11x03 - The Fast and the Furious

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: On this "gold rush,"

As gold prices
hit an all-time high...

Parker: Here we go!

Narrator: ...Parker schnabel
has a radical new plan.

The biggest risk
is that it'll only work

If the guys want it to.

-Whoa!
-Look out!

Now I'm in a bad [bleep] mood.

For that kid
being such a genius,

Some days
he's a [bleep] moron.

Narrator: Deep in debt
and chasing redemption...

Come on. What the [bleep]

Narrator:
...Broken equipment...

Come on, you [bleep]
piece of [bleep]

Narrator: ...Forces rick ness
to pull double duty.

Rick: I know it's hard
after a 12-hour shift,

But if we don't push on,
we're in trouble.

It's as simple as that.

Big rocks, big gold!

Narrator:
And rookie miner fred lewis

Brings in a band
of combat veterans...

Lewis:
Let the adventure begin!

Narrator:
...Who learn the hard way...

[bleep] damn!

Narrator: ...That anything
can happen on the mine site.

Man: That tree's going down.
That tree's going down.

Hey, guys, let's get the [bleep]
off the mine

And get to the open area now!

--[font color="#ffff00"] Captions by vitac[/font] --
[font color="#00ffff"] www.Vitac.Com[/font]

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪♪

Narrator: On indian river...

Parker: This mine site has
turned into quite the machine.

It's a machine that is chomping
through a lot of ground.

Narrator: ...After losing
four precious weeks

Because of the pandemic,


Is in a race
to make up for lost time.

I'm constantly trying to push
to a point

Where, like, you're right
on the ragged edge

Of what's doable
and what's efficient.

Narrator: On the promised land,
parker has wash plant sluicifer

Running 220 yards
of gold-rich pay dirt an hour.

Hey! Crank it up!

[ engine starts ]

Yee-haw.

Narrator:


Parker is also running a second
massive wash plant, big red.

But in a radical
change of tactics,

He's ordered it
to shut down and move

For the second time
in just three weeks.

Parker: The biggest thing that
we're gonna change this season

Is moving the plants more often,

Getting the plants
closer to the pay

That they're sluicing
in each setup.

If they don't need
to truck any pay,

Then it'll save us
a pile of money.

Narrator:
As the crew digs pay dirt,

The distance each rock truck
travels increases,

Costing thousands of dollars
each week in fuel.

Plus, the tailings
pile up over time

And must be cleared
by fuel-hungry dozers,

Costing thousands more.

Parker's solution --
shut down the plant more often

And move it to the pay.

It'll cost him in sluicing time

But slash his fuel costs
and increase his profits

If his crew can move the plant
in less than a day.

Moving a plant more often
is a lot more work,

But it's more efficient work.

You don't burn any fuel
moving a wash plant.

So it's just -- it's just
the manpower.

The biggest risk
is that it'll only work

If the guys want it to
and they do what I want to do.

♪♪

Mitch: Okay, let's go!

Narrator: Parker tasks
co-foreman mitch blaschke

With the first fast and furious
wash plant move.

♪♪

So, right now, we're just
getting ready to break down

The feeder here for big red.

Brennan's working
on digging it out.

So we're going to move big red.

We're gonna put it
on that new wash plant pad,

Do it faster than we ever have.

Narrator:
Chris doumitt pulls the mats

From the sluice box
to recover the gold.

♪♪

How's it going, chris?
Hey, mitchell.

Are you getting ready
to move the plant?

I swear we've moved plants
more this year already

Than we did
all last season.

You know, I'm not exactly sure
what parker's thought

And reasoning is behind that.
We've got a system

I think that works really well.
You figure

We lose, what, a day every time
we move the plant.

You're right. You start
adding up all those days.

Why not make it go back
to how it was?

I'm not sure what --
what's going on.

Hey.

♪♪

Parker: What's the holdup?

Well, we were waiting
for an excavator.

Why are we --
what? Why are we what?

Why are we moving the plants
so often this year?

What's the logic on that?

'cause we're pushing tailings


Oh. Got it.

♪♪

Apparently, it's more
cost-effective

To move the plant more often

And not deal
with the tailings as bad.

So we'll see how that works out.

♪♪

Let's get the heck out of dodge
and leave it up to the boys.

Narrator:
Every day the plant is shut down

Costs $85,000 in lost gold.

♪♪

Narrator: Parker needs big red
back sluicing within one day,

Or any savings in fuel
will be lost.

The first task --

Slide the plant into position
level on its new pad.

♪♪

Mitch: Right now, what we're
trying to do is line up big red

To this radial pad
that we've built here,

And I'm going to kind of try
and sight this.

Let's try that!

♪♪

The last few days,
we've gotten a ton of rain.

