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00:00There's a lot of smoke in the sky, big fire, mate.
00:05That one's seriously punching through there.
00:08It's coming right in through the road even.
00:10Let's go, mate.
00:11Let's get out of here.
00:12Go left.
00:13Up here.
00:14Through here?
00:15Yeah.
00:16Whoa.
00:17Holy hell, there's a big front up here, mate.
00:18The fire's across the road.
00:19It's all over.
00:20Wow.
00:21How are we going to get through there?
00:22Well, we can't stop here.
00:23We can't go back the way we came in.
00:24Nah.
00:25Look at that.
00:26That's serious.
00:27We can't drive through that.
00:28And it's coming this way.
00:29Here we go.
00:30We've got a bit of a lull.
00:31Let's go.
00:32Yeah, go.
00:33Go, go.
00:34Whoa.
00:35Oh, man.
00:36We're driving through flames, so let's just go.
00:37Whoa.
00:38All right.
00:39This is it.
00:40This is it.
00:41This is it.
00:42This is it.
00:43This is it.
00:44This is it.
00:45This is it.
00:46This is it.
00:47This is it.
00:48This is it.
00:49This is it.
00:50This is it.
00:51All right.
00:52This is it, then.
00:53OK, this is burnt.
00:58Oh.
01:00That's the last thing we needed.
01:16Oh, no.
01:19Look at this.
01:20It's on fire as well, mate.
01:23There's a lot of tree there, mate, eh?
01:25And it's green.
01:27It's going to be heavy.
01:28Mate, I reckon there's three ton of timber here.
01:30There's no way we're going to winch this out of the way.
01:33No, you'd need to, like, cut all the limbs off it.
01:37Yeah, this is a lot bigger than the trees I've ever
01:41had to move out of the way.
01:44I don't know.
01:45I don't know what we're going to do here.
01:47Well, we're not going to move this,
01:49so there are other options to make a new road.
01:52There's just trees everywhere, mate.
01:56And it doesn't flatten out till we get up here.
01:59We're not going to get through that side, no way.
02:01There are only hopes to come around through this way.
02:04There's a bit of a gap.
02:06Can we fit it through?
02:09Yeah, I reckon you might be able to, hey?
02:12Oh, let's give it a go.
02:14Well, let's give it a go.
02:16What have we got to lose?
02:17We might as well try, mate.
02:18It's our only way through, so we have to try.
02:28All right, good to go?
02:29Yeah, come this way.
02:33We're going to go through here.
02:35Through here?
02:36Yeah, this way, mate.
02:40Yeah, that's a narrow gap there.
02:42Just come over this way a bit, yeah.
02:48Down here.
02:50You got it!
02:51It cost me a bit of paint, but we made it.
02:54This is without a doubt the most dangerous gold field in Australia,
02:57but that's why I like it.
02:59It's the adventure, it's the challenge.
03:01This season, Jackie and Andrew are exploring virgin ground
03:05in the legendary Palmer River gold fields
03:08in the tropics of far north Queensland.
03:11Palmer River's not a place to muck around.
03:14If one of us get bitten by one of those venomous snakes,
03:17you got, like, 30 minutes, an hour to get yourself some medical attention.
03:21They discovered a patch of nuggets deep in the jungle.
03:24Ha-ha, eat a little river.
03:26That's a nice chunk.
03:28That's three or four grams there, I think.
03:30Palmer nuggets, have a good day.
03:32But their run was cut short.
03:35Andy, there is a fire!
03:38OK, got to go.
03:41Let's go, let's go, let's go!
03:43Get out of here.
03:46Now it's time to see if their efforts have paid off.
03:51That was wild.
03:53It just came out of nowhere, that fire.
03:55That wind just pushed it straight up that hill so fast.
03:58I haven't had to run like that in years.
04:00Yeah, that was quite the run.
04:02But anyway, we're going to be safe parked here now,
04:04so that's the main thing.
04:06Let's weigh it up and just see what we got,
04:08because I feel like we were getting on a really good run there.
04:11We were finding gold all throughout the week, mate.
04:14It's going to add up, there's a lot of bits in there.
04:17Let's find out.
04:19A few decent chunks as well, two grammars, three grammars.
04:23Mate, 2.4!
04:25That's not bad.
04:272.4 ounces!
04:29Yeah, that's all right, it's not massive.
04:31So there's a big chunk that I got right at the end
04:33before the flames come through.
04:35If we need more like that,
04:37that's what's going to get us to 65 ounces.
04:39After the fire's gone through,
04:41we've always done better in the past,
04:43so it just opens the ground up to us.
04:45This is when the real work begins now.
04:47Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
05:00Last week at the Phoenix Project,
05:02we ended up pulling out $20,000 worth of gold.
05:06When Ebony and Shannon went home,
05:08I ended up staying up here and pulling even more gold out of that reef.
05:11It was great.
05:13All right, looks good.
05:15Don't know how much is going to be in there, though.
