- 8 hours ago
Gold Rush - Season 16 Episode 21 - 1,000-Ounce Week
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00:17We already blew past that 6,500-ounce gold.
00:21I mean, just because that's the gold,
00:23doesn't mean we're going to stop.
00:25Parker is going for 10,000 ounces.
00:27Let's see who ends up on top.
00:29Tony Beats only has a few weeks left in the season
00:33and wants to blow his rivals out of the water
00:36to secure his crown as king of the Klondike.
00:41He's already stacked over $30 million,
00:44but with the gold price jumping another $100 an ounce,
00:50the king is hungry for more.
00:53We got fined a lot.
00:54This looks a lot.
00:55There's the ripping through the corner,
00:57Captain and the Indian.
00:59Mike on Paradise, I mean, he's got a trommel running,
01:02and he's got enough pay now out of Hester,
01:04so he's going to have Harold on the go.
01:07By the end of the week, you had four sluice plants running.
01:10So the potential of having 1,000-ounce gold lace
01:14are almost guaranteed.
01:24If Tony is to hit a record 1,000-ounce hole this week,
01:29he needs to run the fresh Hester cut pay.
01:32Now let's see if we can find some gold in the pay.
01:36And for that, he needs to set up his fourth wash plant,
01:40Harold, fast.
01:42It's time to build her up.
01:44Build him up, I guess, huh?
01:46It's a Harold.
01:47First step, build the pad for the 100-yard-an-hour plant.
01:52Pile over here, pile in the middle, and a pile over there.
01:56Okay.
01:57Also, I think I'm about to set back.
02:07It's looking pretty good.
02:09We'll pull the plant on, see what it does.
02:21Beautiful.
02:22Done.
02:26Next, install the 30-foot-long hopper feeder.
02:31Everybody, you f*** out of the way!
02:33Straight back, Lynn.
02:34Straight back.
02:38Good.
02:39Good, good, good, good, good.
02:41Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!
02:45Oh, f***.
02:46Forward, Lynn.
02:48Had it on the wrong f***ing channel!
02:53Finally, connect the hose, and fire up the pump that sends water to the plant.
03:08What the f*** did they do to this thing?
03:13Because it's telling me the coolant's low.
03:18It's over full.
03:21I haven't been that lucky with pumps.
03:24Lucas, do you copy? Lucas, do you copy?
03:27If mechanic Lucas Lotz can't fix the pump, Tony's hopes for a four-wash plant blitz and 1,000-ounce
03:36week are toast.
03:37So, it's either sensor for the coolant, or it's the ECM, according to the code.
03:44The ECM, or electronic control module, is the pump's computer.
03:49It will not allow the pump to fire up if it can't sense coolant.
03:55You guys have started it and everything?
03:57Yep.
03:58Gonna go have a check at what Colby's doing.
04:01These engines are pretty common, but best case scenario, I just need to reduce some sensor wiring.
04:07Worst case, we'll need an ECM, and it'll be about a week.
04:10Mike will be f***ing pissed.
04:14So, the coolant sensor is definitely f***ing.
04:16That's probably why it won't start.
04:18It thinks that there's no coolant in it.
04:21Yeah, that's over full.
04:23These are potentiometers.
04:27Sometimes, in a pinch, you can use these in place of a sensor, if you know what you're doing.
04:33With no spare sensors, Lucas plans to bush fix the pump with a potentiometer, a type of variable resistor he
04:43hopes can replicate the electronic signal of a working sensor.
04:48You just gotta match the resistance that the sensor would regularly put out.
04:54So, we got it plugged in, so now I gotta play with it, and then, once I get it to
04:58the sweet spot, the code will go away, and then we're in business.
05:02Theoretically.
05:05Yeah.
05:05Yeah.
05:12I think I got it.
05:17Well, a little bit.
05:20That looks like a potentiometer trick worked.
05:23So, Mike's gonna be more happy than a pig in s*** or a pig in gold this time of year,
05:27I guess.
05:38This is kind of a big day for Mike if he gets to start up Harald again.
05:42We'll start turning it on.
05:46Hey!
05:48You got water?
05:50Dump! Dump!
05:56We have to go get some champagne, Mom.
05:58Yeah.
05:59Hey, you got two plants running.
06:02Yeah, finally.
06:04Yeah, you did.
06:07With Harald finally sluicing Hester Cut pay dirt, the Beats have a shot at a record-breaking 1,000-ounce
06:15wheat.
06:16Nah, it's going. That's good. I hope it stays going until the end of the year.
06:37What's happening, man?
06:39I just wanted to let you know we're gonna come do the stripping down here this fall for next year.
06:47So, the whole stripping crew's coming down.
06:49So, we're gonna go up and take another bite into the hill.
06:52Just keep an eye on them.
