Aussie Gold Hunters S09E16 (2024)
Transcript
00:00Oh that afternoon sun's bright. I'm not used to leaving this time of the day. It
00:15feels a bit weird but it's a good way to work around the heat. I think it's our
00:19only option otherwise one of us is going to go down for sure. Now's a good time to
00:24try and search out new ground as well because at least we're not going to die
00:27in the heat of the day. We've got 15 ounces to get Andy. Which we can do but
00:33we need to find the right ground. Yeah.
00:38Whoa! Oi! That was a heavyweight battle. Holy crap! They're two seriously big bulls.
00:46They're nearly a tonne each those bulls. They're massive. I'm glad I'm in the car.
00:51I would not want to be coming across them on foot.
00:57Oh! He's like back off George. This is my hill. These are my cows and this is my
01:04grass. That's what it's all about. Alright I think you're safe anyway. Let's go.
01:11Only in Queensland. That was wild. You don't see that driving to work in the city.
01:27Pulling down now. Yeah it's much cooler now. Yeah a bit of breeze kicking in tonight too.
01:42Got your head torch? Yes. Ready to go. So what's the plan? Well I think we just head
01:48down into the head of this gully here and we just split up. One right, one left hey?
01:53Alright. Head torches instead of hats.
01:56It's a bit strange but it's good. At least it's nice and cool now. I know.
02:04Jackie Bazzetti and Andrew Lay are exploring the Palmer River in tropical far north Queensland.
02:12They've come up against crocs, feral pigs. Yeah it was a close call hey? He discharged me.
02:19Holy crap. And bushfires. Let's go mate. Fire! In their pursuit of gold.
02:27But with only a few weeks left in the season, the extreme heat and humidity of the tropics
02:33has forced them to take on the added dangers of prospecting at night.
02:38So I've come down out of the hills onto this lower ground. This is a great spot for gold to settle.
02:43So I'll start in this little gully that comes down here.
02:47If there's any gold coming down into this area it should settle in this zone.
02:52Just keep your wits about you a bit when you're detecting at night. There's a lot more animals
02:56on the move. It's easier to get lost at night. It's easier to fall over and twist an ankle or
03:03injure yourself. It's a lot cooler though.
03:08So I'm detecting this side of the gully and Andy's detecting the other side of the gully.
03:12We've been pushing through this 42 degree temperature and it's getting too much but
03:18we've got not much time to get 15 and a half ounces in the bag and we just thought we'd
03:23try something a bit different instead of risking heat stroke on a daily basis.
03:30I'm definitely keeping my eyes open for snakes. A lot of our venomous snakes out here are actually
03:36nighttime hunters and you know your spiders and centipedes and things just all those sort of
03:44critters that are going to be hunting at the same time as we're out now and we do have the large
03:49animals as well so those feral pigs I don't really want to get close to them at night while they're
03:55on their hunt. Yeah these wild pigs out here they've got some pretty big tusks on them and
04:00if they get you with those they'll open you up like a tin can.
04:07That's pretty loud. Sounds good.
04:11Ground here is like concrete because it hasn't seen water for eight months.
04:20Excellent. Let's find out what we got.
04:23All right.
04:27Where are you?
04:30Yeah that's a bit of gold. Excellent. That's a great way to start a night prospect straight
04:35onto a little nugget. It's only about a gram but it's more what it represents. Gold loves to sit
04:39together so when you find one you're always hoping it's just going to be the start of a good run
04:45and that's what we need right now. If we're going to get to 50 ounces
04:50then we're going to need a good round of gold.
04:56Wait, wait, wait. Do you hear that?
04:59Whoa. Pigs, pigs. Hey, get out. Up here. Out of the gullies. Hey. Back off. Out.
05:14This is dusty horrible stuff. The stuff material around the quartz does not look good.
05:37The stuff we're chasing is running out. This is very disappointing. It's taken a lot of work to
05:41find this quartz vein and it's disappearing. That's a source of gold. At this Fairlady lease
05:47the gold is almost always in the quartz and if the quartz runs out so does the gold. I've been
05:54in the gold industry all these years and I know that I have a lot to offer but I've never really
05:59been part of a team. Now I got out here last week and if this quartz vein comes to an end
06:06that could be the end of my time on the gold devils.
06:11That quartz is pretty much completely gone now. If that's the case we'll have to move somewhere else.
06:17There's a bloody lot at stake here with this. I'm a bit worried. Hopefully everything will come out
06:22and gold devils will still survive and kick on because I really like being in and I want to
06:26bloody stay. Mel's coming up with a plan B. The problem is we thought this one was pretty much
06:32going to last us and unfortunately it's not looking good. Hopefully she can find something
06:38for us to move on to but we put all our eggs in one basket because this one really did look like
06:43it was going to deliver. This week it's all fallen flat on his arse. It's basically our worst fears
06:51come true. Yeah I'm pretty devastated. I mean you know last week we had a really good weigh-in,
06:58we got a new team member, everyone was positive and happy and then you know the quartz vein's
07:03running out so we've got to look for other potential leases that we can explore. You know
07:08last season there was a lot of moving around. I don't want to do that again this season so we're
07:14just going to be smart about it you know because it does involve a lot of money unfortunately.
