12x09 - Big Red, Big Gold

[bunniefuu]

We have a plan, and...
Right now, we're gonna
stick to it.

[narrator] 2 months
into the season,

Parker Schnabel is deep
into his biggest gamble ever.

He's bet $2.5 million
opening ground
at Mud Mountain,

which he believes could
pay out 8,000 ounces.

But rolling the dice
on Mud Mountain

has left Parker
on this time last year.

Luckily, he's holding
pocket aces.

We're not gonna have
a successful season

unless both wash plants
get up and running.

Sluicifer just got moved down
to Ken Stuart's ground,
which is good, it's fired up.

It's sluicing
and making money.
It's washing rocks.

It's doing its part.

Now it's just a matter
of getting Big Red
fired up at the airstrip.

And we need to start getting
some revenue in.

[narrator] The 26-year-old
mine boss wants to pull


from the airstrip,

ground leased from Parker's
frenemy, Tony Beets.

And that comes
with a unique clause.

The deal we've got with Tony
is a little bit weird on
the old royalty front.

So, like, on the ground
by the airstrip,

It's... 15% on the first
and then it goes up...


after that, per plant.

I don't-- I don't understand
the rationale behind it.

Whatever. I've argued it
for years, and...
They don't budge on it, so.

I'm done talking
to a wall about it.

[narrator] To work around
paying the higher royalties,

Parker has tasked his crew
with swapping out
the wash plants,

once they hit 1,500 ounces.

Tony's thinking that
we'd never go to all
the extra steps here to...

Play musical wash plants.

But, uh, if that's what
he was thinking,

he definitely doesn't
know us very well.

[narrator] Foreman
Mitch Blaschke hit


with wash plant Sluicifer
last week,

and moved it down
to the Promised Land.

Now, Mitch has to mine
another 1,500 ounces

to get Parker back
to the Mud Mountain casino.

[Mitch] Our big push right now
is to get Big Red over here,
get it all set up.

Once it finishes here
at the airstrip,

we're gonna move Big Red
over to Mud Mountain.

You know, that's where
Brennan and I have done this
so many times,

we had a really good
system down.

Well, obviously,
he isn't here with us
this year.

So, uh, gonna have to...
Get Tyson trained up,

doesn't have very much
experience with Big Red.

Hey, Tyson, got a copy?

Yeah. I'm on two.

Hey, this wash plant patch
is looking really good,

so let's, uh, get Big Red
over here and we'll start
putting her together.

[narrator] Second-year
plant boss Tyson Lee

has been trying to fill
Brennan's shoes,

on top of running Sluicifer
at the Promised Land.

We need stuff down
at the Promised Land,

they need stuff up here
at the airstrip.

You know, I can't...
Be over there the whole day,

and if I have to be,
that means I'm not
getting anything done.

Brennan's left the team
this year and it sucks
to see him go,

but he was co-foreman there
for a few years,

and it might mean that
I get to step
into that role, and...

You know,
if it gets offered to me,
I'll gladly take it on.

You know,
and try and do a good job.

[narrator] After setting up
his rookie crew to run
while he's gone,

Tyson heads over
to the airstrip.

- How's it going, Mitch?
- Oh, not bad. Yourself?

Oh, pretty good, thanks.

What, uh, what excavator
were you thinking this...

What we'll probably do here
is we'll trade out
for the 750,

so we got some
horsepower there.

And use that to drag it over.

And then we can use the 480
to fine-tune everything
around it, but...

Yeah, when I was dragging
Sluicifer with this thing,

it did it,
but it didn't like it.

Didn't like it. Yeah, no,
you need that machine
with some weight behind it.

We could always drag it
down the road with the Cat,
if you wanted to.

- I'd rather use the 750.
- Yeah?

We'd move it that way lots,
it works good, so.

Sounds good, man.

- Yeah?
- I'll see you in a bit.

- All right, buddy.
That'll work. Thanks.
- Have fun.

[Mitch] Big Red is definitely
my favorite wash plant.

Been around in a lot of...
A lot of years.

Tyson, he's a younger guy,
and he's got, you know,

his ideas and ways
that he wants to do things.

But it just takes lots
of years of experience

and lots of doing things wrong
to figure out how
to do it right.

[narrator] Mitch is putting
his trust in Tyson
to drag the 50-ton plant.

When you're dragging
this plant,
it's very top heavy.

Way more top heavy
than Sluicifer.

So you just really gotta watch
the camber in the road.

This plant gets over the edge,
it's gonna wanna
keep going that way.

And with all this weight
up top, with how tall
this plant is,

it's... Got a pretty good
chance of going over.

All in all,
just... Nice, slow, steady.

The last thing we wanna do
is tweak this wash plant.

Well, let's go ahead,
get this thing drug
over there.

- You ready, Tyson?
- Oh, yeah.

[Big Red rattling]

[Mitch] Oh, listen to her!
Yeah, she's talking!

Whoo!

You like the sound of that?
She's waking up, here.