06:54Well, that gets pretty deep over there going to that hillside.
06:56There's a lot of mud.
06:57We only got a couple trucks down here.
06:59I'm trying to dig pay, do fines, keep the plant running 24 hours a day.
07:03Like, we've got, what, five of us down here.
07:07Running a whole mine site.
07:09No, I get it.
07:09I totally get it.
07:12You know, we are where we are.
07:15I mean, I know it needs to be done, but it doesn't make getting it done any easier.
07:20I am aware of that, but they're coming down.
07:23All right.
07:24Well, we'll see what we can do to keep them rolling.
07:29Right now, we're just trying to keep this wash plant running.
07:32Bringing a bunch more machines down here.
07:33It's just more we got to stay on top of.
07:36And right now, we got our hands full.
07:42It's been a long season and, you know, the end is well within sight.
07:49Parker Schnabel is gaining momentum.
07:52With multiple weeks above 500 ounces, he's nearly 700 ounces ahead of Tony in the race to 10,000.
08:01But he's already got his eye on next season's prize.
08:06Fall time is one of our most productive stripping times.
08:11For the next year.
08:13And with how much we're sluicing these years, the stripping is just incredibly important.
08:19We've got a crew just starting our next pit on the Indian River for next year.
08:23And in the midst of, you know, trying to keep wash plants running and keep things thawed out,
08:28Mitch is also, you know, taking that on.
08:31Can't understate how important that part of the company is.
08:46This is such a massive project here.
08:50Parker wants all the mud off before the end of the season.
08:53And even if we throw every resource we have at it, I still don't think we've got enough time to
08:59get this done before the end of the season.
09:01At the Indian River, in Kennan Stewart's Pit 2, Mitch still has three acres to mine out and sluice through
09:09rock sand before the end of the season.
09:13But now, a third of a mile away, Parker has tasked Mitch with also overseeing a massive stripping project, opening
09:22up a new 28-acre cut.
09:25Mitch's crew must first shift nearly a million yards of mud to expose the cut's layer of permafrost.
09:34Once thawed by the sun, they need to strip it down to pay gravels before winter freezes them out.
09:44Just so tough when you're trying to be at two places at once.
09:47I need to be down at the wash plant, taking care of things there, and then you come over here
09:51and check on the stripping crew and you're like,
09:53Oh, I could spend all day over here making things work better.
09:57I love running dozer. It's probably my favorite machine.
10:01It's like playing in the sandbox when you're a kid, but now I have a really big, muddy sandbox.
10:08Operator Jacob Allen is in one of the two D10 dozers, removing the top layer of mud.
10:15If we don't get down to permafrost, sun can't thaw it out, and we're pretty well screwed.
10:22In the 950 excavator, Caden Potvin loads the overburden into rock trucks to dump out of the cut.
10:30We got as much gear down here as we have available to us right now, so thinking optimistically we could
10:39be out of here before Christmas.
10:47Uh-oh. Caden, we're gonna need your help.
10:50Just hit a pretty good soft spot here.
10:53All right, I'll crawl off the pile here and kind of give you a little push.
10:59Yeah, that'd be awesome.
11:03Jacob's $1.5 million machine is no match for the slop.
11:10All this water's seeped up through underneath, and it's turned it all right to poo.
11:21All right, all right.
11:24More.
11:28Oh, I bite.
11:30Oh, I'm not gonna get out the **** out of this one.
11:34F***ing Mud Mountain.
11:47Come on, come on.
11:51F***.
11:53Parker's Indian River stripping crew is stuck in the mud.
11:57I'm gonna have to go up more, Caden.
12:02I'm even sliding backwards.
12:07Yeah, Caden, I don't think that works.
12:10If they can't strip the overburden this week, they won't be able to thaw the permafrost, ruining Parker's plan for
12:18a fast start next season.
12:20Yeah, I'm getting stuck too, so I'll dig this out and see if that works.
12:27Hey, you're gonna have to come around and put them inside.
12:30I got you.
12:38I'm just digging out all the stuff that's making the dozer spin out, and it should just be able to
12:47drive right out here.
12:48I do tell the rock truckers that they get one freebie, and then every time I get them unstucked after
12:55that, it's a case of Dr. Pepper.
12:59That's way cheaper than the case of Vera's gonna buy you.
13:04Okay, good luck.
13:14I'm making a break from home.
13:17Thanks, Caden. I really appreciate that.
13:20Hey, man. Like you said, first one's free.
13:24This is gonna be an expensive hill.
13:31500 feet away at the other end of the new cut.
13:35We've got to get the mud moved if we got any shot of mining this ground next season.
13:42Right now, the weather's holding out for us, so we gotta make the most of it.
13:47Mitch.
13:48Yeah, man, what's up?
