Gold Rush: Dave Turin's Lost Mine (2019–…): Season 4, Episode 11 - Crisis at the Creek - full transcript
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
Lance is coming. You know, he's my partner here.
He knows exactly
where our gold count is.
And just like me,
he's not happy with it.
It's not what we expected.
He's gonna have
some things to say.
What you doing, Dave?
Hi, Lance.
Hey, good to see you, buddy.
Lot's changed
since I was here last.
- Yep.
- We're behind of what our projections were.
- I thought about it, Lance.
- He expects more gold.
- We got a lot of hard work to do.
- Yeah.
You know,
we got plenty of pay,
we gotta cut open,
we got a nice plant.
We're gonna see what we can do
to, uh, crank that up
and get what we need to get.
Do you think this can take
some more volume?
Yeah.
- Hey, Chris. This is Lance.
- What you got?
Can you come down quickly
and meet me
at the sluice box?
What's up, Lance?
I've been watching
and kind of the weak link
is the loading.
- Uh...
- So, my suggestion is, is we crank it up,
I think we try to do that
and hop back in your loader
and see what we can do.
No. you.
I won't work my butt off.
Lance has come in.
I don't think he's a miner.
I think he's on the business side.
I think he ought to stick
to his spreadsheet
and not on a mine site.
Glacier Creek.
He's coming.
He just called me.
The end of fall approaches.
Dave learns that business partner Lance Baller
is enroute to the Valdese claim.
So, Lance is my partner. He's gonna come.
But I am a little anxious
because he's got
an invested stake.
I couldn't afford all this
and Lance was able to help finance it.
Lance is a miner.
And he understands the business,
so if he comes in and says,
"You might wanna
think about this...
or that."
I'm like, "I'm listening."
It's been just 24 hours
since rock truck driver 'KC' Morgan
returned from Arizona,
after two weeks at home with his family.
I literally thought my wife had perished
dead at the Grand Canyon, I thought that.
She's gone.
And in an instant,
everything in my life changed.
But I'm happy. My wife's fine.
So, you guys
the eagle is runnin'
and, uh, it's hard
to keep up with it.
You know, if something
breaks down, you're fixin' it,
but to keep the eagle
up to speed,
we need help
with this situation.
I think we need
another guy around here.
I'm gonna give
my buddy a call.
His name's Rick.
He's just the perfect guy
to get us over the end
and finish the season.
All right, let's get to work.
KC, I need to talk
to you a little...
- All right. Sounds good.
- Do it on the way out. Okay.
I know KC wants to jump right back into that haul truck.
But he's been through
some tough times.
Hey, KC.
Hang on a minute.
Rick's gonna be runnin'
the rock truck.
- Really?
- Yeah.
I'd like...
I got a project for you.
Uh, I'd like you to
build Shelly
some walls on the gold room.
And, uh, we need
to kind of wall this in.
Both sides, double doors.
You know, this will give you
an opportunity
to kind of work by yourself,
clear your head
and get focused.
I'm all right, I mean,
that was a tough moment.
- I know.
- I was worried if she was dead or alive
- and that was a pretty scary thing and...
- That's rough.
That's why I want you
to kind of work here
a little bit.
- Good, good.
- All right, buddy.
- You good? Thank you.
- Yeah.
I see the KC that I love,
but I've also seen the KC that's withdrawn.
And that's hard to watch.
And drivin' a rock truck,
you have to be focused.
That's gonna be
a right there.
I'm ready to get back in any machine right now.
But I'm not on the front end,
so I'm just building gold rooms
That's what I like.
You know, I don't know what's
trying to be
told to me, but...
I mean,
it's really kind of weird.
All right, Jason, the new cottonwood cut
is open for business.
Start hauling some pay
out of here.
Across the claim,
I'm excited and ready
for this new cut, man.
The pappy cut gave the crew just 27 ounces last week.
So Dave took the decision to open virgin ground,
the cottonwood cut.
We're done
with the pappy cut.
Finally gonna get up
out of the water and, uh,
to high ground.
There's the first bucket
of cottonwood cut pay
headed to the eagle.
This is gonna be better managed than our other cut.
Because we inherited
the other one,
but this one
is up to Jason and I
to set it up, manage it.
And if there's any problems with it, it's on us.
Diggin' low.
Swing and sing.
What we're doing is just typewriter.
Cut by cut by cut,
and we're gonna do the same pattern all the way.
Just south of the waterlogged pappy cut,
the cottonwood cut will be opened in half-acre stages.
To manage the water on the site,
Jason digs a four-foot drainage ditch
around the perimeter
to form an island of dry paydirt.
Then, working backwards,
Jason will dig down accurately
in consecutive lines like a typewriter,
sending every last bit of minable pay
to the plant.
We're smarter now
and we've learned
from the first cut.
And, so, hopefully,
we manage to water
a little bit better.
Chris, fire it up. Let's go.
Generator's on.
I'm coming up.
I wanna see that
sluice box light up.
Light that up, boys.
Until Rick, the new truck driver arrives,
mechanic Nate, is on double-duty.
All right, Chris, confirming we got some good drop pay coming in.
Yippee-Ki-Yay. Bring it.
Let's put it in there.
It's not like
we were getting bored...
I'm driving the haul truck.
I enjoyed it.
But, uh, I do miss my buddy
KC being here.
Whenever he is ready,
we'll get that haul truck
and be ready to have it.
The four-man crew runs a full ten-hour day,
pushing the eagle to process over 1,000 yards of pay.
I feel like we're in
pretty good shape right now.
This is our cut
and we're gonna get
a lot of gold out of here.
Lance is a great miner.
He's gonna have
some things to say.
There's a lot of room
for improvement.
Morning.
Rick just said he's in camp.
Kind of excited to see him.
Dave's latest recruit Rick Tolbert
makes it to the claim.
How are you doing?
- Oh, man.
-
- Good to see you.
- Too long.
- You good?
- Too long. Oh, I'm good.
- I'm ready...
- You ready to go to work?
You betcha.
You remember
how to run equipment?
- I hope so.
- Yeah.
- It's been a while. Been a while.
- Yeah.
What I'm gonna do is
have you jump in the truck
with Nathan.
- Nate's gonna show you all the ropes.
- Okay.
