15x27 - When It All Changes: Gold Rush Special

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music playing]

[Parker] In this business,
you grow or you die.

[narrator] Since 1896,
prospectors have flocked
to the Klondike gold fields

with dreams
of striking it rich.

[Parker] History is full
of miners who made a lot
of money and lost it all.

I'm super nervous.

[narrator] Parker Schnabel
came to the Yukon

on the hunt for gold
when he was just 18 years old.

After years of fighting
to establish a foothold,

now, at the age of 28,

he's made the biggest gamble
of his career.

We spent $15 million
on Dominion.

It's a steep price,
but it's a huge
block of ground.

Not only is there
a ton of ground,
but it's richer.

[narrator]
In a blockbuster deal,

Parker has gone all in
and acquired one of
the last big pieces

of ground available
in the Klondike.

Dominion Creek.

[Parker] After 10 years
on the Indian River,
we're done there.

The license is over.

We're moving our yard
and our camp over to Dominion.

[Tyson] Come on, Jarvis.

It's time to move
to our new home.

-[beeping]
-[metal shifting]

[Jordan] All right.
Let's go trucking.

[narrator] 10 miles northeast
of his old claims,

Dominion Creek covers
roughly 7,500 acres,

an area half the size
of Manhattan,

potentially holding
up to 80,000 ounces of gold

worth $160 million.

Parker is now one of
the largest landowners
in the Klondike.

But the $15 million price tag
could wipe him out
before he even begins.

[Parker] It's like
buying a boat.

Like, if you can barely
afford to buy the boat,

you shouldn't have a boat.

Right?

And if you can barely afford
to buy a gold mine,

you shouldn't have
a gold mine. [chuckling]

And I can barely afford to.

We're moving 10 years-worth
of mining operation

in record time.

[adventurous music playing]

This is getting pretty soft.

Yeah, gonna need a push.

[metal whining]

[tires whirring]

Yeah. Push, push.

Yeah, it's going

[narrator] With the majority
of his cash spent
on buying the claim,

Parker needs to get gold
out of the ground immediately
to stay afloat.

What's happening?

I'm trying to figure out
what the best...

Way of dealing with
[chuckles] all of this is.

This property has taken out
a few people,

and nobody has really
come out of it very far ahead.

And you're looking at


[Mitch] Oh wow.

And we're gonna have to have
a lot of work done

before we're washing any rocks
and making any money.

So I think that, like,
just like, step one

is to just get those
cuts down to gravel

or something
that will start falling.

-Right?
-Yeah.

Do you have a rough idea
of how much
you need to pull out

or would like to pull
out of the ground

to kind of
keep things floating?

Like, to not
be totally screwed,

we need to do 5,000 ounces
this season.

And so, where that comes from,
I don't really know.

[narrator] 5,000 ounces
would cover Parker's costs
and the payments for Dominion.

But to reach the pay layer,

he needs to remove 40 feet
of worthless overburden.

[Parker] If you start
thinking about all of it,

that's an overwhelming
amount of work.

-Just put on
those horse blinders.
-[Mitch] Yep.

-All right. Thanks, guys.
-[Mitch] Thanks, man.

-[Tyson] Let's go do it.
-Yeah.

All right, let's see
what this place is all about.

Let's get ready
to move some dirt.

[Tyson] I don't know
what you're thinking, Mitch,

but, man,
this is some deep ground.

It's gonna take a little bit
for us to get this
out of here.

It doesn't seem that bad
when you're just looking at it
on paper.

But once you come out here
and start moving this dirt,

it's a long way to the bottom.

It's not gonna be easy.

We're in the money pit
right now here

because we're gonna
spend a whole bunch

before we ever see anything
come out of this.

[narrator] To offset
Dominion's stripping costs,

Parker needs to find
a quick stash of gold.

It's a precarious situation
we're in at the moment.

We're going to run out
of money in about
eight to ten weeks.

I think the only way we can
kind of get over this hump

is to sluice
a bunch of tailings

and see
if there's any gold in it.

[narrator] Gold and tailings
from previous miners...

Right there is fine.

...could buy Parker
the time needed to unlock

Dominion Creek's $160 million
treasure chest.

That is Gold Run,
which was a super rich creek,

and where it dumped
into Dominion

I'm guessing was,
you know, in this area
right here.

