Original subtitles

[dave] I'm headed back to the mine site.

Had a good week with the family.

As hard as it is to talk at your dad's funeral,

I think everything went well.

And, I believe dad would've said,

"okay, dave, you know,

You've got to go on with your life."

[dave] jason's got to lead those guys without me.

It's not easy to take a guy like me off the crew

And continue to get gold.

I mean, for us to pull a 100 ounces out of the bank cut?

That's amazing.

But, right now, we got nothing.

Unless we find more ground, could be over.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] at bucks creek, colorado,

Operations are at a standstill.

-[jason] bank cuts done, dude. -[kc] yep, it's all done.

So, now we gotta find something else.

[jason] we gotta find another cut while dave's gone.

I say we take a pan from here, brother.

-I mean, I know there's a lot. -Yeah.

[narrator] site foreman jason sanchez

And rock truck driver kc morgan

Search for signs of gold at 80 feet deep

In the walls of the mined-out bank cut.

[jason] it's a lot of overburden, but if it's good,

What else we got?

We're out of pay right now.

Dave left to go to his dad's funeral.

Now we're out of pay.

There is so much responsibility on my shoulders

To find ground for us to mine.

-This might be our hope. -This is it.

You want this here, brother?

Ooh, wee!

[narrator] last week, as dave left for home,

He gave the crew a target.

It'd be really special if you guys could get

-Another 50 ounces. -We'll beat it.

And team turin delivered.

51 and a half ounces.

[cheering loudly]

They lost a main channel of gold-rich dirt

Beneath the county road.

She's diving back under me,

But it's into the property we ain't supposed to be on.

Leaving them with no ground to mine.

Bank is officially closed, brother.

[jason] if this pans well, what do you think?

Just go after it?

Now, jason and kc believe they may have found evidence

Of the same gold channel.

It truly is like a river, and rivers will meander.

They'll go left, they'll go right.

And yes, we can see it in this wall right here

At the edge of the bank cut.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't take a right-hand turn

And go underneath the road, or a hard left

And go out to the dredge tails,

Which the old-timers already got it.

This genuinely could be a hit and miss situation.

I just hope it's a hit.

[kc] that's a lot of overburden.

But you know what?

It's all we got, it's all we got.

[jason] this maybe our salvation.

It's on the bottom of this pan, hopefully.

[kc] gotta be positive.

That's my blood type, buddy.

[water splashing]

Mixing her up.

[jason] I really need gold in the bottom of this pan.

This has gotta pay.

[kc] this has gotta pay big.

[jason] ah, that's a hell of a good sign.

[laughing] look, the particle size!

We can get that overburden moved,

We're gonna make [bleep] ton of gold.

That's the money right there!

[narrator] jason believes the main channel of gold

He chased under the county road

Could return into neighboring ground.

But to get it,

He must move a dangerous and time consuming

80 feet of overburden.

Even if he finds the channel, there's no guarantee

There will be enough gold to make it pay.

[jason] the problem is,

We don't know how far into this next cut

This pay is actually gonna go.

And if I'm wrong, I've screwed the whole operation.

The only way we're gonna know

Is if we move this overburden and get down to the bottom.

[narrator] before jason decides to take this huge gamble,

He wants buy-in from mechanic nathan clark.

I'm thinking we may have found the main channel.

[nathan] my main concern is, that channel does come in here

But we have no idea exactly how far it goes.

You're absolutely right.

-You like gambling, nate? -I don't love it.

[jason] that was the bank cut. Right?

This right here? We're standing on the vault. Let's crack it open.

Yeah, I'm with you.

[jason] the decision's on my shoulders and I've made it.

We're going to open this cut.

The old-timers might've missed out

On the secondary main channel, kind of leaving us a gift,

And I'll take that gift every day of the week.

I'm breaking in the vault. I'm getting the gold!

[narrator] stripping the vault cut will be an all new challenge

For the team.

