- 9 hours ago
Gold Rush: Alaska - Season 16 - Episode 19: Rick's Mess
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00:07Oh, my God.
00:30The last few weeks have been really difficult
00:32and set us back quite a bit with low recovery.
00:37Low ounces an hour and lots of hours.
00:40And lost production and just being a general pain in the ass.
00:46Parker Schnabel is ready for a new chapter in his season
00:50and is launching an all-out blitz to hit his 10,000-ounce goal
00:56by getting over 600 ounces this week.
01:00We've got four plants back up and running now,
01:03which is really good.
01:05We've got Gigi, the golden goose,
01:08running the new plants, awesome.
01:10You know, Gigi is a really nice addition
01:14to the sluicing fleet.
01:16And so that's, you know, hopefully gonna put us over the top
01:19because it does run a bit more yardage
01:21than any of the other plants on the mine site.
01:23With Dominion Creek firing on all cylinders,
01:27Parker's relying on his other claim, Ken and Stewart's,
01:31run by foreman Mitch Plaschke,
01:34to be the difference maker this week.
01:38It's just, like, spread really thin.
01:41And, you know, Mitch has done an incredible job
01:43without having a ton of equipment.
01:49Well, right now, I'm in the 550 here at Ken's,
01:52loading rock trucks,
01:53and we are barely keeping up with the rock sand.
01:58Wash plant rock sand is running all out,
02:01putting pressure on Mitch's two rock truck drivers
02:05to stay ahead of the pay pile.
02:09Here at Ken's, it's all about yardage.
02:12Uh, the ground here in Cut 2 isn't real high quality,
02:15so we gotta get through the volume.
02:17And in order to do that, I need, you know,
02:19as many trucks down here as I can get.
02:22You know, we've been pushing everything
02:23since the start of the season here.
02:25Everybody's getting tired.
02:31Yeah, so Mitch is pretty frustrated right now.
02:34We need some support.
02:36Like, they want us to get all this pay out of here.
02:40We need some help, for sure.
02:48Hey, Bailey, how's she going today, buddy?
02:51Yeah, I'm just feeling super tired
02:52towards the end of the season here.
02:55Yeah, that happens, buddy.
03:16Mitch, you got a copy?
03:18Billy, you got a copy?
03:20I got sucked into the ditch a bit.
03:24Fox is really close to tipping.
03:27All right, man, I'll be over there in a sec.
03:35Holy , Billy.
03:36How you doing?
03:38There's a little bit of piss in my pants,
03:40but other than that...
03:41I got it.
03:46Holy .
03:48When it's lean like this, you can't dump it to get the load out.
03:52You know, you can see the tires are already off the ground.
03:54It'll flip it the rest of the way over.
03:56Last thing we want to do is damage anything.
04:00You want to do it or do you want me to do it?
04:01What are you doing?
04:02Oh, yeah, dude, I'll jump in there and do it.
04:07If the fully loaded rock truck's box tips any further into the ditch,
04:12it could flip Billy's cab.
04:14So what we're going to do here,
04:16I'm going to try to keep a little pressure on this.
04:18Put it in drive.
04:19Just give it a little bit of throttle and a little bit of steering input
04:22back towards the center of the road.
04:23And if you feel that cab start lifting at all,
04:25just kick it into neutral as fast as you can.
04:28Because the last thing we want is this cab to roll here.
04:30Yeah, copy that.
04:31You ready?
04:32Yeah.
04:42Try and give it a little.
04:56There we go.
05:04Man, dude, that A-State is smoked.
05:08The A-State holds the front axle suspension system together.
05:16I'm just limping this truck back to Dominion.
05:19You know, I've just lost 50% of my trucking crew.
05:22The pay pile's getting low.
05:24I need trucks rolling.
05:32I need to go.
05:39Yo!
05:41Yo!
05:42What's going on?
05:44Uh, unfortunately this one here, it was completely shot.
05:49Uh, this A-State bushing is kind of brought out.
05:53And I'm a little concerned just because like,
05:56this plate is completely dropped.
06:02So you got one, two, three, four, five broken bolts.
06:12This is a nightmare.
