All language subtitles for Gold Rush - Mine Rescue with Freddy & Juan - S04E05 - Dry or Die HDTV-1080p.mkv

[dramatic music playing]

[birds cawing]

[drill buzzing]

[Mike] I'm not too much
of a crazy scientist.

I'm just a scientist.

You know,
after spending 40 years

in academia,
teaching chemistry.

So, when I retired,
I decided to come out here

and have a little fun.

Now I'm out here
being a gold miner
digging in the dirt.

[laughs]

I work in a desert.

This is dry mining,
totally different.

Prospectors do this
at a small level,

but very few people have

developed it
to a mining level.

That's one of the things
that we've tried to do.

Ready to run?

I've got to get
better recovery.

I've got a lot of debt
that I need to pay off.

I had to cash in
my retirement

and had to borrow

$50,000 off of my life
insurance for the kids.

I've gotta pay
that back somehow.

I'm scared
of running out of money.

I'm all in.

It's a serious commitment,

but I've got
to make it better.

So, hopefully,
Freddy and Juan can help.

[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, huh?

[narrator] Have mastered
the art of getting gold

out of the ground.

[Juan] Look at that.

[narrator] In the most
rugged places on earth.

[man 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.

[man] Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Shut it down.

[narrator] But are about
to lose everything.

[man] Eyeballs.

[narrator] To revive
these failing mines,

Freddy and Juan
engineer the impossible.

[Juan] I've never heard
of a under sluice before.

[narrator]
Deliver some hard truths.

[Freddy] 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 miner's gold recovery,

they won't take
a dime in return.

That's 10 times
the amount of gold.

-Woo!
-[Freddy] That's awesome.

[laughter]

[wind whooshing]

[upbeat music playing]

You know, I'm pretty
confident in our abilities,

but dry plants really
aren't our forte, Freddy.

[Freddy on radio] It's still
a similar concept.

You're still using gold's
weight to capture it.

You know,
gold always wants to go back

to the center of the earth.

We gotta stop it, Juan.

You know,
it belongs out to the ground

and to be nurtured
and cherished.

I think gold's home
is in my pocket, Juan.

[narrator] Freddy and Juan
head towards an SOS

from Mike Robinson
on his dry mine

north of the historic gold
district of Wickenburg.

Dry mining became popular
here in the late 19th century

with the invention
of the dry blower,

a sluice that uses air

instead of water to separate
out gold from dirt,

allowing prospectors
to mine in arid conditions.

[wind whooshing]

Well, what do you think?

-Let's go meet the guys?
-Go meet 'em.

[Mike] Hello, gentlemen.

-How's it going?
-[Freddy] Hi.

-[Juan] Hi.
-[Mike] How are you doing?

[Freddy] Mike, I assume.

-Hey, Freddy.
-How is... How is it going?

-Nice to meet you. Juan?
-Me too.

-This is Ken.
-I'm Ken.

[Juan] Ken, nice to meet you.
Juan.

-Thank you.
-[Freddy] Nice to meet you,
Ken.

-Pleasure.
-Freddy, yeah.

[Mike]
Ken is my right-hand man.

[Juan] That's a nice
little setup there.

-[Freddy] Yeah.
-You guys are in for a real
different treat here.

This is dry mining.

So, water's a problem.

-[Juan] It's a first.
-[Ken] Yeah. Yeah. It's first.

[Mike] You just have
to go with the flow.

So, if you got dry dirt,
run dry dirt.

[suspenseful music playing]

[narrator] Mike Robinson
bought these desert claims

three years ago.

An inventor
as well as a miner,

he expanded his self-built

dry plant last year

and invested in a backhoe

in the hopes of making enough
gold to make a living.

[Mike] I retired about
10 years ago from
University of Texas

and bought a home out here.

And so, I've got an idea
to make a profitable mine,

and I've invested maybe

a couple of hundred
thousand over the years.

And, in doing all of that,
I actually had to borrow

another $50,000

out of my life insurance
proceeds.

That was designated
for my five kids.

So, I'm under the gun
to kind of get that back in.

Sounds like you actually
have quite a bit of money
tied up in this

-and it's kind of a serious
situation for you.
-[Mike] Yes.

[Juan] In your opinion,

what's your biggest
problem that you have?

[Mike] Big problem
that we've had this year,

is we've had an extremely
wet season.

Well, it even snowed eight
inches the first of March.

-Yeah.
-[Mike] The monsoon season
comes in August

and we just have to shut down.

[Freddy] That's not good,
I'll tell you that.

[thunder rumbling]

[narrator]
Despite its desert location,

this part of Arizona is known

for its dramatic
weather patterns

with short wet monsoon
seasons followed by dry,

scorching heat,
leaving Mike just four months

to mine each year

when it's not too hot
for the electronics

in the plant
or too wet to run pay

through the dry washer.

[Freddy]
What's your gold look like?

