1 00:00:01,586 --> 00:00:02,786 [narrator] On this Gold Rush... 2 00:00:02,827 --> 00:00:04,337 [Tony speaking] 3 00:00:06,379 --> 00:00:08,999 [narrator] Tony Beets makes a dramatic discovery... 4 00:00:09,034 --> 00:00:10,034 [Tony] Oh, I'll be damned. 5 00:00:10,068 --> 00:00:11,688 [narrator] ...on his hunt for gold. 6 00:00:11,724 --> 00:00:12,864 There's something hiding over there. 7 00:00:14,586 --> 00:00:15,966 Holy [bleep]. 8 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,000 [narrator] Rick Ness hits the jackpot. 9 00:00:18,034 --> 00:00:19,794 People search their whole life 10 00:00:19,827 --> 00:00:21,657 for this type of material. 11 00:00:23,068 --> 00:00:25,098 If anybody wants to go home, they can [bleep] go home. 12 00:00:25,137 --> 00:00:28,897 [narrator] And Parker Schnabel throws his team into a tailspin. 13 00:00:28,931 --> 00:00:31,101 [Parker] Go pack my [bleep] and leave right now, I don't give a [bleep]. 14 00:00:31,137 --> 00:00:31,687 I'm [bleep] pissed. 15 00:00:40,379 --> 00:00:42,209 [dramatic music playing] 16 00:00:46,241 --> 00:00:48,001 [machine whirring] 17 00:00:59,206 --> 00:01:01,136 [narrator] This time last year, 18 00:01:01,172 --> 00:01:06,002 Klondike legend Tony Beets was already shutdown by the Yukon winter. 19 00:01:06,034 --> 00:01:08,794 But after a late start due to the pandemic, 20 00:01:08,827 --> 00:01:11,587 he's still over 400 ounces short 21 00:01:11,620 --> 00:01:14,340 of his 3,000 ounce season goal, 22 00:01:14,379 --> 00:01:16,279 and he's not giving up now. 23 00:01:26,241 --> 00:01:27,691 Gents, keep it going in. 24 00:02:10,206 --> 00:02:11,756 [narrator] The trommel's muddy water 25 00:02:11,793 --> 00:02:15,143 runs into ponds to let the silt settle, 26 00:02:15,172 --> 00:02:18,792 by law this sediment must have dropped out of the water 27 00:02:18,827 --> 00:02:21,307 before it's discharged into the creek. 28 00:02:22,034 --> 00:02:23,624 But the ponds have silted up, 29 00:02:23,655 --> 00:02:27,585 and dirty water is now flowing out of the discharge pipe. 30 00:02:34,689 --> 00:02:35,829 Go ahead, Tony. Go ahead. 31 00:02:35,862 --> 00:02:37,212 [Tony speaking] 32 00:02:41,482 --> 00:02:43,032 Righty. I'm on my way. 33 00:02:43,068 --> 00:02:46,068 [narrator] Feeding dirty water into the creek is a violation 34 00:02:46,103 --> 00:02:49,313 that could see Tony's operation shutdown, 35 00:02:49,344 --> 00:02:53,004 and hit with a fine of up to $100,000. 36 00:02:55,068 --> 00:02:55,718 [Monica over speaker] Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. 37 00:02:59,413 --> 00:03:00,383 Why? What's happened? 38 00:03:00,413 --> 00:03:01,343 [Tony speaking] 39 00:03:05,103 --> 00:03:06,283 Great. On it. 40 00:03:13,103 --> 00:03:13,903 [Tony speaking] 41 00:03:26,689 --> 00:03:28,209 [narrator] To increase the pond's capacity, 42 00:03:28,241 --> 00:03:31,521 so the silt has space to settle, 43 00:03:31,551 --> 00:03:35,591 Tony plans to raise the whole mile and a half of dikes 44 00:03:35,620 --> 00:03:37,480 by a massive seven feet. 45 00:03:37,517 --> 00:03:42,927 It'll take over 2.3 million cubic feet of dirt, 46 00:03:42,965 --> 00:03:46,715 enough to fill the Capitol Rotunda, twice over. 47 00:03:46,758 --> 00:03:47,928 [Tony speaking] 48 00:04:01,344 --> 00:04:03,864 What's up? What do you need, chickie? 49 00:04:03,896 --> 00:04:05,236 Hey, I'm gonna be backing these trucks in 50 00:04:05,275 --> 00:04:06,825 you know, it is the end of the season. 51 00:04:06,862 --> 00:04:08,282 Damn near, anyways, so, 52 00:04:08,310 --> 00:04:10,100 the faster we get this done, the better. 53 00:04:10,137 --> 00:04:12,097 'Cause it's just costing nothing but money. 54 00:04:12,137 --> 00:04:14,277 Sounds good. Just give me a holler when you want the D10 to barrel down, 55 00:04:14,310 --> 00:04:17,660 -and I'll make it happen. -[Monica] Aces. 56 00:04:17,689 --> 00:04:20,899 [Kevin] If you let dirty water into the stream, you can be shutdown for good. 57 00:04:21,413 --> 00:04:23,623 So, dike building it is. 58 00:04:26,413 --> 00:04:28,103 [engine whirring] 59 00:04:28,137 --> 00:04:30,967 Gotta build 'em up, build 'em up, build 'em up, build 'em up. 60 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:32,620 We, uh, now have pretty much everybody 61 00:04:32,655 --> 00:04:35,615 on the dikes, making this project "happening." 62 00:04:37,827 --> 00:04:39,787 Until this is done, we cannot sluice, 63 00:04:39,827 --> 00:04:42,587 so, all hands on deck, all hands on deck. 64 00:04:44,655 --> 00:04:45,965 [Tony speaking] 65 00:04:53,965 --> 00:04:56,855 [narrator] Tony loads rock trucks with old tailings. 66 00:04:56,896 --> 00:04:57,656 [Monica] Keep coming, keep coming. 67 00:05:00,137 --> 00:05:01,757 Hard left. 68 00:05:01,793 --> 00:05:03,623 [narrator] Monica directs the trucks 69 00:05:03,655 --> 00:05:06,135 to dump at one end of the dike, 70 00:05:06,172 --> 00:05:09,792 then Kevin pushes the piles flat and packs them down 71 00:05:09,827 --> 00:05:12,477 with the weight of the D10 dozer. 72 00:05:12,517 --> 00:05:15,517 Do one quick push. Boom. And then we get out of the way. 73 00:05:15,551 --> 00:05:16,721 Repeat. 74 00:05:40,793 --> 00:05:42,793 [dramatic music playing] 75 00:05:49,827 --> 00:05:51,787 [Parker] Overall, it's been a pretty good season. 76 00:05:51,827 --> 00:05:53,827 you know, it's been tough for sure, 77 00:05:53,862 --> 00:05:56,342 but we're finding good gold and we're making money 78 00:05:56,379 --> 00:05:58,279 and that's the important part. 79 00:05:58,310 --> 00:06:00,550 [narrator] Twenty-six-year-old Parker Schnabel, 80 00:06:00,586 --> 00:06:03,586 is on track to break records this year 81 00:06:03,620 --> 00:06:06,210 and expand his gold mining empire. 82 00:06:06,241 --> 00:06:07,521 We've got a lot of options on other grounds 83 00:06:07,551 --> 00:06:11,481 both here in the Klondike and in Alaska. 84 00:06:11,517 --> 00:06:14,027 You know, the biggest factor for making a decision on those 85 00:06:14,068 --> 00:06:18,928 is where we're at money-wise at the end pf the season. 86 00:06:19,965 --> 00:06:22,685 [narrator] With only weeks left in the season, 87 00:06:22,724 --> 00:06:24,594 he's going all out 88 00:06:24,620 --> 00:06:27,070 with both his wash plants running 24/7 89 00:06:27,103 --> 00:06:30,623 in the 26 acre airstrip cut. 90 00:06:33,068 --> 00:06:35,688 [Parker] This season we're just going through area like crazy. 91 00:06:35,724 --> 00:06:37,764 Gold prices are good. 92 00:06:37,793 --> 00:06:41,383 The best way to maximize this season 93 00:06:41,413 --> 00:06:46,033 is to open up an extension on the airstrip cut that we're doing right now. 94 00:06:46,068 --> 00:06:48,278 I don't know how happy the guys are gonna be about this 95 00:06:48,310 --> 00:06:50,070 but we're on a roll 96 00:06:50,103 --> 00:06:54,003 and we should try to keep that going. 97 00:06:56,689 --> 00:06:58,239 -How's it going? -Good, you? 98 00:06:58,275 --> 00:06:59,475 Not too bad. 99 00:06:59,517 --> 00:07:00,657 Yeah, so... 100 00:07:00,689 --> 00:07:03,279 I know it's a little late in the season, 101 00:07:04,689 --> 00:07:07,929 but, we could get another piece opened up 102 00:07:07,965 --> 00:07:09,165 and extend the cut further downstream 103 00:07:09,206 --> 00:07:11,686 another five, 600 feet. 104 00:07:13,241 --> 00:07:17,031 We've got good gold prices and we need gold coming out of the ground. 