13x22 - The Alaska Verdict

[bunniefuu]

[Parker] This Alaska
project is, you know,

important for our future.

Hopefully, we can just
wrap through a plant

and be rich.
It's that simple, right?

[narrator] Just outside
Fairbanks, Alaska,

Parker Schnabel is trying
to dig himself out of a hole.

Over the last five weeks,

he's dropped nearly a quarter
of a million dollars

opening the Wolf Cut,

a piece of virgin ground

he's praying will deliver
a big payday.

[Parker] There's
supposed to be about


and hopefully,
we can do half of it.

[narrator] So far, he hasn't
mined a single ounce.

[Parker] Mining's
always a gamble

but it's really tough when

you have to spend that
amount of money stripping,

and there's no gold
coming in. I'm not happy.

Nobody's happy.

We have a lake
instead of a cut now.

[narrator] To get down
to pay at the Wolf Cut,

Parker's crew have
battled flood...

[bleeping]

[narrator] ...after flood.

[Phill] Oh, she is
pouring out. Wow!

Well, definitely didn't expect
this to [bleep] happen.

It's come up eight inches
in the last 10 minutes.

[Parker] If I'd have known
I was sending you guys

into this mess, I would
have never done it.

[narrator] Now, after
pumping the cut dry,

the team's back
on the pay dirt.

Parker taught me a lot about
how important patience is

in gold mining,
gold prospecting.

I'm really excited to, like,
get into some virgin ground.

It's so much more, like,

rewarding when you're running
at ground

that's never been touched.

[narrator] Trainee mine boss
Tyler Mahoney

clears tailings,

while Parker's
Red Rocket wash plant

is fed with 120 yards
of pay dirt an hour.

[Tyler] We've tried so hard
to get to this point.

It was, like, such
a mountain of effort

and, like, the reward
is so close.

Boys, send it all to the yard.

Scoop dirt, dump dirt.

[Phill] Everything feels good.

We should get to the bottom
of this in no time.

[Parker] It'd be nice
to take this out

at the width to that edge.

And then at some point,
kick out as wide
as that edge is.

You'll get a... You're gonna
double your area, right?

[narrator] Parker decides
to expand the cut,

hoping to bring in
as much gold as possible

before winter hits.

But it comes with a big risk.

[bleep], man.

Could start filling up
with water.

If this filled up, the dozer
would be underwater.

We wouldn't be able
to get the pay.

[Parker] It's definitely
not an ideal situation.

- Um, but that's all part
of the game, right?
- [Mark] Yeah.

[Parker] You know, we're in.

In for a penny,
in for a pound, right?

All right, I'm gonna
go if you're good.

[Mark] I'm gonna
keep going here.

We are gonna keep going today

haulin' pay from
the higher area here.

And uh, try to keep the water
out of our situation.

And kind of the...
the concern, you know,

you just don't know when
it's gonna flood again.

[Parker] The water situation
here is a bit precarious.

We're working with creeks
on both sides of us.

There's probably a good chance

that creek would end up
in your pit.

[narrator] The Wolf Cut
is located in a valley

between two creeks
and an old dredge pond,

making it vulnerable
to flooding.

To protect the pit,
Parker's crew built a trench

around the three-quarter
section to catch any water

and channel it to a sump
where it's pumped away.

[Parker] So it's quite
important that we keep

the water level in the sump
down to the point

where it doesn't breach
into the cut.

The water level
is rising quite quickly.

It's definitely rising.

[narrator] On top
of clearing tailings,

Tyler monitors
the water levels.

Um, I've been feeling
the stress, to be honest.

Like, we're in such
a precarious situation,

so I'm probably
a little bit underqualified.

And I really don't wanna
disappoint Parker.

He's put me in this position,

trusting that I have
the ability to do so.

We just can't
have any [bleep]-ups.

We're so close
to the end of the season.

And the water's still
not going down.

Hey, Parker, um,
the pump's still not gaining.

Should I prime
the pump again?

Sure.

Cheers.

I'm so[bleep] over pumps
and water management.

It's such a pain in the a*s.

[Parker] What the [bleep]?

[bleep]

Water coming in here.
[bleep] out of here.

We've just had
a blowout in the wall.

It's coming out hard and fast.

You know, that could cause
all of this wall to come down.

It's just like a matter
of time before it all goes.

