All language subtitles for Gold Rush - Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan - S04E04 - Carolina Gold HDTV-1080p.mkv

[Cory] Yet another hot day
here in North Carolina.

We figured
we got two to three weeks

that if we don't start
producing gold
to put us in the green,

we're gonna have to
very soon put this place up
on the market.

This was never
in my plan to come out here
and actually run a mine.

I came here strictly
as an assistant prospector.

The first owner of this mine
when I came here,

was just a wonderful,
wonderful man.

And it just so happened
that he unfortunately
got cancer.

And then we lost him.

When we found out
we inherited the mine,

I had a momentary lapse
of complete shock.

Then there was a few moments
of "What are we going to do?"

And then the big one,

"Can we do what we can
to try to make this viable?"

I wanted to
upscale a little bit.

But we've had to build
a wash plant from nothing

and put my retirement
into it.

It's bleeding me dry
very, very fast.

I'm feeling it.

It's feeling a little rough
at the moment.

As a marine, we don't fail.

Small little failures
are a way to teach you.

But this to me,
is mission failure.

Without Freddy and Juan,

I don't think it's even
a question. Without them,
we're going down.

[Freddy]
Let's make some gold, guys.

[narrator] Freddy Dodge...

There's no guarantees
in gold, buddy.

[narrator]
...and Juan Ibarra...

All right, well,
let's do it.

[narrator] ...have mastered
the art of getting gold
out of the ground...

[Juan] Look at that.

...in the most rugged
places on earth.

[Juan over radio]
I'm feeling
a little sick, Freddy.

[narrator] Now they rescue
struggling miners...

Ooh! That's not good.

[narrator] ...who've risked
it all to be rich.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Shut it down!

[narrator] But are about
to lose everything...

Eyeballs.

[narrator] To revive
these failing mines,

Freddy and Juan
engineered the impossible...

[man] Well, I've never heard
of an under sluice before.

[narrator]
...deliver some hard truths.

This material
you're digging now
is totally worthless.

[narrator]
And track down the gold.

That's what dreams
are made of right there.

[narrator] But if they don't
at least double
the miners' gold recovery,

they won't take a dime
in return.

That's ten times
the amount of gold.
That's awesome!

[Juan over radio]
I think I'm gonna puke.

-Are you?
-No.

-Get us back!
-No, I'm just [bleep]
with you.

[Juan speaking]

-First in flight--
-First in gold.

[Juan speaking]

[narrator] In 1799,

50 years before
the Californian gold rush,

a 12-year-old boy found
a 17-pound nugget,

sparking the North Carolina
stampede.

Since then,
over 1.2 million ounces
of gold have been recovered

worth over $2 billion today.

Freddy and Juan
are on the final hop

of their 2,000-mile journey
to Hollister, North Carolina.

Their destination,

the historic 200-year-old
Portis gold mine

and their first
East Coast rescue.

[Juan speaking]

He's a ex-Marine.

Living on a pension.

He told me that, uh,
that if he doesn't get things

turned around within a month,
he's done.

It makes it all the more
important that we get out here
as quick as we can.

You know, I know it would
have been nice to have
our work trucks out here,

but there's still
a lot we can do.

[Freddy] Yeah.
But one day flying is better
than six days driving.

[Freddy]
Yeah, that's for sure.

[honking]

[narrator] For each rescue,

Freddy and Juan usually haul
thousands of dollars' worth

of equipment to assist
with their fixes.

But in order to help retired
servicemen, Cory Carter,
before he runs out of money,

they've flown with nothing.

[Freddy] See what
we can do for this guy.

How's it going?

Hey, Freddy.

-Cory.
-Nice to meet you, Cory.

-Mr. Juan. Cory.
-Nice to meet you
in person.

How are you guys doing?

We certainly
appreciate you coming.

Desperately needed
you gentlemen's help.

We're probably down
to less than a month

before we're gonna have
to give this place up.

So in that month,
what do you have to recover?

My goal is
an ounce a week.

That's what will get us by.

That's seven grand a month.

-Yep.
-What are you
getting right now?

-Roughly a gram a day.
-[Freddy] So around
$60 a day?

Yep.

[Juan] So how long have
you been out here, Cory?

I've been here
for three years.

-Yeah?
-I spent 26 years
in the Marine Corps.

And Steve, the previous owner,
invited me out
to be an assistant.

When Steve passed away,
he left us this mine.

We do miss Steve.
We miss Steve quite a lot.

Steve wanted his ashes
to be scattered over the mine.

