"Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan" Truth or Dare

1 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:06,200 I didn't came here for camping. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:08,360 I came here to do a job. 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:12,860 For us, it's been like a curse. 4 00:00:15,260 --> 00:00:16,460 We're in a hot mess. 5 00:00:18,900 --> 00:00:20,960 Fred and Juan might just run away. 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,300 I think every aspect is a problem. 7 00:00:24,660 --> 00:00:25,860 We genuinely might be screwed. 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,000 Everything is on the line. 9 00:00:30,860 --> 00:00:33,160 I have to sell an excavator to eat. 10 00:00:34,460 --> 00:00:38,100 We've never been mining this area as far as I know. 11 00:00:38,100 --> 00:00:40,100 Right? We've got tailings, tailings. 12 00:00:40,100 --> 00:00:42,000 This is tailings. 13 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,460 One of the biggest nuggets in the Cariboo 14 00:00:44,460 --> 00:00:45,760 was found on this property, 15 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:47,660 specifically where we're gonna be digging. 16 00:00:48,660 --> 00:00:50,600 It had a lot of gold at one time. 17 00:00:53,060 --> 00:00:55,000 But somebody else has that gold now. 18 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:58,560 You know, as the old saying goes, 19 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:00,100 a gold mine for sale, 20 00:01:00,100 --> 00:01:02,600 there's a hole in the ground with a liar standing above it. 21 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:08,460 Freddy Dodge... 22 00:01:08,460 --> 00:01:09,960 I would rather have gold in the bank 23 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:10,860 than gold in the mountain. 24 00:01:10,860 --> 00:01:12,660 ...and Juan Ibarra... 25 00:01:12,660 --> 00:01:13,860 Not bad for built in the field. 26 00:01:13,860 --> 00:01:16,000 ...want to make you rich. 27 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,400 It turns your dream out here into a reality. 28 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:21,760 In the past five years, 29 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:23,860 the value of gold has doubled. 30 00:01:23,860 --> 00:01:26,860 -There's a $3,000 nugget right there. -Whoo! 31 00:01:26,860 --> 00:01:32,100 But rookie miners find it more elusive than ever. 32 00:01:32,100 --> 00:01:33,700 If we don't recover more gold, 33 00:01:33,700 --> 00:01:35,000 then we could lose everything. 34 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:37,400 But there is hope... 35 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:39,460 Miracles, they do happen. 36 00:01:39,460 --> 00:01:42,660 ...to turn desperation into fortune. 37 00:01:42,660 --> 00:01:45,060 Freddy and Juan have one week... 38 00:01:45,060 --> 00:01:46,560 What you just did is genius. 39 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,200 ...to deliver a golden payday. 40 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,560 They have a future and they know what they need to do. 41 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:59,074 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=- 42 00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:05,100 Well, Freddy, Raul and Helen are the people we're gonna go help. 43 00:02:05,100 --> 00:02:06,060 And, uh, Raul... 44 00:02:06,060 --> 00:02:08,360 he's originally from El Salvador. 45 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,100 Roger that. I'm glad we... 46 00:02:10,100 --> 00:02:12,600 worked on my Spanish a little bit before we got here. 47 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:15,160 I know lots of cuss words. 48 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,300 You've taught me a few of 'em. 49 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:18,960 The good ones, I taught you. 50 00:02:19,860 --> 00:02:21,700 Just don't tell my mom that. She'll be upset. 51 00:02:24,300 --> 00:02:27,760 Early summer in the foothills of the Cariboo Mountains 52 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:29,300 in British Columbia, 53 00:02:29,300 --> 00:02:32,960 and Freddy and Juan are responding to a "Hail Mary" call 54 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,060 from a husband and wife team with a struggling mining operation, 55 00:02:37,060 --> 00:02:41,000 who have invested over $400,000 so far 56 00:02:41,460 --> 00:02:42,760 with no return. 57 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:49,500 Raul reached out a little while ago and... 58 00:02:49,500 --> 00:02:51,760 was telling me that he sunk every dollar that he had 59 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:53,060 into the operation. 60 00:02:53,060 --> 00:02:55,260 He's right at Quesnelle Forks. 61 00:02:55,260 --> 00:02:59,060 So, historically, there's been 150 years of mining in that area. 62 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,360 A half mile from the Paredes Mine, 63 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,260 where the Quesnel and Cariboo rivers meet, 64 00:03:09,260 --> 00:03:11,000 is Quesnelle Forks, 65 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:15,160 the Cariboo region's first great gold rush town. 66 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:20,160 It's here that European and Asian miners discovered a gold rich valley 67 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,900 in the summer of 1859. 68 00:03:22,900 --> 00:03:26,960 It produced over 120,000 oz of gold, 69 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:31,300 almost $280 million in today's money. 70 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:38,300 Hello. 71 00:03:38,300 --> 00:03:39,860 Hello. How's it going? 72 00:03:39,860 --> 00:03:40,860 Oh, my goodness. 73 00:03:40,860 --> 00:03:42,560 Much better that we see you guys. 74 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:44,200 -Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you. 75 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:45,760 -Juan. -Raul. Mucho gusto. 76 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:47,330 -I'm Helen. -Hi, Helen. 77 00:03:47,330 --> 00:03:48,960 - Nice to meet you guys. - Well, it wasn't hard to find you at all. 78 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:50,160 Right off the side of the road. 79 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:51,760 Very nice. 80 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:53,000 How long you guys been out here? 81 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:54,800 - We came last year. - Mmm-hmm. 82 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:56,860 And this year, we came on board, I mean, again. 83 00:03:56,860 --> 00:03:58,260 Give it another shot. 84 00:03:58,260 --> 00:04:00,760 You know, we try, we try, we try, and... 85 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:02,100 didn't happen. 86 00:04:02,100 --> 00:04:04,760 So last year was your first year out here and just the two of you. 87 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,160 That's correct. David is our kid. He's involved, 88 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:11,600 but he only came only two to three weeks in his time off. 89 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,760 It's good to have you guys, your expertise on board here. 90 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:16,860 We can learn lots off you guys. 91 00:04:16,860 --> 00:04:19,200 -Well, we'll do the best we can. - Yeah. 92 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:20,660 Are you guys mining full time, then? 93 00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:24,260 Yeah, we're here every day. I mean, from 7:00 to 6:00. 94 00:04:24,260 --> 00:04:27,460 Prior to us, there was somebody else mining this property 95 00:04:27,460 --> 00:04:29,000 -three years ago... - Mmm-hmm. 96 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,660 ...and he was getting at least an ounce-and-a-half to two ounces a day. 97 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:34,960 He mentioned to me that it was... 98 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,200 the gold was really good over here. 99 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:38,860 - Hmmm. -Really, really good. 100 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:42,900 Mining is... 101 00:04:42,900 --> 00:04:46,560 It's my passion. It's my love. 102 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,860 My dream for this mine is we can make it as a family business. 103 00:04:50,860 --> 00:04:52,100 Now we've got water. 104 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:56,160 I'm originally from El Salvador. 105 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,000 It's in Central America. 106 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:03,360 Coming to Canada was a second opportunity to start a life. 107 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,160 Two years ago, Raul Paredes and his wife, Helen, 108 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:11,760 staked a 700-acre claim in historic gold country. 109 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:13,700 Do you have the red pipe wrench? 110 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:15,800 I came to Likely 111 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,160 because there's still a lot of good gold here. 112 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:19,760 We got our own ground 113 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,500 because people before me has been getting gold. 114 00:05:24,660 --> 00:05:26,800 Since I came here, I've been trying my best. 115 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,300 It's been testing me to the limits. 116 00:05:29,300 --> 00:05:32,060 Hey, Raul, I think we need more pressure. 117 00:05:32,060 --> 00:05:34,800 Helen has been with me since the beginning. 118 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,260 She's the one that look after the plan, and... 119 00:05:37,260 --> 00:05:39,760 I couldn't do what I do without her. 120 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,760 The dream of getting into gold mining, actually, is both of ours. 121 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,260 We started with smaller wash plants 122 00:05:45,260 --> 00:05:48,500 and really, really enjoyed the process. 123 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:50,660 But, actually, having a big wash plant, 124 00:05:50,660 --> 00:05:51,960 I'm struggling. 125 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,800 We called the wash plant "The Octopus." 126 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,000 That's the first thing I thought about when I saw this big monster. 127 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,500 All these tubes going all over the place. 128 00:06:01,500 --> 00:06:03,660 I'm probably in way over my head 129 00:06:03,660 --> 00:06:05,860 and we're having constant breakdowns 130 00:06:05,860 --> 00:06:09,860 that, um, we haven't been able to really financially support 131 00:06:09,860 --> 00:06:11,460 to get things on the right track. 132 00:06:11,460 --> 00:06:15,100 My situation at this moment is terrible. 133 00:06:15,100 --> 00:06:17,700 Barely make it to pay my rent this month. 134 00:06:17,700 --> 00:06:21,900 If I don't see something that can change or something like a hope, 135 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:24,460 it's not gonna happen. 136 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,260 How much gold did you do last year? 137 00:06:28,260 --> 00:06:30,560 I'll say probably an ounce-and-a-half. 138 00:06:32,060 --> 00:06:35,460 We washed probably 500 or 600 yards. 139 00:06:35,460 --> 00:06:36,900 That's not good. 140 00:06:36,900 --> 00:06:39,160 What about this year? How much have you ran so far? 141 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,260 This year, probably, we've been running 200 yards. 142 00:06:42,260 --> 00:06:44,860 And how much gold have we got out of 200 yards? 143 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:47,160 Eh... 144 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:48,400 Probably eight grams. 145 00:06:51,660 --> 00:06:52,860 Yeah, that's... 146 00:06:52,860 --> 00:06:54,360 - That's not good. - No. 147 00:06:55,300 --> 00:06:56,660 Well, the old timer, 148 00:06:56,660 --> 00:07:00,960 he mentioned to me that it was really, really, really good, he say. 149 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,060 Well, you know, you hope people have the best of intentions, 150 00:07:03,060 --> 00:07:04,860 but sometimes they're just trying to drop it on you 151 00:07:04,860 --> 00:07:07,060 -and get their investment back. - Yeah. 152 00:07:07,060 --> 00:07:08,600 What's your gold look like? 153 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:10,460 There it is. 154 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:13,900 - Pretty chunky, huh? - Yeah. 155 00:07:13,900 --> 00:07:15,460 Nothing real substantial, though. 156 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,400 How much gold do you need per day? 157 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:20,760 To make a living ourselves, we'll be happy 158 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:23,160 with an ounce of gold a day. 159 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:25,400 If things don't work out here, 160 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,100 this is it, I'm done. 161 00:07:29,660 --> 00:07:31,560 What do you have invested in this? 162 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,260 Time and blood and sweat and tears invested in this. 163 00:07:34,260 --> 00:07:35,860 -Yeah. - Yeah. 164 00:07:35,860 --> 00:07:40,500 -It's very emotional because we love what we do. - Mmm-hmm. 165 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:42,000 And, uh... 166 00:07:43,100 --> 00:07:44,760 Oh, my God! 167 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,360 The best thing for us to do is what we like to do. 168 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:50,200 We come in, we wanna watch your operation, 169 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:51,960 watch it... watch a test run. 170 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,700 And then, after that, we'll come up with a game plan. 171 00:07:54,700 --> 00:07:56,030 Thank you very much. 172 00:07:56,030 --> 00:07:57,700 - All right. - Let's have a look around your plant. 173 00:07:57,700 --> 00:07:59,160 - Let's do it. -I'm excited. 174 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:02,130 Meeting Raul and Helen, 175 00:08:02,130 --> 00:08:05,760 immediately you can tell that they're just really sincere, humble people. 176 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:08,000 But his love and his desire to wanna be a miner, 177 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,760 has gotten to the point where it's now detrimental to his finances. 178 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,160 They're looking at us as their Hail Mary to help them, 179 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,400 you know, kind of, pull their mine out of bankruptcy. 180 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,000 If we don't do what we need to do here, 181 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:22,360 essentially, Raul and Helen's mining career is over. 182 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:23,700 It's your plant, huh? 183 00:08:23,700 --> 00:08:25,860 This is "The Octopus." 184 00:08:25,860 --> 00:08:27,360 The Octopus? 185 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:29,860 - 'Cause of all these green hoses. - Yeah. 186 00:08:29,860 --> 00:08:30,960 Last year when you were running, 187 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:32,160 were you running this plant? 188 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:33,560 That's correct. 189 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:35,560 I look at the long term, you know, 190 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:37,560 hoping that things we're going to get better, 191 00:08:37,560 --> 00:08:38,760 recovering some gold. 192 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:40,560 Well, let's fire it up and run it. 193 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:41,860 Okay, let's do it. 194 00:08:49,460 --> 00:08:51,200 One thing's for sure. They're in a tight spot. 195 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:52,860 I think they're about broke. 