♪♪
Narrator:
In the mountains above keno...
Yeah, hey, man, I just left
troy's, we got the deal,
We're good to go.
Narrator: ...Rick ness
has staked his mining future
On a 2,000 acre claim
on lower duncan creek.
Yeah, let's get carl up here.
Let's start moving camp.
We've got a ton of work
to do, man.
Yeah, buddy. All right.
I'll see you soon.
Narrator: He's five weeks late
due to lockdown,
Time he desperately needed to
recover from last season.
All my friends from back home
didn't come with this year.
That sucks, but I get it,
You know, last year was tough.
And quite honestly,
I spent all winter
Trying to process
how last season went.
It was just --
it was so out of left field.
I never saw it coming.
Never had such a kick
in the a*s like that.
I've never lost that hard.
For one of the first times
in my life,
I didn't know how to handle it,
and I kind of ran,
You know, I really did.
I-I basically hid
I tried to hide from it.
And that just
made things worse.
That's one thing I focused
on this winter
Is getting back to, you know,
Who I am
and how I get things done.
♪♪
That's why I'm going to stand
my ground
And fight no matter what.
There's a whole lot
of redemption waiting for me.
If I didn't think that,
I wouldn't be here.
♪♪
--[font color="#ffff00"] Captions by vitac[/font] --
[font color="#00ffff"] www.Vitac.Com[/font]
Captions paid for by
discovery communications
♪♪
Here we go!
♪♪
Narrator: In the yukon,
The global pandemic
has put parker schnabel
And his crew
over a month behind schedule.
Coal foreman mitch blaschke
races to catch up
Running paydirt
through wash plant,
Big red, at the last cut.
-How's it going?
-Not bad. How are you?
Oh, not too bad. Just trying
to get some pay up.
You're...
Motoring through this.
This stuff
out all through here
Is all pretty good to go.
Nice looking bedrock.
Yeah, this stuff's been going
through the plant real nice.
Narrator:
Despite the late start
This season, parker has
the opportunity of a lifetime
As gold prices skyrocket.
-Thanks, mitch.
-Yeah, no problem.
♪♪
With gold prices, you know,
on their way up
And fuel prices low,
We need to -- we need to
try to find as many ounces
As we can.
This year, for me,
it's really about
Trying to build
a good w*r chest
And get some money in the bank
in order to buy new ground.
Narrator: Parker's leased
two claims this year,
But he has to pay royalties.
To find ground
he can buy for himself,
He's looking beyond the yukon.
The thing that matters the most
is how good the ground is.
Everything else like
where in the world you are
Or all the other stuff
is secondary.
It's gonna be
a big learning curve.
It's gonna take
a lot of exploration.
It's gonna cost
a lot of money.
Narrator:
To raise the money he needs
And make up for the late start,
Parker's taking
a massive gamble
And opening
a second mining operation.
So one of the best things
that's happened
So far this year,
While bad things have been
going on in the world,
But we got our water license...
[ speaks indistinctly ]
So we're gonna dive into it.
-About 175 claims.
-Wow.
Narrator: In 2017,
parker did a deal
With old-time gold miners
ken tatlow and stuart schmidt
To lease nearly 2,000 acres
of land on the indian river.
We've got a deal.
[ laughs ]
Narrator: But he didn't get
the water license
He needed to run a plant
and abandoned the ground.
What do we have to do
to get a compliance?
Go through
the water license process.
How long does that take?
I don't know, six months.
♪♪
Narrator: Now three years on,
He has the license
for the promised land,
This virgin ground four miles
west of the last cut
Could hold over 15,000 ounces
of gold worth $26 million
And provide the w*r chest
Parker needs to make his
next big move.
How's it going?
♪♪
-Hey, parker.
-Hi, ken.
Narrator: 81-year-old landlord
ken tatlow
Is already on site
and ready to help.
He's been mining in the yukon
since 1957,
When he was just 19 years old.
I want to thank you
for being up here again
And experience you've got
is just invaluable.
It feels good.
It's really nice to be working
with young people.
Otherwise, what we're
gonna be doing?
Sitting around
bugging my wife.
You don't play golf,
do you?
No, I used to, but quit.
You know, that first pit
is just the [bleep].
On tony's ground, we had ponds,
we had bogged ground,
We had a whole lot of stuff
to start with.
We don't have any of that now.
Yeah, no.
It's always hard to start
In the middle of nowhere.
Hasn't been mined close
in either direction.
So there's no place to put
overburden.
Narrator:
Starting from scratch
On virgin ground this late
in the season is a risky move,
But could earn parker
millions of dollars.
To do it, he will strip a layer
of overburden from an area
The size
of three football fields
To get down to
the gold rich pay dirt beneath.
Then dig a pond, build a pad,
And haul in wash plant sluicifer
To start sluicing
in just two weeks.
Parker: The quicker we can get
this done, the better.
Yeah, no, I know it's going to
be a challenge for you, parker,
But I know that
you can pull it off,
So I'm not really worried
about it at all.
I'm actually
looking forward to it.
-It'll be a good challenge.
-Yeah, it will be.
I'm looking
forward to it, too.
-All right.
-Get some of money back, parker.
[ laughs ] thanks, ken.
Okay, I better get to work.
♪♪
[ engine starts ]
Narrator: Almost a quarter
of the season already gone,
Parker opens up
his second front,
Doubling the size
of his operation
And splitting his crew in half.
♪♪
There's a huge
amount of work to do.
I hope we can get it done.
Ken's wicked to have around.
I really like having ken around.
I have a huge amount
of respect for him.
Sometimes you just
can't beat experience.
I'll be 82
on September the 4th.
Most of the time,
I certainly don't feel that old.
We leased parker 2,000 acres
And by the drilling indicates
That there's gonna be
some pretty good ground here.
And with the price of gold,
I think he's gonna make
some serious money here.
♪♪
♪♪
Where we at, buddy?
Uh, cover's off.
Narrator: After a failed season
last year,
This is rick's last chance
to prove himself as a mine boss.
But five weeks late
because of lockdown,
He's only just secured
a new claim.
And his first 100-ounce
royalty payment
Is due to claim
owner troy taylor in 30 days.
First order of business here
is start getting stuff fired up.
Narrator:
Before he can get mining,
He has to move all of
his equipment to the new site.
Gentlemen.
-Look at that jalopy.
-How's it going?
Narrator: And as of now,
he only has two team members.
-What's up?
-How you doing?
-Good, good.
-Where's ryan and z?
Oh, they're not coming
No go this year?
Well, z, I pretty much
expected that.
Yeah, family.
Just had a baby and the ryan,
kind of last minute.
It didn't work out
for him either.
Okay, well,
so we're doing this.
Less people.