His dream primarily
was to turn this into
a functional gold mine.

So I would still
want to fulfill
the old man's dream.

So when
he's looking down at us,
he can still smile.

A lot of the correlation
between the Marine Corps

and Steve's dream
kind of relies on the basis

of what a Marine Corps
mission would be.

Steve gave me a mission
three years ago.

And that mission's
not complete.

So I just can't stop
following it.

With his ashes being here,

selling this mine would now
also feel like we're selling
somebody's grave.

So, right now
you're trying to finance it
off of your retirement, right?

It's not really enough
to allow you to
subsidize a gold mine. So...

Have you got any of the gold
you're catching?

Here's my best nugget.

[Freddy] Okay,
that's a pretty nugget.

[Juan] Hey,
you didn't catch that
in your sluice, did you?

-Yep. Yep.
-[Juan] You did?

[Cory]
The Portis gold mine first
became a gold mine in 1831.

I know that there's
still gold here just because
in the last three years

I haven't touched the ground
with a shovel
and not found gold.

So there's no reason
to leave the gold
in the ground if it's there.

Well, let's go see
your plant.

-That works for me.
-All right.
We'll follow you.

-All right, gents.
-[Freddy] And thank you
for your service.

[Cory] I appreciate that.
Thank you.

This is Carl.

-Carl?
-Carl. How are you doing, sir?

Also a retired Marine.

-Pleased to meet you.
-Nice to meet you, Carl.

Pleased to meet you, Freddy.

[Cory] When we discovered
that we've only got
about a month left,

he dropped everything
just to come out
and give me a hand.

Cory is one of the friends
that I've known
for over 30 years.

My Marine Corps friend.

I'm here because
Cory needed some help.

The financial situation,
doing things for the mine,

definitely stressing him out,
I can tell.

So it's a challenge,
definitely a challenge.

Freddy and Juan will be able
to help immensely here.

One thing right off.

You're never feeding this
with heavy equipment, are you?

No, no, I definitely can't.

[Juan] So how many of those
do you move a day, Carl?

-[Carl] Oh, 40.
40 of them jokers.
-[Juan] 40 of those a day.

No kidding.

So you're pulling
them out by hand?

-You're bringing them
over here.
-Yes.

-And then you have to manually
dump them into the hopper.
-[Cory] Yep.

[Juan] Wow.

As far as equipment,
what do you have
out here for equipment?

[Cory] All we have
is a backhoe
from the mid-'80s.

[Juan] So what's going on
with all the material in it?

[Cory] Steve took the front
counterbalance weights off,

so I have to have something
in the bucket

because every time
I go into forward,

I'll actually
bring the front end up
off the ground.

[Freddy] That's not good.

[Cory] No, that kind of scares
the crap out of me, honestly.

[Freddy] Well,
let's run a test, guys.

-Start a timer, huh, Juan?
-[Juan] Let's do it.

Starting it right now.

First bucket dropping.

[Freddy] First bucket, Juano.

The first five-gallon bucket.

Usually, it's an
excavator bucket.

[narrator] Pay is loaded
into a makeshift hopper...

which travels down
the homemade trommel

into a small,
under slung sluice

where Cory clears
the oversized rock by hand.

[Freddy]
You know, this is where
the first gold rush

in the United States started,
is this area.

It's cool to be standing here
where it all began.

After this was California,
then Colorado, Arizona,
you know, all the gold rushes.

But it started right here.

When Freddy told me about
what they had going on here,

honestly, I thought
it would be okay
coming out here, flying in

and just working out
of the truck.

I really think
we made the wrong call.

We should have
brought our trucks.

But we're here now.

We're gonna have
to do what we can.

[Cory]
I'm hoping just to show
Freddy and Juan

that there's enough gold
in the ground,
if everything is running good.

[Juan]
They're in a tight spot here.

I don't know. I'm kind of
at a loss right now.

I'm trying to figure out
what we're gonna do to be
able to make this work.

-Ruh-roh.
-[Freddy] Uh-oh.

Careful, Careful.

I think it just
locked in here, huh?

Blew out.
We've got to shut her down.

[narrator]
An hour into the first test,

the drive system fails
and stops the trommel.

It was designed
for a little concrete mixer.

You know it's designed
to work intermittently.

[Freddy] It may not even
make a two-hour run.

[Juan] We might not be able
to tighten up that grub screw.
We don't have our trucks.

We don't have a mobile welder
to be able to just weld it.

Yep. Can't just
poop a welder.

What should I do with it
at this point?

Back it out? Push it in?

