13x24 - Runway to Redemption

[bunniefuu]

The colors are
definitely changing,

and you can tell
the autumn is coming.

Once it starts to get cold,

that's when the problems
will really surface.

Time's ticking.

Or the clock's ticking.

I don't know what's
the expression.

[narrator] In the Yukon,
Parker Schnabel's crew

are on the brink of mining out


more than ever before.

You know, this has just been
a crazy season

with the amount we've
been sluicing.

I got up here, and it wasn't
a couple of days later,

we fired up wash plants
and started washing rocks.

We've been going like
it's the last day ever since.

[Tyson] We're coming
to the end of an era here

where we've been mining here
for pretty much 10 years,

and this is the last year
we can mine here,

so it's either now
or never.

So, I just got back
from Alaska.

We just shut the doors
over there

where it went terrible.

I've already pumped
a lot of money

into the whole Alaska thing,

just the water kicked our a*s.

[narrator] After investing
over $500,000,

Parker barely made
half of that back in gold.

That's the worst part.
It was like it pulled me away

from the place that makes
money to go lose money.

I don't like that.

The time has come to just
make a big final push
here in the Yukon.

- Oh, here comes
Parker now, so...
- [Tyson] How you going?

- ...we'll show him what
we got going on here.
- [Tyson] Yeah, for sure.

[Mitch] What's happening, man?

- [Parker] Not much,
how are you guys?
- [Mitch] Oh, doing all right.

- You're doing better
than we did in Alaska.
- Yeah?

We ended up only
getting, like,

not even a quarter
of the cut out

because of the water
coming from that dredge pond.

Like, we had to leave
most of the pay in the pit.

We're gonna have to kind
of refigure all that
[bleep] out.

Since things are looking
pretty good here,

and Slucifer is pretty
close to being done
where it's at,

I just think
we need to have

the pay coming out
of the Panama Canal cut

It should be thawed.

- It should be.
- Should be. [chuckles]

[narrator] Fifteen weeks ago,
Parker tasked Mitch

with opening up
the Panama Canal cut

in the hopes
of a quick score.

I don't know what that is.

...But they were forced
to abandon it.

[Mitch] Lots of ice in it.

All this rock is glued
together pretty much.

We have to get out of here.

It's had a bunch
of time to thaw now
since we've been out of there.

I just think we should
throw a couple of people
in there with the Cats.

It's not a big piece of ground
as far as sluicing goes,

but it does mean
another wash-plant move,

which I know this time
of year, we don't like those,

but I don't really wanna
leave that chunk

of ground here unmined
when this license expires,

so I just thought it
was kind of one

of the last pieces that
we have good access to.

- We know lots of gold
came out of that area.
- Yeah.

Were you hoping to get
more gold out of Alaska,

and that's kind
of the reason why...

No, it has nothing
to do with that.

- No?
- No.

I'm not... I'm... No... I'm...

Something we wanna
get into pretty quick though,

if we decide to do it.

What do you mean "if"?

We don't take on things
that we don't finish.

- There's still some
season left.
- Okay.

Well, man, it's gonna
be a mess.

- We've got a lot to do.
- Yeah.

[Parker] I know that those
guys are very busy

and already we're
spread pretty thin,

but we've already invested
most of the money
into that pit

that it would take
to get it done.

But that doesn't count
for anything

unless you get
the gold out of it.

[narrator] Parker's crew are
close to completing their


with their last two cuts
of the season

with Slucifer on the final
stretch of the pay-back cut,

and Big Red churning
through the runway cut.

Now, with barely weeks
to go in the season,

Parker wants them to return
to the Panama Canal cut

adding an extra 10 acres
of ground,

increasing their goal
to a record 100 acres.

[Tyson] We're back
in the Panama Canal cut,

and I'm working
on the wash-plant pod
for Slucifer.

Trying to throw it together
quick-fast in a hurry.

It's definitely
a game changer.

[Mitch] Parker's back
and his focus

is definitely on the Yukon now
and that's a good thing.

But right now,

he just threw a huge,
huge wrench in our program.

I think if things would have
gone better in Alaska,

we wouldn't be scrambling
right now.

And you know, we wouldn't
even be considering
this project.

So, definitely running out
of days here to get there
through wash plants.

[Fred] I mean, right now,
all our futures lie

in these last weeks,
and we've gotta hit it hard.

We're entering the gauntlet.

[narrator] Third year mine
boss, Fred Lewis,

is fighting for survival.

If things don't turn around,
his mining career is over.

