- 13 hours ago
Gold Rush: Alaska - Season 16 - Episode 16: The Silence of the Sluice
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00:28Transcribed by ESO, translated by —
00:31We've got a lot of sluicing time in so far this season.
00:34Like, the plants are running really well, but it doesn't mean we can take our foot off the gas.
00:39Harker Schnabel's season is at a critical point.
00:42Two-thirds of the way in, he's banked over $23 million, but he's spending close to a million a week,
00:51and his gold hauls are slipping.
00:54We've got bobbing the bridge cut. I'm not worried about it.
00:57The background's been open a while. It's plugging away.
01:00We've got Mitch with Roxanne on the Indian River. He's got a good handle on that.
01:07My main concern is the Golden Mile and what we do in there, because probably most of the gold that
01:12we're going to find is going to come out of there.
01:13But also, those pits cannot be left with paying them this year, and it screws the whole mining plan up
01:21if that happens.
01:22So that's my main concern right now, and I'm probably going to be stepping on Tyson's toes a little bit,
01:29but we just have to stay on top of that.
01:34This season, Parker has foreman Tyson Lee running three wash plants with Bob in the bridge cut and Slucifer and
01:43Big Red in the Golden Mile,
01:46churning through a combined total of 680 yards of pay dirt an hour.
01:52We have a major problem with the depth of pay, what's going to happen to us at the end of
02:00the season,
02:02and the knock-on effect of what's going to happen to us next year if we don't get those pits
02:08all out, at least out, right?
02:10We don't have to necessarily get them sluiced, but the dirt can't be in the hole anymore.
02:15Right.
02:16Because if the dirt's still in the hole, we can't strip the next bite into those pits.
02:20And then it's just like the knock-on effect of all of that causes like a huge amount of pain
02:24and suffering and heartache.
02:26Yeah, sure. It's just where do we put it that we can sluice it once we start stripping?
02:30I think we should start hauling it out. We have a lot of big waste sites of gravel, right, that
02:35we could just start making pay piles on top of.
02:37How long do we have to get this done then?
02:39In my mind, we have to get at least half of it out in the next, like, seven days.
02:45And who do I have to get this done?
02:47Your plant crews. You shut down both sluice for Ann Big Red.
02:55Parker's mined the Golden Mile for four months, but with winter fast approaching, he's behind schedule with over 300,000
03:04yards of pay still left in the cut.
03:07To get it all out, he's gambling on shutting down both wash plants, which will cost him three quarters of
03:15a million in lost gold each week.
03:17He'll use the plant crews to help haul the remaining pay out into two massive stockpiles.
03:25Then he can start stripping overburden from a new cut into the mined out Golden Mile, while Tyson's crew races
03:34to sluice as much of the pay pile before winter hits.
03:40I don't know another option, do you?
03:41I get what you're saying by we don't have to sluice it this year, but it sucks doing that, because
03:45when have we not sluiced something we've pulled out of a pit?
03:48I know, but when have we had a pit that needed to get stripped into and we didn't get the
03:52pay out of it? That's a bigger problem.
03:55Right? There's no chance of getting anyone from the Indian to come up?
03:58If you absolutely have to, you can talk to Mitch about taking tracks from Ken and Stewart's.
04:03Well, I wish there was another way, but it doesn't seem like there is, eh?
04:05No, there's not. I don't really see another option, so I think we're just going to have to bite the
04:11bullet.
04:12Well, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but thank you.
04:20Oh, that really breaks Tyson's heart. He loves wash plants to be washing, as do I.
04:29But there's not much you can do about the situation.
04:32We were either going to have a situation like this now, or a much worse situation in the end of
04:37the season.
04:38And I really don't like f***ing over our future selves.
04:44I'd much rather f***ing the present than the future.
04:50Hey, Amy, you got a coffee, Amy?
04:52Coffee.
04:53Well, that can be your last scoop there.
04:55We're shutting down both plants.
05:02You know, these plants pull out millions of dollars of gold out of the ground.
05:06It's a big gamble shutting down two wash plants in the middle of the season.
05:10We've never done this before.
05:12So we've got to focus on getting that pay out of the golden mile, up in massive stockpiles,
05:18so we can fire our wash plants back up.
05:21So here we go.
05:22Now we're going to shut her down.
05:31We don't really hope this gamble pays off.
05:35In due time, we'll find out.
06:05Unlike Parker, Klondike kingpin Tony Beetz is running flat out.
06:11He's already hauled in $19 million in gold and is fast closing in on his 6,500-ounce gold.
06:21The gold price is exceptional.
06:24Absolutely zero, nothing to complain about.
06:28We couldn't ask him any better time to be a gold miner.
06:33But in the meantime, never mind.
06:36Gold price is no f***ing good if you don't get any gold out of the ground, so to speak.
06:41Mike still doesn't have the thromble going.
06:44I mean, it seems like every time Mike seems to try to fire up, there's something else f***ing wrong with,
06:50I think.
06:55Things like to break consistently.
06:58It's been f***ing nothing but a headache this year trying to get f***ing going.
07:02I got it going.
07:03It's still going, and I'm going to keep on going.
07:05But it doesn't mean I can't ask when the f***ing is it going to stop.
