- 7/6/2025
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00:00When it comes to mining...
00:02Gold's money and money is gold.
00:05Freddie and Juan put their money where their mouth is.
00:09Wow, that's awesome. Right on, guys.
00:12Responding to miners out of hope.
00:14I mean, everything's on the line. Literally everything.
00:18They aim to double their recovery.
00:21Deal there.
00:22We won't take a cut, so double or nothing.
00:24Be more inventive.
00:26The whole point of what we're building here is to try to split the material equally.
00:30And get on the gold.
00:31Look at that, guys.
00:33Oh!
00:34But did it pay off?
00:36We could run the whole mill site by ourselves. What a blessing.
00:39In this episode, the Dynamic Duo revisit last year's rescues that tested them.
00:46Hey, Greg. What's going on?
00:47And check in with the miners.
00:49We got to hit it right the first time.
00:51To find out if their fixes...
00:53You guys were definitely able to accomplish less cost for me and less sweat equity.
00:58Turned their mind gloom into gold gloom.
01:02You want to sell the rest of that property, me and Juan?
01:04Give us another year on there, then we can talk.
01:06Let's do it.
01:19Time for speeding?
01:20Speeding.
01:22This year, you know, it's been a tough season already.
01:25That's right.
01:25It's been a season of unique fixes.
01:27Dry plants.
01:28Dry plants.
01:29Solar.
01:30Hard rock.
01:30Hard rock as well.
01:31Honestly, I love doing stuff like that.
01:33You know, the miles that we put on, the stress that we have.
01:36And I still have this little, you know, situation going on in my face.
01:40It's great to hear it wasn't a stroke.
01:42You know, it's Bell's palsy.
01:43It's getting better.
01:44I'll get through it.
01:45You know, we did a lot last year that we've never done before.
01:47It was kind of exciting.
01:48Well, it's something new.
01:49Yeah.
01:49Yep.
01:50You get out of your comfort zone.
01:52Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
01:53But then you learn.
02:00These are just really simple.
02:01They're actually kind of an automotive airbag.
02:03But, you know, sometimes you've got to use what you can get.
02:05With almost 40 rescues under their belt.
02:07I'm going to weld these chains in that top shaker deck to try to help knock rocks out.
02:12Freddie and Juan's ability to upcycle boneyard junk.
02:17It doesn't look that sexy, but it's going to work.
02:19Is second to none.
02:21Well, it's a little wore out, but it should work.
02:24There you go.
02:25That looks awesome.
02:26I think it looks like it'll actually catch some gold now.
02:32One of the most memorable for me was Vaughn.
02:35Yeah.
02:35Vaughn Riches.
02:36He had almost $700,000 invested in his operation.
02:39He had all that equipment leased.
02:40He had employees he had to pay.
02:42Yeah.
02:42Fuel, you know, everything down the line and not getting enough gold to pay for it.
02:46Yeah.
02:47He was genuinely at the point where he was getting ready to pack up and head home.
02:50Broke.
02:53I have mined for three years looking for plaster gold.
02:59Definite rookie.
03:00Yep.
03:01Learning every day and learning from my mistakes.
03:04I've watched lots of people already come into the caribou and fail.
03:06In Wells, British Columbia, Freddie and Juan are called to rescue struggling miner Vaughn Riches.
03:15Hey, guys.
03:16How's it going today?
03:17I'm Vaughn.
03:17Nice to meet you, Fred.
03:18Yeah.
03:18Nice to meet you, Vaughn.
03:19What's your name?
03:20Rick.
03:20Nice to meet you, Rick.
03:21Yeah.
03:21After investing almost three quarters of a million dollars into his operation, with only 30 ounces of gold to show for it, Vaughn faces bankruptcy.
03:32I borrowed money from family, from friends, leasing companies, credit cards, on and on.
03:45Yeah.
03:45So it's, I'm in deep.
03:48Honestly, I was a little nervous for him because, you know, to roll the dice without having a clear plan of what you're doing, it was just, it's scary.
03:57It really is.
03:58He had a huge goal.
03:59That's a huge hill to climb.
04:00And look what that puts on our back at the same time when we're trying to help.
04:03We're like, whoa, I don't know.
04:05We start feeling the stress.
04:07We really do, you know, because we get invested ourselves.
04:09But that helps us work even harder to try our best to help them out.
04:14First bucket, Vaughn.
04:16Step in, start feeding the plant.
04:20The roots and everything go between the boulders, so it becomes really hard to separate.
04:26Look at the organic sticking in the screen, huh, Vaughn?
04:29That's definitely going to be an issue.
04:31There's a real good chance that we're losing material that should be sluiced.
04:34Vaughn's pay is close to the surface, mixed with roots and vegetation that clogged the trommel's screen, reducing its ability to catch gold.
04:45He was spitting gold right out the end of that trommel because those organics couldn't fall through the holes to get in the sluice box.
04:51That was a huge problem, you know.
04:52The more he ran, the more packed up the side of the screen got, and we would actually lose more gold.
04:58Well, there's a few pieces of gold that should have made it down to the sluice box.
05:03I never had a chance to get recovered.
05:05You know, some of the fixes we do, you can't even tell from a distance, right?
