12x08 - King's Gambit

[bunniefuu]

[Tony Beets speaking]

[narrator] King
of the Klondike, Tony Beets,

is fighting to salvage
his season.

He's only got
one wash plant sluicing.

And he's running out
of pay dirt.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To turn
things around,

Tony's decided to dig deep
at Paradise Hill.

He's banking on his new cut,
the 80 Pup,

where the gold-rich pay dirt
is 80-feet deep.

Yeah. Go ahead.

Okay. Be there in a minute.

And when that stuff
gets frozen,

like permafrost frozen,
holy [bleep],
is it hard.

I've had that rattle
the piss out of me.

I ain't got time
for that [bleep].

It's a short season.
So you rip, rip, rip.

[narrator] To bust through
the frozen ground,
and make it thaw out faster,

Mike sinks the D11's
one-ton ripper shank
over six feet into the earth.

[electronic beeping]

Tony, do you copy? Tony.

-[Tony] Copy.
-[Mike] Pull that over here.

Okay. That's going,
that's going, that's going.

[narrator] The freshly-ripped


is all they've got
to feed the trommel.

And Tony wants it running
at 200 yards an hour.

Geez, that's a lot
of frozen chunks
going up that belt.

No time whatsoever
to be pulling out chunks

when you're running
a net full of pores.

[bleep]. That one's
big as a car.

Ah, [bleeping].

[bleep]

Get the [bleep] water,
get the [bleep] water.

[man 1] Well. That's lovely.

[man 2] Uh, I think we got
a blockage.

Amazing,
That's [bleep] amazing.

Oh, this is the last thing
we need right now.

We only have
the trommel going.

I mean,
it is a big producer, but...

The big producer
isn't producing,
you got [bleep] all.

[narrator] A quarter-ton
frost chunk has jammed
the belt.

Basically, the chunks
are too big.

So there is no reason
that frost chunks or rocks
that big

should be anywhere
in the feeder.

Because like...
That's half
your[bleep] bucket.

So this is incredibly
[bleep] frustrating.

[narrator] The chunk
is too big to shift off
the conveyor by hand.

I need my shovels.

Ah.

Uh, Megan, Megan,
I need you down here, please.

-[Kevin] How's that all look?
-[man] Yeah, that might work.

All right, everybody,
stand well the [bleep] clear.

[man] Oh, no, no, no!
No, no.

Back this way.

Curl the bucket.

Okay. [bleeping]

We'll go straight up.

Okay, move.

[Kevin] Easy, easy.
Hold it.

Watch out!

[man] Okay.

[Kevin] Okay.

Stand back.

Whoo! Okay.

[narrator] Two hours downtime
has cost the Beets
over $7,000 in lost gold.

They're gonna need
a lot more from the 80 Pup
to get Tony's season on track.

Fire her back up. Stop.

All right,
everything is running
once again.

We're back to making gold.

[Parker Schnabel]
Right now there's a lot
going on.

We're way behind
with the plants.

Gold-wise, we are a bit behind
where we were last year.

And... falling further behind.

[narrator] On Indian River,
Parker Schnabel
is in survival mode.

His gamble on Mud Mountain
ballooned to $2.5 million
in stripping costs.

Now, 40 feet down,
and with no pay dirt in sight,

he has put the operation
on hold.

I-I shouldn't have
taken on another project
this summer, probably.

And Mud Mountain is a big...
Quite difficult project
to have taken on.

And it's gonna give us
a bit of an a*s-kicking.

[narrator] To get off
the ropes,

Parker wants to double
the gold coming in.

And that means getting
wash plant Big Red
back in the game.

[Parker] We're not gonna have
a successful season unless

both wash plants do
a couple thousand hours
of sluicing apiece.

So... That's a lot.

Yeah, hey man.
We're gonna have to hustle
here to make all this happen.

We definitely need to get
in here and make sure
we get all this pay dirt out.

It's gonna be
all hands on deck, eh?

Oh, yeah.
It's gonna take everybody
to make this happen.

[narrator] First up,
Parker has to move Sluicifer
off the Airstrip Cut.

Land leased from Tony Beets,
it comes with a catch.

We've got something
that hangs over our head

that makes it
very difficult for us.

