All language subtitles for aussie.gold.hunters.s08e04.720p.web.h264-b2b[eztv.re]

This time on Aussie Gold Hunters...

Couple million dollars
worth of equipment

sitting idle
at the moment.

It ain't working
so it's a dead asset.

After a rocky start...
I'm not a fan of metal detecting

but you've got to keep
producing gold.

..the Gold Devils pin their hopes
on an exploration mission

to a rugged outback lease
where their fortunes finally turn.

Look at that!

No way!

Look at the size of those!

In tropical Queensland,
Jacqui and Andrew

struggle to break
a gold drought...

So bloody hard to get
a pick in there. Junk.

..and discover a camp intruder...

Who would have done this?
No food left at all.

..and floodwaters cripple
the Gold Retrievers'

new 75,000 dollar plant...

You're kidding me. That's another
eight grand down the drain.

That motor's full of water now
so I'm absolutely devastated.

..forcing Brad and Chris
to question their future.

I'm ready to give up, mate.
I, I can't do this anymore.

So I'm off to a lease
that's ah, been in the family

for a couple of decades.

Hopefully find
some decent nuggets

and, and turn our season around.

Mel and Alex at the moment,
they're back at the Phoenix Project

basically getting on top
of all the repairs

that needed to be done
after the move.

Check the other side
of the truck for me, please.

You got about that much space
on that side.

We've got a couple of million
dollars worth of machinery

and all our gears
just sitting idle at the moment.

It ain't working
so it's a dead asset.

Last week, Paul's heap leach

kick-started
the Gold Devil's season...

Wow!
3.3 kilos.

Well done.

..but the gold
barely covered the cost

of moving their operation
to new ground.

Three vehicles, two car trailers,
three road trains and the crane.

Oh God!

And the move critically
damaged the plant,

stopping them
from getting more gold.

Great. So that sounds
like more time and money.

At the moment,
we're not even running any pay dirt

and it's realistically not
the start to the season

that we were hoping for.

I'm off to find some new ground,
and hopefully,

get us back on the money.

In the inhospitable Western
Australian gold fields,

Paul Mackie is heading
to the two-kilometre square

Desert King lease

on a critical exploration mission.

This season we've um,
we've basically gone in

hell for leather.

We've set a target
of a thousand ounces.

We've hit a few roadblocks

but we've got to keep
producing gold.

So that's why we're out here doing
one of the things that I hate,

which is metal detecting

but you gotta do
what you gotta do.

Today we've pretty much got
the family out here,

we've got both me cousins,
Dave and Darren.

Darren's going to be digging
the gold targets out,

if I can find some.

Let's get into it.

He's basically an all rounder.
He can do anything,

and yeah, Dave's going to be
in the dozer,

clearing all this vegetation away.

22 years ago,
I was wandering through here,

I picked up some really
deep targets,

really good sized gold.
But the trees that were in the way,

I had no hope.

Having the bigger machine,
we've got a real chance

of hopefully hitting some
of those bigger pieces again.

You on channel there, Dave?
Yeah, mate.

Jump in the dozer.

I'll meet you down the
back end of the cut.

For us to even make that thousand
ounce target a reality,

every chance you get
to push new ground

and find new gold,
you got to take it.

Dave will use a 90 tonne
crawler dozer

to strip away the heavy scrub

and expose virgin ground
for Paul to detect.

The bigger the equipment,
the more ground you can clear.

It's definitely the right tool
for the job.

You right for me to come
in there now, mate?

Yeah, mate. You're right to go.

Well. hopefully we can pick
something through here, Darren.

Yeah, well hopefully there's a few
of them around here.

Everyone that knows me knows
I'm not a fan of metal detecting.

Me personally, I've never
really found too much gold

metal detecting.

My biggest one, I think,
is about 28 grams.

It was exciting at the time
but then you go through, you know,

lengthy periods of finding nothing

and I guess that's where
my energy levels,

walking around the bush,
waving the magic wand,

kind of disappeared.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
Oi.

Sounds alright.
Well, there's a start.

Make it a big one, Darren.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

Nugget number one, hopefully.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

There it is.

Nice little one to start the day.

Yeah, maybe a gram and a half,

two grams.

It's not going to pay
for the diesel bill though.

Couple of sandwiches
and a carton but...

This kind of gold's
more like a hobby, not a living.

So at the start of the season,
you know Alex and Mel,

we got together
and got some good ground

so we thought
we'd set a decent target,

a big pay day
at the end of the season.