When we went to spin big red,

It's just pivoting
right on the very back

Because it's digging in so bad.

♪♪

Whoa! Stop!

♪♪

I mean, my big concern right now

Is just how much it's been
sinking in.

Every time it does that,
it digs in.

Narrator:
If the 100,000-pound wash plant

Is not level when it fires up,

It will lose gold.

Mitch and brennan now have just
four hours to level the plant.

♪♪

Brennan: Just unbelievable pain
in the a*s,

'cause I'm just trying to lift
it up and jamming dirt under it

To try and get it to level out.

♪♪

Mitch:
Could use a little more.

You know, we'd really like
to have big red

Back running
by the end of the day.

We've been able to move it
in one shift before,

But it's not looking good
at the moment.

This isn't working.

Give us a little more.

Come on.

Whoa! It's going over.

Oh.

[ boom ]

[bleep] [bleep] [bleep]

[bleep] dude,
this is making me so anxious.

Here, let me help you
[bleep] run that thing.

What are you doing
in there, man?

[bleep]

There you go.
Well, why didn't you guide me?

I can't see [bleep] all!

Dude, you're like an old lady
in there bitching.

Narrator: After two more hours,

Big red is still not level.

♪♪

You've got to be
kidding me.

Narrator: Now rain
is making the pad even softer.

♪♪

Mitch, we're never gonna get
this leveled in this rain, man.

This is just
[bleep] outrageous.

Yeah, and I know parker
wants this plant running

As soon as he can,

But we gotta let this thing
dry up a little bit here.

We're just making a mess.

Mitch and brennan have lost
any chance they had

Of moving the plant in one day.

[bleep] this.

Yeah, I've had enough.

Let's go, man. We're just going
to have to wait this out.

♪♪

[ thunder crashes ]

♪♪

♪♪

I'll be honest.
I was starting to wonder

If we'd ever be running dirt
at all, but here we are.

Chris: Feels good

Narrator: 100 miles east
at lower duncan creek,

Rick ness is
seven weeks behind schedule

And still hasn't banked any gold

We got trucks running,
loading with the 700.

We're putting a serious dent
in this.

Narrator: He's fighting
to keep his mining career alive

After barely breaking even
last season.

But so far,
he only has two crew members --

Karla ann and chris kruse.

Rick: This year,
it's been a nightmare

Trying to get crew up here.

I don't even have a mechanic
at this point.

It's a miracle
that we've made it this far.

So, I mean, there's only
three of us here right now.

We're just going to have to keep
our heads down and work hard

And hopefully
enjoy the reward at the end.

I mean, if I don't make
a profit this year,

This might be my last shot.

You know,
I can't continue to do this.

I don't have a big bankroll
behind me, so...

♪♪

It's awesome working
with people that want to work.

Narrator: Kruse has been
promoted to feeding the plant

Using rick's 480 excavator.

I'm running an excavator.

That's the biggest
joke of everything.

Hopefully I don't tip
this plant over.

[ laughs ]

Right now, it's --
it's lean and mean, man.

Narrator: Rick is in the 700

Loading karla's rock truck
with gold-rich pay dirt.

♪♪

[ horn beeps ]

Was that a honk, rick?

Rick: Yeah, it was a honk.

The sooner you haul this
to the wash plant,

The sooner we'll have gold
in the gold room.

What do you think, karla?
I'm sure you're pumped

To be back in a truck
right now.

Oh, I don't mind driving truck.
Just like riding a bike.

You're not pumped
to be back in a truck,

And you like riding bikes,
so don't lie.

[ chuckles ]

♪♪

Oh, come on. What the [bleep]

Narrator: Rick's lost control
of his excavator bucket.

Rick: What in the [bleep]
is going on here?

Why will you not dig?

Come on, you [bleep]
piece of [bleep]

Something ain't right.
I smell hydraulic oil.

Oh [bleep] it's dripping
on my tracks.

Hey, guys, get those trucks
out of the way.

I smell hydraulic oil.

I got to get it out of here
and get to a better spot.

♪♪

♪♪

[bleep]
you got to be kidding me.

Narrator: The hydraulic hose
that controls the bucket

Has split. Until it's fixed,

Rick's unable to mine.

We can't strip,
and we can't haul pay right now.

So I'm gonna have to get it
back running.

Cannot afford this right now.

Hey, kruse, you got a copy?

Yeah, go for kruse.

Yeah, kruse, I found a hose
that was [bleep] in the 700.

Do we have any spares?

We don't have anything on hand.
I know that.

Carl usually makes those up
on the back of the truck

When we need them.

[bleep] you got to be
[bleep] kidding me.

Just keep running
the wash plant,

And I'll figure
something out.

