12x03 - Crash and Berm

[bunniefuu]

[Parker] My main focus is more
and more and more about
finding more ground.

It's a very hard business
to continue to scale.

[narrator]
On the Indian River,


Parker Schnabel

is in survival mode.

Short on ground,

he bet big on a claim
with a narrow pay streak

that's the deepest he's ever
mined in The Yukon.

But could also be

the richest.

I think it's a great
opportunity.

The gold purity
is good over there.

My hope is we find
a ton of gold.

Looking it and feeling,

it looks like overall depth
should be like 60 feet deep.

At the end of the day,
it's just moving dirt.

It is very expensive though.

[narrator]
Getting down to pay will take
at least another month,

and cost over one
and a half million dollars
in crew and fuel.

[Parker] Definitely is
quite the gamble.

[narrator] So far,

Parker's only working
wash plant, Sluicifer,

has produced just 84 ounces
at the airstrip cut.

Less than half of
last year's average.

[Parker] It's just weird.

It's really strange because...

the gold was so consistent

when we left there last fall
and we just picked up where
we left off.

I've gotten a little
first clean-up jitters.

Maybe...

the finance company will come
and repo all our [bleep].

You never know.
It's gold mining.

[narrator] Suspecting
a problem with how the plant
is catching gold,

he sends in
gold recovery expert,

Chris Doumitt.

[Doumitt] So our clean-up
was 84 ounces.

That's not good.

Doesn't come close to paying
the bills and the money,

we have invested in
Mud Mountain right now.

[narrator] Doumitt began his
mining career 11 years ago

when he came to
Alaska to work as a carpenter
for the Hoffman crew.

Over the years

he learned to mine.

[Parker] Chris, welcome up.

[narrator] In 2013

he joined Parker's crew.

Ain't no vacation.

You know that.

[narrator] Now, he is one of
the best gold recovery experts
in The Yukon.

We move a lot of dirt

for a little bit of gold.

And it's too rare,
it's too valuable to lose it.

So, we're gonna do
everything within our power
to capture as much as we can.

What's goin' on, Chris?

- What are you thinking?
- Hey, Mitch.

I think we'll shut
that plant down,

and see where
this gold is going.

[machine whirring]

[machine thudding]

Mining is more of a science
than it is just digging.

It's just not a matter
of turning a machine on,

and turn the water on
and start running dirt.

You gotta figure it out.

I think this is our
problem right here.

See how fine all this gold is?

This is usually where
the materials hits first.

And it catches
the coarse gold.

Usually it's one of the
best mats, the first mat.

But what I'm seeing is
real fine gold.

It's too much water.

It's not letting the gold
settle where it's supposed to.

[narrator]
In wash plant, Sluicifer,

water jets wash gold-rich
material from pay dirt,

vibrating screens separate out
the rocks from fine material.

In the sluice runs,

riffles force the heavier gold
to sink into thick mats.

Doumitt believes

excess water is forcing gold
out the back of the plant,

[Doumitt]
Water's our best friend
and our worst enemy.

We can turn that pump down
and reduce water volume,

and stop washing
all this gold out.

So we run down here

and take a look at the pump.

[water pump whirring]

That's not good at all.

Yeah, that pump
can't run any slower.

So...

We're going to have
to do something else.

Hey, Mitch.
You got a copy? Mitch.

Can you meet me up
at the plant please?

[Doumitt] There's no real
resistance against that pump.

It's almost level with
the wash plant right now.

- Normally, water pump's
down in a hole.
- Right.

Plant's up high.

The pump has to work
a lot harder,

- to get the water up to
the wash plant right?
- Right.

Now, it's just rifling water
over here.

So can we shut down
some of these spray bars?

-[Mitch] The first spray bar
has six outlets on the bottom.
-[Doumitt] Right.

[Mitch] We could put plugs
in those six

that go directly down.

That's the water that blasts
right here at the top.

- Okay
- So, we'll cut that water out.

What if we open the bypass
and divert water from there?

It's gonna lose
a lot of volume.

But we gotta start doing
something different.

I'm gonna plug off the four
in the center here,

and reduce this water
that we have going into
the top of the deck here.

We have to be very careful
that we don't restrict too
much water.

'Cause if you don't have
enough water,

the runs are gonna pack
and then the gold can't get
down in the carpets.

[Doumitt]
So, I've got the bypass valve
completely open.

We're bypassing as much water
as we possibly can.

[narrator]
Opening the bypass valve
diverts water from the pump,

around the plant and
into the settling pond,

reducing how much flows
through Sluicifer.

Alright, we're under,
we'll take a look-see and
see how we're doing.