06:14Those broken bolts are two inches inside of that hole.
06:20The A-40 rock truck has a front suspension axle stay
06:25that keeps the front axle aligned when moving on uneven ground.
06:30It's made up of two shock absorbers and two spherical bushings,
06:35all bolted together to the frame of the truck.
06:38But five bolts have broken off inside its housing.
06:43To get them out, holes will need to be drilled into the bolts
06:47so an extractor tool can fit inside and unscrew them.
06:52Then, the A-State can be pulled apart and new parts installed,
06:57allowing the truck to be driven safely.
07:01Every hour we're not moving material is, uh, putting us behind.
07:05I get that, dude.
07:06But I think the fastest thing to do is just, we just fix this.
07:08But we don't, we can't give you a spare right now.
07:10I mean, I don't, I don't have a spare available here.
07:12There's no spares around here, man.
07:14Nothing?
07:15No. Tyson's not going to give up any trucks.
07:17Well, maybe I'll just go take one.
07:19I think, I think you should.
07:20We're going to have to figure something out,
07:22because otherwise we're going to be turning off the wash plant.
07:33Let's go find Tyson and see if we can get ourselves a rock truck.
07:40You know, I've only got two rock trucks down at Ken's,
07:42and one of them's gone down,
07:44so we definitely can't keep the plant going with what we got.
07:47Oh, there he is right there. Perfect.
07:53Hey man, how's it going?
07:54Pretty good, you?
07:55Oh, had better days in search of a rock truck.
07:59We got the front axles about ready to fall out of one of ours,
08:02so I took it to the yard.
08:03Janko's working on it.
08:04He's got the parts, but he's going to be a bit to get it running.
08:07And I was hoping you had a spare that I can grab,
08:10get back down there so we can keep sluicing.
08:13We don't really have a spare, man.
08:15We're running flat out here with three wash plants.
08:19Yeah, I hear you.
08:23I don't know what to say because, yeah, every truck's being used,
08:27and you know how it is when you're running lots of trucks.
08:31One goes down, another gets up, and it's...
08:35I mean, if I don't get a truck and get back down there,
08:38like, Roxanne's going to shut down.
08:40Right.
08:40So, I mean, I could really use the favor today, bud.
08:46I mean, I know it's not ideal, man, but I just...
08:50If we're going to hit 10,000 ounces,
08:52we got to try and keep all these wash plants running.
08:55It'd do me a huge favor if you had something I could grab right now, man.
09:02Right.
09:02Well, I just can't do that, man.
09:09Thanks.
09:10No worries.
09:10No worries.
09:15This is .
09:33Last week was a big blow.
09:35You know, we spent almost two months stripping this Valhalla cut,
09:40and when we got to the bottom, you know, right above pay,
09:42we got the worst news, basically, at least 20 feet of clay on top of that.
09:45And we do not have the time this year to deal with it.
09:48So we had to abandon that and move on.
09:50I mean, that's a big one.
09:53Rick Ness is licking his wounds.
09:58Rick Ness is licking his wounds.
10:29Rick Ness is licking his wounds.
10:29Last year, Rick's Vegas Valhalla cut saved his season, paying out nearly $2.1 million in just three weeks of
10:38running.
10:39Rick and his crew tried to return to the hot spot.
10:51I don't like this.
10:52I don't like this.
11:19It's too dangerous.
11:19I don't know if it's our gold bonuses or your gold, but it could be the end of the company
11:22as well.
11:25Now, with the little money he has left, he's back where he started.
11:31Well, we've got a bit of an overhang of permafrost that's hanging over it, and I just don't like it.
11:35It's not safe right now.
11:36There's nothing I can do about it.
11:38I have to clean it up.
11:39If this new plan doesn't pan out, Rick has one final option.
11:44You know, Tony Beats came here, and he gave me an offer on his ground to buy everything, and it's
11:50a really good offer.
11:51You know, it's starting to look like maybe the smartest thing I could do.
11:54And I turned it down, but nothing's off the table forever.
12:01Yeah, you know, I think this is, you know, our best plan of action of just trying to get down
12:06to pay as quick as we can.
12:07We know there's pay here.