105 00:07:17,068 --> 00:07:19,098 That's gonna add a couple more weeks of work, man, 106 00:07:19,137 --> 00:07:21,447 like, I don't know if we'll be able to beat the weather doing this. 107 00:07:21,482 --> 00:07:24,692 My only concern is that snow's probably gonna be coming in pretty soon. 108 00:07:24,724 --> 00:07:26,834 You should be able to get something opened up. 109 00:07:26,862 --> 00:07:28,932 To open this ground up is a big challenge for me. 110 00:07:31,896 --> 00:07:35,276 I know it's gonna not be fun this time of year, but, 111 00:07:35,310 --> 00:07:36,100 it's gotta get done. 112 00:07:37,448 --> 00:07:41,308 [narrator] Parker wants to mine another 600 foot cut, 113 00:07:41,344 --> 00:07:46,074 Half as much again as they've mined so far on the airstrip. 114 00:07:46,103 --> 00:07:50,033 It will take 500 truckloads of worthless overburden 115 00:07:50,068 --> 00:07:52,238 to get down to gold rich pay. 116 00:07:52,793 --> 00:07:54,863 This late in the season, 117 00:07:54,896 --> 00:08:00,516 that's a huge extra workload for co-foreman Brennan Ruault in the 700, 118 00:08:00,551 --> 00:08:03,241 and operator JM in the 460. 119 00:08:04,965 --> 00:08:07,165 This is a lot of extra pressure on my shoulders 120 00:08:07,206 --> 00:08:09,236 but, uh, you know, I'm not the boss here, 121 00:08:09,275 --> 00:08:11,585 and he's the one calling the shots on that 122 00:08:11,620 --> 00:08:14,410 and we're just gonna have to get it done. 123 00:08:14,448 --> 00:08:16,408 At the end of the day, I have one job to do, 124 00:08:16,448 --> 00:08:19,208 to just find as much gold as we possibly can. 125 00:08:20,965 --> 00:08:22,965 The plans keep changing around here, 126 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:25,860 so it's... Like, I can't keep up. 127 00:08:27,241 --> 00:08:30,071 I'm getting tired. We gotta open a lot of ground. 128 00:08:30,103 --> 00:08:32,103 but all I can do is my best. 129 00:08:37,689 --> 00:08:41,999 [narrator] While Brennan and JM strip overburden on the new extension, 130 00:08:42,034 --> 00:08:44,904 Parker checks the section of the airstrip cut 131 00:08:44,931 --> 00:08:46,791 they've already mined. 132 00:08:46,827 --> 00:08:47,717 [Parker] What the [bleep]? 133 00:08:54,275 --> 00:08:57,375 [narrator] Parker's discovered a rookie error. 134 00:08:57,413 --> 00:09:01,213 They've left gold bearing river rock behind. 135 00:09:01,241 --> 00:09:02,621 Howdy. 136 00:09:02,655 --> 00:09:04,445 I shouldn't have to walk your floor. 137 00:09:04,482 --> 00:09:04,692 What's that, buddy? 138 00:09:07,517 --> 00:09:08,587 I though everybody knew how to dig pay 139 00:09:08,620 --> 00:09:10,690 but three are round rock everywhere. 140 00:09:15,413 --> 00:09:18,343 Like I shouldn't have to walk the floor and find like, yards of rock 141 00:09:20,413 --> 00:09:22,343 I've hardly dug any of this. 142 00:09:22,379 --> 00:09:23,999 I don't care. 143 00:09:25,620 --> 00:09:27,760 You're in charge or are you not in charge? 144 00:09:27,793 --> 00:09:28,973 Well, Mitch was in charge. 145 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:30,520 [Parker] Mitch ain't here. 146 00:09:30,551 --> 00:09:31,661 Yeah, well... 147 00:09:31,689 --> 00:09:33,169 There's quite a bit missed. 148 00:09:33,206 --> 00:09:35,026 Whoever took the last strip in the back. 149 00:09:35,068 --> 00:09:38,138 I don't give a [bleep] who it is, and neither should you, 150 00:09:38,172 --> 00:09:40,212 but it needs to get cleaned up. 151 00:09:41,448 --> 00:09:42,788 I understand that, 152 00:09:42,827 --> 00:09:43,897 but I haven't even dug half this [bleep] pay here, 153 00:09:43,931 --> 00:09:45,901 I've been in the back doing overburden. 154 00:09:47,206 --> 00:09:49,476 I don't know if guys are in a rush to go home or whatever 155 00:09:49,517 --> 00:09:52,407 but if anybody wants to go home, they can [bleep] go home. 156 00:09:52,448 --> 00:09:56,788 Right now. Like, that's not a reason to rush through any cuts or... 157 00:09:56,827 --> 00:10:00,167 or do anything sloppy, or whatever is going on, 158 00:10:00,206 --> 00:10:02,166 we've done this racket for eight years now, 159 00:10:02,206 --> 00:10:04,756 I shouldn't have to walk our floors. 160 00:10:04,793 --> 00:10:07,213 [Brennan] But there's no need to come here and be a [bleep] about it. 161 00:10:09,620 --> 00:10:10,620 [producer speaking] 162 00:10:11,758 --> 00:10:12,588 I'm so [bleep] over this bull [bleep] man. 163 00:10:14,310 --> 00:10:16,790 Go pack my [bleep] and leave right now, 164 00:10:16,827 --> 00:10:17,657 I don't give a [bleep] about any of this [bleep]. 165 00:10:21,724 --> 00:10:23,144 [Brennan] I am [bleep] pissed. 166 00:10:34,206 --> 00:10:36,586 [bleep] I'm gonna pack my [bleep] and leave right now. 167 00:10:36,620 --> 00:10:38,070 [narrator] At Indian River, 168 00:10:38,103 --> 00:10:39,143 Co-foreman Brennan Ruault 169 00:10:39,172 --> 00:10:42,032 is reaching a breaking point, 170 00:10:42,068 --> 00:10:45,208 after his boss Parker Schnabel called him out 171 00:10:45,241 --> 00:10:48,001 for leaving pay dirt behind in the cut. 172 00:10:48,034 --> 00:10:50,454 [Brennan] I'm [bleep] over this horse [bleep]. 173 00:10:50,482 --> 00:10:52,172 I'm trying to do a million [bleep] things and keep my head in check, 174 00:10:52,206 --> 00:10:55,786 [bleep] blood is boiling, man. 175 00:10:57,344 --> 00:10:58,794 Whoo! 176 00:10:58,827 --> 00:11:01,657 [narrator] When Brennan joined the crew five years ago 177 00:11:01,689 --> 00:11:04,339 he'd never mined gold before. 178 00:11:04,379 --> 00:11:07,279 Can't wait to see the little yellow flakes on the sluice box. 179 00:11:07,310 --> 00:11:11,210 [narrator] Through his hard work, he gained Parker's trust. 180 00:11:11,241 --> 00:11:12,761 [Parker] That's awesome. 181 00:11:12,793 --> 00:11:15,453 [narrator] And worked his way up to the rank of co-foreman. 182 00:11:15,482 --> 00:11:19,002 What I'd really like to do is for your guys to share the role. 183 00:11:19,034 --> 00:11:19,554 I'll definitely step up. 184 00:11:22,137 --> 00:11:24,477 [narrator] But now, the pressure of the end. 185 00:11:24,517 --> 00:11:26,717 of their most grueling season ever, 186 00:11:26,758 --> 00:11:28,998 has pushed him to the brink. 187 00:11:29,034 --> 00:11:30,554 [Brennan] One little [bleep] thing 188 00:11:30,586 --> 00:11:32,686 and then I'm the one that has to take the heat for it. 189 00:11:34,793 --> 00:11:36,663 [Doumitt] Hey, junior. Come here, boy. 190 00:11:36,689 --> 00:11:38,549 [Brennan] I'm just sick of being treated like that. 191 00:11:38,586 --> 00:11:40,756 Like, it's just a nightmare. 192 00:11:40,793 --> 00:11:43,833 -I mean, when is enough enough around here? -[Doumitt] Yeah. 193 00:11:43,862 --> 00:11:45,142 In the ten years that I've been here, 194 00:11:45,172 --> 00:11:48,242 I've noticed that he pushes a little bit more... 195 00:11:48,620 --> 00:11:49,860 at this point, 196 00:11:49,896 --> 00:11:52,826 and sometimes it creates more damage than good. 197 00:11:52,862 --> 00:11:57,002 He forgets that a lot of us are 3,000 miles away from home, 198 00:11:57,034 --> 00:11:58,244 that's the tough part. 199 00:11:58,275 --> 00:12:01,375 It's really hard on everyone to maintain a good morale. 200 00:12:01,413 --> 00:12:03,763 Yeah, we put in a lot of work this year, 201 00:12:03,793 --> 00:12:06,553 being up here late, getting tired. 202 00:12:06,586 --> 00:12:08,236 Just consider the crew, 203 00:12:08,275 --> 00:12:10,585 we've got a good crew, 204 00:12:10,620 --> 00:12:12,830 No, we got a good team, man, a really good team. 205 00:12:12,862 --> 00:12:14,522 -We say it all year long. -[Doumitt] Yeah. 206 00:12:15,655 --> 00:12:18,405 Everybody knows their stuff and gets done. 207 00:12:18,448 --> 00:12:21,478 So, no matter how hard it gets, 208 00:12:21,517 --> 00:12:24,097 come hell or high water, push through. 209 00:12:24,137 --> 00:12:25,687 Yeah, all right. 