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Gold Rush Mine Rescue with Freddy and Juan S06E11 Forty Days to Fail or Fortune
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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 at a week. I just spotted a huge problem, guys. Could be
01:02a season
01:02industry. 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 hardest
01:23places 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.
01:37Hi. Good to see you. Good to see you guys. Freddy. Sean. Nice to meet you. Christine. Nice to meet
01:43you. So how's it going?
01:45Well, we're having our struggles. Good struggles. We've only ran 36 days. You've only ran 36 days, huh?
01:50You broke down a lot then. On and off for about five months. Lots of breakdowns. What have been your
01:56main
01:57issues as far as breakdowns go? Everything has been from one end to the other. It's cost employees,
02:04help, friendships. It's been a real heartache. Never really had frustrations this bad. But on top of
02:10that, when we drove in, it was a little snowy, so. The trees are changing colors, so that's as mining
02:14season up here is coming to an end. Yeah. You know, it may not seem like a whole lot, but,
02:18you know,
02:19genuinely, when you don't have a whole lot of time left, you know, it could be a big hurdle. That
02:22is true.
02:23That's part of our struggle as well. We're running out of time. Originally a family business,
02:29Chrissy has taken over running the 3,000-acre Willow Creek mine. The plan was for my husband
02:35and I to run the mine and have our family here. Things happened. He passed away.
02:46Chrissy never got an opportunity to do anything with her husband on this mine,
02:50and they just kind of let everything go dormant. Her and I crossed paths and struck a deal,
02:56and here I am. My relationship with Sean is like a brother-sister kind of relationship.
03:03We kind of joke about that. He's great. His family's great.
03:08Almost 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 and
03:16then let you come and help. Ooh, that's a pretty one. That's a nice one.
03:20Or be any part of what they're doing. All right, I'm sticking it in my pocket. Don't let me forget.
03:25But for Sean, this season isn't just critical. Failure could end his mining career for good.
03:34I always had a passion for gold, so that led me to chase the dream.
03:41Mining has put a strain on my family. I've lost quite a bit of money in the past,
03:46you 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 that you're pulling out of the ground up here that we can look
04:01at?
04:01Yes, sir.
04:04Combination of chunky and fine, huh? Beautiful.
04:08Yeah. Chunky and fine gold indicates multiple events on the land. A high potential target if
04:15the 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.
04:22Well, what's your goal for this season? We really need probably around 350.
04:27Well, 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 winter comes quick,
04:35right? Yes, sir. You probably only have 40 days left.
04:38To help them run consistently, a rescue must increase production to at least 6.5 ounces a day
04:46to stand any hope of hitting their goal. What's been your best day?
04:50Uh, we had a day where we got nine ounces out of a thousand tons,
04:54uh, but we haven't been able to do that since. So that tells us that there is some spotty ground
04:58here. So 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.
05:06Because if gold was everywhere, it wouldn't be worth anything.
05:09True. What have you invested so far?
05:12I got a startup $50,000 on this. And who loaned you that money?
05:17Chrissy did. Okay.
05:20Well, 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. And 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. The frustration levels are very high. For me,
05:38we've been broke down more than we've been able to run. Well, you know what we like to do is
05:42typically
05:42we want to watch a test run and go from there. So we can kind of assess what's going on
05:46and figure out
05:46what we can do to help you. Okay? Sounds great. Thank you.
05:50Right off the get-go, they seem like really nice people. But, you know, I think they might be a
05:53little unrealistic with some of their goals right now. So they definitely need some help.
05:57I'm not 100% sure if their goal is really, you know, obtainable.
06:01Fire it up.
06:08Let's do it. Start the gin.
06:10The crew, led by Sean, includes Chrissy's cousin, Dan, and contractor, Izzy Kaya.
06:19Start a timer.
06:23Holy . Shut it down.
06:26Oh!
06:34Are 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. Unbelievable.
06:47Not good.
06:49Oh, man.
06:50One of the clamps came apart from one of the water hoses and got a little crazy. So now, once
06:56again,
06:56we're down.