12:09Pretty sure Rick knows what the he's doing.
12:11He can probably show me a few things.
12:15To get to Vegas Valley's exposed pay, Rick needs Bailey in the 700 to widen the far side of the
12:23cut,
12:23creating more space for their trucking crew.
12:27But there's a block of thawing permafrost overhanging the entrance to the cut, making the wall unstable.
12:36Rick must use the 460 to dig back the overhang and make it safe enough to mine the cut below.
12:54Yeah, go ahead.
12:56It definitely probably sucks to be in that 460 right now, not a 700.
13:00I don't know how I'm even going to make this work, but that's what I'm going to do.
13:04Walk back and forth a million times.
13:11Harder than .
13:13You know, we don't have a dozer here or any kind of ripper machine to get this permafrost out of
13:17here.
13:19All I've got is our 460, and with this big old kind of held together bucket, you can't cry about
13:26it,
13:26you can't just not do it, you just have to do it.
13:35What the f**k is that?
13:39F**k.
13:40Man, you came here.
13:42Aw, dude.
13:49Aw, f**king great.
13:52Well, that's a first.
14:02Yeah, this is not what we need right now.
14:04It's our only other excavator, and they've got no f**king bucket now.
14:07F**k, f**k, f**k.
14:09Rick Ness has hit a major obstacle on his return to Vegas Valley.
14:15Ryan, you got a copy?
14:18Yeah, go ahead.
14:19Yeah, I just ripped the f**king floor out of a bucket on that 460.
14:23It's completely gone.
14:25I guess I don't know what you're going to do about it, but I'm going to,
14:27I guess I'm going to get this machine the f**k out of here if I can, and
14:30we're going to have to look for another bucket.
15:02Yeah, I mean, I knew it was worn out, but I didn't think it was that f**king worn out.
15:07I mean, I've seen it, I've seen it happen before.
15:09I didn't think this one was there.
15:10I knew it was getting thin.
15:11Looks like it's been patched together before.
15:13So what's going to be the quickest?
15:15You better go buy a bucket.
15:16Yeah.
15:17I would get your phone out of your pocket and start making calls.
15:21Well, you got to figure out who to call first.
15:23Yeah.
15:24Good luck with that.
15:26I'd pretty much do it as soon as that happened, that we could fix that bucket,
15:29but it's going to take way too long.
15:30We need that machine now, so I'm going to have to find a new one and get here f**king quick.
15:55I mean, just because we passed our goal doesn't mean all of a sudden we're going to give up.
16:01So maybe we just keep on producing and that'll be more gold than we ever got out of the ground.
16:07And they f**k you.
16:09Let's not waste the opportunity.
16:11Like with the gold price being this high, let's keep on going as long as we can.
16:15Klondike Kingpin, Tony Beetz, has been on cruise control with two plants sluicing on the Indian River
16:24and Sun Mike's Trommel running 24-7 on Paradise Hill.
16:28But last week, Tony stumbled, spending $4 million on a property he can't mine.
16:36So the whole thing that moves, the lice is there, that is a mess, so we've got to sort that
16:42out.
16:43But you know, there's other places we can go. You're not going to give up that easy.
16:48To bring in even more gold, Tony wants Sun Mike to dial up his production.
16:55I think we'd better give Mike a challenge on day, get him to open up the Hester cut.
17:03Last year we left the Hester cut behind and we're well on our way of making the same mistake.
17:10I would really like to go in there and at least get a chunk out.
17:14Then, you know, at some point we'll have at least something to sluice there.
17:24Oh, I wonder who that could be.
17:33Joe Mike?
17:34Ah, got better days, had worse.
17:38Then why not put some effort in the Hester cut? Let's start by the plan of pumping the water out
17:44first, Mike, putting the pipe in, and then we'll take it from there.
17:50It'll be worth the effort, there's no question about that.
17:53We're doing good stuff.
17:55Okay, good enough. First, we need to move the old dredge boilers out of the way.
17:59That's when the dredges used to come around here.
18:08Whoa, what the was that?
18:13Five years ago, Tony discovered two old-timer dredge boilers at the Hester cut.
18:21That's pretty big , huh?
18:24Wow. That has to be gold enough.