07:10At the start of the season, Mike made a pitch to his dad to run his own claim.
07:17You gave Kevin a bunch of help getting him going.
07:19Is there anything you're going to help us with?
07:21There is some opportunities out there.
07:23Let's get these two places here going first, and then we'll talk.
07:26But he spent four months struggling with a skeleton crew.
07:30Mike really wants to impress his father, and that's sometimes a little hard.
07:35And last week, when he finally fired up the thromble, his plans fell apart.
07:43Dumb s***.
07:45In front of his family.
07:47I can't stand s***ing looking at that.
07:52Hey lad, you're going to show me all the rollers you put in?
07:56Yes, if you go up here, I can show you.
08:00So I put five rollers in it.
08:02Hopefully you don't have the same problem than before.
08:05That should stop anything from kicking over.
08:07Let's see how it works.
08:09Okay, then we'll start it up.
08:12The whole thing hopefully will work this time.
08:28Over the past six seasons, Paradise Hill has delivered almost 20,000 ounces of gold,
08:35worth over $70 million.
08:39Now, Mike is ready to run a stockpiled mountain of fabled white channel pay,
08:45if he can just keep the trommel turning.
08:48All right, here we go.
08:49First bucket going into the trommel.
08:52Late start, but a late start is better than no start.
08:56Hey Mike, I thought I heard something moving.
09:01One sec.
09:04Colby, stop.
09:12The belt's tracking over real bad that way.
09:15We got to adjust it.
09:17Okay.
09:19Yeah, we just got to with the belt.
09:21The belt decided to off in the wrong direction.
09:25We're already setting the whole thing up,
09:27so I'm not surprised at doing this and that.
09:29There's always something going on, right?
09:31To get it right.
09:32We're just going to have to keep adjusting it until she does start to work.
09:35It's not too big of a job, is it?
09:37No.
09:38It's going to change the moment dirt hits it, Len.
09:41It did move over by about an inch or two by the looks of it.
09:45Want to give it another try?
09:47Yeah.
09:47Start it up.
09:48Yep.
09:49Okay, let's get the show on the road.
09:57Kind of a sight for sore eyes, ain't it?
09:59Oh, finally.
10:01About time.
10:02It's good to get some money out of there, eh?
10:05Yeah.
10:05It'll be nice.
10:11Now we're set up and it should be good for quite a while.
10:14So, I mean, he's proven himself, so it's good for him to get his own shot, too.
10:18Same as Kevin, right?
10:20So far, so good.
10:21It's working for now.
10:22I've been having so many one-step forward, two-step backs that I'm not getting my hopes up.
10:27I'm not getting excited.
10:28Until I get a weekend, I ain't saying .
10:31It's turning.
10:32That's all that really matters right now.
11:13Rick Ness is gambling on turning his season around on a huge new cut, Valhalla.
11:20But three weeks into the big dig, he's still not hit pay dirt and is burning cash fast.
11:28It's easy to give up out here.
11:29It is, you know, especially when going wrong, like we've had it.
11:33It's a mental game.
11:34You can say that I'm going home, this ain't going to work, or you can put your head down,
11:37work harder, and make it work.
11:38We're fighting for our lives.
11:40Sometimes that's where a guy thrives, and we'll see this year.
11:42It's a lot to take on, but, you know, I'd raise up for it.
11:47Rick believes Valhalla has 160 feet of overburden that covers a gold-rich pay layer.
11:54He has already dug halfway down, shifting enough dirt to fill over half of the Empire State Building.
12:02Rick still has to remove another 80 feet to hit an area of gold-rich pay the size of a
12:09football field,
12:11then sluice it all by the end of the season.
12:15I made the decision to extend the cup.
12:17It's a risk, no doubt about that, but, you know, with the amount of time that we've got left in
12:22the season
12:23and, you know, what we've got to work with, there's really no choice.
12:26There's definitely no guarantee that this is going to work, but there never is in mining,
12:30so it's, you know, we've just got to suck it up.
12:34Rick has just six crew, and he's thrown everyone into trucks to help move the mountain of overburden.
12:42From his cook, Heather...
12:44Oh, you know, just killing it.
12:45Only two jobs today, kitchen in here.
12:47...to his mechanic, Ryan...
12:50You know, I'm in a truck.
12:52We're struggling.
12:53Nobody likes a rock truck.
12:55If you like a rock truck, you're a f***ing liar.
12:57We definitely have been waiting a long time of hauling overburden just to be able to get pay out,
13:03which is kind of a pain in the ass.
13:05We could always have a couple more trucks.
13:09Hey, Ryan.
13:10So what's your thoughts on Rick's plan for this expansion here?
13:15I think we've got an ass load of dirt to move.
13:17It's definitely bigger than the last time we did Vegas Valley,
13:20and I do worry about timing.
13:23If we have one thing go down, something happens at that 750,
13:26there's no way we're going to hit 1,800 ounces.
13:29Yeah, it is true, man.
13:33You know, this is the s***.
13:34We need more f***ing rock truck drivers,
13:35because being stuck in this s***ing rock truck
13:37when I should be working on equipment,
13:39that doesn't make any f***ing sense.
13:44After his shift,
13:46Ryan sits down with his family
13:48before he leaves with them
13:50for a short break from the claim.
