10x25 - 15 Million Dollar Season

[bunniefuu]

Rick:
shut it down.

Narrator: on the previous season
of "gold rush"...

Rick:
I'm not intending on failing.

I'm not planning on failing.

After six season
as parker schnabel's

Right-hand man,

Rick ness strikes out
on his own,

With a rookie crew
of friends.

I mean, they're idiots.
Don't get me wrong.

Fire it up.

Shut it off. Shut it off.
Shut it off.

Hit the bypass!

My dad was right.

I'm gonna go home
at the end of the season

Broke with no friends.

Narrator: king of the klondike
tony beets makes big swings...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Narrator: ...to build his empire
for the next generation.

This is a family business.

The way I see it,
when I have kids,

They could be taking over for me
just like, in the future,

I might be taking over
for my dad.

Narrator:
prodigy parker schnabel

Makes a bid for freedom.

Consider the
contract canceled.

Narrator: but when neighbor
tony beets

Throws up a roadblock...

This really sounds like you're
gonna keep us from mining.

...the young mine boss
is forced to take huge risks...

I left a [bleep] torch
on the belt.

[Bleep] plant is on fire!

Aah!

...as he pushes for his
biggest-ever season goal.

Record-breaking
royalty payments --

Over $1 million.

Last time [bleep]
doing that.

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

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Narrator:
his first-ever mining job

With 17-year-old
parker schnabel.

Now, he's betting on himself,
and opening his own gold mine.

You guys know I've been
talking for years, now,

About going mining
on my own.

And as you know,
it's [bleep] happening.

Short on funds, he can't afford
an experienced crew,

So he turns to
his hometown buddies,

Offering a share of the gold
if they're successful.

Believe it or not, I do know
what I'm doing up there.

Otherwise, I wouldn't be
asking you to do this.

If we put in the work, we can
get the gold out of the ground.

Well, I guess,
let's make it real.

This is the stuff, right?

Those liquor bottles
hold exactly 50 ounces.

That's a 30-ounce bar.

It's decision time.

Are you in, or you out?

Man: I don't know if I could
do it right now.

-Yeah.
-I have a family right now.

And I appreciate the chance,
you know?

I know, if I didn't try it,
I'd regret it,

So I think I got to try it.
Count me in.

I think this is something
I can do.

You know, I'm always
throwing the dice.

It's gold time for me.

Yeah!

Boy:
take care of my dad.

No worries, pal.

He's in good hands.
We're doing this.

-Oh, I'm doing it.
-Yeah!

Good luck, guys.

[ All cheer ]

Narrator: six weeks later,
and 3,000 miles to the north...

Rick: I'm the boss.

It's 100% my operation.

I've never had this much
responsibility before.

I've never put, you know, my own
money on the line like this.

And now, you know, my crew
is gonna be depending on me.

There's just a lot
riding on my shoulders.

The ground that we're mining
is straight ahead.

Ben: finally made it.

Excited to be here,
finally.

We all left our families
and jobs at home,

So, I hope it pays off.

Narrator: with everyone's
livelihood on the line,

Rick has gambled on a prime
klondike claim at quartz creek.

Right here, guys,
is our [bleep] freedom.

I cannot wait for us
to run our first ground,

And for you guys to see that
first gold in that sluice box.

And I'm gonna be
just as excited as you,

Because I've been seeing it
for a while,

But this is our [bleep]
gold, man.

This is our year, so...

A lot of sacrifices
to get here, man.

Yes. Yes.

We're gonna pull our
first million from right here.

A million dollars
is sitting in that dirt.

Right there, man.

Let's find that
$1 million.

Narrator:
to make money this season,

Rick's rookie crew first
needs to learn how to mine.

[ Engine sputters ]

Hey, rick.
Where's "drive"?

Put it in "d."
Stands for [bleep].

That's what you are.
I love the d.

I've worked with
a lot of idiots,

And I took great care
to make sure

I didn't bring
any idiots up with me.

I mean, they're idiots.
Don't get me wrong.

Woo-hoo!

