14x07 - 50 Ounce Ultimatum

[bunniefuu]

The king of the Klondike,

Tony Beets,
might be losing his crown.

Nearly two months
into the season,

every miner in the Klondike
is on the gold,

except Tony,

who hasn't mined
a single ounce.

To hit his massive


four weeks ago, Tony moved
his entire operation

from Paradise Hill
to Indian River.

Now, he's ready to play
some major catch up.

So far,
Tony's drained and stripped

his flooded cut,

and now, he wants to be

running gold rich pay

by the end of the week.

Gotta get
the shaker deck fixed up,

you know, put together.

Then the next big thing
is getting it in place.

It just takes time
because you have to get

all these little things done.

It's the little things.

They get you. They always
take the most time.

Tony's shaker
wash plant has sat idle

for four years

and needs to be reassembled

before he can do
any sluicing.

To get back on track,
Tony's crew must crane

the seven-ton shaker deck up
and swing it carefully

into place on top
of the wash plant's frame.

Then, lift and swing
the two-ton

spray bars above the shaker.

And finally, bolt its four
metal posts into position.

First up,
the massive screen deck.

I know.

Yeah, we're good.

Next,
the spray bar assembly.

No. No, no, no.

Be very careful next time

you walk underneath
the load like that.

Let go of the chain,
walk around the load.

Oh, my .

I don't care
if someone die

because I just don't
wanna have to go jail

because they didn't
pay attention

when I told them to get out
from underneath there.

It's ready to go.

All we have to do is drag it
to place, put a pump in

and we're golden, literally.

Like every year,
there's a lot on the line.

You know, that's gold mining,
but, you know, this year,

for me, you know,
after taking a year off,

there's even more,
you know what I mean?

This is a second opportunity
for me

to get back where I need to be

and I'm not taking
that lightly.

Rick Ness
is on a comeback mission

to hit 1,000 ounces

and get his life
back on track.

A third of the way
through the season,

Rick's working lean and mean,

sluicing stockpile pay
from the rally valley

and so far, he's only mined


A lot of it's,
you know, gone towards fuel,

you know, wages and stuff.

I put my camp up on lien
for Troy, you know,

and I owe 150 grand
to him to get it back.

Plus, you know, I also
wanna make some
profit this year.

We had a whole year
and no gold production.

At the start
of the season,

after a year of paying
no royalties

to landlord Troy Taylor,

Rick made a desperate move

to secure
access to the ground.

I'm hoping, you know,
that you can give me

another chance here.

I'm just nervous about
whether you can pull it off.

We need somethin'
to get your foot back

in the door there.

Is there anything we could
work out regarding your camp?

I would be willing to sign
that camp over to you guys.

- Mmm-hmm.
- If you're happy

to have that asset
to hold on to.

I think we can
make it work.

Now, with over
half his gold spent

on running costs,

Rick's down
to just 36 ounces

and his first goodwill
royalty payment

on the camp is due.

- Hey, Rick.
- Hey, Troy.
How you doin'?

Pretty good.
How are you doing?

Good. You just caught me
on my way out.

I guess you probably
know why I'm here.

Uh, yeah.

Yeah, I just gotta collect
on that lien for your camp.

- Yeah.
- Yeah. Are you doing okay?

Like, you getting some gold?

Oh, we're get...
We're getting some gold.

It's just, uh, you know,
I've been trying

to get more machines here,
more people.

- Yeah.
- You know,
everything costs money.

If you kind of give me
the end of the week, you know,

could I give you, say,


Oh, boy. That's not what
I was hopin' for.

Yeah, we can wait a little
bit longer and, uh, yeah,

just getting worried,
that's all.

I understand.
Yeah, I get it, I get it.

Well, I appreciate it.

And yeah, I, uh,
by the end of the week,

um, I can stop by.
I'll have 50 ounces for you.

- Okay. All right.
- Yeah.

- All right.
Thanks a lot, Troy.
- You bet.

So Rick promised me 50 ounces
by the end of the week.

As long as he comes
through on that, I'll be fine.

If he doesn't,
then we're gonna have
some problems.

We've already mined 95 ounces
so far this season,

but a lot of that goes
to operation costs, you know,

fuel, food, equipment,
all of that.