There's only three right now.
[ speaks indistinctly ]
[ speaks indistinctly ]
-yeah.
You're the lean one
where the mean ones.
Okay, let's do it.
Lean and mean.
Well, we're just gonna get
all the [bleep] machines
Fired up and then we've got
a lot of [bleep] to move.
You ready?
-Yeah, let's get after it.
Well, get out
of those old man slippers.
Get some boots on,
let's do this.
Yeah. Okay, fair enough.
♪♪
Well, we've got two
and a half people now.
[ both laugh ]
-Size-wise, just size-wise.
-Just size-wise.
She makes up for it in
character and strength.
Right.
♪♪
Narrator: The task ahead,
From his old camp
at upper duncan creek,
Rick must now move
his trailer shacks, generators,
Water pumps, excavators,
Loaders, and rock trucks
Along eight miles
of winding mountain dirt road
To his new ground
at lower duncan creek.
There's only one man
for the job,
Master truck driver,
nathan thornington.
♪♪
-Nathan.
-Hey, man, how's it going?
-Good, how you been?
-Not too bad.
We're gonna move
the camp first.
Yeah.
I had 700 on this side.
We're get another excavator
on the other side
So we'll just drop them off.
Yeah, I can put them
anywhere down there.
You guys just drag them around.
It rained last night,
So these roads
are just super slick.
-The more weight the better.
-Good, good.
[ both laugh ]
All right,
good to see you again.
-You betcha.
-We'll start getting you loaded.
Narrator: The first trailer
is the bathroom shack,
A 60-foot long
Karla, you feeling strong?
-Always.
-Good.
Ready to grab that dunnage.
[ speaks indistinctly ]
♪♪
Good high-vis, good job.
Hey, I want to stay close
to the trailer with the bucket,
But not hit it, so.
♪♪
If you run them sideways,
We could probably get
all five on there.
Yeah, kind of
actually cool to see.
♪♪
That's far enough, maybe
just swing it this way.
Sure.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: Nathan loads
the first shack onto his truck
In just 15 minutes.
And that's why I pay them
to come here and do this,
Because they can winch that
[bleep] on there so fast.
He can get to the other end,
he can drop it right
Exactly where I need it.
Bingo, bango.
Why this hole can't move
by the end of the day,
Plumb the generator back in.
We'll be sleeping in a whole
new spot tonight,
The new ground.
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: To get rick mining
as soon as possible,
Nathan's mission is to get
all seven loads to lower duncan
By the end of the day.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
♪♪
[ bleep ]
♪♪
You got to get those guys.
How far are we from there?
[ bleep ]
[ chuckles ]
Narrator: The trailer
and its one-ton load
Are now hanging over
a 200-foot drop.
♪♪
Nathan: Least my life insurance
is [bleep] maxed out.
♪♪
♪♪
[ bleep ]
How the hell...
Narrator: The truck carrying
rick ness's trailer
Is hanging off a mountain road,
Blocking the only route
to his new claim.
Nathan: So soon as I came around
it just slid.
We worried about
leaving the other side.
Well, yeah,
the whole thing flipping.
Oh, yeah. And the truck
and the trailer.
♪♪
It had to rain last night.
Yeah, see as soon as it
got here, it just slid.
♪♪
[ bleep ]
Narrator:
Every minute wasted here
Is a minute rick is not mining,
And the only machine
strong enough
To pull the truck out of danger
is rick's 70-ton excavator
Five miles away at camp.
Maximum speed?
He wants to walk it.
How long
is that gonna take, rick?
It's gonna be hours
to get that 700 here.
I mean, it's got to come
this way anyways,
But I don't see us getting
anything done here without it.
Do you?
Might as well go get it.
♪♪
I don't think so,
I don't even want to look at it.
♪♪
♪♪
I'm just leaving right now.
So I don't know.
[ speaks indistinctly ]
...A week and a half, whatever.
It's gonna take a while.
This is the last thing
we need right now.
I mean, two months
behind getting up here.
If troy wants his 100 ounces
in four weeks from now,
And the only way
we're gonna do that
Is we get mining right away.
So this is not helping.
♪♪
Narrator:
Midnight in the yukon dusk...
It's either gonna lift this
thing out of there or it's not.
This is an ugly situation,
real [bleep] ugly.
Am I good to lift?
Yeah, he's holding it down
and pulling at the same time.
Okay.
Easy...
Narrator: One false move
and the trailer will flip down
The 200-foot drop.
Try pulling a bit more.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Yee-haw!
Whoo. [ laughs ]
♪♪
[ laughs ]
I didn't think it was gonna
happen for a second there,
But this thing's got
the got the grunt, man.
Saved, uh...
Probably the first or second
most vital part of my camp
That's the --
that's the bathroom shack.
Did it shift a lot
on the trailer?
No. It's from [bleep]
[bleep] [bleep] on it.
[ laughs ]
[ bleep ]
Those might be the foremost
pathetic looking yet
Strongest trees
in the [bleep] universe.
All right, get her moving.
Narrator: Rick is one step
closer to redemption.
Rick: I can still maybe get
four hours of sleep tonight.
We are a day behind
in moving camp so.
A day behind's a day behind.
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: Tony beets is back
at paradise hill
And on the back foot.
Without a water license on his
two dredges at the indian river,
He needs the hill to deliver
a 3,000-ounce gold target
And get his family business
back on track.
Tony's best land on the hill
is the 18-acre mega cut.
In a bid to mine it out
in just one season,
He's put his whole crew on it.
[ horn honks ]
-[ laughs ]
♪♪
Kevin: Hey, tony, you copy?
Hey, tony, can I get you
at the sluice box, please?
Tony, can I get you
at the sluice box?
[ bleep ]
♪♪
Everything up there
says it should spin,
The oscillator's
not [bleep] moving.
I went down there.
Spun the shaft underneath
And I could see that that part
is spinning, on the caul is
Spinning but the shaft
to the gearbox is not.
♪♪
Come on, wiggle.
Not as young
as you used to be.
♪♪
There's the problem.
Narrator: Tony's oscillating
sluice box and shake
With the help of a weighted
spinning arm beneath the plant.
The motion separates
out the lighter dirt,
Allowing the heavier gold
to settle.
A cable has caught around
the spinning arm and jammed it,
But the motor above
has kept turning,
Grinding away at the key
and the key slot
That connects the arm
to the motor.
You got lead on you, cody?
Narrator: With the pandemic
disrupting supply lines,
There's no knowing how long
he'll be down.
To keep on track
for his 3,000-once goal,
Tony must take a gamble
on the other piece of ground
Ready to sluice.
You've been thinking about
this spot for 30 years.
Why don't I come here?
Narrator: Last season,
Monica beets
opened up a cut on hunker creek.