I think there's gonna be
a bunch of gold
in the tailings.

If there is, it's great
because there's no stripping,
they're thawed.

And we need to get
some money coming in

because we're going to be
broke very soon.

[narrator] To see
if there's enough gold
to sluice,

Parker runs a test yard
of tailings
through a mini trommel.

So if we run a yard,
we need to get 155 milligrams,

-[Mitch] 40 buckets?
-40 buckets.

Holy cow! We're flying!

-[Parker] Last one?
-Last one.

We're going to go
pan her down, weigh it up,
see what we've got.

[narrator] For the test,
Parker wants to see

at least 155 milligrams
of gold

to know the tailings
are good enough to process.



That means it sucks.

[man] Right.

It's so annoying.

[narrator] Parker needs
a new plan fast,

or his dreams of $160 million
worth of gold will be over
before he's begun.

Anytime anybody says,
"Oh, so and so has
so much money.

They couldn't even
spend it all."

I'm like... [chuckles]

Does he want
to buy a gold mine?

[majestic music playing]

[Rick] I made the long trek
from Wisconsin right now,

and at the moment I'm up
in the gold fields.

I've been gone a year.
I had to take a year off.

[narrator] Rick Ness
has been MIA
after his life fell apart.

Now, he's back.

[Rick] There was just
a lot of turmoil.

A lot of, you know,
mental things just,

you know, a lot of things
I wasn't paying attention to

just kind of came
crashing down on me
all at once.

[narrator] Rick needs
a big payday
to get his life back on track.

[Rick] I need 1,000 ounces
of [bleep] to make
everything work.

Once I had clarity,
you know, I got
my [bleep] together.

And now-- Now finally,
I'm up here,

and I know what the [bleep]
has to be done.

[Zee] There he is.

[bleep] made it.

[narrator]
During his year away,

most of Rick's old crew
have moved on,

except for hometown buddy,
Zee Zaremba.

-To Keno.
-Keno or bust.

So last May,
when I was over there,

you were thinking about
going up, and you ended up
not going up, eh?

[Rick] Yeah, yeah,
I was leading the game,

and I just-- I just
was not prepared.

Prepared for mining
or prepared for life?

[heavy exhale]

Yeah, prepared for
pretty much anything.

I mean, it's...
A lot of things fell apart,
you know.

Being totally open and honest,
you know, I just didn't have
the energy to do anything.

And you know, I was doing
a little [bleep]

you know, cocaine
to try and get [bleep] gold.

-Yeah.
-[Rick] Surprise, surprise,
that didn't work.

You know, that ain't me now.

Like, I ain't going down
that path anymore.

All this stuff like,
there's something
that started it.

You know,
like, the depression.

You know, I lost my mom and--
And everything went to [bleep]
after that.

[somber music playing]

I mean, I held her as she died
in the house,

and we-- We brought her
out of the house
and I locked the door.

Okay? I didn't go up there
for five years.

I ignored it, you know.
I ignored it. I pushed it out.

Like, I don't want
to go up there.

So...

So, um...

Yeah, just give me a second.

But, you know,
I was pretty solid

going in to deal with it,
and-- And I did.

I went up there
[voice wavering] and got
all the pictures and...

[clears throat]

Well, I got everything I need,
you know, to remind me of her.

And then, I sold her house.

You know what I mean?
It's just a house.

That's not her. Yeah.

It felt really good
to do that,

you know what I mean,
so-- It did.

I mean,
that was the turning point.

You know, it was like my mom
was helping me out again.

You know,
I sold her house, and--

And that was the money
I needed to--
To get back up here.

-You know, to get going again.
-Right.

[groans] It is--

-Well, let's do this.
Let's do her proud.
-Yeah. [chuckles]

That's why I'm here.

[melancholic music playing]

-Huh.
-Oh boy.

[Zee] I need snowshoes
so I don't go through.

[narrator] Rick's first step
to jumpstart his comeback,

get his equipment
up and running.

[Rick] There she is, buddy.

Monster Red.
Right where I left her.

[Zee] Did you think
it would move?

You never know.

The [bleep] is hitting me now.

I appreciate you
coming up this year,

especially just to get me
started like this.

-I appreciate it, buddy.
-Yeah, no problem.