[Juan] No, just tighten it
right there where it's at.

It's not long
for the world, though.

No.

-Fire back.
-[Freddy]
Before you start it,

is this all the water
you've got then?

[Cory] Yes, at the moment.

Where's your makeup water
coming up from right now?

When I absolutely
have to have it filled,

we pump it directly
out of my water well.

He's about ten feet
deep in the center.

-This is?
-Yeah.

[Freddy]
It's still not much water.

-[Cory] No? Yep.
-[Freddy] It's a puddle.

-Okay.
-[Cory] We've got one area
that we think is a spring.

It just never dries.
Doesn't matter
how hot it's getting.

One thing he's lacking here.
He's got ground.

But he's lacking in water.
That's non-sustainable.

[Juan] Let's fire her back up.

[Freddy] Yeah.

[Juan] This is going to be
a tough one, Freddy.

-[Freddy] The water.
-[Juan] The water, the plant,
all of it.

Yeah, and that's dangerous.

I'm worried, Freddy.
I'm really worried about this.

Last bucket.

-Last bucket.
-Last bucket started.

[Freddy]
Just shut her down, guys.

[Cory] All right.

[narrator] This sweaty
two-hour test will determine

how much gold
Cory retrieves from
a half a yard of pay dirt.

Forty buckets.

There's plenty
to do by hand in this heat.

I'm exhausted just watching
you guys, though.

[Freddy] Well, while you guys
are cleaning this up,

Juan and myself will
go put our heads together...

-All right.
-...and try to figure out
how we can help you.

Awesome. Appreciate it.

-See you in a bit.
-All right.

Thank you, Juan.

Thank you.

[Juan] It's tough to watch.

There's 100 ways
to skin a cat.

And that plant shouldn't
be one of them.

No, it's not
one of them at all.

Yeah, it's a situation
where you're putting

a hell of a lot of work in,
but you're going
to go broke fast.

[Juan] Yeah.

For us to be able
to make a lasting change here

or something that's
actually going to
be beneficial to them,

we're gonna have to bring
some equipment in because

with what they have
here on the ground

and what we're able
to do by hand,
it's not gonna be enough.

Yeah.

[Freddy] Well, Juano,
first East Coast gold.

[narrator]
Deep in the sticky Tar Heel
State of North Carolina...

[Juan] How are we doing
this morning, gentlemen?

-[Freddy] Good morning, guys.
-[Cory] Morning, gents.

[Carl] Good morning.
Just fine, thank you.

[narrator]
...Freddy and Juan attempt
to help ex-Marine Cory Carter

find his feet
on an inherited mine.

One thing's for sure.
That was a whole lot
of work for you guys.

You don't need
to go to the gym
with the plant you got.

-That's for damn sure.
-[Juan laughing]

Save a little money
that way, right?

[Cory] Yeah.

[Freddy] Let's weigh it.

A little over half a gram.

Yep.

[Juan]
For the little that you ran,
it's not bad.

It's not sustainable either.

If we try to do that
multiple days in a row,

the body is just
not going to let us.

The one unfortunate thing is,
I don't think that's
the right plant for you.

[Freddy]
You can never make your goal
with that plant by hand.

[narrator]
To hit his ounce a week goal,

Cory would have to mine
for 16 hours a day

loading 320 buckets by hand
in 70% humidity.

I think there's something
we can do for you guys.

We're not exactly sure,
we're gonna go back
and put our heads together

-and figure out what.
-See you in a bit.

[Carl] All right.

[Freddy]
These guys, if they are
not the top of the list,

they are damn near there
as far as needing help
the most.

We grabbed our luggage,
got on an airplane
and flew out here,

so we'll do what we can.

Hopefully, it helps them out.

[Cory]
Without Freddy and Juan,

making this place viable
is just not going to happen.

Both Steve's dreams will die
and mine will die, too.

[Freddy] Well, we'll draw
something up, huh, Juan?

[Juan] Yep.
Sounds like a plan.

Have to buy a notebook?

Ours are in the truck.

We have nothing with us.
Not even a pad of paper.

Nothing.

Well, you know as well as I do
that trommel they've got,
it's not gonna cut it.

No, we could spend a week
on that plant and rebuild it,

but it's still half a yard
every two hours.

-It's not what they need.
-Exactly. It's a hobby.

Yeah, he's going to need
a real plant.

I think I've got one
that'd probably be the right
size for him as well

in a machine shop nearby.

It's going to need some work.

We'd have to put a little bit
of a hopper on it.

[Freddy] Yeah.

