12x04 - $9 Million Mistake

[bunniefuu]

Well, what have we got there?

Those aren't our trucks.

Looks like old Tony
must be back in town.

Wonderful.

[Parker] That's the boundary,
as far as I can tell online.

I went and measured everything
and mapped it.

I just knew that you had
two-and-a-half of the thing,
so I just put--

took two-and-a-half lf down.

[Tony speaking]

Mm-hmm.

[Tony speaking]

Did I [bleep] up?

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] After more than
two years,
King of the Klondike,

Tony Beets, is moving back
to the Indian River.

His first order
of business,
re-establish boundaries.

[Parker] All right, yeah,
'cause I do want
to make sure that

before we start here that
that ditch is in
the right spot, I think it is.

So if you think it's not,
then...

[Tony speaking]

If you feel like
that's in the wrong spot,

then let's have that
conversation.

[Tony speaking]

[Parker] The problem is that
we're running
out of ground to mine.

[narrator]
Twenty-six-year-old
Parker Schnabel

started the season
in a race to find new ground,

but the only Klondike claim
he could lease is deeper than
any he's ever mined before.

Five weeks in
and over a million dollars
in the hole,

he's not even halfway down
to pay dirt.

The big push right now
is Mud Mountain

and I'm a little nervous
if this cut doesn't go well

just 'cause
it's going to be
a very expensive one,

but there's a lot going on.

We could have like


and we would still be,
I think.

And so Mitch is scrambling
to get some more ground
opened up at the airstrip.

[narrator] One mile
to the northwest,

Parker's tasked foreman
Mitch Blaschke to keep
the gold

coming in to pay
for his gamble
on Mud Mountain

by mining the last 22 acres
of the airstrip cut
leased from Tony Beets.

-[Mitch] Yeah.
-[Parker] Hey, man.

-[Mitch] How's it going?
- Good. How are you?

Not bad.

[Parker] Look like,
with Slucifer being
the only plant

that's making any money
right now,
I don't want you

to get spread too thin,
so I'll handle the stripping
at Mud Mountain

and dealing with those guys.

Um, if you want to just take
on the airstrip

and try your best to keep
the plant running 24/7
and gold coming in,

you've got a lot of bills
to pay

and I've got a lot of money
to spend stripping.

[laughs]

I mean, Mud Mountain's
a huge project

and definitely worth spending
some money, so we'll try
and make some here.

[Parker] Yeah, you're the
only one getting any
bills paid. No pressure.

All right. Sounds good.
Thanks, dude.

[Mitch] The airstrip produced
quite a bit of gold for us
last season,

and with all the money
that's getting dumped
into Mud Mountain,

Parker was thinking,
"Hey, this is gonna
be a pretty easy, uh,

way to make a quick buck."

Hey, Tyson, you got a copy?

Go ahead.

Things don't seem to be
getting any easier
around here.

I don't even think the
Yukon knows
what it's going to do

when it comes to weather,
it, like, decides
minute by minute.

It's the same saying
we have in Vancouver.

If you don't like the weather,
wait five minutes.

[Mitch] I walked outside
my trailer this morning
and saw the snow falling,

uh, definitely not
what we need right now.

We had an extremely
cold winter in the Yukon

and actually had
a hundred-year-record snowfall

and it looks like that's not
giving up just yet.

[narrator]
After the spring thaw,
the temperature has again

dropped below freezing.

We're trying to keep up
with Slucifer.

Right now, it's going through
three thousand yards of
material per 12-hour shift.

We've got to get a stockpile,
so we have enough pay dirt

to keep running


So Tyson and I are both
running excavators here,

baling material
as fast as we can.

But, obviously, not having
Brennan here this year

is put a lot of stress
on everybody.

[narrator] At the start
of the season,
Mitch's co-foreman,

Brennan Ruautt, jumped ship
to team up with Rick Ness.

Now, wash plant boss,
Tyson Lee, is Mitch's
right-hand man.

[Mitch] I've told you
not to do it that way.

[narrator] But last season,
they locked horns.

If you're telling me
you're cool with that setup

right there, you need
to [bleep] rethink
your game, man.

[Tyson] Brennan and Mitch work
hand-in-hand with each other,

so, so definitely... put a
lot more pressure
on me this year.

Hey, Tyson, hopefully,
we'll have enough
to keep this wash plant going

because it's definitely
getting a little skinny
over here.

We're going about
scoop for scoop for a bath.