07:20So what I'm doing is I'm just analysing the data. If there's access, roads, if there's water there
07:26and you need to think of all these things so yeah that's what I'm doing at the moment.
07:34Well Rob, put three tonnes through. Now this will be the proof in the pudding.
07:38It's golden here. It's a big deal for us if there's not. Back to the drawing board.
07:42Yeah hopefully it'll pay off.
07:49I'm not seeing much so far. It's looking pretty lean but
07:53I can't really tell until you get down to the very last bit in the concentrator.
07:57Yep. I can't see too much either.
08:03There's no bloody gold in that at all.
08:06Just that steel out of the bore mill, that's about it.
08:09Nothing in it, absolutely nothing. We can't run that stuff, there's no point running it with no
08:13gold. We're going to have to come up with something else. I don't know what we're going to do.
08:17Check that out, 54.7 ounces.
08:21After early success at their Fairlady lease, the gold devils were hit with a huge blow.
08:27Paul Mackey stunned partners Melanie Wood and Alex Stead,
08:31announcing he was leaving Fairlady to find gold on another project.
08:35For the past year at least, we've struggled. I've got to provide for my family.
08:40With the help of his wife Sharon and daughter Ebony,
08:43Paul's gamble paid off with a massive 169-ounce haul
08:49that brought the gold devil's 1,000-ounce target back within reach.
08:54That is amazing. Thanks, guys. I could not have done it without you.
09:00At the Fairlady lease, Alex and new gold devil Rob Norris are struggling to find
09:06enough gold-bearing quartz to keep their operation going.
09:10Well, it looks like this vein's getting narrower and narrower the further we move along.
09:15It's disappearing really quickly.
09:17Yeah, it's getting thinner and thinner down here too, boss, though.
09:20Yeah, I don't like this.
09:22No, it's not a good sign. Not a good sign at all.
09:26Millions of years ago, fault lines in the Earth's crust created cavities
09:32that allowed molten material to travel to the Earth's surface.
09:36Because molten quartz and gold have a complementary molecular structure,
09:41they travel together, creating gold-rich quartz veins.
09:49So this is the vein here. You can see where it's the full blade nearly thick there.
09:53And I mean only a metre away, you come down and it's barely the thickness of the point.
09:57That's not good. And this is what we're looking for.
10:01You come down and it's barely the thickness of the point.
10:03That's not good. And this is what we call pinching.
10:08It's taken a lot of work to find this quartz vein.
10:10So far, this is the only really good one we've located.
10:13This one runs out. Nothing to crush. No gold.
10:16That's us pretty much stuffed at the moment.
10:19We're hoping this is going to get wider and wider.
10:22At the moment, it's getting thinner and thinner.
10:26It's not looking good, boss.
10:28She's just about done, I reckon.
10:31So
10:43there's not one sign of it. That's the end of our reef.
10:46That's game over.
10:48We're hoping it's going to expand out, get wider and better.
10:51That's gone to nothing. Absolutely nothing.
10:53We can't dig that, can't process it.
10:55This reef's done. We're done here.
11:01I'll tell you what, the drought's not helping us.
11:05It's been terrible.
11:07Probably the worst season we've ever had.
11:10So hopefully with your help, we can get this done.
11:14And what do you got me doing out here this time?
11:16I paid a lot of money to have boards put down here.
11:19We'll start running poly pipe to our camp
11:22and we'll start running it to the sluice.
11:24Because as you know, we've got a drought.
11:27We've had no water. We've had no rain.
11:30It's been a very, very, very tough season.
11:34With the girls on the way up here,
11:36I've got to have something happening.
11:40I've got a bit of a proposition for you, Shane.
11:42I've got a friend that wants to come out with me.
11:44We want to get started doing some prospecting.
11:46So come with us, help us out.
11:48We'll all find some gold.
11:49Oh, we're on.
11:50All right, let's do it.
11:52Veteran prospector Shane Caligari came out of retirement,
11:57teaming up with geologists Kate Dundas and Amy Doherty
12:01to find the mother load at Messenger's Patch.
12:08They built a dam for their wet plant, but the rain didn't come.
12:14This is the driest it's ever been.
12:16This wet plant is about as useful as a set of d*** on a bull.
12:20Now Shane has a plan to get them back on track.
12:27So this is it, eh?
12:28Yeah, that's it, Toddy.
12:2940 metres down.
12:30How much?
12:3140 metres.
12:3240?
