Rick Ness Tries to Keep His Season Alive as Vegas Valley Pressure Builds

Rick Clears a Key Obligation With a Gold Payment

Rick Ness began this chapter of his season by taking care of unfinished business.

With Troy pressing for the final payment on Lightning Creek, Rick arrived carrying a jar containing 100 ounces of gold to settle the deal. The payment marked an important moment, because it completed Rick’s purchase of a second gold mine and expanded his holdings to 3,600 acres. For Rick, it was more than just a financial transaction. It was a step toward building long-term security, even if the new ground has not yet paid off in a meaningful way.

Rick made clear that Lightning Creek remains more of a future asset than an immediate producer. For now, it represents an insurance policy, something he hopes will become valuable later. His real focus remains on Vegas Valley, where the season’s success or failure will likely be decided.

Vegas Valley Has Become the Centre of Rick’s Season

Although Lightning Creek offers promise, Rick’s immediate future depends on what happens at Vegas Valley.

The site paid out nearly 800 ounces the previous year, giving Rick strong reason to believe there is still serious gold left in the ground. But the situation is complicated by time. His water license for Vegas Valley is valid only until November, leaving him with a limited window to recover as much gold as possible before the opportunity disappears.

That reality has turned Vegas Valley into the most important ground in Rick’s operation. He knows the gold is there, but knowing it exists and actually reaching it are two very different things in mining. With the season advancing and pressure mounting, Rick is trying to move as quickly as possible while also managing a fragile operation that cannot afford many more setbacks.

Mechanical Trouble Begins to Slow Everything Down

The biggest problem facing Rick is not belief in the ground. It is the operation’s ability to keep moving.

As the team worked to build the road into Vegas Valley and reach the next pay area, truck problems began to pile up. Rick was already down to just two rock trucks when another failure created even more pressure. One truck suffered a serious issue when its hydraulic tank came loose, leaving the vehicle in no condition to continue running safely.

For an operation already working with limited equipment, that kind of failure was a major setback. Rick pointed out that these were the same original trucks he had been using for about seven years, and the strain of keeping older machines alive was becoming harder to manage. What made the situation worse was timing. There was still a huge amount of material left to move, and every delay pushed the crew further away from the pay they needed to keep the plant fed.

The Road Build Falls Behind at the Worst Possible Time

As the breakdowns mounted, Bailey’s task became even more difficult.

With fewer working trucks available, the effort to finish the Vegas Valley road slowed dramatically. Bailey admitted there was more material to move than expected, and what had looked achievable on paper was turning into a much longer and more difficult project on the ground.

That created a direct threat to Rick’s season. If the road could not be finished in time, the crew would not be able to access enough pay dirt to keep Monster Red running. On a gold mine, that kind of bottleneck can quickly become devastating. No matter how much gold may be waiting below, it means little if the equipment and infrastructure cannot get material to the plant.

Rick understood the danger immediately. Without fresh pay, the plant would be forced to stop, and that is exactly what happened.

Rick Is Forced to Shut Down Monster Red

With no new pay reaching the plant, Rick had no real choice.

Monster Red was shut down, a move that carried both financial and emotional weight. This late in the season, losing plant time is especially painful. Rick knew that every day without production made his target of 1,800 ounces harder to reach. He also knew the business could not survive on hope alone. Until the road was finished and fresh pay was available, the crew had to rely on whatever stockpiled material remained.

Rick admitted it was a bad feeling to shut the plant down at such a critical point. The uncertainty surrounding the next round of pay only made that worse. Still, with the operation blocked by road work and equipment trouble, the shutdown became unavoidable.

The Weekly Weigh Brings a Much-Needed Lift

Even with the shutdown, Rick still had one important question to answer: how much gold had been left in the pay pile from last season?

When the gold was finally weighed, the result brought a clear boost to camp. The tally came in at 247 ounces, worth about $866,000. It was Rick’s biggest gold weigh of the season and a major improvement on the disappointing totals that had recently put the crew under even more strain.

The result did not fully erase the gap between expectation and reality. Rick had hoped for something closer to 400 ounces from that pile. But 247 ounces was still a strong number, and it offered proof that the ground at Vegas Valley was capable of delivering meaningful returns.

More importantly, it pushed Rick’s season total to 437 ounces, giving the crew a reminder that despite all the breakdowns and delays, the season still had life in it.

The Crew Knows the Real Work Is Still Ahead

The weigh improved morale, but nobody in camp seemed under any illusion about the challenge still facing them.

Rick’s team knows that the gold is likely sitting at the bottom of the hole. The problem is getting there quickly, safely, and with enough operational stability to capitalize on it. That means finishing the road, restoring proper material flow, and avoiding more equipment setbacks at a time when the season can least afford them.

Rick tried to keep the crew focused on exactly that point. He reminded them that they had been in difficult positions before and had still managed to finish strong. The message was part encouragement, part warning. The opportunity is still there, but reaching it will demand more hard work, more patience, and fewer mistakes.

Rick Still Believes the Season Can Turn

Despite the setbacks, the mood at the end of the weigh was not defeated.

There was still laughter, still belief, and still a sense that the season could be rescued if the crew could reach the pay in time. The result from the stockpile showed there is real value left to recover, and Rick clearly believes Vegas Valley can still deliver the finish he is chasing.

That belief matters, because right now the season stands at a delicate point. Rick has secured new ground for the future, but the immediate battle remains at Vegas Valley. He has proven there is gold there. Now he must prove he can reach it before time, weather, and equipment issues close the window for good.

For Rick Ness, this is no longer just about finding gold. It is about holding the operation together long enough to give himself a real chance at a strong finish.