> 00:10:05,620 Even if they do survive, we may end up 217 00:10:05,655 --> 00:10:07,241 running into faults for the next several weeks. 218 00:10:08,034 --> 00:10:09,103 -So... -[groans] 219 00:10:09,137 --> 00:10:10,379 ...we need to get on this right away. 220 00:10:10,413 --> 00:10:12,172 -I will. -Get a hold of the guys. 221 00:10:12,206 --> 00:10:14,137 Tell them to stop running anything that's actually running. 222 00:10:14,172 --> 00:10:17,379 Guys, everybody kill your machines. 223 00:10:17,413 --> 00:10:20,689 I want every single machine off now. 224 00:10:20,724 --> 00:10:22,034 Why? 225 00:10:22,068 --> 00:10:24,517 [Todd on radio] 226 00:10:28,344 --> 00:10:29,793 [bleep] 227 00:10:29,827 --> 00:10:31,551 Are you kidding me? 228 00:10:33,482 --> 00:10:35,275 [Todd on radio] Guys, we're shutting down the mine. 229 00:10:35,310 --> 00:10:38,137 Both plants need to shut off now. 230 00:10:38,172 --> 00:10:40,517 [bleep] me. 231 00:10:40,551 --> 00:10:42,551 [Todd on radio] Hit the bypass, hit the bypass. 232 00:10:42,586 --> 00:10:43,724 [Randy on radio] Roger that. 233 00:10:43,758 --> 00:10:44,862 [Hunter] This is the absolute worst time 234 00:10:44,896 --> 00:10:46,482 that this could be happening. 235 00:10:46,517 --> 00:10:48,896 Time down is just us not getting gold. 236 00:10:48,931 --> 00:10:51,241 And, uh, we're in a race against the elements 237 00:10:51,275 --> 00:10:52,551 and against the cold. 238 00:10:52,586 --> 00:10:55,241 So we really can't afford any of this right now. 239 00:10:55,275 --> 00:10:56,724 [Todd on radio] Shut the trommel down. 240 00:10:56,758 --> 00:10:58,793 I'll kill the trommel and run down and get the pump. 241 00:11:06,793 --> 00:11:09,172 [Randy] Generator's off, trommel's down. 242 00:11:09,206 --> 00:11:11,793 When the problem sets in, you realize, "Oh, my gosh, 243 00:11:11,827 --> 00:11:13,896 I'm literally losing my investment." 244 00:11:13,931 --> 00:11:16,137 Welcome to gold mining. 245 00:11:16,172 --> 00:11:18,965 One step forward, sometimes two steps back. 246 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:20,586 Today was two steps back. 247 00:11:21,827 --> 00:11:24,103 As of right now, we're not getting any gold. 248 00:11:36,103 --> 00:11:39,275 The fueling system has really tight tolerances. 249 00:11:39,310 --> 00:11:41,862 It doesn't take water, it doesn't take dirt. 250 00:11:41,896 --> 00:11:44,034 The moisture going through these is not good. 251 00:11:44,068 --> 00:11:46,448 [narrator] The Hoffmans' entire mine is shut down 252 00:11:46,482 --> 00:11:49,344 after discovering the fuel powering both plants 253 00:11:49,379 --> 00:11:51,379 and all their heavy machinery 254 00:11:51,413 --> 00:11:53,448 is contaminated with water. 255 00:11:53,482 --> 00:11:56,000 Water, when it gets into the machine when it's hot, 256 00:11:56,034 --> 00:11:57,655 take the end right off the injectors, 257 00:11:57,689 --> 00:11:59,758 it goes through the fuel pump, takes up the fuel pump. 258 00:11:59,793 --> 00:12:01,310 [Todd groans] 259 00:12:01,344 --> 00:12:02,758 Tell me what I can do. 260 00:12:02,793 --> 00:12:05,241 I'm gonna need help to drain all these tanks off. 261 00:12:06,034 --> 00:12:07,517 How long's it gonna take? 262 00:12:07,551 --> 00:12:09,413 You're gonna lose 24 to 48 hours. 263 00:12:09,448 --> 00:12:11,862 I can't lose 48 hours. 264 00:12:11,896 --> 00:12:12,896 There's no... You can't. 265 00:12:12,931 --> 00:12:14,793 -It's not an option. -I can't even lose 24. 266 00:12:14,827 --> 00:12:16,034 It has to be done. 267 00:12:16,068 --> 00:12:17,689 [Todd] Aw, dang it. 268 00:12:17,724 --> 00:12:19,379 [Ron] This is huge. 269 00:12:26,413 --> 00:12:28,793 [Todd] How much more room you got in there? 270 00:12:30,310 --> 00:12:31,931 Not a lot. 271 00:12:31,965 --> 00:12:33,310 [Todd] Okay. 272 00:12:33,344 --> 00:12:36,965 We had about 5,000 gallons of contaminated fuel. 273 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,206 And at $6 a gallon, you're looking at $30,000. 274 00:12:41,241 --> 00:12:43,068 Plus a whole day's running, 275 00:12:43,103 --> 00:12:45,551 and when you only have so many days left, 276 00:12:45,586 --> 00:12:47,724 that's a big deal. 277 00:12:47,758 --> 00:12:49,931 I'm calling in a favor down in Nome. 278 00:12:49,965 --> 00:12:51,344 We gotta get good fuel out here 279 00:12:51,379 --> 00:12:53,379 and get our operation rolling again. 280 00:13:06,931 --> 00:13:08,620 It's almost done. 281 00:13:08,655 --> 00:13:10,827 Bryce is just on the other end, 282 00:13:10,862 --> 00:13:13,689 making sure that we're getting every last drop. 283 00:13:13,724 --> 00:13:15,827 So we just wanna get everything we can. 284 00:13:15,862 --> 00:13:18,482 And then Dakota's gonna come through 285 00:13:18,517 --> 00:13:22,275 and drain the last little bit out with a bucket. 286 00:13:23,172 --> 00:13:25,310 Hey, well, we got what we can. 287 00:13:28,517 --> 00:13:30,551 The stream is getting less. 288 00:13:33,137 --> 00:13:35,448 That's obviously really cloudy. 289 00:13:35,482 --> 00:13:37,172 Not supposed to be like that. 290 00:13:40,655 --> 00:13:43,310 [narrator] Nearly 30 hours into the shutdown, 291 00:13:43,344 --> 00:13:46,241 the gas Todd called in has arrived. 292 00:13:49,137 --> 00:13:50,793 Got a bunch of the equipment drained out. 293 00:13:50,827 --> 00:13:53,827 And it's on to filling them back up. 294 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:56,344 [Bryce] There we go. 295 00:13:56,379 --> 00:13:57,793 That'll work. 296 00:13:58,931 --> 00:14:00,862 [Todd] So, I'm heading over to see if Ron, 297 00:14:00,896 --> 00:14:03,793 he could actually fire up the very first machine, 298 00:14:03,827 --> 00:14:05,586 and we're gonna see if we're good to go. 299 00:14:06,965 --> 00:14:09,000 Let's, uh... let's get it all up and running. 