Don't say that too loudly,
Mitch, the wash plant
might hear you.

[laughs]

[Tatiana] Mitch and Tyson
are making the piles,

and I'm scooping
and bringing them back
to the feeder.

[narrator]
Operator Tatiana Costa,
in the loader,

feeds 220 yards
of pay dirt an hour.

[Tatiana] Every day
we're just spending
just trying to get pay

and start getting the gold out
and get money,
money in the pocket.

[excavator clanking]

[Mitch] You see that smoke
coming off the teeth,

that's the frost right there
that we're fighting.

Frozen [bleep] stiff,
my friend.

[Mitch]
Nothing's thawing out today,

if anything, it's getting
more froze.

It's definitely a struggle.

Just trying to keep up here,
but the stockpiles,
they're pretty much all gone.

We're not producing
enough material here

to keep up
with the wash plant.

[narrator] The frozen pay
is a challenge to dig out

and then needs to thaw
before it can be
run through the plant.

Hey, Mitch, so I'm probably
just going to leave this
right here

and let it thaw
a little longer

because I'm not getting
all the pay on it here.

I see you still got some
froze up
low spots there, too, huh?

Yeah, this whole piece
needs to be gone over again.

[Mitch] Yeah.
Land of frost out here.

[bleep]

This isn't working.

[Mitch] Hey, Tatiana,
you got a copy?

What up?

[Mitch] Yeah, hey,
that's going to be
the last scoop.

We got to get some material
stockpiled here,

so let's go ahead
and I'm going to turn off
the shaker deck

as soon as it clears.

That's the last one.

Okay.

[Mitch] It's crazy to be
thinking that
this is what normally

shuts us down at the end
of the season,
not the beginning.

[narrator]
Slucifer is Parker's
only working wash plant.

Every hour it's down costs
almost $4000 in unmined gold.

Look at the weather here,
it's cold,

the ground isn't thawing
like we need it to.

We just don't have enough
thawed pay to be able to

keep things running here


So we're just going to run it
on a night shift.

During the day, we're going
to remove every bit
of thaw that we can,

stockpile it, so we can try
and get enough material

to be able to run this thing,


And, uh, you know, we're not
going to have as much gold
at the end of the week.

We need sunshine
and warm days here,
thaw out some of this ground.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
For almost 40 years,

Tony Beets has been
snatching up

gold rich claims
in the Klondike,

the Indian River is amongst
the most profitable.

The king has more
than 350 claims,

but before he can
cash in at the Indian,
he needs a water license.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony's only working
wash plant

is at the Nugget Cut
on Paradise Hill.

Lot of dirt to be moved.

[narrator] The final decision
on Indian River
is due in four days.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To get a jump
on the new operation,

Tony is moving his
biggest machines
to the Indian,

starting with a $1.1 million
the biggest in the Yukon.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To move
his equipment,
Tony's dropped 100,000

on a unique rear steer
Columbia lowboy.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The 950 excavator
weighs a 100 tons

and is way too wide
for a standard lowboy.

[Tony speaking]

It turns three-day operation
into a one-day one.

[Tony speaking]

[engine starts]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony taps his
two heavy load specialists,

youngest son Mike Beets
and old hand Len Hoekstra,

to figure out how to drive
the rear steer.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Unlike
a standard lowboy,

the Columbia has steering
at the front and rear.

Powered by a hydraulic motor
and manually operated
by levers,

it makes the lowboy
more maneuverable
than a fixed axle rig

on the mountain roads.

It needs precise coordination
between the drivers.

[Tony speaking]

[Tony laughs]

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] You gotta
[bleep] slow down.

Len, slow down!

Slow down!

Len, slow the [bleep] down!

I can't adjust that fast.

Stop! Stop! Stop!

[Tony speaking]

He's going, like,
fast [bleep].

I can barely adjust in time.

[Tony speaking]

[Tony speaking]

Yeah.

[Tony speaking on radio]

[Mike] Oh, yeah.
If I have time to adjust,
it's not bad,

but when he's going 30, 40,
I cannot keep up.

Slow the [bleep] down!

He keeps going way too fast.

I cannot adjust fast enough.

- Stop, stop, stop, stop.
-[Tony] Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa.

[Tony speaking]

[vehicle rumbling]

-[Mike] Stop, stop, stop.
-[Tony] Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa.

[Tony speaking]

[vehicle rumbling]

[Tony speaking]

He has a bad habit
of kicking up speed.