We've set a target
of a thousand ounces.

At this stage,
it looks very, very unrealistic.

Little pieces of gold
just aren't gonna cut it.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
Wahey, another one.

Didn't sound
very good though.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
A little sister, mate.

They're all staying the same size,
aren't they?

You got a copy there, Dave?

Might just want to push
another 20 odd metres.

Been out here nearly all day

and we've found less than an ounce.

To be out here waving a magic wand,

trying to find a needle
in a haystack,

it's kinda demoralising really.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

Only little.

Let's get into it down there.

Must be only a little piece.

We've been looking for it
for five minutes now, mate.

If it's that hard to find,
it's probably worth

just leaving behind.

C'mon, what's it going to be?

(MACHINE BEEPS)

No wonder it was so hard
to find, mate.

It's only a little one.

That's the smallest one yet.

You don't seem too impressed
with this, mate.

No, I'm not.

And this was supposed to be
a turning point for us.

It's supposed to be big gold
out here

but finding these little
tiddly pieces of gold,

it just doesn't,
doesn't do it for me.

What's the plan from here?

Mate, I'm just about ready
to pack up, to be honest with you.

Feels like it's a big waste of time.

Well, if you're saying
that you found a little bit of gold

in this gully
that we're headed to,

maybe I'll be able to get
my first nug' for the season.

I know you've been off
to a rough start.

Especially
since I've been hitting a few,

I'm actually feeling a bit guilty.

Maybe you shouldn't tell me
when you find a nugget

until I've found mine
and I've broken the drought.

It will turn around, mate,
but right now,

I think what we need
to be more worried about

is finding a good campsite
before it gets dark.

We're going to have to be
pretty careful here.

It's a dangerous gold field.

Exploration prospectors
Jacqui Buzetti

and Andrew Leahy
are amongst the few people

permitted to access the remote
Palmer River Rainforest

of Far North Queensland.

They're on an overnight
detecting mission

deep into the hunting grounds
of some of Australia's

most dangerous wildlife.

Apex predators
like saltwater crocodiles

who hide in its murky waters,

and snakes with paralysing venom

like the Coastal Taipan
and King Brown.

Bit of flat ground up on top
of a hill would be good.

We don't want to camp
near water again.

That's too dangerous
with the crocodiles.

I think this might be alright.

Looks flat and everything.

Righto, well let's get it set up.

It would be good to get
everything set up

and secure before it gets dark.

Right, I'm all done.
Yep.

Swag, tent, fire.

And a couple of new items
for this year.

Oh, you got us trail cams.

Yeah, yeah,
bit of security around camp, eh?

That way if there's anyone
snooping around, we'll know.

Because we did see those dodgy
people getting around last year.

There's a car.
Yeah, he's sussing us out for sure.

I feel really nervous now.

So be good to make sure
everything's safe.

So we came into this gully
because you know,

it backs onto other good
gold ground that we've worked.

There's plenty of old timer
diggings in here

and I actually picked up a couple of
little nuggets here in the summer.

Hey look.
Check out the stone pitching.

That's proper old timers workings.
Yeah.

If we keep pushing up further
and we'll probably get onto it,

I reckon.

Last week...

I think this is some of the last
unsearched ground in the whole area.

..Jacqui and Andrew trekked
deeper into the gold fields

than ever before...

Nah, we're not
getting through there.

..on the hunt for new ground...

Oh yes! You bloody ripper!

..but the mission ended
in frustration for Jacqui.

Oh, piece of junk.

I literally packed up
my entire life,

left my job,
left my house, everything.

And I've found no gold.

So we're having a little look
around this area.

It's near a lot of old gold workings
from back in the 1800s.

There's been a lot
of erosion since then

and the old timers
didn't have detectors,

so see if they left us
anything behind.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

There's always a lot of junk
in these areas the old timers worked

so you don't get
too excited.

Wait until you see the gold
before you count your chickens,

hey.

Junk here everywhere.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

Well, that's loud.

Right under that tree root.

They always end up

in between all these tree roots

and it's so bloody hard
to get a pick in there.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
Here we go.

Junk!

It's just a waste of time.

Oh, new spot tomorrow.
Yep.

Not enough gold here
to warrant coming back.

No.

I'm really struggling.

We do really need
to get onto some good gold.

Did you leave your tent open
when we left this morning?

Oh!

Why is that all opened up?
Oh!