06:59I've been pushed to get gold, but it's not happening because of the breakdowns.
07:04This is going to take forever.
07:06Well, 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, the climate here is the same as call it Alaska.
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, but I can see why they haven't ran a whole lot.
07:25You guys ready to fire up again?
07:34Oh, there we go.
07:37Hopefully, we can get a bucket in there now.
07:4030 minutes later, first bucket.
07:43Yep.
07:44Pay is fed into a 40-foot rotating trommel, where spray bars inside wash the pay from the gravels
07:52into a triple sluice run, where the gold should be recovered. While to save their limited water,
07:59a sand screw separates fine tailings from the snow melt they need to rely on 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 gearbox.
08:29We're lean, lean, lean on water.
08:31Yeah, way lean.
08:33Working at such elevation above the cloud line means the Willow Creek mine
08:38gets just six inches of rain a year 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 ponds 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.
09:15Uh-oh.
09:17Uh-oh.
09:17Too big of rocks going through, man.
09:21Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
09:25It's going to shred this thing.
09:27Oh, get it out of there.
09:30You got to shut down again?
09:32Yeah.
09:36They shut the conveyor off.
09:37Oh, 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.
10:03Shut you down, yeah.
10:04You have multiples throughout a day.
10:05Yeah.
10:06You're losing hours of run time.
10:08Mm-hmm.
10:09And motivation.
10:10Man, this gets old.
10:12This is tiring, man.
10:15That conveyor's not going to last much longer anyways, Freddy.
10:17I think we should 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 a 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.
10:41And that's a safety issue.
10:42This conveyor is not going to make the rest of the season.
10:47I 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, sounds good.
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.
10:59Sounds good.
10:59We'll come up with a game plan.
11:00Sounds good?
11:01Thank you so much.
11:01Thanks, guys.
11:01Appreciate it.
11:04I have a lot of responsibility to make this happen.
11:07My family is relying on me.
11:09But with all the breakdowns, I'm just not sure how much longer we can survive.
11:15Now I see what Sean's up against.
11:17You know, it's frustrating.
11:19And it's really kind of brings the light why he hasn't been able to run all that much.
11:36How's it going, Chrissy?
11:37In Colorado, at the Willow Creek Mine.
11:41Hey, Freddy.
11:41That scared you, did I?
11:42Oh, nope.
11:43I was mesmerized by the table.
11:46Freddy checks in with mine owner, Chrissy, who cleans up the gold from the aborted one-hour test.
11:52There we go.
11:53There's a little bit of gold in it, huh?
11:55A little bit, a little bit.
11:56So what got you into gold mining?
11:59Well, my dad bought into this quite a few years ago, shortly after that.
12:03I was up here with my husband.
12:06We came up, spent a month up here, been surveyed for the whole area here with my dad.
12:12We were going to start a new life, do some gold mining, and unfortunately, my husband passed away.
12:17Massive heart attack.
12:19I'm sorry to hear that.
12:25It's going to be a tough one.
12:30What made me want to be a gold miner was probably just the adventure of it, just coming up here
12:37and learning more about it, and that intrigued me, and so I just got more involved in it.
12:43It's hard being here without my husband being here.
12:48I feel that this is where I'm supposed to be.
12:51Without her husband's help to run the mine, Chrissy nearly abandoned it until Shawn stepped in.
12:58This is where I am, and I'm going to make it happen.
13:00The ultimate dream for this mine is for our family's interest to help make it very successful.
13:07For years to come, everyone recovering gold and being miners.
13:11I think Matt, my husband, would be very proud of what I'm doing today.
13:16I can't do that.
13:21I had to knock the wind out of your sails.
13:23Yeah, it's been difficult at times, but it's good, too, because I know he's watching over us,
13:29and I think he's happy that I'm up here.
13:32Yeah, I bet he is.
13:35I want to do better, bigger things with this mine.
13:38Well, this year is super important, then.
13:40It's very, very important.
13:41Yeah.
13:42You know, it's either make it or break it, you know.
13:44Well, hopefully, we can help you make your gold.