He's cut his goal
from 500 to 200 ounces,

but is still 72 ounces short.

Now, with winter closing in,

he's come up with a plan
to get over the line.

[Fred] We don't have
a lot of time left.

We're gonna have
to step it up.

The only way
we're gonna do that
is to run a night shift.

I'm gonna put Christopher
as night foreman.

Is he ready to lead?
I'm not sure.

So, it's sink or swim
for him, and, uh,

pretty much sink or swim
for us as a company as well.

It's a bit of a gamble.

Hey, Christopher.

Are you ready for this?

Do you need any advice
on how to lead these guys?

You got it, or what?
You've been around me
your whole life.

Based off of current circumstances,

no, I don't want any
leadership advice from you.

Keep these guys moving.

Like, if we don't get pay,
we don't get gold.

If we don't get gold,
then we're just wasting
our time, right?

So, you're gonna have to kind
of tread the line as a leader

to not be a [bleep]head,
but to also be a [bleep]head.

Because if you're not
a [bleep]head, they're
not gonna listen to you.

But don't be too much
of a [bleep]head,

because then they won't
listen to you.

- Taking notes?
- Sure.

Oh, by the way, I didn't tell
them you're in charge yet.

- [Fred] So... that's coming.
- [Christopher groans]

- Hey, hey.
- What's up?

Well, guys, tonight's
our first night shift,

so, uh, thanks
for biting the b*llet.

I'm actually gonna
put Christopher
as the night foreman.

Um, it has nothing to do
with him being my son.

There's no nepotism here.

I believe that he has
a firm grasp

from working
the day shift with me.

- We don't have a lot
of lighting.
- Um.

- So just take it slow.
- Mm.

All right, guys, any issues,

just come up and wake
somebody up besides me.

Anybody else besides me.

- Our fearless leader
right here.
- Yep.

- Well, I need my beauty sleep.
- [all chuckle]

- Goodnight, guys.
- Goodnight, man.

[narrator] Before they can
fire up the wash plant,

Fred's night-shift crew
must build up the stockpile

of freedom cut pay.

Night foreman
Christopher Parker

uses the dozer
to push up the pay dirt.

We have a light tower up,
but it's still [bleep]
dark out.

[narrator] In the 220,
Ray Powers loads
the rock truck.

Shake, rattle and roar.

[narrator] For Stuart McKenzie

the haul at 700 feet to wash
plant, Sergeant Sluice.

[Stuart] Fred's ultimate goal
is for Christopher to take
over this operation.

I don't really consider
him a boss,

I consider him a colleague.

I know that he holds
the role of night foreman,

and the authority
of a foreman,

but he wants people
to work with him, not for him.

He's gonna get
a lot more out of us

if he's not cracking the whip
and being a [bleep].

[bleep, bleep]

I can't... I can't [bleep]
see a [bleep] thing.

My headlights on the dozer
has gone out

- Hey, Stu.
- Hey Chris, what's up, man?

My headlights don't work.

Fred wants me
to move all this [bleep]
dirt with a [bleep] dozer.

I can't see
[bleep, bleep, bleep].

Yeah, it's a safety hazard
if I've ever heard of one.

No working lights, got it.

Ice [bleep] all over
the ground,

and you're slipping
everywhere, got it.

Check that one off
the [bleep] list.

On top of the fact,
it's got no heater

and it's cold as [bleep].

So I'm freezing
my[bleep] off right now.

Have fun, dude.
Don't break anything,
otherwise it's your a*s.

Thanks, Fred.

[bleep] awesome!

This is just... I can't...
I can't do this.

I'm gonna kick Ray
out of the 220.

I'm gonna park this.

I'm gonna have Ray go over
to the plant, and feed it,

and I'm gonna hop
into the 220 and load it.

[Chris] Hey, Ray!

- What's up?
- I'm kicking you out.

I need you
to go feed the plant.

- Okay. I'll see you later.
- Yeah.

[narrator] Chris takes over
digging pay dirt in the 220

and sends Ray
to fire up the plant.

Okay.

Let's go.

[Ray] Why, I have no problem
working nights.

Twelve-hour shifts,
not a problem.

I can do that standing
on my head.

I ain't gotta prove it.

[yawning] Oh, [bleep].

Oh, I'm [bleep] tired.

[Stuart] Everything seems
to be flowing good,

and as long as we can
keep this pay going in,

that'll keep her running.

You know, at the end
of the season

it's an absolute mad dash.

It's long hours,
it's stressful,

yeah, it's an absolute
pain in the a*s,

but it's a necessity.