[Parker] That is not good.

So I'm just gonna push
a bunch of mud in there.

Well, I'm gonna try.

We're in quite a precarious
situation right now

and there's a lot
that could go wrong.

Parker's position's not great.

[Parker] We got it.

It's completely stopped now.

[Tyler] That's amazing.

Yeah, I mean, I knew we were
gonna have water problems

but I never would've thought

that it'd be as bad as it is.

You know, I don't know.

I-- We've never
done this before.

This is all new to me, um...

Makes me nervous.

[Brandon] You know,
we definitely had
a very tough season.

Just been a struggle
but we're pushing through it.

We're on the end
of the Gauntlet here.

We got to hit that 500 ounce

come hell or high water,
whatever it takes.

[narrator] Deep
in the Yukon wilderness,

the Clayton brothers

are almost
at the promised land.

[Brady] We got the--
the last of the Gauntlet pays.

We've been working
our asses off to try
to get to Golden Acres.

And we're--
we're finally there.

So I'm happy.

[narrator] But the last
buckets of pay
from the Gauntlet Cut

running through their plant,
they're finally ready to tap

into Golden Acres.

[Warren] Really exciting.
It's the beginning
of something amazing.

We're in it. You know,

we've committed to this plan.

And so, uh,

fingers are crossed

that it works out for us.

[Brady] You know,
Golden Acres is a big area.

And we tested, we know
there's gold here.

We've bet our season on it,

so we just gotta
run all this dirt.

That's all there is to it.

[narrator] Getting
to Golden Acres
hasn't been easy.

Four weeks ago...

[Brandon] Why am I not
going in reverse now?

...the Claytons' only dozer

finally bit the dust.

[Brandon] What the [bleep]?

[man] Sounds like
we're gonna be pulling
the transmission out again.

Oh, my [bleep].

[narrator] Next, Brandon
borrowed a dozer
from Fred Lewis.

[Brandon] We'll try it out

and, uh, we're hoping
for the best.

Oh, [bleep]. What
the [bleep] going on there?

[narrator] But disaster
struck again.

This carrier roller
has flopped.

And I can't run it like that.

Ain't getting 500
at this rate.

[narrator] Finally, after
weeks of stripping down

the pay dirt with
their only excavator,

they're ready to sluice.

But before they do,

operator Warren Binnie
conducts a test run.

[Warren] This haul
is pretty lengthy.

I'm gonna time this trip,
see how long it's gonna take.

All right, sounds good.
I'll meet you up here
when you get here.

[Warren] Your access road,
it gets beat up.

You know, you have
to slow down for a lot of--

a lot of spots and, uh,

kinda leaves the door open
for us to encounter

more problems,
mechanical issues.

Well, if the rock truck
goes down,

I mean, we're [bleep].

Almost back to the plant.

[bleep], that's
a long haul, man.

How long was that?

Fifteen minutes.

We can't keep doing this.

I mean, at the fuel prices
this year...

- Yeah, all right.
- [Warren] All right, buddy.

I don't know what we're
gonna do at the moment.

Hauling this far

is basically stupid
at this point.

Yeah, like, it's not worth it.

Well, [bleep] then,
let's go shut her down

- and try and make a plan.
- [Brady] Yeah.

Yeah, I'll shut the pump off.

[Brady] Yeah, it sucks that
we had to shut Dirt Devil down

so we gotta go back
to the drawing board

and figure out what
the [bleep] we're gonna do.

- [sighs]
- [Brandon] What do you figure?

I don't know.
What do you figure?

I don't know. Should we
[bleep] try and get her
down there somehow?

Like, bring Dirt Devil
to the Golden Acres?

Well, there's no room. Like...

It's gonna be a[bleep] chore
to get it down there.

It's way too big,
we'll be down there with

no income for a week.

Why not-- Why not
get a smaller plant?

Yeah, well, where am I
gonna get a smaller plant?

Well, why don't we
use the wash plant

we originally
started out with?

It's a lot smaller.

Like, you mean the one
at Joerg's?

[Brady] Yeah, like Joerg's.

[Brandon] So instead
of moving a 60-foot trommel,

you wanna move
a 20-foot wash plant?

[Brady] Yep.

Kinda seems
no-brainer, doesn't it?

- [Brady] Yep.
- I just gotta
clear it with Joerg

and see if he wants to do it,
if we can make a deal.