13:47It's important for Chrissy to make this a success.
13:49And I tell you what, she's a devoted person.
13:52You know, she wants to learn.
13:54She works hard.
13:55So if the season lasts long enough, there's a good chance they'll succeed.
14:04How are we doing?
14:05Got her all cleaned up?
14:06Yes, sir.
14:07Cleanup complete, Freddie and Juan join the crew to weigh the gold from the one-hour test run.
14:14Let's have a look.
14:15Here's what we got.
14:16Okay.
14:17Nice, clean little.
14:19Let's do it.
14:21Excited to see what we got.
14:22Yeah.
14:24Oh, there's a little chunk in there, too.
14:26A little nugget in there.
14:27Quarter ounce.
14:28Quarter ounce, yeah.
14:32Half ounce.
14:36Here's an ounce.
14:37Here's an ounce.
14:42It's pretty decent, 1.18.
14:43Yeah.
14:44Yeah?
14:44Yeah, it's good.
14:45Wow.
14:46Yeah, considering the breakdowns, that's not bad at all.
14:48Right.
14:48It looks like you got decent gold here, but if you can't run, you know, you can't get it.
14:53Yeah.
14:54And you know, and the truth is, you might have hit a hot spot.
14:56You know, you guys had mentioned before that you guys had really great cleanups,
14:59and then the next day, nothing, right?
15:01That is true.
15:01That is true.
15:02But let us get back to the truck and figure out what we can do.
15:05And we'll come back and see you guys in just a bit.
15:07Sounds great.
15:08We appreciate it.
15:12There's a lot of issues with that plant.
15:14Yeah.
15:14We've got distribution and water issues.
15:16Right now, all three sluice boxes are packed with sediment.
15:19I think we need to start thinking about ground as well.
15:21You know, the ground's going to be a big part of it.
15:23That conveyor, we need to get rid of it.
15:24It needs to go.
15:25Yeah.
15:25Put a pit in there, they can muck the material out.
15:27Yeah.
15:28Pit and a ramp.
15:29Yeah.
15:29To get in with the loader.
15:30On that drive system, I think maybe just an idler or something there to be able to take up that
15:34slop.
15:35Yeah.
15:35Because eventually that chain's going to double up on itself.
15:38And it's going to tear that gearbox apart.
15:40Let's go talk to them.
15:40Let's do it.
15:44How's it going, guys?
15:45Hey, guys.
15:47I kind of came up with a few ideas of what we can do to help you guys out.
15:50One of the things that we're a little worried about is just the inconsistency of the ground,
15:53right?
15:54I want to go into the cut with you.
15:55Okay.
15:55So we'll have a look at the geology up here and, you know, do a bunch of test panning.
15:59Okay.
16:00But then we want to get your plant tuned up, too.
16:03Most important is that distribution.
16:04We'll try to get it where it's an even feed into all your sluices.
16:07Okay.
16:08And then we want to put a tensioner on your chain, because your chain's not long for the
16:13world the way it's running.
16:14A big mess.
16:15Oh, it is.
16:16It's a very expensive mess.
16:17You know, you break that box, you know, you're probably 25 grand for that box.
16:20The biggest thing we want to do is make sure that the plant is reliable, that you guys are
16:23able to run a full 10-hour day with no issues.
16:25Yeah.
16:26It takes a lot of resources to get water out here.
16:28So every bit we can save is going to save money down the line.
16:32We can introduce more water on the backside.
16:34And with all that said, you know, we want an ounce of gold apiece.
16:39Yeah.
16:39And then as far as the material goes, $6,000 for material.
16:42Okay.
16:43Conveyor's number one.
16:44Yeah.
16:45All right.
16:45Well, let's do it.
16:46You guys are good with it.
16:46Yeah.
16:50In an ambitious wash plant overhaul to improve reliability, Freddie and Juan will remove the
16:57conveyor and replace it with a hassle-free tailings pit that can be easily cleared.
17:04On the trommel, the drive chain has become slack.
17:08Juan will fabricate an idler to regulate the tension.
