- 7/6/2025
Gold Rush Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan Season 5 Episode 101
#GoldRush
#PrimeUSTV
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
#GoldRush
#PrimeUSTV
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:01When it comes to mining.
00:04Gold's money and money is gold.
00:05Freddie and Juan put their money where their mouth is.
00:09Wow, that's awesome.
00:11Right on, guys.
00:12Responding to miners out of hope.
00:14I mean, everything's on the line.
00:16Literally everything.
00:18They aim to double their recovery.
00:21Dealer.
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.
00:29And get on the gold.
00:32Look at that, guys.
00:35But did it pay off?
00:37We could run the whole mill site by ourselves.
00:39What a blessing.
00:40In 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 mine gloom into gold gloom.
01:01If you 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.
01:07Time for speeding.
01:08Speed.
01:09This year, you know, it's been a tough season already.
01:12That's right.
01:13It's been a season of unique fixes.
01:15Dry plants.
01:16Dry plants.
01:17Solar.
01:18Hard rock.
01:19Hard rock as well.
01:20Honestly, I love doing stuff like that.
01:21You know, the miles that we put on, the stress that we have.
01:23And I still have this little, you know, situation going on in my face.
01:26It's great to hear it wasn't a stroke.
01:28You know, it's Bell's palsy.
01:29It's getting better.
01:30I'll get through it.
01:31No, we did a lot last year that we've never done before.
01:32It was kind of exciting.
01:33Well, it's something new.
01:34Yeah.
01:35Yeah.
01:36You get out of your comfort zone.
01:37Sometimes it works.
01:38Sometimes it doesn't.
01:39But then you learn.
01:40These are just really simple.
01:41They're actually kind of an automotive airbag.
01:42But, you know, sometimes you've got to use what you can get.
01:44With almost 40 rescue zones.
01:46I'm going to have this little, you know, situation going on in my face.
01:49It's great to hear it wasn't a stroke.
01:50You know, it's Bell's palsy.
01:51It's getting better.
01:52I'll get through it.
01:53No, we did a lot last year that we've never done before.
01:54It was kind of exciting.
01:55Well, it's something new.
01:56Yeah.
01:57Yeah.
01:58You get out of your comfort zone.
01:59Sometimes it works.
02:00Sometimes it doesn't.
02:01But then you learn.
02:02These are just really simple.
02:03They're actually kind of an automotive airbag.
02:04You've got to use what you can get.
02:05With almost 40 rescues under their belt.
02:08I'm going to weld these chains in that top shaker deck to try to help knock rocks out.
02:13Freddie and Juan's ability to upcycle boneyard junk.
02:17It doesn't look that sexy, but it's going to work.
02:20Is 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.
02:29One of the most memorable for me was Vaughn.
02:34Yeah.
02:35Vaughn Riches.
02:36He had almost $700,000 invested in his operation.
02:38He did.
02:39He had all that equipment leased.
02:40He had employees he had to pay.
02:42Fuel.
02:43You 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.
02:51I have mined for three years looking for plastic 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.
03:07In Wells, British Columbia, Freddie and Juan are called to rescue struggling miner Vaughn Riches.
03:14Hey, guys.
03:16How's it going today?
03:17I'm Vaughn.
03:18Nice to meet you, Fred.
03:19Nice to meet you, Vaughn.
03:20What's your name?
03:21Nice to meet you.
03:22Yeah.
03:23After investing almost three quarters of a million dollars into his operation, with only
03:2830 ounces of gold to show for it, Vaughn faces bankruptcy.
03:34I borrowed money from family, from friends, leasing companies, credit cards, on and on.
03:45Yep.
03:46So it's, uh, I'm in deep.
03:50Honestly, I was a little nervous for him because, you know, to roll the dice without having
03:54a 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.
04:03It does.
04:04Like, whoa.
04:05I don't know.
04:06We start feeling the stress.
04:07We really do.
04:08Yeah.
04:09You know, because we get invested ourselves.
04:10But that helps us work even harder to try our best to help them out.
04:14First bucket, Vaughn.
04:15Step in, start feeding the plant.