Old time dredges produced
a $1 million a day here,
And she believed
they missed this spot...
Monica:
Like what just happened?
Narrator: ...But hit roadblock
after roadblock...
♪♪
Holy [bleep].
Are you [bleep] serious?
You should've named it
the cursed cut,
Not the hunker cut.
Narrator: ...And was eventually
frozen out with under 400 ounces
To show earning
at the name of the cursed cut.
Monica: See you next spring.
♪♪
♪♪
[ bleep ]
[ chuckles ]
Uh-oh.
♪♪
Narrator: Trees washed down
by winter storms
Have dammed hunker creek,
Diverting it right
into monica's cut,
Submerging the gold rich
paydirt under
of water.
Now the original creek bed
is bone dry.
There's a lot of other roots
and then there's the big one.
How?
You know any local beavers?
Narrator: Tony has no option
But to try and redirect
the whole creek
And drain the floodwater.
♪♪
Narrator: In oregon...
All this work that's gone
into the claim up to here
And it's go time right now.
Narrator: ...Special forces
veteran fred lewis has signed
A lease on a 36-acre claim
Hoping to take advantage
of sky high gold prices
And to make a big change.
I was 14 years in the military,
and then when I got out,
Having that purpose
was just gone in one day.
When I got involved
in mining with parker,
My wife was the one,
carrie was the one that told me
That they had a profound effect
on me personally
And gave me that purpose
in that drive
And it gave me
something to work for.
Like a lot of people
right now,
My finances are in the tank,
I mean, everybody I know
is struggling right now.
I'm not willing to take that
laying down.
It's not
the kind of person I am.
The american dream
is to go out
And get it with your own hands.
I want to control my own fate.
Narrator:
He spent his life savings --
$20,000 -- on the deposit,
Fred:
A lot's riding on this.
I see this as something
that I can form into a purpose.
I mean, running a mine
Is a lot like running
a special forces team.
What's up, bro?
-How'd you sleep?
-Same as always.
How about you?
-Oh, pretty good.
Narrator: The first member
of fred's crew
Is a fellow vet,
kendall madden.
The claim owners left us
some pretty good pay up there.
I think we should run it,
Try and make some money.
-If you say so, you know.
Fred: Kendall and I met
at warrior games.
He's an air force crew chief.
He was injured in the back
of a c-130 and had a head injury
That probably
should have k*lled him,
His family is in mining.
So he has a ton of experience.
Right now,
it's a special time.
There's a whole lot of craziness
going on in the world.
And the price of gold
is skyrocketing.
So I'm optimistic.
Let's see what we can do.
Narrator:
Deep in the elkhorn mountains,
Fred's 36-acre claim sits next
to two mountain streams.
Fred's test showed
rich gold deposits.
It's a turnkey operation
with a wash plant excavator
And a cut ready to run.
Their mission -- attempt to fire
up the old wash plant,
Leased with the claim,
And start running
gold rich paydirt.
Jeff, what do you call
this beast?
Colonel nugget.
I love it, now I can
really salute it.
Colonel nugget, I'd have
to see a nugget or two
Before I start
calling it colonel.
Narrator: Colonel nugget
is a unique junkyard invention
With a shaker,
sluices, two trommels,
And a whole lot
of scrap metal.
A trommel with a shaker?
Ooh, man.
This is, uh...
This is intimidating.
It looks very sketchy.
♪♪
Just running these glass
little water lines to the plant
And then heading up there
to see how she fires up.
First, needs to go there.
We're gonna move
this hose over right now
Because there's no cover
on the end of it.
It'll just suck up mud and then
try and move it over here
A little bit
and just kind of...
-Watch yourself, fred.
-Oh, [bleep].
Well, I'm in.
[ laughs ]
I hate you.
-Ready?
-Yeah.
♪♪
Okay, I see the end.
[ bleep ]
You're gonna be
wetter than he is.
[ laughs ]
Oh, no. I'll pump --
that's cold water.
He'll be feeling that
for a little while, I'm sure.
All right, pump's primed.
[ laughter ]
-oh, my god.
So I think we should split up
here and maybe, kendell,
You go on the generator.
-I'll fire us up.
-You down on the pump.
And then, jeff,
could you maybe show me
Some more of the excavator
and...
Yeah, you wanna feed a bucket?
Yeah, let's test it out.
I've never operated
an excavator before,
But if I'm gonna run a mine,
I'm gonna have to learn.
And there's no time
like the present. [ grunts ]
I'm excited.
-Bucket.
-Bucket.
-It slings your arm out.
-Okay.
Down's gonna lower it
and back is gonna raise it.
Perfect.
That is ejector button.
[ laughs ]
[ speaks indistinctly ]
Whatever you do, don't hit
that [bleep] hopper.
Are you guys ready to go?
Ready in the excavator.
♪♪
All right, hopper's on.
Water's coming.
How could I not be nervous
with this thing behind me?
There's a lot of bubble gum
and duct tape on these bad boys.
All right,
the trommel's coming on.
♪♪
We've got water in the hopper
in the feeder.
Yeah!
All right, I'm gonna load
the first bucket.
♪♪
Start the swing.
Start to swing with this?
Oh, at the same time.
Oh, that's freaky.
[ laughs ]
Set your bucket down
a little. Real easy.
Fred's a little green
on that machine up there,
You can see he dinged
the corner
Already within the first
five minutes.
Sluicing, finally!
♪♪
We're finally putting through
some pay dirt.
Could see what this land
is actually made of.
Uh-oh.
Fred, we gotta stop.
k*ll that water,
k*ll that water.
What's going on?
Power's coming down.
Power's coming off.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Kendell, you okay?
Dude, that was scary as piss.
That whole [bleep] thing flew up
like 20 feet in the air.
That's like several
hundred pounds of steel.
[ groans, sighs ]
I don't know how the [bleep]
we're gonna get around this one.
This sluice is just
the beginning
Of our problems here.
Even if we get it fixed up,
We're gonna be losing gold
all over the place with this.
I don't have a lot
of resources
For stuff like this.
Narrator: Fixing this junkyard
plant is no simple job,
And all of fred's money
is sunk into leasing the claim.
I'll see what I can do.
Get a hold of my family,
see if they're interested
Actually, giving me
some assistance with this.
Advice might be better
than anything right now.
Right.
Narrator:
Their only hope is to call
On the help of kendell's
gold mining family.
Yeah, and I think at this point
we're burning daylight.
Let's give them a call,
see what we can do.
♪♪
♪♪
So, parker,
what are you thinking?
Really, what I'd like to do
is get this area
That we're in right here over
To where
that gravel is clean...
-Okay.
-...And done.
