- 22 hours ago
Gold Rush: Alaska - Season 16 - Episode 15: Trommel Around and Find Out
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00:18I'm turning beast world at the moment.
00:21Things are actually going really well.
00:24I bought a new washing machine.
00:26You know, them things are produced, like,
00:28it washes, and it dries.
00:30So that means you come home at night,
00:33you throw your in the washing machine,
00:35next morning you wake up, bingo.
00:37There it is, super clean, nice and dry.
00:40Awesome.
00:42You mean a poor guy like me only got one set of pants.
00:45Well, you may not believe that,
00:47but I only have one set of pants here.
00:49One of these days I have to buy new pants
00:51because I'm going to run around without.
00:54So let's get some gold out of the ground
00:56so Tony Beetz can buy a new set of pants.
00:59King of the Klondike, Tony Beetz is riding high.
01:0414 weeks in, he's pulled in over $17 million in gold,
01:11enough to buy a lot of pants.
01:14My gold this season, I was going for about 6,500 ounces.
01:19The Indians are running 24-7,
01:21banging away every day.
01:24There's no nice in sight,
01:25and I have a couple of sluice plants that's banging away,
01:28washing gravel.
01:31All of Tony's gold is coming from his two wash plants,
01:36running 24-7 on his Indian River claim.
01:40But at his Paradise Hill operation,
01:43the Trommel, his big moneymaker, is at a standstill.
01:48I still got to get this whole thing set up.
01:51And youngest son Mike hasn't run a yard through it all season.
01:56If I could, I'd be a sluice two months ago.
01:59But my dad takes away a lot of my time
02:01doing a lot of other .
02:03Mike's whining.
02:05He's been one step forward,
02:06two steps back for some reason lately.
02:09So that's certainly like the foils my opinion,
02:12so to speak.
02:14I have to go down there for a couple of days,
02:16give him a hand to get going.
02:30Hey, young lady, how are you?
02:31I'm good, what are you doing here?
02:34Check on the Trommel.
02:37See why it ain't turning.
02:39Yeah, no, he's working on it and just let him be
02:41and just let him figure it out himself.
02:43I'm just kind of wondering, things are moving along here.
02:45Can't keep supporting it, so to speak.
02:47No.
02:49Gotta go, right?
02:52If he'll leave Mike to it, he will get it done.
02:55Just let him be for now.
02:58He has to learn somehow.
03:00So then if I can't bother him,
03:01whoever I'm gonna bother around to you.
03:03Not me.
03:05I'm busy, man.
03:08Okay.
03:11I'll go back to the Indian.
03:13Okay, drive carefully.
03:14Give me a shout when it starts rolling around, all right?
03:17Oh, I will.
03:18Perfect. Good.
03:19Okay.
03:19Later, lady.
03:20Bye.
03:24Sometimes Mike makes a decision and Antonia rolls in
03:27and he changes it.
03:29And that's really hard.
03:30I mean, it would piss me off to tell you the truth.
03:35I would like Mike to be his own boss.
03:37Have his own claims, have his own equipment,
03:40have his own people.
03:42That's what I would love to see.
03:43Just like Kevin.
03:46Mike really wants to impress his father
03:48and that's sometimes a little hard.
03:55If everything were to go my way,
03:56I actually will be solution in three days.
03:59Mike has been battling all season to get the trommel going
04:03with a skeleton crew.
04:07With the maintenance completed,
04:09he just needs to put all the parts together
04:12and fire it up.
04:18About time we get this conveyor in, eh?
04:20We'll lift it over there with the pipe layer
04:22and we'll see if we can get that thing sitting flat and straight.
04:25Because then once we get that in place,
04:27all we have to do is get something to hold that hopper in
04:30and then this whole section is done.
04:32To get the trommel running,
04:34Mike first needs to install a 100-foot conveyor,
04:39using a pipe layer to lift it into position
04:41at the trommel's pre-wash.
04:44Then, using a pair of dozers,
04:48he'll lift and push the 30-ton hopper feeder into position,
04:53perfectly aligning it with the conveyor.
04:56Next, he'll connect the water pipeline
04:59and finally fire up.
05:06Up. Watch your fingers.
05:13Spin.
05:17Stop.
05:18The cable just slipped along the top ring.
05:22Walk forward a bit.
05:26Put it down.
05:29Okay.
05:30How does it look on your end?
