Gold Rush: Dave Turin's Lost Mine

1 00:00:01,235 --> 00:00:03,469 The guys are waiting for me to find the ground, 2 00:00:03,571 --> 00:00:05,204 and, you know, they got to pay their bills. 3 00:00:05,306 --> 00:00:07,706 They've got kids and wives that are all wondering when 4 00:00:07,808 --> 00:00:08,874 they're going to go to work. 5 00:00:08,976 --> 00:00:10,042 And it's good gold. 6 00:00:10,144 --> 00:00:12,311 Maybe this is the answer to our season. 7 00:00:12,413 --> 00:00:14,646 Narrator: Last year, veteran gold miner 8 00:00:14,749 --> 00:00:17,583 dave turin proved there's still gold 9 00:00:17,685 --> 00:00:19,685 in america's abandoned mines. 10 00:00:19,787 --> 00:00:20,652 80 ounces. 11 00:00:20,755 --> 00:00:21,887 Woo! 12 00:00:21,989 --> 00:00:24,156 Narrator: This season, dave has set his sights on 13 00:00:24,258 --> 00:00:26,759 the historic mines of montana. 14 00:00:26,861 --> 00:00:30,429 There's around 3,500 abandoned mines. 15 00:00:30,531 --> 00:00:33,899 Narrator: Hoping he can turn one into a big dollar business. 16 00:00:34,001 --> 00:00:35,801 This is some of the best gold I've seen. 17 00:00:35,903 --> 00:00:37,803 Narrator: For him and his team. 18 00:00:37,905 --> 00:00:40,172 Come on, give me some gold! 19 00:00:40,274 --> 00:00:43,142 If it don't make dollars, then it don't make sense. 20 00:00:43,244 --> 00:00:45,611 [theme music] 21 00:00:47,214 --> 00:00:49,581 [music playing] 22 00:00:56,590 --> 00:01:00,526 so I got a-- a buddy named rob, and he has 23 00:01:00,628 --> 00:01:02,961 a placer mine on bear creek. 24 00:01:03,064 --> 00:01:05,297 This is a pretty famous creek, and it 25 00:01:05,399 --> 00:01:09,134 launched the last major gold rush in montana's history. 26 00:01:09,236 --> 00:01:12,071 Narrator: 60 miles west of montana's state capital 27 00:01:12,173 --> 00:01:14,139 helena lies bear creek. 28 00:01:14,241 --> 00:01:16,909 Dave is meeting his old friend rob towner, 29 00:01:17,011 --> 00:01:18,677 who has a tempting offer. 30 00:01:18,779 --> 00:01:21,313 Rob was nice enough to invite me up. 31 00:01:21,415 --> 00:01:24,349 I think he's going to help me get started what the old timers 32 00:01:24,452 --> 00:01:27,052 called a grub stake, which is when the landowners would let 33 00:01:27,154 --> 00:01:29,655 them mine their properties, and in return for that, 34 00:01:29,757 --> 00:01:30,923 they'd get a share of the profits. 35 00:01:31,025 --> 00:01:33,258 [music playing] 36 00:01:36,163 --> 00:01:37,362 hey, rob. 37 00:01:37,465 --> 00:01:38,130 How's it going? 38 00:01:38,265 --> 00:01:38,964 Good. 39 00:01:39,066 --> 00:01:39,832 You're-- 40 00:01:39,934 --> 00:01:40,632 how you doing? 41 00:01:40,734 --> 00:01:41,767 - --Washing rocks. - Yep. 42 00:01:41,869 --> 00:01:42,568 That's good. 43 00:01:42,670 --> 00:01:43,435 Rocking the box. 44 00:01:43,537 --> 00:01:45,204 Yeah, that's what it takes. 45 00:01:45,306 --> 00:01:47,039 What do you know about the history here? 46 00:01:47,141 --> 00:01:50,609 Bear creek was found back in about 1864. 47 00:01:50,678 --> 00:01:53,545 Miners were out looking for different pieces of property 48 00:01:53,647 --> 00:01:56,615 and came up here, and a lot of gold come out of this gulch. 49 00:01:56,717 --> 00:01:59,318 And next thing, a little stampede kind of blew in here. 50 00:02:01,789 --> 00:02:05,190 Narrator: Montana's first gold rush hit in the 1860s. 51 00:02:05,292 --> 00:02:07,126 Over the following 50 years, there 52 00:02:07,228 --> 00:02:09,394 were four more gold strikes, including 53 00:02:09,497 --> 00:02:11,597 one right here in bear creek. 