10x21 - Bring in the Big g*ns

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
on this "gold rush"...

...with the end of the
mining season approaching...

...tony beets spends money
to make money.

Kevin:
I think this looks [bleep] nice.

Three miles of virgin ground.

Narrator:
as he picks up momentum...

[Bleep] damn it.

...parker schnabel looks
for new opportunities.

Oh, [bleep].

I think that's pretty good.

[ Whines ]

Heading off
into the mountains again.

Narrator:
and rick ness goes on one
last hunt for nuggets.

This could be the difference
between me

Going home broke or not.

Booyah, now we're
getting somewhere.

[ Laughter ]

--[Font color="#ffff00"] captions by vitac[/font] --
[font color="#00ffff"] www.vitac.com[/font]

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

[ Horn blares ]

♪

[ Horn blares ]

Klondike legend tony beets
is taking delivery

Of a mammoth 40-foot trommel...

...the basis of a monster
new wash plant

Tony is counting on to
turbocharge his mining empire.

Three weeks ago, despite sitting
on gold-rich ground,

Eldest son, kevin,

Shut down his mining operation
at the mega cut for the season

When he found his wash plant
couldn't run the ground.

Just...it's been a [bleep]
this year for me.

Narrator:
to tap into the full potential
of the mega cut next season,

Tony has put down $75,000
on a new trommel for son kevin.

I think this looks nice.

It looks [bleep] solid.

Narrator: but tony's decision
comes at a cost.

He has to shut down
all operations at paradise

To have enough manpower
to unload the beast.

Monica: mike and I have
shut down to help him,

And so we can, you know,

Get him kind of set up for next
year, which will be awesome.

Tony:
whoa, whoa, whoa.

Kevin: oh, [bleep].

We don't want to [bleep]
before we get going.

That would suck.

[Bleep]
beautiful, I like it.

No, the move went
real good, golden.

Narrator:
to feed kevin's new trommel,
tony is resurrecting a giant.

A two-story high,


The hopper is lying on its side,
buried in the ground.

If he leaves it here,
it'll freeze into the dirt

And cost time and money
to dig it out next season,

So tony decides to haul it out
while the ground is still soft.

[ Engine revs, metal creaks ]

♪

Mike's 700-horsepower d10
is rated to pull 135 tons.

[Bleep] [bleep] [bleep]

Damn, this thing is so [bleep]
annoying.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[Bleep].

Holy [bleep].

Narrator:
if tony can't get the hopper out
before winter hits,

It'll be frozen in,

Leaving his plans
for next season in ruins.

♪

♪

Rick jr.:
This season has been tough.

There's no other way to put it.

As a team, we are committed
to sticking together

And finishing this season out.

Narrator:
at duncan creek, rick ness is
fighting for his mining future.

Rick jr.: We've come to terms
with the fact

That we're not going to hit
our 2,000-ounce goal.

I mean, it's just not possible
right now

With the dirt
that we've been running.

That's all I've got.

Narrator:
twenty weeks into the season,

Rick's crew has produced
just 352 ounces of gold,

Leaving him almost


Rick jr.:
But if we can at least get to
that 500-ounce break-even point,

I can keep the dream alive
for another year,

And my guys can go home
with some gold in their pockets.

My dad is arriving today,

And I'm going to have to
talk to dean and stuart.

I want to maybe find us
some better ground

And see if we can
come up with something.

Narrator:
at the start of the season,
landlords dean

And stuart gray
convinced rick

To mine duncan creek
with the promise of big gold.

Wow.

Holy [bleep].

[ Laughing ] no way.

Narrator:
but rick has yet to find
any monster nuggets.

Hey, guys.

Narrator:
and rick sr. Has returned
to duncan creek

Concerned for his son's season.

When we first got here and I saw
what could be possible here,

I was very excited about it.

I mean,
I was super excited

About getting some
of those nuggets, out.

I was like a kid going up there
in the excavator,

And then sunk the bucket
in the ground,

And then it was just bad.