17:14And a new distribution chute will direct the silt-heavy concentrates into the sluice runs,
17:20which will be sealed, leveled, and raised to help catch more gold.
17:30I got my rig right here for it.
17:32Juan's first task, remove the nine-ton conveyor.
17:38We should be able to lift it and get it out from underneath that stand and then be able to
17:41bring it
17:41down.
17:43You want to just go with the chain around it and then back to your hook?
17:45Yep.
17:48Right now, we've got the legs dug out and we're going to see if we can lift that conveyor.
17:55There's a lot of things that could go wrong right now.
17:57You know, if it's too much weight and we get off the stand, you can pull the truck over.
18:00What I'm going to do is I'm going to lift it just a little bit to see if I can
18:03handle it.
18:03If I can handle it, great.
18:04If not, then we'll reposition.
18:07Okay.
18:12There you go.
18:30Yeah!
18:32That'll work.
18:34Got it done in a few minutes, but I appreciate it.
18:36Hey, no worries.
18:39I am new to mining, but yeah, I probably have a little bit of gold fever.
18:45Sean's right-hand man is Chrissy's cousin, Dan, who came for family but stays for gold.
18:52I'm here to help Chrissy.
18:54She's trying to prove that she can make this mine successful.
18:58Very exciting to see your results when you do have a good run and a good cleanup.
19:03But I'm also doing this for my family, my two daughters and my wife, so that I can make a
19:08better life for them.
19:10Listen, once I get this drug back a little bit, come with me.
19:14Now it's down on the ground.
19:15They can manage it, get it out of here.
19:29We won't have any more problems with our conveyor belt.
19:33Freddy and Juan had us get that conveyor belt out of the way.
19:38So I'm digging out of tailings pit here, nice and deep.
19:43Definitely going to work out a lot better having that conveyor belt that always breaks down on me.
19:49They're going to speed things up.
19:52How's it going, Sean?
19:53Good, Freddy.
19:54How are you doing?
19:55Doing all right.
19:57I was just finishing up on this ramp here.
19:59What do you think about sloping it a little more gentle for your loader?
20:03We can do that.
20:04Save you a bunch of fuel.
20:05Yeah, right.
20:06And wear and tear on your loader.
20:08Yeah, absolutely.
20:09But that should hold some tailings, huh?
20:11Yeah, it looks good.
20:12Oh, this will work.
20:13Getting rid of that conveyor is the best thing for this plant.
20:17I agree.
20:18100%.
20:19Okay, Freddy.
20:19See you in a bit.
20:24Freddy and Juan showed up just right at the nick of time.
20:28When Chrissy first came up here, she was sad.
20:31She was very heartbroken.
20:33This ship was ready to sink.
20:35And now there's a glimmer of hope that I can repay my debts in this season.
20:41On a good note, that should be deep enough.
20:58At 14,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains.
21:01Let me design it out real quick and we'll get it cut.
21:04Juan begins work on a new distribution shoot for the Willow Creek Mine.
21:10When you have a limited season, I'm hoping that once we get it in there, it's really going to help
21:14the production.
21:14But ultimately, we don't know until we actually put it in place and try it out.
21:19The shoot will focus the pay from the trommel to a central box.
21:24A dampener will slow the material down and force it to divide equally across the three sluices.
21:35And that way that material comes over, it hits that center chamber so it can fan out over the box
21:39and have equal distribution over the sluices.
21:43So we got all the parts cut out.
21:45Now, I'm going to get down to the plant, get it installed.
21:56This your cut then, huh?
21:57Yes, sir.
21:59Well, let's go have a look.
22:00All righty.
22:02After a season of inconsistent cleanups, Freddie gets eyes on the material Sean is running.
22:09Why did you pick this area here, Sean?
22:11You're looking up at the mountain and how the draw came down and it came down through here.
22:16Yeah.
22:17This would be the stuff I took for our test right here.
22:21Looks like clay, huh?
22:22Yeah.
22:23My thoughts here without panning yet is that top layer is probably low grade.
22:31It hasn't been reworked a lot.