210 00:12:25,724 --> 00:12:28,074 Why don't we finish on a good note, happy, 211 00:12:28,103 --> 00:12:30,593 then come here and go full tilt in the spring. 212 00:12:30,620 --> 00:12:33,410 What can you say? It happens every year. 213 00:12:33,448 --> 00:12:35,688 -All right, pops. Thanks a lot, appreciate it. -Okay, junior. 214 00:12:35,724 --> 00:12:36,484 -Yeah, you hang in there. -Yeah, you too. 215 00:12:48,655 --> 00:12:50,065 [dramatic music plays] 216 00:12:53,724 --> 00:12:56,104 [Rick] Technically, I shouldn't even be here right now. 217 00:12:56,137 --> 00:12:58,097 Normally, we're gone this time of year. 218 00:12:58,137 --> 00:12:59,967 But thankfully we haven't been frozen out yet, 219 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,170 because, uh, still got a couple hundred ounces to yet, 220 00:13:03,206 --> 00:13:05,926 and I'm more determined this season than ever, 221 00:13:05,965 --> 00:13:07,615 to make sure that we get there. 222 00:13:09,206 --> 00:13:12,586 [narrator] Rick Ness, is mining on borrowed time. 223 00:13:12,620 --> 00:13:14,410 What'd the boss want? 224 00:13:14,448 --> 00:13:15,788 [Rick] Meetings are never good. 225 00:13:15,827 --> 00:13:18,757 [narrator] And still only three-quarters of the way 226 00:13:18,793 --> 00:13:22,143 to hitting his 1,000 ounce season goal. 227 00:13:22,172 --> 00:13:25,032 I just wanted to address the gigantic elephant in the room, 228 00:13:25,068 --> 00:13:27,068 and that is if we don't hit 1,000 ounces this year, 229 00:13:28,103 --> 00:13:28,933 we're not coming back. 230 00:13:32,137 --> 00:13:33,967 It jus is what it is, we're hitting 1,000 ounces, 231 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:35,100 -right? -Yeah. 232 00:13:35,137 --> 00:13:37,547 [narrator] With his mining career on the line, 233 00:13:37,586 --> 00:13:40,306 Rick knows he needs to make a big move 234 00:13:40,344 --> 00:13:42,004 to hit his target. 235 00:13:42,034 --> 00:13:44,074 The creek cut has been really reliable for us 236 00:13:44,103 --> 00:13:46,453 but I just don't know if that's gonna get us there. 237 00:13:46,482 --> 00:13:48,552 What if the weather closes on us like a trap 238 00:13:48,586 --> 00:13:50,546 and we're not across the finish line yet? 239 00:13:50,586 --> 00:13:52,376 Like, I can't handle that for another year. 240 00:13:52,413 --> 00:13:53,413 We've gotta do something. 241 00:13:57,931 --> 00:14:00,311 I've got a bit of hunch. I really think that 242 00:14:00,344 --> 00:14:03,794 you know, some of out best gold could be around that lazy bend in that river there. 243 00:14:06,620 --> 00:14:08,520 You're gonna look into that lazy bend? 244 00:14:08,551 --> 00:14:10,971 We're not gonna keep doing the creek cut? 245 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:12,970 I know the creek cut's been reliable, 246 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:13,520 but is it good enough to get there? 247 00:14:15,206 --> 00:14:17,306 It's time to swing away, man. 248 00:14:17,344 --> 00:14:18,484 Like we gotta go after something bigger. 249 00:14:20,862 --> 00:14:23,722 [narrator] Water flows slower around the inside 250 00:14:23,758 --> 00:14:26,138 or lazy bend of a river. 251 00:14:26,172 --> 00:14:29,452 The slower water allows more gold to settle, 252 00:14:29,482 --> 00:14:31,382 and over thousands of years, 253 00:14:31,413 --> 00:14:35,933 creates a richer deposit than anywhere else on the creek. 254 00:14:35,965 --> 00:14:38,335 We came up here for... for redemption, right? 255 00:14:38,379 --> 00:14:39,139 We're so close. 256 00:14:40,068 --> 00:14:40,998 [bleep] go after it. man. 257 00:14:41,034 --> 00:14:42,974 I'm done playing it safe. 258 00:14:47,137 --> 00:14:49,477 You're the expert here. I'll follow your lead, buddy. 259 00:14:49,517 --> 00:14:51,137 -I'm game. -I'm game. 260 00:14:51,172 --> 00:14:54,002 Let's go, uh, deal with this weather and get after it. 261 00:14:54,034 --> 00:14:55,344 -We'll hurt the dirt. -Let's do it. 262 00:14:55,379 --> 00:14:56,209 Hurt the dirt! 263 00:15:00,862 --> 00:15:04,832 Hopefully, I can get the machine in here without [bleep] burying it. 264 00:15:04,862 --> 00:15:06,972 [narrator] Rick opens up the spot he believes 265 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,480 was once the inside bend in the course of the creek. 266 00:15:10,517 --> 00:15:12,687 I've run the numbers and there's just no way 267 00:15:12,724 --> 00:15:14,344 we're gonna get to a thousand ounces 268 00:15:14,379 --> 00:15:15,719 at the pace we're going. 269 00:15:16,827 --> 00:15:18,967 We need the bang for our buck right now. 270 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,620 So, we gotta go after the best of the best. 271 00:15:24,689 --> 00:15:27,969 [Kruse] I hope this pays off. It just makes me nervous. 272 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:30,030 When you're taking a chance like that 273 00:15:30,068 --> 00:15:33,448 run the risk of maybe we don't even hit our goals. 274 00:15:33,482 --> 00:15:35,002 Hopefully, his hunch is right. 275 00:15:36,931 --> 00:15:37,971 [Karla] Yeah, it's Rick's call. 276 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:39,690 But I think there's a time and place 277 00:15:39,724 --> 00:15:42,454 to go fast and take chances, and it's not this year. 278 00:15:42,482 --> 00:15:44,212 It's just not the season for that. 279 00:15:46,586 --> 00:15:47,476 All right. So far so good. 280 00:15:50,724 --> 00:15:52,764 Kruse and Karla and probably everybody here 281 00:15:52,793 --> 00:15:54,763 is not too sure about my hunch here. 282 00:15:54,793 --> 00:15:57,343 But in the case, they're gonna be wrong. 283 00:15:57,379 --> 00:15:59,309 I'm gonna prove 'em wrong this year. 284 00:15:59,344 --> 00:16:01,074 [bleep] you, gravel. Where are you? 285 00:16:01,689 --> 00:16:02,829 Don't have all day. 286 00:16:04,137 --> 00:16:04,997 Come on. 287 00:16:08,344 --> 00:16:09,934 [Rick] Yeah. 288 00:16:10,655 --> 00:16:11,755 Yeah, look at that. 289 00:16:11,793 --> 00:16:13,793 [narrator] Five hours in, 290 00:16:13,827 --> 00:16:15,997 Rick hits the first pay gravels. 291 00:16:18,103 --> 00:16:19,593 Oh, that's good stuff. 292 00:16:19,620 --> 00:16:21,070 It's good stuff. 293 00:16:21,103 --> 00:16:23,003 [Chris over radio] Rick, do you copy? Rick? 294 00:16:23,034 --> 00:16:24,004 [Rick] Yeah, just stay right there, Kruse. Let me get some more. 295 00:16:24,034 --> 00:16:26,144 If I get ten trucks out of here, 296 00:16:26,172 --> 00:16:27,792 that's 200 yards. 297 00:16:27,827 --> 00:16:29,617 That's all I really need. 298 00:16:29,655 --> 00:16:32,135 About two hours to run that through the wash plant. 299 00:16:32,172 --> 00:16:34,792 That should give me a pretty good test to see what I got in here. 300 00:16:34,827 --> 00:16:37,687 [narrator] Rick will run a 200 yard test 301 00:16:37,724 --> 00:16:39,034 to find out if this pay is rich enough 302 00:16:39,068 --> 00:16:42,208 to save his season. 303 00:16:42,241 --> 00:16:42,551 You're all loaded up there, buddy. 304 00:16:44,827 --> 00:16:48,067 All right, here we go. First load of pay dirt. 305 00:16:48,103 --> 00:16:49,453 [Rick] There it goes. 306 00:16:50,172 --> 00:16:51,932 It's, uh, go time. 307 00:16:53,689 --> 00:16:55,169 Here we go, first load. 308 00:17:01,517 --> 00:17:02,447 [Mark] Jammin', killin' it. 309 00:17:06,655 --> 00:17:08,755 Historically, the lazy bend in a river 310 00:17:08,793 --> 00:17:10,833 should be where all the gold is. 311 00:17:10,862 --> 00:17:12,592 Kinda putting all my eggs in this basket. 312 00:17:12,620 --> 00:17:14,410 But I really think it's gonna pay off. 313 00:17:15,482 --> 00:17:17,932 [narrator] After running for two hours... 