05:19Let's cool this sucker down.
05:25This is always the best part of the job.
05:27Oh, my God, look at that.
05:30That is amazing.
05:32That's what Australian nuggets produce.
05:35Let's weigh it up and see what we got.
05:4114 ounces on the button.
05:43You're a ripper.
05:45Today's gold price, that's just under 50 grand,
05:47about $49,000.
05:49That's fantastic and all, but unfortunately,
05:51this might be the last bit of gold
05:53we ever pull out of the Phoenix Project.
05:55Hey, Dad. Hey, hon.
05:57Hey, guys. How have you been?
05:59Been very good.
06:01Look at that.
06:03That is one shiny bar.
06:05It's a beautiful bar. It's heavy, too.
06:0714 ounces. I think that's one of the best you've ever poured.
06:09You don't look as chuffed
06:11as I would expect with 50K.
06:13That could potentially be
06:15the very last bar we pull out of the Phoenix Project.
06:17What? Why?
06:19Well, there's a big mining company in the area.
06:21They're buying up pretty much everything around, and they've made me an offer.
06:23Put it in context. What are they offering?
06:25Financial security.
06:27No mortgage. Debt free. Money in the bank.
06:29But you know how hard it is to find good land
06:31with good gold in it.
06:33Gold that looks like this.
06:35We've still got the Desert King, which we haven't got back to.
06:37I want to head back out there, have a really good look around,
06:39and I think that might be our next option.
06:41Well, that's a massive risk.
06:43How about we set ourselves
06:45maybe a target? If we can pull
06:4710 ounces out in a week, then we
06:49can definitely move ahead
06:51and sell this lease.
06:5310 ounces? That's like 35K in a week.
06:55Absolutely. We've made 50K
06:57in a week, so we need to know that we can do it.
06:5910 ounces?
07:01All right, let's do it. Let's do it.
07:03And then we'll make the decision. Then we'll make the decision.
07:09I'm heading out
07:11to the Desert King lease at the moment.
07:13I'm meeting my cousin out there. He's got his
07:1560-ton excavator out there, and Brad's got
07:1750-ton dozer delivered as well. So we're going to hit
07:19it hard and hopefully try and recover
07:21at least 10 ounces this week.
07:23We've found a lot of gold at the Desert King before,
07:25and I'm pretty damn well sure we've left
07:27some behind.
07:29We've got to keep producing gold,
07:31so that's why we're out here
07:33doing one of the things that I hate, which is metal detecting.
07:35Two years ago, along with
07:37his cousins Dave and Darren,
07:39Paul explored the Desert King lease.
07:41Every chance you get to push new
07:43ground and find new gold, you've got to take it.
07:45The results
07:47were astonishing.
07:49Look at that!
07:51That is literally the biggest nugget
07:53I've ever pulled out of the ground.
07:55You're going to need a bigger set of scales, mate.
07:57Paul and his family haven't
07:59been back to the Desert King lease
08:01until now.
08:05I've got a really good feeling about this
08:07joint. If we do end up selling the Phoenix
08:09project, then I really want somewhere else to
08:11go. What we pulled out of here last
08:13time, I don't think 10 ounces
08:15is too much to ask for.
08:17We're going to start out the Desert King by pushing
08:19with the dozer, break open some ground
08:21that I didn't get to last time. We've got the
08:23excavator, so once we can actually locate where the
08:25gold's coming from, we'll dig down deeper with that
08:27and hopefully get onto some good gold.
08:29I've got the girls in there detecting.
08:31Matt's off having a look at some ground up
08:33the other side of that hill. It's great having Matt
08:35available, mechanic by trade,
08:37and it's his excavator. I really
08:39need to prove to the girls that
08:41there is more gold here and it's worth
08:43saying and doing a bit more
08:45work.
08:47If I sell the Phoenix project,
08:49we don't have anything else to go onto
08:51at the moment.
08:53Shan, you got a copy? Yeah, I got a copy.
08:55How you going out there?
08:57Yeah, nah, just got a
08:59piece of rubbish. Oh, that's no good.
09:01Well, keep digging,
09:03keep cracking on, you'll find something.
09:05Yeah, but good luck.
09:07We're going to work the Desert King.
09:09We've got the excavator here.
09:11We'll dig up the ground and hopefully we'll
09:13find a pot of gold at the bottom.
09:21I need to go deeper with the excavator.
09:23I need to figure out where this gold's coming from.
09:25If we can hone in on that, then it could be
09:27ten times better, maybe a hundred times better
09:29than the Phoenix project ever was.
09:31I want to find the big gold.
09:33It's all well and good finding nuggets,
09:35but I'm more interested in finding
09:37the source. To keep this dream alive,
09:39I need to keep that gold coming in.
09:41This was obviously a big hill
09:43at one stage, and it's shed a lot
09:45of gold.
09:47We've got to keep digging.
09:49Over billions of years,
09:51wind and water eroded the hills,
09:53freeing heavy gold nuggets,
09:55resettling them in ancient
09:57creek beds beneath the source.
