Aussie Gold Hunters S09E12 (2024)
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TVTranscript
00:00This is tied up through this area, mate, so just watch your rear view mirrors.
00:06Yep, alright.
00:07So you reckon going out here is going to be worth the gamble?
00:11Well, I really do.
00:13Our Fish Creek prospect was fantastic, but unfortunately the gold doesn't grow back.
00:18Right at the heart of the station is Mount Madden.
00:21This spot just looks great, and the history books point this way as well.
00:25I think it's worth the push.
00:27I really don't know how far Andy's taking us.
00:31It's a really rough track.
00:35Hang on.
00:40Something doesn't feel right.
00:43I'll just cut around this section and have a look.
00:47The road's really bumpy.
00:58Oh, God.
01:01Andy, are you on channel? I've got a flat.
01:04Andy, are you getting a copy?
01:08Got a flat tyre.
01:11That's like four grams of gold right there.
01:14And now I can't get Andy on radio.
01:16Can't even see him anymore.
01:19Absolutely did not need this.
01:22Oh.
01:24Far out.
01:27I hate that we have to deal with these sort of problems out of here.
01:31It's tough enough as it is, but I suppose it's just part of the job.
01:39OK.
01:42Right on cue, just as the hard work's done.
01:47Oh, man.
01:49Hello.
01:51Hello.
01:54Oh, man.
01:56Hello.
01:58You lost something.
02:00It's all right. I found it again.
02:03Look at what I've just done.
02:05Another one.
02:06It's only been, like, a month.
02:08This is my last spare.
02:11We can't keep doing this.
02:13It's just costing so much money.
02:16This stuff happens way too often.
02:18How about I help you throw this on and then I've got an idea.
02:22What's up?
02:24How about we just chuck this tyre on first,
02:26then you follow me and we'll go and check it out.
02:28OK.
02:30Lease explorers Jackie Bazzetti and Andrew Lay
02:34spent the last two years hunting gold on the Palmer River
02:37in far north Queensland.
02:39Oh!
02:41Andy, look at that!
02:43The team has exclusive prospecting rights
02:46given by the cattle station owners,
02:48who plan to mine the area.
02:51As part of the deal, we have to report all our finds.
02:54We're allowed to keep them. Yep, sweet.
02:56But we have to tell them where we got it all from.
02:58Yeah, all right.
02:59Despite prospecting in such a challenging region...
03:02Let's go, mate! Fire!
03:05..the pair have managed to find almost half of the gold needed
03:08to hit their season target.
03:10That's more than we've got all year, yes!
03:12That's more than all year. Yes, yes, yes!
03:14Finally! Champion, mate. Well done.
03:16All right, let's do this.
03:21Hey, Mitch! Hey, guys, how you going?
03:23Good, mate. How are you doing? Good.
03:25Good to see you again. Yeah, you too, mate.
03:27I'm Jackie. Hello!
03:29So, is it still for sale, mate?
03:31Yeah, the bike, yep.
03:33Excellent. Well...
03:35Oh!
03:37You didn't tell me what we were doing here.
03:39Yeah, it's got to be better than flogging our cars
03:41through the bush, hey? OK.
03:43Mm. You want gold or cash?
03:45Gold would be good, Andy. Mm, all right.
03:47We can do that.
03:49How much is it?
03:51Well, I'm chasing about 95 grams, mate, yeah.
03:53How about 65?
03:55Oh, it's a little bit low, mate,
03:57if you can come up a bit closer to mine.
03:59Somewhere in the middle.
04:01A little bank letter's come closer.
04:03It's a good investment.
04:05You can meet me at 80, we've got a deal, mate.
04:07What do you reckon?
04:09I think that's fair.
04:11Let's do it.
04:13Done. Let's make it happen.
04:15All right, let's weigh some gold up.
04:17Sounds like a deal.
04:19The 80 grams, or 2.6 ounces,
04:21of gold is worth
04:23$7,700.
04:25But if the quad bike gets
04:27Jackie and Andrew access to the gold,
04:29it could be priceless.
04:31Woo-hoo!
04:33Shotgun.
04:35Check this out, new toy.
04:37Wicked.
04:43Cheers, Mitch! See you, Andy.
04:47All right,
04:49we've got this four-wheeler.
04:51Where to first?
04:53The turn-off's not too far away now, mate.
04:55It's just up here.
04:57I'll be using the quad to skirt out in front
04:59and check for new tracks and the best way in.