[Rick] Yeah, it almost
feels like I never left.

We could start it up
right now.

[narrator] Rick and Zee
work all week

to get
his operations sluicing.

-It's in.
-She's in.

[engine starts]

We're gonna run
some [bleep] dirt
and get some gold.

The nugget sluice is raging,
sluice boxes are even.

-Let's put some power to it.
-[button clicks]

-[machinery whirring]
-[rattling]

Ah, isn't that smooth?
Smooth, smooth, smooth.

[bleep] yeah.

I hope you don't mind,
but I'm gonna take
the first few scoops in.

That's fine. I'll watch.

[Rick] Holy [bleep]

Whoa Nelly.

[narrator] Rick loads
stockpiled pay dirt
into Monster Red.

First scoop is in, boys!

[Zee] Rick is probably
the most motivated

that I've seen him,
which is great.

This is old Rick,
but with, you know,
a new outlook.

[narrator] After running
several hours...

[machine powers down]

...Rick shuts down
to check for gold.

[Zee] How's she looking?

[Rick] It's really tough
to see this box.

-[Zee] Hey. Hey, hey.
There's some here.
-Is there?

-[Zee] Yeah, yeah.
-[Rick] No [bleep] way.

-Oh yeah.
-In the left.

-[Rick] Look at that [bleep]
-[Zee chuckling]

Look-- Look at that.

[chuckles]

[Rick] It ain't that big,
but it's definitely a picker.

[Zee] Nice.

[Rick] Who else has got a gold
in the box right now?

This is huge, man.
I'm proud of you.

Oh [bleep]. Thanks, man.

-Seriously. It just holds
more weight this year.
-[Rick] Oh yeah.

[narrator]
Rick's one step closer

to getting his life
back on track.

[Rick] It means
a hell of a lot

just to get started
like this, and...

You know, it's emotional
for me at the moment,
just from--

You know, what I did,
what I had to do
to get back here.

And this is just the start.

We got a lot of gold
to get yet

before we hit


[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
King of the Klondike,
Tony Beets, is determined

to expand one of the biggest
mining empires in the Yukon.

[Tony]

[narrator] 6,000 ounces
would be more gold

than he's ever mined
in a season.

[Tony]

[Mike] If my dad
were to croak, I'd be the one

to take over operations here.

I'm sure T. Beets has always
kind of had it in his head

that he was gonna to pass
this business on to his kids.

It's kind of what
he's been training us to do
for the last 20-odd years.

We didn't really get a chance
to explore other things
we might like.

[narrator]
To hit his ambitious target,

Tony plans to open cuts
on Paradise Hill

and his 5,000-acre
Indian River claims.

Tony starts by having
daughter Monica

and youngest son Mike
lead the stripping
on Paradise Hill.

But oldest son, Kevin,
has decided
not to mine this season.

[Tony]

[machinery rumbling]

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] After eight weeks
of stripping at Paradise Hill,
and zero gold,

Tony pivots and moves everyone
to his Indian River claim.

[man on radio]

[narrator] The Indian holds
Tony's best and biggest gold
with cuts ready to sluice.

[Tony]

[narrator] But without
his chief mechanic,

starting up the second claim
is a huge gamble.

-[machines rumbling]
-[Mike groans]

[Tony]

[wheel squeaking]

[Monica] Here we go.
First bucket of the season.

[narrator] For the first time
in four years...

[Tony]

...the Beets are sluicing
Indian River paydirt.

[rumbling]

[loud metal crashing]

[Tony]

[machine powering down]

[Monica] For [bleep] sakes.

[narrator] The tailings
diverter has broken off

and crashed
into the sluice box,

blocking the riffles
from catching gold.

[Tony]

[narrator] To get back
on the gold,

the king jumps into action.

It's Tony who's got to fix
the [bleep] up, man.

That probably makes him
more pissed off

than the [bleep]
in the first place.

[Tony]

-[Monica] Yeah.
-[Tony]

We'll have to start sometime.

[machine powering up]

[narrator]
But four weeks later...

[crashing, rumbling]

[narrator] Tony's ancient
wash plant fails again.

[Tony]

-[Monica] No, it's not!
-[Tony]

[powering down]

[Monica] Steel's bent,
bent in half here,

plastic decking is gone.

