Miner Toughest Place to be a...


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This programme contains strong language

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Three British workers have all accepted the challenge to do their job

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under the most stressful and dangerous conditions on the planet.

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'They must be a really, hard, hard people here'

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to be able to cope with this.

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'At home, we'd shut the department, you know.'

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People wouldn't come to work.

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This is gung ho mining, this is.

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It's really dangerous, really dangerous.

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Craig Notman is leaving his home and his job in British mining

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to join the gold rush in the Mongolian wilderness.

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He'll be working in some of the most dangerous mines on Earth...

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It really is awful. It's really bad. That's really bad.

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..he'll experience a traditional nomadic lifestyle under threat...

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As a coal miner, we don't get to milk many yaks!

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..and meet a desperate people,

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forced to dig up a land they hold sacred...

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It's really difficult to take in, this is.

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..before discovering first-hand the depths some will go to survive.

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He's been shafted by one, two, three families.

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My father's a miner, my granddad was a miner

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and his granddad before him was a coal miner.

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37-year-old Craig Notman

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has been working in British mines for 15 years.

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I love it, I love this job, I love what I do.

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Mining is definitely in the blood,

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and I don't think it's easy for anybody to step into mining.

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Britain still extracts more than 200 million tonnes of minerals a year.

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Nature - she's given it to us, and we need to take it.

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It's all what we use, and it's mined by men and machines.

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People think that mining's done with shovel and pecs,

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but nine times out of ten it's with machines that are controlled by little computers.

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It's not so much in the arm now as in the brain.

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Big boys' toys, innit?

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It's not all dirty, not dusty, not smoky.

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There's things that we put in place, ventilation, extraction.

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British mining is the safest environment that we can make it.

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That's confirmed, Captain, I'm the last man through.

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The last man through.

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Disasters still strike, even in British mines.

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Last year, Craig joined Mines Rescue,

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an emergency response team dedicated to saving lives underground.

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Receiving, over.

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Can you proceed now to try and find the missing person? Over.

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Mining is dangerous, there's no two ways about it.

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THE MEN SHOUT

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'We've got explosions, we've got fires, we've got gas,

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'we've got falls of ground.

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'If all the ducks line up, we've got a bad day out, for all of us.'

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At Mines Rescue Training Centre, in the Midlands,

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safety is a way of life.

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If we see our colleagues, or even a stranger doing something wrong, we're going to stop them

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because we want to go home to our families at the end of the night.

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We're brought up as, like, watching each other's backs, aren't we?

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It's not just watching your backs down the mine,

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you talk about it in the pub, don't you?

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Or when you're socialising out, wherever it is.

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Imagine meerkats, when you see them all sitting up looking around,

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it's exactly the same as miners.

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We're always watching, looking out, listening for something to happen.

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Ooh! Ooh, it's hurting!

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The lads here will do owt for you

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and that's how it'll always be in mining.

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-Cake for you!

-Oh, mate.

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'It's like blood, like family. That's what we are, a brotherhood. We look after each other.'

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I think it'd be the same wherever you go in the world

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because it's such a bad place, you know?

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You've got to look after each other.

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See you all later.

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THEY ALL CHEER

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'I'm going to a foreign country,'

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but I'll be damn sure that I make sure it's going to be right,

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and I'm going to be safe, and I'm going to get back home to my family.

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Craig lives in Staffordshire.

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He's been married to Angela for 17 years and they have three children.

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'Craig is the family man, through and through.'

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He's a hard worker, he'll work hard for his family.

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'I guess I've always worried about him being in the mine,'

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but he just loves it and he's really proud,

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and we're proud that that's what he does.

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It's time to find out just where Craig is heading.

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Don't know where we're going. We need to know, don't we?

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-Scotland.

-Scotland?

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-South America?

-South America. That's close to Scotland, isn't it?

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In a few days, Craig will be travelling over 4,000 miles -

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to Mongolia.

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You're joking?!

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Do they even mine there?

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Oh, my gosh!

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Mongolia.

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God, my head's bubbling up here! Bloomin 'eck!

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Craig has never been this far away from home

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and has rarely spent time away from his family.

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Mongolia, one of the most remote and desolate places on Earth.

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Once home to a nomadic people,

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now it's a country in the midst of a huge mining boom.

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Billions of dollars of minerals flooding over the border to neighbouring China

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have created a new class of super rich,

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but 40% of all Mongolians are locked in poverty.

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For thousands of families, the only way to survive

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is to risk their lives in these deadly, unregulated mines,

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carving out a meagre existence from a land where they once roamed free.

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'It's amazing. It's such a beautiful place. Beautiful place.'

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Vast, vast country of just emptiness and nothingness.

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From the capital, it's an 11-hour drive across the Mongolian steppe

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to the remote mining settlement where Craig will be staying.

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It's just amazing.

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Just opens up from nothingness to a massive community.

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Wow!

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15 years ago, this was a small market town.

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Today, Uyanga is home to around 1,500 people

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who make their living from mining.

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Craig will be spending the next 12 days living and working

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with a local miner, Sukhbaatar, and his family.

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THEY TALK IN DIALECT

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My name's Craig.

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CRAIG GREETS IN MONGOLIAN

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Simba, Simba.

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Simba. Good dog? Friendly dog?

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Craig will be staying in the yard in a traditional Mongolian tent,

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called a ger.

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Wow...

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This is beautiful.

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Sukhbaatar's wife Gansuvd has put the kettle on.

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Tea with salt?

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Tea with salt.

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Do you work with a team of men or do you work on your own?

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Your wife works with you in the mine?

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CRAIG LAUGHS

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That's really str... In the UK that doesn't, it... No.

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I'm just blown away by the fact he works with his wife,

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and his children as well!

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I love my wife to bits, but I just...

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There's no way I could work with her. She'd do my head in!

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It's time for Craig to see where he's going to be working.

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That one's for me?

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It's a two-mile ride up to the mine.

