15x21 - Dredge, Baby, Dredge!

[bunniefuu]

[captivating music playing]

[Tony speaking]

[radio chattering]

[man on radio] Gold is sitting
at a new all-time high,

over $2,600 an ounce.

The recent price is showing
no signs of slowing down.

-Silver is doing very well.
- laughs]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Gold prices
have been soaring
all summer long,

and Tony Beets
is determined to cash in

and smash
his 5,000-ounce gold.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] After an expl*sive
three-plant start
to the season,

Tony is now down to just one,

and he is 840 ounces short

of his 5,000-ounce target,

[Tony speaking]

[Tony speaking]
With his only thawed pay
at Indian River underwater,

Tony's turning to
his 85-year-old dredge
to bank more gold.

Digging pay with 72 buckets,

its low-cost two-man crew

sluice using
an onboard trommel

that can deliver 80 ounces
of gold a week.

[Tony speaking]

I was hoping
you wouldn't find me.

[Tony speaking]

[Greg] Doctor, coming on.

[narrator] Last season,
Tony called good friend,
Greg Mason,

to get his prized behemoth
up and running
for the first time

in five years.

I'm so excited,
I could just piss my pants.

[laughs]

[narrator] When Greg
had to leave early...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]... Tony called upon
the only other person

he trusts
to operate the dredge.

[Kevin] Tony has never
run the dredge.

I don't think
he could, honestly,

[narrator] With Kevin
running his own claim

and Greg unavailable
until now,

the dredge has sat idle
for nearly a year.

[Tony speaking]

[Greg] Hopefully,
we can turn that dinosaur
into a gold-making machine.

Oh, my God!

[Tony speaking and laughing]

[narrator] To get
the dredge running,

Greg first needs
to move it into position,

using two winches on the deck

that are anchored
to dozers on the shore.

[Tony speaking on radio]

-Yes, yes.
-[Tony laughs]

[Tony speaking on radio]

[huffing]

[Greg] Coming up
on my winch lines.

[Tony speaking]

Mike coming your way
at all, Tony?

[Tony speaking]

[Greg] It seems to be working.

[Tony speaking]

Okay. I'm gonna
come up on the port.

[Greg] It's coming.

[Tony speaking on radio]

[Greg on radio] I'm stuck
on something, Tony.

[Tony speaking]

[Greg] Water's not
deep enough.

[Tony speaking]

[Tony on radio]

[narrator] Tony and Greg
are trying to maneuver

the 350-ton dredge


to the south edge of its pond,

where his only thawed pay
sits underwater.

But it's beached
on raised bedrock,

and the onboard winch motors

are not powerful enough
to pull it free.

Now Tony will use
the two D7 anchored dozers

attached to
the dredge's cables

to pull it over the bedrock

and then guide it
into position

where the gold is.

[Tony speaking on radio]

Everybody seems
to be clear, yes.

[engine whirring]

[engine revving]

[Tony speaking]

[Tony speaking on radio]

[Greg] Yeah. I realize that.

There ain't a [bleep] thing
I can do.

I'm stuck.

[Tony speaking]

[Tony on radio]

[engine groaning]

[Greg] Tony is tugging us
along right now.

Mike is pulling
from the other side.

But Tony's doing
most of the work.

Yeah, man, that's working.

[metal groaning and clanging]

It's coming.

[Greg] Yeah.
We're whistling now, Tony.

Coming on with the trommel.

[engine whirring]

-[Greg] I tried
to buck the ladder.
-[Tony speaking]

[Tony speaking]

She's dredging.

[narrator] Tony is sluicing
at Indian River

for the first time
in six weeks.

[Greg] Okay. All right.
Will do.

[Greg] It's good
to have it back
up and running.

So excited I could just
piss my pants, you know?

[Tony speaking]

[intense music playing]

We're coming down
to the end here.

We don't have much time,
but we're gonna just hit it
with everything we got.

The weather's changing,
it's getting cold.