It's all frozen.

I really just wasn't
expecting that,

And somehow I got to find out
if the gold is there.

It's there.

What if it isn't?

I don't want him to,
you know,

Spend everything he's got
and go bankrupt.

What can you offer
that would give him

A better guarantee
that it's there?

I don't think there's anything
we can do.

Nobody did it for me.

Nobody did it for us.

But it's your ground.

He's paying you guys, so that


I'm not a gold-miner.

I'm just here to observe
and use the best common sense

I can to help point him
in the right direction. Alright?

So I'm just looking for the best
options for him to succeed.

Is there something you can say,
that you can give him?

Well, we're probably
very similar in ages,

And you've been knocked down
and had your pocket emptied

A couple times,
just like I have.

Yep.

Well, you know, we can work
a little harder

At working together.

Your success is ours,
and if you're game,

There is other options.

Yep.

So basically, you've eliminated
this valley for this season.

The frost is too thick.

Can't get through it.
-Yeah.

There is another valley
that I've dug test holes in,

Just in this tributary here,
and it hasn't been frozen,

And this is where I would target
for your next test hole.

So that's the last viable target
for this season?

Definitely.

Okay.

Well, we can certainly
give that a shot.

I think it's worth a shot.

Yep.

Narrator:
one mile south of rick's claim,

He's already tested
a series of holes,

But they were all frozen.

Now the grays have sent him
further up the mountain,

To a tributary closer to
the mother lode at mount hinton

Because the south-facing
slope gets full sun.

The pay dirt should be thawed.

Rick jr.: Let's go.

Narrator:
with no time to waste,

Rick heads out to prospect
the new lead.

Rick jr.: Well, should we see
if it's frozen?

-Yep, might as well.
-Let's do it.

We're going to know real quick
if it's frozen or not.

♪

Now this test hole could change
the end of this season, right,

If it comes out
on a positive note.

Well, right off the bat,
this ground is not frozen,

So that's something.

At least I've got a spot to dig,

And I'm going to dig a hole,
and see what's down there.

Now we're just looking
for coarse gravels

That could be
the pay layer,

But we're still not
very deep yet either,

So there's a least 20 foot
of [bleep] on top of it.

Rick jr.: This is frustrating.

There's still no gravel in it.

♪

I think we're right
into the bedrock, gene.

-Is it bedrock?
-Yep. But it's clean.

There's nothing in it.
You know what I mean?

So you're getting bedrock,
no gravels, huh?

Yep, no gravel.

Narrator:
rick has got down to bedrock

Without finding
any gold-rich gravel.

The target is a bust.

Yeah, there's nothing.

Hold on.

♪

[Bleep].

This isn't just
undisturbed ground.

What we're standing on
is some berms

That were pushed
up here with the dozer.

Somebody was here
with a piece of equipment.

Oh, well.

You know, it was probably


Wouldn't have been
the grays, but...

No.

[Bleep] this place.

♪

♪

Right now, the mining
is going pretty good.

Like, the season is going good,
and hopefully that'll continue.

Narrator: parker schnabel
is racing to mine out

His 115-acre claim
before the end of the season.

Parker:
the crater cut is almost done,

And then we'll just get
set up in death valley.

Narrator: his wash plants,
slucifer and big red

Are sluicing at a combined


But there's a problem
on the horizon.

We've got a big issue with where
we're going to be in the future.

Like, we're running out of
ground, and that's a problem.

Narrator:
next season, parker faces
having no ground to mine.

Hey, guys.

I'm pretty nervous about just
keeping ground ahead of us,

And I hate to say this,
but we we're even looking at

What options
we've got back with tony.

♪

I don't like what prospects
are out there.

Mitch: [bleep] no.

But, man, I'd start looking
for something for next year

Because we're
going to need it.

I'm looking at options,
but they're slim, you know?

Ground is getting scarce,
and what's left is not pretty.

Narrator: closest to home,
beyond the last cut

Is a 70-acre claim adjacent

To the indian river
available to lease.

