13x14 - Who's the Boss

[bunniefuu]

[Parker] So, right now...

Mike and Phil,

they've got quite
the stockpile going already

and there's a ton more,

and so, just figured I should
pan it real quick and...

Hopefully, find some gold.

[narrator] 28-year-old,
Parker Schnabel,

is on the brink of a new era.

In just seven days,

he'll start running paydirt
at his new operation

in Alaska.

In new ground like this,
that we don't know,

I hate building, like,
a massive stockpile.

And we don't have
a wash plant.

And we're kinda stuck
to running it all

if we don't have
a plant here yet.

There's three place.

That's probably like
five milligrams.

There's gold in it.

And...

So, we'll sluice it all.
See what happens.

[Mitch] We're gonna
move Slucifer.

Parker wants
a smooth transition.

Have some ditches in

and have that
wash plant pad ready,

so that hopefully,
we can get that drug over.

You look at all this ground.
Everything's gotta be
done this year.

And whatever we strip
and don't sluice,

all that is--

- [Tyson] Waste of money.
- Waste of money.

[narrator] At Parker's
Klondike operation,

his crew has mined out nearly
half of his 90-acre
airstrip claim.

Recovering nearly


worth over
seven million dollars.

After a back-breaking
first half of the season,

foreman Mitch Blaschke,
needs a break.

I'm leaving to head home
to see my wife, so...

- [Chris laughs]
- [Mitch] You guys
are gonna be busy.

- [all laughing]
- Oh, yeah.

Talk about perfect timing.
Yeah? Jeez.

Have fun.
Try not to think of us.

- [all laughing]
- Yeah.

I promised my wife,

I was gonna be home
for our anniversary

and that's what I'm gonna do.

This job wants to consume you.

We got two wash plants running.

And by the time
my day is done,

very rarely do I get
to make a phone call

and my daughter
is still awake.

So, it's going to leave
a lot on Tyson's plate.

You know, hopefully,
when I get back,

things look good.

[narrator] With Parker
and Tyler in Alaska

setting up a new mine site...

We've got, like, a week before
this leased washplant
shows up.

Okay. That's good to know.

[narrator] And Mitch
away from the Yukon,

it's up to stand-in mine boss,
Tyson Lee,

to run
the under-staffed operation.

[Tyson] You know,
in the next 36 hours,

Slucifer is gonna be
looking to be moved.

And right now,
the pad's on its way,
but it's not ready.

There's a lot to do

and not much time to do it in.

And I'm just running around
like a chicken with my
head cut off.

[narrator] Tyson's plan
for the week,

continue sluicing the bare cut
with Big Red and Slucifer

side-by-side.

While 800 feet south east

at a new cut,

build a ramp and a 40-foot
high washplant pad.

Once complete,

drag Slucifer to its new home.

Ready to start sluicing
the new 18-acre cut.

It's a lot to keep eyes on
and to try and spend time
in equipment.

We're really
short-staffed and...

It's just bad timing
for everyone to leave, really.

But Doumitt is here and I have
some good eyes around
the washplant.

We'll do our best to keep
things running here.

They pulled me
out of the gold room
for a little bit to help out.

I really don't mind.
I just hope I can...

keep up.

We got a pile of dirt
we gotta go through,

so everybody that can
run equipment,

we're doing it.

So, we need a ramp
to drag Slucifer up.

Plus, we need a pad
for the super stacker
to sit on.

There's a lot of moving parts
right now, a lot of things
have to go right.

[narrator] Tyson's first call
as a mine boss,

make his first hires.

Two of his old bosses,

Mike Tupper
and Spencer Youngson.

[Tyson] This week,
we've got a lot going on,
might have to move Slucifer.

Also, we have to build
a plant pad.

There's just so much
on the list.

And then, on top of that,
we have to keep
two washplants going.

- Oh, why are you yelling?
Why are you yelling?
- [Tyson chuckles]

You guy are really good
operators, really experienced.

But you've never mined before,

so if you have any questions,
feel free to ask me.

You really think we're gonna
get all of this done
in a week?

[Tyson] Depends on how many
hours you guys work.

- Okay, here we go.
Let's do this.
- [Tyson chuckles]

- Thanks, guys.
- Thanks.

Right now, pretty much
everyone's focus

is on getting sluice
for this pad build.