05:09A hundred feet away, well, it looks the same.
05:10Not that fixed.
05:11No, that one, you could see it.
05:12Yeah, it was definitely visual.
05:13Yeah.
05:15What do you think about, like, a street sweeper brush?
05:18Okay.
05:18So we mount it on the side, the weight of it goes down, and while the trommel's turning, it's free energy that'll help pull those organics out of there.
05:26Yeah.
05:27It may or may not work.
05:28It's worth a shot because right now it's absolutely clogged up.
05:31In a first for mine rescue, Freddy and Juan tackled the organics with an inventive rotating brush to clean the screens.
05:44The rotating brush assembly is something we've never done before, but what we're going to do is we're going to repurpose brushes for, like, a street sweeper.
05:51You'll be able to grab these at any rental yard and put them back on.
05:54Ha, amazing.
05:55Yeah.
05:56It's definitely not the most convenient workspace right now.
05:59I just got to deal with it and get this on the trommel so that way we can get going on our test run.
06:03I'm just hoping that it works properly.
06:05We told them double or nothing, so if we don't get that double mark, you know, we don't get paid for our labor.
06:11The brush system, you know, we kind of had an idea that it would work, but we really don't know until we actually build it and try it.
06:17We're running more material, so we've got more organics coming through.
06:26Exactly right.
06:27Nope, they're doing their job, bud.
06:29Yep.
06:29Good job, Fredo.
06:30We did okay.
06:31It seems like it's moving in the right direction.
06:34We're getting more yardage in, and that in turn should mean more gold.
06:38And it worked out great.
06:39We run nearly double the material.
06:40And a lot of things we do are prototypes, right?
06:43So it's really easy we could fail.
06:45Yeah.
06:45You just got to keep your fingers crossed it's going to work the way I'm thinking about it.
06:48Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:49Last bucket.
06:51But the true test of the prototype is in the results of the second gold way.
06:57No s***.
06:59What?
07:001.58 for four freaking hours.
07:04Freddy and Juan's fixes have triple Juan's gold count.
07:09So that's four and a half ounces a day if it stays at that rate, right?
07:12Nice.
07:12It's a 12-hour day.
07:14It was crazy to see a guy, a tough guy like Juan, get emotional.
07:17Woo!
07:18It actually gave him hope.
07:20Not only hope for him, but his family, his workers, everyone involved.
07:24Let's give him a shout.
07:25Yeah, let's do it.
07:26There you are.
07:27There you are.
07:28Good to see you, Juan.
07:29Yeah, you guys too.
07:30All is well.
07:31You got to know, man.
07:32How did your season turn out?
07:33Did the plant continue doing good for you?
07:36The plant worked awesome.
07:37I can't say enough.
07:39The brushes, yeah, what an idea that was.
07:42It was flawless.
07:43Like, I kid you not, just perfectly clean.
07:46It was awesome.
07:47Well, we're happy that you're happy.
07:49Yeah.
07:49No, I tell you guys, it was miraculous.
07:52And it just changed everything for me.
07:54So.
07:54Nice.
07:55I appreciate it so much.
07:57Yeah.
07:57Very good.
07:58Did you meet your goal then for the season?
08:01I recovered 58 ounces in a month.
08:03I tackled a bunch of my big pills.
08:06And geez, I mean, I'm just going to be making nothing but profit.
08:09Good to hear.
08:09We're going to hit it hard.
08:10And I know it's going to go well.
08:12I'm confident now.
08:13It's a different feeling.
08:15Good.
08:15Good.
08:16You and your crew were a pleasure to work with hardworking people.
08:20The future is bright there.
08:22I mean, thanks to you guys.
08:24Bye for now.
08:25Take it easy.
08:26Yep.
08:27Adios.
08:27Bye.
08:28I'm happy with that, Fred.
08:29I am too.
08:30Makes me smile.
08:30Yep, me too.
08:31I can't smile, but it makes me smile.
08:37Sometimes it's hard to think outside the box.
08:40Exactly.
08:40But me and you've been around dozens and dozens and dozens of mines, right?
08:44We've seen this trick, we've seen that trick, we've done this, we've done that.
08:51They've got water going where they don't need water.
08:54For every problem in gold mining,
08:57There's a lot of waste of time right there, Freddy.
08:59there are a dozen solutions waiting to be discovered.
09:03I don't know if that was a very smart idea, me or not, to make that lead counterweight,
09:07because it's hot out.
09:09I just created a lot more heat doing it, but it'll work.
09:12Lead's heavy.
09:14One that really stands out is Nick and Danny Ballard.
09:19Well, the biggest problem was, he was spending a dollar to make a dime.
09:22They were in a tough spot.
09:23Really tough.
09:31I've always had the dream to have my own mine.
09:33I would like to build a golden empire, if you will, but I realize that's a long way from where I'm at now.
09:39Mine boss Nick Ballard staked his $10,000 life savings on a 180-acre mine in the hostile Arizona desert.
09:48So here's the beast, huh?
09:50That's the beast.
09:51It was out of my budget to drill wells or haul water, and it's dry, 100%.
09:57Essential in the arid desert, Nick's dry plant uses air rather than water to blow away the dirt from the gold.