I really hate to be
at that point

Where we're looking
at coming back

And paying more royalties
to tony,

But it would be a lot worse
to not be mining.

I've just asked my friend liam
who owns a drill to come up,

And he's going to test
this ground for us.

Here is the drill.
Look at that thing.

Yeah.

Narrator:
drilling experts liam ferguson
and jake jacobs

Have brought in the tsi 150c,
the next-generation sonic drill.

♪

It's expensive, you know?

Like, almost $20,000 a day
for this thing,

But it's well worth it.

It's sweet.

And it's the best you can get
for plaster,

And it's cool how it makes a lot
of noise and vibrates, so...

Narrator:
traditional auger drills
use a corkscrew bit

To collect dirt samples,

But this can mix material
from different layers,

Giving inaccurate test results.

A sonic drill contains
spinning weights in the head,

Vibrating the hollow shaft


When the drill touches
the ground,

The vibrations allow the bit to
bore straight through the dirt

And collect
a clean core sample.

[ Whirring ]

♪

I know to you guys this is just
another day of drilling,

But this is [bleep] cool.

Liam:
right now, we have a full core
sample of the ground below us.

It's kind of like sticking
a straw into, like,

A milkshake, putting your thumb
on it and pulling it out.

So now what?

We'll pack up and go
and wash them,

And then we'll probably know
within a day

If it's worth mining.

Sweet.

Alright.

I think that we'll have
good results from the sense

That they'll all be accurate,

But if this ground
is not minable,

I don't know what the future
of the company looks like.

♪

♪

-What's up?
-Hey, guys.

How's it going?
-Good, how are you?

-Oh, I'm not too bad.
-Did you find us some gold?

I found some gold.

As you can see, this is the gold
we got from each hole.

Narrator:
for the ground to be profitable,

Parker needs at least


Parker: [bleep] damn it.

It's a pretty bad mine,



It's tough.

Well, you'd probably lose money
on a cut like that.

[Bleep].

We're back to square one.

Alright.
-Alright.

-Thanks, man.
-Yeah, thank you.

Have a good trip home.
I'm going to take these.

I'm guessing they're all mine.
-Don't lose them.

-I'll try not to.
-Take care.

It's great to have, like, that
drill here and have that process

And have results
that you know are accurate,

But it definitely would've been
nice if they were better,

But hopefully we'll find
some ground somewhere.

♪

♪

Narrator:
tony beets is investing

In a monster wash plant
for next season,

But to get it ready, he's had to
shut down his entire operation.

Before he can get back up
and running,

He needs to haul
a 25-ton hopper feeder

Out of the ground
before winter hits,

And it's frozen in place.

Tony's plan?

Send in son mike
in the 700 excavator

To lift the hopper
from the uphill position

And lower it slowly
onto its side.

Daughter monica in the d10 dozer
will pull from below,

Which should free it
from the ground

It's currently stuck in,
so she can store it for winter.

Man: let's make it happen
then, folks.

Mike:
so now we got a d10 hooked up
to the other side

To give it a bit of a pull,

And hopefully I can
let her down safely.

Yep.

♪

Really don't want that [bleep]
feeder come down towards me.

Oh [bleep] [bleep]
[bleep].

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[Bleep].

♪

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Narrator:
at paradise hill...

Monica: stop.
[Bleep] me.

Narrator:
...the beets are struggling
to haul out

A monster 25-ton
hopper feeder vital

To tony's new game-changing
wash plant for next season.

Monica: that looks pretty
[bleep] dangerous.

She's heavier than she looks.

Narrator:
to add lifting power, mike moves
his 700 excavator closer.

♪

[ Metal grinding, creaking ]

♪

It's terrifying to see
a giant hopper

Start to fall towards you.

♪

Whoa.

[ Clank! ]

Narrator:
mike has pulled a 2-inch-thick
steel d-ring clean off.

Now it's all on monica.

[ Engine groans ]

♪

♪

Overall,
that didn't go too bad.

