15x16 - Rogue Foremen

[bunniefuu]

It's been a real struggle
all season,

figuring out
where to put plants

and hauling pay long distance
and just on and on and on.

So it's been hard.

[narrator] Four months
into his most ambitious
season ever

Parker Schnabel is struggling

to bring in enough gold
from his Dominion Creek claim.

Overall, the gold,
it's been very consistent.

Consistently poor.

We need to figure out
how to do close to 1000 oz.
every week.

[narrator] Initially gunning
for 10,000 oz.,

Parker is now hoping
he can bring in at least 8000.

[Parker] And the problem is
this week we only have
two wash plants running.

Sad.

I'm starting to get used
to having three plants running

and having a lot of
nice, big, clean ups, right?

[narrator] To hit his goal,
Parker has been running
three wash plants.

But last week
the operation on Sulphur Creek

ran out
of stockpiled pay dirt,

shutting it down.

Now, as a skeleton crew
digs out more pay,

he's back to depending
on the unreliable
Dominion Creek claims

including the infamous
Long Cut.

[Parker] Mitch is up
at the Long Cut.

The Cut's been just
a brutal one all season,

and the gold's been kind of
little less than I had hoped.

But I'm glad
Mitch is up there.

I'm confident
he'll get through it.

We need that cut to pay out.

[Mitch] Right now
we're pulling the pay dirt

from the downstream end
of the Long Cut,

and we've got
a lot of material

that's got to make it up
to Roxanne to keep it running.

[narrator] The Long Cut's gold

has been checkered
for 16 weeks.

Now, Mitch is on a mission
to find more

and deliver a big week.

I'm just trying to get
as much gold

out of this Long Cut
as possible.

Parker doesn't want
to pull anything
from any other project.

And there's no spares,

which means to keep
Roxanne running 24/7,

these 60-ton trucks
have to be hustling here.

[narrator] To increase
their gold haul
with limited crew,

Mitch is using two
giant A60 rock trucks.

Together, the mega-truck duo
can deliver 600 yards
of dirt an hour.

[Parker] Those A60s
have been just lifesavers.

They're packing around
almost double

of what some of the other
trucks are packing.

In order to keep up,
we're overloading them
quite a bit,

and it's very impressive
what they'll handle.

I've talked to my dad
a lot about loading trucks,

like, "Do you get greedy
and overload them a lot,

or do you go with
what they're rated for?"

And my dad's like,
"No, just go with
what they're rated for."

Maybe it's 'cause my dad says
not to do it
is why I do it.

This season,
we have a bunch
of new operators,

and this is going to be
a big test here.

[James] We are going
as fast as we can.

Me and the boys
are flying today.

[narrator] Operating
one of the A60s

is 22-year-old greenhorn
James Kurtz.

[James] Definitely
a good learning lesson

for it'll be
my first time ever

working at a mine before
and running equipment.

-[rattling]
-[engine powers down]

Oh, what was that noise?

That didn't sound good.

-[beeping]
-Uh...

It's beeping at me.

Hey, Mitch, you got a copy?

We've got a problem.

I'm pretty sure this truck
just went down.

[Mitch] Oh, man! That's not
what we need right now.

Okay, dude,
just park that thing.

Let me pull up
out of the way for everybody.

-[engine starts, rattling]
-Oh [bleep]!

-That sounded worse.
-[beeping]

That... Okay, I'm gonna
park it here, I guess.

Hey, Mitch, I've got, like,
four error codes
flashing at me.

Hoses are all [bleep].

That's a hell of a mess.

This is the companion flange
that mounts... the drive shaft
mounts to.

Uh, this must have been
cracked, and it snapped.

As soon as he backed
down the ramp,

the wheels are driving
the broken drive shaft,

and it's just
blendarizing everything.

Oh, yeah. That's heavy.

It's probably the worst one
I've seen actually.

It's in a tough spot
with 60 tons in the back.

[narrator] The flange
connecting the drive shaft

to the rear wheels
has snapped,

destroying all the brake lines

and hydraulic hoses
that power the dump box.