18:28From 1913 until the 1960s, the old-timers dredged the Hunker Valley for gold,
18:35and on one legendary day, they pulled in 800 ounces.
18:41I'm excited about this, to be honest with you.
18:44Tony thinks they abandoned the dredge at his Hester cut, leaving behind a pocket of rich virgin ground.
18:54If I'm correct, then there is no other piece on Hunker virgin ground left as big as this.
19:01But the spot has been Tony's perennial end-of-season nemesis.
19:08It's full of water.
19:13Talk about a waste of time.
19:18Now, he's determined to conquer the cut.
19:21Last year, we had troubles with the water running out of the bank, so that was kind of up.
19:25I was just thinking, when we started digging it out, you start with the wall first,
19:28if anything, because then if anything slumps down, we don't have to worry about it no more.
19:31We'll be digging this site out down here. We'll be plowing away all that all the way along.
19:37Yeah.
19:38Because the slope is f***ing in, you know.
19:41Yes.
19:42So we got all the toys to do it with. The biggest thing is, get f***ing started.
19:48Because there is a f***ing lot of f***ing money in this hole. So, let's get into f***ing get started.
19:55Before he can pump out the water, Tony needs to remove the old dredge boilers,
20:00then make the hillside safe from sloughing into the cut by digging it back and trucking the mud out.
20:09It wouldn't hurt if it would give Mike a hand with it anyway.
20:13But I like doing these hotball things, yeah.
20:17Well, it is not my first rodeo, so to speak.
20:20We're going to get them boilers out of the way.
20:23I'm going to kick this one over the bank.
20:29Well, that's nothing spectacular. Let me f***ing do that again.
20:33Just when you want something to tumble down the f***ing hill, it doesn't.
20:40That makes for a whale better sure now, does it?
20:43No skill required for that one, wasn't it?
20:46Perfect.
20:47Put the other one over there, too.
20:56So, now to be sure if the boilers are on the hillside down there, start digging it out.
21:03You know, you gotta have a plan.
21:07We're going to put trucks on this ledge, so you want it to be safe.
21:16He's going to have to clean it off a bit, level it off so the trucks can get up to
21:20him flat.
21:20What I would like to do, Zach, is back them f***ing up in here, yeah.
21:26Okay, sounds good.
21:27With a stable ledge, the trucks can start hauling the mud out.
21:34Hopefully it all goes smooth, and then, yeah, I'll be happy.
21:37But if it is a consistent s***, then no, I really ain't going to be happy.
21:54Good job done.
21:57Wall dug back.
21:58Now, Mike and his crew can focus on draining the cut.
22:03Good job done.
22:05Get pumping, Mike.
22:06I want that cut dry by the end of the week.
22:08End of the week?
22:10Right.
22:11Let's get on it.
22:14Everything on that fuel row is tight, right?
22:16Yeah, okay.
22:18Fire at all!
22:32We gotta take the water out.
22:34There's gotta dry up.
22:35There's a whole bunch of things down there.
22:37Let's say, let's get on with the program.
22:40Because otherwise, if we don't hurry up, then it ain't gonna happen.
22:58We're trying to catch up here, having that rock truck go down definitely didn't help us out.
23:03You know, we're behind right now.
23:06Foreman Mitch Blaschke is feeling the pressure, with Parker relying on him for a good haul this week.
23:13He's been down to one rock truck hauling pay for the last 24 hours.
23:28How's it going, man?
23:29It's a big cut.
23:31We're gaining on it.
23:32Yeah.
23:33Which is good.
23:35What do you, are you, do you think we're gonna get through this?
24:07It'll be close.
24:07It's a little bit problematic for you, but it won't be for long, I don't think.
24:11Okay.
24:17Okay.
24:19All righty.
24:20Well, we'll keep at it.
24:21Thanks, man.
24:22All right, no worries, man.
24:30You know, we've all got to learn to share our resources up here.
24:33There's a lot going on, but you know, one truck down here is 50% of my fleet at the
24:37moment.
24:38For some reason, it's still not here.
24:40Man, it should have been here hours ago.
24:43So, just gonna get a hold of Taylor here.