05:32Oh, yeah, it's good.
05:33Yeah, it's lined up.
05:35Hey, guys, be careful. She's coming down.
05:38Perfect.
05:44Now we just gotta drag the hopper in.
05:54Okay, start lifting.
06:05Excellent.
06:06Now start walking.
06:14A little bit to your left.
06:20Straighten out a bit.
06:26Stop.
06:27Stop.
06:28Now the thing's dragging in the ground.
06:31Oh, me.
06:33Zach, you're gonna have to lift it up a bit.
06:39Slowly forward.
06:44You just don't have enough height.
06:46I gotta force the issue.
06:49Lending goblin.
06:50Front up that 980.
06:51Try to pick it up some more.
07:04Excellent.
07:07Now start turning to your left.
07:12That's good.
07:14It looks pretty f***ing straight.
07:27I'm dead on.
07:29It's nice when I can do it my way.
07:31Celebrate your small victories, because they're f***ing few and far in between.
07:44Hey, ma.
07:45Hey.
07:47That's a sight for sore eyes.
07:49Yes.
07:51Went in real smooth.
07:53Both the conveyor and the f***ing hopper.
07:55Nice.
07:55Nice, nice, nice.
07:56This looks good.
07:58Yeah.
07:58So when do you think you're gonna sluice?
08:01If it goes the way I planned, three days.
08:03Hopper, conveyor are done.
08:05I just gotta finish off the suction, and we're done.
08:21We're not quite getting where we need to be.
08:24It's not gonna be popular with everybody, but I'm just thinking we're gonna have to start putting in some longer
08:27shifts.
08:28That's the only way we're gonna get to five weeks of sluice, and that's about what we're gonna need.
08:31Yeah.
08:31I wish I had better news, but I know you can make it happen, so let's f***ing do it, right?
08:35Yep.
08:36Yep.
08:36We'll try our best, and f***ing.
08:38We'll go from there.
08:39You'll get it done.
08:39All right, brother.
08:40Thanks, man.
08:40Yep.
08:50Hey, rock truck drivers, you guys got a copy?
08:53Go ahead.
08:54Yeah, I just spoke to Rick.
08:55We're gonna have to do about 1,800 loads a week, because that's about 100 loads each for you boys.
08:59Oh, f***.
09:02At this point in the season, we've got 500 ounces of gold.
09:05That's nowhere near our 1,800 ounces, so we've got a long way to go, and I'm feeling the pressure
09:10right now.
09:11I mean, we're running out of time.
09:12Rick Ness is trying to dig himself out of a hole by digging the biggest hole of his life.
09:21Three and a half months into the season, he's mined a quarter of his 1,800 ounce gold and still
09:28has no gold coming in.
09:31We've got a hell of a lot of dirt to move out here when we're going that deep, and not
09:35a whole lot of time to do it.
09:36To get the gold flowing, Rick and his crew are on an epic mission to dig down 120 feet to
09:45hit pay at the bottom of his enormous new cut, Valhalla.
09:50And they need to do it in less than a month.
09:54As far as I'm concerned, this is our best shot.
09:56We just need to get everybody on the same page, everybody moving smooth, and that's what we'll get.
10:00We need about 1,800 trucks per week, which is, with three trucks, it's about 100 loads a day per
10:04truck.
10:06At the top of Valhalla, Rick has one excavator loading three rock trucks with worthless overburden.
10:14The trucks must then climb a steep 30-degree incline to the top of the valley's ridge.
10:21Then, journey a mile along a rough dirt road, past their camp and old Raleigh Valley Cut, to dump the
10:31dirt off a 200-foot-high cliff into a waste pile, before looping back to Valhalla to do it all
10:39over again.
10:42Now, Rick has tasked each truck driver to make the eight-minute trip a hundred times a day.
10:50Well, load one of like a thousand.
10:53It's going to be a long day.
10:55my life.
10:58Yee-haw.
11:17It's definitely going to be hard on everyone.
11:19You know, no one's going to want to sit on a truck, you know, all day long.
11:22Rick is worried that we're going to run out of time to meet our goals, but I'm more worried people
11:28are going to fatigue out.
11:29Well, I'll just have to suck it up and push through it.
11:33This really sucks, but what are we going to do?
11:36I want to get the gold, so if that's how we get there, then that's how we get there.
11:57Guy is typically the fastest one out of all of us.