04:20The roots and everything go between the boulders.
04:23So 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
04:41trommel'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
04:49fall 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
04:58more gold.
04:59Well, there's a few pieces of gold that should have made it down to the sluice box that
05:04never 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.
05:11Not that fixed.
05:12No, that one you could see it.
05:13Yeah, it was definitely visual.
05:14Yeah.
05:15What do you think about like a street sweeper brush?
05:18Okay.
05:19When it's mounted on the side, the weight of it goes down and while the trommel's turning,
05:23it'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 the shot because right now it's absolutely clogged up.
05:32In a first for mine rescue, Freddy and Juan tackle the organics with an inventive rotating
05:40brush to clean the screens.
05:44The rotating brush assembly is something we've never done before.
05:48But 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.
05:55Amazing.
05:56Yeah.
05:57It'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
06:02on our test run.
06:03I'm just hoping that it works properly.
06:05We told them double or nothing.
06:06So 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.
06:14But we really don't know until we actually build it and try it.
06:16Unproven.
06:17We're running more material.
06:18Yeah.
06:19So we've got more organics coming through.
06:20Exactly right.
06:21Nope, they're doing their job, bud.
06:22Yep.
06:23Good job, Fredo.
06:24We did okay.
06:25It seems like it's moving in the right direction.
06:26We're getting more yardage in and that in turn should mean more gold.
06:27And it worked out great.
06:28We run nearly double the material.
06:29And a lot of things we do are prototypes, right?
06:30Mm-hmm.
06:31So it's really easy.
06:32We could fail.
06:33Yeah.
06:34You just got to keep your fingers crossed it's going to work the way I'm thinking about
06:36it.
06:37Yeah.
06:38Yeah.
06:39Last bucket.
06:40But the true test of the prototype is in the results of the second gold way.
06:57No .
06:59What?
07:001.58 for four freaking hours.
07:05Freddie 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.
07:13In a 12 hour day.
07:14Woo!
07:15It was crazy to see a guy, a tough guy like Juan get emotional.
07:17Woo!
07:18It actually gave him hope.
07:20Yeah.
07:21Not 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.
07:30You guys do.
07:31All is well.
07:32You got to know, man.
07:33How did your season turn out?
07:34Did the plant continue doing good for you?
07:36The plant worked awesome.
07:38I can't say enough.
07:39The brushes.
07:40Yeah.
07:41What 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.
07:48Yeah.
07:49No, I tell you guys, it was miraculous and it just changed everything for me.
07:54Nice.
07:55I appreciate it so much.
07:57Yeah.
07:58Very good.
07:59Did you meet your goal then for the season?
08:01I recovered 58 ounces in a month.
08:04I tackled a bunch of my big pills and geez, I mean, I'm just going to be making nothing
08:08but profit.
08:09Good to hear.
08:10We're going to hit it hard and I know it's going to go well.
08:12I'm confident now.
08:13It's a different feeling.
08:15Good.
08:16Good.
08:17Good to hear your crew.
08:18Yeah.
08:19We're a pleasure to work with hard working people.
08:20Yeah.
08:21The future is bright there.
08:22I mean, thanks to you guys.
08:24Bye for now.
08:25Take it easy.
08:26Yeah.
08:27Adios.
08:28Bye.
08:29I'm happy with that bread.
08:30I am too.
08:31Makes me smile.
08:32Me too.
08:33I can't smile, but it makes me smile.
08:38Sometimes it's hard to think outside the box.
08:40Exactly.
08:41But me and you've been around dozens and dozens and dozens of mines, right?
08:44Yeah.
08:45We've seen this trick.
08:46We've done this.
08:47We've done that.
08:52They got water going where they don't need water.
08:55For every problem in gold mining.
08:57There's a lot of waste of time right there, Freddie.
08:59There are a dozen solutions waiting to be discovered.
09:03I don't know if that was a very smart idea of 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.
09:13One 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.
09:49So here's the beast, huh?
09:51That's the beast.
09:52It was out of my budget to drill wells or haul water, and it's dry, 100%.
09:59Essential in the arid desert, Nick's dry plant uses air rather than water to blow away the dirt from the gold.
