- 7/6/2025
Gold Rush Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan Season 5 Episode 6
#GoldRush
#PrimeUSTV
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
#GoldRush
#PrimeUSTV
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00If you've ever seen a big amount of gold, that's enough to turn anybody into a gold hound, for sure.
00:12It's my second year being a gold miner, and I love it.
00:16My dad bought this property thinking that it would produce a lot of gold, and we have nothing.
00:25The gold here is flood gold. It's so super hard to catch because it's so fine.
00:32We haven't got enough flow going right now.
00:35All of our gold is washing away because we don't have the right equipment.
00:40The mine is Andrew's future, so it has to succeed.
00:43I've got stuff all over the place that's half together, and I don't really know how to make it work.
00:50Freddie and Juan, this is a plea.
00:53This operation is on the edge right now.
00:56If we're not able to get on the gold, we're finished here.
01:01Freddie Dodge...
01:02I'd rather have gold in the bank than gold in the mountain.
01:05...and Juan Ibarra...
01:06Not bad for building the field.
01:08...want to make you rich.
01:10It turns your dream out here into a reality.
01:12In the past five years, the value of gold has doubled.
01:18There's a $3,000 nugget right there.
01:20Whoo!
01:21But rookie miners...
01:22Whoa, whoa, whoa!
01:23...find it more elusive than ever.
01:25If we don't recover more gold, then we could lose everything.
01:29But there is hope...
01:31Miracles, they do happen.
01:33...to turn desperation into fortune.
01:36Freddie and Juan have one week...
01:38What you just did, this genius.
01:40...to deliver a golden payday.
01:42They have a future, and they know what they need to do.
01:54You know, it's always nice to be back in Canada, Freddie.
01:56Yeah, and I love British Columbia.
01:58It sounds like Travis is in pretty rough shape financially.
02:01Yeah, you were saying a little bit about that.
02:03He's got a ton of money sunk into the mine site, and he really hasn't produced much, huh?
02:07No, he hasn't.
02:08So who's Travis out here mining with, Freddie?
02:10He's out here with his son.
02:12You know, there's easier ways to have a father-son trip than going out and working your tail off and losing a bunch of money.
02:18Definitely, Juan.
02:20In British Columbia, Freddie and Juan are en route to the Long Bar mine, where father and son team, the Allens, work a 3,000-acre claim along the Fraser River.
02:35Historically, the Fraser River's produced a lot of gold over the years.
02:39Yeah, but you know as well as I do, gold's where you find it.
02:42It's not everywhere.
02:44We've got a really tight corner, Paraguay.
02:47All these mines we go to, they're in rough spots to get to.
02:52That's just gold, huh?
02:53Yep.
02:56In the 1860s, the Caribou Gold Rush drew thousands of miners up the Fraser Valley in search of fine gold flakes along the river bars and benches.
03:08Those who endured the unforgiving terrain pulled in over $8.5 billion worth of gold at today's prices.
03:16Another mine, huh, Juan?
03:20Yeah.
03:21Good to be here.
03:22Hi, guys.
03:23How you doing?
03:24How you doing?
03:25Hi, I'm Travis Allen.
03:26I'm Juan.
03:27Nice to meet you in person, Travis.
03:28Nice to meet you.
03:29Andy.
03:30Good to meet you, Travis.
03:31Good to meet you as well.
03:32How you guys doing?
03:33Doing all right.
03:34How are you doing?
03:35My son and I are down here packing away at Long Bar.
03:37Trying our hardest.
03:38Make it work.
03:39How long have you guys been out here?
03:41This is our second year of mining here.
03:43How much gold you do?
03:44Last season, that's the thing.
03:47We only did about five ounces of gold.
03:51We hadn't figured out how really the ground worked here quite yet.
03:55We've learned through trial by error that it's mostly flood gold here.
04:01Small gold then.
04:02It's all very small gold.
04:04Flower gold.
04:05Do you have any of it we can look at?
04:06Yeah, you bet.
04:07This is what we're chasing here.
04:09This is Fraser River gold.
04:10Some of the purest gold.
04:11What's the purity of it?
04:13High 90s.
04:14You know, closest to the 100% you're going to get.
04:18My family has always been in the mining and logging industry.
04:22When I was 16 years old, I wanted to leave the family logging outfit to learn how to gold mine.
04:28I met an old fella from Sam at RMBC and joined his crew and I literally saw five gallon pails full of gold.
04:36Oh, that was totally the minute I became a gold junkie.
04:40I love being on gold mines.
04:42It's awesome.
04:43I'm really good at running the excavator and feeding the plant.
04:47I'm pretty confident about that.
04:49Two years ago, Travis set up Long Bar Mine to create a legacy for his son.
04:55I have learning disabilities, but I know I can become a mine boss.
04:59I'm trying to show my dad I'm trying to put as much effort into it as I can.
