"Gold Rush" Big Man Tiny Excavator

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 2 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:21,030 Oh, Danny, get in here. 3 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:23,160 Hey, morning, guys. 4 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:24,600 I just do my morning stretches. 5 00:00:25,300 --> 00:00:27,830 Yoga and stuff, you know, the usual. 6 00:00:28,460 --> 00:00:30,790 [narrator] On this Gold Rush... 7 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:31,660 Ready to go. 8 00:00:31,660 --> 00:00:34,390 ...Rick Ness digs deep. 9 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,500 I just want to get down there as fast as I can. 10 00:00:38,060 --> 00:00:41,590 Everything's a big gamble, hopefully it turns out good. 11 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,560 [narrator] On a mission to secure new ground... 12 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:46,730 [Jeff] Just over $8 million. 13 00:00:47,460 --> 00:00:49,260 My interest is definitely piqued, yeah. 14 00:00:49,260 --> 00:00:51,360 ...that could make or break... 15 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:52,890 [Rick] Hey, watch out for those trees. 16 00:00:52,900 --> 00:00:54,600 ...his mining future. 17 00:00:56,300 --> 00:00:58,230 [bleep] the Yukon, [bleep] this place. 18 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,090 [Rick] Danny, come on. 19 00:01:09,100 --> 00:01:10,700 Good girl. Come on. Be a good girl. 20 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:15,230 [narrator] Mine boss Rick Ness is up early. 21 00:01:15,660 --> 00:01:16,560 Come on. 22 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:17,700 Come on, baby. 23 00:01:18,460 --> 00:01:20,430 Who's a good girl? Yes. 24 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:22,430 Oh, that's a good girl. 25 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:23,830 Welcome to my home. 26 00:01:23,830 --> 00:01:25,760 Six months out of the year, I live in this place. 27 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:27,200 Watch out, Danny. Get out. 28 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:30,600 It's a small bed that I almost fit in. 29 00:01:31,500 --> 00:01:32,590 I fit in there pretty good. 30 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:35,500 My feet mostly don't hang off the edge. 31 00:01:36,300 --> 00:01:37,460 Just watch this. Hold on. 32 00:01:37,460 --> 00:01:39,160 Yeah, I usually get up. 33 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,090 And then Danny kind of just doesn't... 34 00:01:42,100 --> 00:01:44,260 There she comes. She might get up a little bit after me. 35 00:01:44,260 --> 00:01:46,460 She usually lays there like a bum for a while. 36 00:01:46,460 --> 00:01:47,360 This is my office. 37 00:01:49,060 --> 00:01:51,490 My favorite quote up here is Mike Tyson. 38 00:01:51,500 --> 00:01:53,560 "Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the mouth." 39 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:54,860 You know, I have a lot of mining plans, 40 00:01:54,860 --> 00:01:56,890 but they never work out, it's like getting punched in the mouth. 41 00:01:56,900 --> 00:01:59,200 And when they do, if you can't pivot, then you're screwed. 42 00:02:00,260 --> 00:02:02,660 [narrator] Rick's own big swing, 43 00:02:02,660 --> 00:02:06,460 buying the Duncan Creek claim earlier this season 44 00:02:06,460 --> 00:02:10,130 means he now needs it to pay out big. 45 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:12,630 [Rick] This is my office. 46 00:02:13,100 --> 00:02:14,900 One of the first things I do 47 00:02:16,100 --> 00:02:17,660 is whip out the old phone here. 48 00:02:17,660 --> 00:02:20,200 Get on the gold app, right here. 49 00:02:21,100 --> 00:02:22,230 And look at that right there. 50 00:02:22,230 --> 00:02:24,960 If I'm not mistaken, we're hitting record highs today. 51 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,160 Again, it's just going up and up and up. 52 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,860 That'll wake a guy up in the morning. That gets the guy going, that's for damn sure. 53 00:02:30,860 --> 00:02:34,090 This is like some of the most impressive gold that I've gotten out here. 54 00:02:34,100 --> 00:02:35,760 There's some really nice pieces of gold. 55 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:37,960 There's probably in the neighborhood of 15, 56 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:39,460 20 grand sitting on the table right there. 57 00:02:39,460 --> 00:02:40,760 That's pretty, pretty cool. 58 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:42,060 Pretty impressive. 59 00:02:42,060 --> 00:02:46,790 But it does not hold a candle to this guy. 60 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:48,160 I found this one this year. 61 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,060 That's my favorite by far. 62 00:02:50,060 --> 00:02:52,360 I don't know if you can tell what the shape of it is. 63 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:53,830 [cameraman chuckles] 64 00:02:54,860 --> 00:02:56,760 [Rick] I actually have some nice stuff to look at today. 65 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,860 I've got a 2024 Geophysical Assessment Report. 66 00:02:59,860 --> 00:03:03,000 I've been studying really hard for the last five years at geology. 67 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:05,630 But geology is tough. 68 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:08,390 I'm not nerding out over rocks kind of guy, 69 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,030 but I kind of have to be in this case if I want to survive out here, so... 70 00:03:12,300 --> 00:03:13,460 [phone pinging] 71 00:03:13,460 --> 00:03:14,860 It just went up again! 72 00:03:14,860 --> 00:03:19,000 $2511. Just went up another buck while we were talking. 73 00:03:20,260 --> 00:03:22,100 Like I said, good time to be a gold miner. 74 00:03:23,860 --> 00:03:27,460 [narrator] The gold price may be at an all-time high, 75 00:03:27,460 --> 00:03:31,300 but right now, Rick's cash flow is negative. 76 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:40,690 I'm just going to check on our cut right now. 77 00:03:40,700 --> 00:03:43,860 Normally, I'm down here several times a day. 78 00:03:43,860 --> 00:03:47,190 We're not pulling pay out of the hole, which means we're not rolling the plant. 79 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:52,760 [narrator] After mining out the gold rich Rally Valley earlier this season, 80 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:59,130 Rick's crew is solely focused on getting down to the pay layer in Vegas Valley. 81 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:02,090 [Rick] The guys are doing great. 82 00:04:02,100 --> 00:04:07,060 I mean, they are moving a ton of dirt for basically, four people. 83 00:04:07,060 --> 00:04:10,860 [narrator] With a total of 160 feet of worthless 84 00:04:10,860 --> 00:04:14,990 overburden to remove before they hit pay, 85 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,390 Rick and his small crew are gambling everything, 86 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:23,030 including their gold bonuses that they'll hit the jackpot. 87 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,490 This is pretty much my same crew that I put together from last year. 88 00:04:28,500 --> 00:04:30,990 Last year was huge for me as far as the crew goes, 89 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,860 because I very quickly learned that they were all in it 90 00:04:34,860 --> 00:04:37,490 for the right reasons and I could trust them all. 91 00:04:37,500 --> 00:04:38,960 It took a lot of pressure off me. 92 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:40,630 They all knew what they were doing, too. 93 00:04:41,460 --> 00:04:43,560 [narrator] In the 750 excavator, 94 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:48,260 Bailey Carten is removing 10,000 yards of dirt a day 95 00:04:48,260 --> 00:04:50,360 to reach the pay layer. 96 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,600 There you go, overload the [bleep] out of it. 97 00:04:53,100 --> 00:04:53,900 [horn honks] 98 00:04:58,100 --> 00:04:59,500 [Carten] What's going on, big guy? 99 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,260 [Rick] Is that new? 100 00:05:02,260 --> 00:05:06,690 -Yep, those two spots. -[bleep] hole up there. 