[WIND] [MUSIC]
Radio check.
> Go ahead.
> Yeah, we’re gonna see if we can get up
that raise to number five.
> Looks like about 130, 140 feet.
> Copy that.
> Deep in the mines of Bear Gulch, Montana,
brothers John and Tad Dale are the first men
to climb this raise in over a century.
> Pretty steep.
> Not too good, is it?
One step up, two steps back.
> Yeah.
> The Dale brothers have battled all season to
reach the raise to the Pete and Joe number five.
Hoping it will lead them to Ole’s gold.
What?
>A legendary ore deposit worth millions.
But the mountain keeps fighting back.
> Oh [BEEP].
> Holy Moses.
[ROCKS CRASHING]
> Holy [BEEP].
> We didn’t think it was gonna be easy,
but we didn’t think we were gonna run
into this much trouble.
[WHEELS GRINDING]
> Well that’s no good.
> We got it.
> I think there’s a hex on the gold [LAUGHS].
> Now with just 24 hours until winter shuts them down,
they hope to finally prove the legend
they’ve been chasing all their lives.
> We’re on the right track.
This should be the way to number five, I hope.
> Oh damn it.
> No.
That was probably the way to five and it’s caved.
This is not good.
> Well there’s no way we can go any farther.
> All this money we’ve spent to get to this point.
> Let’s go powwow with the brothers and see
what we can brainstorm.
> But they’re not giving up.
> Hey, we’re miners.
This is just an obstacle.
Ole’s gold’s still there.
We’re coming after it.
[MUSIC]
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
Down in the lower gulch,
Tad and John return to the honeymoon cabin
to break the news to their brothers.
> We were just talking about what you guys
ran into on the raise.
What did you guys find?
> Well we, we got into the raise
and started climbing up there.
It’s fairly steep and the footing wasn’t that good.
And this particular cross cut has been gogged in.
And there’s no way we’re gonna get through that.
> That submarines the idea of getting from up
to number five and coming back on Ole’s discovery.
> Yeah.
> It’s done.
> Yeah.
> You know, I know it’s been discouraging
for us and stuff.
But everything we found out, although some of it
or a lot of it’s negative,
it’s focusing us on what we can do.
We’ve eliminated possibilities at least.
>Well and it is probably time to share with you this.
> Oh it’s the money huh?
> The money’s just about gone.
So that even heightens our need to find something
that we can hang our hat on to proceed next year.
> We need to sample Ole’s gold.
> So what are our options now?
> Well...
> John has always been talking about
this crosscut on number three.
> Only from the fact that it heads out
in the direction of the number five.
> Four weeks ago, the brothers discovered
a crosscut in the Pete and Joe number three
that John believes is positioned directly
below Ole’s gold vein.
> Yeah, we should, we need to sample that.
So that’s one thing we need.
If we could kick it out there a little further
maybe we can intercept that down dip extension.
> The down dip extension theory is key
to the brothers future in the Gulch.
The brothers hope that Ole’s gold vein
is a vertical structure that extends down
from the five to the three.
And perhaps keeps going further.
> What about number one?
It’s caved but maybe we can find a hole, to get.
> Over the pile?
> Over the caved-in portal and get back in there
and see if there’s dipping down that direction.
> Located 100 feet below the number three,
the Pete and Joe number one is the oldest mine in the claim.
Originally struck in 1883,
the number one launched a bonanza in these hills.
Producing six additional mines in the slope above.
But today it’s little more than a wood pile.
> The Pete and Joe number one,
the reason they called it number one
’cause it’s the lowest on the hill.
And as the prospectors were combing the hills
for ore they found float at number one.
And they kept following it up the hill.
And they were mining out ore on each level as they went.
And so we’re hoping to get into some of that ore.
> The brothers think there’s a good chance
that Ole’s gold vein runs all the way down
to the number one.
And their theory isn’t just based on a hunch.
> Brian, the next generation down,
he had been in number one when it was open and not caved in.
> Shortly after I graduated college
we came up here just poking around.
Just to see what we could find.
We went into the number one,
which was open at that point.
We were able to get all the way back
and it says 25 feet to high grade
just as clear as day on the rib.
A sample drill hole there.
> Now somebody wouldn’t put that on there
if they didn’t hit some good ore.
So we’re counting on that.
And if it’s actually a good-sized vein structure
there could be millions.