It's time we get sluicing.

[narrator]
One hundred miles east,

Rick Ness is only days away

from seeing
if his biggest gamble ever
will pay off.

Rick's crew
have spent five weeks
and a million dollars

chasing a pay streak
from Rally Valley
to Vegas Valley.

[Greg] After weeks
of stripping,

we're finally done
with overburden.

You know, well,
over 100ft of that [bleep]

finally on the pay,
and it feels really good.

[narrator]
For the huge stock pile

of Vegas Valley pay
ready to go,

Rick just needs to move
his Monster Red plant
to the new cut

and start washing dirt
by the end of the week

to see if he's hit
the jackpot.

I haven't moved Monster Red
in four years.

Some of the guys
on my team have never
moved a wash plant.

To make it safer
and easier on us,

we're gonna completely
disassemble this thing.

Well [bleep].

[tools whirring]

[narrator] Rick has tasked
foreman Buzz Legault

with taking apart Monster Red.

[Buzz speaking]

[narrator] While the rest
of the crew

prepares the road
into Vegas Valley.

Hey, Kyle, you think
this [bleep] gonna
pack in decent?

[Kyle on radio]
Yeah, I think it'll be fine.

[Kyle] We spent quite
a bit of time in that cut,
not sluicing at all.

So we only have
a few weeks left.

if we don't produce anything,

yeah, that gold bonus
might be out the window.

That's why
we named this Vegas Valley.

Everything's a big gamble
over here.

[honks]

[Ryan] You know,
this should be
the last piece that we need

to make this road to the pad.

That's all I'm hoping for.

Watch that big red
[bleep] beast
come down that hill.

Let's put it to work.

[Rick] You guys ready?

[Ryan] Today's we're moving
the plant.

I'm excited.

It means we're that much
closer to the gold.

So what do you want to do?
The tower?

Get the shaker deck unhooked,

set it on the trailer,
strap it down,
get her out.

Yeah. You guys got
the pad ready to go,
so [bleep] why not?

-Yeah.
-Let's get [bleep] moved.

[Rick] There's a fair amount
of work to do here,

But we really don't have
a lot of experience moving it,
so it's exciting.

-[machine groaning]
-Oh. Don't fall.

Easy.

[Rick] At the same time,
it's a little scary.

We can't afford
to break anything on it.

[Ryan] Strap her down.

[Rick] All the money
is in that shaker box
when we pull it off.

So we drop that
or damage that,

we're pretty much [bleep].

[narrator] Using his
most powerful excavator,
the 750,

Rick needs to move
the heart of his wash plant,

the ten-ton shaker deck.

[Rick] Now we're gonna
pull the shaker deck
off the frame of the plant.

That's the heaviest point
of it,

and it's all the way
at the top.

This plant's 26ft tall.

When we try to move it,
it's very top-heavy.

This is gonna be a heavy lift.

Straight up.

Easy, easy.

[Rick] I'm just gonna
lift it straight up

-and swing it over the side.
-[machine groaning]

Hopefully, it'll land
on the trailer in one piece.

[bleep]

-[thuds]
-[bleep]

[Ryan] Kind of
go in towards you.

There you go.

[machine groans]

[Rick] Why is it
lifting straight?

Is there anything catching?

[Ryan] No,
it doesn't look like it.

[thuds]

What the [bleep]?

[Ryan] We're gonna
bend that bar.

-[Rick] Whoa!
-[thuds]

[intense music playing]

[Rick] Why is it
lifting straight?

Is there anything catching?

[Ryan] No,
it doesn't look like it.

[Rick] Pretty important
piece here.

It would completely
put an end to our season
if I [bleep] this thing up.

What the [bleep]?

[exclaims] Whoa!

[thuds]

[bleep] sake!

[narrator] Rick Ness
is struggling to move
wash plant Monster Red

to Vegas Valley

and get sluicing
by the end of the week.

[Rick] I'm maxed out.