His tractor's
got that counterweight
in the front end.

Got the loader bucket on it.

We'll have to add
some more weight to that.

[Juan]
They have that little spring.

Hopefully we can
get that opened up
and get some of that water,

that way, we can
take advantage
of that free water.

Well, let's go talk to Cory
and see if he wants to do it.

All right, well, let's go.

[narrator]
To increase Cory's production

and bring his operation
into the 21st century,

Freddy and Juan will add
a lead counterweight

to the front of
the unwieldy backhoe

so it can be used
to dig and load pay.

The basic wash plant
will be replaced with
a purpose-built trommel

new hopper and sluice run.

And they'll aim
to increase the water supply
to the new plant.

-[Freddy] Well, guys...
-How are we doing, gentlemen?

-[Cory] We're alive.
-Yeah.

In order for you
to be able to reach your goal,

that plant's not the plant
to get you there.

[Freddy]
It's not going to get you
an ounce a week.

To be able to get to
the point you need to be,

you've got to have
the heavy equipment.

Sure. Yeah.

[Freddy] The backhoe,
you know,

it doesn't have
the counterweights
on the front of it.

So we need
to rig something up.

And we're also gonna try
to upgrade your water system.

Perfect.

[Freddy] We've still got
a lot of work to do,

but at the same time,
we've got to find
some better ground.

So, it's time
to go prospecting
and see what's out there.

[Juan] I got a plant
from the East Coast.

[Freddy] And it'll do
five to seven yards an hour,
probably, Juan?

Yeah, depending
on the material.

Fantastic. That would
really change the game.

But with the plant,
transport and everything else,

what we would like to see
is seven ounces of gold
or $14,000.

You know, I know
t's a big number,

you know, I know finances
are kind of tight.

I... That's a big risk
for us off the front.

However...

Sometimes you got to take
the risk to find the reward.

And if it's you guys
leading in, I'm in.

-All right.
-[Freddy] All right.

-[Cory] Juan.
-[Juan] Sounds great.

Definitely. Outstanding.
Thank you.

Well, we'll go
start ordering stuff.

All right.

[Cory] The 14 grand,
it still obviously scares me.

But I can't express
or even put into words

the feeling
that it means that

they're gonna provide us
with a machine
that can help us get the gold

that we actually need to not
only take care of the mine,

but also start the process
to be a permanent miner.

Well, I think
Cory is nervous...

because it's a lot of
money for him, right?

But at the same time,
you know, nothing ventured,
nothing gained type situation.

These guys need help.

They're hobby miners
right now.

So let's take him
from a hobby miner...

to a real miner.

Yeah. If you want
to give me a hand,

-we can get some stuff cut.
-[Carl] That we can do.

[Juan] Awesome.

[narrator] While Juan begins
prepping the steel...

How's it going, Cory?

[narrator] ...keen to help
recoup Cory's
Marine pension pot.

While we're waiting
on that trommel,

let's go and do
some panning.

Okay.

[narrator] Freddy wants
to identify the best ground
on the 20-acre claim.

[Cory] There's still some
areas of this property that
I've been told are virgin.

But I can't look at it
and tell you.

[Freddy] This mine
is just all jumbled up.

There's piles
and holes all over.

So here's another pile.

It's a different looking
material than that over there.

You got red clay on top,
then you'll go into
a eight or ten-inch

almost pure sand,

and then you'll go
into more of
a grayish-type clay.

But it's not natural.
It's piled up here
by somebody.

Why? I don't know.

Someone went through
a lot of work with these
piles though.

I don't understand them.

So what did Steve
tell you about
the history of this mine?

Other than 1831,

when it was first found,
by John Portis
and a prospector

who was coming back
from out West.

And the gentleman
lit his cigar,

and noticed the chinking
had flakes in it.

Sure as heck,
it was gold.

[narrator]
When a one and a quarter inch
gold vein was discovered

on the Portis farmland
in 1831,

it sparked a stampede
of prospectors,

who became rich
from the hard rock
and plaster deposits.

For the next 100 years,

gold was retrieved by hand
and hydraulicking,

which produced mounds
of different colored pay dirt

that now make it hard
to read where the high grade
pay still remains.

Here, put some of the gray
in my pan

and then put some
of the red in the bucket.

So what got you into wanting
to go gold mining?

[Cory] All right,
so when I was six,

we were out
at the Black Hills.

I don't remember
what river it was.

Dad and I were panning
and we found a nice little
chunk of pyrite.

So I was hooked at that,
and it wasn't even gold.