- Fire it up.
- [machine roars to life]

[Doumitt] Looking
a lot better.

A lot better.

[narrator] After three hours,

costing almost $12,000,

Sluicifer

is back up and running.

[Mitch] Parker, I think
this is looking a lot better.

[Doumitt] Well, we won't know
until the next clean-up,

but I think we'll have
a Happy Parker now.

[expl*si*n]

[Mitch] Oh!

Shut her down.

Looked like
[bleep] anaconda.

All that's holder her in there
is that pile of dirt.

And if...

it came out of the ground,
it would have just been...

flying around.

Would have [bleep]
a lot of [bleep].

[narrator] The increased
pressure in the bypass hose

has broken it free
from its foundations.

When it gets to whipping,
it goes crazy,

and somebody could actually
get hurt by that thing.

Think of a fire hose
this big around, right?

I mean, it just--

[narrator] Until it's secured,

Parker's only money maker

is shut down once again.

[Mitch] We're gonna sleeve our
bypass hose inside this pipe.

And that'll keep it from
wanting to walk around.

And then, we're gonna
armor it all up.

- It's gonna be tough
getting it through.
- Yeah.

I'm in your way, here.

It looks like the boy's got
a plan that might work.

Oh, it'll work.

Guaranteed.

Everything around here
has the five minute or
five feet warranty.

So, Tyson's got some really
super coarse tailings.

And he's got probably
seven or eight tons of rock
on top of that pipe.

It's sleeved so it won't
get crushed.

[thuds]

[Mitch] We're pretty much
at the point here,

where we ready to flash up
the pump and see if it works.

Might wanna step back.

Fire it up.

[machine whirring]

Well done, young man.

This looks really nice.

Well there's no kinks
in the hose.

It's solid.

- Good boy. Good boy.
-[Mitch] Thank you.

I just wanna make
it clear though.

If you spill any nacho
cheese in that excavator,

you're going right back
in that truck.

[Nathan] Okay.
I'll make sure I don't.

[Rick] Yeah,
but you can't tell me,

that you don't have a thermos
full of nacho cheese in there.

- I [bleep] know you do.
-[Nathan laughs]

[narrator] A 100 miles away
from the Klondike in Keno,

Rick Ness is on
gold-rich ground.

But he's still working
at reduced capacity,

with a skeleton crew.

[Rick] Though I do appreciate
you puttin' in your stint,
Nate,

I hope it wasn't
too torturous on ya.

Are you sure, or are you just
blowing smoke up my a*s?

[narrator] New crew member,
Nathan Thornington digs pay
in the 480 Excavator.

Rick loads rock trucks with
the new million dollar 750.

[Rick] I mean the gold's good.

And it's coming in consistent,
so that's always good,

but that's just not gonna be
good enough this year.

I spent a lot of money.

We all got some big
machines in here.

If I'm going to
hit my 2,000 ounce goal,

I need more
people in here.

We really got to be
running at full capacity
if we're gonna get there.

[narrator]
To ramp up production,

Rick has rustled up
a few new recruits.

[Rick]
It's a little different
this year, you know.

I'm having to hire
not just friends of mine,

but you know, people that
I don't know and, uh--

It's a little different
feeling this year.

[narrator] In the gold room,

new hire, Heather Folster.

We'll figure it out.
We'll get it dialed in.

[narrator] Heather
learned gold recovery
on Parker's claim,

as Chris Doumitt's
apprentice.

[Heather] We're gonna see if
I can do it on my own.

Without Doumitt.

I think he taught me well
so we should be okay.

[water splashing]

[Brennan] Start uncurling.

Hard joystick, there you go.

Whoa!

- A little touchy?
- Yeah.

[narrator] At wash plant
Rocky,

Rick's most experienced miner,
Brennan Ruault,

teaches rookie operator,
Kyle Lawson,
how to feed the plant.

Let's go down, down, down,
down, down, down.

There you go. Now,

pull them out.

As you're doing that,
try to uncurl that towards
the window-- Okay.

There you go.

[thudding]

Didn't see that [bleep].

[narrator] In the cut...

[Leah] Do you want me
to keep going?

Yup.

Oh, gosh. Here I am driving
all over the freaking place.

[narrator] Rick's hometown
buddy, Chris Kruse,

trains Greenhorn Rock Truck
driver, Leah Turnbull.

Don't let your tires drop over
into that trench?

I have zero experience
in rock truck driving.

I hadn't even stepped
foot in one,

um, until this morning so...

I think I'm doing pretty good.

I took her along...

For about five trips
while I drove.

