Down the mountain by helicopter: Dan Hurd's 50-tonne iolite boulder, part two
After the blast came the bagging, and a pilot slinging sacks of gem rough down to a flat deck below, with an Ocean Picture Stone explainer posted two days later.
Dan Hurd (Dan Hurd Prospecting)Story of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
Helicopter Extraction of the 50-Tonne Gemstone Boulder we Blasted!
Two uploads, one boulder. Dan Hurd spent the week finishing the story he started when he and a blasting crew flew up a British Columbia mountain to break a 50-tonne boulder loaded with iolite.
The sequel, "Helicopter Extraction of the 50-Tonne Gemstone Boulder we Blasted!", is the payoff. The crew had spent days sorting the rubble into huge bags, and Dan goes back up to watch a helicopter carry them, one by one, to a flat deck waiting below. The description promises iolite gem rough, lapidary material and some high-end crystal specimens mixed into the debris. It passed 130,000 views in six days. Viewers talk about the pilot as much as the stones, noting how steadily he brought the slung loads down, and one of them has already renamed him Dynamite Dan. Iolite, the purple-blue gem at the center of all this, is known for pleochroism: turn a crystal and its color shifts.
The first part is still the channel's busiest video, nearly half a million views in under two weeks and gathering roughly four times as many a day as its sequel. Perhaps newcomers are starting at the beginning? Dan's friend Chris Robak of Silver Cove, the Canadian rock and gem distributor, is the host of that first trip.
The other upload, "What is Ocean Picture Stone?", answers a question his channel has been raising for a month: the earlier "One MILLION pounds of premium Ocean Picture Stone!" sits past 700,000 views and keeps moving.
Across the channel, daily views are running a little above their usual level. Among outdoors channels of a similar size, Farming While Beige and Nate Petroski are having very big weeks, while Joe Robinet's is closer to Dan's steady pace.
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What viewers say
That was fun to watch. That's a good pilot that won't try to muscle a heavy load off of the mountain.
@craig9146See it on YouTubeBringing those slung loads without swinging is impressive!
@russhillisSee it on YouTubePanning Dan is now Dynamite Dan.
@blacksmith88See it on YouTube
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The videos drawing views on Dan Hurd (Dan Hurd Prospecting) right now
- Subscribers
- 1,510,000
- Videos published this week
- 2
- Video published
- September 27, 2026
- Video views so far
- 132,661
The numbers
Here is how Dan Hurd's channel and videos stand this week.
💡 Test your knowledge
Iolite is a gem variety of which mineral?
Gem-quality cordierite is sold under the name iolite.