[Mike] Yeah. It's real fine.

It's cornmeal and flour.

[Juan] There's a couple
little chunks in there.

-[Mike] But very seldom. So...
-[Freddy] Yeah.

I don't care what size it is.

I just want a lot of it.

[laughter]

Well, what do you think
we run a test, huh?

[Mike] Let's go to work.

[narrator] Freddy and Juan
conduct a four-hour test

to assess problems
and determine fixes.

They then have five days

to transform
the Robinsons' dry mine

before a second test

determines success
or failure.

[Freddy] Well, these guys
are running a dry plant.

And that's whole
different ballgame

to what me and Juan have been
doing with wet plants.

All right, Miss Kitty,

let's go to work.

Forward ho!

[Juan] This is a new
challenge for us,

so we're really gonna
have to kind of think

outside of the box
and figure out

what we can do here
to help these guys.

[Mike] Miss Kitty
is my backhoe.

She's a Cat,
so I named her Miss Kitty.

Get everything fired
up and ready for a test.

Oh, there it is.

[Ken] I'm hoping for gold
for all of this effort.

I look at Mikey,

I call him the Mad
Scientist just for kicks,

but his mind never stops
coming up with stuff.

And so, we got stuff made,

we put it together,
and here we are.

Yee-haw, we're running dirt.

We're gonna make some gold.

First bucket, Juan.

First bucket.

-[Mike] Here we go.
-[Juan] There it is.

[narrator]
Mike's custom dry washers

work similar to a wash plant.

Pay dirt is loaded
onto a screen

which removes larger rocks.

Four unique vibrating hoppers

funnel the pay
into four dry sluices.

There, in place of water,
a tailor-made air system

blows away the lighter
dirt where heavier gold sinks

and is caught in the riffles.

-[Juan] Look at that, Freddy.
-Oh, I know.

-Right there.
-[Juan] Almost every bit
of that

should have gone through that
screen.

What we need to do is get
a pan or I'll get a bucket.

[narrator] Finer pay dirt

that should be
reaching the sluices

is falling off
the end of Mike's screen.

To see how much gold
he may be losing,

Freddy and Juan collect
a sample to pan.

[Freddy] We'll see what
came off that screen, huh?

-See if there's
any gold in it?
-[Juan] Yeah.

[Freddy] Getting down
into the heavies.

[Juan] Yeah, I see them.

If there's heavies,

-you know there's gold.
-There's gold.

[narrator]
Hand panning reveals

heavier fine black sand
or magnetite

that often
sits alongside gold.

-There it is.
-There's some gold
right there.

[Juan] Look at that.

There's a couple sizable
pieces too, Freddy.

[Freddy] Well, that's gold
that could be captured,

but it never made it
to the recovery system.

Six color, seven color.

[narrator]
The sample size suggests

that Mike may be losing
up to five percent

of his gold off
the back of the screen.

[dramatic music playing]

[Juan] Hey, Freddy.
Look at that.

Oh, that's real damp.
Look at that.

It almost holds form.

-[Freddy] No dust.
-[Juan] Yeah, no dust.

[Freddy] That's not good.

[narrator] Wet pay feeds
through Mike's dry plant,

causing the hopper
and sluices to clog up

and slows down
the entire plant.

[Juan] You can see right
here it's starting to pile up

-because how of damp it is.
-[Freddy] It is.

[Juan] Yeah.

[Freddy]
It doesn't like the moisture.

[Juan] No.

Tell ya,
a dry washer has to be
perfectly dry to work right.

Not only is it
not feeding as good,

but the recovery system is not
gonna work as good either.

The air can't get through it.

-[Juan] Yeah.
-[Freddy] We need to fix that.

[dramatic music playing]

[Mike] Well, I enjoy mining.

You know, it's just fun
to get out here

and do all this hard work

and see a little gold
at the end of the day.

It makes it all worthwhile.

But, really, the longer
term is for the family.

This is a picture
of my five kids.

My son, Will, is gonna
come out here and join us

the next day or two.

I wanna convince him
that this is gonna be

a viable operation.

He's doing part-time stuff,

painting houses
and other things.

But, you know,
it's hit and miss

and it's not steady,
steady, steady.

Well, the mining
maybe would add to his

financial stability?

[narrator] Due to arrive
in two days with wife, Erin,

Will is far from certain
this is a gamble

they're ready to take.

So, my dad
has basically created

this for the family.

And he wants me to learn this

so I could teach the rest
of the family how to do it.

But, you know,
there's a little

financial uncertainty.

You know,
it's a very important thing.

You know, everyone has to eat
and survive and pay bills.

[Will] We have kids
and I don't wanna ever

put them at risk.

So, I just don't know.

It's all...
It's all up in the air.

And we're trying to decide,
you know.

-[Juan] I like this guy, Mike.
-I do too.

[dramatic music playing]

[Mike] Oh, I got a light on.