And then she drove with me
in the cab for like
five trips.

That's the way I was taught.

I don't know if that's
the right way but...

My not be getting a rock
truck for the next six months,

depends on her
success in there,

so I'm really rooting for her.

[Kruse] Coming in
a little hot there, bro.

[Leah chuckles]

Felt that.

[narrator] Leah comes
from mechanic, Carl Rosk's
hometown in BC.

[Leah] Carl's been
a good friend of mine
for years and...

Keeps inviting me up here

for a visit or to work
and finally, I decided
that this was my year.

I've never been
really afraid to...

try something out and...

once I set my mind
to something, I gotta do it,

and I gotta do it well.

Real nice.

Real nice.
Now straighten out the front
of the truck a little bit,

so when you dump,
you're not c*ck-eyed.

And you're gonna
let her fly right there.

Ahh!

Think I found my replacement
with the rock truck.

I did it.

[narrator] With his three
new crew members,

Rick can now run
wash plant Rocky

at a 100 yards per hour



What do you think?

- You'll be okay?
-[Kyle] Oh, yeah!

Yeah, I think he'll do
[bleep] great at it.

- Seems cautious.
-[Rick] Yeah.

It's great having
new crew here.

I mean these guys all seem
to be fittin' in really well.

If I'm going to get
double the gold this year,

I need these guys
to work out so...

So far, so good.

- [gear screeching]
- [Kyle] Yeah.

- [Rick] Stop! Stop!
- Oh [bleep]!

[bleep]

[Kruse] Is Leah okay?

Where is she?
Is she out of the truck?

[man] Yeah, she already out.

Yeah.

Back here.

That was scary. [chuckles]

You alright?

[Leah] I stopped in time.

[narrator] At Duncan Creek,

greenhorn Rock Truck driver,
Leah Turnbull

has crashed into the


[Leah] I'm fired, aren't I?

Is it really, really bad or?

[Rick] Yeah, it's really
[bleep] bad.

- No, we're not
laughing about this,
- I know it's not laughable.

[narrator] If Leah had
driven another few feet,

she could have drowned
in the quicksand-like silt

that fills the pond.

[Rick] I built that
[bleep] pond.

It's a [bleep] damn settling
pond full of silt.

It's an endless
[bleep] pit.

Hey, shut the plant down.

Everybody get over
to the tailings pond.

We're about to lose a truck.

[narrator] Now Leah is safe,

Rick needs to rescue his
half million dollar
rock truck.

I mean,
I've flipped thousands of
these things back over,

but I never had one...
[chuckles]

...quite sitting like this.

[Rick] We'll talk--
I'm sorry. I'm just--

[Leah] I was just nervous.
I didn't mean to laugh.

We'll just talk after
we get this thing out, okay?

This is literally
the [bleep] worst case
scenario right now.

Like [bleep]
hired new people.

Trained them up
in a rock truck.

And then watch them
almost [bleep] drown.

I know I feel like
an idiot like [bleep].

Just stay quiet and...

[chuckling] Stay in the
sidelines for now.

- I know--
- I'm just--

Yeah, go sit in the truck
for a minute.

We'll be a few minutes.

Alright. This thing almost
has to come straight back
though.

Yeah.

I don't see how else [bleep]
to save this thing.

You just leave that there.

I'll unload that quick,
as much as I can.

Then I'll move that down.

Watch out!

[narrator]
The 45 ton load
of pay dirt

is causing the truck to sink
into the fine silt of
the pond.

[Brennan] You know if
that cab goes in the water,
then we're [bleep]

'cause then
the engine's under the water,
the cab's under the water.

Like that truck will be done.

Just have to be real, real
easy and gentle on this.

[Brennan]
See if that's it, you know?

[Nick] It's gonna have to be.

[Brennan] Ready?

[engine starts, spluttering]

-[Kruse] Push it!
-[Brennan] Come on, baby.
Come on.

-[Brennan] It coming up?
-[Kruse] Yeah.

-[Kruse] More power
-[engine accelerating]

It's like I'm holding tension.

We're gonna get someone
in the cab now 'cause I'm
running out of power lift now.

[Kruse] I'm going in.

Work with me
when you go, Kruse.

Just super slow, okay?

[engine revving]

[Brennan] Yeah! Whoo!

[Kruse] [bleep] yeah.

[Brennan] Attaboy! [laughs]

I was worried my weight
might make a difference

- and tip her over
into the water.
-[Brennan laughs]

-[Brennan] You're just water
weight, it'll balloon back.
-[both laughing]

[Brennan] Right on, Ricky,
we're done!
Whoo! [laughs]

It was close.
Could've been a lot worse.