Sure thing, guy. Let me know
if I can help you out.

Without a mechanic, I'm screwed.

I need that 700
back up and running.

I'm gonna have to call carl up

And convince him
to get his a*s up here.

I need him now.

♪♪

Narrator:
At the end of last year,

Rick and mechanic carl rosk
fell out.

♪♪

Carl: Hello?
Yeah, carl, it's rick.

How you doing, buddy?

Yeah, what do you got
going on, man?

I need you up here.

Well, we kind of went
through this last year, buddy.

Like I said,
I wanted stuff to change.

Yeah. I know things
were [bleep] last year,

But things are going to be
different carl. Honestly,

If you can just get
your a*s up here,

I promise you it's going
to be worth your while.

I'm gonna to do
everything I can

To make this [bleep] work
this year.

You're my [bleep] mechanic.
I can't do it without you.

♪♪

Well, um...

I got a buddy here.
You take him on,

I could get my a*s
up there for you.

Well, who's that?
Somebody I got to train,

Or I can put him
right to work?

He can pull wrenches,
he can weld,

And he can
operate machinery.

He'd be a perfect guy
for the job, right?

If that's what it's going
to take, that's fine.

I just need you
up here quick.

Okay. Talk to you soon, dude.
Goodbye.

Alright, bye.

We've got
a little bit of pay left,

But after that runs out,
I don't know what to do.

I mean, I needed [bleep] carl
up here yesterday.

♪♪

Good?
We're definitely looking

A lot better than we were.

We're in the lines here
on the bubble.

And that's good enough, because
we're not going to be here

That long, and we're going to be
onto the next wash plant setup.

♪♪

Narrator: On indian river,
the storm has passed.

Mitch and brennan
have leveled big red,

But they're now
a full day behind

Getting the gold-producing plant
back up and running

Somewhere around there?

That's a good
starting point for sure.

Get some water running on it
and adjust.

The sluice runs in place,

Brennan drags the radial stacker
into position.

♪♪

We're good to go!

I'm gonna go get us some water.
Yeah.

Now mitch just needs
to connect to water supply

To the plant
to get back on the gold.

♪♪

Mitch: Damn.

There's no doubt about it.
We don't have enough pipeline

To make a run from the river
and get it right to big red.

I'm not even 2/3 of the way

From the water pump
to the wash plant.

And this is as far right here as
our pipeline's going to get us,

And that's a big problem.

Narrator: Every hour
big red is shut down

Costs $3,500 in lost gold.

They're now 30 hours
into the move.

I'm gonna have to call parker
down here.

We're gonna have to
figure something out.

Hey, parker. You got a copy?
Parker: Yeah. Go ahead.

Yeah, parker, we're gonna have
a problem down here

With big red.
Want you to get down here,

And we can take
a look at things.

♪♪

♪♪

Mitch: Hey,
we got a issue down here.

We got no way
to get water to big red.

Was wondering
what our problem was.

Well, what I was thinking --
if we had fresh water

Coming in here
and regulated it coming in

And then we just let it cut out
and go out the other side.

Whatever you guys want to do.
I really don't care.

Okay.

♪♪

We need to figure
something out,

And that plant
needs to start sluicing.

Okay. Well, yeah, I'll come up
with something that'll work.

Yeah, well, we got lots of work
to do here,

So we're gonna
get after it.

♪♪

[ engine starts ]

Now I'm in
a bad [bleep] mood.

I don't know
where his head's at, man.

Parker doesn't really have
a game plan.

He just said,
"get big red running

And start sluicing."
easy for him to say

When he [bleep] off
every time we go to do anything.

Oh, "hey, move the wash plant."
pfft. Gone.

Yeah.
We're all stretched so thin,

And we're all trying
to do everything.

♪♪

So, you know, for that kid
being such a genius,

Some days
he's a [bleep] moron.

♪♪

♪♪

Lewis: Whew. Recipe for success.
Got to put the work in.

We got a long way to go.

Narrator: 1,500 miles south
in eastern oregon,

Out-of-work special forces medic
fred lewis

Has gambled his last $20,000

To lease the 36-acre
elkhorn claim.

There is a lot of work that
needs to be done around here,

So -- but the faster
we're running pay dirt

Is the faster
we're getting gold.

That's what it's all about.

Narrator: Last week, fred and
kendell got their wash plant,

Colonel nugget,
ready to run dirt.

You know, at this point,
kendell and I are on our own,

And we are exhausted.

Dude, this is
so much damn work

With just two of us.

Narrator: To get to the gold,
fred's called in reinforcements.

♪♪

This is the road, man.

We're way up here,
middle of nowhere.

Have you ever mined?
[ chuckling ] no.