What the hell?

Oh man!

What the hell?

What is this?

I don't understand.
Who would have done this?

Is anything missing?

00:11:41.480 -- 00:11:43.840
I'm just coming off the main road
into our track to site,

and it's looking pretty dodgy
to be honest. Um...

We've had a lot of rain.

It's just so slippery.

Had a bit of a setback last week.
We got all the plant up

and ah, you know, ready to run,

but I unfortunately
had the wrong generator.

So I've just made the mad dash
to Perth,

it's been about a 16 hour round trip

but I got a generator
so that's the main thing.

The goal right now is just
to get this generator to site,

get all the crushing plant
up and running,

and um, start finding some gold.

Outside Coolgardie
in remote Western Australia,

Brad McGhie of the Gold Retrievers

must haul a one tonne generator
across muddy track

to reach the Devil's Cut lease.

Woah! This is sticky as.

Two kilometres away,

team mate Chris Smith

is detecting for nuggets
at their old dig site.

Definitely not ideal

detecting in this weather.

It affects the detectors.

It's the pairs' only way
of finding gold

with their plant
still out of action.

This generator's cost us
10,000 dollars

so that's really put a massive dent
in our season target

before we've even started.

That affects everything,
not just here but at home.

I've got a lot of family
relying on me, you know.

I've got a wife and we've got
six kids between us

so this operation, you know,

there's just so much
relying on it.

Yeah, the car's sliding.

Oh, I've lost control here.

Come on.

I don't need this crap.

This is...

I'm never getting out of this, man.

Far out! Ugh!

Hopefully this season is going
to be an epic season for us.

Last week, the Gold Retrievers
started their season

with dreams of running a new
75,000 dollar wash plant...

If we can get that up
and running, mate,

we're going to do
very bloody well, I reckon.

..but a generator problem
left the expensive set-up

on their remote lease
unusable...

We always tell other people,
come prepared,

and here we are unprepared.

..and the pair barely made a dent

in their ambitious
50 ounce season target.

First one for the season.
It's nothing to write home about.

Eh Chris,
you got a copy there, mate?

Yeah, mate.

Mate, I'm stuck.

Good news is I got a genny.

Bad news is I can't get it to you.

I'm just at camp, mate.
I'll see if I can get you out

and we'll tow you back to site.

I'll see you shortly, thanks mate.

I can't believe how wet it is here.

It wasn't like this when I left.

And God knows
what the camp looks like.

I can hear Chris coming.

If the loader doesn't get us out,
then I don't know what will.

Mate, I'm going to be lucky
to pull you out of there.

I know.

I was slipping all over the track
just getting here.

Mate, that track coming in
was an absolute mess, man.

I'm surprised I got this far.

I got a new generator by the way.

Well done, mate.
I hope we can use it!

Yeah if we could get it to camp,
we could use it.

Alright.

That should do it, mate.

Good.

Yeah mate, ready when you are.

Oh, I hope this works.

If we don't get this out,
it will hurt.

Yeah boy, she's moving!

Woo hoo! Yes!

Righto, Chris ah, looks good
there, mate. I'll unhook us.

Roger, mate. At least we're out.

Must have had
a bit of rain, eh, Chris?

Yeah, I've never seen so much rain
in my life actually.

Ah, is that the concentrator
under water, is it?

Holy BLEEP!

Never seen water like that here.

You're kidding me!

Nah.
Holy crap man.

That's got an electric motor on it
and this is getting

a bit beyond a joke now.

That is underwater, mate.
That is just destroyed.

That's another eight grand
down the drain.

And then we've just bought
a 10,000 dollar generator.

That we can't use at the moment.

We haven't even started yet,

and we're BLEEP 20 grand
in the hold already.

I'm ready to give up, mate.
I can't do this anymore.

I'm, I'm over it.
I'm ready just to go home.

Even though we are
finding gold here,

it's not enough.

You know we've set a season target
of a thousand ounces.

We've found, you know,
less than an ounce.

We've been here nearly all day.

The nuggets are just getting smaller
and smaller and smaller.

With his main operation,

the Phoenix Project on hold,

Gold Devil Paul Mackie
is hoping his unproven

Desert King lease

holds game changing gold.

The gold's just not big enough.

It's not going
to pay the bills, so...

Don't you think it's worth
doing one more push, mate?

Well, while we've got
the dozer here,

if I was going to do another push,

I'd probably go a bit down further

where it's a bit more deeper soil.