13:52You want to learn how to drive a rock truck?
13:54Yeah.
13:56Sold.
13:57Sold.
13:57I'll tell Rick,
13:58we'll get you your paperwork and get you going.
14:01You've been gone quite a few months,
14:03so it's been pretty hard back home.
14:06It's tough.
14:08But obviously, we're up here
14:09to make a better life for ourselves,
14:10and, you know,
14:11the first two seasons,
14:12we've hit our goal,
14:13and it's helped us in life.
14:14So, you know, this one here,
14:16this is going to be a struggle.
14:17So, it's kind of a,
14:19I don't know,
14:20touch and go subject.
14:21With how much gold we brought in this year,
14:22we haven't even,
14:24we haven't done s***.
14:25Yeah.
14:25That's kind of scary.
14:27You know, I guess that's another question to,
14:29you know, I mean,
14:30how do you feel to continue?
14:32You do, like, miss out on everything at home.
14:34Like,
14:35Oh, yeah.
14:35I don't know.
14:36Just,
14:38everything.
14:40Yep.
14:48I got a quick ring.
14:50It is.
14:50It's tough.
14:52Yeah, I mean,
14:53we haven't had a summer in three years.
14:54Yeah, like going to the lake,
14:55or just, like, vacations,
14:57or just, like, anything.
15:00Obviously, we rely on the gold bonus to,
15:02you know,
15:02that's what we're working for,
15:03and I don't know if it's there.
15:05And right now,
15:06we're barely cutting the bills, so.
15:08I just wonder, you know,
15:09at what point do you just, like,
15:11have to, I don't know,
15:13just call it a day,
15:14and just be back with us, you know?
15:18How many relationships last,
15:20and they don't see each other for six months, so.
15:26You want Daddy to keep coming back?
15:30No.
15:31No?
15:41Hey, Rick.
15:43I don't know,
15:43I got bothering me,
15:44and I just want to talk to you about it.
15:46Down here at Monster Red.
15:56What's the scoop?
15:57Honestly,
15:58I had a long talk with Rachel.
16:00You know,
16:01I've got to think about my future,
16:02and leaving them home alone all the time.
16:04It's just not easy on them.
16:05You know,
16:06that's a,
16:07I don't know.
16:07I want to be in all different places at once.
16:09It's tough.
16:11There's a lot to think about.
16:12I,
16:13I,
16:13I,
16:14I'll tell you this,
16:15like,
16:15as far as people goes,
16:17um,
16:18you're,
16:19you're,
16:19you're,
16:19I mean,
16:20lack of a title,
16:21I mean,
16:21you're my go-to guy out here.
16:22It's always going to be in the back of your mind of,
16:25are we going to see a bonus this year?
16:28My family relies on it,
16:29and I always want to make sure there's food on the table,
16:31and that's,
16:31that's my number one concern.
16:33I don't,
16:34I don't take that lightly,
16:35you know what I mean?
16:35I never have,
16:35and I'm not going to lie.
16:37I mean,
16:37we,
16:37we don't finish this,
16:38or we don't get to the bottom of it,
16:39or we get to the bottom of it,
16:40there's no goal this year.
16:40I don't know how to survive that.
16:43And that's when it starts with your head,
16:44especially when you're in a rock truck all day.
16:46Ah.
16:48I think there's a few things that you're going to have to ponder about.
16:51Like,
16:51dude,
16:52your cut is double now.
16:54It's a cut,
16:55man.
16:56You know,
16:56this is aggressive.
16:57We're hoping the money's in the ground,
16:59but,
17:00yeah,
17:01I,
17:01we won't really know it until we get down there.
17:03But,
17:03with the price of gold,
17:05doing what it's doing,
17:06it does not take that much gold to make it profitable.
17:08All it takes is one bad season to,
17:10to lose everything.
17:12It's a gamble,
17:13with the amount of gold we brought in.
17:15I mean,
17:16we've all talked,
17:16so,
17:18everybody's got their concerns.
17:20I'd hate to see this crew change.
17:36I know he's been stressed out.
17:37I get worried that,
17:38uh,
17:40he might just call it quits.
17:41Leave us right now.
17:42Just bail on us in the middle of the season,
17:43because he's got a business at home.
17:45He's got a family at home,
17:46and that's,
17:47uh,
17:47that's a lot to leave behind.
17:48It's,
17:51it's,
17:56it's,
17:56it's,
17:57it's,
17:57it's,
17:58it's,
17:59it's,
17:59it's,
17:59it's,
18:02it's,
18:04it's,
18:05it's been a tough week.
18:06You know,
18:07I got to think about things at home,
18:08and think about the things I'm missing,
18:10and think about the situations I put them in.
18:12I don't know.
18:13There's a lot going on.
18:14Got a lot to think about.
18:41So,
18:41you know,
18:42we got Sleucifer and Big Red shut down up in the Golden Mile.
18:46We have our sluicing crew in trucks,
18:49in excavators,
18:50getting that mass volume of pay in a stockpile.
18:54Parker Schnabel's crew has shut down both plants to focus on clearing half the remaining pay out of the Golden
19:02Mile by the end of the week.