I need to talk to Leah.
Where is she?
Is she in the truck?

I hate this part.
I don't take pleasure
in [bleep] firing people

or letting people go
or having to make
those decisions.

-[Leah] Yeah.
-[Rick] I don't want to have
anybody get hurt.

-[Leah] No--
-[Rick] You know, on the site.

[Leah] It's your site,
it's your job,
it's your livelihood.

Um, I 100% get that.
So, um, sorry,
I don't mean to cry.

-[Rick] It's okay.
-[Leah] Um, if there's any way
that we can, uh...

[Rick] Okay.

[Leah] Fix it.

I know the seriousness of it,
I really do.

I'd really, really love
an opportunity
to actually get to know you

and, like, work hard for you,
and, uh, not have [bleep]
like this happen again.

-[Rick] Yeah.
-[Leah] And, uh, please,
really do think about it.

-[Rick] Okay.
-[Leah] And, uh,
I'd really love to stay.

I really wanna be here, man.

-[Rick] Okay.
-[Leah] I really, really do.

[Leah] And I think I can do it
and I think I can be safe
and not [bleep] up.

[Rick] Okay. All right,
give me a little time.

-[Leah] Okay.
-[Rick] Okay.

Just go and relax.

No, don't film me, please.
[laughs] Not a good time.

[Tony Beets speaking]

[narrator] King
of the Klondike, Tony Beets,

has gambled over $5 million
on new equipment,

and months of crew time
preparing to mine 2,800 acres

of gold rich ground
on the Indian River.

[narrator] But over three
weeks into the season,
Tony's equipment sits idle,

while he waits
for his Indian River
water permit to be issued.

[narrator] Until the license
comes through,

Tony's only source of gold
is Mike's 30-year-old trommel
on Paradise Hill.

Lots of ripping,
lots of dirt moving.

[narrator] In the eight acre
Nugget Cut,
son, Mike, digs pay.

So much [bleep] dirt.

Lots of nuggets,
lots of nuggets.

[narrator] Beets family
friend, Ruby Mahoney,
loads rock trucks.

I'm sending you
some pretty good pay.
How's it looking over there?

[narrator] Ruby's high school
buddy, Megan Gaudet,
feeds the trommel.

It's looking
pretty good, actually.

[narrator] With 200 yards
of pay dirt an hour.

[Megan] We've been friends
for quite a few years.

So it's awesome with us
working together now.

And, like, we started calling
ourselves the dream team.

Tony didn't know
what he was gonna get,
pairing us together.

Well, he's gonna get
his money's worth,
that's for sure.

[Ruby on walkie talkie]
We are missing
someone, though.

I sure wish Monica
was here with us.

Me, too, but, at least,
she's having little babies.

[narrator] While Monica
takes maternity leave,

Tony tasks son,
Kevin, with keeping
the dream team sluicing

and his business afloat.

With Monica away right now,
I'm [bleep] going in even more
directions than before.

It's [bleep] nuts these days.

Well that's not
any [bleep] good.

So as you can see,
we've got a little hole here.

That material should be going
in the box.

Anything that falls,
we're not gonna [bleep] catch

till we dig it all up
in three years.

[narrator] The distributor,
which feeds the sluice runs,
has worn through.

Make it work, make it work.
Basically our [bleep] motto.

Okay.

-[bleep] Damn it, eh, Megs?
- Yeah, what the hell?

I can't believe
we're getting shut down.

Well, good thing I was here
'cause nobody else
would've [bleep] noticed that.

We'll do a quick fix for now,
get it done proper in a bit.

Oh, this is very complicated
engineering we're doing
right now.

[grunts]

That's about as bush fix
as you can [bleep] get,
I'd say.

[grunts] That's probably
a bit extra,
but that'll [bleep] work.

This should allow us
to keep going
for a little bit.

And, hell, if it doesn't hold,
I'll put a bigger [bleep]
stick in there.

It's gonna work.

[grunts]

It's not proper
or [bleep] pretty,
but you know what?

It's gonna [bleep] work.
It's better than it was.

Yup, had to jam a stick
in there, so...

[Kevin] This is bull [bleep].

[narrator] On Paradise Hill,
Tony Beets' only moneymaker
is shut down

after son Kevin's
push fix fail.

[narrator] Tony orders
freelance welder,
Kent Simonson,

to head up the Hill
and get his trommel
back on the gold fast.

We'll have to patch
this piece up
with a chunk of angle.

It might look
a little patchy in places,

but I think it'll hold better
than the stick.

Ah, Tony, I think
this distributor's done.
It's looking pretty good.