Rick is relying
on his small crew

to deliver the rest of Troy's
gold by the end of the week.

Or Troy could sell off
his camp,

ending his season.

We have to get
the 50 ounces
by the end of the week.

Troy put a deadline on us.

And so,
I think the entire crew

is just feeling a lot
of pressure right now.

Uh, we're a little shorthanded,

so everybody just gotta do
everything they can

to keep the operation running
as efficient as possible.

I'm trying
to get everything back

on track with my business.

And I'm trying to be
successful, but, you know,

I owe that to my crew as well.

You know, every single one
of them is taking
a gamble on me.

I don't wanna fail anybody
on my crew.

I mean, I want this to be
a success for everybody.

What the heck?

Rick, you gotta get down here.
Something's burning up.

I have no idea.

It's that.

What the .

Uh, the smoke
was coming from right there.

Holy .

Can you tell
what it is?

Yeah, I think so.

The belt just walked way
too far over this way.

Looks like everything
jammed up down there, too.

I'm guessing
the belt stopped spinning,

but it just had pulleyed in.

Yeah.

So, it was rubber
on rubber burning.

Okay.

It blew the belts.

Oh, yeah. This belt
is definitely .

Cut right in half.

Guaranteed... Yup. Oh, yeah.

They're shot.

With no running
wash plant

to deliver Troy 50 ounces
by the end of the week,

Rick's comeback
hangs in the balance.

If we don't have belts
on site,

we're gonna be down
for three plus days.

You know, that's $20,000,
$30,000 worth of lost gold.

I just can't
have that.

I'm in a bad spot
right now. The plant's down.

I got belts ordered.

I don't know
when they're gonna get here.

It's just the belt holding us
from running.

You know, I knew I could have
that belt on there
in ten minutes

so we could be, you know,
putting gold in the box,

which is what we need
to be doing right now.

I mean, Troy Taylor
wants his 50 ounces

by the end of the week.
I don't have it.

I'm counting
on runnin' to get it...
Get his gold.

And here we are
at a standstill.

Rick Ness'
operation is shut down,

waiting on new drive belts.

With no time to lose,
Buzz scours the site

for belts
they can repurpose.

There's a bunch
of fan belts.

Those are definitely no good.

Oh, it definitely
ain't nothing in here.

Maybe...

this old wash plant
over by that wash plant.

If we can run over there,
have a look at that

and see maybe
there's something in there.

This thing is old, knackered.

Freaking trees
growing all around it.

Last chance we got.

I see belts.

I don't know
what's in here.

A little bit shorter.

Hey, Rick.

You wanna check
where those belts go,

see how much adjustment
we got on there?

There's a...
I found some 120s,

they're a little bit shorter
but if we get enough adjustment,

they'll probably work.

Copy that.
I'll meet you at the plant.

Hopefully we'll
be able to freakin'

make these things work.

There's one.

Two belts.

Not the greatest of shape
but if it can get us through,

that's what matters.

You have something
that works?

They're a little
bit shorter but...

Well,
they ain't brand new.

Not the...
Not in the greatest of shape.

They've been sitting there
for a while.

Yeah, those are the ones...
The ones that our here--

- 120s?
- 124s.

That's the adjustment
rod that holds

the pulleys in place, so

what we'll do
is we'll let this down,

which will make up
all the slack

to get the belts on, hopefully.

Buzz's drive belts
are too small

for Monster
Red's conveyor system.

Rick's plan, make adjustments
to the tension rod

between the motor
and the head pulley

that controls the drive belt
size and tension

by compressing it
until the smaller belt fits.

All right,
let's find out.

Look at that.

going in now.

Just like that.

Now we just gotta tension
it up,

which is why I have
this nice come-along here.

Right like that.

We're adjusting
the adjustment rod right now

because this is
a shorter belt.

Oh, almost.

Oh, man.
It's gonna be maxed out.

Yeah.

These are barely,
barely, barely gonna fit.

- But we--
- That is right there.

- Right there?
- I think, but--

Let me see if I can get
the bolt in.

There we go.

- Look at that.
- There it is.

Hell, yeah.

I mean they're shorter than
the ones that were on there,

but with the amount
of adjustment we had in there,

um, they fit just fine.

- There's two millimeters...
- Yeah.

- ...worth of space left.
- Yeah, yeah,
yeah. So...