05:04Andrew's my whole world.
05:05I'm trying to install the work ethic that I have and give him the mining experience he needs so that he's able to thrive and succeed in this world just like anyone else.
05:16What's your investment out here?
05:19Well, we're in the ballpark of, you know, $400,000 spent in the last two seasons here.
05:26You only got $11,000 worth of gold last year, huh?
05:29Yeah.
05:30You're a ways away.
05:31Yeah, a long ways away.
05:32My son and I are out here picking away at this ourselves, trying to make it work the best we can.
05:37Now, what's your goal for this season?
05:39My goal for this season is 25 ounces.
05:42What's on the line here?
05:45Well, it's kind of everything on the line this year, Freddie.
05:49A good friend of mine, he's owed over $50,000.
05:52And if we don't get on the gold this year, Andrew and I are looking at, you know, possibly losing something in the value of $50,000.
06:02You know, an excavator or a loader, we wouldn't be able to bounce back from something like that.
06:06So without the gold, we're not going to make it, Freddie.
06:09Gold's money and money is gold.
06:10Yes, sir.
06:11That's why we're desperately in need of a hand to get on track here, so.
06:15What we like to do is come in.
06:17We'll do a four-hour test run.
06:18We want to watch the plant.
06:19We're not going to get involved.
06:20And that way we can kind of get together and figure out, you know, what we can do to help you.
06:23Thanks, Juan.
06:24Well, let's go look at the plant.
06:31So out of curiosity, what's all this about?
06:34Well, my son and I have been buying stuff all over the place at auctions, trying to piece together a good operating gold mine.
06:44But I don't really know how to put it together the way that it's supposed to.
06:48It looks like you got most of it, but there's a lot of little odds and ends that you don't have that are kind of important.
06:53Yep.
06:54Ideally, we would love to do that one, but I just don't know that we have enough time for that.
06:58You know, when Travis told us that he's 400K in the hole here, I can see it.
07:02He's got tons of equipment that he doesn't even use.
07:05But, you know, gold fever does that.
07:07So how long have you been running this small plant?
07:09That's what we've been running all season.
07:11To be honest with you, it's been a struggle.
07:13We've been managing to do a couple of grams a day, doing 12 yards a shift type of thing.
07:20So do you own this trommel?
07:22This plant I'm just renting.
07:25What's the payment on that?
07:26$2,500 a month.
07:28That's got us eating out of cans for dinner.
07:31Well, let's run for four hours and see what kind of gold we get.
07:34We'll show you what a four-hour test run will give you.
07:37Let's get this show on the road.
07:39Start the generator.
07:45Here comes the dirt.
07:47First bucket, Juan.
07:48There it is.
07:49Washing for Freddie and Juan does feel a little bit like going to school, but respect their knowledge so much.
07:56Travis feeds virgin pay onto a conveyor, feeding a 10-foot rotating trommel.
08:03Spray bars inside wash the pay from the gravel into a six-foot wide dual sluice run where the gold should be recovered.
08:13Water for the plant is pumped from a small holding pond and recycled from the sluice back into the pond.
08:25Looking at it right now, we can see a handful of problems already.
08:28The sluice?
08:29That sluice box is about four times too big for that plant.
08:33They don't have enough water to carry that wide a sluice.
08:36That's not enough water for one side, let alone two sides.
08:39No.
08:40And you can look at the drum.
08:41I bet over 50% of it's hogged up.
08:43I bet you're right.
08:45I'm worried about the ground.
08:47We can go out there and make them the most efficient plant in the world.
08:50But if there's no gold to catch in it, all you're doing is washing rocks.
08:55How's our drum looking, son?
08:57Keep a close eye on the tailing.
08:59It's building up.
09:01Who just sweeps them away with your hands?
09:04So the reason I have to do this by hand is because our angle is not down far enough.
09:12We're not able to lose our tailing.
09:15He's got to go in there and clean that out by hand.
09:18How long is that going to last before the reward is completely out, right?
09:21No, that's a bad deal, Freddy.
09:23There's no one else I'd rather be out here working with than my son.
09:27This is more rewarding than anything.
09:29Especially if we can bring home some gold.
09:32Better solution!
09:34I wanted my son to be able to take the mine over.
09:37So this is going to be a super charge for Andrew's mining education.
09:42Working at the logging outfit is not the same as having your own gold mine.
09:50How long have we been running, Fred?
09:52Roughly two hours.
09:53I don't know that that pond's going to make four hours, Roy.
09:56Well, you can look at how much tailings we have in it right now.
09:58Yep.
10:02This water's now turning into a milkshake, right?
10:05So when that water gets thick, that really fine gold like they have here, you tend to start losing it.
10:11The thicker the water gets, the more gold you lose.
10:13That's what happens when you sluice out of a mud puddle.