300 00:14:09,034 --> 00:14:10,689 We'll know right away if there's any problems, 301 00:14:10,724 --> 00:14:12,344 and if there is we'll just get it addressed. 302 00:14:12,379 --> 00:14:13,413 [Todd] Okay, we'll fire it up 303 00:14:13,448 --> 00:14:14,620 and we'll see what happens here. 304 00:14:14,655 --> 00:14:16,551 [Ron] Okay. This one should go. It's, uh... 305 00:14:16,586 --> 00:14:18,931 I just finished bleeding it. We'll see if it goes right away or not. 306 00:14:18,965 --> 00:14:20,965 -Come on. -[honks horn] 307 00:14:21,655 --> 00:14:24,068 [engine sputtering] 308 00:14:24,103 --> 00:14:26,413 [engine running] 309 00:14:26,448 --> 00:14:29,172 -Does it sound good? -It's alive! 310 00:14:30,034 --> 00:14:31,758 Next! [laughs] 311 00:14:31,793 --> 00:14:33,103 How many we got left? 312 00:14:33,137 --> 00:14:36,413 Got one, two... five left. 313 00:14:36,448 --> 00:14:38,413 -Keep it up, man. -We'll get her. 314 00:14:38,448 --> 00:14:40,137 Let me know what you need from me. 315 00:14:40,172 --> 00:14:41,793 Patience. 316 00:14:41,827 --> 00:14:43,724 -Okay. All right. -It just takes time to do it right, okay? 317 00:14:43,758 --> 00:14:45,310 -Thanks, Ron. -Yeah. 318 00:14:45,344 --> 00:14:48,172 Ron's got about five more machines, 319 00:14:48,206 --> 00:14:49,724 but this one just fired up. 320 00:14:49,758 --> 00:14:51,172 You guys heard it, it's perfect. 321 00:14:51,206 --> 00:14:53,103 That's a beautiful sound. 322 00:14:53,137 --> 00:14:54,793 Once he gets these going, 323 00:14:54,827 --> 00:14:56,586 hopefully if everything's running, 324 00:14:56,620 --> 00:14:58,172 we're back in business. 325 00:14:58,206 --> 00:15:02,172 And hopefully we can catch up on what we just lost today. 326 00:15:02,206 --> 00:15:04,517 [narrator] It takes an additional three hours 327 00:15:04,551 --> 00:15:06,068 to refuel the rest of the equipment. 328 00:15:06,931 --> 00:15:08,896 We got fresh fuel, ready to go. 329 00:15:08,931 --> 00:15:10,620 [engine starts] 330 00:15:13,620 --> 00:15:15,000 [Todd] There we go. 331 00:15:17,172 --> 00:15:19,620 Clear the trommel. Clear. 332 00:15:19,655 --> 00:15:21,344 [machine powering up] 333 00:15:22,793 --> 00:15:25,206 [Todd] I lost $30,000 in fuel, 334 00:15:25,241 --> 00:15:27,724 and I've been down at least a day now, 335 00:15:27,758 --> 00:15:31,482 which is probably another $20,000, $30,000. 336 00:15:31,517 --> 00:15:33,379 We are running out of time. 337 00:15:33,413 --> 00:15:36,517 If we do not get these machines back up and running, 338 00:15:36,551 --> 00:15:38,586 we could miss this goal. 339 00:15:38,620 --> 00:15:40,275 Clear! 340 00:15:41,517 --> 00:15:43,344 Bar in the block, bro. Everybody clear. 341 00:15:52,689 --> 00:15:53,827 [bleep] me. 342 00:16:00,793 --> 00:16:02,275 [Todd] We're back in business. 343 00:16:22,931 --> 00:16:25,344 With all the time that we just lost 344 00:16:25,379 --> 00:16:27,000 changing out bad fuel, 345 00:16:27,034 --> 00:16:29,689 Hunter and I need to run as much pay dirt 346 00:16:29,724 --> 00:16:31,275 out of this Lost Cut as we can. 347 00:16:36,551 --> 00:16:38,689 Luckily... 348 00:16:38,724 --> 00:16:40,172 we got all the machines running. 349 00:16:40,206 --> 00:16:42,482 Because, uh, that could have been 350 00:16:42,517 --> 00:16:44,413 really, really, really bad. 351 00:16:45,413 --> 00:16:48,586 We actually dodged a very, very big bullet 352 00:16:48,620 --> 00:16:50,172 on that one. All the machines, 353 00:16:50,206 --> 00:16:51,931 we didn't hurt anything. 354 00:16:59,379 --> 00:17:01,655 You know, these machines are on lease. 355 00:17:01,689 --> 00:17:03,379 It's not like I own these machines. 356 00:17:03,413 --> 00:17:05,310 I can't afford that. 357 00:17:05,344 --> 00:17:07,619 That could have really, really been bad. 358 00:17:07,655 --> 00:17:10,344 Very thankful that, uh, 359 00:17:10,378 --> 00:17:14,103 we're able to come out of that alive. 360 00:17:14,137 --> 00:17:16,792 And away we go, off to a thousand. 361 00:17:20,758 --> 00:17:22,482 Look at that stuff. 362 00:17:22,517 --> 00:17:23,723 Look at that. 363 00:17:37,068 --> 00:17:38,758 Nice! I like it. 364 00:17:44,517 --> 00:17:45,931 [Todd] Right now, the only pay source 365 00:17:45,965 --> 00:17:47,620 that we have left is the Lost Cut. 366 00:17:47,655 --> 00:17:49,862 So we gotta get back on it before it freezes up. 367 00:17:53,275 --> 00:17:54,137 [Hudson speaking] 368 00:17:56,655 --> 00:17:58,275 [Andy] Hopefully we can make it 369 00:17:58,310 --> 00:17:59,965 with the dirt that we have left 370 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:01,965 till the freeze pushes us out. 371 00:18:02,827 --> 00:18:04,482 Otherwise I don't know what we'll do. 372 00:18:05,931 --> 00:18:08,620 The ground down deep is always frozen. 373 00:18:08,655 --> 00:18:10,965 And soon as you start losing daylight, 374 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,620 the ground's gonna quit thawing out. 375 00:18:12,655 --> 00:18:14,655 So you've got to keep digging 376 00:18:14,689 --> 00:18:16,241 and you've gotta keep de-watering things. 377 00:18:16,275 --> 00:18:18,896 Once it stops thawing, you're done. 378 00:18:18,931 --> 00:18:20,586 You have no more dirt to run. 379 00:18:25,758 --> 00:18:27,344 At some point we're gonna run out of time. 380 00:18:31,896 --> 00:18:33,379 [Hunter] God, I love this wash plant. 