Whoa!
Narrator:
in the jungles of guyana...
Todd:
everybody clear?
...todd hoffman is on the verge
of epic failure.
I need
a miracle in the jungle.
And with each passing day,
his crew is losing faith.
The boss doesn't listen
to anybody but himself, so...
They're desperate...
Watch it, watch it, watch it.
[Bleep]
...to find gold-rich ground...
Thurber, brian,
get the [bleep] over here.
...or their jungle dream
is over.
Stand back!
[ Glass breaking ]
I'm in trouble.
Narrator:
up in the klondike...
Parker: oh!
...parker schnabel
is on the gold.
Awesome.
But he needs to pay todd hoffman
100 Ounces
by the end of the week,
Or his d10 dozer
will be repossessed.
I'll freakin' take
that dozer so fast,
It'll make that kid's head spin.
Narrator: to get the gold,
parker needs the dozer,
But the dozer's
at its breaking point.
[Bleep]
Narrator:
so is the only man...
I try to [bleep] back up,
you were there.
I try and set something down,
you're right [bleep] there.
...who can fix it.
I'm in a bad mood already,
And this makes it
[bleep] worse.
And in alaska...
Dustin: this is it, fred.
...after three years
of digging...
Filling 'er up.
...the dakota boys make
the controversial decision
To fill in the glory hole
Until,
at the very last minute...
Fred, dustin!
...melody discovers
Their biggest
porcupine creek nuggets yet.
Look at it!
Fred: hope you find
a million dollars.
Dustin:
it's insane, huh?
It's huge!
-- Captions by vitac --
www.vitac.com
Captions paid for by
discovery communications
[ Birds chirping ]
Narrator:
guyana, south america.
Todd hoffman
is in an all-out fight
To keep his jungle dream alive.
Todd:
I need a miracle in the jungle.
We've never been
in a place like this before,
Where we're so desperate
for something good to happen.
[ Sighs ]
We need something good
to happen.
Narrator: he's spent nine weeks
and a fortune
On his quest for jungle gold.
His gold total so far -- zero.
Todd:
I'm seriously thinking
That our style of mining
isn't gonna work down here.
And we're gonna have to freakin'
get back to the basics.
Narrator:
todd desperately needs
a new plan of attack.
I'm not built
for this kind of crap.
Narrator:
last week was a disaster.
The crew discovered
The ground they were
pinning their future on
Had already been mined.
Ridiculous.
We're mining other people's dump
is what we're doing.
Dave turin left guyana...
No reason to come back
If there's no gold
in the ground.
Narrator: ...vowing only
to return on one condition.
You find me
some ground with gold,
Then we'll move mountains
for you, todd.
But right now, I'm done.
Now, to persuade
his right-hand man to return
And keep the rest of his crew
from abandoning the operation,
Todd desperately needs to find
new, gold-rich ground.
Tony.
What's up, todd?
He's at the far end of his claim
to meet tony melville,
A local gold-mining expert
he's worked with in the past.
I'm actually in trouble.
In trouble?
I need some gold, tony,
Or I'm gonna be packing up
and leaving
With my tail
between my legs
And about a half a million
dollars lighter.
That would be sad.
My crew has lost hope,
So I got to provide
some hope.
If the gold is down there, todd,
I'll get it.
I'm counting on you.
Thank you.
Let me grab my stuff,
and let's go.
Tony's son, jackson,
joins the hunt.
Thanks for going slow.
Tony has 40 years' experience
finding gold in the jungle.
How does this look?
It's good ground, so we're gonna
try now to get some results.
In guyana,
gold-bearing gravels can lie
In narrow, meandering beds
that are tough to find.
Unlike in the klondike,
Gold gravels here are often
very close to the surface.
Tony's jungle metal detector
is a simple steel rod.
No gravel.
Try another spot.
We try to locate the gravel,
And then dig a hole
to sample it.
Jackson: no gravel?
No gravel.
I get much closer gravel
that way.
It's going deep here.
We need a miracle, man.
We need a miracle in the jungle.
We're gonna
find something here.
Yeah, I've got there a small,
small --
Any better?
It's just a little,
tiny bit of gravel here.
[ Sighs ]
There's a bunch here.