10:08So did you build this entirely by yourself, Nick?
10:14For the most part.
10:16You'll have to pardon the rudimentary 55-gallon drum.
10:18That's just what I was able to scrounge up.
10:22Let's fire it up.
10:23Let's do it.
10:23One or myself will just kind of stand back and see what goes on.
10:27We'll watch it for sure.
10:32This is part of what's killing me.
10:34You know, gas is not cheap.
10:36Diesel's not cheap.
10:38So it's skinning my teeth every time.
10:41Fire it up.
10:43The plant requires as much as $850 in fuel per month, a heavy cost for an already cash-strapped operation.
10:53All right, first bucket.
10:54They were completely out of resources.
10:59You know, and when it's a struggle day-to-day just to have enough gas to put it in the generator,
11:04all that weight is on Nick's shoulders to be able to survive it.
11:07A lot on his plate.
11:09Yeah.
11:10Some of the challenges that we had, the fixes that we had to come up with,
11:13you know, we ended up with a lot of new fixes we've never done before.
11:16All through the season.
11:17Yeah.
11:18The icing on the cake was where we were able to fab up a little solar system for him.
11:24Well, the mines that are making a good living, they don't need our help.
11:35No, they don't.
11:36Right?
11:37In Nevada, Freddy and Juan reflect on the Ballard rescue and check in on their untested fixes.
11:47If this fails, I'm in big trouble.
11:53Shut her down, Nick.
11:55After four hours, time is called on the dry plant test row.
12:00You know, in that first gold way that we had, how much was it, Fred?
12:04Nothing to speak of.
12:05Maybe $10 worth of gold.
12:07Yeah.
12:08Not that great.
12:09That's a tough one right there.
12:10Yes.
12:11Not even worth the diesel he put in for his excavator.
12:13Not even close.
12:14Mm-mm.
12:14You need better ground, you know, because you're not running a ton of material.
12:18Mm-mm.
12:18You know, this gulch you're playing with right here, this is the last one I would touch here.
12:23You're not getting enough gold to pay for the diesel, and that doesn't cut it.
12:27So we're going to try to save you money and get your efficiency up.
12:29Okay.
12:29I'm no solar expert, but you've got a lot of solar here, and that's not a problem out
12:34here.
12:37In an ambitious first, Freddy and Juan design a bespoke solar panel trailer to power Nick's
12:44dry plant with the dream to make all of his gold pure profit.
12:51I'm just getting started on this solar trailer.
12:54This is my first adventure with anything over a solar panel about that big, right?
13:02But that's how you learn.
13:03If you don't strive to learn new things, you never jump ahead.
13:10In a turn of fortune, the Ballards' hope for a solar-powered mining solution already lies
13:16in Nick's workshop.
13:18And are these new or are they used?
13:20They're used.
13:20They're used, right?
13:21They're pretty new, though.
13:22Well, this is half the battle, finding the panels.
13:24So that's great.
13:25You got them.
13:26Yeah.
13:26Well, let's get them loaded up, huh?
13:27There you go.
13:29All right.
13:32Reality is, if they would have kept on running there, they would have lost a lot more money
13:36in operational costs.
13:38Let's go.
13:44Nick, let's bring a panel over.
13:47Hey, Danny, you want to hop up inside of there?
13:49You got it.
13:51He doesn't have to run that generator.
13:52Oh, yeah.
13:53You know, he's got to drive 25 miles into town to go get gas.
13:56And savings there alone is going to be huge for him.
13:59So this is our standalone solar system that we built.
14:02It's on a trailer, so it's mobile.
14:04It's real simple.
14:05You know, it's kind of a real quick build, but we got six panels on it.
14:08Six panels that come to this charge system.
14:10This inverter is able to supply about 4,000 watts of power.
14:16And then we have three outlets right here.
14:18On top of that, when Freddy built the frame, he made these panels adjustable.
14:22So that way we can kind of adjust the panels so they get the maximum sunlight, so they produce
14:26the maximum energy.
14:27But my favorite part of this whole system is that it's portable.
14:30You hook it up to a truck or a, you know, UTV, put it wherever you want it, get power
14:34right where you need it.
14:36These solar generators sure come in handy for, you know, not having to put as much fuel
14:40in the generator.
14:41So looking forward to that.
14:43Maybe I'll survive just yet.
14:46And now he can run that plant day and night with the battery backup.
14:50It basically runs itself.
14:51Exactly.
14:52That was a first for us, so I'm kind of proud of that one.
14:54Yeah, as well.
14:54Yeah.
14:55All right, watch out, guys.
14:56Trommel's going to start up.
14:59Yeah.
15:00That's pretty sweet.
15:04Oh, four-hour test.
15:05Here we go, huh?
15:07Oh, mate.
15:11Look at that.
15:12Able to produce 4,000 watts of power, Freddy and Lon's brand new creation turns the six-foot
15:19trommel.
15:22Drive's running good.
15:23A bunch of weight's running good, and the solar trailer's running everything.
15:27Yeah, the solar system, I think, is awesome.
15:29Ran that plant, you know, for the full test run, not an issue, and really it's low light.
15:34It's a cloudy day.
15:35Yeah.