10:03With the excavator,
10:05I should be able to uncover
10:07those little creeks and rivers,
10:09and if I can find those gravels,
10:11that's where the gold's going to be.
10:13Ooh, what's that?
10:15We're getting a bit deeper.
10:17It just dropped down a little bit there,
10:19so maybe something that can get us
10:21down to the old creek bed.
10:23Oh yeah, that's going heaps deeper.
10:25Yes! New River, that's exactly
10:27what I was looking for.
10:41That track's sounding a bit dodgy.
10:43Yeah, it doesn't sound too good
10:45at all.
10:47I don't know what's going on with it,
10:49but I'll go park it up and get a man
10:51to have a look at it.
10:53Fab, catastrophic failure here.
11:13Big week this week, mate.
11:15We've invested a lot of money.
11:17We've got to start getting it coming back in
11:19so we can start paying off machinery
11:21and making some cheddar.
11:23Oh yeah!
11:25Kyle and I are just
11:27working through the heat of the day
11:29at the moment. Bridget and Sonny
11:31have knocked off. It's a bit too hot
11:33for them to be out here today.
11:35So it's our second week out
11:37on our new lease,
11:39and we got off to an OK start.
11:41Picked up 3.2 ounces
11:43for the week, so this week
11:45we're hoping we can double that at least
11:47and bring some more gold in for
11:49the wanderers. We've dropped
11:5170K on this machine, so we've
11:53got to work around the clock at the moment,
11:55try to pay this jigger off.
11:59Hey! There we go.
12:01We've definitely got another target here.
12:03It's not screaming, but
12:05I think we could be onto a bit of yellow here.
12:11Right.
12:13So she's out of the ground.
12:19Yeah, so it's definitely in the scoop now.
12:21Yeah, there we go.
12:23It's a piece of gold.
12:25Lovely little bit.
12:27I'm going to say about half a gram there,
12:29which is like digging up a $50 note.
12:31Hey, you got a copy there, Levi?
12:33Yeah, mate.
12:35I've already picked up a couple of nice pieces there.
12:37I'm feeling it.
12:39I'm feeling this one, man.
12:41I reckon we could be on.
12:43You're on fire, mate.
12:45Okay, get posted. I'm going to rip in.
12:47Getting a little bit excited.
12:49Feel the gold
12:51tingling through my bones right now.
12:53With this machine,
12:55we're able to dig down, so
12:57really just need to get down to this layer
12:59where the gold's sitting.
13:01This is our lifeline, this machine.
13:03We're on our own,
13:05and we're making our own money.
13:07It's getting pretty hot now,
13:0942 degrees.
13:11In the past four years, Levi worked
13:13the Pilbara Goldfields as a hired
13:15hand for his uncle, Kim North.
13:17You guys need to get me 10 ounces a week.
13:19Alright. Not negotiable.
13:21We've got our own digger,
13:23but we need to cut a better deal
13:25with Uncle Kim.
13:27How you going?
13:29No good. We're on our own.
13:31But when Kim refused to
13:33negotiate their deal, Levi,
13:35his wife Bridget,
13:37and new mining partner Kyle Wilson
13:39There's the first one.
13:41decided to stake their own gold claim
13:43deep in the Pilbara outback.
13:45Four pegs in the ground.
13:47This is our own little patch
13:49of paradise.
13:55Are you kidding me?
13:57Not even a metre away and we're onto
13:59another signal.
14:01What's this?
14:03What do you reckon, folks?
14:05We onto another one?
14:07Let's have a look.
14:09Alright. She's out.
14:11Yeah, look.
14:13There it is.
14:17I reckon she's going to be pushing over a gram.
14:19That's four and a half grams in the first 10 metres
14:21of this cup. Good signs.
14:23Could be great things to come.
14:33It's got this
14:35warning light coming on
14:37and it's going to shut it down.
14:39It's the last thing we need.
14:41I'm not sure what's going on.
14:43Ah.
14:45There's our problem.
14:49Ah, we snapped a belt.
14:55Ah.
14:57Kyle!
14:59We've got problems.
15:01Spewing.
15:05What's going on?
15:07Just blown a band belt.
15:09There we go.
15:13Yep, and it just happens to be the weekend
15:15so getting something over the weekend
15:17is going to be a little bit challenging.
15:19You know, I've got some nice gold
15:21but we want some more.
15:23Maybe we call on Uncle Kim.
15:25Look, he's got a workshop. He's got Komatsus.
15:27We've gone out on our own here, mate.
15:29I don't really want to go calling him up
15:31asking for favours
15:33on our second weekend.
15:35It's kind of just a pride thing, really.
15:37It's either that or we sit on our hands
15:39for the next couple of days and we don't even know
15:41if we're going to get a belt if we call Monday.
15:43He could have one sitting in the yard.
15:45Maybe do a ring around first.
15:47See if you can find something else.
