Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue - Season 4 Episode 9 -
Monsoon Millions
Monsoon Millions
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00It's been a struggle since we started.
00:07The monsoon season is here.
00:09We're getting shut down every day just about right now.
00:11There's not a time in the monsoon season where we're not shut down because of lightning.
00:16Last year, the rivers were about flowing.
00:18Everything was gone.
00:22It was a catastrophe for us, completely at the start of it.
00:25It's dangerous out here, and it's not adding up.
00:29Not running enough yardage, not catching the gold.
00:31Our investors want at least 20 ounces.
00:33To show them this was not a complete failure.
00:36We're on a ticking time clock.
00:39Let's make some gold, guys.
00:44Freddy Dodd.
00:45There's no guarantees in gold, buddy.
00:48And Juan Ibarra.
00:49All right, well, let's do it, huh?
00:51Have mastered the art of getting gold out of the ground.
00:55Look at that.
00:56In the most rugged places on earth.
00:59I'm feeling a little sick, Freddy.
01:01Now, they rescue struggling miners.
01:04That's not good.
01:05Who've risked it all to be rich, but are about to lose everything.
01:12Eyeball.
01:13To revive these failing mines, Freddy and Juan engineer the impossible.
01:18Well, I've never heard of an undersleuth before.
01:21Deliver some hard truths.
01:23This material you're digging now is totally worthless.
01:27And track down the gold.
01:29That's what dreams are made of right there.
01:30But if they don't at least double the miners' gold recovery, they won't take a dime in return.
01:37That's 10 times the amount of gold.
01:40That's awesome.
01:41That's pretty cool looking, huh?
01:55Definitely a neat old building.
01:56I heard it was the oldest town in Arizona, back when it was part of Mexico.
02:00Imagine all the early explorers coming out here and there was nothing here whatsoever.
02:04People traveled all over looking for gold.
02:06They left their homes, left everything they loved to help their families out and do what
02:11they could to try to make a living.
02:12Kind of like the miners we help.
02:15Freddy and Juan are 11 miles from the Mexican border, en route to the Kennedy Mine.
02:23With investment drying up, the mine needs to turn a profit this year or face a shutdown.
02:29We've been in Arizona before in the past, Fred, and it's always a tough go here with
02:33the heat, lack of water and everything else.
02:35But, you know, there was good gold here at one time.
02:38Yeah, there's probably more good gold down here than other places.
02:43Gold was first discovered here 200 years ago, when Spanish settlers staked claim to the
02:49land during the Pima Revolt.
02:51But the hostile desert heat, followed by months of monsoon rains, meant only the hardiest
02:57of miners braved these harsh conditions.
03:00This is it, Juan.
03:06We're here, Fred.
03:09We're here.
03:10Howdy.
03:11How's it going?
03:12Nice to meet you, Juan.
03:13Robert.
03:14Nice to meet you, Robert.
03:15Matt.
03:16Matt.
03:17Nice to meet you, George.
03:18George.
03:19Nice to meet you, George.
03:20We are so happy you guys came out.
03:21Man.
03:22Texan George Kennedy, a gas and oil worker by trade, started mining part time in the
03:26desert four years ago, when his business fell on hard times.
03:31I've been here in business for about five years, and natural gas prices fell really
03:36bad.
03:37Gold's pretty much been my hobby.
03:40Sold my oil and gas company, started looking online, trying to find a good piece of property
03:44to be able to mine.
03:46We looked down here in South Arizona, and we did a lot of prospecting, and this property
03:51here tested pretty good, as high as .800 of a gram per yard, and it had a lot more material.
03:58It's got a lot of good potential.
04:00Once we bought our equipment, got the ponds in place, we're out of money.
04:05We're mining, but it's just not enough to even pay the bills.
04:09What kind of yardage are you guys running, about 10 yards an hour or so?
04:12Oof.
04:13We're seven right now.
04:14Okay.
04:15Well, do you have any of the gold that you recover?
04:16Yeah, it's pretty fine.
04:18No real nuggets to speak of.
04:20How are you guys doing for the season so far?
04:23About seven, so far.
04:26How much do you guys have invested in your gold mine here?
04:30With us and small friend investors and stuff, I would say probably an 800 grand.
04:35Oof.
04:36It's not a bank you borrowed from then, it's friendly.
04:38Yeah.
04:39And we all have not made any money.
04:41What's the sense of urgency now?
04:42Why'd you call us now?
04:45We need 13 ounces.
04:47We have four weeks to pay back to investors before we have to shut down.
04:53It gets to a point where you've got so much money and time and blood and sweat and tears
04:58involved in it that, you know, we're in.