15:35The first cloudy day we've had, that's the day we ran.
15:38So that proves it right there that it's working.
15:40Yeah, it'll do it.
15:42We did good.
15:43You know, it'll allow those guys to add more blow boxes on the end of that in the future.
15:48I think a big part of what we did there, Fred, is reduce the running cost.
15:53By building that solar trailer, basically the trommel itself runs on its own.
15:58No fuel needed.
15:59You know, it took a little bit of initial investment.
16:02Yeah.
16:02But in the end...
16:04It's going to pay itself off.
16:05It'll pay for itself.
16:07The fixes quadrupled Nick's profit, and the solar trailer gave enough power to run the
16:14whole operation with little expenditure.
16:17That's a really good increase, guys.
16:18I really appreciate it.
16:19All baloney aside, I would move downstream.
16:23He was at the very top of a drainage that had barely had any erosion, but down below,
16:28all those drainages concentrated down there, and it kind of went down like this, and then
16:32flattened out just a little bit down there.
16:33Yeah.
16:34So it's a perfect catch for gold.
16:35Yeah.
16:36Well, I'm really hoping that he moved the plant, got it down to where it needs to be,
16:39and maybe he's got some good news for us.
16:41Hey, Nick.
16:41How you doing?
16:42Good, yeah.
16:43Good, buddy.
16:44How's everything working out for you on mining?
16:46I did move it a little further down.
16:48There was that other little draw just to the west from where we were running.
16:52Okay.
16:53It doubled the gold.
16:55I've probably at least doubled the volume, too.
16:58Did some work on that screen, and got four boxes underneath there now.
17:01Once I implemented those, it's been off to the races.
17:04Good, good.
17:05I got actually some gold drying up from a couple hours last time I was out there.
17:09Yeah, it looks great.
17:10Yeah, we can see it good.
17:11How's the solar trailer doing?
17:13Man, that thing is awesome.
17:15I can do all my fabrication off of it.
17:17I can run the plant, the lights at night when I've got to run at night when it's too hot during the day.
17:24So that thing is awesome.
17:26Cool.
17:26Good to hear.
17:27Glad it worked out.
17:28You know, our big goal was to be able to reduce your running costs.
17:31Oh, 100%.
17:31You guys were definitely able to accomplish less cost for me and less sweat equity, I suppose.
17:39That solar trailer, man, it is something else.
17:44Good.
17:45How's Danny doing?
17:46He's working on his little landscaping and figuring out where he wants to put his house.
17:51Nice.
17:52So how's the family doing?
17:53Let me go get him.
17:54One second.
17:55Well, hi, guys.
17:57Golden Nugget number one and Golden Nugget number two.
18:01There you go.
18:02There you go.
18:02Hello, little ones.
18:04Easy high to Freddie and Juan.
18:06You know, that's the whole reason we do what we do right there.
18:08You know, we work hard for our families to give them a future.
18:12So good on you.
18:13Yep, exactly.
18:15Well, we're happy to see that the family's doing great and you're doing well.
18:17And keep up the great work, man.
18:20All right.
18:20Bye.
18:21Bye.
18:21More than ever, it's important for him to be able to save money at the mine site.
18:25Our goal of going in there and helping him reduce the cost of running and also increase his recovery.
18:29I think the common thread between all the miners we've helped, Juan, is you've got somebody that looks to better things for their family and their future.
18:38I think it's a win-win, Juan.
18:39It was a win.
18:43Coming up.
18:44It's not working here.
18:46The pressure builds.
18:47What's going on, Freddie?
18:49Let's let it work!
18:51And Freddie and Juan hit the jackpot.
18:54Check that out.
18:56That's a lot of gold.
18:57Oh, it's going to go higher.
18:59Woo!
19:00We've got the biggest nuggets we've ever got off this plane.
19:16Well, Juan, you know, it all comes down to smiles at the end of a gold way right after we've worked on their equipment.
19:22At Juan's workshop in Nevada, Freddie and Juan check in on their most ambitious designs to see if the risk paid off.
19:31Sometimes you get smiles, sometimes you get tears, but they both mean the same thing.
19:35Yeah, that they do.
19:39Juan and myself mentally pictured what we wanted to build for this situation, so imagination's most important.
19:46Picture it in your head and then go from there.
19:48With 60 years combined experience...
19:52Right now, we're building a custom sluice box for them.
19:56Freddie and Juan can turn a design dream into reality.
20:00Hopefully, with what we've got going on, we'll be able to get you guys at least to a point where you're making a little bit of money.
20:04I hope so, too, man.
20:07That gives me the angle that I want.
20:10Eyeball!
20:10Aw, come on, baby.
20:16Well, you remember Dick and Eric Combrek.
20:18Yeah.
20:18You know, great guys.
20:19What we did there had never been tried before.
20:21And it was amazing, the transformation.
20:30Now I'm 76 years old, and I don't want to go broke.
20:34I've tried not to my whole life.
20:36Welcome.
20:37Hi, Juan.
20:37For the last decade, Dick Combrek has been mining a five-acre claim in the valley of Bear Gulch, Montana.
20:45Eric.
20:46Now joined by his son, Eric, he's ready to pass on that legacy.