[narrator] After a four hour
shut down, costing
over $14,000 in lost gold,

Tony's only operating
wash plant is back
in business.

[Kevin]
Now we don't want any more
big shut downs,

so, hopefully,
we'll be able to run
all similar to what we've done

and if not, we'll make it
[bleep] work somehow.

I just wanna get
this stupid mud
out of this stupid hole.

[narrator] On Indian River,

Parker Schnabel is two-thirds
of the way through stripping
his deepest ever claim,

Mud Mountain.

He's invested over $1 million
digging so far.

Every day adds another $50,000
in fuel and crew costs.

[Parker] It's definitely a lot
of dirt to move.

It's gonna take everything
we've got, for sure.

We'll get it done.
Maybe, I don't know.

We'll give it
the old college try.

[narrator] A mile away
at the airstrip,

Parker's only operating
wash plant, Sluicifer,
is back catching gold

after Chris Doumitt's
plant tune up.

We're trying to keep up
with Sluicifer,

and, uh, it's definitely
chewing through
all this thawed ground.

[narrator] Foreman,
Mitch Blaschke,

and plant boss,
Tyson Lee, build a stock pile
of gold rich pay.

[Tyson] You know,
Mud Mountain,
everyday that goes by,

it's costing more
and more money.

And Sluicifer's
finally up and going

and it's nice to finally
be getting Parker's
bank account

back looking a little happier.

[narrator] Loader operator,
Tatiana Costa, feeds Sluicifer


I love running the loader.
You know, rock truck's fun,

but yeah, no,
my thing is, it's the loader.

I just have such a good time,
and it's just fast pace.
I love it.

[bleep]

Tyson, Tyson, please,
can you come here?
The pat is being flooded.

[Tyson] [bleep] sakes.
[bleep]

Right now, our settling pond
is kind of trenched
under the mud.

It's cut the thawed mud out
and now it's flooding
into our cut like crazy.

[narrator] Increased water
from the bypass hose

has filled the 28 million
gallon settling pond
and breached the berm.

If the cut floods,
Parker's only source
of thawed pay dirt

will be shut down for weeks.

[Tyson] It's coming in
like a [bleep] river, man.

It's cut a channel
right underneath all the mud.

Our whole system is gonna
be underwater here
in a matter of minutes

if we don't get
this plugged off.

I'm gonna smash
that GoPro if it's not moved
in the next 10 seconds.

Our [bleep] flooding.

[narrator] While Tyson plugs
the breach,

Mitch races to drain
the rapidly flooding cut.

[Mitch] We're gonna lose
this whole cut.

We gotta dig
out our line here.

Try and discharge some of this
back to the river
from our clean side

and so that's what we need
to do here.

And, uh, we gotta do it fast.

[narrator] It would take half
a day to dig a ditch
to the Indian River.

By then, the whole cut
would be underwater.

See what we got
going on over here.

Looks like there's an old
stream bed here.

And I don't know if the water,
maybe at one point,

ran this way
or if there's water running
from this direction to it.

But maybe we can
do something with it.

[narrator] There's no time
to survey the stream bed.

So Mitch will dig a ditch
to connect it
to the Indian River.

[rocks crunching]

Pump flood water
into the channel

and hope the gradient
flows down to the river.

[Mitch] Got the 700 here
with, uh, tiger teeth on it.

These are
the most aggressive teeth
we have for this bucket.

Use it to try and chew
through this permafrost.

So much easier
if this ground was thawed.

Come on, baby, come on.

If this doesn't work,
I really don't know where
to go with this.

[narrator] 30 minutes
after the berm breach.

[Tyson] Hey, Mitch,
I got it plugged off
a little bit.

It's seeping
through other spots now,

but there's not a hell
of a lot of water coming
at you anymore.

How's your trench looking?
Do we have flow
to the river yet?

[Mitch on walkie talkie]
We got a completed trench,

so all we need now
is some water.

[narrator] Where the ancient
stream bed meets the cut,

loader operator, Tatiana,
holds the crew's dewatering
pump above the flood water.

You wanna raise it up,
so our pump's not sitting
in a pond?

[Tyson] Don't move.
I'm gonna climb over.

Right now,
Tyson's gonna hook a chain
up to our suction line.

[bleep] sakes!
[bleep]

You good, buddy?

[Tyson] Far from good.

If Brennan was here,
I'd definitely have Brennan
hooking the chain out today.

[Tyson] He would find
a reason not to.

Wanna try to fire
that up there?

[Tyson] Come on,
you piece of [bleep].

There we go!

Hey, Tyson! How's it look?