05:01We've got to go until we can't go anymore.
05:03About you, Matthew.
05:04What brought you out here?
05:05Friendship.
05:06You know, Noah and George working together in oil field.
05:10And I ran my big mouth one day, said, hey, you ever need a hand?
05:14If it doesn't make dollars, it doesn't make sense.
05:16That's it.
05:17Well, look where you're at, though.
05:18It's beautiful out here.
05:19Not quite.
05:20Just weather's so unpredictable.
05:22Weather's been shutting us down just almost daily.
05:26Monsoon season kind of rolls in.
05:28All the pay's wet.
05:29It's hard to work with.
05:31Rain material's thick.
05:32It just really slows our process down.
05:35Yeah.
05:36First two years we were here, it didn't hardly rain at all.
05:38Super dry.
05:39And then the third or fourth monsoon season, it was pretty bad.
05:42Wiped our ponds completely out.
05:43Had to start over.
05:45It was really kind of catastrophic for us.
05:49Arizona's monsoon season typically lasts four months, beginning in June.
05:55Moist tropical air collides with dry desert heat, causing sudden heavy rain, thunderstorms,
06:01lightning, and flash floods.
06:03Oh, no.
06:04Bro, we might have problems.
06:06This sudden intense rainfall is unable to absorb quickly into the ground.
06:11Rivers move with enough force to rework topsoil and rocks, creating gully washers.
06:18Soil previously lodged in hard-to-get places moves downstream to create new deposits.
06:26If we really start getting a lot of monsoon or rain, then that can be the call for the
06:30season.
06:31Yeah.
06:32Kind of what you're saying is if you don't get it turned around now, you guys are done
06:36mining here.
06:37Exactly.
06:38This is your last season.
06:39There's only one way to get started.
06:40Let's do a four-hour test run, see how much gold we get.
06:43With the threat of monsoon season looming over them, Freddy and Juan set a four-hour
06:48test run to replicate half a working day and determine how much gold they recover.
07:01Want to start your timer?
07:03First bucket.
07:04There it is.
07:06Using a backhoe, Robert feeds pay dirt through grizzly bars to remove large rocks.
07:12Next, a conveyor transports the pay to a vibrating screen where water jets free the gold-bearing
07:18material.
07:19Finally, a rotating trommel releases the fines, and a 14-foot-long sluice box traps gold in
07:27the riffles.
07:28What are your thoughts on that grizzly track?
07:30It's going to wipe out the radiator and other things on that backhoe.
07:34After about four or five buckets, that's going to have quite the mountain.
07:39A rock pile in front of the hopper prevents the backhoe loading the plant.
07:44Matt needs to clear them by hand before they can continue.
07:48There's problems there, that's for sure.
07:50Definitely good to have Freddy and Juan here to see how we do things.
07:54Surely it could be better.
07:56Cousin Robert joined forces with George in 2019.
08:00We both watched Gold Rush and basically fell in love with it.
08:04It's all fun and games until you see the first gold, and then it starts getting real.
08:09You know, we just want more.
08:11Grizzlies are loaded, I'm about to take another stoop.
08:17You know, over here on that screen, Fred, seems like it's got a little bit of a choke
08:21point, huh?
08:22Yeah, there's some problems inside of there.
08:25Jammed rocks prevent the screen from clearing, and precious gold reaching the trommel.
08:31Periodically, you've got to give it to Hope.
08:36Watch.
08:37The rocks are sharp, it's not smooth.
08:42That hasn't been reworked much at all.
08:44Doesn't look good at all.
08:45We don't know how much gold's in the ground.
08:48They probably have more fine gold than what they think they have.
08:52You know, different kinds of gold like different situations.
08:57To me, for the gold that they showed me, we might have an issue here.
09:02We'll have a look, eh Juan?
09:04Yeah.
09:06Yeah, there's some fine in there.
09:15Yeah.
09:16That was only a quarter of a pan.
09:18There's definitely an issue there.
09:25Looks like that storm pushed out a little bit north, but still got some weather to the
09:29southwest.
09:30Yeah, I'm scared of keeping an eye on it.
09:32We'll just have to watch it.
09:34Keep an eye out for lightning, George.
09:37Hadn't paid any money back to investors since day one.
09:41They're ready to start sending some kind of money back.
09:44Everything's on the line right now.
09:50Last bucket?
09:51Last bucket.
10:04Test run complete.
10:06Exactly.
10:07Four hours.
10:08George and his crew powered down, ready to clean up the gold.
10:13There's a little bit of color up there.
10:15A lot of fine stuff, you know.
10:17Yeah.
10:18Well, you guys get her cleaned up and we'll go think about it and we'll get back with you.
