03x02 - The Wrong Claim

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
up north, in the klondike...

Oh!

...the hoffman crew has
split in two.

I want indian river.
I want to do it my way.

To hit their goal
of a thousand-ounce season,

They have double the men
and double the machines.

You do the math.
We can get this thousand ounces.

Narrator:
this season, it's make or break.

Well, I'm telling you right now
we're gonna freakin' do it.

Narrator:
todd hoffman beat the odds...

Start it up.

...getting his quartz creek mine
up and running...

Let's run some dirt.

...and on the gold
in just their first week.

Guys, we can pull this off.
Man: hell yeah.

Now dave turin stakes his claim
as the boss at indian river.

Couple more days,
we'll be a complete unit.

Narrator: he brings in
his own mining machines...

This thing's gonna kick butt
this year.

Narrator:
...and his own crew.

Jack: yee-haw!

We can't get gold,
something's wrong with us.

In alaska, the dakota boys face

Losing their operation
to floods...

Fred: if that river comes
over that levee,

We're looking
at a disaster.

...and are forced to come up
with a new way

To get
to the glory hole gold.

I want to get down there
just as bad as you,

'Cause I know
what's down there.

And over at big nugget,

John schnabel stops parker
in his tracks.

It's damn tough
to see someone die

Because of your judgment.

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

2 Miles southwest
of quartz creek...

Todd: I think
we're right up in here.

...dave turin and todd hoffman
are inspecting

Their new claim,
indian river.

Dave turin will run their second
gold-mining operation

To deliver
half this season's gold.

Turin: you know what?
We're standing on it.

Standing on the corner?
Yep.

Gps shows me right here.

Narrator: dave's ground covers
eight claims

In the prime
indian river valley,

Where neighboring miners
have recovered

A thousand ounces
from a single cut.

We've got this huge area,
this virgin ground.

We have it from this way.

Okay.

A mile and a half, todd.
Wow.

Everything towards the river
has been mined.

It's a great sign.

This whole river valley has
gold in it.

That's huge.

That's awesome.

We're gonna pull so much gold
out of here so quickly

That you're gonna
just be rolling in money.

I hope you're right,
man.

Running two claims.

That's probably
about 4 grand a day.

We're looking at $600,000,
I'm guessing, in fuel.

We better have a good season,
dave,

Or I'm gonna be screwed.

Narrator: to get
a thousand ounces of gold,

Worth $1.6 million,
this season,

Todd leased a second claim
from greg mcneil.

It's a deal.

Fed up
with the mistakes of the past,

Dave insisted
he run the new claim.

Turin: let me do it my way,
my team, my equipment.

What do you think
about that?

But before becoming
his own boss,

He had to help todd get
a jump start on quartz creek.

When am I released
to indian river?

Now dave can finally start
working his own ground.

Here's the first thing --
we need to drill holes,

Figure out
if there's good gold in there.

What's that?

Oh, look.

That's a drill hole.

It is a drill hole.

Oh, my gosh.
Look at that.

There's drill holes
all the way up that, todd.

Must go 1,000,
1,500 feet.

Somebody was exploring.

The question is,

"Who the frick's been drilling
on our claim?"

Todd: there's probably --
I don't know --

$20,000, $30,000 Worth
of drilling.

I know.

It doesn't make sense,
but this gps doesn't lie.

You sure?
The map doesn't lie.

We are on our claim.

Whoever freakin' drilled this is
gonna be pretty upset

'Cause he's got a lot of money
wrapped up into it.

I'm gonna call greg
'cause I'm pissed off.

Let's go find out
what the frick's going on here.

All right.
This is weird.

Claim owner greg mcneil assured
dave and todd

That this was virgin ground.

Hey, greg.

Mcneil: hey, todd.
What's going on, man?

We found some --

Somebody had already drilled
some holes,

Like, a big,
long line of holes.

Did you know
anything about that at all?

No, as far as I know,

There shouldn't be
any line of holes

Where you guys are
gonna be mining.

Huh.
I'll be up soon as I can.

And we'll go down there together
and see what's going on.

Okay. See ya, greg.

All right, bye-bye.
Bye.

With no simple explanation
from claim owner greg,

The mystery test holes look
more and more like a bad sign.

It makes you wonder

Whether they poked
those holes in

And didn't find enough gold.

That's the worst-case scenario.