There's a bunch of gravel.
Oh, yes, that's --
that sounds like...
I like that.
That sounds rich.
Yeah. Todd, feel this.
Go down. Boom, boom!
That's gravel.
Yeah, that is gravel.
Awesome.
I tell you what, man.
I think we ought
to cut a hole right here.
This whole sidehill
might be awesome.
Tony and jackson are experts.
They know the ground.
This is the stuff we don't know.
You know what? We need help.
These guys came and helped us,
so...
Tony: see,
this is beautiful stuff.
You will hit a jackpot
soon.
Narrator: to turn a profit
in such a remote location,
Todd needs at least $20 a yard.
All right, let's see
if we got any gold in this.
This is the result.
Frick.
That's the most gold
I've seen
Since I've been
in this frickin' country.
It's like $20 a yard,
estimate.
Wow. That'll do it.
Finally, I'm getting some
good news in this country, man.
Yeah.
Ever since I got here,
I been going downhill.
You just got to keep
pushing through.
In the klondike,
Parker schnabel has already
banked 51 ounces of gold
Worth $71,000.
On his claim at scribner creek,
steve feeds pay dirt
Into their wash plant,
little blue.
Keep me busy today.
We'll try to keep you going,
buddy.
Greg hauls gold-rich gravel
from the cut.
We're pushing it hard
in a good way,
So I think we're well ahead
of the game.
Parker and rick dig
fresh pay dirt.
Parker: if we just keep
the plant running,
We just keep opening up ground,
that's all we can do.
Narrator:
and the entire operation
Relies on gene ripping
frozen ground in the d10 dozer.
Cheeseman: everything in the cut
is going pretty good.
Narrator: in the off-season,
Parker bought the dozer
from todd hoffman.
I'll give you 100 ounces.
Give me six weeks.
That's july 1st.
The price -- 100 ounces of gold,
or $140,000.
On july 1st, I'll frickin' take
that dozer so fast,
It'll make that kid's head spin.
Narrator: parker needs
a massive 50-ounce cleanup
By the end of the week
to repay his debt,
Or he'll lose the dozer to todd,
leaving his mine crippled.
But the d10's in bad shape.
Cheeseman:
yeah, we got a lot
of ground to strip.
Pretty frustrating
when you have to worry
About something always
falling apart.
[ Clanging ]
[ Metal squealing ]
[ Equipment beeping ]
[Bleep]
[Bleep]
[Bleep] [ sighs ]
Running
this worn-out undercarriage
Isn't gonna work anymore.
Narrator: the tracks on the d10
have stretched
After 25 years of battling
klondike permafrost.
And they're slipping on
the sprockets that drive them.
Controlling the dozer
Is becoming
more and more difficult.
What's going on?
Ah, the 10's [bleep]
We got to do something
with the tracks.
I mean, it's just --
It's not [bleep] working.
It's skipping that bad?
Yeah, [bleep]
We got to fix it.
I already owe todd hoffman
If it was up to me,
how I'd usually do it,
I'd buy new rails.
Rails and pads for that thing
is 50 grand.
Got to spend some money
to make some money.
Yeah.
But I just can't keep running it
the way it is.
You know, we're not moving
any dirt, so we're not mining.
I'll figure something out.
Okay.
Without the d10,
parker will run out of pay dirt.
The undercarriage on the dozer
Is in worse shape
than we thought.
Narrator:
he needs a solution, and fast.
All right. I'll expect him then.
Thanks, man.
Parker: hey, gene.
Hey.
We found a set of rails.
They're used, though.
Yeah.
Well, I've never had
very good luck
Running used parts
like that.
No, I know that. It's what
we can afford, you know?
Well, they'll be here
in a couple days,
And since we don't have
a mechanic here,
You're probably
gonna have to put 'em on.
[ Sighs ]
You know, I didn't come up here
to be the mechanic,
But I'll certainly do what
it takes to get something done.
I appreciate it.
Hopefully, it makes it
the rest of the year.
Yeah, I mean,
it's a chance we have to take.
Yeah, well, it's just --
Yeah.
So, I guess that's what
we got to deal with.
Yeah.
All right.
