10x12 - Bigger & Badder

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
now on "bering sea gold"...

...a new era dawns
in nome, alaska.

Two titans square off to
revolutionize mining with bigger

And badder
gold-grabbing machines.

Every ounce now counts
more than ever before.

Narrator: shawn pomrenke,
a self-made miner...

Shawn: maybe we'll get
some nuggets today.

Narrator: ...who's
sacrificing blood...

[ Groans ]

...sweat...

Oh, [bleep]...

...and tears...

[ Groans ]

...to build
an unstoppable dredge

Of record-breaking
size and power.

Shawn:
I'm gonna remind everybody
why they call me mr. Gold.

Yee-haw!

Narrator:
and outlaw miner ken kerr...

Yeah, we're digging!

I'm the best gold miner
nome's ever seen.

...who's built the largest
dredge in nome...

They'll be calling me
mr. Gold.

He's gonna lose that title.

...and wants the top spot
for himself.

Whew.

Get ready for the inside
scoop as shawn

And ken dish the pay dirt...

Ken's definitely the guy
that shoots first,

And then asks questions later.

Ken: here we go!

Narrator:
and reveals secrets
of pomrenke mining

Through never-before-seen
footage.

When you're gonna have
a conversation,

Always have a big rock
in your hand,

In case it don't go
your way.

All leading up to
a shocking confrontation

When nome's two top miners
come face-to-face.

I'm gonna make you an offer.

♪♪

[ Water rushing ]

♪♪

Since 1899, over 3.6 million
ounces of gold have been pulled

From the rich earth
of nome, alaska.

But miners have only scratched
the surface, until now.

You can run, but you can't hide.

Narrator: with bigger tools
comes bigger gold,

And every ounce
someone else pulls out

Is an ounce you'll never get.

It's a constant battle to stay
ahead of the competition.

I think you're [bleep]
with me.

Because there's only so
much room at the top,

And whoever gets
the gold first wins.

♪♪

[ Birds squawking ]

Shawn: maybe we'll get
some nuggets today.

Narrator:
when it comes to modern-day
gold mining in nome,

One man has been running
at the head of the pack

For so long,

He's known simply
as mr. Gold.

Christine rose is
a gold-getting machine.

First year we started
mining was dad and i.


Been mining in nome.

-2102.5.
-Wow.

If somebody can beat that,
they can kiss my butt.

Pomrenkes are a part of nome.

A lot of fires burning to keep
this christine rose working.

It's the number-one priority.

Narrator: the key to the 25-year
pomrenke dynasty

Has been their 80-ton
excavator barge,

The christine rose.

Shawn: the christine rose is
the main piece of equipment.

Without the christine rose,
we wouldn't have a company.

We'd still be diving
and sucking up peanuts.

Narrator:
but now, after over 100
years of mining...

Shawn:
all the easy stuff is gone.

...the gold-rich spots close to
nome are quickly drying up.

♪♪

And nome's first-ever
excavator barge

Is quickly going from
game-changer to dinosaur.

Shawn:
the ground that is ounce-an-hour
that we need to keep

The doors open
on the christine rose

Is getting harder to find.

The christine rose is doing
very well this year,

But will it do
very well next year?

I'm not sure.

Narrator:
but the man who built nome's

Most successful
gold-mining operation

Isn't going down
without a fight.

If you don't keep up with
the times, with the technology,

You're gonna
get left in the dust.

Narrator: shawn's plan --

Replace the christine rose
with a machine bigger

And more powerful than
anything that's come before.

Shawn: we're as deep as
the christine rose can dig.

The ground that the
christine rose can't reach

Has a ton of gold in it.

That's why I'm building
the mega dredge.

Hopefully, there's a nice, big,
fat pay streak underneath us.

Everybody's been working
the icing on top of the cake,

But it's a double-layer cake.

There's more icing down below.

But nobody's ever figured out

How to get to
that icing down below.

And that's what I'm gonna do.

Narrator: for decades, miners
have recovered gold

From the sea floor in relatively
shallow water 10 feet or less.

Every ounce now counts
more than ever before.

Narrator: but mr. Gold believes
there's more to be found

Both further offshore
and deeper in the earth --

Up to 30 feet below
the ocean bottom.