I would love
to find enough gold

to just be considered
successful by
my loved ones.

I don't care if anyone else
thinks I'm successful,

as long as
they feel successful,
then I'm fine.

[narrator] Freddy pans
the gray material.

While Cory looks for gold
in the red dirt.

[Freddy]
See, there's a decent one.

[Cory]
Oh, sure. Yep.
Very visible.

[Freddy] Mmm-hmm.

Gold in here.

-[Freddy] Yep.
-[Cory] About 6,
$6 or $7 colors.

When I first walked
around here, I'm like,
what the heck happened here?

But after seeing
what I see today...

the gray stuff,
those are tailings.

So now their tailings
are good enough to run,

and the red stuff,
virgin ground that's
good enough to run,

even though it wasn't
good enough for them.

I'd run all this.

[narrator] With both types of
pay dirt presenting gold,

Cory's best hope is to run
as much volume as possible

to claw back
his pension investment.

-It's good
seeing gold in the pan.
-[Cory] Yeah.

That's the oldest
mine workings, minus one,
that I've ever looked at.

It's just the hardest thing
I've ever had to read.

Anyway, I think
I got it figured out
on the final test.

We're gonna run a mix of both
and see what's there.

-[Freddy] You must be Eric.
-Yes, I am.

I'm Freddy. I talked to you
on the phone about lead.

Buried back in here, huh?

[narrator]
In the sweltering heat

of North Carolina's
Franklin County,

Freddy sources
some lead wheel weights

to act as a counterbalance
for Cory's backhoe.

[Freddy] This will work.

Like you say, beggars
can't be choosers, so...

[Freddy] Well, thank you
very much, sir.

I'll go get my truck.

Well, I got
some lead, Cory.

-[Cory] Oh, nice, Freddy.
-[Freddy] It's wheel weights,
but it's lead.

They're heavy.

[horn tooting]

[Juan] It sounds like
our truck and our trailer.

I hear it squeaking.

[narrator]
After a 24-hour journey,

the secondhand
wash plant arrives.

[Cory] Holy cow.

[Freddy]
No, that's the trommel.

-[Juan] Hey, buddy.
-[Freddy] Good to see you.

-Safe travels?
-[Juan] Trav, what's
going on, buddy?

Let's take a look at this.

Sturdiness looks
a whole lot more

than the sturdiness I got
so holy cow.

It's a small plant,
but it's built well.

-It'll keep on turning.
-Nice.

Which is a good thing
and a bad thing.

If you look inside of it,

a rock got caught in there
on the spray bar

and actually ripped
the spray bar down.

So we're going to build
a new spray bar for it.

-Let's unload a trailer.
-[Juan] All right.

[narrator]
Missing his truck
and burn table,

Juan's borrowed
an electric excavator
and a welder

to assist in the build.

[Cory] Seeing the trommel
that's actually that
professionally built,

I think Steve would feel
incredibly excited.

And I don't doubt right now
he's looking down here
just applauding.

[narrator]
While Juan begins
fixing up the trommel,

Freddy's first task
of the day,

determine if Cory's
water source

will be enough to run
the upgraded plant.

[Freddy]
He's lacking in water.

And right now,
he's running a wash plant
off his house well,

off a garden hose.

So, that's non-sustainable.

And I'm no spring expert.

We'll just have to go
look at it and see.

That's all I can do.

Horsefly.

[Cory] This is
the spot I'm watching.

Through all of the summers
we've been here,

that one spot
has never dried out.

Well, I think we come
and dig a trench across here.

And then
whatever water is here

can run into
these other holes.

[Cory] Yeah,
that would work.

[Freddy] We'll be
gentle here.

[narrator] A natural spring
provides a constant source
of water from underground.

But if Freddy collapses
the borehole,

it could shut
the supply off permanently.

[Cory] It obviously
makes me nervous,

but this is yet
another one of those things

that, uh, if it works,
the risk is worth the reward.

[Freddy]
Well, here goes nothing.
Let's pop the cork.

[Cory] Yeah, let's see
what she's got.

I see water flowing so far.

If it continues
at this rate,

I would say every other day
we'd be able to top off.

Oh, a couple of gallons
a minute is all,
but it adds up, right?

[Cory] Yeah.

[Freddy]
If it is a real spring,
we'll know in the morning.

And hopefully he doesn't have
to run his house well anymore.

-[Juan] Ooh, it's gonna rip.
-Yup. Okay.

[narrator] Across the claim,
Juan begins a bush fix

on the bent spray bar
for the trommel.