There's a drive shaft
that goes to the front axle.

Obviously, we need to get
the pay out of the back,

and then limp this thing
back to the yard.

All of this does something.

Um, these hoses are okay,

but everything
that these attach to outward
is [bleep].

The lift cylinders
don't function properly,
so we can't even dump the box.

Let's just start yanking
everything out
and run new [bleep].

[narrator] Taylor's plan,

replace the hoses
to operate the truck's box,

and dump the 60 tons of pay.

Then, using only
the front 2-wheel drive,

limp the mega truck
back to the yard
for the full repair.

The other half
of this hose... [chuckles].

It does a lot of damage
when the drive line
breaks like that.

[Taylor] Okay,
let's try it again.

[Tyler] Okay. I'll try to...

[Taylor] Lift up as much
as you can right there.

Okay, let's try, bro.

[Tyler] It seems
like it's working.

[Taylor] We'll just
dump it right here.

[Mitch] That's
pretty impressive.

In not a good way.

Experienced operators
are expensive,

and inexperienced operators...

-they're also expensive.
-[Taylor chuckles]

Just in different ways.

There's a lot of work
to be done

to get it back
to running condition.

[Mitch] How long
is it gonna take?

This pay pile
is getting pretty small.

[Taylor] This thing
is not safe to run.

-It's gonna be down for a bit.
-Got you.

[narrator] Taylor limps
the truck back to the yard

to replace its drive shaft,

leaving Mitch
just one 60-ton truck

to haul pay to Roxanne.

Hey, we're gonna
shut this thing down.

We can't keep up
with only one truck here,

so let's just let her
run out of dirt
and turn her off.

[engine powers down]

Parker wants 8000 oz.

That means we need dirt
going out of this cut

to a wash plant,
keeping it running.

But right now,
that's not gonna happen

until we can fix some truck.

[narrator] There's just
a month and a half left
of this season,

and Klondike kingpin
Tony Beets

is running
at limited capacity.

[narrator] After plowing
through his ready
to sluice ground

on his Indian River claims,

Tony is waiting for the sun
to thaw the frozen pay dirt.

[Mike] Both plants
are shut down at the moment.

We're waiting for pay.

The pay we have here
is frozen solid.

In the meantime,
no pay, no plants going.

So that means
we're not catching any gold
at the moment.

[narrator] Until Cousin Mike's
crew finish stripping

the frozen ground,
Tony's only gold

is coming from Paradise Hill.

[Mike] Well, they're
shut down in the Indian

because they've got
a bunch of frozen pay,

and they can't feed
the two plants.

So they're kind of
a little bit reliant

on me right now,
sluicing as fast as possible.

[narrator] In charge
of the trommel
on Paradise Hill,

Tony's youngest son,
Mike Beets.

[bleep] a rough ride.

[narrator] Running the trommel
all out

has filled the 30-acre
settling pond with silt.

If dirty water spills
into the nearby creek,

environmental authorities
will shut down
Tony's operation.

[narrator] To prevent this,

Tony has no option
but to stop sluicing.

[engine powers down]

[narrator] Paradise Hill
has a series
of three connected ponds.

They clean the trommel's
ls dirty sluice water

by allowing silt to settle
on the bottom,

while clean water flows

through the culverts
back to the creek.

Now the top pond is full

and silt is clogging
the culvert

creating muddy
discharge water.

To fix it, the Beets crew
must build up the dikes

and raise the culvert
to make the pond deeper,

giving the silt
space to settle,

cleaning the water.

[Mike] I don't know
if I want rock trucks
backing up that road

'cause that's the quickest way
for me losing a rock truck.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Oh, yeah.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To raise
the dikes roads,

Mike's crew uses
this specialty side dumper

ideal for widening
the narrow roads.

[Braeden] It's late
in the season
and the pressure is on.

So right now
we're down on the dike,

making the road
a bit longer and wider.

[narrator] As the trucks
dump their load,

Mike levels the dike roads
with the D11 Dozer.