She's a heavy beast.

It's gonna be fine.

Positive energy,
keep positive energy.

That's right.

Let's get this
[bleep] plant moving.

[Ryan] You're back
a little bit still.

Forward?

[machine groans]

Come on!

-[Ryan] Almost out.
-[Kyle] There you go.

-Just swing it.
-Yeah.

[Ryan]
She's flying perfect now.

And that is what the bottom
of the shaker deck looks like.

I think we're good.
Let's let's creep her down.

She's down. Yeah!

That was a little stressful,
but it's on the trailer now.

[chuckles] We definitely got
that trailer maxed out.

Hopefully, this gets
down the road
to where it's got to go.

Well, Kyle, if you want to run
that loader behind him.

Just ride with him,
and if it gets away from him,
just slow him down.

Um, and then
we'll just get it down there
and get it unloaded.

-Sound good?
-Great.

Let's [bleep] go.

[narrator] To keep costs down,

Rick's crew are using
their trucks and trailers

to convoy the plant
and its parts.

Buzz uses his pickup to pull
the ten-ton shaker deck

from Rally Valley,

a mile-and-a-half,
along a treacherous
and winding mine road.

Their biggest challenge
will be a 300-foot
mud track descent.

down a 35-degree gradient,

where the overloaded trailer

could be easily careen
out of control,

ending Rick's season.

To steady
the $500,000 cargo...

Better to be safe than sorry.

...Kyle will be
in a loader behind,

cabled to the trailer,

acting as a safety brake,
for the final decline
into Vegas Valley.

[Rick speaking]

[Buzz on radio]

Kyle Just control his speed,
would ya?

Yep. Will do.

[Rick] He's halfway down
the downhill part.

Seems to be going good.

He's holding back.

The brakes
are handling it no problem,
so that's a good sign.

Yeah, I got
good touch here
on him, so...

Perfect. Thank you, Kyle.

[Kyle on radio] Yeah,
I think we're good.

[Rick on radio]
Nice job, guys.

Nice and smooth.

[Rick] We're here.

-That went good.
-Yeah.

Easy. Everything held up
real well.

Not a [bleep] problem.

[Buzz] Great. Good job, guys.
Yeah! No problem.

[Rick] Most expensive part
of the plant
made it here in one piece.

Very excited about that.

We're gonna go
get the rest of it.

We just gotta
get it back together
without wrecking anything,

and we're in business.

[intense music playing]

Hey, Brennan. Brennan.

I'm about ready
to fire up the plant.

[Brennan on radio]
Okay, perfect. Sounds good.

Let's get stuff fired up
and ready to [bleep] roll.

[narrator] Rookie mine boss
Kevin Beets

has spent five months
getting 470 ounces of gold.

Now, with only
four weeks left,

he needs to double it

to have any chance
of another season.

It's just been a nightmare
with downtime this year.

What we need next

is some really,
really good gold
to catch back up.

[narrator] Bring in
as much gold as possible,

Kevin's tasked
foreman Brennan Ruault
with digging out pay dirt,

while the rest of the crew
feeds the plant 24/7

[Brennan]
Kev did a pan for us,

and it looked
really good, actually.

So I'm just working
my a*s off here

to try and keep that stockpile
as big as we can
down at the plant,

so night shift
can run smoothly.

[Kevin] And here's
night shift.

[narrator] To make sure
the wash plant runs non-stop,

Kevin's bringing in
a hired g*n

to help
operator Hunter Canning.

[both laugh]

[narrator]
Rick Johnson arrives

with more than
a dozen years'
mining experience.

-[Kevin] How's it going?
-All right.

-[Kevin] Ready for your
first night on. night, Rick?
-Yeah. Yeah.

-You ready, buddy?
-No problem.

I'm sure you guys
got it figured,

but, yeah,
just keep it running.

Well, don't shut down,
'cause if we're gonna
hit 1,000 ounces,

we gotta really
run pretty much non-stop.

