10x22 - Rally in the Valley

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
on this "gold rush"...

You know, this time of year,
it's tough

Just because everybody is tired.
It's cold out.

Narrator: ...the race
to beat winter is on.

Now the big push is gonna be
for brennan

To keep the pay here.

Narrator: parker schnabel
gambles on shaky ground.

[Bleep] slide! Get the [bleep]
out of the way!

Go, go!

-That's a big hole.
-Yeah.

Narrator: rick ness could be on
the best gold of the season.

If that's some old paleo gravel
and it had gold in it,

It could be the best stuff
we've seen.

That's the next step,
I guess.

And tony beets' final push to
save his season comes apart.

Completely dead in the water.

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

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

Rick:
this year was such a struggle.

I had pretty big expectations
coming up here to mine,

And, you know, this season
has not gone well.

Narrator: in his second year
as a mine boss,

Rick ness has suffered
setback after setback

And is now on the brink
of ending his season in the red.

Rick: we need 500 ounces to hit
our break-even point.

It's gonna have to be
what I'll settle for.

Narrator: he still needs


And pay his crew.

Rick: if I don't make a dime,
that's one thing,

But I can't have hauled
my friends up here

To send them home broke.

That's just not acceptable.

Narrator:
with winter fast approaching,

Rick brings the team together.

We're having this meeting
because this is it.

This is the final push.

A high-grade pay seems like
pretty good stuff,

And we need it.

I mean, this has been
a rough one.

We've got to have over 80 ounces

To hit our break-even point --


Gene:
I think it's achievable.

We can do this here.

We got a lot of work to do yet.

Karla: remember, man,
we got your back.

All we can hope for is meeting
our 500 ounce, right?

Yup.

Let's hope for the best,
I guess.

Hope for the best.

Let's get to work.

♪

Narrator:
rick fires up monster red

To run 300 yards of pay dirt
an hour

In his hunt for a final


Rick: let's get going.

Monster red has been running
pretty good the last week.

Well, I think this year is just
to get out of here

With the shirt on your back
and not be broke.

Narrator: five weeks ago, rick
was ready to cut his losses.

I say we just [bleep]
stop right now.

But foreman gene cheeseman
and gold expert freddy dodge

Identified a seam
of gold-rich pay dirt

They hoped
would save his season.

Freddy: exactly 1/2 ounce.

I'd say that's the first smile
I've seen on your face.

Narrator: the ness crew has been
chasing the hot streak.

And so far, it's paid
out over 150 ounces.

Now foreman gene is over


Gene:
well, I'm just loading up pay.

It's some pretty nice
material here.

Hopefully it's got enough gold
in it

To break even for the season.

♪

[ Speaks indistinctly ]

Get out.
Take a look at this.

Hey, rick.
You on here.

You want to come take a look
at this down in the cut?

Rick: be right there.

♪

What's going on here,
gene?

Gene: gravel started
getting real wet.

Then a few scoops later,
here is the clay.

Holy [bleep]

Kind of a big change.

Well, yeah, this is the
first water I've seen in here.

There might be
a lot of gold there.

This could be
our best ground.

Narrator:
gene has discovered water

Running off a layer of clay.

It could mean a huge payout
for rick.

Water can't travel
through the gravels anymore.

It's got an impervious
layer on this clay,

So I can't imagine
it washed gold through there.

This should be the best material
right on top of it.

Just chase it that way
and see what it gives us.

Yeah.



Rivers deposited
gold-rich gravels

In a narrow seam
that rick is mining.

Gene has discovered
a dense layer of clay

At the bottom of the cut,
which water can't get through.

Any remaining gold
will be sitting right

On top of the thick clay.

Be nice to have a smoother
bucket with no teeth

To get the clay
really clean,

Not get a bunch of clay
in the plant.

I definitely don't have
one of those.

Get a cutting edge or something,
weld it across the teeth.

Make it work.

Gene has a simple solution
to collect

Every last grain of gold.

The teeth of
the excavator bucket

Will pick up gold and clay
but leave half the gold behind.

Gene's plan --

Weld a smooth-edged plate
onto the bucket

To skim along the clay
and collect all the gold.