It will be a changed world
by the time Mitch gets back.

I owned a heavy haul lowbed
business that
I just recently sold

and conveniently,
had this summer off.

And got a phone call
from Tyson.

[Tupper] I have an excavating
and trucking business.

I have 20 employees at home.

You know, Tupper used to be
my boss and Spencer

used to be Tupper's
right-hand man.

So, that's why I called them
up and got them up here

'cause they're both
really good operators.

[Tupper] I think when Tyson
was 13,

his mum phoned me and said
that her son wanted to work.

And I was like,
"We start at 7:00 am

and you're gonna be
a laborer."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All good.
Wanted to come out.

And you know what?

He's just one of those
kids that I was like,
"Wow, this kid's got drive."

[Spencer] I feel like I'm
returning a favor to him

and paying him back
right now for riding him

and being hard on him
as a kid.

Gotta say,
he's come a long way.

From a 13-year-old
riding his bike to work

to operating a mine

in the middle
of the Yukon wilderness

pretty much by himself.

It's pretty cool.

[Tyson on radio] It's done.
It just needs to be
leveled up.

[narrator] With the help
of Tupper and Spencer,

the 40-foot high pad
is nearly complete.

So, right now, we're standing
on Slucifer's new home.

Was a big day today.

We have another
big one tomorrow.

You know, it's been a
pretty tough start
to the mining season.

We gotta get to 500 ounces to
help pay off that family debt.

We're sluicing our way
down the creek.

We're pay-as-we go mining.

And we're using the gold
that we get to get us there.

Ah, it's been a struggle
to find a really good,
reliable pay.

But we're making
our way there.

[narrator] 23-year-old
mine boss, Brandon Clayton.

20-year-old brother, Brady.

And 16-year-old
sister, Janae...

[bleep]

[narrator] Are mining hotspots
down California creek

on a pay as you go mission

to reach Golden Acres
and life changing gold.

All right, buddy, you're full
of gold, take that up
to the plant.

Today, I am hauling
pay from the S-Bend.

We're almost through it.

So, our gold weigh should be
coming up here pretty soon.

I'm hoping to crack that one,

so we can get some money.

[narrator] With the S-Bend Cut
almost out of pay,

Brandon needs to find
their next honey hole.

Looks pretty good.
Like, the rocks look similar
to what we've been

hauling down there from
the two ounce of hundred.

- Yeah, that was good ground
back there.
- [Brandon] Yeah.

So, hopefully,
this is the same, eh?

[Brandon] This looks like
we probably have about


so that would be...

- Pushing 50 ounces,
we're hoping, eh?
- [Brandon] Yeah.

That would be awesome.
That's what we need.

And we just need to name it.

Well, I don't know,
what do you think?

I don't know, it's pretty
narrow and [bleep] tight here,

so what's narrow and tight?

- [Brady] A gauntlet?
- Sure.

- [Brady] You wanna
name it The Gauntlet?
- Yeah, I like that. Yeah.

- [Brady] Yeah?
- That's good.

- The Gauntlet Cut.
- [Brady] Yeah.

- Okay, beautiful.
- [Brady] Right on.

Well, you wanna get that hoe
down here and we'll
start stripping?

- [Brady] Yeah, sounds good.
- Okay.

[narrator] As operator
Warren Binnie

loads the last
of the stockpiled
S-Bend dirt...

Yo, the job isn't done
when we're tired

the job is done
when it's done.

[narrator] Brady races to
strip the Gauntlet Cut
down to pay.

As of right now,
we're throwing our last
[bleep] pennies into this cut

so we need everything
we can get.

We need it to pay off
or we're going home.

Yeah, it's basically,
make or break
for our season now.

I'm hitting ice.

Permafrost. This [bleep]
ground is rock solid.

I'm sliding down
this hill right now.

Trying to climb
this slope here.

It's like,
moose on ice skates.

[bleep] I can't rip [bleep]

I need teeth, man.

[narrator] This slip and slide
river bank

and the worn out
excavator bucket

are stopping Brady
from digging into

the frozen
concrete-like ground.

[Brady] I can't even
get to pay.

All we're doing is wearing off
the [bleep]

It's actually pissing me off.

[Brandon] Wait. So, what's up?

I got about a foot
to two feet deep

and I hit permafrost
right away.

- I can't dig anymore.
- Right.