Much better to shut down
for these two days

and do the work proper
than it is

to risk being
possibly shut down
for the rest of the year.

These shutdowns are gonna
cost a lot of money,

but there's no point in crying
over spilled milk.
[bleep] will happen.

You will have to fix it.

Crying, whining, complaining,

and saying "Oh, woe is me,"
ain't gonna [bleep] solve it.

[Curtis speaking over radio]

Sure.

[Curtis speaking over radio]

[bleep]

[bleep] sakes!

[Mike] First time ever
I've seen a truck here flip.

I wouldn't stand anywhere
near the front of the truck

'cause it could all come over.

[narrator] At Paradise Hill,
disaster has struck

while Mike Beets' crew

rush to build up
the settling pond's dike.

[Mike] Oh, that frame
is completely [bleep].

He went through the corner
with a full load.

That's why it [bleep] started
to flip in the first place.

[Curtis] I should have been
watching it more,

but the back tire caught
the side of the dike

and it just slowly started
pulling it in.

So by the time I stopped,
it had... it kept moving,

and then it started
grabbing the truck.

[narrator] The 10-ton
side dumper now hangs
off a 15-foot drop.

[Curtis] Give me a chain.

Mike's trying to position
the chain here

so that we get it back
out of the ditch.

The thing still wants
to fall that way.

[narrator] To keep the truck
from rolling into the pond,

Mike uses his 220 excavator
to yank it back onto the road.

[engine whirring]

That chain is under
a great deal
of [bleep] stress.

Oh, yeah.

Take that hoe,
drive it to the end.

It's just too much weight,

so I have to try to grab it
from two [bleep] points.

[narrator] To double
his lifting power,

Mike brings in a 480 excavator
rated to lift up to 20 tons.

[Mike] It doesn't help
with the fly.
The [bleep] hell!

It's gonna have to be a bit
of a twin process here
trying to flip this.

So we have to find
another spot on this truck

where I can lift two.

Okay, I'm gonna start lifting
and you start lifting.

[engine revving]

[rattling]

[Mike] Nope!
That ain't gonna work.

[rattles]

I simply don't have
enough [bleep] power

to do this
the way I want to do it.

It's just too much weight.

That means I can't
apply the right force
the right directions

'cause I have no room to work.

It'd be so much easier
if I just detach the thing.

But I don't want to do that.
That's gonna be a ton of work.

The [bleep] flies!

Argh!

[Curtis] What's the plan now?

[Mike] It's really hard
to think of solutions

when I'm constantly
getting interrupted.

[Curtis speaking]

[Mike] I don't even know
if I have enough chains
to do what I want.

Do we have any other
half-inch chains?

[Curtis] I don't know.

Everything [bleep] seems
to take forever.

I think we're gonna
have to bite the b*llet
and stop this right now.

We're gonna be down
for what, two, three days.

[narrator] Until the truck
is rescued,

raising the dike
is stopped cold,

and Tony's trommel
can't sluice any gold.

[Mike] I'm annoyed
because somehow it's my fault

when they do something stupid.

And just one little [bleep] up
and guess what happens.

I might have to ask my dad
to come over here
and give a hand.

[narrator] Forty miles
down the road...

[Kevin] I'm finding being out
on my own a lot more peaceful.

I am definitely not getting
as much sleep
as I should be, but...

I will persevere.

[narrator] Mike's brother
and first year mine boss
Kevin Beets

is working around the clock
to keep his fledgling
operation afloat.

I'm very glad to finally have
some gold coming
out of the ground.

[Kevin] We just
started sluicing,

so we still have
quite a ways to go
before we hit 1000 oz.

[narrator] Kevin's invested
nearly two million dollars

of his life savings
to start up his own mine.

Since deciding to run 24/7,

he's brought in 155 oz.

But now, he has a new problem.

[Kevin] The plant is going
through our pay pile

a lot quicker than we thought.

So it really means
we've got to hammer down
on getting another cut

opened up
before it's too late.