There ain't much left
on the top,

And that's okay because there's
a whole bunch of good cake

Underneath there
that I'm gonna eat.

There's hundreds of thousands
of ounces left in this ocean.

♪♪

Now we're just gonna dig it up,
put it in the sluice box.

There's a lifetime of gold
left in that ocean.

With the mega dredge,

I'll be able to mine
the rest of my life.

Narrator:
but shawn's mega-dreams
will cost mega-bucks.

And to get there, team pomrenke
is hoping that old work horse,

The christine rose,

Has enough left in the tank
for one last rodeo.

The only way we're gonna fund it
is by piling up the gold.

Narrator:
while shawn has visions of
a massive excavator dredge

Securing the future
of pomrenke mining...

Ken: keep going.

Keep going.

Yeah.

Narrator:
...a powerful new rival
is on the scene...

Ken: keep going.

Narrator: ...ready to show shawn
and every other miner in nome

That the future is already here,

And it goes by
the name myrtle irene.

We should be the biggest
dredge in nome

Once this goes in the water.

Ken: we can dig where the
christine rose can't dig.

We can go in a lot deeper water.

They just drool
over where we can dig.

Dream of it.

Shawn dreams of the day
he can go out where we go.

[ Laughs ]

Hey, let's go
ahead another five feet.

Narrator:
the myrtle irene may sound like
your grandma's mahjong partner,

But don't let the name fool you.

Ken:
the myrtle irene's gonna blow
everybody out of the water.

Period, bar none.

We're gonna dig all the gold
in nome with it.

Narrator: this 135-foot-long,


Is the biggest excavator
barge on the bering sea.

It boasts two 50-foot-long,


Giant spikes that
extend below the hull

To anchor the monster
barge in place.

The excavator arm commands
a five-yard bucket

That can move enough pay dirt
in a 10-hour shift

To fill an olympic-sized
swimming pool.

That's six times more material
than any other barge in nome.

Ken: check all the bags!
Get 'em all going!

Make sure they all got air!

Narrator:
owner and operator ken kerr
is on a mission

To prove there's
a new top dog in town.

Ken:
between me and shawn, I'm a
way better miner than he is.

Worked in oil fields
and took my kids out mining

And dredging in
the rivers of california.

My dream the whole time
is to go to alaska,

So built a dredge
and went up to nome.

Me and my son dredged, like,
five days and did 120 ounces.

Ever since then, we liked nome.

We've been there ever since.

Nine years.

Narrator:
as the myrtle makes her way
into the water

And the record books...

Shawn:
another huge dredge in town.

I want to take a drive
out there and see it.

Narrator: ...mr. Gold himself
can't resist a chance

To size up the competition.

Shawn: wow.

Ken's definitely the guy
that shoots first,

And then asks questions later.

The more you know,
the more you're worth.

I'm gonna go learn
a little something.

You never know what to expect.

He's definitely a cowboy.

♪♪

Oh, are you [bleep] kidding me?

Oh, it's a big dredge.

I mean, you see the myrtle irene
go out there...

Oh, [bleep],
I mean, yeah.

It's gonna lose some dirt, but
everything's gotta work right,

And everything's gotta work
together to make a good dredge.

Just hope he doesn't
figure it out

Before the end of next season.

[ Chuckles ]

♪♪

How's this going?

We're rolling in.

-How deep can you dig?
-30.



Yeah, we can go
into 30 feet.

♪♪

Shawn: they're a lot further
along than I am.

It frustrates me because
if I had that money,

I'd have my dredge
built already,

But I'll show him how it's done.

Narrator:
shawn may be determined
to build a mega dredge,

But it's not just ken kerr
he's up against.

Steve: we're here.

Narrator:
back when shawn first forked
over the cash to buy the barge

That'll form the base
of his dream dredge...

For a barge.
For a barge.

Even his father, steve,
cast doubt on the plan.

This thing is massive.

Shawn:
my relationship with my dad,
same as it's always been.

Next to none.

How does it look up there?

How does that deck look?

A little rusty, but we're used
to old, rusty junk, aren't we?

I hate to spend 200,000 bucks
for a pile of rusty steel.

I mean,
we're in business together,

So we have to put up
with each other.

But at the end of the day, yeah.

It is what it is.

We don't...

We just don't get along.