[Juan] If we can get
that bow out of it,

it will make sure
that the water sprays

is a little more concentrated
on the screening area.

-Right there?
-[Alex] Yeah.

That's probably good.

Straight as an arrow.

-It's brand-new.
-[Juan] Yeah.

You have to get a micrometer
to find the bend now.

Did you guys put
a new spray bar in there?

Thing looks mint.

[narrator] Next, work begins
on the counterweight

for the off-balance backhoe.

It's just going to be a box
to actually put stuff in or--

It's a box that we can
pour all the lead into.

[Carl] Oh, the lead.
Oh, okay.

[narrator]
With only basic tools,

lead from
car wheel weights

provide the metal
for the job.

I'm getting
all the contaminants

that are not lead
out of this.

So when Freddy
goes to melt it,

it doesn't explode
on his face, you know.

[Freddy]
Once it melts down,
we'll add more to it.

[bleep] hot, boy.

I don't know if that was
a very smart idea of me or not

to make
that lead counterweight
because it's hot out,

and I just created
a lot more heat doing it.

But, um, it'll work.
Lead's heavy.

[Cory]
We're putting 150 pounds
already on the front.

I don't think I'll be popping
as many wheelies,

unless I try.

Which I don't do.

[Juan] Make sure she starts.

Wow.

[Freddy] These are good guys.

Just talking to them,
a good sense of humor,

and they're
hard-working guys.

Juan and myself,
we're just gonna
break even on it.

But at the same time,
these guys need help.

[narrator] Overnight,
the lead counterweight
has cooled

and can now be welded
to the front

of Cory's backhoe
to keep it steady.

[Alex]
Measure it so we can get
a perfect center.

[Juan] Center's right here.

He's going to have
a five-yard-an-hour plant.

But in order to feed
that five-yard-an-hour plant,

he's gonna have to have
that backhoe running

so he can get materials
and feed the plant as well.

So it's gonna be
a real crucial piece
of equipment from now on.

There it is.

We're in.

-Does it fire up pretty easy?
-[Cory] Oh, yeah.

-Yeah.
-[Juan] Okay. Perfect.

We'll all watch.

Well, she's no speed demon,
but, uh, it's moving.

[Cory] I'm not popping
any wheelies anymore,

so that's always
a good thing.

[Freddy] There's not
a lot of water here,
but there's some.

[narrator] By the cut,
it's the moment of truth
for Freddy's spring fix.

Well, it's got
some depth to it.

Who are you going
to try to get to help you
when Carl leaves, Cory?

At the moment,
it's gonna primarily be me.

But after talking to our son

and the abilities
you've given us

to be able to get him
out here permanently,

-that part of the plan will
probably start moving upwards.
-[Freddy] Okay.

[Cory] Brandon followed me
into the Marine Corps.

He's got
a beautiful family,

a wife and three just
gorgeous little babies.

He has expressed a high desire
to come out here and mine.

However, he just can't
until he knows that

it's profitable enough
for him to also take care
of his family.

Having him
to mine alongside me, um,

I think, honestly, is probably
every father's dream,

to have something that
you can do with your kids.

So that would be
just amazing.

[pump whirring]

[Freddy] Here we go.
Pump's running.

Here's our water.

[Juan] How was that, Fred?

[Freddy] What I did
is a little pond there,
like eight foot maybe.

I trenched from it
to the other ponds downstream
that are deep,

like, ten foot deep.

He may do
1,000 gallons a day,
500 gallons a day.

-[Juan] It's gonna help him.
-[Freddy] You know, it's not
much of a spring,

but it's make-up water,
where he doesn't have
to use his well.

[Juan] So what we're gonna
do here is we're gonna
actually make a hopper.

Doing anything
right now in this humidity,
it's absolutely, uh--

It's a task, it's a chore.

Unfortunately,
we're running out of time.

If we just had your truck,
we'd have all the tools
we need.

[narrator] But without
his plasma table,

he'll have to make the hopper
the old-fashioned way.

[Juan bleep]
Come on. Come on, baby.

You guys weren't here
when Cory was talking
about this.

Cory is out here honoring
his friend's memory...

-[Alex] Mmm-hmm.
-...by making
his dream work.

And Carl actually
came out here to help Cory,
you know, with his dream.

So it's buddies
helping buddies.

[Alex] Yeah. Awesome.

Yup.

Kind of like you turds.

You guys help us out
all the time.

So, that's what
friends are for, right?

Well, just about done
with the hopper.

We'll be that much closer
to doing our test run.

[Juan] How are we doing,
gentlemen?

