12x10 - The Vindication

[bunniefuu]

[Tony speaking]

[Paul] Goldmining heavyweight
Tony Beets is fighting
to get off the mat.

[Paul] After gambling millions
on his Indian River operation,

he was denied a water license.

And had to give up on his goal
of banking 9,000 ounces
this year.

But Tony is refusing
to throw in the towel.

[Tony speaking]

[Paul] His first move?

Opening the Eighty Pup cut
at Paradise Hill,

where he believes he could
grind out over 1,000 ounces
in just four weeks.

[Tony speaking]

[Ruby] Hopefully,
we can please
the goldmining gods

and they'll just
be good to us.

And we can just get
this material and run through
without any major problems.

[Paul] Operator Brandon Carr
has just been promoted
to feeding the plant.

[Brandon Carr] This
is my second season... up here
in the Yukon.

It is hard being
across the country
from your family.

But you gotta do
what you gotta do
to get by.

Tony is a awesome boss.

Put it this way,
if he likes ya,
you're treated awesome.

Long as you don't do
no stupid mistakes.

[machinery clunking]

Oh, *bleep*.
[groans]

[Carr grunts]

*bleep*

[Carr] Tony,
do you got a copy?
Tony?

[Tony speaking]

Yeah, we got a pretty big hole
in the punch plate
of the trommel.

[Paul] The trommel sifts
out rocks and sends gold rich
material into a distributor.

Where six chutes feed it
evenly into the sluice runs.

A hole in the punch plate
is letting rocks fall
into the chutes,

which disrupt waterflow
and cause gold to flow out
of the sluices.

Just put every truck
in the yard here.

- Yeah. Use one for something.
-[laughs]

[Mike] Can't do much about it,
we have to shut it down.

And as much as I don't want
to lose anywhere
up to eight shifts,

there's nothing we can
do about,

we have to fix it
'cause otherwise we're gonna
end up having more downtime.

[Tony speaking]

[Paul] Last season,
it took four days
to fix the punch plate.

With no gold coming in,

Tony wants Brandon
to get it done
in half that time.

[Tony speaking]

Yup.

- I know, right?
-[all laughing]

*bleep*

[Carr] Ready to roll or what?

[Paul] First, Brandon
will remove the worn out


And replace it with six


Then weld the steel sections
together and fix them
to the trommel.

- Can you whack it here
from up there?
- Yup.

[Carr] That's a lot
of time down,

a lot of ground that we could
be sluicing, but...

Victory.

We're gonna try to get it done
a little quicker
than four days this year.

Just one more left.

*bleep*

Ah, *bleep*.

It's just jammed in there.

[Mike] Is this boom extended
all the way?

[Carr] I think so.

Can you grab it?
See if you can get it by?

[Mike] Yeah. There.

[Paul] By the end of the day,

Brandon has removed
the damaged plate.

Six hours into the fix,
Tony's already down more
than $10,000 in lost gold.

[Tony speaking]

[Fred] The plant is finally
up and running.
We are sluicing.

We're goldminers.
I don't feel
like we're greenhorns anymore.

[Paul] At California Creek,
in the remote
Yukon wilderness,

Special Forces medic
and second year mine boss
Fred Lewis

is finally washing rocks.

Coming into the season,
we had big high hopes,

but I've gotta show
these guys that this season

is gonna be different
than the last season.

You know, it's a little
nerve racking that being
virgin ground.

The ground is good,
I've tested it.

[Paul] The test holes Fred
dug at the start
of the season

contained just
under two ounces of gold.

Proving that his 92-acre
claim, far away
from the easier ground

in the Klondike, could hold
over 2,000 ounces of gold.

This is the week
that Fred must prove
that he can find it.

At this point,
I've gotta give these guys
a purpose,

and showing them that I could
be the guy that turn them
into goldminers.

We've been up and running,
it's a sight for sore eyes.

But what's gonna save
this season is to stay running
as many hours as we can.