381 00:18:33,413 --> 00:18:35,137 I wanna take it home. 382 00:18:35,172 --> 00:18:37,793 I'm running about 240 yards an hour right now, 383 00:18:37,827 --> 00:18:39,965 so that's pretty hot. 384 00:18:40,965 --> 00:18:42,931 [man on radio] This is absolutely, like, 385 00:18:42,965 --> 00:18:44,551 frickin' the Goblin King, dude. 386 00:18:44,586 --> 00:18:46,275 Gold Goblin King. 387 00:18:46,310 --> 00:18:48,448 What it's all about, right here. 388 00:18:49,413 --> 00:18:51,000 The Black Pearl's been doing good. 389 00:18:51,034 --> 00:18:53,275 It's contributing a lot of gold to the team. 390 00:18:53,310 --> 00:18:55,724 So I wanna see how much more we can get out of her. 391 00:18:57,586 --> 00:18:59,344 As long as the rock's getting washed 392 00:18:59,379 --> 00:19:00,965 and the sluice boxes are working, 393 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:02,517 we gotta keep going faster. 394 00:19:07,827 --> 00:19:09,344 Time is of the essence. It's getting colder. 395 00:19:09,379 --> 00:19:11,655 We're getting down to the end of the season. 396 00:19:11,689 --> 00:19:13,379 And I don't think the Black Pearl could be, 397 00:19:13,413 --> 00:19:16,000 I think that it is going to be the saving grace this year. 398 00:19:16,034 --> 00:19:18,586 This thing was built specially 399 00:19:18,620 --> 00:19:20,034 for this weather where we're at. 400 00:19:20,068 --> 00:19:21,517 The Holy Roller's been having a lot of issues. 401 00:19:21,551 --> 00:19:22,827 Like, I see there's a reason why 402 00:19:22,862 --> 00:19:24,413 this wash plant's been around for so long. 403 00:19:24,448 --> 00:19:26,620 So there's a reason why this plant's had 404 00:19:26,655 --> 00:19:28,172 so many yards ran through it, 405 00:19:28,206 --> 00:19:29,655 I guess 'cause it works pretty good. 406 00:19:29,689 --> 00:19:32,413 So being able to get a couple hundred ounces extra 407 00:19:32,448 --> 00:19:35,206 that you wouldn't have gotten is tremendous. 408 00:19:36,655 --> 00:19:39,413 [machinery creaking] 409 00:19:41,379 --> 00:19:43,034 [Hunter] Oh, [bleep]. 410 00:19:45,379 --> 00:19:46,931 What the [bleep]? 411 00:19:52,379 --> 00:19:53,586 [bleep] 412 00:19:56,896 --> 00:19:58,965 The trommel's not spinning. 413 00:20:12,827 --> 00:20:14,482 [machinery creaking] 414 00:20:14,517 --> 00:20:16,655 [Hunter] The trommel's not spinning. 415 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,000 Idle down the pump. Filled with water. 416 00:20:37,586 --> 00:20:39,241 [Hunter] I don't know exactly what's going on. 417 00:20:39,275 --> 00:20:41,655 The drum just stopped spinning but the motor's still running, 418 00:20:41,689 --> 00:20:42,758 so that's not good. 419 00:20:44,310 --> 00:20:47,137 I'm smelling, it smells like the clutch. 420 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,103 I think the clutch burned out. 421 00:20:50,137 --> 00:20:54,689 This, this engages the clutch which actually drives the motor. 422 00:20:57,344 --> 00:20:58,379 And you can see right here... 423 00:21:01,862 --> 00:21:03,551 ...it wants to go, but it's not biting. 424 00:21:03,586 --> 00:21:04,827 -[radio beeps] -Hey, Ron? 425 00:21:11,379 --> 00:21:12,448 [Ron on radio] 426 00:21:14,517 --> 00:21:15,413 Okay. Thank you. 427 00:21:16,172 --> 00:21:16,931 [bleep] 428 00:21:18,379 --> 00:21:19,551 [engine stops] 429 00:21:19,586 --> 00:21:22,517 -[radio beeps] -Hey, Cub. We just, we're broke down. 430 00:21:22,551 --> 00:21:24,172 -Can you come down here? -[Cub] Yeah. 431 00:21:28,586 --> 00:21:30,862 -What's up? -I don't think this one's good. 432 00:21:30,896 --> 00:21:31,689 No? What's it doing? 433 00:21:31,724 --> 00:21:32,620 The whole drum stopped. 434 00:21:32,655 --> 00:21:33,689 The engine was still running, 435 00:21:33,724 --> 00:21:35,068 -this was still engaged. -[Ron] Okay. 436 00:21:35,103 --> 00:21:37,034 So I tried to re-engage it. 437 00:21:37,068 --> 00:21:38,689 [Ron] Okay, let's see what's coming apart in there. 438 00:21:39,896 --> 00:21:40,827 Quick peek here. 439 00:21:43,413 --> 00:21:46,000 -So there's a twin disc clutch... -Yeah. 440 00:21:46,034 --> 00:21:48,620 ...that when we pull on this lever, if you look in here... 441 00:21:48,655 --> 00:21:50,689 -...see this release bearing? -[Hunter] Yep, yep, yep. 442 00:21:50,724 --> 00:21:54,379 It comes over and basically locks the shaft... 443 00:21:54,413 --> 00:21:55,586 -[Hunter] Yeah. -...to the gears. 444 00:21:55,620 --> 00:21:57,758 And there's a ceramic clutch disc in there 445 00:21:57,793 --> 00:21:59,689 that is splined to the flywheel. 446 00:21:59,724 --> 00:22:00,931 So when you push this, 447 00:22:00,965 --> 00:22:01,862 two plates come together 448 00:22:01,896 --> 00:22:03,620 and they grab on to that ceramic disc, 449 00:22:03,655 --> 00:22:05,827 and that connects the engine to the belt. 450 00:22:05,862 --> 00:22:08,413 -So fire it up again. We're gonna have a quick look. -Okay. 451 00:22:08,448 --> 00:22:10,965 -[Ron] Go ahead. -[engine starts] 452 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,068 -You see the ceramic disc is the odd color in there? -Yeah, yeah, yeah. 453 00:22:15,655 --> 00:22:17,000 [Ron] It should keep moving right now. 454 00:22:17,034 --> 00:22:19,413 It should be connected to the flywheel. 455 00:22:19,448 --> 00:22:22,068 Flywheel's moving separate from it right now. Shut it off. 456 00:22:23,689 --> 00:22:25,000 So it's not transferring the load. 457 00:22:27,103 --> 00:22:29,896 All right, I got to open it up and see what's coming apart in there. 