54 00:02:11,699 --> 00:02:15,134 In 1917, mining here eventually stopped 55 00:02:15,236 --> 00:02:18,437 when it was believed all the easy picking gold had gone. 56 00:02:19,773 --> 00:02:23,675 But rob believes there's plenty more gold to be found. 57 00:02:23,777 --> 00:02:26,678 And with nearly 500 acres of ground, 58 00:02:26,780 --> 00:02:31,984 it's too much for one man to mine, so rob needs dave's help. 59 00:02:32,086 --> 00:02:33,318 Rob towner: Dave's a good buddy of mine. 60 00:02:33,420 --> 00:02:34,453 He's solid. 61 00:02:34,555 --> 00:02:37,623 Just a top shelf placer miner, in my opinion. 62 00:02:37,725 --> 00:02:39,958 There's a piece of ground up above here that's, I think, 63 00:02:40,060 --> 00:02:40,759 pretty good. 64 00:02:40,861 --> 00:02:41,960 There's nugget gold. 65 00:02:42,062 --> 00:02:43,362 I like the idea of nuggets. 66 00:02:43,464 --> 00:02:46,131 Back in the old days, I guess the grub staking was a thing. 67 00:02:46,233 --> 00:02:48,066 You're a buddy, and we'll just kind of help 68 00:02:48,169 --> 00:02:49,868 set you up with whatever you need, you know, to-- 69 00:02:49,970 --> 00:02:50,802 that would help. 70 00:02:50,905 --> 00:02:51,870 Especially to get going, you know? 71 00:02:52,006 --> 00:02:53,071 Yeah. 72 00:02:53,174 --> 00:02:54,273 People have done that for me over the years too. 73 00:02:56,143 --> 00:02:58,744 Dave turin: So rob could grub stake me, which would be great. 74 00:02:58,846 --> 00:03:00,345 It could really help me out. 75 00:03:00,447 --> 00:03:02,080 But there's got to be enough gold in the ground 76 00:03:02,183 --> 00:03:04,049 to make it worthwhile. 77 00:03:04,151 --> 00:03:05,083 That'd be great. 78 00:03:05,186 --> 00:03:07,052 So I'll go test it, see what's there, 79 00:03:07,154 --> 00:03:08,020 and then let's talk about it. 80 00:03:08,122 --> 00:03:08,820 No worries, man. 81 00:03:08,923 --> 00:03:10,756 [music playing] 82 00:03:12,193 --> 00:03:14,326 so this is where rob told me to quit. 83 00:03:14,428 --> 00:03:15,761 Creek's right there. 84 00:03:15,863 --> 00:03:16,929 There's a pond right here. 85 00:03:18,566 --> 00:03:20,799 Narrator: Rob has a lot of land at bear creek 86 00:03:20,901 --> 00:03:23,168 that he needs help to mine. 87 00:03:23,270 --> 00:03:26,939 Below his wash plant, he's found some rich ground 88 00:03:27,041 --> 00:03:29,608 and has now sent dave one mile upstream 89 00:03:29,710 --> 00:03:32,678 to see if he can find more gold. 90 00:03:32,780 --> 00:03:35,247 So when placer miners talk about chasing bedrock, 91 00:03:35,349 --> 00:03:37,082 what we look for is these cracks. 92 00:03:37,184 --> 00:03:38,884 See how there's sand in here? 93 00:03:38,986 --> 00:03:40,352 The water would wash here. 94 00:03:40,454 --> 00:03:42,387 And as it does this, this gold, it's 95 00:03:42,489 --> 00:03:45,157 the heaviest element out here, and it wants to settle 96 00:03:45,292 --> 00:03:45,958 in these little cracks. 97 00:03:47,962 --> 00:03:50,329 Narrator: With some positive signs that there may be gold 98 00:03:50,431 --> 00:03:52,764 here, dave is going to pan some pay 99 00:03:52,866 --> 00:03:55,067 dirt to see what he can find. 100 00:03:55,169 --> 00:03:56,969 We'll grab a pan, see what's here. 101 00:04:02,076 --> 00:04:05,410 I like this place, so it'd be nice to mine here. 102 00:04:05,512 --> 00:04:06,912 But we just gotta find some gold. 103 00:04:09,183 --> 00:04:11,350 There's probably five pieces. 104 00:04:11,452 --> 00:04:12,150 Pretty chunky. 