[Bleep]
Doesn't save you a damn penny
to do things cheap.
Narrator:
south at porcupine creek,
Fred and dustin hurt have made
a heartbreaking decision.
This is it, fred.
Filling her up.
They are filling in
the 130-foot deep glory hole.
Strange seeing this stuff
coming down the hill
Instead of going back up.
Dustin:
I'm doing this right now,
and it feels like
I'm tearing down a house,
piece by piece,
After I just built
this beautiful house.
I'm tearing it down.
I don't want to do it.
I don't want to!
Narrator: after three seasons
of hunting for gold
At the bottom
of an ancient waterfall,
The dakota boys finally
hit bedrock.
Whoo! [ Laughs ]
But instead of
a million-dollar payday,
They found less than
$16,000 worth of gold.
It wasn't
that pot of leprechaun gold
In the bottom of that.
Narrator: and it became
too dangerous to mine
Under the sheer walls
of the glory hole.
Fred:
'we got safety to look at.
I say we got to close
that hole up.
Dustin: that is truly
heartbreaking, fred.
Real disappointment,
'cause last year wasn't easy.
The three of us, you know,
12-hour plus days,
And working toward that dream.
Narrator: while fred and dustin
fill in the hole,
Melody runs the final yards
of bedrock pay dirt
Through the wash plant.
Tallis: this, for a miner
who's put so much into it,
[Voice breaking]
it really hurts, okay?
[ Sobs ]
You put your heart and your soul
into something for a while,
And just stand still.
That's it. It's over.
I guess we got our answer,
though.
There's no gold down there,
so...
Shut down the water, please.
Narrator: melody checks
the sluice box one last time.
Oh, my gosh.
Fred!
Dustin!
I went down
to do the regular check,
And you won't believe
what I just found.
You got to come look.
Look down here.
Can you get that?
That looks, to me,
To be the biggest piece of gold
we've ever gotten.
Look at it! It's huge!
Look down here.
Narrator:
at porcupine creek...
Can you get that?
...in the last load of pay dirt
From the bottom
of the glory hole,
The dakota crew has found
Their biggest nuggets
in three years of mining.
Look at it!
Okay, this is good.
Here's another one
right here.
Fred:
well, that's a big piece.
Look at that nugget.
Oh, my gosh.
Look at that. [ Laughs ]
That's actually nuggets.
Yeah.
I've never seen them
this big.
Not here.
Nope.
Well...
"Well..."
Narrator:
for dustin and melody,
The nuggets are a game changer,
But fred is still determined
to fill in the glory hole.
There's not much else in here,
actually. Not very much.
Dustin:
fred, we love that you're
a bummer about everything.
It's really great.
What else you got
in that jar?
Dustin: it's the size
that's different.
It's not the amount.
I don't care about the amount,
actually.
Waste of time.
Just because of a couple of
little pieces of gold there --
We've seen more than that
Fred doesn't know how
To express joy or happiness
unless he did it.
Come check
this corner out.
This whole side is loaded.
It really looks good.
Look at all the gold
on this rock.
Don't throw any rocks out.
It's all gold.
Look at it.
Don't drop any.
[ Laughs ]
Hope you find
a million dollars in there.
Oh, yeah, fred.
We just smashed it.
I've never seen
so many big pieces.
Oh, my god, dustin.
I can't quit
picking these up.
I don't -- I'm afraid to --
Can you put it
in the damn bucket?!
Look at it! It's huge!
I get it. It's everywhere.
So, you really don't want to see
any more nuggets?
That's insane, huh?
The whole bottom
might be completely covered.
Narrator:
a plunge pool, carved out
by an ancient waterfall,
Lies in the deepest part
of the glory hole.
Dustin and melody think
The pool is loaded with a pile
of gold nuggets,
But fred's not stopping.
Dustin's only hope
is to convince his dad
That there's a safe way
to get the gold out,
Or it will be buried forever.
All right, fred.
We got to talk, man.
We got quarter-ounce nuggets
by the handful right now
Coming out of this thing.
Get it cleaned up.
Let's see what we got.
If this gold came off
the bottom of that hole,
We're covering it up
right now.
We ain't covered up nothing.