[Stuart] I'm extremely tired
right now.

I've been working probably


and, uh, we can still
potentially go home
empty-handed.

[Paul] Greenhorn miner
and Special Forces sergeant
Rick Douglas

joined the team
three weeks ago,

and he's starting
to run low on patience.

Were there some
frustrations as far as not
having the plant here?

Abso-freakin-lutely.

Because that's what we came
here to do
and we weren't doing it.

But the good news
is the plant is running.

We, honestly, believe
we can still have
a good year,

as long as we keep running.

[Paul] Rick served in the army
for 25 years...

... with tours in Africa,
Haiti and Afghanistan

before becoming
a military contractor.

[Rick] This is definitely
learning process for me,
uh, and, uh, most everybody.

We all have that military
background and we're all used
to *bleep* going wrong on us.

-[machinery clunking]
- Crap.

Like that rock don't look
like a smaller rock, and now
this huge frickin' rock stuck

in the damn hopper.

Stu, will you jump over
and shut the water off?

I just had a huge rock
drop down in the hopper.

[Stuart on radio] Roger.

[Paul] Fred's spent his last
$25,000 fixing up
this rental wash plant.

A boulder this size
could destroy the plant,
ending Fred's season

before it's even begun.

[Rick] Yeah.

[Fred] What's the problem?

[Paul] At California Creek,
in their first week running
their new plant,

the Lewis crew is shut down.

Uh, we had to shut down.
We had a big rock
kind of go into the hopper.

- Okay.
-[Stuart] Currency's shut off.

[Fred] Every minute
this plant's down,

it doesn't do us
any *bleep* good.

As I'd say, we don't get
discouraged about,

- we'll just fix the problem,
get back up and running.
- Yeah.

-[Rick] Do what we gotta do.
-[Fred] Let's do it.
Time is money.

[Khara] So what's going on?
Why aren't we running?

[Paul] Fred's wife
and mine manager Khara Lewis
is due to start her shift.

[Rick] There was a rock
that had a square face
about that size there,

looked like it would go in.

So we're just gonna
all have to watch that,
I guess,

- and be more careful.
-[Stuart] Yeah, exactly.

[Khara] I'd love to be able
to get into a 220 right now.

Let me know
when we're running,
so I can get to work.

[Rick] So I'm gonna end up
hooking a chain up to it.

Use the, uh, 220 to lift it up
and put it down, so that...

... we don't cause any damage
to the plant.

- See if you can dig under.
-[Stuart] Yeah.

[Rick] Right here
or even there, yeah.

If we can get it under,
we can get Chris
to, at least, pull it out.

[Stuart] Uh-huh.

[Rick] Keep going.

All right, hold up
for a second.

[Stuart] We've got space
underneath.

-[Rick] So swing that
over that.
-[Stuart] Perfect.

So you gonna take it up
and over.

-[Rick] Come this way.
-[Stuart] No, no, that way.

-[Rick] Okay, now go.
Go, go, go.
-[Stuart] Go, go, go.

You, sir, are the master
of knots with chains.

[Rick] That right there
could've ended our season.

Very, very easily.

I'd be really surprised
if that doesn't happen again.

[Rick] Oh, yeah.

[Khara] Finally,
I can get back to work.

[Paul] The Lewis crew
get their first week sluicing
for gold back on track.

I'm still learning
the excavator.
It's, uh, not perfect.

But, hopefully, I can just get
as much pay

down that trommel
as I possibly can.

[Brandon Clayton]
If goldmining was easy,
we'd all be millionaires.

[Paul] A quarter of a mile
west, the only other miners
out on California Creek

are the Clayton brothers.

21-year-old Brandon
and 19-year-old Brady.

Brady.

Dad started six years ago,
he stayed home now.

Brady and I have been
up here every year
trying to make a go out of it.

[Paul] When they arrived
in 2016, California Creek
had barely been touched

for over 100 years,
as miners chased easier gold
in the Klondike.

