1 00:00:02,620 --> 00:00:04,380 Our goal is to hit it hard. 2 00:00:04,413 --> 00:00:06,313 Yee-haw! 3 00:00:06,344 --> 00:00:07,864 On this Gold Rush... 4 00:00:07,896 --> 00:00:09,306 Is that everything we got? 5 00:00:11,103 --> 00:00:14,413 Fred Lewis is confronted by not one... 6 00:00:16,551 --> 00:00:18,281 ...but two major setbacks. 7 00:00:18,310 --> 00:00:19,970 Hold on. I'm gonna get Alex to come help. 8 00:00:24,241 --> 00:00:27,171 Holy [bleep]. Things siting in there sideways. 9 00:00:27,206 --> 00:00:30,546 Rick Ness takes matters into his own hands. 10 00:00:30,586 --> 00:00:32,026 Up in the Yukon every second counts. 11 00:00:33,448 --> 00:00:34,758 Hello. 12 00:00:34,793 --> 00:00:36,553 If I don't get our 1,000-ounce goal this year, 13 00:00:36,586 --> 00:00:38,476 I don't see continuing on. 14 00:00:41,103 --> 00:00:44,763 And Parker Schnabel is on track to break records. 15 00:00:45,862 --> 00:00:48,412 Is there wildfires close to your house? 16 00:00:48,448 --> 00:00:50,478 When a disaster strikes... 17 00:00:50,517 --> 00:00:52,137 Can you see the fire from the house? 18 00:00:52,172 --> 00:00:53,342 It's really smoky. 19 00:00:53,379 --> 00:00:54,829 Which way is the wind going? 20 00:00:54,862 --> 00:00:56,832 Towards our house. 21 00:00:56,862 --> 00:00:58,862 Grab what you can and get out of there. 22 00:01:18,068 --> 00:01:21,338 Look at that deep hole of boulders. 23 00:01:22,241 --> 00:01:23,311 Love it. 24 00:01:26,034 --> 00:01:30,074 It's late summer in the mountains above Keno City. 25 00:01:30,103 --> 00:01:33,903 In a matter of weeks, temperatures will plummet 26 00:01:33,931 --> 00:01:37,241 and snow will blanket the area for six months. 27 00:01:43,241 --> 00:01:45,241 I'm always worried we're gonna get froze out of here 28 00:01:45,275 --> 00:01:46,335 before we hit our goal. 29 00:01:46,379 --> 00:01:48,899 And this year that's just really not an option. 30 00:01:48,931 --> 00:01:50,831 If I don't get our 1,000-ounce goal this year, 31 00:01:50,862 --> 00:01:53,102 I just... I don't see continuing on. 32 00:01:56,448 --> 00:02:00,758 This season, Rick's mined 642 ounces. 33 00:02:02,413 --> 00:02:06,663 He now needs a least 70 ounces every week to hit his goal... 34 00:02:11,206 --> 00:02:14,756 but so far he's averaged just over 60. 35 00:02:19,137 --> 00:02:20,857 How is that pay pile looking down there, Mark. 36 00:02:21,586 --> 00:02:23,686 Looking good, buddy. 37 00:02:23,724 --> 00:02:27,284 Hey, boys, we're staying here until we get that 1,000 ounces gold. 38 00:02:27,310 --> 00:02:28,690 Yeah, copy that, bud. 39 00:02:36,689 --> 00:02:41,759 Wash plant Rocky chews through 120 yards of pay dirt per hour. 40 00:02:43,896 --> 00:02:46,406 The plant's got be running flat out 24 hours a day 41 00:02:46,448 --> 00:02:47,588 for the rest of the season. 42 00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:49,030 I've got to hit my target this year. 43 00:02:49,068 --> 00:02:51,998 Honestly, if I don't this is just gonna be my last year. 44 00:02:52,034 --> 00:02:54,174 All right, bud, I'll keep feeding this plant. 45 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:58,340 To keep up, 46 00:02:58,379 --> 00:03:02,759 Rick needs to run nine truckloads to the plant every hour. 47 00:03:05,517 --> 00:03:07,137 I'm not taking my foot off the gas at all 48 00:03:07,172 --> 00:03:10,172 because, you know, this time of year up in the Yukon 49 00:03:10,206 --> 00:03:12,896 every second counts. 50 00:03:12,931 --> 00:03:14,311 I need everything to work perfectly. 51 00:03:14,344 --> 00:03:16,554 We can't have any until we're frozen out of here. 52 00:03:19,413 --> 00:03:22,003 It's been a trying year, I guess. 53 00:03:22,034 --> 00:03:24,624 If we don't find a sizable amount of gold, I mean, 54 00:03:24,655 --> 00:03:27,545 it could be the same boat as last year. 55 00:03:27,586 --> 00:03:30,686 I don't, I don't really want to think about not going home with a gold bonus. 56 00:03:38,206 --> 00:03:42,066 Everyone here wants to see that 1,000 ounces, me included. 57 00:03:42,103 --> 00:03:44,623 So, to hit our goal we need every hour we can get. 58 00:03:44,655 --> 00:03:48,095 So every hour we're running, we're getting that much closer. 59 00:03:50,551 --> 00:03:53,791 ♪ Coming your way Coming your way, oh ♪ 60 00:03:59,586 --> 00:04:03,066 -Hey, Carl, you got a copy? Yes, Rick. 61 00:04:03,103 --> 00:04:05,903 Yeah, man, something's going on with the 700. 62 00:04:05,931 --> 00:04:07,931 I need you to come up here and take a look at this thing. 63 00:04:07,965 --> 00:04:08,995 Okay. 64 00:04:11,448 --> 00:04:12,928 is going on here? 65 00:04:16,862 --> 00:04:21,172 Holy [bleep]. Yeah, that roller is piled right up. 66 00:04:21,206 --> 00:04:22,826 damn it! 67 00:04:22,862 --> 00:04:25,762 thing's siting in there sideways. 68 00:04:25,793 --> 00:04:30,173 One of the 700's carry rollers has bent out of alignment... 69 00:04:30,206 --> 00:04:31,376 me. 70 00:04:31,413 --> 00:04:33,623 ...and the track is unable to move. 71 00:04:40,724 --> 00:04:43,664 Not quite sure what happened, but it did. 72 00:04:43,689 --> 00:04:45,689 Something might have got in there like a big rock and got jammed in there. 73 00:04:45,724 --> 00:04:47,034 Who knows? 74 00:04:47,068 --> 00:04:48,448 See that one, sitting right there. It's nice and flat, 75 00:04:48,482 --> 00:04:50,692 holding the track up. That's what it's supposed to do, right? 76 00:04:50,724 --> 00:04:51,934 They carry the track along. 77 00:04:52,896 --> 00:04:54,336 See that one's on an angle, right? 78 00:04:54,379 --> 00:04:55,689 Without that roller there, man, 79 00:04:55,724 --> 00:04:57,834 you're gonna be dragging your track on your side frame. 80 00:04:57,862 --> 00:04:59,522 You know we're doing extensive damage, right? 81 00:04:59,551 --> 00:05:00,971 So you got to have it, right? 82 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,900 So we're gonna have to dig those bolts out and, uh, 83 00:05:05,310 --> 00:05:08,030 bolt that roller back in there if it's not too far gone, right? 84 00:05:08,068 --> 00:05:09,098 Yeah. 85 00:05:10,689 --> 00:05:11,549 Oh, yeah. 86 00:05:12,758 --> 00:05:14,548 Dude, it's coming out. Wow. 87 00:05:19,620 --> 00:05:21,970 The reason this broke, the bearings gone, Rick. 88 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,450 sick, you can't be serious. 89 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,450 Each of the 700's tracks 90 00:05:30,482 --> 00:05:35,832 runs on three carry rollers, but one of them has seized. 91 00:05:38,103 --> 00:05:41,793 When it stopped turning the track forced it out of position. 92 00:05:43,241 --> 00:05:46,661 Now Carl must remove and replace the roller 93 00:05:46,689 --> 00:05:48,619 before the 700 can run again. 94 00:05:53,413 --> 00:05:55,483 -No that thing's [bleep]. -Whoa, this is toast. 95 00:05:57,931 --> 00:06:00,861 So here's the problem. We don't have another roller. 96 00:06:02,103 --> 00:06:03,553 that. 97 00:06:03,586 --> 00:06:06,446 Being where we are, it's tough to see who's got a roller. 98 00:06:06,482 --> 00:06:08,342 And if there is going to be one in the Yukon, right? 99 00:06:08,379 --> 00:06:09,999 So... 100 00:06:10,034 --> 00:06:12,934 We're... We're playing the waiting game again now, right? 101 00:06:12,965 --> 00:06:14,655 This thing's sitting until we get a roller. 102 00:06:14,689 --> 00:06:15,689 Yes, sir. 103 00:06:17,448 --> 00:06:18,968 this. 104 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:20,480 This far north, 105 00:06:20,517 --> 00:06:24,097 a replacement roller could take weeks. 106 00:06:24,137 --> 00:06:26,547 -I sure hope someone has it. -I don't know. 107 00:06:26,586 --> 00:06:28,406 If they'll be coming from somewhere down south 108 00:06:28,448 --> 00:06:29,928 and it will take forever to get 'em. 109 00:06:30,758 --> 00:06:31,828 Find me some rollers. 