14x05 - Up in Smoke

[bunniefuu]

There's gold all
through these rugs now.

Look at this little guy.

Deep in the Yukon wilderness,

Rick ness is on a mission
to make millions in gold

after a year off mining,
left him nearly broke.

Yeah, it's all good.

Really good.

But I mean, it's
just a small crew.

We're working well together,

having fun.

The gold is showing up.

It was a great way
to start the season,

you know, now, I'll have
a little money in the bank

to start going forward.

A month into the season,

Rick's finding his footing.

His lean crew are
working through a pile

of leftover rally
valley pay dirt.

And so far, he's
banked 65 ounces,

one hundred thirty
thousand dollars in gold.

I mean, we're not breaking
any records as of right now,

but I mean, we're
definitely getting ahead,

and I'm happy about that.

And you know, we'll
start to add people

and start to grow.

And if we can keep on
this pace, I think it's...

We're on track for a
good profitable season.

All right, let's
fire this pig up.

I'm definitely glad to be here.

Especially, now that
we're seeing the pay

coming through
the sluice every day,

it's just getting
thicker and thicker.

In the loader,

greenhorn gold
miner, Morgan Lauren,

feeds 120 yards an hour of pay

into wash plant, monster red.

Coming out here was
more than just a gamble,

but I'm loving it

and I'm very happy
with my choice.

New hire, buzz legault,

trucks waste rocks
from the wash plant

to a nearby dump site.

Right now, we're sustaining,
you know what I mean?

Put my camp up on lien for Troy.

But there's gonna be
more payments in the future,

so north of a thousand ounces,

but I wanna go
past paying the bills,

you know, I wanna start putting
together some successful seasons up here.

Right now, the name
of the game is gold.

We need to get as
much of it as we can,

as fast as we can.

Rick's stockpile will run
out in a couple of weeks.

Before he can open new cuts,

he needs 20 ounces
this week to cover costs,

build up funds for new equipment

and keep his gold
mining dream alive.

Taking a year off,

it was good for me, it was
great for me, it had to happen.

You know, I don't regret it.

Because without it,

I don't know what
would have happened.

But that being said,

this makes things a lot more
difficult, you know what I mean?

There's trust issues all around,

like, "is he okay? Is he back?

Is he fine? Does he
know what he's doing?

Is he gonna fail?"

Well, I know the answer to that,

but you know, I still have a lot to
prove up here, you know what I mean?

Especially, to my crew.

Hey, Morgan!

Can you move that stuff?

I'm definitely Rick's favorite.

Holy.

Man!

It's smoking like a
dude, and it stinks.

I can see it from up there.

Great!

Check the oil.

Look at that

yeah, she's shot.

That's the head gasket.

Yeah, oil ain't supposed
to look like that.

In layman's terms, she's.

Rick's 460 horsepower pump

is seized up and
stopped working.

The head gasket that
provides an air-tight seal

between the cylinder
head and the engine block

has cracked, allowing
oil and coolant to mix

and the engine to overheat.

To fix it would
require a total rebuild.

That's pretty much
all she wrote. Right?

That oil has got antifreeze
in it, we can't run it.

Re-build the whole engine,

we don't have the
capabilities for that here.

No.

No matter what, in
the meantime, we're

because I don't
have another spare.

$200,000 pump.

All I can think of doing is
start making phone calls.

I gotta find a new
pump somewhere.

Rick's in a catch-22 situation.

Buying a new pump could
cost him over 200 grand,

money he can't afford.

But with no pump to
send water to the plant,

Rick can't catch gold.

Hey.

It's Rick ness, I'm
up here in the Yukon.

I run a small gold
placer mining operation.

I'm looking for a pump, ten by
eight, ten by ten, whatever you've got.

I don't think we're gonna
be able to help you out here.

I've got zero inventory.

And all the guys around us,

I would normally
steer you towards.

I know that they're
all out as well.

Well, thank you
for the phone call.

That's not making
me feel too optimistic.

Everything is so hard
to come by up here,

and then right now, it's just, seems like
everything's just weeks if not months out.

It's not gonna be good.

Plans always have a way
again to screw it up. You know?