12:01He's just being a little too impatient for the process.
12:06We're trying to speed up the process here.
12:09You know, if we don't speed up and keep the overburden coming out as fast as we can, you know,
12:13we're never going to get through it.
12:15Obviously, I'm not the new guy anymore, so hopefully Chris can keep up with the pace.
12:21I'm a slow old man because I don't like to beat the hell out of my body.
12:24I could be a bit faster, but I'm not going to be rushing around like a chicken with my head
12:30cut off.
12:31It's just starting to get annoying.
12:34Steady is smooth and smooth is fast.
12:39My driving is not an issue. There's a reason I'm lapping people.
12:48This is stupid.
12:58Come on, Chris.
13:01Kai is annoying as . He thinks he knows what he's doing, but whatever.
13:07Normally, I'd be going in for a shower right now.
13:12I'm full of dust and sweat.
13:15Really wishing we weren't working right now.
13:17Come on, Chris.
13:19You're taking forever.
13:27The do you think you're doing? For sakes.
13:40We got 100 loads to do. You're slowing me down.
13:43We still got to do it safely. You can't just cut corners. You're going to get someone killed.
13:51I get that we're all tired, but man, you can't just sneak in behind someone.
13:55Hurry up.
13:56Hey, what's going on?
13:58This idiot whips in behind me while I'm trying to back up to the dump.
14:02I don't want to kill the kid.
14:04He's just slowing me down.
14:05All right. All right. All right. Enough.
14:06Chris, you take a little break.
14:08Clear your head.
14:09I'll drive your truck for a while.
14:10Kid, man.
14:11Yeah, whatever.
14:13Dumb as .
14:19Kids, man.
14:30Chris and Kai almost got into it.
14:31They had a bit of a meltdown.
14:32I get it, man.
14:33Everybody's just pushed to their limits.
14:35It means that they give a .
14:37They're all working, you know, extra hours to make this happen.
14:41And having a truck down one day can erase all of that work.
14:44So I'll get in here and do it.
14:46You know what I mean?
14:46It ain't my favorite thing to do anymore, but it's something that's got to be done.
14:51With a small crew, we definitely all have to get along.
14:55We can't, you know, be down each other's throats all the time.
14:59Hopefully, Chris and Kai can, you know, get over their little thing and move on from it and keep doing
15:04their job.
15:06It's nice to see someone else in a truck.
15:09You're never too good for a truck out here.
15:10I've learned that in a long time.
15:18I'm stalling out on this hill.
15:19He loaded me up good.
15:29I'm kind of running out of fuel on this hill.
15:31I'm right in the way.
15:32Um, what the?
15:34What the ?
15:36Do you think maybe dump that load there, Rick?
15:38And I'll spread it out.
15:40All right.
15:40I'll offload it and hopefully I can get to the fuel tank first thing runs out.
15:45Dude, it's over a decade I can't read a fuel gauge.
15:53Got Rick just to dump his load here.
15:55Uh, kind of when the trucks are coming out, they're having a little difficult time.
15:59Coming up out of this slope.
16:04I feel pretty dumb running out of fuel right away like that.
16:08Trying to help out.
16:09I'm stalling things.
16:11I can't get this fuel cap on.
16:18Great start.
16:20Fueled up, Rick gets back hauling dirt, chasing his 100 load a day target.
16:30Mistakes like that are killing me and I tend to make them when I'm stressed out.
16:34It almost seems like an impossible task, but they've done it before.
16:36We'll do it again.
16:38Seems like a long ways, but I know we'll get there.
17:00I'm static.
17:04Nothing like holding your new baby girl in your arms.
17:08Kind of heart-wrenching leaving home.
17:10Come back up here.
17:12After eight weeks away for the birth of his daughter, Buzz Legault is returning to Kevin
17:18Beat's claim.
17:20It's going to be interesting to see how far along Kevin and Faith got.
17:23I'm not sure what I'm coming back into.
17:25You know, to get this new family, you know.
17:28That 2,000-ounce goal is more important than ever.
17:33Looking forward to making a paycheck again.
17:37There we are, back to camp.
17:39Look at that.
17:40Kevin and Faith haven't seen him in a freaking couple months.
17:43Hello there.
17:44Hey, guys.
17:45How the hell's it going?
17:48You finally made it.
17:49Hey.
17:51Fill us in.
17:52How's the baby?
17:54No.
17:56Aw.
