15x02 - My Father's Frenemy

[bunniefuu]

[Zee] The crew
was all here early.

Water's pumped out.

We're already pulling pay
out of Rally Valley.

This is easily the best start
of the season

I've ever been
a part of up here.

[narrator] Deep in the Yukon,

Rick Ness's crew digs paydirt,

eager to find out
how much gold

lies at the bottom
of Rally Valley.

[man speaking]

[Bailey] Hey,
you gotta fuel up this loader

before starting the day off.

Haven't seen Rick today.

It's definitely not normal
that Rick's not here
in the morning.

Something must be
bothering him.

[Kyle] Something's going on.

He's kind of hiding out
in his trailer.

Hope he's got things
under control

and little worried about him.

- [Rick] Hey, Troy.
- [Troy] Hey, Rick.

[narrator] Last week,
Rick received news
that changed everything.

[Troy] We've got a big problem

with the water license
being approved.

And I can't guarantee
you'll have the license
next year.

[bleep].

Without the water license,
you can't mine.

[sighs] I mean, I--

I've got millions of dollars
invested in this.

My entire [bleep] future
is hanging in the balance
right now

and I, I, I don't--

I just can't even [bleep]
deal with it at the moment, so.

[narrator] After four years
of exploring Duncan Creek

to find the best gold,

Rick was on the brink
of buying the claim outright.

But now,
he only has six months
of guaranteed mining,

forcing him
to rethink everything.

[Zee] The season he took off,

obviously, he was struggling
with a lot of stuff and

personally and what not and,

I worry about that.

I know he's got
a little bit more on his plate
this year.

Gonna go check in on Rick.

He missed dinner
the last couple of nights,

just making sure
everything's okay.

[dog barking]

Oh, doggo.

[sighs and clears throat]

[Rick coughs]

[Zee] Oh, hey.

- What's going on, bud?
- Hey, bro.

Oh, [bleep].

[groans] Man.

I just wanted to make sure
you weren't down in the dumps
like that one year.

I don't know.

I've been talking with Troy.

[sighs] I got some news.

It's looking like
they may not approve

our water license
for next year.

[bleep].

That's really [bleep]
slammed me right in the face.

Yeah, not the best,

best thing to wake up to
when you get up here.

I feel bad I'm not out here,

but it's just obviously
dragging me down.

That's everything
I've invested in this.

Not just this place,
but in this whole
[bleep] business.

This was supposed to be, uh,

the last year
of paying this off and,

being set up now
for whatever I wanna do,

- basically the rest
of my life.
- [Zee] Oh, yeah.

I know you didn't come up here
for a snatch and grab,

but it was more of a...

- [Rick] Long term thing.
- ...long term thing.

So, I get it.

If this ship is sinking,

why throw
any more money at it?

It's not a fun thing
to think about right now,

but unfortunately
it's just sitting right there

in front of me
and I can't not.

- Well, this might be
the last year mining.
- Yeah.

[Rick] Yeah, I don't know
if I've got it in me.

You know, financially,
uh, in my heart,
I just don't know.

So, I've got decisions
to make.

We got your back.

So, whatever you need,
we're here.

[Rick] All right.

Well, I'll get back
down there.

- [Zee] Later, man.
Appreciate it.
- [Rick] Awesome.

[Zee] All right.

I'm worried,
this water license thing.

It's just [bleep].

I don't know
what he's gonna do.

Hopefully,
we see him tomorrow
down there in the cut.

Pretty much every machine
that we have

is at work right now.

We have a lot of ground
to get through,

and so we just needed
to get sluicing early

in order to try
to get through it all.

It's a pretty big struggle
getting ahead.

Really, we have to be up there

in the 10,000 ounce
range a year

over the lifespan
of this project.

[narrator] For Parker Schnabel
to bring in 10,000 ounces,

$25 million in gold
this season,

everything rides on mining out
the long cut first.

[Parker]
It's a little stressful.

The long cut is kind of
the only piece of ground

that we have
anywhere near pay.

There's definitely a lot
of tough decisions here
to make,

like when to start sluicing

and even, like,
what material to sluice.

[narrator] Last week,

Parker's plans
completely unraveled...

[Tyson] Doesn't look like
there's any gold in here.

[narrator]
...when he discovered
the long cut

wasn't ready to sluice.

We found a lot of sand,
a lot of mud up there.

That makes me really nervous.

We can't put that
through a wash plant.

We need to go deeper.

[narrator]
Parker miscalculated
the depth of the pay.