Gene:
a bucket with teeth on it,

You just lose
all the fine material

Between the teeth as you're
scraping over the clay layer.

Welding this plate
across the teeth

Makes it a smooth edge,
like a...

Work kind of like a squeegee.

Narrator: carl cuts down
a loader bucket cutting edge

To fit across
the 700 bucket's teeth.

Good enough, eh, buddy?

Oh, you're


Gene: you know, it's a quick
and dirty fix,

But it should work good.

Got to make a turning point
in our season.

-How's she looking?
-Done.

She'll get the job done.
It's the cleanup bucket.

You know, what's kind
of your plan?

You're gonna start
at the top, right?

Gene: we're just gonna
follow the clay along.

You know, whatever angle
it's on and scrape it off,

Scrape the gravel
off of it.

And I don't know, I'm gonna go
get after it here.

Sweet.
I like it.

Narrator:
gene uses the modified bucket

To scrape gold-rich pay
from on top of the clay layer.

Well, I'm just chasing
this clay down the slope.

Gold is gonna stop on the
clay just like a false bedrock.

It could be the best pay there
is, is right on the clay layer.

This material here
looks really nice.

It's some of the best-looking
gravel that I've seen here.

Hopefully it's got
some good gold in it.

Carl welded a cutting edge
across the teeth.

Should work good.

Hopefully we have enough
good material

To run
for the rest of the year.

♪

♪

♪

I really thought that buying
and mining our own ground

Would be way easier and give us
a lot more freedom,

But, man, it's turned out
a lot tougher

Than I thought it'd ever be.

Narrator: 25-year-old
parker schnabel

Is on a mission to mine
all his ground in one season.

He's mined out the cluster cut
and the crater cut.

Now he has the remaining third
of his ground stripped to pay

And ready to sluice --
the red zone and death valley.

Parker:
it's time to start death valley.

It's in between the crater cut,
which was really bad,

And the cluster cut,
which has been really good,

So who knows what to expect?

If it's not good,
it's gonna be a real kick

In the nuts to the season.

Narrator:
parker calls a meeting

With co-foremen
mitch and brennan.

So death valley now, huh?

Brennan: you know we did have
some [bleep] test pans.

Not enough gold in this cut
to make it worth it.

Should we see if there's
any gold in this?

Brennan: hell yeah.

Narrator: nine weeks ago,

Parker's crew
cleared 40 feet of overburden,

But every test pan
was a bust.

Not a flake of gold.

Not a thing.
A big old dud.

Parker: it doesn't matter

Whether the pans
have been good or bad,

We're mining all
of death valley.

We mine the ground.
We strip.

It's part
of the goal here

To get through
all this ground.

Take the gamble
whether we like it or not, eh?

If we hammer this out,

Then all we've got left
is the red zone.

-Yup.
-Mm-hmm.

We've got to get it done
by the end of the week.

It's a huge [bleep] task,
but we'll give it our all.

We'll get after it.

Alright.
Thanks, guys.

We start in the death valley
today.

I feel it's a waste of time
to run this ground.

Remember, parker panned
this stuff,

And it was pretty [bleep]
so only time will tell

When it runs through
the wash plant.

Gonna be a [bleep] fight
to get through

Death valley all in one week.

Narrator: to have any chance

Of mining out
death valley in one week,

Brennan will have to feed


To the plants 24/7.

Now the big push is
gonna be for brennan

To keep these plants fed

Because that's gonna be
the next big challenge.

♪

Two plants running 500 yards
an hour is just insane.

Narrator: later in the day,

As the crew stockpiles
and runs pay dirt,

Parker inspects the other end
of the death valley cut.

♪

Parker: all this mud
oozing off the banks,

And nobody is up here
taking care of it.

That mud is just
a really good insulator,

And so any frost
that's in there,

When it comes over top of it,
it just stays frozen, you know,

[Bleep] ice blocks in there.

Get brennan up here and figure
out what the hell is going on.

Narrator: mud from the high
walls of the cut

Has collapsed,
covering the pay gravels,

Preventing them
from thawing out.

If they don't thaw,

Parker will have to leave
gold in the ground.

How's it going?

Well, it's gonna be frozen
under all this [bleep]

Brennan: we've been
so busy down there.

We just haven't had time
to get back here.