[ chuckling ] neither have I.
No.

Fred: Oh, we got a truck here.
Hold on.

Aww [bleep]

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

-Good spot right here.
-And there's the boys.

-What's up, baby?!
-What up?

Narrator: Fred's new crew
is a band of combat veterans

Who served
in afghanistan and iraq.

Fred:
Let's let the adventure begin!

Narrator: After leaving the
military and hitting hard times,

These rookie miners
now dream of striking it rich.

Fred:
Alright, so, this is it guys.

What do you guys think
about the plant?

-I love it.
-Whoa.

I know you guys
don't know a lot about mining,

But I just feel like
I wanted to bring

A group of brothers
together out here,

'cause you guys have all
been in the [bleep].

That's why we're here.

This isn't just about
gold mining.

It's about coming together
as brothers,

Living the american dream,

And pulling gold
out of the ground

To make ourselves
our own living.

Oh, yeah.
We're gonna beat the odds.

Damn straight.

We'll secure our own future.

I know you guys
are all going to love it.

Sky's the [bleep] limit.

-That's what I'm talking about.
-Seriously.

You guys in?

-Hell, yeah.
-Hell, yeah.

Well, let's [bleep] do it, then.

-Let's go.
-1, 2.

Alright, let's go get some gold!
[ all cheering ]

♪♪

Narrator: While fred's crew
are all highly trained veterans,

They're all greenhorn miners.

So first fred needs
to train them.

I like the way
this seat feels, man.

I think I can do some good
in here, man.

You're gonna like it a lot.

I'm gonna go and show johnny
all his irrigation.

I'll be back.
Alright.

Everybody here's a novice,

So I know
where their head's at right now.

They're probably completely
out of their element.

But I can relate to that,
so I'm hoping

I can shed some light on this
pretty quick to them.

Johnny!

Polo!

-Where are you?
-Over here!

Narrator: Retired marine
johnny "stingray" stanz

Will be in charge
of fred's water system.

He'll pump 20,000 gallons
of water

From ditches
where water collects

To a holding pond
that'll feed the wash plant.

♪♪

Grab that. If you start it up
with a twist in it...

Yeah.
...These things can blow out.

Alright.

That gets hooked into
the hole right there.

Do you know
how to use that?

Uh, I can figure it out
quick enough.

Here,
I'm gonna go grab a bucket.

I'll let you know when I've got
the hose in. Let me know

When you got it primed.
Gotcha.

Narrator: After leaving the
marines on a medical discharge,

Johnny's looking
for a new direction in life.

I had to retire after 10 years
in the marine corps

When I got
a really bad brain injury

From getting blown up
in afghanistan

By a roadside b*mb.
I mean, I was incredibly lucky,

Because two guys in the --
in the vehicle died immediately.

♪♪

I actually got some pictures
on my phone.

I was in the bed of the truck

Manning the squad
automatic weapon

When the b*mb went off.

Narrator:
Johnny was hurt so bad,

The doctors rated his chance
of walking or talking again

At zero.

Johnny: Still not 100%,

But definitely better
than I could be.

And look at me -- gold mining.

How many people can say that?

I have zero percent experience
mining gold, mining anything,

But started to think,
"man, I could strike it rich."

Snap it in.

Snap in the other side.

This job is gonna prove
definitely to be pretty tricky.

I mean, for a guy
with a brain injury

That's never mined before,
it's gonna be a freakin' task.

But I like challenges.

Why would I have become
special operations

In the marine corps
if I didn't like challenges?

Grab that one over there
and hook it up here.

I'm gonna go grab a bucket.

Make sure there's no twists!

Yep.

We're gonna get this puppy
connected to the other one

So we can start this off.

It's my first day
on the mine site,

And he's already got me out here
sweating, huffing and puffing.

But I'm working with some
of the best dudes there are,

So I don't mind this it all.

♪♪

Alright,
so, we got this connected.

We're all good there.
Now we're gonna basically

Just feed it
into the pond up here.

Alright.

You want to grab this spot
right here and feed it out?

Yep.

♪♪

Fred: Alright, and this sucker
just goes whoop.

Just throw it in?

Yep.
And that's it?

That is it.

Alright, hooked up.
Why don't you to go ahead

And head down there? Walk
the whole length of the line.

If you see any twists,
untwist it,

And then prime it up. Start it.
I'll stand down here.

If anything's wrong,
I'll tell you to shut it off.

Cool.

I already see a twist.

Gotcha.

[ grunts ]
[ thud ]

[bleep] johnny.

Johnny!

Johnny.
Johnny, are you okay?

Johnny, you with me?

♪♪

Are you with me?

Narrator: On fred lewis' claim,

Wounded marine johnny "stingray"
stanz has taken a fall.