Okay, sounds good.

Okay, get the [bleep]
out of my truck.

- [chuckles] [bleep] you.
- [engine starts]

[narrator] The Clayton's
first wash plant,

Blackjack, is 53 tons lighter
than Dirt Devil

and is owned by their
landlord, Joerg Lotz.

- Hi, Brandon.
- Hi, Joerg.

- Thanks for coming out.
- Yeah.

- How is it going?
- Uh,

pretty tough at the moment,
we're hauling 15 minutes.

So we're burning
a lot of fuel and time.

So we're kinda
getting k*lled and, uh,

I just wondered about
your wash plant, Blackjack,

if it would be rentable.

- It is.
- Well, it's for a price, obviously?

[chuckles]

What would it cost us
to rent though?

[Joerg] Probably,
I guess, it's, um,

$2,000 a week or something.

Two-- Two thousand a week?

Uh, is there--

Honestly, I don't-- can't say
I have any extra cash

to just throw out there.

Is there any way
we could do like a-- a--

percentage or something?

Yeah, we can do this.


Uh, 7%, uh...

Is there any way we could
do, like, four maybe?

[laughs] No, Brandon.

It's just, you know, needs
some welding and stuff.

If you take care of it
and then do repairs as well,

then I could offer you six.

You got a deal, Joerg.

- We got lots of skilled
labor on here...
- [Joerg chuckles]

- ...to do repairing, so.
- Hope you will do
a lot of ounces.

[laughing] Yeah, hope so.

You know, this
is a pretty big project

but I'm pretty confident that
it's gonna save our season.

The price of the wash plant
is gonna offset the fuel

and, uh, you know, time
we save just on the haul.

So it's gonna be huge.

The season's going
pretty good.

Uh, we're near the end now.
We're in the final month.

[narrator] On
the Beets' claim,

loader operator, Megan Gaudet,
feeds the trommel

with pay from the 80 Pup Cut.

[Megan] We're just trying
to slam out as much gold

before we have
to shut the trommel
down for the season.

Hopefully, lasts till the end.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] King
of the Klondike, Tony Beets,
is on a hot streak.

And to hit his


he needs to keep it going.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The source
of Tony's big payouts,

Paradise Hill's
White Channel pay.

[narrator] Tony believes
the White Channel pay

travels between the Blue
and 80 Pup Cuts.

But it's buried beneath


Stripping it with machines
would take weeks

and hundreds
of thousands of dollars.

So Tony is bringing in
a secret weapon.

A monitor capable
of blasting 9 gallons

of water every second.

[Tony speaking]

- [Kevin] Testing.
- [echoes]

Oh, that's
a good echo, [bleep].

- Testing.
- [echoes]

[laughing]

That's an hour
of entertainment
right there, folks.

In order to monitor,
we have to hook that up

to the pump by the trommel.

And then we could blow away
all that black muck.

[narrator] The Beets'
feeder pond is located
downhill from the cuts.

A pump next to the pond

sends water through
the half mile long pipeline

that travels under
a new dike road

and up Paradise Hill
to the wash plant.

Using a bypass valve
at the plant,

Kevin will divert some
of the water to the monitor.

[Tony speaking]

[engine whirring]

[Tony speaking]

I don't think there
is a whole lot

that you can mess up here.
It's really just spraying

a bunch of water
at the side of the hill.

Can't really mess up too bad
other than letting it go.

Why the [bleep]
am I out of pressure?

[on radio] Tony, you copy?
Tony, I just lost all pressure

up at the monitor.
Something's wrong.

[Tony speaking]

[Megan on radio] Hey, Tony,
do you copy? Tony?

I am losing water pressure
here at the plant.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] Here we go again.

[narrator] While driving
the new dike road

that runs atop a section
of the pipeline,

Tony has spotted water
rushing out of the ditch.

[Tony speaking]

[man] That's a [bleep] big
leak too 'cause you know, if--

if it's pushing
the dirt away like that.

[narrator] The cracked pipe
has derailed Tony's
plans to monitor

and shut down
his entire operation.

[Tony speaking]

[man] Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

- [man] Good.
- [Tony speaking]

[Phill] Just another day
in the office.

Come on, gloryhole.

Well, that's already
a good feeling getting

full penetration
with them rippers.