196 00:08:52,860 --> 00:08:54,900 Hopefully, we can help 'em. 197 00:08:54,900 --> 00:08:56,560 But, you know, the plant in itself 198 00:08:56,560 --> 00:08:58,360 -is an issue, you know? -Everything. 199 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,060 Holy That's loud! 200 00:09:07,060 --> 00:09:09,900 I can hear that screen on the dark side of the moon. 201 00:09:09,900 --> 00:09:11,100 Holy cow! 202 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:15,900 Okay, we're rolling. 203 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:18,160 First bucket. 204 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:22,060 Start a timer, huh, Juan? 205 00:09:22,060 --> 00:09:23,660 Yeah. Let's get it going. 206 00:09:25,500 --> 00:09:30,360 First, Raul feeds paydirt into a 10-by-6-foot hopper, 207 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,460 a vibrating punch plate screens out the large material 208 00:09:34,460 --> 00:09:39,860 before the gold bearing pay falls into Raul's four 10-foot-long sluices. 209 00:09:41,660 --> 00:09:43,860 I'm nervous, stressed. 210 00:09:43,860 --> 00:09:45,900 I want everything to run well, 211 00:09:45,900 --> 00:09:50,200 but I want it to be realistic to what's happening in our daily lives. 212 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,200 It's not running well, and they need to see that. 213 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,800 So they're gonna see why we need a lot of help. 214 00:10:10,500 --> 00:10:13,060 Probably, the most ineffective screen I've ever seen. 215 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,560 The material is being screened too big. 216 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:18,400 And right now, they're not classifying their material. 217 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,800 Can't have proper concentration without proper classification. 218 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,200 Classification is when a screen or punch plate 219 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:28,460 divides out large rocks, 220 00:10:28,460 --> 00:10:31,000 allowing the smaller gold-bearing dirt 221 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,260 to run into the plant's sluices. 222 00:10:44,460 --> 00:10:47,700 The sluice boxes are absolutely just... 223 00:10:47,700 --> 00:10:49,260 in rough shape. 224 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:57,500 There we go. 225 00:10:58,460 --> 00:11:00,860 In order to be able to get this operation into a position 226 00:11:00,860 --> 00:11:02,760 where they could be cash positive, 227 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,500 every aspect of this process needs to be worked on. 228 00:11:08,660 --> 00:11:09,960 David! 229 00:11:10,500 --> 00:11:11,460 David! 230 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:13,360 Up! 231 00:11:14,700 --> 00:11:16,560 We just lost water. 232 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:17,660 That's not good. 233 00:11:18,700 --> 00:11:20,460 We've got an issue with the pump. 234 00:11:20,460 --> 00:11:22,260 Shut her down. 235 00:11:22,260 --> 00:11:24,860 -It's coming out of the cap. - Oh! It looks like a crack. 236 00:11:26,860 --> 00:11:29,460 Every day something happens. 237 00:11:29,460 --> 00:11:31,160 It's been like a curse. 238 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:37,260 I wish we could have done the four hours, but... 239 00:11:37,260 --> 00:11:39,000 that's what we got. 240 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:41,460 - Well, let's pull the mats, huh? - Yep. 241 00:11:42,860 --> 00:11:45,400 Pump cap out of action. 242 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:49,900 After just one hour, Raul and Helen are forced to shut down 243 00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:51,400 and pull the mats. 244 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,160 You know, it's disappointment 245 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:56,930 'cause I put my heart and soul in this. 246 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,360 I just wanted to look at this material you're running. 247 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:02,660 It just doesn't look good. 248 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,200 I'm gonna tap a couple of pounds of it and see, uh... 249 00:12:07,100 --> 00:12:08,560 what we see in it. 250 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:15,100 This is right out of the pay pile, 251 00:12:15,100 --> 00:12:16,800 the stuff that are running through the plant. 252 00:12:18,700 --> 00:12:21,500 Are you guys testing at all as you're mining? 253 00:12:21,500 --> 00:12:22,660 Like, panning much, or... 254 00:12:22,660 --> 00:12:24,560 If I've had more time over here, I would... 255 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,460 -pan more. - Yeah. 256 00:12:27,460 --> 00:12:28,900 That's the most important thing, though. 257 00:12:28,900 --> 00:12:32,260 I know. We've kept you too busy fixing stuff. 258 00:12:32,260 --> 00:12:33,700 - Yeah. 259 00:12:33,700 --> 00:12:35,060 What are you looking for? 260 00:12:35,060 --> 00:12:36,660 I'd like to see 20 colors. 261 00:12:36,660 --> 00:12:38,300 Twenty colors. Yeah. 262 00:12:40,300 --> 00:12:41,760 Nothing. No gold. 263 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:43,600 Not a color. 264 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:44,700 That's not good. 265 00:12:44,700 --> 00:12:46,100 Sorry, guys. 266 00:12:46,100 --> 00:12:47,800 No. That's good to know. 267 00:12:50,660 --> 00:12:52,130 I had a guy 268 00:12:52,130 --> 00:12:56,500 that came up to me and he say, "You wanna make a quick dollar right away, 269 00:12:56,500 --> 00:12:58,160 right away? 270 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:01,460 In a week, you'll have five grands, ten grands whatever, you know." 271 00:13:01,460 --> 00:13:04,100 He said to me, "Come down here." 272 00:13:04,100 --> 00:13:05,860 And... 273 00:13:05,860 --> 00:13:07,900 I even ask him. 274 00:13:07,900 --> 00:13:09,100 I say, "Are you for sure? 275 00:13:10,300 --> 00:13:11,860 Anyway, it is what it is. 276 00:13:11,860 --> 00:13:13,560 I guess sometimes it is my fault, 277 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:16,660 because nobody put a gun in my head and told me to do it, right? 278 00:13:16,660 --> 00:13:18,300 I did it. I took the risk. 279 00:13:19,060 --> 00:13:20,100 That's dead... 280 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:22,700 for gold. 281 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,300 Raul's got a big heart, and he wears it on his sleeve. 282 00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:29,900 You know, he's the good guy. 283 00:13:29,900 --> 00:13:33,000 So... you hate giving people news 284 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,100 they don't wanna hear, right? 285 00:13:37,460 --> 00:13:39,260 The difficult part about this rescue 286 00:13:39,260 --> 00:13:40,860 is we're starting from scratch. 287 00:13:40,860 --> 00:13:42,760 You know, the ground that they have, we know has no gold. 288 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:44,760 The plant has to be re-engineered. 289 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:47,460 I'm a little nervous about being able to get it done in time, 290 00:13:47,460 --> 00:13:50,260 and more nervous about trying to find better ground. 291 00:14:07,860 --> 00:14:09,860 Getting out here and meeting Raul and Helen, 292 00:14:09,860 --> 00:14:12,400 you can tell right from the beginning they're great people. 293 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,700 -They are great people. - You know, the way that Raul speaks 294 00:14:14,700 --> 00:14:17,860 and he's very compassionate, and very emotional. 295 00:14:17,860 --> 00:14:20,400 -You can tell he's a real caring person. -Yeah. 296 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:22,560 But I think his desire and his motivation to mine 297 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,760 kind of trumped going out there and actually... 298 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,600 -Testing. -...testing and figuring out what was there 299 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,360 before he committed. 300 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,200 You know, that's the problem with listening to hearsay. 301 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,060 You know, everyone has a story about how the ground is so great. 302 00:14:34,060 --> 00:14:38,860 Grab a gold pan, grab a test plant, grab a high banker, whatever. 303 00:14:38,860 --> 00:14:40,900 -You know... -You test it yourself. 304 00:14:40,900 --> 00:14:43,700 I'm... I'm really hoping that we can deliver on this one, Freddy. 305 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:51,500 Moment of truth. 306 00:14:51,500 --> 00:14:53,160 -Good morning. - Buenos dias. 307 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:54,400 - Good morning. -How are you doing? 308 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:55,960 In British Columbia, 309 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:00,060 after a cracked pump cap shortened their test run to an hour, 310 00:15:00,060 --> 00:15:02,760 Raul Paredes and his wife, Helen, 311 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,660 have the gold they cleaned from their mats. 312 00:15:05,660 --> 00:15:08,560 When we need that, you know it's not going to be a good thing. 313 00:15:10,100 --> 00:15:11,300 Holy cow. 314 00:15:13,260 --> 00:15:15,060 Very sad. 315 00:15:15,060 --> 00:15:16,760 - Well, it's not weighable. - Yep. 316 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,100 You can't buy a can of soup with that. 317 00:15:19,100 --> 00:15:22,260 Raul and Helen need to make an ounce of gold a day 318 00:15:22,260 --> 00:15:26,300 to run their plant and pay back their investors. 319 00:15:26,300 --> 00:15:28,800 He had a thousand-dollars' worth of expenses 320 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:30,460 for fifty-cents worth of gold. 321 00:15:30,460 --> 00:15:33,900 If you were getting, you know, a quarter ounce for, you know, for the day, 322 00:15:33,900 --> 00:15:35,460 that... that's still a death, 323 00:15:35,460 --> 00:15:36,600 but that's a really quick death. 324 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:37,960 -Yes. That doesn't even cover 325 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,200 the fuel that it costs to start the equipment. 326 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:42,060 So where do we go from here? 327 00:15:42,060 --> 00:15:43,600 We can fix your plant, 328 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:45,200 but we need to go look at your ground. 329 00:15:46,060 --> 00:15:47,460 We need more understanding and more... 330 00:15:47,460 --> 00:15:48,660 More information. 331 00:15:48,660 --> 00:15:50,360 ...more information about the ground. 332 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:52,360 - All righty. - Sounds like a plan. 333 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:53,230 Thanks, Freddy. 334 00:15:53,230 --> 00:15:55,000 - Thank you. -Thank you, Juan. 335 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,460 That's probably one of the worst gold weighs we've ever had. 336 00:15:57,460 --> 00:16:00,360 There's no way they're ever gonna be able to pay back their investment 337 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:03,400 or, uh, their investors mining like that. 338 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,000 Unfortunately, Freddy and I, we're not miracle workers. 339 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:07,900 The gold that's in the ground is in the ground. 340 00:16:07,900 --> 00:16:10,560 So it puts a lot more stress on Freddy and myself 341 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:11,860 to be able to go out and perform 342 00:16:11,860 --> 00:16:13,160 and do something good for these people. 343 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,460 Hey, Raul. What's going on? 344 00:16:19,660 --> 00:16:21,460 Let's not waste any more time down here, 345 00:16:21,460 --> 00:16:26,000 and I think it's... actually I think it's a really good lesson. 346 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:32,260 You've got to do that testing before we set up these elaborate... setups 347 00:16:33,260 --> 00:16:34,860 and then find there's no gold. 348 00:16:36,660 --> 00:16:38,200 We believe a few people. 349 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:40,900 Maybe it was not true. 350 00:16:40,900 --> 00:16:42,700 I always listen to other people. 351 00:16:43,900 --> 00:16:46,460 Maybe I'm doing something wrong. 352 00:16:46,460 --> 00:16:50,100 And I think that imagination runs a little bit too wild. 353 00:16:50,100 --> 00:16:53,260 We've got to get wiser at how we mine 354 00:16:53,260 --> 00:16:55,160 to get these debts cleared up 355 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,800 because we're getting too old to play this game this way. 356 00:17:03,060 --> 00:17:04,930 -All good. - We'll figure it out. 357 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:10,500 Raul is a very determined person. 358 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:13,100 He's met challenges in his life 359 00:17:13,100 --> 00:17:15,560 most human beings shouldn't have to go through. 360 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:19,500 He came to Canada to escape the situation 361 00:17:19,500 --> 00:17:21,760 that was happening in El Salvador. 362 00:17:23,700 --> 00:17:27,200 I came as a political refugee in 1991. 363 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:30,900 By that time in El Salvador, there was no democracy. 364 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:41,000 In 1979, El Salvador plunged into a 12-year civil war 365 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,800 that saw over 75,000 people die. 366 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,760 At the time, Raul worked at a Jesuit university. 367 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:54,660 One fateful day, 368 00:17:54,660 --> 00:17:58,760 the Salvadoran army raided the building he worked in. 369 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,160 I took 10 minutes early for lunch, 370 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:03,260 and that's when the incident happened. 371 00:18:04,660 --> 00:18:07,260 They murdered six Jesuit priests 372 00:18:07,260 --> 00:18:10,160 their housekeeper and her daughter. 373 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:15,300 Everybody that was at that moment in the building was murdered. 374 00:18:15,860 --> 00:18:17,000 They didn't get me. 375 00:18:19,460 --> 00:18:21,760 Known as the Jesuit Massacre, 376 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,100 it's one of the most high profile religious crimes 377 00:18:25,100 --> 00:18:28,360 in modern Latin American history. 378 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:31,360 My dad came up to me one day and he said, "You know what? 379 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,900 I don't wanna live with my conscience 380 00:18:33,900 --> 00:18:37,800 that tomorrow they found you on the road dead." 381 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,100 The next day at 7:30 in the morning, I was in a plane. 382 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:43,400 And that was... That was it. 383 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:45,660 That's the last time I ever see my family. 384 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,660 It was tough for me to leave my country. 385 00:18:50,660 --> 00:18:54,060 I came to this country with $7 in my pocket. 386 00:18:54,060 --> 00:18:56,460 Didn't know how to speak English. 387 00:18:56,460 --> 00:19:00,500 Coming to Canada was the second opportunity to start a life. 388 00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:02,200 It's been tough on me. 389 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,060 I have to find the gold. 390 00:19:15,260 --> 00:19:17,460 What are you thinking on the plant, buddy? 391 00:19:17,460 --> 00:19:20,300 Well, the plant itself, Fred, you know, we have a lot of issues. 