314 00:17:17,965 --> 00:17:19,335 Just shut her down. 315 00:17:19,379 --> 00:17:20,759 [narrator] ...the crew shuts down to check the sluices. 316 00:17:20,793 --> 00:17:22,903 [wash plant powers down] 317 00:17:28,034 --> 00:17:29,104 [Rick] What do you think? 318 00:17:29,137 --> 00:17:29,517 [Karla] It looks really good. 319 00:17:31,137 --> 00:17:33,827 It looks better than our last cleanup. 320 00:17:33,862 --> 00:17:35,552 [Rick] Yeah, that looks good. I'll take that. 321 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,520 [Mark] Oh, my [bleep]. 322 00:17:39,551 --> 00:17:41,031 Look at this, just sitting in the sluice. 323 00:17:42,241 --> 00:17:43,551 [Karla] Holy [bleep]. 324 00:17:43,586 --> 00:17:47,446 I can't believe that. Wow, look it. [chuckles] 325 00:17:47,482 --> 00:17:50,002 That's the heaviest nugget I've ever felt. 326 00:17:50,034 --> 00:17:53,724 People search their whole life for this type of material. 327 00:17:53,758 --> 00:17:55,068 [Rick] Pretty big smile on your face. 328 00:17:55,103 --> 00:17:56,553 [Karla] No, you don't even know. You don't even... 329 00:17:56,586 --> 00:17:57,476 This is like... It's what dreams are made of. 330 00:17:59,379 --> 00:18:00,449 -What? -I know. 331 00:18:00,482 --> 00:18:03,522 -[Rick] Holy [bleep]. -[Karla] Yeah. 332 00:18:04,793 --> 00:18:05,933 [Mark] Christmas came early. 333 00:18:05,965 --> 00:18:08,065 [Rick] That's like an ounce right there. 334 00:18:08,103 --> 00:18:10,623 That's a [bleep] beauty. Like, that's worth some serious money. 335 00:18:10,655 --> 00:18:12,855 That's an ounce. 336 00:18:14,827 --> 00:18:15,447 That'd be four grand right there. 337 00:18:18,034 --> 00:18:19,314 As far as I know, that's bigger than anything 338 00:18:19,344 --> 00:18:21,764 Parker or Tony's pulled out of the ground. 339 00:18:21,793 --> 00:18:24,313 [narrator] Rick's move to Keno last season 340 00:18:24,344 --> 00:18:27,904 was all in the hope of finding giant nuggets. 341 00:18:27,931 --> 00:18:31,141 Two years of hard work and determination 342 00:18:31,172 --> 00:18:33,972 have finally paid off. 343 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,340 And if the lazy bend continues to deliver, 344 00:18:36,379 --> 00:18:39,309 his season goal could be in reach. 345 00:18:39,344 --> 00:18:41,834 Wow. I'm really hoping this is gonna be 346 00:18:41,862 --> 00:18:43,552 the biggest cleanup of the year 347 00:18:43,586 --> 00:18:46,756 and if that guy has anything to say about, I think it might be. 348 00:19:06,827 --> 00:19:11,237 The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back to sluicing. 349 00:19:11,275 --> 00:19:12,855 [narrator] At Paradise Hill, 350 00:19:12,896 --> 00:19:17,306 Tony Beets has stopped all sluicing of upper cut pay dirt. 351 00:19:17,344 --> 00:19:20,034 We've got water going out of our settling pond. 352 00:19:20,068 --> 00:19:22,068 It was too dirty. 353 00:19:22,103 --> 00:19:24,483 Which, of course, means we got to build up the dikes. 354 00:19:24,517 --> 00:19:27,827 [narrator] Muddy water running from the settling ponds 355 00:19:27,862 --> 00:19:31,212 into the creek has forced a total shutdown 356 00:19:31,241 --> 00:19:34,761 until Kevin and the crew raise the dikes. 357 00:19:34,793 --> 00:19:37,973 I am running the D10 and pushing down 358 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,340 the piles that Monica is directing on the dike. 359 00:19:41,379 --> 00:19:42,999 [Tony speaking] 360 00:19:46,172 --> 00:19:50,722 [narrator] They still need around 500 trucks of material to finish the job. 361 00:19:50,758 --> 00:19:52,448 [Tony speaking] 362 00:20:41,137 --> 00:20:42,927 -[Kevin over radio] Go for Kevin. Go for Kevin. -[Tony speaking] 363 00:20:46,620 --> 00:20:48,480 [Kevin] Can do. I'm actually just on my way. 364 00:20:56,310 --> 00:20:56,480 [Tony chuckles] 365 00:20:59,724 --> 00:21:02,524 [Kevin] And what did we find? 366 00:21:02,551 --> 00:21:04,071 There's something hiding over there. 367 00:21:04,103 --> 00:21:04,343 [Tony speaking] 368 00:21:05,862 --> 00:21:08,032 [Kevin] I'll be down. 369 00:21:08,068 --> 00:21:09,968 I believe what we're looking at... 370 00:21:10,620 --> 00:21:12,720 I'm guessing a steamer. 371 00:21:12,758 --> 00:21:14,278 Like, from a dredge. It's clearly from a [bleep] dredge. 372 00:21:15,758 --> 00:21:16,758 [Tony speaking] 373 00:21:26,586 --> 00:21:30,476 [narrator] From the early 1900s up to 1966, 374 00:21:30,517 --> 00:21:34,307 dredges mined the prime pay dirt on Hunker Creek. 375 00:21:34,344 --> 00:21:36,904 The ground was so rich, that on a good day, 376 00:21:36,931 --> 00:21:39,031 they pulled out today's equivalent 377 00:21:39,068 --> 00:21:42,968 of over a million dollars worth of gold. 378 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:45,830 For Tony to unearth the remnants of the dredge 379 00:21:45,862 --> 00:21:48,932 is an incredible chance discovery. 380 00:21:48,965 --> 00:21:51,585 -[Tony speaking] -[Kevin] [bleep] yeah. 381 00:21:53,689 --> 00:21:54,689 -[Kevin] What? -[Tony speaking] 382 00:22:02,103 --> 00:22:03,453 -Yeah. -[Tony speaking] 383 00:22:09,413 --> 00:22:11,283 [Kevin] Not till right about now, honestly. 384 00:22:11,310 --> 00:22:14,310 [narrator] Old timers sluicing on the hill 385 00:22:14,344 --> 00:22:16,794 washed down waste material. 386 00:22:17,793 --> 00:22:19,553 Tony's theory, 387 00:22:19,586 --> 00:22:21,656 the dredge that mined along the valley 388 00:22:21,689 --> 00:22:23,969 went round these tailings. 389 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,520 When the dredge was finally abandoned, 390 00:22:26,551 --> 00:22:29,281 the remnants lay on top of ground, 391 00:22:29,310 --> 00:22:31,380 that could still be rich in gold. 392 00:22:35,275 --> 00:22:36,825 If Tony's right, 393 00:22:36,862 --> 00:22:39,862 he could be heading for a mammoth pay day. 394 00:22:41,068 --> 00:22:42,658 [Tony speaking] 395 00:22:55,655 --> 00:22:56,995 -[Kevin] Yeah. -[Tony speaking] 396 00:23:04,068 --> 00:23:07,788 So, the question is, where did the dredge come in? 397 00:23:07,827 --> 00:23:10,207 Where did they say "[bleep] it, too much"? 398 00:23:10,241 --> 00:23:11,901 We won't know till we dig. 399 00:23:11,931 --> 00:23:14,281 But I'm very curious to see what we get out of here. 400 00:23:36,862 --> 00:23:40,032 [narrator] While the rest of the crew races to finish the dikes... 401 00:23:41,931 --> 00:23:45,281 [narrator] ...Tony calls in drilling expert Liam Ferguson. 402 00:23:45,310 --> 00:23:47,720 All right, Tony. Um, we talked about putting four holes in. 403 00:23:47,758 --> 00:23:49,408 Whereabouts do you think is a good spot for them? 404 00:23:52,068 --> 00:23:53,308 -Yep. -[Tony speaking] 405 00:23:58,517 --> 00:24:00,827 Sounds good. We'll come find you when we're done. 406 00:24:01,241 --> 00:24:02,831 [Liam] No problem. 407 00:24:02,862 --> 00:24:03,972 [Liam] All right. 408 00:24:15,034 --> 00:24:17,694 [narrator] Using a vibrating sonic drill 409 00:24:17,724 --> 00:24:20,214 that can reach depths of 1,000 feet, 410 00:24:20,241 --> 00:24:22,451 Liam will take a series of core samples 411 00:24:22,482 --> 00:24:26,382 of the layers of material beneath the surface 412 00:24:26,413 --> 00:24:28,483 to discover if the ground beneath 413 00:24:28,517 --> 00:24:30,787 is virgin and rich in gold. 414 00:24:31,724 --> 00:24:33,594 There's a lot of potential here 415 00:24:33,620 --> 00:24:36,030 for Tony to find some really good ground. 