- 6/28/2025
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00:00One of my favorite sayings is, if you can't do it, just try harder.
00:10I've been mining here for 10 years.
00:13I'm pretty proud of what I've built for somebody that's self-taught.
00:17There's definitely gold in the ground here.
00:19But a few years back, we were totally shut down over permitting issues.
00:24Since we've been up and running again, we've been having so many breakdowns because of the older equipment.
00:36I'm one of the only miners in the area who has jigs, and there are no experts around to help me.
00:42I'm sure we're losing gold.
00:44I'm over $250,000 behind.
00:48I really need Freddy and Juan's help here.
00:50This is all I got.
00:54Freddy Dodge.
00:56I'd rather have gold in the bank than gold in the mountain.
00:58And Juan Ibarra.
01:00Not bad for built in the field.
01:01Want to make you rich.
01:03It turns your dream out here into a reality.
01:07In the past five years, the value of gold has doubled.
01:11There's a $3,000 nugget right there.
01:14But rookie miners find it more elusive than ever.
01:19If we don't recover more gold, then we could lose everything.
01:22But there is hope.
01:25Miracles, they do happen.
01:27To turn desperation into fortune.
01:30Freddy and Juan have one week.
01:32What you just did, this genius.
01:34To deliver a golden payday.
01:36They have a future, and they know what they need to do.
01:38I've never been in this part of British Columbia before, Juan.
01:55Yeah, from the looks of it, if we get lost on this road, we can go for hours without seeing anything.
01:59But one thing's good.
02:02I'm feeling better.
02:03Roger that.
02:05Well, you know, we're a couple weeks after my little health scare.
02:09I was actually a little nervous that I was having a stroke.
02:11I ended up having a really bad ear infection that went viral.
02:14And it caused Bell's palsy.
02:16You know, unfortunately, I still can't move the right side of my face.
02:20But physically, I feel great.
02:21And it'll be something I can get over.
02:23So I might as well get back to what I love to do, and that's being out with Freddy and helping people.
02:30Freddy and Juan, journey through the Canadian wilderness, headed to the remote Perron Mine,
02:37where mine boss Dan Perron and his family work their 1,800-acre claim off the banks of the historic Fraser River.
02:48So what do we know about Dan, Freddy?
02:50Well, he's been mining up here for quite some time.
02:54Now he's on the Fraser River, huh?
02:56Yeah, on the Fraser.
02:58Historically, the Fraser River has produced a lot of gold.
03:01That's broke a lot of people as well, Juan.
03:05In 1858, the discovery of gold in the Fraser River saw over 30,000 gold seekers flood the region.
03:13Over the next nine years, they recovered more than 1.6 million ounces of gold, worth $3 billion in today's money.
03:23It's one of the bigger operations we've helped.
03:28Yeah, for sure.
03:29Yeah.
03:30Looks like it.
03:30How's it going?
03:32How we doing?
03:33Dan, I assume.
03:34I'm doing way better now with you guys here.
03:36Well, hello.
03:37I'm Juan.
03:37Nice to meet you.
03:38It's been an awesome pleasure.
03:39Brad.
03:40Brad.
03:40Pleasure, Brad.
03:41So how long have you guys been mining out here?
03:43We've been mining here for, well, this is our 10th season.
03:47Really?
03:47What's your role here, Brad?
03:49I come down and help out when I'm in between jobs.
03:52Kind of help out wherever I can.
03:54Give him a little bit of a break when he needs it.
03:57Okay.
03:58What do you do, Wendy?
03:59I do all the paperwork, all the books, pay all the bills.
04:02We have the gold room, and Mike do the final clean-up.
04:05Yeah.
04:06Trying to do the best we can, but I think, and I hope you guys think too as well,
04:10that I kind of built something pretty half-decent for no training, no help, or anything like that.
04:17Ten years ago, Dan gave up his job in logging to pursue his dream of being a gold miner.
04:25A big Pan American jig.
04:27A lot of people probably thought I was crazy to let go of what I'd already had built up before and try something new.
04:34I visited a friend of mine that had a gold mine.
04:38Just, I got the fever.
04:40So, yeah, I got gold fever pretty bad.
04:42After buying a gold claim in southern British Columbia, Dan built his wash plant from scratch.
04:49Oh, I love doing what I'm doing.
04:52This is just my dream, and everything was going so well.
04:56But in 2022, misfortune struck when a clerical error saw Dan's mind shut down by the local government.
05:08This shutdown was financially and mentally just devastating.
05:13Like, I was in a pretty dark place for a long time.
05:16It took him two years of fighting, but finally, he managed to get his permits back.