Engine's pretty hot.

[Freddy] That's not good.

[Mike] The needle's
over here in the red.

Hadn't seen that before,

so I don't know why
it's overheating.

[Freddy] Shut her down.

[narrator] Just short
of the four-hour run,

the first test
grinds to a halt.

[Mike] I didn't expect this
to happen.

Got a major heating problem.

I got a hose that's broken.

With this down,
I can't move dirt.

[wind whooshing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Mike] It's overheating.

I can't move 10 feet without
it going sshhh.

It's really hot.

If you don't mind,
I'll take a look at it. Yeah.

[narrator] In 105-degree
heat at the Robinson Mine,

a broken backhoe
stalls the first test run.

Well, I don't know whether

I got an oil leak
or water leak.

I didn't see
anything on the road.

You have a coolant leak right
there on your heating valve.

-Really?
-[Juan] Yeah.

[Mike] Well,
I can't work unless

I overcome the heating
problem, so...

Go ahead and shut it off.

[narrator] With hours
to fix the leak,

Freddy and Juan
call time on the test,

10 minutes short.

[Freddy] Well, guys,
get this cleaned up

and see you tomorrow.

[Juan] All right.
See you tomorrow.

-[Mike] Yeah.
-[Juan] Thanks, guys.

Mike and Ken,
you know, they're both
really nice guys.

You can kind of see some
of their inexperience

just a little bit
when they have an issue

with the backhoe.

But as far
as their wash plant,
it was a good little run.

I'm really excited to see

what this gold
really looks like.

[wind whooshing]

[dramatic music playing]

-[Freddy] How's it going?
-[Juan] How are we doing?

-Good. Good to see you again.
-[Juan] Good to see you.

[Mike] Yeah.

This is my magnetic separator.

I invented this
because everybody's

got a black sand problem.

So, now, we take out most
of the black that's magnetic,

then I could get it really,
really pure, okay?

Turn it on.
You just pour it in.

[narrator] Magnetic black sand

is a natural byproduct
of Mike's dry mine.

His ingenious invention

allows him to separate it
from the gold,

speeding up his cleanup.

[Mike] So, there's the result,
black and white.

-[Juan] There it is.
-[Freddy] Pretty cool,
huh, Juan?

[Juan] Yeah, pretty neat.

[Mike chuckling]
I sell it online
for $7 a pound.

[narrator] Separation
process complete,

Mike turns
to traditional hand panning

to finish his cleanup.

[Mike] So, that's desert gold.

[Freddy] Beautiful gold.

-Do you know the purity of it?
-Oh, it's pretty high.

[Freddy]
I'd say around 90, 89, 90.

-Yup. Your gold's pretty good
down there too.
-[Juan] Yeah.

-[Freddy] Good piece in there.
-[Juan] Mmm-hmm.

[Mike] Ready to dry.

[wind whooshing]

[Juan] Well, there it is, huh?

[Mike] You wanna gonna pour
that out and weigh it for us?

[Juan] Yeah.
Let's take a look at that.

Well, a moment of truth, Fred.

[Freddy] Yup.

[soft tense music playing]

[Freddy] Beautiful.

It's pretty gold, boy.

-Quarter of an ounce?
-[Juan] Yeah.

-It's quarter of an ounce.
-0.25.

I'd like it to be better

'cause I got a son
coming out depending on

making maybe
a job out of this.

[narrator] An eight-hour shift

will get Mike
up to $1,000 a day.

If he mines
a four-month season,

it would net him
over $100,000.

But with debt totaling
$200,000,

it's not enough
to support his son, Will,

and his family.

[Juan] In your mind, you know,

what do you need to see
to be able to start paying

your investment back
and make this profitable?

Well, I'd like to double it.

Okay.

And, really, the slowdown
that we saw was

wet material coming out.

[Mike] Well,
that's a big problem.

It rained months ago,
but it seeps into the soil

-and it wets all of the clays.
-Yeah.

[Mike] And the clays stay wet.

[narrator] Even in dry season,

Mike bogs down with wet pay

underneath the top
layer of dry soil,

slowing down
his entire operation.

Well, let's go put
our heads together

and draw up some stuff.

Okay. Let's do it.
Sounds like a plan.

-See you in a bit, guys.
-Well, thanks.

[dramatic music playing]

[Freddy] Don't let the wind
blow your gold away.

[Juan] Mike's got a lot
on the line here.

This is a dry plant.
This is out of our element,

so we're gonna have
to pull something out
of our sleeve here

to get that gold
number up for him.

[birds chirping]

[dramatic music playing]

[Freddy] What do you think,
Juan?

[Juan] I never would've
thought in the middle
of the desert,

we'd have
an issue with damp pay.

Yeah, there's water,
though, huh?

It's just underground.

[Juan] In order for him to be
able to mine in the...

In the wet season, he's gonna
have to have a dryer.