22:33It's kind of a glacial till on top.
22:35And this material down below, you can see how the rocks are laying in there.
22:40So this got reworked by a stream system at some point.
22:44That did not.
22:45That got pushed there.
22:46Do you think this could have been a really wide river at one time?
22:50Don't know.
22:51The stream doesn't have to be really wide, right?
22:53But it's going to go back and forth over millions of years, right?
22:56Yeah.
22:57So it makes a valley wider.
23:00Interesting.
23:00Well, let's take a sample of this and see what we get.
23:04Okay.
23:13Oh, that water's cold.
23:16Ice cold.
23:19Not a tremendous amount of heavies in it.
23:25Hmm.
23:30Is that hitting this thing here, huh?
23:33Usually not with gold like this, though.
23:35Fine gold spread fairly evenly through a layer like that.
23:40I was hoping to see more gold in the pan after that gold way.
23:45I mean, there's gold in it, but not much.
23:47Well, that's surprising that seeing very little in there,
23:51because I've done a few pans along here, and they've been pretty good.
23:55Hmm.
23:57Now, you pick a spot this time.
23:58Okay.
24:11You see anything?
24:17Let's take it down farther.
24:19Here, let me take it.
24:19You want me to finish?
24:20Yeah.
24:20Yeah.
24:22So right now, I'm watching that tip out there.
24:24So if there's a piece of gold in there, you're going to see it.
24:29Two specks.
24:32Yeah, I see them.
24:33There and there.
24:35So it's no better than the other one.
24:37Huh.
24:38I am pretty surprised about that.
24:41You know, we did that one-hour run, got over an ounce.
24:45I'm really shocked that we're not seeing the gold in the pans
24:48like I'm seeing up there at the plant.
24:52There's gold in it, but nothing like that test.
24:56So I'm going to call a buddy in, but mine's just down the hill here,
25:00and bring him up.
25:01He probably knows more about, you know, this type deposit up here
25:04than anybody alive today.
25:05So his information may be very helpful.
25:14Hell yeah.
25:15At the plant, Juan assembles the distribution box,
25:19which will feed pay evenly to the sluices.
25:22We'll make it work.
25:30That's good.
25:31Perfect.
25:33We're going to funnel all that material in,
25:35and then we have this little bit of a dampener.
25:37What this does is going to force the material in the water
25:39to be able to level out.
25:40And then that way, you can divide three ways evenly
25:42across these sluice boxes.
25:45I still got to get everything built for the idler,
25:47and we have a lot of stuff we got to get fabricated
25:50before we can install it on the plant.
26:03How's it going, Lance?
26:05At the entrance to the mine...
26:07Good to see you, sir.
26:08Good seeing you, as always.
26:10Freddy calls in friend and fellow mining mogul Lance
26:14Bowler to get an insider's read on the ground.
26:18I appreciate you coming up the mountain.
26:20So how are things looking?
26:21Well, I'd sure like to pick your brain on this area.
26:23You probably know it better than anybody.
26:25Let me grab my hard hat, and I'll be right over.
26:27All righty.
26:31Here's where they got that pay from, Lance.
26:34Right over here.
26:37Looks like it's been reworked, and it looks good,
26:41but the pans weren't good out of it.
26:43Have you ran any of this stuff?
26:44Yeah, so we've lost a lot of money over those first few years trying to figure this stuff out.
26:50We'd panned a lot of it.
26:52It was very marginal.
26:54We couldn't figure it out.
26:55It was just not paying good.
26:56It didn't look good.
26:57And then we found out that there was a seam in there that was about 24 inches thick,
27:02and 95% of all the gold was just in that seam.
27:06Do you see that seam in here?
27:08Yeah, so you got your bigger rock coming down here, and then you hit this layer, and it looks like
27:14it's pay.
27:14It has rocks in there.
27:16It's not.
27:17It's going to be very, very low gold content until it hits this clay layer in here, as you see.
27:23So there's going to be a layer in between those clays that most of that gold is in between.
