14x05 - Bust a Move

[bunniefuu]

[mike rowe]
location, location, location.

Ice mining is all about
where you chose to mine.

As the season reaches
the midway point,

the question is...

Stay the course,

or pack up camp
in search of golden pastures?

But with an endless as*ault
of blizzards,

an ever-present threat...

[shawn pomrenke] oh, baby!

...Will the decision
be the best move...

Yeah! [yelling]

we got an open water lead
out there.

...Or the worst move?

Uh-oh. You okay?

[zeke tenhoff over radio]
it's terrifying.

They have to send
the helicopter out
to rescue 'em.

[mike] or the last move
that each miner makes?

[zeke over radio]
pay close attention to my air.

[vernon adkison]
what's going on?

My light just went out.

[vernon] can you tell
where you are from the hole?

No.

Well, another day in paradise.

Finishing out this hole,

pack everything up,

move the hell
to a new location.

[mike] vernon adkison's
looking to the future,

but there could be
trouble up ahead.

We got an open water lead
out there,
a few hundred yards.

As the ice breaks off,
it's gonna keep chipping away

until, eventually,
it gets to where we are

and possibly behind us,
between us and the beach.

That happens every year
up here.

People get stranded on
the ice, the ice goes out.

They have to send the
helicopter out to rescue 'em.

The gold streak that we're
on right now is headed

in that direction
and we're gonna stay on it

till we can't
stay on it anymore.

We got a good news-bad news
scenario.

Good news, we're k*lling it.

Possibly on track to break
my 200-ounce goal

and set a new record.

Bad news, we're coming to the
end of our reach on this spot

and we're not sure which way
the pay streak goes.

Looks like our pay streak
is headed

straight towards
that lead out there.

If that's the case,

it's going
to be dangerous as hell.

Even a mild winter storm
can break off the ice

and send us out to sea.

But if that's where
the super gold goes,

we might not have a choice.

[machine whirring]

-all right, let's go.
-All right, let's get it.
Get it down there!

Can you hear me okay?

[gary simpson]
yeah. Sounds good.

[vernon] okay, feels good.

Give me an update when you
start getting into something.

Yeah, so, uh...

I'll find what's--
what's available to me.

Wow.

[vernon] well,
that's what I like to hear.

Yeah, I'm actually
seeing some pretty good,

decent gold
coming out of this stuff.

Okay, real good, I think gary
was telling me that was

the best area that
we were working so far.

I'll stay out of your hair,
get after it.

All right, sounds good.

Definitely there's gold here.

He's got an area left
to work down there

that'll keep him busy probably
for his entire dive.

-And then, uh--
-argh, damn it.

Oh, *bleep*.

My light just went out, guys.

[vernon] uh, the power...

I don't know what's--
what's up with that.

Yeah, we got some
kind of short here, guys.

The dab light is out.

[vernon speaking]

no.

[stammers] uh-- um...

Hold on.

[vernon speaking]

[gary] okay.

[vernon] people don't
understand how crazy it is

down there, under the ice.

With all the snow
we got this season,

the light is not
coming through.

Because of the snow pack
up top, it's pitch dark.

It gets dodgy in a hurry.

[vernon] that light's
not coming on, huh?

[over radio] no, it's not.

Gary's got it fixed,
it's a bad connection.

Anything that's got
a cord on it,

people *bleep* yank
on the cords and...

That's what tears 'em up.

This could be a waste of time

going down there
without a light.

He might not be able to see
enough to get on the gold

and let's be honest,
it's dangerous.

If something goes wrong,

he could have trouble finding
his way back to the hole.

Yeah, roger.

This is *bleep*.

I'm trying to get 200 ounces
this season.

Every day is precious.

With all these storms
we've been having,

uh, we gotta take
every opportunity.

And so if gary's up for it,
we're going to go for it.

[vernon] all right, gary.

All right, go on back down.

All right,
I'm headed back down.

[crew member] get it!

[gary] all right, let's go!

[vernon over radio] yo, gary.
How's it looking under there?

It's actually not so bad.

I can see a little piece
right there.

All right, all right,
seein' gold.

[gary chuckles]

gonna be
a little slower,

but I think we can get by.

I'll do what I can do.