13:50We've added some horsepower to the fleet. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
13:54I'm on my way.
13:59Yeah, I definitely never thought that we'd be buying one of these brand new, but the gold prices, being where
14:06they're at, it made sense.
14:15I mean, check that out. Brand new D11.
14:18You know, crazy to think that's $4 million right there.
14:22That's how Parker spends his money.
14:24You know, you could have a sports car, a big house, but, you know, that's what Parker's got there.
14:29It's a big yellow iron, which turns into some shiny yellow gold.
14:33Well, buddy, thanks for sending that new D11 down here, because if we got any shot of getting this done,
14:38it's gonna be with that machine.
14:39It's just, this thing's more fodder for the frozen mud. It'll be beat to in no time.
14:48Parker is taking the first shift in the new D11.
14:52There's nothing moving as much dirt right now as this brand new D11 with that big old blade on it.
14:57It's really helping us out here. Hopefully, it's gonna get us to the finish line.
15:01This thing is pretty sweet.
15:15That always feels good when Rick calls me to come up here.
15:20Hopefully, I can help these guys out a little bit for the final push.
15:27All right, here we are.
15:31Oh, buddy!
15:32What's going on?
15:33What's up, man? You made it!
15:34How you doing? Yeah.
15:36Welcome back. Yeah.
15:38How's it going?
15:39Oh, man, that's a whole different story.
15:41Yeah?
15:41It's this time of year, man. You know, everybody's tired.
15:43Oh, yeah. Everyone's ornery.
15:45Everybody's ornery, but they'll be happy to see you, and we sure as hell could use an extra set of
15:48hands.
15:49Where are you at now?
15:49We're not even at 700. Barely over 600.
15:54So, yeah, we're a long ways off, but we're back in the Vegas Valley.
15:57Okay.
15:57You know, pulling some good pay out of there.
16:00Let's hop in the little Hilux here and go take a look.
16:06All right, let's go take the tour, buddy.
16:11Rick Ness' season is finally turning a corner.
16:15After two months with no gold coming in, last week Rick fired up Monster Red and pulled out over 200
16:24ounces from Vegas Valley.
16:26Holy ****, that's a big cut.
16:29Yeah, that's pretty impressive, eh?
16:32For a seven-man crew.
16:34You guys moved some dirt.
16:36We know it's good pay in Vegas Valley for sure.
16:38We're going to get on a roll here now.
16:40The last thing up was good.
16:41We need them to be a little bit better, but I know they're going to be.
16:43We just need to get a few more hours on the sluice box, you know?
16:47Well, nothing like setting a fire to everything the last three weeks and trying to pull it out.
16:52Oh, yeah.
16:53One way or another, this place is going to be on fire when I leave, so...
16:58Anyways, enough chitchat.
17:00You want to help out?
17:01Yeah.
17:03To hit his 1,800-ounce gold and pay his crew their bonus, Rick needs record-breaking 400-ounce gold
17:13hauls every week for the rest of the season.
17:17It's that final push.
17:19This is when you kind of need that extra little boost of energy.
17:22This pivot from Valhalla back into Vegas Valley, I think it's going to be a good thing.
17:25We know there's good gold in there, and, you know, Bailey's just going to have to get every last ounce
17:29out of that cut.
17:32I think people are getting tired.
17:35I think people are missing home.
17:38As it stands right now, I don't think anyone's getting a bonus.
17:41Even though we've got pay right here and we're finally got the plant fired up, you know, I don't like
17:45to be the negative Nancy, but I don't see 1,800 coming.
17:52Hey, Rick, you got a copy?
17:54Yeah, go for Rick.
17:55I kind of got a big problem in the cut.
17:57Could you come down here?
17:58I'll see you in a few minutes.
18:09Putting in some work here.
18:12Yeah, man.
18:14I see the problem, though.
18:16Yeah.
18:16It didn't take long.
18:20I thought maybe it was going to take longer, but we're moving along really too quick, I guess.
18:28Vegas Valley is almost out of pay dirt, much earlier than Rick expected.
18:34So imagine, like, cleaning that all out, like, it'd be a week.
18:38Yeah, we're definitely going to need some more.
18:43Yeah.
18:44I'd say the only thing we can do is try to expand.
18:50But it's not ideal.
18:51It's not this time of year.
18:52It's not ideal.
18:53But really, I'm looking at this piece right here.
18:55I mean, that's pay right there and we're staring at it.
18:57Yeah, I know.
18:58You don't seem very excited about it.
18:59Yeah, I just see all this.
19:01It's 40 feet down of material you have to move to get to the pay.
19:06Yep.
19:07At the bottom of Vegas Valley, Bailey only has a week's worth of pay.
19:13To keep Monster Red fed for the rest of the season, Rick wants to chase Vegas Valley's pay streak upstream.
