#video #Gold Rush Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan Season 6 Episode 11
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00:03I've been in the ballroom doing someone else's job and I'm unaware of the issues that we're
00:09having up here at the watch plant. On this episode of Mine Rescue, a widowed mine owner
00:17makes a last stand on her inherited claim. Everyone just needs to be on the same page.
00:24Whoa, whoa, whoa, shut it down. But with winter closing in, we've been broke down more than we've
00:32been able to run. The frustration levels are very high for me. Well, that's got to be one of the
00:36shortest test runs, huh? Two seconds. And more than just gold at stake. He would have been so proud of
00:42me that I could ride the loader, drive the loader, that I can mine. The pressure is on for Freddy
00:49and
00:49one to help them find fortune. I was hoping to see more gold in the pan. Or face failure. We
00:56were
00:56trying to cram two weeks worth of work in a week. I just spotted a huge problem, guys. Could be
01:02a season
01:02ending. Probably the highest mine rescue we've ever done. I think it's 14,400 feet, that mountain.
01:16The thin air, lack of water, and shorter season make Colorado's Rocky Mountains one of the
01:23hardest places to mine in the U.S. On the doorstep of winter, Freddy and Juan race to the Leadville
01:31Mining District, where the miners make what will be their last stand before financial ruin.
01:38Hi. Good to see you. Good to see you guys. Freddy. Sean. Nice to meet you. Christine. Nice to meet
01:44you.
01:44So how's it going? Well, we're having our struggles. Good struggles. We've only ran 36 days. You've only
01:49ran 36 days, huh? You broke down a lot then. On and off for about five months. Lots of breakdowns.
01:56What have been your main issues as far as breakdowns go? Everything. It's been from one end to the other.
02:02It's cost employees, help, friendships. It's been a real heartache. Never really had frustrations this
02:09bad. But on top of that, when we drove in, it was a little snowy, so. The trees are changing
02:13colors,
02:14so that's as mining season up here is coming to an end. Yeah. You know, it may not seem like
02:18a whole
02:18lot, but, you know, genuinely, when you don't have a whole lot of time left, you know, it could be
02:21a big
02:22hurdle. That is true. That's part of our struggle as well. We're running out of time.
02:26Originally a family business, Chrissy has taken over running the 3,000-acre Willow Creek mine.
02:34The plan was for my husband and I to run the mine and have our family here. Things happened. He
02:40passed away.
02:46Chrissy never got an opportunity to do anything with her husband on this mine, and they just kind of let
02:51everything go dormant. Her and I crossed paths and struck a deal, and here I am.
02:57My relationship with Sean is like a brother-sister kind of relationship. We kind of joke about that.
03:05He's great. His family's great. Almost got me. Almost got you. I've learned so much from him.
03:11Chrissy, do you have somewhere to put this? There's no other person who's going to lease your land
03:16and then let you come and help. Ooh, that's a pretty one. That's a nice one. Or be any part
03:21of what they're
03:22doing. All right, I'm sticking it in my pocket. Don't let me forget. But for Sean, this season isn't
03:28just critical. Failure could end his mining career for good. I always had a passion for gold,
03:37so, and that led me to chase the dream. Mining has put a strain on my family. I've lost quite
03:45a bit
03:45of money in the past, you know, some of our life savings. My wife, she's given me one more chance
03:50to succeed at this, and if I don't succeed, then I'm going to have to get out of gold mining.
03:57Do you have any of the gold? Yes, sir.
03:59We're pulling out of the ground up here that we can look at. Combination of chunky and fine, huh?
04:07Beautiful. Yeah. Chunky and fine gold indicates multiple events on the land. A high potential
04:14target if the gold can be captured. So how much have you gotten this season so far?
04:19We've gotten 87 ounces already this season. Not terrible. Well, what's your goal for this season?
04:23We really need probably around 350 to keep up all the claims, all the equipment, the insurance.
04:32It's going to be a hard one because the one thing about being this high up is the winter
04:35comes quick, right? Yes, sir. You probably only have 40 days left. To help them run consistently,
04:40a rescue must increase production to at least 6.5 ounces a day to stand any hope of hitting their
04:48goal.
04:49What's been your best day? We had a day where we got 9 ounces out of 1,000 tons,
04:54but we haven't been able to do that since. So that tells us that there is some spotty ground here.
04:59So more than likely, it's going to be a combination of working on the plant,
05:02but then also trying to figure out where that gold is and follow that.