12:33About 1600 litres an hour.
12:35That's good.
12:36So let's not talk about it any longer.
12:38Let's just get the jenny off and get stuck into it.
12:39OK, get the water out.
12:41Get the water out, I love it.
12:43Geez, you're nice and strong today, son.
12:52You might be cold, Toddy, like your mother-in-law's kiss.
12:57It's gone.
12:58Oh, no.
12:59His pulley's gone.
13:01Oh, no.
13:03All right, let's see if we can...
13:05OK.
13:07By a thread.
13:08What's that?
13:09It's hanging by a thread.
13:11We're really in big trouble now, Tod.
13:14No.
13:16It's the end of that game.
13:20We're not going well, Tod.
13:21You got another generator?
13:22I have another generator at the camp.
13:24I don't even know where it is.
13:25At the camp?
13:26I don't even know whether it's going to work or not.
13:28Let's throw this on the back of the ute, get it back to the camp,
13:31and see what we can do.
13:32It's like the most things on this season.
13:34Doesn't matter which way I go.
13:36I seem to cop it.
13:38Come on, Tod, let's get the hell out of here.
13:44I've got this old generator.
13:45Blake gave it to me.
13:46He was fed up with it because it was so temperamental.
13:49Sometimes it'd go, sometimes it wouldn't go.
13:51So he said, take the bloody thing, and the bike came out handy.
13:55So we'll see whether it does come out handy.
14:02Right, Toddy, let's grab this generator and just hope it bloody works.
14:10Tod, Tod, it's going.
14:12Water.
14:13We've got water now.
14:15Now we can start piping it up.
14:17What we're going to do now, we start running the pipe work.
14:20The plant's over there.
14:21It's about 400 metres away.
14:24Right, Tod, just roll it out.
14:25Yeah, go straight through that bush there.
14:33This is the last bit of blue line we've got to roll out.
14:35Should be able to hook it up soon.
14:37Get the plant going and start going hard, you know?
14:40Copy, Tod.
14:41I'm about to turn the valve on right now, OK?
14:45Sounds good.
14:45I'm ready.
14:49Has the water arrived?
14:51Water's out now.
14:52Yeah, little beauty, we're on the water.
14:55On the water.
14:56Tod's on track.
14:57It all seems to be quite good.
14:59Getting ready for when the girls come.
15:01So all we're going to do is start running the pipe work and fire this loose up.
15:05So I can't see that being too complicated.
15:08But we're finally getting back on track.
15:09Water's going.
15:10Pumps are going.
15:11Cam's got water.
15:13Everything's going well.
15:22What the bloody hell's happened here?
15:24The gearbox is gone.
15:26Some dirty, rotten, filthy mongrel has stolen my gearbox.
15:31What's going on?
15:32Tod, somebody has stolen my gearbox off my wet plant.
15:36Your gearbox?
15:37The gearbox.
15:38It's absolutely useless without the gearbox.
15:41Probably six or seven thousand dollars worth for a gearbox like that.
15:45That's if you can find one.
15:47So I've left the chain behind and they've stolen my gearbox.
15:50You don't have another one?
15:51Where will I pull one of them out of fresh air?
15:54They're not easy to get hold of.
15:57I'll just have to think about what we're going to do.
15:59Yeah.
16:00It's the end of this.
16:02Probably the end of everything.
16:03Fire out.
16:05I didn't need this.
16:06I've been fighting the elements.
16:08I'm putting up with flies.
16:09Swallowing diesel.
16:11Not finding gold.
16:12Going through a drought.
16:14Too wet to drive blow.
16:15And then somebody, a human, decides to wreck my bloody arrangements
16:20by stealing one of the most important parts of my apparatus.
16:24So it stinks.
16:25The whole lot stinks.
16:33Stuff that.
16:35Honestly.
16:38They sounded like they were just down there.
16:41We might have spooked them.
16:42But let's just go this way.
16:45I'm not going back down there.
16:46Stuff that.
16:47If you run into a boar out here or a group with little piglets or something,
16:54you'll definitely come off worse.
16:56They're like 100 kilos worth of teeth and muscle.
17:01And there's lots of them.
17:01I'm not.
17:02I'm not doing that.
17:04Come on.
17:04Let's go where it's not safe down there.
17:08Oh, man.
17:08Heart's beating out of my chest right now.
17:12Andy, you got a copy?
17:15Yeah, mate.
17:16There's a big mob of pigs between you and I somewhere.
17:20Yeah, all right.
17:20I'll keep an eye out.
17:22Hopefully, they just head off now that they've seen us, though, perhaps.
17:26Well, I'm just going to walk a little bit further up.
17:29So it'll put a bit more space in between us.
17:32But I just don't want to be anywhere near them.
17:35Yeah.
17:35Good call, mate.
17:38I was not sticking around for that.