Narrator: down south,
just outside haines, alaska,

92-Year-old miner john schnabel
checks out progress

At the big nugget mine.

Time to come up here
and see what's happening.

John's 17-year-old grandson
parker

Is about to mine
smith creek hill,

The last virgin ground left
on the claim.

Parker is banking
on this hill holding

A massive deposit of gold.

We spent a lot of money
up on smith creek this winter,

And, you know,
we need to get up there.

See that steep hill --
that don't look solid to me.

I see the water coming
through the rocks.

There might be a problem.

Parker has spent $40,000
overhauling his wash plant

So it can process more pay dirt.

We need more.

Narrator:
and he's spent $150,000
of his grandfather's money

To dig out smith creek hill
in search of a fortune.

Parker:
it's still nothing.

And we've gone through
50,000 [bleep] yards.

Narrator: to save face
and to pay his mounting bills,

Parker must find gold.

Now, after the worst winter
in alaska for 50 years,

The snow is melting fast,

Leaving the steep road
up smith creek

Saturated and unstable.

Can we clean it up
and use that same road?

No.

The hill is dangerous.

You'd sh**t down there
like a toboggan,

Flop into this river,

And join the rest of the people
wherever heaven is.

What, now we have no way
of getting up there,

No dirt
to run through the plant?

It's damn tough...

To see someone die
because of your judgment.

I love you.

I don't want you
to have to walk through

Some of the miseries
that I've had to walk through.

Responsibility is a burden.
Really.

You're right.

Seeing my grandpa
that concerned about

Me and the operation up here
is tough.

You know,
it's one of my biggest fears is

Having someone get hurt
that I'm responsible for.

Narrator:
without access up smith creek,
parker has no land left to mine.

Parker:
there's no other ground.

No dirt, no season.

If you don't have dirt
to run through a wash plant,

Then what are you doing?

Narrator: across the creek,
the dakota boys are anxious

To get back down to the gold

At the bottom
of their flooded glory hole.

This is the start.

Right there is 75 feet
of just pure water

That needs to be gone.

Fred: it's pretty important

To get back down
to that really good stuff

Right off
the bedrock down there.

Dustin:
it could possibly have

Hundreds of thousands of dollars
of gold.

Last year, we think
we scratched the surface of it.

Narrator:
at the end of last season,

Fred and dustin hit bedrock
at the bottom of the glory hole.

Fred: I hope there's gold
just dripping off that stuff,

So don't spill a drop of it.

In just two days,
they found $30,000 in gold.

Wow.

But their pump failed,

Shutting them down
for the season.

[Bleep] [bleep]

This year,
fred and dustin have upgraded.

They now have a 10-inch pump,

Capable of pumping out
3,000 gallons per minute.

Dustin:
we're gonna set up the pump,

And we're gonna start
pumping the hole out.

Last year, we didn't have
the right equipment

To get this hole
pumped down to nothing.

And this year, we do.

Fire in the hole.

Beautiful.

Yeah, baby!

Let's get it going.

Set her down.

Coming down.

Oh, crap.

Oh, man.

Fred:
pull some more.

She's fueled up, ready to go,
basically.

That's a lot of hard work.
[ Laughs ]

[ Helicopter blades whirring ]

What's that?

Dustin: well,
sounds like a helicopter.

I never seen them
running around like that.

Sounds like
he's coming over here.

Right? It sounds like
they're landing here.

Nah.

Hey, fred.
They're landing.

It's probably
some government agency

Or something --
msha or whoever the hell.

I don't see no badges
hanging off from him.

Fred: how you doing?
Man: good. How you doing?

I work
for the u.s. Geological survey.

I'm a hydrologist,

And I've been checking
the snowpack

Around southeast alaska.

Have you taken a look
how much snow's back there?

No, I hadn't.

Well, it's
a record snowpack this year.

The water's been
building up.

I don't know if you've seen
what this is capable of doing.

I've been mining out here
for quite a while now,

And I'm a little bit skeptical
about it.

I think
you really need to see this.

Narrator:
over the last century,

Miners at porcupine creek
have been devastated by floods

At least three times.

And with as much snow
as you got up here

And as late as it's been
to run off,

This might be
the biggest flood ever

To come down here.

Boy, when it comes,
it's gonna be big.

Fred: boy,
that is a lot of snow.