Oh, yeah.
She broke free
pretty nicely, eh?

[Mitch] Let's just keep
her rolling.
Nice, steady pace here.

Gotta watch when it starts
chattering like that.

You either gotta...
Change your lift,

try and lift
a little bit more.

Or change the speed
a little bit.

[Mitch] O.M.G.

Whoa, whoa! Easy, easy, easy.

When she starts doing that,
you gotta get her
calmed back down.

Try and, uh,
give it a little bit
more lift.

You gotta change
something up there, just...

I think just shaking it
like that will rip her apart.

Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Friend, change your angle.
That thing is not happy.

This is definitely stressful,

you know, having Tyson
moving this wash plant around.

The last thing we wanna
be doing,
is breaking our wash plant.

Easy, easy there.

We'll rattle this thing apart
before we ever get her there
like that.

All right, Tyson,
let's get her
happening here, man.

Let's get this thing on top
of this wash plant pad.

Try and get some height,
you're really digging in there
with Big Red.

Try and get some height.

Lift her up, lift her up.

[machinery straining]

Easy, easy!

Hey, hey, hey!
Take another bite
of that thing, man.

There, you're going
to have to back up.

Do it again,
get some more lift.

You wanna get that thing
riding up on top, here.

There we go.
That'll work, man.

- Nice job, Tyson.
She's in place.
- Thanks, Mitch.

We're one step closer
to making money, here.

[Mitch] All right, Tyson,
you ready?

Let's go ahead
and get her off the ground.

Okay, stop there.

- Stop. Stop!
-[banging]

Not too bad, not too bad.

Nothing's totaled,
so I'm happy.

[Tyson] Well, we just got
the sluice runs
into Big Red here,

and that frees me up
to go back down
to the Promised Land.

Quite honestly,
we are just not on track
to hit our 2,000 ounce goal.

[narrator] In the mountains
above Keno,

Rick Ness is over a third
of the way through
the season.

But he's only mined


Apparently, we're running pay
from the bacon strip.

Um, it's not the best pay
that we've ever run.

All we can do is just keep
hammering as much pay
through the plant as we can,

as efficiently as we can.

I mean, I want nothing more
than to see my buddy succeed.

Right now, while I'm away,
my new wife, is...

Planning our wedding
reception for when I get home.

So... A nice, fat gold bonus
will go a long way to, uh,

having a pretty
kick-a*s shindig
for our wedding.

It's a team effort
to find the gold that we do.

But I just--
Really want to help Rick
get to 2,000 ounces.

And I really want this
to be his best season yet.

[narrator] After his
redemption last season,

Rick is going all-in
at Duncan Creek.

We've got the ground
here now to run without
too much effort.

And, uh... Now we can focus
the majority of our effort
on this real deep ground.

Because it's gonna
be an expensive process.

But, I'm gonna sink
everything I own, um,

into getting down
into that ground.

And if I don't get anything
back out of it,

I wouldn't say that
my margins are tight,

I would say that
that's the [bleep] end of me.

[chuckles]

[narrator] Rick needs to bank
at least 700 ounces of gold,

before he can take a risk
on deeper, richer ground
at Duncan Creek.

Uh... Wait a minute.

[Nathan] Water's not supposed
to come out of there...
At all.

[laughs] Well,
and what's going on?

[Rick] Holy [bleep].

Cut the power.

Something's going on
with the wash plant.

There's water and dirt
coming up out the back
where it shouldn't be.

Bottom lip coming off
the pre-wash doesn't look like
it's even there any more.

[narrator] A hole has
opened up between the plant
and the pre-wash.

Letting gold-rich material
flood out.

[Rick] It's not a big piece
of steel, but it's...
Pretty [bleep] important one.

[bleep]

Guess it worn out, fell off,
went out that side
of the plant.

It's probably in
the tailings piles somewhere.

Well, we'll be shutting down
until we fix that.

All the dirt's just coming out
of the pre-wash,

and it's just falling between
the pre-wash and the plant.

[narrator] Rick believes
a steel plate
has worked loose.

I think it actually comes
off of...

Well, there's no obvious--

[Rick] You know what I mean?
There's no obvious, like,
breaks here. There's no...

I mean, I know there's gotta
be a piece connected,
you know, that goes over.

What the [bleep] is...

Why, why can't I put together
what this is supposed
to look like?

For the [bleep] life of me,
I can't tell how...

I can't remember how
this is supposed to look.

[Rick] Something going on
in the wash plant.

There's water and dirt
everywhere, from out the back,
where it shouldn't be.

[narrator] On lower
Duncan Creek, Rick Ness
is shut down.

I don't see anything.

[Rick] This thing, whole thing
shifted back and down.

[Nathan] Ah, so it's
gotta be all...

[Rick] It's, there's no piece
missing, just the whole
prewash moved backwards.

-[Nathan] So shouldn't
there be pins?
-[Rick] Yeah.

That's why we couldn't find
anything up there,

-[Rick] Yeah.
- like, any fresh breaks
or anything.

