15x19 - Mine Boss for the Day

[bunniefuu]

[theme music playing]

[soft instrumental music]

[Mitch Blaschke] Good morning.
How's it going?

-[Nona Loveless] Good.
How's it going with you?
-[Mitch] Not too bad.

We got a lot
going on out there.

[Nona] You're gonna have
a busy few days.
Parker's away.

So, you get to go
running around like a chicken
with your head cut off.

Oh, as big as
this operation has gotten,

it leaves us
a lot of area to cover.

Plus, trying to keep
the Long Cut going
at the same time.

Well, if you need a hand,
I'm here to help out.

[Mitch] Hopefully, we can
keep these plants around,
keep some gold coming in.

[Nona] I got
my fingers crossed.

[Mitch] All right.
You have a great day.

[Nona] Take care.

[dramatic instrumental music]

[sighs] Parker's away today.

We got three
wash plants running.

We gotta
keep the wheels rolling.

I don't think we're gonna
run out of work to do today.

[narrator] Mitch Blaschke
is stepping into mine boss
Parker Schnabel's shoes.

He's responsible for Parker's


where crew are running
an army of wash plants
round the clock.

In the Long Cut
is 40-ton shaker, Rocksand.

Old faithful Big Red
churns through pay
in the Bridge Cut.

And wash plant Bob
sluices for gold
in the Sulfur Cut.

After a season of missteps,

everyone needs a big finish.

This is my 13th season mining,



When I first started
coming up here, gold mining,

you know,
I was just a mechanic.

From there, you know,
now I'm the foreman here
at Parker's mine site.

And this company has gotten
so big over the years.

What's crazy is, you know,
thinking back how it started,

it was just, you know,
one dozer when I started
working for Parker.

[narrator] This season,
Parker has amassed
more ground and crew

than ever before,

and it's proven difficult
to keep the gold flowing

and the machines running.

You know, right now,
we've got Jordan heading out
to fix the excavator.

We've got Janko and Taylor
working on loaders.

So, there's constantly
something that needs done.

[Taylor] The plants require
everything to be working
to have 100% uptime.

We really can't
afford downtime,
this season especially.

We're trying to get
tons of sluicing done,

and these loaders
are what get the job done.

[intriguing
instrumental music]

[Mitch] Today,
with Parker being gone,

I've gotta come out here
and make sure
everything's good.

There's a constant list
of problems,

And the biggest issue
with that is just
trying to prioritize.

[Jordan on walkie-talkie]

[Mitch] Yeah, what's up?

All right, dude. I'll see you
down there. Thanks.

Right now, we're gonna
head over to the water pump
here for Rocksand,

see exactly what's going on.

Not ideal, obviously,
any time you have
a situation like this,

your wash plant's down,

it's not producing gold.

At the end of the day
and the end of the week,

Parker's gonna say,
"Why are the numbers down?
What's going on?"

You have to explain
what exactly happened.

[narrator] Earlier
this season...

[Parker] We live and die
by the water pump, right?

Wash plants don't run,
cuts don't get dewatered.

[narrator]
Parker spent $540,000

on three new
supersize water pumps.

[Parker] Do they give us
a full tank of fuel?

Bone dry.

Thanks, guys.

Spent half a million,
and they siphoned out
the fuel tank.

They're brand new,
but a lot of rust buildup
in the tanks,

just 'cause they sat
with no fuel in 'em.

And the first thing I said
when I saw that was,

"Put these in a pond
and test them
before they come out."

[narrator] Mitch suspects
rust has clogged the pump's
fuel filter

and plans to swap it out
for a much older spare.

Right now, we just gotta
get this plant up and running.

And we have a water pump here
that works,

and we're gonna put it
back in place.

Right now, we got the 480
coming in here,

and we're gonna lift
this pump out.

We're gonna put the old one
back in place.

[narrator] Helping him,
mechanic Jordan Sands.

[Jordan] Here I am,
helping out my friends.

[Mitch] All right, here we go.
Don't drop it.

Nice and easy.

Look at that.

Beautiful.

Right on the ball!
That was beautiful.

[narrator] The rusted pump
sent to the yard,

Mitch and Jordan
set about craning in
the replacement pump.