Narrator: Parker schnabel
has opened up
His first cut on virgin ground
Leased from miner ken tatlow.
He wants to get down
to pay dirt
And start sluicing for gold
in just two weeks.
Plug this hole
and get her back.
Just keep bailing
as much as you can,
Just keep stacking it here
and then behind you
And wherever the [bleep]
you can put it.
Narrator:
But the late season start
Has turned parker's first cut
On the promised land
into a sea of mud.
Yeah, I mean,
when you're opening up
A cut like this late
in the season,
All the permafrost just melts
and the trucks drag it around
And it turns into this goop
that I'm sitting in right now.
♪♪
Yeah, right now we're trying
to get rid of all this
Overburden, this cut here,
but it's a massive cut.
We're trucking stuff
up to the waste site.
We just got to get down
to pay here as soon as possible.
If we have any hope in hell
of making this two-week deadline
Park has put out for us.
Narrator: Instead of hiring
another foreman,
Parker has promoted
operator tyson lee
To run his biggest wash plant.
Parker: Right now
I'm letting tyson run sluicifer.
Mitch and brennan
are going to be pretty busy
And tyson's come a long way.
So I think it's a good chance
to see what he's got
And hopefully this doesn't bite
either of us in the a*s.
Tyson:
The heat's on my shoulders
To step up to the plate.
You know, parker's
only giving me two weeks
To get the pawn set up,
The roads built,
the wash plant pad set,
And he wants sluicifer
shaking away.
So there's -- that's not much
time to get all that done.
♪♪
Narrator: Five years ago,
Tyson started
driving rock trucks for parker.
Tyson: Pretty green
at the mining aspect of things.
Narrator: And was nearly fired.
Two tires in 20 minutes.
Same guy.
Dude, I don't care
if he breaks shovels.
We got plenty. Go put him
on a shovel at the wash plant.
Yeah.
Great fun.
That's why I came up here.
Better get back to it.
♪♪
Narrator:
Now parker is trusting him
With $600,000 sluicifer
and a brand-new cut.
When you're building
the wash plant pad
You want it to be as secure
as you can possibly get it.
If you're on already
mined ground
Or I'd be using tailings.
So I'm having to use
overburden.
So we're just trying to armor it
the best we can,
But we really don't have
much to work with.
Narrator:
Tailings are the waste rocks
That fall from the back
of a wash plant.
They make for a solid pan
to support the 45-ton plant.
But on this virgin ground,
Tyson must use softer,
overburdened mud.
If you're sitting it
on [bleep] material,
It's only gonna be
that much more sketchy.
♪♪
Go on.
This way, bud. Jarv!
It's looking all right,
I think it'll work,
You know, it's not ideal,
but it's what we have.
And, you know,
it's it's come a long way.
So all we can do is get
sluicifer up here
And see how it goes.
Come on.
♪♪
Narrator: In the cut,
parker's stripping crew
Is winning the battle
against the overburden.
So you're pretty well down
to pretty clean gravel, huh?
-Yeah.
-Just a little skim of mud.
No, it looks good.
Sure as hell looks pay to me,
you know,
There's some big rock in there.
Garnets.
Narrator: Parker's down to pay
and ready
To bring in his biggest
moneymaking machine.
Parker: We just got to get
sluicifer sorted out
And then we're washing rocks.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
I just want it
to be fixable, man.
Narrator:
Ex-special forces vet
Fred lewis has put up
his life savings to mine,
A gold claim in sumpter, oregon.
Day one and his frankenstein
wash plant has fallen apart.
We'll make a miracle
happen out here.
Narrator:
Fred's mining partner,
Air force
veteran kendell madden,
Has called in the cavalry.
♪♪
-How's it going, guys?
-What's up, freddy?
♪♪
Good to see you, bud.
Narrator: His uncle
and legendary gold
Recovery expert freddy dodge.
I've heard a lot about you.
-Hope it's good stuff.
-Oh, so far.
So you're having hell?
Having hell.
That's an understatement.
We've been trying to put
together what they have here
To see if we can make it work,
but it's not happening.
So we got a static hopper,
A shaker, runs going into
two trommels.
Correct.
-It doesn't make sense.
-Not at all.
-Let's look at it.
-Let's do it.
I've been around freddie
my entire life.
A lot of weight off my shoulders
by having him here.
How have you been, kendall?
Yeah, you forgot
my birthday, freddy.
What the [bleep]?
-[ laughs ]
It's not looking any better
as we get closer.
I'll tell you that.
You aren't gonna catch
gold in these.
Look, they're warped,
bent, caked.
Yeah.
It's a disaster
waiting to happen.
Piece of junk.
♪♪
But the shaker worked?
Yes, yep, sure did.
-Let's go look at it.
-Yeah.
Your access is good.
If you're a mountain goat.
It's a mess inside of there,
from what I can see.
When you called me for help,
you said it was bad,
But I didn't think it was
gonna be this bad.
If you just sent me a picture
I might not have came.
[ chuckles ] there's a reason
why I didn't send pictures.
No, I'd have came anyway
you know that.
[ laughs ]
How soon do you guys
want to get sluicing?
-As soon as possible.
-Last week.
-Yeah.
-Season's running short.
If it's not gonna be doable,
then we're [bleep].
This needs taken down
to one piece of equipment
That you guys can maintain.
What's the biggest
piece of gold
You guys have seen off
this property?
About an eighth of an ounce.
It's mostly fines here.
Narrator: Freddy draws on
Of gold mining experience
To quickly design a fix to catch
all the gold on the claim.
We'll start tearing
those trommels apart.
We need to build new sluices.
We stick with the shaker.
We got our top screen.
It's inch and a quarter.
And then we put a 3/8 screen
in the bottom.
Some materials going
through the top screen,
Going down
onto the bottom screen
And that water and materials
Then going down
the sluice boxes.
Narrator: The scrap build
wash plant colonel nugget
Has a shaker deck
and two trommels.
Freddie's plan,
Remove the two trommels,
creating a simpler wash plant,
Then add a second screen
to separate smaller rocks
From the fine gold.
Finally,
extend the sluice runs
To ensure they catch
all the gold.
What do you think this
project's gonna cost us?
We haven't had
any gold yet and money
Is just flowing out
at this point.
Well, kendell's always
helped me out.
And he said
you're one hell of a good guy.
I appreciate that, kendell.
I won't charge you a dime,
but you're gonna have to --
You're gonna have a lot of
money out of pocket on material.
I'm guessing right now
we could probably get it running
For about $5,000.
Okay, yeah,
we can handle that.
I'll go make some calls
and let's get at it.
Freddy coming out here
and donating his time
Really means a lot.
It's just a huge gesture.
He's a superhero to me
right now.