10:17The water's so thick now that I'll go tell him last bucket and we'll let that feeder clear out.
10:24Yeah, sounds good.
10:26Hey, Travis!
10:28Last bucket!
10:30Shut it all down.
10:31Let's see what we got.
10:32Can't kill the pump!
10:34Look at all of our black sands and gold that's piled up here out at the end of the sluice run.
10:46So you know definitely we're losing it.
10:49Some of the bigger stuff's here.
10:50A couple little pockets.
10:52It's all up at the top though, it seems, eh?
10:54Do you see any color down that low in the small stuff?
10:57I haven't yet.
10:58You guys want to get this cleaned up?
11:00We'll meet up later.
11:01We'll let you know how we made out.
11:02Okay.
11:03Sounds like a plan.
11:06I've seen other people, you know, in similar situations.
11:09People get gold fever and sometimes bad things happen, right?
11:13You throw a lot of your money away and that's what I'm seeing here right now.
11:17So hopefully Juan and myself can help him.
11:29Be curious to see ya.
11:31It's gonna be interesting.
11:34At the Long Bar Mine in British Columbia, the results are in for the two hour test run on the Allen's wash plant rental.
11:43How we doing, gentlemen?
11:44Good.
11:45Hi, Freddie.
11:46Hi, Juan.
11:47So here's our dried gold, Fred.
11:49Okay.
11:50See what we got.
11:520.
11:530.03.
11:540.03 ounces.
11:55Worth just $69.
11:56It's not good.
11:57Not good at all.
11:58That's not enough to cover the fuel that you used.
11:59Not enough at all.
12:01You can't continue to mine that way.
12:02No, definitely not.
12:03You know, the more you run, the quicker you're gonna go broke.
12:04Yep.
12:05That's a hard way to go broke.
12:06At this rate, a fast food job would be paying you a lot more.
12:07I appreciate, uh, the harsh honesty of things for sure, Freddie.
12:08But, uh, hope is not lost.
12:09We're gonna sit down and have a chat and see what we can't do with the plant.
12:10That would be fantastic.
12:11My son and I really need the help at this point, as you can tell.
12:12Yeah, you do.
12:13It's not enough to cover the fuel that you used.
12:14It's not enough at all.
12:15You can't continue to mine that way.
12:16No, definitely not.
12:17You know, the more you run, the quicker you're gonna go broke.
12:19Yep.
12:20That's a hard way to go broke.
12:21At this rate, a fast food job would be paying you a lot more.
12:25I appreciate, uh, the harsh honesty of things for sure, Freddie.
12:30But, uh, hope is not lost.
12:32We're gonna sit down and have a chat and see what we can't do with the plant.
12:35That would be fantastic.
12:36My son and I really need the help at this point, as you can tell.
12:39Yeah, you do.
12:42Here's your gold, sir.
12:44Don't spend it all in one place.
12:46Thank you, Freddie.
12:47Well, let's go have a chat, Fred.
12:49Yeah.
12:51Not good, Juan-O.
12:52Nope.
12:54We didn't want to burst their bubble, but $70 worth of gold is not acceptable.
12:58Not even close.
12:59So, uh, it was a little bit of a reality check, but sometimes that's needed.
13:04Having this bad news from Freddie and Juan is definitely humbling.
13:08I think if, uh, we can focus on making a few fixes, there's still a chance of saving the season.
13:20There sure are some nice guys.
13:21And I love the fact that he's doing this to be able to set his son up.
13:24It's always good to see a family operation.
13:27But, you know, they're, uh, they're kind of in a rough shape.
13:30They're in a really rough shape.
13:31Yeah.
13:32That plant that they got is basically a prospecting plant.
13:34It's one step up from a hobby mine right now.
13:36Uh-huh.
13:37And really, with the gold that they have, it's not going to cut it.
13:39Yeah.
13:40Not enough.
13:41It's going to plug on him nonstop.
13:42Yeah.
13:43But really, more than that, it's not his plant.
13:45Uh-huh.
13:46He's renting it right now.
13:47He's got money going out the door before he's got money coming in.
13:50So, I'm really thinking that, you know, he has all those parts there.
13:53Let's set him up with his own plant.
13:55Yeah.
13:56He's kind of like a used equipment hoarder.
13:58He's got a bunch of stuff laying around, but none of it works.
14:01Well, it's all mismatch, right?
14:02Uh-huh.
14:03You know, like, none of it was really designed for each other.
14:05But I think with what he has there, it's kind of a good start.
14:08I agree with you.
14:09I think what we can do is take that old shaker deck and repurpose it.
14:12We would have to build a new catch pan for the bottom, and this green has no water system.
14:16So, we're going to have to put spray bars on it.
14:18Mm-hmm.
14:19We'll have to build a manifold then, Juan.
14:21Yep.