17:56That's a cute little baby.
17:58That's her favourite spot right there.
18:00Ilona.
18:01That's a pretty name.
18:02It was tough leaving.
18:04But I'm going to support that little girl.
18:06Even more reason why we're going to hit that 2,000-ounce goal.
18:10I agree.
18:11Let's go for a little drive.
18:13I can show you what we've done, what needs doing, and get you to her.
18:16Oh, .
18:23We finished up the pyramid cut.
18:25Moved upstream, what we're calling it the Sphinx Cut.
18:30Keeping that cat and Egyptian theme kind of going.
18:40So all this plant been running.
18:42So right now we don't really have enough pay going to the plant to keep it running 24-7.
18:47We don't have enough pay exposed.
18:50So right now we're down on days.
18:53That definitely sucks.
18:57Yeah.
18:59So we really got to get the plant back up and running 24-7 so that we can hit it.
19:05Yeah.
19:06Yeah.
19:07Yeah.
19:07Yeah.
19:08Yeah.
19:09I mean over halfway through the season and not halfway through the goal total yet.
19:12A little stressful.
19:14Yeah, it kind of sucks.
19:15All right.
19:17I guess we should stop standing around.
19:20Get everyone on stripping.
19:22That way we can get a pay mountain again and go 24 hours again.
19:27Let's make this s**t happen.
19:30Second year mine boss Kevin Beetz is playing catch up.
19:35He's 1500 ounces short of his goal.
19:39And his small crew don't have the manpower to dig enough pay in the gold rich Sphinx Cut to run
19:46the plant 24-7.
19:50Now Buzz is back, Kevin's tasked him with building a massive pay pile and getting back to sluicing around the
19:59clock in the hope of a big gold haul this week.
20:03Get a pattern.
20:04Let's get the f**king out of it.
20:07Great time for Buzz to get back.
20:09Having him in the 480 is really going to help.
20:11It's good to have the team back together.
20:15The plant isn't running because they got no pay.
20:18What the f**k have they been doing the whole time it was gone?
20:22I definitely thought we'd be a lot further on it in this cut.
20:27I've seen Tony do cuts twice the size of this in a quarter of the time.
20:33You can definitely tell that Kevin's not his father.
20:40Tony is a man of action.
20:43This is definitely a whole different game working with Kevin.
20:48I don't think there's enough happening here.
20:51The only f**king thing that should be urgent on a f**king mine site is that that plant does not stop
20:56f**king running.
20:5724 hours a day, 7 days a week, and f**king the entire f**king mining season.
21:03It's the only way we're going to hit our 2,000 ounce goal.
21:12Man, this f**king sucks.
21:16Those ground are frozen.
21:18This is a joke.
21:27This is a joke.
21:29At Scribner Creek, Buzz is trying to build a massive pay pile to get Kevin running 24-7.
21:38But he's hit frozen pay, stopping him cold.
21:42F**k.
21:45There's a f**king chill right from the start.
21:48This clean-up bucket isn't penetrating worth a f**k.
21:52I need a digging bucket. This is not going to work.
21:55I need teeth.
21:58The clean-up bucket's straight cutting edge is built for scraping thawed pay from bedrock.
22:05To dig up the frozen ground, Buzz needs a bucket with bite.
22:20F**king fix.
22:27Well, this is the bucket I need. This one with the teeth on it. It's a f**king toothless one there.
22:33Well, it's a little work.
22:37Checks out.
22:38F**k.
22:41That's a f**k.
22:43This bucket just cracked here.
22:46Cracked over here.
22:48F**k me.
22:51Cracks in a f**king pretty important place.
22:54All these years, it holds the bucket on the machine, so...
23:01To weld it back together, it's a f**king half day's worth of work, at least, if not more.
23:08Kevin, you got a copy on me, Kevin?
23:11Go for Kevin.
23:12I was just looking over this bucket here.
23:15It's hacked on both sides.
23:17Pulling it in the house, that's something we could use, eh?
23:20I think our best bet is to weld it up as quick as possible.
23:24If you can blow through this by end of the day, preferably.
23:29F**k sakes.
23:50F**k sakes.
23:53Done.
23:54Put in a whole bunch of welding around there.
23:57Same on this side here.
24:06F**k sakes.
24:08Now that's all.
24:09It's time to move some pay.
24:12Let's get this f**k show out in the go.