05:01I think it's a good idea
05:03getting that quad,
05:05being able to push into tracks
05:07and grounds where there might not necessarily
05:09be tracks, or at least
05:11get through areas where we can't get through
05:13with the cars.
05:15Old tracks, old haul roads,
05:17and they haven't been used
05:19for a really long time.
05:21Mount Madden lies at the heart
05:23of the 1,300-square-kilometre
05:25Palmerville Station.
05:27This uninhabited
05:29and unforgiving environment
05:31was the site of a short-lived gold rush
05:33in the 1870s.
05:35But the rugged terrain
05:37made maintaining supply lines
05:39and carrying heavy equipment
05:41nearly impossible.
05:43As gold dried up,
05:45the area was abandoned.
05:47Now, seasoned prospectors
05:49Jackie and Andrew are back
05:51to pick up where the gold rush miners
05:53left off.
06:07That whole creek's washed through there.
06:09Oh, God.
06:11Yeah.
06:13That's a pretty serious washout, mate.
06:15No, I'm not
06:17going through there. I don't even have
06:19a spare tyre. Sorry, man, but
06:21as far as I'm concerned,
06:23that's the end of the line.
06:33Alright, I'm trying to get the dry blower up and running,
06:35and then I can get that gold-bearing
06:37dirt through it and hopefully pull out
06:39some nice colour at the other end.
06:41Meanwhile, Shane and Amy are down,
06:43trying to prove up that quartz reef down near the old
06:45mine workings.
06:47But yeah, let's see how we go. That's ready to go.
06:53Right, let's load
06:55it up with dirt, and in the words of Shane,
06:57let's get on the gold!
07:01So I've come here. I've managed to get
07:03Shane out of retirement. I've called my best
07:05friend Amy up here.
07:07We're both full-time
07:09working mothers, but this has just been
07:11a long-time dream of ours.
07:13I feel a bit bad that I've dragged Shane and Amy
07:15out here, and we're not quite hitting our target.
07:17We set 18 ounces at the beginning
07:19of the season, but we're just not getting
07:21enough week to week.
07:23This season,
07:25veteran prospector Shane
07:27Caligari and Kate Dundas
07:29were joined by her friend
07:31and geologist Amy Doherty.
07:33This is the famous iron ore
07:35geologist. Is that right? Who wants to learn how to
07:37find gold? That's the one.
07:39The team were relying on a revamped wet
07:41plant to process pay dirt.
07:43Have a listen
07:45to that purr!
07:47But ran out of water, forcing them
07:49to switch to a dry blower.
07:51This jet's perfect for the dry blower.
07:53It'll be perfect to go through this
07:55machine, and we can get as much gold out of it as we can.
07:57As Kate
07:59processes the finer material,
08:01Shane and Amy hunt for the source
08:03of their gold. Okay, kill it
08:05Amy. I'm going to go brush this coarse
08:07reef off, and see if there's any gold there.
08:09Right, okay.
08:11I'd better put my
08:13glasses on, because plenty of people lost their eyes
08:15through this stuff.
08:19How's it looking?
08:21It's got a nice colour about it. It's sharp.
08:23Oh yeah, that's
08:25looking really good. Yeah, it is really good.
08:27I can see a bit of colour here. We've got a bit of iron
08:29moving through, and a few fissures.
08:31Something's been left open, and some
08:33other material's deposited, and it's been weathered out
08:35again. Is that correct? It's roughly
08:37right, yeah. Yeah, okay.
08:39We know that fluid that moves through the quartz vein
08:41is where it's depositing the gold.
08:43I think we're in with a good chance of finding some gold in here.
08:45That's good. I like it.
08:47Let's unload all this gear,
08:49and then what I'll do is
08:51I'll start drilling some holes, and you
08:53can start going down and do some metal detecting.
08:55Sure. If you find anything, just give me a radio,
08:57and I'll be right back. I'll be ringing you up straight away.
08:59Don't you worry about that. Alright. Good luck.
09:05So off the back of the 3.5
09:07ounces that we found, and then the 1.7
09:09ounces from the dry blower, that's really
09:11good, but it's just not enough. We need to be
09:13finding where the gold is concentrated
09:15to really make it worth our while being out here.
09:17So now I'm just going to test the dirt
09:19that Shane's pulled out.
09:21Let's just see if we can find anything
09:23else here, just to give us a bit more
09:25of an indication that we're onto a good thing.
09:27That sounds good.
09:33It's somewhere
09:35under the top.