05:21After two years of sitting idle...
05:26Oh, it's so frustrating.
05:27What happened?
05:29That plug again?
05:30Yeah!
05:31...Ben's wash plant is now plagued with problems.
05:34We've been having so many breakdowns with, you know, older equipment.
05:38We end up running into a lot of problems with the jigs, plugging up the hoses.
05:42I've never had somebody really guiding me or learning from anybody else, just trying to figure it out.
05:49But I've got a lot of money borrowed.
05:52I'm under huge pressure to get everything paid off.
05:55This has to work.
05:56I got no backup plan.
06:00That shutdown was just unbelievable.
06:03But my mom and dad and my son helped me out financially.
06:08So you borrowed some money to keep going, is what you're saying, when you were shut down?
06:11Yeah, we had no other choice.
06:12Yeah, yeah.
06:13We borrowed over $250,000.
06:16Wow.
06:18That's a lot.
06:19Yeah.
06:20How much gold have you gotten out of the ground here?
06:22Before the shutdown, we were averaging close to 200 ounces a year.
06:28Really?
06:29Yeah.
06:29Yeah.
06:30So what's your goal for the season?
06:31Right now, to try to get caught up with everything that we're behind on.
06:35And I'd sure like to see 250 ounces.
06:38Wow.
06:40That's a big goal.
06:41Yeah.
06:42Oh, I know.
06:43How far along are you right now?
06:45I have to talk to my secretary.
06:47Probably about 60.
06:48Really?
06:49Yeah.
06:50Since we've been up and running again, we're struggling to get caught up.
06:54So we need to get about another 190 ounces.
06:58And how much time do you have left?
07:00We only got about eight weeks left.
07:02Wow.
07:02In two months, Dan will need to hit four ounces a day to reach his target.
07:09What's your gold look like here?
07:11Fine?
07:11It's pretty fine.
07:12Actually, I have some.
07:15It's pretty gold, huh?
07:16Yeah.
07:17Yeah.
07:17That's what Fraser River is famous for.
07:20Fine gold.
07:22So this your plant, huh?
07:23Yeah.
07:24This is what we're working with.
07:26Yeah.
07:26You got a lot of stuff going on here.
07:28A lot of stuff.
07:29You got some jigs?
07:30Yeah, I love my jigs, but they're getting really old.
07:34Are you relying on your jigs as your primary recovery source?
07:37Yes.
07:38Okay.
07:39Dan's wash plant includes two jigs, which do a similar job to a shaker deck.
07:45A combination of water, pulsing movements, and gravity encourage the heavier gold to drop down into the catch pans below.
07:53You got a primary jig there.
07:55That's correct.
07:56Yeah.
07:56And then the concentrated material comes down here into this smaller jig?
07:59Yes.
07:59And then over the smaller jig into that sluice.
08:02Into that sluice.
08:02Are you catching much gold in that sluice?
08:04We're getting gold, but I need more of it for sure.
08:06Yeah.
08:07Well, let's do a four-hour test run and see what we see.
08:10You betcha.
08:12Fire it up.
08:13Fire it up.
08:43Fire it up.
08:44Fire it up.
08:45Fire it up.
08:46Fire it up.
08:47Fire it up.
08:48Fire it up.
08:49Fire it up.
08:50Fire it up.
08:51Fire it up.
08:52Fire it up.
08:53Fire it up.
08:54Fire it up.
08:55Fire it up.
08:56Fire it up.
08:57Fire it up.
08:58Fire it up.
08:59Fire it up.
09:00Fire it up.
09:01Fire it up.
09:02Fire it up.
09:03Fire it up.
09:04Fire it up.
09:05Fire it up.
09:06Fire it up.
09:07Fire it up.
09:08Fire it up.
09:09Fire it up.
09:10Fire it up.
09:11Fire it up.
09:12Fire it up.
09:13A jig uses the density difference between gold and worthless dirt to separate the precious
09:21mineral.
09:23Paydirt is washed through a layer known as ragging, made up of small rocks and metal
09:28ball bearings, which are vibrated on a screen that allows the denser gold to be freed and
09:36drop into the hutches below.
09:40The gold-rich material then passes through a small hopper and is collected in another
09:45smaller jig, while the fine gold is caught in a sluice.
09:54Well, one thing's for certain on, you might have the world's record for hoses.
10:02Yeah.
10:03You know, he's overcomplicated a scenario that should be pretty simple.
10:07You know, one thing that can be said about jigs is that they're decent at dealing with
10:12different types of pay, but also inconsistent peeve.
10:15That's for sure.
10:16What happened?