What the hell, man?

You didn't
hit your head, right?

Johnny: I just fell.
Noth-- no big deal.

If I -- now,
if I was an army soldier,

I would be out for good.

But I'm a marine.

Dude, you okay?

Yeah.

Fred:
Johnny has balance issues,

And that's something I've got
to take into consideration.

I'm gonna have to try and make
these areas a lot more safe

For someone like him.

You good?

I'm very good.
I got some water.

So just -- on your steps down,
go the easy route.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You good?

"easy route."
army loves the easy route.

Apparently,
marines love falling.

We always get back up.

Luckily, he didn't get hurt.
Whew.

Narrator: Pipeline in place,
johnny pumps water

To the wash plant feeder pond.

We're good!

♪♪

To get on the gold now,
fred needs pay dirt.

Alright, we're ready to roll.
Let's do this.

Okay.

For pay dirt, fred plans to dig
the 2,700-square-foot swamp cut,

Then transport the pay 120 feet

To his colonel nugget
wash plant.

♪♪

Fred: The swamp cut,
it's already there,

And it's been opened up for us
by the previous claim owners.

They only mined it a little bit,
but they found decent gold.

So it's our best bet for pulling
good gold out of the ground.

♪♪

You'll get it.
You'll get it.

Keep pulling her down.
Ooh, don't --

Narrator: Kendell madden
is the only crew member

With gold mining experience.

Special forces master sergeant
stefan generally

Is his first student.

Try to keep the bottom
of the bucket flat

And level
as you pull it in.

Stefan served in the army
for 27 years.

Ooh. Come on, now.

But this is the first time
he's ever been in an excavator.

♪♪

Stefan: Fred and I, I mean, we
did double tours to afghanistan.

I consider him, you know,
one of my best friends.

He gave me a call, says, "got
this opportunity to gold mine.

What do you think," you know?

Immediately, I was like,
"hell, yeah. I'm in."

There you go. Keep curling.
Keep curling.

Pull towards you,
and then curl a little more.

And I spent my first 10 years
in the army mechanized infantry

And I spent years,

You know, driving a bradley
infantry fighting vehicle.

Actually, that was my job

During operation desert shield
and desert storm.

So I've driven in combat.

I figure driving this thing
should be a piece of cake.

I was wrong.

You know, I'm working on it,
but, damn.

Some of the things
I'm trying to do here,

I'd rather be back
in afghanistan

Than doing this [bleep]

[ chuckles ]
'cause this is not easy.

♪♪

Probably have to throttle up
on that bad boy.

♪♪

Fred:
Put it down nice and soft.

♪♪

Get it. Get it. Get it.

Oh, buddy!

♪♪

[bleep]

[ crash ]

Damn.

Damn it.

♪♪

On a big rock like that,
next time,

Set it completely on the ground
before you let go of it.

I wasn't trying to let go of it.
[ both laugh ]

I wasn't.

Yeah, hey, kendell.

So right now, that big rock's
in the way.

We can't do anything. We're
gonna have to lift that rock.

Man, talk about
frickin' -- ugh -- hairy.

♪♪

I think the best thing
for me to do is to back up,

And I can attack it fresh.

Yeah, do it however you want.
This is your lesson to learn.

Fred: We've all proven ourselves
as far as tenacity

And overcoming obstacles.

This is his obstacle right now,

And he's going to figure it out.

Kendell: Yes, and just put it
to the left. You got it.

Oh, there he goes.

Perfect. Let it be.

Works for me right now.

Narrator: Stefan's next
challenge -- feed pay dirt

Through the grizzly bars
to filter out large rocks.

♪♪

Here we go.

This is our first bucket of pay
coming through the grizzly.

He's got some big rocks,
and that's a good sign.

♪♪

Big rocks, big gold!

[ chuckles ]
I like it.

Yeah.

The gods approve.

[ wind whistling ]

♪♪

♪♪

These trees are moving
really fast up high.

[ wood crunching ]

Can hear it crackling.

I don't know if the gold gods

Are trying to protect their gold
or --

Narrator: In a matter
of minutes, wind speeds

Reach over 50 miles per hour

Fred: Lot of rotten trees.
[ wood cracking ]

That tree could get blown over.

I don't think this is safe.

Man: That tree's going down.
That tree's going down.

Hey, guys, let's get the [bleep]
off the mine

And get to the open area now!

♪♪

-Come on!
-Back, back, back!

-Get down, get down.
-Come on!

♪♪

♪♪

Rick: I don't have another
excavator in the field.

I got to pull the one
from the plant,

And it's just a big
cluster [bleep]

Narrator:
In the mountains above keno,

The excavator rick uses
to dig pay is out of action.

