04x16 - Man on Wire

[bunniefuu]

Bring it in.

Narrator:
guyana, south america.

We mess something up,
it's over with.

Just when they thought
it couldn't get any worse...

Todd: it don't look good
right now.

...the hoffman crew
faces disaster.

Man: whoa!

Todd:
you are freaking kidding me!

Narrator: in desperation...

Let's get this thing moving,
man.

We're running out of time.

...they're forced
to reinvent their operation...

Desperate times
mean desperate measures.

...and end up
restarting their season.

Todd: we haven't had
many wins in the jungle,

But today, today we won.

In the klondike...

Parker:
that's a nice nugget.

...just as parker schnabel

Is closing in
on his $1 million goal...

That's the best-looking sluice
we've had.

...winter suddenly closes in
on him...

The gold we need
is right there.

It's just frozen.

...leaving him
with an impossible choice.

And in southeast alaska...

Fred: hold up.
It's stopped.

Narrator:
...with vital mining equipment
stuck out on a cable...

I'm gonna slide out there,
go get this thing.

...dustin ignores
fred's advice...

This is not a good idea.

...and risks his life...



...to get to cahoon creek gold.

Oh [bleep]

Dustin!

-- Captions by vitac --
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Narrator:
mid-september in the klondike.

Parker schnabel
is still 223 ounces short

Of his 800-ounce,
$1 million goal.

And temperatures
have hit the freezing point.

Parker:
it's pretty late in the season.

You know, you look around.

All the leaves are changing,
all the birds are gone,

And all the gravel's frozen.

Gripping like this
is pretty hard on equipment,

But this is the best ground
we've had all season, man.

Just because it's frozen doesn't
mean we shouldn't stay after it.

Narrator: once they've ripped
the frozen gravel,

They leave it to thaw in the sun
for two days.

Only then can it be hauled
and run through the wash plant.

Rick loads thawed pay from
a section ripped days earlier.

Oh, what the [bleep] is that?

Man, that's frozen up
like a brick.

Parker!

Parker:
what's the problem?

[ Sighs ]

It's starting to pull up

All these big blocks
of frozen gravel.

Yeah, I saw a few
at the plant.

We can't be
sluicing that.

Narrator:
throughout the summer,

Frozen pay gravel's
quickly thawed out.

Now, with temperatures hovering
at the freezing point...

Parker: watch out.

...parker has to find a new way

To keep his wash plant
supplied with pay dirt.

That's how we're gonna
deal with that [bleep]

Ness:
if that's what you want,

But, I mean,
I can't guarantee

I'm gonna catch
every one of those.

I know that.

But we've got to
sluice this stuff, so...

All right.

Ness: if parker wants me
to smash those ice blocks up,

I'll smash them up,

But I don't think I'm gonna
be able to catch all of them.

Narrator: parker's strategy
is to crush the frozen pay dirt

Into chunks small enough to fit
through his hopper feeder.

This stuff's nasty.

That's a bittersweet
right there.

'Cause it seems like the harder
the material is to run,

The more gold's in it,

But that's the worst stuff
I've ever ran.

[ Grinding ]

Holy [bleep]

Parker.

We got a real mess on our hands.

What happened?

The belt's torn --
I think completely in half.

Oh, I think our 800 ounces
just flew out the window.

That belt is screwed.
[Bleep]

And that thing right there,
you know, that's sticking out.

It was a belt-cutter
if I've ever seen one.

Narrator:
the frozen fantasy land pay dirt

Is too much
for big red to handle.

Parker faces
an early end to his season,


Of his 800-ounce goal.

[Bleep] [bleep]



The hoffman crew
is desperate to salvage

Its disastrous mining season.

Dave turin loads pay dirt
into their jungle trommel

At patience creek.

For the first time in guyana,

I can honestly say
things are working really well.

Narrator: a mile and a half away
at redemption creek,

Todd hoffman's lavador crew
is running diamond-rich gravel.

Local prospector tony melville

Determines the direction
of the pay streak.

