INDIAN RIVER, YUKON — The Beets family’s race for gold hit a major setback this week as Tony Beets went from running two wash plants to none, forcing his rookie foreman, cousin Mike, to attempt a risky relocation of heavy machinery along a treacherous Klondike road.
The trouble began when one of Tony’s wash plants at Indian River was crippled by fine tailings clogging the sluice runs. “If you don’t set it up quite right, the fine tailings pile up,” Tony explained. “We had to move it higher, otherwise we’d keep having this problem.”
With gold production halted, the task of moving the 45-ton wash plant fell to cousin Mike. The fix required dragging the 30-foot-wide machine nearly a mile along a narrow dirt road, hemmed in by the Indian River on one side and a steep drop into the cut on the other. One wrong move could have destroyed the million-dollar piece of equipment — and possibly ended the season.
“This plant is pretty new. We can’t have anything happen to it,” Mike said nervously as he maneuvered past trees and tight corners. “If it slides in there, the whole season’s over.”
Despite close calls and tense moments, Mike and the crew managed to haul the plant to its new pad, set it up on higher ground, and reconnect the pipelines. “It’s all good to go,” Tony said with relief. “Now we’ll have room for our tailings. That should work out pretty good.”
GOLD WEIGH SHOWS SHORTFALL
With operations finally running again, the Beets family gathered for a gold weigh to see if cousin Mike’s efforts had paid off. For Tony to stay on track for his ambitious 5,000-ounce season goal, he needed at least 200 ounces for the week.
But after three days of sluicing, the scale stopped at just 75.3 ounces, worth an estimated $188,000. The total bumped the Beets’ season haul to $849,000 — far short of projections.
“Events aren’t in our favor,” Tony admitted. “We got a little gold anyway, I guess. The other gold weighs earlier this year were way better.”
Monica and Tony’s wife Minnie both praised cousin Mike for stepping up, with Tony joking that having a young foreman takes the weight off his shoulders. “This way he can have all the troubles and I’ll just walk around,” Tony said with a laugh.
Still, the disappointing weigh means the pressure is on. With Paradise Hill producing no gold and Indian River under strain, the Beets family will need stronger weeks ahead if they hope to salvage their 5,000-ounce target.
“Still early in the season,” Tony shrugged. “All we can do is do better next week.”