Dave knows I have a lot of experience.
And pretty much
everything here,
I'm familiar with.
So, he won't have to do
much training.
- You must be Big Rick.
- You must be Nate.
- I'm Nathan, man. It's good to meet you, man.
- You as well, my friend.
Dave's told me
some stories about you,
so I don't wanna piss you off.
-
This is gonna be
your new baby.
Go ahead and drive, buddy.
Rick has the site's most treacherous task,
running the rock truck.
It's gonna be nice
to have somebody come in
and knows
what the hell we're doing.
I think you're fine.
I think he knows.
See, he knows
where the horn honk is.
See, that's what
I'm talking about!
You already know.
Rick and I go so far back.
You know, he worked
at our family rock quarry.
I worked a couple of years
on the Hoffman crew with him.
He's a great operator. He'll do anything you ask.
And he's one of my best friends.
Yeah, I love Rick.
I met Dave in 1997.
I went by Jim Turin & Sons,
asked for a job
and they gave me one.
I worked with Dave Turin for 21 years.
It was a blessing.
And I'm best friends.
That makes me
choke a little bit.
And then when I was retired,
I didn't feel worth anything.
And when Dave asked me if I'd
come help him out,
I was excited.
I was very excited.
That's probably
the easiest task,
tearing up
every gunner out there.
Yeah!
That's what I'm talking about.
With Rick now running rock truck,
the crew is back to full strength.
But KC remains on the sidelines.
I'm not happy.
No, I'm not happy.
And here's the other thing.
My role in the team feels very good for him.
It's a real
It's, uh...
The rock truck, Rick's runnin' it.
No, this is not... This is tough to take.
It is what it is.
But I'm ready to get back out there.
Coming up...
The goal was to get over
last year's total of 600.
It's gonna be a tough one.
Twenty, twenty-five.
- Good, good.
- 31.
- Keep going.
- Oh, big money.
What's that?
Oh, I know.
We always lose it
faster than we gain it
every damn time.
New recruit Rick Tolbert is at the rock truck wheel,
as Team Turin pushes the eagle to a monster
130 yards per hour.
I can't believe
the atmosphere around here
compared to what I've seen.
And I just feel like I fell right into the family.
And it is a great feeling.
Aah!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Shut it down.
Aah!
- Drain it.
- Hup!
Nate! We got water.
Shut it down.
We got... Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Damn it.
Pipe off.
Chris!
It was blowing water
off the side. Water.
Coming on the other side.
There you go.
I hit the bypass,
the emergency,
and then I ran down
to the pump.
It was shooting water.
Hose came off.
Oh! Damn it.
What now?
Yeah, we blew a hose.
Which one is shut off?
Oh, that one is.
- Yeah.
- Must be a lot of pressure.
Yup. Especially,
if she's plugged up. Right?
It's got a bunch of rocks...
All up in here.
It's up there, up there.
Mud. It's like clay.
This is what we got
going on here.
Spray-bar right here.
You see
all the material in it?
We just got
a bunch of rocks in here.
- We can pull it out now.
- Yeah.
Sorry, Dave. Let's fire it up.
Full RPM.
Yeah. Turning it on.
We're gonna hopefully
blow those rocks out.
Then we're gonna get
those spray-bars cleared.
Let her up for a little bit.
All right, Dave,
go and lower the RPMs down.
Hey, Nathan.
Yeah.
We're still
getting some rocks.
Come, do you hear them?
Ting, ting, ting, ting.
Right here.
- Are you?
- Yeah.
Hey, Dave.
Chris says he still hears
rocks coming through there.
Really? You don't think
they're blown out, huh?
Oh, no.
This hose,
connects to that bath.
Gravel goes in, comes up,
clogs up the bar.
It's all to do with what
we're putting into this pond.
It's all our tailings
going down the hill.
We don't have clean water
to put through our plant.
Nathan, what we'll do
is plug the Pappy Cut.
This is be
our new settling pond.
10-4 to the idea.
Brand new clean water
to sluice with.
Hello, that should help.
With the Eagle running at 130 yards per hour,
the tailings have no time to settle.
So, silt and rocks get sucked back
through the clean water hose.
Dave's plan? Flood the Old Pappy Cut,
and connect it to the pond with the drainage ditch,
to allow time for the dirt to settle,
so, cleaner water returns to the Eagle.
But, flooding the half-acre Pappy Cut
with over 1,000,000 gallons of water
is a high stakes gamble.
I've gone and cut a ditch
from our first settling pond
so that, uh, it all drains
into the Pappy Cut.
When the Pappy Cut gets flooded
we might not be able to manage the water
that's in the Cottonwood Cut. And, it's risky.
But, I'm a risk taker.
Jason,
lift this suction out for me.
Si, boss.
Overnight...
Up!
...the Pappy Cut is flooded with fresh water
for the Eagle.
Swing it right!
Ready for the new pumps to start drawing
a clean supply for the massive wash plant.
Do you want her to pull in
a little bit more that way?
It's all right.
I think we're good.
Best water supply
for the Eagle.
She's going to be washing
clean as hell now.
All right,
let's go ahead and fire it up.
Coming on.
Get running.
Fire her up.
Look at that clean water.
All right, Chris. Go ahead.
Drop's in the box.
Good job guys.
Let's make gold today.
Hearing a quiet run
makes me happy.
That's money.
Boom, boom, boom.
Now we're running.
Good water flow.
And, it feels good.
The mine site fires on all cylinders once again.
But, Casey's still at the Gold Room.
Hi, Casey. Beautiful day.
- Yeah?
- Love it.
How are you?
It's hard for me to focus.
- Right.
- So.
Tough being away from home.
- It's important.
- You know, it's still mentally there with my wife and son.
- Probably even hard to get back here. Right?
- Yeah, it's really hard.
But, um, right now I wanna go
back in the machines.
- and get back to work.
- Okay.
All right. Let's do it.
- You do your thing. I'll do mine.
- All right.
It's very nice
having him back here.
Now his mind needs to get back
in the game here.
And, really focus on his job.
uh, hopefully by the time
he has these walls done
he'll be ready to get back
into the equipment
and on the mine site
with the guys.
Who knows,
how long it will take.
That sure is a lot of water.