Yeah, I keep watching,
uh, the cut wall

just making sure
that nothing's gonna
spring a leak on you.

I'd nice to know you got
my back here, bud.

[narrator] After patching
a hole in the wall
of the Wolf Cut,

Parker Schnabel
and his crew are racing

at breakneck speed
to mine out the cut.

Oh, it's all a little bit
precarious and temporary

and I wanna widen
this area out in here.

It is

sorta working, sorta kinda.

[Mark] I think that's
a shaft right here
where my bucket's at.

The old timers, they, uh,
they dug these little

shafts all through
this valley.

So we're hoping there's not,
like, a big cavern in there,

like a big room

full of water or something

where I can fall in
and, uh, lose

my hoe or the dozer.

[Tyler] So we've got
all hands on deck

'cause both rock trucks
are running,

diggers are running.

I just wanna keep it like that
until all the pay's out

and we get some gold.
That's my hopes.

[Parker] I'm just
gonna rip out of here.

Clear up a few things
that I need to deal with.

Come back and give them
a hand till this is done.

Mike, we're at a 111 loads

out of the Wolf Cut right now.

Depending how soft
the bedrock is up here,

I bet we're getting our


[Phill] [bleep] Oh,
we got a problem.

Oh, [bleep] that's not good.

We have a breach.

[narrator] While ripping
the Wolf Cut with the dozer,

Phill has opened up a hole

in the floor
of the 30-foot deep cut.

[Tyler] [bleep], that's
coming out so quick.

There's more water coming
out than we can pump.

I actually think we've hit
an old mine shaft

because there's a point
where it's bubbling up.

[narrator] The area
around the Wolf Cut

is riddled with
an abandoned network

of mine shafts and tunnels

that have filled with
water over decades.

Now all this water is pouring
back into the cut

threatening to shut Parker's
operation down once again.

[Phill speaking]

[Michael] Yeah,
I'll try to throw some.

[narrator] It's the second
time in just two weeks

that the crew have struck
an old timer's mine shaft.

[Tyler] Mike's doing his best.

He's put tons of dirt
in that hole right now

and it's just eating it.
It's not doing anything.

[Phill] Oh,
she is pouring out.

Wow.

[man] Is it coming up out
of the ground right there?

[Phill] Yeah.

[bleep]

[Tyler] I'm just worried about
this whole thing coming down.

You guys will have
to evacuate out of the cut.

That digger's gonna be
in a lot of trouble.

I don't know how the [bleep]
to get that out right now.

[Jarred speaking]

That's a very
[bleep] good idea.

Is he gonna be all right
getting out of it?

It's his call.

[Jarred speaking]

[Jarred speaking]

[bleep]

[Tyler] Come on, Jarred.

You can do it.

[narrator] In Alaska,

Parker's crew have struck
an underground mine shaft

filled with millions
of gallons of water

that's rapidly flooding
the Wolf Cut.

Now, operator Jarred
is trying to save

the half million dollar


[Jarred] Oh [bleep].

[Tyler] Oh my [bleep],
that is actually so deep.

When's too deep?

Water's in the cab?

[Phill] Pull yourself up.

You have to probably
push your tracks up

to get out of that.

[Tyler] [bleep] hell!

You've got this mate,
come on!

Oh, he's done it.

Oh, he's good.

- Yup, he's home now,
he's home free.
- Yay!

[Tyler over radio]
Bloody good job,
Jarred, you did well.

[Phill] What a hole.

What a shame.

[Tyler] We're lucky
we got it out
when we did.

What a [bleep] nightmare.

We're just
not gonna beat it,
we're not gonna win.

There's no way

we're getting any pay
out of that
any time soon.

Parker's probably
gonna be
pretty [bleep] annoyed.

[narrator] Parker's
$250,000 cut

is again drowned

in nearly 30 feet
of water.

[Parker] Stupid a*s
[bleep] place!

It's the stupidest
[bleep] business
in the world.

What the [bleep]
are we doing?

Lighting [bleep]
money on fire.

All right, well,

let's hold pumps,

and go over to the plant
and see what's in it.

- Okay, sounds good.
- I hope there's some
[bleep] gold it in.

[narrator] To keep
his Alaskan dream alive,

Parker needs the Wolf Cut

to deliver
a miracle payday.

[Mark] We did the best
we could, I think, so...