[jason] I don't want a 80-foot slough of dirt

Coming down all at one time, and bearings.

It's not just digging down a sheer wall

And moving dirt every which way.

You actually wanna down every 15 to 20 feet

And you wanna put a bench that sits out.

[narrator] jason's plan?

He and chris dig down with the excavators,

Throwing overburden into the path of kc in the 'dozer,

Who pushes it into the mined out bank cut.

Every 20 feet down,

Jason and chris will leave a four-foot bench

To catch any collapsing dirt.

[jason] right now, I've got a crew of guys that

Have never dug this deep in their life.

But, I think the three of us between the two excavators and a dozer,

If they'll listen to my directions

And follow my lead, I think we'll do just fine.

-[chris] hey, jason. -[jason] yeah, go ahead.

It's cool for me to move down to the left here

And then clear out this bank that I am sitting on?

Absolutely, chris.

[chris] the plant's shut down. I'm not feeding it.

It's good to be off that perch.

[laughs softly]

[narrator] to help clear the thousands of tons of overburden

Rookie excavator-operator chris taylor

Must step up.

I don't just wanna be feeding the plant.

I wanna be able to learn how to operate this excavator.

Give me the opportunity and I'll show you I can do it.

They always say practice makes perfect.

The vault cut's got a lot of overburden.

Probably the biggest hole jason's ever opened up.

I mean, dave's not here.

Chris is all new to this. So is kc.

Jason has to be able to direct that.

[kc] I'm trying to open this new cut as fast I can.

Under a lot of pressure.

[jason] what is he doing?

He should be pushing dirt into the bank cut hole.

Kc, you got a copy?

You have an entire open pit out there,

And right now you're directing dirt to a wall.

We talked about...

Back in that dozer, like that,

And push out into the open hole.

Thank you, captain obvious.

I was just getting it started, [bleep].

The hell are they bitching about?

I don't give a [bleep].

[narrator] last season, jason struggled with his leadership style.

When you're over there or standing right here

And the truck's off, but it's not...

It's a ticket.

[kc] go away, [bleep] idiot.

Maybe, if you parked your truck.

-Then we're not-- -[kc] what can I do?

Alright, who gives a [bleep].

[narrator] and now, with the pressure of the dig mounting,

Old habits die hard.

Would you prefer me to stay down here

And get continue as far as I can?

[arrogantly] hm... Let me think about it. No!

Oh, come on, guys.

[kc] if people don't wanna treat me with respect

I'll just sit there.

You know what I mean? Like, jason's not my boss.

Hey, chris, could you move your excavator?

[chris] yeah, where to?

[kc] he just came out right here from that little trench back there.

Just go back in there.

Just start throwing it. I don't know.

[jason] what the [bleep] are those guys doing down there?

They're not following the plan that I laid out.

We're all over the place.

Chris, you copy?

Will you put the excavator back up on the pile,

Where you were parked before?

I sure can. I was told to go over here.

-Yeah. -[jason] you wasn't.

Everybody out. Come on, kc.

[chris] I just need a plan.

I mean, I'm getting two different damn things,

Two different places.

I know my plan. Get rid of [bleep] dirt.

[jason] I know, but that involves an excavator swinging,

And we've got him confused.

[chris] well, I just need to know

How we're moving it. That's all I need to know.

What I'm saying is, we've given you two different things

-And that's not working. -Right.

Reach over, grab all of this

And throw it right in front of his dang blade where it's at, right there.

[kc] I was gonna have him sit there

And throw it to me from that corner,

I was just gonna reach around--

Just move dirt into the bank cut hole.

[chris] it's getting [bleep] stupid.

[narrator] one day into the dig, and the team has only shifted

30 feet of its 80 foot target.

[jason] this is the most jumbled up,

Mess of a work-site I've ever done.

You are only as good as the person that's leading you.

And right now, I'm leading these guys in circles.

I am definitely failing.