392 00:19:20,300 --> 00:19:22,600 -I can see why they named it "The Octopus." - Yeah. 393 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:24,360 - We call this the screen, right? - Yeah. 394 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,260 The screen, here's the hopper feeder that they have. 395 00:19:27,260 --> 00:19:28,860 - Yep. - First and foremost, 396 00:19:28,860 --> 00:19:30,300 most of the racket that we're hearing 397 00:19:30,300 --> 00:19:31,860 is that punch plate that they have. 398 00:19:31,860 --> 00:19:33,500 That's one of the loudest screens I've ever heard. 399 00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:34,900 It's not installed properly. 400 00:19:34,900 --> 00:19:36,460 But more important than that, 401 00:19:36,460 --> 00:19:38,000 -the punch plate's too big. -Too big. 402 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,600 -Way too big. -We've got two-inch rocks going down the sluice box. 403 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,960 So I think what we may have to do is build new punch plates. 404 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,160 Okay. What about the sluices, Juan? 405 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:48,660 Right now, there's no room for gold. 406 00:19:48,660 --> 00:19:50,900 The material, it's blowing it out of the box. 407 00:19:50,900 --> 00:19:52,260 I'm gonna pull everything out, Fred, 408 00:19:52,260 --> 00:19:54,560 getting rid of those three or four runs that he has 409 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:56,000 -and just make two runs. - Yeah. 410 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:57,500 And then, what I'd like to do 411 00:19:57,500 --> 00:19:59,660 is put one of our distribution boxes in there. 412 00:19:59,660 --> 00:20:02,960 Our standard chute, where it comes out, has a splitter, 413 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,760 and then it perfectly divides that material between the two runs. 414 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:07,860 - Yeah. -Those are the three big key things 415 00:20:07,860 --> 00:20:09,660 that I need to get done on that plant. 416 00:20:09,660 --> 00:20:11,400 But more important than the plant, 417 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,000 if you don't have gold to put to the plant, 418 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,660 it means nothing, right? 419 00:20:14,660 --> 00:20:16,260 Yeah. Well, I'm gonna go prospecting. 420 00:20:16,260 --> 00:20:18,200 Honestly, I think, uh, we could use a little help. 421 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,560 What if we bring Alex and Travi in? 422 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:22,000 Yeah. I think that would be better. 423 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:23,660 -All right. Let's go do it. -Let's do it. 424 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,900 On Raul's plant, nicknamed "The Octopus", 425 00:20:28,900 --> 00:20:33,260 oversized rocks jammed the system and packed the sluices. 426 00:20:33,260 --> 00:20:35,000 Juan will fabricate... 427 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,560 Juan will fabricate two tear-drop holed punch plates 428 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:41,000 to screen out oversized pay. 429 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:46,160 Then, to give the plant a chance to collect every speck of fine gold, 430 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:49,560 Juan will reduce the sluices from four to two, 431 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,560 to better control the water flow. 432 00:20:53,660 --> 00:20:57,360 And design a two-way V-chute distribution box 433 00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:02,100 to spread the pay between them to allow the sluices to flow evenly. 434 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:09,260 Freddy's main mission will be to decode 150 years of old timer mining, 435 00:21:09,260 --> 00:21:11,560 to track down a pocket of gold 436 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,200 that will save Raul and Helen's operation. 437 00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:17,960 - Hello. - How's it going, guys? 438 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:20,060 We're a bit nervous. 439 00:21:20,060 --> 00:21:22,060 We did a little bit of, uh, figuring out. 440 00:21:22,060 --> 00:21:24,460 -While you were running, we saw a lot of issues. - A lot. 441 00:21:24,460 --> 00:21:26,660 - One of them is that you're screening too big. -Right. 442 00:21:26,660 --> 00:21:29,900 So we're gonna pull what you have out, build a whole new top deck, 443 00:21:29,900 --> 00:21:31,260 and then we're gonna build a new system 444 00:21:31,260 --> 00:21:34,360 to go on the site to actually tension the screens into the screen. 445 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:35,600 Nice. 446 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,100 Your sluices are not good. 447 00:21:38,100 --> 00:21:41,160 Yeah, it's just... it's too... too messy. 448 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:44,000 What we're gonna do, we're gonna do two traditional sluice boxes. 449 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,460 But before the sluice boxes, we're gonna actually put a distribution box in. 450 00:21:47,460 --> 00:21:50,660 So both runs are gonna get equal amount of material and water. 451 00:21:50,660 --> 00:21:53,260 -And we'll fix that pump cap for you. - Right. 452 00:21:53,260 --> 00:21:55,860 -Essentially, we're gonna rebuild the whole wash plant. - Wow. 453 00:21:55,860 --> 00:21:58,960 So it's no longer gonna be an octopus. We're gonna have to rename it. 454 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:00,600 Um, and then Freddy is gonna try to 455 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:02,760 dedicate most of his time to prospecting 456 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:05,300 because you're gonna be out there, you know, pounding the pavement, 457 00:22:05,300 --> 00:22:07,000 trying to find some decent ground. 458 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:08,560 Well, you've got a lot of property here, 459 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,900 but there's been a lot of people on it before you. 460 00:22:10,900 --> 00:22:12,760 -Everything I see is tailings. - Right. 461 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,000 So we've got multiple things going on here 462 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:16,660 that are fighting against us right now. 463 00:22:16,660 --> 00:22:20,100 -So we need to go punch a bunch of holes. -Okay. 464 00:22:20,100 --> 00:22:21,400 Yeah, it's a lot of work. 465 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:24,060 We talked as well. 466 00:22:24,060 --> 00:22:26,400 -So we aren't gonna charge you anything. - Yeah. 467 00:22:28,300 --> 00:22:30,860 You know, considering where you guys are at and everything you got going on, 468 00:22:30,860 --> 00:22:32,860 we understand your guys' financial situation, 469 00:22:32,860 --> 00:22:34,860 and both Freddy and I have been very blessed, 470 00:22:34,860 --> 00:22:38,060 so, um, we're happy to do it for nothing. 471 00:22:38,060 --> 00:22:40,960 You know, material and labor. We're just gonna pick up the tab on it. 472 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:42,960 Oh, wow, that's amazing, you guys. 473 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:44,560 -We can't thank you enough. -Thank you very much. 474 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,360 - Yeah, no worries. -Hopefully down the road we can... 475 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:49,500 -That's fine. If not, not the end of the world. -...do something different. 476 00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:53,460 I, uh, appreciate very much the help from you guys, you know. 477 00:22:53,460 --> 00:22:56,160 I mean, this is... this is our life. 478 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,160 There is hope for us to... 479 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:00,100 to continue what we love to do, eh? 480 00:23:00,100 --> 00:23:01,160 -Deal, then. - Yeah. 481 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,260 I'm blessed to have Freddy, I'm blessed to have Juan, 482 00:23:07,260 --> 00:23:09,760 but they can see that we're struggling 483 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,000 and hopefully he can find good material for us. It's not over yet. 484 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,760 -So, we're gonna have a new plant. -Yes, I know. 485 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,600 And maybe... and maybe some gold to put in it. 486 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,460 These guys are in a pickle, for lack of better words. 487 00:23:22,460 --> 00:23:24,800 So hopefully, fingers crossed, 488 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,400 we can find them some gold for their future. 489 00:23:30,860 --> 00:23:32,500 - Coming up... -There was a lot of gold right here. 490 00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:34,400 It's now in somebody else's bank account. 491 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:36,160 You can tell by the look right here. 492 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:37,260 The whole thing is built off. 493 00:23:37,260 --> 00:23:38,600 We're gonna run out of time on this one. 494 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,100 You know, this has really turned into a show. 495 00:23:41,100 --> 00:23:43,160 No, not that far. Raul! 496 00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:56,060 What we're trying to do here is learn. 497 00:23:57,300 --> 00:24:01,000 Before Freddy attempts to find Raul new ground, 498 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,160 he must seek advice from a local expert. 499 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:09,860 I kind of consider myself a redneck geologist, but I don't know this area, 500 00:24:09,860 --> 00:24:11,400 so the more knowledge I can get 501 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,200 from somebody that's grown up here, that's mined here, 502 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,800 that's worked here, that knows the geology of the area, 503 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,600 is gonna be of great benefit for Juan and myself. 504 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:23,860 How's it going? 505 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:26,160 Not too bad. 506 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:27,500 - Alf, right? -Right. 507 00:24:27,500 --> 00:24:28,700 - Nice to meet you, Alf. -Freddy. 508 00:24:28,700 --> 00:24:30,560 -It is. - This is pretty cool. 509 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:32,100 Old steam shovel. 510 00:24:32,100 --> 00:24:35,260 I've never seen one of these in real life. 511 00:24:35,260 --> 00:24:37,860 I've seen them, you know, in pictures and in books. 512 00:24:37,860 --> 00:24:39,760 Took a whole crew to run this one. 513 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,560 Gold fever has been here since the 1800s. 514 00:24:44,260 --> 00:24:48,160 Question for you. Over Earls, across the valley, 515 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:49,860 is most of this gold in the surface? 516 00:24:50,700 --> 00:24:52,160 They said it was a mile deep here. 517 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,860 - Oh, I imagine, yeah. -So, it's unbelievable. 518 00:24:54,860 --> 00:24:56,600 So when did you start mining here? 519 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,060 -1980. -Nice. When gold spiked. 520 00:25:00,060 --> 00:25:02,000 -Gold spiked and we all got the fever... -Yeah. 521 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:03,560 ...and we all come running out here. 522 00:25:04,260 --> 00:25:06,760 I didn't move here until '96. 523 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:08,460 -And then... - So 44 years, huh? 524 00:25:08,460 --> 00:25:10,060 Yeah, off and on. 525 00:25:10,060 --> 00:25:12,600 Now, this is one of better nuggets I got. 526 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,460 -That's my souvenir from gold mining. -Oh, it's beautiful. 527 00:25:15,460 --> 00:25:17,460 -Yeah, so... -Absolutely beautiful. 528 00:25:17,460 --> 00:25:21,300 That's one of the prettiest nuggets I've ever seen... 529 00:25:21,300 --> 00:25:23,860 - Yeah. -...with the quartz like that. 530 00:25:23,860 --> 00:25:27,560 So over the decades you mined here, you know, was it up and down? 531 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:31,000 Very. And a lot more down than up, actually. 532 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:32,260 Yeah. 533 00:25:32,260 --> 00:25:35,260 Do you think the gold's the same over Earls? 534 00:25:35,260 --> 00:25:36,600 It's a crazy place to mine. 535 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,500 You just think you're on a nice... 536 00:25:38,500 --> 00:25:40,100 -on a channel... - Yeah. 537 00:25:40,100 --> 00:25:42,200 ...cuts right off. The gold's here and then it's... 538 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:43,730 -shifts over here... - Yeah. 539 00:25:43,730 --> 00:25:47,000 -...The river is coming up and down and moving around and... - Yeah. 540 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,700 But here we've had two glaciation periods. 541 00:25:49,700 --> 00:25:52,500 -And move it around again. -Yeah. And glaciation screw everything up. 542 00:25:52,500 --> 00:25:55,560 -They're the world's biggest bulldozer. -That's for sure. 543 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,860 The ground's very erratic. 544 00:25:59,860 --> 00:26:03,360 You'll hit good but you'll be a lot of poor in between. 545 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:06,760 There's still gold around here to be found. I'm sure about that. 546 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,360 You've got to get through all the lean dirt to get to the good dirt. 547 00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:12,860 You know, you put it in my head, that it's spotty, right? 548 00:26:12,860 --> 00:26:14,260 Yes, that's right. 549 00:26:14,260 --> 00:26:16,000 Bulk testing is the way to do it? 550 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,100 -That's what I recommended. -Yeah. 551 00:26:18,100 --> 00:26:19,600 I really appreciate your help. 552 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,600 -See you later, sir. Thank you. -Yeah, have a good one. 553 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,060 Gold mining, essentially, it's a treasure hunt. 554 00:26:26,060 --> 00:26:30,300 The guys that were here before us, they took most of the treasure. 555 00:26:30,300 --> 00:26:33,300 But there's got to be some gold left here. 556 00:26:41,260 --> 00:26:43,400 So this is where the magic happens. 557 00:26:44,860 --> 00:26:46,860 Back at the Paredes mine, 558 00:26:46,860 --> 00:26:50,360 Juan begins to fix the wash plant's cracked pump cap 559 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,100 that brought the first test run to a standstill. 560 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,260 We've got an issue with the pump. 561 00:26:56,260 --> 00:26:59,000 Over time, pressure changes in the pump 562 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,760 creates weakness in the metal known as fatigue cracks, 563 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,200 which eventually buckle the cap. 564 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:06,760 Oh, looks like it's cracked. 565 00:27:10,660 --> 00:27:13,160 So how long does it take to build something like this? 566 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,300 We should be able to get it done in about a half an hour. 567 00:27:15,860 --> 00:27:17,800 That's fast. Oh! 568 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,260 Wasn't expecting that. 569 00:27:22,260 --> 00:27:26,660 In minutes, Juan's 25,000-degree laser 570 00:27:26,660 --> 00:27:31,860 cuts the pump cap pieces out of a 3 gauge steel sheet. 571 00:27:34,300 --> 00:27:38,200 Well, that was absolutely amazing. I've never seen anything like it. 572 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,400 - That worked out good, huh? - Yeah, it did. 573 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:42,060 - Well, let's put it together real quick. - All righty. 574 00:27:44,500 --> 00:27:48,100 I can see how amazing it is to have the proper tools on site 575 00:27:48,100 --> 00:27:51,100 because if we're not running, we're not making money. 