19:05But foreman Tyson fears it will take longer and cost even more in lost gold.
19:13You know,
19:13right now,
19:14we're stretched so thin up here at Dominion.
19:16Although we have a lot of resources,
19:18we have a lot of the work up here.
19:20So we need all the help we can get.
19:29Hey,
19:29Mitch,
19:30you got a coffee,
19:30Mitch?
19:32Yeah,
19:32dude,
19:32what's up?
19:33Hey,
19:34man,
19:34we're going to need one of your trucks up here at Dominion.
19:36We got a mountain of pay to move.
19:38Dude,
19:39I only have two trucks.
19:40It's going to leave me with one truck.
19:41I got to keep a wash plant going 24 hours a day.
19:44Foreman Mitch Blaschke is running one of Parker's remaining two plants still sluicing.
19:51Yeah,
19:51I know it's not ideal,
19:52but this comes from the top,
19:53so we got to make it happen here.
19:55Well,
19:56that's what Parker wants.
19:57Like,
19:58I mean,
19:58I can send Sean up there with a truck,
20:00but like,
20:01you guys need to get it done as fast as possible,
20:02because this plant's going to run out of dirt here.
20:05Alrighty.
20:05Thanks,
20:06man.
20:07Unreal,
20:08dude.
20:08Like,
20:10yeah,
20:10make it work.
20:11Oh,
20:11you're making it work with hardly anything?
20:14Okay.
20:15We'll see if you can do it with a little less.
20:18You know,
20:19Sean,
20:20hey,
20:20man.
20:20Yeah,
20:21go ahead.
20:22Take that truck up to Dominion.
20:24They got to get a bunch of dirt moved out of the Golden Mile,
20:26and they need everything we got,
20:27so get up there as fast as you can,
20:30just get it done,
20:30and rip back here.
20:31Yeah,
20:32I'm on my way.
20:34Parker needs all hands on deck at Dominion.
20:37It's not the best thing we can do down here.
20:39We know we got so much to get through here.
20:41Mitch ain't too happy about it.
20:43The crew is so stretched that even Parker is helping out in the Golden Mile,
20:50dozing pay into wind roads for the rock trucks to haul to the stockpiles.
20:56So basically,
20:57the best hope we have of kind of staying on target is bringing all the pay out to a big
21:02stockpile as fast as we can.
21:06So there's a lot going on up here right now.
21:09It's kind of all hands on deck.
21:11It's a lot of dirt to move.
21:13Up until the last few weeks,
21:15I thought we'd had 10,000 ounces in the bag.
21:18I thought we'd have it by now.
21:20But it's proving to be a bit elusive.
21:26Sean, in the Vital Extra rock truck,
21:29is only halfway into the 15 miles of rough mine roads
21:34between the Indian River and Dominion.
21:39What the is that?
21:45Truck's not going nowhere.
21:48Oh, man.
21:56That's not good.
21:58I've been hearing this noise, and I knew it sounded like a U-joint.
22:01So this is going to take some time.
22:04Hopefully, I can get down here and fix this soon enough.
22:09All right, Taylor, you got a copy?
22:10Taylor?
22:13No answer.
22:17Mitch wasn't too happy about me leaving,
22:19and now Parker's not going to be too happy about me not making it there.
22:44Right now,
22:46it ain't going to be driving
22:48at all.
22:53Well, there's no repairing this end of the drive shaft
22:58because the yoke here where the U-joint mounts,
23:02part of it's snapped clean off.
23:03That's toast.
23:07On the road to Dominion,
23:09mechanic Taylor Matika is under the gun
23:12to fix a rock truck desperately needed
23:15to help Parker's Golden Mile blitz.
23:17I just got back to Dominion.
23:19We do have a boneyard here.
23:21We do have a few options.
23:24I think they've all been pretty ransacked,
23:27so I'm 50-50 on my level of hope for that.
23:37This is where I'm most hopeful.
23:40This is one from before we ever bought the place.
23:43This is the closest I've ever been to it,
23:47but...
23:51The drive shaft's obviously been hijacked as well.
23:54That's a bad start.
23:56If we can't find one,
23:57we might be in trouble.
24:04Every hour is super important right now
24:06for all of our trucks.
24:07It's crazy.
24:08We're running everything, 24-7.
24:11So we got one more junkyard here.
24:13It's where things go to die.
24:16It's possible, though.
24:17We've got to never say never.
24:20You want to come along?
24:21Okay.
24:24A lot of this stuff is either just junk
24:27or taken off of old machines and s**t.
24:30I mean, like...
24:31You got a bunch of coolant pipes here.
24:33Like, a lot of it is just failed components as well.
24:37But holy s**t.
24:39Look at this!
24:41Ha ha ha!
24:43S**t, yeah.
24:47This means we got a bit of work to do,
24:49but we can get that truck going.
24:50So end of the day today,
24:52that thing will be moving dirt.
24:59Taylor's rock truck fix
25:00can't come soon enough for Brennan Ruehl,
25:03who's also been drafted in
25:06from their Indian River operation.
25:08Up here in the Golden Mile,
25:10helping Tyson out.
25:11I'm loading some trucks here.
25:12Just seems to be sucking up every single resource.