101 00:05:06,700 --> 00:05:11,960 [narrator] Battling water and falling rocks, Bailey must build benches as he goes 102 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,990 or risk the sides of the pit caving in. 103 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:16,260 Ah, the windshield. 104 00:05:16,260 --> 00:05:17,690 -Yeah, I know. -Buddy... 105 00:05:17,700 --> 00:05:18,860 [Bailey] I know. 106 00:05:18,860 --> 00:05:19,860 [Rick] Breaks my heart. 107 00:05:19,860 --> 00:05:21,330 I know, it breaks my... 108 00:05:21,330 --> 00:05:23,860 Man, I thought it was... I swear to [bleep] it scared the [bleep] out of me. 109 00:05:23,860 --> 00:05:25,060 -I thought it was gonna come-- -Oh, I bet. 110 00:05:25,060 --> 00:05:26,300 That's a hard hit... to do that. 111 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:28,330 I really thought it was going to come through 112 00:05:28,330 --> 00:05:31,160 the windshield. I just went like that into [bleep] Heather's box 113 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:35,090 and it just [bleep], the last rock that fell out just [bleep] smashed on one rock 114 00:05:35,100 --> 00:05:37,400 and just came [bleep] flying up in the air. 115 00:05:38,660 --> 00:05:40,560 [Rick] I'd love to razz you for it. 116 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:42,700 Say I'm gonna take the windshield out of your bonus but 117 00:05:43,260 --> 00:05:44,400 I've been there. 118 00:05:45,100 --> 00:05:46,260 But, yeah, I know [bleep] happens. 119 00:05:46,260 --> 00:05:47,460 That slaps, but... 120 00:05:47,460 --> 00:05:49,090 [Bailey] All right, I better get back to loading trucks. 121 00:05:49,100 --> 00:05:50,500 [Rick] Keep moving it. 122 00:05:52,060 --> 00:05:53,560 [Carten] Working for Rick is really good. 123 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:54,960 He's a really good boss, you know. 124 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,760 He's a good listener and he's a good teacher. 125 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:01,290 You know, it is a gamble here, and he is gambling the gold 126 00:06:01,300 --> 00:06:03,600 and hopefully there's going to be good pay under this. 127 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,360 He knows this is all of our lives, too. 128 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:09,990 He's definitely... he's not all about himself. 129 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,400 He's all about the team. 130 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:14,760 [Rick] He's doing a good job. 131 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:16,560 He's really working out. I like him. 132 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,760 He's a good kid. Things are looking really good down here 133 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:20,590 and this is... I like how this is looking. 134 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,800 We stepped it down to keep it safe. 135 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,160 [narrator] Racing to keep up with Bailey, 136 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,660 husband and wife duo Heather and Jason Folster. 137 00:06:31,660 --> 00:06:33,900 truck overburden out of the cut. 138 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:36,890 We're going as fast as we can. 139 00:06:36,900 --> 00:06:41,190 [narrator] To a dump where Foreman "Buzz" Legault and Kyle Lawson 140 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,800 manage the ever-growing gigantic mountain of waste. 141 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:47,900 [Buzz speaking] 142 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,660 [Kyle] Everyone's on edge because we don't know if we put all this time and effort 143 00:07:00,660 --> 00:07:06,990 into this cut, and we don't know if it's going to produce or anything, so I mean, 144 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,730 it's, everything is a big gamble over here. Hopefully, it turns out good. 145 00:07:15,260 --> 00:07:18,660 [Rick] We'll move a lot of dirt, but, you know, right now my big, 146 00:07:18,660 --> 00:07:21,600 big panic is just getting down to it as fast as we can. 147 00:07:22,500 --> 00:07:24,360 We've got a limited amount of time this season, 148 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,860 and if this water license doesn't get renewed, 149 00:07:26,860 --> 00:07:28,960 this will be our last chance here. 150 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:33,160 [narrator] With just months left on his Duncan Creek water license 151 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,360 and no guarantee that it will get renewed, 152 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:43,190 Rick must find new ground or his mining career could be over. 153 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,760 I mean, I just got done paying off ground, I want to buy more ground. 154 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,760 I've got more ground than I know what to do with. I have to have other options. 155 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:55,060 This guy I know, Jeff Bond, I've known Jeff for probably five years. 156 00:07:55,060 --> 00:07:59,060 You know, he's been in the geology business for decades and he's got some ground. 157 00:07:59,060 --> 00:08:00,630 It's only eight kilometers away. 158 00:08:01,260 --> 00:08:02,330 I like that. 159 00:08:02,330 --> 00:08:04,860 But, you know, it's gotta have everything I need, 160 00:08:04,860 --> 00:08:06,890 so it's got to have gold first of all. 161 00:08:06,900 --> 00:08:08,500 I gotta see this with my own eyes. 162 00:08:09,300 --> 00:08:11,000 -[bleep] -[truck rattling] 163 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:13,560 Dodge the potholes. 164 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,490 Sorry, I spent my offseason racing, and like, even when I'm driving 165 00:08:17,500 --> 00:08:20,360 on this road, I'm always looking for the line, the shortest line. 166 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:21,960 It's probably not smart to come around a corner, 167 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:23,630 and there's someone coming the opposite way. 168 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:26,400 [horn honks] 169 00:08:29,300 --> 00:08:30,730 [bell tolls] 170 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:34,760 [Rick] Who're you trying to catch? 171 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:37,760 That's my temporary bear fence. 172 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:38,860 How are you doing? 173 00:08:38,860 --> 00:08:40,190 -Good, man. -Good. 174 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:41,660 [Jeff] Come on in. 175 00:08:41,660 --> 00:08:45,660 [narrator] Placer geologist Jeff Bond has been prospecting and staking 176 00:08:45,660 --> 00:08:48,890 claims around Keno for the last year. 177 00:08:48,900 --> 00:08:50,090 [Jeff] Do you want a coffee or something? 178 00:08:50,100 --> 00:08:51,360 I can make you an espresso. 179 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:52,790 I'm okay. I appreciate it. 180 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,690 [narrator] Now he's looking to partner up with an experienced miner 181 00:08:56,700 --> 00:08:58,860 to make the most of his ground. 182 00:08:58,860 --> 00:09:02,060 Thanks for coming, I wanted to show you this property. 183 00:09:02,060 --> 00:09:04,360 This is the claim block in white. 184 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:06,760 I call it the Goldfinger property. 185 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,660 I staked the two 2-mile leases here initially. It's got a lot of attributes 186 00:09:11,660 --> 00:09:13,660 that make it, I think, very prospective. 187 00:09:13,660 --> 00:09:16,690 I think what's most unique about this deposit is obviously the fact 188 00:09:16,700 --> 00:09:17,990 -there's no overburden. -[Rick] Yeah. 189 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,290 And, so you take the trees off, 190 00:09:20,300 --> 00:09:24,460 and you literally back your plant up and you start feeding it. 191 00:09:24,460 --> 00:09:25,890 My interest is definitely piqued. 192 00:09:25,900 --> 00:09:30,690 -Yeah, definitely. -I don't know if I'll ever find another gold deposit 193 00:09:30,700 --> 00:09:32,990 -this easy. -Yeah, yeah. 194 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,760 [Jeff] This is an example of the gold we're seeing. 