[Tony speaking on radio]

[Mike] No [bleep], Len.

No [bleep] communication!

[bleep] drives like an idiot.

[bleep] pisses me off.

[narrator] On Paradise Hill,
Tony Beets is preparing
to move

millions of dollars
of new equipment.

[Tony speaking]

- Yeah.
-[Tony speaking]

[Len] Yeah, I thought
you were playing around
a little bit,

- see how would that
go over [bleep].
-[Mike] I couldn't keep up.

Then I saw that you were...

[Tony speaking]

Looking a bit,
a little bit scared,
so I thought...

[Mike] I'm not scared.
I'm holding on like, [bleep].

[Tony speaking]

- Yeah.
- Just remember, no barking.

- Okay.
- Well, it's, uh...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] It's time to put
the 56-year-old Columbia

to the test
with the 100 ton 950.

[Tony speaking]

[metal creaking]

[Tony speaking]

[metal clanking]

[Tony speaking]

[horn blaring]

- You guys ready back there?
-[Tony speaking]

Well, she's a heavy pull.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike on radio] Yeah, yeah.

[Tony speaking]

They also create
a hell of a lot of drag.

[Tony speaking]

[whistling]

There's so much that needs
to be done right now.

[narrator] Ex-special forces
medic Fred Lewis has gambled

everything he owns
on setting up a new operation
in the Yukon wilderness,


at California Creek.

My job today is going to be
removing this overburden,

trying to get down to that,
uh, pay gravel
so we can get to mining.

[narrator] Four weeks
into the season,

Fred's mined less than
two ounces, and he recently
received the news

that most of his trusted crew
from last season
won't be joining.

Pretty big bombshell
dropped by my guys, you know.

I knew that a few of them
wouldn't make it
up here this season

because the Yukon
is a huge commitment,

but most of my team is out
and now the ones
that are coming aren't here.

It's just me and JB,
two Green Berets,
and JB is not a minor.

[narrator] So far, Fred
only has one member
of the crew on site,

his new mechanic,
ex-Green Beret, JB Mayor.

Hey, JB.
JB, do you copy?

Hey, Fred, it's JB.

I'm just getting ready
to get this hole
punched down to bedrock

and just can't help
but think about the fact
that we're out here

running this mine
by ourselves, man.

Yeah, it's just
the two of us, isn't it?

[Fred] The two of us have got
to figure out right now

how to get this mine site up
and running
as quick as possible,

so we're pulling in gold...

here and get moving.

Right now, though, we're going
to have to make-do with it
and get this done.

[narrator] Tests show
the best pay is on the
north side of the claim,

but it's underneath
a 60-foot pile of overburden.

[Fred] I've got this
massive pile that has to go.

[narrator] Last year,
Fred's neighbors stripped
overburden

from the south side of the cut
to the north,

leaving a 50-foot pile
of worthless dirt
on the part of the cut

Fred believes,
is rich in gold.

He must now get the excavator
on top of the pile

to pull the overburden
out of the cut
and expose the pay beneath.

[Fred] Oh, holy [bleep].
It looks even worse
from up here.

This terrifies me.

[JB laughs]

But, uh, JB, you used
to drive tank.

It's more challenging
than it looks.

Well, don't take this
the wrong way,
I don't want to watch.

Now, as long as I don't
turn these tracks sideways

- and start doing that
over there.
- I don't wanna...

- I don't even want to know.
- I'm good.

- Sliding it straight down
was all right.
- I don't even want to know.

[JB laughs]

[Fred] Good luck.

The issue is all thisoverburden that was pushed up

wasn't pushed
far enough apart.

So we're losing
a lot of our pay,

so all this soil needs to be
pushed up.

In order for that to happen,
he's going to have to get

the excavator up on top
and start pulling it up.

[excavator rumbling]

Oh! Come on, baby.

Come on,
let me climb this hill.

[JB] M1 Abrams,
armored personnel carriers,
M88, recovery,

all of them track-operated,
that was, uh, what I did for
several years.

Come on, baby.

This is what happens
when you tell a Green Beret
to get to the top of the hill.

He's going to get
to the top of the hill.

I don't know
if I would do this.

I'm getting it
so doggone close.

Holy [bleep].

Ah, come on,
don't slide, don't slide.

Reach out far,
reach out far. Yeah, yeah.

Quickly, you're starting
to slide, get it down.