[Clayton] Grab
that small pry bar.

-[Brady] Where is it?
-[Clayton] Right there.

[Paul] Last year,
Brandon and Brady mined

226 ounces of gold
with a lean crew.

Proving
California Creek's potential.

[Clayton] The gold's
in the ground,
we know it's good.

We're young people
in the game, you know,
and trying to prove ourself.

[Paul] Now they brought
in a massive homemade trommel
to up their game.

We've already been
in tough times.
We clawed ourself out of it.

[Clayton] It's been hard,
I won't lie.

I wanna be able to do this
for the rest of my life,
like, this is my passion.

I love goldmining.
Absolutely love it.

[Paul] To haul in a record
amount of gold this year,

they call in a favor
for lending their neighbor
a dozer six weeks ago.

- Brandon,
this is Freddy Dodge.
- Okay.

-[Paul] An introduction.
- Brandon? Nice to meet you.

[Clayton] Nice to meet ya.
I see you...

[Paul] To the people
who can dial in
their junkyard trommel.

You know, when Freddy
and Juan give me advice,
I take it.

They've helped
a lot of people.

- It's helped me every time.
- Our sluice plant there...

- Yup.
-[Clayton] We're really
only utilizing,

like, a quarter
of our sluice box.

The gold's coming down
the two runs and the other
ones are whitewashing.

And it's packing,

- like, it's pretty tight.
-[Freddy] You're making
a right-hand corner.

- Yeah. That's right, yeah.
We've tried multiple things.
-[Freddy] Tried to get

- an even feed?
-[Clayton] Trying to get
an even feed.

And it just hasn't worked
for us, so...

Do you guys think
you could come over
and have a look?

-So this is Dirt Devil.
-[Freddy] Dirt Devil.

[Clayton] Dirt Devil, yup.
My little sister
came up with it.

-[Freddy] She's a beast,
huh, Juano?
-[Juan] Yeah, I like it.

- Did you build it yourself?
-[Clayton] Uh, yeah,
we built it,

uh, at the home there
for three years.

It's all made out
of scrap steel.

[Freddy] It's like an old
propane tank, huh?

[Clayton] That's what it is,
yeah.

-[Freddy] Hey, Brady.
- Hey, how's it going?

Not too bad. You?

Out of everything
that you guys have done
out here,

you know, this trommel
that you built, I'm impressed
by all of it.

-[Clayton] Yeah?
-[Juan] Really am.

[Paul] Their father, Glenn,
ran a business

in the Albertan oil fields
for 37 years.

But when it went bankrupt,
the family turned
to goldmining.

Now the kids are trying
to dig their family
out of the hole.

We just don't have
a lot of money to buy
things new, right?

Back in 2014,
when the Alberta economy
kind of crashed, um...

Our company ended up
going broke and, uh,
we have quite a bit of debt,

you know, it didn't go away.

We still have it
and we're trying to--

[Brady] Make our way
out of it.

So what's your guys'
long-term goal?

I'd love to see it flourish
and just, uh, help us
and our family

kind of get back on track
and just, uh, not have to,

like, wake up
and worry everyday.

How are we going to pay this?
Or how are we going
to do this and...

-[Clayton] It's tough.
- To me, that's huge, man.

It's commendable that you guys
are willing to take on
that responsibility

and do what you've done.

[Brady] Thank you.

Well, guys, let's get
to work, huh?

Well, let's run her
for eight hours
and see what it does.

[machinery starting]

[Paul] Freddy and Juan
start with a test

to figure out how
to improve the operation.

[Freddy] Holy *bleep*.

Look at the size
of those rooster tails.

They're gonna be losing
gold for sure.

Turn your water down
a little bit.

[Paul] After eight hours...

-[Freddy] You wanna
shut it down?
- Yup.

[Paul] The test is complete.

[Freddy] You're making water
and material make
a 90 degree corner

- without controlling it,
right?
-[Clayton] Right.

So that's why it's loose,
loose, packed.