I'm definitely
the greenest one

On working heavier equipment
like this.

Narrator: the first task --
strip 30,000 yards of overburden

To get to
gold-rich pay dirt.

Ryan: looking good so far.

Leaving my family for 6 months,
selling my car,

This is the point
where I find out

If it was worth it or not.

At 41 years old,
this is a pretty big gamble

For me to take on.

Oh, boy.

Ryan: holy [bleep].

[ Bleep ]

Zee:
ryan, you alright?

As soon as I pulled away,
it caved in, and...

Let me see if I can get
on the side of you,

And pull you back up.

I didn't want
to be that guy.

I wanted zee to tip it over,
not me.

That's the reality
of having rookies here, right?

[Bleep] like this
is going to happen.

You know, if something were
to happen to this truck, here --

If he pulls it up,,
and it blew out a cylinder,

Or something,
we're [bleep], so...

You're clear.
Keep going.

It's just, these are new
situations for guys, right?

You know, I could have seen
this a mile away.

Alright.
Pull her out of there, ryan.

Narrator: 10 miles east,


Prodigy parker schnabel

Starts his new season
by realizing a dream.

Alright.
Here is the first push.

Narrator:
after years of working klondike
kingpin tony beets' land,

And paying millions
in royalties,

Parker has made good
on a promise

He made
to his grandpa john,

And gambled $0.5 million
buying his own ground,

But it's right next door
to tony,

And parker needs access
to tony's land

To work his new claim.

Parker:
it does feel good to not be
mining tony's ground this year.

We don't have a landlord
for the first time ever.

Narrator: brennan ruault needs
to drain floodwater off the cut,

And onto tony's ground.

Brennan: holy [bleep].
There is a lot of water.

Oh. It looks like
our water problem

Just turned into tony's
water problem, here.

Hey, can someone get me
a radio to tony?

Parker: what?

Because I did come and talk
to you about that, so i...

I don't want...

You know, I'm not
trying to do anything

Without your permission.

This really sounds like you're
going to keep us from mining.

Yeah, you do.

You do care
what we do.

You're saying, "I don't want to
prevent anybody from mining,"

And yet, you're telling me that
you're not gonna allow us

To do anything
on your property.

Is that correct?

This mining season is gonna end
before it started.

Narrator:
over 35 years, tony beets

Has built a mining empire
in the klondike.

One day, he plans on leaving it
to his three kids.

Last season,
tony had two goals...

...produce a record


And move his historic
million-dollar dredge


Down the yukon river.

The dredge could make
over $6 million

In gold each season
mining in eureka creek.

To get it there, tony must
remove the 14-ton bucket ladder.

Four 16-inch bolts hold
the bucket ladder in place.

Tony's plan -- torch them off,
and lift out the bucket ladder.

Tony's son, mike,
operates the 50-ton crane.

But a pontoon on the deck
is stopping the cranes

From lowering
the bucket ladder.

At quartz creek,
first-year mine boss rick ness

Struggled to get
his season going.

The only thing that I had time
for this winter was my mom.

You know, she took a turn
for the worse

Almost right after I got home,
and she needed 24-hour care.

She had been battling
brain cancer for 4 years.

Since she died -- I kind of
just realized it right now --

I didn't really take any time
to think about this season.

But it didn't really matter
at the time, you know?

It's my mom,
and she needed me.

And I knew that she didn't
have much time left,

So I knew I had to spend
all that I could with her.

I don't regret spending the time
with my mom,

And now, I'm behind
the eight ball,

But it just means
I'm gonna have to work

That much harder
to get it done.

Narrator: but 6 weeks in,
everything is coming together.

He's hit pay dirt,
and bought a trommel.

Rick: oh, yeah.

Finally at the top of the
mountain with my own wash plant,

It's gonna get tense
from here.

Rick has dropped $180,000
on the custom piece of equipment

Designed to separate out
the gold from the dirt.

He's named it
"durt reynolds."

[ Cheering ]

This is the big
beautiful b*stard

That's gonna catch
all the gold for us this year.