24:47Yeah, hey, Taylor, man.
24:49Uh, just down here at Roxanne, we're not gonna be able to keep up with this thing.
24:54Um, dude, I don't know what to tell you, man.
24:57It's not gonna take us too long.
24:58We can, uh, get this thing up and running for you.
25:00Okay.
25:01Thanks, man.
25:03The rock truck's fix has been delayed due to five broken bolts inside the A-Stay housing.
25:13I'm just finishing up here, trying to get this last bolt out.
25:20Once I get a hole through it, I should be able to tap an extractor through it and try to
25:25take it out.
25:30Nice.
25:31Cut all the way through it.
25:46I finally got these broken bolts out.
25:49With the final bolt out, Janko and Taylor can now separate the A-Stay and remove the worn parts.
25:58So we need to lift up this front end of the truck here to split the A-Stay from the
26:03frame and then
26:04get it pounded out and get new parts put back in.
26:10Just trying to get this thing right on the tow hooks to lift it.
26:16This A-Stay should start separating.
26:18Yeah, there we go.
26:22Okay, hopefully this thing will just fly out of here.
26:27Beauty.
26:29We got these and now I'm ready to install them.
26:31Everything's all cleaned up, ready to go.
26:44So this is going to push this bushing into this housing.
26:49As you can see, it's going up nice and easily now.
27:03Awesome, it's seated.
27:05Should be able to send this thing to work right away.
27:10Hey Mitch, this truck is good to go.
27:13Hey Billy, go get your truck, man.
27:15We got some pay at all.
27:25We're the gate team out here, baby.
27:28Mitch and his skeleton crew are back to full strength and must now play catch up to deliver
27:34a big haul this week.
27:36Man, it's so nice stopping that rock truck here now.
27:39It's making a huge difference.
27:40We're getting caught up and it is putting a dent in this material.
27:45I know it took a little bit to get it here, but certainly worth the wait.
28:04Well, today I'm in Dawson City.
28:08I don't get over here too often anymore, but I need a bucket for my 460 excavator.
28:12I'm hoping to get a good deal on one.
28:15This is where the gold rush happened.
28:17This is where everybody came to and they were in the gold fields just outside of this town,
28:21trying to make their fortune.
28:23There's a lot of gold out there.
28:25I mean, there's still good ground here, but it's real hard to come by.
28:29You know, people have had it locked in for a long time and
28:32Parker and Tony probably have the bulk of it, if I'm being honest.
28:35I mean, they both have tons of ground and they're making a fortune.
28:43I've seen a lot of people come and go since I've been here and not a whole lot of people
28:47stay.
28:47Somehow I've managed to stay for 13 years.
28:51Rick is heading to the Hunker Creek turnoff, which leads to some of the biggest gold mines in the Klondike.
29:00I've only been to this spot once before.
29:02It's, uh, look at this stuff.
29:06Look at that.
29:07Money to burn.
29:09Family D11.
29:13There's a sign that says Office on it.
29:15It's got to be it.
29:22All right, well, hopefully he's around.
29:27Papa dog, wet dog.
29:30What's up?
29:32What's going on, man?
29:33Who's wet dog?
29:34That's Bosco.
29:35Have you met Bosco?
29:36No, I have.
29:37How's it going?
29:38Good, man. Good to see you.
29:39It's a pleasure.
29:40Oh, yeah.
29:40All right.
29:41No, I'm having a blast still.
29:42That's good.
29:42I mean, there's a brand new D11 sitting there.
29:44That's cool.
29:45Fresh off the track.
29:47How many of them?
29:48That's number five.
29:50Eleven?
29:51Yeah.
29:53I've heard rumblings.
29:54How many wash plants?
29:56Four.
29:56Oh, yeah.
29:58This is, especially with gold prices up,
30:00this has become a much bigger sluicing project.
30:02So you just have to have the wash plants going.
30:04Yeah.
30:05Hence four plants.
30:07Yeah.
30:08What else is new?
30:09I need to find a bucket.
30:12Let's go have a look around.
30:13Cool.
30:24What's your season been like?
30:27Chasing a girl.
30:29You know.
30:29Sure.