Scrambling for a backup,

he's charged most of his crew
with stripping a new area.

The bridge cut.

But there's more bad news.

[Parker] Right now,
all the pits are frozen,
so that sucks.

So, we're back
to the long cut,

trying to get things
figured out here.

The theme of this place
for a while

is gonna be battling frost.

[narrator]
Determined not to let
the long cut defeat him,

Parker's come up
with a new plan.

He's ordered his crew to dig
an 8000 foot long ditch

around the edge
of the entire cut

to help drain its meltwater

and speed up
thawing the overburden,

so they can get down to pay.

Going deeper
at the cut's edge,

Parker's crew will hit pay
in the ditches first,

which build stockpile
and run through wash plant,
Roxanne.

Mitch is definitely
gonna have his hands full

of trying to get
these ditches down.

Parker wants some income
and see some gold,

and that means that
we've gotta get out here

and get aggressive.

[narrator] Foreman
Mitch Blaschke

leads a skeleton
ditching crew.

[narrator] He's breaking up
the permafrost in the ditches

with a 480 excavator,

the only machine available
with a custom ripper,

the devil's finger.

Our ditches are gonna be
our lifeline here

to keeping Roxanne going.

But as you can see,

we're just beating
this thing up.

It's rattling, shaking.

But you can see

we got a pretty good amount
of water

ripping down this ditch,
which is a good thing,

because that's letting us know
that this cut is thawing.

I'm just working on
getting some pay for Roxanne.

[narrator] Tyson Lee
follows behind Mitch,

collecting ditch pay

to build the stockpile
Parker wants,

ready for Roxanne
by the end of the week.

You know,

these next six years
have a lot riding on them.

We've gotta work faster,
work harder, work smarter,

and try and get back sluicing.

[Mitch] Yeah, we're trying to
chisel our way through,

and get down to some
of that nice yellow gold
that's at the bottom.

Oh.

[engine stops]

Oh, man.

Oh, yeah, you don't wanna
turn either, huh?

[chuckles]

You've gotta be kidding me.

Like, of all the machines.

I heard, uh, something
go wrong with it.

It sounded like I had
a big rock, like,

caught between the tracks
and the bottom side
of the machine.

And you could hear that,

you know,
the gears popping there.

And now,
the machine doesn't wanna turn
side to side.

Hey, Taylor,
you got a copy, Taylor?

[Taylor over radio]
Yeah, go ahead.

Hey, buddy, I wish
I had some good news,

but, uh, the 480 just, uh,

appears it lost
the swing drive here.

[Taylor] All right, yeah,
I'll be on my way.

Not good right now,

I need this machine out,
moving dirt.

[Taylor] How's it going?

I think the old swing motor
there has seen better days.

[Taylor] Yeah.

I mean, first,
first thing to do is yank it
out and see.

Um, well, we won't
know the carnage

until we take it apart.

[drilling]

[Mitch] We got the crane here.

We're gonna get this thing
pulled out,

get it apart
and see what we find.

- [Mitch] Here we go.
- Nice and slow.

[Mitch]
Check this thing out, man.

- [indistinct]
- Holy [bleep].

[Taylor]
There is no fixing that.

The bearings,
they're hanging out
at the bottom,

you can see
the bottom of this here.

It's completely sheared off.

It's a giant mess in there.

[Mitch] Oh.

- Dude, look at that.
- [Taylor] Look at that.

You put that pinion
on Parker's desk.

That's a paperweight.

[Mitch] And this is
what drives it.

So, you know,
this is supposed to turn,

spins this, spins that,

and you get to move dirt.

Without this, uh,
none of the above

So, we may have to separate
the upper house

from the lower car body
where the tracks are.

[Taylor chuckles] Yeah.

No, this is a first for me.

I've seen swing boxes fail,

but not quite so,
uh, dramatically.

It's not a good time
for this machine

to have a catastrophic failure
like this one.

If we can't rip,
we can't ditch.

If we can't ditch,
we get no thaw.

If we get no thaw,
we get no pay.

And we have
a very unhappy Parker
at the end of the week.

So, let's get after it.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
The king of the Klondike,
Tony Beets, is on a roll.

He already has two wash plants
sluicing pay

at his Indian River claim,

the fastest start
of his 40-year mining career.

[Michael]
And an early start this year
is great.

Sluice-A-Lot is going.

We have the shaker deck going.

The gold price right now,
it's never been this high.