10:23That'll work, man.
10:24Sounds great.
10:25Be awesome.
10:26Sounds good.
10:27See you guys in a bit.
10:28Appreciate it, man.
10:30There's a bunch of things on every side of that plant that are causing it to lose some gold.
10:36So if we can get most of those fixed in the time that we're here, we're going to get them a lot more gold.
10:46We need to go. We need to go.
10:48Thank God it's right at the end of our test.
10:53Just got to beat that wash.
10:54When this starts flowing, we won't be able to get out of here.
10:57A flash flood in the wash will cut off the only exit from the mine.
11:03If the crew don't leave now, they'll be stranded.
11:07Let's go.
11:13Hopefully when we come back, all our ponds ain't washed out.
11:27No.
11:33Well, let's see what it is.
11:34Moment of truth.
11:38Hey, guys.
11:39How's it going?
11:40You got the gold all cleaned up?
11:42Got a little bit.
11:43Yeah?
11:46Not a whole lot, huh?
11:47No.
11:48Eleven miles from the Mexican border, in the southern Arizona desert,
11:52mine boss George Kennedy and his Texan crew gather for the gold way.
11:58Well, let's see what it did.
12:00All right.
12:02George must recover half an ounce a day in four weeks to pay investors before they could pull the plug.
12:13.14
12:14.14
12:15.14 ounces.
12:17Half what they need in each four-hour run to reach their goal.
12:23Is that normal?
12:24Like for four hours?
12:25Yeah.
12:26Yeah, that's pretty much what we've been getting.
12:27How many yards do you think you're in?
12:29Right there at seven yards an hour.
12:32At this rate, in the remaining four weeks,
12:35the part-time crew would still be more than six ounces short of their 20-ounce target.
12:42The good news is there's gold there, so...
12:44Every speck counts.
12:46Well, and the other thing is, too, while we watched you guys run,
12:48you know, we did notice quite a few things that we can do to help you guys improve,
12:51with the material going through the plant and then also on the recovery as well.
12:54Mm-hmm.
12:55There's a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
12:57Well, if we could double that...
12:58Oh, man.
12:59That would be awesome.
13:00That would be amazing.
13:01I'm not saying we can.
13:02Well, we're sure going to try.
13:04Yeah.
13:05In some situations, it's not possible.
13:06Right.
13:07Right.
13:08Let me and Juan put our heads together, and we'll go from there.
13:11Yep.
13:12All right.
13:13Thanks, guys.
13:14All right.
13:15Thanks, Jim.
13:16Let's go talk about stuff, huh?
13:17Let's do it.
13:18I want to help George and Robert.
13:20They're a good group of guys, but I feel like I'm obligated to have to come out here right now.
13:25Now I hear we're two and a half years, going on three,
13:29and it's like there's not going to be a three for me.
13:34It's hard to see a big future, you know, with a small gullway like that.
13:38We've been throwing money at it left and right,
13:41and quite a bit concerned about how much it's going to cost to fix the issues that they suggest.
13:47It's very, very nerve-wracking.
13:56Well, what do you think?
13:58The biggest problem we're going to run into is ground.
14:00It just was not good.
14:02Let's hope we can do some things for them.
14:04You know, we can't put gold in the ground.
14:11I think one of the big things is that feeder, right?
14:14And all those rocks going back.
14:16They're going to take out that radiator on that backhoe.
14:18So I think we put a chute on there and get those rocks off to the side.
14:22Yeah.
14:23And, you know, if we could fix some of the stuff in the sluices,
14:25if we could get that screen where they're not losing material and gold, then it's all going to add up.
14:30What I want to do is get that eccentric working properly.
14:32Put some more weight on it.
14:33Yeah.
14:34What if we weld some chains on there going down?
14:36Yeah.
14:37And they're going to pop up in the air, and they're going to go side to side, right?
14:40Hopefully try to clear some of that material.
14:42I don't know if we'll get it to where they can get 20 ounces,
14:45but I guarantee we can get them more gold.
14:47Here you go, guys.
14:48Oh, awesome. Thank you.
14:49Thank you very much.
14:50See you next time.
14:52Let's get out of here.
14:55Where'd you order me?
14:56Oh, you'll be surprised.
14:57How come you always get your pick today?
14:59You're going to love it.
15:03Freddy and Juan have found three main problems with the Kennedy plan.
15:07First, the backhoe, which loads the pay, is under fire from falling rocks,
15:13risking costly stop downs for the operation.
15:16Juan will attach a chute in front of the hopper to catch falling debris
15:21and safely divert them away to the side.
15:24Next, the shaker screen isn't vibrating enough, so rocks build up and jam.