17:40Gave me a bit of a fright, to be honest.
17:41And I do not want to be in there.
17:44I do not want to be in their path if they feel like they've got to protect their babies from me.
17:52That sounds like a nice little signal.
18:01See what that is.
18:03Yes, that is gold for sure.
18:19Lovely.
18:20Nice little piece there.
18:21Nothing huge, but definitely good sign to see that in this area.
18:27And then I know that I can keep working around here.
18:33Nice.
18:34I'm going to get it out of the ground and see what it is.
18:45That's out.
18:50There you go.
18:52There it is right there.
18:53Nice little nugget, too.
18:55Probably a gram and a half.
18:57That's one little nugget closer to that 50-ounce target.
19:03See that?
19:03This is a tarantula.
19:05We call them bird-eating spiders here.
19:08They can eat birds, but they generally won't.
19:11And you can sort of imitate the feeling of a distressed creature
19:16crawling around the opening of their web, and then you can coax them out.
19:22There we go.
19:24Quick little pop out there.
19:26It's still not sure.
19:29But this is Australia's biggest spider.
19:31They will get to basically the size of a dinner plate.
19:35If I was to get bitten by this, I would be very sick for days.
19:39It won't kill me, but it will kill a cat or a dog.
19:44But how cool is that?
19:45I love them.
19:51That's a big, broad signal.
19:53I'm going to chop this out, see what's going on down there.
19:57Why can they never be an easy dirt?
20:00Come on, if it's out, this is gold.
20:03And it is.
20:03Oh, yeah.
20:06Come on.
20:14Oh, look at that.
20:15Ha-ha, you river.
20:17That's a big chunk.
20:18Got to be an ounce of gold in that one.
20:21Hell yeah, that's what it's all about.
20:23Got to be an ounce of gold in that one.
20:25Hell yeah, that's what it's about.
20:27There's a bit of rock mixed in with it.
20:30Oh, that's awesome.
20:32Time to go home, get a few hours sleep,
20:34and come back here and hopefully pop some more of those out.
20:49Now we'll see what the boss has got to say.
20:51Hey, you got good news for me?
20:53No, it's gone.
20:56You need a plan B, boss?
20:58What have you got to offer?
20:59Well, I've got two options.
21:00They both look really good on paper,
21:02but until we get out there and sample them, I really don't know.
21:05So which one do you prefer?
21:06One's good, but not great.
21:08Easy access.
21:10That counts for a lot, yeah.
21:11Second one, amazing.
21:13OK.
21:13But it's 10 kilometres from the road,
21:16so I don't know how we're going to get in there.
21:18OK.
21:18Well, what about if we take the loader up and push a track in?
21:21That's diesel and time, right?
21:23Not knowing if there's going to be gold there.
21:25I know someone with a cattle station in the area, Scotty.
21:28I can see if he's got a solution to get us in there.
21:30All right.
21:30Well, can you give him a call and see if we can get in there ASAP?
21:33Yep.
21:34I'll get straight on to it.
21:35No worries.
21:36Let's go.
21:42All right, we're going to see Scott.
21:43He's a good chap.
21:44He sourced us some transport into this lease.
21:47Yeah, anything that can get us in there.
21:49Yeah, I'll be stoked.
21:51Alex's longtime friend, Scott Nankara,
21:54runs a cattle station and is an avid gold detectorist.
22:00Hey, Scotty.
22:01How you going, guys?
22:02Thanks very much for doing this.
22:03No worries, mate.
22:04Oh, he's awesome.
22:06Yeah, this one's Leo.
22:06He's yours for the day.
22:07Hello, Leo.
22:08This is Stormy, so I'll be on her.
22:10They can go across to any country, these things,
22:13just like the old timers would have done.
22:14Do you know what?
22:15I'm going to let you guys play cowboys
22:17and I'm going to head back and check out another lease.
22:19No worries.
22:21You're going to need these, mate.
22:22All right.
22:23So I hope you remember how to ride.
22:24I spent a lot of years, but...
22:26I'm sure you'll get it.
22:28I'm looking forward to this.
22:29All right, guys.
22:30I got my bike.
22:31I'll be behind you and let's get into it.
22:36Too easy, guys.
22:37I'll lead the way.
22:39You know, it's a bit tough
22:40because we've hit a wall at Fairlady,
22:42but we've just got to find a way out of it
22:44and keep pushing through.
22:46This season, we have to make sure
22:47that every decision is right
22:49or we could be out of the game.
22:51All right, we're going 15km into Alex's lease.
22:54It's rough as guts out here
22:56and I wonder Mel said it was going to be hard to get into.
22:58Try and pick me way through where it's smoother.
23:02Bloody hell.
23:05All right, there we went.
23:11You know, every week that we're not finding gold at Fairlady,
23:15we're burning through money fast.
23:16So we have to come up with another plan really quick.