458 00:22:29,931 --> 00:22:32,068 I'll be right back. Give me a second. 459 00:22:32,103 --> 00:22:34,965 There's issues running new equipment that you've never tested, 460 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,827 but there's also issues running old equipment. 461 00:22:36,862 --> 00:22:38,655 This thing's got a lot of hours on it, 462 00:22:38,689 --> 00:22:40,551 and me and Cub have been pushing the plant really hard, 463 00:22:40,586 --> 00:22:43,517 and this might be God's way of keeping me humble. 464 00:22:43,551 --> 00:22:46,206 Was feeling confident, maybe too confident, in the Black Pearl 465 00:22:46,241 --> 00:22:47,137 and we were doing good. 466 00:22:47,172 --> 00:22:48,689 And we were just picking up the pace, 467 00:22:48,724 --> 00:22:49,896 and our momentum was building, 468 00:22:49,931 --> 00:22:52,482 and I was ready to run the Lost Cut pay. 469 00:22:52,517 --> 00:22:54,448 Now I have a real breakdown. 470 00:22:54,482 --> 00:22:55,896 This is the last thing I needed, 471 00:22:55,931 --> 00:22:57,344 but I'm gonna see what I can do. 472 00:22:57,379 --> 00:22:59,758 I got Ron on it. That guy is the best in the business. 473 00:23:01,068 --> 00:23:03,931 Knock on wood, but looks like my luck's run out on this. 474 00:23:07,379 --> 00:23:09,965 [narrator] While Ron takes the lead in fixing the Black Pearl, 475 00:23:11,586 --> 00:23:13,931 Randy steps up to keep the Holy Roller 476 00:23:13,965 --> 00:23:16,000 chugging through Lost Cut paydirt. 477 00:23:18,379 --> 00:23:19,344 [man on radio] 478 00:23:20,862 --> 00:23:25,034 Well, I noticed is that it shut down. That's about it. 479 00:23:25,068 --> 00:23:28,482 So far, the Pearl's been down for the last hour-and-a-half. 480 00:23:28,517 --> 00:23:30,413 You know, we were two plants 481 00:23:30,448 --> 00:23:31,551 running this morning. 482 00:23:31,586 --> 00:23:33,482 We were all excited, 483 00:23:33,517 --> 00:23:36,586 everything was looking great, and then kaput. 484 00:23:38,620 --> 00:23:42,000 I hope that it's a quick fix because we need that plant running. 485 00:23:44,551 --> 00:23:47,034 It's crucial to our goal. 486 00:23:47,068 --> 00:23:49,172 Uh, not only that, but, you know, 487 00:23:49,206 --> 00:23:50,689 they got a lot of hard work into it. 488 00:24:08,655 --> 00:24:12,034 [Randy] Holy Roller is running like a fine Swiss watch today. 489 00:24:13,206 --> 00:24:14,620 There's no issues. 490 00:24:14,655 --> 00:24:17,517 The only issues so far is the guy feeding the plant. 491 00:24:17,551 --> 00:24:20,862 His brain is about to roll out of his ears. 492 00:24:23,724 --> 00:24:25,862 All right, well, that's all looking good. 493 00:24:29,206 --> 00:24:32,310 [Randy] Looking forward to being done. 494 00:24:32,344 --> 00:24:35,517 I've been in here for a little over 9 hours, 495 00:24:35,551 --> 00:24:39,275 and, uh, eventually I'm gonna have to go to the bathroom. 496 00:24:39,310 --> 00:24:40,068 Eventually. 497 00:24:41,413 --> 00:24:43,655 Let Randy take a break for a minute. 498 00:24:53,206 --> 00:24:55,275 -Thank you. -Yep. 499 00:24:55,310 --> 00:24:57,793 -My eyes have got to be yellow. -[laughs] 500 00:25:11,827 --> 00:25:14,689 Okay, we'll get this thing safed out first. 501 00:25:14,724 --> 00:25:16,965 -You want to open up that belt guard, please? -Got it. 502 00:25:17,827 --> 00:25:19,103 [Ron] Okay. There. 503 00:25:19,137 --> 00:25:20,620 Get this thing loosened up. 504 00:25:20,655 --> 00:25:23,103 -Can you hold the wrench? Okay. Got it? -Yeah. 505 00:25:23,137 --> 00:25:24,172 [drilling] 506 00:25:25,448 --> 00:25:26,482 This actually sucks. 507 00:25:26,517 --> 00:25:28,482 I'm losing money. Everybody's losing money. 508 00:25:28,517 --> 00:25:30,275 The Black Pearl's not getting any gold. 509 00:25:30,310 --> 00:25:32,206 You know, break downs are inevitable, 510 00:25:32,241 --> 00:25:36,068 but I'm hoping that when we peel this thing open it's not what we think it is. 511 00:25:36,103 --> 00:25:36,896 -[Ron] Got her? -Yeah. 512 00:25:37,793 --> 00:25:39,068 [Hunter] Hopefully in a hour or two 513 00:25:39,103 --> 00:25:40,931 we're gonna be up and running and sluicing some more dirt. 514 00:25:42,310 --> 00:25:44,586 [Cub] Whatever it is, I'm sure we can find something for it. 515 00:25:44,620 --> 00:25:46,482 I hope so. It's just the time is the issue. 516 00:25:46,517 --> 00:25:47,379 Yeah. 517 00:25:47,413 --> 00:25:48,448 Let's see if it's something simple. 518 00:25:48,482 --> 00:25:49,517 Maybe we'll get lucky here. 519 00:25:51,275 --> 00:25:52,655 [drilling] 520 00:25:54,931 --> 00:25:58,241 Grab onto this shaft on this side, and I'll grab this one... 521 00:25:58,275 --> 00:26:00,068 -Okay. -...and we're gonna pull it straight up. 522 00:26:00,103 --> 00:26:02,448 Oh, oh, it's moving. Okay. 523 00:26:02,482 --> 00:26:04,172 All right, coming straight over my way. 524 00:26:04,206 --> 00:26:04,965 [exhales] 525 00:26:05,517 --> 00:26:07,310 Oh, yeah. 526 00:26:07,344 --> 00:26:09,137 -[Ron] There goes the discs. -Where are we putting this? 527 00:26:09,172 --> 00:26:10,172 Okay, set this right here. 528 00:26:11,689 --> 00:26:12,862 [groaning] Ah, just like that. That's great. 529 00:26:14,137 --> 00:26:15,103 Oh. 530 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,344 The splines have torn right off the ceramic friction. 531 00:26:21,068 --> 00:26:23,827 -Yeah, it's bad. -Yeah. 532 00:26:23,862 --> 00:26:26,655 [Hunter] Any lead we were gaining on the Holy Roller is gone now. 533 00:26:33,310 --> 00:26:34,379 [Ron] Oh. 534 00:26:36,241 --> 00:26:39,586 The splines have torn right off the ceramic friction. 