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I got Sukhbaatar here to guide me.

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Nothing can go wrong! HE CHUCKLES

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Happy days!

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Mongolian weather is extreme and changeable.

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Sometimes it is said to have all four seasons in one day,

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but, whatever the weather,

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Sukhbaatar and Gansuvd make this journey to work

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every day of the year.

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'I'm in Mongolia, I'm living with a family and it is like a dream.

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'I feels, I'm going to wake up any moment.'

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We're driving through yaks and just vast landscape,

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and I'm expecting to see mining machinery, big machinery,

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and I can't hear nothin', I can't see nothin'.

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If Craig is expecting anything like a British mine, he's in for a shock.

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I can't believe that this is mining.

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People just digging holes in the ground.

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It looks like a prison camp.

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This is not...

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It's not what I expected, this isn't.

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Nothing like I expected.

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So you all dig...one hole?

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Bloody hell!

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Do you know, if that ground collapsed...

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This is just mud and...

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for a collapse... It's so easy for a collapsed ground in here.

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That's not on, is it? It's not on. I just can't...

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HE EXHALES

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Bloody hell.

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I couldn't send my wife down there, or my children.

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I couldn't do it. I couldn't do it.

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What is the ore that you're extracting?

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Fucking hell. OK.

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This is the Mongolian gold rush.

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Alongside the big international mining companies,

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about a 100,000 ordinary people around the country

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have become small-scale miners,

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digging into the soil and panning for gold.

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Nobody knows how many have died in the huge networks of tunnels.

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That's a massive risk, that's a massive risk,

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for a little piece of gold.

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There's a girl there who's about the same age as Jessica.

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She's got to be about the same age.

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It breaks your heart.

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It'd break my heart to do that to my kids every day -

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bring 'em out to work.

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Before Craig starts work,

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there are a few practicalities that need to be taken care of.

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So the toilets are all outside?

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OK, so you stand over...

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and s...?

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Yeah, OK.

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What about bath or a shower?

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And what do you do? Do you stand in it and then...?

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And then wash it off, yeah?

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THEY LAUGH

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Even in the spring, night-time temperatures

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can plummet well below zero.

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Is this dung?

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Some horse, some yak poo.

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Benzine, fuel. Smell?

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CRAIG EXHALES

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Do the job. Look at that!

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It's been very emotional today.

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It's like a bit kick in the bollocks, basically, tell you the truth, and that's how I felt.

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That's what I can't get in my head. It seems life is cheap.

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Good night, good night.

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Craig is settling in,

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but the visit to Sukhbaatar's mine has unnerved him.

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I mean, I've got a lot of thinking to do tonight.

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Am I going to go down that hole?

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He's asked me to go. Thing is, I've got a family thousands of miles away

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who want me to come home to them.

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This is pushing me to the edge already, thinking about it.

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It's really cold in here. The fires have gone out.

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I've just got to try and get my head down,

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but my head's been spinning round, 100 miles an hour.

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Sukhbaatar's hole...

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..just looks like a grave,

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and that's the first thing I thought of, it's a grave.

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Er...

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Today is supposed to be Craig's first day at work

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as a gold miner on the Mongolian steppe.

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Eagles are flying in the sky. Absolutely amazing.

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It's a gorgeous day, and I'm thankful for that

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cos it's probably going to help me when I, you know,

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make that final decision whether I go into the hole or not.

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Good morning!

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He's been doing some drawing for us and some colouring pictures.

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Look at these, you've been a really busy lad!

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What's the owl go? CRAIG HOOTS

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Ooo!

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That's it, an owl.

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Owl.

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You say OWL.

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Yeah! Language barrier is quite difficult.

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But there's another barrier that Craig needs to overcome.

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The long drop - and it's a long walk as well!

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You have to hang your head in shame

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because you know what's going to happen when you get there.

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At the minute I'm trying to hold off,

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but I know that nature will call and I'm going to have to face that demon.

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I don't know if I'm more nervous about using the long drop

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or going down the mine!

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He needs a trailer!

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Sukhbaatar has to carry everything he needs for the mine

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on the back of his motorbike.

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This would not, never be allowed on British roads.

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The early morning sun has already melted the snow in the valley.

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It's still a bad place to be...

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middle of nowhere like this. It's still a bad place.

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That's a long way down.

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It's all loose. The sides are all loose.

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For the moment, Craig can avoid confronting his fears.

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It's like one, two, three, bungee!

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I feel sick as a pig. I feel really nervous.

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I feel nervous for him.

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Deep below the ground,

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Sukhbaatar has reached the bed of an ancient river.

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It's here that the soil can sometimes contain gold.

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He's just going in, beyond, and he's not even...

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he's not even giving a shit about it.

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This would never happen at home. We would never allow it.

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Well, I'm pretty strong

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and that's got a good bit of weight to it, that has.

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Hauling the bucket is usually Gansuvd's job,

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bringing up nearly half a tonne of soil every day.

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Pulling up this, for about eight hours,

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that's a ball ache on your back. Mega.

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To drop in them holes like that...

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they've got some bollocks

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cos I'm seriously thinking twice about doing it.

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They have got some balls to do that.

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It's really, really dangerous.

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For now, Gansuvd's going to show him

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the next stage in the mining process - panning.

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Flippin' heck, this water,

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if it was snowing, it would just be like ice, it'd be horrible.

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In fact, some has just gone down the glove and it is freezing cold water.

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Once the soil has been washed and the bigger stones sifted out,

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the remaining sediment is transferred to a special mat.

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Into the mat. OK, yeah.

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I hope we find something.

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I'm not doing it right. I knew I wouldn't.

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It's a knack, ain't it? It's a skill.

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This is where days of digging end in success or failure.

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Don't put the pressure on me, I'm trying!

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This is really...

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Whoa, I'm going to let you do that, I'm not going to do that.

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There's a tiny, tiny little piece there.

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I call that a lot of hard work for next to nothing.