24:17It's time to get some pay up to that plant and get that f**k running.
24:24Oh, yeah.
24:25That's going to be better.
24:26Hell, yeah.
24:28Perfect.
24:30It's not always a f**king nice having this digger bucket on here.
24:34It's definitely making the depth in this material.
24:37It's ripping through pretty nicely.
24:39After half a day of welding, Buzz can finally get to digging the frozen pay, loading trucks, and building up
24:47the pay pile.
24:49We might be able to get that plant up and running here before we know it.
24:52Hit that 2,000-ounce goal.
25:03Perfect.
25:07Perfect.
25:10F**k, yeah.
25:17F**k, yeah.
25:18Kevin, man.
25:18Can you get a coffee on me, Kevin?
25:19Go for Kevin.
25:22PayPal's looking great.
25:24I think we should fire up this plant and start putting some gold in the box.
25:29That's great.
25:30Let's fire it up and get back to her.
25:32F**k, yeah.
25:35Got a bit of a stockpile going again, so hopefully we can sleuth 24 hours a day and keep running.
25:59Just one day after returning, Buzz has Kevin's operation back sluicing around the clock.
26:14Hey, Buzz.
26:15That looks like you got a f**k going.
26:17Yeah.
26:19Well done, Buzz.
26:19Clacking back.
26:21Glad to be back, man.
26:3040 miles away.
26:39Kevin's brother, Mike, is also pushing hard to make up for lost time.
26:54Mike, we got water up here.
26:56Excellent, excellent.
26:58Got water. Let's go see if we can sleuth.
27:03To prove himself to his dad and have a chance of running his own claim, Mike must first get his
27:11trommel on the gold.
27:13It might actually happen today.
27:22It's over in paradise. It's time to get our s**t together. I need to f**king going today.
27:28Nearly four months into the season, Mike's finally ready to fire up.
27:34And he's called in his family to mark the big occasion.
27:40Thank you. It's the day.
27:44Yeah, finally get to see this whole f**king go.
27:46Mike, you're about to sleuths!
27:48Yes!
27:49Woo!
27:51Okay.
27:52Ready to roll?
27:53Yeah.
27:53Fire the f**king thing up. Let's go.
27:56It'll be good to see this thing start rolling.
27:59I'd love to see it.
28:01That'll be good.
28:03Okay.
28:03Okay.
28:12Get the f**k on him.
28:20Ow!
28:20I forgot how loud that thing is.
28:30Water, please. Water, please.
28:48There's no f**king good.
28:53Where all that s**t came from?
28:56Is there no f**king good?
29:04I'm taking water.
29:06Oh!
29:07Dumb .
29:08What?
29:10Get her off.
29:11Are you kidding me?
29:14Holy stupid .
29:20What's going on?
29:36At Paradise Hill, seconds after firing up for the first time this season, Mike has shut
29:44down his trauma.
29:45Not enough water?
29:46Ain't none.
29:47None?
29:49What happened?
29:50No water in the field.
29:53No water is reaching the pre-wash, causing dry dirt to pile up in the trommel and back
29:59up into the feed conveyor.
30:02Close the bypass a little bit.
30:04Close that one a little bit.
30:05Good.
30:06Good.
30:07Open and close that well, I'll do it myself.
30:14Oh, you weren't pulling hard enough.
30:15That's the problem.
30:17There you go.
30:19Oh, .
30:21Keep it open.
30:22That's going on my social media.
30:24Mike, go.
30:24I'll add it back up.
30:30I hate this sometimes.
30:36For some reason, there was no water going into the chute, so then it filled up with dirt.
30:42Mike shut it off, and then they finally got water to go through.
30:56Mike!
30:57Now, that bell shut off because it piled up.
31:03Mike!
31:12Now, that bell shut off because it piled up.
31:14I had it hit.
31:14Nothing happened.
31:15Just do it.
31:17Fine.
31:24Oh, .
31:26It stopped for some reason.
31:31Why in the .
31:33Michael.
31:34What?
31:34We don't have enough rollers in there.
31:36You see the bell set?
31:38Pinces in between that roller.
31:40Ain't gonna cut it.
31:41We gotta put six rollers in.
31:45So, I mean, what the .
31:46Well, to be fair, we didn't look.
31:48We thought Len got it, right?
31:48Anyway, let's not blame anybody.
31:50This is your party.
31:51Eh.
