13x08 - Gold Goals

[bunniefuu]

[Tyson Lee] So there goes
the last bit of pay.

Easy Street is done.

[Mitch Blaschke] That's it.

Big Red is done sluicing.

[Chris Doumitt] Hey, Mitchell.

[Mitch] What's happening, man?

I went back and checked
through our records and stuff.

And if you can get Big Red moved
and fired up before the end of the week,

we have a really good chance of breaking


[Mitch] Man, that's crazy.

- [Chris] What a milestone.
- Ooh.

[Mitch] That's washing
a whole bunch of rocks.

That's a whole bunch of rocks.

Yeah. That'd be a pretty
sweet gold weigh,



We're so close, and hopefully
this will be a surprise for him.

Well, man, that'd be
really cool to hit.

- You got it, buddy.
- [Mitch] Thanks a lot, man.

- See you later.
- [Mitch] Cool, man.

[Narrator] 27-year-old Parker
Schnabel's drive for gold is unstoppable.

Now in his tenth season
in the Klondike,

he's pushing his crew to mine
more ground than ever before.

And the clock is ticking.

[Parker] With the license
expiring here,

for us, it's either
mine it or lose it.

And Alaska is just
icing on the cake

in terms of being
spread too thin.

We have to start
getting closer to Alaska.

We are a little bit closer,
but not close enough.

[Narrator] Before he splits his forces
and opens another claim in Alaska,

Parker wants all 90 acres of
the airstrip down to pay dirt.

So far, the team
has stripped 40 acres

and mined 1,500 ounces
worth nearly three million dollars.

[Parker] When you've got
a lot of projects going on,

it all boils down
to the people you've got.

And we've got
really good people.

I think we're close.

[Narrator] {\an8}Parker's
wash plant, Big Red,

{\an8}just knocked out
the 11 acre Easy Street cut.

{\an8}Now he needs the 50-ton
beast moved 500 feet

{\an8}to partner up with Slucifer,

{\an8}and help tackle the 23-acre
Bear Cut to stay on track.

[Parker] {\an8}It's good to see
Slucifer for washing rocks,

{\an8}but our whole season
depends on two plants running.

Bear Cut, it's like a quarter of
the area we have to mine this year.

So a lot hinges on our ability
to get through it.

{\an8}We need two plants in there.

As Tony would say, "ASP."

[Mitch] {\an8}Slucifer's
doing its thing,

but we're only halfway there.

Today, we just have to focus
on getting Big Red set up.

{\an8}And then in the Bear Cut,
we need to get it down there,

{\an8}and we need to start
putting it back together.

{\an8}We don't want to have
a day of downtime.

[Narrator] {\an8}First up...

You ready, Mitch?

[Mitch] Let's do it, man.

[Narrator] {\an8}Mitch hauls Big
Red onto the 15-foot-high pad.

Here we go!

[Tyson] Man, it'll be nice
seeing both wash plants going.

Got her about right
on the edge here.

[Mitch] You're happy?

[Tyson] That ought a work.

[Narrator] {\an8}Next, the crew must line
up the 100-foot long radial stacker

{\an8}to feed pay to the plant.

This is probably the most technical
part as far as no room for error,

where the conveyor drops
into the free wash.

{\an8}There's no side-to-side.

{\an8}It's either there or it's not.

How do we look?

[Tyson] Gonne be pretty close
by the time it unfolds.

Hopefully this wind doesn't blow
it right over when it's unfolding.

[Mitch] So we just got
to be real careful here.

[Narrator] {\an8}Strong winds
have risen.

{\an8}One gust could send
the radial stacker or Tyson

{\an8}crashing 20 feet
to the ground.

[Tyson over radio]

[Mitch] Looks like as we're going
up, Alec, it's creeping forward.

Is that what you're seeing?

[Alec over radio]

[Mitch] Oh, [bleep]

We got one tire
off the bead here,

so she's not going
to want to walk.