05:06If gold was everywhere, it wouldn't be worth anything. True.
05:11What have you invested so far? I got a startup $50,000 on this.
05:16Who loaned you that money? Chrissy did.
05:18Okay. Well, what happens, you know, if you don't get your gold this year?
05:25Well, I'm going to have to pay back my debt.
05:28Right.
05:29And I'm going to have to go get a real job and pay them back out of my payroll.
05:34Well, we'll do our best to help you.
05:36The frustration levels are very high. For me, we've been broke down more than we've been able to run.
05:40Well, you know what we like to do is typically we want to watch a test run and go from
05:44there
05:44so we can kind of assess what's going on and figure out what we can do to help you.
05:48Okay?
05:48Sounds great. Thank you.
05:50Right off the gate go, they seem like really nice people.
05:52But, you know, I think they might be a little unrealistic with some of their goals right now.
05:56So they definitely need some help.
05:58I'm not 100% sure if their goal is really, you know, obtainable.
06:01Fire it up.
06:10The crew, led by Sean, includes Chrissy's cousin, Dan, and contractor, Izzy Kaya.
06:19Start a timer.
06:23Holy !
06:25Shut it down.
06:26Oh !
06:27Ah !
06:35Are you kidding me?
06:38That's got to be one of the shortest test runs, huh?
06:41Two seconds.
06:42Yeah, that's a record.
06:44Unbelievable.
06:47Not good.
06:49Oh, man.
06:50One of the clamps came apart from one of the water hoses and got a little crazy.
06:54So now, once again, we're down.
06:59I'm being pushed to get gold, but it's not happening because of the breakdowns.
07:04This is going to take forever.
07:07Well, I'm keeping the clock running.
07:08You know, it's still part of the four-hour run.
07:11Exactly.
07:12Big deal here, you know.
07:13The climate here is the same as, call it, Alaska.
07:16Mm-hmm.
07:16So, I mean, you only have so much of a season to run.
07:20Yeah, yeah.
07:21Well, it's not a good start.
07:23But I can see why they haven't ran a whole lot.
07:25You guys ready to fire up again?
07:35Oh, there we go.
07:37Hopefully, we can get a bucket in there now.
07:4030 minutes later, first bucket.
07:43Pay is fed into a 40-foot rotating trommel, where spray bars inside wash the pay from the gravels into
07:53a triple sluice run, where the gold should be recovered.
07:57While to save their limited water, a sand screw separates fine tailings from the snow melt they need to rely
08:05on all season.
08:09That chain is slapping on the bottom of the drive.
08:12See how it's climbing?
08:13Yeah.
08:14Eventually, it's going to double up on itself.
08:17Right now, the drive chain is getting hung up on this rocket.
08:20Eventually, it might break the chain or possibly break the gear box.
08:29We're lean, lean, lean on the water.
08:31Yeah, way lean.
08:33Working at such elevation, above the cloud line, means the Willow Creek mine gets just six inches of rain a
08:41year to replenish the wash ponds.
08:44The thicker the water gets, the more gold you lose.
08:47That's what happens when you sluice out of a mud puddle.
09:00One whole section of the sluice box that's not being used.
09:03This section right here is completely packed.
09:07We've got a lot of issues here.
09:12Look at that big rock going up.
09:16Uh-oh.
09:17Uh-oh.
09:17Too big of rocks going through, man.
09:22Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
09:25It's going to shred this thing.
09:27Get it out of there.
09:30You got to shut down again.
09:32Yeah.
09:36They shut the conveyor off.
09:38Oh, they did.
09:38Let's go take a look.
09:39Another breakdown.
09:42Look, it's shredding the belt up there.
09:44Oh, my.
09:47We got some big rocks coming through and wedging in the frame.
09:50It's tearing up my belt.
09:52Look at that big cut right up there.
09:58Well, I can see why they're not having a whole lot of run time.
10:00A little problem here, a little problem there.
10:03It shuts you down, yeah.
10:04You have multiples throughout a day.
10:06Yeah.
10:06You're losing hours of run time.
10:08Mm-hmm.
10:09And motivation.
10:11Man, this gets old.
10:12This is tiring, man.
10:15That conveyor's not going to last much longer anyways, Freddy.
10:17I think we just shut the test down.
10:19We're going to have to.
10:19Hey, guys, just shut down.
10:22All right.
10:27Not good on the conveyor, huh?
10:29You say you might have 40 days of the season left this year.
10:33This conveyor will cost you 20 of them working on it.