[JB] There we go.
There we go.

Damn it!

[metal clanking]

Oh... [bleep]

[JB] Damn it!

[metal clanking]

Oh... [bleep]

Hoo-hoo!

[JB laughs]

Come on, baby.

We're going to get this
doggone thing.

[narrator] At Fred's
California Creek claim,
operator JB

battles to get the 28-ton
excavator up a steep bank.

[Fred] We got to get
the excavator up here

so we can start doing
his work.

Green Berets never quit.

Roger that.

[Fred] That's got
a good grip right there.

[JB] Yes.

Oh, yes! Yes!

[indistinct shouting]

Whoo-hoo-hoo!

Oh, baby!
Come on, baby!

You're almost there, buddy.

Don't lose it.

Whoa, baby.
Come on, we got it, we got it.

[Fred] There we go.
There we go.
You're so close, dude.

[JB] I think I'm down.

[laughs]

Oh, yeah baby.

- Whoo!
-[Fred] Whoo!

All right, JB.
You did it, man.

I thought you were
going to k*ll yourself.

[JB laughing]

[JB] Holy [bleep].

Oh, my goodness.

That was a wild ride.

I need a break.

I got to get my heart rate
down.

I'm proud, dude. That...
that... that took a lot.

That was pretty good
operating right there.

That was cool, man.

- I'm going to let you
get to work.
- Yeah, sounds good.

Let's do it.
All right, brother.

[Mitch] Okay, buddy.

That's your last scoop there,
we're going to shut her down.

Well, the night shift's over.

Just about 7:00 a.m.,
we were running
for the last 12 hours

and we're pretty much
out of pay.

[narrator] On Parker
Schnabel's airstrip cut,

wash plant Slucifer is running
at half capacity.

I wish I had enough dirt
right now that

I can have this plant
running 24/7,

but that's just not
in the cards yet.

[narrator] Three days ago,
foreman Mitch Blaschke
was forced to shut down

the day shift when he ran out
of thawed ground.

The shutdown has already cost
Parker over $140,000
in lost gold.

[Mitch]
What's happening, Tyson?

How's it going, Mitch?

[Mitch] Oh, it's a fight
down here, I'll tell you what.

Yeah, man, we have
to figure something out.

[narrator] They need
the ground to thaw
before they can mine it.

Yeah, I know we can't keep up
with it right now.

So Parker's made it
really clear he doesn't
want to turn it off.

I mean, the only thing
we can do here is

kind of totally change our
mining game plan.

You know, we were originally
going to do this in,
in three setups, right?

[Tyson] Yeah.

[Mitch] And we've got it
split through here,
this is one,

this was going to be two.

And then number three
is all back in here.

I really think if he wants
to keep it running,

the only thing we can do
is come in here
to cut two

and start trucking strips off,
I mean, just all the way
around the outside

and probably, we have
to come across the whole floor

depending on how much
thaw there is

and just start hauling that
over to set up one.

So instead of taking it
in three bites,
we're pretty much going to be

making zone one
and two one zone?

I mean, we just need
more surface area, right?

[Tyson] Yeah.

Because if we're only getting
a couple of inches
of thaw a day

and this isn't enough, this is
going to double the amount.

[narrator] Mitch has divided
the airstrip cut
into three zones.

Each has been stripped
of overburden, and as they
mine each one out,

they plan to move
the wash plant
to keep it close to the pay.

Because zone one is frozen,
he can only remove one inch
of pay per day as it thaws,

so he must also open up
zone two

to expose more ground
to the sun to get enough
thawed pay to the plant.

But this means he will have
to truck pay twice

as far wasting time
and doubling his fuel bill.

- Parker doesn't want to wait.
- Yeah.

[Mitch] So if you just want
to start, let's start pulling
material off cut two.

We'll get the trucks
down there

and we'll just
start trucking it over

and hopefully, we can get
enough dirt to keep
Slucifer running.

Other than that,
it's sit and wait.

And you and I both know that,
that doesn't work for Parker.

It's up to us to put some gold
on the table.

- Sounds good. Thanks, man.
-[Mitch] Yeah.

We've got all hands on deck
down here
at the airstrip today.

And when I say that,
I mean it.

We've even got Parker Schnabel
himself in a rock truck
out here

and moving material
and trying to get ahead
of this thing down here.

You know, I think
one of the toughest things
about mining

is definitely just being
away from home.

