Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan (2021) s05e01 Episode Script

1
[Levi] A lot of people
have done this
and a lot of people
have lost everything,
and I definitely don't wanna
be one of those people.
This is the make or break
year for us.
It's difficult
because of how steep it is
up here on the mountain.
We're just not able
to move a lot of material.
So much steeper than it looks.
[Levi] The amount of gold
that we typically get
just isn't cutting it.
We know what's in there.
I have got every dollar
invested in this,
and it's not sustainable.
Without that volume increase,
I'm gonna have to just
call it quits.
That's a scary thought.
Freddy and Juan, I desperately
need your help on this.
-[narrator] Freddy Dodge
-I'd rather have gold
in the bank
than gold in the mountain.
[narrator]
and Juan Ibarra
Not bad
for built in the field.
[narrator]
want to make you rich.
It turns your dream out here
into a reality.
[all laughing]
[narrator]
In the past five years,
the value of gold has doubled.
-[Freddy] There's a
$3,000 nugget right there.
-Whoo!
-[narrator]
But rookie miners
-[man] Whoa, whoa, whoa!
[narrator] find it more
elusive than ever.
If we don't recover more gold,
then we could lose everything.
[narrator]
But there is hope
Miracles, they do happen.
[narrator] to turn
desperation into fortune.
Freddy and Juan
have one week
What you just did was genius.
[narrator] to deliver
a golden payday.
They have a future and they
know what they need to do.
[birds chirping]
We've been on some pretty
terrible roads over the years,
but this was pretty bad.
It's more of a mule trail
than a mining road, Juan.
We've helped miners
recover gold
in lots of states,
but this is our first time
in Washington, Juano.
[narrator] In ine Rescue's
first ever visit
to Washington state.
Freddy and Juan are en route
to the Buttrey Mine
owned by Levi Buttrey.
The five acre hard rock claim
is set up over
three different levels
on a steep
50-degree mountain slope.
Patented by
President Roosevelt in 1904,
the claim sits in the heart
of Chelan County.
Mining hopefuls
first flocked here in 1860.
When placer in the creeks
played out,
prospectors found gold-rich
veins in the mountains
and hard rock mining
in the county began.
Miners who held and worked
these claims for five years
could file for a patent.
If granted by the government,
the miner then owned the land
and minerals underneath,
with the title signed
by the President of the time.
-Nothing about
this mountain is friendly.
-No.
[Freddy] It's steep, boy.
It's a steep son of a gun.
[Juan] What do we know
about Levi?
[Freddy] He's got his
best friend out here with him.
So, hopefully there's
enough gold
because lack of gold
can end friendships.
It looks like
we're here at his plant.
[Freddy] A long ways up here.
-Are your ears popping?
-Yeah.
-[Freddy] Levi, I assume.
-[Levi] Freddy, good morning.
-[Freddy] How are you doing?
-[Levi] This is Kory.
-This is my partner.
-[Freddy] You're Kory?
-Yeah. Nice to meet you, Fred.
-[Freddy] Nice to
meet you, Kory. Juan.
-Pleasure to meet you.
-[Juan] Likewise.
We're definitely gonna be
limited on what we can do
-just because we can't
get our trucks up here.
-[Levi] Exactly.
So, how long have you guys
been mining out here?
This will be my fourth year
owning the property,
and last summer
was the first time
we actually had
an operation set up.
[birds chirping]
It started with a gold pan.
When I first saw that
flake of gold in that pan,
I knew that my life
was gonna change,
and knowing that
this piece of property
had not been mined yet,
and there's been
851,000 ounces
taken off this mountain,
I just knew that
this was the property
that I needed to buy.
[narrator]
Levi bought the property
after hearing stories
of a legendary vein
on the mountain,
missed by the old timers.
[Levi] They knew,
if they cross-cut
into the hillside.,
eventually they were
gonna hit the vein,
but they went in
about 150 feet,
didn't find it,
and for whatever reasons,
they gave up,
and I just knew that,
if you worked hard,
you were gonna find it.
I came up here and discovered
they missed it by 30 feet.
I'm sure we've all
seen the old videos
of the old gold jig.
That's exactly what
I was doing when I found it.
[narrator] But part-time
firefighter Levi
has found man versus mountain
a struggle.
Hard rock mining
is much tougher.
Everything is intensive
manual labor.
A lot of blood and sweat.
Our biggest holdup right now
is moving material
up and down the mountain
because of the steepness
and the terrain.
[narrator] Levi's obsession
with gold
has cost him more than money.
[Levi] I've lost friends,
and I've got a lot of family
that don't even
talk to me anymore.
You know, you get
a lot of naysayers.
But my mom, she's kind of
been my rock with this.
She could see it in me
that I wanted to do this
and this was going to be
my future,
and she made sure,
"You're not giving up."
[narrator]
Catching Levi's gold bug,
best buddy
and father of seven, Kory,
quit a steady job
to join Levi on his dream.
His gold fever is contagious.
Him and I work really,
really well together,
so it's easy
to enjoy time with Levi,
even if it is hard work.
It's a lot of pressure
being up here,
especially with
my large family of seven kids.
That's a lot of bills to pay.
[Levi] I can't imagine
how stressful it can be
having seven children
and then give up
what you do to make money
to come up here
to hope to make more money.
That's a lot more burden
on my shoulders,
and telling him at the end
that we can't do it anymore,
I don't wanna do that to him.
So I want this
to work out for him
just as much as I want it
to work out for me.
You got any gold?
[Levi] Yeah.
[Freddy] There's a gram
of gold there, maybe.
-[Levi and Kory] Yeah.
-[Juan] Super fine.
[Levi] I started out
using a sluice
and I was losing gold
in my tailings,
so I brought up a shaker table
to try that out.
-That's what we're
running it on now.
-[Juan] Okay.
How much gold was you losing
with the sluice?
-Probably 30%. Yeah.
-[Freddy] Okay.
How much does it slow you down
the way you're
doing it now, though?
Slows us down considerably.
-[Freddy] Does it
slow you down 300%?
-Pretty close, yeah,
because, with the
shaker table,
we can't run volume.
[Juan]
The position that you're in,
you need to run volume.
There has to be
an acceptable loss.
But if you can run
300% faster,
-but lose 20%, 30%,
you know, and maybe--
-[Freddy] You're ahead.
-[Juan] Yeah.
-Exactly, You know,
we're having to
manhandle everything
by moving by buckets
and going down to
our other processing area.
-[Juan] It's a long process.
-[Levi] Exactly.
You know,
if we're only running
a minimal amount of day,
-then what are we doing?
-[Juan] Yeah.
-You're just
peeing in the wind then.
-Exactly. Yeah.
What's it take for you
to make money this year?
To make it viable,
we're gonna need, like,
three ounces a week
to continue doing this.
$7,000 a week.
What were you able
to recover last year?
You know,
ounce and a half a month.
Going from
an ounce and a half in a month
to hoping to get
three ounces a week,
you know, that's a big jump.
[Freddy] Whether that can
be done or not, I don't know.
At the point you're at,
you know, with that kind of
money invested,
it's not good enough just to
get your investment back.
-You gotta make more
and be able to help him out.
-I gotta make more.
Well, if we keep yakking here,
we won't run a plant.
So what do you guys think?
Let's fire it up?
-Let's do this.
All right, man, sounds good.
-Let's get it fired out.
[belt whirring]
Come on, fire up.
[motor chugging]
-Shall we do
a two-hour test run?
-Yeah.
[narrator] Two hours
will provide a baseline
for the amount of gold
the plant is recovering
-[Juan] There it is.
-[Kory] A couple hour run.
[narrator]
and let Freddy and Juan
eyeball potential fixes.
You got your time started?
-Got her. Timer's going.
-Okay.
[narrator]
Millions of years ago,
the Buttrey Mine
mountain formed
when thick volcanic magma
slowly cooled
deep underground.
Pressurized boiling water
from the Earth's core
distributes gold
and other minerals
in thin quartz veins,
which slowly crystallize
into granite.
Over time, seismic activity
brings this rock
to the surface,
and the veins of
gold-rich quartz are exposed.
[Freddy] How's it going, Levi?
[Levi] Strenuous, hard,
labor intensive,
but if I don't mind.
I keep pushing into it.
Right here on the surface,
it's pretty soft,
but getting down deeper,
that quartz is getting harder.
Looks like a pretty slow way
to make a living
with that cordless hammer.
-And it's gonna get harder.
-[Freddy] Yeah.
As it gets harder,
that little cordless hammer
-ain't gonna do it for you.
-[Levi] No.
It's like bringing a spoon
to a gunfight.
It's good to see gold
in the floor right away.
[Juan] Yeah, you can see
some of the gold in there,
some of that
free-milling gold, Freddy.
-[Freddy] Little flake.
-[Juan] Little tiny flake
right there.
There's one for sure
right there.
-Wee little guy,
but it's there.
-[Juan] Yeah.
It's a good start.
[Freddy] Well,
we'll see you in a little bit.
[Levi] All right, sounds good.
They picked up
a piece of my ore
and was able to see
visible gold in it, so
That's hard to do in itself,
with gold ore,
unless you're in
some of the richest places
in the world, but
That kind of got me
perked up a little bit.
[narrator]
The gold bearing ore
is carried along level three
to a jaw crusher.
That one's
for making small rocks
into smaller rocks.
[both chuckling]
[narrator] The crushed ore
is trucked down
to the wash plant
200 feet below.
[Juan]
Every bit of material that
they're gonna run down below,
they have to
load it up in a tow,
get it in the back
of the pickup
-[Levi] Uh-oh.
-[Juan]drive it down
-Unload it.
-unload it,
then shovel it into the top
of that hammer mill.
Now I see why he's only
producing what he's producing.
You know,
I know it's really good ore
coming out of there, but
You gotta be able
to get the gold out of it
and get it in your pocket's
the problem.