It's going to sit
perfectly fine here.

It's not going to freeze
in that bad.

It'll be fine.

Narrator:
the hopper feeder is ready
for action next spring

When tony will use it
to feed his monster trommel.

Kevin should then be able
to run up to 350 yards an hour

And make up for this season's
lost time

By tapping into
the mega cut's estimated

$10 Million of unclaimed gold.

♪

♪

Parker:
getting carsick back there?

What's wrong, fred?

With the crater cut
almost mined out,

Parker schnabel has abandoned
further expensive drill-testing

To find new ground
to mine next season,

So he's heading 12 miles further
south to the black hills.

So, parker, what's the deal
with black hills?

Like, why are we going there?

One thing I do know is that one
of the biggest wash plants

That's been built
was built for this creek.

Four hundred yards an hour,
it's a massive plant,

But the big thing is
it's a big block of ground.

Whether we can make
a deal happen

Has yet to be figured out.

Oh, my [bleep].

Wow.

Look at this place.

That's beautiful.

Oh, yeah.

Brennan:
untouched territory.

End of the freaking road.

And it's a couple miles,
I think 3 miles of virgin ground

From here downstream.

Narrator:
the black hills were first
staked in the 1880s

By a group
of scandinavian miners

From minnesota
known as the monitors.

Mining continued
into the 20th century,

Pulling out tens of thousands
of ounces of gold.

If we can start finding some
gold here and it's minable,

[Bleep] there's years
of mining here.

Mm-hmm.

Piles of ground and the nice
part -- no neighbors.

-Yeah.
-Yeah, I like that.

I'd like to try to find a spot
maybe in the corner

Down there
against the cut face

Or something where we can do
a little bit of testing.

It'll be all ours
if we can find some gold.

Alright.
Let's get started.

Let's do it.

Narrator: parker has brought
a small excavator

And a mini trommel
to test the ground.

Brennan:
fred, look out, timber.

-We good?
-Yep.

Dozer, where's the gold?

Do you say here, dozer?

Dozer says here.

Get this ground opened up,
and see if we can find some pay.

Okay.

Narrator:
it takes brennan an hour
to dig out a pile of pay.

We need something to pay off

Because none of us know
where we're going next season.

All the stuff getting to it
sure does look nice.

Finding some bedrock?

Found you some dirt
to wash at least.

Alright.
Let's get started.

Everybody clear!

Parker and his junk again.
[ Laughs ]

[Bleep] damn it.

Why can't you have that
much energy at work, yeah?

[Bleep].
You go.

I don't have any energy.

Whoa.

Are you [bleep] kidding me?

-First tilt.
-Whoo-hoo.

Give me that stuff, yeah.

The trommel is working.

Rocks on the top,
pay dirt on the bottom.

Alright.
I think we're good.

[ Trommel powers off ]

Fred:
it looks good, right, like,
the type of dirt?

We won't know
until we pan it.

You guys get the fire set up,
and I'll pan this stuff.

So this pan is just to see
if there's some gold

And some future for us here.

Narrator:
after drawing a blank
at the indian river,

Parker's hopes for next season
now rest on this pan.

Now let me show you
what we've got.

-Alright.
-So does it have gold in it?

Oh, [bleep], okay.

-Fine stuff, huh?
-Yeah.

Holy.

Wow, incredible.

There's, like,


I think that's pretty good
because it was only 1/2 yard,

That one.

Narrator:
after two more pans
with similar results,

Parker has a big decision
to make on his next season.

At the end of the day, the tests
here, for me, they're promising.

We're finding gold.

We're finding pay.

There's a huge pile of mining
and history on this creek.

Tens of thousands of ounces
have come out of here before,

And there's miles of it
that haven't been mined

That's available
to us right now.

♪

♪

Zee:
this is the time of year we want
to do a little bit extra.

Whatever you can do to try
and get, you know,

An extra bucket or two
an hour or something like that.

Narrator:
twenty weeks into the season
at duncan creek,

Rick ness' team continues
the push to break even.