We've got a flat on one
of our power wheels here,

so we're going to have
to get some air in it,

'cause with all this weight out
there, it's not wanting to walk.

Oh, yeah.

Now as long
as it'll bead back up.

- There we go. Good to go.
- [Tyson] Awesome.

All right, Tyson, you ready?

[Tyson] Swaying around
a lot up here, so be careful.

Man, these things are sketchy,

especially when there's about


All right, here we go.

Coming down.

So we just got to be
nice and gentle.

[Tyson] Whoa! Whoa, whoa.
Bring her up a bit.

[Mitch] You think
she looks good there?

What do you think?

Looking like a wash plant.

[Tyson] It's starting to.

[Mitch] Well, man, I'm really glad they
were able to get it right on the money.

Looking at where
Big Red's sitting,

the conveyor going
into it looks real nice.

- Let's do her.
- [Tyson] One step at a time.

[Tyson] {\an8}One of the last pieces
for Big Red into place.

{\an8}So this is the moment
Big Red fires up.

{\an8}Then things are going to get pretty
chaotic around here pretty quick.

{\an8}There she goes.

{\an8}Oh, yeah, it's go time.

{\an8}Then we'll be making
some good money.

Here we are,
two wash plants running,

{\an8}and one hell of a lot of work
that went into making it happen.

{\an8}Just a matter of keeping everything
running or working well right now.

And all we can do is hope days
like that for the rest of the season.

[Tony speaking]

[Narrator] {\an8}King of the
Klondike, Tony Beets,

{\an8}is betting his season on
two big cuts on Paradise Hill.

{\an8}So far, they've delivered


{\an8}But now, there's a problem.

[Narrator] {\an8}With the pay dirt from his
two massive cuts too frozen to run,

{\an8}his trommel
is at a standstill.

{\an8}But with Tony being Tony,
there's always a backup plan.

[Tony speaking]

[James on radio]
{\an8}Go ahead, Tony.

[Tony speaking]

Cool.

Firing it up.

[motor revs]

It's hot today.
I'm grouchy. [Laughs]

[Eric speaking]

[Narrator] {\an8}Tony has
tasked Eric Ejolia

{\an8}with clearing waist tailings to stop
them building up at the end of the trommel.

[Eric speaking]

Uh...

[Mike] Yeah.

[Mike] [bleeping]

Oh, [bleep], it looks like
there's a [bleep] of hydraulic oil

pissing out of the 460.

[Mike] I shut down the plant.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Yeah, go ahead.

[Mike on radio]
{\an8}Our excavator broke down.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] I'm at the plant.
We have a problem.

I'm dealing with it.

[Tony on radio]

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] He said it wouldn't
move when he shut it down,

{\an8}so I assumed it wouldn't move.

Do me a favor.

Get out of my face
and leave this... Leave.

[Narrator] {\an8}At Paradise Hill, Mike
Beets has shut down the trommel.

[Mike] No, I do not!

Yes!

[Tony on radio]

[Mike] Why bother? I get [bleep]
cussed at every [bleeping] time.

Every single [bleeping] time!

[Tony on radio]

[Kevin on radio] {\an8}I do.

[Tony on radio]

[Mike] Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Where are you
[bleeping] off to?

[Mike] Okay.

[Mike] Okay.

Well, you should be
in a good mood.

[Kevin] Like I like to say, one little
thing can bring down an entire machine.

And, like,
if it's in the bad spot,

it can take down
the entire operation.

{\an8}With the 460 down
the way it's down,

there is currently
the trommel, two excavators,

{\an8}and the rock truck,
all held up cause of the leak.

So... [grunts] Okay, where
are you all coming from?

Oh, possibly this one
right [bleeping] here.

It looks to be an O-ring,

so I got to pull this line off
and investigate.

Something's missing.

Not a [bleeping] O-ring.
In the [bleep]...