My daughter
is a year-and-a-half now,

and you know, the only time
I get to see her is about
right before she goes to bed

is when I get back
to the yard,
get some reception there

and then I'm able
make a phone call.

So, it's definitely
not the same as,
you know, being...

being together.

Quicker we get through
all this ground means

the sooner I can get home,
uh, to my wife and daughter.

We've been scratching around
all morning

and we've been able to pull
some thawed pay.

We've got a stockpile here,

we're ready to fire
Slucifer back up.

[Slucifer rumbling]

[narrator] The crew now has
enough dirt stockpiled

to run Slucifer


And we worked on getting
all the frozen areas exposed

so we can get this
ground thawed and get it
through the wash plant.

Tell you what,
it's a good feeling
to be washing rocks

and making some money.

We need everyone on the
same page and everyone
working as a team,

and that's exactly
what we're doing right now.

Get that gold in the jar.

[JB on radio] Hey, Fred.

I'm thinking, by Friday
we can have...

most of this is
going to be done.

[Fred] We just need to go
full steam ahead
and push as hard as we can.

[narrator] Fred Lewis
and Green Beret JB Mayor
are clearing overburden

to get down to pay dirt
on Fred's 92 acre claim.

[Fred] JB and I are just
going to have to
tag team off each other

and get this [bleep] done.

[narrator] After three days,
they've stripped
half of the area.

Tests showed
it had the best gold.

[excavator clanking]

Damn it!

Holy [bleep].
This entire ground
is [bleep] frozen.

This is going
to take me forever.

This is gonna [bleep]
the entire season.

I'm going to have to do this
to every piece of [bleep]
ground I have.

If I go a little deeper...

Nah!

Nope.

All right.

Hey, JB, uh, I need you
to come over here,
we got a major issue.

[JB on radio] Roger that,
Fred. I'm en route.

Dude.

Man, oh, man.

[Fred] Check this out.
This is permafrost.

This is definitely not frost.

Well, the biggest problem
is the 220.

- This is to feed our
wash plant.
-[JB] Yeah.

It doesn't, it doesn't have
the power to get through
this ice.

Wow.

And my thought was,
we just get all this
overburden out,

but it's taken me so long.

- I mean, it's solid ice, dude.
- Look at that.

Holy cow.

[Fred] This is the enemy
right now.

[JB] Wow.

[Fred] I mean,
this ain't frost, bro.

This is like three feet
of ice.

- Yeah.
- This is permafrost.

I'm looking at this right now
like a bank vault
that we have to crack.

It's all over
and we can't get it to
any of the gold.

I'm not kidding.
I could hear you just
slamming that ice, man.

That's incredible.

I mean, we need a dozer.

And the only thing I can
think of is Brendan
has a dozer.

I think we're going to have
to go meet the neighbors, man.

Maybe convince him
to let us borrow it.

Yeah, sounds good.

- We'll make it happen.
- You got it, dude.

[bleep] ground.

You know, I'm not going to lie
right now,
I'm pretty pissed off.

Uh, we don't have
the right tools
to hit this creek

and I've got to crawl to
the neighbors and hopefully,

win over some hearts
and minds.

But at this point,
this is my only option.

I'm not letting this ground
declare w*r on me
and not fighting back.

How's it going?

- Hey.
- Hey.

[narrator] 22-year-old
Brendan Clayton has mined
the ground

next door to Fred's claim
for the last five years.

- Maybe you could
help me out a little bit.
- Yeah, sh**t it away.

Right now, the big question
I have is permafrost.

Okay.

- Seems to me that that place
is completely frozen.
- You're froze out.

It's not happening.
But I see you have a dozer.

I do. I do have a dozer. Yes.

So, um, I hate to be
the neighbor that comes

and ask for a favor right
off the bat,

but maybe you guys
would let us borrow it.

- Now, I don't have
a good budget...
- Right.

I don't want to be
a freeloader,
so I'm kind of along the lines

of thinking of
a bartering system

or something I can help
you guys out with.

Well, I could use your
rock truck probably here,

and maybe we could do some
trading and figure it out.

Okay, yeah.
I could definitely offer
my rock truck

if you could let me
use your dozer.

I'll help you out if you
help me out, that's perfect.

- Sounds like a deal to me.
Sounds like a deal.
- Appreciate it, brother.

- Well, can we look
at your dozer?
- She's over there.

- Let's go have a look.
- Yeah, yeah.

How old is it?

[Brendan] Uh, 2008.