15:30Freddy will add weight to the existing eccentric below to make it vibrate harder.
15:35And in a rescue first, install chains above to pound the jammed rocks free
15:41of the gold-bearing material.
15:43Finally, Freddy and Juan will extend the sluice to 18 feet,
15:48replace the mats, and install their signature riffles to catch more fine gold.
15:56But if Freddy can't find better ground to run, all of the fixes will be for nothing.
16:03How you doing, guys?
16:04Hey, Juan.
16:05Hey.
16:06Yeah, you know, when we watched you guys run, we noticed a few things
16:09that we can definitely help you guys improve on.
16:11One of them, that screen is getting jammed up.
16:13It's actually kind of limiting how much material you can run through the plant.
16:16So if we can get that to clear properly, do it on its own without you having to
16:19out there babysitting it and breaking it.
16:22And then, situation you're in, you can't afford a radiator for your backhoe, right?
16:25No, not quite.
16:26So we're watching you yesterday have to get up there and throw those rocks
16:29out of the way, right?
16:30Yeah.
16:31So if we put a chute on the front of that feeder, the rocks are going to chute
16:34out there and you'll be able to just pick them up with the backhoe.
16:36Oh, man.
16:37Nice.
16:38Yeah.
16:39Then on top of that, what we want to do is actually extend your sluice box
16:41and reconfigure your riffles in it as well.
16:43Exactly.
16:44Put some fine gold riffling in there and a carpet set up for fine gold in there.
16:48Yeah.
16:49And maybe if we ran that first test, it's not good enough.
16:51Maybe we can find something better.
16:53Yeah.
16:54That would be a dream.
16:55Yeah.
16:56We understand your guys' financial situation, and both Freddy and I have been
16:58very blessed in a lot of different ways.
17:00So what we want to do is we want to do our labor for free.
17:03If we don't double the amount of gold you get, we'll throw in the material as well.
17:08Yeah.
17:09We're looking at about $1,500.
17:10It's all on your little plant.
17:11You guys good with that?
17:13Man, that is awesome.
17:14Absolutely, man.
17:15You guys being out here on our site and the experience that y'all bring is invaluable to us.
17:21100%.
17:22I really appreciate y'all.
17:23All right.
17:24All right, guys.
17:25Thank y'all so much.
17:26Deal.
17:27Deal.
17:28Thank you, brother.
17:29All right.
17:31All right.
17:32The deal that Freddy and Juan came up with couldn't come at a better time.
17:33You know, we have a lot of investors to pay back.
17:35They could possibly save us.
17:38With just five days to increase the Kennedy's gold haul and under the constant threat of a storm shutdown,
17:45Freddy and Juan dive in.
17:47Well, let's start on this shoot, huh, Juan?
17:50Eight foot right here to the edge.
17:52That's going to take up a lot of steel.
17:54Yeah.
17:56Freddy got me to clean the shaker deck off for him without plugging off.
18:00This could really help him run more material.
18:02Well, we've still got a lot of work to do to the plant.
18:06During the first test run, this was their main choke point.
18:09That screen fills up with rocks, and it's not allowing that gold-bearing material to get down into the trommel to get washed.
18:15It slowed them way down.
18:17The solution, find a way to keep the screen clear and increase their production and gold recovery.
18:23Here you go, sir.
18:24Oh, yeah.
18:26You're welcome.
18:28I'm going to weld these chains in that top shaker deck to try to help knock rocks out of the screen,
18:34because in theory they should bounce up and down and go back and forth on there.
18:39So we'll try it and see what it does.
18:42When the hopper vibrates, Freddy's innovative chain fix will unblock the screen by pounding the rocks,
18:48moving them into the tailings pile below, a first for mine rescue.
18:58Thank you, sir.
18:59Yes, sir.
19:03Well, I've welded two chains on the screen, so as it vibrates, they'll do a dance
19:07and keep that material moving down or through and knock those rocks out of there.
19:12It improves efficiency and takes away a person standing there with a rake,
19:16having to rake those holes out.
19:18That person could be doing something else, digging pay or whatever around the mine.
19:23Hey, guys.
19:24You got a second?
19:25It looks like we probably have a rainstorm coming this afternoon.
19:29In southern Arizona, Freddy and Juan are in a race against the elements to complete their rescue mission.
19:36I got to start cutting.
19:37Let's shoot.
19:38Let's shoot.
19:39Let's shoot.
19:40Let's shoot.
19:41Let's shoot.
19:42Let's shoot.
19:43Let's shoot.
19:44Let's shoot.
19:45Let's shoot.
19:46Let's shoot.