What do you think?
Like a 30-inch tube, Freddy?

Like a trommel drum?

[Freddy] Yeah.
Maybe a framework, right?

You do your
magic with the rollers.

Pipe goes in it.

It'll have to be a feed
hopper back here, right?

You gotta fix that backhoe
anyway, don't you?

-Yeah.
-[Freddy] Okay.

[Juan] You saw
that problem coming off
the end of the screen.

[Freddy] What I think
we do there, Juan, we put,

let's say,
a piece of square tube...

[Juan] Okay.

[Freddy] and then we hang
some canvas as a dampener.

You know, that's
a cheap easy fix for that.

Well, I like it, Freddy.

Why don't we go chat
with Mike and Ken

and see what they think?

[Mike] I'm anxious to hear
what the hell they think

they can do to that plant.

[ken] Yeah.

Well, gentlemen,
we got good news and bad news.

[Freddy] You've seen
it's taking that bucket

sample off your grizzly...

-Yes. Right. Uh-huh.
-[Freddy] Where the material
was coming off?

Well, we just did part
of one bucket and--

[Juan] Really only
a pan out of one bucket.

[Freddy] Yeah. They're small,
but they're there.

-Do you see them, Mike?
-[Mike] Oh, I see 'em.
I see 'em now.

-Yeah.
-[Ken] Oh, yeah.

[Freddy] Probably lose
enough right there to pay

for all your fuel
and then some.

Well, we got to fix that.

We got an idea to stop
this and it's simple.

We put a piece of square
tube across your grizzly,

and then we hang some
canvas as a dampener.

[Mike] That would really
be great.

[Juan] You know,
the other thing that we saw,

wet material going through
the plant.

Your hopper assembly
was getting clogged up,

and then, on top of that,
your sluice box

is actually
getting stacked up.

You had to slow 'em down

to be able to get that
material go through.

That's a big one.

-We wanna build a dryer.
-[Freddy] Mmm-hmm.

-Really?
-[Freddy] A commercial-type
dryer.

It's not a toy.

Your better pay is actually
in that wet material.

You'll be able to run that
material right into the dryer,

get it dried out,
and run it that same day.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Freddy and Juan
will build a canvas dampener

to stop pay dirt spilling off
the back of Mike's screen.

To dry the wet pay
clogging the plant

and extend
Mike's mining season,

they'll construct
a huge pay dirt dryer.

A steel frame fitted
with pitched roller benches

will support
a 600-pound trommel.

At one end, a hopper will
feed pay dirt into the drum.

At the other,
a 30-kilowatt heater

will blast the pay
with hot air.

[Freddy] Get that
wet material dry,

you're gonna increase
your gold, that's for sure.

[Mike] Well, you know, guys,
that'd extend the season,

not just to get better pay
for one day,

but now,
we're mining maybe six,

eight months rather
than three or four.

[Juan] But, in total,
it's kind of a big number.

We would like to see
material and our labor

is seven and a half ounces
of gold.

Seven and a half ounces,
at the end of the season.

At the end of the season.

[sighs]

[Juan] I know that's
a big number, but if we don't

double this gold intake,

I'm willing
to do this for free.

Yeah. I'm that confident.

No, I think you got good
gold where you're at,

from the test,
but we can add to that.

[Mike] Well,
I want it improved.

I got to prove that
for William and Erin

and the family.

-We'll do it.
-[Freddy] All right.

-Deal on
-[Mike] Thanks, guys.

[Juan] Right on.

[Mike] I was shocked at how
much gold we were losing.

If I can get
the gold increased,

both from being
able to run more

times a year with wet dirt,

drying it out, and then

getting better recovery off
the screen and everything,

I'm really enthused
about that.

[dramatic music playing]

[Juan] This may be
a game-changer
for Mike and Ken.

Freddy and I have never built
a dryer like this before.

It's gonna take every bit of,

you know, creativity
and drive that we have

to be able to pull
something off here

to make this work
for these guys.

We better get to work, Juan.

[wind whooshing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Kenneth] Hey, guys. Got your
steel here you ordered.

[narrator] In Central Arizona,

Freddy and Juan
have called in a local favor.

[Kenneth] Some 30-inch pipe,
2 by 6 by 316-12 tubing,

and some two-inch straps.

[narrator] $7,000-worth
of custom cut steel

to attempt their first-ever
pay dirt dryer build.

[Juan] Oh,
we got the tools we need now.

I'm happy these guys
were able to come down

and give us a hand and get it
all down here to us.

So, now, the work begins.

[Freddy] Back up a little bit,
Juan-o,

so I don't cramp your style
coming in.

[Juan] That's as far
as it goes. I got it
straight now.

Well, right now,
we're starting on

the framework for the dryer.

We'll start
cutting pieces here,

get as much cut as we can,

and start fabricating it.

[narrator] The dryer will
work similar to a trommel.