[Parker] Yeah,
you did a good job,
everybody did.

[Brandon] We're bringing
the plant to the pay,

that's pretty huge
when you're hand to mouth.

[narrator]
For the better part
of 5 months,

the Clayton brothers

have dreamed
of mining Golden Acres.

Before they can
finally run pay,

they first need to move
Blackjack,

their newly leased
wash plant,

down to the cut.

[Brandon] We got
lots to do.

Okay, well, you'll pull
the plant,

- Brady, and-and Warren
can take the skip.
- Yeah.

And start sluicing like
[bleep].

Okay, sounds good,
let the tug begin.

[Brandon] It's looking good.

Usually,
the gambling's done
in the casino,

but I'm sitting down
at the table and I'm...

We're kind of relying
on Blackjack

right now that,
just to pay the bills.

Woah,
we damn near made it.

Just gotta pop out
of this cut.

Hopefully,
get it down in one piece.

Okay, let's drop
the chains,

I'll use the bucket
and I'll pull it now.

So we got our...
all our pieces in now.

I'm gonna attempt
to drag this thing

onto its pad.

And we're ready
to [bleep] rock, baby.

- [Warren] Uh-oh.
- [Brady] Oh.

That's good.

What happened?

[Brady] You broke
the cylinder.

- [Brandon] What?
- [Brady] Yeah.

Yeah, you [bleep]
snapped it.

[Brady] If you want
something wrecked,
call Brandon.

Well, you guys can wrench
your entire plans
for today,

because nothing else
is getting done.

A new one's about


Probably two weeks
away, so...

This is probably the end
of the season.

[bleep]

[sighs]

[Brady] But weld
the [bleep].

- [Brandon] You can't.
- [Brady] Yeah, you can.

[Brady] That's a hard steal,
we can weld that.

Um...

I'll weld the living
piss out of it.

[Warren] I'll go
grab the welder.

It's gotta probably be
the strongest weld
I've ever done.

[Warren] Is that good?

...all right...

[narrator] A hydraulic
cylinder snapped,

just below
the smooth section

of the rod that retracts
into the housing.

First, Brady must grind
both broken ends
to a slight point.

Then he can begin
his weld,

working from
the inside out.

This method will help
to rebuild and reinforce

the strength of
the cylinder base

against the massive
tension and torque

from the movement
of the bucket.

[Brady] I know
as soon as you grind it
there's yellow sparks

which is, which is good,
that means it's uh,
weld-able steel.

The moment you see
there's no sparks
or blue sparks,

that mean, usually means
you can't weld [bleep].

Your weld's only
as strong as
your weakest point, so...

I can't have
any impurities, it means
that's a weak spot, so...

Um, I gotta take
my time,
make sure it's all clean.

[Brandon] If there's
one man

that's gonna make that [bleep]
stay together, it's Brady.

He's doing a hell
of a job right now,

he's putting his heart
and soul into it,

and that's what
we need, so...

Fingers are crossed.

[narrator] At Golden Acres...

[Brady] I think I'm done.

[narrator]
...the Claytons' dream

of striking it rich

and paying off
their family's debt

hangs in the balance.

[Brady] It's welded solid

from the inside out.

Uh, Bran's gonna
hop in the Excavator there

and-and try it out,
see what happens.

Fingers are crossed.

[narrator] If Brady's weld
doesn't hold,

the brothers' season
is over.

I am a little nervous, yeah.

This is probably
the most

pressure weld
I've ever done, so...

We'll find out.

If this works,
you owe me a case
of Old Mil.

If this works,
you can kiss my a*s, bud.

[both laughing]

Here we go.

- [Warren] That's it.
- [Brady] Yeah, okay,
we're holding.

Maybe I should've
took my time
to make it look good.

- [chuckles]
- Oh, who gives
a [bleep] about looks?

[Brady] Hey, yeah,
that, that's why
you have a girlfriend.

[Brandon] Huh?

What's that?

What did he say?

- [bleep]
- [Warren] That's why

you have a girlfriend.
[chuckles]

All right, it works,
let's go [bleep]
put this [bleep] together.

[narrator] Excavator
back in action,

the Clayton crew
puts the finishing touches

on their new
wash plant.

[Brandon] We're on level
as [bleep].

We're about to figure out
if the biggest curveball

and the gamble
of the season

which is Blackjack,
is gonna work for us
or not.