30:30Same as you, probably.
30:34I'm not chasing any single one anymore, ever.
30:38Do you have any pin on 460 buckets?
30:41I might.
30:41We might.
30:52Oh, right there.
30:54There's these guys.
30:55Dude, I remember that bucket.
30:56And I don't think that fits because this we used for the coupler, right?
31:01Because we had a coupler.
31:02Yeah, yeah.
31:02I'm pretty sure this is a Hitachi bucket.
31:06Yeah, that's the wrong one.
31:12There's a real peach for you.
31:14That's beauty.
31:15I think this might be your only bet.
31:18I'm not in terrible shape.
31:19No, I'm not in bad.
31:21What do you want for it, a handshake?
31:23I'm not saying I'm going to give it to you for free.
31:26So maybe you could help us out?
31:28I mean, I would normally say like 10 grand, but that's just because I don't like dealing
31:34with things like this.
31:36I don't know.
31:36Five grand?
31:39Yeah, why not?
31:40Five grand?
31:41Yeah.
31:42Perfect.
31:42Appreciate it.
31:43No worries.
31:44What else do you need?
31:46Half my life back.
31:51Can't help you there.
31:53Do you think about getting out?
31:57I mean, I less think about getting out and just wonder when the out is.
32:03Sell the place.
32:07I'll buy it from you.
32:16Sell the place.
32:20I'll buy it from you.
32:28The only other competition is Tony.
32:30He keeps coming, coming down there.
32:33Yeah, he won't pay you what it's worth.
32:34No, it'd be a bad time to sell, I think.
32:38Well, no, when gold prices are high, it's the time to do it.
32:41Yeah.
32:43Okay, think about it.
32:45All right, well, I'm sure you need to get back to the grind.
32:47I have a few things that I need to get wrapped up.
33:05All right.
33:06Good to see you as always, man.
33:08Good to see you too.
33:11Well, it's always good to visit Parker, see what he's got going on out here.
33:15I mean, it's astonishing.
33:16The amount of work that they get done here, it's just, it's crazy.
33:19It's cool to see.
33:20And I got a 460 bucket out of it and, you know, got to catch up.
33:23And it's a good trip.
33:25Time to get back to the mine.
33:49Making good progress, but it looks a bit, huh?
33:52Yeah.
33:52Just as far as you're going?
33:54For now.
33:56Oh, wow, look at that.
33:57Oh, hey, pal, that looks pretty snazzy, you know, huh?
34:00It does.
34:01Wow, Mike.
34:03Mike has drained the Hester cut ahead of schedule
34:07and has already started hauling pay out of the cut.
34:11It looks really well, Michael.
34:13It does.
34:13Because, I mean, now you can drive around there.
34:15And last time I was here, that looked like that.
34:19We ain't gonna drive no truck over there.
34:21Let's go in there and have a look.
34:23Wow, you know, that looks really, really good.
34:27Yeah, I agree.
34:28Well, this is why I said, you don't go in here unless you're gonna come in here full force.
34:32Because otherwise, if we stop for a week, it'd look like that again.
34:35Oh, yeah.
34:35I'm honestly a really tickled thing.
34:44You got a 480 in there.
34:47Yeah.
34:48Yeah.
34:48And then there's a whole ass.
34:50Yeah.
34:50Get with it before it gets wet.
34:53That is all slucible material.
34:57Looks like a great job.
34:59Last time I was here, it looked like water, mud, everything.
35:02Now look at it.
35:04We drive around in there.
35:04We rocked rocks like nothing.
35:09I'd say what we're gonna do is, while the weather is still really nice,
35:13I'm gonna double up in this cut, haul it out as quick as we can.
35:18Fearing that the cut could flood again, Tony wants to get all gold-rich pay dirt out as
35:24quickly as possible, so he sends in a fleet of machines.
35:28Right, the other truck, you're on your way down.
35:30The other truck, you're on your way down.
35:32There you go.
35:35Put it up a little bit so you can get out of the way.
35:38Let's go.
35:44We do that five, six trucks in here, minimum.
35:48Anything to get it done.
35:49Anything to get this out of here.
36:01That truck there, hurry the up.