Think of the stress that comes
along with something this big.

Usually with more stress
comes more profit, so --

Is everything gonna be perfect?

Hell, no.

Is there gonna be
some issues to work out?

Absolutely.

There ain't no stopping
at this point.

If I stop now, it could --
it'd be the end of my --

End of my business,
end of my career.

I'm going to make this thing
happen one way or another.

Man, I see the potential
of mining that ocean,

And I think we could do


First place is the only
person that wins in gold.

-Coming up...
-Dig, boy, dig!

Narrator: the rivals dig in.

Shawn:
makes all these other dredges
look like child's play.

Narrator:
and later, shawn and ken
come face-to-face

In a never-before-seen showdown.

Shawn:
there's a lifetime of gold
left in that ocean.

Narrator: captain shawn pomrenke
has spent 25 years

As the undisputed king
of gold mining in nome.

Shawn: the deeper you can go,

The longer you'll be
able to stay out

And make a living mining.

Narrator:
but rival ken kerr is coming to
take the crown with his 600-ton

Bering sea beast.

It is a numbers game.
It's a yardage game.

I mean, in the end, it's also --

You gotta know
how to get the gold.

That barge of ours
looks like the --

Almost just like
the christine rose.

Except just three times bigger.

Narrator: every ounce pulled
from the ocean

Is an ounce the other
will never get,

So victory goes to the
first miner to get the gold.

Every day he's ut there,
the less gold

That there's gonna be
for my dredge to mine.

Narrator: shawn's plan to keep
his place at the top

Is to face ken head-on

By building his own massive


Shawn:
it's been a lifetime of hard
work to get to this point.

A lot of sacrifice and time
with my kids and family.

But hopefully, it'll all --
it's all --

Not hopefully.
It will all pay off.

Here's the new barge, boys.

Narrator:
more than the biggest gold-
getting machine on the water,

The mega dredge will also be

Shawn's chance to leave
a family legacy that sons

Dylan and luke
can carry into the future.

What do you think?
I like it.

-You like it?
-Uh-huh.

Shawn:
definitely makes all these
other dredges

Look like little child's play.

Dylan: yeah.
That's for sure.

Luke's probably a little
too young

To realize what it's all about,

But dylan, he's starting
to come around.

I want to leave 'em
something behind that

They can be proud
of being a part of.

I want to leave something that
will last a lot longer

Than just my lifetime.

I want it to last through
their lifetime, too.

Narrator:
but with thousands of hours
of labor ahead,

The mega dredge is still
a little more than a dream.

Shawn: we got a mountain of work
to do, but it'll happen.

Bye!

Once I get this thing all done,

It'll be the biggest dredge
in nome, by far.

Narrator:
while shawn and the boys
see nothing

But a bright future ahead...

That's shawn's idea.

The bigger the barge, the more
you can work in heavy weather.

Well, I pretty much disagree.

Narrator:
...steve pomrenke's not
so convinced that size matters.

Steve: he's just asking for
nothing but disaster.

He wasn't involved in the bima
like I was involved in the bima.

Narrator: as seen in this
never-before-aired footage,

From the largest dredge
to ever mine in nome, the bima.

Steve: back in the late '80s,

There was a big bucket
line dredge that came in.

The name of it was the bima.

It was 14 stories tall, I think,
and it was huge and humongous,

And it had huge
and humongous problems

When it tried to work out
in the bering sea

Here when the weather
came up bad.

Narrator:
the bima was originally
built to mine tin

Off the shores of malaysia.

But it was brought
up to nome in 1986.

Like a 14-story
floating factory,

The bima used a bucket
line system

To scoop up pay dirt
from the sea floor

And sift out the gold.

Despite pulling 130,000 ounces,
worth about $50 million

At the time,
the high cost of operating

And maintaining the dredge
caused the backers to go bust.

And in 1990, the massive bima
was shut down

And sold for scrap.

Steve:
that's what shawn's thinking,

And I think
he's maybe chewing off

A little bit
more than what he can eat.

Narrator:
despite the cautionary tale of

Nome's last supersized
mining operation...

Ken: all right,
we're looking good now.

Narrator:
...captain ken kerr
is convinced the size

Of the myrtle irene
will make all the difference.

Whoo-hoo!

Yeah, we're digging!