10:36The belt's too narrow for the amount of material you're running.
10:39That's why you're having rocks come off the side, and that's a safety issue.
10:43This conveyor's not going to make the rest of the season.
10:48I know it was only an hour, but let's clean the box up and see what we got.
10:51So we kind of have, you know, at least a baseline.
10:54Baseline, yeah.
10:55Okay.
10:55To figure out what we got in that hour.
10:56And then Freddy and I are going to put our heads together and figure out what we can do.
10:59We'll come up with a game plan.
11:00Sounds good.
11:01Thank you so much.
11:01Thanks, guys.
11:02Appreciate it.
11:04I have a lot of responsibility to make this happen.
11:07My family is relying on me, but with all the breakdowns, I'm just not sure how much longer we can
11:13survive.
11:15Now I see what Sean's up against.
11:17You know, it's frustrating.
11:18And it's really kind of brings the light why he hasn't been able to run all that much.
11:35How's it going, Chrissy?
11:36In Colorado, at the Willow Creek Mine.
11:39Hey, Freddy.
11:40That scared you, did I?
11:41Oh, nope.
11:42I was mesmerized by the table.
11:45Freddy checks in with mine owner Chrissy, who cleans up the gold from the aborted one-hour test.
11:51There we go.
11:52There's a little bit of gold in it, huh?
11:53A little bit, a little bit.
11:55What got you into gold mining?
11:57Well, my dad bought into this quite a few years ago, shortly after that.
12:02I was up here with my husband.
12:05We came up, spent a month up here, been surveyed for the whole area here with my dad.
12:10We were going to start a new life, do some gold mining, and unfortunately, my husband passed away.
12:16Massive heart attack.
12:17I'm sorry to hear that.
12:29What made me want to be a gold miner was probably just the adventure of it, just coming up here
12:36and learning more about it, and that intrigued me, and so I just got more involved in it.
12:42It's hard being here without my husband being here.
12:47I feel that this is where I'm supposed to be.
12:50Without her husband's help to run the mine, Chrissy nearly abandoned it until Sean stepped in.
12:57This is where I am, and I'm going to make it happen.
12:59The ultimate dream for this mine is for our family's interest to help make it very successful for years to
13:07come, everyone recovering gold and being miners.
13:10I think Matt, my husband, would be very proud of what I'm doing today.
13:15I get to stop.
13:20I had to knock the wind out of your sails.
13:22Yeah, it's been difficult at times, but it's good, too, because I know he's watching over us, and I think
13:30he's happy that I'm up here.
13:31Yeah, I bet he is.
13:34I want to do better, bigger things with this mine.
13:37Well, this year is super important, man.
13:39It's very, very important.
13:40Yeah.
13:40You know, it's either make it or break it, you know.
13:43Well, hopefully we can help you make your goal.
13:46It's important for Chrissy to make this a success, and I tell you what, she's a devoted person.
13:51You know, she wants to learn.
13:52She works hard.
13:54So if the season lasts long enough, there's a good chance they'll succeed.
14:03How are we doing?
14:04Got her all cleaned up?
14:05Yes, sir.
14:06Cleanup complete, Freddie and Juan join the crew to weigh the gold from the one-hour test run.
14:13Let's have a look.
14:14Here's what we got.
14:15Okay.
14:16Nice, clean little...
14:18Let's do it.
14:20Excited to see what we got?
14:21Yeah.
14:23Well, there's a little chunk in there, too.
14:24A little nugget in there.
14:26Quarter ounce.
14:27Quarter ounce, yeah.
14:31Half ounce.
14:35Here's an ounce.
14:36Here's an ounce.
14:41That's pretty decent, 1.18.
14:42Yeah.
14:42Yeah?
14:43Yeah, it's good.
14:44Wow.
14:45Yeah, considering the breakdowns, that's not bad at all.
14:46Right.
14:47Well, it looks like you got decent gold here, but if you can't run, you know, you can't get it.
14:52Yeah.
14:53And, you know, and the truth is, you might have hit a hot spot.
14:55You know, you guys had mentioned before that you guys had really great cleanups, and then the next day, nothing,
14:59right?
14:59That is true.
15:00That is true.
15:01But let us get back to the truck and figure out what we can do, and we'll come back and
15:05see you guys in just a bit.
15:06That sounds great.
15:07We appreciate it.
15:11There's a lot of issues with that plant.
15:12Yeah.
15:13We've got distribution and water issues.
15:15Right now, all three sluice boxes are packed with sediment.