Narrator:
Freddy's first call,
His old buddy from back
on the hoffman crew,
Top fabricator...
Juan, it's freddy.
Narrator: ...Juan ibarra.
Hey, fred. What's going on?
My nephew, kendell,
He's starting to mine gold
with a friend of his, fred,
And they've got themselves
in one hell of a mess.
Okay.
If you came up,
it'll save my a*s
And really save their a*s.
Okay, how much time
are we talking about?
Probably a week one.
What's the pay look like?
No, it doesn't pay anything.
I just need your help.
Okay.
These guys, if they get rolling,
they'd pay you back.
Okay, well, let me get
everything finished up
Here in reno.
I'll get my truck ready
to go tonight
And I'll be heading your way
in the morning then.
Thank you, my friend.
See you soon.
Fred, kendell,
We just got
another fabricator
And all his tools coming up.
Juan's a good guy.
I told him for free,
But when you guys get up
and running,
If you start making a profit,
you pay juan back.
Absolutely.
Now, first thing,
I want those trommels
And all that other stuff out.
-That's easy enough.
-Okay.
-We can do that.
So let's blow and go.
♪♪
Keep an eye on that chain
hooks on that side.
Nobody under it.
It's okay. It's okay.
Spin that way a little bit.
Easy peasy.
-Whoo!
[ laughs ]
Coming down.
♪♪
-Got it.
-It's all yours.
Narrator: Freddy sends
the two scrap metal trommels
Into permanent retirement.
♪♪
Here we go.
Dude.
We got so much left to do.
♪♪
Narrator: Tony beets'
whole operation is down.
Record gold prices
have driven him to reopen
Monica's first cut.
But first he must train
gallons of water.
Tony's plan to get sluicing,
build a dam with rocks and mud
To stop the flow of water
into monica's cut
And redirect it
to the original creek bed,
Then dig a channel to drain
the floodwater from the cut,
Revealing the gold rich
paydirt underneath.
♪♪
Sneak the excavator
around monica, how?
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: Tony needs this dam
built fast,
And he isn't going to let
a little water get in his way.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Lost track.
Oh, [bleep].
Narrator: The curse of
the hunker code strikes again.
♪♪
But unfortunately, that's
probably one of the worst spots
To lose a track.
He's having to use
his boom and arm
To lift himself up
and walk the strong track.
Narrator: Tony uses his boom arm
to lift the broken track
Off the ground
and keeps right on going.
The actual [bleep].
He has no [bleep] track.
I mean, it's tony beets,
he'll probably do it like
It's just another day.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: With 38 tons
of rock and mud,
Tony has cut off the creek
from the cut.
He's one step closer to finding
out if his gamble will pay off.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-Long week of moving.
-Cool.
Nobody likes moving.
Narrator: Above keno,
rick leaves his old claim
For the last time,
heading towards his new home
For the season
at lower duncan creek.
♪♪
I barely broke even last year,
And I worked pretty hard
all winter to try
And get some money
to give this another shot.
I need to get in here
and I need to start
Getting gold right away.
♪♪
So then I'll just back up.
♪♪
Bob's your uncle.
Last load today.
♪♪
-I like this new camp spot.
-Me, too.
-I'm digging on it big time.
-Yeah.
Pretty amazing that
we're here.
After almost seeing
part of our camp
Go off the side
of the mountain.
[ laughs ]
[bleep] we can start mining
tomorrow.
That seems crazy.
Well, we didn't come up here
to move camps all day.
Good, 'cause I did not want to
start a moving company.
-Yeah, 'cause moving sucks.
-I am not.
Who does that?
Who starts a moving company?
-What do you say?
-All that's left is everything.
-Yep.
-Cheers.
-Cheers, guys.
-Cheers.
-I'm calling it. I'm done.
-Yeah?
See you guys tomorrow.
-I'm over it. Good job.
-Thanks for everything.
[ groans ]
Tomorrow, we go mining.
Somebody's got to
help me get up.
Narrator: Now rick's small crew
faces a mammoth task.
Before they earn a cent,
They must mine 100 ounces
for landlord troy taylor.
Oh, what is it, like,
♪♪
♪♪
[ horn honks ]
♪♪
Narrator: On first time miner
fred lewis' oregon claim...
♪♪
...Top fabricator
juan ibarra arrives...
Fred?
Juan-o.
Narrator: ...To work with
old friend freddy dodge...
You're a sight
for sore eyes, my friend.
-Good to see you, friend.
-Good to see you, man.
Narrator: ...And rebuild fred's
scrap metal wash plant.
We're in a hornet's
nest here.
Looks like it. Holy crap.
♪♪
Well, juan, this is fred.
-Fred, how you doing? Juan.
-Nice to meet you, juan.
Nice to meet you.
-And this is kendell.
-Nice to meet you, kendell.
Juan, nice to meet you,
too, man.
So what do you want me
to get on, fred?
Looks like
we've got a lot to do.
My thoughts are make
a bottom screen in here.
Okay.
Right now, there's 1 1/4 inch
screen on the top deck,
About a 3/8ths punch plate
for that bottom deck.
Okay, I got the cut trailer
set up.
I'm ready to start cutting.
-Okay.
So how much time do we have
to do all this, freddy?
I told kendell and fred
we got one week to do this in.
Wow. Okay.
So I really appreciate
you guys being here.
We need it.
You know,
I'm happy to be here.
I was happy
to get freddy's call.
It looks like these guys are
a little over their head,
But hopefully
we can get them up
And sluicing here
before too long.
♪♪
Narrator: Juan's first task...
Juan: Here we go.
Narrator: ...Create a screen
for the existing shaker deck
Engineered to separate out
The worthless rocks
from fine gold.
♪♪
The way these work,
The smaller material
will fall through
And it doesn't get clogged up
with big material.
This is a new pattern
that we're working on right now.
You see every other one
is angled then straight,
Then angled then straight
and then goes back.
What that essentially is doing
is giving us
More screening time.
We haven't tested it out.
This is gonna be
the first time we run it
On the screen plan like this.
But I'm pretty hopeful.
I think it's gonna work well.
♪♪
Narrator:
As juan cuts the screen,
Freddie starts work
On the most critical piece
of the wash plant,
A new sluice run designed
to capture all the site's gold.
This is sluice box
off the trommel, one of them,
They're bent up a little bit
But we'll stiffen them
the best we can, reuse them.
This will save these guys
about 2,000 bucks in steel.
Right now, we're just
tying this all together
To make these two chutes
into one workable sluice
And also make an extension.
Fire in the hole, kendell.
-Got you.
♪♪
Narrator: Freddy's nephew,
kendell, cuts wedges to secure
The riffles and carpet
in the sluice.