10:09So did you build this entirely by yourself, Nick?
10:14For the most part.
10:15You'll have to pardon the rudimentary 55-gallon drum.
10:18That's just what I was able to scrounge up.
10:21Let's fire it up.
10:22Let's do it.
10:23One or myself will just kind of stand back and see what goes on.
10:27Take a nap.
10:28No.
10:29All right.
10:30We'll watch it for sure.
10:33This is part of what's killing me.
10:35You know, gas is not cheap.
10:37Diesel's not cheap.
10:38So it's skinning my teeth every time.
10:41Fire it up.
10:44The plant requires as much as $850 in fuel per month, a heavy cost for an already cash-strapped operation.
10:53All right, first bucket.
10:55They were completely out of resources.
10:59You know, and when it's a struggle day to day just to have enough gas to put into the generator,
11:04all that weight is on Nick's shoulders to be able to survive.
11:07And a 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.
11:16Mm-hmm.
11:17All through the season.
11:18Yeah.
11:19The icing on the cake was where we were able to fab up a little solar system for him.
11:25Well, the mines that are making a good living, they don't need our help.
11:35No, they don't.
11:36Right?
11:37In Nevada, Freddie and Juan reflect on the Ballard rescue and check in on their untested fixes.
11:48If this fails, I'm in big trouble.
11:54Shut her down, Nick.
11:55After four hours, time is called on the dry plant test run.
12:00You know, in that first gold weight 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.
12:10Yeesh.
12:11Not even worth the diesel he put in for his excavator.
12:13Not even close.
12:14Mm-mm.
12:15You need better ground, you know, because you're not running a ton of material.
12:17Mm-hmm.
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 gonna try to save you money and get your efficiency up.
12:29Okay.
12:30I'm no solar expert, but you've got a lot of solar here.
12:33Yeah.
12:34That's not a problem out here.
12:35In 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.
12:50I'm just getting started on this solar trailer.
12:55This is my first adventure with anything over a solar panel about that big, right?
13:02But that's how you learn.
13:04If you don't strive to learn new things, you never jump ahead.
13:09In a turn of fortune, the Ballards' hope for a solar-powered mining solution already lies in Nick's workshop.
13:18And are these new or are they used?
13:20They're used.
13:21They're used.
13:22They're pretty new, though.
13:23Well, this is half the battle, finding the panels, so...
13:24Yeah.
13:25That's great.
13:26You got them.
13:27Yeah.
13:28Well, let's get them loaded up, huh?
13:29There you go.
13:30All right.
13:31The reality is, if they would have kept on running there, they would have lost a lot
13:36more money in operational costs.
13:38Let's go.
13:40Nick, let's bring a panel over.
13:46Hey, Danny, you want to hop up inside of there?
13:49You got it.
13:50He 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 them.
13:59Mm-hmm.
14:00So 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.
14:11This 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 Freddie built the frame, he made these panels adjustable, so that way
14:22we can kind of adjust the panels so they get the maximum sunlight, so they produce the maximum
14:26energy.
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 right
14:34where you need it.
14:35These solar generators sure come in handy for, you know, not having to put as much fuel in
14:40the generator, so 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 the first for us, so I'm kind of proud of that one.
14:54Yeah, me too, as well.
14:55Yeah.
14:56All right, watch out, guys.
14:57Trauma's going to start up.
14:58Yeah.
14:59That's pretty sweet.
15:00Oh, four-hour test.
15:01Here we go, huh?
15:02Oh, mate.
15:03Look at that.
15:04Able to produce 4,000 watts of power, Freddie and Lon's brand-new creation turns the six-foot
15:19trommel.
15:20Drive's running good, punch plate's running good, and the solar trailer's running everything.
15:27Yeah, the solar system I think is awesome.
15:30Ran that plant, you know, for the full test run, not an issue, and really it's low light
15:34right now.
15:35It's a cloudy day.
15:36Yeah.
15:37The first cloudy day we've had, that's the day we ran.
15:39So that proves it right there that it's working.
15:41Yeah, 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.
15:50I think a big part of what we did there, Fred, is reduce the running cost.