[Tyson] It's good, Mitch!

[narrator] Mitch's gamble
has paid off.

The ancient stream bed
goes down to the river.

At this rate,
the cut will be dry
in two hours.

Man, I gotta say,
that's one of the closest
calls we've ever had.

Ah, we've never had the berm
let go like that before.

So if we wouldn't have got
that sealed up that quick,

- this whole thing would
be a swimming pool right now.
- Yup.

- So, let's go and get some
dry clothes and get her again.
-[laughs] Yeah.

[Kevin] It is time
to get [bleep] going.

[narrator] On Paradise Hill.

We really need every speck
of gold that we can get.

It's looking great on my end.
Hopefully, we get some
big nuggets out of her.

[narrator] While Tony Beets
continues to wait
for permission

to kick start his mining
operation on the Indian River,

his dream team
runs nugget cut pay

through Mike's


There's, like, 30 plus of us
working here right now.

If we're not making gold
and actually running it
through the plant, then...

no one's gonna
be able to get paid.
And that would suck.

Just try to move dirt
as efficiently and quickly
as you possibly can

and keep the plants running,

and just try not
to lose your mind.

'Cause it is fun,
but it's also insane.

[Kevin] Ah, [bleep].
The chute's pissing material.

Hey Tony, hey Tony.
The chute's leaking
pretty bad.

[Tony over walkie-talkie]

[narrator] The chute
that carries material
from the trommel

down to the recently
repaired distributor

is losing gold
from past repairs
that have worn through.

It's another case
of quick fixes coming back
to haunt the Beets.

[Kevin] Well, last year,
we laid steel.

Instead of welding those in,
we did a quickie.

We put in bolts.

Now, of course,
all that material flowing over
the bolt heads,

it's like a [bleep] grinder.

So those wear out
and hole, hole, hole, hole.

Ah, for [bleep] sakes.

We're more of a nightmare
than a dream.

No, we're the Nightmare Squad.

[Megan laughs]

[narrator] Tony's only option
is to drag six of his crew
off of other jobs

so they can replace
the shoots 40 foot steel base.

Each hour
the plant is shut down

costs $3,600 in lost gold.

[Len] This year, we do it
in a proper way.

Once in a while,
you have to do
some light maintenance.

It sucks, but that,
that's the way it is.

[narrator] Now,
they must weld the new base
into position.

[crackling]

[crackling]

[Len] It was your decision
to become a welder.
Don't blame it on me.

This is a money-maker, so, uh,
we have to start closing.

Otherwise, no paycheck.

[narrator] It takes six hours
to weld in the new chute base.

[Len] It's finished.

[Tony over walkie talkie]

Everything's ready to go now,
so let's turn it on,
get some gold.

[motor whirring]

Hey Tony, hey Tony.
Plant's fired up.
It's running. I see no leaks.

Everything looks good.

[narrator] After a ten-hour
shutdown, costing $36,000,

The Nightmare Squad,
Megan and Ruby,
are back sluicing.

[narrator] To become
the Dream Team once again,

they must now run the plant
nonstop for the rest
of the week.

[Ruby] There's really not
a whole lot of time to waste.

Correction, there's no [bleep]
time to waste.

[Rick] Well, if there's
one thing that I've learned
as a miner,

it's that you're only
as good as your crew.

[narrator] At Lower
Duncan Creek, Rick Ness runs
wash plant Rocky

at 80 percent capacity.

Washing a hundred yards
of gold-rich pay an hour.

[Rick] I need people
right now, you know?

We've got
a lot bigger goal this year.

You know, and, uh,
I'm having a really hard time
finding people,

uh, to come out here and work.

[narrator] Three days ago,
new recruit Leah Turnbull

crashed her rock truck
into the tailings pond.

[narrator] Now, Rick
must decide if he should cut
her lose.

[Kruse] So, how does
it feel being back on the job
after, uh, your...

let's call it a less than
stellar parking job.

[Leah laughs]

Um, I'm a little nervous,
to be honest.

And, um, happy to get
a little bit more,
uh, training.

[Leah] I wanna get good
at this. I wanna stay.

I wanna work hard
and be here
for the whole season.

I think that's a,
that's a, a goal we can
strive for.

[Kruse speaking]

[Kruse] So, now, do you know
where you got
a spot picked out?

Okay, so,
I'm feeling straight.

- Kay.
- But there's a pile of rock
behind me.

Does that look like
it's gonna affect me
or am I pretty straight?

Uh, no, that's, that's off
because there's
your center line.

But start backing up.
We gotta get somewhere.

Real nice. Real nice.
And you're gonna let her fly
right there.