-[Rick J] You got it.
-Okay, So, have a good night.

-[Hunter] Yeah.
-I'll see you in the morning.

-I'll keep you on your toes.
-Right on.

[chuckles]

[Kevin] It's going to be
a little bit frantic
with how our tailings are.

We really do need
a second operator
to take the tailings away.

One of the things
that I have definitely
gotten from Tony

is we really don't let
almost anything
[bleep] stop us.

Just got to keep
[bleep] running
the dirt through.

[Brennan]
It looks like we've got
a pretty healthy pay pile

stocked up down there
for night shift,

So I'm just gonna finish up

and hit camp for some dinner
and go to bed.

[intense music playing]

No sleep for the wicked
until the gold gets sluiced.

[narrator]
Hunter keeps the plant fed
with 24 loads of pay an hour.

While Rick operates
a second loader
to clear tailings.

So far, so good.

[Hunter] I definitely know
the importance
of not shutting down.

Kevin put me on nights
'cause he trusts me,

and I just want
to prove to him

that I can keep
the plant running.

[Rick J] We got to make sure
we get it all through
the wash plant.

In the belly of it,

is the gold that pays
all the bills around here.

[engine whirring]

[bleep]

Are you kidding me?

[engine revving]

[Rick J] I got
both sides spinning.

Hunter, copy, Hunter.

[Hunter on radio]
Yeah. What's up?

Yeah, I'm stuck.

Basically, both side wheels
are spinning.

Uh, where are you stuck,
by the tailings
or where you're dumping?

[Rick J] I'm stuck
in the fines right now.

All right. Give me one second.

[on radio]
It might be a tow job.

[groans]

Oh, boy! That's not something
I wanted to happen tonight.

If I can't get him out
quick enough,

I'm just gonna have
to leave him there
and try to come back again.

'Cause I can't let
this hopper go dry,

and if I end up whitewashing,

then we can potentially
lose a lot of gold.

[Hunter speaking]

[narrator] Hunter stocks
the hopper
with enough pay dirt

to feed Kevin's plant
for eight minutes.

If it runs out
while she saves Rick's loader,

water pressure
in the sluices will increase

blasting gold out of the box.

Right on, Hunter.
We got a cable
in the crew truck.

-I'm gonna bring it over.
-[Hunter on radio] All right.

It's definitely
a race against time.

Rick's sinking in quicksand,

and I have
to get his hopper filled,

so I can go help him
and tug him out.

All right, man.
I'm on my way. Get ready.

Back, back.

Stop.

[Hunter on radio]
You got it all sorted out?

You need help? We gotta hurry.

[Rick J speaking]

We'll let you put tension on.

[engine revving]

[Hunter on radio]
All right. She's tight.

[Rick J on radio]
Okay, Hunter, let her rip.

[engine revving]

[bleep]

[Hunter] Whoa!

It's [bleep] stuck.

[intense music playing]

I tried getting him out,
but his tires
just kept spinning.

[narrator] The loader
operated by Kevin Beets'
new hire, Rick Johnson,

is stuck in the fine tailings.

[Hunter on radio] Hey, Rick,
ready to go again?

I gotta go back to the hopper.

[Rick J on radio] I think
we have like one minute here.

[narrator] Hunter is racing
to pull him free

before the plant
runs out of pay

and blasts gold
out of the sluice box.

[Rick J on radio]
Yeah. Hopefully,
we get it out this time.

All right. She's good.
Start backing up.

[engine revving]

[on radio] Slowly, slowly.

[Rick J] Keep it going.
Keep it going.

Okay. Let her rip.

Are you out?

[Rick J on radio] Hell, yeah.

[Hunter] I gotta take this off
and get back
to the hopper now.

If this won't
[bleep] come off.

[Rick J] I'll take care
of all that.

Get back and feed that hopper.

-Don't get stuck again, man.
-Yeah.

[Hunter] We didn't have
to shut down.

We didn't whitewash.
We got it under control.