09:43Hey, that's pretty good.
09:45That's gold inside the quartz.
09:47That means that we're definitely in the source
09:49of the gold. That's a really good
09:51sign that we've got that vein. Then
09:53as time goes on, the quartz will weather
09:55away and that will release the gold into
09:57the ground, and that's what Kate's picking up with the dry
09:59blower at the moment.
10:01I'm a hard rock miner. This is
10:03me game, and this is what I did 40
10:05years ago with me father and me grandfather.
10:07The only difference is
10:09this gear works. Not much of my gear
10:11worked in them days.
10:13Rightio, here we go.
10:23Right,
10:25in the old days,
10:27we'd put a bit of a dynamite in here and blow
10:29this out. So I just get these vines,
10:31stick it in this pan,
10:33and I'll pan it off.
10:45If I find the right part of the
10:47reef here, I can get my whole season
10:49in one hit. The whole lot.
10:51This isn't
10:53looking very good. This is disappointing.
10:55There's good quartz here, but
10:57just not enough gold in it.
10:59That's prospecting.
11:01It's tough going.
11:09So these are the old Chicago
11:11workings. Where we knocked the
11:13tree out the other day is still
11:15there.
11:17This is the old
11:19Where we knocked the tree out the other day is
11:21just down the hill from here.
11:23All the gold from this reef has shed that
11:25way. You can tell that because there's very little
11:27quartz on this side, and there's
11:29a great deal of boulder quartz on that
11:31side. We need to be digging up the
11:33stuff that's beside
11:35Stumpy. Under the stump, yeah.
11:37Around the stump, all that kind of stuff.
11:39We need to be trucking it over to Deadhorse,
11:41and we need to be running that. What is it we need to get
11:43through per day to
11:45make it worthwhile? If we're running
11:47for a full week,
11:49and we're doing about four
11:51trucks a day, we should
11:53end up with about 80 grams
11:55of gold by the end of the week.
11:57But we need that 80 grams of gold
11:59to break even. That's a
12:01fair bit of pressure to keep everything
12:03moving. That's a lot of dirt to go through.
12:05Yep. So I'm going to be really
12:07relying on you, dear, to run the
12:09wash plant. Do
12:11you think you can do that? It makes
12:13me a bit nervous running the plant by myself.
12:15I've got to learn to do it all,
12:17don't I? Yes, yep. You've got to get
12:19stuck in. This is what doing it full
12:21time's all about. So let's get this
12:23first truck filled, and let's get into it.
12:25Yep, I'll load her up.
12:27So we got some pretty good results here last
12:29week. So we've just got to keep
12:31feeding the wet plant.
12:33Four tonnes a load,
12:35four loads a day.
12:37Just keep going.
12:39Cat's pretty new
12:41at driving the excavator and operating it.
12:43She should be alright, but we haven't
12:45had it long enough to actually train her
12:47up on it 100%. So
12:49treat this as a learning curve.
12:51Moment of truth.
12:57The one that we tested last week
12:59worked out at about four grams per
13:01tonne. We're hoping to hit
13:03one gram per tonne in the
13:05surrounding area.
13:07And that'll equate to about
13:09just under three ounces for the week.
13:11That's nearly nine grand. That's
13:13pretty good week. There is no other
13:15income, so it's just the income that we generate
13:17from the gold this year. That's a little bit
13:19scary.
13:33You've got to slow it down now!
13:35You've got to slow it down now!
13:37I didn't mean to!
13:39Yeah, it doesn't matter.
13:41You've still got to slow it down. I know we're pushing
13:43pretty hard, but we don't
13:45rush. There's no rush in a gold rush.
13:47Alright, I'll be a bit
13:49slower. I've got to be excited.
13:51She doesn't appear to
13:53have done much damage. Some
13:55things you've just got to take your time and do
13:57steady and gentle. If we lose the
13:59truck, or we lose the excavator
14:01due to a breakdown,
14:03that's it. Game over for the week.
14:09Yeah, she's
14:11loading it up pretty good.
14:13Winding it up, winding it up, winding it up.
14:19Awesome! I didn't
14:21break anything! That's not bad
14:23at all. I reckon that's
14:25full cap. How about you jump in with me
14:27and we get this across to the wash plant?
14:29Yeah, not a problem. I'll park her up
14:31and jump in.
14:33Let's get this show on the road, shall we?
14:37Where's the water gone?