-[Juan] You know,
and it's a slow process.
-[Freddy] Very slow,
but I imagine
the second part of this
is even slower.
Let's go have a look at it.
[Kory grunts]
[narrator] The wash plant
on level two
Hey, holler at me
when you see it up here.
[narrator]
draws water from a creek
another 200 feet further
down the mountain.
He's actually going down there
to start the pump, Freddy.
[Freddy]
He's got quite a trek.
-Keep you in shape.
-[Juan] Yeah.
But every minute
he's doing that,
-he's not making gold.
-[Juan] Yeah.
[motor chugging]
[narrator] The ore is hand fed
into a hammer mill,
which crushes material
even finer
before running it
across the shaker table.
[Levi] Right now,
with the feed rate,
the gold is so fine and small,
that this is the only way
I can run it
and get a good bachelor rate.
I'm pretty excited to see what
they think about this table.
Kory and I put a lot of work
into this whole station,
and we've got
a lot of pride into it,
so hopefully they don't
tear it down too much.
Can we adjust the table
on the fly?
[Freddy] Let's try something.
Let's tip that down hard.
All right. Okay.
I can do that.
[Freddy] Do you lower it
or raise it?
'Cause nothing's moved yet.
[Levi] So, it's not actually
dropping the table down.
[Freddy] Oh, well,
that's no good.
So you can't
adjust this table, then,
for the most part.
So, right now,
he's got that table
set in one position.
He can't adjust it.
So if your material changes,
let's say you get
more heavies,
you've gotta be able
to adjust that, the pitch.
-[Juan] To be able
to cut that--
-To make that material move,
or you want it to move,
you have to take control
of the material.
You make it go
where you want it to go,
not where it wants to go.
-It's like a bad dog.
-[Juan] Yeah.
[whines]
Well, let's call it there.
-We're over two hours
right there.
-Okay. All right.
-They seem like great guys.
-Yeah.
Levi's wound tighter
than the spring.
[Juan chuckling]
That's an understatement.
-They're motivated.
-They are motivated.
You know, and if you're
gonna be hard rock mining,
-you've gotta be motivated.
-Mmm-hmm.
[Levi] My passion and my heart
is in this,
and I've always
told Kory this,
there's something in my bones
that has been screaming that
I was meant for something,
and finding the vein
that nobody's found
until I got here,
I feel like this is it,
and so,
if it doesn't work out,
I just feel like
it's gonna crush me.
-[Juan] See a little bit
of gold in there.
-[Levi] Yeah,
I can see some colors
in there as well.
[Juan] There's the odd piece
up on top there.
Juan and myself
have a lot to think about,
-don't we, Juan?
-[Juan] Yeah.
You guys wanna
get it cleaned up
and we'll see you
in the morning?
Yeah, it sounds like a plan.
So, what are your thoughts
on all that, Fred?
A lot of the mines we help,
we're gonna say,
we go priority, right?
This is the most important.
That's the second most.
-This ones are all important.
-Every bit of it.
Everything, all the way
down the line on this one's
-gotta be reworked.
-Yeah. Yeah.
-Yeah. 100%
-From the recovery side
to the mining side,
and the transport.
[Juan] I, Honestly
I'm a little worried, Freddy,
that we don't have enough time
to get it all done.
I am as well.
Ooh, man, this is gonna be
a lot of work, Juan.
[bird squawking]
[upbeat music playing]
-[Juan and Freddy] Morning.
-[Levi] Morning, gentlemen.
-[Juan] Hi, guys.
-[Levi] How you doing?
[Juan] How we looking?
[narrator] 4,000 feet
up the mountain,
it's the moment of truth.
-[Juan] Ooh
-[Levi] There is gold
in there.
[Juan] I can see it from here,
but man, it's
[Freddy] Little bit in there,
huh, Juan?
[Juan] Yeah,
there's a bit, Fred.
A couple bigger pieces, but
That's not enough
to weigh, though.
Well, the good news is
there is gold in it.
You know, we can see
a few flakes, so
[Freddy] The bad news is
you're just not getting
enough material, you know,
through the circuit.
[Juan] The more material
you get down to your plant,
get it washed
and across that table,
the more you're gonna
be able to recover.
Almost every single
step of your process,
there's something
we can do to help you guys
kind of streamline it.
What Freddy and I wanna do
is kind of go back
-and
-[Freddy] Put our
heads together.
Put our heads together and see
what we can't come up with.
Okay. Perfect. Thank you.
-[Freddy] Take care, guys.
-See you in a bit.
Well, that wasn't
a very impressive run.
-No.
-Couldn't even weigh the gold.
That's probably
one of the worst
that we've ever seen.
It probably is the worst.
But in Levi's vein up there,
we know there's good gold
in that vein
because we looked at
some of it.
[Juan] He's getting gold
out of the vein,
but the hard part is, Freddy,
in a two-hour run,
they were only able
to run 150 pounds,
maybe not even that.
-That's not gonna work.
-No.
[Juan] In order for them
to make this a feasible mine,
they have to get
production up,
and right now,
it's not possible.
[Freddy]
I think, if Levi and Kory
can run more material,
the sky's the limit for 'em.
[narrator] Freddy and Juan
have one week
to turn around
Levi's operation.
Eventually, he's gonna
get into that harder rock
in that vein.
Right now, he doesn't have
equipment big enough
to get that rock broken up
without a license.
We should probably help him.
-Using the SierraBlaster
-Yeah.
it's actually a safe way,
where you don't need licensing
to get some of that rock
broke up.
-[Freddy] Well,
right now, we're here
-[Juan] Yeah.
[Freddy]and here's
the mountain going down,
and then his other patch
down here.
-So, if we put a pipe down
-[Juan] I like it.
-That in itself
is gonna save a ton of time.
-[Freddy] Mmm-hmm.
You know, right now,
he's having to
get it out of the vein,
get it over here
to the crusher,
get it into a bucket,
take it down,
and then lift it
on top of the hammer mill.
It's a long process.
That's gonna save
a ton of time.
It's gonna allow him
to be able to run
-a lot more material.
-Yeah.
Pipe that material
all the way down.
What do you think about
eliminating the table?
Let's put a sluice
I agree.
and bringing
some concentrating spirals
might actually help them out.
We'll be able to recover
whatever gold gets past
the sluice box.
The spirals are actually
kind of cool, Fred.
Yeah, and it's something
most people haven't even
heard of, actually.
By the time we do that and
try to move material, I mean,
-we're limited on time.
-Well, it's just two of us.
All of it's gonna be
a lot of work,
you know, with the
logistical nightmare
of getting stuff up here.
What do you think about maybe
bringing Alex and Travis in
-to help us out?
-Yeah.
-Alex is, what, 6'8?
-Yeah.
-So he can
help us with that pipe
-[Juan] Yeah.
-and just hold it up.
-[Juan chuckling]
And Travis is very well versed
with the blaster.
He can come out here
and kind of show Levi
how to do it,
-then Levi's got that
knowledge for the future.
-[Juan] Exactly.
What do you think,
as far as material and cost?
-Six grand?
-Ah, I'm gonna say seven.
-Labor, you know
-Two ounces apiece?
I think that's fair, Freddy.
Seven thousand dollars
for material
-and four ounces for labor.
-That'll work.
-All right. Sounds good.
-Well, it's gonna be
a different one,
-that's for sure, Juan.
-It is.
[narrator] In one of their
most ambitious fixes to date,
Freddy and Juan
will transform Levi's mine
with a high velocity
electronic blasting system
[explosive booms]
to break up gold-bearing
ore from his vein.
Instead of driving material
down a hazardous road,
a 180-foot long pipe
means they can send it
straight from the jaw crusher
on level three
to the mill on level two.
Juan will build
a bespoke sluice
to catch the first
of the free gold.
Finally, to increase
production,
they will add
a concentrating spiral
to process
any remaining material
and separate leftover gold
that escapes the sluice.
[Freddy] How's it going, guys?
[Levi] How's it going?
How you doing?
-[Freddy] Doing all right.
-[Juan] Excellent.
We kinda came up with
some ideas.
We wanna run them
past you guys
-and see what you think.
-Got you.
We wanna run a four-inch pipe
all the way from the top
down here,
and we'll have it suspended.
That's gonna streamline
that whole process.
-We're looking at a spiral,
concentrating spiral.
-[Levi] Oh.
So, put it in place,
put a sluice box in,
and place to the table,
and then out of the end,
it goes into a catch bin,
pump that material up
to the top of the spiral,
and cut the heavies
out of the spiral.
We know you ran
a sluice box before,
you were getting a little bit
of a, you know, loss.
-[Levi] Yeah.
-And that's fine.
-But if we can get your
production up by 2, 3, 400%
-Exactly.
[Juan]that 10, 15% loss,
really, it's not a big deal
when you're running
that much more material.
And then on top of that,
you know,
you're gonna
get to a point where
you're gonna have a hard time
with that vein,
with that little roto hammer.
So we've got a guy back home
that actually does
a lot of blasting with us
-with that little blaster.
-Oh.
-Good.
-[Juan] We're gonna
get him up here,
he's gonna teach you guys
how to use it properly.
-That's awesome.
-[Kory chuckles]
[Juan] Well,
what we came up with
as far as costs go,
we're thinking it's gonna be
around 7,000 in materials.
For the labor, we're
thinking about four ounces
at the end of the season.
You don't need to pay it now,
but at the end of the season.
[Levi] That is not
gonna be an issue.
If the production goes up
and we can get the gold,
-we can make it work.
-Okay.
-Yeah.
-Yeah, I think we can.
-We have to.
-[chuckling]
-You like it, then?
-Yes. I absolutely love it.
[Freddy] Well, let's go start
getting material, Juan.
-[Juan] Yeah.