25:15I'm sure if he had 100 people here,
25:17we'd still don't feel like
25:18there's enough equipment and machinery.
25:20Well, it's just crazy busy.
25:22So I really need that truck running.
25:27We'll get this truck up and running,
25:29hell or high water.
25:35It's a pretty delicate balance.
25:37Speed versus meticulousness.
25:40You try to do both.
25:42And if you overextend in one,
25:45you fail in the other.
25:50All right.
25:52That's her.
25:54Every truck on site,
25:55we're needing down to the Golden Mile,
25:57so we need to get this thing up and running ASAP.
26:00Tyson's going to be super stoked
26:01we got this thing going.
26:06Hey, Tyson, I'm here now.
26:08I heard you got some pay to be moved.
26:10I thought you were taking the day off, man.
26:12Didn't think I'd see you today.
26:14Hell yeah, brother.
26:15We'll get her done, man.
26:16That's awesome.
26:17It's what we need to get this project done.
26:20Tyson now has a shot to get half the pay out
26:24by Parker's end-of-week deadline.
26:27Hopefully we can pull it off.
26:41Come on.
26:42Let's get to it.
26:45At the Valhalla cut,
26:47Rick's only mechanic, Ryan,
26:49has left with his family
26:51to think through his mining future.
26:54And his remaining five crew
26:56are racing to get down to pay.
27:00Yeah, I'm excited to finally see some gold
27:02out of Valhalla.
27:03This sounds stupid as f***, but...
27:06It's Valhalla.
27:08We're going to get some Valhalla gold here soon, buddy.
27:11F*** right.
27:16My life is on the line here,
27:18but the amount of dirt that these guys could move
27:20with not ideal situations
27:22and not the amount of people that's necessary
27:25is surprising.
27:26Like, it's not surprising.
27:28It's amazing.
27:28It's going to work.
27:29I usually know the gold's going to be there.
27:30I've started to learn to trust my gut out here,
27:32and so far it's paying off.
27:38The rock truck sucks today.
27:41The roads are rough.
27:47What the f*** was that?
27:50That didn't sound good.
27:58Hey, buddy.
27:59What's up?
28:01I think my drive shaft's, uh,
28:03the rear one.
28:04Let's take a look.
28:07It's the rear drive shaft.
28:10Yeah, she's...
28:14Oh, Rick, you're a copy.
28:16Yeah, go ahead, buddy.
28:18Yeah, this, uh, this truck,
28:19it looks like I blew the rear drive shaft.
28:21She's going to be down for a bit
28:22while Kaya and I try and figure this out
28:24and see if we've got parts.
28:26F***, are you kidding me?
28:27What the f*** is going on out there?
28:33Limp this thing into the yard, I guess.
28:41I've done this one other time,
28:43and it was with Ryan,
28:44and I'm glad he showed me how to do it
28:46because here we are without Ryan.
28:50So, we need to get s*** on somehow.
28:53What was the other one, Kaya?
28:5517?
28:55No, uh, 18 ratchet wrench.
28:58Yeah, got that.
28:59And a 19 regular wrench.
29:01We just have to pull the drive shaft off,
29:04put the new one on,
29:05and it should be ready to rip.
29:11Yeah, it really sucks not having Ryan here,
29:14especially when s*** like this goes wrong
29:16and we are already down a truck.
29:23There we go.
29:24It appears to have worked, Kaya.
29:29Yeah, it's definitely not what we want
29:32to see a truck down
29:33and only have two working.
29:35You know, I'm here sitting, waiting for trucks,
29:37and, you know, three is barely enough
29:39and two is definitely not enough.
29:43We might have to grind this other bolt off.
29:55You done?
29:56I will be in a sec.
29:58You got your socket?
30:00No, hold on.
30:03Well, that's tightened.
30:04Yeah.
30:06Oh, s***.
30:08That hurt.
30:28I'm just trying to fix this s*** rock truck,
30:30and it just seems like today's one of those days
30:32where nothing s*** going right,
30:35especially after I broke a rock truck.
30:36I had a fitting fail on the airline,
30:38so then I got covered in dust and s***,
30:40but whatever.
30:41It is what it is.
30:42Well, we've taken the truck apart
30:45as far as we can take it.
30:46We're just not licensed mechanics.
30:48It's just, everything's a mess.
30:52Hey, Rick, you got a copy?
30:54Go for Rick.
30:56Without Ryan, I'm about as far as I can get
30:59without, you know, taking the risk
31:01that I s*** something else up on here.
31:04Oh, s***.
31:05I'm kidding.
31:06That's just s*** more bad news
31:07that I don't need right now.
31:08You know, we're so far away
31:10from an 1,800-ounce target.
31:11It's a nightmare without Ryan here.
31:12I know that right now.
31:14I knew the chances were good
31:15that we'd be f***ing on a mechanic
31:17and it's all coming true.
31:34We're in it.
31:34We're hitting it hard.
31:36We're going, going, going.
31:37So now it's nice.
31:38It's fine.
31:38It's good.
31:39The trommel is going through dirt
31:42faster than I even thought it would.
31:43It's almost scary.
31:45At Paradise Hill,
31:46with the trommel now eating
31:48through the gold-rich white channel pay
31:50at over 350 yards an hour,
31:54Mike is digging pay dirt
31:55in the super pit,
31:57racing to stay ahead.