Jack: yep.

Big gravel,
big diamonds, huh?

Okay. Yep.

How far up do you think
I ought to go?

About halfway up there?

Yeah.

All right.

We got to get some pay.

To get to
the diamond pay streak,

Jack has to clear a 100-yard
strip behind the lavador.

Todd: what we're gonna do

Is have my dad
clear all the way through here.

He's got a pile of logs up here
and I want them all cleared out.

Jack: there are probably
100 to 200 trees here.

Once I get them out of the way,

We can get down
to the pay gravel.

Todd: okay, thurber.

You got the pumps running,
got everybody going.

Crank it up, okay?

Hey, guys.

We need more material
through here.

Oh, they got it -- oh!

You are freaking kidding me!

Thurber!

Thurber, k*ll the motor!

Narrator: jack has smashed a log

Right through
the diamond-catching lavador.

k*ll the pump,
k*ll the pump now.

Hey, dad.
What the frick?!

Just leave me alone.

I want everybody back,
all the cameras back!

Give us a few minutes to
figure out the situation, okay?

Thurbs, any chance
we can get this going again?

It's as bad as it looks.

Motor mount's broken here.
Got engine oil leaking out.

There's some
internal damage.

Lavador will run no more.
We're done.

This freaking jungle's cursed.

Narrator: alaska.


Dustin and his crew are up early

To continue their quest
for cahoon creek gold.

All right, so, we got about
four miles to walk downhill.

Gonna try to
make it down to fred.

He's gonna try to get us
some stuff across a cable, okay?

Man: let's get after it.
All right.

Let's see if we can
go find this cable.

Dustin: there's a core drill
that I need.

We're gonna go drill that area
right up there

'Cause I think
it looks like a fault line.

I'm pretty sure that that's
where the gold's coming from.

Narrator: dustin plans to drill
into the mountain

At a site that he believes

Is the source
of all the region's gold.

To sample the rock,
he needs to get a core drill

From their base
back at porcupine creek.

Dustin: fred doesn't want to buy
any more helicopters,

So we got a 4h-mile hike
to make.

Narrator: without a helicopter,

There's only one land route
to cahoon...

...and it is blocked
by upper porcupine creek.

Fred will have to send the drill
along a cable

Suspended 400 feet
above the creek,

The same method local miners
have used for over 100 years.

After a three-hour hike,

Dustin and his crew finally
arrive at the cable crossing.

Dustin: here it is, guys.

Man: oh, cool.

Found it.

Fred's supposed to be over here
somewhere on the other side.

Freddy!

I don't see nobody.

Nothing yet.

Give a call on the radio
in a little bit.

Fred: [ in distance ]
dustin!

Freddy!

Hey, fred.
You made it.

Yeah, man.

We got that core drill
loaded in the basket.

Are you ready for it?

I am, fred.
Send that over.

All right. Let her out.

It's coming, dustin.

Narrator:
the cable car with food supplies
and the core drill

Has to be pulled across
the canyon by hand.

[ Laughs ]
look at that thing go.

[ Grunts ]

[ Metal groaning ]

Hold up.

It's stopped.

Tallis: are they pulling?

Man:
are they pulling, fred?

Dustin, pull on that thing
a little bit.

Dustin: hey, fred.

It looks like it's hung up
out in the middle there.

It ain't doing nothing.

We pulled as hard as we could
and we can't get it to go.

Narrator: halfway across and


The cable car is stuck.

Neither dustin nor fred
can pull it free.

Hey, fred.
I got an idea.

I'm gonna jump on
this line,

Go out and see
what's got that thing hung up.

[Bleep] you are.

We can't just
leave it out there.

[ Sighs ]

I'm gonna put on a harness.
I'm gonna go get this thing.

This is not a good idea.
Not a good idea.

Hopefully,
I can get this thing untangled

And you just
pull me back up.

Okay?
Man: okay.

All right. You ready?
I got you.

You got me?
We're ready to.