[serene music playing]

It's finally almost
the end of our shift.

[on radio] How is everything
over there, Rick?

I'm just making sure
everything's cool
for day shift.

Now it's time to go home
and have a drink.

[Rick J on radio] I hear you.

[Kevin] Hey, guys.
How'd it go?

-[Hunter] Oh!
-Hey, Kev.

[Hunter] You know,
just another day
at the office. [chuckles]

[Rick J] I got a little buried
started spinnin',

she was able to come over,
we got back--

-I came to the rescue.
-Exactly.

Didn't have
to shut down at all then?

[Hunter] No, we didn't
have to shut down.

[Kevin] Oh! Looks like we do.

[bleep]

[dramatic music playing]

[thudding]

[Hunter yells]

[bleeping]

[engine winds down]

[narrator] Rocks have
clogged up the pre-wash...

-[Hunter] How you doing?
-[sighs] Okay, thank you.

...forcing Kevin
to shut down the plant
while Hunter digs it out.

Not great
at the end of the shift,
that's for sure. But...

whatever needs to be done.

[sighs wearily]

[Hunter] I got this
cleaned out.

[man] Let's fire up.

[machine whirring]

Sounds like Rick and Hunter
had an eventful night.

Though, it is good
that they were able

to deal with it on their own.

So, yeah,
I think a good first night.

And here's to many more,
I hope.

[intense music playing]

[narrator] Klondike legend,
Tony Beets,

is at Paradise Hill,

making sure youngest son Mike

doesn't leave any gold behind
in The Super Pit.

[Tony speaking]

[Greg] Time for another day
of dredging.

It'll be nice to see
what she produces.

[narrator] Forty miles south,

Tony's dredge should
also be on the gold.

Something's wrong here.

Why is it leaning so much?

Oh, crap.

Oh, jeez! She's sunk.

Tony ain't gonna be happy,
let's put it that way.

It has to be
one of the pontoons
leaking or something.

It was banging
on some bedrock
when we pulled it.

[bleeping]

[narrator] Overnight,
one of the dredge's pontoons
has filled with water,

causing it to sink
on one side.

[Greg] So water
and electricity don't mix.

The other side goes under,
there's a lot more stuff
that could be damaged.

The generator,
other pumps, stuff like that.

I'm looking to see
if it's gotten
to this side yet.

It hasn't so far.

[narrator] If the dredge
takes on more water,

it will fry the generator,

and put Tony's only running
Indian River plant
out of action

for the rest of the season.

Michael, do you copy?

[Mike on radio]
Go ahead, Greg.

I think you need
to come down here.

The dredge is sinking.

Oh [bleep]. Okay,
I'll be over there quick.

[intense music playing]

[Mike] Holy [bleep]!

She sunk.

-I came to work today...
-Yeah.

[blows raspberry]
...found it on its side.

-[Mike] That is not good.
-[Greg] No.

This is not good at all.

I see it's still dropping.
It's still sinking.

We got to handle
real quick right now.

I'm gonna need some tools,
some equipment and bombs.

[narrator] The 350-ton dredge

floats on two separate


A leak somewhere
in the right pontoon

has allowed water to flood in,

listing the dredge
to one side.

[dredge groans]

To right it,

Greg and Mike will install
two pumps on the bank

to remove water
from the dredge pond,

allowing access to
the pontoon's deck thatch.

Then use
a smaller pump internally
to drain it of water.

Once the pontoon is empty,
locate and repair the damage.

Then pump water
back into the pond
and refloat the dredge

to get back
on Indian River gold.

[Mike] You can drop that one.

This is the biggest pump
we have.

It's big and ugly,
but it'll move a lot of water.

If it sinks any more,
then we're really [bleep].

Ruby, do you copy? Ruby?

[Ruby on radio]
Yeah. Go ahead.

[Mike] Jump in
the loader for me

and move this pump
to the dredge, please.