Oh, yeah, it's just --

Mile after mile after mile
after mile of it here.

There's our hole,
right straight there below us.

We've got
a levee down there.

Yeah, this is
what I'm worried about.

You see, this thing chews away
your levee,

And this stream itself will
just fill up your whole hole,

Pick up
all your excavators, equipment,

Wash them down
into the river.

Wow.

Narrator: at porcupine creek,

"Dakota" fred has just had
a rude awakening.

His glory hole lies directly
in the path of runoff

From an historic
winter snowfall.

Man: this stream itself will
just fill up your whole hole,

Pick up all your excavators,
equipment,

Wash them down
into the river.

Wow.

[ Sighs ]

I've been wanting
to get back down in the bottom

Of that pit down there
really bad.

Can't empty that pit yet.

It's just too dangerous.

Fred planned
to pump out the glory hole

And begin mining
the gold-rich material

75 Feet below the water level.

But record runoff is predicted
to overwhelm the creek

That is
only 15 feet from the hole.

The creek could flood
the glory hole in just minutes,

k*lling
anyone digging down below.

If we catch
some really warm days out here,

Four or five days,

That creek will just jump up
2 or 3 feet in an instant.

There's no way I'd be
climbing that excavator

Down at the bottom of that hole.

We're looking at a disaster.

Narrator:
up in the klondike...

Todd and dave still don't know

Who drilled their new claim
at indian river --

A claim that was supposed to be
virgin ground.

Why would somebody drill
64 holes

And not take the property
and mine it?

That's what I'd like to know.

It's got me freaked out

'Cause I already have
a contract on this property.

I already have, you know,
everything in place.

Narrator:
every week dave's not mining
could cost them

$100,000 In lost gold.

Todd can't afford to wait

To find out
who drilled before him.

He has no choice
but to bring in henry rennig

To drill new test holes.

You know, plan "b" on this land
is nonexistent.

I have got to get

Good drill holes
out of this land,

Or we're screwed.

Todd:
henry, what do you think?

I don't think it's gonna be
super-rich here.

What makes you say that?

Well, if it was rich,

It would have been
mined already.

Turin: if it was really good,
it would be mined already.

That's great.

Well, today,
we'll find out how deep it is

And how much gravel you got.

All right, here we go.

There's a lot riding
on these holes, todd.

Narrator: in the klondike,

Gold-bearing pay gravel sits
under frozen black muck.

The more muck,

The more difficult and expensive
it is to get to the gold.

Dave needs good pay gravel
within 15 feet of the surface.

It's sandy.
What about that?

Rennig:
starting to hit rock.

Got some rocks coming up.
Dude!

7 Feet of mud.

That is not bad.

That's not bad at all.

Yeah, that's good.

I was expecting
a lot more mud.

7 Feet, we can deal with.

We were dealing with 8 or 10
at quartz, so that's good.

Dude, there better be gold
in this gravel.

That's
our whole season right there,

Could be wrapped up
in that one bucket.

Henry,
let's go wash these out, huh?

Narrator: henry sets up to test
the samples from indian river.

Dave needs to get half the
hoffmans' thousand-ounce goal

Out of this new claim.

To have a shot,
he needs a test result

Better than the 15 cents a pan
they got last year.

Turin:
I'm very nervous right now.

It has to be
better than marginal

To go after
this piece right here.

Todd: I have a huge lease,
a lot of money invested,

And it all comes down to,
you know, right now.

Is there gold?

Narrator:
under the rushing water,

Small riffles catch
any heavy material.

Henry pans the concentrate
to find out if there's any gold.

Turin: give us some hope, henry.
Come on.

Todd: come on, henry.

Rennig: okay, guys.

There's two. There's one.
There's two.

Look at that.

Oh, yeah.
Look at that.

Now we're
freakin' getting somewhere.

Jack: that's good.

That's a 35-cent pan.

Narrator:
henry's pan is worth 35 cents --

Twice what they need
to make indian river viable.

A thousand ounces, todd.
That's good.

Yee-haw!

Good.

Turin:
I'd say it's double the gold
that we had at quartz creek.

I mean, it's amazing

How much better start
we have this year.

This is very doable.
This is very manageable.

We know there's gold here.

I think we might hit
our thousand ounces.

We like what we see here.
That's for sure.

That's for darn sure.