15:49Worst case scenario, go with Kim.
15:51Alright, mate. Well, I'm going to go get my phone
15:53and find some reception.
15:55Sweet deal. I'm going to finish this pad.
15:57I don't know.
15:59I'm going to go get a fan belt from somewhere.
16:03Every minute without a belt is a minute not getting gold.
16:11Once the fires go through
16:13it's much easier to swing our coil.
16:15All the grass and timbers all burn out of the way.
16:17You also get your coil
16:19really close to the ground
16:21which is just fantastic because we can hear
16:23nuggets much easier.
16:25The closer we get our coil to the ground
16:27the more gold we put in the jar.
16:29But it's still fairly hot.
16:31Falling timber is a real problem for us.
16:33The trees will catch light on the inside
16:35and just keep burning away slowly.
16:37Trees and limbs will
16:39keep dropping for weeks now.
16:41So we've got to keep an eye out
16:43and make sure the fires don't flare up again.
16:45We've also got to find some gold.
16:47That's what we're here to do.
16:49Just got to stay away from those smouldering
16:51logs and areas that
16:53might still be burning away.
16:57Pretty loud sounding target there.
17:01Just break up this dirt a little bit.
17:03See the gold being so heavy
17:05it likes to fall on
17:07that deepest layer it can
17:09and this strong slab of
17:11essentially like bedrock
17:13nothing's going to be able to go through that.
17:15Can't
17:17dig around it myself.
17:19It's
17:21sort of breaking apart a bit now.
17:27Alright
17:29target's out of the hole.
17:31Let's find out what it is.
17:37Oh I heard the clunk.
17:39Awesome, it's gold.
17:41Pretty decent piece of gold too.
17:43There'll be a couple of grams in that, maybe even
17:45three. It's real round and real chunky.
17:47Nice and shiny.
17:49So the rule is, once you get gold in a
17:51certain spot, you go low and slow.
17:53Make sure you don't miss anything.
18:03I like the sound of that.
18:05It's tough ground here.
18:11We're out.
18:13That's something big.
18:15Come on be gold,
18:17be gold, be gold.
18:21Oh yes!
18:23Oh that's big.
18:25You're looking at like
18:27six to eight hundred bucks
18:29just sitting here in my hands.
18:31It's not as water-worn so
18:33if anything it shows that this gold
18:35hasn't travelled as far and I'm finding
18:37it along this spur now so this
18:39could be something really good here.
18:41Hey mate, you got a copy?
18:43Yeah, got you, go ahead.
18:45Mate, I'm onto
18:47some pretty decent pieces
18:49sort of above the gully.
18:51Righto, I'm on my way.
18:53Awesome, see you soon.
19:01There's a target under there.
19:03Try and make
19:05a bit of room so I can hear it better.
19:07There we go.
19:13That's definitely a target under there.
19:15If I can get it
19:17around this side.
19:23There's some of these rocks out of the way.
19:25Hey, you got some holes here mate.
19:27Hey, we're on the gold.
19:29Yeah, that's just excellent.
19:31You must have got a few, there's holes everywhere.
19:33Listen to this.
19:35It's definitely gold.
19:37It's in the worst spot too.
19:39Well we can't dig that out under there,
19:41but there's got to be more gold under all this timber.
19:43If you've got gold all around it
19:45then there's probably a heap of gold in this area.
19:47We need this timber out of the way mate.
19:49We're not going to move this one by hand.
19:51No.
19:53How about see if we can
19:55winch this out of the way.
19:57What, the whole tree? The whole tree.
19:59Let's do it.
20:05Let's do it.
20:13That track doesn't sound right.
20:17Hang on a minute.
20:19Hey Matt, you got a copy?
20:21Yeah, full go.
20:23Yeah mate, this
20:25front left hand track's a bit
20:27flapping around a fair bit. There's a bit of noise coming out of it.
20:29Do you want to come and have a look?
20:31Yeah mate, no worries, I'll be up there in five.
20:33Yeah, righto.
20:35Paul, I gave you one job mate.
20:37I don't know what's going on, man.
20:39There's a fair bit of slack in the track.
20:41It's making a lot of banging and clanging noises.
20:43I don't want to break something and then
20:45I'll just be up a creek.
20:47Well we don't want to be throwing a track.
20:49No.
20:51Get the weight off the track, we'll have a look.
20:55Keep going.
20:57Yep, go down to that.
20:59Keep pushing it down.
21:01Okay,
21:03roll that one track, Paul.
21:11Yeah, I thought so.
21:13Yeah Paul, that idler bearing's
21:15collapsed, mate. Just roll it around.
21:17I'll get the master pin over here.
21:25Yep.
21:27Yeah, that'll be good.
21:29Roll that out, please.
21:35What's the go?
21:37We're going to have to split the track, mate, and pull the idler out.
21:39Hopefully they've got the parts in town.
21:41Otherwise it'll be a couple of day wait if they've got to come
21:43from east or whatever.