10:21The water should be coming out of there faster, so I think something is jammed up in there.
10:27Yeah.
10:28What happened, Fred?
10:29Oh, his pipe's plugged up there.
10:30Hey, Dan!
10:31How bad is it?
10:32Shut everything down!
10:33Hey!
10:34What happened?
10:44Oh, I got a rock or something jammed in that pipe.
10:51At the Paran mine, just 10 minutes into the first test...
10:55It's happened before.
10:57...a blocked pipe from the hopper to the jig stops the operation.
11:02We quite often lose time like this here.
11:05We get rocks at where the hose kind of narrows down, they get plugged up right in there.
11:11That screen and that jig's probably opened up, so that's why he's getting some bigger material
11:18through.
11:19Oh, yeah.
11:20Dan's primary jig at the top of his plant is over 50 years old.
11:24Any time you get a surge of material in there that can't flow through that pipe, it'll get
11:28clogged up.
11:29Yep.
11:30Juan suspects the screen is worn, which allows rocks from the ragging to fall through, plugging
11:36up Dan's pipe below.
11:37Yeah.
11:38That's better.
11:39Got it?
11:40Yeah.
11:41There was a rock in there, too.
11:44It's embarrassing to have something that small, a rock, shut the whole thing down.
11:51The small stuff is what's killing us.
11:54It's just so frustrating.
11:56They're ready?
11:57Yes.
11:58Fire it up, Brad.
12:00Fire it out already and it only started 10 minutes ago.
12:17We need to do something about that sluice box because it doesn't have any riffles.
12:25Those mats there, you know like I know, there's no storage there for any material.
12:30I agree.
12:31Without riffles to help trap the gold, Dan is probably losing precious material out of
12:37the end of his sluice.
12:38What do you think, Juan?
12:39Last bucket?
12:40Last bucket, huh?
12:41For exactly four hours right now.
12:42Hey, Dan, you want to holler at him, last bucket?
12:43Okay.
12:44I'll clean this one up.
12:46Dan starts to clean the mats from his sluice box.
12:59I'll clean this one up.
13:11Dan starts to clean the mats from his sluice box,
13:14which tilts to one side for a quicker cleanup.
13:17Let's go pan this real quick.
13:19While Juan pans the tailings to see if the primary jig
13:22is losing gold.
13:29There's a bunch of fine gold in there.
13:39There's quite a bit of gold in there.
13:40Oh, I don't want to look, man.
13:44That's.
13:44Look at all that.
13:45Wow.
13:47You know, for one little pan.
13:49Oh, yeah.
13:50100 colors in here.
13:51There's way too much to be losing.
13:53I sure as hell didn't think I was losing that much.
13:57That should have never been lost.
14:01You guys want to get everything cleaned up?
14:02Then what we'll do is meet up with you guys
14:04tomorrow at the gold room.
14:05Yes.
14:05And then we'll see what we got.
14:07That's great.
14:07Thank you so much.
14:08OK, we'll see you in the morning.
14:09You betcha.
14:10Sounds good.
14:11All right.
14:11Awesome.
14:14They're going to help us.
14:14I know they will help us.
14:27How's it going, guys?
14:31Hello.
14:32Hello, ma'am.
14:33Hello.
14:34I'm Juan.
14:35Nice to meet you, Juan.
14:36Nice to meet you, too.
14:38At the Perron's Gold Room, Dan's mom, Roland,
14:42helps clean the concentrate from the test run.
14:45So do you help Dan quite a bit here in the gold room?
14:47A fair amount.
14:48Yeah?
14:49Yeah.
14:50We all work together.
14:51Well, that's good.
14:51And that's, which is the nice part, you know.
14:54One nice thing is I know I'll never get fired.
14:59So Dan was saying that when he got shut down,
15:01you came to his rescue financially to keep the mine,
15:03huh?
15:04Yes.
15:05He works very hard.
15:06Yeah.
15:07There's no two ways about it.
15:08He doesn't get much sleep or much rest.
15:11Yeah.
15:12And I love my son, so I always say if he needs something,
15:15well, here it is.
15:16I've got it.
15:17That's a beautiful thing.
15:19Sometimes it's very tough, but like he always says,
15:23I don't know what I would do without you.
15:26Well, you're a great mom.
15:28I love it.
15:29That's a good answer, Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr.
15:32Mr. Mr. Mr.
15:33Moment of truth, huh?
15:34I'm pretty nervous.
15:35Weigh it up, Owen.
15:36Okay.
15:37For Dan to hit his 250-ounce target.
15:44There's an ounce.
15:45There's an ounce, yeah.