[narrator]
Having already banked


of his 5000 ounces season goal
from Indian River,

forty miles away
at Paradise Hill,

Tony wants son Mike
to run a third wash plant.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike]
We're getting things ready.

We're gonna get haul pay

and build up that
massive stockpile

Uh, difference is this year

is that now our,
instead of our equipment
being split two ways,

it's being split three.

But my brother's taking
a [bleep] ton of it.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator]
Three miles from Tony's
Indian River claim,

eldest son Kevin

is getting ready to mine
his own ground.

We have a couple
of the air lines

those have broken off,

so it's not a great start
to my morning.

[narrator] Kevin's leased
the Scribner Creek claim
from his dad

and poured his life savings
into starting the operation.

[Kevin] I got big plans
to set up a gold mine
and run it my way.

We do have a 1000 ounce goal.

This is a big gamble,

so me and Faith
have to make this work.

[narrator] His first goal

is to get the equipment
borrowed from Tony

up and running.

In used condition. [laughs]

We gotta start somewhere,
I guess.

- [hammering]
- [Kevin grunts]

One of the downsides
of using Tony's equipment

is that, uh,
the way he treats it
and fixes it

is very different than I think
how we want to do it.

[Faith] Our foreman
should be arriving shortly.

It'll be good
to have some hands

to come over and help us.

Yeah, that'll definitely
lighten the load a little bit.

[Brennan] Whoo!

I'm back up in the Yukon here.

I'm gonna be a foreman.

And I really wanna do good
for Kevin and Faith.

[narrator]
Kevin's secret weapon
this season,

master dirt mover,
Brennan Ruault.

[Brennan]
Everything just feels

like the stars are aligning,
you know?

So, I'm [bleep] pumped

to get out here
and get started.

[narrator] In 2015...

Whoo! [laughs]

[narrator]
...the former logger
joined the Schnabel crew.

[Brennan] I feel great
about today.

Time's flying, sun's shining.

[narrator] But six years
with Parker as his boss...

[Parker] Hurry up!

You've had five [bleep] days
to get this done.

[Brennan] [bleep] sakes.

[narrator]
...came to an expl*sive end.

[Brennan] So [bleep]
over this bull[bleep].

I'll leave right now,
I don't give a [bleep]
about any of this [bleep].

[narrator] Now, he's back
in the Klondike.

Hey, guys, how's it going?

- [Faith laughs]
- [Brennan] Haven't seen you
in a while.

- How's it going?
- [Faith] I know.

- So, this is a new place, eh?
- [Kevin] Yeah.

Well, we have some
of the equipment in.

Still waiting on the dozer,

but that should be
coming up shortly.

[Brennan] Right on.

Wanna go take a run around
and look at the cut?

Yeah. I've got
gold fever again,

[all laughing]

[Brennan]
Looks super familiar,

where I started for Parker,

just on the other side
of those trees.

There's a lot of history here.

- I mean, I know the ground
pretty [bleep] good, so.
- [Kevin] All right.

One of the benefits
of bringing you on,
straight up.

Yeah, no doubt.

Did you guys have any thoughts

on what you kinda wanted to do
to start this cut?

[Kevin] So, right now,
you open up a mid-size gut
to get going.

Based on what drill holes
that Tony had

and a little bit
of poking around I did,

- between 15, 20 feet
of muck on top.
- Okay.

[narrator]
Located between Tony's
Indian River Claim

and Parker's dominion site

on Scribner Creek,

Kevin's leased a 44 acre claim
from his dad.

He's identified
the 11 acre lynx cut

as the most likely to yield
the best gold.

Kevin wants to be sluicing
in four weeks' time.

But first needs to rip
and then strip overburden

from the first three acres.

So, what is your guys'
projected total for this year?

Uh, we're looking
for a thousand now.

- Really? [bleep],
well, that's nice.
- [Kevin and Faith] Yeah.

Well, guys,
I'm super excited to [bleep]
see some gold again.

So, should we, uh,
start getting equipment here?

Time to get to work.

[narrator]
Brennan's first job,

carve an access road
for all the equipment
to reach the cut.

Brennan is gonna be
a great asset
to the operation.

He knows the ground.

He's so [bleep] keen
to get mining.

Think it's gonna go good.

[Brennan]
We're all young and ambitious,
and we wanna make it happen.

[Kevin over radio]
Hey, Brennan, hey, Brennan.

Can you come down
to the yurt, please?

The dozer is inbound.

[narrator]
Kevin's been waiting for Tony
to drop off a D10 Dozer,

so he can begin ripping
the frozen ground
on his claim.