14:22And we should also modify and reuse that yellow sluice box he's got sitting there.
14:26That's perfect.
14:27But we can only use one side of the sluice.
14:28Yep.
14:29He doesn't have enough water to run full width.
14:31But if we get it into one, then we'll be in good shape.
14:34It's a lot of work.
14:35That's all right.
14:36But at the end of the day, he's doing this to be able to set his son up.
14:39So, I'd be happy to waive our labor fee on this.
14:41He covers the material, we cover the labor.
14:43I'm good with that.
14:44Yeah.
14:45Done.
14:46All right.
14:47Let's do it.
14:48In an ambitious plan, Freddie and Juan will send back the trommel rental
14:54and resurrect Travis's boneyard shaker deck.
14:58A new hopper will be fitted to feed the plant.
15:03They'll install a complete water system to wash the pay and make the pond four times bigger.
15:11The lower screen will be replaced to trap extra fine gold.
15:17And a new distribution chute will direct gold-bearing concentrates into one side of Travis's second-hand sluice.
15:26Hey, Fred.
15:27Hey, Juan.
15:28How's it going, guys?
15:29Doing okay.
15:30We went and talked things over.
15:31Yeah.
15:32We came up with a couple ideas.
15:33One of the things that we really want to do is whatever we do here, we want to make sure that we do it on your plan.
15:39You don't own the trommel.
15:40So we'd be fixing up somebody else's equipment if you lost it.
15:41Yeah.
15:42So we want to work on your screen that you have, that you own.
15:43That's fantastic news.
15:44But it's going to be a lot more work than what we anticipated.
15:45We're going to have to build a feeder pan.
15:46Then at the bottom, we're actually going to have to build a funnel to be able to funnel all that concentrated material into the sluice box.
15:49And reuse that yellow sluice box, but only half of it because you don't have enough water to run six foot of box.
16:08You get enough water for three feet.
16:10We still have to do a water system.
16:12We'll have to build a manifold.
16:13We'll have to build spray bars.
16:14But I think all in all, that's going to be a better plan for you guys.
16:17Absolutely, Juan.
16:18And you own it.
16:19Yes, sir.
16:20And what we came to is $5,100.
16:26And that's strictly material.
16:27We talked about the labor.
16:29We're going to donate our labor 100%.
16:31Well, guys, I really appreciate that.
16:34That helps us huge.
16:36$5,100 is a pretty big number.
16:41I'd say send this trommel back so you aren't paying $2,500 a month.
16:45Yeah, I agree.
16:48It's a deal.
16:49Thank you, Freddie.
16:50Meet us down there.
16:51You guys can help us.
16:52Absolutely.
16:53Yeah, we're going to need your help to get this done.
16:54Please.
16:55And we'll teach you some welding skills.
16:56All right.
16:57Excellent.
16:59Good stuff, son.
17:00Well, let's get to work, huh?
17:01Yep.
17:02Freddie and Juan have less than four days to resurrect a boneyard wash plant and turn the
17:10Allen's fortunes around.
17:11What do you think?
17:12I'm going to start cutting.
17:13Okay.
17:14I'll do that screen and then the discharge shoots.
17:15I might go look at some ground real quick.
17:16Yep.
17:17All righty.
17:18Let's make it happen.
17:19We're going to cut this out of one sheet of steel.
17:32First, Juan fabricates an extra fine gold screen for the new wash plant.
17:37Right now, they're screening way too big for the gold that they have.
17:40So we're going to cut that down a little bit.
17:42The better that your classification is, the better the concentration is going to be.
17:45And you won't be having that larger material compete with that smaller gold and pushing
17:49it out of the sluice box.
17:50To recover the fine gold, Juan's plasma cutter precisely carves 3,000 one-eighth inch holes,
18:00four times smaller than the shaker's original screen.
18:03We're going to have about five hours of cut time on the screen, but we don't have any room
18:07for error.
18:08Right now is not a time to make mistakes.
18:10I'm extremely concerned about the amount of gold in these gravels, so I feel like I'm
18:26in a little bit of a hornet's nest here.
18:29Freddie's first priority?
18:33Get eyes on the ground.
18:35Travis has been mining.
18:36Are all these your tailings, or was somebody in here before you?
18:40No, this is my tailings from last year.
18:43Whose tailings are those?
18:44They're all mine.
18:45And you only got five ounces out of all this?
18:48Yep.
18:49Oh, man.
18:50Yep.
18:51I wish I would have known when to quit.
18:53Rough estimate, you ran 5,000 yards.
18:57Wow.
18:58Yeah, I had no idea we washed that much gravel.
19:00There's a tenth of an ounce per hundred, roughly.
19:02Travis needs to recover ten times this amount of gold to turn a profit.
19:07Travis wants, you know, this to be a legacy for his son.