- They're maxed out.
- So we got lucky there.

I mean, literally,
if they were

half an inch shorter,
they wouldn't work.

We're good to go.
Get the water going.

Turn the plant on,
we're back up.

Back up and running.

Yes, there it is.

Are you ready
to feed this thing?

- Oh, yeah.
- Get in that loader.
Let's go.

There's a lot
of problems.

None of them
are particularly enjoyable.

Deep in
the Klondike goldfields,


Parker Schnabel

is in trouble.

I think that right now
the odds probably

are not in our favor
on hitting 5,000 ounces.

You know, this time
last year we probably had



So we're also running out
of money at an alarming rate.

They're spending $40,000,
$50,000 a day

stripping in Dominion.

Yeah.

Parker has bet $15 million

on buying 7,500 acres

on Dominion Creek,

making him one of the biggest
claim holders

in the Yukon.

But so far
he's only hauled in 125

of the 5,000 ounce
season goal

needed to keep
his business alive.

So we're kind of pumping
the brakes at Dominion

and don't really wanna start

sluicing too early

because we're in
the stripping rhythm

and I don't like fighting
frost at Dominion.

Our cost on ripping pay,
it would probably be like 50%

more expensive
than when the sun

should sit there
and thaw ground up for free.

But we've spent a lot
of money and we need

to get consistent gold
coming in

right now down
at Ken and Stuart's.

To stop bleeding cash

and fund
his Dominion operation,

Parker needs gold
from his only running

wash plant
on Ken and Stuart's ground.

Ken and Stuart's
should be good

for like 1,500 ounces.

Like the one thing
I can't control, right?

I can't control how much
gold's in the ground,

so I get nervous
or worried about things

that I can't control.

The unforgiving cut
should hold a third

of the 1,500 ounces Parker
needs from Ken and Stuart's.

The seven acre cut
is nearly finished

and Parker is looking for it

to deliver 350 ounces
this week.

So originally
when I came down to Ken's,

I had high hopes
but I'm not seeing

that same kind of creamy
material on the bedrock

that I'm used to seeing
last time

we were down at Ken's.

So I'm gonna jump out and see
what we can figure out here.

So this is decomposed bedrock
right here.

And you can see
how clumpy it is

and how
it's pretty clay-based.

So when it's going through
the plant,

it generally
doesn't fully break down

and the gold
can't really escape.

So if I break it in half

and you can kind of see

the layers of the bedrock

and you can see how compact

decomposed bedrock really is.

The unforgiven cut's gold

is concentrated
between the bottom six inches

of gravels and the top
six inches of bedrock.

Parker would normally
sluice this whole area,

but Tyson's discovered
some of the cut's bedrock

is decomposed,

trapping gold
in its clay-like material,

making it almost impossible
for a wash plant to recover.

It could be run but return
little to no gold.

There's no argument
there's gold in this cut,

but we just have to determine

what we're gonna sluice

and what
we're not gonna sluice

and well, that's really
not for me to decide.

That's for Parker to decide.

The problem
we got right now

is that down here
there's just a lot

of pretty bedrock.

It makes me a little nervous.

If we don't mine it out,

there's like 30%
less gold maybe

that we have to make
a decision

about what to do
with the bedrock.



would mean a loss
of a million dollars

from Parker's bottom line.

We've spent a lot
of money.

It'll be nice have some
money come in,

end of the week,
we'll see if there's any gold

in this thing.

We need it to be good.

So we're kind of under
the g*n right now.

Been digging pay 12 hours
a day in the 750

to try and keep sluicing.

This thing sounds
like garbage, man.

Something does not sound right
on this 750.

What the hell is going on?

Oh, yeah.

You know
that doesn't look good.

It looks like
our sprocket segments

are starting
to break off, so...

Can't really run this thing
much more without

causing any further damage.

Hey, Taylor,
you got a copy, Taylor?

Okay. Tyson,
what's going on?

Yeah, man, the 750's down,
down at Ken's.

I need you down here.

Yup.
I'll be right down.

Okay, I'll see you
in a bit.

Thanks, man.

You know this
is the last thing I need.

We only have
two excavators down here.

Now, one of them
is pretty much down

and it's gonna be down
for a couple days.

So what a day
this has been.