[Brennan]
This is as old as the sun,
actually, this one.

Somehow it made it here.

[Brennan] [bleep] sakes.

No ripper shank.

[narrator]
The dozer uses a detachable
steel ripper claw

mounted at the back.

It tears up ground.

But the vital 10 foot piece
of steel is missing.

[Kevin] I know
Tony didn't wanna give me
his best equipment,

but I mean,
a dozer without a ripper

is like a [bleep] truck
without tires.

[Brennan] Without it,
we're dead in the water.

[Parker] I'm with Tyson
here in this pit.

It's just a challenge
for everybody,

because right now,
we're just trying to fight

and get enough thaw every day.

The 480's down right now,
and that's not good timing.

So, they have to split
the car body

off the undercarriage.

Pretty big job.

We're fighting so much.

[narrator] Parker clears
waste material

from the long cut
to get to pay,

while Tyson does his best
to dig ditches

without the vital


after its catastrophic
breakdown.

[Tyson] Right now,
I'm having to get

a little creative
with the loader.

That's not really the, uh,
intended use for it.

Hopefully they're done
with that excavator

'cause I really need it.

So, we know that, uh,

you know,
the machine had a failed
swing box out in the cut,

and we've got it brought back
to the yard.

Janko's been working hard
on it.

He's already ripped
the other swing box out.

Where are we at, brother?

So, we're pretty much
ready to split it.

We just gotta break
all those bolts loose.

[Taylor] Right on.

Let's get after it 'cause, uh,

I know they want this thing
back in the cut
as quick as possible.

[narrator]
When the excavator's
swing drive broke,

it damaged the gear tub
that housed it.

To investigate the damage,

Parker's crew must separate

the 480's upper cab
from its track body.

First, they must unscrew
the 30 bolts

that hold the upper
and lower bodies together.

Then, two hydraulic rams
will be installed

at the back of the upper cab.

And in unison,
an operator will lift
the front

using the boom arm's bucket,

splitting evenly
the 58 ton excavator.

Once clear, the lower track
will be pulled out,

allowing the mechanics
to assess the damage.

The only thing that holds
the whole machine

top and bottom together
is this ring of bolts.

[drilling]

[man 2] I want out.

Top section's 75,000 pounds,

so it's pretty crucial
we have, uh,

adequate blocking and stands.

Working on the last bolt here.

That'll be good.

Okay, so we got two


uh, and air over hydraulic
power packs.

Point air to that side,
push the pedal,

and that'll put these
rams upwards,

both lifting with 30 tons
of force each.

Uh, so these'll take care
of the back end.

The boom and stick
will take care
of the front end.

[Jordan] Hey, Taylor,
you need help?

- [chuckles]
- [Taylor] Oh, yeah.

- Soon as we get it elevated,
you run up and load her in.
- Okay.

Yank the car body back.

Hopefully, we can get it all
safely lifted here.

It's gonna be, uh,
quite a lift though.

[narrator]
This highly skilled task

requires all four
senior mechanics.

Bill takes charge
of the excavator,

using the boom and arm
to raise it

at the same time
as the hydraulic rams.

- [Taylor] All right,
you ready?
- [Jordan] I guess so.

Okay, I'm lifting now.

[Taylor] Okay.

[Jordan]
Boom down a bit, Bill.

Okay. He's booming down.

It's working. Yeah.

- [Janko]
Okay, we're splitting.
- [Jordan] Yeah.

- [loud bang]
- [Janko] Oh. Okay, hold it.

We're up too high in the back,
so we need to go up...

- [Jordan] The front's
gotta come up a bit?
- ...a little bit.

Just-- just a little bit.

It's starting lifting the
machine all crooked.

That's when bad things
can start to happen.

You going up?

Yeah.

[machine whirring]

It's gotta be close
to coming out that dowel.

- [Taylor] A little more?
- More.

- Yeah, it's out.
- It's out.

Oh, yeah. We're golden boys.

Okay, Jordie,
hop in the loader.

Okay.

The moment of truth.

- There we go.
- There we go.

That should be good, eh?

Whoa. Perfect.

Yeah! Yeah!

Let's have a look here.

That's not supposed
to be in there.

That's not supposed
to be in there.

None of this [bleep]
is supposed to be in here.

So we've got
large chunks of bearing.

These are all supposed to be
inside the swing box.

You know, we need to get
this thing cleaned up

and get this thing back
to work as soon as possible.

Got the tub cleaned out here.

Um...