15:46The Gold Whey must deliver at least two ounces.
15:501.16.
15:51It's definitely shy of what we're going to need, for sure.
15:53If Dan continues to run at this rate, he'll face a shortfall of over $180,000 by the end
16:10of the season.
16:11Oh, I need some help.
16:12You know, honestly, when Freddy and I watched the plant run, you know, we did notice a few
16:16things that we can improve on, so.
16:18Okay.
16:19Yeah.
16:20One of myself will go put our heads together and see how we can help you.
16:23I sure appreciate it, you guys, so much.
16:25No worries.
16:26All right.
16:27See you in a bit.
16:28See you in a bit, guys.
16:29Thanks so much, you guys.
16:30You bet.
16:31I sure need more than not to be able to survive, but there's still a long ways to go.
16:34You know?
16:35Well, then also get back to a life.
16:36I mean, we've sacrificed, like, a lot of things, because all we do is work.
16:40We just can't keep going with more losses.
16:47What do you think, Juano?
16:50You know, he took a process that should be simple and overcomplicated it.
16:53Yep.
16:54So, basically, what we can do, leave his jigs the way he has them, because he likes them.
16:58And they are working.
16:59They are.
17:00But they are losing some gold.
17:01Yep.
17:02So, I think that'd be a good opportunity to work on that jig and put new screens in.
17:05I agree.
17:06What I'm thinking, too, you've seen where he plugged up that pipe coming out of the hopper
17:09off the jig.
17:10Oh, yeah.
17:11Right?
17:12We built a small sluice box instead of that pipe from the hopper over to his little jig.
17:16You know, and right now, off of those jigs, he already has a sluice box.
17:20Yeah, but it's pretty worthless.
17:21Yeah, the mats are all ruined and warped.
17:25So, what I'd like to do is actually build him a good sluice there.
17:27Yep.
17:28And then we're going to have another sluice box over here.
17:30Okay.
17:31Underneath this jig here.
17:32So, basically, that's really going to focus on that pine gold recovery that he's losing.
17:36Yep.
17:41To stop Van's discharge pipe, which runs into his secondary jig, from clogging,
17:47Freddy and Juan will replace it with a larger pipe and small sluice.
17:54To prevent gold from being lost, the primary jig will be upgraded with a new grate and screen.
18:04Dan's sluice is losing fine gold.
18:07Freddy will replace it and add new carpets and his signature riffles.
18:12Finally, they'll install another sluice off the end of Dan's primary jig to maximize his gold recovery.
18:23How bad is it?
18:24Well, it's not terrible, but there is definitely a few things that we want to do.
18:28Okay.
18:29One, that sluice box that you have right now that's coming off those smaller jigs.
18:32Yeah.
18:33We want to replace it.
18:34Okay.
18:35Yeah.
18:36Get something in there that can hold gold.
18:37Okay.
18:38Getting that material that's coming off your big jigs.
18:40Yeah.
18:41Going the other direction and then putting a sluice under it.
18:43Okay.
18:44But, you know, we were down for 10, 15 minutes to clean that little pipe out.
18:47Yeah.
18:48So what we want to do is put a bigger discharge port and then we're actually going to put that into a small sluice run that goes on top of the jig.
18:55Okay.
18:56So instead of that pipe that's plugging up on you.
18:58Okay.
18:59And one of the other things that we saw is the bottom of your jig or screen.
19:02It's leaking a lot of material.
19:03Oh, yeah.
19:04And a bunch of rocks.
19:05So we're going to fix that screen.
19:07That's something we're going to try to address as well.
19:09Oh, that sounds great.
19:10But, you know, with everything we talked about, we're looking at about $4,000 in materials.
19:17Then we'd like an ounce of gold a piece.
19:23That just covers our cause.
19:26Not a problem, boy.
19:28That sounds just awesome.
19:29We'll deal then.
19:30Unbelievable.
19:31I got faith in you guys, for sure.
19:33Well, we'll see you in the morning.
19:34Oh, you don't know how good that makes me feel, man.
19:37See you in a bit, guys.
19:38Thanks.
19:39Thanks.
19:40I know those guys know what they're doing and they'll get her done.
19:44Hopefully, it'll make a huge, huge, huge difference.
19:57How's it going, Juano?
19:58Good, buddy.
19:59How are you feeling?
20:00Not good.
20:01No?
20:02In British Columbia, it's the first full-build day of the Paran rescue.
20:06I'm a dizzy one.
20:08But there's a problem.
20:09Yeah, I don't feel good at all.
20:11Okay.
20:12My headache and nauseous.
20:13Yeah.
20:15My blood sugar's really messed up.