19:11And as of right now, I don't know if there's enough gold here for that to really happen.
19:20Did you test any of this material?
19:22We just weren't testing the way we should have been testing, and we ended up washing
19:26gravels that were not great.
19:29This is your most important tool out here to start with.
19:33There's one of these in every piece of heavy equipment, right?
19:36Whether it's a loader, whether it's a dozer, whatever, every piece of equipment.
19:40That I owned had a gold pan in it.
19:43And if you run across something that looks neat, you know, get out and pan it.
19:46It gives you kind of an indicator on...
19:49Direction you're going.
19:50Yeah.
19:51So this is what the bank looks like when you cut into it.
19:55That's what I want to see.
19:59It's definitely been reworked by water, which is a good thing.
20:03See all our flat rocks?
20:05So when water flows, it can't stand up, right?
20:08Your flat rocks go flat, and they shingle up.
20:12The flat rocks are a sign that the gold-bearing Fraser River once flowed through this part of the cut.
20:19The layer at your knee is the best that I can see.
20:22Yeah.
20:23Would you go a little deeper and see what's down there?
20:25Try it and see.
20:27You know, it may change.
20:28There may be a layer under this that has a different matrix to it.
20:31You aren't done yet.
20:34Just keep testing.
20:35Absolutely.
20:36Thank you, Freddie.
20:37Looking forward to it.
20:38You're welcome.
20:39My worry is he's got gold fever.
20:40And when he sees, you know, three specks of gold, he gets excited.
20:44Hopefully the things we're teaching Travis here, he'll keep embedded.
20:48And he'll get on the gold.
20:49We've got a lot of stuff to do today, so we just got to get rolling here.
21:04On the Long Bar mine in British Columbia.
21:07Just lift first.
21:09In a bid to save their mining operation, the Allens move their scrap shaker deck to Juan's
21:16fabrication base camp in the boneyard, where it can be worked on more easily.
21:21You're coming with us, big girl.
21:27You can feel the strain even on the undercarriage.
21:30Don't get too close, sunshine.
21:33Big load.
21:35It's heavy.
21:36Let's set it right here.
21:40Perfect.
21:41It's right there.
21:45Shaker deck in place, Juan starts work on a new hopper.
21:50That hopper's going to be where we drop the material in with the excavator, and that way
21:54it can feed on top of the screen.
21:55But also it'll have a water port on the back to be able to push that material in.
21:58If I can get everything cut out between today and tomorrow morning,
22:02hopefully we'll be able to start getting things on plant in the next day or so.
22:06It's going to be a lot of build.
22:11It's definitely faster to refurbish half this loose box than to build a whole new one.
22:16I'm going to put all new angle clips in, because you see how this one's already bent up?
22:20Yes, sir.
22:21What's just welded on the top, so once you use a wedge on this three or four times, it's going to snap them off.
22:26So we need 14 of these.
22:28Sure, Freddie.
22:29No worries.
22:36Nothing is cheap at all in gold mining.
22:39The sluice boxes were around $5,000 each.
22:42So it's good to see them being put to use instead of just sitting there getting rusty.
22:47Hey, Andrew.
22:48I might get you to grind for me where these angle clips are going to go.
22:53Sure.
22:54Grind that whole area.
22:55You bet.
22:56Close enough.
22:57Do you enjoy working with your son?
23:13I really enjoy working with my son, actually.
23:16Good.
23:17We're very close.
23:18I can definitely tell you guys are pretty close.
23:21I pretty much raised him since I could hold him in one hand by myself.
23:26It was tough as a single father.
23:29The early years were really good.
23:31The older he got, I started to see changes in Andrew that had to do with his special needs.
23:37It's a type of autism that not very many children have, but he's got what he needs here to make it.
23:45I will help him to learn the ropes so that he's able to take the reins.
23:50This is protection for him, for his future, for both of us.
23:56Thanks, Andrew.
23:57Well, I think it looks pretty good.
23:58I'll start welding on this.
23:59Just trying to get in here on the good level ground so we can get all the good paint.
24:17While work continues on the sluice, Travis follows up on Freddie's tips in the long bar cut.
24:26Finding out that our gold averages are so low is hard to take.
24:30But like Freddie said, try to follow the pay layers.
24:35That's interesting.
24:37There's a bigger rock here.
24:39Let's go a little deeper.
24:40Looks like we've got an obvious change here.
24:43I think I'm going to go get a gold pan and test some of this pay.
24:47Freddie had some great advice.
24:52If we're breaking the ground, we should be panning it before it hits any kind of a wash plant.
24:59Starting to get down to the good stuff now.
25:02It might be small, but it has gold.
25:09Hi, Freddie.
25:10I found another layer.
25:11I thought I'd show it to you before I take it down too far and lose any.
25:15Don't be scared of losing a speck.
25:17Time's money, right?
25:18Yeah.