Narrator: south, in alaska,

Parker schnabel is
at a standstill.

He has no safe way
to mine smith creek

And desperately needs
new ground.

Grandpa john has an idea.

John: you see
that ground over there?

Parker:
that's earle foster's claim,
right?

On the backside
of emerson trench.

Yes.

I think
you should pay your expenses

By mining down here.

I'm positive that the value's
extended on beyond.

So, you think
it's worth taking the risk

And try to get a lease
on this chunk of ground?

Sure. Let's find out.

For years,
the schnabels have mined

A pay streak of gold
at emerson trench.

Earle foster has land next to it
at porcupine creek.

John is confident the pay streak
continues into earle's claim.

That seems like
a good plan to me.

I'll see earle and see if we can
make an arrangement.

If parker can strike a deal
with earle,

He'll have one more chance
to prove to his grandfather

That he can cut it
as a gold miner.

The lay of the ground
and everything --

It looks pretty promising.

If we could get this claim
from earle,

I mean, that'd be a huge success
for our season, I think.

Narrator: in dawson city,

Dave turin's
massive, new wash plant arrives

After a 3,000-mile trip north.

[ Horn honks ]

Turin:
this is a big day for us.

With the sluice box
that freddy dodge put together

And our new feeder,

This thing is gonna pull a lot
of gold out of indian river,

And I'm hoping
it gets up the hill.

We've had
some pretty bad road conditions.

Narrator:
dave needs to get his wash plant
into indian river,

But the melting snow is
turning the road into mud.

Experienced trucker rob rolfe is
leading the convoy

Ahead of his boss,
mike o'malley.

Should I keep coming?

Rolfe:
this is real rough.

Does it get better
or worse?

Worse.

It's getting deeper.

We're stuck.

Oh, crap. He's stuck.

I don't know
what we're gonna do now.

I'm gonna have to take a look.

What's up, dave?
Hey.

Didn't make it very far.

We got some chains.

All right.

Narrator:
rob puts on snow chains
to get through the deep mud.

I'm a little nervous.

This ought to be
interesting.

O'malley:
go back where you started
and try again.

You're gonna have to use
a little wheelspin.

We're stuck.

We're gonna have to get
some equipment down here

To pull us out.

Narrator:
dave's precious wash plant
has been en route

For seven long days.

Just 5 miles
from its destination,

It's going nowhere fast.

Narrator: the hoffman crew is

In the klondike
earlier than last year.

They're poised
for a big gold-mining season,

But dave is facing
his first real setback.

His giant, new wash plant is
stuck in the mud

On the road
to his indian river claim.

You got a strap?

I'm gonna
try to get my pickup

Around front of him,
and maybe --

I don't think
it's gonna work,

But we might try
pulling him with this pickup.

O'malley:
whatever we got to do.

You got
a good hook point?

Yeah.

Together,
rob's truck and trailer weigh

120,000 Pounds,

Eight times what dave's pickup
is rated to tow.

Rolfe: ready?

That's awesome.
Thanks.

Hopefully there's
no more.

Dave and his crew know
they have gold in the ground,

And now they have
a brand-new wash plant on site,

A full month ahead
of last season.

Nice job.
Thanks for saving our butt.

Great day.
Yeah, awesome.

Great day.
Thank you.

It's real nice
to see this here.

It's another step closer

To getting things going
on indian river.

This thing's gonna
kick butt this year.

If there's gold in that ground,

It's gonna be
in this sluice box --

Guaranteed.

Couple more days,
we'll be a complete unit,

And then watch us go.

This equipment --
if we can't get gold,

Something's wrong with us.

Narrator:
just as the crew is on the verge

Of running the gold-rich ground
at indian river,

Landowner greg mcneil arrives
in the klondike.

How you doing,
mr. Turin?

Good.
Welcome back.

Well, thanks. You too.
Good to see you.

I heard a little
about some drill holes

That you guys found
down there.

Like I was telling todd,

I can't imagine, you know,
who would have done it,

But let's go down
and take a look.

Dave takes greg to see

The mystery drill holes
on his claim.

And, then, this is where
the drill holes are,

Right up here,
heading up the hill.

This is where I think we are --
bess 8 and 9.

Okay.
That's what I thought.

That would be
the upper corner of your lease.

That's right.

Let's go take a look
at that corner,

And let's get our bearings
from that,

And, then, see, that might
answer what this is doing here.