[Narrator] {\an8}Measuring just
one-and-a-half inches in diameter,

{\an8}the O-ring seals the pipe feeding
hydraulic fluid to the excavator arm.

[Kevin] Let's see.

[Narrator] {\an8}If this tiny
rubber ring is broken,

{\an8}hydraulic fluid leaks, causing a
loss in pressure, paralyzing the boom.

[Kevin grunts]

Fire it up.
Let's see what she does.

Oh, she lives!

Beautiful!

Okay, Ms. Megan. Firing up.

Folks might think,
"what, it's just a bit of oil,"

{\an8}but one little O-ring probably
cost us a couple grand.

[Fred Lewis] {\an8}I've put
a lot into this season.

I've refinanced
our family home.

It's all on the line.

We have to make this work.

[Narrator] {\an8}Deep in the wilds
of the Yukon,

{\an8}and eight weeks
into his season,

{\an8}green beret veteran,
Fred Lewis,

{\an8}hasn't mined an ounce of gold.

{\an8}But that's about to change.

[Fred] {\an8}We set ourselves with a real
aggressive 500 ounces gold this season.

{\an8}But right now,
we are behind our schedule.

{\an8}We've exposed some pay
up here in the front

{\an8}that we hadn't pulled
last season,

{\an8}and the wash plant's complete.

[Narrator] {\an8}With his wash plant
from last season unavailable...

[Fred] {\an8}Will that
thing even run?

It's gonna be the cat's meow.

[Narrator] {\an8}Fred and crew
member Buzz Legault

{\an8}rebuilt an old


I want to be running,
I want to be sluicing,

{\an8}I want to be weighing gold.

Now I've got to focus my team on
getting that wash plant put into place.

Anytime soon,
we're gonna be mining gold.

[Narrator] {\an8}Fred's freshly painted
wash plant, Sergeant Sluice,

{\an8}is his third in just
three years of mining.

[JB] All right, big girl.

[Narrator] {\an8}Before they can
start running pay dirt,

{\an8}they first need to move
the plant onto the pad.

- Hey, Buzz, you nervous at all?
- [Buzz] Huh?

It's just, everyone's livelihood is
just kind of sitting right in front of us.

Pretty confident.

But this is our baby.

[Stuart McKenzie] Here we go.

It's a slow process.

[Buzz] You think
we got enough room?

[Stuart] We're getting close
to the edge there.

[JB] We're getting
there, buddy.

[Buzz chuckles nervously]

[JB] Well, that's perfect.

- [Buzz] Sergeant Sluice.
- [Stuart] Sergeant Sluice.

[Fred] Sergeant Sluice.

- [Fred] That looks great, doesn't it?
- [Stuart] Yeah.

[Stuart] No,
it's really, really good.

[Fred] {\an8}We're so
close right now.

We've got to build the ramp
to feed the wash plant.

So you drive the rock truck,
I'll get in the 220.

- We just got to be moving, 'cause right now...
- Yeah.

...time is money, literally.

Sounds good, bro.

[Narrator] {\an8}On the brink of
tasting his first gold of the season,

{\an8}Fred first needs to truck in
tailings from a thousand feet away

{\an8}to build a ramp for the excavator
that'll feed Sergeant Sluice.

[Fred] {\an8}All right, if we can get
the rest of these tasks done,

and we could be mining
before we know it.

Oh, come on, baby.

[chuckles] She's heavy.

[Stuart speaking]

[thudding]

[Narrator] {\an8}At
California Creek...

[Stuart speaking]

[Narrator] {\an8}...a grounded
rock truck has put the brakes

{\an8}on building a ramp
to feed the wash plant.

[Stuart] Hey, JB.

The rock truck is stuck.
I need your help.

- [JB] Oh, man. Let's go.
- [Stuart] Yeah.

[Stuart] I need you guys
jumping in the 220.

[Stuart on radio] {\an8}So you're
going to reach over behind,

{\an8}and then you're going
to basically just drive.

[JB on radio] {\an8}Yeah.