576 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,100 What's it like working with Raul? 577 00:27:57,100 --> 00:27:58,760 He doesn't give up easy? 578 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,460 Most days, we just have a blast. 579 00:28:01,460 --> 00:28:03,060 But it does have its challenges 580 00:28:03,060 --> 00:28:06,360 when you're with your partner 24/7, that, um, 581 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,260 uh, you can have disagreements, but, uh, 582 00:28:10,260 --> 00:28:13,660 we believe in a more positive outcome in mining 583 00:28:13,660 --> 00:28:15,900 -than what we've been experiencing. -Yeah. 584 00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:21,100 Raul and I met each other 585 00:28:21,100 --> 00:28:25,100 about 13 years ago on a dating application. 586 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,360 Well, he just kind of had it. He was cute. 587 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:31,660 Long black hair, the sexy accent, 588 00:28:31,660 --> 00:28:34,100 and I thought, "Okay, I'll bite." 589 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:41,300 Raul was first offered a job in the Yukon gold mining. He fell in love. 590 00:28:41,300 --> 00:28:43,900 And then, a couple years later, 591 00:28:43,900 --> 00:28:45,600 I also helped on that journey, 592 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,760 and I thought, "Okay, this is it. This is our lifestyle." 593 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,860 After 13 years, we have our tiffs, 594 00:28:53,860 --> 00:28:58,060 but most of the time it's a beautiful journey together. 595 00:28:58,060 --> 00:29:02,160 Raul has my back at every step. Um, I love him. 596 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,860 -Hola. - We got it done, Fred. Let's see if it fits. 597 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:13,000 The seal looks pretty good. 598 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,100 -We can try it. - There it is. Perfect. 599 00:29:17,100 --> 00:29:18,900 With this cap, we don't have to be too worried 600 00:29:18,900 --> 00:29:20,800 about the pressure we put on that. 601 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:32,400 I'm proud of what we did there. 602 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:34,760 It seems like it's working out. 603 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:39,000 Only somebody like Juan could make it that fast for us. 604 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,700 So we're... we're good. I'm happy. 605 00:29:51,060 --> 00:29:53,000 These are the maps of Raul's claims. 606 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,660 And he's got roughly 700 acres here. 607 00:29:56,660 --> 00:29:59,860 With five days to put Raul on the gold, 608 00:29:59,860 --> 00:30:02,960 Freddy plots out his prospecting plan. 609 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,700 It helps to have an aerial view sometimes, right? 610 00:30:05,700 --> 00:30:08,560 You can definitely tell, you know, this lower area 611 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,200 where we're at right now has been hit hard. 612 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,660 That meant there was quite a bit of gold here, right? 613 00:30:13,660 --> 00:30:16,600 But I can see on here, and I could see visually on the ground 614 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,600 that river used to be there and before that, it was up there, right. 615 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:22,700 So I don't know if it's been mined, 616 00:30:22,700 --> 00:30:25,200 but that's where we need to start. 617 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,000 Freddy aims to follow what looks like an old river channel 618 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:34,000 and has identified three promising locations, with the first in the North. 619 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,860 One thing Raul didn't do here is prospect his property. 620 00:30:39,860 --> 00:30:44,160 So he's kind of up the river without a really good paddle right now. 621 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:46,900 But that doesn't mean there's not a hope left here. 622 00:30:46,900 --> 00:30:49,760 This area has produced a tremendous amount of gold. 623 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,160 The easy stuff's probably gone, 624 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,960 But there's still a lot of gold around here. We just gotta find it. 625 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,500 In the next valley to Raul and Helen's property, 626 00:31:01,500 --> 00:31:05,260 the famous Bullion Pit Mine is a lasting legacy 627 00:31:05,260 --> 00:31:07,700 to the incredible richness of the ground. 628 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:14,360 From 1892, this placer mine was operational for 50 years 629 00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:19,100 and pulled out over 175,000 ounces of gold 630 00:31:19,100 --> 00:31:22,760 worth $400 million in today's money. 631 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:33,900 But right now these guys are in a desperate spot. 632 00:31:33,900 --> 00:31:36,260 Every ounce of gold, every speck of gold 633 00:31:36,260 --> 00:31:39,100 we can help them get means everything to them. 634 00:31:39,100 --> 00:31:43,600 So basically, the pressure is on me now. 635 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,560 We've got to find mineable ground that's fairly easy to get to, 636 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:52,060 to put money in his pocket or they won't be mining very long. 637 00:31:53,060 --> 00:31:55,960 You said you had to sell your house to keep mining? 638 00:31:55,960 --> 00:31:59,260 Yes, at one point, we decided to sell our own house. 639 00:31:59,260 --> 00:32:01,160 And we always knew that was a gamble. 640 00:32:02,260 --> 00:32:05,160 You haven't paid any bills. Just going in debts 641 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:07,100 every year and more and more and more. 642 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,700 One big deal is, uh, you need to do some testing on your own. 643 00:32:13,700 --> 00:32:16,500 Let's say you want to buy this piece of property 644 00:32:16,500 --> 00:32:21,660 and the owner's got all this paperwork from years past, 645 00:32:21,660 --> 00:32:25,860 sometimes that doesn't matter in gold mining, though, if the gold's not there. 646 00:32:25,860 --> 00:32:28,800 Don't trust what they've got wrote down most of the time 647 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:30,660 unless you really know the people. 648 00:32:30,660 --> 00:32:32,860 You know, trust what your own eyes tell you. 649 00:32:32,860 --> 00:32:34,360 Get in there and do some sampling. 650 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:35,860 That's right. 651 00:32:35,860 --> 00:32:41,000 You can work your hands to bloody nimbles and, uh, still not make any money. 652 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,200 Trying to figure out what's going on with the creek. 653 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:01,300 -Is that the same creek that goes into your mine now? -Yes. 654 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,660 Freddy has identified a section of ground 655 00:33:05,660 --> 00:33:08,660 he believes was once part of the Quesnel River, 656 00:33:08,660 --> 00:33:12,760 a major tributary for the famous gold rush Fraser River 657 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:14,160 of the Cariboo district. 658 00:33:16,300 --> 00:33:18,200 See now, this is truly a bench. 659 00:33:20,500 --> 00:33:22,900 Seeing this is too steep to hold gravels here. 660 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,760 So here's the bench, but I don't know how much of it's been hit. 661 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,760 Over millions of years, a bench is formed 662 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,160 when an ancient river carves its way down a mountain. 663 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:40,300 As it changes course, it leaves gravels that could be rich in gold. 664 00:33:45,060 --> 00:33:50,800 Freddy hopes that this area, if not hit, might give Raul some high grade pay. 665 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:52,700 So they've knocked all the trees down. 666 00:33:52,700 --> 00:33:56,600 All these trees are, you know, a couple of decades old. 667 00:33:58,000 --> 00:33:59,900 It's just hard to tell what's been played with. 668 00:33:59,900 --> 00:34:04,300 So let's get an excavator up here and punch some holes and see what we see. 669 00:34:04,300 --> 00:34:06,660 -Okay. -See what's tailings and what's not 'cause 670 00:34:06,660 --> 00:34:08,860 with everything growing on it, where we're standing, 671 00:34:08,860 --> 00:34:11,960 did they mine this and then backfill it or, you know... 672 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:13,860 Yeah. Okay, we'll do that. 673 00:34:14,860 --> 00:34:16,660 You know, there's hope. 674 00:34:16,660 --> 00:34:19,560 He's throwing me a life jacket so I won't drown. 675 00:34:20,300 --> 00:34:21,960 Hopefully, it can change my life. 676 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:25,800 The old timers hit it hard. 677 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:27,500 It looks like, you know, they hit it hard, 678 00:34:27,500 --> 00:34:30,160 probably in the '30s and in the '80s and in the '90s. 679 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,100 So there's a lot on the line for these guys. A lot. 680 00:34:49,860 --> 00:34:51,000 How's it going, guys? 681 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:52,000 -How we doing? - Good. 682 00:34:52,900 --> 00:34:54,500 In British Columbia, 683 00:34:54,500 --> 00:34:59,460 Alex and Travis arrive at the Paredes mine site to provide some extra muscle. 684 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:01,600 Bring your gloves? 685 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,160 Gloves and a third welding truck. 686 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,460 It's kind of scary when you two say you need a third welding truck. 687 00:35:06,460 --> 00:35:08,260 - All right, guys, let's get to work. - Let's get it. 688 00:35:13,700 --> 00:35:17,060 -Guide me for my tips. - Down a little bit. 689 00:35:17,060 --> 00:35:19,860 With Freddy focused on the prospecting mission, 690 00:35:19,860 --> 00:35:24,230 Alex and Travis help Juan with Raul's new sluices. 691 00:35:26,700 --> 00:35:28,300 So this sluice box looks really wide, 692 00:35:28,300 --> 00:35:30,560 but it's actually two sluice boxes in one. 693 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,060 We're gonna put a center divider in it, 694 00:35:32,060 --> 00:35:35,500 and then we're gonna have two runs that are two-and-a- half feet wide each. 695 00:35:35,500 --> 00:35:39,260 For that plant to run efficiently, it has to have a five-foot box. 696 00:35:39,260 --> 00:35:41,900 We'll build one box and split it down the middle. 697 00:35:41,900 --> 00:35:43,660 You know, if we ran just one big box, 698 00:35:43,660 --> 00:35:46,200 there is no guarantee that you'd get an even flow. 699 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,800 But by being able to put it down to two and a half foot each stream 700 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:51,360 we're able to concentrate it a little better 701 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:55,060 and actually get better recovery with a smaller box. 702 00:35:55,060 --> 00:35:59,600 Juan will remove the overcomplicated octopus hose feed system 703 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:04,900 and install two custom-made 10-feet sluice boxes to better capture gold. 704 00:36:13,460 --> 00:36:14,360 hot. 705 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:16,830 This is perfect welding weather. 706 00:36:16,830 --> 00:36:19,760 You know, when it's over 100 degrees it's perfect to weld in. 707 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:23,160 Uh, it really makes it enjoyable. 708 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:26,360 I'm really hoping that Freddy going up there and taking a look at the cut 709 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,060 might kind of open up some options for Raul and Helen. 710 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:32,360 That's a lot. We just got to keep our nose to the grindstone 711 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:33,360 and keep on working right now. 712 00:36:33,700 --> 00:36:34,760 Let's go! 713 00:36:43,700 --> 00:36:45,460 Here's the bench. 714 00:36:45,460 --> 00:36:47,360 You want to punch one over here. 715 00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:49,660 - You want to try one here? - Yeah. 716 00:36:50,860 --> 00:36:53,100 To the north of Raul's claim, 717 00:36:53,100 --> 00:36:56,700 Freddy digs deeper into the first location he's identified. 718 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,200 This would have been a gold bearing bench in this area. 719 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:03,560 But looking at it, I can't tell 720 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,260 if what we're standing on has been mined already. 721 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:07,960 We're just gonna have to look around here 722 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,760 and, uh, start punching some holes and see what the material looks like. 723 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:20,560 Thank you. 724 00:37:28,100 --> 00:37:29,000 It's tailings. 725 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:32,700 It's tailings. 726 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,700 This is, uh, this is, well, the old timer you mentioned to me that 727 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:41,660 he did two yards of a bucket over there 728 00:37:41,660 --> 00:37:44,160 and it was really, really, really good, he said. 729 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,660 I don't know if I believe whoever he bought this place from. 730 00:37:47,700 --> 00:37:49,160 Everything's tailing. 731 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:51,660 - There is no point to-- -Every rock here has been washed. 732 00:37:51,660 --> 00:37:52,960 There was a lot of gold right here. 733 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:54,860 It's now in somebody else's bank account. 734 00:37:56,260 --> 00:37:58,660 But if there is a 10-foot-square area here, 735 00:37:58,660 --> 00:38:01,760 well, number one, it's not going to be enough to mine, 736 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:03,660 and number two, finding it... 737 00:38:03,660 --> 00:38:05,700 That's like finding a needle in the haystack. 738 00:38:05,700 --> 00:38:09,860 Wear your track out trying to find a little sliver of something. 739 00:38:09,860 --> 00:38:12,630 The more time goes by, the more worried I become. 740 00:38:15,100 --> 00:38:16,500 Well, that is reality. 741 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:22,460 Just right now, I don't have the answer, where. 742 00:38:39,460 --> 00:38:40,900 So cutting this punch plate's gonna probably 743 00:38:40,900 --> 00:38:43,100 take a little over an hour and a half each plate. 744 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:46,260 Back at Juan's build site, 745 00:38:46,260 --> 00:38:50,160 as the rescue crew continues to work on the sluices, 746 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:54,360 Juan and David kick off the wash plant's punch plates. 747 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:57,500 So the design that we're doing on this is a teardrop design. 748 00:38:57,500 --> 00:38:59,560 It's something that Freddy and I have used in the past. 749 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:01,500 That way, the material, when it goes over the top of the screen, 750 00:39:01,500 --> 00:39:03,260 has a chance to relieve itself. 751 00:39:03,260 --> 00:39:04,660 And also we leave it a little bit bigger. 752 00:39:04,660 --> 00:39:07,200 That way, if there is the odd chance of that bigger nugget, 753 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:08,960 it still has a chance to be able to make it through. 754 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,260 Fixed onto the hopper's screen deck, 755 00:39:13,260 --> 00:39:17,760 the plates will allow gold bearing material through into the sluices. 