That's the fact that
Tony has made a rule

that each wash plant
is allowed a low royalty rate
up to 1,500 ounces.

Above that, it jumps way up.

Parker's made it clear that

he doesn't want to have
to give Tony any more money
than possible.

So our game plan is to have
Sluicifer run 1,500 ounces
here on the Airstrip.

Then we can bring Big Red in
and do 1,500 with it.

[narrator] When Sluicifer hits


Parker will shut it down.

And move Big Red
onto the Airstrip
to mine another 1,500 ounces.

He'll haul Sluicifer
six miles down the road
to the Promised Land.

And avoid paying a cent
of extra royalties to Tony.

Yup, see you later.

Sluicifer's got just
one day's pay left to run.

So Mitch needs to get ready
for the next stage
of the plan.

Right now, we're heading down
to Ken's ground.

Uh, we found
a lot of gold there
last season.

And, we gotta have
two wash plants up and running

if we're gonna have
a good year this year.

Priority one,
get down to Ken's ground,

we know we're gonna need
to get a pump in,

start moving some water,
build a pad,
see what we got.

What the hell?

[bleeping]

This is our access road
down to Ken's ground.

And as you can see,
the river's changed
directions here,

washed out these culver pipes.

Normally a culvert's
one nice piece of pipe,

used for transferring water
underneath a roadway.

Right now,
what used to be
a nice road,

now looks like
the Grand Canyon.

Hey, Tyson, you got a copy?

[Tyson] Go ahead, Mitch.

Yeah, I'm down here
where the culvert's, uh,
I'd say used to be.

We got a big washout
down here.

[narrator] If Mitch
can't figure out a fix,

Parker's plan
could be dead in the water.

[Mitch] Road's
completely gone,

and I'm gonna start getting
a game plan together down here

and see how we can get
this thing put back together,
but culvert's...

Uh, it's gone.

Yeah, hey, we're gonna need
to get a bunch of equipment
down here

to the creek crossing.

[narrator] On the road
to the Promised Land...

[Mitch] Yeah, it's washed out
real bad.

[narrator] Heavy rains
have washed out a culvert,

wrecking Parker's plan to get
a second plant sluicing.

Just get everybody rounded up,
we're gonna have
to get this thing tuned up

if we got any chance
of getting down
to Ken's ground.

[Tyson] Okay. I'll get
all that organized
and meet you down there.

[narrator] With Sluicifer
close to shutdown,

Mitch has less than a day
to rebuild the road.

So obviously,
this isn't gonna be
the easiest...

Just, like,
resetting a nice piece
of pipe.

This looks like about
three old pieces of maybe
some old dredge pontoons.

You know, it's the Yukon.
People use whatever they got
around to make things work.

[narrator] The old-timer's
dredge pontoons are rusty.
And more than 50 years old.

Mitch has no idea whether
they're strong enough
to be moved.

We're gonna need to bring
some material here,
get the culverts reset.

And get a road
back through here.

[narrator] To fix the road,
Mitch will have to dig out
the old culvert...

Flatten the creek bed...

Maneuver the three pieces
into the middle
of the creek...

And backfill
with rocks and gravel.

Definitely not what
we were expecting to do today.

But... Well,
we're obviously not
driving down to Ken's,

uh, with...
With the road
looking like this.

[Mitch] Here we go!

[narrator] Each piece
weighs five tons.

And the rusty iron
could break apart
at any moment.

[Mitch] This thing doesn't
even have a bottom to it.

Last thing we wanna do
is bust these up.

We got nothing
to replace them.

[narrator] Mitch tasks Tyson
with bringing hundreds
of yards of tailings

to build out the berm.

[Mitch on radio] Tyson,
I'm gonna try and get these
things bedded in here

if you just wanna keep
bringing out material.

[Mitch] Just try and get
some lift on this.

Gotta set it right up
against the other one,
and then tap it down.

So our excavator body
right here, looks like we're
fixing a wrecked car.

[Mitch] Hey, Tyson,
how much gap do we have
between those, uh,

culverts, there?

[Tyson] There is, like,
a two-inch gap
in between them.

[narrator] If water flows
through this gap,

it'll wash out the backfill,
and bring down the whole road.