Hey there, Juan.

[Juan] Yeah, we're all ready
to take it down to the site

where we're going
to set it up.

Well, this is
very, very nice.

I mean, I think Cory
will be able to really
get rolling

on, uh,
producing some gold.

[narrator]
To complete the fixes
before the final test,

the plant is lifted
to its new home.

I'm very excited
to see the trommel,

knowing
it's going down there,

getting ready
for an actual run.

-[Freddy] Set it over here.
-[Juan] Yeah.

[Freddy] Come this way
a little, Juan.

[Juan]
Well, good work, everyone.

We, uh...
We got it put together.

If you want
to use your backhoe

to start digging
your pay out.

Tomorrow,
we'll be back in the morning,
and we'll do a test run.

-[Cory] Sounds good.
-See how much gold we get.

[Juan] I think that's, uh...

That's probably
enough material.

What do you say, uh, we feed
the plant with the excavator
since it's here?

-Yeah, that'd be great.
-Yeah?

-Yeah.
-Let's do it.

[narrator]
The second test run
will determine

if Cory can upgrade
his operation

from hobby
to full-time miner.

-Hey, Freddy.
-Yeah.

Do you want to do
the first couple of buckets?

Show them how it's done.

-You got it.
-[Juan] All right.

Next run you run,
you can actually feed it
with your backhoe.

Or when you get
a new mini ex,

-you'll be able to feed it
with the mini ex.
-[Cory] Yeah.

[Juan] Yeah.

[Juan] Starting the timer now.

-First bucket.
-[Juan] First bucket.

[Cory] Yeah, look at her go.

This is nuts.

I'm ecstatic.

Steve is probably
dancing around
on his little cloud,

seeing something like this
be able to run.

I have no worries
at this point about
keeping this place.

As these things
come through here,

I'm already thinking
flakes and fine
sitting in the sluice.

So I'm all good.

Already in this run,
we've already done
a yard and a half.

[Cory] Oh, yeah, and we've
already long bypassed
what we first did.

We're on track to do
about five yards for the hour.

Yeah, sweet.

[narrator] The new
hopper and trommel

mean they can
now feed the plant
with heavy equipment,

giving Cory
a tenfold increase
on his yardage.

Hey, remember these things
from the test run?

Here's what
I think of them now.

[Carl] This thing is awesome.

At the end of the day,

I'll be just a little
wet maybe,

but definitely
not sweating.

How's the sluice look?

[Juan] Running a little heavy.

[Cory] Want me
to turn it down a little bit?

No, you can turn it up
a little bit actually.

[narrator]
The newly-straightened
spray bar

and the extra water
from the spring

allows Cory
to increase the pressure

in order to clean the rocks
more efficiently.

[Juan] The problem
is that red stuff,

it sticks
to everything, right?

[Cory] It sticks
to everything, yeah.

The little bit of gold
that we're losing

makes up by the volume
that we're running.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

-[narrator] Next...
-Just slow and easy.

...Cory gets to grips
on how to load the trommel
under Freddy's supervision.

[Cory] There's a lot
of learning curve

to get my head around
what's going on.

I've never had to stockpile
pay before.

I've never had
to feed a plant,

not with
a piece of equipment.

I think we're good.

Last bucket.

You know
what today is, Cory?

Start of a new adventure?

No. Today is the day
you went from a hobby miner
to a real miner.

Yeah. Good deal.
I like it.

-[Juan] Shut off the water.
-[Freddy] Yeah.

You want to shut
the trommel off?

On all of my previous runs,
I've never seen gold
in the mat.

[Juan] A little tiny
picker right there.

[Cory] Oh, sweet.

[Carl] I can actually
see that one. Wow.

If he'd come out of here
with a pile of gold,
I'd be dancing.

I'd be happy for him.

[Freddy] He wants
to make it work

for his friend
that gave him the mine.

And I understand that
completely so...

You know, when you have
somebody, uh, pull on your
heartstrings like that,

you do what you can
to help them out.

[metal detector beeping]

[Freddy] What'd you find?
Anything?

-[Cory] Whatever this is.
-[Freddy] A bullet.

It's old.

It's been there a long time,
the corrosion on it.

[Cory] Mmm-hmm.

-[Freddy] 50-caliber
muzzleloader, 45 caliber.
-[Cory] Yeah.

That brings us back
an era or two.

We had a settlement
right up here
at the top of the hill.

First freed slave settlement

-in North Carolina
was right up there.
-[Freddy] Mmm.

This could be 200 years old.