Who left the [bleep]
machine [bleep]?

- Stu, get the water!
- [Stu] Roger that.

Oh, [bleep, bleep]

[narrator]
At California Creek...

What the [bleep]?
the machine's [bleep]

...as the Lewis crew's
first night shift comes
to an end,

it's gone up in smoke.

[choking] [bleep]

Oh, [bleep, bleep].

[spluttering]

What the [bleep] was that?

- I think the motor just
[bleep] fried.
- [bleep]

All right, uh,
this is not good.

Hey, Fred, it's Stuart.

I'm gonna need you
down here at the plant.

The [bleep] motor blew.

- Hey, Samson.
- [growling]

[Fred] The original motor
that was on it,

we hoped it would last.

It's one of those gambles
you take

when you're gold mining,
and you're scrounging [bleep].

[sighing]

The reason why that
motor blew was operator air.

[Fred] When you put a lot
of feed on those shakers

that's what pulls a lot
of weight down on it,

and that torque is gonna
pull down that motor,
and burn it out.

It's a big issue.

[narrator]
The wash plant's pully motor
drives the shaker deck,

which separates out
the fine gold-rich material

from the large waste rocks.

But overloading the plant
with too much material

has blown the motor.

Now it needs replacing

before they can get back
to washing pay dirt.

The only problem,

their spare motor
is second-hand

and Fred has never
run it before.

[Fred] Let's just
hope it works.

[narrator] Despite working
a grueling 12-hour night shift

Chris and Stuart stick around
to help swop out the motor.

- You know what the [bleep]
that thing is?
- What?

We honestly don't know
if this motor works.

We haven't tested it.

[sighing]

If this doesn't start...

- [Stu] Season's over.
- Not over, but pretty
[bleep] close.

So this has to start.

Go ahead, Christopher.

[motor starting]

[Fred in a German accent]
Fire in ze hole.

[all cheering and laughing]

- Yes! Great work!
- Wow!

[Fred] If this motor
didn't work,

we're talking $5,000
to buy a new one,

a day lost to go
to Whitehorse to get it,

and another day
to put it on.

So this saved us three days.

And the season we have left
is very, very little,

so this is [bleep] huge.

We're creeping up
on the tail end
of everything here.

This is pretty much the last
of what we've got in the cut.

[narrator] On Tony Beets'
Hunker cut,

Jason Fraser and his
Winchester crew

are nearing the end
of their first season
in the Yukon.

[Jason] It's been
a long summer.

Everybody's looking forward
to getting home.

It's part of the price
we pay

to chase that golden
dream, I guess.

[narrator] They need a haul
of 200 ounces

to go home with gold
in their pockets...

...and pay their landlord, Tony.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, I hope so.

[Jason] I think we can get
somewheres around
our goal of 200.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] So far, they've
brough in just 106 ounces.

Now they've almost
cleaned out the cut

and have a huge pay pile
to run for the rest
of the season.

As far as pay for this season,
that's the last of her.

This here is the last little
bit Butch found in the corner,

and we're gonna feed it
through Winchester.

[narrator] John Van Thuyl
trucks pay to the Winchester,

the homemade double-barreled
wash plant that he built
on his driveway.

[John] She's been doing
a good job all season.

I hope she continues
to do that.

[Butch speaking]

[narrator] The third member
of their skeleton crew,

ex logger Butch Bouchard,

feeds pay into the plant.

[Butch speaking]

Yeah, I see it.

[Butch speaking]

[Butch speaking]

[Jason] Chain's on the ground.

[Butch speaking]

- [Jason] The drive chain.
- [bleep]

Yeah.

[Butch speaking]

[Jason] What happened?

I think the master link.

[narrator] The master link
is the only link that can
open and close

connecting the ends
of the chain into a loop.

If they can't fix it,

the Winchester's
twin drums can't spin.

[John] Now we've gotta feed it
back through there,

and we have to find
another master link.

Have a look if you wanna
feed that, I'll go find
a [bleep] link.

[Jason] I've seen a bag
of links here somewhere.

There they are.

[bleep] me man,
like, seriously?

[Tony speaking]

Not bad. You?

[Tony speaking]

Of course we're
making you money.

Oh, yeah.

[Tony speaking]

What good [bleep]
timing you have.

Well, we just broke a chain.

Yeah.

Oh, just the master link
split out.

Just kind of a [bleep] up.

[Tony speaking]

True enough.

We just gotta run that pile,
probably till the snow flies.