If -- if this thing
is coated with gold,
You would pull up more
with a dredge
Than you would
this entire damn area.
I don't know.
I challenge you
to make a dredge.
Hmm.
I don't care
how long it takes,
But I want you to stop
covering up the plunge pool.
Delay all of this again
for a while?
You know I'm right.
Give me mike, and I'll have you
a dredge by noon tomorrow.
Thank you, fred!
Narrator:
up in the klondike...
Parker's d10 dozer
is out of commission
When he needs it most.
It's not good.
Without that thing running,
we can't mine frozen ground.
Narrator:
to pay todd hoffman
The 100 ounces he owes him
for the dozer,
Parker needs 50 ounces of gold
this week,
But without tracks on his dozer,
he can't mine.
New tracks cost $50,000.
Parker settled
for a secondhand set
For just $9,000.
Cheeseman:
one machine's holding up
A multimillion-dollar operation,
And you go buy
[bleep] wore out parts.
It just doesn't --
To me,
it just doesn't make any sense.
Whoa, whoa!
Narrator:
this repair usually requires
Two expert mechanics
in a workshop,
But here,
in the middle of nowhere,
It's down to gene.
Cheeseman:
I'll do whatever it takes
to get the job done,
But I'm a [bleep] of a lot
more efficient at moving dirt
Than being the mechanic
all the time.
Pretty much wore out,
But that's what we got
to work with.
In my opinion,
it's putting a band-aid on it.
It might work. I don't know.
[Bleep]
You go over there.
We got to hammer and [bleep]
beat that d-ring off of there.
Man:
all right, I'll do that.
[Bleep]
You guys are getting
right in the [bleep] way.
You need
to back the [bleep] up.
I'm in a pissed off
[bleep] mood,
So don't get around me,
all right?
Narrator:
gene needs the 10-ton track
perfectly aligned.
It's a pain in the a*s
doing it by yourself.
Narrator:
at the critical point,
Things go from bad...
[ Groans ]
...to worse.
[ Liquid pouring ]
Ah [bleep] [bleep]
[bleep] thing.
[Bleep] [bleep]
It's not supposed
to come apart like that.
Something came loose,
and the track adjuster slid out.
Don't have any service manuals
to go by,
So I'm kind of sh**ting
from the hip here.
Narrator:
the track adjuster is a piston
That pushes on a wheel
to keep tension on the tracks.
Moving the dozer without tracks
Has dislodged
the two-ton piston.
Gene now has two things to fix.
[Bleep]
and he's not happy.
You guys are just gonna
Have to get the [bleep] back
out of my way, okay?
'Cause every time
I [bleep] turn around,
You guys are standing right
behind me in the [bleep] way!
That's why.
[Bleep] every time
I turn around.
Try to [bleep] back up,
you're there.
I try and set something down,
you're right [bleep] there.
I'm in a bad mood already,
and this makes it [bleep] worse.
Narrator: while gene struggles
with the dozer...
[Bleep]
...the rest of the crew attempts
to rip
Klondike permafrost
with just excavators.
It blows my mind.
I mean, it's [bleep] june.
Why the hell is the ground
still frozen?
Whoa.
Narrator: it's a desperate move
that could put
More of parker's machines
out of action.
Parker: if I can just pull this
up and rick can load it out,
Then we should be able
to keep making money.
Rick!
It's froze pretty bad
over here.
Bam, you got a bank of ice
right here.
And that's how
you tear a bucket apart.
[Bleep] this [bleep]
It's not gonna work.
This is ridiculous.
It's solid ice.
Just [bleep] everything up.
And the 10's down,
so he can't rip it.
Damn it.
I don't know what to do.
We [bleep] ourselves.
Narrator:
down in south america...
...todd hoffman is building
a jungle road
To what he hopes
is hot new ground.
All right, guys.
Stay close to me and jackson.
Let's get ready
to rumble.
Local prospector tony melville
leads the way.
We'll be going this way.
Straight through here.
Okay, I'll just mark his trail.
Thanks, tony.
We've been taking some shots
in the dark for a long time now,
And we finally have
some guidance.
I'm really excited.
Narrator: todd blazes a trail
in the 290 excavator.
Todd:
watch my tail swing!