We're digging,
digging, digging.

Ken: the more ground you move
and dig up, technically,

The more gold you should
have in the box.

And with a big piece
of equipment like that, all --

All signs and all things say
you should do real well with it.

So that's the idea
to get more gold.

There's never enough.

I don't care if we did
a million ounces.

It wouldn't be enough.

[ Laughs ]

I guess gold miners
are greedy, right?

Dig, dig, boy, dig!

♪♪

Come on, baby.
Find some gold.

♪♪

That bucket probably,
an eighth of an ounce.

We do an eighth
of an ounce per bucket,

We do a bucket every minute and
ten seconds, we're making gold.

Narrator: but just like the bima
over 30 years ago, captain ken's

Myrtle irene is proving
the bigger the dredge,

The bigger the problems.

[ Clanging ]

Holy [bleep]!

♪♪

Shut down
so we can check it out.

We got chunks of gear missing.

See the two teeth
missing right here?

That destroyed it.

Every time we turn around,
something was broke.

We got most of the bugs
worked out.

We got a few more bugs
to work out of it,

But we're burning
nothing but money.

Back to the harbor we go.

Just got on a really
good spot, too, here.

Narrator: with the myrtle irene
stumbling out of the gate,

Shawn takes an early lead
in the gold count.

Ken: I think we're somewhere
around $6 million

Invested into the myrtle irene.

A ton of money, so we got
our work cut out for us.

The gold's in the ground.
You just gotta get it.

-Coming up...
-See anything?

Narrator: captain ken hits
the comeback trail.

All right.

♪ Getting the money now ♪

Narrator:
and a never-before-seen look

Behind the curtain

Of the pomrenke empire.

Shawn: we're gonna make
this thing happen.

♪♪

Narrator: in nome...

Ken:
nome has never seen a dredge
like the myrtle irene.

Narrator:
captain ken kerr is rocking
the gold-mining fleet

With the largest excavator barge
the bering sea has ever seen.

Definitely gonna show
the competition

That they're not
competition at all.

Narrator:
but the monster dredge stumbled
out of the starting gate.

Man: we got chunks
of gear missing.

See the two teeth
missing right here?

That destroyed it.

And the current king
of the hill,

The man they call mr. Gold,

Isn't giving up
his crown without a fight.

I've been mining in the bering
sea basically my whole life.

I have $2,500 on the bottom.

I know where the gold's hiding.

All these guys that want
to be gold miners come up

And think that they're gonna do
as good as the pomrenkes.

Well, you got a lot to learn.

This is the same thing I went
through with the christine rose.

One night, I dreamt it up, and
then I started drawing it up,

And then we started building.

Narrator:
with ken kerr's myrtle irene
already on the water,

Mr. Gold is kicking his own mega
dredge plans into overdrive.

Shawn:
there's definitely a lot more
going on on this barge

Than the christine rose.

I've been building this thing
in my head for years.

And it'll be built to my specs
and the way I want it built

And designed to how
I want it to work

'Cause there's nothing
like it in the world.

Once I get this barge built, and
it's done and up and running,

Then I'm not gonna have
to worry about anything anymore

Because we'll have more gold
than we'll know what to do with.

Narrator:
shawn's plan, blow his rival
out of the water.

With a colossal 165'x45'

Mega dredge that'll be longer
and wider than ken

Kerr's myrtle irene.

The blueprint calls for a


Cutter head, feeding
a 16-inch suction hose

To stream an uninterrupted
flow of pay dirt

Into the diffuser
and wash plant.

But what really sets it apart
is the ability to dredge deep.

While the myrtle can mine
to a depth of 30 feet,

The mega dredge will reach 80.

Running full tilt,
it'll process a staggering


Of material every hour.

Nearly doubling
the myrtle's capacity.

♪♪

Shawn: we're gonna make
this thing happen.

Narrator:
after months of
pencil-on-paper planning,

Today is the day
steel meets steel.

Shawn:
time to focus my attention
on the mega dredge.

Still have a lot of things
to purchase

And get to where we need to be.

Narrator: and this
never-before-seen footage

Reveals just how mr. Gold

Manages to source
a mega dredge worth of steel

In the remote mining community.

Shawn:
in nome, you don't have access

To the things you do
down in the states.