I was hoping to be
sluicing in three days,

and it's gonna
be more like, ten.

One hundred miles
west in the klondike,

Parker schnabel is
desperate for gold.

He has bet everything he's got

on buying the $15 million
dominion creek claim.

But five weeks into the season,

he hasn't mined an ounce

and is fast running out of cash.

We're draining every
bank account, till I get there.

We're hoping to still do,

like 5,000 ounces this year.

So...

Still doesn't put us in
the green for the year,

but it just...

Makes us be able to survive.

Dominion is a huge
seven-year long project

with a potential
$160 million payout.

But after buying the claim,

Parker's barely got enough
cash to keep it running

and risks going bankrupt

before the gold starts flowing.

This ground is quite a bit deeper
than where we've been mining.

Nearly double, double
the depth, double the cost.

I mean, there's not
much we can do about it.

It just comes down
to moving the dirt.

Right now, we're just
trying to get down to some

gold rich pay dirt here,

which we know is
underneath us somewhere,

but it's a ways down there.

In the money pit cut,

foreman Mitch blaschke
strips worthless overburden.

We're trying to open as much
ground as we possibly can

here at dominion.

Get this mud removed
and get the gravels thawing.

I think the money pit
is gonna be crucial,

not only for our future
success here at dominion,

but for hitting that


Parker needs the money pit

to deliver at least 2,000
ounces this season.

Before he brings
in a wash plant,

he wants all 40 acres
stripped and thawed

and he's weeks
from getting it done.

To get the gold he
needs to pay for it all,

Parker has opened
up a second operation,

ten miles south

on ground leased from
landowners Ken tatlow

and Stuart schmidt.

You know, the last time
we were down at Ken's,

we had the good, the bad and the
ugly named after a western movie.

He thought the unforgiven
would be a good name.

So, we finally have a
name for the nameless cut.

In charge of getting Parker's
first gold of the season,

Tyson Lee.

You know, when we came
down to Ken's this year,

it was supposed to be easy,
it was supposed to be quick,

but nothing's easy,
nothing's quick

and nothing's the way
you think it should be.

With Parker throwing
everything its stripping dominion,

Tyson's been left with
just a 480 excavator

and two rock trucks.

We have no spare
parts down here.

We have no service
truck down here.

We have no mechanic down here.

It's been me, Max and
Tyson for the last few days.

It's not perfect.

Originally, when we thought

there was only a little bit
of overburden down here

but now that we realize
there's more overburden,

we're falling further and
further behind every day.

Dig me a hole!

Last week

I thought he was
gonna hit bedrock here.

Parker discovered the
unforgiven cuts pay layer

was far deeper than expected.

Really thought we were gonna
have a plant running sooner than this,

but yeah, not ideal.

And you know, Parker is
on his way down right now.

He's gonna take a
look at the progress.

This cut, just the
gravel won't stop.

So much gravel
with no gold in it.

Four colors at that level.

Doesn't look like he has
any bedrock anywhere.

In the seven acre
unforgiven cut,

Tyson is digging down
through layers of dirt.

The first and thickest

is the worthless overburden.

The second

is the rocky material
known as gravels.

Finally, the pay layer

that sits on top
of hard bedrock.

Gold is concentrated

between the bottom
six inches of gravels

and the top six
inches of bedrock.

Hey.

Did you find any gold?

I found four colors,

like, right at the ditch level.

Yeah, I haven't hit
bedrock anywhere.

When do you want
to start sluicing?

We really need to get
down to pay in one week.

Is the 750 coming
down at any time?

You know, it would
speed things up.

Ten to 12 scoops in
a truck with this thing

and what would it be
with the 750, three to five?

It's kind of busy.

Okay.

Well, let me see
what I can free up.

- You good?
- Yeah.

Run, for rest.

You know, a 750,
really would be nice.

It will speed things up.

But it's just not in
the cards right now.

That does not look normal.

It looks.

Four-eighty's got

a track pin that's
ready to break

and it's the last
thing I need right now.

If the excavator goes down,

then this whole
operation goes down.

Four-eighty's got

a track pin that's
ready to break.

I've radioed for help,
but it's a long ways out.

They're at dominion.