While his crew marks the best
route through the trees.
Alldridge:
this is the wood beaver
at its finest.
He sees a goal, and he's just
plowing straight towards it
Without a thought whatsoever
for our lives.
It's beyond ridiculous.
Narrator: dave turin has already
quit out of frustration,
And now the rest of the crew is
reaching their breaking point.
Thurber,
why don't you get
Some of the other guys' thumbs
out of their a*s?
Can you just listen
for a second?
This is dangerous, man.
It does no [bleep] good to stand
up there and do nothing.
I understand that.
Pay attention.
I understand that. Geez.
What?
I need eyeballs.
[Bleep] [bleep]
I'm gonna
knock this one down.
Is everybody clear?
He's got the cage around him,
so he's more or less protected.
Hey, I'm going left
with this tree.
He's knocking down trees,
and I think this is dumb.
Tony:
clear this tree here.
Todd: that one?
That big one?
Yeah.
That thing is huge.
That'll snap off
and fall right back at you.
Look out, brian!
Good!
[ Glass breaking ]
Narrator:
deep in the jungles of guyana...
[ Glass breaking ]
...todd hoffman's excavator
Takes a direct hit
from a falling tree.
Come up through the west.
It's about ready to stab me.
It might snap back a bit.
Well, be careful.
Thurber: ouch.
That was headed
right for your face.
Dude.
That would've been bad.
Minus an antenna.
I don't know what it does,
but it's no longer there.
There goes
our rental deposit.
The day's not over yet.
Narrator:
todd is rattled, but pushes on.
He's determined to clear
a road to the new, good ground.
Right through there.
Gonna k*ll somebody
is what we're gonna do.
And nothing is going to get
in his way.
Everybody's running around like
chickens with heads cut off.
Can I knock these down?
It's [bleep] stupid,
but you know,
Boss doesn't listen
to anybody but himself, so...
This is where people get hurt.
When you've got --
Watch it, watch it, watch it!
Watch it, watch it!
[ Tree rustling, cracking ]
[bleep] hell!
That could k*ll any one of us.
It's just stupid,
irrational thinking
By, supposedly,
one of our leaders.
I can't even see straight,
I'm so mad.
You got a log
coming up behind you.
Todd: holy crap!
What is it,
something underneath?
I can't move forward,
so there's something underneath.
Thurber:
you can't go forward.
Stuff kind of wedged
Right into the back
of your undercarriage.
Right between
your tracks.
If you can spin around
And push it down
with your bucket, you're good.
Okay, look out. Clear.
Thurber: well,
he tried to go over a log,
And it broke,
shoved up underneath.
Got him stuck.
Forward, todd. Forward.
Push the nose down.
Whoa!
[ Groaning, clanking ]
What the frick?
[ Liquid dripping ]
k*ll it!
[Bleep]
Just puking it.
What are we puking?
You got fluid?
Yeah!
Lots of it.
How much is poured out
under there?
Gallons.
You're gonna lose it all.
It's just draining.
I can't leave it
up in the air like this.
[Bleep]
You couldn't have got any --
[ Groans ]
I got one shot at this, okay?
Whoa!
Bring your bucket,
lift it up again.
Narrator: in minutes,
All the hydraulic fluid
will be gone.
If todd can't free it fast,
The 30-ton excavator
will lose all power
And be stranded
in the middle of the jungle.
You got to move quick.
You're losing fluid
way too fast.
Come on, todd, let's go!
Come here, guys, quick.
I need your eyeballs, though.
I need you to tell me
what's going on.
Todd: oh, [bleep]
just puking fluid.
Try it real quick,
come on.
[ Excavator groaning, hissing ]
Whoa!
Narrator:
the excavator is off the log,
But it's crippled.
We can get in there
and see what the hell...
How bad is it?
It's bad.
We're stuck
in the middle of the jungle
With a machine that runs
on hydraulic fluid,
And we cut an artery.
Oh!
It's gonna be a filthy,
stinking job.
It wasn't
one of my better days.
Narrator: up in the klondike,
Parker schnabel needs
50 ounces of gold,
Worth $70,000,
by the end of the week,
But his mine
is at a standstill.