27:29Millions of years ago, mineral-rich hot springs bubble up beneath Leadville,
27:34turning rock into clay, which traps a rich layer of gold.
27:38So this stuff, I would run.
27:42It's going to mess up his ponds.
27:44That's why he's probably not running it, but it has gold in it, and a lot of gold, usually.
27:47But he doesn't have a whole lot of water looking at it up there.
27:50Yeah, yeah.
27:51I've seen his ponds.
27:52So if he can just manage the clays to try to get as much gold as he can out of
27:55this,
27:56he's in a hot, hot area here.
27:58He's going to do really well on this.
28:01Well, I learned more about the geology of this area in an afternoon with Lance than I could have done
28:06in
28:07maybe a season, because he's been mining up in here for a long time, and he's had pitfalls of his
28:13own.
28:13And so he's learned his way through them, so now I can pass on that information to Sean,
28:20and he can run from there.
28:22Well, I appreciate your advice on it.
28:24All right.
28:39In Colorado's Leadville Mining District...
28:42I have a rocket design.
28:44We're going to cut it on this one-inch piece of steel.
28:46Juan sets to work to build a new idler for the trommel drive chain.
28:51What it's doing right now is that chain, as it comes across, is getting caught.
28:55Eventually, it's going to get caught and double up on itself and break off.
28:58So what we're going to do is we're going to put an idler there,
28:59so that way it actually pushes it down and gets it out of the way.
29:06So this is going to be the tensioner arm.
29:08It's real simple.
29:09It's going to have a pivot here with two pillow blocks.
29:11Over here, it has these flange bearings.
29:13And it's going to have a sprocket here that rides on the chain.
29:15It'll pull that and get all that excess slump out of there,
29:19so that way it doesn't have a chance to double up.
29:31Look at that.
29:33That is sweet.
29:38Idler complete.
29:40Juan heads to the plant for the install.
29:47I got it.
29:53I'm very excited to have Freddy and Juan come up here and help me with this,
29:56because that'll definitely save us a lot of time.
29:59No more breakdowns.
30:06We're always behind schedule.
30:08You know, we are trying to cram two weeks worth of work in basically a week.
30:14It's just kind of what we do.
30:21Wow, that looks great.
30:24Over in the cut, Sean stockpiles the high-grade pay identified by Freddy and local Lance Bowler.
30:32I'm pretty excited to see how it works now.
30:35It's been a big struggle all season long.
30:39See if these fixes all really will help us.
30:43Proof will definitely be in the pudding here when we do our test run.
30:49One, two, three, four.
30:58At the wash plant, Freddy and Dan tune up the sluices.
31:03Eight, nine, ten.
31:07It's super important to keep these sluices level.
31:09So if it's pitched to one side, where's all your material going to go?
31:13To that side.
31:14So you're making a three-foot wide sluice into a one-foot wide sluice,
31:17essentially what you're doing.
31:20All their sluices were out of level, and I want more pitch.
31:25See how level it is.
31:27Pretty darn level.
31:29I think we were close, yeah.
31:31Okay, see what we got for pitch now.
31:36Almost perfect.
31:37Yeah.
31:37Yeah.
31:39Every little thing we're doing here, so let's say just leveling these boxes
31:43gets you another three percent of gold, right?
31:46Let's say getting the pitches set, another three percent gold.
31:49You start adding those things up, pretty soon, you know,
31:52let's say you increase by 10, 20, 30 percent.
31:54That's big.
31:55That's really big.
31:56They're all adjusted to the best we can adjust them.
32:00I enjoy working with Freddy.
32:01He's a wealth of knowledge, to be honest with you.
32:04He's shown us a lot of little tips and tricks along the way,
32:06and we'll be sure and put those to good use in the future.
32:12Let's check out the sand screws, Sean.
32:14Oh, yeah.
32:15Next, Freddy looks into the water system to prepare for the new clay-rich pay.
32:21Something's not right.
32:23I just spotted a huge problem, guys.
32:27The back of your sand screws buried.
32:29You can see the after effects downstream.
32:32That sand should not be there.
32:34Well, let's go shut it down.