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It's the moment of truth.

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If Craig won't go down the hole,

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he'll never make it as a Mongolian miner.

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Do I want to do it?

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Do I really want to go in and do it?

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Ah, I'm still unsure about it, but I'm going to do it,

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I think I want to do it.

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I owe it...

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I owe it to them to go down and have a look.

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If there's a problem, look out, cos I'll be out like a shot.

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I'm ready to go.

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OK?

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It's like going into your own bloody tomb. Yeah.

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Give me a line, give me a line. I'm going now.

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This is Victorian mining.

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This ain't right. There's no props, no supports or nothing.

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It really is awful. It's really bad, that's really bad.

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You never run a hole this far

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without setting any kind of supports up.

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This is what's... I can't get my head around it.

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I mean, how far is he going to go before he puts a support in?

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How far is he going to go before it all comes in on him?

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Jesus Christ.

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We seriously need to talk.

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Fucking hell, here we go! This has just come in down my back.

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It's just coming down around you.

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Um... It's not... I'm going to come out.

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This is fucking gung ho mining, this is. It's really dangerous.

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Really dangerous.

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Back home, Craig works in mine safety,

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and now he's desperate to try and improve things

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for Sukhbaatar and his family.

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Sukhbaatar, I'll show you a drawing of what we use in the UK.

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That's a prop, we call that a tree.

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Yeah? A prop. This is wood.

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Have you ever used anything like that before?

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My head...my head's telling me that, you know, it should be shut down.

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They've had people killed here.

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There are accidents waiting to happen.

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Most of the valley has been excavated.

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It's now a warren of underground tunnels.

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Bloody hell.

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The risk of collapse gets worse with every new shaft.

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Collapsed, collapsed...collapsed.

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There could be tunnels going all over the place,

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and if they start to break into one of them tunnels,

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they're not going to know about it until it's on top of them.

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I think there's a tunnel here.

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Here and over here.

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No support, the whole lot's come in. five to ten tonnes of soil here.

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You ain't getting out alive at all,

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and by the time someone's dug you out, you're dead.

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Back home, it's easy, we'll just get someone in touch with the inspectors

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and we'll get someone to shut it down.

0:21:150:21:16

Here, there's nothing, they're on their own and that's it.

0:21:160:21:21

Back at the house, Sukhbaatar's daughter Eggi and her husband Anga

0:21:250:21:29

are preparing Craig his first traditional Mongolian meal.

0:21:290:21:33

Is he a good father-in-law?

0:21:330:21:35

CRAIG LAUGHS

0:21:350:21:37

So, we've got beef, noodles, potato... Is that carrots?

0:21:390:21:45

Is there a name for this dish?

0:21:460:21:48

THEY ALL LAUGH

0:21:500:21:52

Spending the day with the family

0:21:550:21:57

has made Craig determined to try and change things.

0:21:570:22:01

'Hopefully I can show him, you know, I can prove to him'

0:22:010:22:04

that putting a bit of wood in there is going to save his life.

0:22:040:22:08

Just a piece of wood.

0:22:080:22:10

I've got to do something, I've got to try and show him.

0:22:100:22:12

'It frightens me and it upsets me that people are working like that.'

0:22:120:22:17

Today, Craig is starting out as a miner in his own right.

0:22:220:22:26

He's got just eight days to dig his own hole and strike gold.

0:22:260:22:30

So whereabouts are we going to dig, then?

0:22:300:22:32

Any ideas?

0:22:320:22:33

Choosing the right place to sink the shaft is crucial.

0:22:330:22:36

Get it wrong and days of digging can go to waste.

0:22:360:22:39

Here?

0:22:460:22:47

One, two, three, four.

0:22:490:22:52

Why do you think it's here, then? Why do you think it's better here?

0:22:520:22:56

I think what it is, you just chuck it up in the air...

0:22:580:23:01

it's a six, we'll go over here and that's...

0:23:010:23:03

There ain't no science to it.

0:23:030:23:05

They don't bounce radars down and back up, and find out...

0:23:050:23:07

do some drills, you know?

0:23:070:23:09

Take some core samples like we do back home, core samples...

0:23:090:23:14

Nothing, it's just...like that.

0:23:150:23:19

Christ Almighty!

0:23:200:23:21

Solid.

0:23:270:23:28

It really is rock hard.

0:23:280:23:30

That's got to be half a metre.

0:23:330:23:36

Thank you very much.

0:23:410:23:43

It's hard graft!

0:23:510:23:53

After two hours of back-breaking work, Craig has hit a problem.

0:23:530:23:57

That's solid, that is, it's solid packed.

0:23:580:24:01

It's rock hard!

0:24:010:24:03

It's just like hitting a piece of granite.

0:24:040:24:07

This is permafrost -

0:24:070:24:10

a layer of permanently frozen soil under the surface of the earth.

0:24:100:24:13

For the miners, it's an impenetrable barrier between them and the gold,

0:24:130:24:18

but they've found a familiar solution...

0:24:180:24:21

dung.

0:24:210:24:22

What's the fire? What's it do?

0:24:250:24:27

God, there's a lot of shit!

0:24:310:24:32

Like that.

0:24:440:24:45

That's going to set fire, melt the ice, the ice is going to melt

0:24:450:24:48

and this is going to be smoking like that.

0:24:480:24:51

Happy days, happy days.

0:24:520:24:54

It's been a good first day of digging,

0:24:540:24:57

but there's a long way to go before he'll get anywhere near the gold.

0:24:570:25:00

Like most Mongolians, Sukhbaatar and his family are Buddhists.

0:25:060:25:10

Every couple of weeks Gansuvd visits a monastery on the edge of town.

0:25:110:25:15

Peaceful...I've never been to a temple before.

0:25:170:25:22

So why do you come here? Is there a reason for coming today?

0:25:220:25:24

MONKS CHANT

0:25:340:25:36

This is amazing.

0:25:380:25:40

Mongolians have a deep connection with the land.