[Brady] These teeth
got wore down,

do some maintenance
on this bucket here.

I got Brady working on putting
new teeth on it.

The knobs are really worn out.

It's important to have
those tiger teeth on

to dig in to that
hard permafrost.

So, once I get these built up,
we'll slop those teeth on

and we'll be off to the races.

So, it's on now.
We just got to put the pin in.

[hammering]

[cell phone ringing]

Hello.

Oh, what's that?

Ah [bleep] Really?

Yeah, yeah. We'll get
on the road as soon as we can.

We'll just tell Warren we're
leaving and give him a plan.

Okay. Yeah. See you soon. Bye.

Grandma, unexpectedly,
is pretty sick, so...

Brady, Janae and I
are gonna have to go home.

And, you know, see her.
Spend some time
with some family.

And we're gonna have to let
Warren run things around here.

So, I got a call from my dad.
We gotta go home.

My grandma is not
doing very well.

- So... Yeah.
- Sorry to hear it, man.

I don't know how long
we're gonna be gone.

So, just strip
the Gauntlet Cut

and then, start hauling
pay again.

So, when we come back
there's a lot of pay here
and we can run.

We'll be in touch.

- [Warren] All righty.
- Okay, Warren.

- Awesome. I'll see you later.
- Sounds good. Will see ya.

My best wishes
goes to the Clayton family.

I'm thinking about them.

And hopefully,
everything's okay.

I just think the Claytons
are the most amazing family.

[Brandon] Brady. Janae.

I just got a call from dad.
We're gonna have to go home.

Grandma's not doing
very good in the hospital.

- So...
- [Janae] No way.

Let's go.

So, in that Gauntlet Cut,
we're hoping for about
five feet of pay underneath.

So, with the guys going,
I've a pretty busy day.

[narrator] Warren has to dig
the pay in an excavator.

Haul it almost half a mile
in a rock truck.

Build a paypile
at the washplant.

And repeat the process
over and over.

[Warren] The Gauntlet Cut
is about 500 meters long.

It's at the mouth
of Golden Acres.

It's one step before.

[narrator] The Gauntlet Cut
is the last step

in the Clayton's pursuit

of their prized Golden Acres.

If Warren can run
the mine solo,

he could keep the family
season on track.

You know what,
doing everything
on your own is harder,

but we've been averaging
in this area about an ounce
per 100 yard.

So, if I can pull


then... Yo, that will be
about 6 ounces.

So, if I can keep that
consistency up everyday,

we'll have a big pile of pay
ready for Brandon
when he gets back.

[narrator] Over halfway
through the season,

king of the Klondike,
Tony Beets,

has just over 2,000 ounces
of gold.

[narrator] Last week,
he mined 472 ounces.

His biggest haul this season.

Now, the pressure
is on to keep that level
of gold production up.

[narrator] Tony is already
mining two of the deepest cuts
he's ever opened.

To bring in even more gold,

he's farmed out land
to new tenants.

[narrator] The Winchester crew
are mining the Hunker Cut.

With a skeleton crew of three.

For a small group,
I think we're...

you know,
we're holding our own.

I think, generally, we've been
working pretty well together.

[narrator] Construction worker
and mine boss, Jason Fraser,

is hoping to strike it rich.

[John] This is our
first season in Dawson

and we're gonna strive to do
the best we can.

[narrator] Alongside retired
business owner,
John Van Thuyl.

[narrator] And ex-logger,
Butch Bouchard.

[narrator] The Cursed Cut's
reputation is legendary

after a series
of mining failures.

[woman] What just happened?

[man on radio]

[narrator] The ground
has been untouched

since the Beets family
left it last season.

Till now.

They call it the Cursed Cut.
I don't believe in curses.

[narrator] The Winchester crew
only have one excavator
to move dirt.

So, their double-barreled
washplant is shut down

each time their stockpiled pay
runs out.

[Butch]

[narrator] Without
a rock truck,

Butch has to dig the pay.

Drive it one-three bucket
at a time

a 1,000 feet to the washplant

and stockpile it.

[narrator] One rock truck
can haul 30 tons of pay
per trip.

Butch will have to do
ten journeys back and forth

to stockpile the same amount.

[Jason] Yeah, it sucks
not having a rock truck.