Yeah, yeah. They gotta
get at it. Okay, well,
thanks, man.

[groaning]

Okay, Butch,

the black button
on the far side,

- turn it towards
the opposite of what it is.
- Yep.

And turn the trommel on.

- Hold the button in.
- Yeah.

- Okay, now let out slowly.
- Yep.

Yep, that's the right
direction we gotta go.

- So, push the button in.
- Okay, now?

- When you do it, I'm gonna
have my hands in here.
- Yep.

And just jog a little bit out,
not too much,

'cause I don't wanna get my
hands taken apart in here.

[John] Don't do this
at home, folks.

- Okay?
- Good, just a little bit
till I get it down.

Slowly.

Okay, whoa! Whoa!

- Okay, now?
- Hang on.

Hold it right there.

Let the button out?

- I got the master link.
- Huh, you got one?

Can you climb up that ladder
and grab this chain?

- You got that?
- Yeah.

[groaning]

[Jason] How close are we?

- That does her.
- Okay.

Okay, you can put the tension
back on, if you want.

[groaning] Here you go.

[Butch speaking]

- Yeah.
- Good to go, buddy.

[narrator] The broken chain
has cost the Winchester crew

two hours of sluicing.

They're back in the race
to hit 200 ounces

before winter shuts
them down.

At this point in the game,
we just want to keep
wash, wash, wash,

wash as much as we
can possibly wash.

We've got our goal,
and that's what we're
aiming to get to,

and it means this
trommel's gotta turn.

That will be the last bucket
of pay back pay going
into Slucifer.

[chuckling]

[Mitch] I like it, buddy.
Good job, man.

I'd say it went pretty
damn good.

We're on the hop around,
she's done.

[narrator] At Indian River,
Parker Schnabel's crew

have finally mined out
the pay back cut.

Now, after Parker
dropped the b*mb

that he wants to sluice

an extra 10 acres of ground
before winter,

Mitch and Tyson must
move Slucifer

to the re-opened
Panama Canal cut.

Is this really it?

Or does Parker have one more
to cut for us?

I don't think there's any
more dirt after this,

no matter what he
wants to do.

[narrator] Mitch and Tyson
need to move

the 45-ton wash plant


their biggest wash-plant
move this season.

To get to the other end
of the claim as fast
as possible,

they'll drag Slucifer down


with light aircraft
landing and taking off,

finally arriving at
the Panama Canal

where the plant
will be positioned
on a 40-foot high pad.

Let's give her a shot.

All right, man, let's do it.

[machinery creaking]

Come on, baby.

[Mitch] Slucifer's feeling
very heavy today.

We're moving the plant
right now, fully dressed here.

We certainly don't have time
to sleep this season

before we disassemble
the plant for the move

and then put it all
back together.

The sluice runs are shaking
really good, side to side,

and that's just because
any bit of input you give it

just gets amplified
throughout the wash plant.

You know, if you've jerked
the wash plant a little bit
one way or the other,

all that energy
transfers through.

So we're trying to be just
smooth and steady here.

Hopefully we don't have
a break in this thing.

Well, right now, we're just
approaching the runway
that we built.

[narrator] With no flights scheduled

or way of communicating
with planes coming in to land,

Tyson will act as spotter.

[Tyson] The last thing
we want is to have

this wash plant stuck there
in the middle of the runway

and have somebody
wanting to land
and not be able to,

so, just gonna try and get
through there with no trouble.

See what happens.

[Tyson] Hey, Mitch,
you got a copy? Mitch?

Yeah, go ahead.

It looks like a plane's
coming in right now.

[Mitch]
Thanks for the heads up.
I'll hold here.

[Tyson] Looks like
he's loopiing around

and gonna come in
landing downstream.

You know,
when we built the runway

we had no intention of ever,
uh, going back
to the Panama Canal.

And, uh, never did we think
we'd be dragging
a fully-dressed wash plant

back down this runway.

Looks like he's heading
towards Eureka now.

So he might not be
coming in for a landing.

Yeah, man, I think we're good.
We're gonna go for it here.

Here we go. Runway's clear.
We're going for it.

[Tyson] Holy [bleep]!

- Oh, hang on a sec, Mitch,
we got a plane coming in.
- Oh, [bleep]!

Yeah, that's pretty sketchy.

Uh, that was a good spot
there, man.

All right, Tyson,
well, that guy landed here,

but, uh, I'm just gonna
get on the runway right now,

so, just keep your head
on a swivel there
if you see anybody coming in.

My eyes are glued on the sky.