20:51Eric started mining with me when he was two years old.
20:54I don't want to let him down, and I want to keep this for my family and hopefully their generations after that.
20:59Well, Dick and Eric, not only are they gold miners, they're pilots that helped put out forest fires.
21:05They were trying to help fund their aviation business by gold mining, but their gold mining wasn't, you know, supporting the aviation business.
21:13Last year, we were able to get about 60 ounces is all.
21:18All right.
21:19What do you need, then, to get profitable this year?
21:22At least 100 ounces to be able to cover expenses and increase the profits.
21:27The success of the Combrek's operation relies on Dick's 50-year-old wash plant.
21:34Well, let's do a four-hour run.
21:35Yes, sir.
21:42The problem is, all that material, the heavy stuff, the gold, most of it's going down one run.
21:48That's wasting that.
21:50Basically, we have two runs here that are just getting material, no gold.
21:53Gold-bearing material flows unevenly down the plant's three sluices.
21:58The riffles pack up and wash fine gold off the end.
22:02Feel them.
22:03They're packed.
22:04Oh, fuck it!
22:05I put lots of new plants together.
22:08There's always an issue somewhere.
22:10Transfer points, water issues.
22:12They just needed a little bit of help with that older trauma they had.
22:16You know, the sluice box, the way it's set up right now, it has three runs.
22:20All the material with gold in it's running down one side of it.
22:23We can definitely do a three-way splitter.
22:25Yeah, we've never done it before, but let's try it.
22:28It's going to increase the recoveries for sure.
22:30To increase the efficiency of Dick's three sluices,
22:33Freddie and Juan roll the dice on a three-way distribution box in a mine rescue first.
22:40We kind of have something new that we're building.
22:44A lot of the splitters that we've built over the years funnel the material off two ways.
22:48This splitter is going to be a little different because we're going to have to go three ways.
22:51This is the first time Fred and Juan have ever built a three-way distribution sluice box.
22:57So it's a bit of an experiment what we're going to find out.
22:59You know, the whole point of what we're building here is to try to split the material equally.
23:03That's the whole point of having this distribution box.
23:06We want to make sure that the flow that goes into each chamber that goes through the sluice boxes is as equal as possible.
23:12Isn't that right, Kelly?
23:13Whatever you say.
23:13Juan and mine site mechanic Kelly begin to fit the one-of-a-kind distribution chute into place.
23:21It's always a really tough thing when we come in and we build something new that we've never done before.
23:25Ultimately, we don't know until we actually put it in place and try it out.
23:28We didn't know if it was going to work.
23:29It's something that's never been tried before.
23:31It was a stressful situation.
23:34It's not working here.
23:37What's going on, Freddie?
23:40Just let it work!
23:43Got a little bit of an issue with a spillover.
23:50You know, usually when you build something, you have trial and error, right?
23:53You try it, there's an error, you can redo it again, have another trial.
23:56This time, we only had a trial and then go right to work.
23:59And we were able to make it work.
24:05That's better.
24:06Yeah, it's a little more even now.
24:08So far, everything's looking really good.
24:10The v-chute's working great.
24:12You can see our material coming down here.
24:14It levels out, evens out, and we've got a perfect flow on all three sluice boxes.
24:21Well, on the second gold way, their goal was one ounce of gold for four hours, right?
24:25Yeah.
24:25But it's going to have to be 1.2 for us to be able to get paid.
24:29To hit their double or nothing wager, Freddie and Juan need to see at least 1.2 ounces.
24:371.18.
24:39Elated.
24:40Awesome.
24:41What a job.
24:43Unbelievable.
24:44We said double or nothing, and we were that close.
24:47And really, Freddie, it was still a win.
24:49My legacy is going to be continued with Eric, and I'm very proud of him.
24:55The future will be a great improvement, thanks to Freddie and Juan.
25:01Just meeting those guys, Juan, was worth it.
25:04Yeah, it was worth it.
25:04Yeah, 100%.
25:05Well, Eric couldn't do a video call with us today because he's out fighting fires.
25:09But he sent us a video of his progress.
25:14Well, let's watch it.
25:15Let's do it.
25:17Guys, I'm sorry I couldn't be at the mine site today doing this call.
25:21We're down here in Southern California preparing for large-scale wildfires that might break out.
25:27But I wanted to give you guys a brief update.
25:31Unfortunately, last October, Dad passed away.
25:35And it's kind of like, for me, not only losing my father, but my best friend.
25:40And I'm so glad I've got Kelly to help me through this time and keep the mine going.
25:45We've been able to run material into the triple sluice and much faster, much cleaner, get some really good results.
25:54Those fixes are going to help our recovery process for years to come.
25:57We don't quite have a total goal count yet, but all in all, goal recovery is up by 10% to 15%.
26:03So I just can't thank you guys enough for taking the time to come to Montana.
26:09Dad was like a kid in a candy store to fill his lifelong mining career with a visit from you guys.
26:17What a wonderful way to end his legacy, something I'll always remember.
26:21You guys are first-class people.
26:24You're American heroes.
26:26Love you guys.
26:26Thanks for everything you do for the small miners out there.
26:30Well, it breaks my heart.
26:32I know.