Yeah, we didn't...
We're not missing a piece
out of the prewash.

It's the whole [bleep] prewash
moved back,

'cause the pins fell out,
and the whole thing
fell backwards.

You'd think that
they'd be right here.

It found its way back today,
but those pins could've been
gone for a [bleep] week.

[narrator] Rick can't run
the plant, until he's replaced
the missing 9-inch steel pins.

Kruse, can you come
down the plant, please?

[narrator] With no mechanic,
it's down to hometown buddy,
Chris Kruse, to fix the plant.

[Kruse] Uh, what's going on
up there, guy?

[Rick] You got the whole
prewash fell back.

[Kruse] You just need to
make some pins, right?

[Rick] Yeah, I mean, there's
no pins in sight. They could
have been gone for weeks.

[Kruse] Nothing's actually
broken. We just have
missing pieces, so we need to

find some pins to put back
in there, and get them
put back into place, so...

But it is down time,
and we don't need that.

[Rick] I can't afford
anything right now.

With a breakdown
like this, I mean,

probably only be a few hours,
but these things add up, man.

And every single one of them
is just making it harder and
harder to hit 2,000 ounces.

[Kruse] Uh, I just cut a piece
of round stock, for a new pin.

We found another one
that we can use.
That's sort of something else.

Luckily, I have welding
experience, 'cause
nobody else, uh,

seems to be very
well-versed in welding.

Don't call a lifter guy
for no reason.

[narrator] Kruse will weld
the eye to the prewash,

so Rick can reposition it
with the excavator,

and move it back
within touching distance
of the shaker deck.

Kruse, I count on him. He
takes care of uh, the machine.
He takes care of the plant.

He's kinda turned into a bit
of a utility guy for me, and
that's, that's really nice.

I couldn't be happier
with how that worked out.

[Rick] Hey, guide me and make
sure I'm lifting her straight.

[Rick] For this machine,
lift it up and...

This is the only wash plant
we've got running right now,

and it needs to be running
again by the end of the day,
so I can't [bleep] this up.

That'll make it a big repair,
so gotta be very careful here.

-[Kruse] Start going up,
and I'll see what happens.
-[Rick] Okay.

[Kruse] Come towards me.

[slams]

[Rick] Ugh.

[Kruse] Swing over
that way a little bit.

[Kruse] All right, now come...
Keep coming towards me.

All right, now come down.

Hold it right there.

[pins clinking]

[Rick] And, just like that.

Pins are in.

Well, as far as, uh,
breakdowns go,
that wasn't too bad.

-[Rick] Nice work.
-[Kruse] Thanks, pal.

[Rick] You know, we can never
afford to have a plant down.

Luckily, this time
was a pretty easy fix.

We got it going quick, but

there's not a whole lot of
time left on that plant before
some serious rebuilding.

[Fred] Our wash plant's
finally here.

It's been a long road getting
that bad boy down to this
claim, uh, but it is here.

[narrator] In the remote
Yukon wilderness,

Fred Lewis and his crew
are 9 weeks into their season.

But only now are about to fire
up their new 60-yard-an-hour
wash plant for the first time.

[Stuart] I'm excited to
just get it in place
and just start moving dirt.

-[Douglas] Put it to work.
-[Stuart] Yeah.

Still a month behind,
but we're gonna get caught up
real quick.

If we just take that
work ethic that we have,

you know, from the military
and everything else,

come out of here
pretty rich men.

[Khara] I feel like the whole
Misfits team has just
gotten their momentum.

We have a solid crew,
and we're doing this
for a better life,

because of the sacrifices
we're making right now.

[narrator] To get
his wash plant dialed in,
and catching gold,

Fred's called in a favor...

Where is this camp
supposed to be, Freddy?

Well, he said it was


[narrator] ...from gold
recovery expert, Freddy Dodge,

and mechanical supremo,
Juan Ibarra.

[Juan] Oh, there's the little
plant, right there, Freddy.

[Freddy] It's not
set up to run, is it?

[Juan] Not at all.

[Freddy] How's it going, Fred?

[Fred] You guys made it.

-[Juan] How's it going?
-[Fred] Good, how you been?

You know, honestly, we figured
you'd be running by now.

We're about a month
behind, um, but...

You don't have much
of the season left, really.

No, but we're looking at this
in, in a positive light,

as we've put a lot
of work into this season
to get it ready.

-[Juan] Yeah.
-[Fred] We might have
a short season.

We've got pay waiting.

We've got the equipment.
We've got the man power.

-[Juan] Mmm-hmm.
-[Fred] Just these last couple
of really important steps,

that it's great that
you guys come now.

I can't wait
for you guys to see it.

[Juan] Yeah, I've seen these
kiwi plants before.

[Fred] All steel screens,
so those'll last
the entire season.

We won't have to worry
about any screens going bad.

- It's simplified, compared to
what we had last season.
-[Juan] I like it.

[Fred] Well, so, this is
the plant. I'd really love
to show you guys the claim.

I've really been itching
to show you guys the claim.