Should be right up here.

I found it!

Here's the old post.

Oh, man. These guys aren't
gonna be happy about this.

Hey, guys.

I found the post.

I don't think
you're gonna be happy.

Turin: what's up?

It isn't right.

What isn't right?

Where we're at.
We're way off.

Really?

Well, dave looked at the corner,
and he gps'd it.

Well, I'm sorry.

We're about four claims away
from the corner.

So,
show me where we're at.

No way, greg.

I wish I was kidding.

We're right here.

We're at the corner
of bess 11?

And 12.

That's
like 1,500 feet off.

That's right.

Narrator: dave and todd thought
they'd drilled bess 8

At one end of their eight
indian river claims.

But it turns out they were
actually drilling bess 12,

About a quarter of a mile
from the ground they leased.

Wish I had better news.

I thought you gps'd it.

I did.

I think I entered
the wrong coordinates.

Oh, dude.

I can't believe
we did this.

I got ahead of myself.

I thought we were done
looking like idiots, but nope.

We still got
a little bit of that to go

On our journey
to become miners.

Narrator:
with dave running the show,

The hoffman crew has spent
thousands

Drilling and trucking in gear,
all on the wrong claim.

The season hasn't
even started --

I'm $10,000
in the freakin' hole.

You know,
and that pisses me off.

It's dave's fault.

I'd be pissed, too.
It's his money.

It costs him money to drill.

My mistake.

I had a bad coordinate
or bad reading on my gps.

Everybody makes a mistake.

Narrator: dave has no time
to dwell on his mistake.

Greg mcneil takes him
on a mission

To find the right claim markers.

Turin:
we're gonna get really wet.

Mcneil:
it's a hike, isn't it?

I found it!

You found the corner?

Yes, sir.
Right here.

It's old bess 1.

So, this is the corner.

This post marks

The southwest corner
of dave's claim -- bess 1.

Yep.
That's the corner.

Goes, like, up that way.

It was right --
not far from the water.

Remember?
Yeah.

Now we know
our boundaries.

So, you've got
about a mile and a half this way

And about 2,000 feet
that way.

You got a lot of ground.

A lot of ground, greg.
Yep.

Man, that looks good.

Golly. It's level.

This ought to drill out
pretty darn good.

This is actually probably
a pretty good piece of ground.

We're in the valley floor.

There's so many ponds.

There's so many cuts.

This is
definitely the big leagues.

Narrator:
down at the big nugget mine,

Parker schnabel awaits
the arrival

Of landowner earle foster.

To salvage his season,

Parker has to strike a deal
with earle

For some key new ground.

This claim of earle's is

Really one
of our only hopes left.

We just don't have
any ground to dig.

Without getting a pretty
favorable deal with earle,

Big nugget's gonna be
in pretty serious trouble.

Narrator:
two years ago, earle foster
leased land to the hoffmans

For a 20% share of their gold.

We're going for it, man.

Parker can't afford
a 20% cut.

Parker: we can't afford
to give much of a royalty back.

Anything over 10% to 12%
would be about, really,

Out of the question
because it's just --

That's the profit margin
on that kind of ground.

Narrator: earle has been doing
land deals for over 50 years.

This is parker's first.

Parker: mr. Foster.

Foster:
good to see you.

You too.
It's been a while.

Thanks for agreeing to meet me
on such short notice.

No problem.

Parker:
you know, we've never had
to lease ground before.

Okay.
[ Clears throat ]

Let's talk about it.

What kind of agreement were
you thinking of?

Well, we need
to talk about the term.

One year at a time would
probably be best.

Yeah, I think so.

Okay,
and as far as a royalty goes?

They're charging 15% to 20%
here in alaska.

That's too much.

We can't do it at 20%

Narrator:
at the big nugget mine,

Parker schnabel needs to
strike a deal with earle foster

For a claim
that borders his mine,

And he needs it
for only a 10% cut of the gold.

They're charging 15% to 20%
here in alaska now.

Yeah.

No, I realize that there's
a lot of people interested

That you know.

We've got the equipment,

And we've got the manpower
to do this dig,

And we're starting
right away.

If we can make it 10%,
we've got a deal,

And you'll start
getting money right away.

Since I've known you
since you were 9 years old...

[ Chuckles ]

...i think we can probably go
with 10% if that's satisfactory.