535 00:26:41,068 --> 00:26:43,517 It's eaten into the teeth in the flywheel, 536 00:26:43,551 --> 00:26:45,482 and it looks like it was sitting uneven in here. 537 00:26:45,517 --> 00:26:47,448 The wear is uneven on the flywheel. 538 00:26:47,482 --> 00:26:51,379 [narrator] 238oz short of their 1,000oz goal, 539 00:26:51,413 --> 00:26:54,965 the Black Pearl sits idle with a broken clutch to blame. 540 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,034 [Ron] What does the end of that shaft look like? 541 00:26:57,068 --> 00:26:58,344 [Hunter] I mean, that got hot, cracked. 542 00:26:58,379 --> 00:26:59,620 [Ron] Pressure plate's cracked. 543 00:26:59,655 --> 00:27:01,172 Yeah, you see this here? 544 00:27:01,206 --> 00:27:02,862 The pilot bearing rides on here 545 00:27:02,896 --> 00:27:04,482 and it supports the end of the shaft, 546 00:27:04,517 --> 00:27:06,482 and because it's so loose 547 00:27:06,517 --> 00:27:08,103 the shaft is likely not sitting straight 548 00:27:08,137 --> 00:27:10,206 and squaring the flywheel. 549 00:27:10,241 --> 00:27:11,448 -Oh. -There's a good chance 550 00:27:11,482 --> 00:27:14,344 these teeth were overloaded on one side over the other... 551 00:27:14,379 --> 00:27:16,413 -[Hunter] Turn it back up. -...judging by the wear in the flywheel. 552 00:27:17,482 --> 00:27:20,379 So this is just a matter of high hours and old age. 553 00:27:20,413 --> 00:27:22,793 -Just wore out. -That's not good. 554 00:27:22,827 --> 00:27:25,310 We have the information off that tag on the plate. 555 00:27:25,344 --> 00:27:27,172 Let's get on the horn and see what we can find for parts. 556 00:27:27,206 --> 00:27:30,000 -Does anybody still make this? -Oh, yeah. 557 00:27:30,034 --> 00:27:31,448 -[Hunter] They do? -Yeah, this will be current. 558 00:27:31,482 --> 00:27:33,862 [Ron] There's lots of these around, just not here right now. 559 00:27:33,896 --> 00:27:36,551 -You think there's a lot in Nome? -No. 560 00:27:36,586 --> 00:27:38,517 So there's no way to... 561 00:27:38,551 --> 00:27:41,793 Could we bush fix it, and bypass the clutch, and just have it? 562 00:27:42,793 --> 00:27:43,758 We can do anything. 563 00:27:43,793 --> 00:27:45,896 We would make it permanently engaged. 564 00:27:45,931 --> 00:27:47,655 -The problem is, is it safe? -[Hunter] Yeah. 565 00:27:49,758 --> 00:27:51,586 Because we can't disengage the drive 566 00:27:51,620 --> 00:27:53,413 -when we need to if there is an emergency... -Yeah. 567 00:27:53,448 --> 00:27:55,931 ...and what further damage will it do 568 00:27:55,965 --> 00:27:58,275 when it does fail again? 569 00:27:58,310 --> 00:28:02,103 We bush fix this thing and permanently mount that to the flywheel, basically. 570 00:28:02,137 --> 00:28:04,862 We lose all our flex and the give that we have there. 571 00:28:04,896 --> 00:28:06,931 -Yeah. -We could ruin the engine. 572 00:28:06,965 --> 00:28:08,241 Then you don't have anything at all. 573 00:28:08,275 --> 00:28:10,724 I have a real problem with that. 574 00:28:10,758 --> 00:28:13,689 So I'm sure that that will come up as an option, but... 575 00:28:14,448 --> 00:28:15,862 What's the best case scenario? 576 00:28:17,275 --> 00:28:19,103 We get the parts quickly out of Nome 577 00:28:19,137 --> 00:28:22,931 and maybe here within a couple of days. 578 00:28:22,965 --> 00:28:25,103 There's only a few hours for me to get the pieces thrown into it 579 00:28:25,137 --> 00:28:26,413 and back together. 580 00:28:26,448 --> 00:28:27,758 -Just got to get the pieces here. -[Hunter] Yeah. 581 00:28:27,793 --> 00:28:29,275 So you think there's no way around it? 582 00:28:29,310 --> 00:28:30,413 We're down for a couple of days? 583 00:28:30,448 --> 00:28:31,965 Couple of days. I need parts. 584 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:33,655 I don't have a couple of days. 585 00:28:35,068 --> 00:28:36,068 This completely screws us. 586 00:28:39,586 --> 00:28:40,586 I should let my dad know. 587 00:28:43,586 --> 00:28:46,655 -Did you hear what happened on the radio? -Uh-uh. What happened? 588 00:28:46,689 --> 00:28:49,206 Basically, my clutch went out on the motor on the Black Pearl. 589 00:28:52,275 --> 00:28:53,275 [Todd] Jeez. 590 00:28:54,310 --> 00:28:55,724 [Hunter] Me and Ron pulled it open. 591 00:28:55,758 --> 00:28:58,793 The clutch plate, the pieces that grab the disc, 592 00:28:58,827 --> 00:28:59,896 they got hot, they were cracked. 593 00:28:59,931 --> 00:29:01,689 Everything's sheared off. 594 00:29:01,724 --> 00:29:03,724 What did Ron think? Can we make something? 595 00:29:05,931 --> 00:29:07,344 No. 596 00:29:07,379 --> 00:29:11,724 [sighs] He thinks there's no way for us to do a bush fix on it 597 00:29:11,758 --> 00:29:13,275 without compromising the whole motor. 598 00:29:13,310 --> 00:29:15,758 -Jeez. -Pretty much, the whole thing needs rebuilt... 599 00:29:15,793 --> 00:29:17,965 -...so... -Pretty catastrophic is what I'm hearing. 600 00:29:19,344 --> 00:29:20,862 [Todd] Having watched all the hard work 601 00:29:20,896 --> 00:29:23,931 that Hunter has put into this plant, I'm proud of him. 602 00:29:23,965 --> 00:29:27,344 I want this plant to actually be successful. 603 00:29:27,379 --> 00:29:30,275 To have this kind of issue right now, right at the goal line, 604 00:29:30,310 --> 00:29:32,172 is actually pretty disheartening. 605 00:29:32,206 --> 00:29:35,482 Hopefully they can turn it around and turn it around real quick. 