21:45Yeah, right.
21:47We've only got a limited time out here, so
21:49if you want to shoot to town, see what you can rustle up and organise,
21:51I can kick on with the girls anyway.
21:53I'll take the dozer over there and start
21:55That new area?
21:57Open that up and have a crack, but yeah.
21:59It all just hinges on you, mate, getting the parts.
22:01Alright, I'll shut this down, mate.
22:03Yeah, cheers, mate.
22:05Oh, lucky we called that before we threw a track.
22:07Anyway, let's get it happening.
22:23Oh, that sounds really deep.
22:27Hey, Dad, I've got a really good signal.
22:29Come check it out. It's screaming its head off.
22:31Alright, I'm on my way.
22:33What have you got?
22:35Check it out. Hear it.
22:37It does sound good.
22:39Give me the pick, I'll dig it for you.
22:41That's why I called you over here.
22:43Still in the gravels, which is good.
22:49It's getting louder.
22:51You're in a hard rock here.
22:53I'm glad I called you over.
22:57Got it.
22:59It's in there.
23:01Oh, my God!
23:03Holy hell!
23:15Definitely not ideal timing to be snapping fan belts
23:17on the weekend.
23:21Hello?
23:23No, they hang up.
23:25What's this ringing through?
23:27Everyone's closed.
23:29We're clutching our straws here.
23:31We need a belt.
23:33Every day we lose, we're losing thousands of dollars, really.
23:37So while Eli's off trying to
23:39source down a belt, I'm going to
23:41crack on with this and see if I can stay on the gold
23:43and make sure we don't run into the negative.
23:45First run on this cart started strong.
23:47Got a few good nuggets, but
23:49second run, not doing so well.
23:51Haven't even had a target yet.
23:53Looks like
23:55I'm going to have to just swallow my pride
23:57and give Kim a call.
24:05So where do we walk now?
24:07Mate, you wouldn't believe it,
24:09but we snapped a fan belt
24:11and being the weekend and all,
24:13we can't get one until
24:15maybe Tuesday or Wednesday from Perth.
24:17And I was
24:19wondering if I can pop into your
24:21workshop and see if you've got one there.
24:27Yeah, yeah, maintenance.
24:29That's our fault. You're our last resort,
24:31mate. We really need a fan belt so we can
24:33keep digging this gold.
24:35I'll slip you a couple of grams of gold
24:37or something. How's that sound?
24:39Yeah, that's a deal. I've got the deal.
24:41Thanks, Kim. Appreciate it.
24:43Cheers, buddy.
24:45He's a hard nut to
24:47crack sometimes, old Uncle Kim.
24:51Hello.
24:53Hey, mate.
24:55Not too bad.
24:57I just blew a
24:59belt on our digger
25:01and I was wondering if you might have one.
25:03Yeah, we should have one here, mate.
25:05Did you run it past Kim?
25:07I did. He said, you know, pop in here and see
25:09if anyone's here in the workshop.
25:11You reckon you might have one?
25:13Yeah, we should have one in here, mate.
25:15Okay, awesome. Cheers, mate.
25:17Oh,
25:19plenty of belts.
25:21Yeah, legendary.
25:23So the 1240 is exactly what we're chasing.
25:25The 17A is the width.
25:27So it should be up here.
25:29Even if it's close,
25:31we've got a bit of play on the adjustment.
25:33Yep.
25:35There you go, mate. Is that the one?
25:37It's a little bit shorter, but just with the adjustment of it,
25:39you should get away with that, mate.
25:41Cheers, mate. All goods, mate.
25:43Have a good one. Yeah, cheers.
25:47Yeah.
25:57We've got a belt, mate.
25:59Oh!
26:01Kim came through.
26:03Laurie in the workshop said this should fit,
26:05but we don't know until we get it on.
26:07It's a close fit.
26:09Let's try and get it on there, eh? Yep. All right, let's do it.
26:11I think
26:13it's the right size.
26:15This might be a tad small, so...
26:17Definitely
26:19look at getting some genuine ones sent up
26:21from Perth. Yeah, look, we'll get on to ordering
26:23those straight away, and if this gets us
26:25through for a couple of days, man, happy days.
26:27Might just crank her up and give her a test, eh?
26:29All right, here we go, man. Moment of truth.
26:31You all clear? I'm going to give her a start.
26:33All clear up here, buddy.
26:37Give her some revs.
26:39All good, mate?
26:41Yes!
26:43Shut her down.
26:45Now we can get back to digging some real gold, buddy.
26:47Yeah. And get on to this cheddar.
26:53There's another little signal just here.
26:55I reckon we could be on to another little nugget.
27:03Gravel's looking nice.
27:05It's out of the hole.
27:07Let's get down and take a look
27:09and see what we got.
27:15Hey, there she is. It's gold.
27:17Not a massive bit.
27:19Only a tiny little piece, maybe 0.1 of a gram.
27:21About $10 in today's price.