Oh, it's always interesting
working with family,
But thankfully,
I've always got along
with freddy over the years,
He's it's pretty funny, dude,
to be around
So it's actually
enjoyable time.
I love laying on my back
in freaking rocks
Welding upside down.
♪♪
Hey, kendell.
It'll work good for you.
Yes, it will.
I love it, I love it.
You know, when I was 16,
You know, I was living on
my own out of my car, right?
Your dad helped me get a job.
I had to lie about my age
and he told me
To always be the first person
there to do the job.
Always be.
When you're done with your job,
you go do their job.
[ chuckles ]
Without your dad's inspiration
and your dad's teaching,
He's quite a bit older
than me, right?
I wouldn't be
where I'm at today.
Your dad's still my hero.
So let's get to work.
All right, sounds good.
Freddy learned his craft
from my father,
Who has been building
gold mining equipment
For as long as I can
really remember.
Hearing freddy show his
appreciation for that
Is it's good to hear.
Kendell is wanting to do
The things that
I've always done.
So, you know,
that makes me smile.
Whether or not he'll be
successful is another story.
But him trying to do it,
You know,
that makes me proud.
Well, let's get
this green in it.
Let's do it.
-No rest for the wicked.
-That's right.
Narrator: Next job,
fitting juan's high-tech
Plasma cut screen
into the existing shaker deck.
This is a three eight screen
that's gonna basically
Keep a lot of junk
out of the sluice
And focus on more gold
we're trying to catch.
So super important.
♪♪
-Looks good.
-Looks good.
Looks good, guys.
Narrator: Freddy's repurposed
sluice boxes
Are next with one
final edition.
Juan put together these badass
sluice extenders for us.
This is gonna make
our ability
To catch gold
so much more efficient
And increase our production
quite a bit.
Can't say enough thanks
to the big guy for that.
-Go up just a little bit.
-[ speaks indistinctly ]
What the...
-Not bad, huh?
-Magic.
Two guys working on two
separate things and it works.
We should -- we should do this
for a living, fred. [ laughs ]
♪♪
Now that it's put together,
we're gonna move it down
To the plant
attached to the colonel,
And the magic's
about to happen.
Narrator:
Rookie mine boss fred's
First time in an excavator
was just a week ago.
Now it's his job
to get the 24-foot sluices
Safely across the site
to the plant.
Let's not mess it up
'cause we don't have time
To build you another one.
-Yes, sir.
We'll do it once
and we'll do it right.
Yes, sir.
And by the way, fred,
you don't have to call me sir.
-Oh, sorry.
-That's okay.
-It's a habit.
-I know.
[ engine starts ]
It's a big moment right here,
Moving the sluice down
to old colonel nugget,
The sluice gets broken,
we're pretty much screwed
So this has to work.
It's what you call learning
on the fly, fred.
-I'm ready. Ready?
-Let's do it.
♪♪
Perfect.
Whoa.
It's all right, fred.
Let's just take it easy.
♪♪
-You can't let go.
-Stop!
Stop!
-Easy.
♪♪
Freddy: Easy, easy.
Narrator: Freshman miner
fred lewis has freddy dodge's
New sluices on the hook,
If he drops them,
they could take weeks to repair.
We got time to do it right
getting it there.
We don't have time
to build another one.
If you start tipping,
get this weight off,
Okay, don't smash it,
but get it off.
Okay,
let's spin it around here.
Okay, we're working
with each other now, kendell.
-Okay.
-Now you stop it.
Pull it, pull it.
Okay, let's come in easy.
My hands are sweating
right now.
This is pretty much
the last 10 feet to go.
♪♪
Now boom down.
♪♪
Coming down, coming down.
♪♪
Good job, fred!
Oh, I can breathe now.
♪♪
Whoo, that was stressful.
But he did actually
a pretty darn good job,
So I can't even give him crap
about that one.
He did a good job.
Well, let's get this sluice in.
It's not gonna
catch gold without it.
-Ooh, ooh, ooh.
-There you go.
-Whoo.
-You're there.
Up, up, up.
It's gonna go the other way
a little bit about two inches.
Come up with your jack.
Fred: Very, very minute
adjustments they're making.
Basically
perfecting the sluice
So it catches
all the fine gold.
This is a game changer
right now.
Narrator:
Next, a distributor plate,
Spray bars, carpets,
and riffles.
Looks pretty good,
I'm happy with it.
Yeah, it looks good.
Last one!
Let's get rolling, dude.
Let's do it.
You know,
when we started here,
Up here, we had this big
hopper feeder troll down,
It's like twisting gnarly
sluices down into two trommels,
And now we've got
one plant smooth operator.
Freddy and juan's
simple design
Uses the original shaker deck
with a new screen
Designed to filter for fine
paydirt running into
Brand-new extended sluice boxes
to catch finegold.
-What do you think, guys?
-Love it.
You got a whole different
plant now.
You guys have done
an amazing job.
It's way more than
I had expected.
Really appreciate it.
-Well, let's fire it up.
-Yeah, I'm ready.
-It's ready to roll.
Time to feed the colonel.
♪♪
Fire up that generator, kendell.
Let's get it warmed up.
[ engine starts ]
Here comes the water.
♪♪
Whoo-hoo-hoo-whee!
♪♪
They look pretty good, juan!
You ready to make gold, fred?
I'm ready to see
some gold, freddy.
Slow and easy.
Turtle and the rabbit.
Slow and easy, I got you.
♪♪
Whoo-hoo-hoo-whee!
♪♪
Liking it, I'm liking it.
Let's just hope
there's some gold in there.
♪♪
♪♪
Jarvis, come here.
Come here, buddy.
Narrator:
It's fire up day for sluicifer
And parker's new plant boss,
tyson lee is up at 6 a.M.
Gives me enough time
to feed jarvis with some food
And both of us and make it
to the cut before 7.
It's been a hell of a past two
weeks getting this thing set up,
But we're finally there,
so hopefully things go well.
I've had jarvis for about
a year and a half now,
And I got him from a rescue.
He just was that abused
in california.
So first couple of nights
we sat there
Leaning against the bench,
looking at each other.
We didn't know
what to make of each other.
And here we are a year
and a half later,
He's become such
a big part of my life.
I spent hours just training him
around equipment and now
He loves it,
he comes everywhere.
In the grater, in the loader,
In the excavator,
in the rock truck.
Yeah, we're a package deal.
Wouldn't trade him
for the world.
Jarvis, come on.
Go to work, jarvis?
Lie down.
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: Parker's plan
to double down
With a second wash plant
Now rests on tyson's shoulders.
Morning.
Yeah, so this
is the last piece of the puzzle
We have to connect
the water line at the wash plant
And the water pump
once that's done,
Pretty much good
to fire up here.