756 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:22,700 Be careful. 757 00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:31,100 That looks good, David. That's probably plenty. 758 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:33,760 You know, as, uh, as, when we put that in, 759 00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,160 as the material goes over the top of it, it will wear it out... 760 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:37,960 - Okay. -...so it will push all that out. 761 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:39,100 It's not a big deal. 762 00:39:39,100 --> 00:39:41,060 How come the teardrop design 763 00:39:41,060 --> 00:39:43,760 -you have going on here... -It's a design we've kind of done over the years. 764 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:46,460 It starts out about a quarter of an inch and goes to half an inch. 765 00:39:46,460 --> 00:39:49,660 -It's pretty effective for when you screen material. - Oh, awesome. 766 00:39:49,660 --> 00:39:52,100 So quick question for you. How did you get involved in all this? 767 00:39:52,100 --> 00:39:56,060 My parents come out and, uh, mine every year, 768 00:39:56,060 --> 00:40:00,860 so I just, I come out and help whenever I can. I... I really enjoy it. 769 00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:05,860 I love the prospecting of gold mining. 770 00:40:05,860 --> 00:40:09,000 Sticking the shovel in the ground and into the pan 771 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,200 and seeing what... what's gonna come up. 772 00:40:12,700 --> 00:40:16,460 David spends his time between his role as a firefighter 773 00:40:16,460 --> 00:40:18,960 and his passion for mining, 774 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:23,760 and has become a key asset to Raul, and mom Helen's operation. 775 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:28,000 I am a very hands-on type of person. 776 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,160 If you give me a book, I'm horrible at the book. 777 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,660 But, like, give me a piece of equipment and I can run that all day. 778 00:40:33,660 --> 00:40:36,030 I also bring energy to the team. 779 00:40:38,460 --> 00:40:43,460 Bills have gotta be paid, and the job I have is very secured. 780 00:40:43,460 --> 00:40:48,060 But if the gold was stable and consistent, 781 00:40:48,060 --> 00:40:51,800 I'd come out here and help Mom and Raul because they absolutely deserve it. 782 00:40:55,060 --> 00:40:57,160 Hold on. Watch your fingers. 783 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:01,800 I thought it'd be lighter with all those holes in it, 784 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:03,600 but it's still pretty heavy. 785 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:05,100 They're not light, are they? 786 00:41:05,100 --> 00:41:07,100 You want to get these guys set up with a slag hammer 787 00:41:07,100 --> 00:41:08,500 and then start poking all those out. 788 00:41:08,500 --> 00:41:10,100 Okay. Yeah, I can do that. 789 00:41:15,100 --> 00:41:16,060 Very good. 790 00:41:25,900 --> 00:41:27,800 -This your property? -That's correct. 791 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:31,500 Now this property almost go up to the Cariboo River. 792 00:41:31,500 --> 00:41:33,460 Back out on the hunt for gold, 793 00:41:33,460 --> 00:41:35,760 and after one failed prospect, 794 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,360 Freddy moves on to his next location, 795 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:40,560 in the middle of the bench formation. 796 00:41:42,060 --> 00:41:43,860 People that we bought the property... 797 00:41:43,860 --> 00:41:46,660 - Yeah. -...find a few colors in there. 798 00:41:47,900 --> 00:41:50,060 He said to me, "Well, you can start from there." 799 00:41:51,300 --> 00:41:52,800 I mean, we run some. 800 00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:55,900 Yeah, we find colors, but nothing... 801 00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:59,760 nothing to make us super rich. 802 00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:02,300 None of this looks good to me. 803 00:42:02,300 --> 00:42:05,460 This is just what they dug out when they made the pond. 804 00:42:05,460 --> 00:42:07,100 When they dig a pile out like that, 805 00:42:07,100 --> 00:42:08,400 and then they don't sluice it, 806 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:10,300 when they have a plant set up in here, 807 00:42:10,300 --> 00:42:12,360 that tells you a story, right? 808 00:42:14,460 --> 00:42:17,360 Looks like they were going broke. 809 00:42:18,660 --> 00:42:22,000 And they took the "quit going broke" way and got out. 810 00:42:24,460 --> 00:42:26,800 It was our own life savings money. 811 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:31,660 Maybe it was my fault to listen to other people. 812 00:42:32,300 --> 00:42:34,000 The lesson that I learned, 813 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:37,300 you know, is do your own testing, 814 00:42:37,300 --> 00:42:41,000 because it's very tough to learn it this way. 815 00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:44,360 You can see that the old timers haven't done much. 816 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:46,900 The modern people haven't done much, and there's a reason, 817 00:42:46,900 --> 00:42:49,860 because from what I see so far, 818 00:42:49,860 --> 00:42:52,660 there's not much gold in the ground up here. 819 00:42:52,660 --> 00:42:55,260 Like the old saying goes, "A gold mine for sale 820 00:42:55,260 --> 00:42:57,800 is a hole in the ground with a wire standing above it." 821 00:43:12,500 --> 00:43:15,760 This is a real horrible part of the day. 822 00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:19,560 In British Columbia, facing an uncertain future, 823 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:21,660 Helen struggles to pay bills. 824 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:26,760 It's overwhelming, like we've got people 825 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:28,660 that we need to pay back. 826 00:43:28,660 --> 00:43:30,100 Then we've got our regular bills, 827 00:43:30,100 --> 00:43:34,300 like our rent and all our fuel for the equipment. 828 00:43:34,300 --> 00:43:37,560 The reality is we need to get into that gold. 829 00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:42,800 Like yesterday, we've made autonomous days, 830 00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:46,000 definitely identifying the ground. 831 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:47,800 You've got to be on the gold. 832 00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:50,760 And then that wash plant is too much. 833 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:53,160 It's too complicated. 834 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,300 I wish I had been armed with the information 835 00:43:56,300 --> 00:43:58,700 that Freddy and Juan gave us. 836 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:04,760 Before I started this journey, I would be way wiser 837 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:07,660 and probably still have a lot more money in my pocket. 838 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,260 Lead the way, Raul. Let's go look at this up there. 839 00:44:17,260 --> 00:44:18,560 Okay. 840 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:21,560 After drawing a bust at the first two locations, 841 00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:23,900 Freddy is down to his last option, 842 00:44:23,900 --> 00:44:27,400 a patch of ground to the south of Raul's claim, 843 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:29,660 Fifty yards from his main cut. 844 00:44:29,660 --> 00:44:31,460 We're just going to have to look around here 845 00:44:31,460 --> 00:44:35,400 and see if there's any ground that's still mineable. 846 00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:37,260 The old-timers hit it hard. 847 00:44:37,260 --> 00:44:41,060 So trying to read this, I can't see into the ground. 848 00:44:41,860 --> 00:44:44,460 But I know one thing's for sure. 849 00:44:44,460 --> 00:44:46,300 We're running out of options fast. 850 00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:50,360 Let's keep looking around, huh? 851 00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:51,400 Yes, sir. 852 00:44:57,800 --> 00:44:58,960 This is tailings. 853 00:45:01,100 --> 00:45:04,460 See the tailings here, tailings there. 854 00:45:08,860 --> 00:45:09,800 Hang on one second. 855 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:16,200 I like the look of this stuff. 856 00:45:18,660 --> 00:45:19,630 You like this stuff? 857 00:45:19,630 --> 00:45:20,900 Yeah, it's better than anything else 858 00:45:20,900 --> 00:45:22,360 I've seen that isn't tailings. 859 00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:23,800 Okay. 860 00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:25,360 See how the rocks are shingled in there? 861 00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:26,430 Uh-huh. 862 00:45:26,430 --> 00:45:28,300 See the difference in the material looks 863 00:45:28,300 --> 00:45:30,260 -compared to what you were digging, right? - Yeah. 864 00:45:30,260 --> 00:45:32,200 I don't know how much of it's here, though. 865 00:45:32,200 --> 00:45:34,260 We need to find out what's under here. 866 00:45:34,260 --> 00:45:35,860 -Under here? -Yeah. 867 00:45:35,860 --> 00:45:37,260 Let's see what we got. 868 00:45:37,260 --> 00:45:39,260 This may be our last chance. 869 00:45:39,260 --> 00:45:42,500 Freddy, I'm going to get on the excavator, okay? 870 00:45:42,500 --> 00:45:44,360 I'm very excited! 871 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:46,800 Freddy's discovered what he believes to be 872 00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:49,560 virgin ground surrounded by tailings. 873 00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:53,860 Kind of a little excited to know that maybe there is 874 00:45:53,860 --> 00:45:56,460 a pocket of gold over there and change my life. 875 00:46:00,300 --> 00:46:01,900 Hang on one second, Raul. 876 00:46:03,300 --> 00:46:05,000 No, you don't have to go that far. 877 00:46:05,660 --> 00:46:07,060 Not that far. 878 00:46:07,060 --> 00:46:08,700 No, just scrape the face. 879 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:11,400 Raul! 880 00:46:12,460 --> 00:46:13,860 Just... 881 00:46:16,260 --> 00:46:19,860 Just scrape the face from right there down. 882 00:46:19,860 --> 00:46:20,960 Okay. 883 00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:22,460 You'll have to back up. 884 00:46:26,260 --> 00:46:28,360 Okay, now reach out and scrape it. 885 00:46:29,300 --> 00:46:31,000 Don't take the whole hill down. 886 00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:33,400 That may be the only virgin material we got. 887 00:46:41,900 --> 00:46:43,560 What did you see, Freddy? 888 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:52,030 You know what? It looks good. 889 00:46:54,500 --> 00:46:55,800 Take a snapshot in your brain 890 00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:57,960 of how this material in the bank looks, right? 891 00:46:57,960 --> 00:46:59,660 I want to show you something in this hole. 892 00:47:00,660 --> 00:47:03,100 You can tell it's virgin material 893 00:47:03,100 --> 00:47:07,260 because just the way it's laying in there. 894 00:47:07,260 --> 00:47:11,600 In nature, that rock right there, right, when it's in a stream system, 895 00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:13,460 isn't going to stand up like that, is it? 896 00:47:13,460 --> 00:47:16,360 Water's going to hit it. It's going to fall over. 897 00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:19,860 So that tells us once upon a time, water flowed through here 898 00:47:19,860 --> 00:47:22,800 and, uh, helped concentrate the gold. 899 00:47:24,460 --> 00:47:27,500 So in the future, you know, look for this 900 00:47:27,500 --> 00:47:29,760 and look for your shingled rocks. 901 00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:31,460 I will. 902 00:47:31,460 --> 00:47:33,500 I want you to keep punching a hole down. 903 00:47:33,500 --> 00:47:35,560 Hopefully it gets you enough gold in your pocket 904 00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:37,730 where you can keep going. 905 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:43,160 Well, the past two days have been kind of 906 00:47:43,160 --> 00:47:47,100 a real pain in the butt, for lack of better words. 907 00:47:47,100 --> 00:47:50,100 You know, look here, you know, it doesn't look good. 908 00:47:50,100 --> 00:47:52,200 Look there, it's all been mined, all tailings. 909 00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:55,000 But there's a little glimmer of hope because we just found 910 00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:56,660 some virgin material over here, 911 00:47:56,660 --> 00:47:58,060 and it looks good to me. 912 00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:01,000 Just leave it right there, Raul. 913 00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:08,330 What's your opinion? 914 00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:14,160 So there's definitely a division on what's going on here. 915 00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:16,760 We've got two types of material in there. 916 00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:18,400 It could be spotty ground. 917 00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:21,660 We've got tailings and virgin ground. 918 00:48:21,660 --> 00:48:24,300 We're in a situation, do you go broke fast 919 00:48:24,300 --> 00:48:26,260 or do you go broke slow? 920 00:48:26,260 --> 00:48:28,660 So we need to test that material 921 00:48:28,660 --> 00:48:31,100 and see if it's worth digging it up. 922 00:48:31,100 --> 00:48:32,360 Yeah. Yeah. 923 00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:34,960 Bulk test is way better than a gold pan. 924 00:48:34,960 --> 00:48:39,260 Instead of doing, you know, 10 gold pans, let's do 10,000 gold pans 925 00:48:39,260 --> 00:48:40,960 and see what lives in it. 926 00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:42,560 Let's get this thing knocked out. 927 00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:43,660 We're running out of time. 928 00:48:49,560 --> 00:48:51,860 Last season, one of the guys, 929 00:48:51,860 --> 00:48:53,860 he left the trommel over here. 930 00:48:53,860 --> 00:48:55,400 The chain broke down. 931 00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:57,560 To bulk test the new material, 932 00:48:57,560 --> 00:49:00,560 Freddy eyes up a broken down test trommel 933 00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:02,400 he's seen in Raul's bone yard. 934 00:49:03,060 --> 00:49:04,360 What do you think? 935 00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:06,360 I like it, Fred. I like the idea. 936 00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:08,460 This is the test trommel, huh? 937 00:49:08,460 --> 00:49:10,000 This is a trommel. 938 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:11,160 Have you used it? 939 00:49:11,160 --> 00:49:14,760 We washed two yards, then since once our... 940 00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:17,360 -The master link, it broke. - Mmm-hmm. 941 00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:20,160 Another issue that had, 942 00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:22,460 it doesn't have a spray bar in the trommel. 943 00:49:23,260 --> 00:49:24,160 The motor run? 944 00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:25,560 Yes, it does. 945 00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:27,760 We had it to start just with a rope here. 946 00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:28,700 - Yeah. - Okay. 947 00:49:28,700 --> 00:49:30,160 But yeah, it runs. 948 00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:31,860 What we might be able to do here is, 949 00:49:31,860 --> 00:49:35,000 even if I do another section of sprockets, 950 00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:36,860 and then we'll put a spray bar in it, 951 00:49:36,860 --> 00:49:39,860 get these two tied into one manifold so we have one pump 952 00:49:39,860 --> 00:49:42,100 feeding the whole system instead of multiple pumps. 