[Cory] Yeah, that could be
a little older.

[Freddy] Yeah.
It could be Civil War era.

That's pretty cool.
I'd keep that bullet.

-I'd hold them.
-Oh, yeah, that'll go
up on the mantel.

[Freddy] Piece of history.

Didn't think
I'd be here today, huh?

[narrator] Interested to see
how Freddy and Juan's fixes
have helped his dad...

[Cory] I'm glad
you made it, buddy.

...Cory's son, Brandon,
has traveled the 668 miles
to be at the gold weigh.

[Brandon] My dad
means the world to me.

He is a major part
of who I am today.

My dad is very focused

on something
that he wants done.

If he wants it done,
he will work to achieve
what it is that he wants.

-Good morning.
-[Cory] This is our boy.

-Brandon.
-Brandon, Freddy.

-Nice to meet you.
-Brandon, Juan.
Nice to meet you.

We invited him
down for the weigh

because obviously one thing
that we want to eventually
come up with

is for him to be able
to move out here
with his family

and mine with us.

-Nice.
-Okay. You've been
out here before then?

Once, a long time ago.

Um, he actually showed me
my very first pan

and got significantly
less than that.

-Just a couple
of small flakes.
-[Juan and Freddy] Yeah.

Well, let's weigh this up
and see what we've got.

One gram. 1.8.

[Juan] Nice.

Three.

-4.25.
-[Freddy] 4.25 it is.

[Cory] Yeah.

[narrator] A potential
1.68 ounces a week,
worth over $3,000.

[Cory] That's the most
we've ever poured in a day.

Well, Juan,
that's nearly eight times.

It's good increase, Freddy.
I'm happy with that.

[Cory] Nice.

[narrator]
That's almost double
Cory's ounce a week goal.

[Juan] Well, guys,
I'm excited about that.

That's a... that's a pretty
decent cleanup.

You know, and it really was
a whole lot less work.

[Cory]
Yeah, a lot less, yes.

To run the material
we ran today for this,

that would have taken
me and Carl six days
to push that through.

Honestly, that backhoe
is not long for this world,
but it will get you there.

-Yup.
-[Juan] You know,
if it'll get you through

another couple of months,
you know, that's all you need.

Yup.

Rent a little excavator
and, you know,

then you just
keep on growing.

-Have fun, make some money.
-Yeah.

[Juan]
You're gonna have to do
a lot more prospecting.

Figure out
which material is best.

That was a combination
of the gray material
and the red material.

I'm just gonna punch
all kinds of volume

from all different
places out here.

-[Juan] You know, really,
the sky's the limit.
-[Freddy] Yeah.

Well, guys,
uh, we hate to run,

but it was great
coming out here

and meeting you guys
and working with you.

And we greatly appreciate
you guys coming,

'cause I wouldn't
have been able
to advance it like this

without some
professional assistance.

-Pleasure.
-We enjoyed it.

Thank you very much.
Yes, thank you very much.

-Thank you, sir.
-Appreciate you both.

[Freddy]
Well, this fix has been
a bit different, huh?

[Juan]
Yeah, we showed up
with nothing.

I know
with what we did here,

-it's going to help him.
-He's got a future.

-[Juan] Yeah,
he's got a future.
-[Freddy] Exactly.

[Brandon] Wow.

[Cory] Being able to keep
this operation afloat

has been
a very serious worry on me.

And just from
this last week,

I'm no longer
worried about it.

It's going to take
some hard work.

But as far as the confidence
that they've given me

that this is going
to work and stay
it's all in now.

If Steve
was here right now,

I think he'd be
really happy about seeing
what's happening here.

Hey, Freddy and Juan,
just wanted to give you
a quick update.

The water supply
has been running well.

Everything is going
really good and strong there.

We're doing a lot of testing,
like you told us to do.

Different materials,
kind of keeping track
of what's coming out.

But so far,
we haven't found less

than what we ran
on that final run.

The best part about it is
Brandon's gonna join us
out here,

and we'll have a father-son
mining team rolling out.

And we've just added
our little mini ex,
that we've named Speedy.

[Carl] The mini ex
is definitely making things
way easier on the back.

That is
pretty darn efficient.

Oh, my [bleep]!

It's in every riffle.
Look at the pickers in there.

And we're just
going to do our little
preliminary weigh here.

1.04 grams
for just half an hour.

[Carl] Nice.
Less work, more gold.

A huge amount
of appreciation

-going out
to Freddy and Juan...
-Yeah. Oh, yeah.

...for these improvements.

Future looks
really good now.