0:25:420:25:46

Digging it up to make money runs counter to many of their beliefs.

0:25:460:25:49

In return for a small donation, the monks here will chant sutras,

0:25:510:25:56

or prayers, for forgiveness.

0:25:560:25:59

THEY PLAY PIPES, BELLS AND DRUMS

0:25:590:26:02

The feeling, when it's the chanting, like a rhythm...

0:26:050:26:09

It's ever such a weird feeling. It's like you're being drawn in.

0:26:090:26:12

They feel bad for digging holes in their soil.

0:26:120:26:15

I hadn't really thought about it until now.

0:26:150:26:17

They need to find the gold to survive,

0:26:170:26:20

but, on the other term, they feel guilty and bad for digging the holes.

0:26:200:26:25

CRAIG ROARS

0:26:250:26:27

So, if you wasn't mining

0:26:330:26:35

and you moved to the countryside, what would you do?

0:26:350:26:38

Would you be farming?

0:26:380:26:40

OK.

0:26:450:26:46

Bloody hell.

0:26:550:26:56

It must be terrible to watch your animals die.

0:26:560:27:00

Oh, dear.

0:27:060:27:08

It's really difficult to take in, this is.

0:27:080:27:10

Until a couple of years ago,

0:27:100:27:13

Gansuvd and Sukhbaatar were nomadic herders -

0:27:130:27:16

tending Yaks, goats and horses...

0:27:160:27:18

..but in recent years, freak weather conditions

0:27:200:27:23

have devastated Mongolia's livestock herds.

0:27:230:27:26

Severe summer droughts followed by long harsh winters, known as Zuds,

0:27:260:27:30

killed an estimated eight million animals

0:27:300:27:33

and threatened the ancient way of life on the steppe.

0:27:330:27:35

Like thousands of other herders,

0:27:360:27:39

Sukhbaatar and his family were forced off the land.

0:27:390:27:43

How long ago was this?

0:27:490:27:50

That's you?

0:27:570:27:58

Happy times?

0:28:020:28:04

You've got a smile on already.

0:28:040:28:07

So everything that you ever knew,

0:28:330:28:36

everything that you ever done had just been taken away from you?

0:28:360:28:41

And you have to ride past them every day going to that place.

0:28:480:28:52

Maybe one day, you may be able to do it.

0:28:520:28:54

If you find that one piece of gold

0:28:540:28:55

that's going to earn you enough money to get your cattle,

0:28:550:28:58

and you can take your family back to the countryside and be happy.

0:28:580:29:03

I hope and I pray, I hope and I pray it comes true.

0:29:040:29:07

'The family that I thought I knew over a few days...

0:29:070:29:12

'I didn't know at all.

0:29:120:29:14

'I can't take it in. I can't hold it in my head.

0:29:150:29:18

'It's tragic.

0:29:180:29:20

'He's got to work at that little mine he's got

0:29:200:29:23

'to support his family, and it's killing him.

0:29:230:29:26

'That's not him. He's not a miner. He's not a miner.'

0:29:260:29:28

He must be going crazy.

0:29:280:29:30

His mind must be in turmoil all the time

0:29:300:29:33

'about where he should be and why he isn't there.

0:29:330:29:36

'It's so sad...'

0:29:360:29:39

So sad.

0:29:390:29:40

Breaks me heart.

0:29:490:29:50

I want to pick 'em up and take 'em...

0:29:500:29:52

somewhere where they're going to be safe,

0:29:520:29:54

where they ain't got to do anything stupid,

0:29:540:29:56

like go in them shitty little pits.

0:29:560:29:58

Overnight, the dung fire has melted the frozen earth

0:30:070:30:11

in Craig's new mine shaft.

0:30:110:30:13

It's like when you clean your BBQ out.

0:30:130:30:16

Getting down to the gold seam could take days,

0:30:160:30:19

and once you reach it, you're lucky to earn £5 a day.

0:30:190:30:22

These are poor people...

0:30:230:30:26

so the showy new visitor to the site is looking a bit out of place.

0:30:260:30:30

Sukhbaatar, who's the fella in the nice and shiny jeep?

0:30:300:30:35

Sukhbaatar has got a small amount of gold to sell

0:30:390:30:42

from yesterday's mining.

0:30:420:30:44

Gold buyers like these tour the mine sites across Mongolia.

0:30:440:30:48

Operating on the fringes of the law,

0:30:490:30:51

they buy gold at source and sell it on for profit,

0:30:510:30:54

often on the black market.

0:30:540:30:56

At the bottom of the chain, Sukhbaatar has no choice

0:30:580:31:01

but to accept whatever price these middle men give him.

0:31:010:31:04

How much did you make, Sukhbaatar?

0:31:060:31:09

That's about £8.

0:31:110:31:13

Is that good, are you happy with that?

0:31:130:31:15

How can you try harder? You're working really hard as it is.

0:31:240:31:27

I don't know how you can work any harder.

0:31:270:31:29

Sukhbaatar's gold is now making its way 300 miles north to the capital,

0:31:320:31:38

Ulaanbaatar.

0:31:380:31:39

Here, a vast market in copper, gold and coal

0:31:400:31:43

has made this country the fastest growing economy in the world.

0:31:430:31:48

Billion dollar contracts are up for grabs.

0:31:480:31:50

Luxury cars and designer brands, signs of the astonishing boom...

0:31:500:31:55

..but despite the wealth, over a million Mongolians

0:31:570:32:00

still live in acute poverty,

0:32:000:32:03

their traditional way of life under threat.

0:32:030:32:06

Halfway through his trip

0:32:130:32:14

and Craig is still determined to help Sukhbaatar work safely.

0:32:140:32:19

We're going to the mine today.

0:32:200:32:21

Can we...maybe try and build...

0:32:230:32:27

Can we try and do our supports like we talked about?

0:32:270:32:31

Would you like me to show you today, or not?

0:32:310:32:33

They nick it, so...