[Fred] Oh, yeah.

She's a beast.

Here we go.

All right, pretty cool.
This is pretty much, uh,
saving my day right now.

[narrator] The D8 has
a five-foot ripper shank

designed to tear
through concrete.

Coming home, JB.

- Hey, I see you.
- Yeah.

-[Fred] Look what I got.
- Whoo-hoo!

He's letting us borrow it.

We're going to owe him
some stuff in return.

That's a beast.

We only have it for
a few days, so you and me...

-[JB] Let's make it happen.
-...we're going to be
working nonstop.

We've got 24 hours
of daylight, so.

- Exactly.
- Yeah.

-[Fred] I'm going to
get to work.
- All right. Right-o.

[Fred] Right now,
we're severely shorthanded.

A mine site is not meant to be
run by two dudes.

We can't do this all alone.

We need the extra guys
up here,

but trying to throw
a quick right hook
with this permafrost.

We're coming back swinging.

Round two's going to us,

and we're going to keep
throwing punches, so we're
pretty stoked to be out here

right now with my boy, JB,
two Green Berets

running a mine site,
no big deal.

This is how
it's supposed to be.

[Tony speaking]

Preparation for--
everything goes to Scribner,
to the engine.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony Beets
is on the brink of

reopening his
Indian River operation,
a move that could

earn him almost
ten million dollars
this season.

In anticipation of his
water permit
being issued today,

Tony's sending truckloads
of equipment to the claim.

[Len] Right in the sand, eh?

Couldn't have done it
any better.

I don't know how much piece of
equipment we're going to move.

We already got three holes
in Indian,
there are three rock trucks

already in the Indian,
so it keeps adding up
and adding up

till Tony says it's enough.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie on radio]
Tony, do you copy?

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie on radio]
Hey, you want to come
to the office,

we need to call
the water board.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] After two years
of waiting for his
license to be approved,

it's the moment of truth.

[Tony speaking]

What did they say?

[Tony speaking]

Oh, lord.

[Tony speaking]

And you're moving all the...
the equipment as well.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] No.

[Tony speaking]

Well...

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] I know.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah. I know.

Well, I'll talk to the kids.

I mean, they're going to be
disappointed as well.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

Bye.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Just hours ago,
the King of the Klondike

was poised
for a record season,

now, his plans have been
blown apart.

[Tony speaking]

[Len groaning]

[Tony speaking]

Well, yes.

[Tony speaking]

[loud thud]

[Tony speaking]

[Tony speaking]

Come on, internet.

Hi.

[Mitch chuckles]
What's going on, chiggy?

Is that dad?

[baby mumbling]

Man, she looks like
she's getting bigger
every day.

She is.

It is so crazy.

Yeah.

She learns new things
every day.

Well, I wish I was there,
babe.

I know.
I'm glad
we're able to FaceTime.

We miss you a lot.

[Mitch chuckles]

Yeah, she definitely
doesn't like to sit still.

All right, babe.
Well, I can tell
you got your hands full.

[Hailey] We miss you.

I miss you, too.

Can you wave bye?

Oh, yeah.
There we go.

- Bye.
- We love you.

Well, you know, it's not much,
it's a blurry, you know,
video chat,

but it's definitely
a whole lot better than
not seeing them.

And, you know, we got
a lot of work to do here,

uh, but it's nice to know
everything is going good
at home

and, uh, just can't wait
to get home and,

and see my wife
and my daughter.

We're one day closer.

Whoo-hoo!
I'm gonna do some donuts.

We've broken up
all the permafrost we need,

that's no longer an issue,
which is fantastic.

[narrator] Three days ago,
Fred Lewis
and his one-man crew

hit permafrost and borrowed
a dozer from his neighbor
to rip it,

now, four acres of pay
is almost ready to run.

[Fred] This is really great
of Brandon to let me use it.

Definitely was not expecting
to get this much work done

in this short period of time
with this dozer.

So this is an absolute
game changer

and, uh, I'm not going to lie,
it's pretty much saved
our season.

Job done.

Whoo!

What's up?

What is up, JB?

We're getting it done, man.

How fun is this, huh?

- Man, it's great.
- Two dudes in a mine,
all by ourselves.

- Man, it's awesome.
- Yeah, yeah.

But I think, like, we've...
we've definitely gotten
a good handle of this,

- but we need more men.
- Yeah.

I've got... I've got two guys
I'm working on
getting up here.