14:39I guess the cows have gotten in for a
14:41bit of a drink, and they've made
14:43a bit of a mess. The Brumbies
14:45season has been plagued with
14:47bad luck and failing equipment.
14:51I'm pretty sure it's
14:53cooked the starter rotor.
14:55What does that mean? It means the truck's
14:57out of action for a couple of days.
14:59It's just the
15:01biggest run of bad luck I've ever seen
15:03in my life. Putting their 50
15:05ounce season target further
15:07out of reach. Everything
15:09just seems to be breaking down.
15:11It's just one thing
15:13after another, after another, after
15:15another, and I don't know how much I can
15:17take.
15:19Come around this way
15:21a bit more.
15:23So maybe
15:25I was being a bit ambitious, going for
15:2750 ounces, but that's sort of what
15:29we need. Halfway through the season
15:31we've got less than 10% of our
15:33target. We can't afford anything
15:35else to go wrong.
15:47What's the matter?
15:49There's something
15:51going on that's
15:53not
15:55letting the tip truck
15:57go back down.
16:09That's not what we need.
16:19That
16:21whole creek's washed through there.
16:23I'm not getting across there.
16:25Oh god.
16:27Yeah.
16:29As far as I'm concerned, that's the end of the line right there.
16:31We've still got a fair
16:33way to go. If I get on top of the ridge, I should
16:35be able to find a way around for you.
16:37Up there? Yeah.
16:39I just don't want to pull up yet.
16:41We've worked really hard to get to this point.
16:43If we can just get past this,
16:45we'll make it. Alright.
16:47I'll just hang down here on the radio.
16:49I'll spot you up and let me know
16:51what you can see up there if we're able to
16:53get out of this mess or not.
16:55It's a long drive back with empty pockets if we don't.
17:19Fuck it up.
17:35Good work, mate.
17:37Just go back about 200
17:39metres. There's a little sneaky truck that
17:41comes up on the left and that'll put you up on
17:43this ridge. Yeah, okay,
17:45cool. I'll just head back now.
17:49Well,
17:51that was a massive
17:53mission, mate, but we made it.
17:55We did it. Well done. Let's gear up.
17:57Let's go.
17:59Mount Madden's got a rich
18:01history. This little
18:03gully gets a ride up in the history books
18:05and it's pretty remote.
18:07It's actually got a couple of water races at the
18:09front and all this old time is stone
18:11pitching and you can see this is
18:13where they've basically taken the rocks out
18:15of the river when they were digging for the
18:17dirt and then they've stuck them
18:19along the edge, kind of creating a column
18:21as you come through the whole gully.
18:23So without even having to find gold
18:25ourselves, we know that there's gold here.
18:29Oi, listen to that.
18:31That's loud.
18:33That sounds a bit junky, to be honest.
18:35Only one way to find
18:37out.
18:47Oh,
18:49it's still
18:51in there.
18:53Down and down we go.
18:59There's so many old timers' workings.
19:01This just could be junk. Could be half
19:03a horseshoe or something.
19:05But you never know until
19:07you dig it out.
19:09Out it comes.
19:17Alright, got it.
19:19Oi,
19:21it's certainly not small, whatever it is.
19:25Righto.
19:31Oh, have a look
19:33at that. Oh yes.
19:35Oh, you
19:37doody. What a chump.
19:39That's just testament
19:41to the fact that there was a good reef of gold
19:43somewhere in these hills.
19:45Hey, Jackie, wherever you are,
19:47you need to come to where I am, mate,
19:49straight away. Okay, coming.
19:51Just really thought you should
19:53have a look at this.
19:55Boom!
19:57Oh my god!
19:59That's ounces, mate.
20:01I know, there's two or three there. That's huge.
20:03Mate, that doesn't even
20:05look like water, look at that.
20:07Look at those edges. You're right, actually.
20:09That hasn't travelled real far.
20:11The source of this nugget
20:13is somewhere here.
20:15I can feel it. I'm still shaking.
20:17Have a drink of water
20:19and then get back to work
20:21and do that again.
20:29Oh, Morten.
20:33It's good
20:35that we know the old-timers were here because they were
20:37finding gold, but when they left
20:39all their rubbish, it makes things
20:41a bit annoying.
20:43That's probably another
20:45tin can, just check it.
20:47No, no, sounds like
20:49there's still something here.
20:51Alright, the deeper we go, the more chance we have
20:53of it being gold.
20:55Please.
20:57Okay, alright,
20:59got it out then.
21:01Oh, gee, that's
21:03sounding really nice.