You got a channel there, Dave?

Yeah, roger that.

Might just do one more small cut,
give it another hour or so,

and if there's nothing after that,
we'll pack up and go.

We are finding gold here but
it's not really worth our time

exploring it any further.

So yeah, we'll just do
one more cut here

and hopefully we get something
decent out of it.

If not, that's it, game over.

We know there is
bigger nuggets here

because they've come out
of here before

but let's hope we really get
onto one sooner or later.

If it's going to be here,

it's going to be
in this cut right now.

Things didn't work out the way
I wanted them to

the last couple of years,
and just a hell of a lot of expense

and time away from the family.

It wears you down.

What we're finding here
at the moment,

it's not going to pay the bills,
and it's not going to make

any dent in that season tally
that we've got.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

Well, that's a good sound.

It's still in there.

Oh, that's a thumper
by the sound of it.

Either that
or it's right on the top.

Hang on! Hey! Back there.

You serious?

Ah ha ha ha. Look at that!

Oh my God!

Nice one, mate. Nice one.

Look at the size of that.
Feel the weight of that.

That is a thumper.

Well, lucky I didn't pick it.

That's what we came here for!
Right there.

That's what we came here for.

Hey Dave!

Oh, you frickin' beauty!

It would be at least what?
Three ouncer.

Maybe a bit more?

Yeah, it's a three
or four ouncer. Easy.

That is beautiful.
That is amazing.

That is literally
the biggest nugget

I've ever pulled out of the ground.

Really?
Yeah.

Alright, I'm going to keep going.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

Can't be two in the same hole.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

Mate, did you hear the sound of it?

It's a bloody good sound.

Oh!
Oh, look at that!

Wahey!
Look at that!

What a beauty!

What?

Oh my God!

Two, you know, literally
basically in the same hole.

That's phenomenal.

Are you starting
to like detecting now, mate?

I'll be happy to keep on the rest
of the day

if that's what's coming
out of the ground.

That's an easy 12
and a half grand, that.

If it stays like this,
we're going to need more people.

I'll um, give Alex and Mel a call
and see if they can get down here.

I think we'll be working
into the night, boys.

I'm keen to keep going.
Team effort.

Yeah, let's go for it.

We can't just leave it
sitting in the water, man.

We've got to try
and save something.

I'm not going in to get it.
I've just driven 16 hours, mate,

so, but we need to get
that out of there.

On their Devil's Cut lease,

torrential rains have flooded
the Gold Retriever's dam

and submerged their new 75,000
dollar gold recovery plant.

This is the absolute last thing
I expected.

I've just sort of rocked back
with the generator

and then we're having
these sort of problems now.

I mean, we potentially cost ourself

probably another
five to ten grand.

Yeah, it's sort of got me
thinking about um,

what we're doing here really.

So all the machines
are jammed up together

so I'll have to just drag
this one back so I can get to them.

OK, bring her around, mate.

Brad and Chris's plant
has four connected machines

that crush and wash pay dirt.

The 8,000 dollar concentrator
that recovers gold

with centrifugal force
is most at risk.

We need to get
this gear out of here.

I think there's a fair bit
of weather coming in again so...

There's a potential
we're going to lose

everything here, mate.

We can try and salvage
what we can, hey.

Are you gonna go for a swim,
are ya?

Looks like it.
I got the bad coin toss.

I'm hoping we can salvage
something out of this

but uh I know that motor's
full of water now.

Oh, that's cold.

I've gotta shape this nicely
just so I don't damage

any more than what's
already waterlogged.

Pull him out slowly,

and hopefully,
we can get it dried out.

Come down, mate.

Worst case scenario
is the motor's stuffed

and we've got water in all
the electrical parts.

That's where all the money is.

Righto bud, up you go.

That's devastating, mate.

Mate, I am absolutely gutted.

Eight grands worth of gear.

She's chockers full of mud, mate.

It'll be nice to salvage it but um,

it's not looking good, is it?

That motor's gotta come off it, Bud.

It's not good. It's not good at all.

We'll strip it down and have a look.

Fingers crossed
we've not damaged it too badly.

So it doesn't look as bad
as what I thought it would.

It might only cost us you know,

a thousand bucks,
fifteen hundred

to get it rebuilt.

Well, at least it's not
8,000 dollars damage, mate.

No. It's a lot better
than I thought.