Um, I don't know
if you remember Stuart
from last season.

Yeah, yeah.
Pretty much the only guy
that's coming back this year.

Okay. Yeah.

Uh, he's a really great dude,
probably one of my most
loyal friends, hard worker.

Yeah.

Um, then I'm bringing
my son up, Christopher.

He's... he's 21,
just got out of the army.

Kind of has a chip
on his shoulder.

He's a hard worker.

- Yeah, he just got
a lot to learn.
- Can he take orders from you?

That's the question.

Yeah, I don't know,
but I feel like, uh,
push him a little bit,

give him some
leadership skills,
and give us a chance

to work as a family, too,
it'd be kind of cool, but...

- Yeah, I look forward
to meeting him.
- Oh, you're going to like him.

You're going to like him,
but I'm going to try
to mobilize these guys

and get them up here
as soon as possible,
because...

Sounds good. Yeah.
Good deal.

Hey, Dozer.

Are you on a golf ball hunt?

How are you doing, young man?

Fine.

There's Dozer
on a golf ball hunt.

You might as well
hit him a ball, huh?

[narrator] At Scribner Creek,
the Schnabel crew gathers
for the weekly gold weigh.

[Mitch] What's happening,
boys?

-[Parker] Hey, Mitchell.
- Howdy?

How's it going?

I guess it all depends on
how much gold
you tell me we have.

That's going to depend on
how good we're doing.

Yeah.

Let's go weigh some gold.

[Mitch] Sounds good.

Let's see what you got.

[narrator] With Mud Mountain
still not stripped,

Parker is dependent
on the gold Mitch and Tyson

mined out at the airstrip
cut to pay his bills.

But the plant was down
for 36 hours.

Let's go ahead
and count it out, Mitch.

All right.

So we're hoping for over


Okay.

All right, we got 20, 50,

a 100, 120,







[narrator] Worth over
$420,000,

and beating the season average
by 23 ounces.

[Mitch] Well, that's not bad,
especially, when you
take out in layers.

[Parker] I like it being
consistent, that's good.

- Yeah.
- Exactly 2.2 ounces
an hour almost.

And that's roughly
what we were doing last year.

Yeah.

[Tyson] That's some
good-looking gold, Chris.

- Very clean...
-[Chris] I did clean it.

[Mitch] So another 230 ounces
in this clean up,

what's that take us
to for the season?

So we're about 656.45 ounces.

Nice.

[Chris] We're getting there,
you know.

If you guys can...
I know you're battling.

I was trying to remember
when the last time
I sat in a rock truck was,

and it made me, kind of,
it made me miss being
in machines a bit, but...

That was pretty awesome
you jumped in there
and helped, man.

- We needed it.
- Alrighty.

- Let's put this away.
-[Parker] Thanks, guys.

[Mitch] Thank you.

You know, over 200 ounces
and now we had some
struggles this week,

lots of frozen ground,
we had all hands on deck.

We even had Parker Schnabel
himself out in a rock truck.

And if that's what it takes
to put gold on the table,
that's what we're going to do.

So what's the news?
What's happening?
What's the latest?

[Tony speaking]

[Monica] Seriously?

[Tony speaking]

And nothing.

[Tony speaking]

- Well, it's meant to be.
I don't know.
- Yeah.

Can we weigh
some gold, please?

Yeah, this much.

[Tony speaking]

Yep.

[narrator] His 9000 ounce
goal is history.

But just to pay for the
equipment he bought,

Tony needs over


Y'all ready?

[Tony speaking]

Okay.

[Tony speaking]

[Monica] 10, 20,













[Minnie] It's not too shabby.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
Worth over $400,000

and a 100 ounces
more than last week.

Like dad says,
better than nothing.

-[Tony speaking]
- Well, it's not more
but it'll pay some bills.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, I don't think
it makes a little dent.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] Yep.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] Make it happening?

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] Okay,
we'll see you guys in...

[Tony speaking]

It sucks about the Indian,
though.

[Tony] At least,
the one good thing is

the gold ain't [bleep]
going anywhere.

We will somehow make up here,
down the hill, I guess.

Well, you don't have a choice,
you just keep
plowing through it.

I'm not going to [bleep]
lay awake from it,
let me put it to you.

I know...

[Monica] I don't think
there's much
that'll keep you up at night.

No, there's isn't very much
that does that to me anyway.

I could keep him up at night.

[all laughing]