[Narrator] {\an8}The fully-loaded
rock truck weighs 66 tons.

{\an8}The 220 is designed
to lift around ten.

[JB] Let's do it, let's do it.

[Stuart] [bleep] Be careful!

[JB] Stop, stop, stop, stop.

I can't... it won't go.

[chuckles]

Not long enough?

[JB] How's that?

I think this is probably
the best it's working.

Try to just drive, like use
the pedals and just drive out.

[JB] Hell, yeah!

All right! All right!

[Narrator] {\an8}One load down,
four more to go.

[JB] {\an8}I know when he comes
back, he's going to sink.

{\an8}This is bad.

A full-weighted rock truck
is pretty doggone heavy.

{\an8}All I'm doing right now
is putting a band-aid on.

{\an8}There's no way in hell
he's going to make it.

Not with a full load.

I'm going to go ahead and
give it the old college try.

[JB] He's not making it
back through there again.

Yeah, and this is
a heavy, heavy-a*s load.

Yeah, come on! Go!

Go!

It's slipping right back
into the hole.

Come on. [Bleep]

[Narrator] {\an8}The Lewis crew's mission to
get sluicing is once again at a standstill.

I got an idea here.

{\an8}Hey Stu, dump a load of rocks.

[Stuart] All right, so you want me to
drop a load right where that rut is then.

[Narrator] {\an8}JB's plan,

{\an8}reinforce the road with the tailings
they need for the excavator ramp.

There we go.

Trying to fill this hole right here
and see if we got a little bit more luck.

Hey, JB,
how's it going down there?

[JB] I'm not
an expert road builder,

but I think we got the hole
filled anyway. [Chuckles]

[Stuart] I really hope
this works.

[JB] Look at that, man!

Look at that baby.
That's what we needed.

That was a good call.

[Fred] I think this
is the last load.

{\an8}The Sergeant's hungry.

{\an8}I want to get set.

[Tony speaking]

[Narrator] {\an8}At Paradise Hill,

{\an8}Tony Beets is waiting for frozen
pay dirt in his two main cuts to thaw.

{\an8}To keep the gold coming in,

{\an8}he's making a smash-and-grab in
one of his piggy banks, the Swallow Cut.

[Tony speaking]

[Narrator] {\an8}The trommel is being
loaded with 300 yards of pay

{\an8}from the Swallow Cut
every hour.

[shrill ringing]

[Kevin] That's not
a good noise.

Man, turn that [bleeping]
this off. That is loud.

Ugh, that sounds
[bleeping] horrible.

[ringing continues]

[over radio] Hey, Tony.
You copy, Tony.

[Tony over radio]

I think the gearbox and the
conveyor is on the [bleeping] way out.

[Narrator] {\an8}The gearbox
turns the conveyor belt

{\an8}which delivers the pay
into the wash plant.

[Kevin] You got a spare?
We can swap it out.

[Tony over radio]

[Narrator] {\an8}For the second
time in a week,

{\an8}Tony's only moneymaker
is shut down.

I mean, it kind of sucks that we're
gonna have to change that gearbox out.

But if we don't do it now, it's
going to [bleeping] grenade.

I mean,
it's the height of summer.

Let's not [bleep] around.

[Narrator] {\an8}The Beets
have a spare gearbox.

{\an8}It should be an easy swap.

[Kevin] {\an8}This gearbox
doesn't work.

I mean, like anything
with the trommel,

I don't want to have to
come back and do it twice.

So, that's why we gotta replace it
with a new one that we know is good.

[Narrator] {\an8}To fit
the new gearbox,

{\an8}Kevin needs to reuse
the old bushing.

[Kevin] Let's see if she fits.

[humming]

[bleep]

Yeah, that's not gonna
[bleeping] work.

Ain't no [bleeping] way
that's gonna work.

Not a [bleeping] chance.

[Kevin] We can't put the
gearbox in until we have this piece.