Literally tries to follow me
everywhere.
You okay, bud?
Make her work, right?
So we're gonna fire up
And see how
this new system works out.
Days are running out.
We've got to start sluicing.
Yeah. Let's get her going.
[ engine starts ]
Narrator: The pump sends
To the plant.
♪♪
♪♪
What do you think, shane?
Gonna start washing
rocks here.
♪♪
Go on, rise to the occasion.
Over here. Come on.
♪♪
Lie down.
Narrator: Now it's time to load
the gold rich paydirt.
Tyson: Done everything right.
I've done all I can.
So here's to hoping.
♪♪
Yee-haw.
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: After three years
of waiting,
Parker's crew
is finally sluicing gold
On ken's ground.
It feels really good
to be sluicing our ground.
It's pretty awesome.
And he's got a lot
here to sluice.
So it's coming our way now.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Where's all this water
coming from?
[bleep] see.
Holy crap.
Tyson!
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: Plant boss tyson lee's
soft, overburdened pad
Is being washed away.
You gonna get up there, man?
Hey, I'm gonna set it
down now.
Narrator: Parker races to stop
the 45-ton wash plant
Sliding off the bank.
Parker: Just gonna throw
some rock in there
And hopefully it'll
keep her shored up here.
♪♪
The plan...
We need four hours
of course tailing.
Narrator:
Parker uses the rock tailings
Falling from the back
of the wash plant
To armor the bank of the path.
But the more he runs the plant
to get tailing,
The more he risks
the pad collapsing.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
Parker: I really think
it'll be all right.
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: After an hour of
shoveling rocks,
The pad is strong
enough to hold.
Tyson: Come on, bud.
Do you think it helps?
-Oh, yeah, it helps a lot.
Now we just have to see if
there's any gold in the ground.
-Your problem.
-Right on, 10-4.
Grab your pens.
You -- come on,
you knew that was coming.
Yeah.
Narrator: After starting
a full month late,
Parker finally has
two operations up and running
And a shot
at growing his empire.
♪♪
♪♪
Right now, we are sweeping
out the sluice box
Getting all the dirt out
So we can put
the box back together.
We'll find out if this is
cut is worth all [bleep].
Narrator: At hunker creek,
Monica beets
has almost drained her cut
And started to stockpile pay
to run through the kiwi plant.
Kevin must've stacked
these ones.
Good? Good.
-Oh.
-That's really hard.
Ow, well...
[ speaks indistinctly ]
♪♪
Narrator: After a week
with no gold in the box,
Tony needs the cursed
hunker cut to pay.
[ engine stalling ]
♪♪
Narrator: But now the kiwi plant
on button isn't cooperating.
Just not staying in or what?
[ engine starting ]
[ tape rips ]
Narrator: Tony beets
is back in business.
♪♪
Now it's up to monica
and ruby to find out
If the old timers
left enough gold
To turn
the family's fortunes around.
How does it feel sitting
on that pile, lady?
Oh, you know,
living the dream.
Hopefully we can
beat this curse.
♪♪
♪♪
We're gonna be battling
all year from this late start.
But I do owe troy
I'm just trying to make sure
that we're maximizing
Every move we make.
Narrator: It's day one mining
on troy tiller's ground
On lower duncan creek.
All right, well, we got
everything moved over
To camp, equipment, now
it's time to get some mining.
Right on the other side
of these piles right here
Is where we tested last year.
The values are much better
over there.
We've got about
Really, what I want to do
is I want to get started
With this ground back here,
but some really shallow ground.
So there really won't be
much cost in doing it.
We can run it for real cheap
And the gold will be,
you know, mostly profit.
Narrator: A mile away
from the new camp
Is the gold-rich ground
that rick tested last year,
But it's under a deep layer
of overburden.
So rick's plan
to get sluicing quickly
Is to start
on the shallower ground
Near the creek
where he can reach pay fast
As long as there
is gold in the ground.
-Hey.
-We can get started.
It's like a foot and a half,
two feet of overburden.
Easy, good way to start
the season.
I mean,
it's just the three of us.
It's a good way for
the three of us to get started.
I mean, we got to put some money
in the bank
Before we start doing
anything crazy so...
Narrator: Rick needs his gamble
to pay off
If he's to hit
claim owner troy's
We're all fueled up.
So, yeah.
-No time like the present.
-Right on.
-Yes.
Going to work.
Narrator: Against all the odds
and nearly two months late,
Rick's small crew
starts their season.
Rick clears the foot of
overburden.
And then loads pay
into karla and kruse's trucks.
♪♪
Feels good to finally
be digging dirt.
I mean, there's only
three of us here,
People would have bet against
that weeks ago, that's for sure.
But it's gonna be
different this year.
Narrator: They drive it to
troy's leased wash plant.
♪♪
Kruse: I'm amazed that we're
even here at this point.
It's a testament to rick
getting all that work done.
It's pretty [bleep] amazing.
We've all got our nose
To the grindstone out here
supporting rick.
That's what friends are for.
It's a whole different energy
this year.
He's already stepped it up
And he knows what
he's got to do.
We can only hope
that there's golden sluice box.
♪♪
All right, kruse,
get that plant fired up.
♪♪
And everything up
until this point,
It's just been costing me money,
but, you know,
It had to be done
and now here we are.
We're about to start
making money,
About to start putting gold
in the box.
Kruse: All right, here we go.
[ engine starts ]
And just like that,
we're up in sluicing.
One scoop at a time.
Narrator: Sheer determination
has got rick and his crew
Of three mining gold again.
♪♪
♪♪
After four hours running...
Still too much water,
got to let the water get out.
Narrator:
...Rick checks the sluice boxes.
Should see a little bit.
♪♪
Oh, yeah. [ chuckles ] whoo!
There's gold up here.
Every single [bleep]
riffle's got it.
They're a little bit packed up
on the outsides,
But inside, the middles
are still pretty good, so.
I see gold.
I mean,
I see a fair amount of gold
Yeah, for what we did. Wow.
We got a couple more days
of pounding through like that
And do a clean out
and see what we have,
But this promising.
Narrator: Rick's road
to redemption begins.
There is gold.
Yeah! Get it all.
♪♪
♪♪
Freddy: Go ahead,
shut it down there.
Narrator: In oregon,
Veterans fred lewis
and kendell madden
Have run 20 yards of paydirt
Through their brand-new
revamped plant,
Colonel nugget.
-Your first run, fred.
-I know, how's it look?
We're gonna see
right now, huh?
It's the very first time
We've done a cleanup
on colonel nugget.
So pretty exciting
times right now.
A little nervous,
not gonna lie,
But I think
if there's gold here,
Colonel nugget's
gonna catch it.