We're on a limited
number of days here

and if we lose a day or two

because we don't have
a piece of equipment,

that's a day or two we're
not getting on the back end.

[Butch]

[thudding]

[narrator] The missing
grease nipple,

means hydraulic fluid
has leaked

from the track
tensioning cylinder.

Causing a drop in pressure

loosening the cylinder piston
and idler wheel,

allowing the track
to fall off.

[track falling sound]

[narrator] The Winchester crew
must fit a new valve,

lift the track back on

and refill the hydraulic fluid

until the track reaches
operational tension.

[grunts]

We sure were...
we're just [bleep]
lucky enough to have this.

This running around
is starting to cost us a lot
of [bleep] time and [bleep]

We gotta come up
with a better way.

[Butch]

[Jason] That one's
a little wore.

[Butch]

Little more straight.

[chains and metal clanging]

There she goes.

[bleep] That's it.

- [Butch]
- Right on.

[exclaims] Woo-hoo!

[narrator] The Winchester
crew's only dirt mover

is back on track.

But valuable sluicing time
is lost.

[Jason] I think...
Yeah, I'm willing to know
when enough is enough.

The only solution we got
is to get our hands
on a truck.

[knocks]

[Jason] Coming up.

[Minnie] Hi.

[Jason] How's it going?

I'll be blunt.
I want the 35D out there.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The problem is,

we tracked all that up
with the hoe...

- [Tony] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Now, we gotta get wheels.

[Jason] Yeah.

That's what we need to do now.

[Minnie] Your season
is so short.

You have to get it out,
you have to get on there.

That's soon enough.

- Super. Minnie.
- [Minnie] Thank you.

- Okay, buddy.
- [Minnie] Off you go.

Run for it. Run fast.

Now, we're gonna have
the ability to move.

In 20 minutes,

what would take us an hour
or two to track with a hoe.

All that equates to,
you know, ultimately,

more gold in the box.

[Tyson] You know,
when Mitch gets back
and Slucifer will be running,

next cut will be pretty much
ready to go.

[narrator] Stand-in mine boss,
Tyson Lee,

has friend in Greenhorn
miner, Spencer Youngson,

running bare cut pay
through Big Red.

[Spencer] Tyson has a big
laundry list of stuff to do

and we're all feverishly
trying to do it.

[narrator] Now, Tyson
has shut down Slucifer

to move it to a new cut.

[Tyson] Then, we're gonna
drag Slucifer up here.

The super stacker, the feeder.

And hopefully,
by the end of the day,

Slucifer is sitting here
and will just be firing up.

[narrator] With Parker,
Tyler and Mitch gone,

he's brought in old boss,
Mike, to help.

[Tupper] I wiped your a*s
for how many years?

- Now, you can wipe mine.
- [both chuckle]

- [Tupper] How heavy
is this thing?
- [both grunting]

Old man noises.

[Tupper] The grunting, yes.
The grunting comes with age.

- [Tyson chuckles]
- Don't you worry.

- [Tyson] You're my eyes.
- [Tupper] Let's do this.

It's the moment of truth now.

Okay, you got her.

Coming away, two inches.

Try and go up a little bit.

Yeah.

Keep spinning like that.

Yeah, just re-position.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Bingo! Okay.

Here we go. Atta boy.

[Tyson] We got Slucifer
out of the cut,

but it's the beginning
of the fight.

We have to drag it up
that massive hill we built.

Although, we're in the 750,

still not gonna be a breeze.

[narrator] Dragging Slucifer
on to the 40-foot pad

is the most dangerous part
of the move for Tyson
and Tupper.

[Tupper] 90,000 pounds,
plus resistance

of dragging it
through the dirt.

Keep going, keep going.

The 750 is just getting
dropped back down
towards it

and that's how steep
this ramp is.

So, just having to work it.

Inch-by-inch get it up here.

[Tupper] Back of your tracks
are almost in the pad.

Got about six inches
off the front.

Beautiful.

So, with Slucifer
up on the pad,

but now's the time
we're up to spin it.

So, the tailings can vary
space in the other way.

[Tupper] Watch that
back corner. Yup. Here we go.

She's airborne.

Looking good.

Hey!

Stop. Stop.

Bingo. That will work.

[triumphant instrumental
music playing]

[narrator] Tyson and Tupper
swing in the super stacker.