If the river comes up,
it'll just wash it out again.

[Mitch] Why don't you
grab something, I mean,

if we got something
we can bridge over the top,
that'll definitely help.

We gotta have old pieces
of junk laying around
there someplace.

[Tyson] Sounds like a plan.

Is it gonna be perfect?
Certainly not.

Is it gonna be better?
Hopefully.

[Mitch] We got a whole piece
of conveyer we're draping
over the top of this here

and down the side
because when we went
Yukon shopping,

uh, in the scrapyard,
and that's all we were
able to find.

[narrator] It ain't pretty,
but the rubber should stop
water flowing through the gap.

[Mitch] We're gonna hopefully
have a road here shortly.

I wish we had something
a little bit better for this,
but that's the Yukon.

You just gotta work
with what you got here.

So hopefully, it, uh, holds
through, but there's a good
chance it might not.

[Rick] I knew coming in
that this year was gonna
be tough.

But, you know, we just
got to make every day count.

[narrator] In the mountains
above Keno,

Rick Ness is trying
to pull off a monster season.

[Rick] We're not doing
too bad.
We do have 422 ounces.

But if I'm really being
honest, it's a hell of a long
way to go to 2,000 ounces.

[narrator] To hit his target,
Rick's churning
through shallow pay dirt

at the Bacon Strip Cut,

before he can move on
to the nugget-rich
deeper ground.

But so far,
progress has been slow.

[Rick] I've never been
stretched so thin here, man.
This is ridiculous.

We don't have
a mechanic on site.

On top of that, Kyle's sick.

[narrator] And problems
come in threes.

New rock truck driver Leah
is leaving to deal
with family issues.

It's been... good being
up here and being
in the Yukon,

and experiencing
all that it has to offer.

I got really good
at driving that truck,
and...

kind of proved to myself
that, like, I can do it.

I think I'm just ready
to head out and go home
and go back to my life.

I'm feeling good
about my decision.

[narrator] To keep his lean
crew's head above water,

Rick's brought a new driver
on board.

[Rick] So I've got a new guy
starting today.

Uh, his name's Riley.

It's just in time
because we've been short
on people for awhile,

and a new guy is gonna be...
just what we need
at the moment.

[Riley] I love this country.

The only thing
is the mosquitoes are bad.
Holy smokes.

[narrator] Riley's run trucks
on oil pipelines,

but he's never been
on a goldmine.

I'm from, uh, a little
community called
Blueberry River First Nations.

It's pretty a chill place.

If I'm not here, I'm usually
rodeoing, racing truck wagons
with my father.

A soon as this season's done,
I'm going hunting for moose.

Promised my girlfriend
a moose, so I kind of ordered
a moose, right? [laughs]

How's your first day
going, Riley?
You liking it out here?

Absolutely. I like it a lot.

[narrator] With his 750,
Brennan Ruault can load
each truck

in just five scoops.

How you like running
that big old 750?

That's one big gal.

[Brennan laughs]
Yeah, no doubt.

It's not too bad.
It's a pretty nice machine.

Boy, does it make
my life a lot easier

having an experienced person
in the truck.

Especially a person
who just showed up

for the first day of work
and can do what he's doing,
so... very happy with that.

Just to see that raw gold
would be a privilege actually.

I'm actually very pumped
right now.

[truck beeping]

[Riley] What the hell?

[Brennan]
[bleep] new guys, eh? [laughs]

First day on the job. Yes.

So... it's quite upsetting.

[Brennan] Hey, Rick. You need
to get down here ASAP,
uh, Riley blew a tire, so...

We are down a truck right now.

[narrator] Rick still doesn't
have a mechanic, so it's down
to him to fix it.

[Rick] I've never done
a wheel and tire.
I've never seen it done.

We're having to cannibalize
one truck and, uh, you know,

pull the wheels
and tires together
off of those, so...

we're just kind of winging it.

[narrator] Rick uses the
loader to prop up the back
of Riley's 34-ton truck.

[drilling]

-[Riley] [bleep] you, tire.
-[all laughing]

[Brennan] [bleep] tire, right?

Yeah, it feels good
to have the whole crew
helping me change my tire,

and a little embarrassed,
but [bleep] happens, right?