15:54By building that solar trailer, basically the trommel itself runs on its own.
15:59No fuel needed.
16:00You know, it took a little bit of initial investment.
16:02Yeah.
16:03But in the end...
16:04It's gonna pay itself off.
16:05Easy.
16:06It'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.
16:16That's a really good increase, guys.
16:18I really appreciate it.
16:19All baloney aside, I would move downstream.
16:22He was at the very top of a drainage that had barely had any erosion.
16:27But down below, all those drainages concentrated down there, and it kind of went down like this
16:31and then flattened 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.
16:42How you doing?
16:43Good, yeah.
16:44Good, buddy.
16:45How are you 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, looks great.
17:10Yeah, we can see it good.
17:11How's the solar trailer doing?
17:13Man, that thing is awesome.
17:14I can do all my fabrication off of it.
17:17I can run the plant.
17:18Nice.
17:19The 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.
17:27Good to hear.
17:28Glad it worked out.
17:29You know, our big goal was to be able to reduce your running cost.
17:31Oh, 100%.
17:33You guys were definitely able to accomplish less cost for me and less sweat equity, I suppose.
17:41That 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.
17:55Cool.
17:56Hi, guys.
17:57Golden nugget number one and golden nugget number two.
18:01There you go.
18:02Hello, little ones.
18:03He's a high, pretty one.
18:05You 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.
18:14Exactly.
18:15Well, we're happy to see that the family's doing great and you're doing well.
18:18And keep up the great work, man.
18:20All right.
18:21Bye.
18:22More 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 them reduce the cost of running and also increase
18:29his recovery.
18:30I think the common thread between all the miners we've helped, Juan, is you got somebody
18:35that looks to better things for their family and their future.
18:38Mm-hmm.
18:39I think it's a win-win, Juan.
18:40Yeah, it was a win.
18:44Coming up.
18:45Stop working here.
18:46The pressure builds.
18:48What's going on, Freddy?
18:49Let's let it work!
18:51And Freddy and Juan hit the jackpot.
18:55Check that out.
18:56That's a lot of gold.
18:57Oh, it's going to go higher.
18:59Woo!
19:00We got the biggest nuggets we've ever got off this claim.
19:16Well, Juan, you know, it all comes down to smiles at the end of a gold way right after
19:21we've worked on their equipment.
19:22At Juan's workshop in Nevada, Freddy and Juan check in on their most ambitious designs
19:28to 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.
19:43So imagination's most important.
19:46Picture it in your head and then go from there.
19:50With 60 years combined experience...
19:53Right now, we're building a custom sluice box for them.
19:55Freddy and Juan can turn a design dream into reality.
19:59Hopefully, 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.
20:09Eyeballs!
20:13Aw, come on, baby.
20:14Well, you remember Dick and Eric Combrek?
20:17Yeah.
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.
20:33I've tried not to my whole life.
20:35Welcome.
20:37Hi, Juan.
20:38For the last decade, Dick Combrek has been mining a five-acre claim in the valley of Bear Gulch, Montana.
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.
21:00Well, Dick and Eric, not only are they gold miners, they're pilots that help put out forest fires.
21:04They were trying to help fund their aviation business by gold mining, but their gold mining wasn't, you know, supporting the aviation business.
21:14Last year we were able to get about 60 ounces is all.
21:18All right.
21:20What do you need then to get profitable this year?
21:23At least 100 ounces to be able to cover expenses and increase the profits.
21:28The 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.
21:43The problem is, all that material, the heavy stuff, the gold, most of it's going down one run.
21:49That's wasting that.
21:51Basically, we have two runs here that are just getting material, no gold.
21:54Gold-bearing material flows unevenly down the plant's three sluices.
21:59The riffles pack up and wash fine gold off the end.
22:02Feel them, they're packed.
22:03Ah, fuck it!
22:07I've put lots of new plants together.
22:09There's always an issue somewhere.
22:11Transfer points, water issues.
22:13They just needed a little bit of help with that older trommel they had.
22:16You know, the sluice box, the way it's set up right now?
22:18Yep.
22:19It has three runs.