Hopefully, it's got
enough life left in it here
to finish this cut out.

Jordan's gonna get it
rigged up here,
we're gonna fly it in,

we gotta line up
the discharge,
get that hooked up,

and then we gotta get
the suction on it.

And, hopefully,
we'll be back up and sluicing.

Heck, yeah.

-[Jordan exclaims]
-[Mitch] She's heavy.

[Jordan] Yeah, it is.

[Mitch] Don't put it
over the water.

Right now, we're just
positioning the pump.

The hardest part here is,
we gotta line up our discharge
on the pump

to our buried discharge here.

And it's pretty much gotta be
right on the money.

[Jordan] Hella close.

[Mitch] You know,
when you're doing
this kind of stuff, dude,

stuff's gonna break,
stuff's gonna not work.

[Jordan] Don't matter
the product, don't matter
the make.

-Right.
-[Jordan] She's turning.
She's on her way to break.

Ooh, I just came up with that
right now.

-[Mitch] That was good. That
communicated a lot over there.
-Wow.

That, or I could take up,
what, rhyming and just quit
this [bleep]

Okay, yeah.
Just be a poet over there.

So, right now, we've got
our old pump back in place.

We're gonna tighten these up,
and try and get us
back running here.

Definitely, a lot of
lost time here.

-Yeah, buddy!
-[Jordan] Okay.

That went pretty good.

The big problem,
and why this pump came out,

is because
we knew the foot valve
was having a problem.

When we turned the pump off,
we noticed that our water line
wouldn't hold water in it.

It would all bleed back out.

And that valve down here
should stop that,
keep the water in the line,

and it also allows
the water pump
to prime itself.

I've got the plant turned off.
I've got the bypass
turned off.

We're trying to
pull all the air
out of the pipeline

in order to start
creating a vacuum.

[dramatic instrumental music]

[narrator] The pump
sucks water from the pond
using a rotating impeller,

creating a centrifugal force
that pulls water in

and pushes it uphill
to Rocksand.

Because the flip valve
is broken,

water has escaped
and created an air pocket
in the pump,

blocking the impeller
and stopping water flow.

Mitch's plan,
known as deadheading,

is to max out the pump

and cause a vacuum
powerful enough to suck water
through the impeller

and push the air blockage
up the pipe,

allowing water
to float to Rocksand.

But if the pump
is not turned down,

and the wash plant's bypass
not opened
at the correct moment,

the increased water pressure
could blow the whole system.

So, this is 100%
what you never wanna do,

and that's deadhead your pump.

You know, if we end up
blowing the pipeline in half,

we're gonna have
way bigger problems

than just what we already got
going on.

This right here
is one of those
"Don't try this at home."

I can see that
the lay flat hose
is starting to collapse.

That means
that it's pulling
the air out of it.

[tense instrumental music]

-[rumbling]
-There it is!

[whoops] We got her!

Hey! Hey!

Turn it down!

Hey, we got it there,
but you can see just how much
water pressure that was.

The bypass about
blew out of the spot there.

When that water hit,
it had a lot of energy.

When your hand first went up,
I was like,

-"[bleep] he needs
more water."
-[Mitch] Oh, dude!

It about blew the bypass.

[sweeping instrumental music]

All right, we're back
in action. Appreciate it.

-Thanks, man.
-[Jordan] See ya, Mitch.

Right now, man,
we just wanna get this plant
back up and running.

[sweeping music continues]

You ready to sluice, buddy?

[Jordan on walkie-talkie]

[sweeping music continues]

At the end of the day,
if this wash plant
isn't running,

we're not getting anywhere
near close to Parker's target.

[narrator] Coming up...

Oh, my [bleep]

[narrator]
...a critical machine
goes down.

[Taylor] This is
an absolute catastrophe.

[narrator] And Mitch's plan
to keep Rocksand running...

Oh, come on! [bleep]

[narrator] ...hits the skids.

Not good, man.
Not good at all.

[dramatic instrumental music]

[sweeping instrumental music]

Right now,
getting the loader fleet
up and running,

so it's really important
we get 'em all
in fighting shape,

'cause they'll be running


[narrator] In Parker's
laydown yard,

mechanic Taylor Matejka
is working on a broken loader

so the whole fleet
will be operational.