Narrator:
with the wash plant set up,

It's time for rick to run
his first pay dirt of the year.

Fire it up!

There it is.

I'm gonna put a bucket
of dirt in.

Oh, the [bleep]
trommel ain't turning!

In the rush to catch gold,

Rick forgets to turn on
the trommel.

-What?
-The trommel is not spinning.

Karla:
classic. Classic.

Yeah, yeah.

Where's all that water
coming from?

Karla, hit the bypass.

Narrator: the bypass is designed
to divert the water

Before it gets to the plant.

Shut the pump off.
Hit the bypass.

Shut it off. Shut it off.
Shut it off.

Shut it off.
Hit the bypass!

[ Bleep ]

Holy [bleep].
Okay.

-Turnbuckles gave way.
-Where's rick?

Oh, I'm gonna
need a minute.

[Bleep] sluice boxes
just fell off.

The water almost took out
the pad enough

To dump the plant
off the pad.

You know, I expected
growing pains,

But this is
[bleep] outrageous.

Narrator:
to salvage his disastrous start,

Rick calls in
gold-recovery expert

And yukon veteran freddy dodge
to help get back up and running.

Rick: freddy, man,
am I glad to see you, buddy.

Holy [bleep].
It's been too long.

Man, I don't mind telling you,
right off the bat,

I'm in a [bleep]
bad way, here.

-Is that right?
-Yeah.

I bought this wash plant.
We tried running it.

The [bleep] sluice boxes
fell right off.

-The sluices fell off?
-Sluice boxes fell right off.

-You are [bleep] me.
-No.

You're walking into a
[bleep] storm right now.

-Is that right?
-Absolutely.

I've got $180,000
into this thing.

Right.

And I want your
honest opinion on it.

Okay.

But I'm just about
out of funds.

I'll look at it.
Thanks, freddy.

Narrator: freddy spots another
problem with the plant.

We need to get
long sluice boxes on it,

Not those 10-foot little things
you got there.

I may know where
some sluices are...

-Really?
-...to get us going.

We'll have to modify them.

Rick:
thanks, freddy.

Narrator: rick's old sluices
are only 10 feet long,

Too short for all of the gold
to settle.

Up to 40% of the gold
is washing off the end.

Freddy's plan --
convert to 30-foot sluices.

By increasing
the recovery area,

All the gold should settle
in the riffles.

Freddy and rick's rookies

Build a new set
of 30-foot sluice runs.

Freddy:
we're on our way.

Things are looking good.

Let's get
this thing set up,

So you can see some gold
in the sluice box.

Thank you, freddy.
Looking forward to it.

Take her down.

Easy, rick.

Narrator: the crew attaches
freddy's custom sluice box...

Freddy:
perfect right there, rick.

Narrator:
...and once again...

Let's get running!

[ Bleep ]

...prepares to fire up.

-Fire it up.
-Yee-haw!

You want me to put
some dirt in it?

Feed the beast.

Sluice box is in place,
so, that's a good sign.

It's running.

Looks like we're finally
gold mining, man.

This is a wicked day.
This is huge.

Narrator: rick ness
is finally sluicing.

At the end of
his first week running,

The crew gathers for
his first-ever gold weigh.

Rick:
you guys ready?

-Yeah.
-Let's weigh it up.

Rick:
there's 2, 5, 10...





Yeah, here we are --


Narrator: worth $36,000.

-Not bad.
-Hell yeah!

You're officially gold miners
right now.

[ Cheering ]

Parker: with a nice big pile
of pay like this,

I think we can get there.

Narrator:
parker schnabel has to lease
a section of tony beets' land,

The last cut, after tony
blocks him on his own ground...

Let's make some money.

Man: hit it.

Narrator:
...and he pushes to hit his
massive 6,000-ounce season goal.

Parker: here is the first scoop
of pay going in sluicifer.

There it is.

Narrator: but just as
the operation starts,

Mechanic chad paullus

Spots water spilling out
the side of the diverter trough,

And improvises to save the pad
from washing away.

Whoa!

Go back!

Holy [bleep].