23:22Oh, there she is.
23:25Well, that sounds good.
23:27Oh, that's a good sign.
23:37There she is.
23:40This is a good indication.
23:42This lease might have some promise after all.
23:46What do you reckon, boys?
23:47That's pretty good to me, mate.
23:48Yeah, middle of the lease.
23:50It's where we wanted to get to.
23:51I reckon we tie off and give it a detect.
23:53The other guys are going to have a go here.
23:55It's going to wander over
23:56and have a bit of a go on a different spot.
23:59The more ground we can cover, the better.
24:01So we'll have a go here.
24:03No worries.
24:03I'll keep in touch.
24:04See you, boys.
24:05See you.
24:11There's no way we can get a car in here.
24:13Kilometres and kilometres without a track in.
24:16And these stumps are everywhere.
24:19And they're tyre killers.
24:20You run over one of those, that's a tyre done.
24:25Oh, hello.
24:28That's a good sign.
24:31This sounds really good.
24:35Oh, it's out.
24:39First scoop.
24:39It's always good luck.
24:43I heard it clunk.
24:45It's gold.
24:46Doesn't matter if it's little.
24:48It shows it's out here.
24:49This whole place could be riddled with gold.
24:52No one's ever been out here.
24:53There's no dig holes.
24:54There's no rubbish.
24:56I mean, it's a virgin country and we've got gold.
25:01That's awesome.
25:07Oh, Alex, now I've got a good signal.
25:08You should come check this out, mate.
25:10Yep.
25:13Alrighty.
25:14Oh, still in there.
25:16Still in there, mate.
25:17I'll get digging.
25:20Oh, yeah.
25:27Oh, listen to that, mate.
25:30There it is.
25:31Check that out.
25:31Sweet, mate.
25:33Well done, mate.
25:35It's gold.
25:36Look at the size of that thing.
25:38Sweet.
25:38And it's chunky gold in deep ground.
25:42Hey, boys, I need a bit of help over here.
25:47Say again, Robbie?
25:48Oh, I'm fine.
25:49I just can't get the bloody bike off me.
25:51I hit a bloody rock there and was stuck under the bike.
25:54All right, we're on our way.
25:55All right, mate.
26:12Hey, Shane.
26:13So what's happening?
26:13Oh, it's happening, Kate.
26:14There's some dirty, filthy lowlifes that's stolen my gearing off my slush.
26:19Means I can't do anything.
26:22You're kidding.
26:23What did they take it like?
26:24The motors and all that sort of thing?
26:25They took the whole lot.
26:26Whole as balls and all.
26:27All they left me was a chain and a couple of bolts of lowlifes.
26:31Oh, you've got to be joking.
26:33Well, I rang up a mate of mine called Dave in Robertson Road in Perth.
26:37Can you go down and see him?
26:39He's got an electric one for me.
26:41It's not...
26:41I'll go pick it up and I'll bring it up with me.
26:43Yeah, OK.
26:44It's not perfect, but it may work.
26:47Well, I've got some more bad news for you, just to add to it.
26:49Yeah.
26:50Amy's got COVID.
26:52That's just another nail in the coffin, but we'll just battle on.
26:56Just go pick up my gearing and Todd and I will do our work
27:00and we'll be ready for you when you rock and roll here.
27:02Yeah, no worries.
27:03I'll pick up the gear and I'll see you soon.
27:05Thank you, Shane.
27:05Sounds good.
27:07All right, so what's the plan now?
27:09OK, well, rang up Dave.
27:10He's got a motor for us.
27:11It's an electric.
27:12Kate's going to bring it up.
27:13So we'll run the water to our sluice, get all that done,
27:17and when Kate arrives, we'll bolt the motor on it.
27:19We should be on track.
27:20Sounds good.
27:20That's good.
27:21Let's do it, eh, buddy?
27:22Yep.
27:27I want to see water spurtting out of these jets.
27:29All I need is a motor to run it.
27:31That's all we got.
27:32OK, keep going.
27:37That's good.
27:38But I'll tell you what, Toddy, what do you reckon?
27:40Looks good.
27:42Let's go wait for Kate to get here with the new pump in the gearbox
27:46and we can start running it.
27:49Get it going.
27:52The season's been a disaster so far.
27:55You know, I've pulled Shane out of retirement to be here.
27:58We'd found a new patch of ground that was supposed to secure
28:00my family's financial future,
28:02but it's just been one hurdle after another.
28:05Amy's out with COVID.
28:07Shane's had the parts stolen at the plant
28:10and I'm just hoping that this piece of equipment
28:11that he's organised for me to bring up
28:13is going to do the job and get the plant working again.
28:15So our whole season depends on this motor that Shane's organised,
28:19working and getting the plant running again.
28:22It's Kate.
28:24I hope she's got my motor.