In order to hit 1000 oz.,
we will need
to be running... 24 hours.

[Brennan] Today,
we're just working

on trying to open up
the Lynx Cut extension

and get it down to pay.

It needs to happen
super bad,

because that pile is getting
chewed down so quickly,

it's actually getting scary.

But I keep stressing it
that it could be
a really early cold winter,

and that will not be good.

We need to find
our 1000 oz. minimum.

If you look at that mountain,
we're in a huge belly here,

so hopefully that means maybe
there'll be some huge nuggets
over here.

[Chase] Right now, we're still
stripping overburdened.

We're trying
to get down to pay.

We've got a little bit
of a water problem,

and it's making
for a couple of sloppy days
here in the cut.

As you can see, we've got tons
and tons of water in here.

Let's start turning out
and taking
a different path here.

It's just turn way out
and go over there.

It'll be way easier.

As you can see,
everything's saturated
in the cut.

There's some muddy spots
in the back of the cut.

There's a [bleep] mud hole.

Oh [bleep].

[engine revving]

[bleep] sakes.

Hey, Brennan, you got a copy?
Brennan?

Hello?

[Chase] Hey, buddy, I'm stuck
down here in the cut.

Yeah? Okay. [bleep]

[Brennan] You've
got to get this
water dealt with.

What a [bleep].

I'm gonna need
to get another pump
in here immediately.

And we have no extra pumps.

[narrator]
Earlier this season,
the Lynx cut flooded...

[Brennan] Yeah,
I need that pump.

Until then,
we're really shut down.

[narrator] ...forcing Kevin
to borrow a pump from Tony.

[Kevin] This is the pump
Tony sent for me to borrow.

[Brennan] Whoo!
Nice work, Kev!

[narrator] But he's since
run out of favors

from the bank of Mom and Dad.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] And the borrowed
pump is now being used

to run Kevin's wash plant...

[Brennan] Looking pretty good!

[narrator]. ..leaving him
without a spare.

I think I might try
and nudge you backwards.

[Chase] Thanks, Brennan.
You're the man.

The main reason
why there's so much water
on this side

is because it's bleeding over
from the wash plant side

and it's really hindering us
from getting this
cut stripped,

and the pay out of here.

I can't wait
any [bleep] longer

to get a [bleep] pump in here.

[narrator] The two-acre
Lynx cut extension

shares a wall
with the wash plant's
settling pond.

The sluice water is seeping
through it

turning the new cut's floor
into a swampy mess.

To strip the cut
without shutting down
the wash plant,

Brennan needs a new pump
to drain the extension

allowing the trucks to operate
without getting stuck,

haul out the overburden
and hit pay dirt.

[car door opens]

[Kevin] Hey, Brennan.

I can't dig pay
down here, dude.

I've been needing
another pump for,
like, a week now.

I know.

We just got to do
a cleanup with you
to pay for the [bleep] thing.

[Brennan] Can we get
another pump from Tony?

[Kevin] I'm not going to
ask Tony until I have to.

I've fixed enough
with Tony [bleep].

I'm just really struggling
down here, man.

I'm just getting
frustrated as [bleep] like,

if that pay pile runs out,
that shuts off,

we don't have
any money coming in,

and I feel like
that's on my shoulders.

Like, what do you want me
to do here?

I need a [bleep] pump.

I don't know
what to say, like,

we don't have
the cash right now.

We don't got a [bleep] pump.

[bleep] tough.

[sighs] Okay, well,
I'm gonna... Uh...

Yeah, I don't know
what else to say here.

[woman speaking]

[Brennan] Get out of my face
for a while.

I need a [bleep] pump [bleep].

[engine starts]

Weird. Where the [bleep]
he's going?

[engine revving]

[Parker] Those 60-ton trucks,

they've had a huge impact
on the mine site.

And so when
one of those goes down

for whatever
stupid little things have been
going on with them,

things can grind to a halt
in a hurry

if we don't get them fixed
and keep them running.