Hey, Riley, get over here!

Come over here and work.

We're not gonna
be able to put it on
like we took it off

- because you ain't gonna
be able to see...
-[Riley] Yeah.

... the holes
to line them up.

[narrator] They need to figure
out a way to maneuver the
one-ton wheel into position.

Pull straight up.

[narrator] Eighteen 2.5-inch
studs have to line up exactly
with 18 wheel holes.

A little more!

Someone put their [bleep] hand
where I can see it!

[bleeping]

Go up a hair.

-[man 1] Go ahead.
-[man 2] Oh, oh, oh!

- Can you get a skirt in there?
-[man 3] Yeah.

-[drilling]
-[man 2] There we go.

Yeah! [bleep] Christie!

- Oh, [bleep] yeah!
-[drilling]

While we continue to be able
to move on without a mechanic,

- but I think our days
are numbered.
-[laughs]

Riley, welcome to the team.
Nice job on this.
We're back in business.

[Riley] Good first day
on the job.

[bleep] tired.

[narrator] Back up
to the three rock trucks,

Rick can run 120 yards
an hour of pay,

bringing him closer to mining
out the Bacon Strip.

[Rick] We're moving
some[bleep] dirt now.

Rock and roll.

[Mike] Hate these laces.

[narrator] On Paradise Hill,

Tony's counting on youngest
son, Mike, to keep his trommel
running 24/7.

[Mike] Family, family,
family, man.

If you can't trust
your family,

especially if you have
a good family like I do,

then who the [bleep]
can you trust?

[Mike] Watch
your [bleep] fingers.

[narrator] To check
they're on track,

Mike shut down the plant
for the mid-week cleanup.

And we're almost done.
Yeah, just gotta knock
a couple of boards in.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, we're just cleaning up
and pulling out.

[Tony speaking]

Well, I was waiting
for somebody to knock
boards in.

[Tony speaking]

He won't ever give you
free reign, so he's gonna
tell you what he wants,

and you're gonna do that.

You guys put that
back together.

- You done yet?
-[man 1] Almost, buddy.

[Mike] How about now?

Let's get sluicing again.

Everybody ready?
We're starting now.

[man on radio]
Where do you want it?

[trommel whirring]

Run up, boys, run up.

[Mike] Somebody get the water,
somebody get the water.

Kevin, do you copy?

Shut off the water.
Half of our [bleep] run
is in the [bleep] ditch.

[Kevin on radio]
[bleep], okay.

[Kevin] And she's down.

[narrator] Two hours
after the cleanup,

the mats containing fine gold
have worked loose.

Tony Beets, do you copy?
Tony Beets.

We got mats going down
the [bleep] river.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, I caught it.
Just running after mats,
give me a minute.

[Mike exclaims]

That [bleep] soft.

Here.

- You ain't covered
in grease or oil, are ya?
-[man 1] Nope.

[Mike] Good.

[bleep]

Someone didn't hit
the boards in tight enough.

So then they got...
The boards fall out.

And everything piles up,
and [bleep] gets pushed down.

So it's a right [bleep].

[narrator] The mat and
expanded metal riffles are
kept in place by boards,

secured with wedges.

But the wedges
in one of the runs
weren't tight enough...

and the force of the water
dislodged them,

washing the mats and riffles
out of the run.

I should've double-checked
people's work.

I thought they knew
what they were doing
but, you know...

Don't assume,
it makes an a*s
out of you and me.

Anthony, you just wasted
my time. [bleep]

-[Mike] Get over
into that run.
-[Anthony] Sounds good, boss.

[Tony speaking]

Uh, we got all the mats
and stuff cleaned up,
so far that we can see,

and now we're just cleaning
all the dirt out of this run.

It'll take us awhile.

[Tony speaking]

'Cause I gotta get
this [bleep] done.

[bleep]

Yeah, gotta clean
the whole [bleep] thing.

No, no, none of it goes there.

'Cause that's still got gold
in there.

[man 1] I tucked it up
through runs.

Do we have enough
extra wedges now?

[man 2] Ah... there's new ones
in there still.

[Mike] Perfect.

Put her in there.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, go ahead.