The next morning...
overnight rain breaches the Pappy Cut banks,
and swamps the haul road.
Hey, Jason,
I'm not being a smart-ass.
I'm not being a know-it-all,
or nothing.
Listen, obviously,
driving this close to water
with this much weight,
you go off to the right
or the left,
you might be out of sight.
Careful buddy, that's right on the edge.
I don't wanna say something.
I'm the new guy, that's all.
Hey, buddy.
I have to roll across
by that lake.
Gotta keep her
above the water.
If the haul road floods,
it will be impossible to transport paydirt
to the plant.
Our water is killing us.
Since we have now let
the Pappy Cut fill up,
We don't have
any overflow situation.
And, our water is starting to
get up higher than our road.
We gotta be able to
put that water somewhere.
Dave's business partner, Lance
is on his way to the mine.
So, the team needs
the fastest fix.
This water level
just keeps rising and rising.
It won't drop fast enough.
Cover all the road?
- Yes.
- Yes.
- I don't want that.
- I know.
We can't let the water
get over there.
We just gotta manage it now.
If we don't manage it now,
we're gonna be
out of luck.
The only way to do it is,
build the road up,
push a culvert in there.
This'll flow under our road.
To keep the Eagle in play,
Jason and Nate, will lay a pipe
into the haul road to create a culvert.
They will then raise the haul road up by two feet,
allowing the surplus water from the Pappy Cut
to run into a drainage canal.
The last thing we need
is for the haul truck
to go on in there
and have an accident.
This way,
we'll make sure it's safe.
Oh, for sake.
way short.
Yeah man, I... I mean...
They ain't really
got another choice.
This is the one thing we got.
Chris to Nate.
Chris.
Running low.
Copy that.
Do we got another fat-end
skinny-end? Another one?
I got a small one up there.
Could we put it in
and, like, slide it off?
Yeah, buddy.
I'm okay with that.
- Hey, Nate!
- Yeah?
- Anybody tell you they love you today?
- you.
Our culvert is too short,
but we have another chunk,
that has a fat end
and a skinny end.
We can actually
slide it inside.
It's gonna wedge itself in
down here at the bottom,
giving us an extension.
You're gonna have to
swing this way.
Easy there.
Easy.
Just a little more.
Whoo! Yeah, baby!
Now, we've made the mound
that's gonna be the support.
Gonna hold to that pipe
so the haul truck
doesn't crush it.
What do you think?
We make you wanna
try coming over
- and see how she does?
- Yes, sir.
The road is real good.
Real happy with it.
Good and firm.
That's nice. That'll work.
The culvert's there.
The culvert's working.
Our water level has started
dropping down more and more.
So, I'm happier than hell.
7:00 a.m.
I've been on the phone
daily with Dave.
We have a lot riding on this.
Dave's business partner, Lance is on his way to the site.
I'm very invested.
I wanna try to get our
investment back
as quick as we can.
As an outsider,
it's time to give
some fresh perspectives
and ideas.
See if we can get
this plant cranked up
and do a little bit more.
Lance is coming.
I'm a little bit nervous.
He knows exactly
where our gold count is.
And, just like me,
he's not happy with it.
It's very simple.
It's not what we expected.
And, I know Lance well enough,
that he's gonna have
some things to say.
And, they'll be constructive.
- Dave!
- Hey, Lance.
- How are things going?
- Well...
You know, we're mining away.
You wanna go check it out?
- Let's go look at the cut.
- Okay.
Lot has changed
since I was here last.
- Yep.
- We're behind of what our projections were.
I thought about it Lance.
We expects more gold.
We got a lot of hard work
to do.
Yeah. You know,
we got plenty of pay.
We got a cut open.
We got a nice plant.
- Certain days, we weren't making money.
- Yeah.
I do know
we gotta pick up the volume,
- We gotta pick up the runtime on the plane.
- Yeah.
This right here,
is what I mean.
It is for sale
but it's gonna cost you.
It's a half a million.
Half a million!
How much you bring with you?
So I've been in gold-mining for over 14 years.
I've had multiple companies listed
on different stock exchanges around the world
in various different industries.
Mining's a real passion of mine,
and, it's turned into more of a passion
because we make money off of it. Really good money.
And, I really wanna come in here
and see if we can make this season have a bang.
When you start late,
you're digging out of a hole
and we just gotta dig harder.
If we don't dig harder,
we're not gonna get out
of the hole.
So this is our second cut.
You can see Jason's
already mining.
He runs a very successful mine.
I mined with him at Box Creek last year.
It would be good
to have a big view.
And he could look
at something.
You know, a lot of times,
we're in the middle of this.
We started it, we hammered down and we keep going.
I welcome the information.
You know, if he's got some
criticism, something to say,
come on, bring it on.
The problem right now
is paying the bills.
I wish we had more gold.
We are at 210 now.
Should've been at 250.
Right.
Snow is already on top of the mountain.
We are talking days.
Before we get more and more
and it starts coming
down here.
We are too late in the year.
I wish we were
standing here in July,
but that's not the case.
We got to get this done.
We got to make changes
to the mine site.
Yes sir, I do.
How are things going
down there?
All good.
We are getting it off all the same.
Copy.
The crew is already in high gear.
But Dave's partner Lance Baller
focuses on identifying improvements.
I'm all about data and all about trying things.
With this guy getting that up time,
we got to get every little
ounce that we can.
I'll show you where we are digging.
Let's go talk to Jason.
Lance is here to help us
to do better.
He's a smart guy.
Sometimes his delivery is not the best.
You know, when he sees something he doesn't think
is right, boy, he's going to let you know.
And so, yeah, I am
going to listen.
So, I'm thinking of turning
the plan up.
Do you think it is
possible to do that?
Yeah.
I absolutely think
it's possible.
All right.
These are the old Swiss...
Do you think this can take some more volume,
if we throw it at her
and crank it up?
I really think with
this material, we can run.
More. I mean I don't know
how much more.
All right, good job.
That's our pay pile.
Reckon the hard truck is
ahead of what we are able
to feed the plants.
So he's able to build there.
Stockpile pay quicker than
the plant can be fed.
We could really crank up the amount of pay,
we can beat the plan.
What I am seeing here,
the weak point is
being able to feed the plan.
Yeah.
Hey Chris, this is Lance, do you copy?