20:17I'm not trying to let you down, buddy.
20:19No, no worries.
20:20Your health is first.
20:21Go see your doctor right away, Fred.
20:23All right.
20:24Sorry, man.
20:25Nothing to be sorry about, Freddie.
20:26Thank you, buddy.
20:30Freddie wouldn't mind me saying this, but he was diagnosed with diabetes and it's been a battle for him.
20:36I know Freddie has the greatest intention in the world and he was reluctant to go, but it's the right decision.
20:42Go home and take care of yourself, buddy.
20:44Really.
20:45Bye, Freddie.
20:46Bye.
20:48You know, being down without Freddie is tough.
20:52It's a lot more weight on my shoulders and it's going to be a lot more work than I anticipated.
20:57But fortunately, Brad and Dan are really good at what they do.
21:00So they're able to help.
21:01We're going to do the best we can.
21:09How are you this morning?
21:10Oh, could be better.
21:14Freddie ended up going home this morning.
21:16Oh, really?
21:17Yeah, he wasn't feeling good at all.
21:19You know, he was so sick that he had to leave.
21:21Yeah, I know.
21:22I'm glad that he's on his way home.
21:24Yeah, yeah.
21:25No, it's just the right call.
21:27But we've got a boatload of work to do.
21:30We're going to have to kind of divide and conquer.
21:31Put us to work.
21:32Put us to work.
21:33Okay.
21:34Brad, if you could go down there and start removing that grate.
21:37Dan, we're going to start cutting some stuff out for the jig?
21:39Yeah.
21:40Okay, I like that.
21:41Let's go, guys.
21:42Yeah.
21:46Missing a couple pieces in there.
21:50At the wash plant, Red prepares for one's new grate and the steel screen which will keep the ragging from falling through and clogging the jig pipes.
22:00This is a pretty old piece of equipment.
22:03Part of it's made out of wood.
22:05As you can see in here, with these starting to droop down, starting to get holes in here.
22:11So rocks go down through the jig and that plugs up our hoses down below.
22:15Causes big downtime.
22:17So hopefully we can get this fixed properly so we don't have to do this again.
22:30Do you mind if I watch?
22:31Yeah, come on in.
22:32Don't get scared and fall off.
22:34Yeah.
22:36At the cut trailer.
22:39Yeah, that's cool.
22:41Juan uses his plasma cutter to build a new steel frame for Dan's jig.
22:47Redoing the top jig grate with steel.
22:51That'll make a big difference because it still has the original wood grates in it.
22:57So this will recover more gold.
23:00A 25,000 degree jet of plasma slices through the four gauge piece of steel.
23:07That is nuts.
23:09I absolutely cannot believe what this thing does.
23:14That man is better than watching TV.
23:22We just cut the grates out for the jig right now.
23:26The grates that he has, they're made out of wood and they're all rotted out.
23:29So by doing this, ultimately it's going to help with his gold recovery.
23:34So we'll get them welded up and get them down there and get them installed.
23:42Let's get those pieces.
23:44Bring it in towards me just a little bit.
23:46There you go.
23:48All right.
23:52Perfect.
23:53No, none of that.
24:00Unreal, man.
24:01I get lucky every now and then.
24:02Oh, yeah.
24:03Don't me, man.
24:06All right.
24:07Let's do the ends first.
24:08Just like a puzzle.
24:10This means so much.
24:12What this will do for us just rekindles the hope that we can make it work.
24:16These upgrades will make all the difference in the world.
24:19Yeah, you were shut down for a couple of years though, huh?
24:22Yeah, yeah.
24:23And how was that for you?
24:24Oh, it buggered me up so bad mentally and stuff like that.
24:28I'm sure it felt like everything was ripped away from you.
24:30Oh, well, it was.
24:31It was taken away and didn't even know whether I was going to be able to get going again.
24:35And it just put me so far behind.
24:38It was just unbelievable.
24:39We're trying to catch up.
24:41And I got to thank my family for bearing with me through some really dark times.
24:47I didn't like myself.
24:49Yeah.
24:50For a long time.
24:51Yeah.
24:53A $2 million investment plus mounting bills increased the pressure.
24:59Financially, this shutdown just about put me under.
25:04On the verge of losing everything, Dan's parents stepped in,
25:09keeping up payments on machinery while Dan couldn't mind.
25:13Mom and Dad helped me out huge financially.
25:16But Dad passed away a few years ago.
25:21Yeah, I sure wish Dad was here.
25:32I know he was really proud with what we're doing.
25:35He helped me out so much and I can't quit thinking about him too and miss him.