953 00:49:42,100 --> 00:49:43,860 Yeah. 954 00:49:43,860 --> 00:49:47,200 Five times cheaper to run than the main wash plant, 955 00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:49,700 Raul will be able to use this trommel 956 00:49:49,700 --> 00:49:52,460 on every piece of promising ground. 957 00:49:52,460 --> 00:49:54,200 It's a big weight on our shoulders. 958 00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:55,500 Freddy and I want to do the most that we can here 959 00:49:55,500 --> 00:49:58,800 to help Raul and Helen, and that looks like it's going to be us 960 00:49:58,800 --> 00:50:00,200 having to work on their test trommel 961 00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:01,560 and also on their main plant. 962 00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:03,860 So it's really a two-in-one rescue, 963 00:50:03,860 --> 00:50:06,460 and that's a lot of work. 964 00:50:06,460 --> 00:50:10,600 To provide Raul a way to bulk test his spotty ground, 965 00:50:10,600 --> 00:50:15,100 Juan will resurrect the test trommel with a new spray bar, 966 00:50:15,100 --> 00:50:17,560 then design a bespoke manifold 967 00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:21,100 to maintain uniform water pressure throughout the system. 968 00:50:23,060 --> 00:50:26,200 To keep gold-bearing pay moving through the plant, 969 00:50:26,200 --> 00:50:29,560 they'll add a custom-made sprocket and chain 970 00:50:29,560 --> 00:50:31,800 to efficiently rotate its drum 971 00:50:33,360 --> 00:50:36,600 and add Freddy's signature riffles in the sluice 972 00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:38,560 to catch fine gold. 973 00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:42,660 These were something that they added onto the trommel 974 00:50:42,660 --> 00:50:45,560 to be able to guide the chain, but they didn't really work, 975 00:50:45,560 --> 00:50:47,500 so we're going to pull this complete assembly off 976 00:50:47,500 --> 00:50:48,860 and build a whole new assembly for it. 977 00:50:55,760 --> 00:50:57,130 That was a better one. 978 00:50:59,160 --> 00:51:00,900 The sprocket's going to actually be a two-piece sprocket 979 00:51:00,900 --> 00:51:02,700 that we weld on the outside of this drum. 980 00:51:02,700 --> 00:51:04,460 That way it can actually turn the trommel. 981 00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:12,160 Okay, Fred, I'm going to be spinning this for a second. 982 00:51:15,600 --> 00:51:17,000 What I'm doing is I'm just getting it lined up, 983 00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:19,100 and I'm about ready to start welding it to the drum. 984 00:51:19,100 --> 00:51:20,900 We want to make sure that it's perfectly aligned 985 00:51:20,900 --> 00:51:23,960 with this drive sprocket, so that way when it runs, it runs true. 986 00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:26,300 The true, we can get it right now when we're setting it up, 987 00:51:26,300 --> 00:51:28,400 the better it's going to run in the long run. 988 00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:30,960 Put the clamp on it, then bring the piece of chain over here, 989 00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:32,160 and we'll do the same thing over here. 990 00:51:32,160 --> 00:51:33,260 Fun times, Freddy. 991 00:51:33,260 --> 00:51:34,360 Fun, fun. 992 00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:43,000 With the chain connected to the trommel's drive system... 993 00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:45,100 There you are. You can let go of it. 994 00:51:45,100 --> 00:51:47,300 ...Juan takes the drum for a spin. 995 00:51:48,260 --> 00:51:49,300 Charge her up. 996 00:51:58,400 --> 00:51:59,660 How did that get far off? 997 00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:01,560 I went right on my line. 998 00:52:03,360 --> 00:52:04,260 See? 999 00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:06,100 It's built off in this. 1000 00:52:06,100 --> 00:52:07,760 It is. It's crooked. 1001 00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:09,000 - It's not built square. -No. 1002 00:52:09,000 --> 00:52:11,600 The base for the motor that runs the trommel 1003 00:52:11,600 --> 00:52:14,160 is welded on out of line. 1004 00:52:14,160 --> 00:52:15,360 I'm just going to have to readjust. 1005 00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:17,500 This is going to slow me down. The whole thing's built off. 1006 00:52:17,500 --> 00:52:18,760 Yeah. 1007 00:52:18,760 --> 00:52:21,100 And you can tell by the look right here. 1008 00:52:21,100 --> 00:52:23,360 -They've got a quarter-inch difference from here to here. -Yeah. 1009 00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:26,060 I'm going to cut the motor off and shift the whole thing. 1010 00:52:26,060 --> 00:52:28,200 That's the only option. 1011 00:52:28,200 --> 00:52:30,460 That's the only way I can get it close. 1012 00:52:30,460 --> 00:52:31,500 Yeah, it is. 1013 00:52:31,500 --> 00:52:32,900 We genuinely might be screwed, 1014 00:52:32,900 --> 00:52:35,700 so really the pressure's on now. 1015 00:52:35,700 --> 00:52:38,500 We have a lot more work than what we originally anticipated 1016 00:52:38,500 --> 00:52:40,860 because we're going to run out of time on this one. 1017 00:52:50,660 --> 00:52:52,860 It's always something, Juan. 1018 00:52:52,860 --> 00:52:56,600 At the Paredes Mine in British Columbia. 1019 00:52:56,600 --> 00:52:59,460 Whomever built this, you know, they had great intentions, 1020 00:52:59,460 --> 00:53:01,000 but unfortunately they didn't know 1021 00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:02,460 how to read a measuring tape. 1022 00:53:02,460 --> 00:53:04,660 After fixing up the test trommel, 1023 00:53:04,660 --> 00:53:05,800 Freddy and Juan discover 1024 00:53:05,800 --> 00:53:08,800 the motor's mount is off-center. 1025 00:53:08,800 --> 00:53:11,460 I assumed things were square and straight. 1026 00:53:11,460 --> 00:53:13,760 You know, the gearbox, the way they had it set up, 1027 00:53:13,760 --> 00:53:15,860 it wasn't perpendicular to the drum, 1028 00:53:15,860 --> 00:53:17,760 which created a lot of problems. 1029 00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:19,800 But that's how it goes. 1030 00:53:19,800 --> 00:53:21,460 We're just going to have to make it up somewhere. 1031 00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:27,660 Once you think you've got something figured out, 1032 00:53:27,660 --> 00:53:28,860 something else pops out 1033 00:53:28,860 --> 00:53:29,900 and bites you right in the ass. 1034 00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:36,060 So are we still square on your sprocket down there? 1035 00:53:36,060 --> 00:53:37,200 Yeah, pretty square. 1036 00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:38,760 -Okay, that's good. -Yeah. 1037 00:53:38,760 --> 00:53:39,860 Let me weld it right there. 1038 00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:46,100 We're good. 1039 00:53:50,300 --> 00:53:51,260 I like it, Freddy. 1040 00:53:52,200 --> 00:53:53,700 Someone built that in their garage. 1041 00:53:53,700 --> 00:53:54,960 They had the best of intentions. 1042 00:53:54,960 --> 00:53:57,860 They tried hard, but unfortunately nothing was right. 1043 00:53:57,860 --> 00:53:59,860 Um, but I'm really happy the way it turned out. 1044 00:54:14,100 --> 00:54:15,900 Okay, we're going to lift this up. 1045 00:54:15,900 --> 00:54:17,760 With just two days to go, 1046 00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:20,460 Juan puts the main wash plant on hold 1047 00:54:20,460 --> 00:54:23,360 to carry on with the work on the test trommel. 1048 00:54:24,160 --> 00:54:26,100 That thing is hot, Travis. 1049 00:54:26,100 --> 00:54:30,060 Next up, fabricate its main spray bar. 1050 00:54:30,060 --> 00:54:32,160 This is going to be the end of the trommel right here, 1051 00:54:32,160 --> 00:54:36,660 right around there. It's going to turn this way to the left. 1052 00:54:36,660 --> 00:54:38,260 It's going to be a left-handing turn. 1053 00:54:38,260 --> 00:54:40,000 But what we're going to do is, since the material is going 1054 00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:42,100 to turn to the left, it's going to be piled up right here. 1055 00:54:42,100 --> 00:54:44,100 That's about where the material is going to start sliding, 1056 00:54:44,100 --> 00:54:45,460 actually right about here. 1057 00:54:45,460 --> 00:54:47,260 I want this coming out at a 90 right here. 1058 00:54:47,260 --> 00:54:48,660 That way it can curl over. 1059 00:54:48,660 --> 00:54:51,760 So reality is, the spray bar should be spraying 1060 00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:54,000 roughly right there. 1061 00:55:00,760 --> 00:55:02,500 Put some more lube on there, Freddy? 1062 00:55:02,500 --> 00:55:04,200 Yeah, we'll throw some on here. 1063 00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:05,560 Where's our soap? 1064 00:55:05,560 --> 00:55:08,560 After adding the drum's brand-new spray bar, 1065 00:55:08,560 --> 00:55:12,460 Freddy uses bubble soap to ease the hoses onto the trommel. 1066 00:55:14,460 --> 00:55:16,400 Good thing your little bubbles worked, Freddy. 1067 00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:17,400 Yep. 1068 00:55:17,400 --> 00:55:18,900 - Still-- -Tiny bubbles. 1069 00:55:20,030 --> 00:55:22,800 Okay, well, let's move this to its new home. 1070 00:55:24,260 --> 00:55:25,530 Coming up! 1071 00:55:26,360 --> 00:55:29,700 After 24 hours' work on the test trommel, 1072 00:55:29,700 --> 00:55:32,260 it's finally ready for the bulk test. 1073 00:55:34,560 --> 00:55:35,860 Doing good, Alex. 1074 00:55:37,000 --> 00:55:37,900 Looking good. 1075 00:55:42,360 --> 00:55:43,660 There's your trommel. 1076 00:55:45,060 --> 00:55:47,360 Unreal. Wow! 1077 00:55:48,860 --> 00:55:51,700 Well, thank you very much, you know, I mean... 1078 00:55:51,700 --> 00:55:53,260 Well, we are here to help you, buddy. 1079 00:55:53,260 --> 00:55:54,400 -Thank you very much. -We're here to help you. 1080 00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:55,560 -I really appreciate it. -Okay. 1081 00:55:59,660 --> 00:56:02,100 Let's run the bulk test, see what's in it. 1082 00:56:02,100 --> 00:56:03,600 Okay, we'll do that, Freddy. 1083 00:56:03,600 --> 00:56:04,600 Firing up! 1084 00:56:13,800 --> 00:56:15,000 Freddy's plan? 1085 00:56:15,000 --> 00:56:18,060 Run 50 buckets of pay through the trommel 1086 00:56:18,060 --> 00:56:20,360 to get a dollar per yard result. 1087 00:56:21,600 --> 00:56:22,560 First bucket! 1088 00:56:31,260 --> 00:56:32,700 So far, so good. 1089 00:56:34,300 --> 00:56:35,360 It's clean. 1090 00:56:40,460 --> 00:56:41,500 Juan. 1091 00:56:41,500 --> 00:56:43,960 I'm going to turn the water up a little bit more. 1092 00:56:43,960 --> 00:56:45,000 Okay. 1093 00:56:47,100 --> 00:56:49,360 Right now, the bulk test is going pretty good. 1094 00:56:49,360 --> 00:56:51,760 Between the sluice box, the way it's running, 1095 00:56:51,760 --> 00:56:55,000 the trommel is doing an excellent job of scrubbing and washing the material. 1096 00:56:55,000 --> 00:56:56,900 And the drive system is doing great. 1097 00:56:57,600 --> 00:56:59,160 So, I couldn't be happier. 1098 00:57:00,100 --> 00:57:01,100 Hopefully, there's going to be gold 1099 00:57:01,100 --> 00:57:02,560 in the sluice box when we're done. 1100 00:57:06,560 --> 00:57:09,500 It's working well enough for us to do a bulk test, right? 1101 00:57:09,500 --> 00:57:11,900 We've got water flying all over the place, 1102 00:57:11,900 --> 00:57:13,400 and it's not ideal. 1103 00:57:13,400 --> 00:57:15,760 But, I need a shower anyway. 1104 00:57:20,400 --> 00:57:22,560 We've got one plant done, Fred. 1105 00:57:22,560 --> 00:57:25,660 -The test plant, one more to go, huh? 1106 00:57:25,660 --> 00:57:27,600 I don't know who built this plant, 1107 00:57:27,600 --> 00:57:30,360 but they shouldn't build anything ever again. 1108 00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:32,660 The design and the concept is pretty good. 1109 00:57:32,660 --> 00:57:34,400 Just their execution wasn't great. 1110 00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:35,860 I'm going to get back to welding. 1111 00:57:35,860 --> 00:57:37,000 -Okay. -See you in a bit. 1112 00:57:41,060 --> 00:57:42,260 Last bucket! 1113 00:57:42,260 --> 00:57:43,360 Okay, Freddy. 1114 00:57:52,560 --> 00:57:54,300 Well, let's see what we got, eh? 1115 00:57:54,300 --> 00:57:56,260 Shut the trommel off, Raul. 1116 00:58:00,300 --> 00:58:02,800 I'm excited to see what is in there. 1117 00:58:02,800 --> 00:58:06,100 This is it. This means everything to me, this test. 1118 00:58:06,100 --> 00:58:08,800 After running a 50-bucket bulk test... 1119 00:58:10,860 --> 00:58:11,800 Thank you, sir. 1120 00:58:11,800 --> 00:58:13,960 ...Freddy cleans up the mats. 1121 00:58:23,260 --> 00:58:25,860 So, this is roughly five yards of material, Raul. 1122 00:58:25,860 --> 00:58:26,860 Yes. 1123 00:58:27,960 --> 00:58:30,200 There's gold in it. That's for sure. 1124 00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:35,700 So, we've got one, two, four... 1125 00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:39,960 Sixteen, seventeen. 1126 00:58:39,960 --> 00:58:44,660 Well, there's well over 20 colors there, 21, but there's a few more. 1127 00:58:44,660 --> 00:58:45,600 Wow. 1128 00:58:47,200 --> 00:58:48,760 This is the most I've ever seen, 1129 00:58:48,760 --> 00:58:50,660 you know, I mean, since I've been here. 1130 00:58:50,660 --> 00:58:53,260 We might not even weigh it. We may just eyeball it. 1131 00:58:53,260 --> 00:58:54,260 Let's have a look at it. 1132 00:58:57,860 --> 00:58:59,500 It's $20 a yard. 1133 00:58:59,500 --> 00:59:01,560 Wow. This is amazing. 1134 00:59:02,160 --> 00:59:03,660 Since I've been in this claim, 1135 00:59:03,660 --> 00:59:05,600 it's the most gold I've ever seen 1136 00:59:05,600 --> 00:59:08,260 in only five yards from that little piece. 1137 00:59:08,260 --> 00:59:10,500 Freddy was the one that discovered that. 1138 00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:14,300 In just one five-yard test, 1139 00:59:14,300 --> 00:59:16,860 Freddy recovers more than 10% 1140 00:59:16,860 --> 00:59:19,760 of what Raul has found all season. 1141 00:59:20,860 --> 00:59:23,600 But I tell you what, if it was gold was everywhere, 1142 00:59:23,600 --> 00:59:25,260 it wouldn't be worth much, would it? 1143 00:59:25,260 --> 00:59:27,560 Well, right now it's $2,300 an ounce, 1144 00:59:27,560 --> 00:59:29,360 so every one of those specs count. 1145 00:59:29,360 --> 00:59:32,100 You just got to help catch more of it at the plant. 1146 00:59:32,100 --> 00:59:33,400 I know. I'm very excited. 1147 00:59:33,400 --> 00:59:36,160 I'm very excited to see gold, eh? 1148 00:59:36,160 --> 00:59:38,060 There's some material to run right there. 1149 00:59:38,060 --> 00:59:41,260 $20, $25 a yard. It looks good. 1150 00:59:41,260 --> 00:59:43,260 I mean, that's pretty good pay. 1151 00:59:44,700 --> 00:59:45,600 Juan-o! 1152 00:59:46,660 --> 00:59:47,600 That's pretty good. 1153 00:59:47,600 --> 00:59:49,660 Out of five yards. $20-some dollars a yard. 1154 00:59:49,660 --> 00:59:51,700 That's a hell of a whole lot better than what we saw last time. 1155 00:59:51,700 --> 00:59:52,800 Three specks. 1156 00:59:52,800 --> 00:59:54,800 That's a huge improvement, Fred, from not being able 1157 00:59:54,800 --> 00:59:57,500 to pay the gas bill to start the water pump 1158 00:59:57,500 --> 01:00:00,860 to actually being able to maybe make some money there. 1159 01:00:00,860 --> 01:00:03,660 That's exciting, Freddy. I'm actually excited about that. 1160 01:00:03,660 --> 01:00:06,260 So we're going to go run those old-timer tailings, 1161 01:00:06,260 --> 01:00:07,800 see if it's worth running. 1162 01:00:07,800 --> 01:00:09,760 We'll do a side-by-side comparison. 1163 01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:11,060 Okay, and see what that does. 1164 01:00:11,060 --> 01:00:13,700 -All right, buddy. See you in a bit. -See you in a bit, Juan-o. 1165 01:00:13,700 --> 01:00:17,300 Freddy's found some ground, but the pressure's still on. 1166 01:00:17,300 --> 01:00:18,160 We've still got a lot to do. 1167 01:00:18,160 --> 01:00:19,260 We still have to install everything 1168 01:00:19,260 --> 01:00:20,760 and, uh, do a test run. 1169 01:00:20,760 --> 01:00:23,100 So we're out of time. Makes it tough. 1170 01:00:35,100 --> 01:00:36,300 How's she going? 1171 01:00:36,300 --> 01:00:38,260 Go ahead and shut the trommel off. 1172 01:00:38,260 --> 01:00:39,860 At the Paredes mine. 1173 01:00:40,860 --> 01:00:42,660 Time to have a look at it, huh? 1174 01:00:42,660 --> 01:00:44,300 To make a comparison, 1175 01:00:44,300 --> 01:00:47,960 Freddy runs a second bulk test on the old-timer tailings, 1176 01:00:47,960 --> 01:00:50,060 which surround the pocket of pay. 1177 01:00:51,000 --> 01:00:52,660 The old-timers didn't have pumps. 