What have you got?
Can you come down quickly
and meet me at the sluicebox?
What's up, Lance?
Hey, how you doing?
So I have been watching
and kind of the weak link
is the loading.
So my suggestion is
that we crank it up
150 and hit them harder.
So, try to do that
and hop back in your loader
and see what we can do.
I work my butt off.
Lance has come in.
I don't think he is a miner.
I think he ought to stick to his spreadsheet,
and not on the mine site.
My experience is either team comes together
or they let these things
break it apart
when it gets challenging.
Let's see.
Later, at the gold room...
Hey Casey.
Since Casey has returned from a traumatic experience at home
Dave's put him on light duty,
building a wall for the gold room.
Looking good.
Getting close?
Getting close. Almost ready.
Shell would be happy.
How are you feeling about everything?
Pretty good. Back to the open.
Good to be back to work.
You know. Get the mind
back in the game.
Are you good to jump back
into a piece of equipment?
Yeah. I'm good. I'm ready.
Rick's doing a pretty good job
in the rock trucks.
Yeah.
What I'd like to do
is throw you in the dozer.
Okay.
We got a little bit of stripping to do
in the Cottonwood cut.
Feel like your head's
in the right spot,
we'll throw you
in the dozer.
Yeah, I'm good. I'm ready.
Good job on
the gold room, man.
No problem, man.
Winter's coming.
Casey's good.
His head's in a good spot.
He's focused.
I feel like, you know,
the family's back.
The boys are back in town
and it's time to go to work.
Across the site...
We got a challenge put
in front of us
and I never back down
from one.
So, better get to it.
The team's new goal of running a 150 yards an hour
is the equivalent of 1800 tons of dirt a day
piling even more pressure on loader Chris.
Abe and I wanted to work out with Chris,
but Chris is a little bit of a weak spot.
So hopefully, he's comfortable with the challenge
of moving up the plank.
You know, we need to up the production.
This ain't our first rodeo.
Wear your gloves.
The cowboy chaps 'cause
we're going for a ride.
Feels pretty good.
Nothing better than
a big ass dozer.
I love 'em.
Bryan said, " Knock it out of the park".
It's possible.
Hey, Nate.
Hello boys, keep it coming.
Goes in the box, man.
If we gonna do this dance, we got to dance.
We can't just sit
on the sidelines
like we are in sixth grade
watching girls dancing
and the boys sitting
on one side.
You have to stay on it.
Hey Nathan, you want to be
Lurch or Herman?
He's Shrek.
He's funny looking.
Oh, that's me.
They have been
calling me that for years.
Well, now there's
two of us now, Rick.
There you go.
Kind of ugly.
Ha ha.
But he's got a real nice smile.
That's cute.
When Shrek became human,
he was a beautiful man.
That's why I was called Shrek.
Crush 'em.
We need a big clean up.
Grab on.
Hope ...
In a week,
plagued with setbacks,
the crew pushes to a strong finish,
and steps up to Lance's challenge
to run the plan at a 150 yards per hour.
The cut's going real good.
Good. Good. Good.
One last push. We got it.
Lance wanted to see how we can get more gold.
I mean, Chris worked his ass off.
We're happy.
Pace being kept up,
and I'm doing fine, and
hopefully the box is.
You know, Lance, we didn't start off on the right foot,
and he got it right.
So, kudos to him.
Everything looks
good down here.
So, I think we are
in good shape.
Hey Casey, you're going to kill it, buddy.
Yeah, I'm killing it.
With every last minute spent
processing pay through the eagle,
it's time to pull the mats.
Glad you're back, Casey.
Thank you Chris.
I'm glad to be back.
If they don't ever
get any snow here,
it's tropical paradise.
It was damn good
they had a run in
hopefully the gold
weighs good.
But today is
set and over with.
Go back and have a drink.
That was really dumb.
Let's go back, have a drink.
Morning at the all-important gold weigh.
Hi guys.
Hey, we got some
new people here today.
We do.
Rick, how's it going down there?
Great, going great.
Casey, you're back in the
dozer. How's that feel?
Feels pretty good.
Yeah.
Back in a machine,
pushing some dirt.
Or camping.
We're back at full strength.
You know what?
Shelly, you want to pour?
With little over a month
until winter closes the season,
the crew has just 210 ounces of gold in the bank.
All. right. Ready guys?
To keep on track the season goal of 600 ounces
the team must hit a weekly total of 65 ounces.
Three.
Seven, eight, nine. Ten.
Twelve.
Sixteen.
Twenty. Twenty five.
Okay. Keep it going.
Twenty eight.
Thirty one.
Thirty two ounces.
I'm disappointed, but also...
...let's be real.
It's been a tough week.
It's been a everyday struggle.
So, not much season left.
We got, you know,
maybe a month.
The goal was to get over last year's total of 600.
It's going to be
a tough one.
I think 450 is reasonable.
We're running the eagle then.
I do think it is realistic that we will get 450.
It's not exactly what we hoped,
but I think you guys
have done really, really well.
A lot of things going good.
I mean, it's hard and doing it
but you guys got three plans
that you've ran this season.
You're doing it and that's the positive.
You know, it's good.
No excuses now, boys.
450 ounces.
That's what I am striving for.
So we got roughly, hopefully
five weeks to achieve that.
I'm up for the challenge.
We're going to rock and roll.
Up production a little bit.
Day will kind of look longer.
Might have a bit of tears,
but you know what,
part of it.
Another 250 ounces.
This close to winter.
I don't know.
But you know what,
the reality is we're going to
give it our all.
See if we can get it out.
I hope we do.
450 ounces.
And that'd be
a decent season.
And we'd all walk out of here
with gold in our pockets.
It's first season.
We started late.
I think there's
good times ahead.
I do believe this
new cut's going to pay.
I think things are looking up.
Challenge accepted.
We all in?
All in.
All in.
Everybody said challenge accepted.
We're all in.
And I think we can do it.
This could be the big one.
On the next episode...
How many acres do you have?
4,000.
Wow. There's so much gold
out here.
A search for new opportunity.
There's some gold there.
There's no doubt about it.
There's probably mud there.
Blaise Team Turing's future
- on the line.
-
And as the temperature drops,
Winners only.