We've been so busy...
We need to make time

Because we just have
so much ground to get through.

You've been doing this
for five years,

And I would think by now

We'd have this kind of stuff
sorted out.

Yeah, I'll do my best
to get it done.

♪

You know, it irritates me
when we have issues

That are self-inflicted
like this.

It's kind of mining 101.

The ground is frozen.

If banks are sloughing down
onto the ground,

It'll cover up the frost,
and it won't thaw.

Brennan has a very good crew,

And they do have a lot
on their plate,

But that's one of the things
on their plate.

I can't do everything at once.

I'm trying my hardest here,
but there's just so much to do.

Keeping that wash plant running

Is more of a priority than
worrying about ripping 150 feet.

We'll get it done
and get him back being happy.

Narrator: brennan takes
the 700 excavator

To the upper end of death valley

To clear away
the mudslide covering the pay.

Brennan: just mother nature,

The sun beating
on all these high walls,

Then all the moisture
is starting to come out,

So just slough,
slough, slough.

We've got so much ground
to get through,

And we're all burnt
the [bleep] out.

I just want to get this
[bleep] cut done and over with.

Oh [bleep]

Now, that looks like [bleep]
coming down off that bank again.

[Bleep] [bleep]

[Bleep] slide!
Get the [bleep] out of the way!

Go, go!

♪

I just want to get this [bleep]
cut done and over with,

And we can get down
to the red zone.

Narrator: parker schnabel's
co-foreman, brennan,

Has been tasked with mining out
death valley in just one week,

But first he has
to clear out overburden

That has fallen
into the cut.

[Bleep] slide!
Get the [bleep] out of the way!

Go, go!

You [bleep] [bleep]

Holy [bleep]

Geez, you okay, man?

This is un-[bleep]-real, man.

The whole high wall
sloughed right off,

And it's still oozing
down the bank right now.

[Bleep] came down fast.

Yeah, I wasn't
expecting that to happen.

Pointless out here, man.

You dig out a spot,
and then that happens,

And we dig it out again.

And we're just
covering our pay.

And then parker comes
around the corner

And [bleep] thinks
we get nothing done.

One step ahead
and 50 steps back

In this stupid
death valley, man.

Whoever named it this
is an idiot.

I think it was myself.

Let's get back in
and get moving this [bleep]

We've got to get it done.

Just keep on rolling.

Yeah, thanks.
Thanks, brother.

Brennan: yeah, death valley has
lived up to its name,

Nothing but a nightmare,
you know, real tight and narrow.

We've got banks
keep sloughing in.

We only have one week to get
this cut sluiced out

If we want to stay on track
and hit our goal this year.

We've only got six hours left to
clear all this mud out of here.

Get back to hauling pay.

Narrator: with so few days
left in the season,

This high-wall collapse
could cost parker

His chances
of mining out his ground.

♪

♪

♪

Tony beets is struggling
to turn a profit this season,

And he's relying on his children
to get him over the line.

Youngest son, mike, has been
the most successful

With his trommel
on paradise hill.

Every day we get closer
to the end of the season,

Just like every day
we get closer to death.

[ Laughs ]

It's good to have
the kiwi plant up and running.

Kind of curious to see
what's in this hunker cut.

Narrator: monica is racing
to sluice hunker cut pay

Left behind by the old-timers

And run it all before it freezes
and winter shuts her down.

Monica: we've had
quite a bit of issues.

We've had never-ending
water problems.

We've had frozen ground.

We've had nothing
but a [bleep] nightmare.

Should've named it the cursed
cut, not the hunker cut,

But I was hopeful then
and didn't [bleep] know.

♪

Narrator: best friend ruby
in the 220 excavator

Feeds the trommel with pay dirt
at 100 yards per hour.

Me and monica are really hoping

That there's really
good gold in the ground.

I know very little
about the ground.

Dredge --
it looked like it missed it

The way the tailing piles
are piled,

And nobody else, the other
old-timers picked it up,

So it hasn't been touched.

It's virgin ground.

Narrator: dredges from 1908

Mined all the ground
they were able to reach

But left pockets of gold along
the benches and tight turns.

If monica is mining
one of these spots,

She's in for some major gold.

So far the plant seems
to be running okay.