0:32:380:32:40

You're screwed every way you look at it.

0:32:410:32:44

Wood is expensive here.

0:32:440:32:46

Sukhbaatar can't afford to leave it at the mine to be stolen,

0:32:460:32:49

but there's a more serious problem that he's been keeping from Craig.

0:32:490:32:54

So, I'm now being part of an illegal mining, er...job.

0:33:200:33:26

So, yeah, all right, erm...

0:33:310:33:34

..happy days.

0:33:360:33:37

For Craig, illegal mining is a serious issue.

0:33:380:33:42

He's from a world of regulations,

0:33:420:33:44

where health and safety comes first, and illegal pits are shut down.

0:33:440:33:48

He's just decided to tell me that it's an illegal pit.

0:33:490:33:52

So I'm not very happy, cos...

0:33:540:33:57

that's not what I'm about.

0:33:570:33:59

We go into mines that are licensed...

0:33:590:34:02

..they're safe.

0:34:030:34:05

Obviously, if there's an incident, there's different levels of safeness,

0:34:060:34:10

but this...

0:34:100:34:11

You know, if the police come, they have to run to the hills.

0:34:150:34:17

What the fucking hell is that all about?

0:34:170:34:20

It needs bringing together, the government need to be here.

0:34:210:34:24

It needs formalising, it needs things in place to protect the workers.

0:34:240:34:28

At the minute, they've got nothing.

0:34:280:34:30

Oh.

0:34:320:34:34

The government in this part of Mongolia

0:34:440:34:47

refuses to issue mining licences to people like Sukhbaatar,

0:34:470:34:51

claiming that they damage the environment,

0:34:510:34:54

but, further up the valley, big companies have been granted licences

0:34:540:34:58

to mine gold on an industrial scale.

0:34:580:35:00

They have pledged to make good the environmental damage

0:35:020:35:05

once they have finished mining the area.

0:35:050:35:07

Sukhbaatar has friends who live and work on the fringes

0:35:100:35:13

of one of these legal mines.

0:35:130:35:15

Thank you very much, sir, thank you.

0:35:170:35:19

The ger's selling beer and everything else,

0:35:210:35:23

and there's a pool table slapped outside it.

0:35:230:35:26

Bit surreal.

0:35:260:35:28

CRAIG CHUCKLES

0:35:280:35:30

It just doesn't make sense.

0:35:300:35:32

In just 20 years of mining,

0:35:490:35:52

the Ongin River has all but dried up.

0:35:520:35:55

Heavy machines have carved up the land

0:35:550:35:57

and water guns are draining the last of the valley's natural supplies.

0:35:570:36:02

Do you think they will put it back to how it was

0:36:020:36:05

or just move on to another valley?

0:36:050:36:07

They're just bastardising the land, and what you're doing is nothing,

0:36:200:36:23

you're not doing anything of the sort.

0:36:230:36:25

You're doing it to survive, these are doing it for profit.

0:36:250:36:28

It's always the same, the big boys, the fat cats, they get richer,

0:36:330:36:38

and the small fry, you know, the little fish,

0:36:380:36:41

they get fucked over all the time.

0:36:410:36:43

Sukhbaatar's not...a bad man.

0:36:430:36:48

He's far from it, he's anything but.

0:36:480:36:50

He doesn't want to be down a little pit like that...

0:36:500:36:53

but it's a means to an end.

0:36:530:36:55

He has to do it to try and get those scrappy little bits of gold together

0:36:550:36:59

for somebody at the top end of the market to make...

0:36:590:37:02

ultimately, millions of pounds.

0:37:020:37:04

How much more can I take of this? How much more can I take of this...

0:37:040:37:07

..shit that these people have to live through?

0:37:080:37:11

Another day.

0:37:110:37:12

Another day in Mongolia.

0:37:140:37:15

I've been trying to hold off for ages.

0:37:230:37:25

I'm going to have to go...

0:37:250:37:27

and use the long drop.

0:37:270:37:30

But, yeah, it's not going to be good.

0:37:300:37:32

Wish me luck.

0:37:350:37:36

Oh, dear!

0:37:380:37:41

Alone with his thoughts, Craig has had a brainwave.

0:37:430:37:46

'I spoke to Sukhbaatar around the shaft today,

0:37:480:37:50

'about putting planks in.'

0:37:500:37:51

I said to him about boarding out,

0:37:530:37:55

and he said it weren't worth it but he's just done it here.

0:37:550:37:58

Be brave, you can see inside. It's all boarded out.

0:37:580:38:01

He's got boards at the back, there, to hold back.

0:38:010:38:04

He's even put, you know, a framework around it,

0:38:040:38:07

a wooden framework around it to support everything.

0:38:070:38:09

He's even got them in the bottom, there, planks in the bottom.

0:38:090:38:12

So he knows about boarding out,

0:38:120:38:14

but he just chooses not to do it at his shaft side.

0:38:140:38:17

I just can't understand why... CRAIG COUGHS

0:38:170:38:22

..why he wouldn't do it. It just doesn't make sense.

0:38:220:38:26

Craig's mind is made up.

0:38:320:38:33

He's on a mission to prove that mining here can be made safe,

0:38:330:38:37

shoring up his own hole

0:38:370:38:39

using planks that are removed at the end of the day.

0:38:390:38:42

Let me show you.

0:38:440:38:45

The deeper you go, the lower your boards.

0:38:480:38:51

Keep putting them lower. It holds the sides in.

0:38:510:38:54

He thinks it's a toilet.

0:38:580:39:00

You protect your toilet from collapsing,

0:39:060:39:08

but you don't protect you from it collapsing.

0:39:080:39:10

I just can't get my head around it.

0:39:100:39:12

Support the toilet so it doesn't cave in on itself.

0:39:120:39:14

This, it's a life, isn't it?

0:39:140:39:16

It might not be a bloke, it could be a kid down there, with Mum.