So what do you think
about this 6,000 ounce gold?

Because I don't
see it happening.

[dramatic music playing]

[Parker] It has been
an outrageously
expensive spring,

and we've already spent
more this year

than we've ever spent
in a season.

The only hope is by throwing
everything we've got at this.

[narrator] Halfway
through the season,

Parker Schnabel's operation
is in big trouble.

The $15 million
Dominion purchase
has put him way into the red.

Going broke has to be
in the back
of all of our minds.

Nothing coming in,
everything going out.
We're going broke.

[narrator] With no gold
coming in,

stripping Dominion's


has stretched
Parker's finances
to the breaking point.

[Parker] We're gonna have
to come down here
to Ken and Stuart's here

to get a plant going
and get some money coming in.

[narrator] Desperate,
Parker opens up operations
on the Indian River

and on a new claim
at Australia Creek.

-[Parker] Coarse gold.
-[Mitch] Yeah, real coarse.

I like that.

[narrator] But he's brought in
just over 1,200 ounces.

-I just need a lot more of it.
-Yeah.

Anything less than


is gonna put us
in a pretty tight spot.

[narrator] Finally, 12 weeks
after buying Dominion,

its first cut
is ready to be sluiced.

That's pretty good
right there.

[machinery whirring]

[Tyson] So here we go.

The first fire up of Big Red
of the season.

[whirring increases]

[Mitch] So nice to have
Big Red finally fired up.

And if there's
any gold out here
in the money pit,

guaranteed this wash pan
will find it.

End of the week, we'll see
if there's any gold
in this thing.

We need it to be good.

[Mitch on radio]
The dam just blew.

Water is flowing out here
pretty quick.

[Patrick] That's not good.

That's a [bleep] ton of water.

That is not good.

[tense music playing]

[Patrick] When the dam
blew out,

the only place left
for the water to go

is a sump where our pump is.

And if we don't
get that pump safe,

then we're [bleep]
because that pump is--

The pump is the only pump
that will run this plant.

[narrator]
On Parker Schnabel's
Dominion Creek claim,

a burst dam threatens
to destroy Big Red's pump

and shut down gold production.

Hey, Kayden.
Just start hogging material.

We're trying to
rebuild that dam.

[Kayden on radio] Right on.

[Patrick] Walk, you [bleep]
piece of [bleep]

You can still see a gap
right where my bucket is.

That's where
the failure happened.

So we're just gonna shove
a bunch of dirt in there
and try to see if it'll stop.

Just want to really
seal that up good.

All right. Well, we need
to pack the [bleep] out of it.

Now it's just a matter
of Kayden shoving the rest
of the dirt in there.

I'm super sketchy right there.

Don't take this as a lack
of confidence in you,

but I want to do this
in case something goes wrong.

-Okay.
-It has nothing
to do with you.

It's really sketchy.

I don't want you to get hurt.

Sounds good.

I didn't really want
Kayden up here

because he doesn't have
a lot of time in dozers.

And if something bad happens,
there's not much you can do

in a dozer to save yourself.

I don't want to see
somebody get hurt.

Sketches me out a bit
because I'm right on the edge.

That's super [bleep] sketchy
right there.

I'm gonna end up
upside down in this pond.

All right. Well, we made it
a good ten feet wider.

See if that works.

[narrator] Parker has rebuilt
the dam stronger than before,

and Big Red hasn't missed
a beat.

We've raised the dam up

and tried to
kind of reinforce things.

I've done as best I can.

These are definitely not
headaches that we need.

But, hopefully...
hopefully, that's it.

Ready to see what a good round
at Dominion's all about here?

[Parker] This is really our
first proper run, isn't it?

[narrator] After a week of
running at Dominion,

Parker is about to get
the first true measurement

of how good the ground is.

[Parker] If it's 100 oz,
I'm gonna be upset, Chris.

So much riding on this.

[narrator]
For dominion to be viable,

he wants at least 230 oz.

Dominion money pit, 70...

Keep going. 100, 130,


Keep her going.


Can that scale go that high?

-Yeah, I'm pushing it.
-...340, 380, 410.55.

Thank [bleep].

It's smoking down there.

That's good ground.

That's relieving.

[narrator] To have any hope of
hitting his 5,000 oz target,

Parker must keep
his foot on the gas

for the rest of the season.