Let's make phone calls.
-[Freddy] Deal
-[Juan] Sounds great, guys.
-[Kory] Thank you, Juan.
-[Juan] Hey, no problem.
-Thank you, Freddy.
-[Juan] No problem.
Talk to you guys in a bit.
-Appreciate it.
[Levi] All right. Sounds good.
Kiss me.
[grunts]
The amount of work
that they have to do,
it seems pretty big.
Fingers crossed that,
with these ideas,
we can get them all completed
and checked off
and get a gold weigh
at the end
that we can actually weigh.
Let's get a rough guess
on how far it is down there.
[narrator] First job,
measure how much pipe
they'll need
to carry ore from level three
down to level two,
and Freddy has some tech
to help.
Yeah, if you can range down
to that road, Fred,
it'll kind of give us an idea.
[narrator] Primarily used
for hunting,
Freddy's rangefinder scope
uses a laser beam
to measure
distances accurately.
[Juan] What are we
to the road?
[Freddy] Thirty-three yards
to the center of the road.
-[Juan] 100 feet?
-[Freddy] Yeah.
What do you think?
Another 50, 60?
-[Juan] Yeah. Let's go 80,
just to be sure.
-Yeah.
So, we'll string the cable
from up here, get it down,
and then we'll actually
start here
-here and start sliding
our pipe down.
-[Freddy] String the pipe.
-Then raise it.
-[Juan] Yep. I like it.
-[Freddy] Then pull it tight.
-[Juan] That'll work.
That gets a better idea
of what's going on.
[Freddy] The rangefinder
beats the heck out of
climbing down that cliff.
-I didn't wanna go down there.
-[both chuckling]
-All right
-With a tape measure.
[narrator] Unable to get
his truck up to the claim,
Juan sets up base
at the foot of the mountain
[Juan] I'm here in
Leavenworth, Washington,
[narrator] and calls
local boneyards
for a critical piece of kit.
We have a little bit
of a project going on,
and I need some help.
Here's the deal.
We're gonna need
-some concentrating spirals.
-[man on phone] Okay.
[Juan] So I'm really hoping
that you guys have some there.
[man on phone]
I'm not sure right now.
-I can check
with Andy, my boss.
-Okay.
-[man on phone]
Can you come in tomorrow?
-[Juan] Yeah.
Okay. I'll see you
in the morning, then.
-Thank you.
-[man on phone] Okay. Thanks.
Bye.
-[Mary] Hi, son.
-[Levi] Well, hello.
[narrator] As Freddy and Juan
begin the last ditch fixes
to save Levi's dreams
How you doing?
[narrator]
Levi's mom, Mary,
makes a surprise visit.
Come to see you.
[Levi] How are you?
-[Mary] I'm good. How are you?
-[Levi] Good.
My mom is my best friend.
She's been at my side
this whole time being up here.
She knows that
it's a dream of mine,
and she has just
pushed me forward
to keep going for it.
I brought my little
picker-upper.
-Is that okay?
-[Levi chuckles] Yeah.
We've been trying to keep up
as much as possible.
-[Mary] I know.
You do a good job.
-[Levi chuckling]
I just love him being up here
and doing what
he wants to do and
Sometimes, he might
feel down a little
because he is investing
everything that he has,
practically,
but it doesn't bother me
because I know
he's gonna pop right back up.
He's such a hard worker.
He will make it work.
-I also bought
a surprise for you.
-What's that?
Well, I was digging
through some stuff,
and you haven't seen this
since you were, like, seven.
You're gonna be so excited.
-Look at that.
-[Levi] I wrote this?
[Mary] Yes!
[Levi] It says,
"If I made a million,
I would spend it
because I want to have
lots of toys.
Then I would buy
100 pieces of gold.
Then I will give some
to my family."
Where did you find this?
My stuff, my stuff.
Look at this.
Look at the gold card.
[Levi] It's
"I'll buy 100 pieces of gold."
I know. Exactly what
you're doing today.
You're not buying it, though.
Isn't that precious?
Have I Did I ever
talk about gold growing up?
[Mary] You did have
a shovel to dig
every time we went
to the river,
looking for gold. [chuckles]
-Isn't that precious?
-Wow.
It shows that I've had
this infatuation with gold
ever since I could write,
and it made me go, "Well,
I've been having this dream
for a very long time,
and I'm finally doing it."
I have all the faith
in the world
that he can do it.
You know, he's always
called it his dream.
I don't think
it's any longer a dream.
I think that dream is here.
-[narrator] Coming up
-[Levi] All those
coming off good?
So far.
I hope there's still
gold in here.
[narrator] Freddy sends
Levi on a treasure hunt.
-[Freddy] All right,
get in there.
-[Levi] Oh, wow.
[bird chirps]
Well, this is
a Mine Rescue irst.
I'm a little nervous.
But it's worth a shot.
[narrator]
In Washington state,
Juan follows up his lead
for some equipment
that could be a game changer
for Levi's mine.
We've never used
a spiral concentrator before.
We're really hoping
it's gonna give them that edge
that they need to be able
to run more material.
[narrator] Invented by
Ira B. Humphreys in 1943,
the concentrating spiral
was a common sight
on wash plants
in the '40s and '50s.
It uses gravity and water
to separate heavy gold
from lighter waste material.
Paydirt pumped to the top
of the spiral
descends down the chute.
As pay swirls to the ground,
the centrifugal force
created by the spiral
pushes the lighter
waste material
up to the outer edges,
while heavier gold
clings to the inside
before dropping into
a series of ports
to carry the gold away
for processing.
[Juan] You know,
unless they can actually
get their throughput up,
they're gonna have a hard time
making it out there.
[narrator]
20 miles from the claim,
Juan inspects
the 80-year-old spirals
to make sure
they are still usable.
[Juan] That's them, huh?
These are pretty cool.
They're cast iron.
They're gonna be heavy,
but I'm just gonna
use the one.
So I'll use
the better of the bunch.
We can refinish that.
So I'm probably gonna clean it
and repaint them
-re-coat them.
-[Andy] Yeah.
[Juan] 'Cause you want it
as smooth as possible.
But really,
they're in good shape.
We'll take them.
-Thank you, Andy. Awesome.
-[chuckles] My pleasure.
[Juan] They're heavy.
A little more. A little more.
Perfect.
That's good.
So, there's actually
three on this stand,
but really,
we only need the one.
So we'll get this one cut off,
finish the stand for it,
and we'll just use the one.
We wanna make sure that
this thing is strapped down
right to the trailer
so we don't lose it.
It's a beautiful piece,
though, it really is.
I'm sure it collected
a lot of gold over the years.
Either way, you know,
it's a piece of history
that's gonna get
put back into play.
We don't know
how it's gonna work
until we get it in place
and actually run it.
I'm hoping that we'll be able
to run more material,
ultimately getting
more gold for them.
[bird chirping]
[narrator] Back at the claim,
Freddy and Levi
start their investigation
into the ground.
Definitely,
you gotta go down there
and meet Clint Black.
So, he knows
a lot of the history
of the area here, then?
Yeah, He taught me a lot
about the stuff up in here.
Afternoon, Clint.
[Freddy] How's it going?
Good. How are you doing?
-Clint. Freddy.
-[Levi] Freddy.
-Great to meet you.
-[Freddy] Nice to meet you.
Thanks for letting me
pick your brain.
[Clint] Thanks for coming.
[Freddy] How long
you been up here?
I first came up in 1990.
Got my first claim in '94.
So, when was gold first
discovered in the area, Clint?
Well, the first quartz vein
was found by a soldier
in 1854,
but in 1874, the first
mining claim at the top
was put in.
So, have they pulled
quite a bit of gold
off this mountain here?
The total is
851,000 ounces, about,
so that's a lot of gold.
They could open-pit
this whole hill
and there'd be half an ounce
to the ton average, so
When you look at the equipment
that's been brought up here,
you know, that's always been
that telltale to me that
that was the vein that
all the people wanted to mine.
You were telling me
a story, Clint,
about that ball mill up there.
We've been
talking about that because
they supposedly produced
48,000 ounces of gold.
[narrator]
Halfway up the mountain,
on Levi's property,
is a 25-ton ball mill
from the 1940s,
used to bulk-crush material
into a fine powder
before being run over a table.
Ball mills were introduced
in the 1930s
to process
huge volumes of ore,
with steel balls
pulverizing ore
as the drum rotates.
How long's it been
since that ball mill ran?
1985. Ran 25 ton a day.
You kind of curious to see if
that ball mill still works?
[chuckling] I don't know,
but maybe.
[Freddy] If Levi and Kory
can get the ball mill working,
the sky's the limit for them.
[Clint] That's exactly it.
You'd have to crawl in there
and look around, I guess.
I think the future for Levi
is pretty bright here
'cause, you know,
it's never really been
taken advantage of
all the way.
Thank you very much
for your time, sir.
-[Clint] Yeah.
-[Freddy] It's been
a pleasure.
-[Levi] Good seeing you.
-Yep. Same here.
-Good luck up there.
-[Levi] All right. Thank you.
[firewood crackling]
With Freddy talking to Clint,
we're hoping he's got
a lot better insight
about the area and the records
and the past production,
showing that the values
are here,
and that it is very possible
to make this a very good,
lucrative operation.
[bird chirping]
[narrator] At the bottom
of the mountain
-[Alex] Well, hello.
-[Juan] Oh, hey, guys.
Happy to see you guys.
[narrator] Alex and Travis
arrived to help.
Now that you guys are here,
we got a lot of work to do.
[narrator] First job
[Juan] Oh, yeah, she's good.
She's happy.
[narrator]
Juan's 10-foot-tall
spiral gold catchers
need to be customized
for Levi's plant.
[Juan] All right, coming down.
All we need is one spiral.
So we're gonna use this bowl.
This one's in the best shape
of the bunch.