[narrator]
In Parker's long cut
sluicing is on hold

after a 60-ton rock truck
broke down,

stopping paydirt
from reaching the plant.

Three hundred tons an hour
of pay that's not getting
to the plant right now,

and this thing's going
to be down for a bit.

Just hammer the box
against the stops

and we'll try to get that
[bleep] out of there,

so it's not going
to land on anyone.

That's enough dirt
to k*ll someone, uh,
and we don't want that.

It's going to fall out
at some point.

We want it
to fall out right now.

There it comes.

Maybe you get off
your high horse and
throw some tools around.

You want this thing
hauling pay?

You know,
Mitch wants us at the plant.

Yeah?

He wants us hauling pay
at Roxanne.

Dude, we're on it.

Okay?
We can't do it any faster.

Okay?
So stop hounding us.

[man laughing]

[narrator]
To get the A60
back on the road,

and Roxanne
back on the gold,

Taylor needs to replace
the broken drive shaft.

Let's get this
[bleep] changed.

I'll grab
some wheel chucks.

Let's do it.

Here's our new harness.
Um...

We need to lay it
into the machine.

[narrator]
Taylor's first step,

replace all
the destroyed brake lines
and electrical wires

before fitting and installing
a new driveshaft.

Here. We can start
feeding it through, eh?

[Taylor]
Yeah, they are...

screaming to have this truck
back in the cut. Uh...

So we're busting our a*s
to get it back out there.

So we... we've just
put the harness in.

Everything is pretty secured.

Janko's just I jumped
in the skid steer

to go grab our drive shaft.

So, the next step
is to crane our
driveshaft in here.

All right.
The final step
to this job, eh?

Send this thing
back to work.

[objects clattering]

These are the ways
that they're supposed
to look... undamaged.

Swing it into position.

All right.
We've got a driveshaft
in the air.

It's go-time.

Look at that bad boy.

Yeah.

This has
to line up perfectly,

because these grooves
have to meet with
the companion plunge.

We're just throwing some
bolts here in the drive shaft
on the deaf side,

and then we can line up
the park break side.

The transmission's
in neutral.

It can sit there
in free wheel right now,

with the engine
running there.

It wants to do it
on its own.

It could go sideways,
but it's really dangerous.

I have pressure
on it right now
with my pry bar,

so I'm pushing
the brake pad
against the rotor.

So I'm just...
just bouncing it
a little bit

to release pressure,
to get everything lined up.

As soon as we get
the bolts in there,

uh, we can...
we can shut
the machine off.

All right. Release.

How much?

We got to go
about 30 degrees.

[machine creaks]

A little more.

Little more.

Okay, hold it right there.

[machine whirring]

That's one
installed drive shaft.

Okay.

Mitch will be stoked
we got this thing done.

Uh, we can
give him a shout,
and he can come pick it up.

-Yeah. Nice, buddy.
-All right, bro.

I'm glad I can
start trucking again.

Moving more pay
for the boys.

We're back to hauling
as fast as we can.

Taylor is a wizard
and what he does,

so he's getting...
He got it back up in...

only a couple of...
[exclaims]

And hopefully
she doesn't break down
anytime soon again.

[narrator]
After just six hours,

the Ace 60 is back,
hauling pay to the plant.

[Mitch]
Time to fire up Roxanne.

[narrator]
And Mitch can start
sluicing again.

[Mitch] You know,
definitely not the way

we thought the day
was going to go,

but we got the trucks
back up and running.

We're back sluicing,

and we're going to try
and keep it that way.

[dramatic music playing]

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] The truck was tired,
decided it wanted
to take a nap.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
After shutting down
his only running plant

to rebuild a d*ke road,

Tony Beets hasn't caught
an ounce of gold
in over 24 hours.

And a truck crash
is adding
to his sluicing delay.

[Mike]
I managed to get the trailer
out of the [bleep] hole

so it's not sitting there
[bleep] bending.

[Tony speaking]

Well, I was hoping
to just get the whole thing
to come down over.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Yeah.

[narrator] Tony wants
to unhook the truck
from the trailer

and rescue
each piece separately.