26:33That's a tough one, Fred.
26:34Yep.
26:34You know, Dick was a hell of a guy.
26:37All-around pilot, gold miner.
26:40I think that's something that most any man with grit strives to do, is to leave a legacy for his family.
26:46And Dick definitely did that.
26:49Loved his family.
26:50Loved what he did.
26:51Worked hard.
26:52Good man.
26:53Yep.
26:54We'll miss you, Dick.
26:54Yep.
27:00Sometimes we've got this little window to get in there, to figure out the problems, find a solution, and then...
27:13We build it, install it, run it, and see how it actually works.
27:17And sometimes we don't have any time to really go back in there and adjust anything.
27:20What it is is what it is.
27:21We've got one shot most of the time.
27:23Typically.
27:24But we're damn good at what we do.
27:25We do all right.
27:30We're only here so many days.
27:32Do we have the time to fix this bigger plant?
27:35With a week on each rescue and limited resources.
27:40We've got about five days worth of work and about three days to do it.
27:43Freddie and Juan adapt existing plants.
27:46We've got an idea to stop this, and it's simple.
27:49We could actually run fresh water to this and have nice hot water coming out for a shower.
27:54Hey!
27:54To maximize gains.
27:56Wow.
27:57There's .4-0 right there.
27:59There's 20 times.
28:00There's a little more goals left.
28:08With the Gretzner crew, they had the right idea of what they needed to do.
28:11They just didn't have the right execution on it.
28:14That was the first time we've helped hard rock miners.
28:20When it comes to liberating gold from hard rock, do you have to be crazy enough to go and get it?
28:25Yes.
28:26Rock.
28:27Rock.
28:28In 2023, Freddie and Juan answered the call from hard rock mine boss Chad Gretzner and father Greg.
28:36Underground, everything wants to kill you.
28:38Out, out, out, out, out.
28:39We've got to go.
28:40We've got to go.
28:40We've got to go.
28:41It is the hardest form of gold mining to get into.
28:45The mill site has a couple of flaws.
28:49The whole process, it's very demanding.
28:52We're not getting near as much gold as we should be.
28:55We can go a couple days without seeing anything.
28:58Chad and Greg, you know, they had a big operation there, Fred.
29:00There was a lot of guys there.
29:02Mm-hmm.
29:02And every one of them was invested in that.
29:05You guys want to fire up your mill?
29:07What do you think?
29:07A two-hour test run?
29:08Yes, sir.
29:08Let's try it.
29:09See what it does.
29:10Let's do it.
29:11To extract gold from ore, a mill crushes the rock into a powder to free the gold, which
29:21can then be recovered on a shaker table.
29:24It was just choke point after choke point after choke point.
29:27You know, really, when you set up the mill like that, it should be one process.
29:31You feed it, and from then on, it should be all automated.
29:33You know, it does itself, right?
29:35That's exactly right.
29:36Until you get the gold in the cup at the end of the day.
29:38Yeah, exactly.
29:38Well, Freddy, I think there's quite a few things we can improve on inside that mill.
29:43Yeah.
29:44I'd like to get rid of that chain fall.
29:45They're slow.
29:46I'm thinking on this, they got that little vibrator on there.
29:50Every single step of the process was a choke point, but also very labor intensive.
29:54Exactly.
29:55All the way through.
29:58To increase the mill's ability to capture gold, Freddy and Juan upgrade the hopper with
30:04an electric winch and a whole new shaking process for moving pay into the jaw crusher behind.
30:12Next, at the second hopper, add a custom screen at the top to divert oversized rock.
30:23Finally, after the rock has been milled to dust and the gold liberated, a vibrating screen and
30:36new sluice box will help catch the bigger gold before the fines get caught on the table.
30:42So this is something different that we haven't really done.
30:47This is going to be a vibrator, but what we're actually doing is doing an eccentric.
30:51We're going to use these weights that we cut out on the table and we'll have opposing weights.
30:56So one this way, one the other way.
30:57All that weight will be off center on the shaft and what it'll do, it'll actually throw the material forward.
31:01So that's what these are.
31:03I'm just setting up this new hoist, electric hoist.
31:08It's a hell of a lot easier than pulling on that chain.
31:11We streamlined the whole process that they had.
31:14You know, made it from the very labor intensive to actually a process that worked out really well.
31:19We're going to do a small sluice box, but on top of that small sluice box, we're going to build a little bit of a screen
31:24to be able to cut that bigger material out.
31:26Fix is complete.
31:29Chad's crew give the new mill a test run.
31:33Light it up, Harry.
31:35Right, hold up, two.
31:36First bag.
31:38We probably took 90% of the labor out of their operation without exaggeration.
31:43We did a lot there, Freddie.
31:44You know, all the way from the hopper that was feeding the jaw.
31:47We put it on airbags.
31:48We put an eccentric on it so it would actually feed itself.
31:51With bespoke additions to the plant, the entire system now screens down smaller rocks
31:58that previously prevented fine gold from settling on the table.
32:03You know, I look at it from when we started to when we left.
32:06When we left, you could actually call that a mill.
32:09Exactly right.
32:10With the mill upgraded, the two-hour test smashes their previous results.