22:20All the material with gold in it's running down one side of it.
22:24We can definitely do a three-way splitter.
22:26Yeah.
22:27We've never done it before, but let's try it.
22:29It's going to increase the recoveries for sure.
22:31To increase the efficiency of Dick's three sluices,
22:35Freddie and Juan roll the dice on a three-way distribution box in a mine rescue first.
22:43We kind of have something new that we're building.
22:45A lot of the splitters that we've built over the years funnel the material off two ways.
22:49This splitter is going to be a little different because we're going to have to go three ways.
22:52This 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.
23:00You 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.
23:14Juan 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. It's something that's never been tried before.
23:32It was a stressful situation.
23:35Stop working here.
23:38What's going on, Freddie?
23:40Just let it work!
23:42We had a little bit of an issue with a spillover.
23:50You know, usually when you build something, you have trial and error, right?
23:52Mm-hmm.
23:53You try it, there's an error, you can redo it again, have another trial.
23:56Mm-hmm.
23:57This time we only had a trial and then go right to work.
24:00And we were able to make it work.
24:01That's better.
24:02Yeah, it's more, a little more even now.
24:07Yeah.
24:08So far, everything's looking really good.
24:10The V chute's working great.
24:12You can see our material coming down here, it levels out, evens out, and we've got a perfect flow on all three sluice boxes.
24:17Well, on the second Goldway, their goal was one ounce of gold in four hours, right?
24:20Yeah.
24:21But it's going to have to be 1.2 for us to be able to get paid.
24:26To hit their double or nothing wager, Freddie and Juan need to see at least 1.2 ounces.
24:371.18.
24:39Elated.
24:40Awesome.
24:42What 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.
25:03Yeah, it was worth it.
25:04Yeah, 100%.
25:06Well, Eric couldn't do a video call with us today because he's out fighting fires.
25:11But 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.
25:30Unfortunately, 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 gold count yet, but all in all, gold recovery is up by 10 to 15%.
26:04So 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, you know, a visit from you guys.
26:16What a wonderful way to end his legacy, something I'll always remember.
26:21You guys are first-class people. You're American heroes. Love you guys.
26:26Thanks for everything you do for the small miners out there.
26:30Wow, it breaks my heart.
26:32I know.
26:33That's a tough one, Fred.
26:34Yep.
26:35You know, Dick was a hell of a guy.
26:37All-around pilot, gold miner.
26:39I 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.
26:48Loved his family. Loved what he did.
26:50Worked hard. Good man.
26:53Yep. We'll miss you, Dick.
26:54Yep.
26:55Sometimes 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.
27:31We'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.
27:39We've got about five days worth of work and about three days to do it.
27:43Freddy 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.
27:55To maximize gains.
27:56Wow.
27:57There's .40 right there.
27:58There's .25.
27:59There's a little more gold left.
28:01With the Gretzner crew, they had the right idea of what they needed to do.
28:12They just didn't have the right execution on it.
28:14That was the first time we've been helping 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, Freddy 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.
28:39We've got to go.
28:40We've got to go.
28:41We've got to go.
28:42It is the hardest form of gold mining to get into.
28:46The 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.
29:01There was a lot of guys there.
29:02And every one of them was invested in that.
29:05You guys want to fire up your mill?
29:07What do you think?
29:08A two-hour test run?
29:09Yes, sir.
29:10Try it.
29:11See what it does.
29:12Let's do it.
29:13Let's do it.
29:14To 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 a mill like that, it should be one process.
29:31You feed it, and from then on, it should be all automated.
29:34You 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.
29:39Well, Freddie, 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.
29:46They're slow.
29:47I'm thinking on this.
29:48They've 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.
29:57To increase the mill's ability to capture gold, Freddie and Juan upgrade the hopper.
30:03With an 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.
30:22Finally, after the rock has been milled to dust and the gold liberated, a vibrating screen and new sluice box will help catch the bigger gold before the fines get caught on the table.
30:41So 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.
30:50We're going to use these weights that we cut out on the table, and we'll have opposing weights.
30:55So 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.
31:02So 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 to be able to cut that bigger material out.