19:47Let's shoot.
19:48Let's shoot.
19:49Let's shoot.
19:50Let's shoot.
19:51I got to start cutting.
19:52Let's shoot.
19:53Yeah.
19:54You guys can help us down at the plant.
19:55We'll go down and pull that eccentric out.
19:58They were doing seven yards an hour the first test, so if they can get it turned up some more
20:02and getting the eccentric shaking harder and fixing their wine gold sluice, every little thing adds up.
20:08In the cut trailer, Juan designs a tailing chute to protect the backhoe.
20:14Right now, when the material falls off the grizzly, it's coming forward, hitting the front of the backhoe.
20:19By putting this little chute in front, it'll catch that material.
20:22It won't hit the backhoe, and it'll actually slide off to the side,
20:25so we don't have issues with it later on down the road.
20:32A 25,000-degree beam of plasma makes easy work slicing through the quarter-inch steel.
20:43What's going on?
20:44Hey, buddy. How you doing?
20:49Are you married?
20:50Yes, sir. I sure am.
20:52What does your wife think about you being out here?
20:54She's trying to hopefully it works out, and it's worth all the time being away from family and stuff, you know?
20:59Yeah. And you got a couple little ones?
21:01I got three.
21:02Yeah? What ages?
21:03Nine, 10, and 11.
21:05That's always a killer, man, the time away from home and the kids.
21:09I work full-time to make sure I've got enough money to pay for my kids' school
21:15and take care of the bills at the house and also support this.
21:21We've already spent money we didn't have for, you know, college for the kids.
21:27I have definitely no retirement plan or anything like that.
21:30It was a lot of sleepless nights.
21:33Wife Tasha and their three sons live a thousand miles away in Texas.
21:38We're just trying to provide something, some kind of future for our family that's sustainable.
21:44We want to set up our children to be able to take care of themselves further in the future.
21:50If the gold mine doesn't work out, I just, I don't even want to think about that happening,
21:57because it would be absolutely heartbreaking.
22:01It really sounds like you got everything into this.
22:03Everything I got.
22:04Yeah.
22:05I do.
22:06Got to make it work.
22:07Yep.
22:08There's no, oh yeah, no way other than fixing and getting it going right now.
22:19Well, I guess we could start working on these.
22:22At the wash plant, Freddie revamps the eccentric vibrator to help clear the screen from debris.
22:29Right now, the way it's running, it's plugging itself up, which slows them down.
22:33Essentially, the counterweight makes a spinning shaft uneven.
22:37So you've got all the weight on one side, so when it comes up, it makes the screen throw up,
22:42because the weight's going up, and when it's going down, it pulls it down.
22:45So that causes the vibration in the screen.
22:49Add some more weight to it, and that's going to add some more unstability.
22:53The goal is to help get more production through that plant.
22:57We want it out of balance, but we want these welds in balance.
23:03There you go.
23:08Did you do any gold stuff before coming out here?
23:10No, sir.
23:11No?
23:12This is my very first experience with any of it.
23:14Grew up in a machine shop, worked in an oil field for 25 years.
23:19Never any experience whatsoever.
23:23The first pan I did for the first time, me and George came out here prospecting.
23:27Oh, is that right?
23:28Yeah.
23:29And there was gold in it.
23:31Uh-oh.
23:33The very first pan I ever did had some gold in it, so it was on from there.
23:36Yeah.
23:38My first trip down here, while we're prospecting, I'm like, hey, there's freaking gold here.
23:42This is a real deal.
23:44I'm like, okay, yeah, I'm on board.
23:46Let's make a go at it.
23:47Let's do this.
23:48Let's do this.
23:50And, yeah, it takes money, especially at startup, with equipment and the claims and all of that.
23:55Pitch in a couple thousand here.
23:57It just got to the point where, okay, I'm part of it.
24:00Any extra money that I had, this became where it went.
24:04By now in the hundred grand range, that's me personally.
24:09You don't want to walk away from that kind of money.
24:13Watch your fingers.
24:14Watch your fingers.
24:17You got a wife and kids back in Texas?
24:19Yes, sir, I got a wife.
24:21We've been married 25 years.
24:23How many kids you have?
24:24One, a daughter.
24:25She's 22.
24:26I have a daughter that's 22, too.
24:29We all work at our garden center every day.
24:32Okay.
24:33So, when I'm out, they have to pretty much take the load, you know?
24:37I leave the hallway.
24:39She's behind me 100%.
24:41But the emotional strain of me and my wife being apart for extended amounts of time is real.
24:46Money's not everything.
24:48But, you know, we started something we want to finish.
24:53Just can't see anything in there.