But I mean either way,
it's gonna have to go back to Perth

and get stripped down because
a lot of that dirty water

out of the dam's
all gone through it.

About a week turnaround.

Mate, look we're here now, man,
the sun's out,

I say we go and do some work.
We'll go down the corridor.

I'll take the digger down there
and do some detecting, hey?

Make hay while the sun shines, mate.

Yeah, we'll see if we can find
a bit of gold and salvage the trip.

00:22:38.520 -- 00:22:40.120
What the hell?

Who would do this?

No food left at all.

Even our BLEEP water.

All the fresh stuff's gone.

I had a bag of meat
that I took out this morning

that I was going to cook up.

There it is.

There's what's left of it.
Well, everything's still here,

like the generator
and everything's still here.

I think something's been into camp.

I'm just going to check
the trail cams.

Hey Jacqui, you need
to check this out.

I know what was around camp.

What's that?

That's a feral pig.

Are you serious?
Yeah.

There's pigs
all through this country.

I did not think it would come in
towards our camp though.

That's really scary.

There are an estimated 24 million
feral pigs in Australia.

They are an invasive species
that destroys crops,

the environment,

and are known to charge at humans.

I know they're around.

I had that close encounter here
only a few weeks ago really.

I've got the video here.

This is what we call
Butterfly Gorge.

Checking out the caves.

Oh my God!

Yeah, it was a close call, eh.
He just charged me.

Holy crap.

I don't think we can hang around
here too much longer now.

I mean, probably got a day or two's
worth of food left now.

I don't know. We just pushed
all that way into this area.

We don't really have much time
to look around

so if we hit the hotspots
straight away,

hopefully we get something good
and then we can go

and do a supply run afterwards.

Alright, let's just hit
the best ground we can.

I've been having a look at the
satellite imagery

and there's a haul road
not too far from here.

I think it's our best prospect.

These unmaintained haul roads

were constructed over
40 years ago,

when mining companies
explored the Palmer River

for the first time

since the gold rush of the 1800s.

We chase up haul roads,
we know that some of them

are going to fail
and we'll come out

empty handed,

but when they work,
they put us right on the good gold.

Righto, I'm pretty well ready.

I might head down the creek

and try down lower in the gully.

Pulled up on this little gully,
and the ground looks fantastic

and we can't see any workings
from anyone.

No modern signs at all. Like this
is really untouched ground.

Really like the look of this ground.

Ancient water systems eroded
channels through the ground,

concentrating the heavy
gold material in creek beds.

Over time, the water dried up,

leaving the gold behind,
in the gullies.

Oh what?

No way.

I think this is part of a gun.

All the old timers
used to carry pistols around.

It's got to be at least
over a hundred years old.

Anyone who detected this spot
would have definitely found it

so I know that
I'm probably the first person

with a metal detector
on this spot.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

What the hell's going on there?

Bloody hell. I know what that is.

Yeah. BLEEP.

Another broken bloody coil.

The old girl's done a lot of miles.

I've rubbed it over too many rocks.

Jacqui, you got a copy?
Yeah, mate.

Yeah, I just broke my coil.

You're kidding.

Nah, I'm going to have to hike
back to the car

and change it out.

Bloody hours walk, wrecked coil.
Really didn't have time for this.

God dammit.

Well, I mean we set
a thousand ounce target.

Pretty ambitious of us really.

We've hit a few snags
so I'm hoping that,

where Paul is right now,
and what he's finding,

can turn that around for us.

If he's onto something
that would be a big help

because at the moment,
we're not really producing anything.

We need gold and if Paul
is gonna deliver that,

then that's a big win for us.

Melanie Wood and Alex Stead

have made the six-hour drive
from the Gold Devils' base

to help teammate Paul Mackie
target nugget rich ground

on the Desert King lease.

Hey guys.

Yo Paul!

You made it.

One little spot on the map
and you found it.

How you going?

Good to see you. How you going?
Yeah, good.

Well, you got me at the right time.

Can you hear that?

That sounds interesting.

Worked well into the night
last night

and just kept adding to the tally.

Want to have a look?
Yeah.

Oh, hell yeah.

Oh my goodness!
No way.

Look at the size of those.

Oh my God!

That's chunks of happiness
right there.

It sure is.

This is the biggest nugget
I've ever seen.

This is the biggest nugget
I've ever found.

So what are we doing here, Paul?
What's the plan?

Well, plan is we've got
a lot of ground to cover,

a lot of work to get done,

um, I want to get in
and get done as much as we can

before we start getting
the poachers wandering around.