Without it, everything's down.

We're not getting
any [bleeping] gold.

So that means
it'll be a couple days,

we lose a lot of [bleeping]
sluicing hours that way.

[Narrator] {\an8}Tony Beets' operation is at
a standstill, thanks to a broken gearbox.

[Kevin] Where the [bleep]
is it?

[Narrator] {\an8}But the replacement
is missing the right sized bushing.

[Kevin grunts] It's all
the way down here.

Looks like S-O-[bleep]-L,
[bleep] out of luck.

Hey, Tony, got a copy? Tony.

[Tony speaking]

Well, I'm about to put
the new gearbox on,

{\an8}and I can't find spare pieces.

[Narrator] {\an8}Every hour the trommel
is down, costs Tony $3,000.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] [bleep] Not having the
thing is the usual big problem.

[Narrator] {\an8}With no spares
in his boneyard...

[Tony speaking]

[Narrator] {\an8}...Tony must now make
an overnight trip to Whitehorse

{\an8}to pick up the new bushings.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] Okay.

[Faith on radio] {\an8}Kev!

Somebody calling Kevin?

[Faith] {\an8}We may have found
the pieces you need.

[Kevin] What's the inner
diameter of it?

[Faith speaking]

Cool. Make sure
Tony doesn't leave.

I'm coming to the yard.

[Megan] {\an8}Tony. Copy, Tony.

[Kevin] We might
be [bleeping] lucky.

[Narrator] {\an8}Faith catches Tony just in
time for Kevin to retrieve the gearbox.

[Kevin] Get it? Let's see...

Yeah, those look right.

Sweet, okay.

[bleep] Perfect.

So, when I went
through my containers,

all of a sudden,
there's this box.

Oh, my [bleep] This is
somethings that Kevin needs.

[chuckles] - [Kevin]
[bleep] Excellent. Okay.

Beautiful.

Now that we have
all the right [bleep],

we just putting
the new gearbox on.

Roughly there.

There we go.
[bleeping] beautiful.

So, the trommel's been down
for about seven hours now.

It's a lot of money
not to be making.

So let's get this [bleep] on.

Up we go.

Perfect.

Once everything's
on the shaft,

I got to tighten
everything up,

make sure everything lines up.

Then I think we just
got to fill it with oil.

And we're [bleep] giggling.

Trying, and we fire it
right back up.

We gotta have this thing
[bleeping] rolling.

[Tony speaking]

[Mitch] Now that we have
both plants up and going,

it's just all about
keeping up with them.

[Narrator] {\an8}Parker Schnabel's crew
finally have Big Red and Slucifer

{\an8}running side by side
in the Bear Cut.

[Mitch] {\an8}Those plants
together make a lot of gold.

{\an8}We got a really good shot
of hitting 50,000 ounces,

{\an8}something I never could have
imagined when I started mining.

{\an8}But really cool.

This season so far,
it's been bit busy.

The busiest season that,
for sure, I've been in.

[Narrator] {\an8}Tatiana Costa
is loading 200-yards-an-hour

{\an8}of gold-rich pay dirt
into Big Red.

Now we have
both plants running,

it's been pretty hectic
the last couple of days.

[Narrator] {\an8}While Tyson Lee loads


This is the whole thing we've
been fighting for and striving for

since we started mining.

{\an8}The challenges of having two
plants side-by-side, working in one cut,

{\an8}there's a lot more
equipment in that cut.

{\an8}And the operators just have
to keep their eyes more.

Oh, [bleep]. The grizzly
bars won't go down.

Hey, Mitch.
You got a copy, Mitch?

Yeah, Tat. What's up?

The grizzly bars
on Big Red won't come down.

The grizzlies are stuck up?

It's just not responding
to the remote.

Yeah, I'll be right there.

[Narrator] {\an8}The grizzly bars
prevent large rocks and debris

{\an8}from getting into the wash
plant and causing damage.