[Parker] This is a good start.

Yeah.

[Rick] I had to make
a lot of sacrifices

to be able to
come up here this year.

I had to get rid
of my mother's house

that I had inherited
after she passed.

My ma always knew
I was a risk-taker.

It was all...

It's always been
all or nothing with me.

I want to do more
than just hit our goal.

I want to smash it.

[narrator]


Rick Ness is barely keeping
his head above water.

[Rick] I need enough people
here to keep the plant going

while I make
our next moves for us.

-Buzz.
-Buzz, nice to meet you.

[narrator] After bringing on
new crew members...

First time ever on
a gold mine.

[Rick] I'm building a team,
and that's what
I'm most excited about.

Now all we need is the
ground with the gold in it.

[narrator] ...and mining
hot spots around his claim,

using his small plant,
Rocky...



That's half of
what I was expecting, so.

That's not very good.

[narrator] ... Rick has 552 oz
of his 1,000 oz goal

and is struggling
to keep up with payments

to his landowner, Troy Taylor.

[Rick] I know
we're running out of time.

The gold's coming.

I'll have everything I need
to pay you off.

[Troy]
I don't see gold coming in.

You're gonna lose the ground.

This is your
last [bleep] chance.

[Rick]
If we don't get 1,000 oz,

you know, it's likely that,
uh, I'm not coming back here.

You know the best gold
we're going to mine all year

is here in Rally Valley.

[narrator] In a bid to get
the gold he desperately needs,

Rick's digging deep
at Rally Valley,

where he believes
there's enough gold

to save his season.

[Rick]
We're going to get as much pay
out of here as we can,

try and run it all

before the winter
chases us out of here.

It's going to be a struggle.

The bottom line is we just
got to [bleep] fight hard.

[narrator] Before he fires up
his wash plant, Monster Red,

Rick's building a massive
stockpile of pay dirt.

I'm just gonna
run it down by bus

and get, uh, Monster Red
set up for the final push.

Yeah. I mean,
it's not the most ideal piece
of equipment to be running,

uh, but it's kind of
all we got right now.

[Zee] The last time I was in
a rock truck would have been
five years ago.

It's been a while.

No! No, no, no.

Oh, [bleep]!

[crashing]

What the [bleep]?

[Zee] What the [bleep]?

[Rick] What the [bleep]?

Get over to the tailings pond!
We're about to lose a truck.

[bleep]

[narrator] At Duncan Creek,

Zee is hanging
over a 20-foot drop-off

into a tailings pond.

-You all right?
-Yeah. I'll be fine.

[Rick] Just hang tight.

I don't like
that it's leaning like that.

I don't want that thing to tip
over into the [bleep] water.

[Rick] It's all good, buddy.

There you go.

We grabbed the
no-[bleep]-around chain...

[narrator] To rescue Zee...

-Yup. It's good.
-Here you go. Good!

...Buzz's excavator is chained
to the dangling truck.

If the heavy machine
slips off the soft bank,

it could take Zee and Buzz
down with it.

[Rick] Don't turn your wheel!

Straighten that
[bleep] wheel out!

Straighten the wheels!

[crashing]

[Rick] There we go.

[bleep]

[bleep]

-You all right, buddy?
You all right?
-Yeah. Yeah.

It could have been
a lot worse.

He's lucky.

That's a bad spot to be.

[narrator]
With the truck back in action,

the team stockpiles pay dirt
and fires up Monster Red.

It's a pretty pivotal
moment of the season.

I just wanna
turn this thing on.

-[man] Yeah!
-[woman] Hell yeah!

Let's do it, man.

It's running!

Basically, we're gonna get
one run at this.

And when we shut it off,

we're gonna have it
or we're not.

[narrator]
Still hundreds of ounces short
of his 1,000 oz goal,

Rick's comeback now hinges

on the results
of his final push.

[Rick] A lot of people didn't
think I'd be back at all,

but I've been
putting in the work.

I put together
a hell of a team.

All we gotta do
is finish this strong.

We're that [bleep] close.

Ah!

This season has been
bull [bleep].

[narrator]
Without chief mechanic Kevin,
Tony's operation is in chaos.

Where's all this
[bleep] water coming from?