31:59But I guarantee you,
32:00my plant alone
32:01does what two, three
32:03of those macons my dad has does.
32:06The trommel goes through it
32:07like f***ing wild.
32:17Hey, Colby, Colby,
32:18it's racing here.
32:19If there's no water
32:20running through the trommel here,
32:21I think we might have to shut it down.
32:23What the f***?
32:24What the f***?
32:39What the f*** is safe?
32:52Yeah, Mike,
32:53can you get here as soon as you can?
32:54And the line blew off the pump.
32:56Made a big mess here
32:57in the lower yard.
32:58Pipe busted off.
32:59Still pumping water.
33:01It's a big mess.
33:02Almost washed out the pump.
33:04It's a good thing
33:04we caught it when we did.
33:11If I can actually start
33:12sluicing steady
33:13for more than f***ing two hours,
33:15I don't drink,
33:16but this f***ing stir
33:17is encouraging the behavior.
33:20Hose just ripped itself off.
33:22It's probably because
33:23all the weight from the water
33:24and the pressure from up top
33:26just created enough pressure
33:27to rip the hose right off.
33:29So now,
33:30I'm going to have to disconnect
33:31this whole f***ing thing.
33:32I'm going to have to move a check valve,
33:34reset up this whole f***ing thing,
33:36and then I'm going to have to
33:38weld the solid steel line.
33:41No more f***ing around.
33:43I want a solid f***ing pipe
33:45because every f***ing time
33:47something blows off,
33:50it's costing me so much time,
33:52and I am so absolutely sick
33:54of f***ing with this thing.
34:00We've got to pick this up.
34:02We're going to lift the check valve.
34:08Pick that thing up,
34:09get that out,
34:10watch fingers.
34:12Oh, that might be the problem.
34:15Don't touch nothing yet.
34:17Shut it off.
34:18It's on backwards.
34:22The check valve was on backwards.
34:24So, here, come here.
34:26I'll show you.
34:27The check valve,
34:29by design,
34:30is to stop water
34:31coming one direction, right?
34:33So,
34:35if it's not like this,
34:37and it's facing this way,
34:39the check valve don't stop
34:40f***ing except the pump
34:41from pumping.
34:42The trommel is set up
34:44100 feet high on the hill.
34:47To protect the pump below
34:49from any water backflow,
34:51they installed a check valve.
34:53But it was put on backwards,
34:55and the pump's 1,500-gallon-per-minute
34:57output built up enough pressure
35:00to blow the plastic pipe off
35:02and crack it.
35:03Mike needs his crew
35:05to put the check valve on
35:07the correct way
35:08and replace the cracked pipe
35:10with a new metal section
35:12to the pump
35:12so he can get back
35:14sluicing again.
35:15If we can take a pipe like this,
35:18and you just cut a section
35:19out of it,
35:20and then it already has
35:21the two ends, right?
35:23Yeah.
35:23Yeah.
35:25Why don't I take this one?
35:39Going through the process,
35:40trying to figure out the angles,
35:42and then once we get it
35:44where we need to be,
35:45then we'll get a better picture
35:46of it.
35:47There's no real mathematical
35:48equation.
35:49You're just doing it by
35:50fit and feel, basically.
35:52It just takes time.
36:14It's on now.
36:15Oh, it'll be amazing.
36:16You know that it's rigid,
36:18that it's going to hold
36:19the pressure.
36:20Mike will be happy
36:21back sluicing
36:22and making money
36:23at the hill.
36:25And Tony will probably
36:26be happy, too,
36:27and one big, happy family.
36:33Let's get things started
36:35and get sluicing.
36:37Ready?
36:38Ready?
36:50I don't think there's
36:51anything left that can
36:52break down.
36:52Everything that could break
36:53down broke and is now fixed,
36:55so we should be good for
36:58the rest of the season,
36:58hopefully.
37:01I'm not the biggest fan
37:02of not producing gold,
37:03so now I'm just going to sit
37:04there and watch that
37:05thing spin to make sure
37:06nothing goes wrong
37:08and we will be nothing
37:09but sluicing.
37:35What's up, dude?
37:36Good to see you.
37:38After taking some time off
37:40with his family,
37:42mechanic Ryan Kent
37:43is back.
37:45Oh, man.
37:47Oh, f***.
37:50How'd the week go?
37:52You know, I'm not going to lie.
37:55I'm pretty nervous.
37:56I knew that it would be good
37:57for you to go home,
37:58but if you start thinking
37:59about things,
38:00you know, at a certain point
38:01while you were gone,
38:02because, you know,
38:02I overthink everything,
38:03I'm just like, man,
38:03I think he's probably
38:04going to see what he's missing
38:05and I'm a bit worried
38:06he might just call it quits
38:07and just bail on us.
38:10Yeah, I mean,
38:11so if I'm going to be staying,
38:13I mean, it's like,
38:14how much longer can we move dirt
38:15and not see gold?
38:16And, you know,
38:17on top of that,
38:19it's a gamble.
38:20What are we at?
38:21400?
38:22Just shy of 500.
38:23I'm not going to lie to you,
38:24most of it's gone.