But let's get
everything unbolted here,
cut it right there,
and we'll cut it down here
on the sea as well,
on the bottom frame.
So this will be
a standalone unit.
[narrator] Only one spiral
is required,
so first task
is to separate it
from the main unit.
[tools whirring]
[Juan] All right, guys.
Perfect.
So, now that we've got
this cut off,
we're actually gonna make
a little wider base for it
so we can get it
up to the mine site
without losing it.
[tools whirring]
[birds screeches]
-[Freddy] So,
this is the ball mill?
-[Levi] Yeah.
I'm not too up on
the information on them,
you know.
You know,
I know they processed
a lot of ore out of it.
[Freddy] Fingers crossed.
[narrator] Hot on the trail
of the old timers,
Freddy checks the viability
of the old ball mill
for Levi's operation.
Yeah. So here it is.
Yeah.
-[Freddy] Ball mill.
-[Levi] Yeah.
Rusty and rat pee smelling
as ever.
[Freddy] Probably took them
a year to get it in here.
[Levi] Yeah.
Just thinking, the mules,
feeling bad for them.
-[Freddy]
That's not gonna work.
-[bleep]
[narrator] The ball mill
requires too much work
to bring back online
for Levi's operation.
We're definitely not gonna
be able to move this or fix it
in the time we're here.
What you might do, though,
is pull the liners out inside
and see if there's gold
behind them.
I've done that before.
-Inside the drum there?
-Yeah.
I pulled 40 ounces from liners
one time underneath.
There's small enough cracks
that fine gold
can get in behind them,
and just keep
-Rocks hammer it and keeps
pressing it in there.
-Makes sense.
[Levi] Well, man,
I mean, the gold's
gonna find those cracks
-and drop it in, right?
-[Freddy] Yeah.
So, see what lives
behind them.
I think Kory and I will
definitely like doing that.
You just kind of
sparked a little adventure
in me, so
Yeah. See how much
gold's behind 'em.
-But it should have something.
-[Levi] Yeah.
We looked at the ball mill.
It's a dead end.
But it's got liners
in it, right?
And there's gaps
between the liners.
So, what's gold do?
It wants to fall
to the lowest place, right?
Who knows what's in there?
It could be a bonanza.
It could be a dead end.
But there's only one way
to find out,
and that's
pull one of those liners
and see what lives in there.
[Levi] That ball mill
hasn't been opened up
since the '80s,
so you never know.
It could be empty.
It could be cleaned out.
But there may be
some gold that are still
left in there for us.
Gold fever
makes you chase things,
so we're gonna go for it.
[bird chirping]
[tool whirring]
[Levi]
The vein's pretty oxidized,
so it's softer.
[narrator] Up the mountain,
Levi gets gold-bearing
surface ore
ready for the second test.
I mean, a lot of this stuff,
you can break up
in your hands.
It falls apart.
[narrator] But he faces
a real problem.
You know, as he gets further
and further into that vein,
it's gonna get
harder and harder.
So I brought Travis up.
Travis is gonna help him out.
We're gonna teach him together
how to use
this blasting system.
You don't need
special licensing,
and you can just
get it online.
[narrator] The SierraBlaster
uses electronic ignition
rather than dynamite,
which is banned
in Washington state.
High velocity cartridges
placed deep within the rock
shatter it from inside.
[Juan] So, Levi, you know,
Travis, actually,
before working for us,
this is what
he did for a living.
He was working underground,
blasting rock.
We actually have a system
that's a little different.
He uses a really small
electrical charge,
and that small
electrical charge
ignites boosters.
As you can see,
you know, these are no bigger
than a firework,
but they're pretty effective.
[narrator]
With the hard quartz
yet to be exposed
in Levi's vein
[Juan] How far are you
gonna go in with your drill?
-[Travis] Maybe 17 inches.
-[Juan] Yeah. Okay.
[narrator] Juan uses
a boulder on the claim
to teach Levi the ropes.
[Levi] How do you know
where to start your holes?
With your explosion,
if you drill right on
the fracture,
-it'll actually absorb
some of that.
-[Levi] That makes sense.
[Juan] So, if you go into
solid material,
-it actually has
nowhere to go.
-Okay.
-So it has to split the rock.
-Got you.
[narrator]
Inserting the cartridge
into solid rock
maximizes the force
of the blast.
-So, what we do is we put
your boosters in first
-Mmm-hmm.
And then you use
your cartridge here,
and then he actually has to
run his generator.
He'll be able
to run his igniter.
-A real simple system,
but pretty effective.
-[Levi] Yeah.
[Travis] I'm going to
Boosters in.
And a cap.
You know, Levi, this is
really gonna help you out
in the future.
When you get into the vein
-and it gets
harder and harder
-That's true.
you know what,
that little chipping hammer
-is not gonna be enough.
-Exactly.
So, it's the
important part there
to make sure that wire
is in the groove.
[Juan] We come in
and we make our connection,
then you put your blast shield
back over the top of that.
I'm excited to watch this
go down.
[Travis] All the way down.
Make sure it's in
the back of the hole.
So, right now, everything's
all loaded in the hole.
Almost ready to tie in
and let her rip.
[narrator] In less than
ten minutes,
the blasting system is primed.
[Levi] I got one question.
You're gonna let me
fire her, right?
-[Travis] Sure.
-[exhales] There we go.
[Travis] It's your mine site.
-[all laughing]
-I just had to ask.
-Well, let's do it.
-Just had to.
[Travis] Levi, since there
is no timing in this setup,
you just plug it in,
bring your cord back
and hit the button.
-Firing in three, two, one.
-[button clicks]
-[explosives booming]
-[rock clattering]
[Juan] Nice.
That looks really good, Trav.
-Put a good sized
crack in her.
-Yeah.
Well, Levi, you can actually
see right here,
this crack that developed
-right through
where we blasted.
-[Levi] All the way up.
-[Juan] All the way up.
-[Levi] Yeah.
[Juan] Right around
the hole, so
-it actually did really well.
-It did.
There's a lot of fractures
in there. You can see 'em.
[Juan] Well, it's gonna be
a game changer for you.
Now that you know
how to use this,
you know, the sky's the limit.
[narrator] The blaster
gives Levi a shortcut
to the deeper gold veins
on the mountain.
That's amazing.
I appreciate that.
Yeah, no problem.
-You arms get tired
with the roto hammer.
-[Juan] Yeah, they do.
[all laughing]
-Thank you, Trav.
-Thank you, Travis.
I know that the quartz vein
is gonna get a lot harder as
I progress into the mountain.
Right now, it's pretty soft,
and so I would say,
within the next
couple of feet, as we work it,
I won't be able to operate
with the tools that I have,
and what they
brought up for me
is really gonna help us out
with our operation now.
[bird screeches]
[bird chittering]
-[Freddy] Coming down.
Fingers and toes.
-[motor whirring]
[narrator]
Back at Fix headquarters,
the team get to work
on the 10-foot spiral.
[Freddy] We're making
a slatform.
It's going to stabilize it
so it can't tip over
nearly as easy,
and at the same time,
makes it taller
so our discharge
has more elevation.
[Alex] Am I lined up
for your liking?
[Freddy] I think so.
I'm gonna drill some holes
on the bottom
and then put
some lag bolts in.
[blows]
We're gonna use this soap
so we don't split that wood.
[blows]
You gotta have some fun
along the way, though.
[narrator]
Lubricating the bolts
with soapy liquid
helps prevent damage
to the wooden frames.
[tool whirring]
-Last bolt, Alex.
-[Alex] Nice.
[tool whirring]
[Juan] So, what do we
got here?
-This is the camp, huh?
-[Kory] Yep.
It's a miner's standard
of living.
[narrator]
Blasting lesson complete.
Juan checks in with Kory
at their mine campsite,
their mountain home
four nights a week
from April to October.
It's crazy, but you guys
are really living life
kind of like
the old timers did.
[Kory] What better life than
to be up here in the woods
digging gold
out of the ground?
It shows the lengths
that a man will go to
to be able to provide
for his family.
That's for sure.
You know, I mean,
being away from the wife
and kids and stuff,
it's really tough.
[birds tweeting]
For Levi and I,
this could definitely be
life changing for both of us.
We've had a lot of plans,
but I'm not getting paid
while I'm up here.
I've got a nest egg at home
to help pay the bills
while I'm here,
but if this doesn't work,
I'll be starting back
at ground zero again.
[narrator] Counting on
the claim's success
is Kory's son, Brennan.
[Kory] He can't wait
to get up here,
and keeping it
within the family
would be amazing.
Brennan was three
when I came into his life.
Amazing little kid.
I met his mother
when I was 23.
Really the girl of my dreams.
[tearfully] In 2016,
she had a brain aneurysm
and she was
Within two and a half days,
she had passed.
It's something that's
made us stronger.
Having to pull together,
you know.
[narrator] Raising Brennan
and his sister single-handed,
Kory's luck turned
when he met his second wife,
who he married in 2022.
[Kory] It's hard
to strike gold twice,
as they say, you know,
but I've been very,
very fortunate
with the two women
that were part of my life,
and ultimately,
I wanna be a good dad
and be able to be there
for my kids
and be a good role model
at the same time.
[bird screeches]
I'm super proud
of Brennan because
[inhales, exhales]
-Sorry.
-It's all right.
I've had the pleasure
and honor of being his dad,
and he's made me
so damn proud.
He can't wait to get up here.
And if this works,
he will be able to be up here
and work with me.
You know,
more quality time together.
That's one of my dreams.
You know, one day,
have my children,
you know, with me.
Well, I'm hoping that
you've got years to come
to be able to be out here
with Brennan
and be able to do this
and make a good living.
-Thank you, Juan.
-All right, brother.
[bird chittering]
[clears throat]
You know,
coming down here and
talking to Kory a little bit
kind of puts a lot of things
into perspective.