All right.
Let's go.

Here we go.

Dustin:
it looks a lot higher out here.

Tallis: is there any way
you can stop him?

Hell no.

Dustin: 400 feet off the deck.

He doing this on his own.
We'll see how it works out.

It's frayed!
It's stuck in a fray!

I think I can get it.

It's tough to watch
when you got your son

Going out on a cable
you don't know nothing about.

Oh! [Bleep]

Man: what the hell?
Tallis: dustin!

Narrator: in alaska, 400 feet
above porcupine creek...

Dustin: oh! [Bleep]

Fred: oh!

...dustin has just
lost his supplies

Trying to
free drilling equipment

Snagged on a frayed cable.

What the hell
just happened?

Oh, my gosh.
Is he okay?

I got it!
I got it!

Can you get it loose?!

I think I can get it!

[ Grunts ]

All right,
I think I got it, guys.

Man: all right.
You ready to come back in?

Yeah!

Come on!

Whoo!

All right.

Yeah, I feel a lot better.
Yeah.

Whoo!

Way to go, dustin.

All right.

All we have to do now
is pull it in.

Here it comes.

Yeah!

Fred: hey, man,
congratulations.

Go up there
and find some gold now.

We got some gold to go find
ourselves down in porcupine.

All right, guys.
We got our core drill.

Let's get, all right?
Back to cahoon.

Narrator: armed with the drill,

Dustin and his crew
head back up the mountain

To continue their hunt
for the source of cahoon gold.

Up in the klondike,
frozen blocks of pay dirt

Have brought parker's wash plant
to a standstill.

I love gold mining.
Love this.

I love it, steve.
Steve: I do, too.

Wash plant expert steve robbins
identifies the problem.

The belt's
ripped all the way across.

Can we fix it
the way it is?

Can't get to it.

The hopper's
still 3/4 of the way full.

Jagged ice blocks in the bottom
of the hopper feeder

Have pulled the belt apart
along its seam.

Over 10 tons of pay dirt

Now trap the belt
against the rollers.

It's gonna be
quite a lengthy fix.

Maybe get some laborers
over here and dig her out.

Cheeseman: hang on.

Let's think this through
for a minute.

It would take all day
to shovel it out.

Well, why can't -- if you
grab ahold of it up here,

And just hook on to it
with the excavators.

Then you end up
ripping a belt.

What we've got
is manpower, so...

We're not doing it by [bleep]
hand with four or five guys.

That's [bleep] dumb.

[Bleep] head up your a*s.

[Bleep] pissed.

Narrator:
gene's plan is to pull the belt
free using the 460 excavator.

If it works,
big red could be running dirt

By the end of the day.

But it's a high-risk move.

Inside the hopper,

Over 10 tons
of partially frozen dirt

Press down
onto the damaged belt.

As the excavator
drags the belt out,

One sharp ice block
could slice the belt lengthwise,

Destroying it completely.

Cheeseman: just nice and slow.

It's heavy, man.

Don't rip [bleep]
don't rip.

Up.

Come on.
Come on.

It's out.

All right.
Well, that's good.

Parker: good job.

Narrator: gene's plan works.

The belt is pulled free,
undamaged.

But they still need to empty
the clogged hopper.

Cheeseman: okay.
It's time to clear rocks.

Parker:
let's do some shoveling.

Yeah, baby.
That's what I'm talking about.

The crew works together
to stitch the belt

And get the hopper feeder
back up and running.

Little more.
Oh!

Good job, guys.

So, the next thing is,

Just got to
turn on the generator

And test it to make sure
it's gonna run true.

Now, that's looking pretty good.

She's coming right over
where we want her to be.

It's not a perfect job,

But it's a good enough fix,

Gets this back up
to running pay dirt.

Narrator:
after just a day's delay,

Big red is running dirt again.

But with his pay dirt
still frozen,

Parker will struggle in
his final push for 800 ounces.

In guyana,

The hoffmans' diamond-catching
lavador is in pieces.