[vernon] all right.

I wanna get it all, I wanna--
I wanna mop this hole up.

[mike] eleven miles west...

Getting ready to do a move,
I'm pretty excited

to see what's over here
in this next hole.

Going to be good.

...Shawn pomrenke
is on the move.

Looking for that big layer
of cheese

in that yellow slab of gold.

That's every
gold miner's dream.

I'm on the cusp of finding
that jackpot.

Last time out,
I followed that paystreak

as far as I could north.

And it's clear that
the gold's getting better

the further we go north.

I've picked out a spot


We're seeing some really good
gold over this way,

we're going to go ahead
and get the sluice box
moved over,

get some holes cut.
Get the shacks moved over.

Moving's always a risk.

It's going to take us
a half a day to move camp

and set up a new hole.

And then the rest of the day
we'll use for prospecting.

If I'm wrong,
we've wasted a whole day

and with the way
the weather's been,

we can't afford that
this winter.

Today's the day.

We're going to find
something big.

I'm not even half way
to the 120 ounces

that I need to make
all my payments.

But I'm absolutely convinced
this is where the gold is.

It's time to roll the dice.

There it is.

All right, we can go that way
with that one.

Nice and easy, nice and easy.

Easy. There you go.

Good move, good move.

Got a good feeling
about this spot.

[dramatic music]

we got hot water going,
air compressor's going.

We got water running
in the sluice box.

Only thing now is for me
to get down there

and suck up some gold.

[machine whirring]

[intense music playing]

how's the ground look
down there?

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Oh-h*-h*!

The gold.

Oh, baby!

Sounds like he's following
a trail of gold somewhere.

I'm going to find it.

[mike] ten miles east...

[kris] andy.

Come on, let's get ready
to go to work.

Oh, man, this season's kicking
my a*s already.

[phone ringing]

hey, pat, how are you today?

[pat] I'm doing fine.

So, uh,
how's my payment going?

I bought all this brand-new
equipment from pat keene.

Now the bill is due
and I have no gold at all.

This situation sucks.

[pat] you know, I kind of
went out on a limb

and I kind of expected you
to take care of things.

Pat, I swear to you,
I'm taking care of things.

Uh, it was a hard start,

everything's been a real b*tch
to try to get this gold.

[pat] do me a favor,

just keep to your word,
and, uh,

send the money
like you promised me, okay?

Yes, sir, we're going
to work right away,

and we're gonna make you
that money right away.

I know-- but, hey,
I wouldn't do this
for anyone else.

-We're on a lot of gold!
-That's fine but--

I'll have your money and
you're going to be very happy.

-Okay.
-Thank you, pat.

I'll call you later.

-Okay.
-Okay, bye, pat.

Well, I didn't need that.

It's probably not
the most honest thing

to tell him we're on gold
when we're not.

So what am I supposed to tell
him, the truth?

The only way
this is going to work,

if I get on a lot of gold
and I get it now.

So, we really gotta
get out there,

we gotta work as hard
as we can.

Let's go.

This is what you call
a crisis point.

After a season and a half
of crisis points,

this one could end us.

Not to mention, I'm about
to be a father any day now.

Now we're ready
to rock and roll,
let's get this going.

[engine revving]

everything is riding on today.

Come on!
Yalla, yalla, empty.

Okay, it's moving day,

we're gonna chip
everything out,

get everything up broken free
out of the snow

because we gotta go find
our new spot right now.

[mike] the kellys
are on life support

as their life line may soon
be pulling the plug.

We're going to start
to get our luck back

because this is
a bunch of bull *bleep*.

I admit,
I painted us into a corner.

I owe
a lot of money right now.

I need at least 25 ounces to
come out a winner this season

and I need to pay off this
equipment asap.

But right now, we're having
the worst winter
we've ever had.

I gotta get us on the gold
today or our season's over.

We're gonna go
closer to shore,

around this


Um, we're going to drill
holes, look for cobble

and then that's where we're
gonna move to.

Okay, should we go look
for another spot?

Let's go figure out
a spot to go mine.

A little secret
about ice mining.

Picking a place to mine
is an imperfect science.

Everyone's just taking
their best guess.