[bleep]

[nathan] jason's gotta get a handle on this

Or we're never getting to vault cut's bottom.

Somebody's gotta step in.

[bleep]

[jason] the worst part about it is,

It's not their fault, it's mine.

-[narrator] coming up. -Get your asses back to work, okay?

-The boss is back. -Bring down the pay!

[narrator] but will vault cut dirt.

-Look at this! -Ooh! Nuggets.

[narrator] lead team turin to glory?

Let's weigh it up and see what we get, boys.

Whoo!

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] at buck's creek.

It's the morning after the disastrous dig.

[jason] yesterday was kind of like playing soccer with no goals.

It was not pretty.

[narrator] jason must lead the team to pay.

Another 50 feet down in the vault cut

Before dave returns tomorrow.

Well, we have a big day ahead of us.

I just need you guys to help me,

To become a better leader.

There is a dance and there is a rhythm

That we can do as a team.

But, there was a lot of points yesterday

Where we were not dancing the way we should.

Yeah, I kept asking, we need a plan.

I know. Chris, you're learning and I wanna help you in any way.

And also, you gotta stay with it, kc.

The last time I've ever moved this much dirt,

To be honest with you,

We had a crew of 30 guys and took a month and a half.

None of us have ever made this much overburden, okay?

That's just plain and simple.

We can move this dirt, but we have to do it together.

[jesse] I just wished you had another machine I could get in.

[jason] I know you do, jesse.

And we'd take in, in a heartbeat.

[nathan] yes, we would.

[jesse] bring me some dirt.

[nathan] gotta be frustrating for jason over there.

The guys have really never moved that much overburden,

Including jason.

But he's got to figure a way to manage these guys,

To get the overburden moved.

-[jason] sup, brother? -[nathan] 'sup, man?

[nathan] we gotta get paid on the plan.

There's no ifs-and-buts about it.

You help these guys.

Sit on the sidelines and be a coach.

There has to be a coach. Dave isn't here.

-Okay. -Let me be on the 480.

Let me throw some dirt.

Guide kc, guide chris. Teach 'em.

You're kicking me out the nest, bro.

Yes, I am.

[narrator] with nate in an excavator,

Jason can oversee the operation from above.

Oh, that's nate. No! [making barking noises]

[jason] what're you looking at?

Down on the other side of kc.

[nathan] big responsibility on the front line.

Jason's doing a hell of a job,

So, just gotta keep it up.

And he's gonna be a hell of a leader.

[jason] now that nate's over here, I'm thinking,

Putting you about where kc is

And you'll throw into where he's pushing.

[jason] kc, this is your turn.

You're gonna cue the machine swinging.

And you're gonna keep pushing that pile this way.

10-4.

I've done projects like this before,

But with multiple dozers.

Under a lot of pressure.

[chris] come on, kc, I'll stop for a second.

Take a few passes, chris.

A lot of push.

I'm just one-man-show here right now

Trying to push all this material.

So much [bleep] dirt, it's overwhelming.

What the-- oh, my [bleep]

-I can't stay up, you guys. -Oh, [bleep].

It's a little bit of a dance, but I believe the guys can do it.

[jesse] I'd rather be cleaning material,

But we got a bunch of overburden to remove.

[narrator] in the gold room with no gold to process

Jesse goins runs checks on the jigs.

[jesse] I'm way confident in this bunch.

You know, they're just a great bunch of guys

And there's no quit in them.

And if it's out there, we're going to get it.

You know, this is the real deal here.

I do a little bit of mining,

But never on a big scale like this.

[jesse] I'm lucky where we live

We got gold we can always find.

And we've got a piece of property

On the grasshopper, its patented gold claim,

So we can play on that and get gold.

It's kind of tough after you get done with the season.

It's kind of tough to get a job that time of year

Because it's winter time where I live and, you know, it's--

So, I'm hoping I can get enough to cruise through the winter.

You know, we always struggle every year till the last minute.

I think we're going to have a great season.