195 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:43,790 And that's from a fifth of a yard. That would be about $20 gold per yard. 196 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:47,360 -[Rick] Okay. -[Jeff] That's from a trench I dug up there. 197 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:50,160 I got this little guy in a pan. 198 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:52,460 -Um... -[Rick] Oh, no kidding. 199 00:09:52,460 --> 00:09:54,560 Just last week as well. 200 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:57,260 That was five inches below the surface. 201 00:09:57,260 --> 00:09:59,260 -No kidding? -[Jeff] Yeah. 202 00:09:59,260 --> 00:10:02,960 -So... -I have yet to pan anything this size. 203 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:07,060 There is gold in everything that I've sampled here. 204 00:10:07,060 --> 00:10:09,860 Have you done enough to see kind of a trend 205 00:10:09,860 --> 00:10:11,590 like a kind of an average? Yeah? 206 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:16,090 Yeah, I see $10 a yard. I see $20. 207 00:10:16,100 --> 00:10:22,490 I'm kind of using 15 as sort of the bulk average, 208 00:10:22,500 --> 00:10:28,500 and in there, I estimate, there's just over $8 million. 209 00:10:32,260 --> 00:10:37,590 I'm definitely interested, and I'd love to look at it some more. 210 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:39,660 If you'd maybe show me where you've been sampling 211 00:10:39,660 --> 00:10:43,490 and we can talk about me doing a little sampling of my own. 212 00:10:43,500 --> 00:10:44,330 Yeah, no problem. 213 00:10:44,330 --> 00:10:45,660 Should we go look at these trenches? 214 00:10:45,660 --> 00:10:47,060 Okay. 215 00:10:47,060 --> 00:10:51,190 [narrator] If there's roughly $15 of gold in every yard of dirt, 216 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:56,690 the claim is not as rich as Duncan Creek, but without the costs 217 00:10:56,700 --> 00:11:01,130 of removing overburden, it could still be profitable. 218 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,460 [Jeff] So this is my trench here. 219 00:11:04,460 --> 00:11:08,460 I've taken a bunch of samples, and I've got good gold in this gravel. 220 00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:10,560 -[Rick] Okay. -But you can see the boulder. 221 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:12,860 [Rick] Oh, yeah, big one right there. 222 00:11:12,860 --> 00:11:16,160 -[Jeff] Yeah. -That's usually a good sign out here. 223 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:19,990 We're looking for a boulder cobble layer and, I mean, in this case, the boulders 224 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,990 are right on the surface, so they're easy to spot. 225 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,290 It's a good indication there's going to be 226 00:11:23,300 --> 00:11:25,560 a cobble layer underneath it and that's what we're looking for. 227 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:29,360 [narrator] Large boulders and cobbles, also known as gravels, 228 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,990 are signs that fast flowing water once passed through this area, 229 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,030 which could have deposited big gold. 230 00:11:38,060 --> 00:11:41,490 -[Rick] I like it. I can dig right here. -Yeah. 231 00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:43,760 I'll get the machine down here and see what we can pull out. 232 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:45,030 [Jeff] I'll just flag this. 233 00:11:45,860 --> 00:11:46,930 Okay. 234 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:49,560 I formerly worked 235 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:54,760 with the Yukon Geological Survey as a placer geologist for 27 years 236 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,560 and I've visited almost every placer deposit in the Yukon. 237 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:02,990 This is a very rare deposit that has no overburden. 238 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:03,930 So I'm really happy 239 00:12:03,930 --> 00:12:05,660 that Rick is gonna take a few more samples. 240 00:12:05,660 --> 00:12:08,090 We'll see if he likes it, and then we'll go from there. 241 00:12:08,100 --> 00:12:09,990 [Rick] That was a good meeting with Jeff. 242 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,260 He mentioned a lot of big numbers and what he thinks is here. 243 00:12:13,260 --> 00:12:15,660 And, you know, he's been doing his due diligence. 244 00:12:15,660 --> 00:12:17,790 He might be right, but I'm gonna do my own. 245 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:21,360 I'm gonna come sample it and see if what he says has any merit to it. 246 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:23,130 Economically, a lot of it makes sense. 247 00:12:23,660 --> 00:12:25,460 Could be a good option. 248 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:42,390 Switching over to the old side by side here because I need something to tow 249 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:45,490 this excavator we're taking up there. 250 00:12:45,500 --> 00:12:49,300 [narrator] Rick's water license is due to expire next year. 251 00:12:50,460 --> 00:12:53,230 So he's on the hunt for new ground. 252 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,090 Yeah, I just met up with Jeff, checked out his ground. 253 00:12:58,100 --> 00:13:02,490 So I'll grab some stuff and I'm gonna go back and do a little more investigating. 254 00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:07,360 [narrator] After scouting a claim that could pay out $8 million, 255 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,200 now, Rick needs to test the ground for himself. 256 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,690 But despite owning some of the biggest digging equipment 257 00:13:15,700 --> 00:13:20,700 in the Yukon, for this test, he needs something a little smaller. 258 00:13:22,060 --> 00:13:24,560 [Rick] Now, this is the beast here, tiny excavator. 259 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:27,090 Tiny tow-behind excavator that I've had for like five years. 260 00:13:27,100 --> 00:13:28,500 I haven't really used it. 261 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:33,130 [engine starts] 262 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:37,300 Smallest machine I've run in a while. 263 00:13:41,660 --> 00:13:43,890 Today, it's actually gonna be handy for these sampling. 264 00:13:43,900 --> 00:13:46,360 So I need to kind of get into the woods with limited amount of space. 265 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,400 So I'm looking forward to looking like an [bleep] trying to run this thing today. 266 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,100 This is the crew's side by side. 267 00:14:01,860 --> 00:14:03,460 There's [bleep] everywhere. 268 00:14:03,460 --> 00:14:10,000 Cold beer, wrench, golf club, empty gas... empty gas can. 269 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:16,490 So I'm gonna bring the mini hoe tub side by side. 270 00:14:16,500 --> 00:14:20,360 My plan is to get about a half a yard of dirt in here, bring it back. 271 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:21,890 Sample it, see how much gold's in it. 272 00:14:21,900 --> 00:14:25,930 And from there, I can calculate if this ground would be worth mining or not. 273 00:14:26,900 --> 00:14:28,060 There we go. 274 00:14:28,060 --> 00:14:29,130 Oh, just like that. 275 00:14:30,460 --> 00:14:31,530 Ready to go. 276 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:34,860 All right, let's do this. 277 00:14:34,860 --> 00:14:39,160 [narrator] Rick travels five miles north to the spot he earmarked 278 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,100 for testing on Jeff's Goldfinger claim. 279 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:45,890 [Rick] He's the seller, I'm the buyer, so gonna be on guard. 280 00:14:45,900 --> 00:14:47,760 -[Jeff] Captain! -What's goin' on? 281 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,030 We've got to open up the trail. 282 00:14:49,030 --> 00:14:51,760 There's a whole bunch of alders, so we'll need to cut those. 