Tyson is racing to hit pay dirt

by the end of the week.

But his only excavator is down

with a cracked track pin.

Here we go.

It took us an hour and ten
minutes to get down here.

What up?

What's up?

Not much. You?

So, is it, like,
snapped right off or...

It's over here.

This one right here.

Yeah.

- That'll do it.
- That'll do her.

The track on the


is held together
by 52 coupling pins.

One is cracked and
about to shear off.

To fix the track pad above,
the pin must be removed.

The broken pin taken out...

A new pin inserted...

Before the track is
bolted back into position.

It's good to see
Ryan and Ty are here,

but at the same time, now,
rock trucks aren't getting loaded.

We're gonna have to
speed things up somehow

or else we're in big trouble.

This is where the pin is broken.

He caught it in a decent time

before it's
completely fallen off.

Either way we've
gotta fix the pin.

Cut it.

Okay.

Put new pin in.

Grind them off.

Send her.

I think I'm lined up.

Send her home.

Yeah, right there.

Okay!

Put the trackpads on...

And then, just weld that pin.

So, it stays.

Then back to work it goes.

These guys have done a
stand up job on this excavator.

I couldn't have
done it without them.

All right, see you later.

Driving off into the sunset.

Thanks, guys, I appreciate it.

Yeah, no worries, man.

After a six hour delay,
Tyson is back in the cut.

And the race is
on to hit pay dirt

by the end of the week.

The sooner we get the
overburden gravel moved,

the sooner we can start making
some money and getting some gold

and paying off the
purchase price of dominion.

Half a mile away,

king of the
klondike, Tony beets,

is finally getting
into a rhythm.

Tony started the year
with a burst of chaos.

Spending big to open
cuts in paradise hill.

Then, just weeks later,
he risked everything

moving his entire operation

to his Indian river claims.

And like Parker still
hasn't mined a flake.

There's just one catch

with his Indian river claims

Tony is only
allowed to mine here

on a restricted water license.

He can't pump water from
or into the nearby Indian river,

so must recycle all
the water on his claim.

Yes.

Four years ago,

Tony stripped one
of his prized cuts

near his dredge.

It has since flooded with water

stopping him from getting
to the pay layer below.

Tony's plan for fast gold,

pump over a million
gallons of water

out of the flooded cut

through a new 100-foot long pipe

into the neighboring
pond where the dredge sits.

Once drained,

he'll remove the final
foot of overburden

to expose the gold rich
pay layer he left behind.

Now, this is one of those times

where it'd be nice to
have Kevin out here.

I've been around
watching other people do it,

but this is the first
time I've ever done it.

Yeah.

First, Tony's
youngest son, Mike,

must fuse together five sections

of 20-foot long
polycarbonate pipe.

Where the pipes are
fused together, you can

use and abuse them
'cause they're pretty tough.

And we accidentally ran
over one with a d6 didn't do.

Keep pushing!

Good!

Now, here. Come here.

Come here.

I don't bite, I swear.

You see how smooth that is now?

Well, you can see over
here, it's still a bit rough.

Means I have to
shave it a bit more.

We're trying to get this
as smooth as possible.

And that makes it easier.

When it melts, they fuse.

There's a art to this!

It takes a little bit to get it.

It's not cutting
on the one side.

Like not even slightly.

This seems pointless almost

'cause these
blades aren't cutting.

A rough edge of the pipe

is stopping the
fusion machine's blade

from making a clean cut.

If Mike can't fix it,
his pipe dream is over.

Do we have a chainsaw on site?

It could be the weld.

Well, we gotta do what we
gotta do with what we got.

Now, the pipe has a flush cut.

The 400 degree fahrenheit
heating plate is inserted.

We're melting the ends.

After that we can...
We'll pull that out,

then we'll fuse them together.

You see in there,
right next to a hot pan,

you see how it's
starting to roll?

That's the heat...

Melting it in a bit.

Joint complete,

the pipeline is
dragged into place

between the pump
in the flooded cut

and the dredge pond.

You know, every
layer we take off

is a layer closer to pay,

but I still haven't hit
bedrock anywhere in this cut.