1178 01:00:52,660 --> 01:00:54,860 They didn't have heavy equipment. But you do now. 1179 01:00:56,460 --> 01:00:59,260 Let's see what gold, if any, lives in this. 1180 01:01:01,000 --> 01:01:02,100 This is 50 buckets. 1181 01:01:02,100 --> 01:01:03,400 Yeah. 1182 01:01:03,400 --> 01:01:05,160 So we're apples to apples. 1183 01:01:06,260 --> 01:01:07,160 Helen! 1184 01:01:09,400 --> 01:01:10,600 What are you looking at now? 1185 01:01:11,760 --> 01:01:13,960 There's not nearly as much black sand in it. 1186 01:01:13,960 --> 01:01:15,130 It's no good. 1187 01:01:15,130 --> 01:01:18,860 Black sand is a highly mineralized material 1188 01:01:18,860 --> 01:01:21,400 and often an indicator of gold. 1189 01:01:21,400 --> 01:01:22,560 That's a bad thing. 1190 01:01:23,500 --> 01:01:25,160 See, we got some gold there. 1191 01:01:25,160 --> 01:01:26,700 - Yeah. -But not much. 1192 01:01:26,700 --> 01:01:27,930 How's it looking? 1193 01:01:27,930 --> 01:01:30,700 Well, you can see the one on the right here, Helen. 1194 01:01:30,700 --> 01:01:33,400 We're figuring that's right around $20 a yard. 1195 01:01:33,400 --> 01:01:34,500 Okay. 1196 01:01:34,500 --> 01:01:36,300 Okay, now here's those old-timer tailings. 1197 01:01:36,300 --> 01:01:39,660 It's probably got 10% the amount of gold, right? 1198 01:01:39,660 --> 01:01:42,160 You can run 20. You can make money on 20. 1199 01:01:42,160 --> 01:01:43,260 Yeah. 1200 01:01:43,260 --> 01:01:44,760 Two, go broke. 1201 01:01:44,760 --> 01:01:48,400 The bulk test confirms the old-timer tailings 1202 01:01:48,400 --> 01:01:50,160 are not worth running. 1203 01:01:50,160 --> 01:01:52,060 And in order to be profitable, 1204 01:01:52,060 --> 01:01:55,100 Raul must focus solely on the virgin ground. 1205 01:01:56,160 --> 01:01:57,460 Do you think there is more? 1206 01:01:57,460 --> 01:01:59,760 -There's more of it in the bank up there, right? - Yeah. 1207 01:01:59,760 --> 01:02:00,860 But it's just hard to get to. 1208 01:02:00,860 --> 01:02:01,900 Yeah. 1209 01:02:01,900 --> 01:02:04,360 So what I think we do is get this pond drained. 1210 01:02:04,360 --> 01:02:06,560 - Okay. -We look at the walls of this pond here 1211 01:02:06,560 --> 01:02:08,100 and we'll start there, right? 1212 01:02:08,100 --> 01:02:09,060 Thank you, Freddy. 1213 01:02:09,060 --> 01:02:10,760 Yeah, let's make some stuff happen. 1214 01:02:10,760 --> 01:02:12,460 -That's a start. - Thank you. 1215 01:02:12,460 --> 01:02:14,000 To have this glimmer of hope, 1216 01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:16,500 it's just super amazing. 1217 01:02:17,560 --> 01:02:20,160 And hopefully, we can start paying our bills 1218 01:02:20,160 --> 01:02:23,160 and have a forward direction. 1219 01:02:26,560 --> 01:02:28,100 Raul drains the pond 1220 01:02:28,100 --> 01:02:30,100 by cutting away the berm wall 1221 01:02:30,100 --> 01:02:32,860 to see if the pay pocket extends further. 1222 01:02:34,100 --> 01:02:35,230 I'm very excited 1223 01:02:35,230 --> 01:02:39,160 that Freddy found us this little piece of ground, uh, 1224 01:02:39,160 --> 01:02:41,700 you know, what's hiding from us in this corner. 1225 01:02:41,700 --> 01:02:44,060 I would like to see what is in there and, 1226 01:02:44,060 --> 01:02:46,000 and go from there, right. 1227 01:03:03,860 --> 01:03:05,900 Travis, you wanna plug in that other welder 1228 01:03:05,900 --> 01:03:07,260 and start welding this other box out? 1229 01:03:07,860 --> 01:03:09,830 Yeah. Sounds good. 1230 01:03:12,300 --> 01:03:14,000 With the ground found 1231 01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:17,600 and 24 hours to go before the final test run, 1232 01:03:17,600 --> 01:03:20,760 Juan races to finish fixes for the main plant. 1233 01:03:22,500 --> 01:03:24,360 So, this is the beginning of the V-chute. 1234 01:03:24,360 --> 01:03:25,760 You can see the outline of it. 1235 01:03:25,760 --> 01:03:27,800 The material is gonna get funneled into the V-chute, 1236 01:03:27,800 --> 01:03:30,500 concentrated in the center so it's even. 1237 01:03:30,500 --> 01:03:31,460 And then what we're gonna do is 1238 01:03:31,460 --> 01:03:33,000 we're gonna have a splitter right here. 1239 01:03:33,000 --> 01:03:34,560 And then this one will come over to this side, 1240 01:03:34,560 --> 01:03:36,360 drop in to the left hand sluice box 1241 01:03:36,360 --> 01:03:37,860 and this will have a down spout over here 1242 01:03:37,860 --> 01:03:39,260 for the right hand sluice box. 1243 01:03:39,260 --> 01:03:41,000 The reason we're doing this is because 1244 01:03:41,000 --> 01:03:42,400 right now, the way he's running, 1245 01:03:42,400 --> 01:03:44,300 the boxes, one's getting a lot of material, 1246 01:03:44,300 --> 01:03:45,260 one's getting nothing. 1247 01:03:45,260 --> 01:03:48,400 And so, it's not effective at all. 1248 01:03:48,400 --> 01:03:52,760 The V-chute will separate material equally to the sluices, 1249 01:03:52,760 --> 01:03:55,160 allowing them to capture fine gold. 1250 01:04:01,160 --> 01:04:02,760 14 by 14 right there. 1251 01:04:04,360 --> 01:04:08,460 Then I need the 47 by 14. That one's perfect. 1252 01:04:09,560 --> 01:04:11,100 There's a tremendous amount of calculations 1253 01:04:11,100 --> 01:04:13,660 figuring out where it's gonna go, how it's gonna sit. 1254 01:04:13,660 --> 01:04:15,000 We still got a tremendous amount of work to do. 1255 01:04:15,000 --> 01:04:16,860 We're only halfway through this. 1256 01:04:16,860 --> 01:04:18,760 We're gonna get this all jigged up, 1257 01:04:18,760 --> 01:04:20,260 and then we'll finish welding it out. 1258 01:04:20,260 --> 01:04:21,760 Fortunately, I have Travis here with me, 1259 01:04:21,760 --> 01:04:23,260 so we're able to get a lot more done, 1260 01:04:23,260 --> 01:04:24,300 uh, with the time we have, 1261 01:04:24,300 --> 01:04:26,000 but we better get back to it. 1262 01:04:29,000 --> 01:04:29,800 Thank you, Trav. 1263 01:04:35,900 --> 01:04:37,260 Hey, Raul. 1264 01:04:40,260 --> 01:04:43,460 I'll give you all the time in the world for you, bud. 1265 01:04:43,460 --> 01:04:44,960 Out on the claim, 1266 01:04:44,960 --> 01:04:48,360 Raul's drained the pond next to the pocket of pay. 1267 01:05:00,060 --> 01:05:03,160 This is all good pay. All this is good pay. 1268 01:05:03,760 --> 01:05:05,030 I had a feeling 1269 01:05:05,030 --> 01:05:07,760 -that that pay continued through there, right? - Yeah. 1270 01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:09,800 You can't see through muddy water. 1271 01:05:10,300 --> 01:05:11,600 Wow. 1272 01:05:11,600 --> 01:05:13,460 At $20 a yard, 1273 01:05:13,460 --> 01:05:17,600 Freddy's find could stop Raul and Helen from going broke. 1274 01:05:18,660 --> 01:05:21,000 It looks like it's going back into this hillside, 1275 01:05:21,000 --> 01:05:22,460 but it's just hard to get to. 1276 01:05:22,460 --> 01:05:24,360 -Once you get these tailings off the top... - Wow. 1277 01:05:24,360 --> 01:05:26,200 ...somebody made a mess for you up there. 1278 01:05:26,200 --> 01:05:29,260 - Yeah. -So, it's gonna be a bit of work to get to it. 1279 01:05:31,160 --> 01:05:32,260 Yeah. 1280 01:05:32,260 --> 01:05:35,000 -This is all good pay, Raul. - Yep. 1281 01:05:35,000 --> 01:05:38,000 Like, uh, that's tailings there. 1282 01:05:38,000 --> 01:05:40,000 - You don't wanna take any of that. - Yeah. 1283 01:05:40,000 --> 01:05:42,160 I'd follow it back first. 1284 01:05:42,160 --> 01:05:44,000 And then I'd plop those tailings out of there, 1285 01:05:44,000 --> 01:05:45,760 you know, get it all cleaned up this way, 1286 01:05:45,760 --> 01:05:47,160 away from the hill. 1287 01:05:47,160 --> 01:05:50,560 That way you can throw those old timer tailings over the top 1288 01:05:50,560 --> 01:05:52,000 without worrying about, you know, 1289 01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:54,160 -covering up good pay. - That's right. 1290 01:05:54,160 --> 01:05:55,800 But you can see even here, right? 1291 01:05:55,800 --> 01:05:58,860 -We got pay in there. - Yep. 1292 01:05:59,760 --> 01:06:01,360 So, just look for those shingled rocks. 1293 01:06:02,460 --> 01:06:04,200 Thank you very much. 1294 01:06:04,200 --> 01:06:08,500 Old timer tailings are stacked on top of virgin material 1295 01:06:08,500 --> 01:06:11,460 which will need to be dug out with precision, 1296 01:06:11,460 --> 01:06:13,930 so that the pay is not diluted. 1297 01:06:16,360 --> 01:06:19,000 Start digging some of this material over here 1298 01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:20,460 and get it stockpiled to run. 1299 01:06:22,560 --> 01:06:23,360 Dig away. 1300 01:06:27,860 --> 01:06:29,400 Well, I've got good news. 1301 01:06:29,400 --> 01:06:31,900 Freddy found a really nice spot over there. 1302 01:06:31,900 --> 01:06:35,660 -We're all gonna be-- - I am so excited. 1303 01:06:35,660 --> 01:06:38,260 It's the first smile I had all day is when I seen that. 1304 01:06:39,460 --> 01:06:41,960 I got something to look forward in the future 1305 01:06:41,960 --> 01:06:44,460 that I can continue my passion for gold mining. 1306 01:07:01,160 --> 01:07:04,560 At the Paredes' mine site, with hours to go, 1307 01:07:04,560 --> 01:07:07,460 the rescue crew races to complete the final fixes. 1308 01:07:08,760 --> 01:07:11,260 Basically, we're out of time. 1309 01:07:11,260 --> 01:07:12,600 Everything we've had to do here 1310 01:07:12,600 --> 01:07:14,860 from prospecting to, uh, 1311 01:07:14,860 --> 01:07:16,830 getting that test trommel going, 1312 01:07:16,830 --> 01:07:18,960 it's gotta be all hands on deck now, 1313 01:07:18,960 --> 01:07:20,130 'cause literally, 1314 01:07:20,130 --> 01:07:22,760 our hourglass is damn near to empty. 1315 01:07:24,460 --> 01:07:26,430 Are we taking out all of the sluices? 1316 01:07:26,430 --> 01:07:28,360 All of the sluicers, we want them out. 1317 01:07:29,030 --> 01:07:30,560 But he said, I mean, 1318 01:07:30,560 --> 01:07:32,560 we're just preparing the job for him. 1319 01:07:32,560 --> 01:07:35,160 So, once we take all these sluices out, 1320 01:07:35,160 --> 01:07:36,730 it's not going to be an Octopus anymore, is it? 1321 01:07:36,730 --> 01:07:38,660 It's not gonna be an Octopus. 1322 01:07:38,660 --> 01:07:41,000 We're gonna have to come up with a different name, you guys. 1323 01:07:41,000 --> 01:07:42,260 That's right. Maybe an oyster. 1324 01:07:42,260 --> 01:07:44,860 -Because oyster-- Oyster has pearls. 1325 01:07:44,860 --> 01:07:46,660 So they've got value. 1326 01:07:46,660 --> 01:07:48,730 -Okay, let's do it. - Let's get at her. 1327 01:07:49,260 --> 01:07:50,730 Raul's mission, 1328 01:07:50,730 --> 01:07:52,460 strip down the old plant 1329 01:07:52,460 --> 01:07:54,860 in preparation for the new sluice runs 1330 01:07:54,860 --> 01:07:56,460 and distribution box. 1331 01:08:00,860 --> 01:08:03,160 Yeah, we don't wanna damage any of these beams, 1332 01:08:03,160 --> 01:08:05,260 because we don't know what, um, 1333 01:08:05,260 --> 01:08:06,860 Juan's gonna be using, right? 1334 01:08:06,860 --> 01:08:09,760 -Yeah. Okay. - So, let's not, um, damage anything. 1335 01:08:11,000 --> 01:08:13,500 I couldn't do what I do without Helen. 1336 01:08:13,500 --> 01:08:15,230 She's the key in this operation. 1337 01:08:15,860 --> 01:08:17,600 Without her, I couldn't do it. 1338 01:08:20,060 --> 01:08:22,330 She's the one that look after the plan and... 1339 01:08:23,160 --> 01:08:24,760 We start this adventure together 1340 01:08:24,760 --> 01:08:27,130 and we hopefully, we end up together. 1341 01:08:27,130 --> 01:08:30,130 And hopefully, we can be winners together. 1342 01:08:30,130 --> 01:08:33,000 Helen, you guys wanna move out of there, please? 1343 01:08:33,000 --> 01:08:34,960 Yeah, I guess just stack 'em all over here. 1344 01:08:34,960 --> 01:08:36,060 This way. 1345 01:08:37,830 --> 01:08:40,730 Yay, we've got one down, three to go. 1346 01:08:45,230 --> 01:08:46,760 I gotta go more that way. 1347 01:08:46,760 --> 01:08:49,330 So, when I lift it up, I'm not pushing it this way. 1348 01:08:49,330 --> 01:08:51,100 You gotta let me know. You're my eyes, buddy. 1349 01:08:51,100 --> 01:08:53,160 I can't really see from here, okay? 1350 01:08:54,260 --> 01:08:57,260 Nice and slow, Raul, watch the chain. 1351 01:09:05,760 --> 01:09:07,560 All right, let's unhook that chain. 1352 01:09:10,060 --> 01:09:11,430 Nice job, Raul. 1353 01:09:11,430 --> 01:09:12,400 Oh. Good. 1354 01:09:14,860 --> 01:09:16,560 Now, for the rebuild. 1355 01:09:19,930 --> 01:09:21,460 Pull on that, Raul. 1356 01:09:21,460 --> 01:09:25,100 The crew prepares to weld in the V-chute box 1357 01:09:25,100 --> 01:09:27,560 into Raul and Helen's plant. 1358 01:09:27,560 --> 01:09:29,930 Today is gonna be a big day. We're completely out of time. 1359 01:09:29,930 --> 01:09:31,260 Luckily, we have enough help here. 1360 01:09:31,260 --> 01:09:33,160 Travis and Alex are here to give us a hand. 1361 01:09:33,160 --> 01:09:35,330 Still got a lot to do, but we're getting closer. 1362 01:09:37,160 --> 01:09:39,160 The custom made V-chute 1363 01:09:39,160 --> 01:09:41,730 needs to sit tightly under the hopper. 1364 01:09:41,730 --> 01:09:42,730 Ouch. 1365 01:09:42,730 --> 01:09:44,860 The only way Freddy can weld it in 1366 01:09:44,860 --> 01:09:48,100 is from the inside of the five foot long box. 1367 01:09:50,560 --> 01:09:52,160 This is really gonna suck. 1368 01:09:52,160 --> 01:09:53,330 I'll be right over here. 1369 01:09:53,330 --> 01:09:55,760 - Huh? -I'll be right over here if you need me. 1370 01:09:58,230 --> 01:09:59,660 Where's that grinder? 1371 01:10:01,060 --> 01:10:03,000 Alex? Alex? 1372 01:10:04,160 --> 01:10:05,500 I need you. 1373 01:10:05,500 --> 01:10:07,360 - What's up, buddy? Yeah. - Alex! 1374 01:10:07,360 --> 01:10:08,830 Hand me that grinder, would ya? 1375 01:10:09,330 --> 01:10:11,560 Grinder. 1376 01:10:13,430 --> 01:10:14,760 Thank you. 1377 01:10:14,760 --> 01:10:16,330 I'm gonna get fried in here. 1378 01:10:24,560 --> 01:10:25,860 It's comfy in here. 1379 01:10:30,060 --> 01:10:32,260 So, we'll slide it in through the front here, 1380 01:10:32,260 --> 01:10:34,130 and then we'll, we'll walk it over. 1381 01:10:34,130 --> 01:10:35,230 All right. 1382 01:10:35,230 --> 01:10:37,760 Right above Freddy on the shaker deck, 1383 01:10:37,760 --> 01:10:41,030 Juan and Travis install the new punch plates. 1384 01:10:42,260 --> 01:10:43,800 Pardon me a little bit. 1385 01:10:43,800 --> 01:10:45,830 What we're gonna do is we're gonna get the punch plate lifted in place. 1386 01:10:45,830 --> 01:10:47,930 We're gonna have to get one side tacked in, 1387 01:10:47,930 --> 01:10:49,460 then we'll have to push down the other side 1388 01:10:49,460 --> 01:10:50,760 so we can get that bow in it 1389 01:10:50,760 --> 01:10:53,000 and be able to tension the plates. 1390 01:10:53,000 --> 01:10:54,800 All right, let's get to work. 1391 01:10:57,260 --> 01:11:00,100 Push this side down hard. Are we tight? 1392 01:11:00,100 --> 01:11:01,260 - It's tight. - Uh-huh. 1393 01:11:08,500 --> 01:11:10,260 -Thank you, Travi. - No problem. 1394 01:11:10,260 --> 01:11:11,860 So, we thought we would have to use a bottle jack 1395 01:11:11,860 --> 01:11:14,560 to add pressure to push the plate down. 1396 01:11:14,560 --> 01:11:16,030 But after Juan and I stood on it, 1397 01:11:16,030 --> 01:11:17,460 there was enough weight between the two of us 1398 01:11:17,460 --> 01:11:19,600 -to be able to pin her down, so. 1399 01:11:19,600 --> 01:11:20,760 Hold her good enough. 1400 01:11:22,260 --> 01:11:25,230 Juan and Travis's body weight bush fix 1401 01:11:25,230 --> 01:11:29,360 is enough to tension and weld the punch plates into place. 1402 01:11:29,360 --> 01:11:31,360 I guess that means we need to go on a diet. 1403 01:11:40,960 --> 01:11:43,560 As the material comes down, it can come over, 1404 01:11:43,560 --> 01:11:46,360 and it's not going too far over where it can't get screened. 1405 01:11:46,360 --> 01:11:48,560 So that way, it'll still hit the, the holes. 1406 01:11:48,560 --> 01:11:49,730 It still hits all the holes. 1407 01:11:49,730 --> 01:11:51,860 -Yeah, it's still got the perforations. - Nice. 1408 01:11:51,860 --> 01:11:53,930 You've done an amazing job here, Juan. 1409 01:11:53,930 --> 01:11:55,260 Wow. 1410 01:11:55,260 --> 01:11:56,660 I get pretty emotional. 1411 01:11:56,660 --> 01:11:58,030 This is means a lot to me. 1412 01:11:58,030 --> 01:12:00,130 I mean, this is, this is my life. 1413 01:12:00,130 --> 01:12:03,600 I appreciate that you're giving me the tools that I can go and start, 1414 01:12:04,460 --> 01:12:05,960 start all over again. 1415 01:12:05,960 --> 01:12:07,160 And honestly, it's been a pleasure, you know? 1416 01:12:07,160 --> 01:12:09,760 And you came to Canada with nothing. 