110 00:06:32,413 --> 00:06:33,933 Go get the 480 down here. 111 00:06:37,103 --> 00:06:38,413 Oh, damn it! 112 00:06:41,896 --> 00:06:46,826 Operator Matt Thomas brings in the 480 to carry on loading pay, 113 00:06:49,827 --> 00:06:54,237 but the three yard bucket is just half the size of the 700's. 114 00:06:57,827 --> 00:07:01,377 It slows us down loading trucks when we have to use the 480. 115 00:07:01,413 --> 00:07:04,033 And, you know, we've got a limited timeline here. 116 00:07:04,068 --> 00:07:06,378 So any time we've got equipment down 117 00:07:06,413 --> 00:07:08,623 and we can't do what we need to do, it's hurting us. 118 00:07:10,931 --> 00:07:14,791 It takes twice as long to load each truck. 119 00:07:14,827 --> 00:07:17,897 So not enough pay is getting to the plant 120 00:07:17,931 --> 00:07:19,661 to keep it running at full speed. 121 00:07:51,344 --> 00:07:53,974 Hey, Stuart, give me a 20 count every 20 buckets. 122 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,520 We're going to go for 5-0. 123 00:07:56,482 --> 00:07:57,622 We're mining. 124 00:08:00,137 --> 00:08:01,687 In Oregon, 125 00:08:01,724 --> 00:08:05,214 rookie mine boss, Fred Lewis, and his crew of combat veterans 126 00:08:05,241 --> 00:08:10,031 have so far only mined two ounces of gold. 127 00:08:10,068 --> 00:08:12,028 I don't know how much longer we're going to get, 128 00:08:12,068 --> 00:08:13,858 but it's getting cold fast. 129 00:08:13,896 --> 00:08:16,376 The amount of gold we have, my investors are definitely not happy. 130 00:08:17,310 --> 00:08:19,240 Highly disappointing, you know? 131 00:08:19,275 --> 00:08:23,065 I know it's not my fault, but I can't help but feel like it's my fault. 132 00:08:23,103 --> 00:08:25,453 Not enough, not enough gold. 133 00:08:28,793 --> 00:08:32,243 Six weeks ago Fred abandoned the swamp cut... 134 00:08:32,275 --> 00:08:34,135 Holy [bleep]. 135 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:36,280 Oh, [bleep]! 136 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:39,410 Just not a safe place anymore. 137 00:08:42,172 --> 00:08:44,382 ...and opened new ground. 138 00:08:44,413 --> 00:08:48,763 This is the first official bucket load out of Liberation Cut. 139 00:08:52,241 --> 00:08:55,591 Now Fred is banking on it to save his season. 140 00:08:59,034 --> 00:09:03,074 Master Sergeant Stefan Generally digs pay with a 400. 141 00:09:06,275 --> 00:09:08,585 Hopefully this could be like a really good week. 142 00:09:08,620 --> 00:09:11,140 Have us a gold weight that beats the one we had last week. 143 00:09:11,172 --> 00:09:12,902 Cost in operation. 144 00:09:12,931 --> 00:09:14,971 No breakdowns. Knock on wood. 145 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:16,240 That's the name of the game today. 146 00:09:18,896 --> 00:09:21,206 It's exciting, but it's kind of nerve wracking, you know? 147 00:09:21,241 --> 00:09:25,001 Sergeant Kyle Pletzke loads the plant. 148 00:09:26,206 --> 00:09:28,476 Came out here as a group of injured vets. 149 00:09:28,517 --> 00:09:29,687 And, yeah, here we are. 150 00:09:29,724 --> 00:09:32,284 We're doing everything we can in our power 151 00:09:32,310 --> 00:09:35,240 to try to bring money home, make life good again. 152 00:09:39,482 --> 00:09:43,792 Staff Sergeant Johnny Stanz received two Purple Hearts 153 00:09:43,827 --> 00:09:45,757 for his service in the Marines. 154 00:09:45,793 --> 00:09:48,903 I'm doing everything I can to make sure it's not going to be 155 00:09:48,931 --> 00:09:51,101 water's fault that we can't mine anymore. 156 00:09:51,137 --> 00:09:52,307 It's perfectly fine. 157 00:09:53,206 --> 00:09:54,896 Now, more than ever, 158 00:09:54,931 --> 00:09:58,281 Johnny's new career needs to pay off. 159 00:09:59,172 --> 00:10:01,172 You know, I got a pregnant wife at home. 160 00:10:01,206 --> 00:10:06,096 I mean, money right now is getting thinner and thinner and with a baby on the way, 161 00:10:06,137 --> 00:10:08,277 it's not long before that dries up. 162 00:10:08,310 --> 00:10:09,930 So we really got to find gold. 163 00:10:14,172 --> 00:10:16,002 Come on, baby. I know you can do it. 164 00:10:18,758 --> 00:10:20,518 It's not really looking too damn good. 165 00:10:24,034 --> 00:10:25,624 That don't look like pay it all. 166 00:10:28,310 --> 00:10:31,210 There's no way I ran out of pay already. 167 00:10:34,551 --> 00:10:36,381 Hey, Kendell. This is Stefan. You copy? 168 00:10:36,413 --> 00:10:37,933 Go for Kendell. What's up, buddy? 169 00:10:37,965 --> 00:10:39,065 You know what you're looking at, brah. 170 00:10:39,103 --> 00:10:41,763 It's looking like I ran out of pay. 171 00:10:41,793 --> 00:10:44,593 Um, this dirt I'm pulling up is definitely not pay. 172 00:10:44,620 --> 00:10:46,930 I need you to come take a look just to confirm that for me. 173 00:10:46,965 --> 00:10:49,275 All right, I'll get down to you. -Roger. 174 00:10:52,137 --> 00:10:53,337 Is that it for pay? 175 00:10:55,965 --> 00:10:58,065 I don't like the look of any of this. 176 00:10:58,103 --> 00:10:59,523 You're just on bedrock. 177 00:10:59,551 --> 00:11:01,311 Yeah, that's not looking like pay. 178 00:11:03,655 --> 00:11:07,165 Hey, Fred, we are just about out of pay. 179 00:11:07,206 --> 00:11:09,406 We got nothing else to feed the Colonel. 180 00:11:09,448 --> 00:11:10,828 Ugh, it's not looking good. 181 00:11:11,241 --> 00:11:12,171 No. 182 00:11:14,551 --> 00:11:16,031 It's all just broken bedrock here. 183 00:11:16,068 --> 00:11:17,448 That's all it is. 184 00:11:17,482 --> 00:11:19,862 I was so hoping it would go back further and down further. 185 00:11:19,896 --> 00:11:22,026 -Yeah. -And you just hit wall-on-wall, huh? 186 00:11:22,068 --> 00:11:27,098 That's it. That was probably pushing me up 2 to 3 feet every time I tried to dig. 187 00:11:27,137 --> 00:11:30,997 I mean, honestly, I didn't think it was possible but we basically payed out. 188 00:11:35,206 --> 00:11:36,206 Well, that was fast. 189 00:11:36,241 --> 00:11:37,621 I was going to say I could keep digging 190 00:11:37,655 --> 00:11:38,895 but I think it would be a waste of time. 191 00:11:38,931 --> 00:11:40,381 Oh, yeah. Don't even touch it again. 192 00:11:41,724 --> 00:11:43,554 Yeah. 193 00:11:43,586 --> 00:11:45,166 Yeah we're going to go ahead and shut it down. 194 00:11:51,862 --> 00:11:53,592 So much for Liberation. 195 00:11:53,620 --> 00:11:57,690 Got to do something here because we're screwed at this point. 196 00:11:57,724 --> 00:12:00,974 There's got to be a place on this freaking claim that hasn't been touched yet. 197 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:01,930 There just has to be. 198 00:12:01,965 --> 00:12:03,895 They didn't dig everywhere. 199 00:12:03,931 --> 00:12:05,341 We're just not hitting the right spot. 200 00:12:05,379 --> 00:12:06,239 See what's available. 201 00:12:06,275 --> 00:12:07,205 This sucks. 202 00:12:07,241 --> 00:12:08,241 This definitely isn't gonna do it. 203 00:12:08,275 --> 00:12:09,205 Find a spot for me to dig, man. 204 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,720 Back to square one, but we'll test, see what's available 205 00:12:16,758 --> 00:12:18,168 and, uh, go from there. 206 00:12:19,862 --> 00:12:24,142 This cut had about a tenth of the amount of pay I thought it was gonna have. 207 00:12:24,172 --> 00:12:25,452 And now it's cashed out. 208 00:12:25,482 --> 00:12:27,312 So we've got to put our heads together. 