15:18I think we need to start thinking about ground as well.
15:20You know, the ground's going to be a big part of it.
15:22That conveyor, we need to get rid of it.
15:23It needs to go.
15:24Yeah.
15:24Put a pit in there, they can muck the material out.
15:26Yeah.
15:27Pit and a ramp.
15:27Yeah.
15:28To get in with the loader.
15:29On that drive system, I think it may be just an idler or something there to be able to take
15:33up that slop.
15:33Yeah.
15:34Because eventually, that chain's going to double up on itself.
15:36Uh-huh.
15:37And it's going to tear that gearbox apart.
15:38Let's go talk to them.
15:39Let's do it.
15:43How's it going, guys?
15:44Hey, guys.
15:45We kind of came up with a few ideas of what we can do to help you guys out.
15:48One of the things that we're a little worried about is just the inconsistency of the ground, right?
15:52Yeah, I want to go into the cut with you.
15:54Okay.
15:54So we'll have a look at the geology up here and, you know, do a bunch of test panning.
15:58Okay.
15:59But then we want to get your plant tuned up, too.
16:01Most important is that distribution.
16:03We'll try to get it where it's an even feed into all your sluices.
16:06Okay.
16:07And then we want to put a tensioner on your chain because your chain's not long for the world the
16:12way it's running.
16:13A big mess.
16:14Oh, it is.
16:14A very expensive mess.
16:16You know, you break that box, you know, you're probably 25 grand for that box.
16:19The biggest thing we want to do is make sure that the plant is reliable,
16:21that you guys are able to run a full 10-hour day with no issues.
16:24It takes a lot of resources to get water out here.
16:27So every bit we can save is going to save money down the line.
16:31We can introduce more water on the backside.
16:33And with all that said, you know, we want an ounce of gold apiece.
16:38Yeah, and then as far as the material goes, $6,000 for material.
16:41Okay.
16:42Conveyor's number one.
16:43All right.
16:44Well, let's do it.
16:44You guys are good with it?
16:45Yeah.
16:46Deal?
16:46Yeah.
16:47All right.
16:47Sounds great.
16:48All right.
16:49In an ambitious wash plant overhaul to improve reliability,
16:55Freddie and Juan will remove the conveyor and replace it with a hassle-free tailings pit that can be easily
17:02cleared.
17:02On the trommel, the drive chain has become slack.
17:08Juan will fabricate an idler to regulate the tension.
17:12And a new distribution chute will direct the silt-heavy concentrates into the sluice runs,
17:19which will be sealed, leveled, and raised to help catch more gold.
17:29I got my rig right here for it.
17:31Juan's first task, remove the nine-ton conveyor.
17:37We should be able to lift it and get it out from underneath that stand and then be able to
17:39bring it down.
17:41You want to just go with a chain around it and then back to your hook?
17:44Yep.
17:47Right now, we've got the legs dug out, and we're going to see if we can lift that conveyor.
17:54There's a lot of things that can go wrong right now.
17:56You know, if it's too much weight and we get off the stand, you can pull the truck over.
17:59What I'm going to do is I'm going to lift it just a little bit to see if I can
18:01handle it.
18:02If I can handle it, great.
18:03If not, then we'll reposition.
18:05Okay.
18:11There you go.
18:31That'll work.
18:33Got it done in a few minutes, but I appreciate it.
18:35No worries.
18:37I am new to mining, but, yeah, I probably have a little bit of gold fever.
18:44Sean's right-hand man is Chrissy's cousin, Dan, who came for family but stays for gold.
18:51I'm here to help Chrissy.
18:52She's trying to prove that she can make this mine successful.
18:57Very exciting to see your results when you do have a good run and a good cleanup.
19:02But I'm also doing this for my family, my two daughters and my wife, so that I can make a
19:07better life for them.
19:09Listen, once I get this drug back a little bit, come with me.
19:13Now it's down on the ground.
19:14They can manage it, get it out of here.
19:28We won't have any more problems with our conveyor belt.
19:32Freddie and Juan had us get that conveyor belt out of the way.
19:36So I'm digging out a tailings pit here, nice and deep.
19:42Definitely going to work out a lot better having that conveyor belt that always breaks down on me.
19:48We're going to speed things up.
19:51How's it going, Sean?
19:52Good, Freddie.
19:53How are you doing?
19:54Doing all right.
19:55I'm just finishing up on this ramp here.
19:58What do you think about sloping it a little more gentle for your loader?
20:02We can do that.