31:54You got some of these guys to shuffle it out.
31:56Other thing they're gonna have to do.
31:59It doesn't look to me that nobody greased these things.
32:02Especially the ones up on top.
32:03I didn't see no grease there.
32:05The top bearings, the bottom bearings, these bearings, those bearings.
32:08Every bearing.
32:09Did you guys grease those up there back in front?
32:11If someone did mention, I think Len said.
32:13Oh, I don't care.
32:14Go grease everything once more.
32:15There's a chipping hammer laying down there.
32:17So, there you go.
32:18She's your party, young fella.
32:21I can't stand looking at them.
32:23This is about time that we get going around there.
32:45Tony retreats to Indian River to keep the family's only source of gold flowing.
32:51Leaving Mike to order the missing rollers and get the trommel fit for purpose.
32:58No, off right away.
33:01That whole thing was a nightmare.
33:03Like a pain in my ass.
33:06He's frustrated.
33:07He's very frustrated.
33:08It's kind of too bad.
33:09I was looking forward to seeing him at all.
33:12He's been having troubles all year.
33:14It's just one more thing, I guess.
33:17Hopefully, tomorrow's another day.
33:18And if not, there's the next and the next and the next.
33:24Everything keeps going wrong.
33:25Constantly, no matter what I seem to do, doesn't want to work.
33:50This loop is bad.
33:52It's hard on the trucks.
33:53It's hard on the people.
33:54I mean, these trucks are going to be not taking too much more of this abuse.
33:57At Valhalla, Rick is still pulling his weight in the rock truck, helping his crew to hit 1,800 truckloads
34:06a week and get to pay in less than a month.
34:10Nah, I got a lot more respect for everybody else now after a day like that.
34:15Holy , man.
34:16You got to do it every now and then to appreciate what everybody's going through, I guess.
34:20It's a long shift.
34:22Yeah, definitely, it sucks to be a rock truck driver.
34:25I'm going to have to figure something out for real.
34:27Like, this is not sustainable.
34:32Ah.
34:35That's bull .
34:39Oh.
34:43What did we do?
34:45Well, I know firsthand now, just after doing that loop, it's bad.
34:48And, yeah, we got to change it.
34:49We're never going to hit any 200 loads like that.
34:52I'm loading them as quick as I can.
34:54They're trying to get, you know, back as quick as they can.
34:56But you got two choices, more trucks or a closer dump site.
35:00Yeah.
35:00Well, more trucks would be great, but that's a little out of our lead.
35:03Yeah.
35:05The only other thing we have is our old dump site.
35:08But we left that because there's a big high point here around it.
35:13Maybe we could cut a new road just a straight shot.
35:16Yeah.
35:16Try to cut some corners.
35:18Yeah, get them on a straight shot there while they're loaded.
35:21And then they can turn around and come and make that loop back.
35:23Yeah.
35:23That's easily got to cut it in half.
35:25And that's what we're going to need to be able to hit 1,800 loads a week.
35:29Rick's current route to the waste site is taking too long.
35:34He's identified a closer dump site near Vegas Valley, just 500 feet from Valhalla.
35:41But it only has one road to get in and out.
35:46To make a safe one-way loop, Rick must dig a steep path through the trees directly to the waste
35:54pile,
35:54sending the empty trucks uphill and the loaded trucks downhill, saving fuel and time.
36:05Hopefully by shortening the rounds for these trucks and then getting a good dump site here a lot closer,
36:09this is going to make all the difference that we need.
36:11There we go.
36:13Now we're getting somewhere.
36:17While Rick works on a new path,
36:22Chris and Kai keep moving dirt.
36:26Today is another beautiful Yukon day.
36:28This whole thing with Kai, like, things were a little heated,
36:31but, like, I don't hold anything against Kai.
36:34We're all just a little tired.
36:36Yeah, you know, we just need to forget what happened and move on,
36:39and we just need to get done.
36:43Rick's over there making a new access road so we can get a shorter haul,
36:46so I'm super excited for that.
36:48This closer dump site is definitely going to help us get, you know,
36:51the material out of here a lot quicker, get the trucks moving,
36:53a lot more loads.
36:55It's just going to speed up everything.
36:57We should be able to get down to pay a lot sooner.
37:04After putting the finishing touches to the road,
37:08Rick's small crew can start hauling overburden to the new dump site,
37:12giving them a fighting chance of hitting 1,800 loads a week.