209 00:12:27,344 --> 00:12:28,864 We've got to attack some other place 210 00:12:28,896 --> 00:12:31,446 'cause right now we are dead in the water until we find another cut. 211 00:12:47,896 --> 00:12:50,686 Hey, Kendell. -Sup? 212 00:12:50,724 --> 00:12:52,034 We gonna figure something out, man. 213 00:12:52,068 --> 00:12:53,968 -I got this old map... -Okay. 214 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,930 On the Elkhorn Claim, 215 00:12:55,965 --> 00:12:59,405 rookie mine boss, Fred Lewis, has run out of pay dirt. 216 00:13:00,517 --> 00:13:03,167 He needs to find new ground fast. 217 00:13:04,413 --> 00:13:05,973 So right now we're [bleep]. 218 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:07,660 So I think our biggest problem is 219 00:13:07,689 --> 00:13:11,999 this place was probably picked over by hand back in the early 1900s'. 220 00:13:12,034 --> 00:13:13,554 Phew! 221 00:13:13,586 --> 00:13:16,026 But I've done some research here, and I found a picture. 222 00:13:19,172 --> 00:13:23,282 Elkhorn Claim was first prospected in 1896 223 00:13:23,310 --> 00:13:27,240 by old time miners traveling south to California. 224 00:13:30,068 --> 00:13:33,448 They established a settlement, named Born. 225 00:13:33,482 --> 00:13:37,142 And in 1898, they appointed their own Mayor. 226 00:13:38,655 --> 00:13:39,855 This is our claim. 227 00:13:39,896 --> 00:13:42,926 Yeah, that's the mayor's house being built right there. 228 00:13:44,310 --> 00:13:45,590 No one's mining under their house. 229 00:13:45,620 --> 00:13:47,410 Certainly not the mayor's house. 230 00:13:47,448 --> 00:13:49,208 So just like you said, we're gonna have to punch 231 00:13:49,241 --> 00:13:50,761 as many holes in this ground as possible 232 00:13:50,793 --> 00:13:53,243 and try and find a piece of virgin ground and go for it. 233 00:13:53,275 --> 00:13:55,205 Okay, yeah, let's... Let's test it. 234 00:13:57,275 --> 00:14:02,995 Fred has abandoned the Swamp Cut and the Liberation Cut, 235 00:14:03,034 --> 00:14:07,594 and he knows other parts of the claim were mined out by the old timers. 236 00:14:09,965 --> 00:14:14,335 Fred believes his best chance of finding virgin ground 237 00:14:14,379 --> 00:14:18,589 is a site underneath where the local mayor's house once stood. 238 00:14:21,620 --> 00:14:23,550 If we get down there deep enough 239 00:14:23,586 --> 00:14:25,896 to find ground that hasn't been disturbed... 240 00:14:25,931 --> 00:14:27,901 That's virgin ground, that's where we need to be. 241 00:14:29,068 --> 00:14:32,068 Just spray paint an "X" real quick, 242 00:14:32,103 --> 00:14:34,623 so that that Stefan knows exactly where Fred wants us to dig. 243 00:14:34,655 --> 00:14:35,925 -Hey, Stu. -Yeah, bud? 244 00:14:35,965 --> 00:14:37,545 -X marks the spot? -X marks the spot. 245 00:14:37,586 --> 00:14:39,276 -Show me something. -Got it. 246 00:14:45,689 --> 00:14:48,759 Hopefully we can find some better pay than what we just found. 247 00:14:48,793 --> 00:14:50,903 So whatever remainder of the season we have, 248 00:14:50,931 --> 00:14:52,481 we can run good pay through it. 249 00:14:55,448 --> 00:14:58,928 He just started digging this test hole and he's already come across a bolder. 250 00:14:59,965 --> 00:15:00,925 I kinda like that. 251 00:15:02,551 --> 00:15:04,861 It's a really good sign this ground hasn't been touched 252 00:15:04,896 --> 00:15:06,926 and that there's probably some gold here. 253 00:15:08,172 --> 00:15:10,032 Yeah, that means I'm hitting some rocks. 254 00:15:11,862 --> 00:15:14,072 Wow! 255 00:15:18,379 --> 00:15:20,449 -At least get us gold. -Let's see what we got. 256 00:15:22,724 --> 00:15:23,664 A lot of gravel. 257 00:15:24,448 --> 00:15:25,998 I am noticing, on the left 258 00:15:26,034 --> 00:15:28,484 it's clearly a tailings pile that's been dug before. 259 00:15:29,689 --> 00:15:31,099 On the right... 260 00:15:31,137 --> 00:15:34,097 it hasn't been dug, so we can chase pay that way up. 261 00:15:34,137 --> 00:15:36,787 If there's enough virgin ground left, it could save the season. 262 00:15:36,827 --> 00:15:39,207 I'm gonna pan it first, see what we got. 263 00:15:40,241 --> 00:15:43,311 We are seeing what our gold content is, 264 00:15:43,344 --> 00:15:47,694 literally right in the place where we're most active in the mine. 265 00:15:47,724 --> 00:15:50,934 Hopefully, we'll see the most amount of gold we've seen so far. 266 00:15:53,413 --> 00:15:56,003 -Find some gold. -Yeah, no pressure at all. 267 00:15:58,344 --> 00:16:03,074 What we're gonna need out of this is have a couple of flakes of gold. 268 00:16:03,103 --> 00:16:05,483 I would say if we get two to four colors out of this pan, 269 00:16:05,517 --> 00:16:06,757 it'll be a freaking good test. 270 00:16:17,724 --> 00:16:19,934 Three colors. 271 00:16:21,655 --> 00:16:23,545 It's better than our Liberation Cut. 272 00:16:23,586 --> 00:16:25,686 Maybe the best that they got to offer here. 273 00:16:25,724 --> 00:16:27,104 We need the best to have the offer 274 00:16:27,137 --> 00:16:28,787 because outside that we're [bleep]. 275 00:16:28,827 --> 00:16:32,657 Well, guys, what do you think we just, uh, go for it. 276 00:16:32,689 --> 00:16:35,589 We should get you busy opening up that hole 277 00:16:35,620 --> 00:16:37,030 towards the Swamp Cut downhill. 278 00:16:37,758 --> 00:16:39,168 And just see what we see. 279 00:16:42,344 --> 00:16:46,524 While as I'm digging this, it's starting to look more and more like pay. 280 00:16:46,551 --> 00:16:51,451 I really hope this'll turn our season from not great to pretty dang good. 281 00:16:53,172 --> 00:16:54,902 We're gonna name this the Mayor's Cut 282 00:16:54,931 --> 00:16:56,381 'cause the Mayor's house used to sit on it. 283 00:16:56,413 --> 00:16:58,903 And that's why I think there's still some virgin ground down there. 284 00:16:58,931 --> 00:17:00,761 We gotta move fast, we gotta move quick, 285 00:17:00,793 --> 00:17:02,283 we gotta get this through the plant. 286 00:17:13,517 --> 00:17:16,337 Every year we go to the next best piece of ground we've got, 287 00:17:16,379 --> 00:17:18,899 and we're hitting it hard, and it's not gonna last. 288 00:17:20,103 --> 00:17:23,283 Twenty-six-year-old mine boss Parker Schnabel 289 00:17:23,310 --> 00:17:26,140 is in the last few weeks of his season, 290 00:17:26,172 --> 00:17:30,002 but still has fifty percent of the Airstrip Cut left to mine. 291 00:17:32,172 --> 00:17:33,932 We really need this season to pay off. 292 00:17:33,965 --> 00:17:36,405 Like, gold prices are good, fuel prices are low. 293 00:17:36,448 --> 00:17:39,788 The big thing is just building up some cash, 294 00:17:39,827 --> 00:17:41,827 so that we can buy a piece of ground. 295 00:17:41,862 --> 00:17:44,592 And so that we've got a lot of years of mining ahead of us. 296 00:17:47,517 --> 00:17:51,587 Sluicifer and Big Red are now working in tandem 297 00:17:51,620 --> 00:17:55,720 to bank as much gold as possible for Parker's mining future. 298 00:17:59,965 --> 00:18:02,375 We got two plants side by side, you know, 299 00:18:02,413 --> 00:18:05,763 we gotta fill part of this old war chest up with all this gold here, 300 00:18:05,793 --> 00:18:08,213 so that we can put it towards this new ground that we need. 301 00:18:08,241 --> 00:18:10,241 And get out of here before it's -20, 302 00:18:10,275 --> 00:18:11,755 and we can't run a wash plant. 303 00:18:14,448 --> 00:18:16,478 Bitter end of the season here. 304 00:18:16,517 --> 00:18:19,277 We just wanna try and keep these wash plants running 305 00:18:19,310 --> 00:18:22,520 until we're either out of thawed pay dirt or good enough days to do it. 306 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:25,620 You never know when you're gonna come out here, 307 00:18:25,655 --> 00:18:27,025 and your wash plants are gonna be froze up. 308 00:18:31,310 --> 00:18:34,760 Co-foreman and chief mechanic Mitch Blaschke 309 00:18:34,793 --> 00:18:37,103 begins his daily checks on the wash plants. 