A high-stakes recovery mission nearly ended in disaster when miner Mike attempted to rescue a flipped truck, coming dangerously close to smashing his semi into his own excavator. However, the seasoned operator managed to keep things under control.
“That’s cutting it a little close, maybe?” one crew member remarked.
But Mike remained confident. “Oh, I knew exactly where she was going to land. Amazing, isn’t it?”
Despite the near-miss, the recovery continued. The team worked methodically, first flipping the truck over, then bringing it back in to hook it up and drive it out. The plan was simple: get the truck running again and minimize the downtime that had already stretched to nearly two days.
With the pressure mounting, Mike knew he had to make up for lost time. “I got to make some rounds here and try to get caught up for the delay,” he said.
The truck was finally operational, allowing the crew to return to their primary task: repairing the dike. The final step involved raising the culvert to get the settling ponds ready for sluicing.
“We’re in at the SLO to make the gold,” Mike confirmed. “Dike is done. I got lifted up, culvert’s back in. Now I’m just going to start up the pump and get sluicing.”
Despite the setback, the crew celebrated the fact that no one was hurt, and no equipment was seriously damaged.
“Nobody hurt, nothing broken—seriously. A couple of loads of gravel and air, and we’re running again. So at the end of the day, it was okay. Time to get sluicing!”
With the crisis averted and operations back on track, the miners set their sights on striking gold once more.