32:35Freddy has spotted a major issue with the sand screw.
32:39You see this opening right here?
32:41Yes, sir.
32:42Okay, that's supposed to be closed off.
32:45Interesting.
32:47All that water is going fast backwards through there,
32:52and it's dragging sand with it, and that's why you're buried downstream.
32:57The sand screw separates fine tailings from sluice water, spiraling solids upwards while recycling water
33:05back into the system.
33:07But with a plate missing, both solids and water are carried backwards into the holding pond,
33:14silting up the fresh water supply, which, if run through the plant, will lose fine gold.
33:20A little hole right there is the reason why that's all buried back there.
33:24Wow, that little hole made that much damage.
33:27If this isn't fixed, the pond's going to fill up.
33:30It's going to keep building up more material downstream, and they won't be able to run.
33:47So we need to block that off?
33:48We need to block that off, yeah.
33:50Just hours from the second test run at Willow Creek.
33:54You got a tape measure handy?
33:55Yeah.
33:57Freddy and the crew work through a last-minute setback with the sand screw.
34:0228 by 6, okay.
34:05With it empty of water, you know, it's an easy spot.
34:08So I'm sealing up the hole, and that's going to help save their sluice pond.
34:14Look pretty straight to you, Dan.
34:16Yeah.
34:26All right, we got her.
34:28Yes, sir.
34:28It's simple, but it's going to make a huge difference.
34:36Are you guys ready to do our test run?
34:38Let's do it.
34:38Yeah, absolutely.
34:40Well, let's do it one hour, so it's apples to apples to the last one.
34:43Okay.
34:44Let's fire it up.
34:48Comes the water.
34:53First bucket!
34:55During the first test run, you know, it only ran us about two seconds before a hose blew off,
35:01so we're ahead of that game right now.
35:07I'm watching the arm.
35:08It's doing really well.
35:08It's actually pulling that excess chain out of the way, so it's not getting stuck.
35:13Yeah, dramatically better.
35:17Looks like we can go quite a while without having to dig this out, because it's just going to keep
35:21pushing over.
35:21Yeah, it keeps the hell out of that conveyor, doesn't it?
35:25Yeah, man.
35:26Game changer.
35:32You know, having this dampener plate is actually helping that material level out and feed evenly,
35:37so it's about as good as it's going to get.
35:40Water's way better.
35:42Oh, yeah.
35:42Way better coming down those sluices.
35:47That's working good.
35:48Yeah.
35:48Yeah, it looks pretty good.
35:49Looks better than it did.
35:50It does look good.
35:51See, now it's forcing that material to go under that weir.
35:54Before, it had such a velocity going through that opening that it was just dragging sand.
36:02Right now, you've got a little time left of the season.
36:04Just run as much as you can.
36:05Yeah, that's what we needed to do.
36:07Just run, run, run.
36:08Yeah.
36:09If we get, like, a complete six-day weekend.
36:12Oh, yeah.
36:13Oh, my gosh.
36:14That's going to be incredible.
36:16I'm proving that I can do this with gold being so high as it is right now.
36:20Awesome.
36:21Woo-hoo!
36:22I think I could make this a successful mine.
36:25What do you got?
36:26Eight more minutes.
36:27Looks good.
36:28Yeah, Juan.
36:30Good job, buddy.
36:33Last bucket!
36:41Looks good, Freddy.
36:42Yeah.
36:44I see gold in here.
36:45There's a bunch in this middle one, too, Juan.
36:47Yeah.
36:48Took a lot more consistency than the last cleanup.
36:50For sure.
36:54Yeah.
36:54We can see it in all three boxes instead of just the one.
36:58You guys want to pull the mats and do a cleanup and we'll get ready for a gold way, huh?
37:02Yeah, let's do it.
37:03Sounds good.
37:03All right, guys.
37:04Let's pull it.
37:08I'm not sure what's going to happen if this doesn't work out.
37:11I'm not sure how long that we can survive.
37:24How's it going, guys?
37:25Got it all done?
37:26Yes, sir.
37:27Got it ready for you.