So you have to take control
of your water
and your material,

and you have to make it
do what you want it to do.

So what we'd like to do
is, uh, build a V-chute
in there and your riffles,

- they're all built too tight.
-[Juan] So we gotta fix it.

[Paul] The pay is being
channeled to the left
of the sluice box.

Where slow moving water
is compacting the riffles
with fine material.

So gold is unable to settle.

To the right,
excess water is washing gold
straight out of the sluices.

To create an even flow,
Freddy and Juan
will fit a V-shaped chute

dividing the pay dirt
and water equally
across two channels.

Then, widen the Hungarian
riffles and add expanded metal
below to catch more gold.

- You know, it's gonna take
a few days to do.
-[Juan] And a pile of steel.

-[Clayton] Okay.
- Okay, yeah, give me a list,
and I'll leave right now.

- Okay.
- When you get back,

- you know, all of us hit
her hard and get her done.
- Yeah, okay.

When we start the next run,
make sure it's completely
cleaned and we'll do

- a full run again to make sure
that we got you an increase.
-[Clayton] Perfect.

[Freddy] So we'll want
those 36 inches right
off center at 18 each way.

[Paul] On California Creek,
Freddy Dodge and Juan Ibarra
are on a mission to help

young brothers Brandon
and Brady dial in
their homemade trommel,

and tap into the potential
of their remote
gold rich claim.

[Freddy] Cut her straight,
Juano.

It's gonna be as straight
as I can go, Fred.

[Paul] The boys ran
in the eight hour test.

[Clayton] We got a couple
big days ahead of us here.

But we're gonna hammer
it out and get it done
and go from there.

[Freddy] You guys are great.
You know what?
I'm glad we're here.

[Clayton] Thank you, Freddy.

- Well, weigh her up.
- Okay.

- Let's pull her.
-[Paul] The gold
from the test run

will act as a yard stick
to see if Freddy
and Juan's fixes

can improve
their gold recovery.

[Freddy] 4.10.

- For eight hours, that's half
an ounce an hour, but...
- Yup. Yup.

You know, I figure
we can probably get you
another 15% more gold.

- On the recovery end.
-[Freddy] On the recovery
side, yeah.

- Okay.
- That's what I think
we can do.

- Should we go get to work
or what do you think?
-[Freddy] Yeah.

- Let's go get some steel.
-[Clayton] Let's do it.

-[Freddy] See you later.
-[Clayton] See you later.

[Carr] 'Cause there's a lot
of people waiting

for the plant to be up
and running, so we can start
sluicing again.

[sighs] Yeah.

[Paul] At Paradise Hill,
Tony Beets' operation

has been shut down
for 24 hours.

And he's pushing his team
to get back to sluicing

Eighty Pup pay dirt
in record time.

Ah, just getting her ready
and prepped, so we can
weld the new punch plate in.

[Paul] Tony loses $40,000
each day they're down.

And wants them
running again by night shift.

[Tony speaking]

You mean the pipe layer?

Okay.

Yup.

[Carr] I'll go grab
the pipe layer,
you wanna pull this out?

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] That and the one
below it.

[Paul] Unlike the crane,
the pipe layer can pick up
and place materials

in a 360 degree circle.

[Carr] So with the pipe
layer, we got a lot
more reach,

and we just spin on the spot.

Just keep grabbing sheets
and throwing them in.

[Mike] A little of that, okay.

[Carr] Make life
a lot easier
and a lot quicker.

Pretty good that we
got it done in two days
instead of four days.

We can all get back to work
and start sluicing again.

[Tony]

Yep, got her finished.

Yeah, quicker than last year.

[Paul] Brandon has reskinned
the trommel two days faster
than last year.

Saving Tony $85,000
and putting the Beets
back on the gold.

[Carr]

Right now, the name of
the game is just
to keep this up,

keep the plant moving.

[Paul] At California Creek,
Fred's team of greenhorns

are in the middle
of their first week
of sluicing.