Which will feed the plant
paydirt from the new cut

when Slucifer is ready.

You know, this
is a combination
of a lot of work

that's gone on
in the past week here.

And we're about
to fire Slucifer up.

I'm gonna open
this valve here.

Looking pretty good.

I'm gonna go ahead
and fire up the shaker deck.

[machine shutting down]

Whoa!

What the [bleep]

The super stacker
is not working.

Damn it!

[Tyson] There's no power
on the screen here.

[whistles]

[narrator] Stand-in
mine boss, Tyson,

has successfully moved
Slucifer to a new cut.

But the super stacker conveyor
has lost power.

And to make matters worse,

his boss, Mitch,
has returned early

from a family vacation.

What's happening, guys?

[Tyson] It's not
up and running.

The generator shut down.

Just got fired up here
and the washplant was running

and all of a sudden,
everything shut down.

- And our generator
here is not running.
- No power on the display here.

[Mitch] You want to grab
your voltmeter there

- Yeah.
- and see what we got
on the battery?

- I'll keep shaping that.
- Okay, sounds good.

[Mitch] Strangely, we have
no power at all to that panel.

Okay. I think I found
the problem.

Look at that, man. It's like,
was never hardly crimped.

[man] Hmm.

[narrator] A loose
wire has detached
from the alternator

cutting power
to the super stacker.

[Mitch] Unless, just been
the heat shrink
was holding it.

We just need to put it back
in there and crimp it.

[man] That will be
a wild fix, eh?

[Mitch] Yeah,
sometimes, you're lucky
and it's an easy fix.

Just gently, yeah. Okay.

[Mitch] You happy
with that crimp?

[man] Oh, happier than...

- what it was before.
- [Mitch] What it was before.

Pretty crazy you got just,

you know, couple of dollars
fitting there

that's bringing the whole
operation to a standstill.

But...

[man] Good thing
Parker is in Alaska.

Hey, you know what?

If this is all
of our problems,
I'll be very happy.

Come on, baby.

[engine starts]

Oh, yeah! There we go.

That looks good.

Yeah, definitely. Thanks, man.

- And welcome home.
- [Mitch chuckling] Yeah,
feels good to be back.

It's awesome to see
that the guys were able to

get Slucifer here
on the new washplant pad.

But that's a lot of work there
if our little Tyson
got none on this.

You know, I had a great time
being home

and getting to spend time
with my family.

But you know,
when it comes to work,

man, I love what I do up here.

Uh, you know,

mining is one of those things
that it just gets
in your blood.

Hello.

[Brandon]

Hey, Brandon. Good, man.
How are you, buddy?

[narrator] For four days,

operator Warren Binnie

has run the Clayton family
mines solo

while they visit
their sick grandma.

[Brandon]

Hey, I'm so sorry
to hear that guys.

Ah, man, my best prayers
are going out to your family
and everyone there.

[Brandon]

You know, there will be some
gold for you guys to take in
when you get back, so...

[Brandon]

Okay. Thanks, guys.

[narrator] Warren's stockpile
of 2,500 yards of paydirt

is ready to sluice.

It's time to fire up
dirt devil

and start getting some gold.

So, I'm ready to fire up
the gen.

[engine starts]

Oh, what the [bleep]
She's just logging the motor,

so there's gotta be
a resistance there.

[narrator] The conveyor
is jammed.

[Warren] There's a rock
in the tail pulley, so...

I'm gonna have to reverse
the belt to get this out.

Use the power of the mirror
to help me out here.

[bleep]

While, I'm gonna
switch the lines
on the hydraulic motor

and she'll put
the conveyor in reverse

and hopefully,
pop that rock out.

Oh, she's good.

[engine starts]

[engine shuts down]

[Warren] Yeah, she came out.

[bleep] That's awesome.

This little [bleep]
is not gonna stop us
from reaching our 500 ounces.

No [bleep] way.

[engine starts]

[narrator] Blockage cleared,
Warren is back in business.

I got her running.

She's running smooth.

I just gotta jump in the motor
and see the thousand
yard today.

[water splashing]

[Warren] It feels awesome.

I'm hoping to have
all this material ran

by the time Brandon
and Brady get back.

I think I've done
that pretty well.

I was able to pull
quite a bit of pay.

Um, I had some problems arise,

I was able to resolve 'em
on my own.