37:28At the Gold Room, Chrissy and her crew gather for the results of the one-hour test.
37:34How does it look?
37:35I don't know.
37:36That looks good.
37:36Nice and clean.
37:37You go ahead and pour it, Fred.
37:39Let's see what we got.
37:40See what you got.
37:42To hit their season goal of 350 ounces in the remaining 40 days of the season, they need to be
37:50able to run 10
37:51hours per day and this test must produce at least 0.65 of an ounce.
37:57A half ounce.
37:59There you go.
38:01Three quarters of an ounce.
38:03One ounce.
38:04Yeah, yeah.
38:05There we go.
38:06Oh, there it is.
38:07There's 1.18 right there.
38:08And I'm going to say we got a quarter of an ounce left.
38:12Excellent.
38:13Let's see what we got.
38:181.57.
38:19There you go.
38:20That's awesome.
38:21All right.
38:21That's really good.
38:22In an hour.
38:23Yeah, yeah.
38:24That's $1,200 an hour more than the first run, first hour run.
38:29A potential of $50,000 a shift.
38:33If Sean and Chrissy run every day, they could nearly double their goal to a $2 million season.
38:41Right there.
38:42That's great.
38:43That's really going to change things.
38:44The biggest thing is, is now you can run without breaking down.
38:47Yes.
38:47Yeah.
38:48Now, if you can stay on that material, you know, you're making $4,500 an hour right now.
38:52That's awesome, right?
38:53That's fantastic.
38:54You need to do six and a half ounces a day for the last 40 days of the season.
38:59I think this is really going to turn our season around.
39:01It should.
39:01Absolutely.
39:02This morning, you see how much snow is on the mountains.
39:05This time of year, I'd run seven days a week, all the hours you can run.
39:10Yeah.
39:10Your motto for the rest of the season should be, run, run, run.
39:15And when you think about stopping, keep running.
39:17There you go.
39:18Thank you so much.
39:19Yes, thank you.
39:20That was amazing working with you guys.
39:21Thank you so much.
39:22Thank you, Freddie.
39:22Appreciate it.
39:23You're welcome.
39:24I appreciate it.
39:24Likewise.
39:25Freddie, thank you very much.
39:27Here, you can have the pan.
39:28We'll keep the gold.
39:29Oh, wait.
39:31That pan's worth $4,500.
39:32That's not a good trade.
39:33Not a good trade.
39:35That's a better trade.
39:36All right.
39:36Take care, guys.
39:37All right.
39:38See you later.
39:38Appreciate your travel.
39:41I couldn't have been more pleased with that Goldway.
39:44You know, they may have 30 days left.
39:46They may have 40.
39:47But with the material they're running now, well, they could do it.
39:50So I'm very grateful that Freddie and Juan came out here.
39:54I've got to make this happen for my family.
39:56And we keep saying, run, run, run.
39:58That's what we're going to be saying for the rest of the season.
40:00It changed everything.
40:01You know, we're going to smash that gold 350 now.
40:04No problem.
40:06And definitely get my debt paid.
40:08That 50 grand, I'll be able to keep my passion of gold mining alive.
40:12Now they have a consistent plan.
40:14Instead of just running one hour, they can run 10 hours.
40:16I'm excited for them.
40:17Honestly, I'm really proud of what we did here.
40:19And it's a big win.
40:33With the fixes that Freddie and Juan did,
40:36we did increase our production for sure.
40:39Everything at the wash plant did help capture.
40:43And we're not losing anything.
40:49This season was a little difficult with history of the mine and history of,
40:54you know, my husband was supposed to be up there.
40:56We've held on to this for so long that this is going to happen.
41:02Unfortunately, we had a false weather freeze out.
41:05And we weren't able to process anymore.
41:08Our building wasn't insulated.
41:15We got 247.7 ounces, a little short of our 350 goal.
41:20We did get things paid.
41:22And Sean got his money paid back to us, the loan back to us.
41:26We got all the operation costs taken care of.
41:29And everyone left with a little bold in their pocket.
41:31So it was a good season.
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