31:26Fix is complete.
31:29Chad's crew give the new mill a test run.
31:32Wind it up, Terry.
31:34Right, going up to first 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 that 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.
32:16Just over a quarter of an hour.
32:19That's awesome.
32:20Worth almost $500.
32:23Well, the final gold was a huge increase.
32:25Yeah.
32:26About 700%, 800% probably.
32:28Yeah.
32:29It'd be really cool to find out how they're doing. Should we give them a call?
32:31Let's do it.
32:32All right.
32:33Yeah, let's do it.
32:34Hey, Chad, how you doing?
32:36Hey, Freddie.
32:37Hey, Juan.
32:38I'm doing great.
32:39Hey, Greg.
32:40What's going on?
32:41How you guys doing?
32:42Good.
32:43How's the crew doing, Chad?
32:44Oh, the crew is doing great.
32:46Yeah.
32:47All the fixes you guys did, they're working great.
32:49And 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 sluice he has ever built, and it helped us increase our
33:02throughput through the circuit.
33:04Oh, cool.
33:05What took eight hours before, we can now do in like three hours with all the pictures
33:10you guys did.
33:11I mean, we could run the whole mill site by ourselves.
33:13What a blessing.
33:14We know that when we persevere and we sample, we can do this.
33:18With 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.
33:35Let us know.
33:36Stay in touch and bye for now.
33:38You guys take care.
33:39Well, you know what?
33:40That's our first hard rock, and I think we did pretty darn good.
33:44I think so, too.
33:45Yeah.
33:46Coming up.
33:47Those are deep.
33:48Those are like a half inch deep.
33:50That's unbelievable.
33:52I'm curious, more than any mine last year, on how we ended up doing the rest of the summer.
33:58Woo!
34:04Come check this out, Fred.
34:06That's neat, Wano.
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.
34:16What do you think, Freddie?
34:17Oro?
34:18Oro.
34:19Uh-huh.
34:20Hey, little Freddie.
34:21Hey?
34:22Do me a favor.
34:23Don't let your Uncle Freddie teach you how to speak Spanish.
34:24It'll be all messed up.
34:25Goldo.
34:26Goldo?
34:27Goldo.
34:28Nice job, man.
34:29Come on, little Freddie.
34:37Well, Juan, last season was quite a season, huh?
34:42Yeah, it was.
34:43There was a lot of firsts last year.
34:44Yep.
34:45True laid out.
34:46A season of firsts.
34:47As technology advances, you have to advance with it.
34:49Exactly right.
34:53There it goes.
34:55Using the latest technology.
34:57Perfect.
34:59Freddie and Juan keep one step ahead.
35:01It's not super sexy, but it's there.
35:06Over the years, Freddie, we've helped a lot of miners.
35:08Small scale, large scale, and everything in between.
35:11Uh-huh.
35:12You know, but somebody that really stands out is Anthony Ma.
35:14He had a lot of ground there.
35:15Yeah.
35:16He was just sluicing the wrong stuff.
35:22How's it going, guys?
35:23Hey, guys.
35:24How you doing?
35:25Good.
35:26I'm Anthony.
35:27I'm Juan.
35:28Nice to meet you.
35:29I'm Juan got a call from struggling miner Anthony Moff after the gold dried up on his 900-acre claim.
35:38I 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 so you can make it worthwhile.
35:46You know, Anthony Moff, 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.
36:03Start that four-hour test.
36:05It'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.
36:13Well, during that first test run, it was constant shutdowns.
36:16Yep.
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.
36:23Yeah, 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.
36:29Holy sheesh.
36:30That's a lot.
36:33To help Anthony increase his gold recovery, Freddie and Juan first remove the plate from the base of the hopper and replace it with a beam for a more even feed.
36:44Next, 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.
36:59We helped him out with a couple of different things.
37:03But really, out of all that, the most important was the ground.
37:06Yep.
37:07A mile away from the wash plant, Freddie spots an older patch of trees, which could indicate undisturbed ground.
37:15There could be something hiding in here.
37:17I'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 pay layer.
37:28I got some color too there, Freddie.