37:18For the trucks, we've got a pretty steep downhill for the loaded ones,
37:21and then a nice gradual, you know, going back up ramp for the unloaded ones,
37:26just so it's keep the speed up and save a lot of money on fuel for sure.
37:32Hey, hey, truck drivers, the new dump site's ready,
37:34so why don't you go ahead and start taking that new road?
37:36Let's see how this works out.
37:38Yeah, sounds good.
37:44Here we go.
37:53Hey!
37:55Ah, it is perfect.
37:58It's looking great.
37:59It'll keep the traffic flowing a lot better,
38:01and we won't be holding each other up,
38:04so that we can get down to pay as fast as we can.
38:22Everything's definitely a lot better for the trucks.
38:25At Valhalla, Rick's trucking crew have been dumping at the new waste site for two days.
38:33You know, we did cut the time, you know, quite a bit.
38:36It's about six minutes for a round trip,
38:38instead of, you know, between eight and ten minutes.
38:41Hopefully, we can move quite a bit dirtier.
38:44Rick's crew have been hauling around the clock,
38:47trying to hit Rick's 1,800 truckload a week target.
38:52Honestly, this week has been one of the hardest weeks I've had this season.
38:57Chris and Kai almost got into it.
38:59You know, they had a bit of a meltdown.
39:00Everybody's just, you know, pushed to their limits.
39:13Hey, Bailey, you got a copy down there?
39:15Yeah, go ahead for Bailey.
39:17So, how are we looking there, buddy?
39:18Did we get our 1,800 loads this week, or what?
39:23We're about 1,745.
39:27No.
39:27Just 55 truckloads short of the target, Rick's crew have shifted a colossal 70,000 tons of overburden this week.
39:36That's a hell of a jump from where we were at.
39:39You know, you guys pushed it hard.
39:40I saw it all weekend.
39:42You're damn close.
39:42So, I'm happy with it.
39:44Yeah, Ricky.
39:45We'll get to her here sometime.
39:47Thanks, Rick.
39:48It makes all these long hours in this truck worth it.
39:51So, yeah, you know, we're all tired, but it'll be all worth it once we get down to the bottom.
39:58Rick's crew still have another 80 feet to go before they hit pay in Valhalla, fire up Monster Red, and
40:07start bringing in gold.
40:14We've got a lot stacked up against us right now, but we still have time, I think.
40:20It's going fast, but I think we have the time to get this done.
40:24It's all or nothing.
40:25If we don't get any gold out of this by the end of the year, I don't think we're coming
40:28back, because, yeah.
40:30I'll have well over a million bucks in this to strip it, and we need to make that back.
40:56Oh, hey, Buzz.
40:58Hey, Buzz.
40:59Hey, guys, how's it going?
41:00Not too bad.
41:01That's good.
41:02That's good.
41:02How she goes?
41:04It's nice to be back.
41:05Just tough being away from, you know, after spending all that time with her.
41:12I can imagine.
41:13Well, we've got something to look forward to as soon as the season's done.
41:16That's great.
41:17Nothing but smile when you come through the door again.
41:20Hopefully it's a pile of gold.
41:23Yeah, it kind of sucks that we couldn't run throughout the day, because we didn't have enough pay.
41:27That definitely sucks, especially this time of the season.
41:30Is it?
41:31I mean, other than that, we're at the spot where it's starting to come out pretty nice, so hopefully
41:35we'll get what we need to get in the coming weeks.
41:39Hopefully.
41:39Mm-hmm.
41:41So why don't we weigh it up and figure out how much we got?
41:44To get back on track for their 2,000-ounce target, Kevin and Faith need their last three weeks
41:51of sluicing to deliver 450 ounces.
41:57One, two, four, six, eight, 22, 30, 40, 60, 70, whoop!
42:07And we're about 105, 110, 120, 60, 186, 187, 187.270.
42:24Worth $655,000, bringing their total to 769 ounces.
42:33Where our gold this year was 2,000 ounces.
42:35We're already past halfway through the season.
42:37We're not even close to halfway through our gold totals.
42:40So we kind of need to pull something somewhere.
42:45I mean, obviously, if we could go during day shift, we would have gotten more, but hopefully
42:50it just picks up from here, so.
42:52That's what I hope, too.
42:53The plant is still running.
42:54Yeah.
42:55Right?
42:55It's running around the clock.