I had to spend a fair amount
of money right up front

to get this equipment
over here from Tony

and I've got Troy coming,

you know,
looking for his gold too.

So I gotta make sure
that we stay sluicing,
you know.

Rick Ness
and his ragtag crew

are racing to deliver


by the end of the week.

I gotta keep paying the plant
and I gotta make sure

that the gold keeps
coming in because, you know,

I've got big bills this year
and I've got a big goal.

You know,
I owe a thousand ounces with,

you know, really only
a handful of people.

So, like, I said,
just keep the gold coming in

all year and stay
on track.

Everybody's working
together really well.

We're just trying to limit
the amount of downtime we have

and get as many hours,
uh, sluicing

so we can get
the most gold in the box.

What the .

it looks like
the feeder's down again.

Hey, Rick, can I get you
to come down to the plant?

It looks
like the feeder's down again.

I'm coming down right now.

For the second time
this week,

Rick's feeder has shut down,

stopping all
gold production.

Holy .

Everything
jammed up down there?

Trying to see
if there's anything else

that would be
holding it up.

I think we're gonna
start with the jam.

We'll get that shoveled out

and then see if we
get the belt moving.

Do you want me
to find a shovel?

Yeah, we're gonna
need a shovel I think.

Tag me in
when you get tired then.

Before I get too nuts in here,
I'm gonna crawl down here

to see if I see
anything jammed.

Big old rock
wedged in the tail pulley.

Hopefully, I can pry
this rock out of there

and get this thing back
and rolling.

that is a big
that got in there.

- Morgan?
- Yeah.

Get that long flat bar.

This one?

Yes, please.

Thank you.

Holy .

Oh, you .

yes. All right.

There we go.

Oh, right there.

There's the problem.

Now I'm stuck here.

Yeah,
this is one of those moments

where being such a big
guy isn't so nice.

Yeah, it's not ideal.

Yeah.

Keep laughing,

training you up here.
This is you next time.

Yeah.

I hope you watched.

We were down
for a couple hours,
but could've been worse.

As long
as everything's okay now.

She spins.

Monster Red
is back in action

but the repeated shutdowns
may have blown Rick's chances

of paying his landlord


by the end of the week.

Belt's fine,
water's on, add dirt.

We're back up and running.

Hopefully, we get Troy paid,

otherwise catastrophe.

Tony Beets
is on the brink

of getting
his first gold of the year.

All that's left
is to drag his shaker deck

wash plant to the cut
and start sluicing.

It is nice that
we got the water license.

We've been waiting
to sluice here for years.

Uh, we have a lot of open
ground ready to sluice.

Literally, the only thing
stopping us right now

is getting the plant set up.

Plant in place,
Tony is one step closer

to running his first
pay dirt of the season.

Everything's here.
All we have to do

is start
lining some up.

The Yukon's
mining authorities

are responsible
for making sure

all miners work
within their licenses.

What the
happened?

After a surprise visit

from the mining authorities,

Tony's race to catch gold

from his Indian River claims

has come
to a screeching halt.

And what did we miss?

Tony's disastrous error

means that on his
restricted water license,

he can only strip and sluice
one acre of ground,

instead of the 15 acres
he believed he could.

If Tony can only sluice
such a small area,

Indian River will be
financially unviable.

We hauled a lot
of stuff here already,

we put a lot of work
and effort in it...

To it, so it would be nice
to see that pay off.

We usually sluice
about a month earlier
than this.

If Tony can't find a solution

with the authorities,

his Indian River Claims

will be shut down
for the season.

And his only hopes
of 6,000 ounces

will rest solely

on his paused
operation at Paradise Hill.

All I can do
is shake my head.

You know, I've got four
different things I need
to be doing at once

and only have one running
excavator down at Ken's.

Tyson Lee's 750
excavator is broken down

in the unforgiven cut,
unable to dig pay.

To keep the wash plant fed,

he's having to dig pay
with the smaller 480.

The 480 is a great
machine but Sluicifer

is a hungry beast
and it takes everything

we got to keep her fed,
and that's the 750.

The 750's bucket

is double the size
of the 480's.

If the 750
is not back in action

in three hours' time,

Tyson will be forced
to shut down Sluicifer.