Hopefully we can
get this thing
where it needs to be here

before another plane
is circling.

Oh, hang on there, Mitch,
you're gonna catch
the sluices on the runway.

Just have to dig a little more
out of this end.

[Mitch] Man, go in there
and widen it out
as much as you can.

So, Slucifer is 32 feet wide
from wing to wing,

so we just gotta widen
our lower road
a little bit here...

...to make it so Slucifer
can make it by.

Doing pretty good
on this plant move,

but tearing a wing off
could change all that
very quickly.

All right, we just gotta
keep it right down
the center here.

We got no room for error.

Hey, we got something
in the distance over there
to the west, you see that?

Just get her up there quick.

Come on, baby.
Let's go. Let's go.

All right, man, there it is.

We got Slucifer
past the runway.

We're gaining on him.

[narrator] More than two hours
after starting the move,

Mitch and Tyson reach
their final destination.

[Mitch] Well, we are here
at the Panama Canal.

But now for the hardest part
of this whole deal

is getting
this heavy wash plant
up on top of that path

and getting it in place.

You wanna jump on here
on the pad

and help me guide this thing
into place?

[Tyson] Copy that.

Looking good, Mitch.
Just keep her coming
like that.

That's a little easier said
than done.

[Tyson] Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Easy. Don't wanna flip it
into the plant.

Goes to show
how much Slucifer weighs,

and of a 750,
he's even struggling
to pull it up.

[narrator]
Slucifer on the pad,

Mitch must rotate it


[Tyson] Looking great there.

You like it?

- [Tyson] Oh, yeah.
- [laughs]

[Mitch]
The last Slucifer wash plant
move of the year.

It's in place. It's level.
And we're happy.

- Nice job, man.
- There we go.

[narrator] All that's left,

connect the120-foot long
super stacker
that feeds pay to the plant.

And fire up.

[machine whirring]

Let's throw some dirt
in this thing.

This is the first scoop
from the Panama Canal
going through Slucifer here.

Now it's a matter of, uh,
is there any gold in it?

[Ray] Uh, there he is.

All righty, guys.

The men of night have arrived.

My vampire crew.

[narrator]
In a desperate attempt
to hit his 200-ounce gold,

Fred Lewis has been
running night shifts all week.

But breakdowns at night
have cost him precious
sluicing time in the day.

[Fred] All right, guys.

Night shift is supposed to be
doubling our yardage,
but we're breaking stuff.

- [Christopher] Yeah.
- I'm not saying
it's you guys' fault,

- it's just dark
and it's different.
- Yeah.

- [Fred] So we need to really
step it up a little.
- [Stuart] Yeah.

[Fred] We've gotta make
night profitable.

- Yeah.
- [Fred] And right now,
I'm kinda going up and down

on whether or not it's,
it's smart to be
pushing you guys

- in these type of situations.
- [Ray] Yeah.

- Yeah, I hear you.
- [Stuart] Yeah, it's dark,
and yeah...

But at the same point in time
I, I know we can do it.

- Like, just... Yeah. I know.
- We have to do it.

- We had... Yeah.
- [Fred] We have to.

- We need the yardage.
We need the gold.
- Yeah.

- All right.
- Sounds good, man.

[Fred] Yard, yard, yard.

You know, right now,
I'm running into
a sticky situation

where we're trying
to double our yardage,

but right now we're spending
a lot of time on day

fixing the problems that night
is causing.

And it's actually stockpiling
to where we're not running
as much yardage

if we were just
running one shift.

If they're not gonna
up our yardage,
it's just a waste of money,

and I gotta figure
something else out.

But at this point,
I'm gonna let them go for it,

and give them some tasks,
see how it goes.

If they [bleep] it up,

I might have to cancel
the night shift.

[narrator] With the future
of the night shift
in the balance,

newly-promoted
night foreman Chris
and the crew

get to work
in the freezing Yukon night.

[Ray] Yeah, working nights,

you can see
it's black down here.

Even with lights,
it looks different.

You gotta
read things differently.

You... You can't be
moving too fast.

You gotta really be aware
of your surroundings.

Chris is purely
putting forth some effort.

I'm happy that he's
having this opportunity
to really grow as a person.

And I only think
it's gonna help him
become a better leader.

[Christopher] You know,
when Fred told me

that he wanted me
to be the night foreman,

I was like, "You know,
I can do that."

We need to keep fighting

and we need to keep
pushing through.

Sure, we had a few hiccups,
but they're getting better.

Being on nights,
and me feeding,

over other guys
hat have been here
for quite a while,

gives me kind of a...