105 00:04:13,454 --> 00:04:15,787 That's nice gold. 106 00:04:15,889 --> 00:04:18,056 This is some of the biggest and best gold I've 107 00:04:18,125 --> 00:04:19,124 seen here since in montana. 108 00:04:21,195 --> 00:04:22,628 Maybe this is the answer to our season. 109 00:04:22,730 --> 00:04:25,097 [music playing] 110 00:04:27,968 --> 00:04:29,868 creek, montana, dave 111 00:04:29,970 --> 00:04:32,738 has already panned a promising amount of gold. 112 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:34,439 That pan was good. 113 00:04:34,541 --> 00:04:36,675 I think it's time I get the excavator out and actually 114 00:04:36,777 --> 00:04:39,511 dig into this bedrock and start pulling 115 00:04:39,613 --> 00:04:40,912 a representative sample. 116 00:04:42,983 --> 00:04:44,750 Narrator: Now he's going to run a bulk test 117 00:04:44,852 --> 00:04:47,085 to see if the ground is worth the cost 118 00:04:47,187 --> 00:04:49,121 of moving his operation here. 119 00:04:49,223 --> 00:04:51,156 We found gold upstream, and this 120 00:04:51,258 --> 00:04:53,592 looks really good right here. 121 00:04:53,694 --> 00:04:54,660 It's real shallow. 122 00:04:54,762 --> 00:04:56,194 I'm right on bedrock, and there's 123 00:04:56,297 --> 00:04:58,030 a lot of big chunky rock. 124 00:04:58,132 --> 00:05:01,833 So I think we'll find some good gold here. 125 00:05:01,935 --> 00:05:03,168 I'm excited to run this. 126 00:05:06,674 --> 00:05:08,607 [music playing] 127 00:05:08,709 --> 00:05:11,109 it's always good to do a test with a pan, 128 00:05:11,211 --> 00:05:14,079 but, you know, placer miners, you 129 00:05:14,181 --> 00:05:15,347 got to do a bulk test if you're going 130 00:05:15,449 --> 00:05:17,115 to really test the ground. 131 00:05:17,217 --> 00:05:21,987 So we'll throw this out here and get her set up, 132 00:05:22,089 --> 00:05:23,755 a one-man prospecting crew. 133 00:05:23,857 --> 00:05:26,124 [music playing] 134 00:05:28,128 --> 00:05:30,295 narrator: Dave is running a cubic yard of dirt 135 00:05:30,397 --> 00:05:32,130 through a highbanker. 136 00:05:32,232 --> 00:05:34,132 The portable wash plant separates 137 00:05:34,234 --> 00:05:36,568 the larger rocks from the fine material 138 00:05:36,670 --> 00:05:38,203 where the gold should be found. 139 00:05:39,606 --> 00:05:41,006 You know, we're on a-- 140 00:05:41,141 --> 00:05:42,174 on a good stream. 141 00:05:42,276 --> 00:05:43,575 It's got good history. 142 00:05:43,677 --> 00:05:45,010 I mean, the ground looked really good. 143 00:05:45,112 --> 00:05:48,580 I think we can come in here and put a plant together 144 00:05:48,682 --> 00:05:52,184 and, you know, get my guys here and make some money. 145 00:05:53,620 --> 00:05:56,054 Narrator: But before dave can pan the dirt, 146 00:05:56,156 --> 00:05:58,223 he needs to do the math. 147 00:05:58,325 --> 00:06:01,659 You're talking $150,000 to mine here. 148 00:06:01,729 --> 00:06:04,529 With the costs of setting up, I get fuel out here, 149 00:06:04,631 --> 00:06:06,365 my camp costs will be low. 150 00:06:06,467 --> 00:06:09,768 The other thing that's in my favor is plenty of ground. 151 00:06:09,870 --> 00:06:11,903 This is a big property. 152 00:06:12,005 --> 00:06:15,774 If I could run a plant till the winter, I could make it work. 153 00:06:15,876 --> 00:06:18,944 I want probably 15 to 20 bucks a yard. 154 00:06:19,046 --> 00:06:21,380 [music playing] 155 00:06:22,616 --> 00:06:24,549 my guys are waiting for me to find the ground, 156 00:06:24,651 --> 00:06:26,218 and, you know, they got to pay their bills. 