416 00:24:36,068 --> 00:24:39,448 We'll know pretty quick, as soon as we pull the core out, 417 00:24:39,482 --> 00:24:41,312 if it's real virgin ground or not. 418 00:24:47,931 --> 00:24:50,381 All right, so that's our bedrock there. That looks pretty good. 419 00:24:50,413 --> 00:24:53,723 On top of the bedrock, we got, like, nine foot 420 00:24:53,758 --> 00:24:56,688 of, like, a silty river gravel. 421 00:24:57,482 --> 00:25:00,312 That looks like virgin ground to me. 422 00:25:00,344 --> 00:25:01,694 So, based on everything we've seen, 423 00:25:01,724 --> 00:25:04,484 it definitely looks like it could be virgin ground. 424 00:25:04,517 --> 00:25:08,547 Looks to me like the theory of the dredge going around. 425 00:25:08,586 --> 00:25:11,686 the tailings, pile, it all seems to add up. 426 00:25:11,724 --> 00:25:15,034 Now, the next thing to do is just to wash it, find out how much gold in there. 427 00:25:34,241 --> 00:25:36,621 There's still lot of work to do here, 428 00:25:36,655 --> 00:25:38,545 so we got to just put the hammer down to get it done. 429 00:25:38,586 --> 00:25:43,166 [narrator] Parker has put co-foreman Brennan Ruault under the gun 430 00:25:43,206 --> 00:25:48,026 to strip a 600-foot extension to the Airstrip Cut. 431 00:25:48,068 --> 00:25:51,028 After three days, he's still not down to pay dirt. 432 00:25:51,068 --> 00:25:54,238 Parker's got some big pressure on all of us out here 433 00:25:54,275 --> 00:25:55,235 to get this ground ready. 434 00:25:55,275 --> 00:25:56,895 Is he [bleep] angry still? 435 00:25:56,931 --> 00:25:59,241 It isn't the first time he's been [bleep] miserable like that. 436 00:25:59,275 --> 00:26:01,965 There's no need for it, and that's what I'm getting tired of. 437 00:26:02,724 --> 00:26:04,554 JM, you on here? 438 00:26:05,620 --> 00:26:07,310 [Jean-Michel over radio] Yeah, copy. 439 00:26:07,344 --> 00:26:10,104 [Brennan] Hey, buddy. We're gonna have to take a smooth bucket and truck 440 00:26:10,137 --> 00:26:11,307 and go pick rock out of there, wherever it's missed. 441 00:26:12,896 --> 00:26:14,026 [Jean-Michel over radio] Right on. 442 00:26:14,068 --> 00:26:15,378 Sounds like a plan, man. 443 00:26:15,413 --> 00:26:17,973 [narrator] Brennan has tasked JM 444 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,830 with cleaning up the section of the Airstrip Cut, 445 00:26:20,862 --> 00:26:23,692 where Parker found gold left behind. 446 00:26:23,724 --> 00:26:26,144 [Jean-Michel] I mean, I don't mind. I'm here to work. 447 00:26:26,172 --> 00:26:29,282 But it seems like everyday I kinda found some new problem, 448 00:26:29,310 --> 00:26:31,070 a new challenge to deal with. 449 00:26:31,103 --> 00:26:33,863 [narrator] The two wash plants Sluicifer and Big Red 450 00:26:33,896 --> 00:26:40,826 are running a combined 420 yards of Airstrip Cut pay dirt and hour. 451 00:26:41,275 --> 00:26:43,475 Brennan in the D10 452 00:26:43,517 --> 00:26:46,787 strips overburden to open up the new extension. 453 00:26:46,827 --> 00:26:49,997 Now we're in a bit of a bad panic to get as far back as we can. 454 00:26:50,965 --> 00:26:51,335 [groans] 455 00:27:02,413 --> 00:27:03,903 -[Brennan] Howdy. -How are you doing? 456 00:27:03,931 --> 00:27:04,591 [Brennan] Good, you? 457 00:27:04,620 --> 00:27:05,340 I'm all right. Um... 458 00:27:09,379 --> 00:27:14,479 I wanted to explain a little more my little blow up in the cut. 459 00:27:16,206 --> 00:27:19,856 I apologize. Because I shouldn't do it that way 460 00:27:21,827 --> 00:27:24,027 Brennan, since you've shown up here, 461 00:27:24,068 --> 00:27:27,168 like, you've come so far, and you've been doing a great job. 462 00:27:27,206 --> 00:27:28,376 Honestly, you have. 463 00:27:29,103 --> 00:27:30,173 Right. 464 00:27:30,206 --> 00:27:32,066 I know you've got a lot on your plate, 465 00:27:32,103 --> 00:27:34,413 but we still have to make sure 466 00:27:34,448 --> 00:27:36,068 that we are following the basics. 467 00:27:36,103 --> 00:27:39,103 And that's where I'm coming from. 468 00:27:39,137 --> 00:27:41,027 -Okay, yeah. -Does that make sense? 469 00:27:41,068 --> 00:27:42,238 Yeah. Very. 470 00:27:42,275 --> 00:27:43,855 Thank you. Appreciate it. 471 00:27:43,896 --> 00:27:45,276 -No sweat. Thanks, Brennan. -Yeah, no worries. 472 00:27:45,310 --> 00:27:47,070 Appreciate it. Thanks a lot. 473 00:27:47,103 --> 00:27:49,553 [Brennan] I definitely just take it back a little bit with Parker. 474 00:27:49,586 --> 00:27:52,136 I do really respect him coming to apologize 475 00:27:52,172 --> 00:27:54,552 in a sincere way, you know, so I... I'm happy. 476 00:28:02,034 --> 00:28:04,554 I want to get this ground opened up and sluiced. 477 00:28:04,586 --> 00:28:06,826 I wanna try and conquer this season for Parker 478 00:28:06,862 --> 00:28:11,412 and, hopefully, also put some money in the bank for some new ground for us. 479 00:28:16,103 --> 00:28:17,243 We're trying to hurry everything 480 00:28:17,275 --> 00:28:19,785 so we're not behind schedule for once. 481 00:28:26,068 --> 00:28:27,718 [thuds] 482 00:28:27,758 --> 00:28:29,068 [Brennan groans] 483 00:28:29,103 --> 00:28:30,343 [bleep] no. 484 00:28:32,034 --> 00:28:32,414 [dozer revving] 485 00:28:36,413 --> 00:28:39,453 [narrator] Brennan has hit permafrost. 486 00:28:39,482 --> 00:28:44,722 Dirt and gravel frozen solid since the last ice age. 487 00:28:44,758 --> 00:28:47,208 That's the last thing I need, is to break a ripper shaking out. 488 00:28:47,241 --> 00:28:49,971 Explain that one to Parker. 489 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:52,520 This sand is like [bleep] granite trying to get through it. 490 00:28:53,482 --> 00:28:55,172 I mean, look at how hard this stuff is. 491 00:28:55,206 --> 00:28:56,276 This slows the Cat right down. 492 00:28:58,137 --> 00:28:59,687 Lifting my tracks right off the ground. 493 00:29:01,241 --> 00:29:02,341 Yeah, we on here, JM. 494 00:29:02,379 --> 00:29:04,859 [Jean-Michel over radio] Yeah, go ahead. 495 00:29:04,896 --> 00:29:07,656 Man, this nothing but a [bleep] fight out here in the ten. 496 00:29:07,689 --> 00:29:09,929 I'm trying to rip this frozen gravel. 497 00:29:09,965 --> 00:29:11,475 I don't know how I'm gonna get through this in time. 498 00:29:12,517 --> 00:29:14,207 [Jean-Michel] That's not good news man. 499 00:29:14,241 --> 00:29:15,341 I mean, [bleep]. 500 00:29:19,758 --> 00:29:21,208 [Brennan] [bleep] sake, man. 501 00:29:21,241 --> 00:29:23,621 This is gonna take [bleep] forever going at this pace. 502 00:29:41,310 --> 00:29:43,070 [Brennan] This is what slows us down. 503 00:29:45,379 --> 00:29:46,519 This is [bleep] brutal. 504 00:29:46,551 --> 00:29:48,621 [narrator] At Indian River, 505 00:29:48,655 --> 00:29:50,895 Brennan is tasked with extending the cut. 506 00:29:50,931 --> 00:29:53,931 But permafrost is slowing him down so much, 507 00:29:53,965 --> 00:29:56,925 he may never get down to pay dirt 508 00:29:56,965 --> 00:29:59,065 before the end of this season. 509 00:30:01,172 --> 00:30:03,522 [Brennan] It's like ripping ground in here. 510 00:30:03,551 --> 00:30:05,831 I just heard a loud [bleep] snap. 511 00:30:05,862 --> 00:30:08,102 I thought it broke the tooth right off the ripper. 512 00:30:09,275 --> 00:30:10,135 [bleep] that frost. 513 00:30:11,551 --> 00:30:13,171 This [bleep] pisses me off. 514 00:30:15,724 --> 00:30:17,934 [Jean-Michel] Brennan hit permafrost, man. 515 00:30:17,965 --> 00:30:19,405 That's gonna slow him down. 516 00:30:20,827 --> 00:30:24,857 This gravel's just brutal on this poor Cat. 517 00:30:24,896 --> 00:30:27,756 I didn't expect to run into this much of this. 518 00:30:27,793 --> 00:30:30,283 I mean, I have to put 50 rips in it to get down to pay. 519 00:30:30,793 --> 00:30:33,103 It's not gonna be good. 520 00:30:44,862 --> 00:30:47,142 [engine roars] 521 00:30:47,172 --> 00:30:49,452 This thing sounds [bleep] wicked. 