25:25It's got gold in it.
25:2610, 12 colors.
25:28That's better than the other stuff by far.
25:31Dig it up.
25:32We'll run it.
25:33All right, Freddie.
25:34Thanks.
25:35No worries.
25:40So right now I'm working on the manifold.
25:42These are the side pieces.
25:43And we'll just build a big rectangle that'll be the manifold.
25:47One's manifold will distribute pressurized water to the spray bars above the hopper and pay screens
25:54to separate the extra fine gold from river gravels.
26:00Well, there it is.
26:02That'll be the four inch coming in.
26:03And then three inch and a half valves for spray bars.
26:08Two inch valves for a spray bar on the back of the feeder.
26:11Also, when he gets a bigger pump, he can cut a hole in here and put a six inch port so he can run a bigger pump.
26:22You want to cut some carpets, Andrew?
26:23Sure.
26:24You can see we're six foot wide and eight feet long, right?
26:28In the boneyard, Freddie and Andrew make new sluice mats to trap extra fine long bar gold.
26:35So we need four, four foot by three foot sections of carpet.
26:39Okay.
26:41Grab the tape.
26:43Measure twice, cut once.
26:44Yep.
26:46So just follow your line and cut them.
26:47Yep, I will.
26:49I am very excited to learn things from Freddie and Juan.
26:55It's important for me if I wanted to become a mine boss.
26:59Freddie, I got some finished carpet there for you.
27:01All righty.
27:02So let's put them in.
27:03Yeah.
27:05Watching Andrew work next to Freddie is amazing.
27:07He's learning from me and he's learning from Freddie and Juan.
27:10Now let's grab our miner's moss and put it up top.
27:13I think these are all footsteps going forward for him taking the reins one day.
27:18There you go.
27:26Hey Juan, what do we got going on here?
27:28So this is the beginning of the chute.
27:30The material that's been screened properly will drop into this and then all the oversized material can go right off the front of it out into the muck bay.
27:35Uh-huh.
27:37To keep gold concentrates clear from the tailings, the new chute will make a 90 degree turn into the sluice box.
27:45Can I help you with anything?
27:47Have you ever done any welding before?
27:49I was pretty good back in high school when I was doing it.
27:52If you want to get that welding coat on, those gloves and that hood.
27:56Yeah, sure.
27:57Well, let's see what you got.
28:04So you strike it like a match.
28:05Yeah.
28:07A little closer, a little closer.
28:08A little closer.
28:09There you go.
28:10Perfect.
28:13Let's weld up to there and see how you do.
28:14Okay.
28:18It's always a big worry of mine to take on such an ambitious build, knowing that we only have a few days to do it.
28:23I'm hoping with Andrew and Travis here, we should be able to get most of this done, but we'll see.
28:30There you go.
28:31Good job.
28:32Thank you, Juan.
28:37Well, we just got the chute all welded up, so we're going to get it installed.
28:42This bottom goes on the bottom of this.
28:45Okay.
28:46Let's get this side up.
28:48Can we just twist it?
28:49Yeah.
28:50Keep going.
28:51Whoa.
28:52Lift it up.
28:53Tight.
28:55That pan's all up.
28:59With a gap like that, water's going to splash out of it.
29:01It's definitely going to be hard for Freddy to be able to weld it in place, because right now it's probably got three quarters of an inch of gap.
29:07The Boneyard shaker deck has warped with age, and they can't connect the new chute.
29:14When they built it, they didn't build it strong enough to be able to hold its shape, so we're dealing with it now.
29:18We're thinking of putting a jack off there, if I can reach in there.
29:33Yep.
29:34At the Long Bar Mine, Freddy and Juan fight to connect the new discharge chute to the beat-up shaker deck.
29:43Any gaps could leak fine gold.
29:45Underneath the screen, it's bowed.
29:47So right now, Freddy's trying to pull that chute down to be able to get it close to the new discharge chute that we built, to be able to weld it in place.
29:54Well, we've got to pull down most of the way, and I'm going to run a beat of silicone through it to seal it up.
30:11We're just stopping a little bit of water splash.
30:14With the gap below closed, the sides must also be welded.
30:19Okay, Juan.
30:21Hot tack it?
30:22Try it.
30:23I'll hit her right here.
30:25It'll take me a second to bridge it.
30:29Yep.
30:34One more.
30:35Okay.
30:39Yep.
30:43Perfect.
30:44Yep.
30:45That's what you call a hot tacking.
30:47When you've got a gap, get a tack in the middle of it, hit it with a hammer, and smash that weld in, and it'll pull the weld in.
30:54So I had a gap like that, and now it's pretty tight.
30:57That's one of the big pieces we had to put in.
30:59We still have a hopper we have to install still, and the complete water system.
31:02So we're getting closer, but we still got a lot to do.
31:04How's it going, Travis?