283 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,060 -We'll get the chainsaw going. -Okay. 284 00:14:53,060 --> 00:14:54,760 I'll maneuver this thing into place. 285 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:56,190 That should be fun, too. 286 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:57,560 [motor revs loudly] 287 00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:07,100 I was hoping he was gonna have this trail cut already. 288 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:13,060 It's gonna be interesting. 289 00:15:13,060 --> 00:15:15,930 See if I can jam that thing in there. It ain't gonna like it. 290 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:18,230 But I'll make it happen. 291 00:15:25,060 --> 00:15:26,230 [Jeff] Keep coming. 292 00:15:31,660 --> 00:15:33,630 -Nice. Nice! -[Rick chuckles] 293 00:15:34,500 --> 00:15:36,600 We're going to be going back up in here. 294 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:43,260 [bleep] 295 00:15:43,260 --> 00:15:44,460 [Rick] I'm hung up on a tree. 296 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:49,290 [Jeff] It's just not enough room to get the vehicle turned. 297 00:15:49,300 --> 00:15:50,990 [Rick] No, not quite. 298 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,990 So what if I took out these sets of trees here? 299 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,260 That way, your angle would be a lot straighter. 300 00:15:57,260 --> 00:15:58,700 -[Rick] Yeah. -Let's do that. 301 00:16:06,500 --> 00:16:08,200 [Rick] Hey, watch out for those trees. 302 00:16:11,900 --> 00:16:13,090 [bleep] 303 00:16:13,100 --> 00:16:14,890 [Jeff] It wasn't supposed to fall that way. 304 00:16:14,900 --> 00:16:16,000 [Rick chuckles] 305 00:16:16,500 --> 00:16:17,730 I'll give it a shot. 306 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:20,700 Come on... 307 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:23,500 [Jeff] Now straight back. 308 00:16:24,860 --> 00:16:26,000 Ooh, buddy. 309 00:16:30,100 --> 00:16:32,400 [Jeff] Excellent. You're there. 310 00:16:33,460 --> 00:16:35,460 I'm gonna look like a [bleep] trying to operate it. 311 00:16:35,460 --> 00:16:37,300 Four little [bleep] joysticks here. 312 00:16:38,460 --> 00:16:40,230 [engine starts] 313 00:16:48,700 --> 00:16:50,260 [engine dies] 314 00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:52,330 [Jeff] What happened? 315 00:16:54,100 --> 00:16:57,000 I don't know. I checked everything before I came here. 316 00:16:58,000 --> 00:16:59,100 Full of fuel. 317 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:01,830 Come on. 318 00:17:03,660 --> 00:17:05,630 [engine starts] 319 00:17:20,460 --> 00:17:21,800 [bleep] 320 00:17:22,660 --> 00:17:24,290 This thing is harder than I thought. 321 00:17:24,300 --> 00:17:26,460 I can run a $1.4 million excavator. 322 00:17:26,460 --> 00:17:27,460 I can't run this. 323 00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:28,600 [chuckles] 324 00:17:30,900 --> 00:17:32,800 [Jeff] Come on, Rick. You got it. 325 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:34,930 That's it. 326 00:17:35,260 --> 00:17:36,400 That's it. 327 00:17:42,100 --> 00:17:43,460 Nice one. 328 00:17:43,460 --> 00:17:44,630 Oh, baby. 329 00:17:46,100 --> 00:17:47,590 Oh, yeah, that's the stuff. 330 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,930 -[Jeff] Ooh, yeah. -There we go, first boulder. 331 00:17:52,300 --> 00:17:54,390 Yeah, I mean, we didn't get far below the surface. 332 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,560 We're already seeing some boulders, so that's exciting. 333 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:58,090 Heavy rock like Jeff said. 334 00:17:58,100 --> 00:18:00,530 We see a lot of that over at Duncan Creek, too. 335 00:18:01,500 --> 00:18:04,160 All I know is the heavy rocks mean 336 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,490 there'll be gold there. If you move rocks, you move gold. 337 00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:12,190 [narrator] The boulders and gravels were moved by fast-flowing water 338 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,260 from a melting glacier. As it traveled, the heavy gold 339 00:18:16,260 --> 00:18:18,060 would have been trapped in the dirt 340 00:18:18,060 --> 00:18:19,600 around the rocks. 341 00:18:20,460 --> 00:18:21,660 [Jeff] This is number ten. 342 00:18:21,660 --> 00:18:24,660 Nice. I think we've got another 15 to go. 343 00:18:24,660 --> 00:18:31,390 [narrator] To assess how much gold is in Jeff's claim, Rick needs to fill 25 pails, 344 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:33,790 equivalent to half a yard of dirt. 345 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:35,890 -[Rick] It's going through it. -Yeah, yeah. 346 00:18:35,900 --> 00:18:39,030 Good looking stuff. Bring it back home and sample it. 347 00:18:39,900 --> 00:18:41,600 See if it's got a bunch of gold in it. 348 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:45,290 [Jeff] There it is. 349 00:18:45,300 --> 00:18:46,430 Oh, yeah! 350 00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:53,760 I'm vibrating. My ears are ringing. 351 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:55,760 I didn't realize how loud this thing was. 352 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:57,330 This thing's awesome. 353 00:18:59,300 --> 00:19:02,460 -First things first. We'll see what we got in the sample. -Sure. 354 00:19:02,460 --> 00:19:07,360 And then I'll let you know, and then we'll kind of discuss things from there. 355 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:09,990 -Thanks a lot, Jeff. -Thanks for coming. 356 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:15,460 [narrator] With the half ton of pay loaded onto the side by side, Rick now needs 357 00:19:15,460 --> 00:19:19,800 to bring it back to Duncan Creek, where he'll test the sample. 358 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:22,430 I don't know how I'm gonna get out of here. 359 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:24,300 Straight down. 360 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:33,600 [Jeff] Right on. 361 00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:36,400 Yee-haw! 362 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:43,330 Oh, [bleep]. 363 00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:46,700 [Jeff] Your front tire is off. 364 00:19:49,460 --> 00:19:50,300 [Rick] Oh, yeah. 365 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,260 Yeah, no. She ain't going anywhere. 366 00:19:56,260 --> 00:19:57,830 Oh, yeah. Definitely [bleep] up an axle. 367 00:19:58,860 --> 00:20:00,390 [groans in frustration] 368 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,830 [bleep] the Yukon. [bleep] this place 369 00:20:10,060 --> 00:20:11,300 Definitely [bleep] up an axel. 370 00:20:12,060 --> 00:20:13,900 Yeah, no. She ain't going anywhere. 371 00:20:14,860 --> 00:20:16,490 [groans in frustration] 372 00:20:16,500 --> 00:20:21,590 [narrator] Five miles north of Duncan Creek, Rick Ness' mining future 373 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:25,360 rests on the success of the Goldfinger prospect. 374 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:30,560 But a broken side by side has stopped him in his tracks. 375 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:32,160 [Rick] This is no longer my responsibility. 376 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:34,030 It's broken. That's Ryan's job now. 377 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:36,700 So I did my part. I broke it. 378 00:20:37,100 --> 00:20:38,400 Now Ryan can fix it. 379 00:20:39,060 --> 00:20:40,900 All right, I'm outta here. 380 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,500 I'll catch a ride back with you guys. 381 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,260 -All right? -[Rick] Thanks for the ride, bro. 382 00:20:48,260 --> 00:20:49,500 That's all right, bro. 383 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,130 Anytime. 