Yeah.

The minute they see
all the tracks coming in here,

they're going to be
all over us.

Let's get in, get it done
and make as much gold as we can

for our massive season tally.

Get some gold.

Here we go.

I'm not a big fan of metal
detecting, but in saying that,

yesterday I found the biggest nugget
that I've ever found.

So, you know, I'm happy to have
this thing strapped to me arm

for another few days.

That's why I had to call up
Mel and Alex.

We want all hands on deck to try
and get as much of this gold

out of the ground
as quickly as possible.

While Paul and his cousin Darren
detect the gold rich patch,

Mel and Alex are searching
higher ground

to try and locate
the source of the gold.

There's actually a quartz reef

popping up
just around the corner here.

See how the quartz
is coming all the way down here?

Oh yep.

Looks like a juicy quartz reef.

Generally gold
comes with the quartz,

so this is
a good indicator.

Well, I'll tell you what...

Oh wow.

There are other minerals
running in with the quartz...

Wow.

..and if there are other minerals

then every chance
that that could be gold

carried in with it.

Gold was formed in this area over
two and a half billion years ago.

When hot, pressurised fluid
carrying gold and quartz

from the Earth's mantle

travelled along fault lines.

Over time,
the veins cooled and hardened

before decomposing,

leaving behind
gold rich patches known as reefs.

Right, let's get into it.

Just need some ah, indicators now,

actual gold indicators
on the detector

to show us that this is
actually producing gold.

Gold-bearing quartz

could indicate a gold reef
below the surface,

the source of the large nuggets
Paul is uncovering

on lower ground.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

I thought it was
a bigger sound than normal.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
Oh, you beauty.

Oh, look at that!

What a pearler.

That's a nice chunk,
isn't it?

That is beautiful.

Have to be close to an ounce.

Alex and Mel better hurry up, mate.

Yeah, they'd better.

They're going to miss out
on all the fun.

This is possibly
where the gold's come from

so if we can find specimens...

Uh huh.

..that would be a good indicator
that the gold

has actually come
from this far up.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
That sounds alright.

Oh!

No way!

That's gold.
No way!

Oh my God,
it's all over it.

It's not solid gold,
but you know what?

It's a quartz specimen.

That's as good
an indicator as you get.

Picking up nuggets is great but once
they're gone, they're gone.

When you find a quartz reef,
that could lead to an ore body

or a mother lode.

The find is proof
there is a gold-bearing quartz reef

on the lease.

A reef that could hold
the mother lode.

Well, we came here
looking for nuggets

and we've got a specimen.

I mean, that's a game changer.

Who found the gold?
We found the gold.

00:31:15.000 -- 00:31:17.040
Alright, so we're back
to digging now.

Um the wet plant situation

is not going too well
at the moment

so we need to get a few repairs done

before we can get
back on that.

With the Gold Retrievers' new plant
damaged by flood water,

the team's only chance
of finding gold

is the push and detect method
they used last season.

And we're back on the Devil's Cut.

We're ah,
opening up some new ground.

This wet weather's
probably helped us a little bit

to loosen up this ground, mate.

Mate, it's um making it
a bit easier to dig

so it's a good opportunity to get
in before it dries out again.

In a 25 tonne excavator,

Brad digs up pay dirt
from a new pit.

Then Chris uses the front loader

to spread it
into 15 centimetre thick pads

ready to be detected.

I've only been up here a short while
and I'm already missing the family.

Yeah, I've got the little one
calling me everyday

just to check in and see.

She asks me every day,
"How much gold did you find, Dad?"

My answer to her is always,
"Not enough, love."

Got a bit riding on this season.
The fifty-ounce target

is a big target for anybody.

We've got to pick
up the slack big time here.

Alright, mate, that'll do it.

I'll park up.
I'll go get the detector.

It's been a um,
pretty bad start for us

having to go and spend
another 10,000 dollars

on a generator
and a few thousand on a new motor

for the concentrator
that got flooded.

We really need to start
finding some gold,

even just to sort of
get back on target.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
Aye.

That is the sound I want to hear.

Doesn't sound like rubbish.

It would mean a lot
to bloody find something.

We need this, come on.

Yes!

It's gold. That's exactly
what I wanted to see in here.

So that tells me that the gold
is coming from the pit

back through
this way as well.

It's such a small piece
but it means so much.

The quick find means the new pit
that Brad has opened up

could be full of nugget rich
pay dirt.

I'm going down in the hole, Chris.

The reason I'm coming down here
is the digger

can't actually pick up a lot
of this stuff off the bottom here

so just see if there's any nuggets
still sitting down here.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

Ooh, that's a target.

That's a bloody good target.

Oh, first scoop!

Gotta love that.

(MACHINE BEEPS)

Oo hoo hoo!

Yeah, baby!

That's a bloody
pearler piece of gold.

That is unbelievable!

What a bloody great way
to finish the day.

Check this out, Christopher.
What you got, buddy?

Bloody good little speci.

Hooley dooley!
Aye?

Geez mate, there's some
weight in it, aye?

Mate, I reckon there's about
an ounce of gold in that.

Well, with that crusher down, mate,
this is all coming in

very, very handy.

We've still got daylight left, mate.
I'm going to keep going.

Woo hoo, let's find some more.

Well done, buddy.
Yeah boy! Woo!

So I've just about
got the spare coil on.

It's been one of those days today.

Haven't been finding gold
and now I've just broke

a 500 dollar
part of me detector.

Righto, that's all good to go now

but I don't have a spare anymore,
so if I break this one, that's it.

It's all over.

In the depths of the Palmer River,
it's Jacqui and Andrew's last chance

to find gold before the pair
have to stock up on provisions.

Kind of want to get down
to this gully

and onto that gravel
where the gold

tends to like to lie.

It's just frustrating
because, so far,

all I've been finding
is junk targets.

I'm already deflated. I haven't
even found a single nugget yet.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
That's a loud signal.

Straight into the gravel.

That's always good.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
Almost too loud to pinpoint.

It could be a bullet or something.

Yes! Ah, ha, ha.

Oh my God, that's huge!

Finally the drought is over,

and what a good ending
to the drought that is.

This looks like it could
even push about half an ounce.

You've got to have some mates.

While Jacqui
is covering the higher banks,

Andrew is targeting an area

a hundred metres
further down the gully

armed with
his new detector coil.

It's always good to have
a nice shiny new thing on.

It's even better
when they make that noise.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
That sounds nice.

It's there already.

Little beauty!

So I chucked that
new 500 dollar coil on

and that's 40 dollars of it.
I'm wearing it down already.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
Aha. Another one right there.

Now at this stage
I'm getting pretty confident.

Oh, get out! Seriously!

Oh, for God's sake.

Oh yes. That is the law
of averages right there, hey.

You've been through
a bit of a drought.

I had this coming.
For sure I had this coming.

I reckon that's got to be
pushing 20 grams, hey.

That's unreal.

Andy, you got a copy?

Yeah, I'm here.

Mate, I have got over an ounce

of gold in my jar.

Yeah, good one, mate.
Oh, that's excellent.

The drought is over!

You ended the drought
with a flood too.

We're on a seriously good run here.

Oh, stop it!

Ouch! Ah!

They're in my clothes.

Just another day on the Palmer.

Green ants. You brush up
against the wrong tree.

I was just scratching
the ground there.

They're so aggressive.

Green Ants are fiercely territorial,

and if their nest is threatened,

will attack in swarms.

You don't find gold on Palmer

without getting bitten
by green ants.

(MACHINE BEEPS)
If this is another chunk of gold

and this is how quick
I'm getting onto them,

it's a really good sign
for the start of our season.

There you are,
you cheeky little thing.

Ha, you didn't hide for long though.

Look at it, just sitting there,
loud and proud and look, it's big!

Yes!

Just plucked that one out.
Got all those ones out.

If anyone asks me why I come here
and why I do this, that's why.

That, right there.

Hey Bradley, beer o'clock, mate.

About that time, isn't it?

Cheers, Bud. Mate, I tell ya,

it's been a bloody tough week.
Yeah.

16 hour drive, man,
nearly killed me.

It was a pity you got back with
a generator we couldn't use anyway.

Yeah, our wet plant
was under, underwater.

I sort of did my job by going back
to Perth and getting a generator.

You, all you had to do was keep
an eye on the wet plant.

I was praying for rain.

You prayed for too much, mate.

Anyway out of a bad week
came a good, good thing, you know.

We found a nice little pocket
of gold there,

otherwise we wouldn't have
had anything this week.

Absolutely.

I reckon we have a bit
of a weigh up, mate.

I want to see what we got
for all our bloody hard work.

Shall I go first?
You go first, mate.

So what have we got here?

That's not too bad.

Let's put on what I found, eh?

That's looking much better,
isn't it?

It's looking alright, isn't it?

But hang on. Hang on, there's more.

If you buy one you get one free.
Check that sucker out.

That just doubled the weight.

That's a wicked speci. Look at that.

Two point six.
Two point six.

So I reckon we call it
two point five

because there's a bit of rock
on that speci

but I think we're pretty safe
with two point five, aye?

That's not bad.

I think we've salvaged the week.

The Gold Retrievers'
backup plan

has taken their tally
to four ounces.

Mate, that is a bloody good week.
Oh yeah.

Look, it pays for the generator.
Yeah.

Look, I don't think
that finding nuggets

is where we're going
to get to our target.

I think we really need to get
that plant up and running, eh?

That's for sure, mate. Cheers, mate.

Cheers, Bud.
It's been a good week, eh?

Doesn't it taste sweeter?

Righto, Jacqui,
I'm going to weigh up.

See how I went for the week.

(GOLD RATTLES)

Oh, yours sounds better than mine.

No, I'm, I'm pretty happy
with how the week went.

I mean. especially after
a few of the setbacks

of sort of not getting onto creeks

and then getting chased out
by the pigs.

Yeah, I'm just glad
we stuck it out

because if we went back to town
to get more supplies,

this wouldn't have happened.
No.

Well, I didn't get
any big nugs at all

but I got a lot of these smalls.

So...

..hopefully they all add up.

Holy crap,
you dug a lot of holes.

Look at that. Dead on an ounce.
Woo!

I haven't got any big nugs
to show this week

but that's covered all our costs
for this week,

just that pile right there.

So many nuggets in there.

Alright, dead on an ounce for me.
Let's see how you went.

That's the expenses jar

so this is the profit jar.

Alright, are you ready?
Yeah, I'm ready.

Check these out.

That's pretty awesome.

Three point one five ounces.

Jacqui's drought-breaking nuggets
and Andrew's smaller finds

have boosted their tally
to five point seven ounces.

Do you know we've got
like 10 grand here, Andy?

But, we're going to have
to do better

if we're going to hit 50 ounces.

We actually need to be
hitting these constantly.

At least now we can go back
to town, do a big shop,

and then we'll come back
and go again, eh?

Four point one five ounces.

Job well done, team.

Alright, let's go get some more.

What was going to be
a one day quick check

to see if there's anything there,

turned into a week's
worth of work.

Well, I bet you didn't think
the magic wand

was going to turn
our season around, did you?

I hate those stupid sticks.

After those few cuts and only
finding them little babies,

it was...
All that was going through my mind

is this is costing us time.

It's costing us money.

You were about to throw it
in the other day,

but you decided to give it
one more push

and look what we've come up with.

And you were whinging and whining.

"Look at these little bits of gold."

Enough talking about it.

Yeah, what are we waiting for?
Let's see what we got.

No way!

Look at all those nuggets.

Wow, that's amazing.

I don't know
if it's all going to fit.

You're going to need
a bigger set of scales, mate.

That is crazy.

Twenty-six point one two.

Oh!

And we hand dug all of them out.
It's not bad, eh?

But we've still got the other one.

The biggest nugget
I've ever found in me life

with the magic wand.

We're over 30 ounces, boys.

That's impressive.

That's amazing.

Pretty much a kilo of gold.

80,000 dollars
sat on the table right there.

Their team's huge 80,000
dollar nugget haul

takes their season tally
to over 140 ounces.

And there is more.

There is more?
Mel?

Well, you know how I had a hunch
about the creek line?

Yeah.
It actually paid off.

You got a couple of specis.

There's like a sheet
of gold on that.

That's beautiful.

That looks like reef gold.

We think we've located
where the reef is.

Ooh!

So we followed this up
and right above it...

Check those out.

Look at the gold
sticking out of there.

More than just rocks. That's loaded.

If that's what's come out
of the ground just on the nuggets,

and you've just found the source,
we could be on a big winner here.

There's no way of knowing
exactly how much gold

is in the quartz,

but if they've found the reef,
it could lead them

to the mother lode.

If we can follow this
into the ground,

we don't have to chase nuggets
all over the countryside.

It's already congregated
in one host rock.

We just follow this.

I think you might have just
found us the next project, mate.

Let's just keep pushing forward

and see how much more days
like this we can have.

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