We knew it was a little bit
of a risk only having one dozer
Since dozers
are so important up here.
Narrator:
his only dozer is in pieces,
And the fix just got
a whole lot harder.
Moving the dozer without tracks,
Gene dislodged
the massive tensioning piston.
To fix it, he has to fit the
Just .0020 of an inch bigger.
[Bleep]
Gonna try and pick this up
and slide it in there,
Put it back together.
If it leaks, it leaks.
Hey, steve, do you got
a few minutes to help me here?
Robbins: yeah, sure do.
I need
to get in the cat now,
And I need to push
down on the blade to get
that all to line up.
Okay.
I'm hoping,
we get the weight off of it,
And it'll just balance there,
and [bleep] we'll see.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, I'll watch it.
Not the first time I've seen
a dozer do that.
Stuff like that, they usually
call out -- call out a guy.
[Bleep]
What I need to do
is get it tied off with a chain
So it doesn't
[bleep] back out of there again.
Let me come up just a little
more so he can pick up, too.
All right, go ahead!
That looks centered.
Pick up
just a little bit on it.
Oh, it came out. Back up.
Pull.
Right there.
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.
Like it needs to come this way
a little.
Cheeseman: how's that work?
What about the seal?
Are we lined up on the seal
there?
I'm right at it right now.
Coming in.
Come along.
There it went.
There. You got it.
Okay. We're in!
Narrator:
gene has fixed the piston.
Now he can get back to fitting
the replacement tracks.
Just keep a little, tiny bit
of tension on it. Not a lot.
[Bleep]
Pain in the a*s?
Yeah.
It's been a [bleep]
all day.
Yeah.
I mean,
it's tightened up enough.
I don't know
if it's gonna work right
Until I go run the thing around
and use it.
Narrator:
after being down for three days,
Parker's most important machine
is up and running.
Narrator: in guyana,
Todd hoffman's
first season in the jungle
Is headed for failure
Unless he can
get to gold-rich ground fast.
But in a desperate attempt
to clear a road
To promising new ground...
Todd has impaled the excavator
on a tree stump.
Whoa!
And his mechanic's on a parts
run to the capital, georgetown.
Hey, guys,
mitch ain't here.
We're gonna have to fix this
ourselves.
Ooh, solid.
Brian,
what do you see?
You straight and broke
the excavator.
You just bent the crap out of
this plate underneath there.
You feel a loose hose?
Yeah, the smallest hose in here,
it got ripped loose.
Broke is broke.
Frick.
Narrator:
beneath the excavator,
A steel plate protects
the delicate hydraulics.
The tree stump
has smashed the plate
And ripped out a hydraulic hose.
To replace the damaged hose,
They have to first remove
the badly mangled metal plate.
Jim thurber,
a former sheet metal worker,
Takes charge.
Okay, give me
a metric adjustable.
Thank you.
Oh [bleep]
Whew.
That is tight.
Hiatt: smaller?
Inch would be perfect.
I mean, the thing is,
We're guessing
how it comes apart.
Feel like
it's getting easier?
No, just kept --
click, click, click.
[ Grunts ]
Damn it. [ Grunts ]
Well, the whosit right next
to the whatchamacallit broke.
Kevin,
you're stronger than [bleep]
Get in there
and pull on those things.
Narrator: kevin hiatt,
A former garbage collector,
steps in.
Alldridge:
getting it?
Hiatt:
yeah, it's getting easier.
[Bleep]
I couldn't do it, dude.
I gave it all I had.
I about -- I think I --
In all honesty...
It's still just doing
the same thing? Spinning?
[ Grunts ] I just don't see
any threads showing.
Oh, okay.
We are undoing it
at the wrong spot.
That's why.
We just made it
super tight?
Yeah.
Okay.
That wasn't so bad.
We just got to turn
the right thing.
We are obviously
not mechanics.
So right now, the big problem
is getting that plate out.
Cutting?
It's cutting, jim.
I just don't know
If it's just gonna drop down
on you.
Well, you still
got the tab hooked on that.
I guess i...
[ Metal clangs ]
Right on!
Want to make
some stir fry?
[ Chuckling ] that is
a mangled piece of plate.
You can see where todd
was balancing on there.