Keep putting pay through
the sluice and getting gold
out the other end.

[Paul] To keep the operation
running smoothly,

Fred's leading from the front,
digging pay dirt from the cut.

[Fred] You know,
the best part about these
guys isn't their experience,

it's their hunger.

They want to learn,
they want a purpose,

and they want something
in life to grab on to.

When you're trying
to do something like this,
you just gotta understand,

you're starting from scratch.

And people are gonna
make stupid mistakes.

You just gotta
try to learn from them
and move forward as a team.

[loud bang]

What the [beep]?

I thought...

Oh, it's [beep].

[beep] damn it!

Hey guys, I just threw a track
on this frigging excavator.

So, I'm gonna
need some help over here,
right away.

This is a big headache
right here.

[Paul] Fred turns to former
US Army mechanic, JB,
to lead the fix.

We have a tanker's
worst nightmare
in the military,

and that's a thrown track.

Uh, nothing broke.
It just came off.

And the reason
it came off here is,

we got fractured bedrock,
heavy bedrock.

And if you're on it
at an angle
and you slide down,

and it can grab the track.

And then that's exactly
what happened,
it threw a track.

The chain on a bicycle,
best way to describe it.

The tension is off
so now it's just a matter

of stretching a chain
over the sprocket.

Expect this chain weighs much,
much more than a bicycle chain
that's the problem.

May have to get Khara
down here in
the other excavator.

-[Fred] Yeah, with the 220?
- Stretch it out.

[JB] How's she gonna get by?

[Fred] Get her to come
down the back side--

She's gonna have to
come around the back.

Hey guys, we're gonna
have to shut the plant down.
Khara.

[Paul] Khara's feeding
the plant with the only
other excavator.

Fred has no choice
but to shut down until
she can get the track back on.

[Fred] Okay, you're gonna
have to go through that water.

Well, freaking dandy.
[sighs in exasperation]

[Khara] We are so behind
right now.

It'd nice if I could to work
and just do my job.

All right, I feel like
there's too many chefs
in this kitchen,

I've got some work to do, um.

Sorry.
Uh, I take
full responsibility.

Tracks pop off, plants go down
all this [beep] happens,

you just let it
roll off your back
and keep moving.

But right now
we're starting to get
a little bit frustrated.

That plant
needs to be running.

How deep is that right there?

[Khara] Whoa.
This is gonna be fun.

[Khara] This is gonna be fun.

[Paul] Fred's 250 excavator,
used for digging pay dirt,
has slipped off its tracks.

Causing his whole operation
to grind to a halt.

But his wife, Khara,
is coming to the rescue.

[Khara] That was not expected.
There we go.

[JB] Are you okay?

I was like,
I better put my thing down,

cause I feel like it's about
to drop off a ledge,
and then.

[Fred] Get it.
All right,
now hoop it on it's tooth.

[JB] Curl up, little bit.

All right,
let's get out of her way.

-[Klint] I think we're
gonna be good.
-[Fred] Don't jinx it, man.

[Paul] The team
needs to get the track
on to one more roller.

[Klint] Come on, you [beep].
[beep].

-[Klint] There it is,
there it is.
- Watch out, Clint.

-[Klint] That looks--
-[JB] Whoa, bud!

I knew that was gonna happen.

Chains and tow ropes
under pressure will snap.
Which is why we got these.

And reflexes, I guess.

[JB] We're close as hell,
now, man.

[Stuart] Maybe we should
be able to do it with
just the bucket, now.

It's sort of a weird,
fun aspect to playing
with big toys

and solving problems
with them.

Even though it sucks
to be losing money
while we're not working.

-[Klint] We're [beep] on.
-[JB] All right.

-[Khara] Are we on?
-[JB] Oh, yeah.

[JB] Bam!

[JB] All right. Bam.
We got it, we got it.

- Think we're set?
-[Klint] [beep] yeah.

[Khara] Heck yeah,
let's do this.