31:19Going good, Fred.
31:20How are you doing?
31:21Oh, doing all right.
31:22Good stuff.
31:23It's starting to come along.
31:24Little by little.
31:25Today, we've got to get water in here, because without water, we can't sluice.
31:28Absolutely.
31:29Because we only ran two hours last time, and it silted up.
31:32I'd like to raise that dam on the far side of the pond, raise it another foot or so, so we can get more water.
31:37For sure.
31:38All righty, I'm going to get to work.
31:39Thanks, Freddy.
31:40I appreciate it.
31:41Talk to you soon.
31:42To pump cleaner water into the plant and improve fine gold recovery, Travis raises the earth dam to make the pond four times bigger.
31:53Travis, you know, he may not know everything about gold mining, but one thing's for sure, he's a good operator on that track hoe.
32:00He's one of the guys I trust.
32:02Raised it up a little higher and packing it in a little tighter and see if we can't make it hold water.
32:08I think it's going to be high enough for now.
32:11Hey, Freddy, what do you think of the bird?
32:14She looks good, man.
32:17We're one step closer, Freddy.
32:21We hook everything up and then start pumping.
32:24I'm going to get back at it.
32:25OK, Freddy.
32:34At the cut trailer.
32:35So it's the beginning of the spray bar.
32:37Juan fabricates new spray bars to wash the pay gravels.
32:41Just use the plasma table to blast out all my holes.
32:44That way it was a little easier.
32:45Instead of having to go in there individually and drill every hole, we have four bars that we have to build.
32:50So it's quicker this way, just to set up the table and burn them out.
32:57Spray bars are in place.
32:59We still got to get the screen in.
33:01And then, you know, we also, there's that thing about running it.
33:06Pick up on that screen so Juan can get his forks under it.
33:11You bet.
33:12Go ahead, Juan-o.
33:13The Allens helped Freddy transport and install the 200-pound fine gold screen.
33:20Let's just slide it on manual, guys.
33:22It's all yours, Juan.
33:24Thank you, Fred.
33:25Watch out, buddy.
33:26Coming up.
33:27Keep going back.
33:29Shove her up there, sir.
33:31Watch your fingers.
33:32Now, give her a grade.
33:33One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight, eight, eight.
33:38Now, give her a grade.
33:39One, two, three.
33:40Go!
33:41There we go.
33:42Got her.
33:43She's all coming together, piece by piece.
33:46Coming up.
33:47The final piece of the puzzle is Juan's new hopper.
33:51Go!
33:52That's it, A-1.
33:53That's it, buddy.
33:54Well, this build took a little longer than what we expected, but now it's a mad dash to get the plant dragged back over.
34:11Stick up.
34:12Stick up.
34:13Travis moves the upgraded shaker 300 yards to the pad for the second test run.
34:21It actually looks like a plant now.
34:24A week ago, this wash plant was just sitting in the corner, resting.
34:29It really looks good to see it back together.
34:34Curl your bucket in.
34:37Come in.
34:38One of the most exciting days for a gold miner is happening right now.
34:44Go!
34:45Track in a little bit more.
34:48Oh!
34:49We're in good shape, huh?
34:52Perfectly center.
34:54Perfect.
34:55Both you and Juan, you're going to change our future.
35:01That means a lot.
35:02Let's get out of here, huh?
35:03Put things away and get ready for a test run.
35:05Let's do it.
35:06It's a huge transformation.
35:09We basically took essentially scrap iron and built a full functional plant.
35:13Hopefully, tomorrow, we're going to be full of gold, but we'll see.
35:22Come here, Willow.
35:24In a moment of downtime, Freddie gets back to his ranching roots with dog Willow.
35:30You see those chickens?
35:31Come on, Willow.
35:32Get around those chickens.
35:33Hurt them up.
35:34I grew up on a ranch.
35:35We had cow dogs.
35:36That's a sheep dog with a desire to herd something.
35:39That's the instincts that those dogs have.
35:41I can't get those instincts out of her today.
35:44Hurt them up.
35:45Get around.
35:46Get around.
35:47It's not my day for a dog trainer.
35:49Well, I tried.
35:51Hey, Freddie.
35:52Hey, Juan.
35:53What do you think, Travis?
35:54You guys ready to run?
35:55Yeah, you bet.
35:56Well, let's run.
35:57Let's do it.
35:58At the Long Bar Mine, the Allens fire up their new wash plank for the second test run.
36:16Let's see if she shakes for us.
36:18Lookin' good, sunshine.
36:19Here's the first scoop.
36:20First bucket launch.
36:21Four-hour run?
36:22Yeah.
36:23It feels great to run this plant for the first time.
36:38It's been sitting in the field for a couple of years.
36:41I never, ever thought it would come together.
36:45The sluice is running good.
36:47The plant's running good.