{\an8}The loader operators use a
small remote to activate the bars,

{\an8}raising them up to clear
the collected material,

{\an8}and down again to
protect the hopper feeder.

Hey, Tatiana, I'm gonna
shut it down here,

and we'll have to see
what's going on.

Well, right now our grizzly bars
are stuck in the open position.

{\an8}They should cycle
and come back down,

{\an8}and for some reason
they're not here.

Well, that's not good.

[Alec] What do you figure
might be in the box here, Mitch?

[Mitch] This is all the timer and
controller and everything for our grizzlies.

Let's take that
connection off there,

and just see what
it looks like.

[Narrator] {\an8}First, Mitch and
Alec test the electrical signal

{\an8}that controls
the grizzly bars.

Got anything? You should.

[Alec] No.

- [Mitch] Nothing?
- [Alec] Nothing.

[Mitch] We're just not getting
the signal to the downside.

So it's got
an electrical problem.

Just got to figure out
what and why.

[Parker] How's things looking?

[Mitch] It's not happy.

[Parker] What's wrong with it?

[Mitch] Seems that this controller
here for our grizzlies has failed.

When it gets the signal,

it provides the power to the
downside of that and the upside.

This isn't outputting, which
more than likely is our problem.

[Narrator] {\an8}The controller
relays the signal

{\an8}between the loader operator's
remote and the grizzly bars.

{\an8}If the controller isn't outputting
that signal, the bars will remain stuck.

- But we just used this too, didn't we?
- [Mitch] Yeah.

Parked it. Now it's not happy.

[Parker] What do we do
if we can't fix it?

[Mitch] Ah, we'll cross
that bridge when we get there.

[Parker] That would be
a [bleep] disaster.

[Mitch] We don't have
the resources here.

[Parker] We might have
a spare one of these.

I just can't remember
if we ordered two or not.

[Mitch] You want to go look?

Okay. I'll go see
what I can find.

[Narrator] {\an8}If Parker doesn't
have the spare remote in storage,

{\an8}the worldwide
supply-chain crisis

{\an8}means it could be weeks
before a new one arrives.

[Mitch] Is that a new one?

- [Parker] Well...
- [Mitch] Does it look new?

[Parker] Looks different.

[Mitch] It looks expensive.

[Parker] That's why I keep
spare parts around.

We'll hook all this up and
we'll cross our fingers here,

and hopefully it fixes it,

'cause if not,
we're going to be in trouble.

[Parker] Hmm.
It has to fix it.

I'm really hopeful that
this is gonna be the answer.

But we don't know until we
put power to it and try it out.

Almost there.

So I put in
the new controller,

just turned the power on,
time to see if it works.

Is it gonna lower?

Come on, baby.

Yeah! There we go.
That's awesome.

That's what we were
looking for there.

You know, this big machine, even
though it might look real robust,

just takes the smallest part
to bring it to a stop.

And having this here has just saved
us thousands and thousands of dollars.

So now that we got
the feeder up and going,

it's about time to start
this wash plant up.

[motor revs]

[Chris] {\an8}This is my tenth year
working with Parker,

{\an8}and it's been fun to
watch him grow up, mature,

both from a boy to a man,

and from a rookie miner to probably
one of the best miners in the Yukon.

The kid knows his stuff.

Kind of proud of the kid.

Kinda.

Kid wonders why
I drink all day long.

You work for him and see how
long you'd go without a drink.

As I recall,
Parker was maybe 20.

He said, over his life, he wants
to recover 250,000 ounces of gold.

{\an8}He's possibly a fifth
of the way there.

Ooh, a fifth.

That's a good idea.

[Fred] {\an8}Well,
the day is finally here.

We've got pay piled up
from last year's cut,

{\an8}and we are ready to sluice.

But it's a really big day
for our team.

[Narrator] {\an8}At
California Creek,

{\an8}nearly nine weeks
into his season,

{\an8}Fred and his crew are finally
ready to fire up Sergeant Sluice,

{\an8}and run pay dirt for the
first time this season.