I've got her all the way full throttle.

I'm running as hard as I can.

[narrator] in the vault cut,

And with dave returning tomorrow,

The crew still has 20 feet of overburden to shift.

Dozer operator, kc, is under pressure.

They're trying to get to pay just like I am.

But I'm only a one man show right now.

Just a lot of dirt to be moved.

Trying to keep all this going.

Doing it.

[kc] is he serious, or is he [bleep]?

[kc] well, I mean, dude, it's a lot of dirt to push, brother.

Chris will continue digging this wall,

[jason on walkie] throw it over to you,

And you're gonna push it that way.

And you guys are just gonna dance back and forth.

10-4, local!

[jason] hey, kc, anybody tell you they love you today?

No.

-[jason on walkie] love you, brother. -[kc laughing]

[jason] a good leader can figure out how to get

The best out of each individual.

I just want these guys to wanna work right alongside me,

And there's gonna be no more me and kc problem.

[jason on walkie] chris, go ahead and just keep cleaning the dirt.

And then the dozers take it away and we'll clear this whole area.

Copy that.

[jason] are you good, kc, with chris coming in behind you

Off this pass, and drop them in there?

-Have at it, brother. -10-4, he's on his way.

[narrator] men and machines work as one and they reach 70 feet.

The only way I've gotten through life

With the mistakes that I've made,

Because I have made, oh, so many,

And big ones,

Is by admitting to them,

Learning from them and moving on.

And on top of that, what kind of person

Leads the team by just pointing out

Mistakes of everybody else

And never looking at themselves?

[jason] I'm very proud of what I see.

[chris] digging away today. We had a plan.

We stuck to it. I believe we've made some pretty good advancement.

We're moving dirt like an assembly line.

You know, everybody knows their role and they're doing it.

Every swing from that excavator.

Look at that! Did you see the way they crossed?

That was the dance.

You two squirrels better hurry up.

I'm ready to start pushing. Come on, boy!

We're all team turin here. We're all hands on deck.

We're all one. We're family, we're friends,

But we gotta get down to the pay as fast as possible.

No gold means no money.

It's just business.

[chris] this overburden deal.

I mean, what a task.

God almighty!

Liking what I see.

Starting to get into some gravel.

The color of the dirt has changed.

Couple more buckets,

I believe I'll be hitting some cobblestone. Oh!

[chris] look at them cobbles, boys.

Looks like we're down to pay.

Whoo! Hell, yeah!

-Nice. -I'm talking about right there.

[nathan] hey, chris. That mean you crack the vault over there?

The vault is cracked.

80 feet deep into the cut

Chris hits a streak of ancient river rocks and gravel.

A sign of potential gold bearing pay dirt.

Right on, chris.

[kc] nice job, chris.

[chris] it's a huge relief.

With one individual, me,

Never running it before. Quite an accomplishment.

[jason] christopher!

[jason] regardless what's in that pan,

Today was a victory.

-Today we danced, boys. -Yeah, we did.

-[jason] working unit. -[nathan] exactly.

[water splashing]

-Oh. -[nathan] holy crap, dude.

What is that? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

Nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18...

There's just too many to count.

And they're big ass pieces, man.

-Whoo! Yeah! -We cracked the vault!

[jason] this could be main channel right here.

Let's go get some gold, boys.

Let's get this to the plant. Get it running before dave's back.

[all cheering]

[narrator] after two days of intense digging,

Team turin is finally back on the gold.

Only time's going to tell what the gold's that good,

But I'm proud of jason for stepping up,

Taking care of the front line while dave's gone.

There's pay down here.

But our season depends on this gamble that we took

To open up the vault cut.

I'm just praying that this pay holds enough gold.

[dramatic music playing]

[kc] first vault pay, here we go.

As I dump this,

It's gold in our pockets.

[nathan] come on, fire it up. Going!

[narrator] after a 48-hour shutdown

And moving a colossal 80 feet of overburden,

All right, fellas, here's the first bucket of the vault cut.