That's from the pump.
He's lucky
he didn't take the pump out.
Just broke the fitting.
I think we --
If we're lucky at all,
that's -- that's lucky.
Narrator:
they've fixed the hose,
But won't know
if the repair will work
Until they replace 100 gallons
of hydraulic fluid
And test it under pressure.
Fire 'er up?
[ Door closes ]
Kevin?
Hiatt: yo.
I'm gonna crank it up.
I hope it works.
[ Engine turns over ]
How we looking?
It looks good!
We got no oil leaking yet!
Good.
Raise the bucket.
Clear!
[ Excavator whirring ]
That's good.
Dude, I think we got it.
We should be on the scoreboard
by the end of the week.
Narrator:
porcupine creek, alaska.
The dakota boys are making
a last-ditch effort
To get
millions of dollars in gold
From the bottom
of the glory hole.
Dustin: I got a feeling that
it's lying in the whole bedrock.
I think that's where
the gold's at.
I intend to get it
with a dredge.
Narrator:
dustin's convinced fred
To create a homemade dredge
out of old parts.
We got to make us
a six-inch dredge,
And I got
less than a day to build it.
[ Grunts ]
Fred: go ahead.
Hold it.
I've never built
anything like this.
Fred, I think, has.
I've never built one like this,
either.
No? Oh, okay.
The theoretical side,
we figured out.
Narrator: using the excavator,
Fred needs to suspend his dredge
right above the gold.
They can then pump the nuggets
From the bottom
of the plunge pool
Into a loader bucket.
Gonna make
one hell of a vacuum cleaner.
Point that up the hill.
That's gonna go on there
like so.
Dustin: all you have to do
is put enough hose on it
To make it go
where you're going.
The loader bucket's gonna
have to go
Wherever the length of this,
that, and that is.
That's the maximum far
you can get away with
'Cause
there's no more hose.
We have no more hose.
So, we'll see how
this thing works or not works.
Well,
that's the chance you take.
I mean...
Fred: sometimes, trying to make
things out of nothing
Is the only choice.
It's gonna be a tight squeeze,
Trying to get all this stuff
down there at one time.
One, two!
That's gonna swing
toward us, so...
Hey, y'all, move back!
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh! Ooh!
Can't see it.
Dustin: I know.
Get off your throne.
Let me stop it swinging.
Caveman-style pumping.
Narrator:
the suction hose is so short
That fred is forced
to put the 2,000-pound pump...
Thank you!
...dangerously close
to the water's edge.
All right!
Swing right!
That's as far as you can go,
anyway, fred!
I need another hose.
We need 10 feet
more pipe.
[Bleep]
We just don't have
enough [bleep] pipe!
Narrator:
todd hoffman's on a mission
to get to new, gold-rich ground,
But his path is blocked
by dangerously soft sand.
It's not solid.
That's quicksand.
You got to be careful.
It's just ready
to swallow something,
And it would eat that excavator,
absolutely.
Thurber pushes todd
to take a safer route,
But todd won't listen.
Todd: that ain't good.
[Bleep] [bleep]
Thurber, brian,
get the [bleep] over here.
I think someone said
don't [bleep] go over there.
Why the [bleep]
are we over there?
[Bleep]
All right, we got unstuck.
Now let's get running.
Yeah, he's damn lucky.
It's a tough job
to follow todd.
Narrator:
at porcupine creek,
The dakota boys have found
Their biggest nuggets yet
in the glory hole.
They've decided to dredge up
What could be millions
of dollars' worth of gold
Using fred's homemade
suction pipe.
That's as far as you can go,
anyway, fred!
But there's a problem.
Fred: just don't have
enough damn pipe.
[Bleep]
Narrator: fred improvises
with lay-flat pipe
That's not designed
to run gravel.
We don't have enough
six-inch hard pipe,
So fred's gonna try to use
the fred flat pipe here.
Fred:
now we can do it.
Go ahead and fire it up.
[ Engine turns over ]
It's coming up!
Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Narrator: once the lay-flat hose
starts pumping out water,
Fred moves the suction pipe
down to the gold on bedrock.
Fred: damn.
It's falling!