384 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:04,400 Bye. 385 00:21:05,860 --> 00:21:06,990 [Rick] Ryan! 386 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:08,130 [Ryan] Huh? 387 00:21:09,660 --> 00:21:10,700 [Rick] I broke it. 388 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:14,360 [Rick] No, the side by side. 389 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:17,800 It's got half a yard of dirt piled in the back towing that mini hoe. 390 00:21:22,460 --> 00:21:25,190 [narrator] To keep the prospect on track, 391 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,660 mechanic Ryan is sent to retrieve the broken side by side 392 00:21:29,660 --> 00:21:32,290 and, more importantly, the pay. 393 00:21:32,300 --> 00:21:34,590 Every one of these things got like 20,000 miles on them. 394 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,960 We run them hard, and I don't think anybody else puts that kind of mileage on them. 395 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,300 They're bound to break. I mean, I test the limits every day. 396 00:21:43,900 --> 00:21:45,390 [Ryan] It's been adventurous knowing him 397 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:47,660 for the last year and a half now. 398 00:21:47,660 --> 00:21:49,160 It never seems to get boring. 399 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:50,560 It's always fun when he disappears 400 00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:52,060 for a few hours and comes back. 401 00:21:52,060 --> 00:21:53,960 He's either walking 402 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,460 or he's calling us to come pick him up because he's broke something. 403 00:21:56,460 --> 00:21:59,600 So I think it's parked somewhere down this road. 404 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,700 I'm gonna go retrieve his broken [bleep] like normal. 405 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:06,500 Which way was it? 406 00:22:07,460 --> 00:22:09,630 -[cameraman] Go left. -Left? All right. 407 00:22:13,660 --> 00:22:15,390 [Ryan] How is Rick as a person. 408 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:16,230 Oh, man. 409 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,790 If I could sum that up pretty easily, 410 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,560 Rick is definitely somebody you want in your corner. 411 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,100 Definitely a lot smarter than he plays himself to be. 412 00:22:27,100 --> 00:22:28,900 Always willing to give a hand. 413 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,460 Got a heart the size of a gold nugget. 414 00:22:33,460 --> 00:22:36,460 Anybody on this claim he's done [bleep] for that nobody knows about. 415 00:22:36,460 --> 00:22:39,300 He's not that guy that's going to go out and brag about the good that he does. 416 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,990 [Rick] Right now I'm making a Zoom call to Zee. 417 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:51,960 I just want to catch up and see where his head's at 418 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,760 for the end of the season. He makes everybody laugh, 419 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,760 and it's kind of infectious and It gives everybody a bit of a bump to 420 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,160 finish the end of the season, which is nice. 421 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:03,260 Plus, he's, you know, one of my best friends. 422 00:23:03,260 --> 00:23:05,760 You know, I just... I like it when he's up here. 423 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:06,960 I just want to see him. 424 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:08,500 Hopefully, we do the same thing this year. 425 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:12,860 [narrator] Rick's best buddy, Zee Zaremba, 426 00:23:12,860 --> 00:23:15,730 lives in Milwaukee with his wife, Chelsea. 427 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:18,660 [Rick] Zees! 428 00:23:18,660 --> 00:23:19,830 What are you reading? 429 00:23:20,460 --> 00:23:22,960 Some fun clay map stuff. 430 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:23,890 Good to see your face, man. 431 00:23:23,900 --> 00:23:26,390 Good to see yours. How's the season going? 432 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,860 It's going good. Yeah, it's... Well, it's going. 433 00:23:28,860 --> 00:23:29,860 It's going like every season. 434 00:23:29,860 --> 00:23:31,090 Stressed to the [bleep] max. 435 00:23:31,100 --> 00:23:32,960 But the guys here are just incredible. 436 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:34,260 And we're pulling it off. 437 00:23:34,260 --> 00:23:36,360 -Nice. Awesome. -How's things, man? 438 00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:37,530 How's things back home? 439 00:23:37,530 --> 00:23:40,030 Did Chelsea get a hold of you at all or anything or no? 440 00:23:40,660 --> 00:23:41,590 No. 441 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,530 All right, well, see... 442 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,190 I don't know. 443 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:52,500 She ended up getting diagnosed with two forms of cancer actually. 444 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:54,900 Shut the [bleep] up. 445 00:23:55,860 --> 00:23:58,230 -Chelsea? -Yeah, 33. 446 00:23:59,260 --> 00:24:02,760 -What the [bleep]? -Yeah, she found it... 447 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:04,990 She found a lump probably like six weeks ago 448 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:06,990 and then it's just been a whirlwind since. 449 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:08,890 [bleep], man. I'm sorry. 450 00:24:08,900 --> 00:24:13,860 So it ended up being as stage three breast and globular. 451 00:24:13,860 --> 00:24:17,290 So it went and moved into the lymph nodes, but it didn't spread from there, luckily. 452 00:24:17,300 --> 00:24:18,790 Oh, my [bleep], man. 453 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,760 What the [bleep]? So what's that look like, treatment wise? 454 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:27,300 It's going to be eight treatments every three weeks. 455 00:24:28,900 --> 00:24:34,260 So, I mean, it's just... Yep, and then the rest echoes with it. 456 00:24:34,260 --> 00:24:35,230 It's just... it's gonna be... 457 00:24:35,230 --> 00:24:37,700 It'll be a haul till like March, probably. 458 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:39,290 Dude, that's a lot. 459 00:24:39,300 --> 00:24:40,860 Holy [bleep]. 460 00:24:40,860 --> 00:24:42,660 Yeah, sorry to bring you down. 461 00:24:42,660 --> 00:24:44,260 How is she holding up? No, man, no. 462 00:24:44,260 --> 00:24:46,060 How is she holding up? How's Chelsea doing? 463 00:24:46,060 --> 00:24:46,960 It's whatever, I mean, 464 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:48,390 like I said, it's good days, bad days. 465 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:53,690 Obviously, there's gonna be, you know, more just milestones 466 00:24:53,700 --> 00:24:57,590 that we know are going to, like, I kinda had a conversation with her. 467 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,060 The next big hiccup is gonna be when you start losing your hair 468 00:25:01,060 --> 00:25:03,090 and the next one's gonna be when you have the surgery. 469 00:25:03,100 --> 00:25:05,090 She's tough as nails, I'll tell you that. 470 00:25:05,100 --> 00:25:07,990 I mean, she's definitely got it in her to beat it. 471 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,460 Hey, maybe that's why for the first time in my life, I've grown my hair out. 472 00:25:11,460 --> 00:25:13,260 Maybe I could donate my hair to her. 473 00:25:13,260 --> 00:25:15,860 -Oh, [bleep], you could. -How long does it have to be? 474 00:25:15,860 --> 00:25:19,990 -[Zee] I think 12 inches. So she's... -So like that... 475 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:21,090 Twelve inches? 476 00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:23,360 -It's huge. [chuckles] -That's huge. 477 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,760 I'd wash it first. It looks like you haven't done that 478 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:27,930 -maybe in a minute. -[Rick] It's been a while. 479 00:25:29,460 --> 00:25:32,160 [bleep] Oh, man. 480 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:35,990 Well, [bleep] dude, that's still... that's a [bleep] lot, man. 481 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:38,090 And I guess that answers the question. 