Nacho.

Hey, buddy?

He's, like, the best therapy.

I can't have a bad day
when I jump in my truck
and Nacho is just chilling.

[tense instrumental music]

[Adrian Truong
on walkie-talkie]

Yeah, go ahead.

You said water in the fuel?

All right, I'll be right out.

[narrator]
A 25-mile drive away
at Sulfur Creek,

a 220 loader,
nicknamed Arnold, is broken.

And with no spare,
wash plant Bob is shut down.

What's going on, buddy?

Code popped up.
I shut it off right away.

All right. Well, give me
a few minutes and we'll see
what's happening.

-I'll hit you on the radio
when I'm done. Cheers.
-[Adrian] Sweet. Yeah.

[narrator]
With gold production
at a standstill,

Taylor must diagnose
the problem

and get it back up and running
as soon as possible.

[Taylor] Water in the fuel
is no joke.

Sometimes, it's just a fault
with the sensor,

or sometimes,
we have a bigger problem.

This is called
a water separator right here.

Any water that finds its way
in the tank.

Water is heavier
than the fuel,

so it should fill the bowl
with water,

and the fuel
would stay above it.

It's hard to tell
what's going on here
just by looking in there,

but it doesn't really
look like diesel.

There's a lot of it.

Oh, my [bleep]

Smells like DEF.

[tense instrumental music]

No [bleep] way.

Looks like somebody
might have put DEF
in the fuel tank, 'cause...

[sniffs] this is not water.

And the only way you'd get DEF
in the fuel system

is if you poured DEF
into the fuel tank.

I wonder if this thing
even runs.

[tense instrumental music]

[bleep]

[narrator]
Diesel exhaust fluid,
known as DEF,

helps reduce emissions.

But if it gets
into the engine,

it can crystallize,
causing catastrophic failure.

[sniffing]

[Taylor] Oh, my [bleep]

It's a huge bummer
that this thing
can't be running right now.

We have nothing to feed Bob
without Arnold running here.

So, you know, time is money.

We got loaders at every plant
right now.

We got one in the yard
that's down.

We need this thing
up and running,
and this is a curveball.

And an unnecessary one
at that.

[tense instrumental music]

Here's where you fill fuel.

Here's where you fill DEF.

Right? So, obviously,
someone had this cap off,

and they poured DEF
in the fuel tank.

We gotta talk to night shift
and see and how we ended up
in this predicament.

What I'm gonna do is
take the cover off the bottom,
drain the tank.

We'll see what's coming
out of the tank.

[grunts]

Oh, my [bleep]

It's all [bleep] clear.

How much DEF
did they dump in this thing?

Oh, my [bleep]

You got a 350-liter tank here
that was close to full.

So, I drained 100 liters out.

The evac tank in my truck
should be capable of handling
the rest.

[tense instrumental music]

[motor starting]

And you can see,
the clearer stuff
at the bottom is DEF.

That's diesel.

This is absolute catastrophe
for the fuel system.

[dramatic instrumental music]

I've still got my suction
on it.

So, I hope that
filling it here

can kind of flush
the bottom of the tank, too.

[narrator]
After draining almost $700
worth of contaminated fuel,

Taylor fills and drains
the tank again

in an attempt to flush
the fuel system clean.

So, we flushed out the tank
and I filled it up.

So, what we know we have
is clean fuel in the tank,
for the most part.

So, we know
that the contaminated fuel

ran through these filters.

So, we're gonna change those.

And then,
all we have to worry about
is what's in the fuel lines.

There's a lot
to worry about there,

'cause if DEF
ran through the injectors,

there's a very high chance
that the injectors will fail.

If that happens,
we're looking at

somewhere in the neighborhood
of 15,000 bucks

just from a lapse in judgment.

So, we'll see.

[Mitch] Hey, man,
how's it going?

[Tyler] We got two loaders
down right now, so...

-Somebody put DEF
in the diesel tank.
-[Mitch] Oh, no.

[narrator] Across the claim,
Mitch is on his rounds,

checking in with mechanic
Tyler Jankowski.

[Mitch] Little
operator error there.

Yeah, man.
Not the time to do this.

-No, that's not good at all.
-No.