0:39:160:39:19

It's got 16 and a bit stone on it...

0:39:220:39:26

It's going nowhere!

0:39:260:39:27

Quick simple supports. If they build it all the same every time,

0:39:270:39:30

they've just got to knock 'em out and back in again.

0:39:300:39:32

In...bucket...out. Easy!

0:39:340:39:38

Yeah, plenty of room at the bottom

0:39:430:39:45

because...here, if it comes in, we pull you up.

0:39:450:39:50

If it comes in here...

0:39:500:39:51

He's interested. He's interested.

0:39:550:39:58

Bucket, please.

0:40:010:40:02

With his mine shaft supported, Craig can get back to digging.

0:40:020:40:06

It's solid now, we're at the ice bed again.

0:40:060:40:10

There's still at least two more metres to dig

0:40:100:40:13

before he can hope to strike gold,

0:40:130:40:15

but it looks like he might be digging in the right place.

0:40:150:40:19

Wow, look at all that!

0:40:210:40:24

Bloody hell, that's a lot of gold there.

0:40:240:40:27

How much do you think that's worth, Sukhbaatar?

0:40:270:40:30

And where's that mining from?

0:40:400:40:43

There...

0:40:430:40:44

..there...there.

0:40:460:40:48

With the promise of a big strike,

0:40:510:40:53

there's just one more layer of permafrost to melt.

0:40:530:40:55

Oh, wasn't as grand as the other day, was it?

0:40:590:41:01

Craig's been mining for more than a week.

0:41:050:41:08

Today, he's heading out onto the Mongolian steppe

0:41:080:41:11

with Sukhbaatar and his family.

0:41:110:41:13

Sukhbaatar, two minutes out of the town,

0:41:130:41:17

it's absolutely beautiful out here.

0:41:170:41:18

You've got horses running around,

0:41:180:41:20

the landscape is absolutely...breathtaking.

0:41:200:41:24

They have come to visit Gansuvd's brother,

0:41:310:41:34

who still lives the nomadic lifestyle of a Mongolian herder.

0:41:340:41:38

Gambold was lucky.

0:41:450:41:48

Unlike Sukhbaatar, much of his herd survived the terrible winters.

0:41:480:41:53

How many horses do you have?

0:41:530:41:54

They're a bit lively!

0:41:590:42:00

Whoa!

0:42:000:42:02

Giving me the eye!

0:42:020:42:04

This is getting a bit... Aye-aye!

0:42:070:42:10

Woah, look at that!

0:42:140:42:15

How easy was that?

0:42:170:42:19

Sukhbaatar's the daddy on that. He was straight on, hooked it on.

0:42:190:42:23

He's loving every minute of this.

0:42:230:42:26

Sukhbaatar! Hey!

0:42:260:42:28

Sukhbaatar hasn't lost his skills as a herdsman,

0:42:280:42:32

passed down to him through generations...

0:42:320:42:34

but working at the mines, he hasn't had the chance to teach his son.

0:42:340:42:39

Oh, look at this, now they're taking it.

0:42:390:42:42

His dad's teaching him, teaching him the ways so he don't forget it!

0:42:420:42:45

Look at 'em. Big smiles on their faces!

0:42:450:42:47

That's brilliant, isn't it?

0:42:470:42:49

Trying to keep them in touch with what the family used to be.

0:42:490:42:52

That's lovely. It's absolutely lovely.

0:42:520:42:55

Thank you very much.

0:43:010:43:04

Craig's being given a job

0:43:040:43:06

that's a bit less glamorous than horse wrangling.

0:43:060:43:09

This is a job for the ladies, not for the boys.

0:43:090:43:12

CRAIG GIGGLES

0:43:120:43:15

They're big. Listen to them. YAKS GROWL DEEPLY

0:43:150:43:18

She's going in sports mode now.

0:43:240:43:27

Be good.

0:43:270:43:28

Woo-hoo-ha-ha-ha-ha!

0:43:290:43:31

Oh, it's ever so warm.

0:43:310:43:33

HE LAUGHS

0:43:340:43:36

I'm only good with one hand! HE LAUGHS

0:43:410:43:45

With one hand, I'm exceptional!

0:43:460:43:48

It's very difficult.

0:43:500:43:52

As a coal miner, I don't get to milk many yaks.

0:43:520:43:56

Ah, yak's milk!

0:43:560:43:58

I've got a fair bit off one, bless her.

0:43:580:44:01

As night falls, it's back to the ger for a hearty Mongolian feast.

0:44:060:44:11

I'm a little bit nervous about what we're eating at the minute. Um...

0:44:160:44:21

I don't eat intestines. The liver, kidneys...

0:44:310:44:35

Happy days.

0:44:370:44:38

Not sure about the fat.

0:44:410:44:43

Fuck it, in for a penny.

0:44:450:44:48

Different.

0:44:580:44:59

Please help.

0:45:090:45:10

They've done all this. It's really, really nice, really kind of them.

0:45:100:45:15

There's just so much of it!

0:45:150:45:16

'Sukhbaatar, today, has really let his hair down.

0:45:160:45:20

'He's so proud of his history, what he is.

0:45:200:45:24

'And he's a farmer, he's not a miner.'

0:45:240:45:26

Cor!

0:45:260:45:28

'His heart's here. I just wish he could stop here with his family,

0:45:280:45:33

'where he needs to be, where he should be.'

0:45:330:45:35

THEY LAUGH

0:45:350:45:36

He's more than somebody who scraps around in bloody little holes.

0:45:370:45:41

This bloke has got a world of knowledge. He's intelligent.

0:45:410:45:44

You know, he knows the land, he knows animals.

0:45:440:45:48

HE SINGS

0:45:540:45:57

WHOLE FAMILY SINGS

0:46:150:46:18

While they have been away in the country,

0:46:370:46:39

disaster has struck at the mine.

0:46:390:46:42

He's annoyed, he needs to come out. He needs to come up.