Narrator: This cleanup will tell
fred if the claim he leased
With his last $20,000
Holds enough gold to make
a profit.
-Wanna grab half?
-Yep. Let's do it.
Just hope there's a lot
of gold in it.
Here's the first pan,
We're not just looking
to have a good season.
I want to make
the lewis family name
And the madden family name
well-known.
So let's hope we have some good
clean outs to support that.
♪♪
♪♪
-Whoa!
-Look at that.
Look at that little
nugget there, fred.
Yeah, there you go, bud.
That's your first real gold.
Yeah, look at it's all
floating right there.
This is how big
of a carpet?
The size of that.
That is insane.
Ow, that hurt my hand.
[ laughter ]
Well, let's quit
staring at it.
-You're right.
-Clean that sluice box up.
And see how much
gold's in it.
♪♪
With the new sluices
in this plant modified plant,
We ran 20 yards,
so this will tell us
If there's enough gold
in the ground.
-You guys ready?
-Let's do it.
♪♪
-Whoa, yeah.
-Yes.
There we go.
-What? What?
-Look at that.
-.25.
-Quarter of an ounce.
Out of 20 yards?
-That's pretty darn good.
-That's pretty incredible.
-Few nuggets in there, too.
That's --
that's a good clean up.
That's an incredibly
good clean up,
This proves there's gold here
and that you guys made it
So we can catch it.
Narrator: A quarter ounce worth
over $400 from 20 yards
Means they should get around
an ounce per hundred.
If the ground stays good.
It could mean a season total
of over 500 ounces,
Worth almost a $1 million.
And you guys got to be happy,
you know, you guys actually
Have a plant
that's gonna be manageable
That you guys can run.
I love it. You guys k*lled it.
You guys k*lled it.
We did a lot
with basically nothing.
I hope we can work like
that one day.
One day.
Juan and myself have
always been like that.
We think the same.
-Thank you for coming in.
-Stay busy.
-Oh, you know it.
Oh, gold.
Don't forget the gold.
We got them up and running.
All we can do has been done.
I'm gonna get out of here
and get home.
[ engine starts ]
Freddy:
It's on their shoulders now.
We've got a plant
that's running for them,
Sluices that'll catch
the gold for them,
But if they get complacent,
If they don't bust their butts
every single day,
They won't make it.
With this land
being as good as it is,
I'm ready to call in
the troops.
I'm gonna bring in a band
of my brothers, a band of guys
I've served with and been
all over the world with.
And I think it's the beginning
of something huge.
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: In oregon, fred lewis
calls his wife, khara.
How are you doing?
Hey, babe.
So I just had
our first test done
And we got a quarter of an ounce
out of a 20-yard test.
Oh, really?
-It's go time.
-Holy cow.
It's time for you
to get your butt out here.
I need a mine manager,
And I think it's time
to call in the troops.
Okay.
Get down here
as soon as you can.
-Okay, I love you.
-Love you, too.
You know, I'm stoked.
Khara's mobilized,
ready to come down here.
I guess we could say it's time
for the gold to hit the paint.
♪♪
♪♪
A-ha.
Narrator: At the beets camp,
monica and ruby
Are ready to weigh gold
From 20 hours of running
at the hunker cut.
Who's going to do the honors?
I'll pour and ruby can count.
Oh, [bleep]. Okay.
-Everybody ready?
-We're ready.
Okay, don't blink.
Narrator:
The cut must produce
At least 20 ounces
to be worth running.
♪♪
Three, four,
Five, seven, eight,
Nine...
Hold on, hold on.
Narrator: 9.92 ounces
worth $17,000,
But under half an ounce an hour
weigh less than tony hoped for.
Can we go back?
Not for a while.
That doesn't
quite cover the cost.
Narrator: Tony's lost seven days
of crucial sluicing time
And can't run again
until mike's trommel is fixed.
For the beets family,
The curse
of the hunker cut lives on.
♪♪
♪♪
-Hey, t.
-Hey, how's it going, guys?
Good.
Narrator: Parker, mitch,
ken, and tyson
Gather to weigh the gold
from big red at the last cut
And sluicifer on ken's ground.
Well, man, I'm excited
to see, you know what,
Both big red
and sluicifer did.
What do you think, ken,
you ready to see some gold?
I heard you staked that, what?
-I think it was in '85.
-That's crazy.
-Yeah, that is.
-Yeah.
That's probably
before you were born.
I was born in '84, man.
So, yeah.
That's just been down there
waiting a long time.
Been there a long time.
-Yeah. That's crazy.
-You want to see how it holds?
Yeah, do your thing there,
young fella.
Young fella.
God, I love that.
That music to the ears.
Young fella.
[ laughter ]
Narrator: First up, big red.
I put big red's gold
in the red thermos.
[ laughter ]
Not just another pretty face.
See we got here.
Nice.
It's not a bad week.
Narrator: 136.15 ounces
Is worth nearly $240,000.
Big red's just settled in
and making money.
Narrator:
After 35 years of waiting
And just five days of sluicing,
It's time to see
if ken's promised land pays.
♪♪
Narrator: 112.05 ounces
Is worth a $197,000
Almost as much as big red.
It gives ken nearly
$20,000 in royalties.
-Not too shabby.
-No, it isn't.
So, ken, you made a few bucks.
It'll buy a lot of jelly beans
For the great grandbabies.
[ speaks indistinctly ]
Narrator: The schnabel crew
is now at 470 ounces
For the season
worth over $800,000.
But when you think, I mean,
normally in this time
Of the season,
we got a lot more gold,
But big red's been running
a couple of weeks.
And sluicifer just fired up
Yeah, we're going
in the right direction.
Narrator:
Parker is one step closer
To his dream of expanding
his mining empire,
Really happy that
we're finally --
That it's happening
and we're
Actually getting revenue
out of it,
So that's pretty exciting.
Really exciting, actually.
♪♪
Narrator:
On the next "gold rush"...
I started to wonder if we'd ever
be running dirt at all,
But here we are.
Come on, why will you not dig?
I'm going to have to get carl
on the phone.
Without him, we have
no way to dig pay.
Moving plants more often
And then it'll save us
a pile of money.
Whoa!
What are you doing in there,
man?
A team of all combat vets?
Is it living the american dream
And pulling gold
out of the ground.
Let's go right now!
Those trees are moving
really fast.
That tree's going down.
Okay, guys, let's get
the [bleep] off the mine now!
♪♪
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11x02 - Promised Land
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Reality based series follows the placer gold mining efforts of various family-run mining companies, mostly in the Klondike region of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, as well as in the U.S. state of Alaska.
Reality based series follows the placer gold mining efforts of various family-run mining companies, mostly in the Klondike region of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, as well as in the U.S. state of Alaska.