19:22The only problem, Bailey will have to dig down a further 40 feet to hit the gold-rich pay, all
19:30before winter freezes them out.
19:34One way or another, we've got to make it till the end of the season.
19:36I know, I know.
19:37If we're still going to get to 1,800 ounces, that's the only way we're going to do it.
19:39I don't know, man.
19:42What have we got left?
19:45Three weeks?
19:46Maybe more, maybe less, but it's around there.
19:52I just think in three weeks, that's...
19:55We'll make it happen.
19:57You just keep the trucks going.
19:58Is it going to be worth it for a week's worth of pay?
20:02Yep.
20:03If it gets us 400 ounces, yeah.
20:05Okay.
20:06Definitely.
20:11We're not at 1,800 ounces, but at the end of the day,
20:14I'm trying to make sure these guys go home with gold in their pockets,
20:17and that's all there is to it.
20:19I'm just really f***ing worried with the time that we have
20:22and how much work's going to be done,
20:23and I don't think it's going to work out, but I hope it does.
20:28Maybe, you know, in another week, my mind will change,
20:30but right now, it's very stressful.
20:46I'm going to go start up Harold and start running it with these two new people.
20:50I just recently hired Brett and Taylor.
20:54Mike Beetz is starting a new shift.
20:57Hopefully, it all goes well, and they can run 1,000 yards today.
21:01And needs his crew to sluice 1,000 yards a day to help hit Tony's 1,000-ounce target for
21:09the week.
21:10I don't see how they can f*** it up, but I've been proven wrong before.
21:19Morning.
21:19How's it going?
21:21Well, my dad wants to do 1,000 yards on this thing.
21:24If you go on the hoe, you go on the other hoe.
21:27Right on.
21:29When they're a couple, they generally work well together,
21:31and then it's nice for them because they have a loved one nearby.
21:35But it also has the negative that if one decides they want to quit,
21:38you usually lose both.
21:46First bucket's in.
21:47We're running.
21:49All right.
21:50999 more buckets to go.
21:53Local operators Brent Nybecker and Taylor Olsen
21:57have answered the call for end-of-season workers.
22:00Like, I've run lots of wash plants before.
22:02Never went on a mine stake this big.
22:04It's really cool, yeah.
22:08Taylor is on the Hester Cuts pay pile, where she loads rock trucks.
22:13I've been mining for about six years, and I normally load trucks or strip cuts down to pay.
22:21And I've also ran plants as well.
22:24The gold-rich pay is dumped next to Brent, who loads it into Harold's hopper.
22:29We actually met at a mine.
22:31We've been together pretty much since.
22:34She's the greatest, yeah.
22:36It's really good.
22:37We don't have many problems at work at all.
22:39She can get a little bit frustrated, but that's okay, because we're here to support each other.
22:54Slow.
22:55Slow.
22:56I'm going to have to speed that up.
22:58I want to get through all that ground.
23:05And it looks like there's a lot of rocks coming off your plant now, hey?
23:10Yeah, so Mike has come down here and turned up to speed.
23:14They're really going to have to hustle to keep up.
23:17It's already empty, just from talking to you.
23:19Okay, copy that, and I will keep them coming.
23:25With the increased speed, Brent needs to load four buckets a minute to keep the hopper full.
23:33I literally can't even take a drink or have a bite of a sandwich.
23:38But he's barely managing three.
23:41Oh, .
23:45Just back me up to where you want me.
23:47Okay.
23:49Yeah, looking good.
23:50Straight back.
23:52Good there.
23:54In the amount of time it took you to dump the truck, the plant went empty.
23:58Yeah, that's a lot faster.
23:59I can't beat that fast.
24:01Bro, I haven't slowed down.
24:03I'm on full throttle, stacking as high as I can.
24:17Copy that.
24:18Yeah.
24:26Hi, babe.
24:27Hey, you.
24:38I'm going.
24:40I'm at my max capacity just to keep up, which it was okay for an hour.
24:44But I can't do that for 12 hours straight.
24:47The hopper's full.
24:49Yeah, it's great.
24:51You can keep that up all day for 12 hours?
24:53I'm already.
24:53I think so.
24:53Okay.
24:59I found it a little bit stressful to have to keep up with the plant while I'm with it running
25:04this fast.
25:05But I am happy to run it at this pace.
25:08I have more hours feeding plants.
25:10I used to be the night shift plant operator for about four years.
25:14So I'm pretty fast at grabbing the dirt and getting it into the hopper.
25:22How's it going in there?
25:24Yeah.
25:24That's good, yeah.
25:25I'll just keep it as full as I can here if you can keep the pay coming.
25:29I want to see if we can get our wash plant going.
25:32Hey, that would be amazing.