Wet pay dirt is fed into one
end of the massive cylinder.

A propane heater

will dry the dirt
as the trommel spins.

[Freddy] Eyeballs.

[Juan] You know,
Freddy and I wanna build
something from scratch,

from the ground up,
so we're gonna have
to build a frame.

We're gonna have to build
a roller assembly,

the drive assembly,
and also the drum,
which is a ton of work.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] Just outside...

[Mike] Yeah, there they are.

[narrator] After a 1,500-mile
trip from Louisiana...

[Mike] Let's walk over
there and meet them.

I'll introduce you guys.

[narrator] Mike's son, Will,
and daughter-in-law,

Erin, arrive
to assist the operation.

[Freddy] Yeah.
And they go right
below the edge, you know?

[Mike] Hey, you guys.
I want you to meet my son.

-This is Will.
-[Juan] How you doing?

-Will.
-Will, nice to meet you. Juan.

Juan, this is Erin,
Will's wife.

-Nice to meet you, Erin.
-[Erin] Good to meet you.

[Mike] And this is, Freddy.
Freddy Dodge.

-Will. Will, I heard?
-[Will] Yes, sir.

-[Mike] And...
-Erin.

-[Mike] Erin.
-[Freddy] Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

[Juan] Came in to see
your future, huh?

Yes, sir.

-[Juan] All right. Well--
-[Mike] He's got a family,

couple of kids by marriage
to take care of too.

They might be worried
about spending a lot of money

and maybe
spending it foolishly,

but I wanna prove to them
that it's not a fool's errand,

and I'd like this mine
to support his family.

Have you done
any mining before?

[Will] I came out here,
what was that, two years ago?

-[Juan] Okay.
-[Mike] We mined for 10 days.

We put an ounce
of gold in his pocket

and a half an ounce in mine.

-We were doing it by hand,
just shoveling.
-[Juan] Oh, no kidding?

[Mike] I said we need
a bigger shovel.

[laughter]

[Mike] So,
I went out and got a backhoe,

upgraded to a real miner.

[Will] Dad wants to support us
and our kids

to move out
of a bad situation,

a bad neighborhood.

Moving from job to job,

it's a major stressor
in our lives

with me and Erin,
and we're trying to see

whether it's economical
for this to really work out.

[Erin] Moving out here,
I would be leaving,

you know, my mom and dad,
my gran,

my aunts and brothers.

With the kids and everything,

it would have to be
something that we knew

we could depend on.

You wanna come down
and give us a hand, man,

you're more than welcome
to come give us a hand.

Yeah. I'd love
to see what you all can do.

[Freddy]
Have you welded at all?

[Will] No.
I have a lot to learn.

[Freddy] We can set it up here
and teach you some stuff.

Yes, sir.

I'd appreciate that, for sure.

[Freddy] If you're gonna be
here with your dad,

you need to start getting
some of those skills.

[upbeat music playing]

[Freddy] Will's gonna have to

go on a crash
course of skills,

but if he is enthusiastic,
learning comes easy.

I've already got 'em laid out,

so I'll have you hold 'em
while I tack 'em on.

[narrator] Drafting in Will,

Freddy starts
on some teardrop gears,

which will
enable Mike to pull

the dryer around the claim.

I'd like my dad
to succeed here.

He's all heart
and all mine too.

He wanted to set up something
good for the family.

Be like coming out here
and mining,

and doing that together.

And I think he knows
what he's doing,

but he did spend
his entire retirement

to settle here and mine,

so it's very important
that he succeeds.

[Freddy] Okay.

This is 6010.

So, the way
I'm welding with it,

I'm acting like
I'm stacking dimes.

[Will] Okay.

It's a big deal. Yeah.

It would be a bad thing
if what he worked all his life

to gain went wrong.

[Freddy] Give her a try, bud.

There you go.

There you go.
Stack those dimes.

There you go. You're done.

It may not be purty,
but it's kind of welded.

-Get some leathers.
-Yes, sir.

[Freddy] And start practicing.

[Will] Thanks for showing me.

-Appreciate it.
-You're welcome.

I was nervous, you know?

It's, like,
I'm next to Freddy,

and I'm learning how to weld.

Never done that before,

but it's good experience,
good knowledge.

So, I gotta practice
is what he says.

Practice makes perfect.

[Mike] You got a teaching
from a master there.

-Yeah.
-Well, you got to show me
something, all right?

-Deal.
-Deal.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator]
At the cut trailer...

[Juan] Just finished up
the roller assemblies.

It's what the new dryer's
gonna ride on.

That way,
we can get it onto the frame,

get it put in place
and we can set the drum.

[narrator] Heat-resistant
steel rollers

will sit on Freddy's
steel frame

and allow the drying
trommel to turn.

I'll be done with these
welds in 10 minutes.

Okay. Perfect.

What are you gonna do,
back in and grab the frame?

Yeah, I'll just back
my truck in right here.