[Buzz] Here it [bleep] is. Spent a
lot of time building this wash plant.

Now we get to [bleep] run it, It's
gonna be, it's freaking awesome.

[Narrator] {\an8}Last season, this pay dirt
delivered over a 100 ounces of gold.

- [Fred] You guys ready?
- [Stuart] I'm ready.

- I'm giddy right now.
- [Buzz chuckles] Oh, yeah.

[Fred] So not only do we
want to see our pay,

but we're going to see Sergeant
Sluice in action for the first time.

Buzz, it's your baby.

You're going to show us
how to feed it.

- So you hop up in the excavator...
- [JB chuckles]

[Fred] ...fluff your pay,
let's [bleeping] do this.

[chuckling]

I think right now, I'm on like
a probably eleven out of ten

for the excitement level,

knowing we have pay behind us and
a wash plant with water, ready to roll.

I mean, we're going to
be mining right now.

Can't get any
better than that.

[Buzz] I'm excited.

[Fred] Here we go.
Firing up the generator.

[JB] All right.
The genny's running.

[Fred] All right.
The wash plant's good.

[JB] Bypass is open.

[Fred] Water's coming?

[JB] All right. Oh, yeah.
Water's there, brother.

[chuckling]

[Fred] Let's power it up.

All right, we're shaking.

[motor powering down]

[Buzz] k*ll the genny.

No power to the genny.

Gosh darn it.

[Fred] How come?

[JB] I don't know.

That thing kicked so hard.

When that motor first starts,
man, it pulls hard.

I'll probably have to just let
that warm up a little bit longer.

[Fred] You know,
there's a lot of little bugs

we got to work out
on the plant still,

and this is just one of them.

We got to figure out how much this has
to be warmed up before we run the plant,

because it takes a lot
of power to get it started.

{\an8}So, trial and error here,
learning as we go.

We'll figure it out.

[JB] You guys ready?

All right. Powering up.

We got power.

[Fred] All right.
Stuart, you ready?

Oh, my!

Sarge is purring.

[JB] Oh, yeah.

Here we go. Here we go.

[Buzz speaking]

[Fred] Start! Start!

[Buzz speaking]

[Fred] Come on.

[JB chuckles]

[Fred cheers] Whoo!

Keep going.

[chuckling]

[Fred] Going down the sluice.

Whoo!

Yeah, it's great.

We'll check the tailings.

It looks clean.
Really well separated, too.

Real clean.

Congratulations, guys.
We're [bleep] vibing.

[Narrator] {\an8}Two months
into the season,

{\an8}Fred and his crew have finally taken
the first steps to their 500-ounce goal.

[Fred] Couldn't ask
for anything better.

Sergeant Sluice is sluicing.

Hi, guys.

- Hey, everybody.
- Hey!

[Narrator] {\an8}After a week of frozen
ground and shutdowns in the Swallow Cut,

{\an8}Tony Beets is eager to see
if his piggy bank will pay out.

[Tony speaking]

- [Kevin] Right?
- [Tony speaking]

[Kevin] A little aggressive,
unnecessary, but okay.

[child screams]

I feel that.

[Tony speaking]

[Monica] Yes.

So I'm sure you noticed
there's not a lot of gold.

I mean, we were down
for a bit this week.

[Minnie] How much is a bit?

[Tony speaking]

We sluiced about four,
four-and-a-half days.

Yeah. The gearbox
of the conveyor going down

kind of took a full day
and then some.

Especially with Tony, basically
off to Whitehorse at that moment.

Yeah.

Yeah.

[Kevin] At least.

[Minnie] We should weigh that
[bleep] thing and see what we got.

[Narrator] {\an8}To stay on course
for their 5,000-ounce goal,

{\an8}Tony needs his piggy bank
to provide 260 ounces.

[Kevin] Ready?

Let's do this thing.