You can't go to home depot
and pick up what you need.

You can't go to the steel yard
and pick up what you need.

So, you have to utilize
what you have.

[ Horn honks ]

John keeley is a miner up here.

He's got a bunch of steel.

Hopefully I can work out
a deal with him.

John: shawn!

Oh, excuse me, mr. Gold.

[ Laughs ]

My grandmother said that

When you're gonna have
a conversation,

Always have a big rock
in your hand

In case it don't go your way.

[ Laughs ]
how's it going, john?

Not too bad.
Yeah.

So I understand you want to buy
some carbon elements from us?

Yeah, you got a bunch
of steel.

You know, go check it out,
take what you need.

Okay.

And then we'll figure
it out later.

Okay, sounds good.

I ended up buying about 100,000
pounds of steel from keeley.

Thanks a lot, john!

Always entertaining
talking to john.

It'll be enough.
I'll make it enough.

I mean, you deal with
the cards you're dealt,

And that's the steel I have.

That's gonna be enough to get
done what I need to get done.

[ Beeping ]

♪♪

There's a whole bunch
right there, cody!

♪♪

Nome is a mining community.

That's what keeps
nome alive is gold.

♪♪

[ Beeping ]

This dredge that I'm building,
the mega dredge,

Is gonna be not only good
for me and my crew,

It's gonna be good
for my community.

A lot of nice pipe.

I've lived in nome for 30 years
because I love the community.

I don't live there because
of the great weather,

I'll tell you that.

That's it.

[ Beeping ]
steel's all loaded up.

Time to get it to the yard.

It's great people.

Narrator: with the deal made
and the steel on site...

Shawn: we're gonna start
laying everything out.

Narrator: ...today is the dawn
of the mega dredge.

Shawn: I can see this thing
bringing in

Anywhere from $100,000

To a half million dollars
in a day.

You start pumping
in $100,000, $200,000 a day

Into a small community
like nome,

Keeps people going
to the grocery store.

Keeps people going
to the restaurants.

It keeps -- keeps it alive.

Now we got all
the materials here.

Time to start
putting it to work.

Once this mega dredge is built,

It's gonna remind everybody in
nome why I'm mr. Gold.

Narrator:
with shawn's mega dredge dreams
quickly becoming a reality,

Captain ken kerr
is pushing his advantage

To claim as much gold
as he can before

Mr. Gold catches up.

These last few weeks we got,
pretty important for us

To make a ditch effort

To get our gold in the box.

That's all you can do.

Narrator:
and after weeks of breakdowns...

Ken: completely dead.

No shaker running, no gold.

Narrator:
...and false starts...

Ken:
we got chunks of gear missing.

One thing after another.

...it's all systems go for
nome's current largest dredge.

All right, brother!

Fire up the plant and our wash.

Let's go.

It is on me.
I'm the captain.

If I don't get it done,
nobody';s gonna get it done.

I mean, that's all there
is to it out there.

It's like, I'm the coach.

You know, if the team's failing,
the coach gets fired.

♪♪

Nobody's dug in this.

Nobody's dredged here.

If they did, they just
touched the surface.

They didn't dig
where we're digging.

You can't just go out there
and dig anywhere.

'Cause a lot of the shallower
gold's been dredged and hit.

So, the better gold is out
in the deeper water.

And with the myrtle, we'd be
sitting in 30 feet of water,

Dig in the bottom.

[ Pumping sounds ]

Come on, baby, dig!

♪♪

[ Laughs ]

[ Sighs ]

♪♪

I guarantee there's
some gold in that box now.

♪♪

♪ In the money now ♪

Biggest, baddest boy
on the bering sea right here.

Mr. Gold,
he ain't got nothing over on us.

-Coming up...
-Ohh.

Ken: come on, baby.

Narrator: ken kerr makes a run
at the title.

New mr. Gold in town.

And later, a captain
versus captain showdown.

This next season,
it's my turn.

Shawn: time to get to work.

Narrator:
as the end of the summer
season approaches...

Shawn: whoo!

Pull the [bleep] barge out!

Narrator: captain shawn pomrenke
is racing to build

His 825-ton mega dredge.

Shawn: coming in hot!

Once the mega dredge
is up and running,

I'll have more gold than
I'll know what to do with.