310 00:18:47,965 --> 00:18:51,825 I just got a call from Hailey, Mitch's wife. 311 00:18:51,862 --> 00:18:56,622 And there's some pretty bad wildfires down in Oregon where Mitch lives. 312 00:18:56,655 --> 00:19:00,685 They've got an evacuation order, which doesn't sound like fun. 313 00:19:03,482 --> 00:19:06,002 -Mitch! -Howdy. 314 00:19:06,034 --> 00:19:09,454 -You need to call your wife. She got an evacuation order. -Okay. 315 00:19:09,482 --> 00:19:11,002 -Go deal with it. -All right, thanks, man. 316 00:19:19,827 --> 00:19:21,587 Damn it. 317 00:19:28,310 --> 00:19:29,690 Hi. Oh, man. 318 00:19:29,724 --> 00:19:33,034 What's up, babe? Can you see the fire from the house? 319 00:19:33,068 --> 00:19:35,238 It's really smoky. 320 00:19:36,344 --> 00:19:38,524 Evacuating all the way up to... 321 00:19:40,241 --> 00:19:41,341 To where? 322 00:19:41,379 --> 00:19:43,209 They're evacuating my cousin's house 323 00:19:43,241 --> 00:19:45,001 that lived by Firwood School. 324 00:19:45,931 --> 00:19:48,241 -Oh, gotcha. 325 00:19:49,551 --> 00:19:51,241 I know, I know. 326 00:19:51,275 --> 00:19:52,965 So which way is the wind going? 327 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,830 The wind is blowing towards our house. 328 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,210 All right, babe. Grab what you can and get out of there. 329 00:19:59,241 --> 00:20:01,281 -Okay. -Be safe. 330 00:20:01,310 --> 00:20:03,620 -Love you. -Okay, love you, bye. 331 00:20:07,172 --> 00:20:09,552 It's not good. It's close and it's out of control. 332 00:20:09,586 --> 00:20:12,546 And there's not enough people or help to get it under control. 333 00:20:12,586 --> 00:20:14,336 It's tough, I mean, what do you do? 334 00:20:17,965 --> 00:20:19,895 -What's the verdict? -Came out of nowhere, dude. 335 00:20:19,931 --> 00:20:23,901 -Got a big wind storm, 15 fires burning. 336 00:20:23,931 --> 00:20:26,241 2020, and it's eh? 337 00:20:26,275 --> 00:20:28,965 Oh, yeah. There's one that's like two miles from my house. 338 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,550 Puts life in perspective, can't be home to help. 339 00:20:32,965 --> 00:20:35,135 I don't know what I can do to... 340 00:20:35,172 --> 00:20:38,342 At this point, I don't even... I don't know. 341 00:20:41,758 --> 00:20:43,308 I'll figure out what I'm doing here, 342 00:20:43,344 --> 00:20:44,764 but I'll come down and let you know either ways. 343 00:20:44,793 --> 00:20:46,243 -Okay, sounds good, man. -All right. 344 00:20:46,275 --> 00:20:47,715 -Hope the best for ya. -Thanks. 345 00:20:48,896 --> 00:20:50,686 -Hey, Parker, you got a minute? -Yeah. 346 00:20:50,724 --> 00:20:52,694 There's some really bad wildfires down there, 347 00:20:52,724 --> 00:20:53,974 and they're getting close to us. 348 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,480 -Your house? -Yeah. 349 00:20:55,517 --> 00:20:58,757 I mean, if I get down there in time, but I gotta try. 350 00:20:58,793 --> 00:21:00,523 It's just outside the next town. 351 00:21:00,551 --> 00:21:02,521 Holy Cow. -So... 352 00:21:02,551 --> 00:21:03,861 My wife's down there 353 00:21:03,896 --> 00:21:06,306 trying to pack up everything she can in the back her car. 354 00:21:06,344 --> 00:21:08,484 You need to go because it's just... 355 00:21:08,517 --> 00:21:10,377 Yeah, when it comes to your home 356 00:21:10,413 --> 00:21:12,383 being threatened by some fires, 357 00:21:12,413 --> 00:21:13,793 it's obviously a lot more important 358 00:21:13,827 --> 00:21:16,517 than whatever we've got going on here. 359 00:21:16,551 --> 00:21:19,141 I don't want you to even consider not going 360 00:21:19,172 --> 00:21:22,102 after the conversation we've had. Yeah. 361 00:21:22,137 --> 00:21:25,277 I would expect anybody here to do no differently. 362 00:21:25,310 --> 00:21:27,690 -Appreciate it. Thanks, man. -Thanks, Mitch. 363 00:21:27,724 --> 00:21:29,594 You're making the right decision, buddy. 364 00:21:33,172 --> 00:21:36,032 Now Mitch has a four-day drive ahead 365 00:21:36,068 --> 00:21:38,968 to reach his home in Sandy, Oregon. 366 00:21:40,620 --> 00:21:42,450 Give me a hug, brother. 367 00:21:42,482 --> 00:21:44,142 -Take care and drive safe, buddy. -Yeah, will do. 368 00:21:44,172 --> 00:21:45,522 -Will miss ya. See you later. -Thanks, man. 369 00:21:45,551 --> 00:21:46,381 Yeah. 370 00:22:04,551 --> 00:22:07,281 Not good, boys. Not good. 371 00:22:07,310 --> 00:22:09,380 At Duncan Creek 372 00:22:09,413 --> 00:22:12,283 the Ness crew has been running at half capacity 373 00:22:12,310 --> 00:22:14,590 for over 24 hours. 374 00:22:16,517 --> 00:22:18,377 This definitely sucks. 375 00:22:18,413 --> 00:22:22,593 Without our 700, man, we're running way behind with our 480, right? 376 00:22:22,620 --> 00:22:26,380 So, it can't keep up to the plant right now. 377 00:22:26,413 --> 00:22:30,343 They should be running nine trucks of pay an hour. 378 00:22:30,379 --> 00:22:34,549 With the 480 loading them, they can only run four and a half. 379 00:22:36,137 --> 00:22:38,277 I don't know how much longer we're gonna be able to run. 380 00:22:38,310 --> 00:22:41,720 We're on a fine line between running and not running here. 381 00:22:41,758 --> 00:22:43,658 I don't know. It's a bit of a nail biter. 382 00:22:48,172 --> 00:22:51,032 Rick is on the hunt for a replacement roller. 383 00:22:53,137 --> 00:22:55,997 I found that carry roller for the 700, and I ordered it, 384 00:22:56,034 --> 00:22:59,004 but it's gonna be over a week before that thing gets here. 385 00:22:59,034 --> 00:23:02,724 And I can't have a 700 down that long. I mean, that's my main machine. 386 00:23:02,758 --> 00:23:05,858 Up in the Yukon every second counts. So I made some phone calls. 387 00:23:05,896 --> 00:23:07,856 Somebody in Dawson has got a used one 388 00:23:07,896 --> 00:23:10,686 that I can use for now to get me going. 389 00:23:10,724 --> 00:23:12,834 If it saves me a day, that's what I'm gonna do. 390 00:23:15,206 --> 00:23:19,066 He's come to the man with the biggest boneyard in the Klondike. 391 00:23:20,965 --> 00:23:22,025 Hello. 392 00:23:22,068 --> 00:23:23,408 How are you? -Good, how are you doing? 393 00:23:23,448 --> 00:23:25,068 -Long time no see. I know. 394 00:23:25,103 --> 00:23:27,073 -You wanna come see Tony? -Yeah. 395 00:23:27,103 --> 00:23:30,143 -He's in? -He's in, he's hiding in his office. 396 00:23:30,172 --> 00:23:33,172 -He's actually kind of looking busy... 397 00:23:33,206 --> 00:23:34,306 Good. How are you doing, Tony? 398 00:23:35,172 --> 00:23:36,142 Good to see you. 399 00:23:39,172 --> 00:23:41,522 Oh. It's not too bad. 400 00:23:42,241 --> 00:23:44,031 It's much better than last year. 401 00:23:54,551 --> 00:23:58,761 Well, like we talked about, I had that roller pile up on my 700. 402 00:23:58,793 --> 00:24:02,213 -And that's my main machine. 403 00:24:02,241 --> 00:24:04,211 I found one, of course, 404 00:24:04,241 --> 00:24:06,241 but I don't know what kind of luck you guys are having. 405 00:24:06,275 --> 00:24:09,165 But if they say it's gonna take a week to ship here, it's been taking two. 406 00:24:09,206 --> 00:24:12,826 Getting parts with COVID, it's taking twice as long now. 407 00:24:12,862 --> 00:24:15,902 I mean, there's places where they don't fly from anymore, 408 00:24:15,931 --> 00:24:18,861 and you have to truck it out. So, takes a lot longer. 409 00:24:24,344 --> 00:24:27,004 Well, I'll tell you what, once that other roller comes in, 410 00:24:27,034 --> 00:24:29,074 instead of me bringing it here, why don't you come out and visit? 411 00:24:29,103 --> 00:24:30,483 I would like to do that. 412 00:24:31,896 --> 00:24:33,926 Yeah? Awesome. 413 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:36,760 Awesome, awesome. 414 00:24:38,344 --> 00:24:40,554 -Bye, love. -All right, thanks again. 