21:05Oh, no, no way.
21:07Can't believe it.
21:09Sitting there right on top, look at that.
21:11Now that is a nugget.
21:13I don't think I've seen one that big before.
21:15That's my biggest to date.
21:17This nugget's really promising. It's nice and rounded
21:19so it's travelled through a channel
21:21over millions of years and I think potentially
21:23there could be a paleo channel sitting right
21:25underneath our feet. I need to go and tell
21:27Shane about this.
21:29Paleo channels
21:31are the gutters of old waterways
21:33that have been buried over time
21:35by new sediments.
21:37These hidden channels can be a rich
21:39source of gold.
21:49Yes, I'll push that out the road.
21:53That's the one, yep.
21:55Jeez, it's gritty.
21:57It's gritty.
21:59Come on, you
22:01muggle thing. Come on.
22:03Push, pull.
22:05What's going on here?
22:07It's not that hard.
22:09This is no good, something's wrong here, look.
22:13So what's wrong with it,
22:15Shane? The motor's got no power,
22:17the power goes to the hydraulics,
22:19means the hydraulics hasn't got any strength
22:21and I ain't going nowhere. We've got to get up and running
22:23Shane, without this we're stuck.
22:25I don't need this additional pressure. Finding gold
22:27and repairing this and everything else, this is getting
22:29on top of me. I've got to head back to the
22:31camp, see if I can find something to rectify
22:33this, in case we can get the show on the road.
22:35This is really frustrating, if we
22:37can't get this backhoe up and running, then we
22:39can't get down into this paleo channel,
22:41we're not going to be able to find the source of the alluvial gold.
22:45Well I'll go see how Kate's doing with the dry blower.
22:49It's looking pretty nice actually.
22:53Hey Kate, how are you going?
22:55Good, how are you? Good, yeah we're doing well,
22:57but you'll never guess what happened to the backhoe.
22:59Let me guess, it's broken, is that?
23:01It's broken again, yep. So yeah, he's back at the camp
23:03fixing it now, but I've been finding nuggets.
23:05Really? Yeah, I even found one that's like a third
23:07of an ounce. Oh, that's brilliant.
23:09Your perfect timing, because I'm just about
23:11to clean out those ripples and see what's in there.
23:13Great. Alright, this is looking pretty
23:15good, so if we've got any gold, it should be in these
23:17top two or three tiers.
23:19If we just have a bit of a scratch around before we
23:21hand it off, we might be able
23:23to see something. Oh hey Kate, I've got one already.
23:25See, look at that. It's not bad?
23:27No, not bad at all.
23:29I mean, they're not massive, but a few of these
23:31put together, they actually add up to quite a bit.
23:33If you're happy to put the trays back,
23:35I'll get some more dirt together and we can start
23:37putting it through. Alright, let's do this.
23:39I wonder how Shane's going with his backhoe.
23:43Yeah, I don't know why
23:45I come out of retirement.
23:47Seventy year old man, climbing under
23:49dirty, filthy, greasy machines.
23:51Let's
23:53pull this cable through.
23:55Oh,
23:57that's a problem.
23:59That piece has snapped off. Look at that.
24:01This bit here, it's broken
24:03off, and that would control the
24:05accelerator, which controls the motor,
24:07which controls the hydraulics, and on away
24:09we go. Well, that's the name of the
24:11game. It's just one thing after
24:13another. I'll just go back to my
24:15camp and get my gear and see what I've got there.
24:25So,
24:31the idea was to pump through
24:33as much dirt as we possibly could, and
24:35this is our first load.
24:37It's like another holder.
24:39We're going to have to go back and get Beau,
24:41and you're going to have to pull me out.
24:43I'm going to have to pull you out?
24:45You're going to have to pull me out.
24:49We're not having the best run.
24:51Oh, well.
24:55First time you learn to walk, you fall
24:57on your arse. So,
24:59you know, just got to
25:01pick yourself up and keep going.
25:07I wouldn't say
25:09I'm the worst driver, but
25:11I don't have the skills
25:13that Brett has.
25:15You'll let me know.
25:19Alright,
25:21let's do this.
25:23Yep,
25:25got it, got it.
25:33Oh, yeah.
25:35That'll do.
25:37Woo!
25:39Woo!
25:41Look at me go.
25:43I pulled a truck out.
25:45I'm like a four-wheel drive expert
25:47now.
25:49Well, if you want to go and grab another
25:51load, I'll head over to
25:53the wash plant and get into it.