[Ruby] It's so late
in our season right now,

we just don't have
time to waste.

[dramatic music playing]

[Mike on radio]
That is perfect.

We've got the pump
in the place.

Now we just got to hook up
the suction hose.

[Mike] Yeah.
You're good there.

[intense music playing]

[Mike] We got this pump here.

We use it to feed the plants,

but since the plants are down,
we gotta steal it.

Right now, the dredge was
our only moneymaker.

So getting an extra pump in
will make a difference

between being down for a day
or being down for three days.

Should we just try
bringing it in
with this thing?

-I think so.
-Yeah. Okay.

[engine starts]

[Mike speaking]

Since Tony's not here,
I got to give him
a phone call.

He might not be happy
with the news,

but we'll do our best
to save this thing.

[intense music playing]

-Hey, Tony.
-[Tony speaking on phone]

Hey, we got a problem
with the dredge.

-It's sinking.
-[Tony speaking on phone]

One side is under water.

[Tony speaking on phone]

[bleep]

[dramatic music playing]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony Beets' dredge
has been dead in the water
for 24 hours.

[Greg] We got the pumps going
left and run all night.

The water's down low enough,

so we can start
pumping out the pontoons.

[narrator]
Dredge master Greg Mason

is battling to get it back
on the gold.

It's just going to be
a little bit of cleaning up.

So this was the problem.

Pontoon, the leak in.

She's got to be pumped out.

Get this thing floating again.

[water gurgling]

Looking good.

[narrator] The pontoon
is drained.

[Tony speaking]

-Hey.
-[Tony speaking]

Got a leak. It's...

I think you kinda pulled it
on some bedrock.

[Tony speaking]

-[Greg] That's it.
-[Tony speaking]

It would be nice.

[narrator]
When Tony pulled the dredge
off the raised bedrock,

it pulled apart
one of the rivets,

locking the metal walls
together.

-[Greg] You're coming out?
-Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

Now that we know about it,
we can keep an eye on it.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] After two days
of lost production,

Greg refloats the dredge
and fires back up.

[Tony speaking]

-[Tony laughs]
-[Greg] You're a funny guy.

[Tony speaking]

[Greg] Yeah. Yeah. Looks good.

[Tony speaking]

[intense music playing]

[Bailey] Slow and steady
right now.

Definitely a little tight
right here.

[narrator] At Duncan Creek,

the Ness Crew are moving
the last parts of wash plant,
Monster Red,

from Rally Valley
to their new cut
at Vegas Valley.

[Ryan] They made it
in one piece.

If we continue
to have nothing to come in,

we all just spent
our [bleep] gold bonus
on diesel fuel

that went right out
the exhaust.

[Buzz speaking]

[narrator]
Rick has tasked Buzz

with getting the frame
into position

so they can rebuild the plant.

[Rick]
Just cutting in here to...

make sure
everything's going smooth.

[groans]

I already got the spot
I told 'em I was supposed
to be into [bleep].

[intense music playing]

Yeah, it ain't gonna work.

Buddy, you didn't
go far enough.

[Rick] Look at where
those sluice boxes
are gonna come out.

Look where that berm is.
Like we have got a new spot
for the course.

It's got to go that way
in under 15, 20ft.

[narrator]
Buzz has put Monster Red
in the wrong place.

Rick doesn't think
there's enough room

for the coarse tailings
to pile up.

[Rick] I told him to the edge
of that right there,

[narrator] Two weeks ago...

...Rick and his foreman's
relationship hit rock bottom.

Why the does he not know
that he can't sleep
on the job?

[Rick yells on radio]
Hey, Buzz!

You're not
the senior operator,

you're a [bleep] guy
on this crew.

You're gonna jump in
where the [bleep] you fit in
or you're gonna go home.

Do it now
before it gets too far.

[narrator] And tensions
between the two remain.

We've got to unhook
this water line.

Rick wants the plant
moved back about 20-40ft,

so, right now, it's time
for us to get to work.