And I didn't bring
the [bleep] down.

So, I think we're sitting
pretty good.

[Tony]

[narrator] Tony has leased
his tenants,

the Winchester crew,
a rock truck.

[Jason] This will give us
the ability to haul
our pay up.

25 yards a load, I guess.

We can get moving more pay now
and start washing more dirt.

And then, churn
more gold in the box.

[narrator] The Winchesters'
new rock truck means
they can now run dirt

12 hours a day, non-stop.

[Jason] Now, it just really
becomes that volume game

where it's sluice, sluice
and then sluice some more.

[engine shuts down]

[bleep]

Sand, sand.

What's going on?

[Jason] Ah,
we're packing, John.

So, I pulled those mats and...

How many yardage is this?

Well, 400, about tops.


[bleep] up like this.

This is bull [bleep]

Black sand is packing
these in like cement.

Problem with moving
material faster is that,
it's harder to catch gold.

Either it's gold here
down low in the box.

[narrator] Every 400 yards
of pay run through
the Winchester plant

leaves the riffles clogged up
with black sand.

Stopping the gold
from settling

and allowing it to wash off
the end of the sluice box.

- It sucks to be having
to do cleanups and...
- [John] Yeah.

It knocks your production
right down at this stage
of the game.

You know, we should be
able to run for couple of days

before we gotta
clean these boxes.

- [John] Yeah.
- Now, we're getting,

you know,
matter of hours added.

So, it's just a kick
in the gut.

[John] We gotta
figure something out.

Like, enough is enough.

[narrator] The Winchesters
won't make their 200 ounce
a season target

unless washplant designer,
John, can find a quick fix.

[tires screeching]

[dog barking]

[chuckling] I can
find a chair.

[Tony]

The box is sanding up.

[John] Holy smoke!

And the black sand,
the gold climbs on top.

We're washing it out the end,
we get gold at the end riffle.


and we gotta cleanup.

[narrator] Tony's
suggestion...

replace the expanded
metal riffles

that keep getting blocked up
with black sand

with hydraulic riffles.

These use jets of water
to agitate the concentrate.

Sending the useless
black sand out

while still allowing
the precious gold

to settle in the riffles.

[John] Yeah.

[John] Yeah.

Cut 'em in three
quarter-inch strips.

[John] Yeah.
It won't take long.

[John] Yeah.

People that have done it
for 30-40 years,
give you advice,

you can't say,
"Well, I don't think he knows
what he's talking about."

But we're taking it
and running with it.

[narrator] Following
Tony's design,

John uses three
quarter-inch tubing

and steel plates

to weld the hydraulic
riffle frame together.

Good.

- Awesome. They look good, eh?
- [John] Yeah.

- Yeah.
- We give it some water.

See what the water does.

[engine starts]

[water splashing]

I think we'll put some dirt
in it and see what happens.

Yeah.

[engine starts]

We're gonna get at it.
We're gonna start running
some material through

and we'll go from there.

Two hours from now, we'll know
if they work or they don't.

[narrator] The Winchester crew
run a 100 yards of pay

to see if Tony's idea

has saved their season.

- I'll set the feeder down.
You wanna get the plant?
- Okay.

[engine shuts down]

[John] Looks like
they're working.

- They're working real well.
- [John] They're working
real well.

- Nice riffle action.
- [Jason] Yes.

[John] They'll go and get
caught and go at the bottom.

It gives us more runtime.
More runtime is more gold.

- Ready?
- I like it.

Perfect. Good job, John.

Let's shake the water back up
and wash some more dirt.

[narrator] Tony's fix
has worked.

With these hydraulic riffles,
we'll be able to run


instead of 300-400.

And that means less downtime
for cleanup.

More gold at the end.

And that will be
the best thing for us.

[Brady] Well, hopefully,
it wasn't too hard on him.

I mean, you never know.
It's a lot of work
for one guy.

- [Brandon] Well,
we're about to find out.
- [Brady] Yeah.

[narrator] The Clayton
brothers are back

from an emotional trip home

after their grandma
passed away.

- [Brady] There's pay there
and the plant is running.
- [Brandon] Yeah.

[Brady] Let's see
what he has to say.

Hey, Warren.

[Warren on radio] Sorry, guys.
Really sorry about
your grandma.

[Brandon] That's very much
appreciated, so thank you.