38:27I rely on that
38:28when I go home
38:29and if we strike out this year,
38:33that's the hard part
38:34of telling Rachel of,
38:35hey...
38:35You know,
38:36I'd sell everything
38:36to give you guys,
38:37you know,
38:38make sure that you guys
38:38are paid because
38:40that's...
38:40I give a...
38:41You guys are never
38:42going to walk out of here
38:42and go over
38:43and I'll make sure,
38:44no matter what happens,
38:45that'll never happen.
38:46But, you know,
38:47I need you to trust me
38:48and I need you here,
38:48obviously.
38:49Right now we've got
38:50less than two weeks,
38:50I'd say,
38:51before we have to be Sleucin.
38:53We're set up to roll.
38:54Like, we got the water,
38:55we got everything.
38:56Like, we're going to
38:56flog that thing.
38:57And you guys all
38:58put your faith in me before
38:59and I just need it
39:00one more time, right?
39:01Yeah.
39:07It doesn't happen without you
39:09and that's just a fact, right?
39:10We survived a week
39:11without you,
39:11but man,
39:12like,
39:12we'd never survive
39:13the rest of the season
39:13without you.
39:14That's a fact.
39:15That's pumping your tires.
39:16I appreciate that, man.
39:17I do.
39:19So...
39:21Yeah, you've got me.
39:23F*** you, buddy.
39:23All right, brother.
39:24I got you.
39:25I've always got you guys.
39:27Yeah, we've got everything
39:28we need to be successful.
39:29I think so.
39:35Man, it was great
39:36having some time off
39:37with my wife and daughter.
39:39Really gets you
39:39thinking about things
39:40and coming back here
39:42just wondering our direction,
39:45wondering if I have
39:45a future here,
39:46wondering what we're doing,
39:47but having the chance
39:48to sit and talk to Rick
39:49and have him actually
39:50open up to me
39:51means a lot.
39:52You know,
39:52he's got a game plan,
39:53he's got our backs.
39:55He's never going to
39:56let us down.
39:56He's going to do
39:56everything he can.
39:58So, when I came back,
40:00I didn't know
40:00if I was going to stay,
40:02but after that talk,
40:03I think Rick's got me forever.
40:18At the beginning of the week
40:19when you said
40:2050% of that cut
40:21has to be on of there,
40:21I thought it was going to be
40:22pretty tough to do,
40:24but with the extra truck
40:24it definitely helped out,
40:26so thanks, man.
40:26No worries, yeah.
40:27Yeah, good job.
40:29So you think you'll be able
40:30to grind through that,
40:31that pay pile?
40:32Hopefully.
40:32It's pretty big.
40:34Yeah.
40:36It's definitely
40:36the biggest pile of pay
40:38we've ever put up,
40:39but we've never really
40:40done that before.
40:42It's just the timing
40:43is really bad.
40:44You know,
40:45each week our goal numbers
40:46are going down and down,
40:48and then to shut down
40:48two plants like that,
40:50it's like, eh.
40:50Yeah.
40:52There's no good way
40:53to deal with it.
40:54It's just the lesser
40:56of two evils.
40:58So there isn't much
40:59this week, Doomit?
41:01Yeah.
41:02Well, with everything
41:03that's going on
41:03with the two plants,
41:04you're not going to have
41:05a great deal.
41:05I don't even want to be here
41:07for this gold way.
41:08It looks pretty depressing,
41:09not going to lie.
41:10Yeah.
41:11All right, here we go.
41:14First up, the Golden Mile.
41:17Before the shutdown,
41:18it averaged 240 ounces
41:21of gold a week.
41:23Is that it?
41:24That's all that's
41:25in the jug, man.
41:2653.65.
41:28Two plants.
41:29That's depressing.
41:30Yeah, they got to run
41:32to make gold.
41:33Well, Tyson,
41:34since you're already up.
41:35Yeah?
41:36In the bridge cut,
41:38wash plant Bob
41:39is averaging 156 ounces
41:41every week.
41:44100.
41:47129.05.
41:51Not great,
41:52but not terrible.
41:53Yeah.
41:53Triple digits.
41:54Can't argue with that, right?
41:56One plant versus two.
41:57Pulls off double the amount.
42:00And then old truckless
42:01Roxanne, huh?
42:02Yeah.
42:03Let's go.
42:04Finally, Roxanne,
42:06which last time
42:07delivered just 76
42:08ounces.
42:09I'm going to break
42:10100.
42:14123.55.
42:15That's not bad.
42:17No.
42:18Not for the ground
42:18you're on?
42:19The pay does not look great,
42:20just super sandy.
42:22Yeah, no,
42:23looking at the dirt,
42:23that doesn't look bad.
42:25So last week
42:26was 433.4 ounces.
42:29This week,
42:30it's 306.25.
42:33Worth $1,071,000,
42:38the third week in a row,
42:40Parker's numbers
42:41have fallen.
42:42We've lost a lot of gold.
42:44Of course,
42:45you got the two plants
42:46shut down,
42:46there's things going on,
42:47right?
42:48Our season total,
42:507,048.55 ounces.
42:53We did break
42:54the 7,000 mark.
42:56We just need to cough up
42:58another three somewhere.
43:00Somewhere.