522 00:30:49,482 --> 00:30:50,622 [man] Like a kid with a new toy. 523 00:30:50,655 --> 00:30:52,615 [Parker] Oh, yeah. 524 00:30:52,655 --> 00:30:53,825 I never thought we'd have one of these. 525 00:30:53,862 --> 00:30:56,282 [narrator] But over at the yard, 526 00:30:56,310 --> 00:30:59,170 Parker has a surprise in store. 527 00:30:59,206 --> 00:31:01,276 [bleep] sick. 528 00:31:01,310 --> 00:31:05,690 [narrator] A monster D11 dozer ordered for next season 529 00:31:05,724 --> 00:31:07,934 has arrived ahead of time. 530 00:31:07,965 --> 00:31:10,445 And we bought it off craigslist basically, which is pretty funny. 531 00:31:10,482 --> 00:31:12,662 It's got all the goods. 532 00:31:12,689 --> 00:31:14,759 I think this is about a 50 yard blade. 533 00:31:14,793 --> 00:31:18,243 Like, this is chromium carbide overlay. 534 00:31:18,275 --> 00:31:21,095 So it's like, really strong, armored blade. 535 00:31:21,137 --> 00:31:24,587 Where the tens would rip, like, a three-foot rip, this thing will do six. 536 00:31:24,620 --> 00:31:27,520 I don't know much about engines, but it's a [bleep] big engine. 537 00:31:31,758 --> 00:31:35,718 [narrator] The D11 is the biggest machine Parker's ever owned. 538 00:31:42,793 --> 00:31:45,553 -Hi, Brennan. -[Brennan] Look at that big thing! 539 00:31:45,586 --> 00:31:49,966 -[Parker] Right? -[Brennan] Holly man! Unreal [laughs] 540 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:51,000 -Yeah. -Nice work. 541 00:31:51,034 --> 00:31:54,214 [narrator] With 850 horse power, 542 00:31:54,241 --> 00:31:58,411 it's 60% more powerful than Brennan's D10. 543 00:31:58,448 --> 00:32:03,098 At 250,000 pounds, it's almost twice the weight. 544 00:32:03,137 --> 00:32:05,067 And the blade can move double the dirt. 545 00:32:05,103 --> 00:32:08,313 -This thing's [bleep] huge, man. -Yeah. 546 00:32:08,344 --> 00:32:10,284 -[Brennan] Unreal. I get to ride it? -Oh, yeah. 547 00:32:10,310 --> 00:32:13,620 -Sweet. -I figured you could use the help down here. 548 00:32:13,655 --> 00:32:16,965 When you're ripping this, the extra weight really makes a huge difference. 549 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,590 -Yeah, wicked. Thanks, buddy. -Have fun with her. 550 00:32:19,620 --> 00:32:21,760 [Brennan] You bet. This is an immense relief. [laughs] 551 00:32:21,793 --> 00:32:26,283 If this isn't gonna [bleep] move mountains quickly, I don't know what will. 552 00:32:26,310 --> 00:32:28,380 This is the next level. I mean, I'm excited. 553 00:32:28,413 --> 00:32:31,283 I've got to run 11 one time in my life, 554 00:32:31,310 --> 00:32:33,380 and this is time number two where we need it the most, 555 00:32:33,413 --> 00:32:35,723 so I can't wait to get in and fire it up. 556 00:32:36,896 --> 00:32:38,066 [engine roaring] 557 00:32:39,068 --> 00:32:39,238 Ah! 558 00:32:48,068 --> 00:32:49,068 Oh, yeah. 559 00:32:50,689 --> 00:32:51,719 That's the ticket. 560 00:32:51,758 --> 00:32:54,308 [bleep] is this thing sweet. 561 00:32:56,137 --> 00:32:59,967 I mean, look at the chunks I'm blowing out of there compared to the ten. 562 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,140 I can't believe the [bleep] pieces it's pulling apart here. 563 00:33:04,413 --> 00:33:06,863 JM, you're on here, JM. 564 00:33:06,896 --> 00:33:11,026 Buddy, I think we just found the ticket to getting through this frozen ground. 565 00:33:11,068 --> 00:33:14,518 [Jean-Michel] Oh, yeah, I can see it. Look at the size of that dozer, man. 566 00:33:16,482 --> 00:33:18,102 Half the time, half the rips, 567 00:33:18,137 --> 00:33:20,407 means more efficiency and more gold in the box. 568 00:33:20,448 --> 00:33:21,828 A hell of lot faster. 569 00:33:22,724 --> 00:33:24,174 Absolutely beautiful. 570 00:33:38,482 --> 00:33:40,902 We're still quite a ways away from our 1,000 ounce goal. 571 00:33:40,931 --> 00:33:44,341 Um, the gold's been steady, but we've gonna have to make every day count. 572 00:33:44,379 --> 00:33:48,859 [narrator] At Duncan Creek, Rick and his crew start a new shift. 573 00:33:48,896 --> 00:33:51,096 Sluicing the lazy bend pay dirt, 574 00:33:51,137 --> 00:33:55,377 that has already produced a 1.5 ounce nugget. 575 00:33:56,482 --> 00:33:58,792 Yeah, this stuff's far too big. 576 00:33:58,827 --> 00:34:01,137 There's obviously a problem going on here. Far too big. 577 00:34:01,172 --> 00:34:02,792 [narrator] But at the wash plant, 578 00:34:02,827 --> 00:34:07,137 operator Mark Doverspike has discovered a problem. 579 00:34:07,172 --> 00:34:09,592 [Mark] We can't have rocks go down there, 'cause it'll just destroy it. 580 00:34:09,620 --> 00:34:12,070 [narrator] The sluice runs are full of rocks. 581 00:34:12,931 --> 00:34:14,311 So this is the kind of material 582 00:34:14,344 --> 00:34:17,004 we've had come down through our shaker deck now. 583 00:34:17,034 --> 00:34:19,384 That's far too big to be going through our riffle, 584 00:34:19,413 --> 00:34:21,243 so they're gonna be destroyed if we keep that up. 585 00:34:21,275 --> 00:34:25,095 We've got holes in the screen now. The screen deck. 586 00:34:25,137 --> 00:34:27,617 Oh, buddy. This thing is [bleep]. 587 00:34:28,655 --> 00:34:30,755 [Mark] This is bad. 588 00:34:30,793 --> 00:34:31,933 There's a big [bleep] hole in the punch plate. 589 00:34:31,965 --> 00:34:35,825 That one spot took all the wear. 590 00:34:35,862 --> 00:34:39,762 [narrator] The hole in the plate is letting big rocks fall through 591 00:34:39,793 --> 00:34:43,483 that could destroy the riffles in the sluice box below. 592 00:34:43,517 --> 00:34:44,967 It's not the same as just blowing out a screen, 593 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,830 I mean, this plant doesn't run screens, 594 00:34:47,862 --> 00:34:49,592 it runs one solid piece of punch plate, 595 00:34:49,620 --> 00:34:51,690 so if we just pop that piece out and replace it... 596 00:34:51,724 --> 00:34:54,174 Only thing we can do is try and cover it up. 597 00:34:54,206 --> 00:34:58,966 [narrator] Rick's wash plant uses a sheet of perforated half inch thick steel 598 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:01,210 to screen out rocks. 599 00:35:01,241 --> 00:35:04,381 With no time to get a new plate fabricated, 600 00:35:04,413 --> 00:35:07,343 the only option is to patch up the hole, 601 00:35:07,379 --> 00:35:10,719 and try to limp the plant to the end of the season. 602 00:35:11,689 --> 00:35:13,859 Yeah, it's not [bleep] good news this morning. 603 00:35:13,896 --> 00:35:15,376 There's a big old hole in the top deck of our plant, 604 00:35:15,413 --> 00:35:18,553 and it's not the time of the year for that [bleep]. 605 00:35:18,586 --> 00:35:19,996 Gotta get the thing welded up quick, 606 00:35:20,034 --> 00:35:22,074 and hopefully get back in action. 607 00:35:22,103 --> 00:35:25,793 Potentially this could mean, you know, inwards of 20 ounces that we lose today. 608 00:35:25,827 --> 00:35:28,997 We're in a race to meet our goal, right? 609 00:35:29,034 --> 00:35:31,074 We gonna make this happen. We gonna make this quick. 610 00:35:33,862 --> 00:35:37,312 [narrator] With mechanic Carl Rosk home 611 00:35:37,344 --> 00:35:39,414 recovering from back surgery, 612 00:35:39,448 --> 00:35:42,208 it's up to Ben Bellai to fix the plant. 613 00:35:43,206 --> 00:35:45,276 We got a big hole up on the top screen, 614 00:35:45,310 --> 00:35:48,000 so I gotta find a chunk of steel here 615 00:35:48,034 --> 00:35:51,244 that I don't have to [bleep] cut, that I can use... 616 00:35:52,413 --> 00:35:54,243 to get this up and running here right away. 617 00:35:57,724 --> 00:35:59,314 That will actually do. 618 00:35:59,344 --> 00:36:01,284 Not too much work to it, so we can get using. 