Okay, Warren. The trommel
is running, so that's good.

That's a good sign. Yeah.

How are you making out?

I got the Gauntlet stripped

um, as much as I could.

So, I was able to get


I wanted to have
a whole bunch ran free.

I was hoping to have all this
ran before you got here.

- [chuckles]
- [Brady] I mean, you did good.

You know, it's kinda
like a little retreat
down here, really.

Parker even comes down here
sometimes when he's just
stressed out.

- Just...
- Hang out.

Sit here and take it all in.
You know?

Beautiful.

We need something like this
in the cut.

- But then,
I'd get nothing done.
- [chuckling] Yeah.

[Tupper] We're not allowed
to stop anyway.

Yeah. [chuckles]

Knowing Tyson, eight-years-old
till now, it's just...

He can run...

way more equipment
than I can run.

When he first
showed up at work,

we're all just like,
"Who is this kid?"

We rode him.

- Yeah.
- [Tyson] But now,
it's my turn.

- Payback.
- [Spencer] I know,
it's payback.

[all chuckling]

[Tupper] That's a great name.

- Payback.
- [Tupper] Payback.

- Yeah?
- [Spencer] The Payback Cut,
there you go.

[all laughing]

If it's really
the Payback Cut,

then you guys
are not leaving tomorrow.

You guys are staying
till this cut is done.

- Cheers to that, guys.
- [Chris] Cheers to that,
for sure.

- Cheers.
- Okay, guys.

[Brandon] Warren,
what's going on?

[Warren] What's
going on, guys?

[narrator] It's been
a devastating week

for the Clayton family

after the death
of their grandma.

So, how is the family
doing, guys?

I think we're all pretty,
you know, emotionally
affected by it.

- It was pretty
unexpected. So...
- Yeah.

Janae is actually
staying home,

just to spend time
with family now

and she's not gonna
come back up.

Yeah, it was pretty
tough time,

but we all spent it together.

I have a huge amount
of respect for you guys
and your family,

so I just treated the mine
like it was my own.

That's a lot to do on your own
and you took the challenge.

I mean, look at
the [bleep] jar.

Looks good.

[Brandon] Very much
appreciated, Warren.

Warren, I'll let you
read the numbers.

[narrator] First weigh in
from the Gauntlet Cut...

The Claytons hope that
the closer they get
to Golden Acres,

the greater the gold count.

One, two, eight, nine, ten,









[narrator] Worth over $34,000.

Their best gold weigh yet.

[Warren chuckling] Wasn't
expecting to pull that much

gold out of the ground
in one week,

- but...
- [Brady] That's pretty good.

I think that gold represents
your efforts, for sure.

Yeah.

Well, that would basically
bring our total to almost


- So, it's not--
- Not bad, no.

But we're still
ways out from 500.

Yeah, we gotta
kick some serious a*s, guys.

[Brandon] We had a pretty
decent gold way
from just Warren

working his a*s off.

So, definitely
very much appreciate it.

Brady and I are glad
to be back.

But it's definitely time
to get back to work.

[Tony]

Again.

[narrator] Tony and Minnie
visit the Hunker Cut

to check the Winchester crew's
gold return.

[Jason] What if I said,
we're always waiting on you.

[Tony]

[all chuckling]

[narrator] This week,
Tony leased

the Winchester crew
a rock truck

and solved their
black sand problem

with hydraulic riffles.

They worked very well.

Yeah, every 800
to a 1,000 yards,

we have to do a cleanup.

[Tony]

- There's nothing
wrong with that.

- [Tony]
- That's good.

- [Butch] Yup.
- Makes his mood better.

[Butch]

[narrator] The Winchester
crew's last gold weigh

delivered only
six ounces of gold.

Butch, you wanna do it?

[Butch] Five, ten,











And...

[taps on bottle]



[Jason] Sweet.

[Butch]

[Minnie] That's
pretty good, guys.

[Butch]

[narrator] A fifth of their
season goal

worth $70,000.

That, you know, 200-ounce gold
is still way out there.

[Tony]

We'll get it.
We're working towards it.

[Minnie] I think you guys
are doing okay.

[Tony]

Awesome. Well, thanks
for all your help, eh.

- Chris, what up, man?
- [Chris] Hey!

- Shouting, Mitch.
Welcome back, man.
- Ah, thank you.