Redemption creek
is now abandoned.

When I started today,
I had two plants.

Now I got one.

The motor's bent.
The shafts are bent.

It'll take us a month
to get that thing running again

And we don't have
that kind of time.

Just when we get it going,

Something like this happens
and you're back to square one.

Narrator: without the lavador,

Redemption creek
is done for the season.

But a 1h-mile drive away,

The trommel
is still running pay dirt,

Which dave turin's crew
is trucking in from hope creek.

Dave calls todd
with a radical plan

That just might
keep both cuts running.

What if we move this trommel
closer to redemption creek

And we load
out of hope and redemption

Straight into this thing?

Dude, I'm open to
anything at this point, dave.

Dave's plan
is to haul the trommel

Along a mile and a half
of jungle road

And position it between
their two existing cuts.

From there,
they can feed the wash plant

With pay dirt from both
hope and redemption creeks.

Turin: before, we were
moving the dirt to the trommel.

Now the trommel's
going to the dirt.

We'll hook it up.
We're about ready to go.

There it is.

We're in business.
That's it!

We're ready.

Logan, everything good?

Good, dave.

Okay, andy. We're clear.
Go ahead.

Take it easy.

It's always risky
moving this stuff.

You never know
what's gonna happen.

If we make a mistake,
we mess something up,

It's over with.

Narrator: with the trommel
on the move, no one is mining.

The pressure is on to quickly
get it to the new position.

Desperate times
mean desperate measures.

Careful on this corner.

We got a lot
of soft, soft sand right here,

So let's go nice and easy.

Start turning right there.

Be careful now.

See how he's slipping?

Okay, hold on.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Stop.

What the frick?

This is what I'm dealing with.

This is how much water's
in this soil.

We tip this over,
we really are done.

Narrator:
to reach redemption creek,

Dave's crew has no choice
but to haul their 20-ton trommel

Through a patch of quicksand.

If the rear axle sinks,

The top-heavy wash plant
will flip on its side.

[ Crash ]

Turin: okay, andy. Let's go.

Okay, now, here's the soft spot,
you guys.

Be careful.

This is the spot
where it's gonna tip.

Nice and easy, andy.

See how that thing's tipping?

Whoa! Stop!

Stop!

[Bleep]

Narrator:
deep in the jungles of guyana,

The hoffmans' trommel
is stuck in quicksand...

Stop.

...halfway to its new location
at redemption creek.

Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What do you think, mitch?

If we rig it up
off one of these eyelets

And kind of pull it
over and up the hill?

Mitch: okay.

You know, give him
some side-pull

And have some
forward momentum.

Narrator:
todd will attempt to lift
the trommel's heavy back end

With the 290 excavator

While andy pulls it free
with the d6 dozer.

Todd: it's a risky move.

You don't want to go
from two plants to one to zero.

Ready?

Okay, andy.

Go ahead and ease into it
nice and easy.

Okay, there we go.
We're rolling, boys.

Careful now.

Logan, watch that backside!

Keep some tension on it.

Little tension.
There you go. Good.

Go up a little bit.

Keep going, keep going.

We're doing it. We're doing it.

Another 2 or 3 feet, andy,
and I'll disconnect.

I think we made it.

Okay, we made it.

Good job.

Okay, we got to
turn this thing around.

Let's get this thing moving,
man.

We're running out of time.

Narrator:
clear of the quicksand,

Andy pushes the trommel
into its new position

Between hope
and redemption creeks.

Turin: it's good.
Leave her there.

That was a little harder
than I expected, but it's there.

We're ready to go.

Narrator: with the sluice boxes,

Conveyors, and pumps
all reconnected,

The hoffman crew's trommel
is once again operational.

Nice job.
Perfect.

Now the plan is to feed pay dirt
from hope creek as before

Using the 290 excavator,

But to run pay dirt
from redemption creek,

They'll use the pump
from the broken lavador

To send a slurry directly
into the trommel's hopper.