619 00:36:03,517 --> 00:36:05,617 Just gonna get this done here right away, 620 00:36:05,655 --> 00:36:07,405 so I get this plant up and running. 621 00:36:09,137 --> 00:36:10,337 Could be a quick fix. 622 00:36:12,034 --> 00:36:13,344 But it's at the end of the season, 623 00:36:13,379 --> 00:36:15,279 so we're just gonna patch it off for now. 624 00:36:16,241 --> 00:36:18,381 He's gonna do it quick and... quick and dirty, 625 00:36:18,413 --> 00:36:20,103 so hopefully it won't take very long. 626 00:36:24,655 --> 00:36:27,135 See how this is... We have a big hole here. 627 00:36:27,172 --> 00:36:28,762 Hopefully, this patch job will hold. 628 00:36:28,793 --> 00:36:30,453 I can't guarantee it, because everything's all worn thin here. 629 00:36:30,482 --> 00:36:34,382 We'll see if this bush fix is gonna work, hopefully it will. 630 00:36:38,068 --> 00:36:40,718 We'll lose a little capacity of our deck, 631 00:36:40,758 --> 00:36:44,208 'cause we're gonna have to cover up that first foot of the screen deck, 632 00:36:44,241 --> 00:36:46,101 but at this point it's better than sitting there and doing nothing. 633 00:36:53,068 --> 00:36:56,168 The parts are fixed it doesn't look pretty in any way. 634 00:36:56,206 --> 00:36:58,616 It's not a thing of beauty, but we'll make it work. 635 00:36:58,655 --> 00:37:00,785 Let's fire this [bleep] back up and get going. 636 00:37:04,482 --> 00:37:06,412 -Pretty much ready to fire up. -Yeah, that was quick. 637 00:37:06,448 --> 00:37:07,588 And... if you want it running, 638 00:37:07,620 --> 00:37:10,000 -then just kinda watch-- -Yeah. 639 00:37:10,034 --> 00:37:11,664 ...the punch plate, maybe see if it-- 640 00:37:11,689 --> 00:37:14,029 -Yeah. Yeah, for sure. -All right. I'll get everything rolling. 641 00:37:14,068 --> 00:37:16,788 Sweet. You get this thing fired up now. 642 00:37:18,620 --> 00:37:20,240 It's a quick, dirty fix on that, 643 00:37:20,275 --> 00:37:22,855 but that's probably the best that we can hope for at this point, 644 00:37:22,896 --> 00:37:26,066 so we're so close to the end of the season, so close to our goal. 645 00:37:28,344 --> 00:37:31,724 [narrator] With only two hours of sluicing lost, 646 00:37:31,758 --> 00:37:33,308 the Ness crew is back in business. 647 00:37:33,344 --> 00:37:35,694 So far, so good. 648 00:37:52,862 --> 00:37:57,972 [narrator] At Paradise Hill, Tony waits for the drill results to find out 649 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:02,380 if he's discovered a chunk of prime virgin Hunker Creek pay dirt. 650 00:38:02,413 --> 00:38:04,383 Well, we got 'em back at the core set. 651 00:38:04,413 --> 00:38:06,313 Time to wash 'em and see what's in them. 652 00:38:06,344 --> 00:38:09,664 [narrator] Drilling specialist Liam Ferguson gets to work, 653 00:38:09,689 --> 00:38:11,969 analyzing the core samples. 654 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,340 It looks like here you can see the gravels that were washed down. 655 00:38:15,379 --> 00:38:18,379 Little bit of white channel and then right here 656 00:38:18,413 --> 00:38:21,073 is right where we start to get back into mud again. 657 00:38:22,448 --> 00:38:25,238 That's pretty good indication of virgin ground. 658 00:38:26,206 --> 00:38:27,896 There's a good change there's gold here, 659 00:38:27,931 --> 00:38:29,001 but is there enough? 660 00:38:39,793 --> 00:38:41,343 Keep coming. You'll see me in a second. 661 00:38:41,379 --> 00:38:46,099 We're down, at this point about a week or so, that's long enough. 662 00:38:46,137 --> 00:38:50,897 [narrator] At Paradise Hill, after moving 40,000 tons of dirt, 663 00:38:50,931 --> 00:38:53,661 the Beets crew is in the final push 664 00:38:53,689 --> 00:38:56,969 to raise the level of their settling ponds. 665 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,340 Just doing the last couple of pushes for the dike now. 666 00:39:00,034 --> 00:39:01,834 Soon as we get this finished up, 667 00:39:01,862 --> 00:39:03,972 we can fire up the pump, fire up the plant. 668 00:39:06,724 --> 00:39:06,934 Off we go. 669 00:39:09,793 --> 00:39:10,973 Park it. 670 00:39:15,931 --> 00:39:18,211 [Tony speaking] 671 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:25,030 Kevin. Go for Kevin. 672 00:39:31,517 --> 00:39:31,717 Everybody clear. 673 00:39:43,931 --> 00:39:45,551 [narrator] After losing a week of sluicing, 674 00:39:45,586 --> 00:39:48,686 the Beets are back on the gold. 675 00:39:49,448 --> 00:39:49,718 [Tony speaking] 676 00:39:56,896 --> 00:39:58,996 [narrator] Tony heads to get the drill results 677 00:39:59,034 --> 00:40:03,344 to find out if he's discovered a new strip of Hunker Creek pay dirt 678 00:40:03,379 --> 00:40:04,999 that's never been mined. 679 00:40:09,379 --> 00:40:11,899 -[Tony speaking] -Tony, good to see you again. 680 00:40:14,551 --> 00:40:18,901 Well, no, this one was also pretty interesting. 681 00:40:18,931 --> 00:40:21,241 Right, so these are the four holes we got here. 682 00:40:23,344 --> 00:40:24,144 [Tony speaking] 683 00:40:29,965 --> 00:40:31,025 -For sure. -Right? 684 00:40:32,379 --> 00:40:35,929 Looking at what we got there, that's the first hole we drilled. 685 00:40:35,965 --> 00:40:39,755 The one closest to the center of the valley looks like it's gonna be the best one. 686 00:40:39,793 --> 00:40:40,833 We found you some money. 687 00:40:46,724 --> 00:40:50,864 Yeah, around about an ounce per 100 I think this one will do. 688 00:40:54,137 --> 00:40:57,237 [narrator] The drill results prove Tony's theory. 689 00:40:57,275 --> 00:41:01,895 Under the remnants of the dredge is a strip of prime virgin ground. 690 00:41:01,931 --> 00:41:04,551 At an ounce of gold per 100 yards of dirt, 691 00:41:04,586 --> 00:41:09,686 it could bank Tony $160,000 a day. 692 00:41:35,655 --> 00:41:42,375 [narrator] Rick Ness is ready to find out if his gamble on the lazy bend in the river 693 00:41:42,413 --> 00:41:44,173 has paid off. 694 00:41:44,206 --> 00:41:47,786 This week... I mean, that hole in that top deck, 695 00:41:47,827 --> 00:41:50,207 potentially can be way worse than it was. 696 00:41:50,241 --> 00:41:52,031 We lost a little capacity in the plant, 697 00:41:52,068 --> 00:41:53,518 -but overall, [bleep] we got moving again, right? -Yeah. 698 00:41:53,551 --> 00:41:56,411 -Thanks. Thanks, man. -Well done. 699 00:41:56,448 --> 00:41:59,898 I know you guys weren't all super excited about that lazy corner of that river, 700 00:41:59,931 --> 00:42:02,141 but just so you guys know, it wasn't for nothing. 701 00:42:03,931 --> 00:42:05,481 [man] Holy [bleep]! 702 00:42:05,517 --> 00:42:07,827 -[Rick] Can you believe that? -[man] How much does that weigh? 703 00:42:08,551 --> 00:42:11,591 That one is 1.54 ounces. 704 00:42:11,620 --> 00:42:14,000 [man] Oh, my [bleep]! Wow! 705 00:42:14,034 --> 00:42:15,554 [narrator] As a collectible nugget, 706 00:42:15,586 --> 00:42:18,756 it could be worth more than twice its weight. 707 00:42:18,793 --> 00:42:20,863 -Holy crap, man. -No way! 708 00:42:20,896 --> 00:42:25,206 I've never seen anything like this before in my life. This is, uh-- 709 00:42:25,241 --> 00:42:29,451 -Neither have we, really. None of us have seen-- -Yeah. 710 00:42:29,482 --> 00:42:31,622 [Rick] That nugget's cool, but there is more. 711 00:42:31,655 --> 00:42:36,275 -Oh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about, buddy. -That's actually cool. 712 00:42:36,310 --> 00:42:39,760 [narrator] To make the move to the lazy bend worthwhile, 713 00:42:39,793 --> 00:42:44,763 Rick needs to beat the average from the creek cut of 60 ounces a week. 714 00:42:45,586 --> 00:42:47,276 [Rick] Let's see what we've got here. 715 00:42:49,517 --> 00:42:53,617 We got ten, 20, 30... 