A thousand feet above us.
the pressure rises.
I am nervous because
that's my family's gold.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
Lance is coming. You know, he's my partner here.
He knows exactly
where our gold count is.
And just like me,
he's not happy with it.
It's not what we expected.
He's gonna have
some things to say.
What you doing, Dave?
Hi, Lance.
Hey, good to see you, buddy.
Lot's changed
since I was here last.
- Yep.
- We're behind of what our projections were.
- I thought about it, Lance.
- He expects more gold.
- We got a lot of hard work to do.
- Yeah.
You know,
we got plenty of pay,
we gotta cut open,
we got a nice plant.
We're gonna see what we can do
to, uh, crank that up
and get what we need to get.
Do you think this can take
some more volume?
Yeah.
- Hey, Chris. This is Lance.
- What you got?
Can you come down quickly
and meet me
at the sluice box?
What's up, Lance?
I've been watching
and kind of the weak link
is the loading.
- Uh...
- So, my suggestion is, is we crank it up,
I think we try to do that
and hop back in your loader
and see what we can do.
No. you.
I won't work my butt off.
Lance has come in.
I don't think he's a miner.
I think he's on the business side.
I think he ought to stick
to his spreadsheet
and not on a mine site.
Glacier Creek.
He's coming.
He just called me.
The end of fall approaches.
Dave learns that business partner Lance Baller
is enroute to the Valdese claim.
So, Lance is my partner. He's gonna come.
But I am a little anxious
because he's got
an invested stake.
I couldn't afford all this
and Lance was able to help finance it.
Lance is a miner.
And he understands the business,
so if he comes in and says,
"You might wanna
think about this...
or that."
I'm like, "I'm listening."
It's been just 24 hours
since rock truck driver 'KC' Morgan
returned from Arizona,
after two weeks at home with his family.
I literally thought my wife had perished
dead at the Grand Canyon, I thought that.
She's gone.
And in an instant,
everything in my life changed.
But I'm happy. My wife's fine.
So, you guys
the eagle is runnin'
and, uh, it's hard
to keep up with it.
You know, if something
breaks down, you're fixin' it,
but to keep the eagle
up to speed,
we need help
with this situation.
I think we need
another guy around here.
I'm gonna give
my buddy a call.
His name's Rick.
He's just the perfect guy
to get us over the end
and finish the season.
All right, let's get to work.
KC, I need to talk
to you a little...
- All right. Sounds good.
- Do it on the way out. Okay.
I know KC wants to jump right back into that haul truck.
But he's been through
some tough times.
Hey, KC.
Hang on a minute.
Rick's gonna be runnin'
the rock truck.
- Really?
- Yeah.
I'd like...
I got a project for you.
Uh, I'd like you to
build Shelly
some walls on the gold room.
And, uh, we need
to kind of wall this in.
Both sides, double doors.
You know, this will give you
an opportunity
to kind of work by yourself,
clear your head
and get focused.
I'm all right, I mean,
that was a tough moment.
- I know.
- I was worried if she was dead or alive
- and that was a pretty scary thing and...
- That's rough.
That's why I want you
to kind of work here
a little bit.
- Good, good.
- All right, buddy.
- You good? Thank you.
- Yeah.
I see the KC that I love,
but I've also seen the KC that's withdrawn.
And that's hard to watch.
And drivin' a rock truck,
you have to be focused.
That's gonna be
a right there.
I'm ready to get back in any machine right now.
But I'm not on the front end,
so I'm just building gold rooms
That's what I like.
You know, I don't know what's
trying to be
told to me, but...
I mean,
it's really kind of weird.
All right, Jason, the new cottonwood cut
is open for business.
Start hauling some pay
out of here.
Across the claim,
I'm excited and ready
for this new cut, man.
The pappy cut gave the crew just 27 ounces last week.
So Dave took the decision to open virgin ground,
the cottonwood cut.
We're done
with the pappy cut.
Finally gonna get up
out of the water and, uh,
to high ground.
There's the first bucket
of cottonwood cut pay
headed to the eagle.
This is gonna be better managed than our other cut.
Because we inherited
the other one,
but this one
is up to Jason and I
to set it up, manage it.
And if there's any problems with it, it's on us.
Diggin' low.
Swing and sing.
What we're doing is just typewriter.
Cut by cut by cut,
and we're gonna do the same pattern all the way.
Just south of the waterlogged pappy cut,
the cottonwood cut will be opened in half-acre stages.
To manage the water on the site,
Jason digs a four-foot drainage ditch
around the perimeter
to form an island of dry paydirt.
Then, working backwards,
Jason will dig down accurately
in consecutive lines like a typewriter,
sending every last bit of minable pay
to the plant.
We're smarter now
and we've learned
from the first cut.
And, so, hopefully,
we manage to water
a little bit better.
Chris, fire it up. Let's go.
Generator's on.
I'm coming up.
I wanna see that
sluice box light up.
Light that up, boys.
Until Rick, the new truck driver arrives,
mechanic Nate, is on double-duty.
All right, Chris, confirming we got some good drop pay coming in.
Yippee-Ki-Yay. Bring it.
Let's put it in there.
It's not like
we were getting bored...
I'm driving the haul truck.
I enjoyed it.
But, uh, I do miss my buddy
KC being here.
Whenever he is ready,
we'll get that haul truck
and be ready to have it.
The four-man crew runs a full ten-hour day,
pushing the eagle to process over 1,000 yards of pay.
I feel like we're in
pretty good shape right now.
This is our cut
and we're gonna get
a lot of gold out of here.
Lance is a great miner.
He's gonna have
some things to say.
There's a lot of room
for improvement.
Morning.
Rick just said he's in camp.
Kind of excited to see him.
Dave's latest recruit Rick Tolbert
makes it to the claim.
How are you doing?
- Oh, man.
-
- Good to see you.
- Too long.
- You good?
- Too long. Oh, I'm good.
- I'm ready...
- You ready to go to work?
You betcha.
You remember
how to run equipment?
- I hope so.
- Yeah.
- It's been a while. Been a while.
- Yeah.
What I'm gonna do is
have you jump in the truck
with Nathan.
- Nate's gonna show you all the ropes.
- Okay.
Dave knows I have a lot of experience.
And pretty much
everything here,
I'm familiar with.