Ten, 40, 60, 70.



No.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] Yeah.

You now what, you can't appreciate the
good days unless you have a bad day too.

[Tony speaking]

A lot of folks would be really
happy to have that amount.

This is not gonna do it.

- [Minnie] Bye, guys.
- [Kevin] Bye.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] Now only


[Tony speaking]

Sure.

Bye!

[Tony speaking]

[Mitch] Two wash plants!

- Whoo!
- Yay! Whoo!

Now I remember
why it's been so long

since we had them
set up like that.

[Chris chuckles]

It works awesome.

But, man, there's a lot to it.

So, did we make 50,000?

- [Chris] I wish.
- Yeah.

You wish or we did?

[Chris] Well, we got some
gold, to put it that way.

Hey there, youngster.

Have some excitement today?

- [Mitch] There's always excitement, Chris.
- Yeah.

Well, the grizzly bars decided to
go up and not come back down.

It was one of those things.

If the grizzly bars stay up
for longer than four hours,

you're supposed
to call a mechanic.

[laughing]

It is nice seeing those
two plants running though.

[Tyson] Side by side, yeah.
It's game on now, though.

That's a lot of work that
two plants have together.

Yeah, definitely.

They'll be able to
move some ground.

The thing is, will we be
able to keep up to them?

Yeah. Or is there gonna
be any gold in it?

So what do you think?
Is there any gold in it?

Well, yeah,
there's a little bit.

[Mitch] We had, what,
about five days on Big Red?

[Chris] Yeah.
Want to take a look?

[Narrator] {\an8}This week, Parker's
crew have been working

{\an8}to hit a 50,000-ounce
career milestone,

{\an8}but haven't told him
how close they are.

{\an8}To hit it, they need to
bring in 290 ounces.

All right. 30, 40, 50.
Keep her going.

- [Chris] It's going.
- [Mitch] 70, 80. Did you break a hundred?

- [Chris] There's still more.
- [Mitch] Hundred.



That used to be a season.

Yeah. We also spend a
season's worth of money in a week.

[Mitch] In a week, right?

That good old sluice,
it had a full week's run.

[Tyson] Here we go.

Oh, there's 40, 80,

a hundred, 130, 150...



[Parker] So what do we got
for the week, then?

All right. It's 299.2.

[Narrator] {\an8}Worth $539,000.

It gives us a season
total of 1805.8.

And I've got something
going on, you guys.

If I could get you
out on the porch.

- All right, you guys...
- [Parker] What have you got, Chris?

This is for everybody,
but mostly Parker,

because, Parker,
with this week's gold weigh,

collectively in your career, you have
now exceeded 50,000 ounces of gold.

[Mitch] Wow.

Fifty thousand?

- Fifty thousand ounces of gold.
- Wow.

And you guys have been
a big part of that.

Where the [bleep]
did it all go?

[all laughing] - Do you
love it? Do you love it?

- What the [bleep]...
- So Parker, if you want to open that.

Ready? Let her pop, man.

Whoo!

[laughs]

You noticed we have
one extra glass.

Honestly, I think one should
be for your grandpa.

He's the one
who got you started,

and I think we should
pour one out for Grandpa John.

That's a good call.

- [Mitch] Oh, yeah.
- Right?

[Chris] To Grandpa John.

[Parker cheers]

Thanks, Chris.

[Chris] Oh, my pleasure,
young man.

- You've cleaned a lot of gold down here.
- No kidding.

- Here's to 50,000 you guys.
- [Parker chuckles]

[Mitch] And 50,000 more.

[Chris] And to the next 50.

Thank you, guys.

You're... you're...
You're out there k*lling it.

[Tyson] Wouldn't be here
if it wasn't for you, man.

Definitely an impressive amount
of rocks washed and gold found.

You know?

I think we figured it was like


Pretty impressive.

Yeah, very cool.

Yes.

A lot of good people are here
that makes it happen.

So, for that I'm thankful.