28:27Righty-o, Toddy, here's the moment of truth, OK?
28:32How are you, Kate?
28:33Hey, boys, how are you?
28:34I'm not hugging you, Kate, I'm a bit grubby.
28:37Hey, Toddy, how are you going?
28:38Very good.
28:39All right, Shane, it's not the best,
28:41but I think it's the best we can do.
28:43Oh, well, old Dave said he'd do his best for me.
28:45How long do you reckon it'll take to get it all up and running?
28:48Farewell, Kate.
28:49All right, well, you know that there's that new ground
28:50I want to go and have a look at.
28:51It's near Messenger's patch.
28:53I think it's got good potential,
28:54so I might head over there and have a look
28:55while you guys are doing this.
28:56OK, well, we'll get on with what we've got to do
28:58and you get on with what you've got to do.
28:59All right, sounds good.
29:03Righty-o, see you later, Kate.
29:05Good luck, boys.
29:06OK, you have a good day out there.
29:08Thanks.
29:08The whole season hits on this.
29:10If we can't get this to fit, we're out of the game.
29:13The stolen unit used a separate motor and gears
29:16to power the wash plant.
29:18The replacement is an electric all-in-one unit.
29:24Previous to this, Todd, we had a petrol-driven motor.
29:26The issue with this here is
29:28the generator might not be strong enough to run it.
29:30What if the generator can't run this?
29:32That's the end of our season.
29:34Absolutely out of the game.
29:35Really?
29:36Nothing we can do about it.
29:39We had a great night last night, got on to a good run of gold.
29:43But we're back out early this morning,
29:45try and find some oil before this heat gets up.
29:47It's getting late in the season
29:49and the temperatures are really starting to climb quick now.
29:52The sun's only been up for an hour or so.
29:55It's already well over 30 degrees.
29:57I feel like I've barely slept for the last couple of days.
30:00I've got a lot of work to do.
30:02I've got a lot of work to do.
30:04I've got a lot of work to do.
30:05I've got a lot of work to do.
30:06I've got a lot of work to do.
30:07Barely slept.
30:09We've just got to work around the heat.
30:10But at this stage, it's pretty much a race to the finish line now.
30:14We just got to get the gold out of the ground
30:17and have a really good crack at this 15 and a half ounces
30:20before the season's out.
30:22There we go.
30:32There it is.
30:33That's a nice chunk to start the day.
30:35How good's that?
30:38And here we go again.
30:46There it is.
30:47There's another nice nugget.
30:49Probably a gram nugget or so there.
30:51But more to the point, I'm straight back on the gold.
30:54If we keep getting them out like this, we could well get there.
31:00Oh, I'm sweating already.
31:03Can't get up early enough in this place to beat the heat.
31:06All right.
31:07As long as the gold's coming, the heat doesn't bother me that much.
31:14Big tree rooted in the way here.
31:16Just makes the tiring job even worse.
31:36There we go.
31:40Oh, yes.
31:41I can see that already.
31:43Nice.
31:45Another big chunk of there.
31:46It's just picking them out of the ground now.
31:49This is unreal.
31:51Oh, we needed this so bad.
31:54Oh, that one's loud.
32:01All righty.
32:06Now look at that.
32:07You beauty.
32:08There's another nice chunk.
32:09I'm loving this little gully.
32:11The gold just keeps rolling.
32:36It's on me this week to find some gold because the boys are down with the machine not working.
32:52Amy's not here.
32:52She's at home with COVID.
32:54And so I really need to come through for the team and get some gold this week.
32:57Otherwise, we're going to be short.
32:58So I found this new ground that I really like the look of.
33:01And now I'm going out to get boots on ground and see what I can find out there.
33:05We're coming towards the last few weeks of the season,
33:07and we've only got half our target gold so far.
33:10So we really need to step it up and find some gold this week.
33:13Otherwise, we're not going to make it.
33:17How long you been with me, Toddy?
33:19Too long.
33:20How long's too long?
33:21About nine years.
33:22And how old were you when you come to me?
33:2416.
33:25You'll thank me one day for this, Toddy.
33:27Yeah.
33:28One day, somebody will say to you, how come you know so much, Toddy?
33:31And you'll say, because I knocked up out with an old bloke that showed me.
33:34A broken down old contractor.
33:36We'll see.
33:39Okay, let's just fire it up and see what this does now.
33:43Well, that's a start.
33:44You've got to get this really humming.
33:46You know when it comes from the rubbish chip or the recycling plant, don't you?
33:53Can you see?
33:54Right, Tod, go.
33:58It's working.
34:02Okay, Toddy, she's spinning.
34:04Let's go fire up the water.
34:05No worries.
34:06Well, get on the goal.
34:10Whoa, we're on the water, Toddy!
34:12Let's get on the goal!
34:14Well, she's going well.
34:15I've got plenty of water.