25:36Yeah, we were gold mining.
25:38I did two seasons and did pretty good the first year.
25:44And not so good the second year.
25:45I lost a lot of money.
25:47I guess I like had that gold fever.
25:49We kind of ran out of gold where we were, so I started digging a hole.
25:54And then I ran out of money.
26:02Hey, this is our last bucket.
26:05Woo!
26:06Hang on, baby.
26:08Hell yeah.
26:16Hello.
26:17Hey.
26:18Well, we made her through.
26:19Got her a thousand yards through.
26:21So how'd the shift go?
26:23A few problems, but we swapped out, so we got through here.
26:28Sometimes it's nice to swap out and get a break for the one job, right?
26:31Yeah, it is.
26:33It's good to see Brent and Taylor got it done.
26:36I wasn't called down here for any major problems, so it went well.
26:40And we're just going to hopefully keep it going until the end of the season.
26:44After waiting 40 years to mine it...
26:47We'll just take a little bit out of the riffle here and just see what we've got.
26:53Tony is keen to see if the Hester cut has the goal to get him over 1,000 ounces this
27:00week.
27:00Find a bit of water, Mike.
27:02Let's have a look at this pan, okay?
27:10See how much gold is in there, guys?
27:12Yeah.
27:12There's quite a bit of gold in there, by the way.
27:14You can see it all through the pan.
27:15You see that?
27:17It's amazing.
27:19That'd be interesting to see what comes out of that.
27:23Okay, we're out of here.
27:25It's actually more than I expected, but there's like every other thing.
27:29On the end of the day, clean it up, dry it, and then weigh it,
27:35and then you know exactly what you've got.
27:45Right now there's just a lot going on here at Dominion.
27:48We're at that point in the season where everyone's just kind of in their spot, in their seat,
27:53and it's a matter of just keeping things going.
27:55At Parker's main operation on Dominion Creek, foreman Tyson Lee is in charge of three wash plants.
28:03The Golden Goose and Big Red in the Golden Mile, and Bob in the Bridge Cut.
28:09We still have a lot of sluicing to do.
28:11We're still a ways off 10,000 ounces, and we just got to keep things going in the direction they're
28:17going in right now.
28:18Hey, Tyson, you got a copy?
28:21Yep, go ahead.
28:23I got a bunch of hay piling up on the plant hopper here.
28:26I might need you to take a look at it for me.
28:28Okay, I'm on my way.
28:30Thanks, dude.
28:37Looks like it's piling up quite high up here, so I'm just going to try and clear it here.
28:46What the f*** is going on?
28:48The hopper chain drive system on wash plant Bob should push all of the pay towards the shaker deck.
28:55It's not clearing, which isn't good.
28:57If the pile of pay reaches the feed conveyor, it could tear the belt.
29:02You know, I've just tried moving our hopper chain system, and it's not working.
29:06It's kind of binding up.
29:07So, got to get it fixed up.
29:16Hi, buddy.
29:17Hey, Bill.
29:18I would say that I skipped a tooth on the sprocket on one side.
29:22So, now you're trying to twist a steel bar around a corner as it goes around, instead of rolling nice
29:29and flat around.
29:30Yeah.
29:31Now you're going to have to shut this thing down.
29:39We're feeling pretty confident that it's just the chain has jumped a link on the one side, so we ought
29:44to empty the pre-wash.
29:46And then, hopefully, we can get the link to go back into place, and then the bars will be parallel
29:51to go over the sprockets.
29:58Okay.
30:00Going backwards.
30:01Try and roll the chain backwards.
30:05Whoa.
30:08Liam, the issue is the sprockets are .
30:13This could be a major deal.
30:24This time of year, it always gets difficult.
30:27You know, crew's tired.
30:28Plants are tired.
30:29Just got to keep these wash plants running.
30:32At Dominion Creek, a broken hopper chain drive system means wash plant Bob is down.
30:40It didn't jump the link like we thought it did originally.
30:43The sprockets are completely wore out.
30:45So, we need new sprockets, two new sprockets, my friend, and you'll be back in business.
30:53Wash plant Bob's hopper chain drive is driven by two 10-inch sprockets.
30:59Over time, the sprockets' teeth have become worn, causing them to slip and stop moving the chain forward.
31:08Bill's plan? Split the chain, remove the old worn-out sprockets, and replace them with new ones.
31:26These are cat-like reflexes.
31:29Oh, safe as a church.
31:31Hydraulics on.
31:34Okay, go a little bit in reverse.
31:35A little bit in reverse.
31:38Whoa, whoa.
31:39Your other reverse.
31:40Other reverse.
31:45Jeez, look how brittle that is.
31:48It's so worn out.
31:49Nasty.
31:51Chain split.
31:52Sprockets are off.