482 00:25:38,100 --> 00:25:40,060 Obviously, it's getting to be that time of year. 483 00:25:40,060 --> 00:25:43,560 I was calling to see if you'd want to come up and hang out for a bit. 484 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,090 The conversation came up and she's all on board. 485 00:25:47,100 --> 00:25:50,090 -So... Yeah. She's putting you first. -Come on! 486 00:25:50,100 --> 00:25:52,090 -Really? -So she said go ahead. 487 00:25:52,100 --> 00:25:53,930 She's like, if Rick needs help, just go. 488 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:56,630 For [bleep] sake, man. 489 00:25:58,060 --> 00:25:59,490 So if you want me, I'll come up. 490 00:25:59,500 --> 00:26:01,890 It'll probably be a little good break for both of us. 491 00:26:01,900 --> 00:26:04,560 I'm sure she's sick of me asking her 20 times a day how she's doing. 492 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:06,600 If she's okay, if she needs anything, so... 493 00:26:07,860 --> 00:26:11,860 That's one generous, selfless broad that you married there, buddy. 494 00:26:11,860 --> 00:26:13,390 I can't even believe that. 495 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:14,260 When do you think you'll need it? 496 00:26:14,260 --> 00:26:15,790 Like, once you start running the plant? 497 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,060 Like, are you still stripping right now or what? 498 00:26:18,060 --> 00:26:21,460 Yeah. I mean, I was thinking, you know, we get done, 499 00:26:21,460 --> 00:26:24,090 get most of the stripping down and get the plant moved down, 500 00:26:24,100 --> 00:26:26,790 and then we'll have to start running the plant. 501 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,590 I always need an extra hand when that happens at the end, for sure. 502 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,390 All right, just... Once it gets a little closer, 503 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:36,930 just give me a little bit of a heads up and I'll come up. 504 00:26:38,300 --> 00:26:40,660 I will do that, man. And please tell her thank you. 505 00:26:40,660 --> 00:26:42,460 And I'll give her a call, too. 506 00:26:42,460 --> 00:26:43,560 But, yeah, if there's anything else 507 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,090 I can do in the meantime, man, you just let me know. 508 00:26:46,100 --> 00:26:47,660 Yeah, no problem. 509 00:26:47,660 --> 00:26:50,460 All right. Thanks for taking the call. 510 00:26:50,460 --> 00:26:52,160 Yep. Love you, bud. 511 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:53,400 -Love you too, pal. -All right. 512 00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:54,730 Bye. 513 00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:58,500 [Rick stammers] I just need a minute. 514 00:27:02,460 --> 00:27:03,900 This is a lot right now. 515 00:27:25,060 --> 00:27:26,560 [Ryan] Look at the front end of this. 516 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:28,460 This is Rick's face every morning 517 00:27:28,460 --> 00:27:32,160 that he wakes up, just confused and doesn't know which direction to go. 518 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:33,760 Luckily, the steering box is fine. 519 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:35,330 He just snapped the tire out. 520 00:27:36,460 --> 00:27:39,090 Broke her good. My guess, 521 00:27:39,100 --> 00:27:42,030 judging by the bend, that should be straight. 522 00:27:45,260 --> 00:27:46,960 And that is not straight. 523 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:48,560 So that's going to cause your weak spot. 524 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:53,460 So I'm hoping when I back up, the wheel will automatically turn itself that way. 525 00:27:53,460 --> 00:27:55,160 Then when I come forward, I don't want to straighten it, 526 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,130 but we'll only let it go so far. 527 00:27:57,760 --> 00:27:59,090 We'll see if it'll drive. 528 00:27:59,100 --> 00:28:00,760 Hopefully, they don't fall. 529 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:03,290 [narrator] Ryan must inch the side by side, 530 00:28:03,300 --> 00:28:07,230 loaded with half a ton of pay dirt onto the trailer. 531 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:10,330 [Ryan] That doesn't sound good. 532 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:18,200 It does not sound happy. 533 00:28:26,500 --> 00:28:27,600 Oh... 534 00:28:29,700 --> 00:28:30,900 [bleep] 535 00:28:34,260 --> 00:28:35,990 Oh! Oh! 536 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:37,130 She's tight. 537 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:40,460 I'm gonna dump this pile of dirt 538 00:28:40,460 --> 00:28:42,360 in front of Rick's door, tell him to get to panning. 539 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,890 Next season's gonna be coming pretty quick. 540 00:28:44,900 --> 00:28:48,160 And you gotta have everything ready to rock and roll. 541 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,500 If we don't have a water license, then there better be a Plan B. 542 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,690 [Rick] The team's making great progress on the cut. 543 00:29:05,700 --> 00:29:07,460 It's going really well. 544 00:29:09,300 --> 00:29:12,560 But, you know, with a small amount of time left till the end of the season, 545 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,760 I just want to get down there as fast as I can. 546 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:20,060 [narrator] In Vegas Valley, the Ness crew are pulling out all the stops 547 00:29:20,060 --> 00:29:23,660 to reach pay, fire Monster Red back up, 548 00:29:23,660 --> 00:29:26,290 and start bringing in gold again 549 00:29:26,300 --> 00:29:28,560 before the end of the season. 550 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,490 But a huge cloud hangs over Rick's mining future. 551 00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:34,390 [Rick] I sunk everything I have from the last 13 years 552 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,860 of doing this into it, and I don't even know if I can come back next year. 553 00:29:37,860 --> 00:29:40,560 I mean, I don't think we'll have an answer this winter, you know, 554 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:44,090 whether or not this water license is going to come in. I mean, I'm putting 555 00:29:44,100 --> 00:29:48,500 plans in place to be up here and just have alternate spots to go. 556 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:56,860 [narrator] Earlier, Rick collected a sample from a potential claim 557 00:29:56,860 --> 00:29:59,990 that could pay out $8 million. 558 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,560 But until the side by side is fixed, he can't process the dirt 559 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:09,260 and find out if the ground is a viable option for next season. 560 00:30:09,260 --> 00:30:11,900 [Ryan] Yeah, that's it. She's back where she belongs. 561 00:30:13,260 --> 00:30:15,760 Now, we'll get her fixed up. 562 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:18,390 If you have the right parts for this thing, we'll get it back up and running. 563 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,500 Get that sample down to the [bleep] gold room and we'll run it. 564 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:28,330 Whoa... 565 00:30:29,700 --> 00:30:31,860 I don't know if this is gonna work. 566 00:30:31,860 --> 00:30:33,090 Luckily, it's not the steering box. 567 00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:34,300 It's just the link. 568 00:30:34,860 --> 00:30:36,600 I know it's not the right side. 569 00:30:38,100 --> 00:30:40,230 [Rick] I'm really hoping this is going to work. 570 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:42,990 [Ryan] It ain't gonna work if I don't start on it. 571 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:44,760 [narrator] Tight on time, 572 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:48,160 Ryan must bush fix the broken steering link 573 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,860 with a part scavenged from an old machine. 574 00:30:51,860 --> 00:30:55,100 [Ryan] Well, that one looks way longer than this one. 575 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:58,030 We'll measure that other one over there 576 00:30:58,030 --> 00:31:01,290 and I'll see what I can do over here with cutting it. I can chop some off. 577 00:31:01,300 --> 00:31:02,800 I could probably re-tap it. 578 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:04,660 [Rick] All right. I've seen enough. 