...not quite
a kick up the a*s.

No [bleep] way.

You gotta be [bleep]
joking me! No [bleep] way!

[bleep]

[bleep]

What? That pump's
in the [bleep] hose, man!

I [bleep] I got probably
a [bleep]!

[Ray] [bleep]!

[bleep].

Plant's down.

[Chris] Oh, [bleep].

[narrator] The Lewis crew
are at a standstill

after another breakdown
on the graveyard shift.

Ray has punctured the hose
that feeds water
to the wash plant.

[Ray] Can fix this.

Get her done before
[bleep] people show up.

Just gotta cut this hose off,
get rid of these clamps,

and then take that piece
off the end,

and put this back on
with the clamps

and she'll be back up running.
This'll be quick.

[Chris] What happened?

Oh, sure.

I [bleep] was hoping
to get this fixed
before you showed up.

- [Stuart] What's up.
- Sure.

[Ray] Oh, I pulled [bleep],
caught the edge.

And I punctured the hose.

So, I got her cut.

Got the one band on,

the only other band
that we had.

That [bleep] up on me.

[Chris]
We can't fix it tonight.

That is not a tonight fix.

So, we pretty much
have to shut down the plant
and we can't use it tonight.

So, the problem
we face right now

is Ray used the 250
to try to dig dirt out
from under the wash plant.

And he hit our line
that feeds water
into our wash plant

which has caused a big hole.

He was able
to fix it a little bit,

but there's still a hole
that will cause a geyser regardless.

So, we have to shut down,
and with me being
the night foreman,

everything that goes wrong
ultimately falls
on my shoulders.

So, that's just something
I have to...

I just have to learn
for the future.

[Fred] Hey, where's Chris?

Hey, Christopher.

- Hey.
- [coughs]

- What's up?
- [Fred] Um...

You firing us?

[Fred] No, not really.

Um, what I'm seeing
is things are happening
at night,

and right now
they've been things
that we've been able to fix,

but what if it's not?

What if it's something
that shuts us down?

- We're so close to the end
of the season right now.
- Yeah.

We just can't afford it.

And I just don't
see it working.

So, we're gonna
disband night shift.

We're gonna cut it.
We're gonna stop doing it.

Oh. It just doesn't really
seem fair to cut us.

[Fred] Christopher,
you know it's not personal,

We've been out here
busting our a*s.

I know you have been
busting your a*s.

- And I don't wanna
come down on you...
- And like I...

...'cause you think
that I don't know that.

It's not your leadership.

It's a conglomerate
of the situation

that we're [bleep] in
right now,

and I gotta make the decision.

We have to come together
in a day shift
to finish this out together...

- All right.
- ...and push as hard as we can
and as smart as we can.

- [Stuart] Yeah.
- [Ray] I'll get my a*s

- onto it [bleep], bro.
- All right.
I appreciate you guys.

- We'll do what we gotta do.
- [Fred] All right.

It's coming close.

[Chris] It's not like
I have any hang-ups about

not being a foreman
or not being in charge, but...

...I think we're doing
really [bleep] well.

I... I see...

...I don't really see a reason
for him to kick us.

So, I'm just...
This is so [bleep].

[Fred] You know,
working at night
here in the Yukon sucks.

There's no light, period, sometimes.

If the moon's not out,
you can't see your hand
in front of you.

It just makes everything
more complicated.

And, uh, I knew that,

but I had hoped
that we could pull the yardage
to make up for it.

It's just not happening.

[Jason]
It's only a matter of time

before we start to get
freezing temperatures.

Time now
is the absolute premium.

[narrator] On Tony Beets'
Hunker Cut

the Winchester crew
are battling to bring in


But winter is closing in,

and they're still


[Jason] The machines
don't like to work
when it's really cold.

They guys don't like to work
when it's [chuckles]
really cold.

[John] We're hoping to get
to that big goal

We're getting the pay
through the plant.

It looks really good
for the end of the season.

Yeah, we're getting
to the 200-ounce goal.

- Our average is good.
- [Butch speaking]

[John] Holy smoke!

Jason, cut the power
on the Winchesters.

Butch, cut the water.

- Holy smoke!
- [machine hissing]

[engine shuts down]

[Butch speaking]

[bleep] breaker's on fire.

[Butch speaking]

The VFD shorted out.

- [Jason] It's on the VFD?
- On the VFD, yeah. She's done.

To melt that,
that's gotta be cooked inside.