31:53So, we just got to install these new sprockets, and then we're all set.
32:06Everything's tight.
32:07We're good to go.
32:08Okay, sprockets are in, so now we'll get Liam to turn the hydraulics on.
32:18Whoa.
32:19Whoa.
32:24Okay, stop.
32:28I have one pin in.
32:32I'm all done.
32:33I'm going for ice cream.
32:36We're gonna fire this thing up and try it and see how it turns.
32:40Ready, Bill?
32:40Yep.
32:46Super happy to see it working.
32:48Hopefully, there won't be anything to stop the conveyor from working for the rest of the season here.
32:55Well, should we fire her back up?
32:56If we're gonna catch up, we gotta put dirt through the plant, right?
32:59Alrighty.
33:03After four hours downtime, Bob is back in the game, sluicing bridge cut pay.
33:11It looks good.
33:13We don't have much time left in the season, so hopefully that's it for downtime.
33:17You're at the bridge cut.
33:29100 miles east.
33:31Haven't really thought too much of the extension or how we're gonna do it.
33:35The Ness crew need 400 ounces of gold a week in order to hit Rick's 1,800-ounce target.
33:44Bailey is mining out the last of the pay from the Vegas Valley cut.
33:49I'm trying not to think about it till I get this Vegas Valley cleaned out, then we'll move on to
33:54that.
33:57Holy .
33:58Who's sifting this?
34:00At Monster Red, Rick's best buddy, Z, is jumping into the hot seat to load the plant.
34:07I still got it.
34:08I still got it.
34:10While mechanic Ryan Kent uses a second loader to clear the tailings.
34:16Well, Z, it's good to see you back. How's it feel to be back?
34:20I mean, how couldn't you like it up here? Look at around. This is like the best office view in
34:24the world.
34:25Why do you keep coming back?
34:27I mean, it's like the second family up here for me.
34:30I always come up in the beginning and the end, but the amount of dirt you guys moved this year
34:34is pretty, pretty substantial.
34:37You don't want to be here for the grunt work, do you?
34:39Listen, if that was the case, you probably shouldn't tell anyone.
34:42Let's keep it between us.
34:45Yeah, here's Secret Safe with me on Channel One.
34:51Oh, .
34:53What's the matter, Ryan?
34:55I don't know. Give me a sec.
35:04Hey, Z, shut that feeder off real quick, dude.
35:08All right, all right.
35:19You're missing a pin somewhere.
35:21Where'd you find it?
35:23I literally saw it bounce off, hit the tailing chute, landed right on the top of the bucket when I
35:27was coming out.
35:28I knew I should have stayed in the truck.
35:29Yep. Let's figure out where the he came from.
35:33Hey, Z!
35:34Yeah?
35:35Yeah? Yeah, it's over here.
35:37Oh, this ought to be fun.
35:39The two-inch pin that connects the grizzly bars to the feeder's hinge has broken in half.
35:46I don't want to take a chance and break this feeder, doing any damage.
35:49Better off trying to get the fixed.
35:51You lose this grizzly bar, then you lose the rest of the season.
35:54We gotta go find one.
35:57The grizzly bar's old pin is too worn out to reuse, so the guys search for a replacement.
36:05A second hopper feeder.
36:09Because we were using a mozzarella.
36:11I bet you it is the same.
36:13Man, this thing is .
36:15I gotta climb up there and measure it.
36:18I'm getting too fat for this .
36:21It's two-inch.
36:22Is it?
36:23That will work.
36:24Now we gotta get it out.
36:26Yeah.
36:26We don't have a ladder anywhere, huh?
36:28No.
36:29You wanna stand on my shoulders?
36:32I'm sturdy.
36:34This pin looks like it is in there.
36:37Oh, it moved.
36:39Shut up.
36:39It moved.
36:41Oh, baby.
36:42Oh, .
36:44Watch where it goes.
36:46I need that.
36:48Oh, no.
36:48It went down the well.
36:49Oh, Timmy.
36:51Let's go put the new pin in.
36:55I'm sure you had a bunch of fixes this year.
36:57Was this the easiest one?
36:58This is by far the easiest one.
36:59Well, we're not done yet.
37:00Dude, it's just been a weird season.
37:03You know, it's been tough.
37:04We can all come up here to work for gold.
37:06That's the whole reason we come up here.
37:09And to put in six months away from home and your family and your business
37:12and not go home with much or anything, that's killer, man.
37:17It's tough.
37:18I know you got a lot of at home.
37:20You're the same with me, wife, daughter.
37:22I don't need to tell you about how hard it is.
37:25Rachel tearing up about, you know, me not being home.
37:28And she takes on a ton, dude.
37:30Oh, yeah.
37:30And it's like, do I just stay home next year?
37:34I don't want to let Rick down, but I also don't want to let my family down.