415 00:24:43,034 --> 00:24:44,764 It's right here. -Oh, perfect. 416 00:24:44,793 --> 00:24:46,553 Ready for you. 417 00:24:48,103 --> 00:24:51,103 -All right, thanks again. -You're very welcome. 418 00:24:51,137 --> 00:24:54,587 Rick now has a six-hour-drive to Duncan Creek 419 00:24:54,620 --> 00:24:57,450 to get his operation back up to full strength. 420 00:25:01,551 --> 00:25:02,341 Bingo. 421 00:25:03,827 --> 00:25:05,657 It's always good to see Tony and Minnie, 422 00:25:05,689 --> 00:25:07,659 and it's good to have friends in the Yukon. 423 00:25:07,689 --> 00:25:09,449 Kyle's gonna be waiting on that roller. 424 00:25:09,482 --> 00:25:12,412 But the reality is all that's done has cost me money. 425 00:25:12,448 --> 00:25:15,068 So, if we're gonna hit our 1,000-ounce goal, it's time to get serious. 426 00:25:20,448 --> 00:25:21,968 -Hey, Carl. -Yeah, buddy. 427 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,280 Let me show you what I got. 428 00:25:23,310 --> 00:25:25,690 ♪ Hero, hero of the day 429 00:25:25,724 --> 00:25:27,244 -You like that? -I'm happy. 430 00:25:27,275 --> 00:25:29,615 Yeah, let's get this in, and let's get some gold, eh, Ben? 431 00:25:29,655 --> 00:25:30,925 Yeah, buddy. 432 00:25:30,965 --> 00:25:33,755 This smaller 480 is loading pay 433 00:25:33,793 --> 00:25:36,143 at half the rate of the 700. 434 00:25:36,172 --> 00:25:38,902 Carl must install replacement roller 435 00:25:38,931 --> 00:25:41,971 to get the plant back to full speed. 436 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:43,520 Let's flop it up. 437 00:25:43,551 --> 00:25:45,971 The good thing about Tony is, Tony has got all kinds of spare parts. 438 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,620 Can't complain, man. He's getting us going, so we owe him big time. 439 00:25:49,413 --> 00:25:50,903 Yeah, fire it up. Give me a spin. 440 00:25:52,310 --> 00:25:54,170 Yeah, spin her! 441 00:25:56,482 --> 00:25:58,452 Back the other way! 442 00:26:00,103 --> 00:26:02,793 Looking good, guys. We're in business. 443 00:26:02,827 --> 00:26:04,687 -Let her down there, buddy. -Coming down. 444 00:26:06,620 --> 00:26:09,030 I like that. I like that. 445 00:26:16,896 --> 00:26:21,026 Number one-o. Yeah, we're back to full speed. 446 00:26:21,068 --> 00:26:23,898 I tell you, it sure is nice having the 700 back, isn't it, Krusey? 447 00:26:45,827 --> 00:26:48,927 This is it. go time. 448 00:26:48,965 --> 00:26:51,095 We can start to getting the pay up to the plant. 449 00:26:51,137 --> 00:26:53,377 Yee-haw! Ride 'em cowboy! 450 00:26:54,724 --> 00:26:56,484 At his Elkhorn Claim, 451 00:26:56,517 --> 00:27:00,787 Fred Lewis is counting on a new cut of virgin ground 452 00:27:00,827 --> 00:27:02,687 to save his season. 453 00:27:04,620 --> 00:27:06,340 We're all in on this right now. 454 00:27:06,379 --> 00:27:08,689 We're opening up what we're calling the Mayor's Cut. 455 00:27:08,724 --> 00:27:10,384 We got both the excavator's out. 456 00:27:10,413 --> 00:27:14,313 So, Stefan right now pulling off overburden, stockpiling pay. 457 00:27:14,344 --> 00:27:16,454 I'm seeing there's a really good color in the dirt. 458 00:27:16,482 --> 00:27:19,142 A lot of round river rocks. 459 00:27:19,172 --> 00:27:21,832 No bedrock, which is a good thing. 460 00:27:24,137 --> 00:27:26,137 It's starting to look pretty good over there. 461 00:27:26,172 --> 00:27:28,142 We're getting a decent amount of pay. 462 00:27:28,172 --> 00:27:30,792 And while they do that, I'll make sure 463 00:27:30,827 --> 00:27:34,687 absolutely everything involved in irrigation is good to go. 464 00:27:34,724 --> 00:27:37,864 It's usually a two-man job, but sometimes you gotta improvise. 465 00:27:41,068 --> 00:27:43,788 Fred's found some virgin ground. 466 00:27:43,827 --> 00:27:46,547 So, I'm gonna try and dig it out as fast as I can. 467 00:27:46,586 --> 00:27:49,306 See if we can test, see if there's any good pay there. 468 00:27:49,344 --> 00:27:51,484 Let's just kick this mine's ass. 469 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:58,520 How in the [bleep]? 470 00:28:00,379 --> 00:28:01,719 Where are you? 471 00:28:08,310 --> 00:28:10,450 What the [bleep]? 472 00:28:10,482 --> 00:28:13,142 -Hey! -I freaking slipped on this rock. 473 00:28:13,172 --> 00:28:14,282 Give me your hand. 474 00:28:14,310 --> 00:28:16,790 His knee does not feel stable right now. 475 00:28:20,517 --> 00:28:23,447 Ow, ow, ow! 476 00:28:24,448 --> 00:28:27,718 Up on your back, buddy. Ready, one, two, three. 477 00:28:34,413 --> 00:28:36,593 Hold on, I'm gonna get Alex to come help. 478 00:28:36,620 --> 00:28:38,790 Hey, Alex, Johnny's got a pretty bad hurt leg. 479 00:28:38,827 --> 00:28:40,307 Can you help carry? 480 00:28:41,068 --> 00:28:42,548 Step down here, man. 481 00:28:42,586 --> 00:28:44,236 We're gonna help you up the hill, okay? 482 00:28:44,275 --> 00:28:46,135 Can you get under his arms? 483 00:28:46,172 --> 00:28:47,522 Pull me. 484 00:28:49,793 --> 00:28:51,553 Don't pull hard. 485 00:28:54,275 --> 00:28:56,755 Scoot his back up to that cab. -Here you go. 486 00:28:56,793 --> 00:28:58,833 -Sit comfy. You guys are good here? 487 00:28:58,862 --> 00:29:01,242 I'm just gonna take him back to camp. 488 00:29:01,275 --> 00:29:04,305 That's the same one. That's the same ACL he got replaced. 489 00:29:05,310 --> 00:29:07,170 -You feel anything pop? 490 00:29:12,034 --> 00:29:14,484 You couldn't just take me in that... 491 00:29:20,793 --> 00:29:22,383 All right, guys. Thank you. 492 00:29:22,413 --> 00:29:24,173 You all right? Be safe, bud. 493 00:29:28,241 --> 00:29:31,311 We're all combat disabled. We've all got issues, 494 00:29:31,344 --> 00:29:34,664 but as of now right now, we have one less person on the team. 495 00:29:34,689 --> 00:29:36,659 We just got to figure out where do we go from here. 496 00:29:53,689 --> 00:29:55,689 All right, we're ready to roll. Let's do this. 497 00:29:58,275 --> 00:30:01,545 Fred Lewis is battling to save his season. 498 00:30:03,689 --> 00:30:07,029 Marine Johnny Stanz is down with a knee injury 499 00:30:07,068 --> 00:30:09,718 after a fall on the mine site. 500 00:30:11,827 --> 00:30:14,857 Well, Johnny got hurt. I really hope he's okay. 501 00:30:14,896 --> 00:30:16,516 But we gotta do everything we can 502 00:30:16,551 --> 00:30:19,171 to get all the pay we can out of the Mayor's Cut. 503 00:30:19,206 --> 00:30:22,166 I spent a lot of years in airborne units, 504 00:30:22,206 --> 00:30:25,446 and for the most part when you blow out that knee, you're pretty much done. 505 00:30:25,482 --> 00:30:26,862 So, we'll see. 506 00:30:26,896 --> 00:30:29,656 Till then we'll just keep on going. That's what we do. 507 00:30:30,862 --> 00:30:32,522 Keep on going. 508 00:30:35,206 --> 00:30:36,996 What's up, Johnny? How you doing? 509 00:30:37,034 --> 00:30:39,694 It's still freaking sucks. 510 00:30:39,724 --> 00:30:42,454 Mind if I check it? -Yeah. 511 00:30:43,310 --> 00:30:45,590 -Oh, jeez. Darn! -Oh, yeah, yeah. 512 00:30:45,620 --> 00:30:48,280 You got a lot of inflammation on this side, too. 513 00:30:48,310 --> 00:30:50,790 But I do think you've done some damage on it. 514 00:30:51,379 --> 00:30:53,409 Gosh dang it. 515 00:30:53,448 --> 00:30:56,518 I gotta be here to freaking help out. I can't let the team down. 516 00:30:56,551 --> 00:30:59,721 I just think being out here working is gonna put you at a higher risk. 517 00:31:02,655 --> 00:31:06,065 The right decision to make here is to get you home. 518 00:31:09,172 --> 00:31:11,142 This sucks, man. 519 00:31:11,172 --> 00:31:12,972 I know it sucks, but I think 520 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:17,070 that the only answer right now is for you to go home and recover. 