Material is going
through fairly nice.

♪

What the [bleep]

♪

That noise was the chain
skipping, meaning she's loose.

The minute you got a bit
more weight on the trommel,

The tension changes,

And it could run
perfectly normal empty,

And then you put weight in,
crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.

♪

Kevin:
the chain's skipping.

Narrator: every hour the kiwi
plant is down

Costs the beets family
$1,400 in lost gold.

This is not good.

Yup.

Excess pay dirt has weighed down
the drum,

Making it too heavy to turn
and causing the chain

That drives the drum to skip
over the teeth of the sprocket.

Kevin: yup, that chain
is getting pretty old.

Yup.

Yup, yup.

Narrator: kevin tightens the
chain that drives the trommel.

Yup.

[ Engine starts ]

♪

I put in too much dirt.

That made the chain skip.

The chain was really loose,

But I definitely was overfeeding
it, so it's my fault.

Really got to pay attention.

The kiwi takes a light touch,
which I'm not really used to.

That chain jumping was a bit
more excitement than I wanted.

Any fix, even a quick fix,
is too long for downtime.

We've got it all dialed in.

We're back up and running,
which is great

Because what's the point of gold
mining if you're not mining?

The kiwi plant is actually
really a nice plant to run.

Yeah, it's a pretty chill plant.

♪

[Bleep] [bleep] [bleep]
[bleep] [bleep]

Oh, that [bleep] [bleep]

♪

♪

Now that we're up and running,

I'm excited to see
what we get out of it.

Hopefully it's good.

Narrator: in the hunker cut,
monica beets

Is racing to run
as much pay as possible

Before the end of the season.

[Bleep] [bleep] [bleep]

♪

♪

What just happened?

I think the chain
just [bleep] broke.

But for the second time today,
her kiwi plant is down.

Juan, do you copy, juan?

Juan: go for juan.

Chain just snapped
on the kiwi plant.

Okay.
I'll be down in just a minute.

Just a minute, man.
We're a plant down.

Yeah, no, no, I'm just
packing up my stuff.

I'm heading your way.

Nice, clean break, huh?

Hopefully juan can get
something welded up, fix it up,

So we can get back sluicing
because that [bleep]

♪

What did you girls do?

Lost the chain, huh?

[Bleep]
[bleep] link broke.

Okay.

We'll just throw
a new link on it,

Get it back together,
get them back up and running.

Juan: they just lost one
of the master links

That runs the trommel.

We fortunately bought a new
set of chains this year,

And we have a new link,

So I'm gonna go
put it back together.

These chains over time, they
start to stretch a little bit,

And especially
at that master link,

So more than likely
what happened was,

Over time, it just got wore out
and it stretched enough

That it actually broke the link.

We just got to get this
put back together

So those girls
can keep on running.

So what I got to do
is I got to make

This end
get close to that end

So I can put the master link
in between them.

Narrator: juan uses a come-along
to pull the two ends

Of the 350-pound chain together.

Juan:
this is the new master link.

It'll join these two ends
of the chain together.

It's kind of like the old link
that you used to use

On your bicycle,
just a lot bigger.

Yup.
There it is.

♪

I got the master link back in.
I got cotter pins in.

Now we're able to start this
back up and get running again.

♪

So I got your link
put back together.

Should be ready to go,
so let's get it fired up

And see what we can do.

Hopefully, this time
it'll hold together.

Awesome.
Thanks, juan.

Alright.

♪

Monica: I'm really glad juan was
able to fix the chain.

With that broken,
my trommel

Doesn't [bleep] turn,
so I can't sluice.

But he bush-fixed it,
put a link back in,

And we're good to keep going.

Narrator: the broken chain costs
monica four hours of downtime

And the beets family
$5,600 in lost gold.

Chain just snapped
on the kiwi plant.

♪

♪

This is it, man.
This is the final push.

Gene has got that clay layer.

It seems like pretty good stuff,

But, I mean,
we're almost out of it.

If we're really lucky,
it's gonna be the best gold

That we've seen all season,
and we need it.

Narrator:
at duncan creek,

Rick is battling to reach
his 500-ounce break-even point

And is banking on the pay dirt
on top of the clay layer

To keep his mining
operation alive.