So, he won't have to do
much training.
- You must be Big Rick.
- You must be Nate.
- I'm Nathan, man. It's good to meet you, man.
- You as well, my friend.
Dave's told me
some stories about you,
so I don't wanna piss you off.
-
This is gonna be
your new baby.
Go ahead and drive, buddy.
Rick has the site's most treacherous task,
running the rock truck.
It's gonna be nice
to have somebody come in
and knows
what the hell we're doing.
I think you're fine.
I think he knows.
See, he knows
where the horn honk is.
See, that's what
I'm talking about!
You already know.
Rick and I go so far back.
You know, he worked
at our family rock quarry.
I worked a couple of years
on the Hoffman crew with him.
He's a great operator. He'll do anything you ask.
And he's one of my best friends.
Yeah, I love Rick.
I met Dave in 1997.
I went by Jim Turin & Sons,
asked for a job
and they gave me one.
I worked with Dave Turin for 21 years.
It was a blessing.
And I'm best friends.
That makes me
choke a little bit.
And then when I was retired,
I didn't feel worth anything.
And when Dave asked me if I'd
come help him out,
I was excited.
I was very excited.
That's probably
the easiest task,
tearing up
every gunner out there.
Yeah!
That's what I'm talking about.
With Rick now running rock truck,
the crew is back to full strength.
But KC remains on the sidelines.
I'm not happy.
No, I'm not happy.
And here's the other thing.
My role in the team feels very good for him.
It's a real
It's, uh...
The rock truck, Rick's runnin' it.
No, this is not... This is tough to take.
It is what it is.
But I'm ready to get back out there.
Coming up...
The goal was to get over
last year's total of 600.
It's gonna be a tough one.
Twenty, twenty-five.
- Good, good.
- 31.
- Keep going.
- Oh, big money.
What's that?
Oh, I know.
We always lose it
faster than we gain it
every damn time.
New recruit Rick Tolbert is at the rock truck wheel,
as Team Turin pushes the eagle to a monster
130 yards per hour.
I can't believe
the atmosphere around here
compared to what I've seen.
And I just feel like I fell right into the family.
And it is a great feeling.
Aah!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Shut it down.
Aah!
- Drain it.
- Hup!
Nate! We got water.
Shut it down.
We got... Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
Damn it.
Pipe off.
Chris!
It was blowing water
off the side. Water.
Coming on the other side.
There you go.
I hit the bypass,
the emergency,
and then I ran down
to the pump.
It was shooting water.
Hose came off.
Oh! Damn it.
What now?
Yeah, we blew a hose.
Which one is shut off?
Oh, that one is.
- Yeah.
- Must be a lot of pressure.
Yup. Especially,
if she's plugged up. Right?
It's got a bunch of rocks...
All up in here.
It's up there, up there.
Mud. It's like clay.
This is what we got
going on here.
Spray-bar right here.
You see
all the material in it?
We just got
a bunch of rocks in here.
- We can pull it out now.
- Yeah.
Sorry, Dave. Let's fire it up.
Full RPM.
Yeah. Turning it on.
We're gonna hopefully
blow those rocks out.
Then we're gonna get
those spray-bars cleared.
Let her up for a little bit.
All right, Dave,
go and lower the RPMs down.
Hey, Nathan.
Yeah.
We're still
getting some rocks.
Come, do you hear them?
Ting, ting, ting, ting.
Right here.
- Are you?
- Yeah.
Hey, Dave.
Chris says he still hears
rocks coming through there.
Really? You don't think
they're blown out, huh?
Oh, no.
This hose,
connects to that bath.
Gravel goes in, comes up,
clogs up the bar.
It's all to do with what
we're putting into this pond.
It's all our tailings
going down the hill.
We don't have clean water
to put through our plant.
Nathan, what we'll do
is plug the Pappy Cut.
This is be
our new settling pond.
10-4 to the idea.
Brand new clean water
to sluice with.
Hello, that should help.
With the Eagle running at 130 yards per hour,
the tailings have no time to settle.
So, silt and rocks get sucked back
through the clean water hose.
Dave's plan? Flood the Old Pappy Cut,
and connect it to the pond with the drainage ditch,
to allow time for the dirt to settle,
so, cleaner water returns to the Eagle.
But, flooding the half-acre Pappy Cut
with over 1,000,000 gallons of water
is a high stakes gamble.
I've gone and cut a ditch
from our first settling pond
so that, uh, it all drains
into the Pappy Cut.
When the Pappy Cut gets flooded
we might not be able to manage the water
that's in the Cottonwood Cut. And, it's risky.
But, I'm a risk taker.
Jason,
lift this suction out for me.
Si, boss.
Overnight...
Up!
...the Pappy Cut is flooded with fresh water
for the Eagle.
Swing it right!
Ready for the new pumps to start drawing
a clean supply for the massive wash plant.
Do you want her to pull in
a little bit more that way?
It's all right.
I think we're good.
Best water supply
for the Eagle.
She's going to be washing
clean as hell now.
All right,
let's go ahead and fire it up.
Coming on.
Get running.
Fire her up.
Look at that clean water.
All right, Chris. Go ahead.
Drop's in the box.
Good job guys.
Let's make gold today.
Hearing a quiet run
makes me happy.
That's money.
Boom, boom, boom.
Now we're running.
Good water flow.
And, it feels good.
The mine site fires on all cylinders once again.
But, Casey's still at the Gold Room.
Hi, Casey. Beautiful day.
- Yeah?
- Love it.
How are you?
It's hard for me to focus.
- Right.
- So.
Tough being away from home.
- It's important.
- You know, it's still mentally there with my wife and son.
- Probably even hard to get back here. Right?
- Yeah, it's really hard.
But, um, right now I wanna go
back in the machines.
- and get back to work.
- Okay.
All right. Let's do it.
- You do your thing. I'll do mine.
- All right.
It's very nice
having him back here.
Now his mind needs to get back
in the game here.
And, really focus on his job.
uh, hopefully by the time
he has these walls done
he'll be ready to get back
into the equipment
and on the mine site
with the guys.
Who knows,
how long it will take.
That sure is a lot of water.
The next morning...
overnight rain breaches the Pappy Cut banks,
and swamps the haul road.