> Let’s go see if it’s open or not.
If we can get into one or we can sample
that crosscut at least we’ll have something
to encourage us, or...
> To demonstrate.
> Give us.
> To somebody.
> That we, yeah.
If we’re trying to raise some money somebody might
bankroll us a little bit to push that crosscut
ahead if we find some good rock in there.
> Yeah.
Well I, with the weather this morning,
there’s another front coming.
We’ve got 24 hours max before the snow just
drives us out and we can’t get back in.
We got two things we got to try to do.
> Into the number three sample
and try to get into number one?
> Yep.
I can hear the wind blowing.
We better get with it.
> Yeah.
> It’s time to stop talking and start doing.
> Let’s do it.
[MUSIC]
> Mining is not like any other business.
You wouldn’t open a business and just shut it down
for nine months.
We are at a 9,000-foot level
and when winter hits we have no choice.
So we have to make an effort to keep this
thing moving somehow.
> We’re not gonna give up on this.
I mean everything in life is a challenge
and nothing ever goes as anybody plans.
Especially in the mining business.
The trouble with mining is it’s expensive.
But we’re just gonna have to find another way.
And we do have some options here with this
crosscut in number three.
Gonna have to go down to where number one is
and see if we can’t put together something down there.
We’re by no means done with our options.
> Eighty-eight hundred feet up, Tad and Rick call on Brian,
Brendon and Jeremy to help prove the down dip
extension theory at the Pete and Joe number one.
> So here’s our number one portal.
We know this portal’s caved but let’s see
if we can find a possibly a hole.
Hopefully those caps aren’t rotten so we can.
> They look pretty good.
> Safely get around here, huh?
> Yeah, I think so.
> Forty some years ago they did a little exploring
by drilling in there.
And had some high grade.
So we’re gonna look for those drill holes.
If we can get in.
> They sound good.
> Hey there, looks pretty solid.
Try to get under these caps.
This cap’s rotten.
> Yeah.
> That one’s rotten too.
> Uncle Rick, look like they had a work
bench back in here.
> Yeah, and this is big enough for a.
> Kind of a little shop.
> Little shop or this was their portal shack.
Probably had a way to keep warm and dry out.
What a mess.
[MUSIC]
> The number one portal looks bad.
It’s like matchsticks in there,
the timbers all jumbled up and the caps are down.
I’m not too keen on going in there
or having anybody else go in there.
Even if we do find an opening that we can get into.
> There’s a possible hole right down there.
Brendon, maybe you can take a look in there.
That might be a possible way in.
There’s a hole down here underneath this last cap.
If we dug that out, is it clear back behind that?
> No there’s something back there, yeah.
It’s open enough, you could wiggle your way through.
> You could wiggle your way through to the next cave in?
> Yeah, I don’t think it’s something I want to do, but.
> Yeah.
Didn’t see a bear in there?
> No. > Hibernating, did you?
> No bears.
> The Dales need to take a sample
from the hard rock interior of the number one.
But right now it appears the only way to access
it is through this small hole through 20 feet
of semi-caved ground.
>It’s open.
Looks like you can see the left rib back there.
It’s caving in from the right rib.
> Too small for man power?
> Spot back in there.
>Yeah, it’s just a little groundhog hole is what it is.
> Yeah.
> This tunnel right here, what’s being caved,
is there any other way that we can come into this?
>Wasn’t there another one that was connected
to this somewhere?
> Well I remember somebody talking about ventilation.
> That they connected to here?
> Yeah, it opened to the surface.
’Cause they raised up from here.
> Would that give us the ability then this year
to get into this one to see where we need to be then?
> If we can find the raise where it surfaces
and get down it’ll be a lot safer than this.
> Yeah.
> Ventilation raises are used to prevent
stagnant air in a mine.
An issue Tad and John encountered in the raise
to the number five.
[BEEPING] > Oh wait a minute.
Hold it.
Does it go off?
> A vent raise could provide a safer entrance
to the number one.
> Well I got to get up to sample number three.
So you guys figure it out.
I’m gonna take off.
> Sounds good.
> Time for a hike.
> The good news is there is an opening.
> Right.
> It would be better if we found an open raise
or even a sloughed at the surface raise
that we could clean up better than this.
I really don’t want to send anybody in here.
> Okay.
Should we see if we can go and find it?
> Yeah.
[MUSIC]