20:03Save you a bunch of fuel.
20:04Yeah, right.
20:05And wear and tear on your loader.
20:07Yeah, absolutely.
20:08But that should hold some tailings, huh?
20:10Yeah, it looks good.
20:11Oh, this will work.
20:12Getting rid of that conveyor is the best thing for this plant.
20:16I agree 100%.
20:18Okay, Freddie.
20:18See you in a bit.
20:23Freddie and Juan, he showed up just right at the nick of time.
20:27When Chrissy first came up here, she was sad.
20:30She was very heartbroken.
20:32This ship was very distinct.
20:34And now there's a glimmer of hope that I can repay my debts in this season.
20:40On a good note, that should be deep enough.
20:55At 14,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains.
20:59Let me design it out real quick and we'll get a cut.
21:02Juan begins work on a new distribution shoot for the Willow Creek Mine.
21:07When you have a limited season, I'm hoping that once we get it in there, it's really going
21:11to help the production.
21:12But ultimately, we don't know until we actually put it in place and try it out.
21:17The shoot will focus the pay from the trommel to a central box.
21:22A dampener will slow the material down and force it to divide equally across the three sluices.
21:32And that way that material comes over, it hits that center chamber, so it can fan out
21:36over the box and have equal distribution over the sluices.
21:40So we got all the parts cut off.
21:42Now, I'm going to get down to the plant, get it installed.
21:53This your cut then, huh?
21:55Yes, sir.
21:57Well, let's go have a look.
21:58All righty.
21:59After a season of inconsistent cleanups, Freddy gets eyes on the material Sean is running.
22:06Why did you pick this area here, Sean?
22:09You're looking up at the mountain and how the draw came down and it came down through here.
22:14Yeah.
22:15This would be the stuff I took for our test right here.
22:18Looks like clay, huh?
22:20Yeah.
22:21My thoughts here without panning yet is that top layer is probably low grade.
22:29It hasn't been reworked a lot.
22:31It's kind of a glacial till on top.
22:33And this material down below, you can see how the rocks are laying in there.
22:37So this got reworked by a stream system at some point.
22:41That did not.
22:42That got pushed there.
22:44Do you think this could have been a really wide river at one time?
22:47I don't know.
22:47I don't know.
22:48The stream doesn't have to be really wide, right?
22:51But it's going to go back and forth over millions of years, right?
22:53Okay, yeah.
22:55So it makes a valley wider.
22:57Interesting.
22:58Well, let's take a sample of this and see what we get.
23:01Okay.
23:10Oh, that water's cold.
23:13Ice cold.
23:16Not a tremendous amount of heavies, isn't it?
23:27Is that hitting this thing here, huh?
23:30Usually not with gold like this, though.
23:33Vine gold spread fairly evenly through a layer like that.
23:38I was hoping to see more gold in the pan after that gold way.
23:42I mean, there's gold in it, but not much.
23:44Well, that's surprising that seeing very little in there.
23:49Because I've done a few pans along here, and they've been pretty good.
23:53Hmm.
23:54Now, you pick a spot this time.
23:56Okay.
23:58Okay.
24:00Okay.
24:15Let's take it down farther.
24:16Here, let me take...
24:17You want me to finish?
24:17Yeah.
24:19So right now, I'm watching that tip out there.
24:21So if there's a piece of gold in there, you're going to see it.
24:26Two specks.
24:30Yeah, I see them.
24:31There and there.
24:32So it's no better than the other one.
24:34Huh.
24:36I am pretty surprised about that.
24:39You know, we did that one-hour run, got over an ounce.
24:43I'm really shocked that we're not seeing the gold in the pans like I'm seeing up there at the plant.
24:49There's gold in it, but nothing like that test.
24:53So I'm going to call a buddy in, but mine's just down the hill here, and bring him up.
24:58He probably knows more about, you know, this type deposit up here than anybody alive today.
25:03So his information may be very helpful.
25:12Hell yeah.
25:13At the plant, Juan assembles the distribution box, which will feed pay evenly to the sluices.
25:19We'll make it work.
25:28That's good.
25:29Perfect.
25:30We're going to funnel all that material in, and then we have this little bit of a dampener.
25:34What this does is going to force the material in the water to be able to level out, and
25:38then that way it can divide three ways evenly across these sluice boxes.
25:43I've still got to get everything built for the idler, and we have a lot of stuff we've got
25:47to get fabricated before we can install it on the plant.
26:01How's it going, Lance?