[narrator] Short-staffed,

Tyson has been running
Parker's Yukon operation

while foreman, Mitch,
has been visiting home.

- Good time off?
- Oh, yeah.

You know,
it's nice to be back.

But, man, was it great
to be home.

Yeah, I bet.

[Mitch] Spent some time
with my daughter.

It went by really quick.

But it looks like you guys
put in some hours.

Man, you got the plant
moved, too.

- Yeah, man.
- [Chris] You did
a hella job, man.

Thanks, guys. Yeah, it's been
a hell of a week.

I ended up calling a couple
of my buddies up
from Vancouver

that came up
and gave me a hand.

And they definitely
saved the day.

[Mitch] So, Slucifer's moved.

And we got Big Red
still chugging along,

finishing up there
at the Bear Cut.

And I guess... What are we
calling this new one?

Tupper came up with
the Payback Cut 'cause

you know, when I worked
for him over the years

he was pretty hard
on me, so...

- I rode him pretty hard
this time around.
- [Chris laughs]

I like that, the Payback Cut.

Well, I guess the big question
is the Payback Cut gonna pay?

- Has it got some
gold in it, Chris?
- [Chris] Yeah.

Well, it's a lot of it
in there, we can throw it
on the scale and see.

Wanna do the honors?

All due Big Red,
I like that thing, man.

- It is the usher, baby.
Here we go.
- All right. All right.

Bring it.

Ten, 20, 30, 40,







- 180.
- [taps on bottle]



- Yeah.
- All right.

- Well done.
- [Mitch] Nice.

[narrator] Worth
over $320,000.

The Bear Cut keeps delivering.

Well done, T.

[narrator] Now, it's time
to see how Slucifer did.

Running four days
in the new Payback Cut.

- Here we go.
- [Chris] Here we go.

Let's do her.

We got ten, 20,





a 100.

- 110.
- [Mitch] Oh, yeah!

[Tyson] 130, 140.

[taps on bottle]

- [Tyson] 144.4.
- [Mitch chuckles]

Very nice.

[narrator] Worth
over $245,000.

It looks like the old
Payback Cut is actually
paying up quite nicely.

It is. It's working out
really good.

I think, Parker will be happy
with both those numbers.

And you guys are doing great.

Check this out...

So, for the season,
we're at 4,317.25.

And last year,

we were 3,768.

Wow!

So, we're ahead of last year
by roughly 600 ounces.

- That's pretty cool.
- [Chris] Yeah.

You all did nice, man.
I'm stoked. Yeah.

- Looks good.
- [Chris] All right.

You guys jump in your
excavators and dozers

and I'll go back
to cleaning gold.

- And we'll keep
this operation running.
- [all] Yes.

We'll call you next time
we need you out there.

- [all laughing]
- Catch you later.

[Mitch] Later, man. Thanks.

You know, it's so awesome
to get home and hang out
with my wife, my daughter.

But you're always wondering,
you know, how are things
gonna go when you're away?

And everybody did
a great job up here.

I'm really happy
with what I saw.

And a lot of gold, too.
So, great week.

We're in a couple hundred
thousand dollars hole
at the moment.

Makes me nervous.

It'd be kinda stupid
to give up at this point.

There could be just
buckets of gold down there.

[narrator] Later, on this
season of Gold Rush...

[Chris] Get the water!

Golden Acres is gonna be
huge for us.

You broke the cylinder.

Can't do [bleep] all now.

[Tony]

[man] Right now,
it's a yardage game.

But we're gonna fight,
until mother nature
kicks us out.

- [crashing]
- [man] That's burnt!

- You all right?
- [coughs]

This [bleep] ain't for me.

- Let's go.
- We don't have time
for this [bleep]

[Parker] Get the [bleep]
out of here.

Hey! Hey!

[blasts]

Come on!

[water blasts]

Here's the first scoop.
Going in.

Hey, let's make some money.

[Tony]

We have no idea
what's gonna happen.

[crashes]

Well, that's a [bleep] up.

- [man] One, two...
- [woman] 19...



- 240.
- [exclaims]

Cheers to all of you guys.

This is the best cut
we have ever run.

Cheers to everybody's
hard work.

[Dave] Could be
some big changes.

Team Turin's back.

I'm excited.

[claps] Spread some dirt.