Well, thank you.
Yep.

We've got a deal, huh?

Thanks.

Well,
I wish you the best of luck,

And I'll get
some paperwork down to you,

And we'll get this done.

All right.

Parker: problem solved.

This has kind of breathed
a new life into our season.

I really needed
that deal with earle,

And it happened.

And we got ground.

Narrator: north,
at indian river in the klondike,

After a costly setback,

Dave is finally
on the right ground.

Now he needs to drill it
to make sure it's worth digging.

We found our corner post.

I want to bring henry out here,
so I got to cut him a road.

This is the spot.

Narrator: henry rennig sets up
to drill bess 1.

Dave turin's first season
as a mining boss

Rests on the results.

For this ground to be
worth mining,

He needs good gold in pay gravel
less than 15 feet down.

Well, we're over 10 feet.

We still haven't hit
gravel yet.

That's not good.

Well, we're
over 12 feet right now.

We're
about 14 feet down almost.

Well, we got
25 feet of overburden.

This is gonna be
the deepest hole

I've ever drilled
on the indian river.

We're over 30 feet already,

And we still haven't hit
the first rock yet.

How much --

How much more
do we have to go

Before we get
through the mud?

I don't know.
Yeah, you don't know.

I don't know either.

We can't even deal
with 30 foot this year.

Yeah.

Well, if you want me
to pull out now, I can.

Okay.

Dang.

Henry drills
through the black muck

To test the amount of gold
in the pay gravel.

Last season, at quartz creek,

The pay, or gold,
was only 8 feet down.

If it's much deeper
than 15 feet,

Stripping at this time of year
is impossible.

Turin: there's just no way
you can do it in the summertime.

It melts too fast.

By the time
you get down 20 feet,

Everything's running
back in on you,

And there's just no way
you can do it.

We got to find
some shallower ground.

We're gonna drill another spot,
make a decision from there.

We're not done.

We don't give up that easy.

Narrator:
bess 1 is too deep to mine.

In their original test,

Bess 12 showed great gold
only 7 feet down,

But dave doesn't hold the rights
to mine it.

His best alternative is
to drill bess 8,

The spot on his ground
closest to bess 12.

The black muck has to be
less than 15 feet deep,

Or dave is out of luck.

It's getting harder

To imagine us getting
to a thousand ounces right now.

We would just abandon this,
and we'd have to tell greg

That it's
really not worth mining.

Narrator: south, in alaska...

The threat of a flood
after a record snowfall

Is forcing the dakota boys
to reconsider their plans

For getting back down
to glory hole gold.

Fred: if that river gets
on a rampage

And gets through
that levee up there,

Ooh, we're talking about

Stepping back
and getting out of the way.

Dustin:
I'm not buying it.

You can't imagine

How much snow is
up on those mountains up there.

It's incredible.

I got to see what's
at the bottom of the hole.

That's it.

10 More feet,
and you hit it.

It could possibly have

Hundreds of thousands of dollars
of gold.

Right now we are
right on top of it.

We're almost as deep
as it can go.

I agree.
It's right there.

I want to get down there
just as bad as you,

'Cause I know
what's down there.

Well, if you did,
then we'd be pumping right now,

And we'd start
digging tomorrow.

Yeah, but we can't
pump that thing out.

I'm not happy about it.

We know
there's gold down there.

Narrator:
because the flood risk has made
draining the glory hole unsafe,

Fred has come up
with a radical plan.

Let's get over here.
I'm gonna show you.

You see it
over there real good?

Oh, real good.

This is
a wall of bedrock right here,

50 Feet away
from where we've been digging.

So, this just drops off?

It just drops right off.

I say we just stay
right up against it,

Follow it on down
as far as we can go.

At some point,

This thing's
gonna level out somewhere.

And every time
it levels out,

There's a good chance
we're gonna find

A pretty good deposit of gold
on that area.

High above the glory hole,
away from the risk of flood,

There is exposed bedrock.

Fred wants to get
to the gold-rich material

That he thinks sits
on the bedrock

All the way down
into the glory hole.

But to do this,

He'll have to remove
thousands of yards of dirt.

I really don't want
to do it this way.

It's at least three times
as much dirt.

I'm gonna need more help,

I'm gonna need bigger equipment,
better equipment,

And I'm gonna need more time
than last year.