It means the world to him
to be out here,
wanting to capitalize
on the time that he can
spend with his son
and just to keep on
growing that bond,
and to remember his wife.
At the end of the day,
I'm a father,
I'm a husband and, you know,
to see someone going through
those struggles
I can't imagine that
for myself.
To me, it makes us wanna
work even harder for him
and help him out.
[wind howling]
[upbeat music playing]
Start of another day.
There's not enough room
on that mountain to work,
and that's really making it
a hindrance.
And everything here
is time consuming,
because of the logistics
of it.
But we'll just keep
plugging along here
and keep building stuff.
[narrator] Four thousand feet
below the Buttrey claim,
while Freddy
works on the spirals,
Juan begins the centerpiece
of Levi's modified wash plant.
[Juan]
I'm just getting the pieces
lined up for the sluice box.
It's gonna be 12 inches wide,
six inches tall
by almost eight foot long.
Um, the reason
we're going 12 inches wide
based on the material
that he's got coming out
of the hammermill,
with a 12-inch wide sluice,
we should be able
to handle all the material.
Right now,
the way he has
the system set up,
it only allows him
to be able to run
less than 100 pounds an hour.
We're hoping
by adding the sluice
and then using
the concentrating spirals,
uh, we should be able
to double,
triple or even quadruple that.
So, uh, it should be
a big increase for him.
So, we're cutting
all the pieces out
for the sluice box.
You know, when we travel,
we travel with a little bit
of steel.
So, we wanna try to make sure
that we maximize every square
inch of this plate.
So, these are the pieces
that we cut out
for the sluice box.
We're getting them all
trued up at a 90,
we're gonna get 'em tacked,
then we're gonna
put the ribs on
and fully weld it.
I put the ribs in,
installed the ribs
before I do the full weld.
'Cause if you do
the full weld,
it'll wanna pull.
So, by putting
the ribs in first,
it'll keep that down
to a minimum.
[narrator] Juan welds on
horizontal pieces
known as ribs
to ensure the sluice
holds its shape
during and after construction.
[Juan] Finished.
So, we got the box
all welded up.
We're gonna set it down.
We're gonna start getting
all the riffles in it,
getting everything cut,
so that way
we got it all set up.
So, when we get it up
to the top of the hill,
we can get it installed
and, uh,
be that much closer
to running.
[Levi]
This ball mill hasn't been
opened up since the '80s.
We're kind of excited
to see what's in there.
[narrator]
Up at the ball mill,
Levi follows Freddy's tip
to search for gold
behind the drum's liners.
Kory and I
are gonna tap into it.
You know, nothing ventured,
nothing gained.
So, we're gonna see
what's going on.
-All those coming off good?
-So far.
[Levi] Oh, I hope
there's still gold in here.
[Kory] That would be amazing,
wouldn't it?
[Levi] I wouldn't say no.
-Fingers crossed.
-[Kory] Yeah.
All right, first nut's off.
We're not even gonna take
the washers off. I'm just
gonna pull up.
[grunts]
[Levi]
There is two liners left.
Those bolts are the liners.
-Oh, wow.
-[Kory] Hey.
-Let's find out,
let's see what's in there.
-[Levi laughs]
Oh, wow, look at that.
[Kory] Look, look.
Look how thick that is
right there.
-[Levi] That material.
-[Kory] Yeah.
-That's it right there.
-[Levi] Oh, yeah.
We're gonna have to
try to turn this
so we can get
those bolts to us.
-[Kory] Ooh.
-[Levi] Oh,
this is gonna be crazy.
[narrator]
To unscrew the liners,
they have to rotate
the 25-ton ball mill
to get the bolts
beneath the drum,
which hasn't turned
in 40 years.
[Levi] Oh, boy,
let's hope this thing turns.
[Kory]
If anything is gonna make
this thing move,
it should be this.
[grunts]
-Here we go,
get ready for pressure.
-[Levi] Oh, she's gone!
-[Kory grunts]
-[Levi] Oh.
Watch yourself, you're good?
[Kory] It's just skin.
[Levi bleeps]
We need to try something else.
Stand's finished.
We've extended the footprint
of this spiral
by using this wood.
That will make it more
stable every direction.
We gotta get the dirt
out of it first.
[narrator]
At Fix headquarters,
Freddy and Alex
continue the spiral reefer.
There's about 9400
of these made,
and most of 'em
are still in use today.
[Freddy] Hardly any of 'em
are used today.
Fred,
the internet says most
of these are still in use.
[Freddy]
Don't believe everything
you see on the Internet.
[narrator] Freddy has to clear
80 years of debris
from the spirals pipes
before it's usable.
[Freddy] This pipe's
packed up with stuff.
I've been beating on it
with a hammer to no avail.
We'll give it a colonoscopy
and a throat check here
and try to get all that
[bleep] out of it.
[Alex] You're, uh,
maybe an inch or two
into the blockage.
But if you feel up in there,
it's all rubber.
Feels like the pipe collapsed
on itself or something.
[Freddy] No bueno.
[narrator]
The 80-year-old rubber lining
has collapsed into the pipe.
[Freddy]
We're just out of time,
so just gotta do whatever
we can to get this going.
Go a little more.
That's better.
Right now,
there's a rubber liner
in this pipe
that's collapsed onto itself,
and we can't get it removed.
So, I'm gonna try
to burn it out of there.
[narrator]
At 5700 degrees Fahrenheit,
Freddy's oxy-acetylene
blowtorch
burns through
the antique rubber.
[Alex]
We tap it on it now,
do anything with the hammer?
[Freddy] That ain't gonna
hurt anything.
Hit it some more.
[Alex] A bunch of it
right here.
That's clean.
[Freddy] There we go.
Son of a gun.
It's always something, huh?
[Alex] Always something,
never easy.
[Freddy] It worked better
than anticipated,
so I'm happy with that.
[Juan] I'm building the legs
for the sluice.
That way we'll be able
to put this under the box
and be able to
adjust the pitch
and also the height.
[narrator]
Juan works on the final step
of his sluice build.
[Juan] The hard part
about not being able
to fabricate on site
is we don't have
the exact measurements,
so we're gonna make it
all adjustable.
This has gotta be one
of the bigger builds
that Freddy and I
have ever done for a rescue.
So, I'm hoping that
everything that we build
is gonna go into place
and work properly
because really,
we got one chance at it.
It's a little nerve-wracking,
'cause really,
we put all this work
and effort into it.
But ultimately,
we don't know until we get
everything up there,
get it in place
and run the plant.
[Kory] Oh, boy.
-[Kory grunts]
-[Levi] Slowly, but surely.
[narrator] Up the mountain,
Levi and Kory
use a makeshift lever
to turn the ball mill.
[Levi] Oh, my gosh,
I can't believe
this thing is dirty.
[Levi] Do one more.
[Kory] Okay. Hold on.
-Let me get a bite.
-[Levi] Yeah, me too.
[Kory] Okay, I'm ready.
[Levi grunts]
I'm feeling
pretty excited right now,
knowing that there's
two plates in here.
-[Kory] I can't get it off
fast enough.
-[Levi sighs]
[Kory] All right,
let's start beating on.
Shot number one.
[grunts] They're in there,
aren't they?
[Levi]
We're trying to get this steel
to expand with the heat.
And when it cools down,
it'll contract.
Hopefully, we can get it
to break that bond.
'Cause this thing
does not wanna go.
They are seized in there.
[Kory] Give her a whack.
-Oh, she's going.
-[Kory] I hear stuff falling.
[Levi] Oh! Keep going. Oh, oh.
Oh, yeah.
Oh! All right, all right.
Go ahead. Give it that.
[metal thuds]
[Levi] Oh!
[Kory sighs]
All right, get in there.
[Levi] Oh, wow.
[upbeat music playing]
[Levi] Wow,
how this thing is built.
It's got a lot of dust on it.
[narrator]
At the Buttrey mine,
Levi and Kory pull the linings
of the old ball mill.
[Levi]
This is the stuff that
[Kory] That's what
Freddy was talking
about there.
[Levi] That's what
they're getting at.
In between the plates,
you'll have this conglomerate.
[narrator]
Conglomerate is a compact,
massive material.
In this case, years of rock,
dust and gold
that has set
almost like concrete
to the inside
of the ball mill drum.
[Levi] Look at the colors
in that, Kory.
That's amazing.
[Levi] Oh, you can see gold.
[Kory] Yeah, dude,
that's awesome.
-Huh, I mean,
if you can see right there
-[Levi] Oh, my good
[Kory]imagine how much
could potentially be inside
all of that.
[Levi]
Right on the edge there,
between the metal shavings,
you can start seeing
little pieces of yellow.
-[Kory] That's amazing, dude.
-[Levi] You can see colors
in there.
[both laugh]
[Levi] You son of a gun,
you, man.
[Kory] That's awesome.
-[Levi] All right, let's go
crush this stuff.
-[Kory] Let's go.
[Levi] Freddy
giving me the information
about the ball mill,
it was huge.
Um, I had no idea.
Hopefully, we could find
some gold in there.
It could be life-changing
or season-changing
for Kory and I.
[narrator]
At Fix headquarters
We're running out of time.
Today is the absolute last day
we have to work on this.
We just gotta get it up
to the mountain.
[narrator] the race is on
to complete Freddy and Juan's
most epic fix yet.
One hundred
and eighty feet of pipe
connecting two levels
of the Buttrey mine,
a brand new wash plant
with custom made sluice
and a spiral concentrator,
which Freddy and Alex
are fine tuning.
[Freddy] Right now,
Levi is crushing quartz.
Quartz is mainly white.
So, you won't be able to see
if you're cutting
the quartz out properly.
And if we get it
painted green,
you can see your blacks
and your browns
and your whites and your reds
and the gold. Right?