25:46I'm pretty sure he'd be proud of me.
25:50It's just so hard to think how far behind I am right now.
25:58We'll make her too stubborn to quit.
26:04You know, I'm healing somewhat, but it's going to take a while.
26:07Yeah.
26:08You know, before I'm back to normal.
26:10Well, I'm really hoping with what we've got going on here,
26:13it's going to help you get in a better headspace.
26:15Yeah, I got so much hope for that.
26:17And, you know, now like even just having you guys here,
26:20trying to give me a hand to get going again means so much to me, man.
26:24Well, it's a pleasure being here with you for sure.
26:26Yeah.
26:27But yeah, let's get these put together and we'll get them down.
26:28Right on.
26:29Thanks, Juan.
26:32It's been a battle for them.
26:33All the work we're doing here at the end of the day is to help Dan.
26:36And we're really hoping that the improvements we do here
26:38are going to be able to help them pay off some of those bills,
26:41his mom, his son, and really make this mine profitable.
26:45How'd this come out?
27:01Good.
27:02It looks good.
27:03Yeah.
27:04I mean, the cuts you made on there is just unbelievable.
27:06At the Cut trailer, Juan and Dan have finished the new grate for the jig.
27:11You're going to get down there and install this?
27:13Yeah.
27:14And put the screen in and put this on top.
27:16Well, I'll see you in a bit.
27:17I'm going to get started on these sluice boxes.
27:18But if you need anything, come up and get me.
27:20You betcha.
27:21Thanks, Juan.
27:26While Juan begins building Dan's three new sluice boxes.
27:31We're installing these new stainless steel screens to replace the old rubber mats.
27:37Is that the right way?
27:38I think so.
27:43Perfect.
27:44Dan and Brad install the new screens and grate into the jig to stop clogging and improve their gold recovery.
27:52You ready?
27:53Yes!
27:54Yes!
27:57So now we're going to drop the new top rack in.
28:08Turn.
28:09That's all I got, son.
28:12Okay.
28:13Let it out.
28:14Okay.
28:15It's so great to have my son here giving me a hand.
28:18And I sure appreciate him helping me out.
28:21Come down for a second.
28:24Back that way.
28:26Down.
28:27Okay.
28:29Perfect.
28:31I'm starting to see a little bit more of a future down here at the mine.
28:37Especially after Freddy and Juan have been here.
28:41Fits like a glove.
28:43Perfect.
28:45Dad does not stop.
28:47He goes and goes and goes all day.
28:50He doesn't take breaks.
28:51And I think my dad deserves to have this mine produce what it should be, not losing the gold that we are.
29:00Will that pay the bill?
29:01It'll be so great to see my parents get back on their feet, be able to pay off the debts and be able to actually start enjoying life a little bit more.
29:13I'm definitely worried and I got to just try to look out for them.
29:17There you go.
29:21Fill it back up.
29:23New grate installed.
29:25Dan and Brad refilled the jig with small rocks and ball bearings, which helps separate the gold from the tailings.
29:33I'm so super excited to see what we're going to get after the modification.
29:39When you start seeing that gold coming out, man, it does something to you.
29:44Okay, that was a big job.
29:47Well done.
29:51How are we doing, guys?
29:52Okay.
29:53That looks good.
29:54All right.
29:55I got the big sluice box almost done.
29:56Oh, I can't wait to see that.
29:57And we're getting ready to weld the tops on it.
29:59But the pressure's still on.
30:00We still got a lot to do.
30:01Yeah.
30:02We'll get some good rest tonight because tomorrow's going to be a big day.
30:04Yeah.
30:05All right, gentlemen.
30:06Well, thank you.
30:08See you in the morning.
30:09Thanks, man.
30:10Thanks.
30:11So this would have been a lot of work if Freddie and myself were here and we were 100%.
30:14And that's not the case.
30:15Freddie's not here and I'm not 100%.
30:17And it's still the same amount of work.
30:20Hopefully we get it done.
30:21Oh, wow.
30:22Hey, guys.
30:23Good morning.
30:24How are you doing this morning?
30:25Good.
30:26Finished welding on these sluice boxes.
30:27Oh, those look so good, man.
30:28That's just awesome.
30:29So what I'd like to do is get these boxes on the truck and down to the plant.
30:31You bet.
30:32You're clear over here now.
30:33Yeah.
30:35You're clear over here now.
30:36Yeah.
30:37Oh, wow.
30:43Hey, guys. Good morning.
30:45How are you doing this morning?
30:47Good. Finished welding on these sluice boxes.
30:49Oh, those look so good, man. That's just awesome.