579 00:31:04,660 --> 00:31:07,360 Come on, Danny. This is how I get Danny to exercise. 580 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,830 So the thing walks with her. Go, go! 581 00:31:12,860 --> 00:31:14,400 [barking] 582 00:31:15,060 --> 00:31:16,660 [growling] 583 00:31:16,660 --> 00:31:19,260 If you're wondering what I do every day, this is it. 584 00:31:19,260 --> 00:31:20,160 Play with toys. 585 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:24,190 Oh, boy. Yeah, she's looking a little... 586 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,260 Looking a little jagged up here. 587 00:31:26,260 --> 00:31:27,500 Better get Ryan on it. 588 00:31:27,660 --> 00:31:29,130 [laughing] 589 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,000 [Ryan] One screwed. 590 00:31:43,500 --> 00:31:44,600 Oh... 591 00:31:49,260 --> 00:31:51,260 Bam! That was too easy. 592 00:31:51,260 --> 00:31:52,860 I didn't think it was gonna work, but... 593 00:31:52,860 --> 00:31:53,930 [Ryan chuckles] 594 00:31:58,460 --> 00:32:00,300 All right. How do they look? 595 00:32:01,460 --> 00:32:03,160 Dude, I'm not changing a thing. 596 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:04,390 [Rick] Yeah. Way to go. 597 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:06,600 Ooh, perfect. 598 00:32:07,660 --> 00:32:10,730 We're back in business. Once and for all. 599 00:32:12,060 --> 00:32:14,000 I'll let you back it off the trailer. 600 00:32:19,460 --> 00:32:20,630 [bleep] 601 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,200 [bleep] 602 00:32:24,300 --> 00:32:25,660 Right on my [bleep] toe. 603 00:32:25,660 --> 00:32:26,700 [Ryan] Oh... 604 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:28,530 [bleep] 605 00:32:30,860 --> 00:32:33,830 I don't think he wanted to back this thing up, and I don't want to either. 606 00:32:36,100 --> 00:32:38,000 But, here we are. Okay. 607 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:49,800 Just like that. 608 00:32:52,860 --> 00:32:54,460 [Rick] I think the nail's turned purple. 609 00:32:54,460 --> 00:32:55,890 Got me good. Got me good. 610 00:32:55,900 --> 00:32:57,130 I was just wearing my tennis shoes. 611 00:32:57,130 --> 00:33:01,090 That nail is definitely gonna fall off, it just smashed it. 612 00:33:01,100 --> 00:33:05,590 As soon as this [bleep] toe of mine goes numb, I'll get that pay down there. 613 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,500 We'll run it and see if I got a good option to go to next year. 614 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:12,660 Ready to go? 615 00:33:12,660 --> 00:33:13,660 She's good. 616 00:33:13,660 --> 00:33:18,130 Going down to the gold room. Yeah, ready to go. 617 00:33:28,260 --> 00:33:30,160 Right now I'm bringing this down to Heather. 618 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,460 She does all the work in the gold room for me, 619 00:33:32,460 --> 00:33:37,560 and so she's the one that's going to start processing this and clean it up. 620 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:38,700 See what I got. 621 00:33:41,260 --> 00:33:42,460 I made it. 622 00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:43,990 [Heather] Dirt! From where? 623 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:48,490 [narrator] Rick relies on Heather Folster to clean all of his pay dirt. 624 00:33:48,500 --> 00:33:52,360 This is the dirt from Jeff's new ground, eight kilometers from here. 625 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:54,700 But we've got about a half a yard. 626 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,100 Twenty pails in there, and then there's five more. 627 00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:01,960 I mean, I'll put it through a couple of big screens 628 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:04,990 and then I'll cube it and table it. 629 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,460 So I'm gonna try and keep it as pure as possible. 630 00:34:08,460 --> 00:34:10,090 Okay. For a little bit, I will help. 631 00:34:10,100 --> 00:34:12,990 -[Heather] I'll go get another screen, then. -Okay. 632 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,090 -Let's wash some rocks. -[Heather] Let's wash some rocks. 633 00:34:15,100 --> 00:34:16,800 [Rick] All right. 634 00:34:17,460 --> 00:34:20,490 It'll just take a while for the bigger rocks to go through the screens, 635 00:34:20,500 --> 00:34:23,630 but we'll just kind of give 'em a little bath. 636 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,390 Prospecting is a learning process for all of us. 637 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:28,390 Yes, yes. 638 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,660 Because everyone just falls into gold mining. 639 00:34:30,660 --> 00:34:33,400 -Nobody goes to school for gold mining. -Show me where to dig. 640 00:34:34,460 --> 00:34:36,360 You just end up with a summer job 641 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:38,860 and you're like, "All right, I guess I'm in gold mining now." 642 00:34:38,860 --> 00:34:40,160 [Rick] Heather, how long have you been coming up here? 643 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:42,360 -You and Jason? -This is Jason's tenth year. 644 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:43,530 [Rick] Jason's tenth year, yeah. 645 00:34:43,530 --> 00:34:46,960 But this is, I don't know, my fourth or fifth whole year. 646 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:51,390 When Jason used to work at Parker's and I was there for a season, 647 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:52,690 I liked the gold cleaning. 648 00:34:52,700 --> 00:34:56,700 So I pestered Chris Doumitt into teaching me how to clean gold. 649 00:34:58,360 --> 00:34:59,460 And I really enjoyed that. 650 00:34:59,460 --> 00:35:03,560 So then when Jason came over here to help Rick out, 651 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:05,800 I badgered Rick into letting me clean gold. 652 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:09,360 You have been the most efficient at it, like, by far. 653 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:11,030 Doumitt was a great teacher. 654 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:14,160 And all of the guys here 655 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:17,700 would rather sit and spin in a circle in an excavator all day long. 656 00:35:18,260 --> 00:35:19,990 Which I think would be tedious. 657 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,360 [grunting] 658 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:25,160 But they're like, "No, I'll do that all day." 659 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:26,300 And I'm like, "Okay." 660 00:35:26,860 --> 00:35:28,300 I feel like a river otter. 661 00:35:34,300 --> 00:35:36,190 -All right. Cool. -Thanks, buddy. 662 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:37,990 [Rick] Yeah. 663 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:42,160 It's not a glorious job. There's not a whole lot of glorious jobs out here. 664 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:44,660 I mean, it just wet. It's dirty, but it's a very 665 00:35:44,660 --> 00:35:46,590 important part of the system, right? 666 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,360 So, you know, she's gonna find out how much gold is in that sample, 667 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,290 and she can potentially save us from making a big mistake, 668 00:35:52,300 --> 00:35:54,260 or we're making a very good decision, right? 669 00:35:54,260 --> 00:35:56,860 It's all going to be dependent on what she finds there, 670 00:35:56,860 --> 00:36:00,500 which direction we go, and so, yeah, that makes it very important. 671 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,690 This right here. This thing's badass. 1987 Toyota Hilux. 672 00:36:16,700 --> 00:36:18,860 It was just sitting in the woods on the property here, 673 00:36:18,860 --> 00:36:22,360 so I popped the hood on it and we threw some jumper cables to it 674 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:24,160 and the [bleep] thing fired right up. 675 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:25,890 Let me get the garbage out of here maybe. 