25:55That sounds like a bit of a plan.
25:57I'll be back as quick as I can.
25:59Yep, have fun. Have fun, she says.
26:07I'm loading the wash plant up.
26:09Brett's got
26:11a
26:13tractor from Chicago, which is
26:15a fair high.
26:17About four tonnes per truck.
26:19Hopefully we can
26:21get four grammes per truck.
26:23That's what I'm hoping for.
26:29It's vital
26:31that I keep this running, because
26:33any time that I've
26:35got delayed in this,
26:37it sets everything back.
26:39We've had a 50-ounce
26:41target, and I thought we should
26:43have gone for 30. I don't even think we're going to make
26:45that. It's been
26:47bloody hard work, and there's little
26:49reward.
26:57That's another load done.
26:59We've got
27:01to track the dirt from the
27:03stump patch to Deadhorse, because
27:05Deadhorse is the only spot
27:07for about
27:0930 or 40km
27:11where we can access
27:13water. The water is very,
27:15very scarce out here, so
27:17it's a precious commodity,
27:19and it works out cheaper to
27:21take the dirt to the water than it
27:23does to take the water to the dirt.
27:25We've got a very
27:27uncomfortable bit of road up here.
27:29It's got some gnarly
27:31looking greenstone sticking
27:33up. It's going to get
27:35interesting.
27:41That doesn't sound good.
27:45Oh,
27:47two!
27:49Not one, two. Blue two.
27:57Well,
27:59we're not going to get anything done just
28:01standing there looking at it. I'd better get changing it.
28:03Hold-ups like these,
28:05that's not just the money
28:07for the new tyres, it's the hold-ups.
28:09It's just a pain in the arse.
28:15Just jacking the truck up.
28:17It's heavy because it's full load.
28:19Cat's
28:21over there processing at the moment.
28:23And I'm holding
28:25up the process, so I've just got to get
28:27in the gear and get moving.
28:29That's
28:31all it's going to
28:33lift, so I'm going to have to do a bit of a
28:35bush trick here, and that's
28:37you dig out under the tyre,
28:39so that you can put the new tyres on.
28:45Right at the moment, everything's come to
28:47a bit of a standstill.
28:53Watch the truck!
28:55Watch the truck!
29:09I'm searching all the spurs
29:11and anywhere
29:13we can above the old timers
29:15workings to see what they've missed.
29:17Hopefully stay on this trail.
29:23Ah, scoop!
29:27Oh yeah!
29:29Another big chunk.
29:31Fair bit of quartz in this one.
29:33That's good. That's a sign
29:35that that source is probably up
29:37this way.
29:40So
29:42when you find a piece of gold that's still got the
29:44quartz on it, then we know that it's
29:46actually still quite close to the
29:48original source where it weathered out from.
29:50So you've got a gold reef
29:52that's a massive system.
29:54It's a massive quartz vein that's carrying
29:56gold, and there will be
29:58smaller veins of quartz that
30:00come off that, and we like to call
30:02them leaders. Finding a leader
30:04as a prospector is one of those
30:06things that you always hope will happen.
30:08It's really hard for us to do.
30:10Got a target there.
30:16Ah, scoop!
30:24Oh, no way!
30:26Another specie!
30:28Probably only a small bit of gold, but
30:30it's not actually about the weight at
30:32this stage, it's more about the
30:34trail that we're following, and this tells
30:36me that we're still on the gold trail.
30:48This is steep.
30:50It's not ideal,
30:52but I am finding
30:54them along the edge of
30:56this, so I'm going to keep going.
31:02This could be interesting.
31:06Oh!
31:14Still in there.
31:26There's so much quartz coming out of
31:28this hole.
31:30Oh!
31:34There's two.
31:36There's one out.
31:38Another target
31:40still in there.
31:52Holy crap, I can see gold in
31:54this.
32:00This next one turns out to be gold as well.
32:04This is a really good
32:06sign, because there is a quartz
32:08vein right through
32:10this hole.
32:12Oh, and they're loud
32:14too.
32:20Oh, god.
32:22This one's got gold in it as well.
32:24Oh, no way.
32:26So I've just, like, broken up this
32:28quartz vein as I've dug this out.
32:30And these rocks,
32:32they're coming out
32:34just in chunks.
32:36Holy crap.
32:38I'm going to radio Andy.
32:40Mate, I've followed these
32:42species all the way up the hill. I think
32:44you should see this.
32:46That sounds pretty exciting.