All the debris taken out.

And once we've got
all the grease cleared out,

it's kind of
like pretty astonishing,

the size of the hole,
the pinion left in the tub.

[narrator] At Dominion Creek,

Parker's crew attempts to fix
a nearly destroyed excavator.

You can see
the teeth marks here.

Um, a considerable
amount of force

to push through
that steel like that.

This tub houses all the
grease for the swing bearing

and the drive pinion.

So I'm gonna cut out
a piece of steel

and put a new piece in

so that we can
and put this thing

back together in good shape.

[narrator] A 480 excavator
contains two swing drives

that rotate the cab


When one of
the drives exploded...

it's pinion ripped a hole
in the steel gear tub below.

Taylor needs to patch up
the tub's damaged area

with a new steel plate.

Then he will
pull the track body

back under
the excavator's cab

and reassemble the machine

and finally
install a new swing drive,

then send it back to
the Long Cut.

[Taylor] Time is not
on our side right now, so...

it's a matter of just
cutting this thing out

and making sure
we can seal up that hole.

[narrator]
Taylor's first task,

fabricate a steel plate

to replace the damaged
section of the tub.

[Taylor] This is a really
valuable machine to us.

Having it sit in the yard,
split in half,

doesn't do us any favors.

It's really hampering
the ability to, uh,

get all the ditching done
in the cut.

Just about done here.

That'll do 'er.

Look at you guys having fun.

- [man] Oh, you betcha.
- Just like...

Play-Doh for adults, is it?

Ah, you betcha.

- Just packing in
some grease here. Yeah.
- Packing in some grease.

[Taylor] Okay, guys.
Well, she's greased up.

The machine's running.
So everyone know their job?

Yeah.

The tough part is going to
be lining this up...

once we get 'er under.

One wrong move, man,
this goes horribly wrong.

Okay, whoa.

Obviously, there's still
a lot of risk here.

Just a hair more.

Okay, keep goin'?

[Taylor]
Fingers out of the way.

Keep coming, Bill.

We're looking lined up.

Nice and smooth at the moment.

Okay, whoa.

More on your side, Janko?

[Janko] A little more.

- Whoa.
- [Taylor] Whoa.

- We're tight?
- [Janko] Yeah.

All right. Good work, boys.

It's been a crazy day
so far, man.

You can see the old [bleep]
swing box here in pieces.

So we just got to slam
this one in place

and this thing
can go back to work.

I mean, you just want
to land it pretty precisely.

There's only one way
this thing goes in, right?

It just takes a little bit
of messing around.

Okay.

Well, that's in place.

Um, we haven't had
a failure like this ever

since my time here, so...

It's, uh...

It was a pretty crazy one.

Do you like doing this
in the dirt?

Love it.

Yeah, it went really smooth, actually.

It helps having
good people around you.

You got Jordan, Janko,
Bill and a moron.

Well, at least there's
only one moron.

- 'Cause if I were here...
- 75%.

...it would be upside down
and on fire.


professional.

So we've got
nothing to worry about.

No, really good, man.

- That's great.
- Really happy with it.

It'll go to work

once you get this all back
together and buttoned up.

- So.
- Absolutely.

Well, that'll make Mitch
a happy boy.

It will. It will.

- Well, I'm glad that
went well.
- Yeah.

- All right. I'm out.
- Cheers, dude.

I'm just happy that we got it
back together, nice and safe.

Um, and, you know,

this thing will be
slanging dirt in no time.

[Mitch] Well, it's so awesome
to have the 480
back in the cut here.

It's allowed us to, you know,

put that ripper
attachment back on,

get through the frost.

That's what it's all about.

Back on the machine...
in a timely manner,

and it's all because of them
that we're able to have

a fighting chance
of getting Parker's ounces.

But, right now,
I'm fighting to get back
to the stockpile of pay.

[Mitch] Uh, the guys
did a great job.

The 480 is back in action,
and it feels better than ever.

[Brennan] We really need
to get this ripper shank.

This is the first
most important piece

of any of this mining
puzzle this year.

I mean, without it, we're
kind of dead in the water.

Right now,
it is the biggest priority.

[narrator] First-time
mine boss Kevin Beets

is on the hunt for
a dozer ripper shank.

Where, uh... where exactly are
you taking us to find this?

So how are you and Parker
these days?

So is that where
we're headed to, then,

is to his camp?

Yep. The new place off
on Dominion.

To be honest with you,
I haven't talked to the guy
in a few years.

We did have a little bit of
differences towards my end,

working with them there,
you know?