34:16The motor's working well.
34:17Everything's going well.
34:18Well, it's time for me to start loading it up with the backhoe and I'll be on the goal.
34:22I've got to get back, so I'll see you later.
34:24Thanks very much, Toddy.
34:25On your bike.
34:26Being out here, it can sometimes be hard because I'm away from my family
34:30and my kids do really miss me when I'm gone, and I miss them.
34:33If we're not finding any gold, that can really add to the stress as well
34:36because that's why we've come out here, is to find gold and make money off it.
34:40So, you know, I really have to come through for everyone this week.
34:46Oh, that sounds pretty loud.
34:48Oh, my goodness.
34:49That's huge.
34:51I can't believe that.
34:52Maybe three grams, so a couple of hundred bucks.
34:55I'm absolutely stoked with that.
34:56All right, I'm just going to keep detecting this area and hopefully I can find more.
35:00I'm going very well and hope you'll have some good gold out of this by the end of this.
35:08Oh, my goodness.
35:09That's huge.
35:10I can't believe that.
35:11Maybe three grams, so a couple of hundred bucks.
35:14I'm absolutely stoked with that.
35:15I'm going very well and hope you'll have some good gold out of this by the end of this.
35:28This is really good.
35:31The motor's going well.
35:33It's turning at the right pace.
35:35The water's fantastic.
35:36So we're on a roll now.
35:39Another really good sound there.
35:41Looks a bit like remnants of a fire, so to be honest,
35:44I'm not sure.
35:47Oh, there it is.
35:49That is gold.
35:50That's unbelievable.
35:51And it's only, what, five meters from the other bit of gold that I've just found.
35:55I could spend all day here.
35:56I'm going to keep going.
36:00That's quite a nice noise.
36:02If I get a third nugget here, then we're definitely on to a patch.
36:10Oh, there it is.
36:12Another one.
36:13That's a third nugget.
36:14Again, a little smaller, but that's within a really small patch of ground.
36:18This is definitely awesome ground for sure.
36:20We need to get this pegged up, and I need to get Shane and Amy out here with the detectors.
36:28He's through here.
36:28I see him.
36:29Hey, Rob.
36:30Rob.
36:30Hey.
36:31You there?
36:32Yeah, I'm okay.
36:33I feel okay.
36:33I just can't get the bike off me.
36:37Oh, jeez.
36:40That's put on a bit of weight, mate.
36:42You don't want us to drop you back, Robbie?
36:44No, no, no.
36:45I'll be good, mate.
36:46I just bloody bunged my leg a little bit.
36:49I'll be fine.
36:50So how are you boys going?
36:51Oh, we're going good.
36:51We're hitting some gold, so...
36:53Oh, well, you might as well go back and get onto it.
36:56You sure?
36:57Yeah, you guys go and get some more gold, and I'll go over and sit under that tree,
37:01and when you're heading out, I'll come behind you.
37:04All right, no riding till we're with you, because...
37:05No, I'll be sitting over there, mate, just chilling out.
37:08All right, boys.
37:09Take it easy, all right?
37:10Good luck.
37:12You know, there's a lot of quartz here, which is a good indicator of gold.
37:17Oh, yeah.
37:19All right.
37:23I can see it.
37:26Oh, she's a beauty.
37:28Another one.
37:32Oh, that's a thumper of a signal.
37:35First scoop again, I like that.
37:39Oh, I heard it clunk.
37:42Oh, check that one out.
37:44Look at that.
37:45This ground is absolutely untouched.
37:50Oh, listen to that.
37:54Oh, I see it.
37:58Oh, listen to that.
37:59Oh, I see it.
38:00Oh, I see it.
38:01Oh, I see it.
38:02Oh, I see it.
38:03Oh, I see it.
38:03Oh, look at that.
38:04It's massive.
38:05That must be the biggest bit I've ever found.
38:10I haven't had an untouched patch like this in a long time.
38:13This is absolutely awesome stuff.
38:21Oh, there it is.
38:22That's another one for the pot, Scott.
38:24Far out.
38:24That looks like a bad one, hey?
38:26He's literally that far from the surface.
38:28Oh, I'm stoked.
38:29We better get out of here, mate.
38:30It's starting to get late.
38:31We don't want to be stuck out here all night, mate.
38:32Fair enough.
38:33Good call.
38:34Oh, I'm getting tall for this.
38:36Yeah, camera up.
38:37We've got to get moving.
38:38Yes, let's go.
38:40Daylight's going.
38:41Let's go.
38:47It was a good day overall.
38:59We've had a bit of a rough week this week.
39:01We haven't had Amy.
39:02Shane's had a lot of machine breakdowns, but I'm really hopeful.
39:05I've had a good result at the new ground,
39:07and hopefully Shane can pull a bit of gold out of those mats.
39:11How are we going there, Kate?