We'll lift this up,
set it on the ground,

then we'll lift the trommel
drum up, get it right on top.

-Five, I'll be done.
-[Juan] All right.

[wind whooshing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Juan] We're gonna find out
if our measurements are
correct, huh?

[Freddy] Yeah.

That's absolutely perfect.

[Juan]
What are the odds of that?

If you look in between
the wheels here,

between the wheels
and the drum itself,

they're perfectly flat
up against the drum.

Over here as well.

And that just tells you
that we got our angles right.

I like it.

[Freddy] Yup.

I'm glad to see
it coming together.

I'm anxious
to see the final result.

[upbeat music playing]

All in all, you know,
it was a good day,

but a plant needs
a lot of work,

so time is of the essence
right now.

It's definitely a new
challenge for us.

[narrator] Coming up...

Hey, guys, you're just gonna
have to let us roll today.

What's taking so long, Freddy?

[Freddy] Glad I didn't eat any
bean burritos last night,

because I'm gonna be
in this tube for a while.

[dramatic music playing]

[Mike] I added a little too
much, gotta take some out.

Well, what I'm doing
is I'm selling black sand.

This little box
will be seven pounds

and I'll sell it for $21.

[narrator] Rare metals
found in black sand

are used in the construction
and electronic industries.

Mike can sell
up to five gallons a month

bringing in an extra
$1,700 a season.

I saw other people doing
that and I thought,

"Yeah, I can do that.
It'll make money."

William knows there's
some good gold around,

but he hasn't seen
this level of mining.

Hopefully, Freddy and Juan
help me get that level up

to prove that
it'll work, economically.

We'll see.

[narrator] Outside...

[Will] I just wanna show
you quickly how to pan.

So, get it all on one side.
I tap it like this.

[narrator] Mike's son, Will,
gets back to his roots.

[Will] Start walking it back.

[Erin] How did you
learn how to do this?

[Will] When I was a kid,
with my dad,

we went and did a test
sample of some soil

down in the riverbed
right away from the house.

So, I've been doing this
since I was seven or eight.

Dad has always been
interested in mining.

I always liked
geology and rocks,

and I think
it's because of dad.

When I was a kid,
my parents got a divorce.

You know, I've always known
my dad and he's a great dad,

but I didn't
have the relationship

with my dad that I wanted.

And coming out here
can give me that

and also I could have
a new start for my family,

which we really need.

-Look at that color.
-[Erin] Oh, wow.

-[gasps] Oh, my goodness.
-[Will] Yeah.

-That's a piece of gold
right there.
-Do you see all that?

[Erin] Oh, my goodness.

I think this could
be a new beginning.

And so, hopefully, Freddy
and Juan help us succeed.

We need to know
that it's gonna be totally,

you know, steady, steady,

you know, something
to always fall back on.

[soft country music playing]

[upbeat music playing]

[narrator] On the other side
of the plain...

[Freddy] Hey, guys, you're
just gonna have to let us
roll today.

We don't have time for TV.

[narrator] Freddy
and Juan turn and burn.

Just 24 hours left
before the final test run.

[Juan] After this break,
you wanna start

making it smaller here
to what, three?

-[Freddy] Three tall?
-[Juan] Yeah.

[Freddy] And then, we could
knock it down if we need to.

-Okay, I'll do it.
-Sounds good.

-Thanks, man.
-All right, no problem.

Freddy made a quick sketch
and some measurements

of what he wanted, so

really, now
it's crunch time.

We gotta get this done today.

Damn this plate's hot.

Woo!

This may be a game-changer
for Mike,

to try to make sure
that we come up

with great solutions
to their problems.

If we don't double their
gold recovery,

it's free.

It just kind of pushes
us a little harder

to try to help him
get more gold.

[narrator] By the trommel,

Freddy inserts thin pieces
of steel called lifters

that will help separate
the wet pay dirt inside.

[Will] You mind if I watch?

[Freddy] No, stand
wherever you can see, buddy.

Yes, sir.

[Freddy] Still fabricating,
you know, Juan and myself

mentally pictured
what we wanted to build

for this situation,

and got steel and started
putting it together.

So, imagination's most
important.

[Will] Okay.
So, you just kind of...

You figure it out, you design.

-Picture it in your head.
-Basically a engineer.

Picture it in your head
and then go from there.

[Will] Basically, I don't
have a lot of experience,

so it's invaluable
to really learn

from Freddy and Juan

whatever
they can share with me,

so that I can really learn
from all their experience.

[Freddy] Here we go.
We'll knock this
son of a gun out.

[whimsical music playing]

[Freddy] And this is
frickin' comfortable.

-[clangs]
-[Freddy] Ouch.

I'm glad I didn't eat
any bean burritos last night

'cause I'm gonna be in
this tube for a while.

[narrator]
With Freddy in a tight spot,

Juan switches focus
to the broken backhoe.