36:05I don't give a what it is.
36:07Make it move.
36:11Stop that truck, stop that truck.
36:14Mike, you got a truck so close here, it's not even funny.
36:18Okay, Monica, can you stop for a minute?
36:20The other guy, get out.
36:22The other guy, get out.
36:26Rock truck driver.
36:27Rock truck driver.
36:29Hey, moron in the truck.
36:31That's not where my bucket is.
36:33Just load the truck, Michael, please.
36:35I need him over here so he can get out.
36:37Otherwise, he's going to be in the way of the other trucks too.
36:40Just load the truck, please.
36:48Oh, no.
36:48Where are we going?
36:50Where are we going?
36:53Oh, no.
36:56Will we get up this hill?
36:58Well, we've got no choice but to.
37:07It doesn't want me to go up the hill.
37:13I just got to come at it from a different angle.
37:16He's getting out of here so he's getting out of here so he's just going to make a half a
37:18bit.
37:22Monica beats.
37:24She got stuck.
37:28Come on, little truckie.
37:29You can do it.
37:33Good.
37:39Two hours later, the operators have found their stride in the chaos and are starting to build a pay pile.
37:49So basically, he's hauling the white channel off now.
37:53That looks really nice.
37:56I looked at this for 40 years because it's about time we're going to see the bottom of it.
38:01You know what I mean?
38:06That looks pretty good, Mike.
38:08Thank you, Monica.
38:14Cut now under control, Monica heads back to Indian River to clean more gold.
38:21It's nice to see Mike and Monica working together again for a bit.
38:24You know, it's always nice to see us work together.
38:30Tony tells you he's proud of you by not telling you he's proud of you.
38:36And that's just how that is.
38:39That's how it'll always be.
38:44If he calls you, it's probably better than if he says you've done a great job.
39:09So yeah, back up with the 460, finally got a bucket on it.
39:14You know, I went all the way to Parker's and he was nice enough to sell me one.
39:19You know, getting this permafrost out of here so we can get back into Vegas Valley.
39:23After five days of work, Rick has nearly dug back the overhanging permafrost,
39:30while Bailey has widened the bottom pit, ready for his rock trucks to start hauling.
39:42That should do it right there. I feel a hell of a lot better about that.
39:53I got it all pulled back and I think that you continue the way you're going now,
39:59and we'll be in business. Just get after it.
40:02Great, man. Thanks.
40:06Rick's crew can finally get to work digging for gold at the bottom of Vegas Valley.
40:17You know, Tony made me this big offer on the ground and I really didn't even think about it,
40:21because I liked the direction we were heading, but now, you know, Parker's offer,
40:25who knows, that might be the answer for the future. There's a lot to think about.
40:33It's really with my head.
40:47Hello. Hi, guys. Long time, no see. Long time, no see.
40:52It's nice to get in that Hester, isn't it? Hi. Yes.
40:56That we're finally going to get serious in the Hester cut,
40:58because I'd really like to see what's going to come out of that.
41:01So do I. The Beetz family already have a record gold haul this season.
41:07Should we weigh it up? With the two wash plants in the Indian River,
41:11averaging over 450 ounces a week, the only question is, how much more can they get this year?
41:20So there's a sluice a lot. Are you counting? Okay, do it. Let's see what we got out of there.
41:2520, 40, 60, 100, 150, 180, 200, 230, to 40, to 50, to 60, to 67.9.
41:41That is saying as good a sluice a lot has done or what?
41:44Yeah, sluice a lot has been down a little bit, but it's up again now.
41:48Yeah, it was good though. So which one is next? Find a lot?
41:51Find a lot. Perfect. I'll count it. Let's see what we got.
41:5510, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 100, 130, 160, 80, 200, 220, 247.5.
42:09In just one week, Tony's two plants have delivered nearly two million dollars.
42:15That's a pretty good hole, all right? True.
42:19Let's do the trombos. Ready to weigh it up? Yes.
42:2410, 20, 30, 40, 50.
42:27As well as opening the Hester, Mike's crew have run Paradise Hills Trommel, averaging 215 ounces a week.
42:35310, 320, 340, 380, 400,
42:42408.46.