Oh, jeez.

Honestly, for me, like...

I've only ever seen him
in passing, really,

the last [bleep] decade,
so to speak.

- Yeah.
- All when he had to come
talk to Tony.

So he wasn't always
in the best mood.

Uh-oh.

But it'll definitely be,
uh, interesting

to see him in person again,
you know,

and see how the...

the, uh...

feeling in the area is, anyways.

I know we had
a bunch of rippers
in Parker's old yard.

I don't know
where they might have went.

[Kevin] There they are.

[Brennan]
So what are you thinking?

That looks pretty long
for that little girl, eh.

[Kevin] It should work, even
if it might be a bit long.

[Brennan] Well, right now,
we've got [bleep] all.

I'm thinking this may do it.

If he's willing to
part with it.

If he even knows we're here.

If we start getting
screamed at, it's on you.

[Kevin] Hey, Parker.

Good to see ya.

- [Brennan] Hey, Parker.
- Good to see you.

[Parker] How are you?

Brennan.

What are you guys up to?

Well, we have a dozer
without a ripper shank.

So hopefully...

you have one
you're willing to part with.

Tony needs a ripper shank?

Oh. No. Me and Faith this year
have gone out on our own.

So we're borrowing
a dozer from Tony

without a ripper shank.

This is gonna sound...

maybe a little weird.

But is Tony like
involved in any way,

other than helping with
some equipment

and [bleep] like that?

Beyond that, uh, no.

- Good.
- Yeah?

Well, then I feel better
about helping you.

Because I'm, like, if this is
just like Tony's thing,

then Tony can
[bleep] deal with his [bleep].

But, um,
congrats on doing this.

- Oh, thank you. Thank you.
- Yeah.

[Parker] Those are 11 grand.

[Kevin] 11 grand is
a good deal for that one.

You don't need to pay
for anything now.

Just start a tab.

[Kevin] I appreciate that.
I really do.

I'm more than happy.

I know how hard it is when
you're first starting out.

[Brennan] That's awesome.

- You owe me a hug.
- Yeah, for sure, buddy.

[Brennan]
It's nice seeing you again.

- It's been too long.
- It has been, buddy.

I'll have to come by
for a beer and visit.

You're more than welcome
anytime.

[Kevin] Today is not a bad day
to be a mine boss.

Um, Parker's been
very generous,

and I am very,
very grateful, honestly.

[Brennan] We can start ripping
and get to work.

[Faith] Oh, yeah. This has
solved so many problems.

So thank you very much,
Parker.

- [Parker] No worries, man.
- I appreciate that.

- [Faith] Yeah, thank you.
- I'm happy to help.

- Good to see you, guys.
- Same.

- Best of luck.
- Better give you a hug,
old-timer.

[laughs] Good to see you.

- Thanks again.
- I'm glad you're our neighbor.

You betcha. You too, buddy.

- Thank you.
- All right.

[Brennan]
It feels really, really good
to see him again, you know.

He said, "Come over anytime
for a beer."

So I definitely would
like to come catch up.

It's a big win for us, guys.

And hopefully tomorrow,
we can start ripping.

[Kevin] 100%. Yeah.

Well...

I've had some
time to think about

this whole water license
situation, and...

it's just not something
I really want to keep
from my guys.

You guys wanna
meet me up by my trailer?

They've all committed to me.

They've all got [bleep]
on the line, just like I do.

So just want to
get everybody together.

[narrator] After the bombshell

that he may not be able to
mine Duncan Creek next year,

Rick Ness is wrestling
with a big decision.

Cut his losses and run,

or go all in

on what could
be his last season.

- [Buzz] What's going on, bud?
- [Rick] Yo.

I got some news.

I guess it pretty much
affects us all.

So I just wanted to let
everybody know about it.

Troy hit me with some news
about our water license

that, uh...

kind of made me have
to step back for a minute,

because basically he's saying

that it may not get approved
in time for next year.

Maybe not get approved at all.

This ground without
a water license is useless.

Why would I take
the last of what I have

and throw it on a ship
that's already going down?

You know? I--

I've got decisions to make.

Troy hit me with some news
about our water license

that, uh,
basically he's saying

that it may not get approved
in time for next year.

Maybe not get approved at all.

This ground without
a water license is useless.

So when you originally
bought-- made the deal
on the place,

you knew it could be
a potential issue.

Well, I knew that--
I knew when the water license
was going to be expiring,

but I had no reason to think
that it wouldn't get renewed.