[Mitch] All right,
let's go see what's going on
with this thing.

-Okay, awesome. Thank you.
-Thanks, dude. Appreciate it.

[narrator] Determined to keep
the operation running
in Parker's absence,

Mitch heads to the Sulfur Cut.

You know, this time
of the season, I think,
is the toughest

because everybody is thinking
about going home.

This mining season,
six months long.

It's a lot of work
to get done.

It's a lot of hours
everybody's putting in
out here.

And if you lose focus
for just a short period
of time,

you know,
something can go wrong.

But it all takes time
and costs money.

[tense instrumental music]

[Taylor] What's going on?

[Mitch] What'd you find?

So, I have drained
the whole tank.

I filled and drained again.

I've changed...
changed the fuel filters,

And right now,
this is fuel coming
directly out of the head.

So, right now,
you're just trying to
purge everything

-out of the fuel system.
-[Taylor] Yeah.

-Yeah.
-And get everything
out of the cylinder head.

Not good, man.
Not good at all.

-I mean, last time,
we had to do injectors in it.
-[Taylor] Yeah.

Yeah, and we don't have
a set of injectors here,
so let's cross our fingers.

[Mitch] Well, man,
I know every other loader's
got a job to do out here,

so we need this thing running
and get Bob back fired up.

This is the end of her,
so we can fire it up here
pretty quick.

It gets real expensive
real quick.

Not only the expense
of fixing the machine,

-but now we got a wash plant
that's not running.
-[Taylor] Yeah.

All right, buddy.
Well, let me know
what you find out.

Yeah, sounds good.
I'll get a hold of you
when we get it running.

Taylor's doing everything
he can here to get her
fired back up.

We're gonna order
some injectors
and some spare parts.

But, hopefully,
we can get it running
with what we got.

[tense instrumental music]

[Taylor] Mitch is busy.
He's got a lot going on.

He's trying to manage
a lot of people
and a lot of equipment.

And he's about
as pleased as I am

to find out that there is DEF
in the fuel tank.

I don't think you can go
overkill on this step.

My tricep would disagree
right now.

But if that [bleep]
is in the head,
we might be [bleep]

Now, we gotta
cross our fingers
and hope that it runs nicely.

[narrator] Now,
Taylor has just one shot
to fire up the loader.

If the DEF
is in the fuel injectors,

it'll cause
irreversible damage

and wash plant Bob
will stay shut down

until new parts arrive.

So...

here goes nothing.

-[engine choking]
-[tense instrumental music]

[engine running]

I'm really happy
that it's running all right.

Not to get too excited here,
but I think we can
fire up Bob.

[triumphant
instrumental music]

-Hey, buddy.
-[Adrian] Hey, man.
We're all good to go?

Fingers crossed, man,
you know?

-[Adrian] Fingers crossed.
-Everyone should learn
a lesson from this one, too.

-I gotta talk
to the night shift, boys.
-Sure. Yeah.

But this could have been
a hell of a lot worse.

But, yeah, let's get after it.

-Awesome. Thanks, Taylor.
-Cheers, bro.

Take it easy.

[whoops] Gonna go
run the plant now,

fire up Bob,
and then we're gonna get
some dirt in the hopper.

[sweeping instrumental music]

I'm jamming the hopper folds,
trying to make up
the lost time.

I like getting more gold.
More potential for a bonus
for me.

Right now,
Bob is doing exactly
what he needs to here...

which is washing rocks
and making gold.

So, since it's motoring along,
I'm gonna go keep making
my rounds.

[dramatic instrumental music]

Just call home
and see how everybody's doing.

[soft instrumental music]

[boy on call]

[Mitch] Oh, hello.

[woman on call]

[Mitch] Oh, yeah, it does.

You're growing up quick.

[woman speaking]

[boy yelling]

[Mitch] Oh, really?

What's up with you, chick?

What happened?

Whoa! Are you kidding me?
You lost your two
front teeth. What?

[Mitch] Well, I'm glad
you didn't.

I'll be home pretty soon.

[woman speaking]

[boy speaking]

[Mitch] Okay. Love you.

[woman speaking]

[boy speaking]

Bye, baby. Be good
for your mom, okay?