-[Klint] Let's find some gold!
-[JB] All right.

I'm gonna
have to jump up there

and run as
many buckets as possible,
as quick as possible,

without jamming stuff up.

[Fred] You ready to roll?

[JB] Get this thing
back up and running.

[engine revving]

[Fred] You know,
it's great to have
the wash plant up and running.

It's really good to be putting
pay dirt through
and getting gold out.

Next time you see us,
we're gonna have a pan
full of gold.

[Clayton] Just help us
line it up, huh?

-[Freddy] Get her on there,
get her tacked on.
- Yeah, perfect.

[Paul] Next door,
on California Creek,

Freddy and Juan
are two days in
to an overhaul

of the Clayton brothers'
homemade wash plant.

It's a bigger gap
than I thought.

Brennan, uh... Brandon.

Damn it,
I keep calling you [beep]
wrong name, you know.

- Are we friends
or are we not friends?
- Friends. Yeah.

[Freddy] The V-sh**t's built,
we're gonna back Juan's truck
up over by the plant.

And then I'll back up
the V-sh**t, take it in,

and we'll start
getting it in place.

-[Juan] Are we clear
on your side?
-[Clayton] Yeah, we're good.

Don't [beep] my safe up, Juan.

Nah,
I won't this time, Freddy.

[Freddy laughing]

[Juan] The truth is,
if this trommel isn't running,

they're not catching gold
in the sluice.

If they're not catching gold
in the sluice,
they're not making money.

So, we gotta get this done
as quick as possible,
get them back up and running.

[Juan] Hey, watch yourself.

We're gonna get this put in
and weld it up.

Words can't really describe
how cool it is

working with the great guys
that I'm here with.

And learning more
from talking to them
and just being around them.

Little to no time,
we'll be flying through dirt,
getting gold.

And everyone
will be happier than hell.

We're hoping to do 500 ounces
this season.

And that's a big number
in gold.

[Juan] Perfect.
Let's move it in there.
What'd you think?

[Brady] You bet ya.

It's a good thing
I'm so petite.

Little more.
Perfect.

It's not the tightest spot
I've ever been in,
but it's tight.

- Looking sexy.
-[Juan] Huh?

Looking sexy.

-[Juan] Way sexier, huh?
- Yeah

I feel like a piece of meat
at times.

A sexy piece of meat,
though, huh?

[Paul] Next up,
the new riffles.

[Clayton] We still have a lot
of work to do
in our sluice box.

There's some
worrying going on,

we're not making
any money right now.

Bills don't go on pause.

So,
definitely worrying about it,
for sure.

So these are,
uh, kind of,
like a Hungarian riffle.

We, uh, spaced them
out a bit more,
made them a bit longer.

I think they'll be
very efficient,
very easy to clean.

And just, uh,
it'll help paint
our boxes yellow.

[Freddy] Oh, go this way.

There ya go.

So we got our nugget riffles
up top that are gonna
catch most of your gold.

But they're gonna
let a lot of that fine stuff
go by.

So these guys,
these lighter riffles,

these are good
at catching that fine gold.

You've got
a different height to it.

So we're gonna
put one section,
just one in across here.

There you go.

- Quick and easy.
-[Freddy] Yep.

Well, let's run her
for eight hours
and see what it does.

[Juan] Yeah,
and let's get this Dirt Devil
fired up, huh?

Yeah, let's do it.

- Fire up the pump, man.
-[Clayton] I'm going.

[engine revving]

[Freddy] Look at how
much better
that water is.

We don't have those
rooster tails anymore.

[Paul] The next eight hours
will prove whether Freddy
and Juan's fixes have worked.

And reveal if the Claytons
are on track
for a record season.

Yeah,
I'm stoked right now, man.

The first couple of buckets
are going through the trommel.

We're gonna
head over to the box
and see what it looks like.

But, it's looking good so far.

Perfect, Juano.

I can feel it. It's perfect.

Well look how even
the boxes are running, guys.