32:15Woo-hoo!
32:17Just over a quarter of an hour.
32:18That's awesome.
32:19Worth almost $500.
32:22Well, the final gold was a huge increase.
32:25Yeah.
32:25Yeah.
32:25About 700, 800% probably.
32:28Yeah.
32:28It'd be really cool to find out how they're doing.
32:30Should we give them a call?
32:31Let's do it.
32:32All right.
32:33Yeah, let's do it.
32:35Hey, Chad.
32:35How you doing?
32:36Hey, Freddie.
32:37Hey, Juan.
32:37I'm doing great.
32:38Hey, Greg.
32:39What's going on?
32:40How you guys doing?
32:41Good.
32:42How's the crew doing, Chad?
32:43Oh, the crew is doing great.
32:45Yeah.
32:46All the fixes you guys did, they're working great.
32:48And now I'm no longer on top of the jaw crusher, raking material, because that eccentric is
32:54doing a great job at moving material.
32:57You build probably the smallest loosey dies ever built, and it helped us increase our throughput
33:02through the circuit.
33:03Oh, cool.
33:05What took eight hours before, we can now do in like three hours with all the fixes you
33:10guys did.
33:10I mean, we could run the whole mill site by ourselves.
33:13So, what a blessing.
33:15We know that when we persevere and we sample, we can do this.
33:19With our future, all arrows are pointing up.
33:21It was great catching up, guys.
33:22You know, Freddie and Juan, it was so neat to meet you guys.
33:25Thank you so much for coming out.
33:27And my heart goes out to you guys, what you're doing to help miners.
33:31Keep it going.
33:32Nice.
33:33Well, best of luck this year, guys.
33:34Hopefully, everything goes well.
33:36Let us know.
33:36Stay in touch, and bye for now.
33:38You guys take care.
33:40Well, you know what?
33:41That's our first hard rock, and I think we did pretty darn good.
33:44I think so, too.
33:45Yeah.
33:47Coming up.
33:49Those are deep.
33:49Those are like a half inch deep.
33:51That's unbelievable.
33:52I'm curious, more than any mine last year, on how we ended up doing the rest of the summer.
34:03Come check this out, Fred.
34:06That's neat, Juan-o.
34:07Our little mini portal.
34:09I like it.
34:10You know, it's kind of cool, because these are all pieces that we've picked up over the years.
34:15What do you think, Freddie?
34:17Auto?
34:18Auto.
34:19Uh-huh.
34:19Hey, little Freddie.
34:20Hey.
34:21Do me a favor.
34:22Don't let your Uncle Freddie teach you how to speak Spanish.
34:24It'll be all messed up.
34:24A gold-o.
34:26Gold-o?
34:26Gold-o.
34:27Gold-o.
34:27Nice job, man.
34:29Come on, little Freddie.
34:40Well, Juan, last season was quite a season, huh?
34:42Yeah, it was.
34:42There was a lot of firsts last year.
34:44Yep.
34:44You know?
34:44Pure laid out.
34:45A season of firsts.
34:46As technology advances, you have to advance with it.
34:49Exactly right.
34:49There it goes.
34:54Using the latest technology.
34:57Perfect.
34:58Freddie and Juan keep one step ahead.
35:01It's not super sexy, but it's there.
35:03Over the years, Freddie, we've helped a lot of miners, small-scale, large-scale, and everything
35:10in between.
35:11Uh-huh.
35:11You know, but somebody that really stands out is Anthony Moth.
35:14He had a lot of ground there.
35:15Yeah.
35:15He was just sluicing the wrong stuff.
35:18How's it going, guys?
35:23Hey, guys.
35:24How you doing?
35:24Good.
35:24I'm Anthony.
35:25I'm Juan.
35:25Juan, nice to meet you.
35:26Freddie.
35:26Freddie, good to meet you.
35:27Last season, Freddie and Juan got a call from struggling miner Anthony Moth after the gold
35:33dried up on his 900-acre claim.
35:36I thought that I could actually make money doing my dream mining.
35:41It's a tough way to make a living, for sure, but it's just a matter of finding the gold
35:45so you can make it worthwhile.
35:46You know, Anthony Moth, not only did he have a lot of money invested in what he was doing.
35:50He had an investor as well that he owed a lot of money to.
35:53Firing it up!
35:54With a giant 300-ounce gold target for the season, Freddie and Juan pull out all the stops.
36:01First bucket launch.
36:04Start that four-hour test.
36:07It's supposed to be hydraulic dumping grizzlies, but we just can't get them to dump properly.
36:11It just keeps holding all these rocks on it.
36:14Well, during that first test run, it was constant shutdowns.
36:17Every couple of minutes, he was out of that excavator, Freddie.
36:19Then on top of that, all that fine gold that we were losing out of the sluice box.
36:22Yeah, the sluice wasn't running efficiently, not for the kind of gold he's got there.
36:27That's not good.
36:28Look right here.
36:29Sheesh.
36:31That's a lot.
36:33To help Anthony increase his gold recovery, Freddie and Juan first remove the plate from
36:39the base of the hopper and replace it with a beam for a more even feed.
36:45Next, add a one-of-a-kind adjustable high-pressure spray bar to give the rocks a better wash.