Narrator:
but fred's homemade dredge
is sketchy,
And suddenly, the submerged hose
Begins to drag the pump
towards the water.
Hold it!
Stop!
Fred: look out!
Pump's gonna go!
No, get out of the way!
[Bleep]
Ah [bleep]
Oh, my gosh. Oh,
I don't want to do that again.
Stop right there.
For fred, no amount of gold
is worth a life.
I'm canceling this.
I want this disconnected.
Are we giving up,
for real?
Pretty sure we're done.
It's over with.
How could you be so close
to something,
And just not be able
to reach it?
Just is too hard
to get it out.
Narrator: the dredge
was the crew's last shot
At glory-hole gold.
This is the end of an era
at porcupine creek.
Fred: three years
working on that hole.
Sad to see it go,
but there comes a time
When you got to do
what you got to do.
It's just too dangerous
to work down there.
It's not worth
getting somebody hurt or worse.
Enough is enough.
Narrator: up in the klondike,
it's the end of the week.
Time for parker to pay his debt.
So far this season,
he has 51 ounces of gold
Worth over $70,000,
But he must pay todd hoffman
Or he'll lose it.
Parker:
this should be the cleanout
That'll put us over 100 ounces
so I can pay todd back.
Narrator: but a 50-ounce week
is looking very unlikely.
Parker: this week, it looks like
we're gonna find less gold
Than we have in the last three,
right?
And that's bad.
That's really bad.
Cheeseman:
well, there's no way we're gonna
get over the 100-ounce mark
If what I'm seeing here.
I don't think
there's five ounces in here.
It doesn't look very good,
quite honestly.
By the looks of it,
there's less than 10 ounces.
Pretty --
pretty piss poor.
Narrator: tony beets,
the scribner creek claim owner,
Arrives for the cleanup
and his 15% cut of the gold.
Really?
We need another 50
to put us over 100.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's really good,
and that puts us at 120.
That's 100 for todd,
Thanks, tony.
[ Both laugh ]
This jar is going
to todd hoffman.
Yeah.
That's mine.
[ Laughs ]
Yeah. Thanks, tony.
Finally working for myself,
right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Now I own that dozer.
Narrator:
south in guyana...
Todd hoffman has finally
opened up a road to new ground.
Todd and tony melville
prospected this area earlier
And found gold-bearing gravel.
There's gravel under here!
Scoop some up.
Todd's back in the excavator.
These test holes will prove
If there's a future
for him here.
Okay, guys.
There you go.
Sounds like
gold is calling you, man.
Gravel's crying.
Hiatt: I sure hope so.
Todd desperately needs
gold-rich ground
To persuade dave turin to return
And keep their dream of
millions in jungle gold alive.
I like that sound.
You can hear the gravels.
Jackson: quartz is smooth?
Thurber: yeah.
This stuff looks like
it's traveled down the stream.
It's not sharp.
Its rounded.
Once you find this,
That means
that gold is around here.
All right.
It's about time.
Finally.
We need a good report.
Check this one out, dad.
You see
all this here?
You see cobble,
cobble, cobble, tin.
You see
some of it is tin.
Todd: holy frick!
We got gold
in that pan.
Thurber:
not just a little bit.
There's probably
They're little, but there's
a lot of it in there.
Holy crap.
I see gold.
This might be the first really
good news we've gotten so far.
Wow.
Narrator: and there's more.
Tony:
todd, you see that?
Todd: yeah.
That's a diamond.
You are
freaking kidding me.
See that?
Gold and diamonds.
There's another one right here.
There's another one?
Yep.
Whoo!
Guys, our luck just frickin'
changed, right here.
Thurber:
we're all giddy and happy.
We got gold.
[ Chuckling ] we got diamonds.
That is awesome.
Yes.
He's finally
gonna make us all rich.
Todd:
this little thing in my hand,
that's a game changer.
This is frickin' good news.
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04x07 - Paid in Full
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Reality based series follows the placer gold mining efforts of various family-run mining companies, mostly in the Klondike region of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, as well as in the U.S. state of Alaska.
Reality based series follows the placer gold mining efforts of various family-run mining companies, mostly in the Klondike region of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, as well as in the U.S. state of Alaska.