[Minnie] We're 6,


[Tony speaking]

I know, but I can't pay
people with pay dirt, right?

[narrator] Kevin briefly
returns to help...

Hey, Tony.
You got a copy, Tony?

I mean, we could have
tested that a while ago.

Okay.

He's kind of running it
into the [bleep] ground.

[narrator] ...but soon leaves,

despite the offer
of his own mine site.

The problem is, I honestly
don't think I can trust

that you'll keep
your hands out of it.

[narrator]
To stop bleeding cash,

Tony returns to Paradise Hill.

I'd rather you didn't
film me crying.

[narrator] But the breakdowns
and setbacks continue.

And with winter threatening to
shut him down in just weeks,

Tony has
barely 2,000 oz total

and is on track
for his worst season ever.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
But there's no quitting
for the King of the Klondike.

[narrator] Tony's plan,

run four wash plants
in an all-out blitz

to end the season
with a massive gold haul.

[narrator] The crown jewel
of Tony's 4-wash-plant plan,

the dredge, requires
an experienced operator.

[Kevin] I'm back.

So we've been thinking
about Tony's offer.

The biggest thing is
going to be nailing down

what he's committing to.

[narrator] After taking
most of the season off,

Tony's oldest son, Kevin,

returns once again
to discuss his father's offer

to run his own operation
next season.

[Tony speaking]

We've given some more thought
to the Scribner offer.

So we kind of think
maybe trying to go with that.

Yeah, no, I think
we can make that work.

Okay, I'll go
get started with that.

There's the dredge.

Still as pretty as I remember.

Dredging is essentially
a lost art form.

Tony wanted me to help
run this for a little bit,

get the last few ounces
out of the ground

before end of season.

[narrator] Kevin has
five years' experience

running the dredge.

[Kevin] Everything looks
about the same.

Where is my power switch?

Oh. That sounds like it's on.

Okay. Ready?

Stacker on. Bada bing.

Trommel on.

Bada bing.

Bucket line.

We are dredging.

I ain't even going fast yet.
[makes speeding sound]

[narrator] The bucket line
dredge can be operated

by just two crew members,
allowing Tony to focus

on his three other
working wash plants.

[Kevin]
Tony has never run the dredge.

I don't think he could,
honestly.

It's too much patience.

Oh, you should not be
on high anymore.

Slow it [bleep] down, bud.

[banging]

Oh, [bleep]!

Ah, [bleep]!

Bucket line came off.

Yep, it's [bleep].

Oh, [bleep].

Argh.

Hey, Tony.
You got a copy, Tony?

Yeah, the bucket line
came off.

[narrator] Kevin has thrown
the dredge's 34-ton
bucket line off its track.

If not fixed quickly,

the breakdown could cost Tony
the sluice time needed

to hit his goal.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] I think I was a little
greedy when I was digging,

so it must have caught
the bottom of the bucket line
and knocked it off.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
Tony will use a D8 dozer
to pull on the bucket line,

then lift it with an excavator
back into place.

Like, what did you do?

I'm impressed.

Well, let's go.

[narrator]
Bucket line repaired,

for the first time ever,

Tony has four wash plants
running simultaneously,

the dredge, two shaker decks,
and the trommel at Paradise.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
Tony is still miles off from
his new 2,500-oz goal,

but with Kevin's help,
the 4-plant blitz

is the Beets' last shot
at saving their season.

[Tony speaking]

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, it's been good.

[narrator] At Dominion Creek,

Tony Beets visits his former
protege's new kingdom.

Thanks, Tony.

Yeah, it's been
quite the journey.

And I know you and I
have fought-- had our fights--

But that's one thing
about this

is we don't see
each other much anymore.

[laughing] I'm not 22.

[laughing]

I'm 29.

Whoo, she's frosty.

Winter has arrived.

[narrator] In the final hours
of the mining season...

[Rick]
It's like the end of a battle,

but we don't know
if we won yet.

[narrator] ...it's a fight
to the bitter end...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...until winter
shuts them down.

That pump is
not liking the cold.

At this point, you're
starting to burn more money

than you're gonna be making.

[Minnie]
Hi, guys. How are you?

[Monica] Hello.

[narrator] After Tony's
desperate 4-plant gambit

to hit his 2,500-oz goal,

the Beets family gather
for the moment of truth.