37:37No.
37:38So...
37:38Let's focus on small steps.
37:41Let's focus on getting this pin in and get back running.
37:44Yeah.
37:44And then we have all off season to figure this out.
37:53You can't touch this one.
37:54Why?
37:56Because it's MC Hammer.
38:00I think it's 20 pounds.
38:02Yep.
38:03Don't hit me in the face.
38:07No.
38:10Oh.
38:10That one felt solid.
38:11It went.
38:11It moved.
38:13It moved.
38:15You want me to do the last one?
38:17One more.
38:18Ready?
38:19Uh-huh.
38:20That's it!
38:22All right.
38:23Pin it in.
38:25Pin it to win it.
38:28Now you can tell Rick what you did.
38:29I didn't do it.
38:31I just happened to be here.
38:35Time to fire back up.
38:38Ryan and Zeke have lost just two hours of sluicing and are back in the race to hit the 400
38:45ounces Rick needs this week.
38:48Sucks having to plant down for a few hours, but I feel a lot better having to pin in there.
39:04Is there a thousand ounces in there?
39:06Oh, way more than a thousand.
39:09Hey, Z.
39:10Hey.
39:10Good having you back.
39:11It's good to be back as always.
39:13Is anybody else happy about that?
39:14You're the best part of the end of the year, man.
39:16I'm a happy ending?
39:21We got more gold to come out of Vegas Valley, but not much, Abe.
39:24What do you figure?
39:2420 feet?
39:2520 feet left.
39:26That'll give us a week, maybe?
39:27Yeah.
39:29So that's not a lot, but we have to open up a bit of another cut.
39:33We do not know anything about this until we dig into it.
39:35Well, I do know that if we don't do it, we're not going to get any more gold.
39:38I know.
39:39And I know you know that, and it's a rough thing to do at the end of the season, but
39:43we need more gold, right?
39:44We do.
39:45Speaking of that, let's see how much we have to add to that.
39:48To hit his goal of 1,800, Rick needs 400 ounces a week.
39:54That's 100 right there.
39:57That's another 200 right there.
39:59Yeah!
39:59And this is another big yard in the old school.
40:03Nice.
40:04You ready, buddy?
40:05All right, let's do it.
40:07All right.
40:07There we go.
40:08I'm going to blow away the wind.
40:10Oh, 20, 30, 50, 70, 90, 100, 120.
40:19Wow.
40:21133.54.
40:22Nice.
40:22So that is 433.54.
40:26Worth $1.6 million, Rick's decision to pivot back to Vegas Valley has paid out big, delivering
40:36Rick's best ever gold way.
40:39Nice.
40:39Yeah.
40:40That puts us over 1,000.
40:41A couple more like that, we're good, right?
40:43We're almost there.
40:43We're so close.
40:44You know?
40:46Bring it in.
40:47All right, guys.
40:47Let's do it.
40:49Cheers.
40:50Cheers, fellas.
40:50Yeah.
40:51Yeah.
40:53Take it back.
40:54Take it back.
40:56When I left in spring, I hadn't seen any gold yet, so to come back now at the end and
41:02see
41:02a gold way like that, 400-some ounces, it's a great start to the final push.
41:10That is a big number, and man, do we need it.
41:12I'm so proud of these guys.
41:13They work so hard, and we need a lot more, but we know the gold's down there.
41:17We're going to have to pivot.
41:18We're going to run out of Vegas Valley gold, but we've got a good spot to go to, and I
41:21know
41:22these guys got it in.
41:22We just need a little luck.
41:33Is he hearing blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, nacho?
41:37Blah, blah, nacho.
41:38Food.
41:39He hears food, nacho.
41:41Yeah.
41:41Oh, yay.
41:43How are things down at Kenny Stewart's?
41:45It's busy now with all that stripping going on, but we're a lot better with that new D11,
41:49I'll tell you that.
41:50That thing's sick.
41:52Parker needs 1,058 ounces to hit his 10,000-ounce season target.
41:59All right, Chris.
42:01You ready?
42:01Show us some gold.
42:02All right.
42:04So this is a bridge cut.
42:05Let's see how Bob did this week.
42:07Yeah.
42:08Wash plant Bob is averaging 145 ounces a week.
42:13Here we go.
42:14We got 40, 100, 140, 174.2.
42:25Nice.
42:26Well, that's nice.
42:26That's good.
42:27Picked yourself up a bit.
42:29Yeah.
42:30Golden mile.
42:32Two plants.
42:32So this is goose and big red.
42:35Yeah.
42:36All righty.
42:37Let's see how the two plants did.
42:39Last week, the golden mile delivered 330 ounces.
42:4540, 80, 140, 220.
42:52Are we going to break three?
42:54302.25.