32:48I'm on my way. Yep.
32:50Head straight on up, mate. I'm right at the
32:52tippy top.
32:54Look at you go.
32:56Mate,
32:58look. Oh, yeah.
33:00These both have gold in
33:02them. Seriously, they have not
33:04moved an inch, mate.
33:06Look at that.
33:08Gold in this one too.
33:10That fits straight onto the same thickness.
33:12That's exactly the same reef
33:14the whole way. Holy crap.
33:16That vein carrying across here,
33:18it's been shedding all this gold out into
33:20this gully. Even my big
33:22nugget probably started in the same quartz
33:24vein as this. Can you imagine how much
33:26gold we're standing on top of? It could be
33:28a kilometre of that gold underneath
33:30us. Holy crap. It's going straight down.
33:32With our detectors, that's
33:34probably all we can do.
33:36And right now, it's up to the
33:38geos and the mining companies to
33:40come and work it from here. This is the
33:42sort of discovery that'll make them bring in
33:44the drilling rigs, mate. We did it,
33:46mate. We actually found the source.
33:54Watch the truck.
33:56Watch the truck.
34:06And that's made this heaps
34:08harder.
34:14So yeah, that
34:16was pretty close.
34:18If I had of been in the wrong
34:20spot there, I'd be squished.
34:22And, you know,
34:24it's quite a long flight to any
34:26hospital where you can get help. Just
34:28lucky I was doing this the safe way and
34:30I was taking me time. Same
34:32plan as the tyres, really. From here
34:34you dig a trench
34:36under the jack. I'll stick one of those blocks
34:38under the jack to help spread the weight
34:40out and get it back up.
34:48So the more time
34:50I spend sorting out mechanical issues,
34:52the less time we have to find the
34:54gold or move the dirt that holds
34:56the gold. And it's sending us backwards.
34:58I hope Kat's having
35:00a bit of a win.
35:02I hope she's doing better than me.
35:04God, I hope she's
35:06doing better than me.
35:12Fresher been here by
35:14now. It's not
35:16like him to
35:18take this long.
35:20I'm going to see if he's on channel.
35:22Hey Brett,
35:24Brett, you there?
35:26Hey my love,
35:28you got a copy?
35:30He's about
35:328km's away.
35:34It's a pretty fair height and he gets
35:36out of radio signal a fair bit.
35:38So
35:40it shouldn't take him this long.
35:48There we go.
36:00Good to
36:02go!
36:14So those are the only two spares that I've
36:16got. Can't afford to pop another
36:18one, well not today anyway.
36:20Just got to tick along
36:22gentle and hopefully
36:24nothing else goes wrong.
36:26We were doing alright and then
36:28this happened and
36:30it's not just the cost of the tyres,
36:32it's the cost of not getting
36:34your goals achieved for your day.
36:36Gee that took
36:38you a while, where have you been?
36:40Yeah I had a couple of blowouts, that's
36:42two not one.
36:44Two flat tyres?
36:46That's right, not one but two.
36:48Well you look like
36:50you've processed a bit.
36:52Alright, that's the last load.
36:54I'll give you a hand.
36:56Awesome, thank you. Not a worry.
37:02I'm ready when you are.
37:08Yeah, Kurt's getting a hell of
37:10a lot better shot with the
37:12escalator and just
37:14everything in general. She's been ticking
37:16this cloud along quite well.
37:18We're sort of hoping for around
37:2080 grams of gold at the end of the week.
37:22I'm not sure if
37:24we're going to do it yet but
37:26that's the hope.
37:36Shane, got a copy?
37:38Copy Amy.
37:40How you going with the backhoe?
37:42Well how do you think I'm going? I'm not going
37:44that well but I'll get it done.
37:46Shane, time is money.
37:48Let's get it up and running shall we?
37:50I'm on the move.
37:52I hope this cable fits.
37:54I'm going real well.
37:56I'm stuck out here with dust
37:58and diesel and disappointments
38:00and God knows what else.
38:02God, stroke me drunk.
38:04Oh that works.
38:06That moves that way,
38:08that moves that way.
38:14Right.
38:16Oh look at that silky.
38:18Look as you go up and down
38:20around we go.
38:22Might be in the royal show, innit?
38:38OK, I think I've had
38:40enough of all this dust and digging.
38:42I think I might go and see how Shane's going.
38:44Yeah, good plan. I think I'm doing pretty well here
38:46so I might clean these ripples and see what I've
38:48got while you're awake.