Narrator: 3,500 gallons
of water a minute

Threaten to wash away
the pad.

The water from
the sluice run

Is really starting
to run away.

All this water is just trying to
wash itself right down the hill.

If we don't get this
tightened up, here,

Sluice will end up
tipping out into the pond.

Parker, you copy?

Does he not have a radio
in there, or what?

That chute is [bleep]
out of there,

And it's starting
to undermine the plant.

Parker: you've got to be
[bleep] kidding.

Narrator:
in a matter of minutes,
the base is almost gone.

Parker: I mean, the big problem
is just, it's a steep bank,

And there's nothing to bind
the material together.

Narrator:
parker comes up with a radical
plan to reinforce the pad.

Parker: I think, if we have
some trees in there,

It'll just give it
something to bind up to.

Chad: I think parker has taken
a few lessons

From watching the beavers
around here.

It works for them. Why shouldn't
it work for us, right?

Parker: it's probably
a good thing I did this,

Because, now, it's me
that's stuck to it.

I have no one
to be mad at now.

Narrator:
the fix takes 6 hours,

And costs over $14,000
in lost gold.

Let's try this again.

[ Machinery rumbling ]

Narrator: but parker finally
gets sluicifer up and running.

So, this bank, I mean,
if it'll hold up for 24 hours,

It'll hold up for 24 days,
I would think.

Yo. Yeah.
Yeah. What's up?

Oh, [bleep].

That's not good.
Get out of here.

I got to put some
[bleep] pants on.

Holy [bleep].

[Bleep] me.

I'm gonna do myself
a [bleep] favor,

And stand under
the [bleep].

Narrator: sluicifer has fallen
off its pad.

[ Bleep ]

Parker: ah!

Parker's beaver-dam fix
has failed.

He's losing thousands
in gold per hour,

And his season target
is becoming a pipe dream.

There's no way in hell
we're getting to 6,000 ounces.

I'll tell you that.

Chad: it definitely
doesn't look good.

We've never had this happen
in our history of mining.

Narrator:
over the next 24 hours,

The crew drags sluicifer
back up onto the pad,

And parker swaps trees for over


Chad: it's back on solid
ground, so...

-Alright.
-...we try it again.

Fire it up.

Man: clear.

[ Machinery rumbling ]

Parker:
we're back sluicing.

Narrator: tony beets is chasing
a 6,000-ounce goal.

He's running dredge one and
daughter monica's wash plant.

But halfway through the season,
he's only mined 2,400 ounces.

Tony's plan -- increase the
amount of dirt he's processing.

To do that,
he's going to resurrect

A 42-year-old wash plant
called a "pearson box."

The pearson box
is old-school.

There are no moving parts.

Instead, the monster spray bars
pound the pay dirt with water,

Which separates off
the worthless rocks

Through the center chute...

...and sends
the gold-rich fine material

Down through
the screen deck,

Where the gold settles
in the sluices.

The pearson box
hasn't been used in 15 years,

And is locked
into the ground.

Tony will use the 245 excavator
to lift the base,

While the winches pull it
onto the oshkosh truck.

Man: we got it.

Narrator:
with the pearson box free,

Tony transports it to an
existing cut near indian river.

The pearson box is hooked up
to a water supply,

Which delivers 6,000 gallons
of water a minute.

Tony: alright.
We got the water going.

And daughter monica delivers
the first load of pay dirt.

Y'all ready for this?

The vintage pearson box
is back running

For the first time
in 15 years.

I haven't seen this thing go
since I was, like, 10 years old.

It's kind of cool.

Narrator: with another
wash plant up and running,

Tony returns
to eureka creek

To complete the teardown
of his second dredge.

Narrator: rookie mine boss
rick ness needs 1,000 ounces

Of gold, worth $1.2 million,
to cover his costs,

And have gold left over
to pay his crew.

Rick:
it ain't even worth [bleep]

Half of what it's supposed
to have in it.

It's a giant [bleep]
waste of time.

Halfway through his season,
rick discovers that his ground

Is delivering
only half the gold he needs.