At the unforgiven cut,
Tyson Lee's skeleton crew

has just three days to
meet Parker's deadline

of hitting pay by
the end of the week.

If they don't start
delivering gold soon,

Parker could run out of cash.

You know, I get
the urge to sluice

my first day up here,
but you got to be realistic.

Today, we have loaded a 750

that's gonna go down to

Ken and Stuart's.

We needed the 750
in every other place,

but Tyson needs it
the worst, so he gets it.

What do they say,

"the squeakiest wheel
gets the most grease,"

so I guess, we're
greasing Tyson today.

And he's gonna be one happy
human being when it shows up.

Yee-haw!

Right on, man.

How's it going, jordi?

I heard you wanted a big hoe.

Thanks, man.

If we're looking to get stuff
done quick, fast, in a hurry,

the 750 is one for the job.

- No worries, have fun.
- You, too.

I'll see you later.

Come by and visit some time.

Yeah, hey, you should come by.

Yeah, maybe I will.

- Movie night.
- Okay.

I got a candle with
your name on it.

Bye!

In a 750, Tyson
can now load trucks

four times faster.

This will definitely
speed things up.

And with an extra
operator in the 480,

the crew now has
a fighting chance

to hit pay by the
end of the week.

Nice one, Tyson!

It'd be real nice to
have a 750 in the cut.

We can move trucks a lot faster

and we can have two
hoes running at once now.

We are literally gliding now.

I'd say it sped up, like,
three times faster now.

We've been down
for couple of days.

Pump died on me.

At Duncan creek,

a broken water pump has
shut down Rick's operation

for four days.

But against all odds,

Rick secured a
lease on a new one.

I expect the new water
pump to show up today.

These guys really
helped me out here.

Everybody else I called,
they're just laughing at me,

like it was some kind of joke.

I really want to
get fired up again.

We made a deal, it
was good deal for me.

It's exactly what I needed
to get back on the gold.

That looks like the
pump guys right there.

Yeah, that's a big
pump they're towing.

How are you doing, guys?

How are you?

I need a pump.

- Holy - Sean?
- Yep.

Right on. Rick.
Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you. Devin.

Devin, nice to meet you, buddy.

So, let's look at this thing.

What does it hold for fuel?

You should... About 560 gallons.

Right on.

I mean, we're just about ready
to pop this new one in there.

We'll give you a hand.

I'll take it, extra hands.

Absolutely.

If it all goes well, we should just
be able to sling it out of the trailer

walk it down there, right?

I got a safety
rope on that side,

to get someone out of the way,

- so they'll be able to turn it for you.
- Perfect.

I mean, the pump is beautiful,

but, you know, the fact that
those guys drove it all the way here,

and now they're gonna stick
around, help me get it set up,

I mean, how can I
ask for more than that?

The old pump is out.

Nice to get the new one in.

And make some gold around here.

Hey, Devin, when
you get down there,

you guide Rick in?

Yeah.

We'll, drive that truck out.

Swing her this way, Rick.

So far, so good, but...

Let's go take this
nice and slow.

The new pump weighs
over two and a half tons

and costs $200,000.

If Rick damages it,

it will wipe him out
and end his season.

It's a heavy pump

and we're going down
a very steep incline.

So, I'm very aware,
that this thing can...

Point a nose over on me.

It's so, so, so close.

Taking it very, very
slow, very easy.

Right.

And once we got the
discharge line hooked up,

then we can pick
the whole pump up,

kind of put it where we want it

and that line will follow it.

Some big stuff we're
working with here.

We'll get there.

We gotta get this
intake hose slapped on.

Should be able to throw
the basket in the water

and fire it up and
see what happens.

We've been down
for quite a while now,

waiting for this
pump to get put in.

So hopefully, this
will do the trick.

Ready to rock and roll?

So, we also have this
remote feature with the unit.

Yeah?

So, basically, you
just press this button

and your pump fires up.

That is awesome.

- I can do that from up the plant.
- Yeah.

Just press that button.

I'm like a child with a new toy.

On top of what
work went into it...

Fancy words again, buddy.

I'm glad we could help you out.

That's fantastic.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

We're back in business.

Risky business.

Now, let's get the
hell out of here.

We've gotta get
back sluicing though.