-Bye.
-[woman speaking]

-Me, too. Bye.
-[woman speaking]

[Mitch] You know,
I've got a four-year-old
and six-month-old,

and you're up here
for six months at a time.

But at the end of the day,
you gotta work.

I wanna try and get home
as fast as possible.

That's why I try and get
as much work done each day
as I possibly can.

And that's really
the motivator for me is,

you know, if I can make
that wash plant run
a little faster,

if I can get through the cut
a little bit quicker
by being more efficient.

It's just that much sooner
that I get to, you know,
spend time with my kids.

So, that's what
it's all about.

[narrator] Mine boss
Parker Schnabel is away
on business,

leaving foreman Mitch Blaschke
holding down the fort.

[Mitch] There's more
that has to be taken care of

because he's not here
doing what he normally does.

The biggest thing is
just keeping morale up
and keeping everybody focused.

This time of the year
is tough.

And it's not gonna get
any easier until the end
of this season

and everybody's heading home.

[narrator]
Mitch is nearing the end
of this season-long project,

the 20-acre Long Cut.

[Mitch] Now, at the start
of the year, Parker said

the Long Cut
has to be completed
this season,

and he said, "I don't care
what you have to do
to make that happen.

Just make sure it gets done."

Now, the Long Cut
has been pretty consistent.

It's been a pretty consistent
pain in the a*s
since the start of it,

and it's put up
one hell of a fight here.

But If it was easy,
it would have been done
a long time ago.

And that's the reason
why the gold is still here
for us to get.

[narrator] After swapping out
the water pump,

Mitch is digging out
more pay dirt.

[Mitch] What I'm doing
right now is just going back
along the edge.

Originally, when we were
putting the ditch in here,
that edge was all frozen.

But now this has had time
to thaw out,

and it really generates
quite a bit of material here.

So, you know,
by going back in here
and cleaning this up,

you know, we're looking at
several shifts of material
for the wash plant.

We're gonna get this loaded
in the trucks up to Rocksand.

[dramatic instrumental music]

I'm really happy
that I get to be
a part of this operation.

[narrator] Driving the pay
to the plant is rock truck
driver Tayvin Peterson.

[Tayvin] I actually
really enjoy working for Mitch

because he seems to
really care and he'll do
anything that needs done.

I'm just grateful that I have
great operators surrounding me

that know what they're doing.

[dramatic instrumental music]

Got lots of dirt to throw
through the wash plant, still.

So, you know, we're out here
going like jackrabbits,

trying to get everything done.

[narrator] At Rocksand,
newly-promoted loader operator
John Kurtz

is running the plant solo
for the first time,

feeding it 250 yards
of pay dirt an hour.

[John] Running a loader
is definitely a big step up
responsibility-wise

from a rock truck.

Running a loader, you have
about a million other things
you gotta be watching.

It's a good way
to prove to yourself
that you're reliable

and someone
that people can count on.

[dramatic instrumental music]

Oh, that's a big [bleep].
Holy [bleep]

Oh, my [bleep]
feeder is clogged!

[tense instrumental music]

That's water!

Oh, come on, you [bleep]

I had a clog up in my feeder,
so I had to run up
and hit the breaker,

and then come hit the bypass

before that explodes.

[intriguing
instrumental music]

[groans]

Hey, Mitch.

[Mitch on radio]

[John on radio]

[Mitch speaking]

Copy that.

[tense instrumental music]

Those rocks
away at the bottom.

So, it's blocking my dirt
from hitting the feeder belt.

I'm just trying to dig out
the dirt, and I'm about...

not even halfway.

[narrator] Large rocks
have slipped through
the grizzly bars

and clogged the bottom
of the hopper feeder.

[John] Oh,
there's a big [bleep]

[grunts]

[narrator] To clear it,
John will have to dig out
a mountain of dirt by hand.

[John] I'm hoping
once Mitch sees this,

that he'll understand
my situation and won't have to
get thrown back in the truck,

'cause I will be very upset
if that's the case,

[tense instrumental music]

Well, there's the man
of the hour.

What's up, man?

I got a big old boulder

-right at the bottom
of my feed belt.
-[Mitch] Yeah.

And it's just causing
the back end of the feeder
to clog up,

and where the front end
has nothing.