Hey, Kruse, can you come
up here for a second?

[Kruse] Yeah, give me
about four minutes.
I'll be right there.

What's up, guy?

I don't know. What do you,
what do you think about,
about Leah?

Well, I mean, obviously,
I have some skin in this game.

[Kruse laughs nervously]

Uh, but, I don't know,
when you're down here
all day, like,

she shows signs
that she's gettin' it.

I know that she wants
to be good at this.

- Yeah.
-[Kruse] Uh, she really does.

I mean, there are some things
that have started clickin'
in her head for sure.

Right now, I, I,
I'm, I'm g-going with my gut,
and I should fire her.

I mean, the way she rolled
that thing. Drove it
right into the tailings pond.

- You know that c-- you know
how bad that could've been.
- I...

Believe me, I know, I mean...

I'm no stranger to tipping
over rock trucks. We know that

And I'm still here. [laughs]

[Rick] I've rolled 'em,
too, man.
I've rolled 'em, too.

But that, that right there,
she, you know, drove right
through a berm and--

Uh, I, I get it.

Um, I mean.

Obviously, you're the boss,
it's your call, but

we really do need somebody
in that truck.

[Rick] I vote
for second chance.

Yeah, [bleep]. I don't know
what to do.

I mean, I need her in a truck,

but I also can't afford
for her to make
another mistake like that.

[sighs in exasperation] I got
some thinking to do.
Thanks, man.

Yeah, let me know.

I know I, uh, screwed up and

I'm really worried that, um,
I'm not gonna be able to stay.

I don't wanna get fired.

It's not really, uh,
in my hands anymore.

I just gotta wait and find out
what Rick decides.

Hey, how, how ya feelin'?

Pretty [bleep].

Yeah. Well,

I've, uh, kinda cooled down
a bit, given it some thought.

Um, I don't feel like
I was too hard on you, but--

Um, I think I'd, like,
I'd like to give you
a second chance.

But I don't want you
to look at this
as, like, a free pass.

It's like, I want to make
very sure that you understand
how serious that was.

I don't know if it's like,
I wouldn't say it's probation,

but I guess it actually
kinda is a probation.

You know, like I'm...

I really want you to,
you know,
keep your head down, learn,

and, uh, you know, show that
you're serious and that
you respect, you know,

the dangers around here.

Like, that's gonna be
really important.

- I really appreciate that.
Thank you.
- Fair enough?

- Thanks.
- Yeah.

[sighs] Well, I'm super
relieved I get to stay.

And I know I can do this and

I don't wanna let Kruse down

because I know he's
looking forward
to gettin' out of the truck.

So, yeah, it's been a tough,
uh, first week.

Come on, Jacks. Come on.

[narrator] Over two thousand
feet up
in the Yukon mountains.

[motor whirring]

[Fred] Fore! That's golf.

Timber!

[narrator] Rookie mine boss
Fred Lewis preps his campsite,

ready for his crew to arrive
in a few days.

The core camp layout is set.

Uh, just a couple more
little details like this
just to make it

livable.

And then, we're ready
to move down to the claim.

I feel like getting the effort
to get this camp set up,

to feel more like a home
than a base, is super
important for my guys' moral.

And I want my guys coming home
at night, rejuvenating

so you can focus
and just drive forward
and get that gold.

That's the name of the game.

[motor revs]

[whoops]

[baby crying]

She has good size hands
and she has good size feet.

[baby crying]

The rest is very tiny.

Oh, poor little girl,
we're just laughing at you.

[narrator] On Paradise Hill.

[baby crying]

[Minnie] You better
feed her some more.

[narrator] Three generations
of Beets gather
for the gold weigh.

[Minnie] Mike is weighed down
by gold.

Got a fat a*s.

Well, yeah,
shaker's down, so...

[narrator] This week,
while he waits for permission
to mine the Indian River,

Tony's only gold has come from
the nugget cut.

A good thing
my trommel's running,

otherwise, we'd be up
[bleep] creek,
now wouldn't we?

-[Minnie] Michael.
-[Tony laughs]



[narrator] Tony needs


to hit his 9,000 ounce
season goal.

[Faith] 50, 60, 70,





[Faith reading number]

[Minnie] Roughly an ounce
an hour, eh?

[Monica] So, what's that
make our season total now?



Wanna wrap this up?

Let's roll out. Bye!

Bye, children.

[Monica] Bye, Mike.

Well, I wasn't planning on
drinking this weekend

but I'm feeling like 35 beers
are gonna go down tonight.

[narrator] At Lower
Duncan Creek.