Yeah, Devin, go ahead,
throw some water at me, bud.

I hear it coming, I
hear the water coming.

Here we go.

All right.

We're back up and running.

This is huge.

The three day shutdown
cost Rick nearly $20,000

in lost gold production.

But with the leased pump
in, he's back on the gold

chasing his 20
ounce weekly goal.

Who let the.

The... pump died,
the water pump.

Shut the plant off.

Just to save a lot of problems.

Rick's brand new pump
has stopped working,

bringing his operation
to a standstill once again.

Yeah, well, we ran
the pump out of fuel.

Pretty stupid.

Stupid on my part.

Throwing some fuel down here.

Luckily, buzz caught it.

Now, we're filling her up.

We won't make
that mistake again.

And second of all, you know,
I was just testing my people,

you know, "hey...

You know, is the
pump ran out of fuel?"

Buzz caught it right away.

Amazing.

I'll get it started
from out here.

Pump's fault.

Let it go.

The washplant's started.

You know, if I'm gonna
hit thousand ounces,

I need to continuously
be building this year.

So, that means,
we need the up time,

we need the plant running,

we need all the gold we can.

On a mission to get his
first gold of the season,

Tony beets has drained

the flooded, pre-stripped cut.

He now needs to remove
one foot of overburden

to hit pay dirt

and should be
sluicing within a week.

Stripping is easy.

Just take off all
that crap on the top

and we find the
layer with gold in it...

Stop.

Mike strips the thin
layer of overburden

in the d6 dozer.

And hopefully, start
sluicing next week.

I won't hold my breath

because, you know, unexpected
things happen all the time.

I've been here for a week.

And whatever Tony says,

you're free to do,
you just give 'er...

And hopefully,
it'll be a good time.

New hire, Aaron van work um,

is in one of three rock trucks

hauling the waste
dirt to the dump site.

I messaged Tony
on Facebook one day.

And I was like, "hey, how do I get
a job to go out and work with you?"

And he actually responded to me

and he just goes, "if we're
hiring, I'll give you a call."

Well, obviously,
the rest is history.

Well, that is a cluster
but they're coming.

For sakes.

Hey, can you come give
me a pull, I got her stuck.

New, this is a mess.

Stick her in.

Aaron's truck is stuck
in the middle of the cut

and it's causing a traffic jam.

Make sure your
depths are all locked,

and you slowly go with him.

First dropper in.

You're all good to go.

You're the first one here

in the Indian this
year, to get stuck.

I kind of assumed that I
wasn't gonna be the first one.

But apparently, I was.

And I'm not too upset about it.

I won't be the last for
sure this certain season.

Nearly six weeks
into the season,

the beets finally hit pay
dirt at the Indian river.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like mommy's necklace.

Tony gathers the family

to pan for the first
gold at Indian river

in over four years.

I hope so.

Make it worth coming
back here anyways.

You're gonna help opa pan?

Do it.

Tony's hoping the cut is
as rich as he remembers

and wants to see
at least five flakes.

One, two, three, four, six.

This is gold.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

Chunky stuff here.

No.

Yeah.

It's nice coming back

to know that we have
a cut prepared, ready,

and all we need to do is set
up a box and run that through.

Tony must now race
to set up a wash plant

if he has any hope of hitting
his 6,000 ounce season goal.

Yeah, that's gold.

Coming up

I'm gonna see if we
can find some gold.

A pan holds the key...
Just gotta find Parker.

To Parker's future.

You are our only hope for making
any money at this place right now.

And has Rick got enough gold

to keep his come back on track?

Three, four, six,

seven, nine...

Tony's got a surprise
for daughter, Monica

and granddaughter, Jasmine.

Do you like the wall, baby?

What colors?

Orange.

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

Well, we're gonna live out here

this summer and
hopefully, next summer

and probably the
one after that, too.

I mean, as long as
somebody will hire me, I guess.

What color are
you gonna paint it?

Yellow!

Yellow?

- Yes!
- Woah!

You want the shark pillow?

- No.
- Okay, we'll go for the back then.

Perfect.

Okay.

Say bye, opa.

Bye.

- Love you.
- Love you.