He calls on his dad,
construction expert

Big rick, for help.

Rick:
so, that's the cut.

Big rick: holy cow.
That's impressive.

As far as what we're getting
for numbers right now,

It's coming up half as good

As the drill
reports say.

So, the answer is to double
your production, then.

Let's run another shift,
get some more gold coming in.

You gonna run night shift?

Whatever it takes.
I'm here to help.

Narrator:
rick's dad's solution --

Run dirt through the plant day
and night to double production.

Big rick:
this is a crazy pipe dream.
I'm not gonna let my son fail.

We're gonna get every ounce
of gold out of this thing,

And we're gonna
work 24/7.

We're halfway through
the season, here,

And it's, you know,
kind of crunch time.

Night shift sucks,
and that's a fact.

Narrator:
the next day, as the day
shift continues running dirt,

Rick's dad brings in
the massive komatsu super dozer

To help open up the ground
he needs to keep the plant fed.

Rick: here we are,
in a mad, panic

Trying to open up
more ground

So we can try
to hit our goal.

Is it smooth? Is it beating
the [bleep] out of you?

How is it?

This thing is
an absolute beast.

Narrator:
weighing 119 tons --

More than a 757
passenger plane --

The 475 produces


And can push nearly


With its 17-foot blade.

This thing is awesome.

Holy [bleep].

Dad, I found
a [bleep] sinkhole.

I need a push
out of here.

Come on!

Big rick: alright, man. Let me
just take a little look at it.

Want to be super careful
we don't get both

These things stuck, right?

Alright.
You ready for this?

Yeah. Give me a shove
straight out backwards.

It should be pretty good
behind me.

Alright. Coming at you,
now, nice and easy.

Yeah, baby.

Got her.

You're my dad.

Aren't you supposed to warn me
before I do stupid

[Bleep] like that?

[ Both laugh ]

I think you have more experience
than me doing this [bleep].

You should be warning me,
not the other way around.

Narrator: in just 2 days,
rick and his dad

Strip a cut the size
of two football fields.

Rick: alright. Thanks for
running that thing, dad.

I really appreciate it.

You're welcome, son.

Just happy to
help you out, man.

I've enjoyed every minute
of this thing.

Narrator:
at the end of the week,

The crew gathers to see
if the plan paid off.

Rick needs to mine 50 ounces
a week to get back on track.



Over 100.





It's over 131 ounces, boys.

Narrator:
worth of $150,000,

More than doubling
rick's target.

[ Cheering ]

We're way behind,
but I promise you guys,

There will be gold
in the sluice box.

Let's go.

Narrator:
parker schnabel pulled 35 ounces

Out of the ground
in his first season.

This year, he's chasing
a 6,000-ounce goal.

Just for the week,
we've got 617 ounces.

Narrator:
after a disastrous start,
he resurrects his season,

And produces some of
his best-ever gold weighs.

-361.8.
-[ Bleep ]

That's awesome, man.

With 2 weeks to go,
and winter closing in,

Parker hits
his 6,000-ounce goal.

We're up to 6,472 ounces.

[ Man whistles ]

Parker:
record-breaking season.

Do you guys think
we can get to 7?

There's a shot at it.



All: let's do it.

Narrator: all season long,
tony beets' children,

Kevin and monica, have been
mining gold at eureka creek.

With the end in sight,
the family gathers to find out

If they have reached
their 6,000-ounce goal.

Our total for the year
is 4,397 ounces.

Worth $5.2 million,

But 1,600 ounces short
of the target.

Tony wants his


Capable of producing


Up and running before
the end of the season,

Just 2 weeks away.

Tony's crew must hoist
the 28-ton

Superstructure
into position.

Two cranes, operated
by tony's son, mike,

And mike scriba,
will lift the superstructure

And line it up over four


Monica: yeah.
That's one word for it.

Tony and his son, kevin,

Head off to prepare the chain
of 90 buckets.

Kevin:
what you thinking, tony?

Everything on-site
is here.

Wow.

There's no way
around it.

Narrator: dredge two
is now dead in the water.