[narrator] An electrical fire
has burnt out the VFD,
or Variable Frequency Drive,

which controls the plant's
motor speed.

Without it,
the Winchester is dead.

[Jason] No, no,
that doesn't work.

- I mean, look at
the pay pile, man.
- [John] I know.

And she's cooked.
We're two weeks out
for a VFD.

- Nobody else got that here.
I've never seen one in town.
- [Butch] Wow.

[Jason] Tony might
have something, maybe.

- [John] Yeah.
- [Butch speaking]

[Jason] No.

Wow. [bleep].

[Jason] What's going on there,
big guy?

Oh, we got a [bleep] problem.

I burned up the VFDs
in that plant.

[bleep] no.
You haven't got any
VFDs around, have you?

It's a small one,
like a, uh,


So, is there anybody around?

- There's no body in this
[bleep] town, is there?
- [bleep]

[Tony speaking]

[bleep].

- [Jason] That's what
it's looking like.
- [Tony speaking]

I still got pay on the deck
I wanna wash, though.

Well, I'll just go
break the news and...

[Tony speaking]

- Well, they're gonna
be disappointed, but...
- [Tony speaking]

- All right. I'm gonna go
pull some maths and, uh...
- [Tony speaking]

...we'll get back to you.

[Tony speaking]

- Okay. Thanks. Bye.
- [Tony speaking]

[John] Hopefully, he might
have something, you know.

You don't look very happy.

Well, not really.

- [John] Not really?
- Yeah.

[Jason] He's all 600 volt
up there.

- [John] So, we're done?
- I'd say so.

[John] That sucks.

Well, let's call it a day.

The season's over.
We're done, Butch. [bleep].

[Jason] So, we're gonna get
what we're gonna get
out of this.

Whether we make
our goal or not
remains to be seen.

[Chris] It's a bummer
about Alaska.

[Parker] Yeah, [bleep].

It definitely makes me
feel like, uh, a loser.

Look at the bright side.

Look at all the winners
we've had up and down
this river.

But that's what I mean.
Like, it makes me think
every success was luck,

and this is really the way
everything's gonna go.

Well, I guess when
you're a winner
year after year after year,

defeat can be
quite painful, huh?

Did we lose that much?

Relatively speaking, no.

- But it was a lot of money.
- Yeah.

Well, hopefully we can make it
up here on the river.

Yeah. We'll see.

You know, you got
a good track record, Junior. Just...

...don't let this one setback
set you back.

[Monica] So, are they
on their way up,

or what's happening?

[narrator]
With their season cut short
by an electrical fire,

the Winchester crew's
final gold weigh

will decide whether they made
their 200-ounce season goal

and how much gold
goes to their landlord Tony.

[Tony speaking]

[Monica] Yeah.

- [Monica] No.
- [both laughing]

[Tony speaking]

[Monica] Yeah.

Yeah.

- Hey, guys.
- [Monica] How's it going?

- [Tony speaking]
- [Jason] Hey.

We're not sure
what she turned out.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, it sucks.

- Yep.
- [bleep].

[Jason] Yeah,
that's the upside.

So, were you happy
with how your trommel
worked out?

[John] Yeah.

All in all, for being
a home-built plant,
she stood up pretty good.

[Jason] Shall we weigh
some gold?

- [Monica] Yeah.
- [Tony speaking]

- [John] Yeah,
let's weigh some gold.
- Okay, fellas.

- Here we go.
- This is what it's all about.

- You gonna count there, Butch?
- [Butch] [bleep] yeah.

[narrator] The Winchester crew
have banked 106 ounces,

so need 94 ounces
to hit their goal.













Keep going, man.

- [Jason] Trying, buddy.
- [Butch] 90.

[bleep], yeah.



- [Jason] Wow.
- [Butch] [bleep] yeah, man.

- Ooh.
- [Tony speaking]

We did it. We got there.

[Jason] That makes 207.

- [John] That's amazing.
- [bleep] yeah.

[narrator]
Worth over $350,000...

...Jason and his crew
have hit their target

in their first season
in the Yukon.

[Tony speaking]

Well, there is the landlord

- we have to deal with.
[chuckles]
- [Monica chuckles]

[Monica] Yeah, that's...

[Jason laughing]

[Tony speaking]

[Jason] That's the way
it happens, doesn't it?

- Awesome. Well, thanks, guys,
we're gonna bail.
- [Tony speaking]

[Jason]
Been an awesome season.
Thank you.

[Jason] Yeah.

[Jason] Fair enough.

[John] We've achieved our goal
with the gold weigh.