38:50Alright, good plan. Catch you later.
38:52It's looking pretty nice actually.
38:56Alright, I've got another
38:58bucket of concentrate. I'm going to take
39:00this back to camp and see what colour I can get
39:02out of it.
39:08What's the story girls?
39:10You guys have done well down at the old mine working.
39:12Yeah, we got the colour out of those holes that Shane drilled
39:14and I've been finding nuggets down there. It's been really good.
39:16Yeah, excellent. And I got a lot of
39:18gold out of that dry plant, just reworking
39:20that small area that we had to try and get more tonnes
39:22through. I've got a lot of finds out of that now.
39:24Let's just weigh it up, come on. Let's not get
39:26buried to it.
39:30So, we've got a bit over an
39:32ounce there, 1.07.
39:34These are the nuggets that I picked up.
39:36Wow. Wow.
39:40That's up to 2.66?
39:42Yeah. What's that?
39:44Over two and a half ounces.
39:46The $8,000 of gold the team found
39:48this week pushes their tally
39:50past the halfway mark for the season.
39:52Well, we're hanging in
39:54there. It's not the greatest,
39:56but it's okay. It's payable.
39:58I think we might be struggling to hit our target though.
40:00We've got big bonuses.
40:02We'll have the wet plant going
40:04when the rains come. We'll have the dry
40:06blower going. Yeah, and I think we've got a
40:08much better geological understanding of the area
40:10as well. So, that's a win
40:12in my books. On to next week.
40:14Let's go.
40:18Big week?
40:20Yeah, huge week.
40:22You've done really well
40:24keeping up with all the trucks.
40:26Yeah, a few little hiccups, but you know what?
40:28We got through it. You didn't do
40:30too bad running the plant there as well.
40:32Thank you. Let's see what we've got.
40:34Alright.
40:38That's pretty good. That's not bad.
40:40Yeah.
40:462.2.
40:482.2.
40:502.2, yeah. That's pretty good.
40:52Now, I made the real fine
40:54dusty stuff in my button.
40:56Oh, yes. Yep.
40:58Oh, that is nice.
41:00Look at that. 2.6.
41:022.69.
41:04That's pretty good. If my maths
41:06is correct here, it's an 8 grand week.
41:08Although they hit their
41:10target for the week, it still
41:12leaves them with a massive
41:14$130,000
41:16of their $150,000
41:18target to find.
41:20Bloody hard work.
41:22It is hard work, but
41:24you know, there's not a lot out there
41:26that can say that they're 8 grand weeks.
41:28It is an 8 grand
41:30week. Still got a long way to
41:32go. Yeah, but you know what?
41:34Every journey begins with
41:36a single step. Yeah.
41:38We'll see what happens.
41:42You got here quicker than me.
41:44New toy's paying off, mate. You're
41:46enjoying it so much, I can tell.
41:48Not just that, but mate, you
41:50tracking down that, you know, reef
41:52of gold on that hill, basically helped
41:54me tick off one of my prospector's
41:56bucket lists of actually finding a source.
41:58But it's a team effort though.
42:00You got onto that big slug
42:02and you got onto that
42:04big system, the research paid off.
42:06Let's find out what we got then. Alright, alright.
42:08Let's do this. On average, we're looking
42:10at 50 gold, 50%
42:12quartz. Yeah, okay.
42:208.2!
42:22Awesome, so that's 4.1
42:24ounces of gold in there, mate. Brilliant.
42:26Great start. That is so,
42:28so good. That is a lot.
42:30Alright, time to do some free gold, eh? Really
42:32cool stuff.
42:363.62, that's
42:38a pretty good start. And that's not including
42:40the big one. Came up nice with the
42:42clean, eh?
42:465.98!
42:48Yes, awesome. So what, that's
42:502.3 ounce nugget.
42:52So 4.1 in species.
42:545.98 in free gold.
42:5610.1 ounces of gold,
42:58mate. We got it. The 10 ounces
43:00we need. Just, just.
43:02The huge haul,
43:04worth $30,000,
43:06has left Jackie and Andrew with
43:08only a third of their target to find.
43:10I'd have said there was no hope we were
43:12going to reach 50 ounces this year.
43:14And now we're already chasing it down.
43:16Oh my god. Two massive weigh-ins
43:18back to back, mate. Yes.
43:20Well done.
43:22You don't want to go detecting later? No,
43:24I'm done for today. Have fun!
43:50.
43:52.
43:54.
43:56.
43:58.