If you're willing
to go ahead

And kind of take the bull
by the horns a little bit,

I'll get you
some more equipment,

I'll get you some more people --
a couple more, anyway.

We can't go whole hog.

Deal?

I can handle it.

All right?
Yep.

Let's go, man.

All right.

Narrator: in alaska...

Parker schnabel is in a hurry
to test his new land.

His season depends on finding
good gold in emerson trench.

Earle foster just leased me
this claim,

So I'm gonna bring
some material back and test it.

If this is a good test,
it'll tell me

That that pay streak
most likely continues

Through this whole area,

Which means there's huge yardage
of good dirt.

Narrator: but as soon as parker
gets on his new ground,

It becomes obvious
that it's not going to be

As easy as he'd hoped.

Parker: I got myself
in a little trouble here.

It's a lot softer
than I thought it was,

Doesn't really want me
on it at all.

It's not taking any weight.

I'm up to my belly.

[Bleep] [bleep]

Narrator:
at the big nugget mine,

Parker schnabel is stuck
in the mud on his new claim.

Parker: if I take the weight
off that track,

I could walk, theoretically.

That works great.

[ Laughs ]

Oh.

Like a big slip 'n slide
with a 100,000-pound excavator.

Narrator: now on the new ground
he's leased,

Parker can finally get down
and test the pay dirt.

After a disastrous first season

As the man in charge
at big nugget,

Parker needs this new dirt
to be rich in gold

If he's to succeed this season.

Parker:
it's about 5 feet deep,

And we're
still going down so far.

Oh, there.
It hit some bones.

It feels a lot like
the pay dirt down below.

This is the good pay dirt,
hopefully.

Yeah, it's nice,
river-washed gravel.

We have about three acres
of this type of ground

Between here and emerson trench.

This test is gonna be
pretty meaningful.

This is a, like,
little testing trommel.

Narrator:
to prove to his grandfather that
he can make money gold-mining,

Parker has to see good gold
in this first test.

Parker: first shovel.

Narrator: 600 miles north,
in the klondike...

Henry rennig is drilling
for gold at indian river.

This is dave turin's last chance

To hit shallow gold
on the hoffman crew's new claim.

How we doing?

Well, we got over 5 feet
of overburden already.

Todd:
if this doesn't drill out good,

This could be devastating
for our season, actually.

If we hit gravel at 18 or 19,
it's undoable this year.

We got 10 feet for sure.

15 Feet of overburden.

This isn't good.

Even if he keeps going

And he hits pay gravel
another couple feet,

I can't deal with it.

Well, we got 20 feet down now,
almost.

20 Feet of mud, todd.

20 Feet of mud.

You hit any rock at all,
henry?

Not one.
Not one rock?

Just pure overburden.

Look at this, dave.

Is that even possible?
Can we strip that much?

Not this time of year.

Melts mud.

We can't deal
with 20 foot of mud, todd.

All right, henry,
we're done here.

Indian river might be
over with.

It's suicide trying to strip

Over 20 feet of mud
in the summer.

Not gonna work.

Narrator:
just 14 days into the short
klondike mining season,

The hoffman crew's chances
of finally hitting it big

Are slipping away.

I laid out a challenge
of a thousand ounces,

And I'm not gonna get it.

I'm not gonna get it down here.

I'm trying
to start making plans.

And every time
I start to make a plan,

The rug gets pulled out
from underneath my feet.

Damn. Not looking good.

Narrator:
at big nugget in alaska...

Parker is testing the pay gravel

He just pulled
out of his new claim.

With nowhere else to mine

On his grandfather's
25-year-old claim,

This dirt will make or break
his season.

We're gonna run
about a hundredth of a yard.

Narrator:
parker removes the concentrate.

This one pan determines
parker's future.

Parker: we need
$15 a yard to make money.

Then this gold needs to be worth
about 15 cents.

Actually fairly promising.

See, there is quite a bit.

There's a flake there.

It's beautiful.

And if you multiply that
by 1,000,

That might be
what we run in a day.

I would guess
that there's a good 600 ounces

On that chunk of ground.

Narrator: 600 ounces is close
to $1 million of gold.

The deal for earle's land

Has opened the door for parker

To finally prove himself
as a miner

And secure the future
of his family's mine.

We got a plan.

We got dirt, and we got a plan.