We're still putting
the [bleep] run together,
give us time.

Don't step on that mat.

Oh, he micromanages
the [bleep] out of it.

You'll never run anything
so long as he's the boss

'cause he'll micromanage
the [bleep] out of it.

And he's been here
for 30 years, so you can't
really argue

with the man's wisdom.

[narrator] An hour's downtime
plus what was washed
out of the mats

has cost the Beets
over $4,000 in lost gold.

[Mike] Let's get sluicing
again and get some money.

I'm ready for water.
We got the [bleep] back up.

[man 1 on radio] All right.

[Mike] My dad set a big goal.

Any downtime is bad
because you want to keep going

and gotta keep sluicing
to get that gold.

That's it,
that's the last scoop.

There she goes.

Now there's 1,500 ounces
in Sluicifer.
Should be really close.

[narrator] On the Airstrip,
Mitch and the crew
race to shut down Sluicifer...

to avoid Tony's higher
rate royalties.

[Mitch] There it is.

[narrator] And kickstart
Parker's plan to get
two wash plants on the gold.

Hey, bud.

Hi, Mitch.

- How are you?
-[Mitch] Not too bad.

- Breaking her down,
and getting her moving.
-[Parker] Right on.

Good job getting that pipe
down there.

I know it was an absolute
[bleep] and we're all glad
to see it done.

-[Mitch] 100%, thank you.
- But you guys did a good job.

[man 1] Here's
to Kevin Stewart.

Whoo!

[Mitch] Get everybody,
uh, on the road.
All right?

-[man 1] Let's go.
-[Mitch] Let's do it.

Let's move some [bleep]
out of the way!

[Mitch on radio] Let's go!

[truck honking]

[narrator] They've got
just four hours
until the night shift

to get Sluicifer hauled
and running
on the Promised Land.

[truck honking]

[narrator] And they'll have
to cross a culvert

made of rusting


This wash plant is big,
it's heavy.

Would not be good
to be fishing out
this wash plant.

[narrator] The combined weight
of Sluicifer and the lowboy
is 85 tons.

I just want to take it slow
and steady.

[man on radio] Copy that.

-[man 1] Whoa.
-[Mitch] That's a lot
of leaning.

Go, man, go, go, go.
She's leaning hard.

When you get lined up
on that culvert, man,
just don't stop.

[narrator] There's no way
of knowing

how much the bush fixed
culvert can hold.

[man 1 on radio] One heavy
wash plant.
That's one[bleep] culvert.

[man 1 on radio] I'm gonna
hang back here.

-[narrator] On Indian River...
-[Mitch] Go for it.

[narrator] ...Parker's crew
are on a mission.

They've got four hours
to haul Sluicifer
to the Promised Land

across a bush fixed bridge.

[man on radio]
Gotta get it over the bridge.

[Mitch] Good luck, man.

Come on, go, go, go, go.

Aw, yeah, like a dream.

Looking good, boys,
we're almost there.

I love it when a plan
comes together.

[narrator] But they won't
be washing rocks...

[Mitch] Keep going,
keep going, almost there!

[narrator] ...until they've
put Parker's $600,000
wash plant back together.

[Mitch] That'll do it!

Watch your backs, here we go.

The last thing we want to do
is have anything go wrong.

So we're just gonna be nice
and gentle with her.

We'll get her into place.

[Mitch] That'll work!

[Parker] [beep] you guys
are moving.

[narrator] They've hit
their deadline.

But Parker's got news.

I'd like our first full shift
to be a day shift. Just cause
everything's...

-[Tyson] [beep].
- Fresh.

Yeah, for sure.

- Did you say [beep]?
- Yeah. [laughing]

- What's [beep]?
- Well you don't know
until you fire it up.

- If anything's [beep],
it's 'cause you [beep] it.
- Exactly.

[narrator] If Parker's
going to make it
out of survival mode,

he'll need a big payday
from Ken's claims.

Last season, they pulled over
$4.5 million from
the Promised Land.

Let's see if we can
get this thing washing rocks.

- Sounds good.
- Nice job.

[engine revving]

[narrator] In the battle
for ground, Parker's plan
is in play.

And he's back on the gold.