606 00:29:35,517 --> 00:29:37,413 It's just a unique part. 607 00:29:37,448 --> 00:29:41,275 There's not a lot of things that use that particular direct drive clutch in town. 608 00:29:41,310 --> 00:29:43,448 I've already been calling around everywhere. 609 00:29:43,482 --> 00:29:45,275 They don't have anything like that here. 610 00:29:45,310 --> 00:29:48,482 Everything that I'm hearing about in town is all too big. 611 00:29:48,517 --> 00:29:49,551 It's, like, a 13 inch. 612 00:29:49,586 --> 00:29:52,241 We have a 10 inch fiberglass disc in there, 613 00:29:52,275 --> 00:29:56,000 and it's, like, a really unique piece, and they don't have that size. 614 00:29:56,034 --> 00:29:57,137 -And that piece... -What's this thing, 615 00:29:57,172 --> 00:29:58,206 what's this, like, 616 00:29:58,241 --> 00:30:01,448 it can't be worth more than a few hundred bucks. 617 00:30:01,482 --> 00:30:03,000 What if we order it? What are we looking at? 618 00:30:04,034 --> 00:30:05,241 I'm waiting to hear back. 619 00:30:05,275 --> 00:30:08,034 It has to come from the manufacturer 620 00:30:08,068 --> 00:30:10,206 which is in, like, Wisconsin or something like that. 621 00:30:10,241 --> 00:30:11,551 -And so... -Wow. 622 00:30:12,689 --> 00:30:13,896 -I don't... -Dude, I am so sorry. 623 00:30:13,931 --> 00:30:15,206 I'm sorry for everybody 624 00:30:15,241 --> 00:30:16,931 because that thing's cranking out gold. 625 00:30:18,137 --> 00:30:20,413 -We're both cranking out gold. -This week is... Yeah. 626 00:30:20,448 --> 00:30:21,724 -Yeah. -Mmm-hmm. 627 00:30:21,758 --> 00:30:24,379 This is the most gold we've been getting with it. 628 00:30:24,413 --> 00:30:28,310 We're losing 30, $40,000 a day on a $300 part. 629 00:30:31,517 --> 00:30:33,137 We only have so much time left. 630 00:30:33,172 --> 00:30:34,379 I want to keep trying. 631 00:30:35,931 --> 00:30:37,206 I just, I don't know. 632 00:30:38,241 --> 00:30:39,827 You need to get that part. 633 00:30:39,862 --> 00:30:41,551 Fly it in, whatever you got to do. 634 00:30:41,586 --> 00:30:43,517 You get that plant running quick, 635 00:30:43,551 --> 00:30:46,551 or we're not gonna hit 1,000oz, I'll guarantee you that, 636 00:30:46,586 --> 00:30:47,931 now that you guys are cooking. 637 00:30:49,068 --> 00:30:49,724 Got it. 638 00:30:51,862 --> 00:30:53,724 [Todd] The cool part about having two plants, 639 00:30:53,758 --> 00:30:58,172 I'm at least still heading towards a goal, 640 00:30:58,206 --> 00:31:00,344 but I don't know if we're gonna reach it without his plant. 641 00:31:01,689 --> 00:31:02,758 He's got to figure something out. 642 00:31:04,103 --> 00:31:05,172 All right, let me know what I can do. 643 00:31:13,551 --> 00:31:16,482 [man on radio] 644 00:31:16,517 --> 00:31:18,827 What happened to the Black Pearl? 645 00:31:19,655 --> 00:31:21,103 [man 2 on radio] 646 00:31:21,655 --> 00:31:22,655 [man on radio] 647 00:31:23,689 --> 00:31:25,000 [man 2 on radio] 648 00:31:25,034 --> 00:31:26,551 [man on radio] 649 00:31:31,275 --> 00:31:32,827 We're pretty, uh, down bad. 650 00:31:34,241 --> 00:31:36,482 Well, let's pull the box. 651 00:31:36,517 --> 00:31:38,482 We had two good days on it. 652 00:31:38,517 --> 00:31:40,275 I ran 400 yards this morning, 653 00:31:40,310 --> 00:31:42,517 so either way it should be good. 654 00:31:43,379 --> 00:31:44,206 Well, let's do it. 655 00:31:46,068 --> 00:31:47,689 We were just starting to pick up speed. 656 00:31:47,724 --> 00:31:49,551 We've been getting the best gold... 657 00:31:50,689 --> 00:31:53,137 ...that we've got from the Lost Cut. 658 00:31:53,172 --> 00:31:56,206 And I was pushing for 100oz this week. 659 00:31:56,241 --> 00:31:58,862 We've got to take this loss on the chin. 660 00:31:58,896 --> 00:32:00,517 Do you notice the difference between this 661 00:32:00,551 --> 00:32:02,241 and the stuff we were running before? 662 00:32:02,275 --> 00:32:03,862 Yeah, this is more porous. 663 00:32:03,896 --> 00:32:06,448 [Hunter] Today would have been another maybe 20oz 664 00:32:06,482 --> 00:32:08,655 which is almost $35,000. 665 00:32:08,689 --> 00:32:10,413 It's hard to take this loss, you know? 666 00:32:10,448 --> 00:32:11,827 We'll get this thing all cleaned up 667 00:32:11,862 --> 00:32:17,413 and get the plant ready for when we're able to run it again. 668 00:32:17,448 --> 00:32:19,724 -Are you gonna pull this out with me, Sparky? -Yeah. 669 00:32:19,758 --> 00:32:21,517 -We'll pull. -You find one? 670 00:32:21,551 --> 00:32:23,379 Yeah, I just found me another nugget. 671 00:32:26,482 --> 00:32:28,000 [Sparky] Yeah, there's more nuggets down here. 672 00:32:28,551 --> 00:32:29,482 Hunter, look at this. 673 00:32:31,965 --> 00:32:32,758 Sick. 674 00:32:32,793 --> 00:32:34,172 Look at that. 675 00:32:34,206 --> 00:32:36,758 -Are you kidding me? -What? What did he just find? 676 00:32:39,206 --> 00:32:41,241 -Little nugget. -Look at that one. 677 00:32:41,275 --> 00:32:43,517 [laughs smugly] 678 00:32:43,551 --> 00:32:48,000 See, that's the biggest nugget we've found since we've been at this mine. 679 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,000 That's insane. 680 00:32:51,034 --> 00:32:54,551 That's the stuff the Holy Roller can't catch because these are too small. 681 00:32:56,137 --> 00:32:57,586 -[Cub chuckles] -You just found that right in there? 