27:23But it's got an awesome little shape.
27:25Looks like a little horseshoe.
27:27Horseshoes are good luck, so
27:29maybe that means there's better things to come.
27:35Mate, you want to run that out for us?
27:37All right.
27:39I reckon just around where the fork of the tree is there.
27:41Okay.
27:43And just in through under there if you can.
27:45Yep.
27:47All right, stand back just in case.
27:49Are you ready?
27:51Ready. Aim. Fire.
27:53Come on, big girl.
27:55How good is this?
27:57What do you reckon? That was good?
27:59That's awesome.
28:01Now you can get to your target nice and easy.
28:03So good.
28:05Yeah, because it was just here.
28:07There it is.
28:09That sounds big, mate.
28:11It sounds good.
28:13It's a screamer.
28:15It's a screamer.
28:17It's a screamer.
28:19It's a screamer.
28:21It's a screamer.
28:23Right there, eh?
28:25Yep.
28:27Righto.
28:29Here we go.
28:31It's in.
28:33Hang on.
28:35It's going to be a big nub, surely.
28:37I can feel it. Look at that.
28:39Oh, no way.
28:41Yes.
28:43That's a ripper, mate.
28:45Hell yeah, that's going to be half an ounce there.
28:47Feel it. That's a beauty, mate.
28:49I reckon that's two grand there, just sitting right there.
28:51Woo! Oh, we are back on the board.
28:53I might actually
28:55push over this hill
28:57and check the gullies on the other side.
28:59Nice. Yeah, good luck, mate.
29:01Yeah, good luck. Get some.
29:03Keep your radio on. Stay safe.
29:05Oh, it's so hot in this gully today.
29:07After that fire,
29:09that sun beating down,
29:11all the heat coming off the ground as well.
29:13It's rough. Let's hope we get enough gold
29:15to make it all worthwhile.
29:17SIREN
29:19SIREN
29:21Your signal.
29:23SIREN
29:25SIREN
29:27SIREN
29:29SIREN
29:31Alrighty.
29:33It's always good to come
29:35into a new area
29:37and just start getting targets and start
29:39getting gold.
29:41Look at that, a ripper. It's a gram or so
29:43there, which is good.
29:45Nice and good chunky gold in here, and we need chunky
29:47gold if we're ever going to get that
29:4965-ounce target.
29:51SIREN
29:53SIREN
29:55Oh, that's definitely a target there.
29:57Get this out a bit more.
29:59Too much rock in here.
30:01It's not easy.
30:03SIREN
30:05SIREN
30:07Get my hand, whatever it is.
30:09SIREN
30:11She's going off. That's heavy.
30:13What is that?
30:15Yes, gold!
30:17Yes!
30:19Oh, that is unreal.
30:21I felt the weight of that straight away
30:23hit my hand. At least 10 grams
30:25there. Look at that, you can just
30:27see all the gold sticking out
30:29the edges. Like a thousand
30:31bucks straight towards our season
30:33target. This is the type of stuff we need.
30:35We're on a roll here.
30:37SIREN
30:39That's a loud target.
30:41That one sounds good.
30:43SIREN
30:45Ah, I can see it
30:47in there. There's some bakers sitting around
30:49for me. That's the way.
30:51A gram of gold, 120 bucks
30:53just sitting on the ground waiting for me to pick it up.
30:55I wish more of them would come along, but
30:57that's a bit of a rarity.
30:59Maybe get two or three of those a year.
31:01Hey, Jack-Jack-Jackie, you got a copy?
31:03Yeah, mate.
31:05I'm getting low on water, and I'm starting
31:07to wear down the ground in here as well,
31:09so, yeah, I'll meet you back at the car, eh?
31:11Yeah, I'll see you there soon. Too easy.
31:13I'm looking forward to going away
31:15and seeing how we went.
31:17MUSIC
31:19MUSIC
31:21MUSIC
31:23MUSIC
31:25MUSIC
31:27Woah!
31:29That just about blew my ears off.
31:31This one sounds epic.
31:33That's music to my ears.
31:35It's not far away, wherever it is.
31:37MUSIC
31:39Where's it hiding?
31:41I've got to be careful. When you get big nuggets like this,
31:43the last thing you want to do is go hit them with a pick
31:45because you can mess them up.
31:47MUSIC
31:49MUSIC
31:51MUSIC
31:53MUSIC
31:55I reckon we're sitting on a half-ounce
31:57nug there. Once the dirt comes off that,
31:59it's going to be a beautiful shape. It looks like it's all
32:01gold. Could be a couple of grams sitting in that one.
32:03That's epic.
32:05What do you reckon, Oaks?
32:07Hey?
32:09Oh.
32:11Nice signal here.
32:13Maybe this is the one we've been chasing.
32:15Oh,
32:17that beautiful gravel.
32:19Finally down to that
32:21juicy layer
32:23we've been chasing all week.
32:27Oh, yeah.
32:29Hey, Kyle, mate,
32:31this might be the one we've been looking for.