Trying to get the last
of the gravels off the clay.

Narrator: gene cheeseman
has spent three days

Carefully scraping the clay
layer for every inch of pay.

Zee: this is good dirt.

You know, is there enough dirt
to get our 500 ounces?

That's the real question.

Unfortunately, as you can see,
my pay pile is kind of low.

Narrator: running monster red
at 300 yards an hour,

Zee has only six hours
left of pay to run.

My big concern at this point,
I hope everyone else's is,

Is that rick comes out of
this able to keep doing this.

It's been a long season
for those guys

To not see very good gold.

I certainly didn't come here
to fail,

And if I dare try and clean
it any more than this,

Nothing is left in here.

Narrator:
gene has finished scraping

The very last of the pay.

Rick: looks like you got it
nice and clean.

Scraped off
as good as we can.

Nothing is left.

Are you serious?
We got nothing else to run?

♪

We're gonna have to find
some pay somewhere.

We can find out what's
underneath that clay, huh, gene?

I mean, I don't think
it's worth going any deeper.

I mean, if that's
some old paleo gravel

And it had gold in it,

It could be the best stuff
we've seen.

Rick has mined out the pay dirt
on top of the clay,

But there could be gravels
beneath the clay layer

Called a paleo channel, which
may be rich with ancient gold.

[ Sighs ]

Well, I guess we go down there
and dig a test hole

And go see what's
buried there.

And hopefully there's only
couple feet of that clay,

And we get in
to some better gravels.

I know I keep on [bleep]
saying that,

But at some point,
it's got to be true.

Well...

If we don't find
anymore gravel,

That's pretty much
game over.

End of our season depends on
what's underneath this clay.

That's all that's left.

Well, let's go find out.
Let's go try.

Yup.
Sounds good.

With all his pay mined out,
in a last throw of the dice,

Rick sends gene to dig
through the clay layer.

Breaking even for me would mean
hopefully covering my cost,

But making sure that my guys
are taken care of

And getting them out of here
with a paycheck.

Well, if we're lucky,
we dig through this clay,

We'll find one
of those paleo channels.

There's nothing here.

♪

♪

Gene:
hey, rick, down 7, 8 feet

And didn't find anything.

Rick: 7, 8 feet deep,
there's nothing there.

That's really not a good sign.

It's really tight and dense,
hard to dig.

If there was gravel below it,
it'd have to be pretty rich

To justify digging
through this clay.

Narrator:
gene is 15 feet down.

What do we got here?

[Bleep] there's nothing there.
It's just solid clay.

There ain't even nothing
in there to pan.

It's just clay.

Gene:
there's nothing here.

[Bleep] me.

I can't believe it's that deep.

I mean, that being the case,
we're out of pay

By the end of the day here.

It's a fool's game right now.

I'm the last guy to want
to be a quitter,

But it's just some point
I think you just got to call it.

Here we are. It's the end
of the [bleep] season.

It's all we got.
It's done.

That's the end of duncan creek.

Alright, guys.
Listen up.

When zee is done with that
pay pile, wrap everything up.

We're done at duncan creek.

Let's do our shutdown.

♪

Zee: here it is, folks.

This is the last bucket
of pay dirt.

It's a wrap, jack.

There's no snow on the ground,
so it feels wrong.

Narrator: with 85 ounces to go
to hit his break-even point,

Rick's future as a gold miner

Now depends on his final cleanup
from the gold-rich clay layer.

Well, that's it.

That's the last bucket
of pay dirt from duncan creek

Going into the plant.

What a struggle it's been.

Narrator: rick shuts down
monster red for the last time.

♪

Well, that's it.

I mean, we're done
at duncan creek.

If we don't have the biggest
cleanup we've had all year,

We're not gonna hit
our 500-ounce break-even point,

And my guys are all
gonna go home

With nothing to show
for their efforts.

If there ain't 80 ounces
in the box, we're [bleep]

♪

♪

Brennan: so everybody
has been busting a*s

To get through death valley.

Well, we've had problems
just one after another.

We had some really [bleep]
test pans up here.

Narrator: parker schnabel
is racing to mine out

The final third of his ground
before winter hits.

He's given co-foreman
brennan one week

To get through
the whole of death valley.