-[Clayton] Yeah.
-[Brady] Very nice.

I mean, it's pretty even
all the way across.

Well,
just keep running it, okay?

[Clayton] All right.

Well, I'll tell you what,
it's been a long few days.

And Juan and myself
are both flat tired.

But at the same time,
watching that thing run.

It's running even,
it's running good,
the riffles look great.

So, we'll find out.
Cause the scale doesn't lie.

All right, guys.

- I think it's time to christen
the plant
-[JB] All right.

Do we even
have a name for her yet?

It's gotta mean a lot,
you know.

It's gotta have
something to do with,

overcoming adversity.

Uh, what's a synonym
for redemption?

[Khara] Uh, vindication.

- Vindication sounds good.
-[JB] The Vindicator.

[mimicking Terminator]
The Vindicator.

I dub thee The MM Vindication.

[group cheering]

[Fred] Yeah.

Vindicate my checkbook.

[Khara] Yay!

Now get back to work.

[Paul] At California Creek,

Brandon and Brady
are eager to see if Freddy

and Juan's fixes
will improve their gold take.

[Freddy] Shut her down,
that ought to be enough.

Well, sh**t, guys.

- Let's lance the sluices up.
-[Clayton] Okay.

Holy [beep].

All down through here.

So these are working.
You can see the change, right?

So it caught most of it
at the first part
of the change.

You seeing gold
over there too?

Yeah, you bet ya.

Straight through here.
Even in this one.

Every box has gold now.

[Freddy] Oh,
that's a mountain.

- That looks good, huh?
- That's [beep].

Delicious, huh?

[Brady] Are we eating
good tonight, or steak
or what?

[Juan] We're eating
steak tonight.

- But he's buying.
-[Clayton] Me again?

[Juan] Again?

I can't really wipe a smile
off my face, right now.

Juano.

Bueno, good job.

Well, Like Juan
and myself always say,

you see it in the box
but the scale does lie.
Right?

- Let's clean it up.
- See what we got?

[Juan and Freddy] Yep.

-[Freddy] Microwave their one.
-[Juan] Let me get it going,
Freddy.

[Paul] The first test run
produced just 4.1 ounces
of gold.

Well, you guys do the honor,
weigh your gold.

[Clayton] Brady,
give her a go. I'll count.

[Juan] It's all you, Brady.

[Juan] Come on, Brady.
Pour it just right.

[Clayton] Come on.

Two, three, four--

[Freddy] Just passed
the old one.

-[Clayton]...five--
-[Brady] There ya go.

...six, 6.73.

[Freddy] 6.73 ounces.

[Juan] [beep] right on.

-[Freddy] That's good, guys.
- That's very good.

[Juan] That's awesome.

[Clayton] That's almost
an ounce an hour.

[Paul] That's $12,000
worth of gold
for an eight hour run.

Altogether, you know,
we're from 4.10 to 6.73.

So, that's 65% total increase.

Those numbers are huge for us.

That helps us
and the family
just catching up on bills.

And, uh--

[Freddy] Making payroll,
buy food, fuel, parts.

- Dozers aren't cheap.
-[Juan] No. Hell no, hell no.

[Juan] I'm excited
for you guys.

[Paul] Over the course
of the season

the changes could get them
$250,000 more in gold.

And closer to their 500 ounce
season goal.

Yeah, I can't
thank you guys enough.
I really appreciate it.

-[Juan] No problem.
-[Freddy] You guys are great.

Love working with you guys.

Having you guys
out here was [beep]...

[Brady] Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

We just can't
thank you guys enough, really.

We have
a Freddy Dodge signature
sluice box.

I'm gonna take this
before you drive away with it.

- We're not keeping that?
- No.

[Juan] Oh, [beep].
Well, let's get out of here.

Okay.
Thanks, guys.

- Take care, guys.
-[Brady] See ya.

These guys really deserve it.
This family deserves it.

Their family's gone through
some tough times financially.