157 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:28,587 They've got kids and wives that are all wondering when 158 00:06:28,689 --> 00:06:30,122 they're going to go to work. 159 00:06:30,224 --> 00:06:31,590 So I've gotta find a ground. 160 00:06:31,692 --> 00:06:32,391 This could be it. 161 00:06:35,362 --> 00:06:36,461 Well, that's pretty good gold. 162 00:06:36,563 --> 00:06:40,332 I'd guess there's maybe a quarter of a gram there. 163 00:06:40,434 --> 00:06:42,634 Narrator: At today's gold price, a quarter 164 00:06:42,736 --> 00:06:45,737 gram equals just $12 a yard. 165 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,206 And with rob's grub stake to consider, 166 00:06:48,308 --> 00:06:50,509 dave's profit is dwindling. 167 00:06:50,611 --> 00:06:53,545 It's good gold, but it's right-- 168 00:06:53,647 --> 00:06:54,980 it's right at the break even. 169 00:06:55,082 --> 00:06:57,349 [music playing] 170 00:06:58,419 --> 00:07:00,852 hey, rob, got a minute? 171 00:07:00,954 --> 00:07:01,653 Yeah. 172 00:07:01,755 --> 00:07:03,455 How'd you do? 173 00:07:03,557 --> 00:07:04,556 It's not bad. 174 00:07:04,658 --> 00:07:06,758 I mean, it's actually pretty good. 175 00:07:06,860 --> 00:07:08,059 That's a hell of a test. 176 00:07:08,162 --> 00:07:11,596 I shoveled maybe a yard into that highbanker. 177 00:07:11,698 --> 00:07:13,465 So here's the deal, though, rob. 178 00:07:13,567 --> 00:07:14,666 All the creeks that I've been on, 179 00:07:14,768 --> 00:07:16,935 it seems like they've either had a, you know, 180 00:07:17,037 --> 00:07:19,237 a drag line or a bucket dredge. 181 00:07:19,339 --> 00:07:21,206 Why do you think they didn't dredge this? 182 00:07:21,308 --> 00:07:24,609 I think this was kind of a real dry country. 183 00:07:24,711 --> 00:07:26,445 We had a lot of snow last year, so there's 184 00:07:26,547 --> 00:07:28,847 still water in there, which is really good for us. 185 00:07:28,949 --> 00:07:31,149 But it's a non-perennial stream. 186 00:07:31,251 --> 00:07:34,653 I mean, towards the end of the season, does this creek dry up? 187 00:07:34,755 --> 00:07:36,354 Pretty much by the end of September we're out. 188 00:07:38,425 --> 00:07:39,291 Let me get this straight. 189 00:07:39,393 --> 00:07:41,993 Your water runs out mid-season? 190 00:07:42,095 --> 00:07:45,263 I can't afford to shut down in-- by September. 191 00:07:45,365 --> 00:07:46,198 Here's what I'm going to do. 192 00:07:49,470 --> 00:07:50,435 I'm going to pass. 193 00:07:50,537 --> 00:07:51,570 Ok. 194 00:07:51,672 --> 00:07:53,371 And it's hard to pass up this kind of gold. 195 00:07:53,474 --> 00:07:54,172 It is. 196 00:07:54,274 --> 00:07:55,006 But I'm just worried. 197 00:07:55,108 --> 00:07:56,575 I gotta get a full season in. 198 00:07:56,677 --> 00:07:58,176 I understand completely. 199 00:07:58,278 --> 00:08:00,745 The option will still be there if you-- if you want it. 200 00:08:00,848 --> 00:08:02,214 All right, we'll see ya. Good luck. 201 00:08:02,316 --> 00:08:03,014 Yeah, thanks. 202 00:08:04,351 --> 00:08:06,818 Dave turin: This was looking like the perfect spot, 203 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,054 but I can't risk my season on whether the stream keeps 204 00:08:09,156 --> 00:08:10,355 running. 205 00:08:10,457 --> 00:08:13,825 I'm not gonna bring my guys this far, run out of water, 206 00:08:13,927 --> 00:08:16,094 and then have to quit mining. 207 00:08:16,196 --> 00:08:18,330 I gotta keep looking, and I'm running out of time. 208 00:08:18,432 --> 00:08:20,499 The journey is going to continue.