[Mitch] Nice job, man.
There it is.

[Parker] Yeah, man.
I'm stocked.

[dog barking]

[narrator] At Duncan Creek,

Rick Ness is racing
to get through
the Bacon Strip pay,

on his way to nugget-rich
deeper ground.

[Rick] Pretty upset
this morning.

Uh, my new guy, Riley, didn't
show back up to work.

I don't really know
what's going on.

Um, I can't get a hold of him.
He's not answering his phone,
he's not answering texts.

You know, did something
happen to the guy? Is he...
Is he just late?

Is he done? Is he not
coming back?

I don't[beep] know, but,

I mean, I tend to take it
personally sometimes.

And, you know, in a year
like this it's... It's...

I'm taking it
extra personally.

[narrator] Rick's down to just
two rock trucks again.

Not enough to keep
Rocky running
at full capacity.

- Hey, Leese.
- Yeah.

What are you doing?
You wanna come outside.

- Hi, babe.
- Hi, babe. What's up?

You know Riley
didn't come back.

I mean, I don't know
what the hell happened.

I mean, he was working out
real good in the truck.

And then he just,
uh, took off.

And you don't know when
he's coming back?

- He didn't say anything,
you haven't heard from him?
- Nah, haven't heard anything.

Called him. Nothing.

It sucks.

Have you put the word out?
Yeah?

Yeah. But I mean,
it's a tough year
for getting people.

And when the truck
stops rolling,
everything stops rolling.

It's not just
a bump in the road,

I mean, it's a [beep] hole
in the road, you know
what I mean, so.

It's a hole I gotta fill.

[grunts]

Why don't you
let me give it a try.

[scoffs] Would you
really wanna do that?

To help, yeah.

- Yeah?
- Anything to help you out.

- You've never driven
anything like that before?
- No.

[Rick laughing]

If you're serious, I mean,
I could have...

- Have you jump
in with Kruse.
- Definitely.

- Yeah?
- I'd be game, yeah.

What if you're really good
at it, and then you just
keep doing it?

No. We'll find a replacement.

[Rick laughing]

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

[Rick] Hey, Kruse.
You got a copy?

Yeah.

Leese just volunteers
to run trucks.

So, I'm gonna have her
come down to join you.

And have you
show her the ropes.

It's probably better
that you do it.

'Cause that's just a test
of a relationship
that I don't need.

Copy that.

- You ready, babe?
- Yeah.

- They look at little bigger
up close, or what?
- Way bigger.

I don't know
if I'm ready for this.

Oh, Kruse will take
good care of ya.

She's all yours.

[Leese] This is gonna
be brutal.

Am I gonna survive this?

Nope.

Hang on.

I'm hanging on,
I'm hanging on.

[narrator] Rick's girlfriend,
Leese, has never worked
on a mine before.

[Kruse] It's really rough
out here, I will say that.

Just a little rough.

[narrator] Back in Wisconsin,
she worked as a nurse.

- We're gonna switch seats.
- Okay.

Then you're gonna drive.
You're gonna follow the same
path that I've been following.

Okay.

[Kruse] Here's the spot.

- They're gonna give a honk
to say that we're loaded.
- Got this.

- All right, that's loaded.
Ready?
- Okay.

- Push the red button.
- Red button.

-[Kruse] Rocks in the box.
-[Leese] Rocks in the box.

Should we go faster?
I'm gonna take you
out of second gear.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-[Kruse] Ready?
- I'm ready.

[gears grinding]
Ooh, damn.

[Kruse laughing]

-[Leese] This...
This is crazy.
- Go.

I'm go... What do you want
me to do? Floor it?

[Kruse] There's trucks behind
you, trucks ahead of you,
don't hit the other trucks.

-[Leese] Oooh!
- Slow down.

I am slowing.

[Kruse] Now floor it.

More gas.

- More gas.
- Watching everything
you've been doing.

I'm giving it gas,
I'm giving it gas.

- Stand on it!
- I'm standing!

[Kruse] Don't hit that rock.

- I didn't hit it.
- Okay.

- Are you scared?
- Nope.

- Not at all?
- Nope.

You have faith in me.

I'm still alive.

[narrator] Now Leese
has mastered the basics,

Kruse decides it's time
for a more advanced lesson.