So, I have a feeling
we'll have to, like,
shovel more,

-or something.
-[Mitch] Let's have a look.

Oh, yeah.

Well, let's go ahead
and get the plant
back shaking...

-[John] Okay.
-and all the belts going.
We'll turn the water on

-and we'll start purging out
what we can here.
-[John] Okay.

[intriguing
instrumental music]

What happens is
these big rocks
get wedged in there.

Once that happens,
the material builds up,

-causes a lot of chaos.
-[machine starts]

You know,
John's one of our new
loader operators,

but he's doing
a really good job up here.

And this is the best thing
to do when a problem
like this happens,

is call for help.

John did the hard work.

So, we're gonna get this thing
cleared out here and get it
back rolling.

Every minute we're down here
is just gold we're not gonna
have at the end of the week.

[narrator] Mitch thinks John
has already cleared
enough rocks

to turn on the feeder
and dislodge
the remaining dirt.

-[feeder starts]
-[John] There we go.

[Mitch] Let's let it
just feed out.

[John] I think we're good.

[Mitch] Let her
clear out here.

Oh, yeah, she's dropping down
nicely now.

We're looking really good
right now. The material
is dropping off the back wall.

Got the big rocks removed.
Everything's flowing now.

Time to throw dirt at it.

[John] That was my first
kind of shut down I've had.

Glad that Mitch was happy
about everything,

and it wasn't too big
of an issue.

I mean, I had most of it
shoveled out to where
it would just slide all out

when he showed up
and fired the plant up for me.

So, I'm glad
he was in good spirits
about it.

Definitely gonna have
a couple of beers
after work, though. [bleep]

[Mitch] Well, we got the plant
back up and running.

Pretty soon, he'll understand
what he has to do
in those situations

and be able to take care of it
on his own.

You know, when I look at
all the seasons I've been
up here mining

and where it all started,

you know, I was the guy
up here pulling wrenches.

And when I'd get everything
up and going,

I'd jump in machinery
and, you know, help move
the dirt, as well.

And I think that really
helps me a lot with, you know,
being the foreman now,

because I've fixed
the machinery, I've operated
the machinery.

I've run the wash plants.

You know, mistakes and lessons
that you've learned
in the past

help you in the future.

Definitely still learning
things new every day.

With as much as Parker
throws at us,

it's constantly a challenge
of trying to do more
with less.

[dramatic instrumental music]

Well, the Long Cut
is not so long anymore.

We almost got this.

[rumbling]

-[engine shuts off]
-What was that?

Oh, that stick cylinder
is walking out.

You've gotta be [bleep]
kidding me!

Yo, Taylor,
you got a copy, man?

[Taylor on radio]

[Mitch] This thing is [bleep]

[dramatic instrumental music]

Uh, Mitch hit me on the radio
and said that he was running
this hoe,

and the pin popped out
of the stick cylinder.

There it is.

[narrator] In the Long Cut,
foreman Mitch Blaschke
is facing another breakdown.

The 480 digging pay
is sidelined.

It's a race against the clock
for mechanic Taylor
to get it fixed

before Rocksand
runs out of pay.

It's a good thing Mitch
caught this in time.

Had the pin walked
all the way out

while he was loading the truck
or something,

the results could have been
a lot different.

You know, it risks
damaging the truck
that it's loading,

it risks
damaging the excavator,

and it could injure the person
sitting in the rock truck

if this stick were to
fall down uncontrollably.

I brought some steel out
with me, so I'll just

fashion something that keeps
that pin from wanting to
walk out again.

It can't go that way.
It can only go this way.

So, if I weld a chunk of steel
on the back side of it,

it's probably the fastest way
to get this thing back up
and running.

[dramatic instrumental music]

Voila!

So, we got the pin back in.

So, now, I'm just gonna
roll the stick in

so that I can weld this
while I'm standing.

Welding a little tab on there
won't be nearly as strong
as something on the back side.

So, by welding
a big piece of steel
on the backside,

the pin can't go that way
and the pin can't go this way.

Problem solved.

So, yeah, the best thing to do
is just smack a big slab
of steel on there,

weld it up nice and solid.

And we'll grease
the ever living piss
out of this thing,

and then send it back to work.