So what's your plan?

Part of me just wanted
to take this news

and just, uh, you know,

jump in my truck and
get the [bleep] out of here.

But you guys are
all involved in it, too,

because you guys have all
made commitments to me,

and I don't take that lightly.

We're all here,
and we all have your back,

regardless of what happens.

And I think our goal is gonna
be the same goal you have.

Let's hit
the bottom of that pit

and let's see what's in there,
and let's get it all out.

[Zee] There's still
a [bleep] ton of gold

in the bottom of that valley.

Yeah.

I'm not willing to walk away
with nothing right now.

And, uh, I say we go for it.


to be the [bleep]
minimum that we get.

The way that
you're all staring at me,

it says that
you're ready to go.

It ain't gonna
[bleep] mine itself.

And I'm glad that
everybody's positive about it.

It's important for me

that all of us
get something out of this.

If you guys are in it with me,
and it seems like you are,

do you want to get after it?

- Let's get after it.
- Should we rally?

- Yeah.
- Right!

[all] Rally!

Rick's not a quitter. I mean,

if there's one thing
I learned about that guy,

it's never count him out.

So, I mean,
if this is the last season,

let's make it the best.

[Rick] Is there a chance that
I might not have

a place to mine next year?

Yeah, there is. And, uh,

after I saw my guys,
they're ready to go 100%.

I feel like
I'm ready to go 100%.

The guys are
invested in it, too,

and it ain't no
[bleep] different than me.

It's important that all of us
get something out of this.

I mean, we've got to
make this happen this year,

that's all there is to it.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] 100 miles away,
at Indian River,

Tony's two
wash plants continue

to churn through
gold-rich pay dirt.

[narrator]
Over at Scribner Creek...

son Kevin hasn't even started
stripping his ground.

[Kevin] So about ready
to pop the ripper shank in.

And, yeah, we're good to
get [bleep] ripping.

[narrator]
To get the wheels in motion,

Kevin first needs to attach
his borrowed ripper shank
to the dozer.

How do you want to
do that, Kev?

We can use the 700 to
lift the shank.

Yep.

[Kevin] Uh, I was gonna get
you to run the D10.

[Faith] I don't know how.

[Kevin] This is Faith's
first time in a dozer.

[Faith] I wouldn't say I'm a
professional dozer operator,

but this season, I'm gonna be
a little bit more hands-on.

[Brennan] Ready to roll, Kev?

Yeah.

[narrator] Brennan operates
the 700 excavator

to lift the 1-ton ripper shank
through the mount

and into position.

Well, here goes nothing.

Hey, Faith, you ready?

Okay.

If you can push it down, please.

[narrator]
Faith is responsible

for controlling
the D10's ripper mount.

Faith, down a bit, please.

[over radio] Just a hair.

Brennan, pull in a bit, too.

Come on, you [bleep].

[clanging]

Ah!

[bleep]

We might get it wedged
in there too [bleep] tight

if we keep prying on it.

Oh, yeah.
Then we're really [bleep].

[narrator] The borrowed shank
won't fit his dozer.

[Kevin]
Just another extra project.

If there's one thing
I learned from Tony,

it's never [bleep] stop.

It doesn't work.
New plan.

It doesn't work.
New [bleep] plan.

If that doesn't work,
get a bigger [bleep] hammer.

Make it [bleep] work.

We're using the air arc welder
to take away material.

It is the quickest way
to do that.

[narrator]
Kevin sets the welder

to generate
a 1000-degree electrical arc

to widen the gap
in the ripper mount.

We all want to get mining.
We all want to see some gold.

[Kevin]
That should about do it.

If we can get
the ripper put in,

and finally put this machine
to [bleep] work.

Yeah, let's do it.

Fingers crossed.

Oh, please work.

Okay.

And out she comes.

Hey, look at that.

It looks like Kevin's
fabrication worked here,

so [bleep] yeah!

[Kevin] Booyah.

Whoo! Nice work, Kev.

That was good.

Whoo!

Let's get out there
and get ripping.

Nice work. Nice work.

Here's to a good season.

Yes, sir.

Can't we get to work

towards that


[bleep] good day today.

[Kevin]
Striking out on our own
is a little bit scary.

But you know what?

I'm confident
we're gonna [bleep] make it.

See if I can walk as
well as I talk.

[Faith]
Oh, look at that machine.

[Kevin] Hi, everybody.

And we got the puppy!

Goes with the plant.

[narrator] The most expensive
piece of Kevin's operation

stands in his yard,

a $700,000 wash plant.

Well, I'm excited you guys got
such a nice wash plant.

We should be able to make up
for some lost time with this

- if we can run
- Oh, yeah.

Well, we spent a lot of money
on this machine.

I'd love to make
the money back.

Let's see.
Well, as soon as we can
put it on the pad

and get it washing rocks...

It's gonna be perfect.
So hopefully we can go in

and it doesn't stop until we
find our 1,000 ounces, right?

Are you excited
to get sluicin', too?

- Huh?
- [Kevin] Yeah. Yeah, he is.

[Faith]
You're an excited puppy.

All right, you got everything?

Yeah.

Oh, boy.

Let's do this.

[narrator] On the Ness claim,
after two weeks

of helping his best buddy,
Rick, to get started,

it's time for
Zee to head home.

[Rick]
It's bittersweet, right?

You know, like, obviously,

I wish that you could stay
up here all summer.

I mean,
that's just me being selfish.

Yeah, I enjoy it, man.
Honestly.

Like, the nice thing is

you've got a crew now
that is legit.

- Yeah.
- I mean, you look at

even the first year you
came up here on your own...

- Yeah.
- ...I mean,

everyone running equipment
that never ran equipment.

What was I thinking
that first time?

I don't know.

Let's go hang out.

Well, this year,
we're going for...

- 1,500 ounces.
- 1,500 ounces.

[bleep]

Bizarre.

You know, it's a whole
different story this year.

You know what I mean?
Like, having guys that
I can trust.

The one thing I've learned
is there's always hiccups,

- like the whole [bleep]
water license thing.
- Hoo.

I have to believe
that this is gonna work out.

I was extremely happy
to see you just say [bleep] it

and just go all in.

And just--
You know what I mean?

- It's a huge step.
- Yeah.

sh**ting for greatness.

- Exactly.
- Kind of thing.
You know what I mean?

[bleep],
that's exactly how I feel.

As always, buddy.

- All right, love you, buddy.
- Love you, buddy.

Be good. Be Safe.

All right.

Be good. Be safe. k*ll it.

[Rick] You know, he's got
a family at home and a career,

and he takes the time off
to come up and see me

and get me going,
and, you know,

I'll never forget that.

You know,
he's one of my best buds,

and I've got a job to do.

I got to go
get 1,500 ounces of gold.

[Chris] So there's no sluicing
this week at all.

We have no gold to weigh.

How are things going?

We've got a lot of problems.

Yeah, I hear there was quite
an adventure with the 480.

That's the first time we've
ever had one of those apart.

I'm sure that we spent,
oh, [bleep]...

probably


- Hmm.
- It's [bleep] crazy
how much it costs.

Is the cut frozen?

Every square foot
on this property is.

Jeez.

Cash is going to
be the biggest problem.

So far for this year,
we have 5.6 ounces.

We got to get a gold flow
going somehow.

You're telling me.

Yeah.

- Well--
- I mean, we have a choice
between, like...

accepting our fate...

- Yeah.
- ...or trying to change it.

I'm not very good
at accepting things.

[Chris chuckles]

It's just [bleep] dirt.

We're not gonna get beat
by that bull [bleep].

I know you love a challenge.

We're gonna make this work.

- Hola.
- [Minnie] Hola.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] Good, more here.

[narrator]
The Beets family gathers

for their second gold weigh
of the season

without eldest son, Kevin,

now busy with
his own operation.

So how was Kevin?

[Tony speaking]

No, no, no. He'd look.

And then the [bleep]
stomping would start.

[all laughing]

[bleeping]

[laughing]
You should see the walk.

[Monica] I can see it.

How was things
in the Indian, Tony?

That's good.

Sure.

[Minnie] 10, 50, 100, 110...





That's not bad, eh?

- It's good.
- [Tony speaking]







[narrator] In just two weeks,

Tony has mined 774 ounces,

worth $1.9 million,

beating his previous record
for this stage of the season

by over 200 ounces.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] Bye, Mike.

[Mike] Bye, Ma.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] We still have
most of the summer left.

Yeah, so am I.

I really hope he does well.

It's always a little scary
in the beginning

when you start up
for yourself.

A lot of money
for those young folks...

- Well, it's a lot of money
putting out, right?
- ...but that's okay.

Flip-flop.

But, I mean, hopefully it's
in the ground down there.

Fingers crossed.
See what it'll do.

- Later, later.
- Yeah.

Good. Okay.

- Bye.
- Bye.