42:58Nice.
42:59Just broke 300.
43:01That's goose.
43:01Painting itself off.
43:03We got good old rock sand, right?
43:05All right.
43:06Ready?
43:06We did a lot of dozing this week and a lot of solution.
43:08See what we got.
43:09Since being in pit two at Kenan Stewart's, Roxanne has averaged 141 ounces a week.
43:17And we got 30, 70, 100, 120, 150.8.
43:30Nice.
43:31Not bad.
43:32Not bad.
43:33That is a solid week.
43:35Last week, we had 548.55.
43:39This week, 627.25.
43:44Worth $2.3 million.
43:47Wicked.
43:48Yeah.
43:49That's bad.
43:49Good week.
43:50Our season total, 9,569.45.
43:56That's nice.
43:57Nice.
43:59We're roughly four and a half away from our goal, you guys.
44:02Another week like that and we'll have her.
44:04Yeah.
44:05Yeah.
44:06That's sick.
44:06Keep them running.
44:07That's a hell of a result.
44:08We got this.
44:10Oh, yeah.
44:10Yeah.
44:11Oh, yeah.
44:12Get out there, you guys.
44:22So, Mike, how's the Hester care going?
44:24How's Harold?
44:25Um, literally, it's just two people shut the up and go, right?
44:29Cool.
44:30And they've been doing pretty good.
44:31The trommel has been running pretty good this week, too.
44:34It's been going nonstop.
44:35So, how about you?
44:36Hey, running 24-7.
44:38Banging away.
44:39Doing excellent.
44:40And we're down there.
44:41We're going to go to the bit of .
44:43I mean, we've never sluiced this much in our life.
44:46Nope.
44:46Should we weigh some gold?
44:47For the first time ever, Tony is running two wash plants at the Indian River and two
44:54plants at Paradise Hill.
44:56Together, he's hoping they will deliver a record-breaking 1,000-ounce haul.
45:01All right.
45:02This is for sluice a lot.
45:04Let's do it.
45:05Let's see what's going to happen here.
45:0730, 40.
45:07Sluice a lot and find a lot have been running in the corner cut nonstop all week.
45:14200, 220, 230, 238.20.
45:22That's not too bad.
45:23No, that's pretty good.
45:25That's not bad.
45:26Oh, there you go.
45:28Let's go.
45:29So, which one is this?
45:30Find a lot.
45:32Find a lot.
45:32Are you ready?
45:33Sure am.
45:34Good.
45:35There you go.
45:3540, 60, 100, 140, 180, 200.
45:44217.54.
45:47Total so far, 456 ounces.
45:51Nice little haul.
45:53Bingo.
45:53I think so.
45:55Nothing wrong with that.
45:56Okay.
45:56Next one.
45:57Let's see what more we can get.
45:59Trommel.
46:0130, 70, 90.
46:03The Trommel has been sluicing super pit pay.
46:06150, 160, 170, 180, 200.
46:10You'll never make it as an auctioneer, friend.
46:13220, 230, 260, 293, 310, 320, 340, 370, 380, 390, 410, 420.
46:21Go on once.
46:22Go on twice.
46:23Go on once.
46:26Sold.
46:27To me.
46:27Yoink.
46:30423.92.
46:32Trommel's doing his job.
46:34Well, that's pretty nice.
46:35Yeah.
46:35But you're on the volume too, so hello.
46:38And we're not finished yet.
46:39No, we're not finished yet.
46:39We have one more to do.
46:40Yeah.
46:41It would be nice to see what came out of Harold.
46:42It would be a long time coming.
46:44I looked at that property for 40 years.
46:47To hit Tony's 1,000 ounce weekly goal, Harold and the Hester cut need to deliver 121 ounces.
46:5830, 50, 70, 90, 100, 120, 133.5.
47:08At 1,013 ounces, this is Tony's biggest ever gold weigh, worth a staggering $3.7 million.
47:17That's a lot of money beats.
47:19Yep.
47:20Okay.
47:20Very nice.
47:21So, the bar?
47:25Let's see if we can spend it there tonight, Mike.
47:27Holy.
47:29The Beetz family are now only 300 ounces behind the Schnabel crew.
47:35It's all coming up, Tony Beetz.
47:37Oh, boy.
47:39Let's stick to it.
47:40Let's keep on going.
47:42Bye, guys.
47:43Just off?
47:45Pretty much.
47:47Four plants are running.
47:49Our biggest gold weigh ever.
47:50All the stuff we bought, all the things we did to get ready.
47:53Paid up.
47:56Paid up big time.
47:57All right.
47:58And I think I would be there now.
47:58I have seen staan.
47:58He can't come deal with my stomach.
47:58All right.
47:59Outroos.
48:00King's to destroy the remains of a branch,
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