32:33Oh, mate.
32:37Oh, yeah, that's hard ground.
32:39Oh, man.
32:41It's out. It's out? Yep.
32:43Where is this?
32:45Where is it?
32:47Oh!
32:49Oh!
32:51Oh!
32:53That's like a three-grand nugget
32:55right there, mate.
32:57We've been looking for these big ones, so hopefully they start
32:59to turn up.
33:01On another one, mate.
33:03Guess what?
33:05Double hookup!
33:07How good.
33:09Oh, there it is.
33:11Another grammar.
33:13A razor.
33:15Two grammar.
33:17Haven't even moved
33:19and I'm on another one right next door.
33:21This is what we dream of, eh?
33:23Oh, yeah, another one.
33:25Oh, this is a bust-up.
33:27About four or five grams.
33:29We are on the go
33:31big time.
33:33Today's our day, mate.
33:35Looks like the wanderers
33:37are back.
33:45Look at that.
33:47Holy hell!
33:49Look at that! Look at the size of it.
33:51That's a thumper.
33:53That's amazing. Well done.
33:55That's the best one I've ever found.
33:57You beauty.
33:59That's a couple of ounces for sure.
34:01That's a bit of a dent in our ten ounces then.
34:03I know. Look at that.
34:05I'm stoked to keep going.
34:11Alright.
34:13Should fit in here pretty nicely, I reckon.
34:15Oh, I made it back.
34:19How'd you go, champ?
34:21Oh, he's a good pull.
34:23I actually managed to have the parts in stock, mate.
34:25Saved us three days.
34:27The other one was ex-Melbourne.
34:29Hopefully we don't find anything else in there because I only bought the parts that were broke.
34:31Touch wood there isn't.
34:33I'm here to help you, mate. What do you want done?
34:35Perfect. Alright, mate, we've got to blow these four
34:37track plates off, get some heat into it
34:39and we'll knock that pin out.
34:41Alright, let's get into it.
34:43Thanks, mate.
34:49It's just another typical day
34:51in the goldfields, you know.
34:53Blow these bolts off, we'll take the plates out
34:55and get to the idler arm and see what the issues are.
34:59It's a shame the excavator's not working.
35:01Paul really wants to prove up this ground.
35:03If we can prove this ground up,
35:05make our ten ounces,
35:07we'll go ahead and sell the Phoenix Project to the mining company.
35:09As a family,
35:11if we sell the Phoenix Project,
35:13we'll become debt free.
35:15That's a good sign there.
35:19Oh, yeah.
35:23I like it
35:25when I see big chunks of rock.
35:27Always hope it's a big bit.
35:31Got it.
35:33Oh, gosh.
35:41Look at that.
35:43Jeez.
35:45Makes me really happy with that bit.
35:49Awesome. First one from my pocket.
35:53Let's keep going.
35:55Oh, if we didn't replace this idler wheel,
35:57definitely would have ended up throwing that track, hey?
35:59Yeah, you're not wrong.
36:01Yeah, we're just trying to feed
36:03the whole idler arm back in now.
36:05Butt it up back to the inside here.
36:07Going just to push it
36:09with the tooth.
36:15We're making good firewood anyway.
36:17Try and push that
36:19straight in now, hey?
36:23Look at me go.
36:25You're so strong.
36:27About an inch to go.
36:29Keep going.
36:31Sorry.
36:33The whole track's kinked.
36:35I'll walk backwards with the weight on.
36:37We'll get that kink out.
36:45Yeah, you're right there. That'll do.
36:47Looks pretty good.
36:49Give it some love.
36:53Straight in.
36:55It's amazing what you can do
36:57out in the bush without a workshop, isn't it?
36:59We're back on track now.
37:01We've just got to put the plates back on,
37:03put the new bolts in,
37:05weld up around the pin we just put back in
37:07and send it.
37:15You know, with the Phoenix project,
37:17the offer that's
37:19on the table is a good one.
37:21There's 60 tonnes of power here.
37:23Just want to find a nice
37:25little open spot which has the
37:27gravels in it.
37:29I need to prove that this place
37:31is viable so that
37:33it's going to be sustainable for us
37:35for the rest of the season.
37:37Ooh!
37:39That sounds good.
37:41I'll give that a bit of a scrape.
37:43It's already been
37:45dug a metre down.
37:47So this is a pretty deep nugget
37:49if it is a nugget, which fingers crossed
37:51it is.
37:55Still in there.
38:01I think it was in there.
38:05Yeah, I got
38:07it out.
38:09Sounds good.
38:13Holy moly!
38:15Look at that! That's insane!
38:17That's huge!
38:19That's definitely got away nearly
38:212 ounces, about $7,000.
38:23That's insane!
38:25I'm definitely lucky today.
38:27Hey Dad,
38:29I've just found another big nugget like the one we found
38:31before. Oh, that's fantastic.
38:33I know, I'm stoked with it.