- Hey, sh**ter.
- Ah, buenos dias, guy.

[narrator] Rick's original
four-man crew gathers
for the gold weigh.

Well, I mean, it's good
having some new blood
in here, you know.

- You know some new people.
- Oh, yeah, for sure.

-[Rick] I'm tired of looking
at just you guys.
- Yeah.

That being said, we've all
gotta be, you know,

the four us, we gotta be
extra cautious,

and extra awareness this,
this week comin' up, you know.

And make sure
that everybody stays safe.

[narrator] This week,
wash plant Rocky
shut down once

when Leah's rock truck crash
made Rick's operation
stop dead.

[Rick] I thought the truck
was gonna roll over.

I really [bleep] did.

And nobody's perfect.
I mean, we all know
what I did last year.

Yeah. Oh, and I've done that.

We're just giving her
a second shot.

We're gonna need all the help
we can get if we're gonna
get to 2,000 ounces.

- Right?
-[Kruse] Yep.

Speaking of that, let's see
how much closer we are here.

[narrator] To hit
his 2,000 ounce season target,

Rick needs to average


This bottle's heavy.

So that means we're all
doin' something right.

[narrator] Last week,
he banked 90.

Ready? 20.







That's it. What?

-[Kruse] A big 92.48.
- Holy crap.

[Rick] Awesome.

[narrator] Worth
over $165,000.

That's more than
last week, so.

Makes sense.
We added more people,
we got more done.

[bleep] sweet.

Clicking at the heels of


That is [bleep]
fantastic man.

I believe that's what people
call an upward trend.

[all chuckling]

[narrator] And puts him on
track to hit his season goal.

I mean, obviously,
more people means uh...

more dirt to the wash plant.

Equals more gold. I mean,
the ground's consistent.

And uh...

That's a good thing.

Unfortunately, we're
running low on the ground
in the creek cut,

so we're gonna have
to open up something new.

- But as of right now,
it's looking good.
-[Nathan] Right on.

[narrator] At Scribner Creek,

Parker's crew assemble
for the gold weigh.

- How's it going man?
- How you're doing, young man?

[Parker] What's up?

-[Mitch] We were just talking
about our week.
-[Parker] Yeah.

[narrator] This week

Parker spent $350,000
stripping his deepest ever
ground,

bringing his total spend
to $1.4 million dollars.

He needs his only operating
wash plant, Sluicifer,

to bring in over a 180 ounces
just to break even.

Last week

it banked just 84.

[Mitch] We had to fight
for this stuff.

- It wasn't just an easy week.
-[Doumitt] Yeah.

We had to make
some adjustments.

Cut the water back.

Really try to fine-tune it.

And it seems to be
running a lot better.

And we did see gold

in the upper mats.

You wanna see the rest of it?

[Mitch] Yeah, I wanna see
how we did.

Okay, here we go.
Ready, Mitch?

[narrator] Time to find out
if Doumitt's plant fix worked.

- It's gonna go quick.
- Alright. 20, 40, 50.















- 330.
-[metal clanks]



[narrator] Worth
over $600,000.

-[Mitch] I like that
a lot better.
-[Parker] Yeah.

That's a lot better.

That's four times what we got

- on our first clean-up.
-[Parker] Little more hours.

Triple or quadruple the gold.

Yeah, we went from an ounce
an hour to three.

You know, so if we can
keep that plant running.

Keep your mouth shut.

Don't be saying that too loud,
that thing'll hear ya.

- It's got a mind of its own.
- You shut your mouth.

[Mitch laughing]

- No problem there.
-[all laugh]

[Doumitt]
Sounds like a plan.

I'll pack this stuff up.
We'll go get something to eat.

[Parker] Chris.
Nice clean job as usual.

Mitch, thank you for taking
care of business out there.

-[Mitch] No worries
-[Doumitt] Yeah.

[Parker] Pay some bills.

I was gonna open
a better bottle of wine,

but they have them in
the safe and
I don' know the code.

- Try the safe.
-[Mitch laughing]

-[Doumitt laughs]
- I'm getting the [bleep]
out of here.

Oh!

Yeah, we had a really
good week, this week.

I mean...

Last week was an embarrassment
and this just proved it.

Everything that we have done,

everything that we have
progressed to be now,

is all in on the line
in Mud Mountain.

You know, that's a scary part.

We just got 337
ounces of gold.

It's given us a total
of over 400 ounces.

Doesn't come close
to paying the bills
and the money,

we have invested
in Mud Mountain right now.

We haven't even
started sluicing it yet.

So we got long ways to go.

If we can keep this up
we'll be paying some bills.