If we can get carl up here
soon -- I don't how much longer

We can go on
before everything falls apart.

Narrator: While he waits
for his mechanic, carl,

Rick has kruse
feeding the plant

Using the 480 excavator.

But the stockpile
is shrinking fast.

Rick, you got a copy, rick?

Rick: Yeah, go for rick.
Yeah, buddy.

Uh, I went through
all the pay down here.

There's nothing more
to stuff in this plant.

Are you serious?
Can you shut the plant down?

Yeah, I'll wait for you
to get down here,

And we'll figure out
what to do next.

♪♪

♪♪

Rick, what's up?
Ohh, what's up, guy?

Well, I was really hoping
carl would be here right now.

But without him,
the 700's down,

And we got no way to dig pay.

What are we going to do?
We got to keep some sluicing.

I mean,
that's what we're here to do.

Yeah, and I know
we already put in a full day,

But if we don't put in
some more hours

And get some pay
up to the plant,

We're not gonna be able
to fire it up at all tomorrow,

Right?
We can't afford that.

I'm not asking you guys to do
anything that I wouldn't do.

I'm going to pull
a double shift.

I'm going to work
into the night,

But I need
you guys' help.

If we don't push on
and get some pay to the plant,

We're in trouble.
It's as simple as that.

♪♪

Sleep when we're dead, I guess?
Yeah, yeah.

[ laughs ]

Narrator:
At the end of a 12-hour day,

Rick's crew use
their only working excavator

To stockpile pay

So they'll have something to
put through the plant tomorrow.

♪♪

♪♪

Rick: I know karla and kruse
will do whatever it takes

To keep this operation going,

But I also can't burn them out
this early in the season.

I mean, it's a bit
of a marathon, and right now,

We're just flat-out sprinting.

I really need carl to get here.

I need everything
up and running.

I need to get back
to full capacity.

♪♪

Narrator: At indian river,
parker's wash plant sluicifer

Is running pay dirt
from the promised land.

But over at the last cut...

At the end of the day,
it is what it is.

I'm sick and [bleep] tired

Of getting bitched out
over dumb [bleep]

Narrator: ...Big red
has been down for 48 hours.

The quick move was supposed
to be finished in 12.

Mitch: Parker doesn't really
have a game plan.

He just said,
"get big red running

And start sluicing."

So now here we are,
it's time to sluice,

And, you know, now
it's problem dropped in my lap.

♪♪

Narrator:
To get the plant running,

Mitch needs a water supply.

♪♪

Mitch: Ideally, we'd be
pulling from the river.

But we don't have
enough pipeline,

And we don't have enough pumps

To pull from that last cut
that we just did,

So I've got an idea
that I think might work.

I'm going to try
and dam things up downstream

And see if we can't
flood this cutout.

Hopefully it works,
'cause it's my only option.

Narrator: Mitch's plan --
at a disused pond

Fed from indian river,

Block the water flowing out

With a dam high enough
to force water


towards big red

So he can pump to the plant.

♪♪

If we plug this off,
the water should have no choice

Other than to head
back upstream.

♪♪

Narrator: Mitch takes less than
an hour to build the dam,

But they can't start sluicing
until the pond fills up.

♪♪

♪♪

Mitch: Oh, yeah!

Well, this seems to be working
really nice.

You can see the water
coming out of our pond here,

And you can see
it's flowing back upstream

Heading back towards big red.

And this is exactly
what we need.

I'm really happy with the amount
of flow that we're seeing here.

It's not just a trickle.
It's ripping out of this

And heading back
towards the wash plant.

Narrator: It takes all night
for big red's new pond

To fill up.

Mitch: I think
we're actually finally ready

To get back to sluicing.

Everything looks
good at this end.

We're gonna start sending
some water up here to big red.

We'll get the generator running.

Hopefully everything shakes.
We'll get these belts tracking

And back to making some money.

Here we go!

[ engine starts ]

Narrator:
The 60-hour plant moved

Cost over $200,000 in lost gold,

More than double
the saving in fuel

Parker was hoping for.

Mitch:
Here comes the first scoop.

♪♪

That was terrible.

That was a [bleep] [bleep]
plant move.

That's like unlacing
your boots

And going for a run, there.

We were just tripping
on our feet all day.

Ohh.

♪♪

This plant move took a lot
longer than we would have liked,

But we just kept after it,
and here we are.

We figured out
our water problem,

And we're going to start
making some money again here.

♪♪

♪♪

-Right here, bro.
-That's the one

Y'all were worried about
was gonna hit me, huh?

Narrator:
Fred's band of brothers returns

To inspect the damage after
high winds hit elkhorn claim.

-These trees are rotten
-up that hill

And all the way around to
where we're mining this year,

These trees are just
super dangerous.