[narrator] Paint dry,
Freddy's last addition.
Just trying to make this hose
a little more pliable.
It's pretty stiff right now,
so just trying to warm it up
a little bit.
Just using some bubble soap
to try to make it slick
as well.
[grunts]
It wouldn't go on before.
Just using a bungee cord
on this one to pull it back
to get that material
more centered
in our pan here.
Generic,
but we don't have time
to make proper brackets
and stuff, but it'll work.
It'll work just fine.
[narrator] Juan's final piece
of preparation,
making 48 brackets
for the ambitious chute build.
[Juan] So, what I did was
I designed a flap,
but this is the tab
that's actually gonna
screw into the pipe.
You can see right now,
it's right in the middle
of where the pipe's gonna go.
But you see this relief cut
on these top corners?
It allows me to be able
to bend that flap at a 90,
and then it looks like that.
So,
it's actually right in line
with the circle
where this--
the pipe's gonna go through,
and then it gives me
the chance to be able to put
a fastening screw
to the top of the pipe.
We're good to go.
I don't think
we'll get that pipeline
up there in one day.
That's a two-day job,
that pipe.
[Juan] I think we get it done
in a day, Fred,
-I really do. Yeah.
-The pipe?
[Juan] What are we betting on?
-Steak dinner. Okay.
-Steak dinner.
I think we can get it done
in a day.
-[Freddy] All right.
-It's on.
-[Freddy] Love you, bud.
-Love you too, Freddy.
[narrator]
With their trucks unable
to climb the mountain trail,
ATVs and loaders
haul the builds.
[Juan] Well, here we go.
Yeah, it's pretty tight here.
I'm sure glad we have these.
We don't have to walk up this.
[Freddy] Shows you how tough
the old timers were, huh?
Well, there's Juan.
Trimming trees.
-[radio beeps]
-[Juan] Ground's pretty
loose too, Fred.
Starting to spin, Juan,
she's getting pretty muddy.
[Juan] Yeah, it is.
[Alex] You think you can
even make it up there?
Only one way to find out, huh?
Hope Juan doesn't tip
that son of a gun over.
[bleep]
Attaboy, Juan.
-[Juan] This is a steep,
sharp turn, Freddy.
-[Freddy] Yeah.
This might be the one
that bites us
in the hind quarters
right here.
-Let's pick it up.
-[Juan] Yep.
Go ahead, Freddy.
[Freddy] Thank you.
[Alex]
Sure hope that's the last one
of those.
Yeah.
[thuds]
[gasps]
Oh, my goodness.
Almost there.
One more back switch back.
-[Levi] Ooh.
-[Juan] That's a tight one.
Well, the great news is
we got it all up here.
Tomorrow morning,
we're ready to rock and roll.
It's gonna be
a rough couple of days.
We're gonna have to
blow and go.
Kory and I are ready to go.
[Freddy]
See you in the morning, guys.
[Kory] I'm super excited
to see everything work.
With everything
in front of us,
I just don't,
I don't wanna get my hopes up.
[Juan] All right.
We'll get going on it.
We'll see how you are
about lunchtime.
Remember our bet.
Steak dinner.
-All right, Freddy.
-[both laugh]
[narrator]
For Juan to win the bet,
the 180-foot pipe
needs to be suspended
by the end of the day.
It's gonna be
a pretty fun task,
uh, but it's gonna be
some work.
[Freddy] First things first,
knock those branches down,
get 'em out of the way,
then we can start stringing
the rest of the stuff down.
[narrator] For the pipe
to have a straight path
down the mountain,
Alex is tasked
with clearing the way.
-[Freddy] Hey, Alex.
-Yes, sir.
[Freddy] You see that tree
you're leaning on?
-[Alex] Yep.
-[Freddy] Knock it down.
Let's undo that rope,
throw it as far
as you can down,
-so we don't have to
walk down there.
-Okay.
We're gonna
put this rope down first
because it's light.
Then we'll tie the end
onto the cable
and we'll be able to drag
the cable down.
[Alex] All right, Freddy,
you wanna just go down there
and I'll throw it down to you?
Hopefully, I can make it.
[narrator]
Next step, running the cable
that will suspend the pipe.
[Freddy] Ready, big guy?
We got one shot at this.
[Alex grunts]
[Freddy] Good throw, Alex.
[Alex] Feel good, isn't it?
[Freddy] We've got enough
to pull the cable
just to tie it off
to that tree.
So,
once we get that steel cable
threaded down the mountain,
then, uh,
we'll start putting our pipes
and our hangers on it.
And hopefully,
it all goes together good.
[narrator] Guide rope secure,
the steel cable
that suspends the pipe
is lowered.
[Freddy] Go easy, guys.
-[Alex] Okay.
-[Freddy] Go ahead.
Easy.
Hang on one second. Easy!
[narrator]
But before the cable's
even halfway down
[Levi] I think it might be
a twig or a root
up on top it's snagged on.
[Freddy] Right on that
[bleep] branch, huh?
[Alex] I mean,
you're hooked over, like,
about a foot
on the downed rock up there.
[bleep]
[Alex] So low to the ground,
it's actually running off
the ground and down.
Well, this is getting
kinda frustrating for us,
'cause we thought
this was gonna be
a real simple job.
But it's taking a lot longer
than we want.
[Levi] I hope we can get
that chute system down.
Little worried about it.
[Freddy] Hey, Levi,
you got any tape?
Duct tape?
Just so this doesn't tangle
in trees.
Yes, down below. Yes.
[narrator]
At the Buttrey mine,
the chute fix has hit a snag.
The steel cable
that will suspend it
is getting caught up
as it's lowered.
Some duct tape. Perfect.
[Freddy]
When we get going again,
having this taped up
is gonna help us a bunch.
If not,
it's gonna be like an anchor
digging in those rocks.
[narrator] Taping the ends
of the steel cable
prevents its snagging
as it's dragged down.
-Okay.
-[Freddy] Go ahead.
Easy!
[Alex]
Cable's on the ground, Freddy.
Okay, let's tie it off
up here.
[Levi] We've got the cable
attached up here
and got it strung down
the hill.
So, we gotta go run down there
and then start
cinching it tight
and then make
the connection there
so we can start
putting the pipe on.
[narrator] Down on level two,
a radical refit is underway.
[Juan] With all this
coming off the impact mill,
we're gonna have to
remove all this, Kory.
-[Kory] Okay.
-[Juan] So, we can go ahead
and start getting
all this cut apart.
[narrator] The old pipe
and the shaker table
are removed.
-[Juan] You got her?
-Yep.
[narrator]
With the table removed,
Juan's new sluice
can be installed.
[Juan]
Let's get the legs for it.
Perfect.
All right, let's put it in.
You wanna give me the level?
Okay. Let's mark that, Kory.
So, we're just getting
the sluice kinda set in place
where it's gonna go,
and we're just gonna get it
leveled up
and get it at the right pitch
that we need it.
And we made all the pieces,
so they're adjustable.
That way it's easy
to adjust 'em on the fly.
And so, if you guys
ever move the plant,
you know,
you can take it apart,
move it and get it back up
pretty quick.
Perfect.
We got this in.
Let's get all the fittings
we need on the pumps
and then
we'll set up that spiral.
[narrator]
As Juan plans the path
that will secure the spiral
while it's operating,
Kory's son Brennan arrives
to check out the progress.
-[Juan] Hey, guys.
-[Kory] Hey, Juan.
This is my son, Brennan.
-Brennan, how you doing?
-[Brennan] Good, how are you?
-Juan, nice to meet you.
-[Brennan] Nice meeting you.
[Juan] You came just in time.
[Kory] Graduating high school
and now going to miner school
under Juan Ibarra.
-[all laugh]
-The school
of hard knocks, man.
[Kory] Exactly.
-[Juan] So,
you just graduated, huh?
-[Brennan] Yeah, two days ago.
Congratulations.
I'm excited to start mining.
That's what I wanna be,
a miner, so.
He's a great hard worker
and he's very excited
about this.
[Brennan] My dad,
he's a big part of my life.
And if Freddy and Juan
turned this around,
it would mean the world
to my dad and family,
'cause my dad's made
a whole bunch of sacrifices
for all of this.
You know,
the family, you could tell,
is really happy for him,
proud of him
and I'm proud of him too.
[Juan] So, you're gonna spend
the summer out here
with your dad, then?
-Yeah, that's my plan.
-Nice.
When did you start mining?
[Juan] So, I started mining
in 2012,
but I've been building stuff
since, you know,
since I was your age.
That's cool.
My dad actually bought me
my first welder when I was,
-I must have been
probably 13 or 14 years old.
-[Brennan] Okay.
[Juan] You know,
we didn't have a whole lot
of money growing up.
If I wanted something,
I'd have to build it myself.
[Kory] Well, if you, uh,
had one piece of advice
for Brennan
starting up mining,
what would that be?
[Juan] Don't take shortcuts.
[Brennan]
Don't take shortcuts.
Anything that's ever come
to bite me in the butt
is when I take a shortcut.
[Brennan] Right.
You know,
if you know there's a way
to do it, do it right.
You know, sometimes,
it takes a little longer,
-but don't take shortcuts.
-All right.
[Juan] What I can have
you guys start doing is
-I think I want to set up
that spiral maybe over here.
-Okay.
Maybe take some
of this hump off,
try to level out
some spot there.
And that way,
we can put the spiral
right here.
Let's, uh, grab that shovel.
[narrator] While Brennan earns
his mining stripes,
his dad gets a master class
in laying out a sluice.
What you wanna do is
you wanna overlap it.
Like shingles on a roof,
right?
See how it's bowed?
So, you always want the bow
to-- in the middle of it.
So that way,
when we actually knock it
down with the wedges,
it tightens it pretty good.
If you have too big
a gap underneath it,
you'll actually
get material flowing
underneath the riffles.