30:52So what I'd like to do is get these boxes on the truck and down to the plant.
30:56You bet.
30:58You're clear over here now, yeah.
31:02To prepare for tomorrow's test run...
31:05Pull your back end this way a little bit.
31:07The team will install Juan's new sluice boxes,
31:10which will catch any fine gold the jigs miss.
31:15We built three sluice boxes,
31:17so all the gold that's recovered is going to be gold that they would have lost.
31:20So we got quite a bit done in the last few days.
31:23We still got a ton to do.
31:24We got to get down there and get everything installed.
31:27Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to get this plant running.
31:32They're home, Juan.
31:33Awesome. Made it in one piece.
31:35Yeah.
31:37So we'll get everything installed and get this plant running.
31:39You betcha.
31:41Juan's plan?
31:43Install his three new sluice boxes to streamline Dan's overcomplicated wash plant and recover more gold.
31:52Okay, so you want me up top then?
31:53Yep.
31:54Good to hook it?
31:55Yeah, go ahead and hook it.
31:56First, they install the new steel sluice off the end of the primary jig.
32:01Almost.
32:02To increase their recovery by up to 20%.
32:05That's good right there.
32:09There we go.
32:09So we're running out of time, guys, and I hate to do this, but I'll finish this up.
32:14If you guys want to help me, I'll start pulling that old sluice off.
32:17Perfect.
32:17That little one.
32:17If you guys want to get going on that, that'd be great.
32:19I'll finish this up.
32:20We're on it.
32:21To be ready in time, Juan finishes welding the new primary sluice.
32:26While Dan and Brad cut out the old one.
32:31Got to get it done.
32:33Nothing wrong with a little pressure.
32:37It gets the adrenaline rushing.
32:42Coming at you.
32:43Okay, turn a little bit.
32:46You're good.
32:47You're good.
32:49Ah, it's way better.
32:51Second sluice done.
32:53It's probably one of the smallest sluices we've ever built.
32:56Really?
32:57It's a really cute little one.
32:58The team installed the final mini sluice.
33:02This is where I had the problem with the first test when my hose was plugged.
33:08This fix will stop material getting clogged between Dan's hopper and small jig.
33:14A little further down.
33:15There you go.
33:16Oh, that looks great.
33:17You guys got a lot of work done, and I definitely appreciate all the help.
33:20I'll see you in the morning then.
33:21You betcha.
33:23You know, I'm a little nervous.
33:26You know, we got a lot going on here.
33:27We made a lot of changes.
33:29But I'm really hoping it's going to be a big improvement.
33:31Because at the end of the day, Dan and Brad, they need the big improvements.
33:34But ultimately, we don't know until we actually run and do the cleanup.
33:37Well, not only do Freddy and I have our own trucks and trailers on the road, we have a crew that runs with us.
33:50And unfortunately, they're terrible drivers, and they always hit rocks.
33:54So we get stuck with repairing their tires for them.
34:02You know, we're out in the middle of nowhere, so you got to improvise.
34:07But it works.
34:09Ian, here's your tire back.
34:11You can put it on yourself.
34:12Next time, don't hit rocks, okay?
34:13Thanks, Wong.
34:14You ready?
34:24Yeah.
34:28Bucket number one of our final four-hour test.
34:32At the Perron Mine in British Columbia.
34:36That's the first bucket right there.
34:38Moment of truth.
34:39With Freddy out of action, Juan's fixes will be put to the test.
34:44Well, I guess today's the day.
34:47We will see how this final run turns out.
34:55All right.
34:56Now your big sleuth is coming off the jig.
34:59I'm going to look at it real quick.
35:00Juan's brand new 12-foot-long sluice at the end of the jig has been added to catch gold
35:07that Dan had previously lost in the tailings.
35:11So all the gold that's recovered in that box is going to be gold that they would have lost.
35:15You can see that material versus what we had in the first run.
35:18That looks better.
35:21We're just going to watch that mini-sluice.
35:24Before, Dan had a discharge pipe that was getting clogged with rocks.
35:29Now, Juan's jig upgrade and mini-sluice allow water and gold concentrate to go through the system
35:37without plugging up.
35:39And that's running really good.
35:41Yeah.
35:42And then we'll take a look at that sluice box that you have right now that's coming off those smaller jigs.
35:46Yeah.
35:46Finally, Juan's last sluice has been fitted with custom-made carpets and riffles to recover fine gold.
35:56That one works better.
35:58There you go.
35:59Yeah, you can still see the top of the riffle?
36:01Yeah, I can see it.
36:01You see it dancing around, pushing material out?
36:04Yeah.
36:04It's good?