521 00:31:17,103 --> 00:31:20,143 It's on me, it's my decision, and I don't want you to get hurt. 522 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,380 Man, that's really tough. Johnny is one of best friends. 523 00:31:27,413 --> 00:31:29,413 And I started this mining season 524 00:31:29,448 --> 00:31:32,588 to get everybody to learn a new purpose, and to get better. 525 00:31:32,620 --> 00:31:35,450 And I feel like Johnny coming out here and getting hurt... 526 00:31:37,896 --> 00:31:40,166 I kinda feel a little responsible for it, but... 527 00:31:42,034 --> 00:31:43,624 It really just sucks for the team. 528 00:31:44,206 --> 00:31:46,446 Like, sucks, dude. 529 00:31:49,448 --> 00:31:52,308 Freaking Fred took my choice away, though. 530 00:31:52,344 --> 00:31:54,974 And I have to pack up to get ready to go home. 531 00:31:59,896 --> 00:32:01,616 While Johnny packs up, 532 00:32:01,655 --> 00:32:05,755 the rest of the crew runs the first pay from the Mayor's Cut. 533 00:32:05,793 --> 00:32:07,693 All right, dude, super easy. 534 00:32:07,724 --> 00:32:11,454 Stuart McKenzie takes over for Johnny at the pump. 535 00:32:11,482 --> 00:32:15,072 So I think what we're gonna do with the irrigation position... 536 00:32:15,103 --> 00:32:16,723 -Yeah. -...is we're just gonna have to share it. 537 00:32:16,758 --> 00:32:18,378 -But you're not here permanently. -I know. 538 00:32:18,413 --> 00:32:20,693 You're just gonna have to cover while we figure things out. 539 00:32:20,724 --> 00:32:21,934 No, I get it. 540 00:32:24,103 --> 00:32:27,413 All right, guys. This one's for Johnny. It's time to get to gold. 541 00:32:28,448 --> 00:32:30,098 My goal for this morning. 542 00:32:30,137 --> 00:32:32,027 Just to dig my ass off. 543 00:32:32,068 --> 00:32:33,998 Dig, feed, find gold. 544 00:32:34,862 --> 00:32:36,142 That's what we need to do. 545 00:32:36,862 --> 00:32:38,032 Run, run, run. 546 00:32:39,206 --> 00:32:40,856 Stuart, you ready down there? 547 00:32:40,896 --> 00:32:43,586 Let's go. -All right, brother. Fire it up. 548 00:32:54,758 --> 00:32:57,828 First time firing up the pump and it's not starting on me. 549 00:32:59,862 --> 00:33:01,412 Whoo! 550 00:33:01,448 --> 00:33:02,718 Good job, Stuart. 551 00:33:04,793 --> 00:33:08,073 PSI is at 38. 3-8. 552 00:33:08,103 --> 00:33:10,453 Water's going. It's what we do. 553 00:33:10,482 --> 00:33:12,072 Fire it up. 554 00:33:19,068 --> 00:33:21,858 It's our first run on the Mayor's Cut. 555 00:33:21,896 --> 00:33:23,546 We're still running the plant. 556 00:33:23,586 --> 00:33:25,166 We're still feeding the Colonel. 557 00:33:25,206 --> 00:33:26,586 And we're still catching gold. 558 00:33:38,448 --> 00:33:39,998 Brennan, hey, hey. 559 00:33:40,034 --> 00:33:41,384 Yeah, go ahead. 560 00:33:41,413 --> 00:33:43,453 It's gonna be a fight to the end this year. 561 00:33:43,482 --> 00:33:46,172 I'm new. I don't know what to do. 562 00:33:48,206 --> 00:33:49,856 At the Indian River, 563 00:33:49,896 --> 00:33:52,096 Parker Schnabel is a man down. 564 00:33:53,689 --> 00:33:55,279 Mitch had to go home 'cause 565 00:33:55,310 --> 00:33:57,520 there's fire near his place in Oregon. 566 00:33:57,551 --> 00:34:00,451 So right now I'm just having to take care of Sluicifer, 567 00:34:00,482 --> 00:34:02,002 and Brennan's with Big Red. 568 00:34:02,034 --> 00:34:03,974 I really hope we can pull it together this year 569 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,380 and that losing Mitch doesn't cost us the season. 570 00:34:19,241 --> 00:34:20,451 Come on. 571 00:34:22,931 --> 00:34:24,071 No answer. 572 00:34:25,862 --> 00:34:28,212 Mitch Blaschke is on his way home 573 00:34:28,241 --> 00:34:29,931 to his wife and baby 574 00:34:29,965 --> 00:34:33,445 after wildfires forced them to evacuate 575 00:34:33,482 --> 00:34:37,072 and take shelter with his parents 20 miles away. 576 00:34:40,655 --> 00:34:42,855 I'm almost to my parent's house. 577 00:34:42,896 --> 00:34:45,166 Just gonna check on Hailey and Mia. 578 00:34:45,206 --> 00:34:47,826 Been a ton of smoke on the drive down here, 579 00:34:47,862 --> 00:34:50,592 and, you know, I haven't heard any status 580 00:34:50,620 --> 00:34:52,280 or update on our house. 581 00:34:52,310 --> 00:34:55,170 Definitely makes me think twice on, you know, if mining in the Yukons... 582 00:34:55,206 --> 00:34:56,966 Am I making the right choice? 583 00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,310 I don't know. I just don't even know what to think. 584 00:35:02,379 --> 00:35:05,339 It was 2,200 miles. I finally made it. I'm glad I'm here. 585 00:35:09,034 --> 00:35:10,794 -Hey, baby. Hi. Hi. 586 00:35:10,827 --> 00:35:13,587 -Hi. -Oh, you've gotten big. 587 00:35:13,620 --> 00:35:15,970 -Well, I hear you got dogs. 588 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:17,930 -Yeah, yeah. -Yeah? 589 00:35:17,965 --> 00:35:19,335 We're safe. We're safe. 590 00:35:20,379 --> 00:35:22,449 Thank God you're all right. Yeah? 591 00:35:22,482 --> 00:35:24,072 -Can I see her? -Yeah. 592 00:35:24,103 --> 00:35:25,793 Hey, chickie. Remember me? 593 00:35:26,931 --> 00:35:29,691 Huh? You don't know what to think. 594 00:35:29,724 --> 00:35:31,034 Oh, you want your mom back. 595 00:35:31,068 --> 00:35:32,828 Well, you've been spending a lot of time with her. 596 00:35:33,689 --> 00:35:35,209 That's okay. 597 00:35:35,241 --> 00:35:38,661 I'm so glad you made it out of there. -Me, too. 598 00:35:40,551 --> 00:35:42,761 -Hey, daddy's home. 599 00:35:46,655 --> 00:35:48,275 What all happened? Like... 600 00:35:48,310 --> 00:35:50,970 I just, I just grabbed some stuff and... 601 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,000 Yeah, well... 602 00:35:53,034 --> 00:35:55,454 -Grabbed her. 603 00:35:55,482 --> 00:35:57,552 -I didn't mean... -Grabbed her and the dogs 604 00:35:57,586 --> 00:36:01,066 and also reports of looters, 605 00:36:01,103 --> 00:36:05,173 and people holding people at gunpoint, 606 00:36:05,206 --> 00:36:10,826 and I don't really feel comfortable going back with her. 607 00:36:10,862 --> 00:36:12,172 Just stay here. 608 00:36:12,206 --> 00:36:14,136 I'm gonna go home to see if there is a home. 609 00:36:14,172 --> 00:36:16,072 But I'm just glad you guys are all right. 610 00:36:16,103 --> 00:36:19,143 -Hey. 611 00:36:19,172 --> 00:36:22,832 -Hey, it'll be okay. Yeah. -Just call me whenever you... 612 00:36:24,862 --> 00:36:27,032 The fires have now passed, 613 00:36:27,068 --> 00:36:28,828 but Mitch doesn't know 614 00:36:28,862 --> 00:36:31,212 if they destroyed the family home. 615 00:36:33,724 --> 00:36:35,414 This definitely isn't looking good here. 616 00:36:35,448 --> 00:36:36,968 I mean, stuff still smoking. 617 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:38,620 And the closer I get towards the house, 618 00:36:38,655 --> 00:36:40,305 it seems like the worse it gets. 619 00:36:41,793 --> 00:36:44,553 And you look at all this tree here, it's cooked. 620 00:36:46,241 --> 00:36:48,451 I mean, look at this place here, this guy's stuff, I mean, 621 00:36:48,482 --> 00:36:50,102 burnt down the front. 622 00:36:50,137 --> 00:36:51,587 Stuff burnt down the back, 623 00:36:51,620 --> 00:36:54,170 still smoldering over there on the side. 624 00:36:54,206 --> 00:36:55,716 That was a church right there. 625 00:36:55,758 --> 00:36:58,308 And the only thing left standing is the chimney. 626 00:36:58,344 --> 00:37:00,724 Yeah, this definitely is not looking good. 627 00:37:03,103 --> 00:37:05,663 Crossing my fingers here and hoping for the best, but... 628 00:37:10,689 --> 00:37:14,759 There she is and it's still standing. 