It sets you up for next year.

It gives you an incentive
to come back
and set a bigger goal

and come back
next year for more.

You know, we've put everything
on the line this year.

And it's... It's paid off.

You know, we've conquered
year one here washing,

and it's onward and upward.

There's no...
There's no turning back now.

I mean, we're into it.
We're just gonna keep rolling.

Looking pretty empty.

Yeah, this is empty.

- [laughing]
- This ain't.

- [laughing]
- Oh.

- [Ray] Look at that.
- Oh.

Well, we don't have
a lot of these left.

- [laughs]
- [Stuart] I know.

[Fred] Last season,
at this time,
we had snow, remember?

- Yeah.
- [Ray] Oh, yeah.

[Fred] So, we disbanded
the night shift.

You know, a blown motor
is one thing,

but a blown motor,
and a broken hose,

you know, things just kept
happening at night.

It wasn't about
the work ethic.

It wasn't about anything
besides it's just too risky
at night.

And it was costing money.

[narrator]
With night-shift breakdowns
affecting his whole operation,

this week Fred sluiced
only 1,800 yards,

400 below his average.

Despite the setbacks,

he's still hoping
for 20 ounces.

All right, Chris, let's do it.

[Chris] One.

Two. Three.

Four.

Five. Six.

Seven. Eight.

Nine.



[narrator] Worth $15,000,

bringing Fred's total
to 138 ounces,

62 short of his goal.

[Fred] It's not fantastic.

It's not what we want.

But it's a numbers game
from this point on.

We need more yardage.
Get that dozer pushing
as much as you can.

We gotta pull the Freedom Cut
before we freaking leave here.

- Yeah.
- [Fred] So, let's just
get back to work

pull as much
as we possibly can
until we can't pull any more.

- You guys, good?
- You bet you.

[Christopher]
We got gold in the pan,

but it's definitely
not good enough.

You know, this last week
was a bit challenging.

We had a lot of issues
that we had to overcome
with the pipe,

and just the darkness
in general,

and just trying to,

just trying to get
[bleep] done.

But at least we're running,
at least we're getting gold.

Right now, it's yardage.

We need to get more yardage
to that plant,

and these need to be bigger
every week.

Two hundred's not gonna
hit itself, and right now...

...if we don't pick it up,
we're actually in jeopardy
of not even hitting that.

- Hey, Doumitt.
- [Chris] Hey, T.

- How's it going?
- [Chris] Good.

[narrator] So far this season,

Parker's Yukon crew has banked
just under 6,000 ounces,

still way short of last year's


[Mitch] Quite the week, man.

Yeah.

[narrator] Now,
with the latest gold
from three different cuts,

it's time to see
how close he is
to a record season.

- [Chris] Mitch, are you ready
for your baby?
- [Mitch] Let's hear it, man.

[narrator] Up first,
Big Red on the Runway cut.











- 300, right on the dot.
- [Chris] On the nose.

[narrator] Worth
over half a million dollars.

Next up, Slucifer's last gold
from the Payback cut.

[Mitch] 20. 30. 40. 50.







[narrator] Almost $190,000.

- [Parker] That cut went fine.
- [Chris] Yeah.

[Parker] Nothing special,

- but if we can't get special,
we'll take consistent.
- [chuckles] Yeah.

[narrator] Finally,
Slucifer's first gold
from the Panama Canal cut.

We almost had
an airplane land
on the prewashed Slucifer.

- [Parker] Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.

Who has the right of way
when you're moving
a wash plant

- across the runway?
- We were kinda wondering
the same thing.

We definitnely were bigger.

- [Mitch] Yeah.
- [all laughing]

And did it get
any gold, Doumitt?

- Oh, it got
a little bit, yeah.
- [Parker] Yeah.

Let's check it out.

- [Chris] Here we go.
- [Tyson] Here we go. 10.





- 100.
- [Mitch] There we go.

[Tyson] 120. 140.





- Not bad.
- Did it have a lot
of hours on that?

- [Tyson] No.
- Gotcha.

- [Parker] Good, good.
- Yeah, I mean,
great start, right?

[narrator]
Just three days sluicing

has delivered
$270,000 of gold,

bringing their season total
to 6,708 ounces.

To beat last season's
record haul,

Parker now needs
his Panama Canal gamble
to keep paying off.

All right, you guys.
Let's get sluiicing.

- Yeah.
- We're gonna try and find
some more.

Thanks, Doumitt.

Okay, buddy.

Take care.
I gotta bag this stuff up.