Tony has failed to deliver
on both of his season goals.

Narrator: the biggest event
of the beets' season

Happened when wedding bells
rang across the yukon

For the marriage of
tony's daughter, monica,

To boyfriend taylor.

Officiant:
I now pronounce you married.

You may kiss the bride.

[ Cheers and applause ]

Monica:
the only gold that matters
to me today is on my finger.

Narrator: parker schnabel
is now fighting the yukon winter

To try and reach a new goal
of 7,000 ounces.

Parker: go get one of them
big old tanks,

And plumb it in here,
and keep her hot as we can.

Narrator: to stop sluicifer
freezing up,

He runs a propane tiger torch
on the tailing's conveyor.

Parker: keep as much heat
in there as we can.

Good job, guys.

Let's go ahead
and fire this thing up.

Man:
can we hit the shaker?

I mean, we've got
to keep sluicing,

So, hopefully, a little heat
will delay the end

For us a little bit.

This pay is starting
to get quite chunky.

It's freezing up
on us a bit.

Narrator: parker and tyson
sluice into the night.

Oh, [bleep].

[ Bleep ]
there's nothing on the belt.

Parker:
what's going on?

Tyson:
got a jam in the hopper.

I'll get the plant.

I'll go grab a sledge.

Just...

[Bleep].

We're running...

The top of the pay is starting
to freeze from how cold it is,

And...

There must be a chunk
in the feeder.

[ Bleep ]

It's not good, man.

Oh.

She's a slabby one.

Yeah.

Well, we better hurry,

Because the plant is gonna
freeze up if we don't.

Yeah, buddy.

Think it'll
go through now?

Give her a try.

So, we'll click it up
to the top,

And then, roll it off.

Sounds good.

Holy [bleep].
Look at that!

Oh, [bleep].

[Bleep]
[bleep]

Plant is on fire!

Narrator: stopping sluicifer
with the torches still running

Has set fire
to the rubber conveyor.

We'll need another one.
Go get another one.

No. No.

Oh, [bleep].

We're gonna need
something else.

Okay. I'm gonna
turn on the water.

[ Coughs ]

[Bleep] [bleep]

[Bleep]

I mean,
our 7,000-ounce goal

May have just gone up in flames,
but it might be in the box.

Who knows?

Narrator:
the season is over.

Parker gathers his crew
to find out

If he's hit a record-breaking


Our season total --


Narrator: parker has mined
$9 million worth of gold --

His biggest-ever haul.

This season started out
as one of the worst seasons

We've ever had,
and ended up the absolute best.

And every one of you guys
had something to do with that,

And I thank you all
for that.

-Cheers to that.
-Yeah.

[ Cheering ]

Thank you all.

[ Cheering ]

Narrator: but parker still
has unfinished business

Before the end
of his season.

Narrator: after putting his
plans for independence on hold,

Parker is finally going to mine
his own ground next season.

And now, he's making
his last-ever royalty payment

To landlord tony.

Parker: there it is.


I just wanted to thank you
for the opportunity.

Last time [bleep]
doing that.

Free!

Narrator: the klondike winter
has shut down

Rick ness'
mining operation.

His hopes of hitting
his 1,000-ounce goal,

And proving he has a future
as a mine boss,

Depend on this
final gold weigh.

So, we had 27 ounces to get.

That's 20.

There's our 27 ounces.

[ Cheering, talking ]

There's another [bleep].

[ Cheering, talking ]]

The final gold weigh --


-Wow.
-Nice.

-No way.
-Yeah!

You know what that means?
We're over 1,100.

-Nice.
-1,105.

I appreciate you guys,
you know, believing in me,

'Cause I couldn't have done it
without you guys, everyone.

That being said,
I got something for you guys.

I got a little bucket, here.

It's got six jars in it.

There's a little over 50 ounces
in every one of those jars.

It's one of
the greatest ends

To one of the worst years
of my life.

My mom's death
has been really tough.

I had to put that out of my mind
to make this work this summer.

I love my mom, and I miss her,
and I know she'd be proud.

So, I'm happy with that.