A lot of them are dead.

Narrator: Fred's whole claim
is surrounded by widow-makers,

Dead trees
that could fall any minute.

Fred:
The major issue we have here --

Like, this is rotten,
and this is not.

But when you have a tree
that has only this much support

That weighs freakin'


And you take
its only support out,

It doesn't just fall
like a normal tree.

It explodes literally like this.

♪♪

Dude, this is just
another freakin' holdup, man.

We got to get these trees
out of here

To get the gold out of here.

Narrator:
If fred doesn't clear his site

And bank some gold soon,

His season will be over
before it's even begun.

Fred: Damn it.

♪♪

You know,
it's not just about safety here.

This is a lot of work
for us to do

This is probably three weeks
of hard labor.

That's three weeks.
We're not mining gold.

That's three weeks
were not running colonel nugget,

And we don't have three weeks.

Narrator: Fred has no choice

But spend the little cash
he has left and hire in help.

Jesse, this is fred lewis.

I'm calling --
I'm a local miner,

And I had some issues
with some trees,

And I need someone urgently
to come and remove them.

♪♪

What is that?!

♪♪

Fred.
Jesse?

We're here.
What?

What do we got?

Holy crap. A lot.

Narrator:
Jesse reid is a local logger.

Give me about a day,

And I should have them all
out of your way.

-A day.
-Wow.

That's saves us weeks.

That gives us weeks of mining,
weeks on the goal.

That's badass.

I can't wait to watch.

Narrator: His harvester's


Cuts through the dead
tree trunks in just 3 seconds.

♪♪

Oh, that is crazy!

♪♪

Jesse's just a lifesaver
at this point.

We're almost ready right now
get up and running,

So as far as this goes,
trees are down,

We're running. We're running
pay, and we're getting gold.

♪♪

Narrator: In the klondike,
tony beets' comeback season

Is at a standstill.

Kevin:
Ugh. It's frustrating,

Very, very [bleep] frustrating.

Narrator: Last week, he was
forced to shut down his trommel

When the oscillator
gearbox broke.

Everything up there says
it should spin.

The oscillator's
not [bleep] moving.

The collar's spinning, but
the shaft to the gearbox is not.

Narrator: Now the new gearbox
has finally arrived.

Kevin:
Got to get the trommel going.
It's what makes the money.

Slide this in. Slide it down.

Then we'll see about getting
that -- this shaft in there.

Narrator: Kevin fits the gearbox

And attaches the oscillator.

[ engine starts ]
kevin: Yes.

It works.

Narrator:
The beets are back in business.

♪♪

Narrator: At elkhorn creek,

Fred's claim
is clear of widow-makers.

Ready when you are.

He's finally ready
for his crew

To run their first-ever
pay dirt.

Make sure when you get up here
on this ramp,

You hit it
at the right angle.

Just keep it slow.
Keep it steady.

Don't walk it.
Get ready to stop when I say.

After his crash course running
the excavator at the swamp cut,

Fred tasks stefan
with feeding the plant.

[bleep] damn,
that's a hell of a drop.

Probably the worst part
right here.

It's his first time
coming to the edge.

Nerve-racking
for him right now.

There you go.

Narrator: Stefan needs
to position the excavator

On the edge of the pad.

♪♪

Just keep it slow.
Keep it steady.

Don't get nervous.

♪♪

You want to go
all the way to the edge, buddy.

[ stefan laughs ]

♪♪

Now don't touch
the pedals anymore!

Pull your safety.
Good job.

♪♪

Yeah, no. That was
some hairy [bleep]

[ chuckles ]

Hey, okay, pumps ready.

[ engine starts ]

Narrator: Marine johnny
turns on the pumps,

Sending water to the plant.

♪♪

Alright, kendell.
Let's fire it up. Let's go.

[ engine starts ]

Kendell: There she goes.

Alright, guys, it's gold time!
Let's do it!

Narrator: Fred and his crew's
gold-mining season

Finally begins.

Fred: Pretty much the big moment
of the whole mine site

At this point.

Oh, feed the colonel!

-Hell, yeah.
-Whoo! Let's get some gold!

Whoo!

This is the very beginning
of this mine site.

Finally mining!

Such a good feeling.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Been basically running that 480
to death trying to load trucks

And keep the plant going, so...

Narrator: It's the end of a week
of double shifts

For rick ness' crew.

♪♪

-What's up, guys?
-Carl!

How you doing?
The rest of the "a" team.

Oh, yeah, buddy.
What's going on here, boys?

Yeah. What's up, carl?
What's up, buddy? How you doing?

Good, man.
This is mark.

-Hey.
-Nice to meet you.