In ten years,
I'll have my mother lode.

I have a 55-gallon
drum full of gold.

Narrator:
and secure his dominance
over all comers,

Including the captain of nome's
current largest dredge --

Rival ken kerr.

Shawn:
there, she's rolling forward!

Seeing other people come in
like the myrtle irene

Is more of a drive
to get out there

Because I have all this money
invested into this thing.

And if I just lollygag and wait


There ain't gonna be much gold
left out in that ocean.

I know the gold's there.

I know where it's at.

Now it's just getting the rig
built and getting it out there

And getting it into my hands.

[ Beeping ]

Narrator:
as shawn pulls his massive


Out of the water
for the winter, in town...

-What do you think's in there?
-...ken kerr's about to find out

If the myrtle irene's
latest hot streak

Is enough to earn himself
the title

Of the new mr. Gold.

I'd say at least 175.

How much you think?

We've got millions tied up
in the myrtle in this project,

And we need to have
that money back.

If this don't pay off,
we're gonna be in a bind.

It's either make money or quit.

Let's weigh it!
I'm tired of playing with it.

I want to see what it weighs.

Let's go.

Man: oh.

Is it all gonna fit?

I don't know.



That's looking good.

Holy cow.

-What are we at?
-190.





[ Cheering ]

Ken:
[bleep] 206, 207, 210, 211.



I gotta take a picture
of this

'Cause nobody's
gonna believe this.

Narrator: 211 ounces
is worth over $270,000.

Yeah!

It's the biggest single
clean-out of the season so far.

Ken: george, smile.

That's a hell of a picture.

[ Laughs ]

And it rockets the myrtle irene
right back into the race.

Ken: shawn, there you go.

New mr. Gold in town.

We're hoping that
our next clean-up's

Gonna be better than this.

I'll have to come up
with a better name

Than mr. Gold, though.

Like mega gold or something.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator:
while ken rakes in the gold...

Shawn: we gotta have this
thing out today.

Narrator: ...in nome harbor...

Shawn: get it back in.

Get it -- get it lined up
in the front.

Narrator:
this never-before-seen footage
reveals the creative shortcut

That'll move shawn's mega dredge
one giant leap forward.

Shawn: time to get the handle
out of the water!

One of the baddest
dredgers in nome.

Narrator:
but building the future
of pomrenke mining...

Shawn: here we go!

Nice and easy.

Narrator: ...means sacrificing
a piece of the past.

Shawn: this is an official
retirement of the havilah.

It will no longer ever be --

It will be a sledge
and dredge again,

Just way bigger and way better.

That's looking real nice.

Wheelhouse set up great.

So, this is going
on the mega dredge.

Narrator:
once upon a time, the 60-foot
havilah was a state-of-the-art,

Gold-getting machine.

And one of the most
successful suction dredges

Under mr. Gold's command.

But with the gold-mining
arms race in full swing,

The scrappy havilah
just can't hang.

Shawn: we're gonna go ahead
and utilize what we have.

Take this cab off the pontoons
and put it on the big dredge.

We got all of our electronics.

We need everything we need,
all built right here.

You have bunks.

You got lockers.

We got kitchen, stove,
refrigerator.

All your electronics,
hydraulics controls,

And we have a toilet back there.

♪♪

I don't have to build it.

I don't have to buy
all the electronics.

I don't have to wire it.
I don't have to plumb it.

It's all done.

It's there.

So, that's saving me
two months of work

To build something like this.

♪♪

Got the mega dredge out,
got the havilah out.

Still gonna mine
with the christine rose,

Try to get one last run in.

Pile up the gold.

It's time to go make some money.

Narrator: coming up...

Shawn: ken called me down here
for some kind of meeting.

Not sure what he wants.

Narrator: the bering sea rivals
bring the heat.

Get ready for another year
of a*s-whupping.

[ Laughs ]

Well, the reason I asked you
to come down here

To meet with me is,
I'm gonna make you an offer.

♪♪

Narrator:
off the coast of nome...

Ken: I want to give pomrenke
a run for his money.

♪♪

If we can't give him
any competition with this rig,

Nobody can.

Narrator: as summer mining hits
the home stretch...

Shawn:
this is our last chance to get
as much gold as possible.

Whoo.

...nome's two biggest rivals
are locked in a battle

To be top dog.