So, what we're gonna do here,
we got three different changes
in your, uh, riffles.
These riffles are tailored
to that real fine gold
that you guys
are catching out of that ore.
But that's not lost.
If it's not caught here,
it's going into this
catch basin,
which is gonna get pumped
to the top of that spiral
and have another chance
to get re-concentrated
and get caught again
in the spiral.
[Kory] Yeah, that's perfect.
[Juan] Perfect.
Well, that looks good.
Let's get that, uh,
spiral in, huh?
I like it.
Almost like they know
what they're doing.
[Travis] Forward just
a little bit more.
That's good.
-[Juan] Perfect.
-[Kory] That'll do.
[Juan] Yeah.
Hopefully,
by doing what we did here,
you know,
we'll be able to increase
your production 200 to 300%.
[Kory] That,
that'd be amazing.
-Really, that's--
That's a home run right there.
-[Juan] Yeah. Yeah.
[narrator]
With work on the plant
now complete,
all attention turns
to the chute build.
Why don't we head up
and give him a hand?
-Yeah, let's do it.
-Let's do it.
All right.
[Freddy] Here we go,
first one.
[narrator] On level three,
the cable is in place,
and the first sections
of the pipe are ready
to be fed down.
[Freddy] That'll work for now.
Let's get
our other brackets on.
[Alex] Oh, thank you, sir.
[Freddy] Okay,
go up a little bit.
Whoa, whoa. Ooh.
It's good,
I'm getting an arm workout.
[Juan] If you wanna feed it
down to me,
-I'll hook it up down here.
-[Freddy] Yep.
Feed me.
[narrator]
Nineteen sections of pipe
must be connected
and carefully lowered
down the cable.
-Can you go up some more?
-[Levi] Up higher?
Yeah, I'm on my toes.
-[Travis] Coming down.
-[Alex] Coming down.
[Travis] Keep coming.
This thing
is coming along nicely.
[Juan] Let's just test it
real quick, Fred.
-Throw some material in it.
-[Freddy] I will.
Big old scoop, Fred.
Yeah, she's coming out.
She's coming out
pretty good, Freddy.
-I can see it all.
-[Freddy] I can, too.
[Levi] Wow, look at that.
Perfect.
[Alex]
Flowed out down nicely, huh?
That is perfect.
[Juan] You know,
we were a little worried
about that belly in the line,
but she'll be fine.
You know,
I think with the more material
going down at once,
it'll help push
all the other stuff
down through too.
-[Juan] Yeah, it should.
-[Levi] Sounded good
going down it.
[Juan] Yeah,
didn't slow down one bit.
That's awesome.
[Freddy]
The last piece of pipe.
The last melon,
as Travis would say.
[Freddy] Yeah,
right there, Trav. Oh.
[Juan] We got it done, Freddy.
[Freddy chuckles] Good.
[Juan]
I'm really happy for starting
this project this morning
to having the cable ran,
having the pipe in in one day.
Then on top of that,
I think I'm gonna win the bet.
-Love you, Freddy.
-Love you too, bud.
[upbeat music playing]
[Juan] The important side
of this is the top.
-Okay. Gotcha. Yep.
-Get it taped.
[Juan]
Just so it doesn't slide
and pull on that fitting.
[narrator] It's the final day
on the Buttrey claim.
But before the test run
can begin,
the last section of pipe
must be installed.
We still have a couple hours
worth of work to do
to get it installed.
Hopefully, we can have
a good test run today.
I'm a little skeptical.
We've got a lot to do.
I'm just not sure
if we're gonna to be able
to complete that today.
[Juan] So, what we're doing is
we're gonna attach the pipe,
we're gonna put the pipe
on a little carabiner,
and we're just gonna
lift it up
and slide it into place.
[narrator]
The last section of pipe
needs to be
precisely positioned
so gold-bearing ore falls
into the hammer mill.
[Juan] Okay, come on.
Let's do it fast.
Lift it up.
Pull. Pull your way.
Okay, Trav,
get on Alex's side.
Guide it in.
Lower a little bit, Alex.
There you go.
[Levi] There we go.
[Juan] That's plenty.
Okay, that's good.
Well, now we got that in,
we can start getting
everything else in.
Alex, grab me the chute
over there, please.
This is gonna be the chute
that collects the material
at the top of the hammer mill.
[Levi] It's, uh,
pretty mind blowing actually.
I feel like
I'm just standing here
with my mouth open,
just staring at it. [chuckles]
[Freddy]
What I'm trying to do here,
this material here is
we're pumping it to the top
of the spiral.
[narrator] While Juan
finishes the shoot,
Freddy plumbs in the spiral.
[Freddy] We're going to put
this valve on.
That way,
we can control that water
and that slurry
coming out of it.
Just like with anything,
you gotta take control
of the material and the water.
We've got
all the plumbing done.
Juan's got the sluice in.
He's just finishing up
with the chute.
It should be ready
to run here fairly shortly.
[Juan] Well, there it is.
Done.
So, we got the pipeline
coming down.
It feeds to the top
of the chute.
It's gonna have a little bit
of surge material here.
As that material builds up,
he'll be able to drag it
with that hoe
over into the hole
into the impact mill
and down the sluice.
[narrator] One week ago,
Freddy and Juan saw a mine
that was heavy on labor
The whole process
is just taking so long.
[Freddy] That's manual labor.
[narrator]
and light on gold.
-[Juan] There's a bit, Fred.
-That's not enough
to weigh though.
[narrator] Now,
the streamlined operation
feeds directly
into the hammer mill.
So Levi and Kory
should be able to run
triple the amount of pay
per hour,
transforming their operation.
We got the pipeline.
Yeah, it looks really cool,
doesn't it?
[Levi] Those hangers
really add to it.
[Juan] We made this
quick little transition chute
to go from the chute
-coming off the bottom
of your jaw
-[Freddy] Yep.
[Juan]into the pipe.
I'm hoping that
the vibration from your jaw,
I'm hoping that's enough
to be able to help
that material move down.
[Freddy] You guys know
as well as I do.
This pipeline chute
was a lot of work.
-You know,
first string a rope
-[Levi] Yes.
-then clearing trees
and then hanging pipe.
-[Levi] Yes.
The amount of material
you can get down
to the hammer mill now
compared to what
you had to do before,
it's gonna--
you can get that whole cart
there in a few hours.
Having it in place,
the amount of work
that it's cutting out
for us
Well, this is just
what we did up top.
Why don't we head down below
and take a look
at what we did down
at the plant?
-[Levi] Perfect.
Sounds like a plan.
-[Kory] All right.
[Juan] We got a lot
going on, guys.
Obviously,
starting with the pipeline
that comes down from the jaw.
[Levi] That really
looks amazing.
It drops down
into this little chute.
This chute's gonna be
kind of a surge shoot.
So, as material builds up,
-whoever's down here can start
feeding the hammer mill.
-[Levi] Mmm-hmm.
Then that material
is gonna go down
a sluice box now
instead of the table.
-[Levi] Yep.
-[Juan] Yeah.
[Freddy] There's multiple
riffle configurations
in there.
[Juan] So, then it drops off
that sluice box
and it goes into a,
a bin with a pump.
That pump's
gonna pump that material
to the top of the spiral,
And then the spiral
will do its thing.
It will have a chance
to be able to capture
the remaining bit of the gold
that's in there.
-This looks amazing.
-[Kory] Yeah,
you did a great job.
We're at the point now, guys,
we need to do a test run.
You guys ready?
-I'm ready, let's do it.
-[Kory] Yeah,
let's see what happens.
[Levi] All right.
These fixes are astonishing.
That chute alone
is game changing for us.
I have a feeling
that when we start
our test run now,
it's gonna be a good one.
-We're gonna fire it up, Kory?
-[Kory] Yep. We're ready.
-[Juan] Right on.
-[engine starts]
[Kory] He's humming.
-Let's run some,
see what it does.
-[Levi] All right.
Start sending some material.
[Freddy] How's that?
[Kory] Beautiful.
[Levi] The rocks starting
to come down the chute.
-It's filling the trough.
-[gold clinking]
You hear that?
[mimics clinking]
Dollar sign every time.
[mimics clinking]
[mimics clinking]
-[radio beeps]
-Kory, are you, uh
Is it feeding good up there?
'Cause we're not getting
much down here.
[narrator] But less than
ten minutes into the run
They're not getting much down
he said.
-[radio beeps]
-[Kory speaking]
I wonder if we're getting
a lot of material
that's hanging up in that bow.
[Juan] I think
we're seized up.
[Freddy]
That could collapse that pipe.
Stop feeding.
-[radio beeps]
-Yeah, go ahead
and stop feeding it.
[engine stops]
-[radio beeps]
-I'm gonna shake
this pipe right.
Is material coming out?
[Freddy] Yeah,
not much is coming out, Juan.
Yeah, we're stuck
halfway down, Fred.
[bleep]
[Juan] You know,
you do the best you can,
and sometimes it doesn't work.
If it doesn't work,
you figure out
what's gonna work
and you make alterations.
But it's gonna take
a lot of time.
And I'm just worried
that we don't have enough time
to do that.
It, it's crucial
that we get this fixed.
If, uh, if we don't
get it fixed,
before Freddy and Juan
have to go,
I don't know
if this season's gonna be able
to continue.
I lost the bet to Juan
over the steak dinner.
So, uh, being a smart ass,
I've got a $15
sandwich cooker there.
A little garlic
pounded in with dirty hands.
Well, we'll see
how this thing does.
I hope Juan likes
his steaks rare,
'cause I don't know how well
this thing's gonna cook it.
Always wash your dishes
before you use 'em.
That's good work. Damn good.
-Juan-o,
here's your steak dinner.
-Look at that.
-[both laugh]
-[Freddy] The little cooker
cooked it good.