So you have to back up
and dump this.

Put it in reverse.

- With my foot on the brake.
- Foot on the brake, yep.

Foot on the brake.

[Kruse] Get yourself lined up.

- Okay, now start
moving backwards.
- I'm lined up right?

- Whoa. No, no, no, no.
-[Leese] Stop.

- Why'd you do that?
- I don't know.

[chuckling] Okay.

[narrator] The pay pile ramp
has an incline of 30 degrees.

[Kruse] All right.
Back up, back up.

Keep going. All right.
More, more.

[Kruse] God,
don't go off that edge.

Yep, yep, keep going.
Don't, turn it. Back it up.

- I see I'm at the edge though.
- I know.

Keep going, little bit more.

Little bit more.

Good. Good. Stop right there.

- Pull the level back
to dump the load. Yep.
- All the way back?

[Kruse] The box
is going up now.

Release the brake
just a little bit.

-[Kruse] Whoa.
- Sorry, babe.

Yep, just a little bit
at a time, just inch forward.

- I did it. Right?
-[Kruse] Nice job.

[Leese] I did that [beep].

My heart is beating
so [beep] hard.

Good.

[Leese] I rocked it, right?

I would say,
you rocked it pretty well.

-[Kruse] Aww.
- How'd she do?

-[Rick] She did good?
-[Kruse] Yeah.

[Rick] I'm impressed.

I'm super proud of Leese.
I can't say that I'm
that surprised.

She took it over like a boss.

[narrator] With Leese
running a truck,

Rick's on track to get through
the Bacon Strip pay.

[Rick] She's definitely
one of those "don't judge
a book by its cover" people.

She's a Wisconsin girl,
I know that, right?

She's happier in the mud
and the dirt than she looks.

Maybe she's got a little
gold miner blood in her,
ya never know.

Yeah, we're back
to three trucks running.

And that's exactly
what we need to be able
to get ahead.

There's Brennan.
Look, look, it's Brennan.

-[Leese] Brennan.
- Wave at Brennan.

[Leese] Hey.

He eats, like,
five times a day.

He's got, like,
little Tupperware things.

It's like meals.

-Oh.
- There's chicken,
and rice, and broccoli.

Girly-looking food,
I don't know.

I'm sure you have some goodies
hiding in here somewhere.

I ate 'em all already.

- You didn't save me
any snacks?
- You're way too late.

[dog barking]

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] Hi, how are ya?

[Minnie] She likes to eat.

Uh, that frozen pay's
been causing us headaches
on the belt.

Keeps getting piled up.

Oh, you know, belts this big.
It was this [beep] big.

Mike had some excitement
in the box, I'm told.

[Minnie] What happened?

Someone didn't
hammer the wedges in right.

So, uh, the boards [swishes],
all the wedges gone.

The mats, some of them almost
went into the drain,
I had to go run after it.

I didn't.
I now have someone go by
and check them every time.

[Tony speaking]

Anyways, can we just maybe see
how you guys got this week?

That much.

Okay. Well, maybe
we should weight "that much."

So, where'd this gold
come from?

- You're gonna count?
- Sure.

Excellent.

[Kevin] Everybody ready?

[Tony speaking]

[Faith] 20, 30,



[narrator]
It's time to find out

if Tony's gamble,
on frozen ground,

in the 80 Pup cut
has paid off.

So far, the Beets
have averaged 170 ounces
a week.

...120, 130, 140, 150, 160,



[knocks container]



[narrator]
Worth over $328,000.

[Faith] So what's
the season total?



[narrator] Worth almost
$2.3 million.

Thank you.
Best you all go back to work,
I think.

So, why don't you vamoose.

[Kevin] Sounds like a plan.

-[Monica] And ladies.
-[Kevin] And ladies.

You're not gonna
get it this way.

It's time for you
to go to work, too.

No. We tried that before,
didn't work.

No.

I'm a better housekeeper
than you.

Bye.

[narrator] After a week
of stop-start
on the Bacon Strip,

Rick wants to know
if they've stayed on the gold.

- Brain fog day.
- Oh, really?

-[Brennan] Yeah.
-[Kruse] Mmm, you don't say.