26:02At the entrance to the mine, Freddy calls in friend and fellow mining mogul, Lance Baller,
26:12to get an insider's read on the ground.
26:15I appreciate you coming up the mountain.
26:17How are things looking?
26:19Well, I'd sure like to pick your brain on this area.
26:20You probably know it better than anybody.
26:22Let me grab my hard hat, and I'll be right over.
26:25All righty.
26:29Here's where they got that pay from, Lance.
26:31Uh-huh.
26:31Right over here.
26:35Looks like it's been reworked, and it looks good, but the pans weren't good out of it.
26:40Have you ran any of this stuff?
26:42Yeah.
26:42So we lost a lot of money over those first few years trying to figure this stuff out.
26:48We'd panned a lot of it.
26:49It was very marginal.
26:51We couldn't figure it out.
26:52It was just not pan good.
26:54It didn't look good.
26:55And then we found out that there was a seam in there that was about 24 inches thick,
26:59and 95% of all the gold was just in that seam.
27:04Do you see that seam in here?
27:06Yeah.
27:06So you got your bigger rock coming down here, and then you hit this layer, and it looks
27:11like it's pay.
27:12It has rocks in there.
27:13It's not.
27:14It's going to be very, very low gold content until it hits this clay layer in here, as you
27:20see.
27:21So there's going to be a layer in between those clays that most of that gold is in between.
27:26Millions of years ago, mineral-rich hot springs bubble up beneath Leadville, turning rock
27:32into clay, which traps a rich layer of gold.
27:36So this stuff, I would run.
27:40It's going to mess up his ponds.
27:41That's why he's probably not running it.
27:43But it has gold in it, and a lot of gold, usually.
27:45But he doesn't have a whole lot of water looking at it up there.
27:48I've seen his ponds.
27:49And so if he can just manage the clays to try to get as much gold as he can out
27:53of this,
27:53he's in a hot, hot area here.
27:55He's going to do really well on this.
27:59Well, I learned more about the geology of this area in an afternoon with Lance than I
28:03could have done in maybe a season, because he's been mining up in here for a long time.
28:09And he's had pitfalls of his own, so he's learned his way through them.
28:13So now I can pass on that information to Sean, and he can run from there.
28:20Well, I appreciate your advice on it.
28:22All right.
28:36In Colorado's Leadville Mining District...
28:38I have a rocket design.
28:40We're going to cut it on this one-inch piece of steel.
28:42Juan sets to work to build a new idler for the trommel drive chain.
28:47What it's doing right now is that chain, as it comes across, is getting caught.
28:51Eventually, it's going to get caught and double up on itself and break off.
28:54So what we're going to do is we're going to put an idler there, so that way it actually pushes
28:57it down and gets it out of the way.
29:03So this is going to be the tensioner arm.
29:04It's real simple. It's going to have a pivot here with two pillow blocks.
29:08Over here, it has these flange bearings, and it's going to have a sprocket here that rides on the chain.
29:11It'll pull that and get all that excess slop out of there, so that way it doesn't have a chance
29:16to double up.
29:27Look at that. That's sweet.
29:34Idler complete. Juan heads to the plant for the install.
29:43I got it.
29:49I'm very excited to have Freddy and Juan come up here and help me with this, because that'll definitely save
29:54us a lot of time, no more breakdowns.
30:03We're always behind schedule. We were trying to cram two weeks' worth of work in basically a week.
30:10It's just kind of what we do.
30:18Wow, it looks great.
30:21Over in the cut, Sean stockpiles the high-grade pay identified by Freddy and local Lance Bowler.
30:29I'm pretty excited to see how it works now. It's been a big struggle all season long.
30:36See if these fixes all really will help us. Proof will definitely be in the pudding here when we do
30:42our test run.
30:53Three, four.
30:55At the wash plant, Freddy and Dan tune up the sluices.
31:00Eight, nine, ten.
31:03It's super important to keep these sluices level, so if it's pitched to one side, where's all your material gonna
31:09go?
31:09To that side.
31:10So you're making a three-foot-wide sluice into a one-foot-wide sluice, essentially what you're doing.
31:16All their sluices were out of level, and I want more pitch.
31:21Let's see how level it is.
31:24Pretty darn level.
31:25I think we were close, yeah.
31:26Yeah.
31:28Okay.
31:29See what we got for pitch now.
31:32Almost perfect.
31:33Yeah.
31:34Yeah.
31:35Every little thing we're doing here, so let's say just leveling these boxes,
31:39get you another 3% of gold, right?