682 00:32:57,620 --> 00:33:00,413 -Yeah. It was, like, right here, yeah. -Right at the top? 683 00:33:04,275 --> 00:33:06,344 [Sparky] A bigger wash plant, bigger gold, baby. 684 00:33:07,827 --> 00:33:10,000 Well, it's a little sign we need to... 685 00:33:11,551 --> 00:33:12,862 -[Cub] Keep going. -...we need to keep going, man. 686 00:33:12,896 --> 00:33:13,827 [Sparky] Yeah. 687 00:33:13,862 --> 00:33:16,344 There's positives and there's negatives, 688 00:33:16,379 --> 00:33:18,000 and this isn't our first breakdown, 689 00:33:18,034 --> 00:33:19,448 and it's not gonna be our last, so... 690 00:33:20,931 --> 00:33:22,103 ...we'll just keep moving forward. 691 00:33:27,344 --> 00:33:29,000 -[Jack] You made it. -[Hunter] Hello. 692 00:33:35,137 --> 00:33:35,965 A little extra. 693 00:33:36,931 --> 00:33:37,965 Yeah. 694 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,448 My grandpa loves gold more than anybody, 695 00:33:39,482 --> 00:33:42,448 so first person I thought of to show this nugget to is him. 696 00:33:42,482 --> 00:33:45,241 Let's see what it looks like, huh? 697 00:33:45,275 --> 00:33:46,517 We're gonna have to see what he thinks about it. 698 00:33:47,551 --> 00:33:49,172 I'll take a bunch of those. 699 00:33:49,206 --> 00:33:50,413 -Yeah. -Whoo. 700 00:33:50,448 --> 00:33:54,103 My grandpa's kind of the reason why I'm up here mining. 701 00:33:54,137 --> 00:33:55,965 His love of gold mining is magic. 702 00:33:57,275 --> 00:33:58,724 These are all nice. 703 00:33:58,758 --> 00:33:59,724 [Hunter] I just love the guy. 704 00:34:01,655 --> 00:34:02,310 [Hunter] Look at that. 705 00:34:04,034 --> 00:34:07,758 [Jack] Wow. That's the biggest nugget we've seen. 706 00:34:07,793 --> 00:34:09,137 [Hunter] I'm liking what I'm seeing. 707 00:34:09,172 --> 00:34:12,310 We've found the biggest nugget that we've found all season. 708 00:34:12,344 --> 00:34:14,516 -You know what it looks like? -Mmm. 709 00:34:14,551 --> 00:34:17,793 Looks like a guy sitting there, panning gold. 710 00:34:17,827 --> 00:34:19,482 -[Hunter] Yeah, yeah. -Huh? 711 00:34:19,516 --> 00:34:22,585 -That's pretty cool. -Yeah, huge, man. 712 00:34:22,620 --> 00:34:23,757 [Jack] That's pretty cool. 713 00:34:24,896 --> 00:34:26,034 [Hunter] We'll see what the cleanup looks like. 714 00:34:31,482 --> 00:34:33,172 [cellphone ringing] 715 00:34:33,206 --> 00:34:34,275 [Kenzie on phone] Hi! 716 00:34:34,310 --> 00:34:35,137 -[Georgia babbles] -How's it going? 717 00:34:37,344 --> 00:34:38,862 She's six months old today. 718 00:34:38,896 --> 00:34:41,896 -[babbles] -[Cub chuckling] God dang. 719 00:34:41,931 --> 00:34:44,034 I knew it was gonna be hard, 720 00:34:44,068 --> 00:34:47,827 but one of the main things is me missing out on my family. 721 00:34:55,551 --> 00:34:56,379 She wants [chuckling] it? 722 00:34:58,172 --> 00:34:59,551 I just don't know if it's worth it... 723 00:35:00,758 --> 00:35:03,896 ...to be up here and miss my family, 724 00:35:03,931 --> 00:35:05,413 and I come back and my baby's twice as old. 725 00:35:07,172 --> 00:35:08,586 I've never seen her eat food before. 726 00:35:10,758 --> 00:35:14,034 I'm kind of at the point where I just want to finish the season. 727 00:35:14,068 --> 00:35:16,448 All right, Kenzie, bye. Love you. 728 00:35:17,344 --> 00:35:18,275 Love you too. 729 00:35:19,655 --> 00:35:20,379 -Bye! -[Cub] Bye. 730 00:35:37,379 --> 00:35:40,000 Make that your last bucket right there, all right? 731 00:35:40,689 --> 00:35:42,172 -[radio beeps] -10-4. 732 00:35:42,862 --> 00:35:43,827 She's all in. 733 00:35:58,896 --> 00:36:00,413 There's a picker right here in the box. 734 00:36:02,586 --> 00:36:03,551 What do you think? 735 00:36:03,586 --> 00:36:05,137 [Dakota] A lot of chunky stuff. 736 00:36:05,172 --> 00:36:07,517 -Nice. -A lot of chunky stuff. 737 00:36:07,551 --> 00:36:09,482 So we got a little over a couple of 100oz 738 00:36:09,517 --> 00:36:12,137 to get to 1,000, and the season's winding down, 739 00:36:12,172 --> 00:36:16,413 but we're gonna pull this box and, uh, hopefully should be good. 740 00:36:16,448 --> 00:36:19,827 We got a few days on it now, and, um, getting close. 741 00:36:19,862 --> 00:36:21,862 -[Randy] Looks pretty good. -Yeah, it does. 742 00:36:23,172 --> 00:36:24,172 [Dakota] It's down the riffles. 743 00:36:24,206 --> 00:36:25,586 [Randy] We've only got a little bit left to go 744 00:36:25,620 --> 00:36:26,965 and then we can get out of here. 745 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:28,000 I'm ready for it. 746 00:36:29,517 --> 00:36:33,517 We know time is short before weather and the winter kicks in, 747 00:36:33,551 --> 00:36:37,241 and this all freezes up, and it tells us to go home, 748 00:36:37,275 --> 00:36:40,103 but we want to hit that 1,000 before that happens. 749 00:36:40,137 --> 00:36:41,551 We want to go home with our pockets full. 750 00:36:43,206 --> 00:36:45,448 Hoping that it's a hot cleanup. 751 00:36:49,413 --> 00:36:55,103 [narrator] As time runs short, the team will need at least 119oz of gold this week 752 00:36:55,137 --> 00:36:57,896 to keep their 1,000oz goal within reach. 753 00:36:59,931 --> 00:37:01,931 Guys, I want to thank you for switching over 754 00:37:01,965 --> 00:37:03,068 to the Lost Cut. 755 00:37:03,103 --> 00:37:04,517 It's a big gamble. 756 00:37:04,551 --> 00:37:06,275 We needed to do something 757 00:37:06,310 --> 00:37:07,965 to make sure that we got to 1,000oz. 758 00:37:08,517 --> 00:37:10,482 Hopefully it pays off. 759 00:37:10,517 --> 00:37:14,827 We've ran as much Lost Cut as we could with both plants. 760 00:37:14,862 --> 00:37:18,827 At 2.4oz per 100, it's pretty rich stuff. 