43:02Is this our worst week
43:03of the season?
43:05It's pretty close,
43:06yeah.
43:07Yeah.
43:08It's like our season's
43:09going backwards.
43:10Yeah, I don't like
43:11the direction we're heading
43:12when each week
43:13it's a little bit less,
43:14a little bit less.
43:15And this was a bad jump,
43:16over 100 ounces.
43:17Yeah.
43:18All right.
43:19Well,
43:19we'll get those plants
43:20back up and running.
43:21Much better to deal
43:22with this now
43:22than in September,
43:23though.
43:24Right.
43:25Yeah.
43:25When it gets cold,
43:26you don't want to be
43:27dealing with those problems.
43:28Hopefully,
43:28we can make up for it
43:29on the back end.
43:30Yeah,
43:31hopefully,
43:31it's a late fall
43:32and a warm fall.
43:33Yeah.
43:34Alrighty.
43:36Next week,
43:37a lot of sluice in,
43:37hopefully more gold.
43:38Lame.
43:39Lame.
43:40Lame.
43:40Yep.
43:43Crank them up,
43:44guys.
43:44Crank them up.
43:44Will do.
43:45See you doing it.
43:57Gentlemen.
43:58Gentlemen.
44:01Holy .
44:02That's a big one.
44:03I've never seen it.
44:04That's actually huge.
44:07Every mat.
44:09Use that for a tooth cap.
44:12The shawla has been
44:14the bait of my life
44:15this year,
44:15but she does do good
44:17work when she gets
44:18the ground.
44:19I've been getting
44:19nothing but good,
44:20big old nuggies
44:20and a ton of little gold.
44:23It's turning out
44:24to be quite nice.
44:26After nearly four months
44:28of setbacks,
44:30Mike's trommel
44:31is finally producing gold.
44:34Hi.
44:34Hi, guys.
44:35How are you?
44:36Hey, folks.
44:37Fantastic.
44:40So, Mike,
44:41I saw the trommel turning
44:42when we come into the yard
44:43this morning.
44:44It's been going for three days,
44:46so, yeah.
44:46That's exciting.
44:48And I sit here
44:50or I'm in the office.
44:51I can hear the trommel go.
44:52It's kind of nice.
44:54Sound of money, lady.
44:55Nothing wrong with it.
44:57About time.
44:58Yeah, I'm kind of proud
44:59of what you've been doing, dude.
45:01Doing my best.
45:02Absolutely.
45:04Now that we've got
45:05three boxes going,
45:06it'll be nice to see
45:07what kind of gold
45:07we get out of it.
45:08That would be really cool.
45:10Let's do Sluisalot.
45:12Okay, Porter.
45:13Let's see what we got.
45:15Sluisalot has been
45:17mining Indian River's
45:18corner cut,
45:19where it's averaging
45:20300 ounces a week.
45:22That's 120,
45:24160,
45:25170,
45:26180,
45:28200,
45:30220.48,
45:32220.48.
45:34Well, it seems like
45:36you're kind of getting
45:37a little dry spot there, bud.
45:39Yeah, it's okay.
45:40Some days are good,
45:41some days you get
45:42a little less.
45:43Easy to find a lot?
45:44Puh, puh, puh, puh, puh.
45:46Find a lot
45:47is also mining
45:48the corner cut,
45:50averaging 250 ounces a week.
45:5370, 80, 90,
45:55100, 140,
45:57to 10,
45:58to 14,
46:00to 16,
46:00to 18.76.
46:04That's not bad.
46:06It's all money.
46:07So what do we got next?
46:08It's trommel?
46:09Yep.
46:10Ta-da!
46:11Michael, I'm excited.
46:13It's the first gold
46:14we had a trommel this year.
46:15Let's do it.
46:16And that's three days only.
46:1920, 30, 40,
46:2150, 60,
46:2380,
46:24100,
46:26110,
46:29121.56.
46:31Mike's trommel
46:33has brought in
46:34$425,000
46:36in gold,
46:37bringing the season total
46:39to 5,992 ounces,
46:43just 500 ounces short
46:45of Tony's gold.
46:47So that's kind of
46:48nice.
46:50Yeah.
46:50For three days,
46:52that's pretty good.
46:53Where do you start, Mike?
46:54Mm-hmm.
46:55Can we keep that up?
46:56Hey, you.
46:58So now that the trauma's going,
47:00you said there'd be
47:01other opportunities?
47:07Well,
47:09hang on,
47:10some things are coming up,
47:11so we'll see what develops.
47:14Right?
47:20Okay.
47:21In the meantime,
47:22you're going to be
47:22super busy here anyway.
47:25Okay.
47:29We'll see you guys later.
47:36I'm happy for Mike
47:37that he's got the trommel going
47:38because it was pretty
47:39frustrating for him.
47:40Oh, I'm sure it was.
47:41What are we going to do
47:42about his deal
47:43because we said
47:44he would be able
47:45to do his own thing
47:46after he got the plans going?
47:47Leave it with me
47:48or I'll come up with something.
47:49Sounds good.
47:50You should go to work.
47:52I'll go to my own
47:53sandbox in the end.
47:54Sounds like a plan.
47:55Talk to you later.
47:56Yep.
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