0:46:490:46:51

Thieves have raided Sukhbaatar's mine.

0:46:510:46:54

Other miners have broken into Sukhbaatar's tunnels

0:46:570:47:00

and taken out all the gold.

0:47:000:47:02

A week spent digging down to the seam has gone to waste.

0:47:020:47:06

Fucking hell.

0:47:150:47:17

The family that have dug that hole have broke in here,

0:47:170:47:20

the family that dug that hole have broke in here,

0:47:200:47:22

the family that dug that hole have broke in here.

0:47:220:47:24

So, basically, he's been shafted by one, two, three families.

0:47:240:47:29

Well, if it was me, Sukhbaatar, I know what I'd do.

0:47:290:47:32

I'd get a shovel and I'd fill their fucking holes in for them.

0:47:320:47:34

Make them dig a new hole.

0:47:340:47:35

I'm fucking fuming. I'm fuming.

0:47:360:47:40

I'd fill that hole in, I'd fill that hole in, and I'd fill that hole in,

0:47:400:47:43

and I'd sit here all night and wait for them to come back,

0:47:430:47:45

and I'd kick the shit out of them.

0:47:450:47:47

That's bang out of order.

0:47:470:47:49

It's took him a week to dig this.

0:47:490:47:51

He's shagged, he's got no money now.

0:47:510:47:53

That's some friend, that is.

0:48:010:48:03

I'm looking at every one of them now, thinking, "Is it them, is it them?"

0:48:040:48:07

And I shouldn't do that, I shouldn't do that. It's making me really angry.

0:48:070:48:10

HE EXHALES

0:48:100:48:13

Slimy bastards! They are really slimy bastards for doing that.

0:48:130:48:16

Look at him. His fucking shoulders have dropped.

0:48:160:48:19

You ain't got to look at his face. You know.

0:48:190:48:21

I know what he's thinking, "What am I going to do?"

0:48:230:48:26

For Craig mining has always been a brotherhood

0:48:280:48:31

but it seems that in Mongolia's gold rush you can trust no-one.

0:48:310:48:34

In England we say, "Bastards".

0:48:360:48:39

See this one, I'm going to dig it deeper, and quicker,

0:48:390:48:42

and you can take this one cos that you ain't going to use any more

0:48:420:48:45

but this one is your new hole, yeah?

0:48:450:48:46

Once I've finished digging it you've got it, it's yours, yeah?

0:48:460:48:49

I can't do anything else.

0:48:490:48:51

I don't know what else I can do.

0:48:510:48:53

Ooh, it's nice and warm in here!

0:48:560:48:58

Oh, that fire's lovely.

0:49:010:49:02

'This afternoon I didn't know what to do with myself

0:49:110:49:13

'and I don't know what to do with myself now.

0:49:130:49:15

'I still feel shell shocked. I feel like I've been robbed.'

0:49:150:49:18

With Sukhbaatar's mine gone, tomorrow they need to find gold

0:49:180:49:22

in the hole that Craig has spent days digging.

0:49:220:49:25

'We have got to dig deep and fast.

0:49:250:49:27

'This family is going to starve if we don't get that hole dug.

0:49:270:49:30

'That puts a whole different bag of pressure on my shoulders.

0:49:300:49:33

'This place ain't going to beat me.'

0:49:330:49:35

I'm not going to let his family down.

0:49:350:49:37

So I'm going to dig that hole until it's deep enough

0:49:370:49:39

and they do find gold, and I'll keep digging until they've got it.

0:49:390:49:43

Judgement day today.

0:49:500:49:52

That's my biggest fear. We've spent all that time digging that hole

0:49:520:49:55

and I'm not going to find gold.

0:49:550:49:57

That's my biggest fear because what then?

0:49:570:49:59

Today, riding out one final time across the Mongolian steppe,

0:50:060:50:10

British Miner Craig Notman is a man in search of gold.

0:50:100:50:14

I shall do my very best, Sukhbaatar,

0:50:320:50:35

to try and put some gold in this pot for you.

0:50:350:50:38

Are you doing the boards today?

0:50:390:50:40

Good answer.

0:50:410:50:43

Good answer. Come on, then.

0:50:430:50:44

Yeah.

0:50:440:50:45

Spot on.

0:50:450:50:47

No dramas now. He's left us to it.

0:50:470:50:48

Obviously, thinks he can trust us to do it

0:50:480:50:51

so just want to crack on and get it completed now.

0:50:510:50:54

It's been five days of hard graft, digging through the stony soil

0:50:590:51:02

and melting the permafrost with dung fires.

0:51:020:51:05

Bucket, please!

0:51:050:51:07

Now, five metres below the surface,

0:51:080:51:10

Craig hopes he has finally hit the gold seam.

0:51:100:51:13

If you notice the soil, the colour's changing.

0:51:140:51:18

It's getting more and more orange.

0:51:180:51:20

Yes...yes...

0:51:230:51:26

yes...

0:51:260:51:28

oh, fucking yes!

0:51:280:51:30

What's this, here?

0:51:310:51:32

Gold!

0:51:340:51:35

I'm trying to be Mr Cool.

0:51:410:51:42

I don't want all these lot to see that I'm buzzing me boobs off!

0:51:420:51:46

I'm chuffed to bits. I am happy.

0:51:460:51:48

But the real work has only just begun.

0:51:500:51:52

I'm wet through with sweat, the hole's red hot.

0:51:560:51:59

This is the toughest I've ever had to work.

0:51:590:52:01

If you've got to start a new hole after you've dug one

0:52:010:52:03

and you've found nothing

0:52:030:52:05

the thought of having to crack on and dig another hole,

0:52:050:52:07

it breaks your heart it, really does, it's a killer.

0:52:070:52:11

After digging and panning for two more hours,

0:52:110:52:14

Craig is finding just a few grains of gold.

0:52:140:52:17

This is the reality of life for a Mongolian gold miner.

0:52:170:52:20

I'm getting more frustrated.