Good job, guys!

[narrator] team turin has hit pay and awakens the roach.

Nothing but the sky from here.

Got the vault opened up.

Hope dave is proud of us.

[chris] it sure is a nice run in the vault cut.

We spent days and days getting on it,

We're down a man.

It's a great feeling.

Come on down. You're good. Come on back.

There is your vault cut, buddy. Enjoy it.

Holy crap, is that dave?

[chris] there he is.

[dave] beautiful sight we're running.

[nathan] it's been awesome.

Hey there, dave.

Glad to see you, man.

We're just off running it and we're running dirt.

Nice job, chris. Way to go, buddy.

Hey, man! What's up, brother?

Good to see you, man.

-[jason] how are you doing? -[kc] good, how are you?

I'm so happy you're back, dave.

Son of a gun.

How'd it go for you guys?

51 and change.

And we're sitting at 101 ounces, dave.

There it is. You did it without me being here.

[jason] we've opened a new cut. We're calling it the vault.

[dave] sounds like we got our work cut out, make up for lost time

So, get your asses back to work, okay?

-No problem, man. -Love you, dave.

Clear, dave.

[dave] right now, I'm a little nervous.

I don't know how good the vault cut's gonna be.

It's risky.

Jason's got a theory

That the channel that we've been chasing

Went under the road now it came back.

If I want to empower my guys

And give them the ability

To make decisions, I've got to back it.

But, I'm scared. If there's no gold down there,

We're in trouble.

Ever since we lost the hummocks,

The whole mining plan has changed.

[narrator] the hummocks is the virgin ground

That brought team turin to colorado,

But two weeks ago,

Dave discovers the permit to mine the ground

With the best pans he's ever seen in the lower 48,

Is good for prospecting only.

And now the bank cut's done,

Leaving the vault as the crew's last hope.

It needs to pay.

[dave] now, we're chasing this channel.

We're not certain where it goes, when it comes back.

So, losing the hummocks,

It's tough.

Our future's pretty uncertain.

[folk music playing]

[jason] I haven't seen anything spectacular

Out of the vault cut except for a pan.

Right now, we need to wait for some more clean ups

Just to get an idea of what's in the ground.

[narrator] next morning,

Jason's back digging vault cut pay.

If the dirt's low in gold, it's all on him.

One of those things-- you sit back,

You blow on it... [blows] then you roll the dice

Because once you move all the overburden, you're committed.

Oh!

Son of a...

What the...

Dave, nate, one of you guys got a copy?

[dave on walkie] yeah, go ahead, jason. What's up?

My bucket, it won't curl.

It won't-- it won't go out. It won't go in.

[dave on walkie] has it broke, you think? I mean, are you done loading?

Oh, yeah, I have no function.

I mean, I cannot curl in or out

More than an inch or two, and then it just swings.

Bring it out of the pit.

Let's see what's going on with it, man.

[jason] if it don't get fixed, we are screwed.

This is a key piece.

She provides all that pay.

[narrator] if jason's 480 excavator goes down,

The whole operation will grind to a halt.

Curl it out and try walking backwards with it.

[jason] I gotta get it fixed.

This is our big 480 excavator.

What happened is, the cylinder itself

Has a rod and a piston in there

And it came out too far, and it popped the piston

Out the back of the rod.

[narrator] constantly digging into heavy ground

Weakens the 480s quick coupler and bends the dog bones

That attach the cylinder to the bucket.

So, as the bucket curls in, the rod over stretches

And the piston pops out.

It's just wear and tear. It's a lot of [bleep] on it.

But the bit and this piece right here

That thick a metal, takes some force.

[nathan] hey, dave, you got copy?

[dave on walkie] go ahead.

[nathan] a cylinder's screwed up. Can I get parts now?

There's a hotshot service at denver,

So they'd be here by tomorrow asap.

