It’s November 2019, and the delays in building the processing plant for the gold mine continue. Shifting 185,000 tons of mountain terrain to level the ground should have taken six weeks, but it has now been three months and they are nowhere near finished.
Until they have the processing plant up and running, the mine can’t extract the fine particles of gold from the quartz vein and start making money. Project manager Jason Saint is hitting problem after problem, with unrelenting rain making the ground too dangerous for the contractors to operate their heavy machinery, and excess peat is continually being discovered. Jason has one final area he thinks Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park planning team may approve for peat storage, and if they don’t agree, he is at a loss as what to do.
Four miles west in the village of Tyndrum, the quieter winter months provide time for staff training at The Green Welly Stop. Although during winter they don’t turn a profit, Fiona is keen to keep open to provide a service for those who need fuel and supplies.
Mine CEO, Richard Gray, has travelled to Edinburgh with Nat le Roux, one of the mine's main investors for an urgent meeting. Two jewellery companies signed up to an exclusive deal to create and sell jewellery made from gold produced in the mine's first year and they expected to see their first batch three months ago.
Meanwhile, there is an accident back at the mine as two men are injured by a truckload of heavy matting. The matting has crushed the delivery driver, who had to be airlifted to hospital. The other casualty is farmer John’s son Davy, who has suffered a broken jaw and badly bruised ribs.
By February 2020, the earthworks for the processing plant are no further on. They were supposed to be pouring gold by now, but are instead facing many more months of delay. With finances at a critical point, Richard has decided they will stand down the contractors and ask the miners to help with the groundworks. However, just as they get started, there is another problem for Jason - the National Park planners have told them to stop work on the new water management system! Show less