Further up the valley,

Rick is determined
to find better ground.

So far, this treasure hunt
is not really yielding

Any treasure,
but I'm not giving up.

I mean, there's got to be ground
here with gold in it somewhere.

Narrator: after his landlords'
last target failed to deliver,

Rick is taking matters
into his own hands

And following his instincts
to find gold-rich ground

And save his season.

Rick jr.: It's time to find us
some real good ground

And give us a real good end
to our season.

♪

Narrator:
rick sr. And gene take the atv
to try and catch up with him.

I don't know why
he's going over there.

Man: we got some pretty
major challenges here

In coming up into the valley.

Like, there's a lot of,

Like, really big boulders,
lot of water.

♪

♪

♪

There's a hole
in the ground.

Man #2: yeah, it's looking good
from here.

That last bucket come out
pretty clean without

A bunch of [bleep]
flopping on it?

Yeah.

It's gravel, so, you know.

Might as well test it.

-Huh?
-Pan it.

Oh, pan it, yeah.

♪

♪

It's the first place that
we've been able to really test.

So there's a lot
riding on this.

This pan right here
could be the difference

Between me going home
broke or not.

This is definitely
not the big gold

That I was looking for,
but that's more like it.

That's pretty [bleep] awesome.

Look at that.

Well, it's nice to see there's
some colors in the pan,

But [bleep] the reality of it is
it's probably 1/2 mile of road

To build to get up here.

Rick sr.:
To build a road just to get
in here with a rock truck

Could take a week or 2 to get
a good, solid foundation down.

Rick jr.: Well,
there's gold there, but...

I don't know.

The real kick in the a*s
for the end of the season

Would be us to start
building this [bleep] road,

Have the weather come in,
freeze us out

After we sunk a bunch
of money into infrastructure

And didn't get anything
out of it.

How many risks do you
take in one season

On if there's enough or not?

[ Inhales/exhales sharply ]

I don't know.
Where do you go from here?

We just keep running what we're
running right now,

And hopefully, I mean, we're
just about to the bottom of it.

See if it gets real good.

If it doesn't,
[bleep] I don't know.

Close up shop.

♪

Narrator: down the valley
in the gold room,

Karla is cleaning up
a week's worth of running.

Karla:
yeah, it's looking like the gold
just isn't what we expected.

Rick cannot come out
of a season again

Without making money,
you know?

This could be his last year
mining ever

If he doesn't put
some bank away.

I just want rick to break even.

That's, like, all I can ask for.

♪

Rick jr.: What's up, guys?

I really want to thank you
right off the bat

For taking care of things

While I was out there
looking for ground.

Narrator:
for rick to break even
and send his crew home

With gold for the winter,

He needs to hit at least


So far, he's averaged just 18.

You know, we're still
on that high-grade.

You know, hopefully
it's holding up.

Oh.
She looks pretty good.

Here we go.

We got 10.
And we got 20.

I'll speed it up a bit, 30.

Going past 40.

-Oh, yeah.
-Going over 50.

Rick jr.: Going over 60.

Karla: yes.

Alright.
-Alright.

-Sixty-three point four one.
-Yes.

-Whoo-hoo.
-That's nice.

Narrator: rick's biggest weekly
total of the season,

Worth nearly $90,000.

Rick: bingo.

We are continuing
that upward trend.

-Yeah, buddy, y'all like it?
-Yes, sir.

Hopefully we will...
We can keep this trend going.

Yep.

Pound it hard.

Pound it hard.
Aw, yeah.

One, two, three, rally.

♪

-Well, freddy?
-Let's do it.

I'm ready for bed, to be honest.
Me too.

Narrator:
after a long day of prospecting,
brennan and fred

Prepare for a night
in the yukon wilderness.

Fred: parker,
we've got a tent here.

-Well, good.
-Come party.

Yeah,
I'll sleep in my truck.

You're not going
to come out here?

You know how [bleep] cold
it's going to be in there?

-Oh.
-We have a woobie.