Do you know how fast
both those wash plants

Are eating up material?

By the end of the night shift,

They're chewing through
more than I can haul in 12.

There's still a [bleep]
load of ground to get through.

So, you know, it's still
neck-and-neck even to know

If we're gonna
get done all in one week.

♪

Oh.

This road through death valley
here is just [bleep] narrow.

I mean, kind of ridiculous.

We're hauling a*s to get
this pay to the plant.

Yeah, we got to be
careful out here.

It's pretty dangerous.

The plants are going through
so much pay.

I mean, we got to keep that
pay pile stocked up,

And, you know,
if we're not hauling a*s,

It's gonna run out.

Holy [bleep]

Hey,
slow the [bleep] down!

♪

♪

I just want to chat
real quick.

Narrator: after a collision,

Parker calls
the rock-truck drivers

In for a meeting.

I really just want to make sure
that you guys are aware

Of the safety issue with
driving at high speed down here.

I can't have somebody
getting hurt here.

No, for sure.

There's been a couple
close calls

Just from what I've seen,
so we've just got to slow down.

Find a rhythm that works.

I'm only gonna have this
conversation with you guys once.

Sounds good.
We're only get tighter on space.

As we work our way down there,

It's gonna become a [bleep]
zoo around here,

So let's just try to be safe.

Drive reasonable.

Think about, "as I'm flying
by this machine,

If parker's dog comes
running out from behind it,

Can I stop in time?"

You wouldn't have.

You k*ll my dog,
[bleep] is gonna be bad.

That's the toned-down version.

Hopefully the message
is received.

Parker is right.
Yeah, we're gonna have

To start being
more careful out here.

We're trying to do what we do,
but safety is first.

I mean, we'll stay late
if we have to, right?

Brennan: I'll work late.

It's a big pain in the a*s,
but, you know,

We got to get
this cut sluiced out.

Narrator: with parker's 1-week
deadline coming to a close,

Brennan and the crew
work through the night.

♪

♪

♪

Today is a [bleep] awesome day.

We're done loading out pay
in death valley.

I've been waiting
for this moment

Since the day I got stuck
in this [bleep] I tell you.

There's still lots to do,
but it feels good.

That was the last scoop.

Well, that's a wrap for death
valley there, guys, so good job.

Thank you very much.

[Bleep] you.
[Bleep] you.

[Bleep] you, and [bleep]
you, death valley.

[ Warbling like chewbacca ]

Chewbacca.

I survived death valley,

And I beat the [bleep]
out of it.

Narrator: with both plants
running side by side,

Parker's crew has hit
the 1-week deadline.

Now it's time to find out
if it was worth it.

♪

Parker: brennan just finished
death valley.

Sluice looks good.

Hopefully it pays off.

♪

♪

-Hi, guys.
-Why, hello.

Narrator:
at the end of the week,

The beets family gathers
to weigh gold.

Monica: I'll have you know
that I am quite busy.

What do you do all day?

[Bleep] you.

[ Laughter ]


The beets family in profit

For the first time
this year.



...17, 21, 27, 29.68.

Everything from this point on
is gold in the beets' pockets.

Kevin:


...81.72.

What's our season total?



Narrator: a season total
worth $2.9 million

And at last a healthy profit.

As long as I get to pay
all the bills, I don't care.

You have a week left.

It would be nice to have
a really nice

Big gold wave
for the last week.

Are you saying

Get the [bleep]
out of your kitchen?

We'll see you in a bit,
I guess.

Ciao, man.

Narrator: at dawn, after an
overnight drop in temperature,

Parker brings in his
most effective icebreaker.

[ Barking ]

Oh, doz.
Good boy.

Bark at it some more.

Can't get my teeth
around it.

[ Barking continues ]

♪

Yeah.
Good boy.

♪

♪

-Howdy.
-Hey.

-What's happening?
-Yo, yo.

Narrator: after running 10%
of parker's ground in one week,

Brennan and the crew
gather for the gold weigh

From the death valley cut.

Definitely feels good to be
towards the homestretch.

Yeah, it really does,
especially when it gets cold.

Fred, you're not one
to talk.

You showed up
in the end of july.