37:33Yeah, you do.
37:34That's a nice one.
37:35You're in gold country.
37:36This has been reworked, and it's been reworked hard.
37:39If we're getting this kind of gold on the surface, what's down in there?
37:42It's going to be damn good down below, yeah.
37:43Yeah.
37:44To determine how deep the potential pay layer goes, Freddie calls in geologist Nick Gust to run a ground-penetrating radar test, a first for mine rescue.
37:56Data gathered from this technology could identify ancient pay layers close to bedrock.
38:02Hopefully, that is a channel in there, a reworked one, and it hasn't been disturbed by the old timers.
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 get that material up the mountain in the timeline we were there,
38:20because it was going to take cutting a road down in there to get it, right?
38:23Fire it up!
38:27There it is, first bucket.
38:31Unable to access the newly-prospected ground, the crew run pay from their existing cut for the second test with Freddie and Juan's unique plant fixes.
38:42Yeah, it looks good.
38:43You know, a lot of the fixes that we did, Freddie, the increased throughput would also reduce shutdown.
38:48He didn't have to jump out of it once.
38:50Yeah, exactly.
38:51But the final gold wave with Anthony was kind of a kick in the teeth.
38:540.74.
38:56It was a 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.
39:06So I'm curious of more than any mine last year on how he ended up doing the rest of the summer.
39:12Yeah, I'm curious too.
39:14One month after the rescue, Anthony builds a road and begins mining the new ground.
39:22You there, Anthony?
39:23How's it going, guys?
39:24Doing great.
39:25How'd the season end up for you?
39:26After you guys left, we really hammered on it.
39:28That 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.
39:36Wow.
39:37It was really good ground there.
39:38I knew when we found that gold on the top and looking at that material had been reworked like it was, I'm like, go here.
39:43That actually carried right on up that hill, right to where we were doing that first test on.
39:47Well, that's good.
39:48That's good news.
39:49That's good.
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.
39:58Oh.
39:59You guys want to see a little bit?
40:00I just kept some of the nuggets here.
40:02Yeah, I'd like to see it.
40:03There you go.
40:04There you go.
40:05Yeah.
40:06That's awesome.
40:07You can see that.
40:08We got a one ounce, one, one and a half ounce, bunch in the 20 gram range, 10 grams.
40:12Nice.
40:13Nice.
40:14Nice.
40:15That makes us smile, sir.
40:16Yes, it does.
40:17Makes us smile too.
40:18Makes you smile more.
40:19Yeah, exactly.
40:20If you want to sell the rest of that property, me and Juan could try to buy it out.
40:24We'll take it.
40:25If you go with a real low ball number.
40:27Yeah, you know.
40:28Because we don't have a lot.
40:29Well, give us another year on there and then we can talk.
40:32Let's let us mind it out first.
40:34Yeah.
40:35It's great talking to you.
40:36Yeah.
40:37Stay in touch, guys.
40:38Yep.
40:39All right, Anthony.
40:40Good luck.
40:41Thanks.
40:42Awesome news.
40:43Really, really good news.
40:44Did you see those nuggets?
40:45Oh, amazing.
40:46Going from just struggling to actually thriving is amazing.
40:49Having his investor paid off?
40:51Yeah.
40:52That's icing on the cake.
40:53Oh, yeah.
40:54Well, I think it's important for us to keep on doing this, Freddie, because, you know,
40:56you've 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?
41:04That's another reason.
41:05Agreed.
41:06Agreed.
41:07We keep going, I think, as well.
41:08Yep.
41:09Agreed.
41:10Well, there are a lot more mines out there to help, Juan.
41:12Yep.
41:13Let's go to it.
41:14Let's get it.
41:15You got it.
41:16Yes, sir.
41:17Please, hope, enjoy, enjoy.
41:19Sean, let's go.
41:20Have fun, Lucas.
41:21We'll be going, let's go, Luke.
41:22And please, hop.
41:24You're welcome to Collar.
41:25I got it.
41:26Yes, sir.
41:27Let's go.
41:28Love you.
41:29Go.
Recommended
41:31
|
Up next
52:33
43:36
1:00:16