It's going to be warm.
-That is, like, for plus 30.

-Yeah.
-This is for three people.

Each get a corner.

Fred:
dozer, want to come in?

Oh, look at this woobie.

[ Laughs ]

See, dozer does not like
being in there, fred.

Aw.

-Good night, fred.
-Night.

-Night.
-I'm sleeping in my truck.

It's going to idle
all night long.

We have heat when you need it.
-Yeah, yeah.

♪

♪

You all set?

Narrator:
at duncan creek, it's time
for rick sr. To head home.

Ready to rock.

Well, it's always good
having you here, dad.

I appreciate it.

Well, I can't tell you how much
I appreciate you having me up.

I don't know how much pay
is left in that hole there,

But we're going to be here
running it until it's gone.

Hopefully there will be
some better pay for you

And get you through
the end of the season, right?

That's the hope.
Alright.

Love you, dad.
Love you too, son.

Alright.
Get home safe.

Take care.
Yep.

Rick has always kind of been
a risk-taker, you know,

And his entire adult life
he's made me nervous

With some of the directions
he's turned,

And I got to be honest.

I'm just always, like,

Worried about a disastrous
financial situation, you know?

Crossing our fingers
that they're going to finish out

The season really strong.

♪

♪

Narrator:
back from his prospecting
trip in the black hills,

Parker is ready to weigh
the last of the gold

From the crater cut.

Things went alright here?

Mitch: yeah, ran good.
Kind of missed out.

I didn't get to on
the field trip.

[ Laughter ]

Well, did you guys find
any ground out there?

Out at black hills, it's better
prospects and better owners,

But whether there's a deal
to be made

I've yet to find out.

Well, we're going to need
something quick because,

I mean, we got through
all of the rest of the crater

Cut today, so, I mean,
we've got death valley

And the red zone left,
and that's it, man.

Okay.

We will find something,
but for now,

We need some money
to make that happen,

And you got the money, chris?

Oh, we're going to get
a little bit here.

[ Chuckling ]

This is red.

Big red just been chugging
right along.

Narrator:
this year, big read has averaged


Forty, 70, 100, 30,


Worth $219,000,
but 28 percent down.

-It's not too bad.
-Yeah.

I mean, it's nothing special,
so it's certainly not great.

Chris: here's slucifer.

Narrator: slucifer has averaged


Eighty, 90, 120, 150, 180,



Narrator:
also down seven percent.

It gives us 384 ounces
for the week.

Parker: we're not going
the right direction, chris.

Oh, I know, but we're
going in a direction.

What happened to our almost


[ Chuckles ] well, you know,
the ground is what it is, right?

Yep, bummer.

Are we at 6,000?

Well, we're bumping right up
against it: 5,971 ounces.

Fifty-nine seventy-one.

The crater cut
was nothing special.

But, like, overall,
we're still doing great.

-Mm-hmm.
-Which is really nice.

We got time left
and almost 6,000 ounces,

So can't complain
about that.

No complaints there.

Narrator:
worth nearly $8.5 million,

Just $600,000 short
of last season's total,

Vital funds towards parker's
search for new ground.

And for the most part,
it seems like everybody

Is still having fun,
which is good.

-Mm-hmm.
-Oh, yeah.
-Yeah.

Gold-wise,
it was a [bleep] week.

The exploration side of things,
you know, it's really difficult,

But ultimately we will
find someplace to mine,

And I've just got to balance,

You know, making sure
we have home for next year

With finishing this year strong,
and we're almost at 6,000.

♪

Narrator:
on the next "gold rush"...

...as the mining season
comes to a close...

-Whoa.
-...parker...

-Slow the [bleep] down.
-...rick...

Hope for the best.

Narrator:
...and tony...

Tony: for [bleep] sake,
you guys break the [bleep].

Narrator:
...risk it all...

Brennan: watch out.

Sorry, get the [bleep]
out of the way.

Narrator:
...to hit their goals.

There's lots of gold up here.

It's just...you just find it.