To do that, he must
first remove the metal pin
that's holding them together.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike]
What do you
want me to do?

[Tony speaking]

[machinery chugging]

[Tony speaking]

Yeah.
We are two different pieces.

-[Tony speaking]
-[all laugh]

[narrator] Tony can now
flip the truck and trailer
upright individually.

First up, the 20-ton
semi-truck.

[Tony speaking]

I am.

[Tony speaking]

[machinery whirring, chugging]

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] I am.

[narrator]
At nearly 40 feet long,

Tony wants
to ensure the truck

doesn't smash
into the excavator

when Mike pulls it over.

[Tony speaking]

[truck creaking]

-[truck creaking]
-[Tony speaking]

[narrator] While attempting
to rescue a flipped truck.

Mike has nearly
smashed the semi
into his own excavator.

[Tony speaking]

Oh, I knew exactly
where she was
gonna land.

[Tony speaking]

[engine roaring]

[Tony speaking]

[engine starting]

[horn honks]

[man]
So everything's fixed,
back to work.

The pressure is on though
a little bit,

so we've got to make
some rounds here

and try to get caught up
for the delay.

[narrator]
After nearly two days,
the truck is rolling again,

and the d*ke repair
is back on track.

I want to get this up
as soon as possible.

You can get fired up.

[narrator]
The final step,

Mike raises the culvert
to get the settling ponds
ready for sluicing.

We're gonna hit the sluice
to make the gold.

d*ke is done.
I got it lifted up.

Culvert's back in.

Now I'm just gonna
go start up the pump
and I can get sluicing.

[Mike]
Time to get sluicing.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator]
First year mine boss,
Kevin Beets,

is running out of time
and pay dirt.

So I had talked with Brennan,
and he is understandably
concerned about

our pond for settling.

I honestly have no clue
where he is now.

[narrator]
After Kevin denied
Foreman Brennan a pump

to drain the new cut,
Brennan disappeared.

Brennan's gone,
and he was the only one
that had the know-how.

And now
I wish he taught me
a lot more,

and showed me
how to do everything
before he left.

[tense music playing]

[Brennan]
I just had to take matters
into my own hands there

and help Kevin and Faith
out a little bit.

What we have here
is a pump that I went
and purchased from

a really good friend
of mine upstream.

And so I'm actually
super excited
to see how it works.

Then we'll pump some water
and we'll dry her cut out.

I'd imagine by tomorrow
you'd see a lot of this
surface water dissipated,

which is what
we need right now.

They started hauling
overburdened gravel off

and started filling
that [bleep] pay pile up
immediately.

[narrator] Before he can
start stripping again

and replenish
the dwindling pay pile,

Brennan first needs
to drain the cut.

[Brennan]
I got a pretty good deal
on this pump.

I got it for 11 grand,

and it had come with
like, 800 feet
of lay flat hose.

Maybe one day
I'll be able to find
my own ground to mine.

Just slowly adding
to the collection
of mining utensils I'll need

if I ever get to find
a chunk of ground
for myself one day.

It would just be cool
to have a piggy bank
full of gold

to take home
for myself.

[engine powers down]

I'm so excited
I bought a pump.

I'm more happy
about buying this

than any of
the cool toys I've bought
in the last 10 years.

And hopefully she just
starts pumping immediately.

That's a very
nice looking pump.

Somebody had one
for sale.

-Nice, nice.
-And I went and
bought that.

I was a little worried
when you peeled out.

-I wasn't sure where
you were heading, so...
-Yeah.

Well, I want
to smash this out
of the [bleep] water.

That's pretty
[bleep] good.

[dramatic music playing]

[Kevin, in sing-song voice]
Let's have a gander.
Let's have a look.

Are we getting
any water at all?

[Brennan] No, I put...
I took this off.
It's dry in there.

Self-farming pumps
generally require some water
in the system to prime.

Otherwise,
it's essentially
compressing air

and not creating
a vacuum to suck.

So we're going
to pull it open.