31:42Let's say getting the pitches set, another 3% gold.
31:45You start adding those things up, pretty soon, you know, let's say you increase by 10, 20, 30%.
31:50That's big.
31:51That's really big.
31:52They're all adjusted to the best we can adjust them.
31:56I enjoy working with Freddy. He's a wealth of knowledge, to be honest with you.
32:00He's shown us a lot of little tips and tricks along the way, and we'll be sure and put those
32:04to good use in the future.
32:08Let's check out the sand screws, Sean.
32:10Oh, yeah.
32:11Next, Freddy looks into the water system to prepare for the new clay rich pay.
32:17Something's not right.
32:19I just spotted a huge problem, guys.
32:23The back of your sand screws buried.
32:25You can see the after effects downstream.
32:28That sand should not be there.
32:30Let's go shut it down.
32:31Freddy has spotted a major issue with the sand screw.
32:35You see this opening right here?
32:37Yes, sir.
32:39Okay.
32:39That's supposed to be closed off.
32:42Interesting.
32:42All that water is going fast backwards through there, and it's dragging sand with it.
32:50And that's why you're buried downstream.
32:53The sand screw separates fine tailings from sluice water, spiraling solids upwards while recycling water back into the system.
33:03But with a plate missing, both solids and water are carried backwards into the holding pond, silting up the fresh
33:11water supply, which, if run through the plant, will lose fine gold.
33:16The little hole right there is the reason why that's all buried back there.
33:21Wow.
33:21That little hole made that much damage.
33:23If this isn't fixed, the pond's going to fill up.
33:26It's going to keep building up more material downstream, and they won't be able to run.
33:42So we need to block that off?
33:43We need to block that off, yeah.
33:45Just hours from the second test run at Willow Creek.
33:49You got a tape measure handy?
33:50Yeah.
33:52Freddie and the crew work through a last-minute setback with the sand screw.
33:5728 by 6.
33:59Okay.
34:00With it empty of water, you know, it's an easy spot.
34:03So I'm sealing up the hole, and that's going to help save their sluice pond.
34:09Look pretty straight to you, Dan.
34:11Yeah.
34:12Yeah.
34:21All right.
34:22We got her.
34:23Yes, sir.
34:23It's simple, but it's going to make a huge difference.
34:31Are you guys ready to do our test run?
34:33Let's do it.
34:33Yeah, absolutely.
34:35Well, let's do one hour, so it's apples to apples to the last one.
34:38Okay.
34:38Let's fire it up.
34:42Here comes the water.
34:48First bucket!
34:50During the first test run, you know, it only ran about two seconds before a hose blew off.
34:56So we're ahead of that game right now.
35:02I'm watching the arm.
35:03It's doing really well.
35:03It's actually pulling that excess chain out of the way, so it's not getting stuck.
35:08Yeah, dramatically better.
35:12Looks like we can go probably a while without having to dig this out, because it's just going
35:15to keep pushing over.
35:16Yep.
35:18Keeps the hell out of that conveyor, doesn't it?
35:20Yeah, man.
35:21Game changer.
35:27You know, having this dampener plate is actually helping that material level out and feed evenly,
35:32so it's about as good as it's going to get.
35:36Water's way better.
35:37Oh, yeah.
35:37A lot better.
35:38Way better coming down those sluices.
35:42That's working good.
35:43Yeah.
35:43Yeah, it looks pretty good.
35:44Looks better than it did.
35:45It does look good.
35:46See, now it's forcing that material to go under that weir.
35:49Before, it had such a velocity going through that opening that it was just dragging sand.
35:57Right now, you've got a little time left of the season.
35:59Just run as much as you can.
36:00Yeah, that's what we need to do.
36:02Just run, run, run.
36:03Yeah.
36:04If we get, like, a complete six-day weekend...
36:07Oh, yeah.
36:08Oh, my gosh.
36:09That's going to be incredible.
36:11I'm proving that I can do this with gold being so high as it is right now.
36:15Awesome.
36:16Woo-hoo!
36:17I think I could make this a successful mine.
36:20What do you got?
36:21Eight more minutes.
36:22Looks good.
36:23Yeah.
36:24One.
36:25Good job, buddy.
36:27Last bucket!
36:36Looks good, Freddy.
36:36Yeah.
36:39I see gold in here.
36:40There's a bunch in this middle one, too.
36:42Yeah.
36:43Took a lot more consistency than the last cleanup.