39:12Yeah, good.
39:13That's looking really nice, Shane.
39:14That's a lot of gold.
39:15Well, considering all the things that have been against me,
39:18not having the motor, the stuff getting stolen,
39:21I think this is a pretty good result considering all that.
39:24Tell me how you went.
39:25Yeah, I've had a really good week.
39:26I've got some really nice big nuggets,
39:29so I'm really keen to get back on there, Shane.
39:31All in all, if we get a reasonable sort of a weigh-in now,
39:34should give us a good run-in for our last one.
39:37Yep.
39:37Okay, let's weigh it up.
39:38Come on.
39:39You go first.
39:41Oh, look at that.
39:42Oh, that's looking all right.
39:431.7 ounces.
39:44Yeah, that's good.
39:45Okay, throw the rest in.
39:46Okay, I've got my nuggets.
39:492.2.
39:50Well, that's not bad.
39:51That's about $6,500.
39:54That's good.
39:55Yeah.
39:55It's very, very good for what we've been through,
39:58so this is very, very promising, so we seem to be going all right.
40:02Thanks to Kate's new patch and Shane's wet plant finally running,
40:06the team are $6,600 closer to their $54,000 target.
40:12Yeah, I'm really happy with that,
40:14but we've got six and a half ounces to go to hit target,
40:17and we've got one week left, Shane.
40:18We're going to have to have a monster week next week.
40:20We'll have Amy back, all hands on deck.
40:22We've got to go for it.
40:22Well, we'll go for it.
40:23Come on, let's go.
40:24Come on, let's get cracking then.
40:25There's plenty more gold out there.
40:28Well, as weeks go, it started pretty bad.
40:35I mean, that quartz vein, it was going so good,
40:37and it just disappeared on us.
40:39I mean, that's disastrous for that lease.
40:41It was.
40:41Unless we can find something else quickly, that's game over.
40:44Yeah.
40:45But going on an adventure with Scott, riding through the bush on Leo,
40:49I mean, I had a wild time.
40:50Yeah.
40:51Once I was.
40:53He agrees with me.
40:54It was awesome.
40:55I feel like I've missed out now on a really good adventure.
40:58How'd you go, Mel?
40:59Yeah, well, I covered a lot of ground.
41:02But instead of explaining it, I'll show you how much I got.
41:06Not my finest moment.
41:08So yeah, 0.1 of an ounce.
41:11That's a lot of work for not a lot of gold.
41:13Yeah.
41:14That's why I was hoping that you guys had done better than me.
41:19A long way into where we've got this gold,
41:20but it's got a huge amount of potential.
41:243.3 ounces all up.
41:26That's incredible.
41:27So that lease has got potential, definitely.
41:29That sorts it, doesn't it?
41:31That's the next lease we're going to be working on if we can't get Fair Lady sorted.
41:35Our plan B.
41:36Plan B.
41:37Yes.
41:38And do you know what?
41:39We couldn't have got any of this without you, Scotty.
41:42So you're a bloody legend, mate.
41:43Thank you so much.
41:44Well done, Scotty.
41:45Good stuff, mate.
41:46Anything for the gold devils.
41:49Well, onwards and upwards, hey?
41:51Yeah.
41:55Wow, I can't believe you got that gold.
42:03It's nice down near this dam.
42:05It really is.
42:06But I think we'll actually get used to the temperature here,
42:09probably just in time for us to leave.
42:11What do you reckon?
42:12Probably.
42:13Being too hot's just the story of the week, though, isn't it?
42:15We worked around the heat.
42:16We worked through the night.
42:18I nearly got eaten by a mob of pigs.
42:20All right.
42:21Well, let's see how we went.
42:25Hello.
42:26We did good.
42:28Yep.
42:286.7 ounces.
42:30That's pretty good.
42:31We've still got this one to go.
42:338.12 minus the rock.
42:37Let's say 7.8.
42:38I'm really proud of our efforts.
42:40So am I, mate.
42:41The haul, worth over $23,000,
42:45puts them within striking distance of their season target.
42:50And that puts us on 42.2.
42:53And we still have one final push to bring it home.
42:56But we need 8 ounces in that push.
42:58We didn't get 8 ounces in this push.
43:01So we've still got some hard work to do yet, mate.
43:03And we got lucky with this one too.
43:05Still, it's always good to see that much gold on the scales.
43:08Oh, yeah.
43:08You did well, mate.
43:09Good job.
43:11So did you.
43:11Look at that thing.
43:12One more push, mate, and we're going to, you know,
43:14have a crack at getting that 50 ounces.
43:16All right.
43:17I'm ready to get out of this heat for another day.
43:19Yeah.
43:20Another cold drink.
43:21Yep.
43:21Yep.
43:22And we need to go and have a look at the maps
43:24and figure out exactly where we're going to go next.