First hole, chris mccully
told me

there was going
to be lots of gold,

it turned out to be garbage.

So today the kellys
are picking the spot.

Hey, what do you think
we should do?

Where do you
wanna go, andy?

Okay.

So, my dad
picked out one spot,

my brother
picked out another.

This is where I have to take
all the knowledge

that I've acquired
as a captain

and make an informed decision.

Andy picked this spot,

but andy's pretty lucky when
it comes to picking spots,

so, you know, I always say
go with what works.

My brother is a lot
luckier than my dad.

Have you checked out
my dad's life? It's a mess.

So I'm not listening to him.

[brad] what's it feel like?

-Hear that?
-[andy] could be rocks.

[kris] oh, that's rocks.

[kris] yah-ha!

-Okay, let's go, this is it.
-[brad] let's go.

Let's go get our stuff moved.

Okay, there.

This season's been
a complete bust so far,

but now we're on a new spot.

This looks like
promising ground.

This is a new beginning
for us.

So we're going to put up
the irish flag.

Now our luck will change,
everything will be great,

we're standing on gold.

So, today, we have something
else motivating us.

It's called fear.

Don't underestimate fear
as a motivator.

If we don't get gold today,
we're in a lot of trouble.

Today we desperately need
everything to fall into place.

[intense music playing]

idle up.

[dramatic music playing]

[machine whirring]

[brad over radio]
how's it looking, kris?

Are you seeing any gold?

I don't know right now,

it's still too early to tell.

Here we go.

Well, we're already on gold
the first hole I make.

All right,
that's a positive note.

Wow, hey. Finally.

All right, good job, kris.

Andy's a lucky *bleep*!

I knew there was going to be
gold here.

Oh, yeah!

Pow!

[chuckles] yes.

The morale gets high
when we're on big gold.

We are going to k*ll it!

[mike] eight miles east...

[zeke speaking]

I've got a pretty long
piece of hose.

It's about 65 feet.

So the hose has to go down
but then I can go out

probably about 35 feet

away from the hole.
If I'm gonna pace it out,

I got one, two...

[mike] today for
zeke tenhoff...

Go probably
about this far out.

So I have a pretty good
amount of range.

...Bigger is better.

[zeke] I final got gold
on our last trip out,

and it was super validating.

But the fact remains I'm still
way behind where I need to be.

I still need at least six more
ounces just to keep afloat.

I need to know if the gold
that I'm on is the real deal

or if it's just a fluke
and I need to move.

The gold that I can reach
nearby the hole,

I already pretty much
got it all.

So today, I'm gonna be
dredging out of
the end of my hose.

So, can you just
make sure that

-we don't lose
the air compressor.
-Yeah. Oh, *bleep*.

If I don't lose air,
I'll be fine.

You'll be right on
top of that.

And if I have any sign
of any freeze up,

I'm going to come up right
away and dry out the line.

It's extremely dangerous
to put on a hose extension

and go that far out
from the dive hole.

If anything goes wrong, it's
a much longer path to safety.

But it's a risk
that I'm willing to take

to find out if this gold
is going to lead to more gold

or if I'm going to have to
find a completely new spot.

If-- if I don't love it,
I wanna move down to tomcod.

'cause I suspect there's
a lot more gold out at tomcod.

Shawn apparently
has some spots

that he's interested in
having somebody check out.

We could set up
and go dive there.

Yeah, I hear ya.

Moving down to tomcod would be
a huge decision

because it would take tons
of time to move the operation,

set it back up

and then locate
a totally new pay streak.

I just don't really have
that kind of time

to spare at this point.

That's why I'm going
to give this spot

one more chance
to prove itself.

[intense music playing]

all right.

Hey, how you doing there?

If I can't make
ends meet this winter,

then I'm going to have
serious doubt

about my future
as a gold dredger.

[suspenseful music playing]

you're getting a case
of the dark and scaries,

you have to soldier through.

Okay.

Yeah, he's stretched all the
way out to the south east,

that direction
and it's more dangerous

the further out
you go, you know?

[intense music playing]

[zeke groans]

uh-oh. How you doing?

You okay?

I had some water
in my mask,

I'm trying to get it out.

Oh, wow!

You seeing gold?