If it works,

The trommel should catch gold
and diamonds from both cuts.

First, they need to
reroute the pipe

That used to feed the lavador
to the trommel 200 feet away.

But todd is skeptical.

Todd: I'm not sure the pump
down there's

Gonna have horsepower
to get that material

All the way over here
across that ravine.

Turin: really?
Yep.

Is it too far uphill?
I don't know.

The new pipe requires
another 60 feet

And will need
greater pump pressure

To get the slurry
up a steep incline.

The entire operation depends on
the power of todd's 4-inch pump.

We're gonna find out now.
Now's the time for truth.

I'm nervous.

Well, we'll find out.

Okay,
there's the jet pump.

Here we go!

Here it comes, dave.

Whoo-hoo!

It's landing right in the feeder
going straight into the trommel.

Awesome. [ Laughs ]

We fricking did it.

Now we're gonna start throwing
our material in and we're good.

First dirt from hope creek
combined with redemption creek.

We're feeding this plant
from two different locations,

Two different cuts.

If we're gonna save our season,
it starts right here!

Narrator: north, in alaska,

The dakota boys' gold total
stands at 182 ounces,

Worth a quarter of $1 million.

Fred and his crew have returned

From getting the drill
to dustin at cahoon.

But porcupine creek
is at a standstill.

I'm not allowing anybody but me
to come down here.

No amount of gold
is worth anybody's life.

Narrator: last week,
the threat of collapse...

Fred: holy...

...forced fred
to abandon the downstream cut.

Now, 138 ounces short

Of his 320-ounce
$450,000 season goal,

Fred needs to find
a new source of pay dirt.

Fellas, we're done for
in the bottom of that hole.

Skalicky: so where are we
gonna dig from here then?

I haven't made up any decision
on that just yet.

We're way short
of 320 ounces,

But we may hit
our break-even point,



What about mining
the road next to the hole?

You mean the haul road?

That's not a bad idea.

I mean, we were on pretty good
gold toward that edge.

We were.

But it would have to pay off big
to meet our break-even point.

But I think that's about
our last chance for this season.

Narrator: the haul road
runs along the edge

Of the abandoned downstream cut.

Fred and melody are hoping

The gold-rich pay streak
from that cut

Extends under the road.

But if they're wrong, fred will
sink further into debt.

Fred: are you ready?

The haul road is no more.

Once we get into
some good hard material here,

We'll be processing it.

There needs to be
good gold in this thing.

Skalicky: at this point in time,
we don't have any other options.

We need to break even.
We need to make some money here.

Hopefully
that road shows something.

All right.
You're rocking and rolling.

Narrator: uncertain
if he's on a pay streak,

Fred decides to run
a 100-yard test.

The result will determine
if the dakota boys' season

Will be a success or failure.

Well, we're about to find out
if our road is laced with gold.

I sure hope so.

Fred: all right, fellas.

Let's shut the plant down,
find out what's in this road.

Tallis: I'm not seeing it.

Well, let's just hope
that it's buried.

Okay, now that is
a piece of gold right there.

Hey, I found a nice piece.
It's only one, but it's there.

Check that out.

Yeah, all right.
Very nice.

Well, we know there's gold
in the box.

At least that's a good sign.

Cool.

Narrator: a good-sized nugget
in the first 100 yards

Confirms melody's hunch.

The dakota boys are on the gold.

Fred, we're gonna have to dig
as much of that road

As possible
to finish out our season.

We'll just get back there
and get after it,

Get with the program.

We gonna find out how much gold
there is there.

Hopefully the haul road
turns into the gold road.

Narrator: in the klondike,

The first snow of the season
has hit scribner creek.

Temperatures have plunged
two degrees below freezing.

Remsburg:
it's the klondike saying,

"You fellers better hurry up
'cause you about done."

Narrator: for parker's crew,

The battle for gold
just got tougher.

Remsburg: there's nothing
thawed here for us.

Even though you always know
it's coming,

It's still kind of a kick in
the pants whenever it happens.