I'm in and out of bed
rocking areas, so...

Just gonna take some pans

and see what kind
of colors we see here.

After three days of
clearing overburden gravels

with the 750 and 480,

Tyson has finally hit bedrock

in the unforgiven cut.

The majority of the gold

is in the last six
inches of gravel,

and the first six
inches of bedrock.

But yeah, let's do some panning

and see if we can find some gold

and maybe make a dent

in the big debt Parker acquired.

The last time
Parker panned here,

he only found four tiny colors.

You can see there's
one, there's two,

there's three, there's
four, there's five

and there's, like,
ten in this pan.

More than double
Parker's last pan.

A clear sign that Tyson
has finally hit gold rich pay.

Just gotta find Parker.

It's time to start sluicing.

What's up?

So, in the unforgiven
cut, now it's down to pay.

Just wanted to see if
it was all right with you

if I start dragging
sluicifer down there

in the conveyors and
getting that set up.

Do you want a wash
plant in there now?

Yeah, that would be good.

Just be careful.

- You know?
- For sure.

Down there without
a lot of support,

so if you need
help with anything,

don't be afraid to ask
for some of these guys

to come down and
give you a hand.

- Okay.
- I mean, I rather not.

Yeah, for sure.

- What we're trying to...
- I

I would really like you to be
self-sufficient down there, but...

So, if I can take anything
off your shoulders,

- that's what I'm here for.
- You are, and I appreciate it.

- No worries.
- You're doing a great job down there.

Thanks, man.

You're our only hope for making
any money at this place right now,

so get that thing running.

Yeah. Ten for.

All righty, take care, man.

I need people that I can trust

and Tyson is one of
the top ones, you know?

So, him getting sluicifer
going down there

would be a big help

as far as keeping
this place afloat

and get us making more money
than we're spending for once

in this season.

It's time to get sluicifer
catching some gold.

We were down for a little while.

You can't run without water.

There's... you know,
what can you do?

Well, hey!

So, it doesn't look too bad for,
you know, the amount of hours

- that we ran through this week.
- Yep.

Rick lost four days of sluicing

after his water
pump blew a gasket.

Yeah, it ain't much, it barely
covers the bottom of the pan.

But... the new pump
is a lot of money.

You pulled that miracle out
of your a*s rather quickly.

I got miracles up there, buzz.

Pretty impressive.

It had to be done.

Well, it's a little more fuel-efficient
and everything like that.

Also, fuel-efficient
and we forgot to fuel it.

By all rights, we should have
been down all week if not longer.

So, you know, whatever
we've got I'm happy with.

Yeah.

Yeah, here we go.

To cover costs and build
up funds for new iron,

Rick's looking for the stockpile

to deliver 20 ounces.

Three, four, six,
seven, nine, eleven.

We're at 12.33.

- 12.33.
- Nice.

Less than Rick's goal,

but enough to keep
fighting another day.

That's still good just
for a couple days.

It's just shy of 20 grand.

Yep.

Wish that pump was
just shy of 20 grand.

But it wasn't.

But we could have had no gold.

Yeah. We could have had
no gold for a couple of weeks...

- Yep.
- If not longer.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah.

Seventy seven and
a half ounces, I think

is what our total is
now with that 12.3.

Worth $155,000.

That's... I think
that's great for

I mean, it's been
such a small crew.

Yep.

It's well over


And we're not even
running at full capacity,

like, not even close.

And we will be
at a certain point,

that I promise.

Guys don't get that in a season.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

We'll have to up
these, obviously,

you know, to get
to 1,000 ounces,

we'll never get there,

you know, with 12
ounces at a time.

But if we keep hammering at it

and we get few more people here,

some more machines
we'll up the tempo

and more gold will follow.

All right?

- Hell, yeah.
- Thanks a lot, guys.

- Thanks for the week.
- You're welcome.

Cheers!

Not a great week as far
as how much gold we got.

But I got a monster
of a new pump

that's gonna save us
for the rest of the year.

And my crew really came together

which is good to see
'cause we really need that.

And, you know, next week
we get more sluicing time,

we get more gold.

'Cause that's what we're
gonna need to hit 1,000 ounces.