Awesome! That's great to hear.
Making money. I love it.

There's gold here.

You can just sit back,
read some fiction,

listen to some
breathing noises

and just let the gold roll in,
you know?

Just let it roll in.

[sighs]

[upbeat music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

-still on big gold?
-[kris over radio] yep.

Well, the good thing is
we're gonna take it all.

[mike] for kris kelly,
a midseason move

looks to be paying off
in spades...

...And just
in the nick of time.

Are you getting tired yet?

You've been down there
like three hours.

Yeah, okay, come on up.

You've been down there
a long time.

Coming up.

[kris] holy crap, it's not
a christmas miracle,

it's a kelly miracle.

So, bam! We couldn't have
asked for a better spot.

We needed gold today
or we were toast.

But the luck of the irish
is finally coming through.

Now, we're on gold, big gold.

It's lucky andy's turn
to give this a try.

You look good. Are you good?

Okay, well, go.

Make that money.

Andy's down,
I've got him on gold.

All he's got to do is just
move material and make money.

It doesn't get
any easier than that.

If he *bleep*
gets in the water...

[humming]

[intense music playing]

what, andy?

[chuckles]

yeah! [yelling]

good, man.

Isn't it amazing
how easy and quickly

your life can turn around
in a matter of an hour?

You know, this morning,
we were going,

thinking we were in
a *bleep* situation.

I've got bills
coming out of my a*s,

we're not making any gold.

And then, bam, I go down,
got us on the hot *bleep*.

Yeah!

That's what I'm talking about.

Keene is definitely
getting his money.

Maybe not all of it right now,
but he's going to get it.

We're not working
for free today.

I love it when we know that.

[mike] ten miles east...

Yo, gary, how's it looking
under there?

[gary] it's looking good.
I'm seeing some gold.

There's a lot
of gold in this.

Seeing little pieces of gold
right now.

All right, gary!

[mike] a shot in the dark has
turned into a ray of sunshine

as diver gary simpson
has persevered

without the benefit
of illumination.

I can continue working
without it.

[vernon] okay.

Yeah, I tell you,
gary simpson's got
some cahonies.

No light, no problem.

He wants to get on down there
and sniff it out.

We didn't have the other gary,
we leave him.

We didn't wanna risk
losing the set

under these circumstances.

Dude, is that all the
test mat material?

Yeah, that's pretty
much it right there.

Uh, gary can't really tell
how good the gold is,

so we're pulling a test pan
to check that out.

Okay, all right.

Not too shabby.

It looks pretty good

for a test pan.

You know?
It looks really good.

[vernon] pretty damn good.

Unbelievable, I mean,

he's still pulling good gold,

even though he can't see.

That's just veteran
instincts, right there.

You can't teach that.
What a lifesaver.

[gary speaking]

[vernon] all right, gary, uh,
so you got it mopped up?

You got, uh, every last
little speck, right?

Okay, good show, gary.
I mean, I think that's all.

It's gotta be
a juicy one for us.

The test mats are looking
really, really good.

All right.

[vernon] I gotta say,
gary's the stud hog today.

I got a damn good team.

And we're bringing home
the gold

and that's
a lethal combination.

All right, he's back.

All right, good. Good.

The only downside to the day
is the streak is headed

straight out towards
that open lead out there.

That's where
we're going to be headed,

but what's life without
a little excitement?

[exhales sharply] oh!

[dramatic music playing]

hey, so how's that gold
holding up, man?

All right.

I don't wanna have to move to
tomcod if we don't have to.

[mike] with the aid
of an extra 40 feet,

zeke tenhoff's
west beach claim

just might be proving
its worth.

[gabe] 40 feet out
in the dark, it's dangerous.

If you're not making money,
it's not worth the risk.

We wouldn't be out here.

We're out here to make money.

What was that that shawn said
years ago? He was like,

"if there were chicks down
there, I'd mine them, too."

[laughs]

[gabe] all right, roger.

[zeke] yeah, I think I'm
probably

going to wrap this up

and I definitely dredged what
I could reach with the hose

um, from this-- uh, this hole.

Okay, I'm going
to come on up.

[gabe] he's coming
down the trail,

the cavalry has arrived.