[ Laughter ]

Should we throw some gold
on the scale and see how we did?

Brennan:
yeah, let's see how we did.

Well, here is big red.

Mitch:
see what we got here.

Narrator:
despite bad test pans,

Parker insisted on running
the death valley pay dirt.





-Wow.
-That is wicked.

Narrator:
now for sluicifer.

It's gonna come up close.

Brennan: 30, 60, 100,







[ Warbling
like chewbacca ]

A combined haul
worth over $718,000,

Making death valley
some of his best ground yet.

Parker: there's
a 500-ounce week, huh?

Yeah, 513-ounce week.

With winter closing in,

Parker still has 20%
of his ground

Left to sluice before
his water license expires.

-Hell of a good week.
-Yeah.

So thank you guys for that,

And I know these next few weeks
aren't gonna be fun,

But hopefully get through
that piece of ground

And hopefully be
onto greener pastures.

Stay warm.
Stay safe.

-Alrighty.
-Thanks, guys.

Narrator:
with 6,484 ounces of gold,

Parker is closing in
on his biggest gold haul ever.

I'm a little bit surprised
to see 500 ounces.

It was a [bleep] fight
to get through it, though.

Hopefully the red zone
is even better than that.

We can finish off
the season strong.

You know, this time of year
it's tough

Just because everybody is tired.

It's cold out.

We've got a huge amount
of ground left to do.

The next week
is gonna be tough.

♪

♪

How's it looking?

Is there a bunch of gold
in there?

Well, there's some gold.

I like the looks of this run.

That run looks nice.

Narrator: rick and his crew

Have mined all of the pay dirt
at duncan creek.

Now they clean up monster red's
sluices for the last time.

No, it's definitely weird to be
doing the last cleanup

Of the year right now.

Hopefully we end on a high note,
you know, with our best cleanup.

Karla: we need a good one.

We're certainly due
a big cleanup.

As bleak as things have seemed
most of the season

And even right now,

The good news is that, you know,
if we can pull somewhere

Near 80 ounces
out of this cleanup,

We're gonna break even.

That might just be a victory
in and of itself, so...

Narrator: the final pay on top
of the clay layer

Should be the best
gold of the season.

Karla: and this is the last of
the gold here at duncan creek.

This year, this gig might
not pay anybody's bills.

This could be the end
of our gold-mining careers.

You win some.
You lose some.

You know, this year
we didn't get lucky,

But I think we've got
a good chance to break even.

It's looking good so far.

Man:
looks like you're struggling.

I mean, is it heavy?
Rick: it's heavy enough.

Narrator: two weeks back,

Rick had the year's
highest cleanup at 63 ounces.

Rick: it was an abrupt ending
this week.

I don't know if any of us
saw that coming.

I know I didn't.
It's a rough one.

This will be the first time
we've ever run out of pay

And come to a stop before
the weather kicked us out.

If there's not 80 ounces
in there,

We didn't get to our 500-ounce
break-even point,

And that's one last farewell
kick in the ba*ls.

Ryan: do you know
how much is in there?

No.

This guy is gonna be close.
It's gonna be close.

Let's see. Let's see.
Let's see.

Here we go, boys.

Narrator: 85 ounces
to break even.

Rick: there we go.





...65.26 ounces.

Narrator:
not enough to cover his costs.

Rick: this is the best gold
weigh we've had,

And unfortunately
there's nowhere else to go.

That's it.
That's the last one.

Man: got to find some ground
or something, man.

I don't know what else to do.

Karla: there's got to be
another option.

None of us want to walk home
empty-handed.

Ryan: sorry to put the pressure
on you to figure this out,

But well, you've come
through before,

So time to do it again.

Narrator: on the season finale
of "gold rush"...

[Bleep] you, ice!

Despite winter's arrival,
rick gambles on new ground.

There's gold in it.

Shut her down!

Tony: let's go.

Narrator: tony brings everyone
together and goes big.

Give me power.

Go-o-o-ld!

Starting right now,
the race is on.

Narrator: parker faces
a massive challenge...

Move that [bleep] truck.

...finishing all his ground.

My one job is to make sure
we have all our paperwork

In order and our legal...

Trying to get
through this ground.

It's gonna be cutting her
pretty close.