Narrator:
parker is still 223 ounces short
of his 800-ounce goal.

But he refuses to give up

On his $1 million season
without a fight.

You know, the gold we need
is right there.

It's just frozen.

It might as well be
in fort knox right now,

But...let's go ahead
and try to rip it out.

I guess we could try it
and see what happens.

We'll never know
until we try.

Tear into it.

I'll see what I can do.

Narrator:
gene fires up the d10 dozer

To start ripping
the frozen gravel.

Cheeseman: this stuff's
ripping up okay right now,

But it's still got
frozen chunks in it.

We got to try
and get our 800 ounces.

Time will tell here,
I guess.

[ Clank ]

What the [bleep]

[Bleep]

What the [bleep]

Broke the shank off.

Yeah, we got
a pretty big problem.

[Bleep] it's froze to hard
to be trying to rip it.

Even if we had another shank,
putting it in there --

I don't think
it's worth it.

I think we're done.

[ Sighs ]

Even if I can rip the stuff,
was able to rip it,

It's not gonna thaw out enough
to get it through the plant.

No, I get it.
It's just...

[ Sighs ]

As much as
I hate to say it,

I think we're pretty well
done here.

Narrator: with temperatures
around freezing

And the d10 now unable to rip,

Parker can't produce any more
thawed pay dirt this season.

What we've got in the pad
is what we're gonna sluice.

I don't see
any other way.

South at porcupine creek,

The dakota boys have been
running haul-road pay dirt

For two days in a bid
to hit their break-even point

Before the alaskan winter
ends their season.

Fred:
we have 182 ounces right now.

We're just trying to get to our
break-even point of 200 ounces.

Mel, I'm gonna
shut the plant down.

You seeing anything
up there, mel?

No.

I'm starting
to lose the faith.

Tallis: no, usually when
I scrape the top of this,

I will see some nice pickers
and a nugget or two.

Any fine gold in here
would be music to my eyes,

But I'm not seeing it.

Are you seeing anything
down there?

No. I'm not really
seeing anything down here.

At all?

No.

Tallis: well, fred...

Yeah?

...i didn't see much
in the sluice box.

Oh. We'll see.

Skalicky: we still need
another really good cleanup.

I mean, we have to make
enough money to pay the bills.

We have to break even.

Well, let's see
what we got in this.

We'll see how it looks
when we clean it up.

We're struggling
to reach 200 ounces.

It could go either way.
I don't know.

Now we just wait.

All right. We'll take our gold
and we're gonna weight it.

Hopefully this might
get us over that 200 mark

So we can pay
all our expenses this year

And then have some
to play with.

All right.

I'm gonna go show the guys

What their hard work
has produced.

Narrator:
this season, the dakota boys
have found 182 ounces of gold

Worth a quarter of $1 million.

But just to cover his costs
for the season,

Fred still needs
another 18 ounces.

Fred: we've been working
for a couple of days

On that haul road,

And I thought maybe
it would be a good idea

To let you know that we had
one hell of a cleanout.



All right!
All right.

Great, guys.

And, hey, it just --
it blew me away when I saw that.

All right.

We are at 206 ounces
with this.

All right!
Kick a*s.

I've never gotten 200 ounces
in a season ever.

That old haul road down there
turned into the gold road.

[ Chuckles ]

Just hoping that old road
just keeps on giving and giving.

Looks like it's paying off.
That's what I like to see.

Narrator: the dakota boys
have passed break-even

With 206 ounces of gold
worth over $280,000.

With two weeks left
in the season,

Every ounce of gold they find
is money in their pockets.

The haul road is full of gold.
Let's dig it up.

All right.
[ Laughter ]

Narrator:
in the jungles of guyana,

The trommel's pump is clogged.

Todd: watch this.

Logan, kevin,
you ain't gonna like this.

I need you
to get down in there.

I need that out there
at least 10 feet.

There's freaking caiman
in there.

Okay.
You want to do it or not?