716 00:42:55,068 --> 00:42:57,618 40, 50, 60... 717 00:42:58,862 --> 00:43:01,662 And we're going over 70... Yes, we are. 718 00:43:01,689 --> 00:43:02,969 Hand it over there, big guy. 719 00:43:04,068 --> 00:43:05,168 Kerplunk. 720 00:43:05,206 --> 00:43:09,376 What we got here? 71.64 ounces. 721 00:43:09,413 --> 00:43:11,173 -Yes. -Yeah, buddy. 722 00:43:11,206 --> 00:43:12,686 -[whooping triumphantly] -[Rick] Uh-huh. 723 00:43:13,724 --> 00:43:17,694 [narrator] Worth around $136,000, 724 00:43:17,724 --> 00:43:20,524 Rick's gamble has paid off. 725 00:43:20,551 --> 00:43:22,101 -It's good week. -It's not bad. 726 00:43:22,137 --> 00:43:23,587 It's pretty great a week, boys. 727 00:43:23,620 --> 00:43:28,240 [narrator] And takes his season total to 825 ounces. 728 00:43:28,275 --> 00:43:33,785 Just 175 ounces short of his 1,000 ounce gold. 729 00:43:33,827 --> 00:43:37,477 Overall, another really good week. These are cool, 730 00:43:37,517 --> 00:43:40,757 but that right there is what pays the bills and we're on that fine gold, right? 731 00:43:40,793 --> 00:43:44,033 -Oh, yeah. -[Rick] We're on the gold, let's just keep it up. 732 00:43:44,068 --> 00:43:44,588 [man] Yeah. 733 00:43:44,620 --> 00:43:46,070 Yeah, thanks, guy. 734 00:43:47,310 --> 00:43:48,380 Thank you. 735 00:43:50,827 --> 00:43:53,857 -[safe pad beeping] -Well, I'm learning to trust my gut out here, 736 00:43:53,896 --> 00:43:58,896 and, uh, you know, with that lazy bend in the river cleaned it out, 737 00:43:58,931 --> 00:44:01,791 and got good gold and on top of that, 738 00:44:02,689 --> 00:44:04,309 got that bad boy to show for it. 739 00:44:17,241 --> 00:44:18,861 [narrator] At the end of a tense week, 740 00:44:18,896 --> 00:44:22,896 the Schnabel crew gather to weigh up the gold. 741 00:44:22,931 --> 00:44:25,031 -So you made it to the frost? -Mmm-hmm. Yep. 742 00:44:25,068 --> 00:44:28,408 -Parker came down with the D11 to help that situation out. -[Doumitt] Ooh. 743 00:44:28,448 --> 00:44:31,168 -Makes things a lot easier. [laughs] -[Doumitt] Good. 744 00:44:31,206 --> 00:44:33,826 Both plants did really well this week. 745 00:44:33,862 --> 00:44:36,482 You guys did a good job keeping them things running. 746 00:44:36,517 --> 00:44:37,927 Why don't you show us some gold then, see what we got? 747 00:44:37,965 --> 00:44:39,275 [Doumitt] Wanna throw some gold on the scale? 748 00:44:39,310 --> 00:44:42,140 We've moved a lot of dirt to see it. 749 00:44:42,172 --> 00:44:45,862 [narrator] Last week at Big Red, Brennan fell short, 750 00:44:45,896 --> 00:44:52,166 getting less than half rival plant boss Tyson's 209 ounce gold haul. 751 00:44:52,206 --> 00:44:53,136 [Doumitt] Incoming. 752 00:44:53,172 --> 00:44:56,002 -Ooh, that's a big pan. -[Doumitt] Yeah. 753 00:44:56,034 --> 00:44:59,414 -We're staring to use big pans now. -[Tyson] Holy [bleep]! 754 00:44:59,448 --> 00:45:02,238 [narrator] This time, Brennan's determined to beat him. 755 00:45:02,275 --> 00:45:03,685 -Ready? -Yeah. 756 00:45:07,827 --> 00:45:13,027 Sixty. 100. 130, 160. 757 00:45:13,379 --> 00:45:15,719 One-eighty, 220. 758 00:45:17,689 --> 00:45:20,449 -222.15. -[Doumitt] Nice. 759 00:45:20,482 --> 00:45:22,692 Holy [bleep]! [bleep] yeah! 760 00:45:22,724 --> 00:45:26,794 [narrator] Worth over $420,000. 761 00:45:26,827 --> 00:45:29,517 -Good boy. Good boy. -Yeah. 762 00:45:29,551 --> 00:45:32,551 -[Tyson] That's awesome, man. -Sucker, you lost. [laughs] 763 00:45:32,586 --> 00:45:34,756 -[Tyson] That's a nice week. -[Doumitt] Yeah. No kidding. 764 00:45:34,793 --> 00:45:36,453 -You wanna see what Slucifer's doing? -Sweet. 765 00:45:36,482 --> 00:45:38,102 [Brennan] Let's see it. 766 00:45:38,137 --> 00:45:42,617 [narrator] With Slucifer, Tyson has been averaging 171 ounces. 767 00:45:44,344 --> 00:45:46,414 [Doumitt] Brennan might have to help you count. 768 00:45:46,448 --> 00:45:47,408 [laughs] 769 00:45:47,448 --> 00:45:50,278 Forty, 80. 770 00:45:50,517 --> 00:45:53,207 100, 110. 771 00:45:54,551 --> 00:45:55,661 190. 772 00:45:57,379 --> 00:45:59,279 195.85. 773 00:46:00,758 --> 00:46:01,858 Oh, yeah. 774 00:46:01,896 --> 00:46:05,786 [narrator] Worth more than $370,000. 775 00:46:06,620 --> 00:46:08,760 -I gotta see you out there. -Loser. 776 00:46:10,724 --> 00:46:13,974 -[Doumitt] Well done. Well done. -[Parker] 400 ounce week. 777 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:15,970 -Yeah. -Nothing wrong with a 400 ounce week. 778 00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:17,550 [Doumitt] Four hundred and eighteen ounces. 779 00:46:18,448 --> 00:46:23,478 [narrator] A combined total of $790,000. 780 00:46:23,517 --> 00:46:25,517 [Parker laughs] Holy [bleep]! 781 00:46:25,551 --> 00:46:30,931 [narrator] And bringing their season total to over 6,800 ounces. 782 00:46:30,965 --> 00:46:34,095 Last year was 7,223. 783 00:46:34,137 --> 00:46:37,997 [narrator] Just 400 ounces short of last year's total. 784 00:46:39,034 --> 00:46:41,344 Parker is on track to bank a war chest 785 00:46:41,379 --> 00:46:44,899 to finance new ground for next season. 786 00:46:45,724 --> 00:46:47,664 You know, if you can keep 'em running... 787 00:46:49,689 --> 00:46:51,859 we will have a really good year. 788 00:46:51,896 --> 00:46:55,236 Well, Chris, we hate to, um, weigh and run, but... 789 00:46:55,275 --> 00:46:57,445 -[laughs] Weigh and run. Okay. -We've all got stuff to do. 790 00:46:57,482 --> 00:46:58,522 -Thank you. -You bet. 791 00:46:58,551 --> 00:47:01,481 Thanks, guys. Good work out there. 792 00:47:01,517 --> 00:47:02,587 Outstanding, keep it up. 793 00:47:02,620 --> 00:47:04,340 -See you, Doumitt. -Make us rich. 794 00:47:04,379 --> 00:47:06,659 -Oh, yeah. -All right. 795 00:47:06,689 --> 00:47:08,549 -Are you proud? -[Doumitt] Yeah. 796 00:47:08,586 --> 00:47:09,756 -Have fun cleaning that up. -Yep. 797 00:47:11,068 --> 00:47:13,688 [Brennan] I'm happy. 798 00:47:13,724 --> 00:47:15,624 Everything's starting to come together here towards the end of the season. 799 00:47:15,655 --> 00:47:17,025 As long as the gold keeps coming in 800 00:47:17,068 --> 00:47:18,928 and we're conquering our ground, that's all that matters. 801 00:47:22,862 --> 00:47:24,862 I wanna hit it big, I wanna be a huge success. 802 00:47:24,896 --> 00:47:26,616 [narrator] On the next Gold Rush... 803 00:47:26,655 --> 00:47:29,925 [Rick] Looking for new ground this late in the season it's not ideal. 804 00:47:29,965 --> 00:47:31,135 It's a little crazy. 805 00:47:31,172 --> 00:47:32,412 [narrator] Rick Ness aims for the sky. 806 00:47:32,448 --> 00:47:34,338 That's the spot right there. 807 00:47:34,379 --> 00:47:35,929 It's definitely never been touched. 808 00:47:37,137 --> 00:47:38,477 This is just another problem that we don't need. 809 00:47:38,517 --> 00:47:40,587 -This ain't going on there? -No. 810 00:47:40,620 --> 00:47:42,660 [Parker] [bleep] now I'm pissed off. 811 00:47:42,689 --> 00:47:46,169 [narrator] Parker Schnabel's final push grinds to a halt. 812 00:47:46,206 --> 00:47:48,756 -[crashes] -[Parker] [bleep] piece of [bleep]. 813 00:47:50,310 --> 00:47:53,520 We're gonna keep pushing until something tells me we can't run anymore. 814 00:47:53,551 --> 00:47:56,761 [narrator] And Fred Lewis' dream could be over. 815 00:47:56,793 --> 00:47:59,623 This thing is a hunk of junk. 816 00:47:59,655 --> 00:48:01,095 If it breaks down one more time, 817 00:48:01,137 --> 00:48:02,927 I think we should go ahead and call it quits.