Let's fire it up.

Okay, pump.

[narrator] The Claytons
are back in the game.

And at long last,

running paydirt
from Golden Acres.

Brady's one of
the best welders I know.

To watch Brandon
and Brady resolve
these problems,

just, uh,
it's awesome, man.

For being so young,
they, they know so much,

and they're so talented
and they work so hard.

Yeah, I, I'm just amazed
by these guys, man,
they're awesome.

Well, I think we should be
proud of ourselves, guys,

- we got it up and running.
- Yeah.

Good job, guys.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] What's this?

[narrator] King of the hill,
Tony Beets,

is on the hunt for a leak
in his water pipeline

that shut down
his entire operation.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

- [laughs]
- [Mike] Huh?

[Mike] Oh,
there's the [bleep] pipe.

[Mike] Yeah.

You found it?

You see that part
that looks like a crack?

- [Mike] Oh, it looks
like a big crack.
- It's cracked.

[Tony speaking]

What is the battle plan
for this?

[Mike] Weld it
without taking it off?

I gotta fill a
half-inch [bleep] gap,

and make it
water-tight.

Might as well
if I'd just taken
the [bleep] thing apart.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Yeah.

[Mike] The rubber...

- [Mike] You sure of that?
- [Tony speaking]

Tony will have the
final say in
how it's done

because at
the end of the day,

it is his show.

But...

Doesn't mean I can't argue
for something
a little more reasonable.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] Dad!

Damn it, I missed!

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Yeah.

[Tony] Ah.

Oh, yeah.

It's bringing back
old memories,

you know that
I'm already ready
with the [bleep] rod.

Yeah, we've all had
our time standing
next to Dad

when he does some
[bleep] random [bleep].

[Kevin] Mmm-hmm.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Well my a*s
is fat enough,
so yeah.

[both laughing]

[Kevin] Yup.

[Tony speaking]

[all laughing]

Yeah, now I'll go back
to the final bit.

[Mike] I hope this solves
all of it.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Oh yeah,
I'm pretty sure too
but you never know,

sometimes you have
another [bleep] leak

- you don't see it,
right?
- [Tony speaking]

Well, let's see
what happens.

[engine roaring]

That's encouraging,
so far.

[Tony speaking]

[Megan] Uh,
so it's looking like
the water pressure

has come back up,
and we are good to go.

[narrator] With the water
finally back
to full pressure,

Megan continues
to feed the plant

with 80 pump pay.

And the monitor
opens more ground

on Paradise Hill.

[Kevin] Looks like
we're back
in business, now.

Oh f...

Hey!

Oh. [chuckles]

This is the moment
of truth.

[narrator] Parker's
trainee mine boss
Tyler

cleans up
the first of the gold
from the Wolf Cut.

Me and Parker
have been working together
for like, three years.

Every single season,

it's been me
trying to prove
my gold mining skills.

Hopefully,
this is the season
that I prove myself.

And hopefully,
he wants me back
as mine boss.

That'll make
all the hard work
worth it.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Despite
running the monitor
for two days,

Tony Beets hasn't
been able to open up

more white channel pay.

[Tony speaking]

- [Minnie] Say hi, Mike.
- [Mike] Hi.

[both exclaim and chuckle]

[narrator] For the rest
of the season,

Tony will have to rely
solely

on the Eighty Pup,

to reach his season goal
of 5,000 ounces.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] Uh, five days.

Well, why don't we weigh
that stuff up?

[Bianca] Ten, 20, 30,






[narrator] Tony needs


to stay on target

for his 5,000 ounce
season goal.

[Bianca] ...480, 490,

five hundy!



[narrator] Worth
a whopping $872,000.

That takes us
to 4,100 ounces.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] This is
the biggest gold weigh
we've had this year.

[Tony speaking]

So weren't you in
the Eighty Pup, like,
way in the before times?

[all laughing]

- [Mike exclaims]
- Holy moly.

[Tony speaking]

[Brady] We got
a lot on the table,

we can't have
a [bleep] week, so...

We spent money
to get down there,

and we just need it
to pay off.

[narrator] Despite
a season of breakdowns,

the Clayton brothers
are on the brink
of turning the corner...

Hey, guys.

- Hey.
- Hey, Brandon.

[narrator] ...with a total


Brandon needs


to hit his 500 ounce goal.