That's good. It's perfect.
-Winning tastes good, Fred.
-[Freddy] Caveman style,
Juan-o.
[Juan] Yeah, I have no problem
living like a caveman.
-I'm okay with it.
-Me either.
That's really kind
of you, sir. [laughs]
[Juan] We have to have
a run today
because, uh,
we're out of time.
[narrator] Only 10 minutes
into the second test,
a clog in the pipeline
forced to shut down.
[Juan] It was
a bit of a failure.
We get it all put together,
then we run it,
and it was terrible.
[narrator] To get
the second test back on track,
they have to get the ore
trapped in the sagging pipe
moving.
[Freddy] To move material,
we're gonna use gravity
and vibration
to try to get it down.
[narrator]
To overcome the sag,
Freddy and Juan
will drop the lower end
of the pipe
to create a steeper run,
and attach vibrators
to the top and bottom
of the chute
to agitate material down
and into the hammer mill.
Hey, the pipes coming on down
as you're cranking,
so, keep on going.
[narrator] Juan gets to work
on a mine rescue first.
Pipe vibrators.
This is gonna be
a mount for the vibrator.
We wanna make sure
that all that energy
goes into the pipe
to be able to shake
the material loose
and get it down
the pipe system.
I'm just gonna run
a quick test on this
and see which way
it vibrates better.
Usually on a vibrator,
one way will actually push
the material,
and the other way
will actually draw
the material
towards the vibrators.
Put material in it, Trevi.
Is it drawing that way?
Slowly, huh.
-[Travis] Feed's better
that way.
-Okay.
-[Travis] There he is.
-[Juan] Perfect.
All right, now we know.
[Kory] All right. Good to go.
We got both vibrators on, so.
-Let's give it a shot.
-I'll go down below
-and set a timer
and let's run a two hour test.
-Okay.
-I got my radio.
Sounds good, Freddy.
-All righty. Hey.
-Good job, buddy.
-Fingers crossed.
Hopefully it works.
[Freddy] It'll work, Juan.
[Kory] All right, here we go.
Wish us luck.
[Levi] Oh, Kory, Kory, Kory.
This is so beautiful.
Is it feeding down there?
[Levi] Oh, yeah.
We got a great feed.
I like it.
It's just dropping.
Good feed. Thanks.
-Juan-o, good job, dude.
-Good job, buddy.
[Juan] We got the material
coming down the chute,
going into our pipe
with the two vibrators.
It's running perfectly.
[Freddy] This is my third pan
off the end of the sluice.
I haven't seen one speck
of gold in it yet,
which is a darn good sign.
That means that sluice
is working great.
[Juan] The spiral's actually
working really well.
Freddy's actually
been panning it
as we've been running.
He hasn't seen
one color in this yet.
The sluice is catching
the majority of the gold.
Everything's working
perfectly now.
The plant is at 25,
30% capacity.
So, they can actually
bring that up quite a bit.
As they learn
how to run the plant,
they're gonna be able
to figure out where
the limits are,
and they can almost
double that.
You know, I put years
of hard work into this place,
It just seems like now
everything is falling
into place.
Levi, that's two hours.
[Levi over radio]
All right, Kory,
go ahead, stop feeding.
[Kory] I just hope
everything's good down there
and gold comes out
the other end,
because we're really,
really counting on it.
-Let's see
what it looks like, Juan.
-Let's take a look.
There's some gold
right there, Juan.
-There, there.
-[Juan] There it is.
[Juan] There's a bunch
right there, Fred.
-[Freddy] Is there?
-[Juan] Yeah,
bunch right there.
[Freddy] Yeah,
that looks good.
[Juan] Right there
in that one riffle
-is more than what we had
in the first gold weigh.
-[Freddy] Well
-That is a good feeling.
-Yep.
We'll grab a hammer
and we'll knock these out
and get 'em cleaned up.
[Juan] I'm really hoping
that the second gold weigh
is what they need to see.
Because in order
for them to get anywhere
near their goal,
they're gonna need
a lot more gold
than what they had
in that first wave.
There's a lot more gold
than last time.
-We got enough to weigh
this time.
-That's weighable.
Yeah, before,
we barely had a little streak
in that pan.
Now we actually have an amount
that you can see.
And the big difference was,
you know,
before you guys ran
150 pounds,
maybe not even that.
[Levi] Mmm-hmm.
-I bet--
-We probably ran
probably 500 pounds.
Honestly, watching it run,
you know,
I think we can actually
turn that up a little more.
I-- I think so too.
I honestly think that
we can almost double that.
-[Levi] Mmm-hmm.
-[Juan] For sure.
-[Freddy] Moment of truth.
-Let's do this.
[Freddy]
It's not a fortune,
but it's gold.
[Juan] Exactly.
[Freddy] You know,
there's weighable amount,
There's 0.05.
There's 0.07.
There's $160
worth of gold, guys.
Probably 50 times
the amount of gold
-you had in the first run.
-[Kory] Mmm-hmm.
I mean, that's amazing.
[narrator] Freddy and Juan
have increased the volume
the volume going
through the plant by 233%.
Over a six day week,
The gold weigh equates
to 1.68 ounces
worth $3864.
[Juan]
Watching you guys feed it
at the end there, I'm like,
You know what,
I really think we can put more
through that hammer mill.
-0.07, you might be able
to get, get that in an hour.
-Exactly.
[narrator] Doubling volume
run through the plant
will see Levi and Kory
exceeding their three ounce
a week target.
Seeing this,
it just gives me
goosebumps too,
'cause I know
how him and I are.
We're just gonna be
sitting there,
just sitting there
and sitting there
and feeding that chute.
[Juan] The more material
they can run
through the plant,
the more gold
they can recover.
I'm really hopeful
for these guys.
I think this is just
a start for 'em.
We should've been
gone this morning.
But, uh,
we had a little hiccup,
but you know,
there's proof that
your plant's running good.
-Perfect, yeah.
-[Juan] It was worth the wait.
It was. Before you guys go,
I got something for you.
-[Freddy] What do you got?
-Uh, remember that little tip
-you gave us
about the ball mill?
-[Juan] Mmm-hmm.
[Levi]
So, we were able to get in it
and pull some liners
and Kory and I owe you
four ounces for the year.
We have just probably
roughly an ounce-and-a-half
to two ounces in the pan.
[Freddy] Oh, no kidding.
[Levi] Yeah, we still have
a lot more material up there
-to crush out
of the ball mill.
-[Juan] Awesome.
So, uh, we'll be able
to get you guys' payment
to you a lot quicker.
-[Freddy] That'll work.
-That's awesome.
-Right on, guys.
-[Freddy] Thanks, you guys.
-[Levi] Yep.
-[Juan] Thank you,
bro, very cool.
With what's left in there,
we might be able to even
get closer to that 40 mark
-just by the stuff
they left behind for us.
-[Freddy] Mmm-hmm.
That's a good looking
pan there.
[Levi] Yeah, it definitely is.
-[Freddy] Load up and head
down the mountain, huh, Juan?
-Let's go, Fred.
-Thank you guys, drive safe.
-Gentlemen.
-Thanks a lot.
-It was a pleasure.
[Freddy]
It's been a challenging week.
But it's done at work.
We eliminated
lots of their manual labor
out of the whole equation.
The sky's the limit for 'em.
[Levi grunts]
Freddy mentioned
something about mining
can break friendships.
But with Kory,
I think it's just making us
even better friends,
you know,
because we have that drive
and we need and want
to make this work.
[Freddy] Let's go, uh,
get a proper steak dinner,
buddy.
-[Juan] Let's go get steak--
You owe me one.
-[Freddy] I know.
[Juan] Let's go.
[Freddy] I love the people
we work with.
We had a good time.
But this mountain's
a pain in the ass.
-[Levi] Three, two, one.
-[explosion]
[Levi] Whoa.
Oh, hey, Freddy and Juan.
Everything's working really,
really good here.
We got it so nice
that we even recruited
a little bit of help
in Levi's mom.
[Levi]
How did that sluice look
last night?
I gotta show you this.
Hold on.
Every riffle is loaded
with gold.
This was just in three hours.
We're now able to do
an ounce a day now.
This is the gold
we're getting.
We were hoping
for three ounces a week,
and now we're getting about
six ounces a week.
There's no way
we could've doubled it
without your help.
Thanks to you,
Freddy and Juan,
our hard rock mining future
is looking very bright,
and next time you are in town,
the steak's on us.
[tense music playing]
-[heartbeat]
-[clock ticking]
[monitor beeping]
[Freddy] Gold is addictive.
We have a tremendous case
of gold fever.
-Gold fever.
-Gold fever.
It's contagious.
[Freddy] Sometimes it makes
you do crazy things.
That's why they call me
the human forklift.
[beeping flatlines]
[gasps]
[explosion]
Oh, I believe that
they worked.
[clattering]
[man] Oh, my goodness.
[grunts]
It's just so hard to think
how far behind I am right now.
Play time is over, Fred.
[bleep] got real.
My recommendation is
find some other ground.
[woman] If you were sick,
you'd go to a doctor.
If you're gold mining, you're
gonna go to Freddy and Juan.
[Juan] This is
a ine Rescue first.
[hydraulics whining]
[Freddy]
It's all hands on deck now.
Perfect.
[lighter sparks]
It's been one of our
toughest weeks, that's for sure.
He's never had to do
two full plant builds like this.
We've resurrected a dinosaur.
[man] It's just unbelievable.
Holy crap.
[Freddy] Here's another nugget.
I'm in shock,
miracle in the pan.
[Freddy] That's almost
$6,000 a day.
Oh my gosh, you guys!
It's looking up. I'm feeling
better and better every day.
Wow, that is amazing.
[Freddy] I'm proud
of what we did here.
Well, let's head out
to the next one, huh?
Alright.