36:05Great.
36:07It's all coming together, but I'm nervous as hell.
36:11Well, that's the last bucket.
36:15Let's go ahead and cut it off.
36:16Okay.
36:24I can pull that.
36:33Oh.
36:34Holy f***.
36:36I can't believe how much gold is in that sucker.
36:39Look at this.
36:41Just on the carp, you see that?
36:42Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.
36:44And it's real fine stuff.
36:46Man, I sure didn't expect to see that much.
36:49Surprising, huh?
36:50Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.
36:51We'll start rolling these up, and now all we can do is hope.
36:56We took a look at the sluice boxes, and they look amazing.
36:59Already, we can see gold.
37:00You know, it looks really good, but we really don't know until we actually get it on the scale and know what's there.
37:05You know, it's been a tough week.
37:06I'm exhausted.
37:07I'm just hoping that there's enough gold here.
37:09For Dan to be able to pay off his son, his mom, and really make some money here.
37:21How are we doing?
37:22Good.
37:24Well, got the gold.
37:26Oh.
37:27I'm nervous.
37:29You know, our first test run, what do we get?
37:311.16.
37:32And in order to get caught up, you need 190 ounces.
37:36Yeah.
37:36In order to accomplish that, in the time you have left, you need about 4 ounces a day, roughly.
37:40Oh, I can't wait to see it.
37:42But let's take a look at it.
37:43To hit their season goal of $575,000, this gold weigh must deliver at least 2 ounces.
37:52Half an ounce right there, a little over half an ounce.
37:54Yeah.
37:54Call it one ounce right there.
37:58So that's pretty close to what we had our first run.
38:00Now let's dump the rest of it in.
38:04Look at that.
38:052.96.
38:06Holy ****.
38:10That is unfreaking believable.
38:13That's awesome.
38:14That's pretty dang good right there.
38:162.96 ounces, or almost 6 ounces a day, will bring Dan's gold total to 344 ounces by the
38:25end of the season.
38:27That's a great outcome right there.
38:28Worth over $750,000, way over Dan's season goal.
38:34I'm really excited about that for you guys.
38:36And who knows, you know, that might be a little better pain, but the plant definitely
38:40is recovering more gold.
38:42That is so awesome.
38:43Yeah.
38:43That's pretty nice.
38:46I'm just ecstatic.
38:48Unbelievable.
38:48It's more than I ever could have imagined.
38:51And know for sure I'm going to be able to get Mum and Brad paid back.
38:55Maybe I can buy my own money.
38:59Thank you so much.
39:00Oh, you're very welcome.
39:01I'll take a hug.
39:02Sweetheart.
39:03Juan has taught us so much over and above what he's built us.
39:07That man's a hero to me, man.
39:09Definitely happy with that.
39:11Excited.
39:11I'm excited for the future for you guys.
39:13It has been a pleasure.
39:13Thank you so much.
39:14Thank you so much.
39:15And wish the best to Freddie.
39:20I spoke to him earlier and he's doing a lot better and is ready to get back at it, but
39:23I'll let Freddie know you guys.
39:25Yeah, for sure.
39:25Send your best wishes.
39:26Oh, yeah.
39:27You drive safe.
39:28It's been awesome.
39:30Thank you so much.
39:31All right, guys.
39:32See you later.
39:35Holy crap.
39:38That's crazy.
39:40To see my son accomplish so much makes me feel on top of the world.
39:48I'm excited for Dan and his family and the future that they have now.
39:58To be honest, I was a little nervous.
40:00You know, Freddie not being here.
40:02Fortunately, it worked out.
40:03We did the best we could with what we had.
40:05Now, Freddie can get back out here with me doing what he loves.
40:08How you doing, Fred?
40:16I'm doing a lot better, Juan.
40:18A lot better.
40:18I'm feeling good.
40:20I've got my blood sugar straightened out.
40:22That's good.
40:22Yeah.
40:23Well, I'll see you soon.
40:24Well, sounds great, buddy.
40:25We'll get ready and we'll be back on the road in a couple weeks.
40:27Hi, Freddie and Juan.
40:38Dan Perron here.
40:40I just can't thank you guys enough.
40:45It's been crazy how much more gold the plant's been catching since the fixes that Juan did.
40:54Our last cleanup, we got 16 ounces.
40:57You know, to do that is unbelievable.
41:03How's it looking, Mum?
41:05We are well on track on getting to our season goal.
41:09We have started paying Mum back quite a bit and also Brad well.
41:15So the whole process and what you guys did for me is just so unbelievably awesome.
41:23Thanks so much again.
41:27Thanks so much.
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