761 00:37:18,862 --> 00:37:22,241 I'm pretty excited to actually see what this cleanup's gonna do. 762 00:37:22,275 --> 00:37:24,172 We're gonna need a monster week 763 00:37:24,206 --> 00:37:27,931 -to actually take us over the hump. -Yeah. 764 00:37:27,965 --> 00:37:30,482 It was starting to look better before we broke down. 765 00:37:30,517 --> 00:37:32,965 It was the best that I've seen. 766 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,551 The box looked really good for how many yards we put through. 767 00:37:36,586 --> 00:37:37,724 So I don't really want to think about... 768 00:37:39,448 --> 00:37:41,241 ...how much gold we could have got this week, 769 00:37:41,275 --> 00:37:45,068 but hopefully, you know, your guys' cleanup makes up for it. 770 00:37:45,965 --> 00:37:48,068 Good. Well, we'll find out here. 771 00:37:52,655 --> 00:37:54,241 -[man] Holding it with two fingers. -Welcome, gentlemen. 772 00:37:54,275 --> 00:37:56,517 -I'm just gonna do this for you guys, all right? -All right. 773 00:37:56,551 --> 00:37:58,689 -Just so you can figure this out. -Oh, come on, 774 00:37:58,724 --> 00:38:00,068 have some confidence. 775 00:38:00,103 --> 00:38:03,206 -No. -Uh, not much for this week, buddy. 776 00:38:03,241 --> 00:38:05,551 I'll take the little pan this week. 777 00:38:05,586 --> 00:38:07,827 You know, I'm proud of you guys. 778 00:38:07,862 --> 00:38:13,793 Without your effort, we had zero chance of ever making it to 1,000. 779 00:38:14,344 --> 00:38:15,310 You're great guys. 780 00:38:16,965 --> 00:38:20,275 And I'm proud to be with you guys. 781 00:38:21,379 --> 00:38:24,413 -Stop. -[all chuckle] 782 00:38:25,379 --> 00:38:26,827 Okay, Dad. 783 00:38:26,862 --> 00:38:31,551 All right, I'm going to let the Black Pearl go first. 784 00:38:31,586 --> 00:38:33,103 Thurber, give us the pour. 785 00:38:33,655 --> 00:38:34,482 Thank you, Jack. 786 00:38:42,758 --> 00:38:44,068 Five. 787 00:38:46,344 --> 00:38:47,344 10. 788 00:38:49,275 --> 00:38:52,793 13, 15, 16. 789 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:56,551 18, 19. 790 00:38:58,827 --> 00:39:01,068 [Jim] 20. 791 00:39:01,103 --> 00:39:03,965 I mean, obviously I don't want to think about how good it would have been, 792 00:39:04,931 --> 00:39:06,344 but either way, that's over 30 grand... 793 00:39:06,379 --> 00:39:07,448 -...you know? -Pretty good. 794 00:39:07,482 --> 00:39:09,551 Three kids and a wash plant 795 00:39:09,586 --> 00:39:12,862 -that's been sitting on the coast for seven years. -I like it. 796 00:39:12,896 --> 00:39:14,413 -[Jim] That's not bad. -[Hunter] So... 797 00:39:14,448 --> 00:39:15,275 I love it. 798 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:16,724 [Jack] All right. 799 00:39:19,448 --> 00:39:20,103 Well... 800 00:39:21,586 --> 00:39:22,931 Call it out. 801 00:39:22,965 --> 00:39:24,448 All right. Come on, now. 802 00:39:27,310 --> 00:39:29,448 Five, 10, 15. 803 00:39:31,448 --> 00:39:33,241 20, 25. 804 00:39:34,448 --> 00:39:35,103 40. 805 00:39:36,206 --> 00:39:37,034 50. 806 00:39:38,620 --> 00:39:39,413 60. 807 00:39:40,965 --> 00:39:44,103 Uh, I want 70. 70. 808 00:39:44,724 --> 00:39:46,586 One, two. 809 00:39:47,793 --> 00:39:48,551 Got. 80. 810 00:39:49,103 --> 00:39:52,448 80.40. 811 00:39:52,482 --> 00:39:53,655 -[man] Whoo! -[man 2] Yeah. 812 00:39:53,689 --> 00:39:55,172 -[all applauding] -[man] Awesome. 813 00:39:55,206 --> 00:39:58,965 Dude, we got it. That's almost 140 grand, guys. 814 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,517 -[man] Nice. -[Todd] Awesome, man. Good work, everybody. 815 00:40:01,551 --> 00:40:04,413 We had, what, a 170, $175,000 week. 816 00:40:04,448 --> 00:40:05,689 Yep. 817 00:40:05,724 --> 00:40:06,620 [Todd] Where we at, Thurb? 818 00:40:06,655 --> 00:40:10,482 [Jim] Well, last week we were at 762. 819 00:40:10,517 --> 00:40:14,344 We needed average, between the two plants, 119. 820 00:40:15,448 --> 00:40:19,344 We got a total of 100 for an 862. 821 00:40:19,379 --> 00:40:22,172 -862. -862. 822 00:40:22,206 --> 00:40:25,724 [narrator] The Holy Roller weighs in with 80oz of gold, 823 00:40:25,758 --> 00:40:28,068 while the Black Pearl brings in only 20, 824 00:40:28,103 --> 00:40:30,448 for a combined total of 100oz. 825 00:40:31,172 --> 00:40:32,068 After this week, 826 00:40:32,103 --> 00:40:35,655 the Hoffmans have a total of 862oz, 827 00:40:35,689 --> 00:40:40,344 leaving them 138oz short of their 1,000oz season goal. 828 00:40:41,344 --> 00:40:43,275 That's within striking distance, 829 00:40:43,310 --> 00:40:47,241 but, guys, you got to get that Black Pearl running. 830 00:40:47,275 --> 00:40:49,517 You know, my worst nightmare is now our reality. 831 00:40:49,551 --> 00:40:51,379 We lost the Black Pearl 832 00:40:51,413 --> 00:40:55,896 and probably what would be our best week of the whole season. 833 00:40:55,931 --> 00:40:57,517 So I'm gonna do what I can. 834 00:40:57,551 --> 00:41:00,137 I'm gonna call around, and try to get her fired up next week, 835 00:41:00,172 --> 00:41:01,551 and just keep going. 836 00:41:01,586 --> 00:41:05,896 Both those plants have got to run six strong days, 837 00:41:05,931 --> 00:41:09,413 and I mean 12, 13, 14 hours each one. 838 00:41:09,448 --> 00:41:11,758 There's no guarantees on this weather. 839 00:41:11,793 --> 00:41:13,448 We've just got to stay focused. 840 00:41:13,482 --> 00:41:16,241 If Hunter can't get the Black Pearl running again 841 00:41:16,275 --> 00:41:20,413 there's a very good chance that we are gonna fall short of the 1,000. 842 00:41:20,448 --> 00:41:21,655 He's got to figure something out. 843 00:41:23,586 --> 00:41:25,137 -Let's see what happens. -[Hunter] All right. 844 00:41:25,172 --> 00:41:26,275 All right, good job, guys. 845 00:41:26,310 --> 00:41:27,275 Let's kill it.