Ready to weigh it up?

- Yup, you have--
- ...gotcha.

[narrator] The Claytons'
first weigh

is the last gold
from their Gauntlet cut.

[Brandon] Okay,
let's see what we got
for the week.

[Brady] 11.3.

[narrator] Worth $19,000.

This is
a pretty good weigh.

[Brandon] We'll, uh,
weigh up
Blackjack's week.

[narrator] Brandon
and Brady's ambition

to pay off
their family debt...

[Brady] ...four, five...

[narrator] ...now
all depends on the gold
in Golden Acres.

[Brady] ...eleven,





[narrator] Worth $25,000.

They've mined more gold
in just two days

from Golden Acres,

than they hauled in
from the Gauntlet cut

in a week.

That's pretty [bleep] hot.

[narrator] With a total
of 26 ounces,

this week marks
the Claytons' biggest
gold weigh

this season.

- That's our biggest week yet.
- [Brady] Yeah.

Next week when we can
actually get a full week
of running,

- hopefully it keeps
going up from here.
- That's right.

Golden Acres
is huge,

there's a lot of ground there.

So, we just gotta
keep washing
through it.

We can double down
on work effort, and, uh,

have a good
rest of the season
and many more.

- [Brady] Blackjack.
- [Brandon] Hopefully
that would make us

be able to reach
our 500-ounce goal

and make the mine
even bigger than
what it is now.

[Tyler] You know, all that
hard work,

hopefully there's
some bloody gold in it.

[narrator] After searching
for two-and-a-half years,

to find and mine
new ground,

Parker's finally
weighing his first gold

from virgin ground
in Alaska.

- [Phill] Hey, Parker.
- Hi.

- [Tyler] Hello.
- How are you guys?

- Doing good?
- Pretty good.

- Aw, Philly, legend,
thank you.
- There you go.

You're welcome.

I need it.

I don't really know
what to think, like,

it's just, that's a lot
of water that was coming
into the pit,

multiple times.

- [chuckles]

- Yeah.
- [Phill] Multiple.

- Yeah.
- [Parker] So let's see
what this is.

[narrator] So far,

Parker's crew have
only recovered a 108 ounces

from old-timer tailings,

far short
of his 1,000 ounce target.



[narrator] Worth just
$66,000.

[bleep]

[narrator] Bringing
the Alaska claim's total

to a 147 ounces,

worth just $250,000.

With more than $500,000
invested in the property,

Parker is under water.

[Parker] Not what
we're hoping for.

Why I'm glad that
we have a big operation
in the Yukon,

because it's
a pretty big
failure, really.

It's just a matter of
whether it's worth
continuing or not.

Well, there's no
saving this, is there?

Not much reason to,
if it's just
muddy bed-rock.

Right.

[Parker] Yeah, well,
let's just call it a season.

And whether we continue
this project,

find a new one,
next season.

But no matter
how that all shakes out,

I wanna try to find
a role for you guys.

If you guys
are interested in
coming back next season.

- [all thanking]
- Yeah, definitely.

Um, listen,
I just really appreciate

the work you guys
have done and-and effort
you have put into it.

Thank you, guys.

[Mark] You know,
there's been a lot of men
trying to get gold

out of this valley
over here, and it's
not gonna come easy.

Hopefully it's better
next time.

[Phill] This final gold weigh
was kind of a kick
in the giblets.

The ship was sinking,

couple times we were
able to flip it
and upright it,

and keep her going and...

End of the year now
only seeing
that much gold is...

Not good.

[Tyler] Even though
the gold wasn't great,

I feel like
there's so many
positives to come out of it.

I've never worked
with a team who have
such good work ethic.

You can put them
pretty much anywhere,

and I know
they will do a good job.

Parker still wants
me around, um,

didn't get fired,
so that's a positive,

and we'll have to wait
and see what's next.

[Parker] Doesn't feel
too good.

Um, the water
kicked our a*s.

So, I'm not sure
if next year's plan
involves

uh, that particular
piece of ground or not.

But...

It's a damn good team.

Mark's an absolute ace.

Tyler did great.

If they were on
some ground
that was less complicated,

they would've
totally kicked a*s.

You know,
if we had to lose
a quarter million dollars,

but see what
they're capable of,

I think it's money
well-spent.

At least,
I'm telling myself that.