24:59Let's see if it's clear.
25:01Okay, it's hitting on this side.
25:09Let's fire it up.
25:10Okay.
25:11Ready?
25:12Yep.
25:15Oh, yeah.
25:16We got it shaking harder now.
25:18It wasn't as easy as it should have been.
25:20It's one of those 15-minute jobs to install that took an hour and a half.
25:25We don't have any extra time here.
25:27We're here.
25:28We'll help these guys the best we can, and then we've got other miners to help.
25:39Hey, Wano.
25:40Getting there, Bridge.
25:41The counterweights are done, but that lightning's hitting pretty close.
25:45It's right there, and it's less than five.
25:48Are we done?
25:49We need to get you away from that metal.
25:51Lightning kills 24,000 people every year.
25:56But those who survive usually face a lifetime of neurological damage.
26:02With a striking distance of over two miles,
26:05lightning could hit the claim at any moment.
26:09We don't want to be welding in there.
26:10Nope.
26:11We don't like pulling out, but I think this is one time we need to.
26:14I think you're right, Fred.
26:15I think we need to call it.
26:16And it's getting close, close.
26:18It is.
26:20Everything we're working on is all steel.
26:22It's always an issue when we start running into weather like this.
26:28It's going to be hard to finish this build, Freddy, because of the lightning.
26:31Yeah.
26:35I know.
26:59You know, it's a real simple chute we built.
27:01At the Kennedy Claim in Arizona,
27:02Freddy and Juan are a day behind after a lightning storm forced them to shut down.
27:08This is going to be able to get that material off the end of the grizzly,
27:11off to the side, so that way we're not worrying about it hitting the front of the backhoe
27:14or creating a pile of material here in front.
27:16While Juan finishes welding the chute,
27:21Hey, George, time to go prospecting and see what's out there.
27:24Detective Dodge goes on a treasure hunt to find high-grade pay.
27:29The stuff you're running has never been reworked by nature.
27:33With no dump truck, George uses the backhoe to dig pay 40 yards from the wash plant.
27:39Over millions of years, one piece of gold at a time gets into the stream systems,
27:43then they concentrate up.
27:45And what we're running here, it's a lot of angular rock that had never been reworked.
27:48What we're looking for in a gold-bearing area is rounded rocks that have been reworked,
27:53because that concentrates your gold like a sluice box.
27:55Just got to find where it's got concentrated.
28:00So I like this better.
28:02The rocks are more rounded, right?
28:04Yeah. This will flood.
28:06Oh, I can see that, yeah.
28:15Look at this guy, he's moved a long ways for this desert, right?
28:19Right, right.
28:21So it's nice and smooth. This one's fairly smooth, but the rounded edges, right?
28:25Right.
28:27You know, you can't cut yourself on any corner of these.
28:29A lot of those rocks where you're digging over there, you could shave with.
28:30Yep.
28:34This wash here, your best gold is most likely on bedrock in here, because it's been reworked.
28:41Down in the bottom, that's nature's sluice box.
28:43I know the sides are virgin.
28:45This could be really good right here.
28:47Yeah.
28:49Freddy's hunch? The best gold has been concentrated by monsoon rains into this old creek gully.
28:56They say if there's gold on the surface, there's going to be gold down deeper.
28:59True.
29:01All right.
29:03Let's go pan it, huh?
29:05Yep, sounds good.
29:10Well, let's see what's in it, George.
29:17Holy ****.
29:19Look at that, right on the surface.
29:21Look at those.
29:23Some nice pieces, too.
29:25That's exciting.
29:27I say, for the next test, if you can get a dump truck in here, then run it and see what comes out of it.
29:33This may be your future.
29:35Yep.
29:37Gold was way better here, but we've got to find a way to get it to the plant.
29:39Hopefully, we can find a dump truck.
29:42After Freddy's successful hunt for better gold, Juan doubles down on the wash plant fixes.
29:49Right now, we're building a custom sluice box for them.
29:51The old sluice is too short, and they're losing gold because of that.
29:53I'm going to build a 10-foot sluice box with new gold riffles, new mats, and carpets.
29:58That way, we can increase their gold recovery.
30:00Hey, what's up, Juan?
30:02Hey, Matt.
30:04These ribs keep the bottom from warping.
30:06If you've got a swell on the bottom, you're just going to blow gold out.
30:08Yeah.
30:10Matt, he's been out here for the last few years, helping them out for free.
30:12But the lack of gold, the lack of success, is putting a lot of strain on him.
30:16I'm hoping this helps him out dramatically.
30:18I know he has a big choice ahead of him, whether he's going to come back or not.
30:20So, how's your relationship with the guys?