[Juan] I'm gonna pull
this floorpan out,

and then we're gonna
replace the valve.

Nothing worse
than having a piece

of equipment that's down.

So, that's the valve
we're gonna replace

right there.

It's actually the hose
going to the valve,

it's been chewed through
by pack rats or mice
or something.

They've had a field day here.

There it is.

Now, we'll just
put the base plate

back on and call it good.

[machine whirs]

[engine turns over]

[narrator]
With the backhoe
back in business,

Juan turns to the heating
element for the dry blower.

What I'm doing right
now is I'm cutting out

the pieces that I need
to be able to mount

the heating unit on
the front of the dryers.

I'm hoping
that we have enough heat

to be able to dry
that material.

[narrator] A 30-kilowatt
propane heater

will blast the wet pay dirt

with 100,000 BTUs
of drying power.

[Juan] We're gonna
make it adjustable

so we can adjust the pitch

on the heater to be
able to hit

the material where we want it.

It looks good.

It's ready to go on.

Perfect.

This is adjustable,
so we need to adjust it.

[Mike] That's really slick.

What angle do you recommend?

Well, we don't know yet.

We're gonna find out.

[bird caws]

[narrator] Freddy's final fix.

[Freddy] We're gonna put
a cloth dampener in here.

We're gonna make it
where it's removable.

[narrator] A cloth dampener
that will prevent pay

bouncing off the screen.

[Freddy] Are you in your slot?

[Ken] Yes, it is.

[Freddy] How far out
are you sticking, Ken?

[Ken] Cloth hanging
just about right.

[Freddy] Okay. So is mine.

So, as it comes down through,
it'll hit that cloth,

which will
stop it from bouncing,

and then more of it'll
go through the screen.

I like it.

[Ken] No way in hell that's
bouncing out of there.

[Freddy] Well, thanks, guys.

[Mike] I think it's
a really neat idea.

You know, Freddy's
got so much experience

to have the intuition
or the confidence

to do something like that.

It's just surprising to me

and that's why we want it
around here.

Quite different
than I expected,

but I wanna see it work now.

[wind whooshing]

-Hey, Freddy?
-[Freddy] Yes, sir.

I'm gonna spin it.

[narrator]
Back at the dry blower,

the trommel is finally
ready for a test run.

Watch yourself.

[rock music playing]

[Freddy]
Cooking with gas now, Juan.

I like it.

I'm really happy
with what I see right now.

We got it spinning,
the hopper's in.

It's beautiful that you just
dream something up like that,

cut some steel
and weld it together.

[Mike] It's amazing.

To do this kind of
work in the field?

It's really something.

[Will] Yeah,
we're real adamant to see

what the plant can produce.

That's gonna be
a decision-maker or breaker.

So, we're gonna see what
Freddy and Juan have done.

[Freddy] The lifters
are welded in.

Nice.

[Mike] So, how long do you
think it'll take to finish it?

[Juan] Another four days.

[Mike] Oh,
God, I wanna see it run.

Hurry up, guys.

-Gotta hurry up, Fred.
-[Freddy] Right.

-What's taking
so long, Freddy?
-[Mike] Yeah.

-[Freddy] That's right.
-[laughter]

[Freddy] Didn't see
anybody else offer
to climb in this pipe.

[laughter]

Where do you want it, Fred?

[narrator] As night falls,

Juan uses his new
electric loader

to move the pay dryer
closer to the mine.

[Juan] Inside the controls
are exactly

like what it would be
on a regular machine,

only difference
is it's electric.

Love it, Juan.

Come on ahead
a little bit more.

That'll work.

[Juan] It's impressive
how powerful this thing is.

You know,
you think electrical,

you think it's gonna
be kind of sluggish.

It's gonna be doggy.
It's not.

Perfect.

[dramatic music playing]

[wind whooshing]

Looks good.

[narrator]
At the Robinson Mine...

[Juan] Well, you see
what we did, right?

[Ken] So, you guys
got a little paint
on it last night, huh?

[narrator] Freddy and Juan's
custom-built dryer

has been given
a creative touch overnight.

[Juan] Dragon Breath, right?

-[Freddy] Dragon Breath.
-[Mike] Dragon Breath.

-[Juan] I like it.
-[Freddy] I like it, too.

[Juan] It's ready to roll.

[Freddy] Fire it up.

[narrator] Before,
Mike's pay was too damp

for his dry plant,

making it slow
and inefficient.

[Mike] All right, Miss Kitty,

we're gonna
get down and dirty.

[narrator] Now,
the new hot dryer

should remove moisture
from the pay

before it is run
through the plant.

[Mike] We can dry it out,
we get more gold,

then we can run twice as many
months out of the year.

So, hopefully,
this is gonna work.

[Juan] Holy crap, that's hot.

[Freddy] Frickin' hot, boy.

Dry.

[Juan] Mike.