0:52:240:52:26

In a minute that's going to go about 800 yards down there.

0:52:260:52:28

I'm just going to fling it.

0:52:280:52:30

It's a lot of graft for nothing, really.

0:52:320:52:35

Pennies.

0:52:350:52:36

We've had buckets with nothing in, pans with nothing in.

0:52:360:52:40

When we first found some it was brilliant,

0:52:410:52:44

I thought, "Here we go, happy days,"

0:52:440:52:46

but it's just been so bloody difficult.

0:52:460:52:48

So hard to try and get it out.

0:52:480:52:50

How much do you think we've got up to now?

0:52:500:52:52

HE SPEAKS IN DIALECT

0:52:520:52:55

That's £1.50.

0:52:550:52:58

That 's not enough, we've got to keep going, haven't we?

0:52:580:53:01

Come on, we can't sit around. Let's go and do some more.

0:53:010:53:03

'You know, I've put myself in Sukhbaatar's position.

0:53:120:53:15

'You know, it's my family that's sitting there

0:53:150:53:17

'waiting for me to bring money home.'

0:53:170:53:19

If I don't do it my family don't get nothing.

0:53:200:53:23

'We're going to crack on

0:53:250:53:27

'and we're going to get it out, we're going to dig it out.

0:53:270:53:29

'Just going to man up a bit and just get on and deal with it.'

0:53:290:53:32

Finally, in the last buckets of the day,

0:53:340:53:36

a few more flecks start to appear.

0:53:360:53:38

You know, we've tried our best, we've worked hard and...

0:53:400:53:45

I think Sukhbaatar will be happy still

0:53:450:53:46

because don't forget I'm still a bloody novice at this mining.

0:53:460:53:49

'It's the end of the day now. Everybody's packing up.'

0:53:580:54:00

I know it's not a fortune but we've got gold out of the ground.

0:54:000:54:05

I don't think we've done too bad but I'd just prefer to get a lot more.

0:54:050:54:09

There.

0:54:090:54:11

We've tried, we've done the best we can.

0:54:210:54:23

Sorry.

0:54:350:54:36

We tried our best but that's all we could get.

0:54:360:54:38

You're my friend for ever, mate.

0:55:080:55:10

Thank you. Thank you, as well.

0:55:100:55:12

All these people!

0:55:180:55:19

Sukhbaatar has invited friends and his family from the countryside.

0:55:210:55:25

And on the menu is roasted goat - Mongolian style.

0:55:250:55:30

They've got a blow torch out and just set fire to its skin.

0:55:320:55:35

Yeah, different, isn't it?

0:55:350:55:37

'It's been one hell of a day, it's been mega hot.

0:55:370:55:40

'It's the hardest graft I've had any day of my life

0:55:400:55:44

'but it's been bloody worth it.

0:55:440:55:46

'I've shown them about making the hole safe'

0:55:460:55:49

and they are going to try and use it.

0:55:490:55:50

They know now that they can set it up

0:55:500:55:52

and they can bring it back home with them

0:55:520:55:54

so I'm chuffed to bits with that. I've got 100% now.

0:55:540:55:57

I'm really happy.

0:55:570:55:58

'Sukhbaatar is a really, really honest, hard working good bloke

0:56:160:56:20

'and I totally respect him.'

0:56:200:56:22

All he's after is to get money together

0:56:220:56:26

to get his herd to go out in them bloody hills, right up there,

0:56:260:56:31

and just live a peaceful, tranquil life.

0:56:310:56:34

..Why's that?

0:56:370:56:40

Back home and Craig's training British workers in underground safety.

0:56:400:56:45

'It was difficult. It was hard, upsetting.

0:56:450:56:49

'I think I went through every emotion and then some.'

0:56:490:56:51

I'm still trying to come down from it now.

0:56:510:56:53

Clip 'em on, lock him on.

0:56:530:56:56

Your life's hanging off this wire.

0:56:560:56:57

'I miss Sukhbaatar and his family so much.'

0:56:570:56:59

A really good man. An honest man. His heart's as big as a lion.

0:56:590:57:03

I do class him as a very, very long distance friend now.

0:57:030:57:08

If I could be a little bit more like him I'd be a happy man.

0:57:080:57:12

Set number is 34...

0:57:140:57:16

With help from the mining community,

0:57:160:57:17

Craig is determined to raise money for the Mongolian gold miners...

0:57:170:57:22

'A miner's struggling,

0:57:230:57:24

'some other miner is going to help him.

0:57:240:57:27

'That's what happening. It's a brotherhood.'

0:57:270:57:29

Teams are coming together saying, "We'll do something, we'll help."

0:57:290:57:32

and they've given up time to do it.

0:57:320:57:34

And he's committed to helping his friend Sukhbaatar

0:57:340:57:37

return to his nomadic life as a herder on the Mongolian steppe.

0:57:370:57:42

I want to pull up outside his place, with a big lorry full of cattle,

0:57:420:57:46

drive out into the countryside, park up, and that's it.

0:57:460:57:49

And leave him to it. Leave him to where he should be.

0:57:490:57:51

I will achieve that. We WILL achieve that.

0:57:510:57:54

I'm looking forward to that day so much, yeah.

0:57:540:57:58

I must admit, mate, it's nice to have you back.

0:57:580:58:00

Yeah, you're full of shit. Come on then!

0:58:000:58:02

After you, girls!

0:58:020:58:05

Next time...

0:58:050:58:06

Colin Window is swapping his 1,000 tonne London ferry

0:58:060:58:10

for a tiny wooden boat in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

0:58:100:58:12

This is going to be a lot more involved

0:58:140:58:16

than what I imagined, I tell you.

0:58:160:58:18

He'll be working on the Buringanga river,

0:58:180:58:21

where ferrymen take their lives in their hands every day.

0:58:210:58:25

This would be a reportable near miss on the River Thames.

0:58:250:58:30

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0:58:530:58:55

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