All right, man, there's food
showing up right now,
if you want it.

[zeke] all right.

Putting on this hose
extension and going way out

from my hole,
it's a super risky move,

but after a season and a half

with these little boulders
I have,

I think it was the right call.

Now I know there's traces
of pretty decent gold

even further out.

Oh, so the gold's
keepin' up.

Out that way.

Instead of moving
to tomcod right away,

which would definitely
burn a lot of time,

we're going to put a new dive
hole right over here.

Hopefully this is the kind of
spot we're looking for

otherwise, we're going
to be in trouble.

[man] I brought three
bacon cheeseburgers

and extra order fries, too.

I got an extra order of fries.

Thank you so much.

I was getting hungry.

[gabe] workin' up an appetite
down there, zeke?

-[stormy crying]
-[zeke] stormy, come here.

[whistles] come on.

[mike] eight miles west...

Okay, man, you gotta be
getting tired,

you've been down there
forever.

[andy over radio]

are you still seeing
a lot of gold, though?

[mike] andy's
lucky streak continues.

I'm only in a good mood
'cause we're making money,
by the way.

[brad speaking]

mccully's here,
don't say anything.

Dude, it's not
looking good here.

-Told you.
-Yeah.

Man, you were right.
This place sucks.

Pound town, *bleep*.

[brad] now we're worried about

we might have to move
again. You know?

[kris] yeah.

Right now, we're coming off
a bad spot

that chris suggested.
It was just sand, terrible.

No, I'm not the type--

yes, I am the type
to hold a grudge.

So now that we're on gold,
we don't want
anybody around us.

He cost us part of the season,
so screw him.

[chris speaking]

yeah. We can tell down there,
trust me. We can tell.

Okay, okay, well,
it's time to go anyways.

Andy's tired. He said
his arms are like pudding.

Hey are you almost ready
to go?

-[andy] yeah.
-Okay.

Okay, come up,
you did a great job.

-[brad] see you, chris.
-[chris] all right, yeah.
Grand. Thanks, kris.

-Okay, no problem, man.
-[chris] yeah.

-Okay, later, guys.
-[brad] see you later.

[laughing]

[kris] I mean, really.

With how crappy this season's
going, the last thing

I need to do is share gold
with somebody else.

Sorry, chris,
you're on your own.

-Hey, my favorite brother.
-...It stopped running.

[kris] the only time
we make money

is when we start
sucking up gold.

So we're not in a good mood


But you start throwing some
$100 bills at me, and bam!

I'd make a good stripper.

I'd be so happy
just to strip-- like,
throwin' money at me.

Come on, I'm ready.

[laughs]

[kris] hey, we're on gold.
We needed it.

Thank god it's happening.

[mike] while kris' move
is paying off big...

...A few miles west...

[shawn speaking]

[mike]
despite promising ground,

shawn has yet to hit pay dirt.

But, no, no...

Oh.

Yes, sir.

Sometimes you win big,
sometimes you lose.

That's the risk you take
when you move camp

and try a new hole.

This time, we struck out.

Shut her down, blow her out,
make a move.

Again.

But my conviction that
there's a jackpot in this hole

hasn't wavered a bit.

I'm sure of it.

The material I saw today makes
me even more convinced.

[intense music playing]

hello, and welcome
to another episode of

kris kelly's secret
guide to successful mining.

Today we're gonna be
going through
the cleanout process.

How to take your concentrates,

put them through
the super concentrator

and you wind up with gold.

First step in the process
is trying to take out

all the big rocks and just be
left with the sand.

Everything that's left over,
we're going to run through

the super classifier
called the gold cube.

We put that in the gold pan,
we pan for a couple hours.

After that stage,
we have to dry it

because no gold buyer
will buy wet gold.

Anyway, the next step
is panning.

Panning, nightmare.

You know, it's like, gold pan,
get punched in the face.

I know there's people
out there that say
they love panning.

But they're lying
to themselves.

Have you ever *bleep* panned
for 10 hours?

Tell me how much
you love panning

after panning for 10 hours.

So this is what you do.

They get the gold
up to the top,

and then slowly rocking,

rocking, rocking some more,
watching the black sands

and material move down while
the gold stays up.