[Mike] It's hot coming
out of there.

Damn near fry eggs,

it's that hot.

[Erin] I think it's badass.

[Freddy] Let's get
your plant fired up,

run some
dry material through it.

[narrator] The first run

was only three hours
and fifteen minutes

due to a backhoe breakdown.

This time, Will takes over
operation from father, Mike.

[Ken] First bucket.

Let's make some gold.

[Will] If this works
and we can make money,

I think we're gonna do
real good out here.

[Mike] Yeah, baby.

That's what I like to see.

[Freddy] Dry as a bone, huh?

-Like sand through
an hourglass, Juan.
-Yeah.

[Mike] We got two
more yards,

we can actually run
the trays faster,

so it's really looking good.

[Freddy] Juan,
you gotta see this.

-It's perfect.
-Good, huh?

[narrator] At the hopper,
Freddy's bush fix dampener

keeps the pay dirt
from falling off the screen.

-[Freddy] It's pretty simple.
-[Ken] Yes, it is.

[Freddy] A piece of square
tube, a welding blanket,

and two bungee cords.

Five percent
of your gold or more.

Last bucket.

[Will] Okay.

[upbeat music playing]

[Will] I think Dad,
he's trying to make sure

that there's a safety net.

That's what parents do.

They create safety
nets for their kids.

We've really bonded.

He's a good dude.

He's appreciated and loved.

[Mike] I like that
Dragon Breath.

That really dries it out.

But you don't know
how it's gonna go.

So, let's weigh it up
and see what we got.

[dramatic music playing]

[Mike]
Oh, look, here they come.

-[Juan] Hey, guys.
Hey, everyone.
-[Erin] Hey.

During our first test run,
you guys got a quarter ounce

and you wanted
to double that, right?

Yeah. You know,
if you're gonna wish,
wish big.

[narrator]
Freddy and Juan's fixes

must double the 0.25
ounces from the first test

or they agreed to waive
their $15,000 fee.

[Juan] Now, Will,
would half an ounce

be enough for you guys
to be down here?

-Half an ounce
would get us down here.
-Yes.

-[Juan] Yeah? Okay
-For sure.

[narrator] Half an ounce
would mean Mike,

Will, and Erin could earn
over $300,000 a year,

enough to pay off
Mike's big debts

and live on the rest.

-Well, proof will be in
the pudding, huh, Juan?
-[Erin laughs]

-[Mike] Oh, my goodness.
Look at this.
-[man] Zero her out, Fred.

There's double right there.

-[Will] Nice.
-[Freddy] Over double.

-That's 0.60.
-[Mike] Are you kidding me?

0.75.

[narrator] The second wave
brings in a whopping

200% increase.

The Robinson Mine can earn
as much as $2,850 a day.

-Exactly three-quarters.
-Come here, guys.

-Give me that.
-Pretty dang good.

What do you say, Freddy?

-Thanks a lot.
-[Freddy] That's pretty
darn good.

[Mike] That's good gold.

[narrator]
With his season extended

to at least eight months,

Mike could earn
nearly $700,000

a year, allowing him to pay
his debt and provide

enough money
for Will and Erin

to come in on the business.

-[Will] I appreciate it.
-[Freddy] No problem.

[Erin] There's no
question anymore.

We don't have to even...
The decision is made.

We're gonna be
new neighbors, Mike.

How you feel about that?

I'm gonna have to buy
another camper.

[laughter]

[Mike]
I was totally blown away.

I used to teach chemistry.

I'm a lab guy
and a lecture guy, you know?

So, to do this
kind of a change,

and then it become a reality?

When family
like what you're doing,

and you've convinced them
that it's worth their while

and it could be their
livelihood to come out here,

it gets you right there.

[Will] Arizona smile
is what they call it.

When you see it in the pan
and it's just a gold ring.

Or you see it
on your wife's face,

when your life has changed,

that's what you call
a Arizona smile.

[Juan] Well, it's been a tough
week for Freddy and I,

but we got it done.

The great news is
now they got what they need

to be able to be
successful in the future.

The American West was built
because of gold mining

and gold.

One thing gold does to people,
it inspires them.

We're really happy.

-Thank you.
-I love you.

-[Will] I love you, baby.
-[Erin] Love you.

[blues music playing]

Since Freddy and Juan left,

we were getting
really good dirt.

The last run
that we actually did

was really high in recovery.

More than a gram a yard.

So, we were
doing really well.

August is the monsoon season.

We're waiting on that
now with bated breath.

That's when we expect
to be using the dryer a lot.

Will and Erin are
excited to come back

and planning
and working that direction.

[Will] You know,
we've got the mine,

we've got each other,
and we've got family.

And getting that gold
in the ground

and having all that fun
and it was just an experience.

It was very important.

The hugest shout out
to Freddy and Juan.

This has opened up
huge things.

[Will] I'm a welder now.

It's badass.