42:57The pay is still moving, so.
42:59Yeah.
42:59Maybe down or not out, that's for sure.
43:03All right.
43:04All we need is one nice pocket.
43:06We do need that nice pocket.
43:08Yeah.
43:08Right.
43:09We ain't making nothing happen sitting here talking about it, so.
43:12I'm going to get to work, eh?
43:14Probably should get back to it.
43:16Maybe better.
43:18Let's roll out, I guess.
43:20Allons-y!
43:22I mean, it is great to have Buzz back.
43:24He has definitely helped us get our pay pile back up to a point where we can do day and
43:29nights, which is going to help, because, well, as good as that was for a few weeks of
43:34running, we do need to be bringing in more gold.
43:40Nice to see gold coming in.
43:44Numbers are kind of low, though.
43:48Just got to keep that plant rolling and hope the girl keeps on paying.
43:55I left my freaking wife and kid behind to come and work, so.
43:59Just hoping this works out.
44:13Do you want to hear my best joke?
44:15Sure.
44:16It was a good joke.
44:17What do you call a hen who counts her eggs?
44:20Why not?
44:21A Mathematikin.
44:28I was looking for a smile, that's all I was looking for.
44:33So, what's happening at the Indian?
44:35The Indian running 24-7, banging away every day.
44:40Both plants?
44:40Both plants, day and night.
44:42So, there is no letting up.
44:44Like, at the gold price we have today, life is good.
44:47That's good.
44:50So, Mike, it kind of sucked when we went to fire up.
44:53The trauma happened.
44:55Oh, there's the rollers.
44:57We should have saw that one coming, but we're just trying to get it going.
45:01Yeah.
45:02So, hopefully this will be the last issue with the rollers.
45:05One would hope.
45:07It's just a constant thing of finding the next problem until we run out of problems fixed.
45:12F*** around.
45:12F*** around.
45:13At some point, the horse has got to run out, Mike.
45:15I mean, that's just all that's to it.
45:16Yep.
45:17Line up.
45:17Let's get on it, Mike.
45:19You'll get it to work.
45:21I have faith in you.
45:23But, anyway, whatever.
45:24For once and for all, get it done and over with.
45:29Well, I think we've talked about dirt enough.
45:31Why don't we weigh up the actual stuff we care about?
45:34First up, gold from Indian River's corner cut.
45:38Okay.
45:38Last border.
45:4110, 20, 30, 40.
45:45Slusalot's been averaging 294 ounces a week this season.
45:49160, 170, 180, 210, 20, 50, 258.92.
45:59Worth over $900,000.
46:04A little less, eh?
46:05I mean, one section of the cut is always better than the other.
46:09It is just, you know what, it is not distributed evenly.
46:12So, you're going to have your highs and lows.
46:15It is on the end of the day, what was your average?
46:17That's where it comes in, you know?
46:19So.
46:21All right.
46:22Time for find-a-lot.
46:24See what she did?
46:25Hi.
46:26Time to find out of find-a-lot, found-a-lot.
46:28You didn't have enough?
46:29You didn't have enough.
46:31Oh, I got to count.
46:32I thought it was about 20, 30, 40, 50, 60.
46:35Find-a-lot is also running corner cut pay, and last week brought in 238 ounces.
46:43160, 170, 190, 200, 210, 220, 240, 250, 260, 270, 278.40.
46:54All in, Tony's banked $1.9 million this week, bringing the beets total to 5,432 ounces, just
47:07a thousand short of their season goal.
47:11.
47:11A ton of money.
47:12That's a lot of money.
47:14Oh, I'm pretty happy with it.
47:16.
47:16Yeah.
47:17You go back in the thrommel, Mike?
47:19Get that thing sorted out, guy?
47:20And then we'll head back to the Indian, Monica, huh?
47:23Right?
47:23Sounds good.
47:24Let's see what kind of fires we got to kill down there.
47:27Yep.
47:29I think you put them out.
47:30I don't think you'd kill a fire.
47:32Huh?
47:32I don't know either.
47:34Pretty sure he starts them.
47:36I think so, too.
47:37Is that like fighting fire with fire type thing, or?
47:39Well, it works.
47:41See you guys later.
47:42See you guys later.
47:45Until I get that trauma going, my dad is going to be a nightmare.
47:51Either he takes charge, or he lets me take charge.
47:55That's what I find frustrating.
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