Prime it a bit manually.

Then hopefully
that will work.

And if
that doesn't work,

we'll move on
to the next steps.

[narrator] To manually
prime the pump,

Kevin pours water
inside its casing.

[Kevin]
We'll do one more bucket
and then we'll dry it.

I'm definitely hoping
that this is all it was.

-Okay. You want me
to fire up?
-Yeah.

[motor starting]

Whoo!

This stick
runs really nice.

Small little
cap motor in it.

It sounds
really, really good.

[motor running steadily]

Come on.

Getting the water
on the cut
is kind of vital,

because if we can't
get the water down,

we can't dig
the payout.

We should have
water here by now.

I don't know
what's going on.

[Kevin]
Should just suck,

I don't know
what's going on.

Hear it pump now, eh?

[motor whirring]

Oh, there we go.

[Brennan] Yay!

Great job!
To the rescue.

[both laugh]

[narrator] Brennan can now
dewater the cut extension

and get stripping down
to pay again.

[Kevin]
That's a very nice
little pump

Brennan went off
and bought.

This will at least allow us
to get this cut down.

Get more pay to the plant
so we can keep sluicing.

Et cetera,
et cetera, et cetera.

A [bleep] purchase,
I think.

That's really hot.
Don't touch that.

[Brennan]
It's definitely awesome
working with Kevin.

Like, he's got his strengths
in all the mechanical side.

I got it all in
the earth work side.

And combine
those together,

you know, we worked
really, really good together.

[Kevin] I was a bit worried
when Brennan took off.

I do appreciate
him coming back

and explaining
what happened.

And him
spending his own money
so we can keep going.

That is very kind of him.
Honestly.

It's a very old drill.

[narrator]
At Paradise Hill,

Mike Beets has discovered
some buried mining treasure.

[Tony speaking]

I'm doing my best.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike]
I [bleep] love how it has
the old style tires

-and it even has
a spare on it.
-[Tony] Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike]
Yeah, that's [bleep]
impressive, too.

[Tony laughs]

[Tony speaking]

[Tony chuckles]

-Hi, guys.
-[man] Hello.

[narrator] This week,
Tony's been running
just one wash plant,

His trommel
on Paradise Hill.

We haven't
been sluicing
all week, have we?

I heard you had
a bit of excitement
with one of your trucks?

Well, he's lucky,
because if he had gone
fully over the edge,

it literally almost
would have been cheaper
just to leave him there.

[Tony speaking]

Uh, three nights,
two days.

Okay. Well,
that really sucks.

[Tony speaking]

[Monica]
You ready?

[narrator] To hit
his 5,000 ounce goal,

Tony needs around


[Mike] Eighty,
ninety, hundred,
hundred and ten...

hundred and twenty,
hundred and thirty,

hundred and forty...

Keep going.

A hundred and
forty-three point
five-eight.

[narrator]
Worth over $35,000.

[Tony speaking]

More is always better,
but take what you can get.

[Minnie]
We need to get
some revenue.

[Tony speaking]

So where are we in terms
of amount this season?

-We've got like 3,800?
-Yeah. 3,800.

Roughly 3,800.

I mean,
it'd be better if you had
the Indian River going,

and we had
the Hester cut going.

the whole Hester cut's
still down below waiting.

[Tony speaking]

-[Minnie] It's calling
your name, eh?
-Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

[Monica] This has been
a lovely gold weigh,

but I have work to do.

-Okay.
-[Monica] I'll see
you guys later.

I'll see you guys later.

[Tony speaking]

[intense music playing]

Tony and Minnie.

[Minnie] Hey, Kevin.

Hey, guys.
How are you?

-[Tony speaking]
-How are you?

-Good. How are you guys?
-[Tony speaking]

Good. Busy. Very busy.

[Tony speaking]

We better
get to the gym.

[narrator] After running
his links cut stockpile,


Kevin Beets weighs
his weekly gold haul,

with landlords
Tony and Minnie

looking to collect
their first 10% royalty.

So what's
been happening here?