[tools whirring]

[Buzz speaking]

It's frustrating
because I did say,

I did make it clear
what I wanted.

It's not where it ended up.

[Ryan groan] Boss.

[metal creaking]

[Rick] I shouldn't have
to say things twice.

You know,
we gotta stay sharp for
the end of the season here.

There's not much time left.
We got a lot of gold to get.

[narrator]
Frame finally in place,

Rick and his crew
can reassemble the plant.

We struggled getting
the box out of the plant
when we moved it,

so we're gonna use
two machines
to lift it up there.



And that way we get
in there nice and straight.

[Bailey] Running the most
expensive machine

and about to lift up

the most expensive part
of this mine.

[metal creaks]

-We ready to go in?
-[Bailey] Yep.

[Ryan] You're close.

Looks good.

We have touchdown, Buzz.
She's done.

It looks really good.

Really, really good.

[narrator] After two months
without gold...

[Rick] This is what
you guys put your bonuses
on the line for.

Time to see some gold again.

...Rick will soon find out
if his Vegas Valley gamble
will pay off.

We got overburden,
we got a whole pile
of pay there.

You ready to do it?

[Bailey] Generator's in.
Pump's in.

It's time to fire.

Put some dirt
in the [bleep] box.

[Rick] Well,
[bleep] good energy.
Let's do it.

[grunts] Fire up.

[Ryan] It's fired.

[Rick cheering] Yeah!

[bleep] Yeah.
Vegas Valley. Here we go.

[Ryan] It's a hell of a view
to see Monster Red

finally getting pay
fed through her.

I mean,
this Vegas Valley cut's
been one hell of a cut,

and it's been a battle
the whole way.

[Rick] This has been
a long time coming,

but we finally got there.

Things are looking up.

Now we just gotta hope
we got enough weather,
enough time

to run the dirt
and get the gold.

[pleasant music playing]

[Tony speaking]

[intense music playing]

[Kyle] We've got quite
a bit of gold in here.

-I got some in here.
-[Bailey] Some good pockets.

Looks pretty good.

Big pile of it there.

[narrator] After two days
of running pay dirt,

the Ness Crew
check Monster Red sluices.

A first look to see
if their million-dollar gamble
will pay out.

[Rick] Oh! Hell, yeah!

Look at all
that gold right there.

It's just [bleep] piles of it,
that nugget's loose.

You got some more down there.

It's lit up
like it's Christmas.

Guys. Nice job.

[Bailey] Lots of gold in that,

and it's definitely
well worth,

you know, the month and a half

of hauling [bleep]
just to get to pay.

[Heather] Yeah! Mat to wash!

Getting this first clean-up
from Vegas Valley done.

Exciting to see
what kind of gold
we get out of it.

See mats like that,
it's pretty promising.

It's a pretty decent picker.

[Rick] Everybody put up
their gold bonuses for this.

I mean, there it is.
It's right there in the box.

We got a long ways to go.

We just started
sluicing this stuff.

I mean, everything's gonna
be against us.

But that's what
we're looking for right there.

And all we got to do
is get that dirt

through the [bleep] plant,
and we're gonna have the gold.

And that's all that matters.

[intense music playing]

-[Brennan] Good morning.
-Mornin'.

-[Brennan] How's it going?
-It's going.

-How are you?
-I'm not bad.

Hi, everybody.

[Brennan] How's it going?

[narrator] It's the end
of a grueling week

of day and night shifts
for Kevin and his crew.

[Kevin] We've been able
to keep going 24s,

and like if we really want
to hit 1,000 ounces,

that is what we're gonna
have to keep doing

pretty much till the end
of the season.

You still got the Beets blood
in you, don't ya? [chuckles]

I make it work
some [bleep] how.

[narrator] Kevin and Faith
spent $2,000,000
on startup costs,

and still need nearly
a million dollars in gold
to break even.