We'll just use
the thickest piece possible.

Thicker equals stronger.

[intriguing
instrumental music]

We have a bit of
dissimilar metal

with the pin
versus just the mild steel.

But that won't make
a difference right now.

I know that I can weld this
solid enough to the pin
that it ain't going anywhere.

Retainer is welded on.

Now, I'm just running it
a little bit to make sure
that nothing's binding up.

Seems like everything
is going smooth.

So, Mitch is rolling up
right now.

Perfect timing.

Oh, it's moving!

Oh, yeah.

-How's it going, buddy?
-[Taylor] Good, bro.
Just in time.

-Are we ready
to go back to work?
-Yes, sir.

She can spin. She can twist.

-She can't come out
either side.
-[Mitch] Perfect.

Well, we'll get her
back in action here and start
hauling some pay dirt.

Been [bleep] happening
all day. Hopefully,
this is the last of it.

-All right, buddy.
-Thanks, man.

[sweeping instrumental music]

Right now, we're at Rocksand,
just doing a cleanup here,

And it's one of those things
that, when we're short
on people,

everybody's just gotta jump in
to get the job done.

[narrator] As the shift
nears its end,

it's all hands on deck
for a cleanup at Rocksand
in the Long Cut.

Real important here
that the cleanup gets done,

the gold gets down there
so it can be processed.

And that's when we get to see
our end result.

And all the hard work
we've been doing,

hopefully, pays off
with what's in there.

[narrator] Mitch needs to get
the cleanup done quickly

so Rocksand can fire back up
for the night shift.

Right now, we got Justin
in here helping.

He's normally
running the loader,
running the wash plant.

We've got Nikki
out here helping.

She's normally at camp,
helping in the kitchen.

We've got Tatiana,
who's been not only out here

doing the cleanup
on the plant, going back,
helping Chris,

and then also jumping
in a loader wherever else
is needed.

You've been very busy
this season, Tatiana,

with three wash plants
most of the year.

Oh, yeah. We had six...
averaging six cleanups a week

when the three plants
are running.

So, yeah, it's been busy.

[narrator] With the season's
end in sight and the Long Cut
nearly mined out,

each cleanup becomes
more critical than the last.

[Mitch] So, you can see here,
we've got the gold
laying on the steel here.

So, what we're gonna do here
is put everything
into one tank,

and then we're gonna send
all this material
to the cleanup room.

And they're gonna process it
and we'll see
what we got here.

[man] I'll pull this out
if you want to grab
the excavator,

-put it on this truck.
-Yeah.

[soft instrumental music]

Right now, we're just lifting
the concentrate tank
away from the wash plant.

[narrator]
All the gold concentrate
from Rocksand

is transferred
to the metal tank,

making it
the most important element
of the cleanup.

Last thing you wanna do
is dump this tub out.
This has all the gold in it.

That wouldn't make anybody
very happy around here.

So, we wanna be careful
getting this on the truck.

We got Chris out here
picking it up.

He's gonna take it back
and start the cleanup.

Right there. Perfect.

And right there, we have,
you know, a week's worth
of stripping ground, sluicing.

We're gonna go see
what we got.

[dramatic instrumental music]

Right now, we're just
heading down to check in
with Alec and Liam,

and see how the rebuild
on Slucifer is going.

[narrator] A stalwart
of Parker's operation
for eight years,

producing 28,000 ounces
of gold,

this season,
wash plant Slucifer

is sidelined
for extensive repairs.

[Mitch]
How's the rebuild going?

Checking on stuff and things.

So, what do you got left
on the big rebuild here, Alec?

[Alec] This bearing
on this side, and then
hang the counterweights

and motor pulley sheave
on the other side.

Put the side protectors in
on the bottom deck.

We got the top ones in
this morning.

And then, really,
the shakers all good to be
put back together.

So, we are looking pretty good
to have it all wrapped up
by the end of the season then?

Looking in good shape
for next year.

I think so many people
don't realize

just how abrasive
the rock and sand is.

But this thing,
when you need to get through
a lot of dirt in a hurry,

-it'll do it.
-[Alec] Yeah.

You guys stay after it.
We'll get this ready
for some more gold.

-Sounds good.
-All right. Have a good one.