My main focus right
now is to keep Sluicifer

going and trying
to avoid shutting her down

'cause I can't dig
enough pay with the 480,

so having to give it all
I got with this 480.

To get
the 750 up and running,

Tyson's called in mechanic
Taylor Matejka.

Yeah, it seems like Tyson's
having a rough time down here,

so I'm just gonna burn down

and see
if we can help him out,

and get his 750 up
and runnin'.

That's Nacho right there,
my copilot.

Oh, yeah.

Because we got a busted
tooth on the sprocket,

another one here,
so every time this thing's

trying to come around
and it comes to that spot,

it's skipping over the bushing
on the rail and snapping.

The 750 excavator sprocket

is the main gear that locks
into the track rails

and drags them
forwards and backwards.

Teeth have snapped
causing the sprocket

to skip and lose traction.

To fix it, Taylor must
uncouple the track,

remove the old sprocket,
then replace it

before finally
recoupling the track

so it can return
to digging pay.

We can't have this
excavator down, you know,

more downtime we have,

the less gold
we're gonna be producing.

We've got a good used set,

so we can bolt
them onto this machine.

I think they'll be better than
running these sprockets

'cause we're gonna destroy
the rails like this.

Ooh.

Grab a side, Liam.

There we go.

Sprocket revealed.

The 200-pound sprocket

is held onto
the excavator's drive wheel

by 30 bolts.

Yeah, so we're
stretched pretty thin here,

you know,
we got the 750 down,

we got a couple machines down
at the Dominion site,

so, you know,
it's really crucial

we get this thing up
and runnin'.

The faster we get this done,
the faster Tyson

can have
it back and be digging pay.

Come forward.

Down, down, down.

That probably
wasn't supposed to happen.

Yeah.
I just meant up a little bit,

but I was not probably
very clear there.

So it's okay.

We'll go grab
that loader there

and we'll just pull her back
the old-fashioned way.

First gear, eh?

Just trying
to land one of the bushings

into a sprocket link

so that it
doesn't roll back on us,

it needs to be held in
by the...

by the sprocket or else,

we're gonna
lose the track again.

Lower down nice and slow.

A little more.

Okay.

All we need to do
is that.

Strong man.

Yeah, she's all
looking good,

we got the sprockets on,
pads are on.

We're just snug the tracks up
and Tyson come take her away.

Tyson, got a copy?
Tyson.

Yup. What's up, man?

Hey. We're just wrapping up

your 750 here
in the second cut.

Um...

It'll be good to go
whenever you need it.

You know,
Taylor really pulled through
for me on this one.

The 750 being back up
and going means

I can keep Sluicifer going
and I was thinking

I was gonna have
to shut it down this afternoon

'cause we're
really running out of pay.

So that's the best news
I could've gotten.

You're the man, T.

I'm sure anyone
who's watched the show

might know who Nacho is.

We got Nacho four years
ago when he was a pup.

I don't wanna be biased

but I think he's kind
of the mascot around here.

So we've been able to teach
him lots of tricks.

We've got a bit of steak here.

You see what we got?

Now, you're fired up,
aren't you?

Start with a little high-five.

Okay.

Kiss.

Oh, my God, he's so cute.

Okay. Turn around.

- Oh.
- Ooh.

Stand up.

Lay down.

Roll over. There you go.

Maybe there's a grand finale
here if he does it.

Nacho, hands up.

Bang.

How about a round
of applause for Nacho?

- Yay, Nacho!
- This is our...

That's Nacho right there.

But it would be
nice to have, like,

one week and I'm probably
jinxing us right now,

but one week where something
big doesn't happen, you know.

I hope there's enough gold
to at least pay for the belt.

I hope there's enough
gold to pay for snacks

'cause we're running out.

- Yeah.
- And I get cranky.

At Lower Duncan Creek,

the Ness crew
are about to find out

if they've scraped
together enough gold

for Rick to pay landlord
Troy Taylor his 50 ounces.

Thanks.

Hey, dog.

- Oh, hey, guys.
- Hi.

How is she looking?

A little light.

A little light?

Yeah.

I'm still a big fan
in any gold

is good gold, so...

Two point.

Troy showed up
asking for 50 ounces,

so that means we gotta get
a lot of gold in.

I'm so ready
to weigh this gold.

- Let's weigh
some gold.
- Hell yeah.