36:52And to catch the fine gold, Freddie installs his signature riffle system.
37:01We helped him out with a couple different things, but really, out of all that, the most
37:05important was the ground.
37:06Yep.
37:07A mile away from the wash plant, Freddie spots an older patch of trees, which could indicate
37:13undisturbed ground.
37:15There could be something hiding in here.
37:18I've seen those gravels down at the bottom of the mountain there.
37:21My eyes lit up.
37:22I'm like, uh-huh.
37:23This is it.
37:24Yeah.
37:25Yeah, I got some color.
37:26That's right on the top of that pale layer.
37:28I got some color too there, Freddie.
37:33Yeah, you do.
37:33That's a nice one.
37:34You're in gold country.
37:36This has been reworked, and it's been reworked hard.
37:38If we're getting this kind of gold on the surface, what's down in there?
37:42Down below, yeah.
37:43To determine how deep the potential pale layer goes, Freddie calls in geologist Nick Gust to
37:50run a ground-penetrating radar test, a first for mine rescue.
37:56Data gathered from this technology could identify ancient pale layers close to bedrock.
38:03Hopefully, that is a channel in there, a reworked one, and it hasn't been disturbed by the old
38:08timers.
38:09If it's good, it could be really good.
38:12Man, I wish we could have got some of that out of there, but there was no way we could
38:17get that material up the mountain in the timeline we were there, because it was going to take
38:21cutting a road down in there to get it, right?
38:23Fire it up.
38:27There it is.
38:28First bucket.
38:28Unable to access the newly-prospected ground, the crew run pay from their existing cut
38:37for the second test with Freddie and Juan's unique plant fixes.
38:42Yeah, it looks good.
38:44You know, a lot of the fixes that we did, Freddie, the increased throughput would also reduce
38:48shutdown.
38:48He didn't have to jump out of it once.
38:50Yeah, exactly.
38:51But the final gold weight with Anthony was kind of a kick in the teeth.
38:540.74.
38:56It was marginal increase.
38:58If he's able to get on that ground, you know, his equipment's just a couple miles away.
39:03And it's tuned up now.
39:04And it's ready to go.
39:05Yeah.
39:05Yep.
39:05So I'm curious.
39:07Yeah, me too.
39:07Of more than any mine last year on how he ended up doing the rest of the summer.
39:11Yeah, I'm curious, too.
39:14One month after the rescue, Anthony builds a road and begins mining the new ground.
39:21You there, Anthony?
39:23How's it going, guys?
39:24Doing great.
39:24Doing all right.
39:24How'd the season end up for you?
39:26After you guys left, we really hammered on it.
39:29That spot worked out really well for us.
39:31That's a lot of gold.
39:33Some of our biggest days were like 25, 27 ounces.
39:36It was really good ground there.
39:37I knew when we found that gold on the top and looking at that material had been reworked
39:42like it was.
39:42I'm like, go here.
39:43That actually carried right on up that hill, right to where we were doing that first test
39:47on.
39:47Well, that's good.
39:49That's good news.
39:50That actually paid my partner back in full.
39:52And we went from being just barely surviving to making an amazing living now.
39:56Oh, it's going to go higher.
39:59Oh.
40:00You guys want to see a little bit?
40:01I just kept some of the nuggets here.
40:02Yeah, I'd like to see it.
40:04Oh, there you go.
40:06Yeah, that's awesome.
40:07You can see that.
40:08We got a one ounce one, one and a half ounce.
40:10Lunch in the 20 gram range, 10 grams.
40:12Nice, nice, nice.
40:13That makes us smile, sir.
40:15Yes, it does.
40:16Makes us smile, too.
40:17Makes you smile more.
40:18Yeah, exactly.
40:20If you want to sell the rest of that property, me and Juan could try to buy it out.
40:24If you go with a real low ball number, because we don't have a lot.
40:29Well, give us another year on there, then we can talk.
40:32Let us mind it out first.
40:34Yeah.
40:35It's great talking to you.
40:36Yeah, stay in touch, guys.
40:38Yep.
40:38All right, Anthony.
40:39Good luck.
40:39Thanks.
40:40That's awesome.
40:41That's awesome.
40:42Yeah, really, really good news.
40:43Did you see those nuggets?
40:44Oh, amazing.
40:45Going from just struggling to actually thriving is amazing.
40:49Having his investor paid off?
40:51Yeah.
40:51That's icing on the cake.
40:52Oh, yeah.
40:53Well, I think it's important for us to keep on doing this, Freddie, because, you know,
40:55you got to keep on inspiring the next generation.
40:58Not afraid to take the first step.
40:59Go out there and do something that no one else has done.
41:01You know, when it all works out and you put a lot more money in their pocket, that's another
41:05reason.
41:05Agreed.
41:06We keep going, I think, as well.
41:07Yep.
41:08Agreed.
41:09Well, there are a lot more mines out there to help, Juan.
41:12Yep.
41:12Let's go to it.
41:13Let's get it.
41:14Let's get it.
41:23Let's get it.
41:37Bye.
41:38Bye.
41:39Bye.
41:39Bye.
41:41Bye.
41:41Bye.
41:43Bye.
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