Hey, Jason,
I'm not being a smart-ass.
I'm not being a know-it-all,
or nothing.
Listen, obviously,
driving this close to water
with this much weight,
you go off to the right
or the left,
you might be out of sight.
Careful buddy, that's right on the edge.
I don't wanna say something.
I'm the new guy, that's all.
Hey, buddy.
I have to roll across
by that lake.
Gotta keep her
above the water.
If the haul road floods,
it will be impossible to transport paydirt
to the plant.
Our water is killing us.
Since we have now let
the Pappy Cut fill up,
We don't have
any overflow situation.
And, our water is starting to
get up higher than our road.
We gotta be able to
put that water somewhere.
Dave's business partner, Lance
is on his way to the mine.
So, the team needs
the fastest fix.
This water level
just keeps rising and rising.
It won't drop fast enough.
Cover all the road?
- Yes.
- Yes.
- I don't want that.
- I know.
We can't let the water
get over there.
We just gotta manage it now.
If we don't manage it now,
we're gonna be
out of luck.
The only way to do it is,
build the road up,
push a culvert in there.
This'll flow under our road.
To keep the Eagle in play,
Jason and Nate, will lay a pipe
into the haul road to create a culvert.
They will then raise the haul road up by two feet,
allowing the surplus water from the Pappy Cut
to run into a drainage canal.
The last thing we need
is for the haul truck
to go on in there
and have an accident.
This way,
we'll make sure it's safe.
Oh, for sake.
way short.
Yeah man, I... I mean...
They ain't really
got another choice.
This is the one thing we got.
Chris to Nate.
Chris.
Running low.
Copy that.
Do we got another fat-end
skinny-end? Another one?
I got a small one up there.
Could we put it in
and, like, slide it off?
Yeah, buddy.
I'm okay with that.
- Hey, Nate!
- Yeah?
- Anybody tell you they love you today?
- you.
Our culvert is too short,
but we have another chunk,
that has a fat end
and a skinny end.
We can actually
slide it inside.
It's gonna wedge itself in
down here at the bottom,
giving us an extension.
You're gonna have to
swing this way.
Easy there.
Easy.
Just a little more.
Whoo! Yeah, baby!
Now, we've made the mound
that's gonna be the support.
Gonna hold to that pipe
so the haul truck
doesn't crush it.
What do you think?
We make you wanna
try coming over
- and see how she does?
- Yes, sir.
The road is real good.
Real happy with it.
Good and firm.
That's nice. That'll work.
The culvert's there.
The culvert's working.
Our water level has started
dropping down more and more.
So, I'm happier than hell.
7:00 a.m.
I've been on the phone
daily with Dave.
We have a lot riding on this.
Dave's business partner, Lance is on his way to the site.
I'm very invested.
I wanna try to get our
investment back
as quick as we can.
As an outsider,
it's time to give
some fresh perspectives
and ideas.
See if we can get
this plant cranked up
and do a little bit more.
Lance is coming.
I'm a little bit nervous.
He knows exactly
where our gold count is.
And, just like me,
he's not happy with it.
It's very simple.
It's not what we expected.
And, I know Lance well enough,
that he's gonna have
some things to say.
And, they'll be constructive.
- Dave!
- Hey, Lance.
- How are things going?
- Well...
You know, we're mining away.
You wanna go check it out?
- Let's go look at the cut.
- Okay.
Lot has changed
since I was here last.
- Yep.
- We're behind of what our projections were.
I thought about it Lance.
We expects more gold.
We got a lot of hard work
to do.
Yeah. You know,
we got plenty of pay.
We got a cut open.
We got a nice plant.
- Certain days, we weren't making money.
- Yeah.
I do know
we gotta pick up the volume,
- We gotta pick up the runtime on the plane.
- Yeah.
This right here,
is what I mean.
It is for sale
but it's gonna cost you.
It's a half a million.
Half a million!
How much you bring with you?
So I've been in gold-mining for over 14 years.
I've had multiple companies listed
on different stock exchanges around the world
in various different industries.
Mining's a real passion of mine,
and, it's turned into more of a passion
because we make money off of it. Really good money.
And, I really wanna come in here
and see if we can make this season have a bang.
When you start late,
you're digging out of a hole
and we just gotta dig harder.
If we don't dig harder,
we're not gonna get out
of the hole.
So this is our second cut.
You can see Jason's
already mining.
He runs a very successful mine.
I mined with him at Box Creek last year.
It would be good
to have a big view.
And he could look
at something.
You know, a lot of times,
we're in the middle of this.
We started it, we hammered down and we keep going.
I welcome the information.
You know, if he's got some
criticism, something to say,
come on, bring it on.
The problem right now
is paying the bills.
I wish we had more gold.
We are at 210 now.
Should've been at 250.
Right.
Snow is already on top of the mountain.
We are talking days.
Before we get more and more
and it starts coming
down here.
We are too late in the year.
I wish we were
standing here in July,
but that's not the case.
We got to get this done.
We got to make changes
to the mine site.
Yes sir, I do.
How are things going
down there?
All good.
We are getting it off all the same.
Copy.
The crew is already in high gear.
But Dave's partner Lance Baller
focuses on identifying improvements.
I'm all about data and all about trying things.
With this guy getting that up time,
we got to get every little
ounce that we can.
I'll show you where we are digging.
Let's go talk to Jason.
Lance is here to help us
to do better.
He's a smart guy.
Sometimes his delivery is not the best.
You know, when he sees something he doesn't think
is right, boy, he's going to let you know.
And so, yeah, I am
going to listen.
So, I'm thinking of turning
the plan up.
Do you think it is
possible to do that?
Yeah.
I absolutely think
it's possible.
All right.
These are the old Swiss...
Do you think this can take some more volume,
if we throw it at her
and crank it up?
I really think with
this material, we can run.
More. I mean I don't know
how much more.
All right, good job.
That's our pay pile.
Reckon the hard truck is
ahead of what we are able
to feed the plants.
So he's able to build there.
Stockpile pay quicker than
the plant can be fed.
We could really crank up the amount of pay,
we can beat the plan.
What I am seeing here,
the weak point is
being able to feed the plan.
Yeah.
Hey Chris, this is Lance, do you copy?
What have you got?
Can you come down quickly
and meet me at the sluicebox?