Are you out or are you in?

If I don't do it,
are you gonna do it?

No, I'm not doing it.

[Bleep]

[ Laughs ]

[ Grunts ]

I'll tell you what.

I'll tell you
if an alligator comes.

Just get that thing
in there.

Holy frick.

Right there.
[Bleep]

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

That's so funny.

You know
what I take issue with?

Someone telling me
something to do something

And they won't do it
themselves.

Quit bossing me around!
[ Laughter ]

[Bleep] you!

Narrator: in guyana,

The hoffman crew
is running pay dirt

From two creeks through
their modified wash plant.

Andy digs dirt from hope creek.

Jack then loads it
into the trommel.

Pierce: we're finally up.
We're finally running.

I might actually
get a paycheck this summer.

Narrator:
over at redemption creek,

Todd's crew blasts the pay dirt

Then pumps the slurry up a pipe
into the trommel.

Right now we're sluicing
out of two sources.

I never thought
we'd be able to do that.

After a 10-hour test run,
it's time to check the sluices.

Hey, we're gonna go ahead
and call it for the day.

Shutting it down!

If the hybrid wash plant
is working,

The sluice box will show gold

And the minerals
normally found with diamonds.

Here's some carbon.
I see jasper.

Quite a bit of jasper.

Todd: hey, guys.
I'm not seeing much gold.

It don't look good right now.

Tony, look at this right here.
What is this?

This is a diamond.

You are
freaking kidding me.

No way!

Where there's one,
there's more.

Turin: all right.
Jack: no kidding.

Todd: dude, I can't believe

You just picked that
out of there like that.

Look at that.

Narrator: andy uncovers
a gem-quality diamond

Before they even start
to clean up the concentrate.

Their makeshift wash plant
is catching diamonds.

If the rest of the material
in the sluice box is this good,

The hoffman crew
may have finally figured out

How to mine jungle dirt.

All right, man.

Guys, if there's one in here
just like that,

If you're seeing them on top,

There's gonna be a pile of them
down this sluice

Inside the moss.

If that ain't a new beginning,
I don't know what is.

Turin: lord, we just thank you
for both sides working together.

We just praise you for this day.

Amen.
Amen!

Whoo!

Narrator: north in the klondike,
the ground is frozen solid.

With no ripper,
parker's d10 dozer is useless.

And with no way
to strip or thaw the ground,

The crew runs
the last of their pay dirt.

Remsburg: all they're finding
is frozen chunks of gravel.

Unless parker comes up
with some kind of plan,

We're done for the season.

Parker:
without summer reappearing,

Some way of making
all the frozen ground thawed,

That's pretty well it.

Remsburg: well, this is
the last bucket right here.

This is it. No more pay dirt.
We done.

Narrator: parker has no choice
but to shut down his operation.

Man:
it's time to take a look.

This season, parker has banked


But it's still less than 3/4
of his 800-ounce goal.

To hit $1 million in gold

In his first season
mining the klondike,

Parker needs the biggest
cleanup of his life.

[ Chuckles ]

Holy [bleep]

Parker:
see how good it looks?

That's the best-looking sluice
we've had.

We've got gold
in this one.

Really nice to see
big pieces of gold like that.

That's pretty impressive
right there.

That's a nice nugget.

I'm just a little nervous about
what it's gonna weigh up to.

Narrator: claim owner tony beets
arrives for the weigh in.

Hey, parker.
Parker: hey, tony.

Yeah. I mean, we've kind of
run into some roadblocks.

Oh, yeah?
Frozen ground.

Sounds good.

Narrator:
parker needs another 223 ounces,

Worth more than $300,000,

Or he will consider his season
a failure.

Moment of truth, huh?











Parker is still 172 ounces short
of his 800-ounce goal.

Parker:
yeah, we're nowhere near it.

And everything
we've got's frozen.

I mean, we had a [bleep] week.

But I have to do something
'cause I'm not about to go home.

There's no way we're leaving
before we have 800 ounces.