38:35Let's go chase that 10 ounce target.
38:43Here he comes, the man of the hour.
38:45And he saved the week.
38:47He's feeling pretty heavy.
38:49I'm quite excited to see how you've done.
38:51I can't wait to see how he's doing.
38:53Let's weigh up this gold while he's happy playing.
38:55How are you going Sonny?
38:57Are you finding some gold?
38:59Good stuff, mate.
39:01I bet he's keeping production going.
39:03Absolutely.
39:05It was good Sonny and I got a break,
39:07get out the heat for a few days.
39:09How's the week been? It's been tough.
39:11The belt gun was obviously the bigger one.
39:13I'm so lucky that Levi managed to get hold of Kim
39:15and get the belt.
39:17We could have been down for a week without it.
39:19I'd be feeling a lot lighter than what it is now.
39:21Yeah, I swallowed my pride.
39:23What a legend. That's amazing he was able to help you out.
39:25So we're up to 4.9 ounces for the season.
39:27We really need a good week
39:29to bump that up.
39:31I reckon we throw it on and see what we got.
39:33Moment of truth.
39:35Yeah, you want to do the honours darling?
39:37Let's see how we go.
39:39Whoa, a couple of chunky ones.
39:41Well done.
39:434.5 ounces guys.
39:45What a cracker.
39:47That's just over $16,000 guys
39:49for one week out digging.
39:51That's impressive.
39:53That's epic.
39:55That's almost 9.5 ounces so far for our season.
39:57We were all feeling a bit shaky towards the start
39:59weren't we, not knowing how it was going to go.
40:01But if this is the tale of what's to come,
40:03I'm pumped.
40:05Sonny, come and have a look how much gold there is.
40:07I'll pick you up.
40:09Whoa.
40:11Have a look at that for a chunk mate.
40:13Is that what you found digging over there?
40:15Oh.
40:17Yeah, we got some gold Sonny.
40:19Woo.
40:27Out of the furnace
40:29and down by the river.
40:31That fire certainly made things a bit difficult
40:33for us. I mean, dropped a tree down over
40:35the road and a tree over your patch.
40:37That's the problem with those fires,
40:39you never know where they're going to drop.
40:41Yeah, well it's just starting to get so dry out there now
40:43the fires are moving real quick.
40:45We got out of it and that was the main thing.
40:47How do you reckon we went? Pretty good.
40:49I'm hoping it's our best one for the year.
40:51Yeah, me too. It feels pretty heavy.
40:53Alright. Let's see what it says.
40:55There's some real chunky stuff in here
40:57mate. Come on.
40:59There we go.
41:017.07. Well done mate.
41:03That's a great one. That's our best weigh in.
41:05Great job.
41:07Smashed it. I'd say about
41:0925 grams worth of gold there.
41:11It surely is. I'll take that.
41:13Yep. But we've had slow starts
41:15of the season and we've worked
41:17really hard to put this together.
41:19That only puts us just over
41:2117 ounces for the year now.
41:23So we've still
41:25got a lot to go. We're not even a third of the way
41:27there yet. We've just proved that
41:29we are seriously on track.
41:31I think we just keep working out from
41:33that ground we've been to.
41:35Let's just keep systematically spreading
41:37out from that area.
41:39We're picking up gold like a kid in a candy shop in there.
41:41Nailed it.
41:43Let's go.
41:51Hey, you ready for the weigh in?
41:53Totally. Absolutely.
41:55I'm having fun playing with these nuggets.
41:57Big nuggets.
41:59I did say there was big nuggets here.
42:011.8.
42:03Nice. What does that one weigh?
42:05Five. Two nuggets. We're halfway
42:07there. Jesus.
42:09Let's just get the rest of them on there.
42:11It might just come a bit shy
42:13I think.
42:158.15.
42:17Still pretty good. Just under.
42:19But, really good looking nuggets.
42:21Yeah.
42:23Also,
42:25that's not the only ones. Did you find more?
42:27Ebony, have you been holding out on us?
42:29I have.
42:31Another massive one.
42:33Great job.
42:35Chuck it up.
42:37You are the lucky one, aren't you?
42:39Wow.
42:4110.5 ounces.
42:43When I said, let's go find 10 ounces,
42:45I thought, yeah, we're not going to get there, but
42:47we got there. That's amazing.
42:51I guess that brings us to the decision.
42:53Do we sell the Phoenix Project and
42:55come out here and chase these big
42:57nuggets? Yeah.
42:59That's a big decision.
43:01It is, but I'll leave it up to you.
43:07Well, we achieved
43:09what you wanted to achieve. You got your 10 ounces.
43:11Let's do it.
43:13We're doing it? Yeah, let's do it.
43:15We'll sell the Phoenix Project.
43:17Woo! We got that.
43:19Yes.
43:21That's unreal.
43:23There you go.
43:25Good job.
43:27Let's chase more of these.
43:53The Phoenix Project.
43:55The Phoenix Project.