Ken: everybody's gone.

We're the only ones
out there digging.

All the good you did
in your life behind you

Don't amount to jack.

It's what you're doing
today that counts.

Wow!

We're pushing the limits
coming out in this.

Narrator: but as the two titans
stand toe-to-toe...

Oh, here comes a big one.

[ Water splashes ]

What the hell?

...a winter storm delivers
the knockout punch.

Gotta go in.

That's all she wrote
for this season.

We're done.

All that's left...

-You ready for the final?
-I'm ready.

Narrator:
is to weigh their final hauls...

Looks like some gold.

...and see who's earned
the right to call himself

Mr. Gold.

Man: so, let's see
what the weight is.

Gold.

♪♪

-Look at that.
-Look at that gold.

♪♪

Man: all right.

-68.3.
-Ooh, almost 190.

Shawn: nice.

Narrator: with a 187-ounce
final clean out...

[ Laughs ] nice job.

Narrator:
...shawn pomrenke clinches
another season

At the top of the gold count.

Beating out ken kerr
by 205 ounces.

The difference of over $266,000.

Shawn: my focus needs to be
on the mega dredge.

That's where I'm gonna shine.

I mean, I need to get
that thing up and running

Because it'll make
more money in a day

Than the bluff
will produce in a year.

Ken: that monstrosity
that shawn's building,

He's gonna try and outdo us.

Ain't happening.

We're gonna blow him
out of the water.

Shawn's in for a --
he's in for a reckoning.

♪♪

Narrator:
but after
a hard-fought summer...

Shawn: ken called me down here
for some kind of meeting.

Not sure what he wants.

Narrator:
...nome's two top miners have
a little business to handle.

Captain to captain.

Shawn:
how's it going, captain?

Ken: hey, shawn.

Glad you made it.

How you been?

Things are good.

My hat's off to you
for this last season.

You got me.

This next season,
it's my turn.

Yeah, you gonna
dig out around me?

That didn't happen, did it?

You know, once I get
my big dredge up and running,

That's gonna bury
that myrtle irene.

[ Laughs ]

And you think that thing's
gonna hit the water

And immediately start
doing, making gold.

I'm afraid you're gonna be in
for a rude awakening.

Evolving stuff costs
a lot of money.

It does.

And you're gonna definitely
find out, like I have, you know,

That pocketbook gets
stretched way out.

You know, you got
mechanical elements.

You got the crews.

It's a lot to overcome
to actually be successful.

♪♪

Huh.

♪♪

The reason I asked you to come
down here to meet with me is,

I'm gonna make you an offer.

I want to buy you out,
and I want you to come down

And work for me, period.

I...

♪♪

I don't think
you got enough money to do that.

I've spent my whole life
building this little company,

And it's --
I mean, it's mine.

There's a reason
I work for myself.

I like being the boss.

I like being the boss, too.

That's why I'm trying
to buy you out.

I mean, we're in
the same business,

And we're after
the same gold, but --

After the same gold.

Yeah, it's a high-stakes
game out here.

A little competition
never hurt anybody.

If we can't come
to an agreement,

I guess we'll just have to

Duke it out out in the ocean.

Sounds like a lot more fun
duking it out.

[ Laughs ]

I'll get ready for
another year of a*s-whupping.

You want to make
a wager on that?

I'll make a wager on that.

[ Laughs ]

'Cause I plan on
kicking your a*s again this year

In the gold count, ken.

[ Laughs ]

I'll bet you 100 ounces
you don't do that.



I'll bet that.

All right, you heard it.
You heard it here.



Yep.

Well, we'll see you
on the water.

And don't forget, I'm winning
that 100-ounce bet.

You better get 100 ounces
so you can pay me.

Narrator:
this wager worth over $130,000.

But, of course,
the fight to be top dog

Is about more than money.

It's about pride.

Well, you got a barge that's
three times the size of his,

And he whups you bad,
that's pretty bad.

I got my work cut out.
Now it's a vendetta.

Next year, we're gonna
put the hammer down.

[ Engine starts ]

Once I mine the area,
that area's done forever

Because I'll have all the gold.

And that's what
I'm planning on doing.

That's why I'm building
the mega dredge.

That's the key.

He who gets the gold first wins.