-Thank goodness.
-Yeah.

[narrator] First up,
gold from the Indian River,

starting with the dredge.



Not too bad.

[narrator]
Next, the shaker deck.





Here's Sluice-A-Lot.

[grunts]

All right, let's go.

[narrator] Tony's third plant,
Sir Sluice-A-Lot.



[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Finally, gold from
the trommel at Paradise Hill.

[Mike] 310...



So you're looking at roughly


[Tony speaking]

[Kevin]
That's pretty [bleep] good.

[all] Yeah.

[narrator]
The Beets family deliver their
biggest haul of the season,

bringing Tony's total
to 3,054 oz,

worth over $6 million.

I'll be happy to have you
back in the Yukon, brother.

-Same.
-You love us?

[Minnie]
Did I just hear that right?

I can be cheesy, too.

Nice fire.

Uh, nice briefcase.

[all slow-clapping]

[Rick laughs]
Oh, yeah, here we go.

Look at me.
I'm a businessman.

[narrator] It's judgment day
for Rick Ness.

I knew you guys
would make fun of me.

That's why
I brought it out here.

[narrator] Rick is still
nearly 200 oz short

of his 1,000-oz goal.

It's wildly stressful
waiting to find out

if you're gonna make it back.

-And, um...
-Did we?

I think it's close.

We'll pour out Rocky first.

[narrator] To hit his target,

Rick bet everything on
Rally Valley,

running two wash plants
in his final week.

First up, the gold from
wash plant Rocky.





-[Rick] A little shy.
-[crew] Yeah.

[narrator] Now,
it's all up to Monster Red.

I will tell you this.

It was a good clean-out,

and, um, I did take
the first 100 oz out of it.

[man chuckles]

That was a-- that's 100 oz
right there out of my--

-Yeah.
-[man] We just need 25 more.

-[woman] Oh, my gosh.
-50, 20, 25...

I can't even count that fast.


-What?
-Yeah!

-[woman] Yes!
-[man] [bleep] yeah!

[man 2] Hell, yeah, guys.

Oh, [bleep], he's got more!

-[Rick] More gold.
-[bleep] more!

[Rick] That's some beautiful
stuff right there, guys.

[woman] No way!

[all cheering]

Yeah, there's nuggets, too.

[all exclaiming]

-[bleep]
-That looks good, man.

So, yeah. Well, I have 30.17
of just the coarse gold.

[all cheering]

[narrator]
Rick's Gamble has paid off,

delivering a total
of 301.7 oz,

completing his comeback
to hit a total of 1125.7 oz,

worth $2.25 million.

We did it.

We did it.

[exhales] I feel great.

I can look
towards the future now,

and like... it's real.

[excited chatter]

I'm back. Yeah, I'm back.

[bleep]

[clears throat]

[bleep]

Where's the beer at?

[Chris]
Yeah, knock yourself out.

[narrator] Six months
after gambling $15 million

to purchase Dominion Creek,

Parker Schnabel enters
his final gold weigh,

on the brink
of breaking 7,000 oz,


at the start of the season.

All right, what we got?

Here we go.

[man] We've got 40, 80, 140,



We have 300 even.

And we've got two jars here.

[Chris] Here we go.

[man] Let's see.

We've got 50, 150, 180,





[narrator]
A total of 554.35 oz,

worth over $1.1 million.

That's nuts.

Well, you threw
a 5,000-oz goal at us.

You nailed that.

Our season total
is 7,381.1 for the season.

[narrator] Averaging over
from the money pit,

Parker has nearly covered
the $15 million purchase price
of Dominion Creek

in just one season.

[Chris] I'm beyond happy.

Thank you
for getting us a home.

-The final total was 70...
-7,381.

[all cheering and applauding]

It sets us up so well
for the next few years.

I really want
to thank you all.

And I mean it from
the bottom of my heart.

And I hope that every one of
you guys wants to come back,

because every one of you guys
has a spot here next year.

[narrator] Parker can now
turn his sights

on to the ultimate prize,

unearthing
the $150 million in gold

believed to still be
in the ground at Dominion.

[Parker] We started out
in such a precarious position
with ground,

and it looks like this
purchase was worth it.

I'm really relieved.

We have an unreal project

with an
unreal group of people.

We're in a really good place
for the future.