So you're rocking.

You're rocking.

You're rocking,
you're rocking,

then you're rocking some more.

You're going to do that for
about five *bleep* hours.

All day long.

Rocking, rocking, rocking.

Rocking, rocking, rocking,

rocking, rocking, rocking...

That's some nice
clean gold right there.

[mike] after gary simpson's
miracle dive...

-It's got some serious
weight to it.
-Yeah.

...It's time to shed
a little light on the results.

The further we go
following this streak,

the better the gold gets,
but the closer

we're getting to that
open water out there.

-Yeah.
-Um...

So, um, I don't know.

Well, let's see what we got.

[vernon] two, four,

five, six...

Seven...

...Nine, come on, baby.

Thirteen. Oh, wow.



-Awesome.
-14.73, I'll take it.

-Yeah.
-I'll take it.

[mike] 14.73 ounces.

That's worth over $27,000.

And despite the malfunction
with the equipment,

vernon adkison's future
on claim 56

continues to look bright.

[vernon] there's definitely
more gold than that.

We're definitely heading
in the right direction.

The only thing about it is,
I mean,

with that open water
out there,

we can only go
so much further.

We continue to be
on super gold

but we've gone as far as
we can on this hole.

We've reached the end
of our hose,

so that means we're going
to have to move straight

towards that open water
out there. It's risky.

One storm could break off
the ice and do us in.

But by definition,
if you're an ice miner,

you're a risk-taker.
It's a risky business.

Hopefully the ice
holds up for us.

The rest of the winter's
gonna be interesting,

that's for damn sure.

All right, so,
we're in the money.

-Yeah. We're in the money.
-All right, man.

[mike] across town...

[kris] get the last bucket,
we're almost done.

The moment of truth
is upon us.

-[andy]
let's weigh that *bleep*.
-Let's see what we got.

Andy said this was the spot
and that was the spot.

Yeah, dad picked the spot.

-No, I'm glad you picked it.
-Dad goes, "no, right here."

dad picked the spot, but
what made me go there was

when you said it was the spot.

You know, 'cause you're
a lucky *bleep*.

[mike] it may be the middle
of the season,

but it's time for the kellys'

first clean out of winter.

I just jumped down there
and I find gold

in two inches of over burden.

-I know, isn't that nice?
-You know, like, yeah.

This winter's been horrible,

but it's never too late
to turn it around.

Well, actually, we were like
one second away from
being too late.

Right now, we owe pat keene
a lot of money,

but, hopefully,
if we get five ounces,

that'll be enough to keep him
off my back

and to make a dent in the 25
ounces that I want to get.

Okay, let's see what we got.

[intense music playing]

there's one ounce.

Two ounces and some more
chunky stuff.

Chunky stuff just raining out.

Now we're getting five.
There's seven...

Oh, my god.



[mike] 7.7 ounces is worth
over 14 grand,

finally putting the kellys
on the board

and at least temporarily

keeping the grim reaper
at bay.

All right, that's really
good money, jake.

[kris] that is *bleep*
awesome money.

It sucks
a lot of this is going

straight into
someone else's pocket.

But we're back baby,
we're back in the game.

It's a great clean up,
we're on gold.

Don't worry future
little kelly,

daddy's going to make it
rain the rest of the season.

That's perfect.
It was easy to get,

there's a lot of gold,
now we just need more time.

We just got a lot of work
ahead of us.

We really got to grind it out.

[andy] yeah, it's time to put
the hammer down

and really rip the
*bleep* out of the area.

[mike] next time
on bering sea gold.

First dive ever,
what could go wrong?

[kris] you can do it, dave!

[shawn] we're close
to something big

and we're not going to quit
until we find it.

Holy *bleep*!

Got everything moved over here
to the new area

and we're on that pay streak.

This might end up being
an extremely good hole.

It's sketch.
It's super not ideal.

[gary over radio]

this might be that primo
ground we've been looking for.

[kris] *bleep* let's go. Wind.

[dave] hey, is water
supposed to come

at the bottom of my mask?

[kris] don't worry, as long
as you're getting gold,

that's all that matters.

Okay.

You know what makes
the best miners?

When you're too stupid
to *bleep* know

you're in trouble.