629 00:37:16,310 --> 00:37:18,170 Oh, man. 630 00:37:21,586 --> 00:37:23,476 I think everything's looking good, 631 00:37:23,517 --> 00:37:25,167 ducks are there, too. 632 00:37:27,896 --> 00:37:31,546 I feel very thankful that it's all still here, so... 633 00:37:31,586 --> 00:37:34,546 Uh... Gotta let Hailey know. 634 00:37:35,586 --> 00:37:37,546 Hello. -Hey, baby. 635 00:37:37,586 --> 00:37:39,656 -Hi. How's it going? -Hey, it's good. I got down here. 636 00:37:39,689 --> 00:37:42,689 Everything's fine. The house is here, ducks are here. 637 00:37:42,724 --> 00:37:45,244 -Everything looks good. -Oh, thank goodness. 638 00:37:45,275 --> 00:37:47,825 I'll just, I'll get Mia together and the dogs 639 00:37:47,862 --> 00:37:49,412 and we can head down there. 640 00:37:49,448 --> 00:37:52,308 -All right. -Okay. I'll see you soon. 641 00:37:52,344 --> 00:37:54,724 -Okay. I love you. Bye. -I love you, too. Bye. 642 00:38:03,862 --> 00:38:06,662 Nice little shed. You're fired. 643 00:38:06,689 --> 00:38:08,999 We're taking it out. We're getting down to that virgin ground. 644 00:38:09,034 --> 00:38:10,934 I don't care what's in the way. 645 00:38:12,862 --> 00:38:14,522 At the Elkhorn Claim, 646 00:38:14,551 --> 00:38:16,661 to expend his cut, 647 00:38:16,689 --> 00:38:20,239 Fred wants to move a shed without damaging it. 648 00:38:21,137 --> 00:38:22,757 Gonna test your precision. 649 00:38:23,517 --> 00:38:25,207 We wanna save this roof. 650 00:38:25,241 --> 00:38:28,211 -We could use it if you don't destroy it. 651 00:38:28,241 --> 00:38:29,521 Uh, yeah, I guess. 652 00:38:29,551 --> 00:38:31,171 All right, here we go. 653 00:38:31,206 --> 00:38:32,616 All right. 654 00:38:32,655 --> 00:38:34,785 Get my bucket up underneath there. 655 00:38:34,827 --> 00:38:36,377 Nice and slow. 656 00:38:38,482 --> 00:38:39,762 Not that way. 657 00:38:41,275 --> 00:38:43,305 Trying to get it behind those trees. 658 00:38:43,344 --> 00:38:45,554 Either I'm gonna get it down in one piece 659 00:38:45,586 --> 00:38:47,686 and it will be cool. 660 00:38:47,724 --> 00:38:50,074 Or I'm not gonna get it down in one piece, 661 00:38:50,103 --> 00:38:51,523 and it'll be real cool. 662 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,690 -It's down! It's a fixer upper. 663 00:39:11,793 --> 00:39:16,663 In Oregon, the worst of the wildfires are over. 664 00:39:16,689 --> 00:39:20,659 Mitch Blaschke is back home with his family. 665 00:39:20,689 --> 00:39:23,099 You know, I got to say I was definitely looking forward to getting home. 666 00:39:23,137 --> 00:39:25,067 I didn't think I'd be getting here this soon. 667 00:39:25,103 --> 00:39:27,523 Now I'm going from, you know, working on dozers 668 00:39:27,551 --> 00:39:29,721 and wash plants to making bottles here. 669 00:39:32,137 --> 00:39:33,307 Got it. Here. 670 00:39:35,206 --> 00:39:37,406 Hi, Mitch. -How's going, Parker? 671 00:39:37,448 --> 00:39:40,828 -Good. How are you? -Uh, doing better now, man. 672 00:39:40,862 --> 00:39:42,382 It looks like you're in your house. 673 00:39:42,413 --> 00:39:45,103 Yeah, in the house. It's still standing. 674 00:39:45,137 --> 00:39:46,657 We got really lucky, man. 675 00:39:46,689 --> 00:39:49,029 It got really close to us. 676 00:39:49,068 --> 00:39:51,658 Unfortunately, some people did lose their houses down here. 677 00:39:51,689 --> 00:39:53,719 Um, it was, It was a bad deal. 678 00:39:53,758 --> 00:39:55,548 But I'm in our place down here now. 679 00:39:55,586 --> 00:39:57,786 I think, you know, everything's good and safe. 680 00:39:57,827 --> 00:39:59,787 I mean, I was planning on trying to head back up. 681 00:39:59,827 --> 00:40:04,657 Whether you come back this fall or next spring, 682 00:40:04,689 --> 00:40:06,069 you've always got a spot here. 683 00:40:06,103 --> 00:40:07,413 -All right, buddy. -All right. 684 00:40:07,448 --> 00:40:09,718 -Let me go how things go. -All right, talk to you later. 685 00:40:09,758 --> 00:40:12,238 -Have a good night. See you. -Bye. 686 00:40:12,275 --> 00:40:14,065 You know, it's just really nice to talk to Parker 687 00:40:14,103 --> 00:40:17,243 and know that, you know, he stands behind my decision, 688 00:40:17,275 --> 00:40:19,825 and, you know, that I've got a good place up there 689 00:40:19,862 --> 00:40:22,072 and, you know, I might not make it back this season, 690 00:40:22,103 --> 00:40:23,723 but I'll certainly be back in the future. 691 00:40:23,758 --> 00:40:26,658 So, uh, I'm just glad to hear that, 692 00:40:26,689 --> 00:40:29,449 you know, he understands why I had to come home and stands behind it. 693 00:40:41,068 --> 00:40:42,588 What's up, guys? 694 00:40:42,620 --> 00:40:45,480 Oh, just talking about stuff we probably shouldn't be talking about. 695 00:40:47,344 --> 00:40:48,974 At Duncan Creek, 696 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:52,590 Rick and his crew get ready to weigh their gold for the week. 697 00:40:53,586 --> 00:40:55,026 We got 700 this week, huh? 698 00:40:55,068 --> 00:40:57,588 Oh, it never ends, dude. Oh, I love that thing. 699 00:40:57,620 --> 00:41:00,240 I'll tell you. I mean, that's, it's good machine, 700 00:41:00,275 --> 00:41:02,235 but when it goes down, it hurts. 701 00:41:02,275 --> 00:41:05,515 -It is the work horse. -But we did keep sluicing. 702 00:41:05,551 --> 00:41:08,101 Um, just not at the rate we would have been at, right? 703 00:41:08,137 --> 00:41:09,617 I don't like going in reverse, buddy. 704 00:41:09,655 --> 00:41:12,275 But, uh, luckily, you came through that roller. 705 00:41:12,310 --> 00:41:15,380 Yeah, really. I gotta thank Tony for that roller, right? 706 00:41:15,413 --> 00:41:17,383 -Yeah, we owe Tony one. That's for sure. -Yeah. 707 00:41:17,413 --> 00:41:20,723 -So, um, I think we just weigh it up. Yeah, buddy. 708 00:41:20,758 --> 00:41:23,478 To make his 1,000-ounce goal, 709 00:41:23,517 --> 00:41:28,237 Rick now needs to bring in at least 70 ounces every week. 710 00:41:29,413 --> 00:41:31,453 All right, we got five. 711 00:41:31,482 --> 00:41:34,662 We got ten, 20, 30, 712 00:41:34,689 --> 00:41:37,309 40, 50... 713 00:41:38,344 --> 00:41:40,624 We got 51.55. 714 00:41:41,551 --> 00:41:45,311 Worth almost $100,000, 715 00:41:45,344 --> 00:41:50,004 but short of what he needs to stay on track. 716 00:41:50,034 --> 00:41:51,794 I'm not gonna lie. That seems a little light. 717 00:41:51,827 --> 00:41:53,407 I think it's better than last week, 718 00:41:53,448 --> 00:41:56,548 but, um, I think that we... I think we can do better. 719 00:41:56,586 --> 00:41:58,586 -Yeah, buddy. -I'm not too worried yet. 720 00:41:58,620 --> 00:42:01,380 It's kind of two weeks worth of problems that we've had, right? 721 00:42:01,413 --> 00:42:04,793 But 700 is back in action. The ground's good. We know it is. 722 00:42:04,827 --> 00:42:07,137 All we need is a few clean good weeks, 723 00:42:07,172 --> 00:42:09,482 and we're gonna smash our 1,000-ounce goal. 724 00:42:09,517 --> 00:42:11,137 yeah. yeah. 725 00:42:11,172 --> 00:42:13,592 -We got to move on. -Yeah, exactly. 726 00:42:13,620 --> 00:42:16,100 There's grounds out there. All we gotta do is go get it. 727 00:42:16,137 --> 00:42:18,517 -Right. Let's go get it. -Let's go get it. 728 00:42:18,551 --> 00:42:20,591 -Well, let's go get dinner. Right. -Tomorrow we will. 729 00:42:20,620 --> 00:42:22,900 Redemption, boys. 730 00:42:22,931 --> 00:42:24,591 It's nice to get help from friends. 731 00:42:24,620 --> 00:42:26,520 It's pretty cool, uh, you know. 732 00:42:26,551 --> 00:42:29,001 Rick's a good guy, and when you're a good guy, 733 00:42:29,034 --> 00:42:31,034 other good people are willing to help you out in a pinch, 734 00:42:31,068 --> 00:42:32,658 so saved us some time and money. 