42:45All in, a massive 924 ounces worth over 3.2 million dollars.
42:55The Beats' best ever gold weigh.
42:58It is crazy. At the gold price as it is, that's just not normal. I mean, look how much of
43:04this worth. It's just crazy.
43:06Yeah. That's awesome.
43:08The Beats' season total, 8,257 ounces. Nearly 28.9 million dollars in gold.
43:21Anyway, that's pretty decent gold this week. A lot of bucks, guys. A lot of bucks.
43:25You guys should clean this up.
43:27Yep. Clean up. Let's get more. Let's get with it. Let's get at it. How's that? All right?
43:31Bye.
43:32Make some more.
43:33Sounds like a plan.
43:34Go get it. Go get it. But the times are good. Bye.
43:36Make some.
43:37Anyway, young lady, I've got to go, so we'll catch you later. Okay?
43:40Bye.
43:48Yo, yo. Hey, man.
43:51After Tony's monster gold weigh, Parker is now 470 ounces behind.
43:58We're swamped down here. Back to four plants again.
44:01Yeah, finally.
44:03Oh.
44:04Were you able to keep Roxanne going all week?
44:08We were, yeah.
44:09That's good.
44:11I know Mitch and Tyson, but it has a little bit, but no punches were thrown, huh?
44:16I'm disappointed in you guys.
44:19I didn't raise your right.
44:21Last week, Parker's three wash plants brought in just over 421 ounces.
44:28You want to start with Big Bob?
44:29Now, he has four wash plants running at full capacity and wants at least 600.
44:36Come on, Brennan. Ready?
44:37Yep.
44:37Bob has been running in the bridge cut, where it's averaging 150 ounces a week.
44:4520, 40, 60, 100, 130, 152.55.
44:54Nice.
44:55Nice.
44:55That's bad.
44:56Yeah.
44:57That's good.
44:58They've been consistent.
44:59Try to give them that.
45:00Okay, Tyson.
45:01Ready?
45:02For the first time, Parker has two plants sluicing the huge golden mile pay pile.
45:09First up, his oldest wash plant.
45:12Hey, Greg, here we go.
45:1620, 40, 100, 110, 130, 133.15.
45:25Yeah.
45:27Parker, do you want to do the goose?
45:30Sure.
45:31Here's your brand new baby.
45:36One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
45:4740, 50, 70, 90.
45:52Keep going.
45:54160.
45:57177.05.
45:59Nearly $620,000.
46:02Nice.
46:04Hell yeah.
46:04Good purchase.
46:05Sick.
46:06Yeah.
46:07I pretty much almost paid it off.
46:08To hit Parker's goal this week, Mitch's plant, Roxanne, needs to deliver over 137 ounces.
46:16The old Ken and Stewart's operation, eh?
46:20Yeah.
46:21All right.
46:21Let's see what we got here.
46:24We got 20, 60, 80, 100, 120, 130, 143.8.
46:37Nice.
46:38This is solid.
46:40Yeah.
46:40Last week, we had 421.3 ounces.
46:45This week, it's 606.55.
46:49So we broke 600 ounces in a week.
46:52Wicked.
46:53Back on track.
46:54That fourth plant makes a world of difference.
46:56It really does.
46:58So where does that put us?
46:59So our season total is 8,393.65.
47:04Worth nearly $29.4 million, the most ounces of gold Parker has ever mined
47:13in a season, putting him back in the pole position with over 136 ounces more than Tony.
47:22There has never been a better time to be gold mining ever.
47:26We just need to keep these things going.
47:29I know it's been a hell of a year, and at this time of year, things get so difficult.
47:33But I appreciate you guys just sticking with it and, you know, keeping everything running.
47:40That's what we're here for, man.
47:44All right, gents.
47:47Such a good week having four wash plants back running.
47:50And, you know, now we're over 8,000 ounces.
47:53It's in shot to hit 10,000.
47:55If this weather holds, we can keep these plants going.
47:58Just got to try and make it happen.
47:59We'll see you next time.
48:02We'll see you next time.
48:02Bye.
48:03Bye.
48:03Bye.
48:04Bye.
48:05Bye.
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