What's up, Lance?
Hey, how you doing?
So I have been watching
and kind of the weak link
is the loading.
So my suggestion is
that we crank it up
150 and hit them harder.
So, try to do that
and hop back in your loader
and see what we can do.
I work my butt off.
Lance has come in.
I don't think he is a miner.
I think he ought to stick to his spreadsheet,
and not on the mine site.
My experience is either team comes together
or they let these things
break it apart
when it gets challenging.
Let's see.
Later, at the gold room...
Hey Casey.
Since Casey has returned from a traumatic experience at home
Dave's put him on light duty,
building a wall for the gold room.
Looking good.
Getting close?
Getting close. Almost ready.
Shell would be happy.
How are you feeling about everything?
Pretty good. Back to the open.
Good to be back to work.
You know. Get the mind
back in the game.
Are you good to jump back
into a piece of equipment?
Yeah. I'm good. I'm ready.
Rick's doing a pretty good job
in the rock trucks.
Yeah.
What I'd like to do
is throw you in the dozer.
Okay.
We got a little bit of stripping to do
in the Cottonwood cut.
Feel like your head's
in the right spot,
we'll throw you
in the dozer.
Yeah, I'm good. I'm ready.
Good job on
the gold room, man.
No problem, man.
Winter's coming.
Casey's good.
His head's in a good spot.
He's focused.
I feel like, you know,
the family's back.
The boys are back in town
and it's time to go to work.
Across the site...
We got a challenge put
in front of us
and I never back down
from one.
So, better get to it.
The team's new goal of running a 150 yards an hour
is the equivalent of 1800 tons of dirt a day
piling even more pressure on loader Chris.
Abe and I wanted to work out with Chris,
but Chris is a little bit of a weak spot.
So hopefully, he's comfortable with the challenge
of moving up the plank.
You know, we need to up the production.
This ain't our first rodeo.
Wear your gloves.
The cowboy chaps 'cause
we're going for a ride.
Feels pretty good.
Nothing better than
a big ass dozer.
I love 'em.
Bryan said, " Knock it out of the park".
It's possible.
Hey, Nate.
Hello boys, keep it coming.
Goes in the box, man.
If we gonna do this dance, we got to dance.
We can't just sit
on the sidelines
like we are in sixth grade
watching girls dancing
and the boys sitting
on one side.
You have to stay on it.
Hey Nathan, you want to be
Lurch or Herman?
He's Shrek.
He's funny looking.
Oh, that's me.
They have been
calling me that for years.
Well, now there's
two of us now, Rick.
There you go.
Kind of ugly.
Ha ha.
But he's got a real nice smile.
That's cute.
When Shrek became human,
he was a beautiful man.
That's why I was called Shrek.
Crush 'em.
We need a big clean up.
Grab on.
Hope ...
In a week,
plagued with setbacks,
the crew pushes to a strong finish,
and steps up to Lance's challenge
to run the plan at a 150 yards per hour.
The cut's going real good.
Good. Good. Good.
One last push. We got it.
Lance wanted to see how we can get more gold.
I mean, Chris worked his ass off.
We're happy.
Pace being kept up,
and I'm doing fine, and
hopefully the box is.
You know, Lance, we didn't start off on the right foot,
and he got it right.
So, kudos to him.
Everything looks
good down here.
So, I think we are
in good shape.
Hey Casey, you're going to kill it, buddy.
Yeah, I'm killing it.
With every last minute spent
processing pay through the eagle,
it's time to pull the mats.
Glad you're back, Casey.
Thank you Chris.
I'm glad to be back.
If they don't ever
get any snow here,
it's tropical paradise.
It was damn good
they had a run in
hopefully the gold
weighs good.
But today is
set and over with.
Go back and have a drink.
That was really dumb.
Let's go back, have a drink.
Morning at the all-important gold weigh.
Hi guys.
Hey, we got some
new people here today.
We do.
Rick, how's it going down there?
Great, going great.
Casey, you're back in the
dozer. How's that feel?
Feels pretty good.
Yeah.
Back in a machine,
pushing some dirt.
Or camping.
We're back at full strength.
You know what?
Shelly, you want to pour?
With little over a month
until winter closes the season,
the crew has just 210 ounces of gold in the bank.
All. right. Ready guys?
To keep on track the season goal of 600 ounces
the team must hit a weekly total of 65 ounces.
Three.
Seven, eight, nine. Ten.
Twelve.
Sixteen.
Twenty. Twenty five.
Okay. Keep it going.
Twenty eight.
Thirty one.
Thirty two ounces.
I'm disappointed, but also...
...let's be real.
It's been a tough week.
It's been a everyday struggle.
So, not much season left.
We got, you know,
maybe a month.
The goal was to get over last year's total of 600.
It's going to be
a tough one.
I think 450 is reasonable.
We're running the eagle then.
I do think it is realistic that we will get 450.
It's not exactly what we hoped,
but I think you guys
have done really, really well.
A lot of things going good.
I mean, it's hard and doing it
but you guys got three plans
that you've ran this season.
You're doing it and that's the positive.
You know, it's good.
No excuses now, boys.
450 ounces.
That's what I am striving for.
So we got roughly, hopefully
five weeks to achieve that.
I'm up for the challenge.
We're going to rock and roll.
Up production a little bit.
Day will kind of look longer.
Might have a bit of tears,
but you know what,
part of it.
Another 250 ounces.
This close to winter.
I don't know.
But you know what,
the reality is we're going to
give it our all.
See if we can get it out.
I hope we do.
450 ounces.
And that'd be
a decent season.
And we'd all walk out of here
with gold in our pockets.
It's first season.
We started late.
I think there's
good times ahead.
I do believe this
new cut's going to pay.
I think things are looking up.
Challenge accepted.
We all in?
All in.
All in.
Everybody said challenge accepted.
We're all in.
And I think we can do it.
This could be the big one.
On the next episode...
How many acres do you have?
4,000.
Wow. There's so much gold
out here.
A search for new opportunity.
There's some gold there.
There's no doubt about it.
There's probably mud there.
Blaise Team Turing's future
- on the line.
-
And as the temperature drops,
Winners only.
A thousand feet above us.
the pressure rises.
I am nervous because
that's my family's gold.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.