Babe, you're hanging
with these guys.

Yeah.

Anybody say
anything silly to ya?

They all are harassing me.

You're all fired.

Well, shall we see, uh,
what all the hard work
paid off with?

-[Brennan] Yes.
- Sure.

[narrator] To hit his


Rick needs 105 ounces a week.

It's pretty heavy.
All right, we got five, ten,







[taps container]



[narrator]
Worth almost $145,000.

- Nice.
-[Leese] Nice.

[narrator] Bringing Rick's
season total to 502 ounces,

worth over $900,000.

[beep], nothing wrong
with that.

[Rick] Yeah, I mean,
You know, with a small crew.

But, you know what?
Everybody jumped in.

Well she, I mean,
she nailed it
on the rock truck. Honestly.

-[Rick] Like I--
-[Leese] Thank you.

I didn't know she was in there
and she backed right up
that pay pile.

And I found out afterwards
and I didn't know
how to feel about it.

[Kruse] Yeah, I'll be honest.
I didn't know
that was happening either.

[Brennan] I can still see
your arm prints
in the back of the seat.

[Kruse] Is that Riley?

Dude, where you been?

Holy [beep], man.
What happened?

Altercation with another guy.
I got my face slashed

and I got stabbed
in the chest as well.

I mean, I was worried
about ya. I was like,
"Well, is he coming back?"

I mean,
I hadn't heard from ya.
Why didn't you call, man?

All the contacts were
on my phone. And the cops took
my phone for an investigation,

so they got me a new phone.

- Yeah.
- You were in the hospital?

I was in the hospital
at [beep].

Well, I mean, you're standing
on two feet. You feeling
strong enough to work?

- Absolutely.
- Yeah?

Yes, I'm willing to go back.

Okay. I'm happy
to have ya back, man.

If you're ready right now,
you jump in with me,
we'll grab your boots.

- Absolutely.
- Let's do this, pal.

Good.

That's a hell of a story, man.
Holy [beep].

[Rick] I guess as far as
excuses go for going missing
for a while,

that's the best one
I've heard[chuckles].

- What's happening, Chris?
- Hey, Mitchell.
How's it going?

Oh, it is finally done.

[narrator] Now that Parker's
got his plan rolling...

he needs to find out if he's
hit his 1,500 ounce target.

-[Mitch] That was quite
the week.
-[Chris] Yeah.

It's the Yukon,
no matter where you go
you're gonna battle something.

But, at least we got
a wash plant down there.

Well, you guys, we were hoping
for 1,500 ounces. Anyone wanna
see what we got?

- You got the big jar out.
-[Mitch] Let's see it.

[narrator] To hit 1,500,
Parker needs 180 ounces.

[Tyson] Twenty...

[narrator] But any more,
will mean a big payday
for Tony.

...100, 120, 140, 150,

- 160...
-[Chris] We gonna make it?

...170...

[Mitch] Let's stop
right here, right?

-...180--
-[Chris] Oh, there's the 180!

...190, 200, 210, 220, 240,





[narrator]
Worth over $496,000.

Minus an $83,000 royalty
for Tony.

-[Mitch] Nice.
Well, we got the 180.
-[Chris] That's right.

So, 97 ounces over.

I'll take it.

Tony gets to make
a little bit more, but hey,
we made a little bit more.

So, that's the way she works.

[narrator]
That brings Parker's
season total to 1,597 ounces.

Worth almost $2.9 million.

Still 900 ounces less
than this time last year.

No, I know that was not
the most fun situation
for you guys to be in.

Um, and I thank you
for getting it done.

In a few days we'll have
two plants running.
And then it'll be real fun.

Yeah. Good.

-[Tyson] Well,
see ya guys later.
-[Mitch] Have fun.

-[Tyson] Later.
- See ya, guys.

[narrator] At last,
Parker's season
is turning a corner.

Everybody did a good job.

You know, it wasn't
a good scenario.

No matter how you played it.

And Mitch and Tyson
made the most of it,
which is good.

They got the job done.
And it's really nice.

It's like, give them more
and more space

they take more and more
ownership over everything.

And just do
a really good job with it.

Now it's just a whole bunch
more ground to mine.