After paying bills,

Rick has only 36 ounces
of gold left.

To pay Troy 50,

he needs at least
another 14 ounces.

If he's short,
Rick risks losing his claim.

All right. You ready?

I'm ready.

We've got...

Yeah.

We got 2, 4,



Ooh, 15.2.



Worth $30,000,

just enough to hit the 50
Rick needs to pay Troy.

We're over that hundred mark.

It's not a great gold weigh,
but at least I've got enough,

uh, to pay off
Troy Taylor for now, right?

Keeps us going.

And after Troy's paid,
we're kinda back at zero.

Mmm-hmm.

But I'll take
zero over a negative.

Yeah.

Yeah, we're still
moving forward.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Maybe back to zero,
but hey,

at least we got lots
of ground to play with...

- Yeah.
- ...all our
equipment's here.

Everything is running.

So it won't be hard
to get back to that spot.

Exactly.

That's how I feel.

I gotta go put 50
ounces in the jar

and get this over
to Troy, so...

Thanks for the week, guys.

You're the best.

- How's it going, Troy?
- Hey, Rick.

- How are you doing?
- Good.

Caught you cutting
some firewood.

Oh, yeah.

Just guess
we got to get at her.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, I got
you the 50 ounces, Troy.

Thanks, Rick.

- This looks good.
- Yup.

It's nice and clean.

Appreciate that.

Yeah. We had a rough week.

Had some... Had some
downtime at the plant,

but I was able to scrape
up the 50 ounces.

See, you know, it's just...

After last year, I'm always
a little bit on edge.

- So this is a huge...
- I hear you.

- ...step forward, so...
- Yeah.

- ...appreciate it.
- Good.

Yeah, thank you
for working with me.

Oh, yeah.

And I'll
keep the gold coming in.

- You bet. Cool.
- All right.

- Right on.
- Thanks, Troy.

Now that
Rick has paid off

some of the money
he owes Troy,

he can refocus
on his 1,000-ounce goal

and getting
his life back on track.

It's nice to give Troy some
of the gold that I owe him.

We got a long ways
to go but, you know,

next week, we're just
gonna hit it harder.

- What's happening?
- Hey, hey.

Yo, yo.

How was your day?

Busy.

- Very busy.
- Seems like you're always
busy now.

Yeah.

Nearly two months
into the season,

Parker's crew have
banked just 125 ounces.

Down at Ken's,
there's been just a lot

of decomposed bedrock
and it's totally changed pace

from two years ago
when we were down there.

You're flying
through that, huh?

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Well, at least the 750
is back up and going

so you got that to use again.

Yeah, Taylor
and he found some old

sprocket segments in the yard,
so he saved the day,

that's for sure 'cause
if we were waiting for those,

I'd be calling you guys
and seeing if there's any
other equipment.

Well, that's why we
don't throw anything away.

Well, how do we do,
Doumitt?

What do we got?

Well, it's a two-fister
that's for sure.

Oh, buddy.

You ready?

Oh, yeah. Looks heavy.

It is heavy.

Parker needs
the unforgiven cut

to deliver 350 ounces.

Here we go.















Worth over
half a million dollars.

But nearly 100 ounces
short of Parker's target.

That puts us
a season total
of 387.95,

almost 400 ounces.

You gotta get to 400
before you get to 5,000.

Yeah.

We're at the bottom
of Mount Everest

with a chisel and a hammer.

If there's decomposed
bedrock in that cut,

do you guys think we're
gonna hit our 1,500

ounces that we want
out at Ken's or...

No, you won't.

You don't think so?

Not if it stays like that.

What are you hoping for then
if it stays decomposed?

I don't know.

I don't know what
to expect, honestly.

I also don't like how big
a hole we're in right now.

Yeah.

Financially speaking.

- I gotta run.
- Okay.

- Thanks, guys.
- Yup. Later.

All righty.

Just kinda gotta
reprogram and figure out

where we can get
our 5,000 ounces from

if it's not down at Ken's.

I mean, that was
a pretty damn good cleanup

for Sluicifer down there.

But at the end of the day,

you can see the look
on Parker's face.

We're spending more money
than we're making

and, you know,
we just gotta see

what this ground up
here at Dominion holds,

and hopefully,
we find out here pretty soon.