36:49The water's cleaning the material.
36:51The rocks are coming off clean.
36:55I don't think I've ever seen a wash plant run this good before.
36:58It's really lost the good.
36:59It makes me more confident that we can get to our 25-ounce wool.
37:10Looks like we're running about double the production.
37:14Overall, I'm pretty happy with it.
37:17You know what we did with this?
37:18We resurrected a dinosaur.
37:20Yeah.
37:21Something that was fit for the scrap pile.
37:23Now it's actually a running plant.
37:24And he owns it.
37:25Yeah.
37:26Hopefully we see some gold in the box.
37:28What is that?
37:29Is that four hours now, Fred?
37:30Four hours right on the money.
37:31Last bucket!
37:42Let's go see the box.
37:46There's quite a bit of material in it.
37:48Oh, look here in the carpet.
37:51See, that's why we double layer it, right?
37:53Yeah, it's all over the top there.
37:55All over here.
37:56Some more bigger pieces in here.
37:58Good.
37:59A little more because the scale doesn't lie.
38:01You bet.
38:09Let's go weigh it up, Freddy.
38:10I'm curious.
38:11Yeah, me too.
38:12I'm worried too.
38:13Yeah.
38:15Where's your gold at, guys?
38:16I got some gold right here for you to weigh.
38:19We did a .03 last time.
38:22You know, you got to be right around
38:23a quarter of an ounce a day, right?
38:25To be able to finish the season off.
38:26Absolutely.
38:27That's what we're shooting for.
38:28Let's weigh it up.
38:32The Allens' final hopes
38:34rest on a boosted recovery
38:36from Freddy and One's upcycled wash plant
38:39and the new prospected pay
38:41from the long bar cut.
38:43Well, we're way past the .03.
38:48After doubling their last two-hour run time,
38:51they need to see at least .1 ounces
38:54to save their season.
38:56Huh.
38:57Look at that number.
38:58.20.
38:59Wow.
39:00Just shy of a quarter ounce.
39:02Wow.
39:03Almost $500 in just a four-hour run.
39:06More than triple the gold recovery
39:09of their wash plant rental.
39:11That's pretty good.
39:12That's pretty excellent
39:13compared to what we've been doing.
39:14You know, in reality is,
39:16an eight-hour run,
39:17you'd be closer to half an ounce,
39:18you know?
39:19Absolutely.
39:20And that's doable.
39:21Wow.
39:22That's $1,200 a day.
39:23Wow, that's pretty good.
39:24Well, you weren't going to survive before.
39:25Absolutely.
39:26The way the plant's set up,
39:27you're only running at half capacity.
39:29I agree.
39:30As you ramp things up,
39:31you start making some money,
39:32you can get a bigger pump
39:33and start, you know,
39:34using both sides of the sluice box.
39:35And hopefully get an ounce a day.
39:36Exactly.
39:37It's nice to have my own plant up and running.
39:40This is actually light
39:41at the end of the tunnel for me.
39:43This is the best news we've seen.
39:45Man, do I appreciate it, fellas.
39:47Juan and myself got to hit the road?
39:50Thank you, Freddie.
39:51You're welcome.
39:52Thank you, Juan.
39:53Hey, no worries.
39:54Thank you, Juan.
39:55Thank you, Freddie.
39:58Here's our future.
39:59Right there.
40:00Miracle in the pan.
40:01Both Andrew and I are just ecstatic.
40:04It doesn't even feel real
40:06what Freddie and Juan have done for us.
40:08I never thought it could happen,
40:10but it has happened.
40:12We'll make it here.
40:14We can survive.
40:15I want to say to Freddie and Juan,
40:16thank you very much for coming down
40:18to our gold mine and saving the day.
40:21I can't be any happier.
40:23A miracle has happened for me.
40:25If it was easy, everyone would do it.
40:27But honestly, I have a lot of hope here.
40:30Andrew is driven, and he's made a decision.
40:33He wants to be a miner,
40:34and he's going to continue with this.
40:35But now he has the right tools
40:36to be able to continue with his career.
40:38Here's an update from Long Bar.
40:47Since we've seen Freddie and Juan,
40:49the updates have helped us tremendously.
40:52This old plant has really lost good.
40:55It's got a great shape.
40:57The tailings are nice and clean.
40:59We're washing around 100 yards of shift.
41:02It's doing anywhere from 3 quarters of an ounce
41:04to an ounce today.
41:06We're so happy to be able to share it with my son
41:09and show him this is how we can claw away at our future.
41:13One scoop at a time.
41:15Now we just want to wash, wash, wash.
41:18We'll be here until the snow flies.
41:20Things just look that much better for us now
41:22and for Andrew's future.
41:24We're able to pay the bills.
41:26Thanks again, Freddie and Juan.
Recommended
41:31
|
Up next
52:33