1417 01:12:09,760 --> 01:12:11,430 You know, you started a mine, 1418 01:12:11,430 --> 01:12:13,030 and you know, this is yours. 1419 01:12:13,030 --> 01:12:14,260 And to me, that's... 1420 01:12:15,500 --> 01:12:17,160 You know, that's the sign of somebody 1421 01:12:17,160 --> 01:12:19,460 that's put a lot of effort and a lot of time 1422 01:12:19,460 --> 01:12:21,660 and a lot of heart into what they do. 1423 01:12:21,660 --> 01:12:23,100 You know? Not everybody does that. 1424 01:12:23,960 --> 01:12:26,100 So, I totally understand that that... 1425 01:12:27,260 --> 01:12:28,130 You know, the story, 1426 01:12:28,130 --> 01:12:30,500 because my family has done it as well. 1427 01:12:30,500 --> 01:12:32,330 And you know, they gave me the opportunities 1428 01:12:32,330 --> 01:12:34,030 to, to be the person I am now. 1429 01:12:34,030 --> 01:12:35,430 -It's our pleasure. 1430 01:13:05,360 --> 01:13:06,660 - Hey, Alex. - Yes, sir? 1431 01:13:06,660 --> 01:13:08,260 Can you hand me my stinger? 1432 01:13:08,260 --> 01:13:10,260 -I have no idea where... 1433 01:13:10,260 --> 01:13:12,500 -I think you're laying on it, buddy. -Yeah. 1434 01:13:12,500 --> 01:13:14,730 I can't turn my own head around in here. 1435 01:13:16,500 --> 01:13:18,460 Beneath Juan and Raul, 1436 01:13:18,460 --> 01:13:21,660 Freddy finishes welding in the five-foot V-chute. 1437 01:13:24,730 --> 01:13:25,660 I'm not like Freddy. 1438 01:13:25,660 --> 01:13:28,030 Freddy can fit into tight places. 1439 01:13:28,030 --> 01:13:32,560 Um, I don't think I could've done that when I was five. 1440 01:13:32,560 --> 01:13:35,100 - It's hot in here. - Oh, I bet. 1441 01:13:37,560 --> 01:13:39,160 It was already 100 degrees in here 1442 01:13:39,160 --> 01:13:41,230 before I started welding on this plate. 1443 01:13:42,430 --> 01:13:45,260 Now the plate's a couple hundred degrees. 1444 01:13:45,260 --> 01:13:47,030 How long was I in that thing? 1445 01:13:47,030 --> 01:13:49,560 Uh, you were in there for a solid hour? 1446 01:13:49,560 --> 01:13:53,160 Well, it was a tight fit in there, that's for sure. And hot. 1447 01:13:53,160 --> 01:13:55,460 And you know, without something on the back of your hood, 1448 01:13:55,460 --> 01:13:57,860 you get the reflection off the steel that goes in there. 1449 01:13:57,860 --> 01:14:00,060 The flash burns your eyes. I can feel it right now. 1450 01:14:00,060 --> 01:14:01,760 They're, like, itchy. 1451 01:14:02,660 --> 01:14:03,900 So... 1452 01:14:04,760 --> 01:14:07,930 wasn't any fun, but at the same time it had to be done. 1453 01:14:11,660 --> 01:14:14,260 Good. You're doing good. Keep coming. 1454 01:14:14,260 --> 01:14:16,560 The last step of the wash plant fix... 1455 01:14:16,560 --> 01:14:17,530 Little more. 1456 01:14:17,530 --> 01:14:19,330 ...install the 10-foot sluices. 1457 01:14:19,330 --> 01:14:20,430 Perfect. 1458 01:14:21,360 --> 01:14:22,760 - Here you go, buddy. - Thank you. 1459 01:14:26,460 --> 01:14:28,660 It was a tremendous, uh, undertaking. 1460 01:14:28,660 --> 01:14:30,660 And I honestly didn't think we were gonna get it all done. 1461 01:14:31,930 --> 01:14:34,100 I'm hoping that this plant is gonna work properly 1462 01:14:34,100 --> 01:14:35,360 and we do the final test run, 1463 01:14:35,360 --> 01:14:36,760 because Raul and Helen, 1464 01:14:36,760 --> 01:14:38,830 they've put a lot of trust and confidence in us... 1465 01:14:38,830 --> 01:14:39,760 There you go. 1466 01:14:39,760 --> 01:14:41,260 ...and, yeah, we wanna deliver. 1467 01:14:47,760 --> 01:14:48,800 You've gotten a little bit of, uh, 1468 01:14:48,800 --> 01:14:50,460 -time with your drone, Fred? - Not much. 1469 01:14:50,460 --> 01:14:52,960 -Crashed it a couple of times. 1470 01:14:52,960 --> 01:14:55,960 One mile from Helen and Raul's claim 1471 01:14:55,960 --> 01:14:57,960 is the Bullion Pit Mine 1472 01:14:57,960 --> 01:15:00,600 which was hydraulic in the 1870s, 1473 01:15:00,600 --> 01:15:02,430 using huge water cannons. 1474 01:15:03,260 --> 01:15:04,360 Well, one time at home, 1475 01:15:04,360 --> 01:15:05,660 I, uh, piled up a drone 1476 01:15:05,660 --> 01:15:08,760 -into a pile of black sand from cleanup. 1477 01:15:08,760 --> 01:15:10,160 - It got in the motors and everything... - Yeah. 1478 01:15:10,160 --> 01:15:11,560 ...just completely destroyed it. 1479 01:15:11,560 --> 01:15:13,230 What drone is this? Number four or five? 1480 01:15:13,230 --> 01:15:14,530 -Six. 1481 01:15:19,430 --> 01:15:20,760 Think, Freddy, you've gotten better. 1482 01:15:20,760 --> 01:15:22,030 No, I haven't. 1483 01:15:22,030 --> 01:15:24,160 Went through the widespread trees instead of the narrow ones. 1484 01:15:24,160 --> 01:15:25,360 You didn't wanna go to the narrow gap, huh? 1485 01:15:25,360 --> 01:15:28,260 If there was only one tree, I could find a way to hit it. 1486 01:15:29,000 --> 01:15:30,300 How's it looking? Oh, wow. 1487 01:15:30,300 --> 01:15:32,230 It's definitely bigger than it looks from the ground here, huh? 1488 01:15:32,230 --> 01:15:34,260 That's a lot bigger than what it looks like. 1489 01:15:34,260 --> 01:15:35,230 I think I read they mined out 1490 01:15:35,230 --> 01:15:37,100 about 22 million tons of gravel. 1491 01:15:37,100 --> 01:15:38,960 Yeah. That's quite a bit. 1492 01:15:38,960 --> 01:15:40,030 There's a lot of material there. 1493 01:15:40,030 --> 01:15:41,160 But like you said Freddy, you know, 1494 01:15:41,160 --> 01:15:42,660 there's a reason they mined all that material. 1495 01:15:42,660 --> 01:15:43,960 -It must've been pretty decent gold. -Yeah. 1496 01:15:54,530 --> 01:15:56,760 You ready, guys? Let's fire it up and run. 1497 01:15:56,760 --> 01:15:58,860 -Let's do it. - Start the pump, thanks. 1498 01:15:58,860 --> 01:16:00,060 Starting the pump. 1499 01:16:01,560 --> 01:16:03,160 At the Paredes mine 1500 01:16:03,160 --> 01:16:06,530 with the pump cap and large wash plant fixed 1501 01:16:06,530 --> 01:16:08,260 and new pay found, 1502 01:16:08,260 --> 01:16:12,760 Raul, Helen and David start the second test. 1503 01:16:15,260 --> 01:16:16,560 Hey, hey! 1504 01:16:16,560 --> 01:16:18,560 No more agua. We're good. 1505 01:16:19,430 --> 01:16:21,260 I'm very excited. This is my day. 1506 01:16:22,260 --> 01:16:26,000 I've been waiting for this for a long, long time. 1507 01:16:27,100 --> 01:16:28,360 How's it look? 1508 01:16:29,530 --> 01:16:31,460 - Looks really good in here, Fred. - Yeah. 1509 01:16:36,530 --> 01:16:37,360 First bucket. 1510 01:16:38,360 --> 01:16:40,100 There you go, started the timer. 1511 01:16:42,560 --> 01:16:44,360 The stockpiled pocket of pay 1512 01:16:44,360 --> 01:16:47,330 will keep the plant running for an hour. 1513 01:16:47,330 --> 01:16:49,130 Enough time for Freddy and Juan 1514 01:16:49,130 --> 01:16:52,360 to assess their fixes on the big plant. 1515 01:16:54,060 --> 01:16:56,460 The difference is amazing. 1516 01:16:56,460 --> 01:16:59,130 Now it's even. It's running beautifully. 1517 01:17:02,730 --> 01:17:03,730 Looks good. 1518 01:17:04,330 --> 01:17:05,560 The plant before, 1519 01:17:05,560 --> 01:17:07,630 there would be no way I could even hear you. 1520 01:17:07,630 --> 01:17:10,230 But now the plant's actually running pretty decent. 1521 01:17:10,230 --> 01:17:12,760 So far, the material coming off the end looks really clean, 1522 01:17:12,760 --> 01:17:14,560 so I couldn't be happier. 1523 01:17:17,000 --> 01:17:21,530 The new fitted punch plates screen out the worthless rock. 1524 01:17:24,000 --> 01:17:25,560 Well, the V-chute looks good. 1525 01:17:25,560 --> 01:17:27,460 The sluice looks good, the punch plates. 1526 01:17:31,760 --> 01:17:34,160 Juan's custom-made steel V-chute 1527 01:17:34,930 --> 01:17:37,000 separates material evenly, 1528 01:17:37,000 --> 01:17:40,730 allowing gold rich pay to settle in the riffles. 1529 01:17:41,760 --> 01:17:43,860 - Much better. -Yeah, that's good. 1530 01:17:48,830 --> 01:17:50,360 Hopefully, things can change 1531 01:17:51,430 --> 01:17:53,000 for the better. 1532 01:17:53,000 --> 01:17:54,360 I'm gonna be able to, 1533 01:17:55,560 --> 01:17:58,160 to pay the people that I owe money, 1534 01:17:58,160 --> 01:18:01,460 pay my bills and doing what I love to do. 1535 01:18:01,960 --> 01:18:02,960 Be everything to me, 1536 01:18:02,960 --> 01:18:04,530 will mean everything, the whole world, right? 1537 01:18:10,360 --> 01:18:13,830 I can see tailings in that bay there, feeding into the plant. 1538 01:18:13,830 --> 01:18:16,160 That's not good. That's really gonna water it down. 1539 01:18:17,260 --> 01:18:20,160 Freddy has identified old timer tailings 1540 01:18:20,160 --> 01:18:22,560 mixed in with the virgin pay, 1541 01:18:22,560 --> 01:18:24,860 lowering the value of the material. 1542 01:18:25,860 --> 01:18:27,360 Last bucket roll. 1543 01:18:35,860 --> 01:18:37,860 Part of it was tailings. 1544 01:18:37,860 --> 01:18:40,630 - We dilute it a little bit, uh? - Yeah. 1545 01:18:40,630 --> 01:18:42,860 We probably lost quite a bit of gold. 1546 01:18:42,860 --> 01:18:43,960 Probably 50% of it. 1547 01:18:43,960 --> 01:18:45,260 - Yeah, I would imagine that. -Yep. 1548 01:18:47,730 --> 01:18:48,860 Well, let's clean it up. 1549 01:18:48,860 --> 01:18:50,000 - Yep. - Let's do it. 1550 01:19:07,960 --> 01:19:10,130 - Hello. - Hi, guys. Moment of truth, guys. 1551 01:19:10,130 --> 01:19:11,760 -How we doing? - So, how does that look? 1552 01:19:11,760 --> 01:19:14,260 -Good, good. -Well, we got gold there. 1553 01:19:14,260 --> 01:19:15,560 - Weighable amount. - Yeah. 1554 01:19:15,560 --> 01:19:17,530 But there's some issues we wanted to talk to you about. 1555 01:19:18,860 --> 01:19:20,460 -There was a lot of tailings. - Lot of tailings in it. 1556 01:19:20,460 --> 01:19:22,860 Let's say our, our pay was diluted 50%. 1557 01:19:22,860 --> 01:19:25,960 - Mmm-hmm. -So, when you start, you know, following that channel, 1558 01:19:25,960 --> 01:19:28,330 you need to make sure that you just take the pay layer. 1559 01:19:28,330 --> 01:19:30,760 And you've seen what we did with that test trommel, right? 1560 01:19:30,760 --> 01:19:33,730 - Yeah. -We got a gram of gold out of that out of five yards. 1561 01:19:33,730 --> 01:19:34,930 Yeah, it's gonna be a huge improvement 1562 01:19:34,930 --> 01:19:36,160 when, when you actually get in there 1563 01:19:36,160 --> 01:19:37,560 and actually run straight pay, 1564 01:19:37,560 --> 01:19:38,860 you're gonna see a night and day difference. 1565 01:19:40,560 --> 01:19:41,460 You ready? 1566 01:19:41,460 --> 01:19:43,360 - Yes, we're ready. - Yeah. 1567 01:19:43,360 --> 01:19:44,900 - Here goes nothing. - I'm excited. 1568 01:19:46,330 --> 01:19:50,860 The first test run produced just 50 cents worth of gold. 1569 01:19:57,660 --> 01:19:58,730 Point zero three. 1570 01:20:01,100 --> 01:20:03,000 Point zero three, guys. 1571 01:20:03,000 --> 01:20:06,130 After an hour running 30 yards of dirt, 1572 01:20:06,130 --> 01:20:10,460 Raul and Helen make almost $70 worth of gold. 1573 01:20:10,460 --> 01:20:12,930 You know, point zero three out of one hour run, 1574 01:20:12,930 --> 01:20:14,760 it, it's gold, it's here. 1575 01:20:14,760 --> 01:20:16,130 Honestly, I see hope there. 1576 01:20:16,130 --> 01:20:18,460 It's a heck of an improvement from the first gold weight. 1577 01:20:18,460 --> 01:20:19,730 -Yep. - And we're happy. 1578 01:20:19,730 --> 01:20:21,760 Now you know you have some decent ground on the, on, 1579 01:20:21,760 --> 01:20:22,830 on the property to run. 1580 01:20:22,830 --> 01:20:24,630 Stay in that pay channel. 1581 01:20:24,630 --> 01:20:27,000 - Yeah. Stay-- - And in those shingled rocks. 1582 01:20:27,000 --> 01:20:28,660 But there should be enough material here 1583 01:20:28,660 --> 01:20:31,660 to get your pockets lined with a little bit of money. 1584 01:20:31,660 --> 01:20:34,460 But in the future, you're gonna have to find more ground. 1585 01:20:34,460 --> 01:20:37,260 And then two, now you have a proper-- test plant 1586 01:20:37,260 --> 01:20:39,260 that you can take anywhere to do testing. 1587 01:20:39,260 --> 01:20:41,730 And your wash plant is working amazingly. 1588 01:20:41,730 --> 01:20:43,160 It's running really well. 1589 01:20:43,160 --> 01:20:44,500 It's gonna pay off. 1590 01:20:44,500 --> 01:20:46,630 -You know, you're in a spot where you can make some money. -Yep. 1591 01:20:46,630 --> 01:20:48,430 Two hundred percent improvement, eh? 1592 01:20:48,430 --> 01:20:50,560 -I mean, from what it was. - Oh, yeah. 1593 01:20:50,560 --> 01:20:52,030 - It was, yeah. -Two thousand percent. 1594 01:20:52,030 --> 01:20:53,460 Yeah, 2000. 1595 01:20:53,460 --> 01:20:54,630 Well, thank you very much. 1596 01:20:54,630 --> 01:20:56,460 You guys, uh, give us hope. I mean, 1597 01:20:56,460 --> 01:20:59,630 -if it wasn't for you guys, no one... - We wouldn't be here. 1598 01:20:59,630 --> 01:21:01,030 We wouldn't be here. 1599 01:21:01,030 --> 01:21:03,060 - You're very welcome. - You guys changed our life. 1600 01:21:03,060 --> 01:21:05,830 It's no longer the battle that it was. 1601 01:21:05,830 --> 01:21:07,660 -We're off and running. - Yep. 1602 01:21:07,660 --> 01:21:10,230 Well, guys, we've got another mine to go to. 1603 01:21:10,230 --> 01:21:11,830 So, it's been an absolute pleasure. 1604 01:21:11,830 --> 01:21:12,930 Yeah, thank you. 1605 01:21:12,930 --> 01:21:14,830 I'm proud of what we did here. 1606 01:21:14,830 --> 01:21:17,430 Even if Raul and Helen don't stay on this property 1607 01:21:17,430 --> 01:21:18,700 or they mine it out, 1608 01:21:18,700 --> 01:21:22,000 they've got the tools and the knowledge to go somewhere else 1609 01:21:22,000 --> 01:21:23,960 and have a lot better start than they've had here. 1610 01:21:23,960 --> 01:21:25,000 Senor. 1611 01:21:27,530 --> 01:21:29,160 Aww. 1612 01:21:29,160 --> 01:21:32,460 The hope that Freddy and Juan has given us, priceless. 1613 01:21:33,100 --> 01:21:34,100 I'm on my way. 1614 01:21:34,100 --> 01:21:36,930 I'm feeling really awesome right now. 1615 01:21:36,930 --> 01:21:38,230 For the future of our mining, 1616 01:21:38,230 --> 01:21:40,460 this is gonna be really exciting. 1617 01:21:40,460 --> 01:21:41,860 Please let us know how you get on. 1618 01:21:41,860 --> 01:21:43,230 - Definitely. - Yeah, do. 1619 01:21:43,230 --> 01:21:45,530 Freddy and Juan, I love you. 1620 01:21:45,530 --> 01:21:50,160 And we can't thank you enough. You've changed our, our world. 1621 01:21:51,330 --> 01:21:53,000 Honestly, I feel that these fixes 1622 01:21:53,000 --> 01:21:54,160 and what we've done here for 'em, 1623 01:21:54,160 --> 01:21:57,460 it's gonna, it's gonna be life changing. 1624 01:21:57,460 --> 01:22:00,160 You know, I'm happy that we had the opportunity to come out here and help 'em. 1625 01:22:00,160 --> 01:22:02,360 It's great to meet people that need the help 1626 01:22:02,360 --> 01:22:03,960 and that when they receive the help, 1627 01:22:03,960 --> 01:22:05,430 they're, they're truly appreciative 1628 01:22:05,430 --> 01:22:06,460 and the-- they definitely are that 1629 01:22:16,100 --> 01:22:18,330 After Freddy and Juan left, 1630 01:22:18,330 --> 01:22:21,530 we thought it was gonna be way too difficult for us 1631 01:22:21,530 --> 01:22:25,560 to get to the dirt with the current equipment that we have. 1632 01:22:25,560 --> 01:22:28,430 So, we decided to move on to find better grounds. 1633 01:22:29,460 --> 01:22:33,230 The gold isn't so difficult to get at. 1634 01:22:33,230 --> 01:22:36,760 We did a lot of testing with the trommel. 1635 01:22:36,760 --> 01:22:38,960 I couldn't be any more happy, 1636 01:22:38,960 --> 01:22:40,830 because without that trommel, 1637 01:22:40,830 --> 01:22:43,030 I wouldn't be telling you what I'm telling you. 1638 01:22:43,030 --> 01:22:44,230 I found the ground. 1639 01:22:46,560 --> 01:22:49,230 If we run a day on this pay 1640 01:22:49,230 --> 01:22:51,030 and this is being conservative, 1641 01:22:51,030 --> 01:22:55,460 we should be just over the $3000 mark a day. 1642 01:22:56,130 --> 01:22:58,060 Pretty phenomenal. 1643 01:22:58,060 --> 01:23:02,000 Freddy and Juan have really breathed so much new life 1644 01:23:02,000 --> 01:23:05,000 into the future of our gold mining. 1645 01:23:05,000 --> 01:23:08,860 And we're so excited for next year to get, um, 1646 01:23:08,860 --> 01:23:11,160 started and see what's in that ground. 1647 01:23:11,160 --> 01:23:12,960 Bills are gonna get paid, 1648 01:23:12,960 --> 01:23:16,260 we'll be able to make some money as an income. 1649 01:23:16,260 --> 01:23:19,460 I did everything as they told me, and it was good. 1650 01:23:20,960 --> 01:23:21,930 It was good. I'm happy. 1651 01:23:21,930 --> 01:23:24,960 I'm counting the days for next year. 1651 01:23:25,305 --> 01:24:25,246 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm