In "Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue" the Masters Miners' Plans Pan Out

As successful restaurateurs walk into kitchens and know it39s inefficient and the menu needs work these experienced miners know when an operation39s efficiency is lagging and their equipment needs finetuning Their expertise can help someone who has sunk his life savings into the ground and all he39s getting in return is frustrationIn the season opener the men travel to Valdez Alaska Immediately their rig becomes mired in the ground but they can fix it because they know how to weld and repair just about anything mechanical It39s a stunning area with a deep fjord surrounded by mountains with cascading waterfalls The episode explains how in the late 1890s gold miners came through this area headed for the Klondike In Valdez they found more than 50000 ounces of gold worth more than 90 million in today39s moneyThis region gets a lot of rain swelling rivers and creeks heavy rains could mean more gold swept down in the waters from the motherlode Gold naturally is the goal if only miners could get to it Those featured in the series are often inexperiencedquotThey haven39t been to the amount of mines Juan or myself have gone to or had the backgrounds that Juan or myself havequot Dodge said during an exclusive MediaVillage Zoom interview with the two men Dodge from Colorado Ibarra from NevadaquotIt39s lack of experience but then also getting improper informationquot Ibarra added quotA lot of times they read a hobby mining book or whatever else and a lot of times that doesn39t apply to their operations and I think that39s kind of a big problemquotDodge has worked in oil fields on ranches farms and gold mines Ibarra a plumber by trade works as a drill doctor fixing underground pneumatic equipment They met on Discovery39s Gold Rush and have an easy rapportOnce they arrive at a problematic setup they observe evaluate consult and repairquotReally we got to watch them runquot Dodge said quotWe have to evaluate what they have going on while they39re running We have to evaluate what kind of gold they have what kind of ground they have We have to evaluate their equipment when they run and go from therequotquotThere39s only so much we can do by just assessing the plant and their operation just by looking at it without it runningquot Ibarra explained quotBut once it runs it39s a completely different story You know their water flows and everything else comes into play so we actually have to watch it But I bet you within the first ten fifteen minutes of watching a plant in their operation we can come up with ideasquotIn the season opener viewers meet Clay Strickland who works on the transAlaska pipeline but whose dream is to mine gold He has a stake that39s yielding very little Strickland had promised his late wife that he would mine for gold and support their teenage daughter He needs to extract two ounces of gold a day to make his operation profitable Some of his high school friends also inexperienced in gold mining are happy to help him But all of them need the duo39s expertiseStrickland extracts about a quarter of an ounce a day less than a quarter of what he needs After observing Strickland39s operation Dodge and Ibarra salvage parts other mines were trashing and donate their labor They attach finer mesh to the sluices and jerryrig an outfit While it may not be a sleek operation it does the trickA fourhour test produces 61 ounces of gold a 125 percent increase Strickland is elated and Dodge and Ibarra are happy with their work They understand the profound pull of gold mining the ancient draw to this malleable metalquotWell gold fever39s realquot Dodge declared quotThat39s been around for a long time Gold39s the only monetary system that39s lasted the past 5000 years When they looked for the Americas they were trying to find gold There39s been people with gold fever for thousands of years the Mesopotamians the Greeks the Romans on down the line They all wanted gold so gold has always been of valuequotIt also offers a lure that many can39t resist If you do strike it rich you can quit the daily grindquotI think a lot of the motivation is financial freedomquot Ibarra said quotThey see an opportunity to be able to carve a living for themselves in their own hands and I think that39s what really appeals to people being able to get out from someone else and do your own thing and make your own living carve your own fortune out for youquotThe men explained that they don39t leave the land ravaged After mining Dodge said they reclaim all the land plant and make it more hospitable for faunaquotOne thing that we39ve always tried to stress is responsible mining is where you39re not leaving scars you39re not leaving the ground completely damagedquot Ibarra added quotYou go back and you can replant it reseed it just make it beautiful again Then you end up having ponds for wildlife or for fish and birdsquotBoth agree that there aren39t many motherlodes of gold waiting to be tapped However there are smaller deposits that can be extracted with the right equipment and knowhowDodge39s best advice quotDo your homework and don39t go in with gold feverquot he said in closing quotGold mining is just like if you start a restaurant it39s location location locationquotGold Rush Freddy Dodge39s Mine Rescue is telecast on Fridays at 9 pm on DiscoveryIn case you missed it you can read Jacqueline Cutler39s October 2020 interview with miner Fred Lewis hereClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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In "Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue" the Masters Miners' Plans Pan Out

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Jacqueline Cutler

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In "Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue" the Masters Miners' Plans Pan Out

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