[Brennan]
We had some more
water problems

and I ended up
buying a pump there
just to help out.

You can never
have enough
[bleep] pumps.

[Tony speaking]

I just wanted to help out
and keep going, so...

[Kevin] I appreciate it.
It definitely got us through
that little rough spot.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] Exactly.

So, yeah.
If we're gonna reach
our goal of 1,000 ounces,

we're gonna have
to have a couple more
good gold weights.

So let's see what
we got for this one.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To hit his


Kevin needs around


Thirty...

forty...

fifty...

fifty-five...

seventy, eighty,

ninety, hundred,

hundred twenty,
hundred thirty,

hundred forty,

hundred fifty.

-[Kevin] Are you kidding me?
-156.60.

[narrator]
Worth over $390,000.

It's his best haul
of the season,

and doubles his gold total
to 312 ounces.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, beautiful.

It's nice to be
on the upswing,
honestly.

Yay, money!

[Tony] "Yay, money!"

[all laughing]

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie]
Yeah. Mm-hmm.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie]
How about our royalties?

[Tony speaking]

This gold just changes
everybody's thought process
on it all.

It makes me feel good
that we're gonna be
well on our path

to the 1,000 ounces,
and that's all
that matters now.

You know,
frustrations can leave,

and the gold comes in,
everybody's happy.

And just... let's hope
the rest of the cut
stays that good,

so we can actually
conquer our goal.

That was good.

Now that we have capital,
we'll get our pump in there.

And it was really
helpful of Brennan

to to bring his down
and keep us
[bleep] going.

-Oh, yeah.
-I'm really excited for

probably next week,
week after
we start running that

and see what
that cut pulls out.

-Mm-hmm.
-That should be pretty
[bleep] exciting.

[intense music playing]

[upbeat country music playing]

Hi, Chris.

-How's it going?
-It's going.

So how'd your
week ago, Mitch?

We lost a drive shaft
in one of the trucks.

So, yeah, it was
a spendy week there.

[Chris]
Yeah, no kidding.

Big Red been
treating you decent

Yeah. Yeah, it's been
going good there.

Just more of
the same red gravels,

but we're making
our way through it.

[narrator] To hit his


Parker needs to mine
each week.

-I see you got
a big thermos this week.
-[Chris] Yeah.

You didn't say that
very confidently.

[Chris] Well, you know,
I've caught on to you guys.

Just pour it out.

[laughter]

[Tyson]
Here we go.
Big Red.

[narrator] Last week,
Tyson sluiced
red gravel pay dirt

from the bridge cut,
delivering 136 ounces

from Big Red.

[Tyson]
Seventy, eighty-five,
a hundred...

A hundred point eight.

You definitely found
an ounce to put in that
to make it triple digits.

We scoured the gold room
kind of hard,

trying to come up
a little bit more.

You wanna see how
Roxanne's doing, Mitch?

All righty.
Here we go.

Roxanne.

[narrator] For the long cut
to be on track
for 3000 ounces,

Parker needs it
to deliver 475 ounces
every week.

A hundred, one ten,
one forty,

one sixty,
one seventy,
one eighty.

Are we gonna
break two?

Two hundred.

-[tapping cannister]
-206.8.

[Chris]
Almost 100 ounces
less than last week.

This week we have


[narrator]
Worth over $769,000.

This is Parker's
worst gold weigh
in seven weeks.

A slump,
when his production
should be peaking.

Did we break four?

Our season is 4,175.4.

Halfway there.

Not bad.

No, but two straight
weeks of decline.

We'll get those numbers
back up there, hopefully.

[Parker] You guys have
to pump those numbers up.

[Mitch] I'm gonna
bag this stuff up.

Try and keep
them running.

See you guys
at dinner.

See you at dinner.
Bosco, come here.

In you get.
Nice try.

Oh.

[door closes]

[sighs heavily] Oh, man.
We've got a long ways
to go, Chris.

-[Chris] Yeah, we do.
-And a short time
to get there.

[somber music playing]