735 00:42:43,275 --> 00:42:44,925 At the Elkhorn Claim, 736 00:42:44,965 --> 00:42:46,615 the Lewis crew gathers 737 00:42:46,655 --> 00:42:50,165 to weigh the last gold from the Liberation Cut, 738 00:42:50,206 --> 00:42:54,166 and the first 100 yards of their new cut. 739 00:42:54,206 --> 00:42:56,616 So I got kind of mixed feelings about this week. 740 00:42:56,655 --> 00:42:58,065 We got the Mayor's Cut opened up. 741 00:42:58,103 --> 00:43:00,903 I see a lot of possibilities there, but we've also got Johnny. 742 00:43:00,931 --> 00:43:04,281 His injuries kind of dampened it a little bit, but I don't know. 743 00:43:04,310 --> 00:43:06,550 I don't know what else to say. I'm sad because of it. 744 00:43:06,586 --> 00:43:08,516 I'm sad, too. Sadly. 745 00:43:08,551 --> 00:43:10,521 He's making the right move. 746 00:43:10,551 --> 00:43:12,761 -But you can leave your snacks. -Yeah. 747 00:43:12,793 --> 00:43:15,933 -They're in the cabin. 748 00:43:17,413 --> 00:43:19,833 You guys ready to see some gold? See what we got this week? 749 00:43:19,862 --> 00:43:21,972 Hell, yeah! 750 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:24,790 So far this season, Fred has mined 751 00:43:24,827 --> 00:43:28,587 just 1.97 ounces of gold. 752 00:43:28,620 --> 00:43:31,620 0.77, guys. That's our best cleanup yet. 753 00:43:31,655 --> 00:43:34,655 Worth just $1,400, 754 00:43:35,689 --> 00:43:38,409 barely enough to cover their fuel. 755 00:43:40,448 --> 00:43:42,968 What? 2.74 for the season, guys. 756 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:44,590 Still ain't [bleep]. 757 00:43:44,620 --> 00:43:46,790 This gives me a little bit of hope 758 00:43:46,827 --> 00:43:50,307 that he is gonna freaking get out there and get a lot more. 759 00:43:50,344 --> 00:43:52,524 It just sucks that you're not gonna be here for the end. 760 00:43:52,551 --> 00:43:53,831 You know, to see it through. 761 00:43:53,862 --> 00:43:56,592 Biggest thing I wanna say is don't get discouraged. 762 00:43:56,620 --> 00:43:58,100 This is just another obstacle. 763 00:43:58,137 --> 00:44:01,137 You've already pounded through ten million times 764 00:44:01,172 --> 00:44:03,452 more difficult than this. And we got your back. 765 00:44:04,068 --> 00:44:05,378 I appreciate it. 766 00:44:07,137 --> 00:44:10,967 I really appreciate, uh, Fred inviting me on this little trip. 767 00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:14,000 Every new adventure in life has a place, 768 00:44:14,034 --> 00:44:17,284 and this one has a, has a high place in my heart. 769 00:44:17,310 --> 00:44:19,550 -It was an awesome time. 770 00:44:19,586 --> 00:44:22,656 -Looks like that's your ride, bud. 771 00:44:22,689 --> 00:44:24,069 It's a little earlier than I thought, 772 00:44:24,103 --> 00:44:27,663 -but, oh, well. -You wanna use my shoulder? 773 00:44:27,689 --> 00:44:30,309 If he can prove to me that he's healed, we'll definitely take him back. 774 00:44:30,344 --> 00:44:32,904 But right now the priority is to get him healed. 775 00:44:32,931 --> 00:44:35,001 Everybody will line up for the hugs. 776 00:44:35,034 --> 00:44:37,214 -I'm gonna miss you. -Take care of yourself, okay? 777 00:44:37,241 --> 00:44:39,971 It's unfortunate that he's gone, but the team has to pick it up, 778 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:43,100 and we're gonna have to fill in that gap and get on the gold 779 00:44:43,137 --> 00:44:46,237 'cause if we can't get that plant running and put serious pay for the plant, 780 00:44:46,275 --> 00:44:47,855 none of us are going home with anything. 781 00:44:47,896 --> 00:44:49,656 Bye, Johnny. 782 00:45:06,586 --> 00:45:08,516 Hey, how's you guys going? 783 00:45:08,551 --> 00:45:11,481 -Not bad, how are you? -Good. 784 00:45:11,517 --> 00:45:14,687 Parker and his crew gather for the weekly gold weigh. 785 00:45:16,862 --> 00:45:19,032 Just really that Mitch has to leave. 786 00:45:19,068 --> 00:45:20,278 Yeah, I know, right? 787 00:45:20,310 --> 00:45:23,310 What a natural disaster going on at home there, eh? 788 00:45:23,344 --> 00:45:25,934 I tell you, I've never seen Mitch look so stressed out ever 789 00:45:25,965 --> 00:45:27,445 since I've been here. 790 00:45:27,482 --> 00:45:29,242 Yeah. -He was pretty scared 791 00:45:29,275 --> 00:45:31,025 of losing everything he's worked so hard for. 792 00:45:31,068 --> 00:45:33,688 Well, I guess Hailey and the baby are fine. 793 00:45:33,724 --> 00:45:35,724 Yeah, which is the most important part. 794 00:45:35,758 --> 00:45:37,548 Anyways, he needed to go. 795 00:45:37,586 --> 00:45:38,966 It was... it was the right thing. 796 00:45:41,310 --> 00:45:42,900 So how'd the week go, Doumitt? 797 00:45:42,931 --> 00:45:45,341 You know, you guys really did good. 798 00:45:45,379 --> 00:45:47,139 Both plants from the same cut. 799 00:45:47,172 --> 00:45:49,622 Yeah, they were both pretty much running the same pay, hey, Brennan. 800 00:45:49,655 --> 00:45:50,715 -Yeah. -With the trucks on. 801 00:45:50,758 --> 00:45:52,168 Yeah, they were, weren't they? 802 00:45:52,206 --> 00:45:55,376 Oh, yeah. I read off to see him back piece of the cut there. 803 00:45:55,413 --> 00:45:59,453 With Mitch gone, Tyson Lee on Sluicifer 804 00:45:59,482 --> 00:46:04,002 and Brennan Ruault on Big Red went head to head. 805 00:46:04,034 --> 00:46:05,624 Well, why don't you bust them out and show us 806 00:46:05,655 --> 00:46:08,095 -'cause that was a terrifying week. -All right. 807 00:46:08,137 --> 00:46:10,967 First up, Sluicifer. 808 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:14,000 Ten, 30, 50. 809 00:46:14,793 --> 00:46:16,663 80, 100, 810 00:46:16,689 --> 00:46:20,309 120, 140, 150, 811 00:46:20,344 --> 00:46:21,934 161 even. 812 00:46:21,965 --> 00:46:24,995 Worth $305,000... 813 00:46:25,034 --> 00:46:27,834 -161? -Right on the nose. 814 00:46:27,862 --> 00:46:29,382 Nice and steady. 815 00:46:29,413 --> 00:46:30,723 It's not bad at all. 816 00:46:30,758 --> 00:46:32,718 Yeah, it's consistent. 817 00:46:32,758 --> 00:46:34,238 And here's Big Red. 818 00:46:35,931 --> 00:46:40,521 100, 120, 150... 819 00:46:43,827 --> 00:46:47,757 -161.2. 820 00:46:47,793 --> 00:46:50,143 Just point two ounces more 821 00:46:50,172 --> 00:46:52,342 than Tyson's haul with Sluicifer. 822 00:46:55,620 --> 00:46:58,760 That's how much more gold he got than you. 823 00:46:58,793 --> 00:47:01,833 -There you go. What is the chances of that? -Huh? 824 00:47:01,862 --> 00:47:04,792 -I guess the gold's consistent in that cut. -Seriously. 825 00:47:04,827 --> 00:47:10,307 -That gives us a weekly total of 322.2 ounces. 826 00:47:10,344 --> 00:47:14,764 So our season total now is 6,090.6 ounces. 827 00:47:14,793 --> 00:47:18,453 Worth $11.2 million 828 00:47:18,482 --> 00:47:22,692 and nearly 35% above this time last year, 829 00:47:22,724 --> 00:47:25,004 despite the late start. 830 00:47:25,034 --> 00:47:26,664 Been a pretty week for us here. 831 00:47:26,689 --> 00:47:29,379 We had to lose Mitch, but I mean, it's totally understandable. 832 00:47:29,413 --> 00:47:31,973 And look at that. The plants pretty much tied each other 833 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:33,660 in gold. When the hell does that ever happen? 834 00:47:37,655 --> 00:47:40,305 On the next Gold Rush... 835 00:47:40,344 --> 00:47:43,864 Tony Beets' hopes for a 3,000-ounce season... 836 00:47:43,896 --> 00:47:45,856 Whoa, whoa, whoa! -...are washed away. 837 00:47:47,068 --> 00:47:50,378 Rick Ness receives devastating news. 838 00:47:50,413 --> 00:47:51,863 Just got a message from my doctor 839 00:47:51,896 --> 00:47:53,276 that I have a big tumor on my spine. 840 00:47:53,310 --> 00:47:54,280 Holy [bleep]. 841 00:47:55,172 --> 00:47:57,242 We're all in on this right now. 842 00:47:57,275 --> 00:48:01,025 And Fred Lewis fights his biggest battle yet. 843 00:48:01,068 --> 00:48:02,588 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! 844 00:48:02,620 --> 00:48:04,480 -Holy crap. -Oh!