[dramatic instrumental music]

[Mitch] Right now, we're just
headed down to the gold room
to have a check in

on the cleanup from Rocksand
with Chris,

see if he's got any results
for us yet.

And this is gonna let us know
how that ground's looking
that we're currently sluicing,

and we can make adjustments
if necessary.

Let's go see
what's up with Chris here.

[narrator] Schnabel claim
foreman Mitch Blaschke

has battled breakdowns,
plant shutdowns,

and operator errors all day.

Now, after a cleanup
at Rocksand,

it's time to see
if he succeeded
in keeping the gold coming in.

[Mitch] So, right now,
we're down here
at the gold room.

Now, we have the old gold room
that we had

when we were mining
down on Tony's ground,

and we also have
the gold room here

that was on the property
when Parker bought Dominion.

Now, Chris has
so much going on
and so many processes,

he actually uses
both of these buildings
to get this gold cleaned.

Chris!

[Chris] Hey, Mitchell!

[dramatic instrumental music]

So, we're in
the original gold room
here of Dominion.

And, you know,
Chris has totally revamped
all this.

He's brought in our stuff.

This is a trommel that's made
by the same company

that made Rocksand
and made Slucifer.

This machine here
was built by MSI.

So, this is Freddy Dodge,
going way back
to the Hoffmans,

is where this all
started from.

So, you know, Chris uses
different processes,

depending on how the gold is.

But right now, we're washing
everything out of the tank.

This is right
from the wash plant

into the clean up
trommel here.

And this is gonna get
the gold concentrated
for him here pretty quickly

From there,
he just keeps refining it.

Depending on how
the gold looks,
what type it is,

might send it through this,
it might go right over
to the next gold room.

But Chris has
an awesome system here.

He's perfected it
over the years,

and certainly knows
how to get that gold clean.

[upbeat instrumental music]

Any gold in it?

[Chris] Looks like a good one.

Yeah.

If I let it run like this,

do you see where
it's starting to expose itself

-on the sides now?
-[Mitch] Oh, yeah.

So, we're seeing gold
all throughout
this material here,

not just sitting on top.

But, as Chris
is washing it down, you know,
we're seeing that gold

working its way down
into the cleanup trommel.

That's what it's all about.
This is what we're here to do.

All the work, all the dirt
that gets moved,

all the hours
of the wash plant running,

it all is about, you know,
what is inside this tote
right here.

-[Chris] Lots of gold in it.
-[Mitch] Yup. All right

Cool, man. Have a good one.

[narrator] With gold
in the box, it's time
to celebrate,

Yukon style.

[Mitch] Well, about time
to go have some fun?

[Taylor] Yeah,
what are we doing?

[Mitch] You got
the paintball g*n?

Yeah, we got
the paintball g*ns!

-Bust 'em out.
-Just got a fresh batch
of ba*ls. So, yeah...

[all laughing]

We always keep our ba*ls fresh
here in the yard, and today
is no different.

The guys up here
like having a little bit
of fun at the end of the day

with a little
paintball action.

Any moving targets are good.
Anyone in high vis
is a target.

Just kidding.

-Yeah, we're gonna hit
the hob, eh?
-[Tyler] Go for it.

[Taylor] Oh, yeah.

So, when you come down
to the yard and you notice
that there's, like,

all these splotches
on the equipment
or the trailers,

that's the mechanics
taking out a little aggression
at the end of the day.

Have a go, Mitch.

-So, sh**t for the hub
on the right one?
-[Taylor] Yeah. sh**t the hub.

All right.

-Oi!
-[Tyler] Oh, yeah.

-There you go.
-[Tyler] Guy's a natural.

I'm gonna hit the right tire.

-[g*n rattles]
-Oh!

-[Mitch] Oh, no!
-Oh, what a buzzkill!

-I'm out of CO2.
-[Mitch laughing]

[sweeping instrumental music]

You know, and that wraps up
a day on the mine site here.

You know, it takes everybody
we've got on this team

to move the amount of dirt
that we do in a season

and get the gold
that we've got
by the end of the year.

So, next, we're gonna go
grab some dinner,
take a shower, go to bed.

Wake up
and do it all over again.

[sweeping instrumental music]