We've been running
the links... extension bay,

Even with
the little excitement
Hunter and Rick had

with the load
we've been able to suck,

they managed
to keep the plant going, so...

[Brennan] Look at that jar's
full to the brim, so...

So obviously, like,
we've hit something good.

Hopefully,
that's bumped us up.

-Way up somebody's [bleep].
-[Faith] Let's go.

[narrator] To hit
their 1,000-ounce goal,

they must hit


Fifty, 60, 100, 130,





[Brennan] That's awesome.

That's your biggest one yet
this year.

It's not quite double,
but it does look like

the extension
has been paying out.

It's a lot better than what
we've been getting previous.

But wait, there's more.

[Kevin] There's more?

-[Brennan] Ooh!
What are those?
-Nuggets?

[Brennan] Oh, the nuggies!

[Kevin] Holy [bleep]

[Faith] You wanna just
pour it out, Brennan?

-[gold clinking]
-Ooh!

At 4.14 ounces.

[narrator] The nuggets tipped
their weekly haul
to 209.72 ounces,

worth over
half a million dollars.

Bringing their season total
to 680 ounces.

-[Brennan bleeps] Yeah.
-Yeah.

-[Brennan] Beautiful.
I love that.
-That's not bad at all.

Doesn't feel too bad
to actually hit 1,000 now.

That's what,
just over 300 ounces?

We're not out
of the woods yet.

We really need to push
for these last few weeks.

All right. I wanna find
that next couple


-[Faith] Thank you.
-[Brennan] You bet.

Will talk to you guys later.

[Kevin] That's our
biggest clean-up yet.

It was nice to see that
we were able to pull it out
of the link's extension.

Yeah, the nuggies were
a nice little addition,

so we're well
on our [bleep] way, but...

can't rest now. We still got
a long way to 1,000 ounces.

[intense music playing]

-[woman] Hi, guys.
-Hi.

[Minnie]
Nice to see you, Greg.

[Greg] Yeah. Good to see you.

Where you been?

-[Minnie] On the hill
with Mike.
-Oh.

Sure. We'll go with that.

[Minnie] Well,
that's a little debatable.
[laughs]

-[all exclaiming]
-[Tony speaking]

[narrator] For the first time
in seven weeks,

the Beets family finally
has gold coming in
at their Indian River claim.

[Greg] How's things
on the hill, Mike?

Good. Running every day.

How about you, Greg?

Well, dredge is up,
running and working just fine.

Well, we had a little hiccup.

-[Greg] Just had
a little list.
-Like, pit at 2:00 a.m., or...

Half the boat was under water
and half was floating.

How's that?

Yeah.

[Greg] That's right.

[narrator] To hit
their 5,000-ounce target,

the Beets still need
nearly 1,000 ounces.

Yeah. It'd be nice. Uh-huh.

[narrator]
The dredge ran for three days
and should deliver 35 ounces.

[Greg] Let's do it.

Five.

Ten.

Twenty.

Thirty.


she comes out to be.

[narrator] Putting $83,000
in the bank.

Yeah. Right.

-You ready, Mike?
-Yeah.

-[narrator] Next up...
- Greg] Ten...

...Mike's Paradise Hill
trommel,

which has been averaging








[narrator] Worth nearly
half a million dollars,

taking the Beets' season total
to 4,363 ounces.

-[Minnie] Good job, Michael.
-Yeah.

Seven 12-hour shifts,
it generally does add up.

[Greg] I'm not making
any money sitting here, guys.

-[Tony speaking]
-[Minnie] Later, guys.

[Minnie] So it's nice
to see something
out of the dredge.

[Tony speaking]

Anyway, we'll do our best
to get these other
two plants rolling.

You are here
with a lot of people,

and there's not a lot
coming out here.

It doesn't spoil,
so at some point--

That's not the point.

Right now, we're spending
a lot of money here.

Time's getting
a little shorter, too.

We need to get some revenue.

Okay, okay.
I get it. I get it.

Later, missy.

Later, boy.