Hey, mark.
Good to have you here.

Buddy, you came at a good time.
We're just about

To do a gold weigh.
Is it good one, or what?

Well, I suppose
you want the good news first.

The good news will be the gold.
The bad news

Will be the laundry list
of [bleep] you got to fix.

Oh, I can imagine.
Starting tomorrow.

I can imagine.

I mean, for three people
we've been getting a lot done.

Excellent, dude.
I like it.

You know, this is
three of us up here.

No way.

Are you kidding me?

You're -- can I see this?
Yeah.

Holy smokes, man.
You guys have been busy.

Yeah.
Wow. I'm impressed, man.

Let's do this. You guys ready?
Yeah.

Narrator: This is rick's
first gold weigh of the season.

Last year, he averaged
a meager 24 ounces a week.

Alright, we got 10, 20,





There's 60,

And 66.47.

-Ooh.
-That's unreal, dude.

-Hell, yeah.
-Wow.

Narrator: Worth $116,000.

-Wow.
-You guys did that.

I'm impressed.

Thanks, man.
Wow.

Now that you guys are here,

Carl, obviously,
we can't do this without you.

Mark, looking forward
to seeing what you can do.

Glad to have you here. We ain't
got much time this year,

And we got a lot to prove.
Well, we're with you, dude.

That's why you're here.
All I got to say

Is you guys ready to fire up?
Ready to fire up, buddy.

-Let's fire up.
-Fire up.

♪♪

♪ oh, yeah ♪

♪♪

♪♪



Stupid game.

Narrator: At scribner creek,

Parker's crew assembles
for the gold weigh.

♪♪

Parker: If it looks good,
let's get a number.

If it looks like [bleep]
let's go golfing.

No, no, no, no, no.

Well, my boss wouldn't
be real happy.

We'll have to see.

No! No -- no.

[bleep] your boss.
He's a [bleep]

[ laughs ]

Ah [bleep]

[bleep] this stupid game.

I hate golf.

Narrator: First on the scales
is sluicifer.

It's been washing pay
on the promised land all week.

Well, sluicifer had a full week,
and it shows.

I mean, you got
a heck of a pan here.

Brennan:
Don't break that thing in half.

Yeah, really.

-You good, or you need me --
-yeah, no, I got it.

Alright.
What do you got?

Mitch: 50. 100.













Dang.

Narrator: Worth $693,000.


that just goes to show, man,

When they've got
that runtime --

But, yeah,
that's a good week.

Next up, big red.

See what we came up with.
Doing big red.

-Ready?
-Yeah.

♪♪



Quick.







Narrator: Worth almost $203,000,

Less than 1/3
of sluicifer's total.

Parker: Why are we only doing


Because big red was down
for 2 1/2 days.

Who gives a [bleep]

♪♪

What is your strategy here
on constantly moving the plants?

You know,
you just don't move a plant

In a couple hours
and go back sluicing.

So there's
got to be a reason

For why you're
doing it like this.

Easiest thing to do
is put our plant in one spot

And truck everything to it,

And you've got mountains
of tailings,

And you're trucking


And right now, it's fine.
Gold prices are high.

We could do
whatever we wanted

And make money, really.

But if the price of gold
gets cut in half,

We're in [bleep] trouble.

♪♪

You know, one of the big issues
we had on this setup

And getting big red back running

Was just getting water
over to us.

You know, we were a lot further
away from the indian river

Than we have pipeline for.
Got us back running,

But took a little bit of time

To figure all that out
and make it work.

I saw that.
I like that solution.

That's like
way down the alphabet.

Oh, yeah, no, I was like --

We're scratching our heads
like, "what are we going to do?"

I was like, I'm not even sure
that I'd have thought

Of doing that, but --

I was like [bleep] yeah.
That's badass.

There might have been
some words said out there

While we were doing this,
'cause we were real stoked

About it at the time, so...
That's alright.

It's all good, man.
Thank you guys.

-Alright.
-Thank you guys.

Doumitt, you got this?

Yes, sir. I got it, kiddo.

Thanks. Have a good night.
Later, man.

♪♪

Narrator:
Coming up on "gold rush"...

...Tony beets looks
to break the piggy bank.

I'm just gonna say it right now.
We're going for 1,000 ounces.

Narrator: Days after
his first gold weigh...

Holy [bleep]

...Rick ness' season
faces disaster.

Shut her down, mark!
Shut her down!

You got to be kidding me.

Don't stop for nobody!

Narrator: And on a mission
to expand his mining empire...

Whoa!

Man: Holy [bleep]

...Parker pushes his crew
harder than ever

To deliver on his new plan.

Parker:
Telling me he screwed up

Doesn't change
that it's a $10,000 [bleep] up.