676 00:36:25,900 --> 00:36:27,390 Don't shoot the garbage, 677 00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:29,330 Because I barely fit in the damn thing. 678 00:36:30,300 --> 00:36:34,290 Major, major stereo system in here. 679 00:36:34,300 --> 00:36:35,630 Bluetooth, of course. 680 00:36:36,500 --> 00:36:38,260 Filthy seat. 681 00:36:39,660 --> 00:36:42,360 I don't want to imagine how many farts have been absorbed in this seat... 682 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:46,130 but lots. It's already really dirty, so I don't have to worry about... 683 00:36:47,100 --> 00:36:48,590 getting it dirtier. 684 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:50,700 It's got a healthy set of nuts on it right here. 685 00:36:52,260 --> 00:36:54,860 And I clipped this little flag to it because it makes me 686 00:36:54,860 --> 00:36:57,000 feel like the President when I'm driving. 687 00:36:58,300 --> 00:36:59,890 Shall we look under the hood? 688 00:36:59,900 --> 00:37:02,600 It's got a prop rod, 500 pure horsepower. 689 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:06,300 Don't need that anyway. 690 00:37:14,660 --> 00:37:16,130 [Ryan speaking] 691 00:37:20,100 --> 00:37:23,460 [narrator] In Vegas Valley, the Ness crew are racing 692 00:37:23,460 --> 00:37:26,600 to strip overburden and get down to pay. 693 00:37:27,860 --> 00:37:29,500 [Ryan speaking] 694 00:37:32,660 --> 00:37:36,360 Hopefully, you know, we get to the bottom of this eventually here. 695 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:40,560 Until all this muck is gone, we're going to have more and more fun. 696 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:42,600 It just never ends in this cut. 697 00:37:44,100 --> 00:37:48,590 [Kyle] Rick's prospecting, just in case we don't get our water license for next year. 698 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:50,030 Hopefully, it's good enough. 699 00:38:01,700 --> 00:38:03,360 [narrator] In the gold room... 700 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,960 So far, this clean up's looking okay. 701 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,690 Feels like it's probably bad luck to make guesses. 702 00:38:09,700 --> 00:38:13,830 ...Heather Folster cleans the pay from the Goldfinger prospect. 703 00:38:15,500 --> 00:38:17,460 This is the shaker table. 704 00:38:17,460 --> 00:38:21,290 Then we'll just put a little scoop in and let it go. 705 00:38:21,300 --> 00:38:23,960 So after we screen it down to certain sizes, 706 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:29,260 then the fines go on the table here, it oscillates and bounces. Heavy fall down. 707 00:38:29,260 --> 00:38:32,560 The gold stays up in the grooves, and then that's... we just dry it. 708 00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:36,090 [narrator] With no water license yet for next season, 709 00:38:36,100 --> 00:38:41,090 the future of Rick and his crew rests on the results of this test. 710 00:38:41,100 --> 00:38:42,530 Right now, it's a bit worrisome. 711 00:38:42,530 --> 00:38:46,290 It would have been really nice if we could have just stuck with a nice, 712 00:38:46,300 --> 00:38:51,100 well known producing cut instead of now having to go chase something else. 713 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:53,600 It puts pressure on the next spot. 714 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,160 [narrator] At the end of the day, Rick brings 715 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:07,860 his whole crew together for the prospecting results. 716 00:39:07,860 --> 00:39:11,360 This is how we stay warm when we watch our outdoor movie theater. 717 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:13,590 You're gonna want to step back a couple of feet. 718 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:14,860 -[flames whooshing] -[Ryan laughs] 719 00:39:14,860 --> 00:39:16,090 Fire! 720 00:39:16,100 --> 00:39:18,230 Give it a couple of minutes. It'll be real hot. 721 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,390 Heather cleaned up that sample from Jeff Bond's ground today, 722 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:23,500 so I'm gonna kind of show 'em what I got out of that. 723 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:26,290 What's up, dudes? 724 00:39:26,300 --> 00:39:29,600 Another fun day of cleaning up my broken [bleep] that I leave behind me. 725 00:39:30,100 --> 00:39:32,190 That was... that was fun. 726 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:35,760 We needed to [bleep] make a radius rod. 727 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:37,760 -And we did. -Yeah, yeah, yeah. 728 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:39,190 You saved us a lot of time. 729 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,590 I pushed that thing. 730 00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:43,760 [Heather] It was a lot of dirt. It was very heavy. 731 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:45,860 Well, out of the woods with that. 732 00:39:45,860 --> 00:39:49,090 -You were a little over your pay capacity. -[Rick] Yeah. 733 00:39:49,100 --> 00:39:52,990 I think that is about half of what one of your rock trucks can hold. 734 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:54,530 That was in the back of that. 735 00:39:55,100 --> 00:39:55,990 [Rick] Well, you know... 736 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:57,460 Well, you've seen that little mini hoe. 737 00:39:57,460 --> 00:39:59,860 Why is it my next new baby? 738 00:39:59,860 --> 00:40:02,160 Dude, I'm telling you, man, I had a good time on it today. 739 00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:04,160 -Did ya? -[Rick] Moved some dirt. 740 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:05,490 Big man on a little toy. 741 00:40:05,500 --> 00:40:07,260 [Rick] Yeah, yeah. How was the cut looking today? 742 00:40:07,260 --> 00:40:09,890 [Bailey] Good man. Loading trucks, moving hard. 743 00:40:09,900 --> 00:40:11,490 Everything's going wonderful. 744 00:40:11,500 --> 00:40:12,890 [Rick] That's what I like to hear. 745 00:40:12,900 --> 00:40:14,330 Anyways, how's that gold? 746 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:17,460 I mean, I've got it here in this jar. 747 00:40:17,460 --> 00:40:21,760 [narrator] For Rick to mine the Goldfinger claim next season, 748 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:26,860 he is looking for $30 of gold a yard. 749 00:40:26,860 --> 00:40:30,390 You know, Jeff was saying that there's just not a lot of overburden. 750 00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:34,860 It'd be worth it. But it came out to over 20 bucks a yard 751 00:40:34,860 --> 00:40:37,200 and that... I'll be honest with you. 752 00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:39,400 I'm not too interested in it. 753 00:40:46,700 --> 00:40:49,690 If you want to pass that around. 754 00:40:49,700 --> 00:40:53,090 -[Rick] Nine bucks out of... -I didn't bring my glasses. 755 00:40:53,100 --> 00:40:54,090 [Ryan] That's part of testing, man. 756 00:40:54,100 --> 00:40:57,230 That's, yeah, and that's why we tested it, right? 757 00:40:58,360 --> 00:40:59,530 I want you guys to know that, 758 00:40:59,530 --> 00:41:01,990 I mean, I am looking and that there are options out here 759 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:03,290 'cause I want you to come back. 760 00:41:03,300 --> 00:41:05,660 At the end of the day, I'm gonna make sure that we've got a spot 761 00:41:05,660 --> 00:41:07,260 for all you guys. I want you guys all back 762 00:41:07,260 --> 00:41:08,560 and I want to make sure that we're always going 763 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:10,560 to be on the best gold that we can find. 764 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:12,290 There's gonna be options out there. 765 00:41:12,300 --> 00:41:14,090 -[Bailey] Thanks, man. -[Jason] Yeah. 766 00:41:14,100 --> 00:41:15,360 Yeah. 767 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:16,360 We got your back. 768 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:17,700 [all laughing] 769 00:41:18,760 --> 00:41:20,260 [Rick] I know you guys got my back. 770 00:41:20,260 --> 00:41:21,330 I got you guys' back, too. 771 00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:23,630 [Ryan] Cheers! 772 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:25,500 [all] Cheers! 772 00:41:26,305 --> 00:42:26,592