So, us coming in here
and really helping them out,

that's more money
in their pocket.

Freddy and Juan's work
they just did,
is absolutely amazing.

By the end of the season,
we're gonna have about


That's huge for us.

[Tony]

[Kevin] Hey, yep.

Oh, you [beep].

That's a [beep] bull moose.

[Paul] At Paradise Hill,
it's time to find out

just how well
the Eighty Pup cut
is paying out.

[Mike] Yeah,
basically two days.

You know, all these little,
like, two days here,

one day there,
half a day here.

Those have been
adding up, hey?

Especially if we have to
keep ripping it all.

But we did manage
to get some gold again,
didn't we.

[Tony] Yeah, a little bit.

[Paul] To hit his 4,500 ounce
season goal,

Tony needs 237 ounces a week.

[Minnie] 160, 70,



[Paul] Worth $320,000.

But over 60 ounces short
of his weekly target.

[Mike] Mmm.

You dug all those holes up.

You're always coming back
to your next best hole.

Anyways.

[Mike] I guess someone
around here has to.

I thought I was an accident?

[Minnie] Bye, guys.

[Monica] I'm carrying out
the most precious cargo.

So then the gold weight
wasn't too too bad.

Because you did lose 48 hours.

But still, it would be nice
if it was a little bit better.

Because it's like--

...it covers
the cost right now,
that's about it.

[Stuart] Did it light?

[JB] It wants to.

How many Green Berets
does it take to start a fire?

[Paul] After 11 weeks
of blood, sweat,
and sacrifice,

Fred Lewis gathers
his rookie crew

for their first official
gold weigh of this season.

[Fred] Ya know,
it's been a pretty tough week.

I, kind of,
look back at this week
as really being a bad week.

But we've overcome a lot.

Breakdowns,
and the wash plant going down,
and [beep] after [beep],

and we're still
pulling gold in.

The hard work we put in
and the hard work
we're gonna put in,

is for this gold
that we're about to see.

And I know Stuart and Khara,
you guys... I don't know what
we even wanna call it.

We dragged ourselves
through last season.

But, I think that's behind us.

-[Stuart] It is.
- I think we've seen gold
on this ground.

And the numbers weren't high,
has far as the yardage
we ran last week.

- But we ran.
-[Khara] We did.

We ran.
Compared to last season,
we ran a lot.

And we're gonna
keep running
until the pay is gone.

I don't feel like we're
greenhorns anymore.
I feel like we're mining.

And I feel like we're
overcoming obstacles
every freaking day.

[Khara] Oh, yeah.

- I just wanna
go see how much it is.
-[Khara] Yeah, let's do it.

-[Stuart] It's wet.
- I know I'm gonna
need a drink after.

[Khara] I'm ready to see this.

All right, guys.
We got six ounces last season.

That's it.
We worked out asses off
for six ounces.

- And I'm really hoping
this is 5.5 ounces or higher.
-[Stuart] Okay.

- Okay.
-[Fred] Otherwise,
we're losing money.

- Okay.
-[Stuart] Great.

- Are you guys ready?
-[Klint] Oh, hell yeah.

Well, I'm nervous.

[Fred] All right, one,

two,

three,

four,

five--

[Khara] Ohhh!

-...six,--
-[Stuart] Come on, baby.

-[Khara] Keep going.
-[Stuart] Keep going.

- Seven.
-...seven,

Oh, come on. Keep going.

[group cheering]

[Stuart] That's awesome.

[Fred] 8.4 ounces.

[Paul] Worth $15,000,

And Fred's first
significant haul
as a mine boss.

[Fred] Holy, crap.
I think my pulse just went up
like a million.

What we just did,
was we put a
relatively crappy week,

and turned it into
more than last season.

In one week.

[Khara] We made money
this week.

[Fred] I don't even
have to say anything else,
I mean...

-[Stuart] I'll take it.
-[Khara] I'm so excited.

So this is the beginning
of our future,
cheers everybody.