-[Juan] Yeah, let's
take a look at it.
-[Freddy] Let's look at it.

[Fred] It's a bit of a walk.

-[Fred] So this will
be our last pond.
-[Juan] Mmm.

But this is probably
where we'd have to
pull our water from

if we were recycling.

So, right here, we're
developing our second pond.

I've got, I've got
some pillars in.

We're gonna raise it up to be
about this level, eventually,
once we get enough rock.

[Freddy] My advice to you is

you've got multiple issues.

Well, we're looking at
the amount of water
in your creek.

-[Fred] Mmm-hmm.
-[Freddy] And, uh...

You don't have enough water
to run your plant.

It's a glorified ditch,
is what you've got
going on here.

This is a, a mud puddle.

This is gonna turn
into a milkshake--

The second you have
a milkshake here,

- it's gonna go
to your plant, right?
-[Fred] Yeah.

You're pulling your water
out of here. So, it's gonna
go to your plant,

plug up all your screens,
plug up all your riffles.

This water's gonna
silt up on you so fast,

you'll literally only have
a few hours of sluicing

before you'll have
to shut down.

So, what do you guys
think the solution is?

So, this road right here,
what's this road for?

[Fred] This was our original
road, where we would...

The only road we had
access on in the beginning.

[Juan] But, now we have
access on the side, right?

Now we have access
on the side, yeah.

[Juan] So, can we
eliminate this road?

And just really
widen this pond up?

You do not have enough water.
And then, you're gonna need
another pond below this one,

to clarify your water
even more before you
put it in the creek.

Right now, you don't have
jack [bleep]
for water storage.

[narrator] Freddy
and Juan's plan?

Move the access road
in the middle of the claim


dig three ponds to allow silt
from the wash plant to settle,

providing clean water
for sluicing,

and ensuring no silt is
discharged into the creek.

[Juan] This is the only way
you're gonna actually
be able to run.

[Freddy] And we're not trying
to give you [bleep]
news, but...

[Fred] No, no, no, this is why
I had you guys here.

We're like, "Well, we'll
run it, and we'll see
how long it's gonna last,

and we'll adapt," but...

-[Freddy] It's gonna
last about four hours.
-[Fred sighs] Yeah.

That's nowhere near enough.

-[Freddy] 'Cause right now,
you're [bleep].
-[Fred] Okay.

[Fred] You know, it's great
having Freddy and Juan here.

However, they've given us
a list of tasks to do

that are gonna take us
another week, and it's
extremely frustrating.

It is what it is.
They think we need more ponds.

I'll dig more ponds,
but right now I gotta
get to sluicing.

[Fred sighs]

It's a pain in the a*s,
considering that we were,
like, literally done.

[Fred] Well, now I'm just down
so I can get Christopher
back here,

-[Stuart] Yeah.
-[Fred] and we'll just get him
to come up to here,

and drop you one
more load in that stream.

[Stuart] And what do you
want done with that?
Like, do you want me to--

Well, first build a dam up,
so you watch... You can
do the... You can finish it,

-[Stuart] Uh-huh.
-[Fred] and then make this
nice and smooth.

-[Stuart] Yeah.
-[Fred] And then,
look and see

if the water level's
high enough. If not, bring
it up a couple, another foot.

[Stuart] Yeah, okay.

[Fred] 'Cause right now
we're trying to get
the mine running,

- so let's get this
[bleep] done.
-[Stuart] Okay.

[narrator] Fred tasks
his son, Christopher Parker,

with bringing in
rocks and gravel
to build the new ponds.

It's just a bunch
of bull [bleep] that we have
to deal with.

And so, he's been
especially [bleep]
cranky today.

Dealing with Fred when he
gets like this is difficult,

because he won't
listen to anyone.

And he always has it
in his head that he's right,
especially when he's angry.

[Fred] Hey. Taking you guys
almost 45 minutes a load.

Christopher, get at least
two loads out there. At least.

We just gotta
figure this [bleep] out.

'Cause without this pond,
we can't run.

-[Mitch] What's
happening, man?
-[Parker] What's going on?

[Mitch] We got Big Red sitting
on its wash plant pad there,

just, uh, putting
everything together.

[Parker] What's your plan
for water?

[Mitch] It's a long ways
from where Sluicifer is.

-[Parker] Like where Sluicifer
had pulled water from.
- Yeah, yeah,

we don't have enough water
line to get from that pond

and that water source
to where Big Red is now.

-[Parker] Right.
-[Mitch] So, my thought
was, um,

you know, recirculating
in zones one and two.

So we'll need
to flood that area.

[Parker] So, what's the best
way to charge the ponds?

[Mitch] Well, we've been
fighting all season to keep
zones one and two dry.

-[Parker] Right.
-[Mitch] I mean, remember

at the start of the year,
when the wall blew out there?

[Parker] What would it take
to dig through that section?

Or is it just gonna bleed
in pretty quick on its own?

[Mitch] Well, I mean, it's
a band aid, with, it's barely
hanging on over there.

If we go over there
and help it,

I think it'd probably start
coming in there pretty good.

[Parker] It sounds like
that's gonna be the fastest.

From my standpoint, you're
under a lot of time pressure

because Big Red, um,
has an appointment
with Mud Mountain [laughs]

-[Mitch] Yeah.
-[Parker] that is gonna
come up in a hurry.

And you need to try to
pound out 1,500 ounces

down there at the air strip
and then get that plant moved.

Okay.

[narrator] Mitch is gambling

on water from Sluicifer's
old pond having
leeched through the berm.

He'll dig down
into the patched up berm,

in the hopes of tapping
into the ground water,

and using it to flood
the mined out cut,

providing a pond
to feed Big Red.

[Mitch] At the start
of the year,

we had an issue
with water leaking in
from our settling pond.

So, right now we're just gonna
remove the material that
we used to plug this.

[narrator] To help flood
the cut, Mitch brings Tyson
back to The Airstrip.

So, in the spring,
we stripped this cut.

When we were stripping it,
we pushed into an old pond.

So, essentially,
what I'm trying to find
is the toe of the pond.

We're looking
for a lot of water flow here.

When I plugged this off,
it was flowing like a river.

[bleep]

Tyson, Tyson?

Can you come?
Your B-cut is being flooded.

[Tyson] Let's cut a channel
right underneath all the mud.

Our whole system is gonna
be underwater here

in a matter of minutes
if we don't get this
plugged off.

How are you looking
over there, Tyson?
You seeing any water yet?

Nothing pouring in yet.

What do you think?
We're gonna find any water
or is it all dried up here?

I know we're a lot later
in the season.

We've had a lot of warm days
and a lot of sunshine in here.

It looks pretty bone dry
to me, Mitch.

Check that out.
Got some snow in there.

[Tyson] Well, I've got
a little flow here now.

I've hit water table, Mitch.

[Mitch] That's a start.

But, it'll be two weeks
before we're sluicing
if that's all we get.

[narrator] Tyson's
found water.

But, it's nowhere near enough
to flood the entire cut

and supply the 1,500 gallons
a minute that Big Red needs.

[Tyson] We have a lot of water
stored upstream from us.

In theory, you think
it would push through.

But, it all depends
on how many layers of ice
is in the way.

We could need
to go 5 feet more,

or 50 feet more,
or 100 feet more,

who knows, to get it to bleed
in the timeline we're given.

I'm a little bit concerned
right now, um...

That this might not work.

Having a wash plant down
due to no water
is not a good reason.

[Mitch] We got, uh, some
more flow down there now?

It hasn't really started
to breach my little hole yet.

[Mitch] You know, we really
wanna turn on Big Red
as fast as possible.

So, we need some
more water here. Fast.

You know, right now,
this has to work.

There's no ifs, ands, or buts
about it.

There she flows!

[Mitch] That's more like it!

That's what we're looking for.

[Tyson] [bleep] yeah!

Hey, Mitch?
You got a copy, Mitch?

I'm gonna go work
on the other wash plant.
Have fun, man.

[Mitch] Copy that.

Come on, baby.

[engine sputters]

[engine starts]

There we go!

Oh yeah, we got water.

We've got our pond filled up.

Our water pump's
pumping water.

The generator's
warming up here.

We're gonna turn
on the breaker,
get some belts spinning.

All right, it's gonna be
showtime here in a sec.

[generator starts]

There we go! We got power.

All the belts are spinning.

Big Red is coming to life!

All right, here we go.

First scoop
of Big Red this year.

Let's do this.
Let's get that gold!

[Mitch] Here we go.
It's what we've been
waiting for.

Here comes the dirt.

[narrator] Finally, nine weeks
into his season,

Parker has Big Red
and Sluicifer running.

Here we are. Come on, Jarv.

Home sweet home.

Hey Shane, everything's
looking really good up here
at the shaker deck.

So, just keep the dirt coming.

[Shane] Awesome, buddy.
I'll keep feeding the beast.

I can smell the gold
in this stuff.

It smells like money, baby.

[narrator] At Lower
Duncan Creek,

Rick Ness
and his skeleton crew
are in a battle

to keep running 100 yards
of bacon-stripped
pay dirt an hour

through wash plant, Rocky.

Definitely prefer working
with a nice, small, tight crew
that works together well.

But, the problem with that is
we've all had to just chip in
and try to make it work.

And, having Carl here would be
a lot better than it all
being tasked to me.

Pretty big shoes to fill.

Everybody's wearing
a lot of hats these days.

[Rick] Looks like a lot
of big rocks in the plant.

That shouldn't be
getting through.

Holy.

That's bad. That's bad.

Even though there's a lot
of water in there, I can see
big holes in the deck.

[Rick sighs]

Oh man. That's bad.

I know this deck
was getting real thin, but...

Now there's huge
[bleep] holes in it.

Hey, Kruse, can you meet me
at the plant?

Um... We got some problems.

[Rick sighs]

Oh, man. That's bad.

[narrator] Rick Ness
is shut down again

after holes in his
three-quarter inch
steel screen deck

let rocks into his sluices.

Well, it's not like a typical,
you know, wash plant where you
can just replace the screen.

It was modified
for this ground.

Which is great cause
it'll handle all the boulders.

Um... But it's a [bleep]
and a half to take out
and put a new one in, right?

You know, it's a huge job.

This plant really needs
to keep going for a couple
of weeks at least.

Right now, it doesn't look
like it wants to go
a couple more hours.

I'm gonna throw a band-aid
on it, keep running it.

[narrator] Once again,
Rick's buddy, Chris Kruse,

is called in to get the plant
back up and running.

[Rick] That... That's
the problem right there.

[Chris] Oh.

I mean, obviously,
we got a problem here.

It's letting in
too big a rock.

- Yeah.
- Because of the holes.

[Chris] What I'm thinking,
we should just go all the way
across with it.

-[Rick] Yeah?
- You know, like this seems
pretty good on the outside.

- Yeah. Yeah.
- Like the first 6 inches.

- And that would give us
something to tie into there.
- Yeah.

- And same on that side.
- Yeah.

To come in 6 inches would
give us a little bit of...

- Yeah. Yeah.
- So, we're not losing
all of that surface area.

Yeah, I mean the screen deck's
worn the [bleep] out.
We knew that.

I just...

I don't wanna shut it down yet
because it's a big job
to replace this.

[narrator] Kruse plans
to cover the holes
with welded steel plates,

which will prevent
larger rocks from getting
into the wash plant.

But, it comes at a cost.

When we put patches in,
we lose the surface area
of the punch plate.

So, there's potential of gold
going right out the end
of the top deck.

I'm a bit concerned
about the...

Uh, our loss of surface area
on the punch plate

by covering it up
with a solid plate, but...

Uh, Rich made that call
and that's his call
to make, so...

We'll go with it.

Every minute that
we're not sluicing

means every minute
we're not catching gold, so...

Time is of the essence.

[groans]

My body feels like I'm about


[laughs]

As you can see,
it fit in here perfectly
the way I needed it to.

Time for me
to clean up my mess.

And get back to pouring dirt
in this thing.

I'm just glad to be up
and running again.

You know, all this downtime's
hurting us bad.

Um, it's all adding up.

It's hurting our chance
of hitting 2,000 ounces.

[wash plant starts]

Hopefully, Krusey's welds
hold together.

Otherwise, we're [bleep].

With any luck, my patches
don't come flying out
the end right away. [laughs]

All right, so our ponds
are looking pretty good.

Right now, I've got
Freddy Dodge digging out
our tailings pond.

That sounds
pretty nice to say.

You got a booster seat?

Well that ought get us started
on that side, huh?

[narrator] Over 40 miles
from Dawson City,

Fred Lewis and his novice crew
have spent four days creating
a three pond system

under the guidance
of gold recovery experts,

Freddy Dodge and Juan Ibarra.

So, right now, we've got our
lower half of this long pond
at the right level.

It's right at max.

We've got our dams up.

Our water's holding
really well.

We've got definitely
enough water to circulate
through our plant.

At this point, I feel
that we have succeeded
in all of our tasks.

And it's time to get mining.

[narrator] Fred tasks
mechanic, JB Mayer--

Just swing around,
I'll keep an eye
on the back there.

[narrator]
...and local operator,
Buzz Legault

to move his new 13 ton
wash plant into position.

[JB] That looks
pretty good, Buzz.

We got it. Woo-hoo!

[laughs]

Clevis, clevis, and in.

We should be able to lift
from that point, right?

[Freddy] How's it going, guys?

[JB] Hey! Good morning,
good morning.

[Freddy] Well, is there
anything we can help
you guys with? We're here.

[Juan] You need a sandwich
or something?

- I can make some sandwiches.
-[all laugh]

[Juan] Pretty good at that.

- I'm just joking.
- Well, we got... You know,
that it's critical,

you know, we get these sluices
off without bending them,
dropping them.

Well, [bleep].
Let's give you guys a hand.
We can do that.

[JB] Now, that thing's nice.

About 1,000 bucks.

[JB] Oh, wow! Damn.

[laughs]

So, you're just gonna do it
that one point then?

All right. All right.

[Freddy] Straight up! Boom up!

[JB] I mean, that's a pretty
cool chain set-up, so...

It's something that
we look at...

For me, I look at,
for having for next year.

Right now, I mean,
this is the beginning of...
Of everything.

Let's get mining.

That's why we came here.
I love it.

Yeah, that thing's
pretty cool.

[Dodge] You got those
butt-wrenches?

Ah, I'll get. There were here.

It isn't gonna fit, Juan.
I don't think.

We're flat tied against here,

metal to metal.

And I understand that,
why I think the design is,
we gotta lift it up,

put a pin in
and then the pressure itself

locks that edge in.

[Dodge] When we crank up
it's gonna throw us
further back.

Does that leap around?

Does it go on the inside?

It could be.

-[JB] Yeah.
-[Dodge] Yeah.

[Dodge] You're right.

It's got a design where

there is no room
for forgiveness here.
It's very tight.

Yeah. Whoa! Whoa!

- That's it right there.
-[Dodge] Ah.

Go right there.

When I pin this this way,
put pressure against it.

Pull on your side,
if you would, a little bit.

[Dodge] That push like [bleep]

-[JB] Got it?
-[Dodge] Got it on.
[chuckles]

- Next one?
- It's kind of a pain
in the a*s.

Well this next one,
you should go little easier,

now that we know
how it goes, huh? [laughs]

-[grunts]
- All right, we get it.

This is a pretty exciting time

because this is our
moment of truth,

if this thing is gonna
actually work or not.

This is make or break.

[narrator] Two months ago,

Fred Lewis risked it all

to find a claim in the Yukon.

Now, he's finally ready
to fire up

his 60-yard-an-hour wash plant

for the first time
this season.

[Fred] It's not about

coming out here
and just mining.

It's about coming out here,
making a statement

and pulling as much gold
as you possibly can.

- Well, everything
is hooked up, huh?
-[Dodge] Yep.

- Perfect.
- Yeah.

Hey, misfits. Let's rally
over here in the wash plant.

Roger that. On the way.

Everyone is
really excited
to actually like,

come down here
and do some work.

And like just

pulling a lot of gold
out of the ground.

All right, guys.

-[Fred] Here we go.
-[man] Fire it up, guys.

[Fred] Let's get some gold.

This is like when you walk out
the tunnel right before
the game,

and you get that feeling,
you get all pumped up,

and then the whistle blows.

Little nervous.

This is what the whole season
is been about.

And there she is.

[man] Looks thin and long.

[Fred] There you go.

All right. Send the water.

Pipe's filling up.

It's heading your way.

All right,
I'm gonna start feeding.

This tray here is
what it's all about.

[Fred] Now we are gold miners.

This is the big deal.

How's it feeling, Stuart?
We're up and running.

They're packing up, Juan.

- Okay.
- Close your eyes.

Line up behind the raffle
right here.

[Dodge] Now put your fingers
in there.

Now the [bleep] pack, right?

So the [bleep] packed,
working that gold dough.

[bleep] on.

- You're gonna have to slow
your feed down.
- Okay.

[Dodge] This will not handle


- I say 41, huh?
-[Fred] Kinda what
I'm thinking, 40?

- All right. Let's cut our feed
right in half.
- What?

-[Fred] Cut it in half.
- Half?

We're gonna cut it to one
every two. See how that goes.

There is no use
in stripping it,

digging it, hauling it,
feeding it.

- If you are losing
the gold, right?
- Right.

This is what happens
when you put your head
to something

and you work your a*s off.

Do you wanna k*ll
the water pump?

All right, crews.
She is all yours.

[Doumitt] Here we go.

First clean up
on Big Red.

I'm really hoping
to see a triple digit on this

cleanup really.

It would be nice to

start out with at least


We lost Brennan this year.

But I think Tyson's
really stepped up to play.

I know I should have...
in Tyson. We have the same
camaraderie,

the relationship that Mitch
and Brennan had.

But Tyson's really
learned a lot,

and settled down.

He is always kind of
in a hurry and doing things
half-witted.

Now he is doing things right.

So I think we are gonna make
a really good team.

So I think
he's gonna be a good fit.

But the mats look real good.

There is gold in here.
That's for sure.

How much, who knows.

[man] We had rough week, huh?

- Mmm, [bleep]
-[laughs]

Well, I'm glad I still have
a good out of two, about two.

But that suck, man.

Rocky's been so rock solid
for us for the last
couple of years and

we've abused it
and it's showing.

I think he was down
more than it ran this week.

We can't afford too many weeks
like this.

[man] [bleep] if you want
to hit 2000, eh?

Here's the thing.

It's gonna get to the point
where it's gonna,

we're gonna have to address
a new mid-drover haul.

We all know what it needs,

but we all know
that we can't afford to really
shut it down right now so...

what do you do, right?

All I've to say is
bummer of a week.

But there is some gold.

- Did you weight it up?
-[man] Yes, sir.

I didn't even try to hide it
from you guys this week.

-[laughs]
- Yeah, thanks.

All right.

We got...

[sighing] 10...

[narrator] To reach his


every week,

Rick needs a 105 ounces.

Two forty, yeah.

Get out of there.

Forty point six four.

[narrator] Worth $73,000.

It's half of what we did
last week.

The plant ran half the amount
of time, right? So...

The math does add up.

Even if it was
what it was last week,
we're still in the same boat.

[man] Yeah.

It's not getting us
to 2000 ounces.

You got an eye
on some other ground?

[Ness] I know there's ground
here but,

I'm taking my time but

we're gonna have to pull
the trigger on something soon.

Perfect.

[Ness] Thanks again, guys.

- Get ready to get out of here.
- Okay.

[Ness] Well, it was
a tough week but, you know,
the team pulled through.

We're not getting
the gold numbers
that we need but,

you know, without these guys
it could have been
hell of a lot worse, so...

we're gonna have to figure out
something else,
because at this rate we are

not gonna get 2000 ounces.

[Fred] Looking pretty good.

Look at that gold!

I was really starting to get
a little worried.

You know, last season,

it still weighs very heavy
on my mind.

It makes it all worth it.

That I'm not up here
wasting my time,

watching my daughter grow up
on facetime

and on pictures.

So I'm really excited
that this is finally
coming together.

[narrator] At
California creek,

with the help of Freddy Dodge
and Juan Ibarra,

Fred Lewis' moment of truth
is here.

[Fred] Last bucket, Stuart.

We're about to shut down.

Oh, yeah.
There is gold in here.

Oh, nice gold.

- Let's pan 'er, Fred.
-[man] Let's check it out.

[Fred] So we're just trying
to verify that we are
actually catching gold.

So I'm gonna pan it down.

There is some gold.

I'm already seeing it.

[Fred] Look at that, man.

[woman] That's a pretty pan.

I'll take it.
I'll take it all day.

- Whoo!
- Yeah.

That's about the biggest pan
we had last season times ten.

[Fred chuckles]

Pass this around
and get your first look
at Yukon gold.

-[woman] Let's check it out.
- Man, look at that.

Don't fall over.

That's a thing of beauty, man.

Let this motivate you.

This is why
we are in the Yukon.

[Fred] All right, guys.

Now we just got to buckle down
and push her to the end.

Whoo!

[Ibarra] You and your team
should be really proud.

We helped you a little bit
with suggestion, but you guys
did this on your own.

And here you are.
You're producing gold.

- And you know what?
I'm really proud of my team.
-[Ibarra] Yeah.

Well, I appreciate everything
you guys have done
to make us better.

[Dodge] Good to see you
again, Fred.

- Take care.
-[Ibarra] Bye, buddy.

[Fred] We are trying to make
a statement to the point where

greenhorns can come together
with our backgrounds,

learn something
immensely difficult

and make it profitable.

We got six ounces last season.

I believe wholeheartedly

our first clean up could be
last season's total.

Come hell or high water,

misfits are coming on top.

-[Tatlow] Hey... How are you?
- Hey, old timer.

[Tatlow] How are you, Chris?

[narrator] At Scribner creek

Ken Tatlow arrives

to weigh the first gold

from the ground
he leases to Parker.

So, how have you been?

Good, good.

Sluicifer plant boss,
Tyson Lee.

- Hey, Tyson.
- Hey T-bert
How are you doing, buddy?

- Pretty good. How you doing?
- Good. Good.

[narrator] And foreman
Mitch Blaschke...

What's happening?

- Hey, Mitch. How is it going?
- Hey, Mitchell.

[narrator] Are here

for the first
double gold weigh
of the season.

I think I did a great job

setting up Big Red. I mean,

you know, Mitch?
You and Brandon always did it.

You guys, those excavators
worked as one unit,
which is amazing.

But Ty, you stepped right up.

I mean, it's great.

Well, this is our first
clean up on your ground, Ken.

- That will be exciting.
- Yeah.

Yeah. Haven't seen any
for a while.

-[laughs]
- About 40 years.

[narrator] Parker started
the week



on this time last year.

This is Sluicifer.

[narrator] To match
last season,

both plants need to average



So if you want to rattle off
some numbers,
I'll pour it out.



- Slow down.
-[all laughing]

Got 90,









Not bad, old dawg.

Is that for 40 hours?

- No.
-[all laughing]

A lot of hours make that...

- You are missing a zero.
- Yeah, I know.

-[Tatlow] Probably, yeah.
-[laughs]

Mitch, on this third cut,
we are hoping to get

what, 1500 ounces
out of thing.

We need 1500 to match
what Sluicifer did.

- Here we go.
-[Blaschke] So what've we got?

Twenty, 40, 50,





[narrator] Now,

to find out if Big Red
can match

Sluicifer.

One eighty,





keep it going.

- Two fifty.
- Keep it right there.

That's all I got.

[Blaschke] Two sixty three
point eight.

- All right.
-[laughs]

[narrator] Worth
nearly $475,000,

Big Red has got Parker

back up to speed.

Well, it's nice to see
that Big Red remembers
his job there.

Put that on top of
what we got out of Lucifer,
make a good week.

It does. Really good week.

We got 472.55 ounces.

Great week. Great week.

Our season total is 2070.

So we broke 2000 ounces.

And good job
on both those set ups.

The plants are in
really nice shape.

- Let's try and make happen
again next week.
- Yeah, do it again.

Do it again and again
and again.

You know, it's so awesome
that we have Big Red

and Sluicifer both set up
and running.

They both had good weeks.

But now the struggle begins.

It's the challenge
of keeping them both running.

There's gonna be no
room for error.