30:23Anytime you're involved in a project that's stressful, and you're around your friends, it can be tense.
30:32You know, nothing can ruin a friendship quicker than finances.
30:36That's why we ask for your help.
30:38Yeah.
30:40I got a little knowledge of gold mining family in the past.
30:43So, I said, George, hit me up.
30:45I can run heavy equipment, weld, do everything, mechanic, whatever.
30:47And so, that's how it started out.
30:50It was a mistake.
30:53I don't get paid at all.
30:56It would be nice if this were my full-time deal, and still have the time that I want at home with the family.
31:05It's nice to see all these pieces coming together, you know.
31:09Hopefully, with what we've got going on, we'll be able to get you guys a little bit of a break.
31:12I hope so, too, man.
31:26Well, there's our dump truck.
31:28Oh, nice.
31:30Looks like George came through on that.
31:32After a crash course in prospecting, George gets to work on a new project.
31:38After a crash course in prospecting, George gambles $300 hiring the only dump truck in town.
31:46If Freddy's right, running pay from the New Creek Gully could save their season.
31:52How's it going?
31:54We're out of time here, and we've got to get some material moved over there.
31:57Let's get them loaded.
31:59Make sure it has gold in it.
32:00In one day, the dump truck can haul 90 yards of material, over three times what they will need for the second test.
32:17That feels awesome, seeing a dump truck pulling here with our pay.
32:21It's normally been one yard at a time.
32:23It's going to help us get a lot more material moved faster.
32:26Well, we'll get this sluice loaded up and get it down there.
32:29At the entrance to the claim, Freddy transports the sluice.
32:34Well, things are coming together, but we're still behind.
32:50Can we spin it around now?
32:56Perfect.
32:58Loose-loose.
33:08We've been getting shut down by thunderstorms on this monsoon every day, and they're calling for more lightning this afternoon.
33:19How's it going, guys?
33:21Did you get all the pay hauled?
33:23Yes, sir.
33:25Let's start up, huh?
33:27Sounds like a plan. We're ready to rock.
33:31After five days, Freddy and Juan have transformed the Kennedy wash plant,
33:36adding chains and weight to the eccentric vibrator to clear the pre-wash screen,
33:41increased the sluice to 18 feet, installed mats to catch fine gold,
33:47Hey, George, when do you start loading this box?
33:49and finally built a tailing chute under the grizzly bars to safely divert rocks away from the backhoe and prevent delays in running pay.
33:59First bucket, Juan.
34:01Here goes.
34:03All right, just started it.
34:06Looks like the rock chute's working good.
34:14Good?
34:15Yeah, way better.
34:20The screen is vibrating perfectly.
34:22Never watched you guys scrape at one time now.
34:25No.
34:26Remember before you were over there with a rake?
34:27No need.
34:29Here, check that out.
34:33Material's coming out clean.
34:37The sluice feels really good.
34:39I kind of feel what those ripples are doing, and every one of them feels great, so I'm happy with it.
34:45What do you think of your new sluice?
34:47Oh, awesome, man.
34:49I've been watching y'all build this stuff for four years.
34:52Finally.
34:58Well, that looks pretty good, Juan.
35:00If we can't push a little harder, we can't double their gold reduction.
35:03Well, these guys are trying to scrape out a living here, right?
35:05Yeah.
35:06So we need to switch gears now, and hopefully that kind of works out.
35:10Let's do it.
35:11Running seven yards an hour, George won't make his 20-ounce target.
35:16Turn it up a little more.
35:19So Freddy wants to crank up the yardage to nearly double.
35:24All right, we're rolling now.
35:35I can't get in my cooler to get my lunch.
35:37It's dripping water.
35:38There's a pack of bees.
35:39If I don't stop the water from dripping, the bees are never going to leave.
35:42I'm slightly allergic to bees, but I'm also slightly allergic to not eating lunch.
35:48If you see me holler and then haul ass, you know I got stung.
35:53Oh, ****.
35:56They're going to get me.
35:59Well, it looks like Juan's sharing his lunch.
36:10I think the beard's been really just running smooth.
36:14Yeah, this trough looks good.
36:16Should save us a lot of time on cleaning up and stuff.
36:19The Kennedy crew are near the end of their second test run.
36:23We've got our hopper feeder turned up at 12 yards an hour, which is crazy.
36:28We've never ran that much yardage per hour, so this could be a big game changer here,
36:33just from the yardage alone.
36:35Super excited.
36:36Last bucket?
36:38Yeah, sounds good, man.
36:40Run it four hours.
36:43Hey, Matt, that's the last bucket.
36:48I'm excited to see what the weigh is.