36:45Yeah.
36:46For sure.
36:48Yeah.
36:49We can see it in all three boxes instead of just the one.
36:53If you guys want to pull the mats and do a cleanup, then we'll get ready for a gold way
36:57up.
36:57Yeah, let's do it.
36:58Sounds good.
36:58All right, guys.
36:59Let's pull it.
37:03I'm not sure what's going to happen if this doesn't work out.
37:06I'm not sure how long that we can survive.
37:19How's it going, guys?
37:20Got it all done?
37:21Yes, sir.
37:22Got it ready for you.
37:23At the gold room, Chrissy and her crew gather for the results of the one-hour test.
37:29How's it look?
37:30I don't know.
37:31That looks good.
37:31Nice and clean.
37:32You go ahead and pour it, Fred.
37:35See what you got.
37:37To hit their season goal of 350 ounces in the remaining 40 days of the season, they
37:45need to be able to run 10 hours per day, and this test must produce at least .65 of an
37:52ounce.
37:53A half ounce.
37:54There you go.
37:55Uh-huh.
37:56Three quarters of an ounce.
37:58One ounce.
37:59Yeah, yeah.
38:00There we go.
38:01Oh, there it is.
38:01There's 1.18 right there, and I'm going to say we got a quarter of an ounce left.
38:07Excellent.
38:08Let's see what we got.
38:131.57.
38:14There you go.
38:15That's awesome.
38:16All right.
38:16That's really good.
38:17In an hour.
38:18Yeah, yeah.
38:19That's $1,200 an hour more than the first run, first hour run.
38:24A potential of $50,000 a shift.
38:28If Sean and Chrissy run every day, they could nearly double their goal to a $2 million season.
38:36Right there.
38:37That's great.
38:37That's really going to change things.
38:39The biggest thing is, is now you can run without breaking down.
38:42Yeah.
38:43Now, if you can stay on that material, you know, you're making $4,500 an hour right now.
38:47That's awesome, right?
38:48That's fantastic.
38:48You need to do six and a half ounces a day for the last 40 days of the season.
38:54I think this is really going to turn our season around.
38:56It should.
38:56Absolutely.
38:57This morning, you see how much snow is on the mountains.
39:00This time of year, I'd run seven days a week, all the hours you can run.
39:05Yeah.
39:05Your motto for the rest of the season should be run, run, run.
39:10And when you think about stopping, keep running.
39:12There you go.
39:13Thank you so much.
39:14Yes, thank you.
39:15That was amazing working with you guys.
39:16Thank you so much.
39:17Thank you, buddy.
39:17Appreciate it.
39:18You're welcome.
39:19I appreciate it.
39:19Likewise.
39:20Freddie, thank you very much.
39:22Here, you can have the pan.
39:23We'll keep the gold.
39:24Oh, wait.
39:26That pan's worth $4,500.
39:28That's not a good trade.
39:28Not a good trade.
39:30That's a better trade.
39:31Take care, guys.
39:32All right.
39:33See you later.
39:33See you later.
39:36I couldn't have been more pleased with that Goldway.
39:39You know, they may have 30 days left.
39:41They may have 40.
39:42But with the material they're running now, well, they could do it.
39:45So I'm very grateful that Freddie and Juan came out here.
39:49I've got to make this happen for my family.
39:51And we keep saying, run, run, run.
39:53That's what we're going to be saying for the rest of the season.
39:55It changed everything.
39:56You know, we're going to smash that gold 350 now.
39:59No problem.
40:01And definitely get my debt paid.
40:03That 50 grand, I'll be able to keep my passion of gold mining alive.
40:07Now they have a consistent plan.
40:09Instead of just running one hour, they can run 10 hours.
40:11I'm excited for them.
40:12Honestly, I'm really proud of what we did here.
40:14And it's a big win.
40:28With the fixes that Freddie and Juan did, we did increase our production for sure.
40:34Everything at the wash plant did help capture and we're not losing anything.
40:44This season was a little difficult with history of the mine and history of, you know, my husband was supposed
40:50to be up there.
40:50We've held onto this for so long that this is going to happen.
40:57Unfortunately, we had a false weather freeze out and we weren't able to process anymore.
41:03Our building wasn't insulated.
41:10We got 247.7 ounces, a little short of our 350 goal.
41:16We did get things paid and Sean got his money paid back to us, the loan back to us.
41:21We got all the operation costs taken care of and everyone left with a little bold in their pocket.
41:26So it was a good season.
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