Connecting the Cable & Climbing the Berm
We’ve already got a dozer over there, so I have to connect the cable to it. I’ll throw a rope over and maybe use the Cat to get it across.
A 2-inch thick steel cable, weighing around 3/4 of a ton, has already been stretched across the pond. It still needs to be hauled the final 50 yards up a steep, overgrown berm to reach its anchor point.
I’m here to hook onto a rope that Len is throwing down the berm so I can attach it to the cable and pull it up to the dozer.
Trying the Dozer and Rope
Len and I can’t pull the cable by hand, so he’s going to start the dozer, hook onto the rope, and hopefully pull the cable up to him.
“You can keep going forward.”
We tried using the rope, but it didn’t work. So now I think I’ll try with the excavator. There’s a bit of risk I might sink it.
Switching to the Excavator
Len decides to drop the rope idea and use the excavator’s bucket arm, chaining it to the cable to haul it up the steep berm.
To get into position, the 55-ton 700 excavator has to cross soft ground.
“You can see the excavator is sinking a little bit.”
“Okay, Len… that should do it. Beautiful.”
Now the dredge’s winch cable is connected to the dozer. Let’s see if they can pull it off.
Getting It Moving
They’ve hooked up every corner of the cable. If everything’s done right, it should pull out smoothly.
“Look how nicely it flows out of there.”
“I think if I go forwards… we got it.”
“That looks good. She’s clear and floating.”
“Sure feels good getting it up that gang plank.”
“Yep. That’s been a long time coming.”
Firing It Up
“You guys want to fire it up and make the thing work?”
“We need a bottle of champagne!”
“With how this summer’s been going, I don’t know if the old lady’s going to go for that—we may need to fill the bottle with orange juice or something.”
“Anyway, if you want to fire it up—let ‘er rip!”
“I’m so excited I could just… my pants!”
System Starts Working
“I’m going to start up the trommel… there we go.”
“Perfect, the stacker’s coming on.”
“We’ve got water coming in. Here comes the bucket.”
After five years, Tony’s dredge is finally running again and catching much-needed gold.
“There’s your first dirt in the bucket—we got it going.”
“Looks awesome. Been a long time coming.”
At Paradise Hill – Time to Weigh Gold
“Hey guys—we’ve got some newbies!”
“Exciting, huh?”
“Glad someone’s excited.”
At Paradise Hill, the Beets crew is meeting to weigh their gold after running three wash plants, including the historic dredge.
“Too bad we had all those troubles.”
“It was to be expected though.”
“After we got through most of the problems, it ran pretty nicely.”
“Sluicelot ran all week pretty good. It’s nice having a plant working again.”
Weighing the Gold
“What do you want to weigh first?”
“I’ve got three runs—start with the dredge.”
“How long did we run it?”
“Only two days.”
Tony’s hoping the dredge delivers at least 20 ounces.
“2… 5… 15… Final is 22.56 ounces — worth over $40,000.”
“That’s what we said — 1 ounce an hour. Pretty close.”
Next up is Sluicelot, which ran all week at the Indian River, aiming for about 200 ounces.
“10, 20, 40, 100, 120, 140, 180… 184.36 ounces.”
“I’ll take that any day!”
Next is the trommel, running 24/7 on Paradise Hill at 300 yards per hour.
“20, 40, 80, 100, 150, 180, 190… Final is 205.22 ounces.”
“That’s not great for 24/7, is it?”
Weekly Total & Season Summary
This week’s total: 412 ounces, bringing the season total to 1,669 ounces — that’s a lot of money.
Final Word – Parker Schnabel
“Hey guys, I’m Parker Schnabel, and you’re watching Discovery Australia!”
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