36:56Well, the box looks pretty decent, but you never know until you weigh the gold,
37:00so if you guys want to pull the mats, you can.
37:02We'll get it weighed up.
37:04Sounds good.
37:05Thanks, guys.
37:06All right.
37:07Heck yeah.
37:08Thank you all.
37:09See you in a bit.
37:26It's been a lot of time and a lot of money spent to get to this point,
37:29and hopefully that all these changes that Freddie and Juan have done
37:34will get us to where we need to be, where this stuff will start paying off.
37:38I'm excited to see if the changes that we've made
37:42are going to be what it takes to keep this thing moving.
37:47Morning.
37:48Morning.
37:49Got it all cleaned up, huh, guys?
37:51Yep, sure did.
37:55Well, it looks pretty decent.
37:57Well, it looks pretty decent, guys.
37:59For four hours?
38:00For four hours, it looks really good.
38:01Yeah.
38:03What was the first weigh, Fred?
38:050.14.
38:060.14, huh?
38:07Well, there's 0.14 right there, guys.
38:10And look how much gold's left in that pan.
38:12Wow.
38:13The Kennedy crew need 0.25 ounces to have any chance of reaching their 20-ounce gold,
38:20but if Freddie and Juan don't see at least 0.28 ounces,
38:24they lose their double or nothing wager.
38:28There's double right there.
38:29Yeah.
38:370.61.
38:390.61.
38:40Wow.
38:41That's awesome.
38:42Right on, guys.
38:43Heck, yeah.
38:46Worth over $1,150, the Kennedy crew quadrupled their gold recovery.
38:54So, a combination of the yardage, the fixes to the plant, and much better ground.
39:00Now, that ground's a big step in the right direction, right?
39:02Absolutely.
39:03And you got miles of that.
39:04We're hoping 10, 20, 30 percent.
39:05I mean, look at us now.
39:07It's ridiculous.
39:09I'm going to have a smile on my face for quite a few days after this one.
39:12Running eight hours a day over the next four weeks, they could haul in over 29 ounces,
39:18more than enough to keep their gold mining dream alive.
39:21You guys want to be able to pay back your investment,
39:23actually be able to make a little bit of money out here instead of it just being a boy's trip.
39:26Right.
39:27And that's going to make it a possibility.
39:29My heavy weight's been lifted off my shoulders.
39:32We may actually have a future in this now.
39:34First, get a dump truck, and there's your down payment.
39:36And if you get your yardage up even more,
39:39you're pushing probably $3,000 a day, $1,000 a piece.
39:43Awesome.
39:44The guys were genuinely concerned about their ability to stay out here and mine.
39:47Now going from what they had before to what we were able to get them,
39:50you know, this is more than just a possibility.
39:52This could actually be their future.
39:54Well, I couldn't be happier with that second test than I am right now.
39:57They're happy.
39:58I've seen Matt smile finally.
40:00So it must be good.
40:03You've got miles of creek.
40:05So with your small plant, you're going to have to push it.
40:07And when you get enough money saved up with your ground you've got, get a bigger plant.
40:11That'd be a dream.
40:12And yeah, if we keep doing this right here, I could see that happening.
40:15I can't thank you guys enough.
40:17Well, you're welcome.
40:18It's been a learning experience, and we all needed that.
40:22Gentlemen, it was a pleasure.
40:24Absolute pleasure.
40:25All right.
40:26Thank you all.
40:27Good working with you guys.
40:28Now that we've seen more gold, I'd love to continue doing this.
40:32You know, it's an adventure.
40:34Next season's on, for sure.
40:36This may free us up from a little bit more family time with the kids,
40:39which is very important.
40:40We've been waiting on this day for a long time.
40:42We can actually produce some gold and, you know, follow our dreams.
40:52Hey, Freddie and Juan.
40:53Thank you guys so much.
40:54See all the fixes y'all have done.
40:56The virgin ground that you found us, it's holding up pretty good.
40:59We've done some more prospections from the north side.
41:00The numbers are holding up.
41:02We bought the dump truck.
41:04We're moving material seven times faster than we were before.
41:07We're doing a little fine tuning with the sluice box here and there.
41:09Everything's moving pretty good.
41:10We're doing a little fine tuning with the sluice box here and there.
41:11Everything's working good.
41:13Our biggest cleanup so far is an ounce and a quarter.
41:16It's crazy to see that much gold in a sluice box.
41:18We've met our 20-ounce target, for sure.
41:21We're sending money back to our investors,
41:23and it definitely won't be very long until Matt, myself, and Robert
41:27start actually making some money.
41:29So we really appreciate all the help y'all did.
41:31The sky's the limit.