[dave on walkie] jason's gonna have to take that 220

And dig pay in the vault cut.

So, shut the plant down.

I got no other options.

[nathan on walkie] 10-4.

[shouting] shut her down!

[jason] if it's not one thing, it's another.

Chris, I might have to take your machine, brother.

You broke yours, huh?

[jason] I broke mine. It couldn't keep up with me.

I'm gonna take this and I'm gonna try and get some pay.

But what, with seven buckets to fill a truck...

-[chris] twenty. -[jason] is twenty-one plus.

[narrator] team turin must share the excavator.

First, jason will dig pay to be piled by the roach,

But the 220's smaller bucket

Means he'll take almost double the time

To fill each rock truck load.

[chris] what a morning. What a morning.

There's a big picture here

And on the small end of the aspect,

I'm gonna look like a good leader to dave

If we get down and this pay pays out well.

But big picture is, if this cut pays off?

Well, I kept team turin going for the part of this season.

[folk music playing]

[narrator] bucks creek.

Team turin is down an excavator

And forced to shut down the plant to load pay.

[jason] with the 480 down.

Our struggle right now is we gotta get pay to the plant,

And I'm sitting here swinging with 'zippy',

The little bucket.

[narrator] despite the 220's smaller bucket,

Dave wants the largest pay pile possible

By the end of the day.

Kc, you got a copy?

Yeah. Dave, what's going on?

[dave on walkie] we got one loader and we got four hours.

Can you get 25 loads in less than four hours?

I don't know if that's possible.

You do 25, I'll buy you and kc steaks and drinks.

What do you think?

I sure the hell hope you brought your wallet today, sir.

Bets on.

Better start hauling some pay.

I'm about to throw the first bucket in, and time starts now.

Stick with it, brother. We'll make it.

Clock is ticking, so we gotta move it.

-[jason] how do you like your steak? -Medium well.

Medium well. Did you get that, dave?

[nathan] oh, we're on steaks now?

It's nathan. He's jumping on steaks.

[dave] hey, y'all. How do I get in on this bet for them steaks?

[all laughing]

Been an hour, and we've done five.

[jason] we gotta do over six an hour just to hit that mark, right?

It's gonna be tough.

[dave] anybody can tell somebody what to do.

But a leader, guides who'd wanna do it for them.

[jason] dave focuses on our strengths.

And he magnifies it.

What load count are we on, bro?

[inaudible] let's get her done.

[kc] dave is no fool.

He knows what he's doing.

We trust decisions he makes.

It's always for the better good of the group.

I'll will follow him into battle anytime.

[kc] I know you got a small bucket, jason.

But you're gonna have to go faster.

Aye, me and zippy got this, bro.

[kc] I just clicked 16.

We got nine more loads to go.

Gotta be quick.

[kc] I'm dreaming about a steak dinner,

But I'm also wondering

How much gold we're getting out of this, too.

-What load count are we on? -Twenty-one, right now.

[jason] dozer dave turin.

Do you have a copy, dave?

I think dave's up in his trailer.

He's taking his nap.

[jason on walkie] you can relay this message to him.

We're on our last load.

That's pretty impressive.

Seriously. Good job, you guys.

We better go, go, go, and turn and burn, brother.

I love it. I love it. I love it!

[narrator] in less than four hours,

Jason and kc deliver an incredible 25 loads of pay

For chris to run tomorrow.

[dave] as a leader, I can hang on to these guys,

And keep them together and be family.

And when all this ends,

I wanna be able to call them up,

Ask him how the family is, and remain friends.

Hey, kc, you did a hell of a job.

[dave] if you had a better excavator-operator

You'd probably hit 30 today.

[all laughing]

[jason] I've got a lot to learn from dave.

When the chips are down,

He's right there to pick us up.

He encourages us.

Because of dave,

We got a hell of a pile of pay at that plant now.

[dramatic music playing]

[chris] feeding the plant. Didn't ever think I'd miss it.

[narrator] after yesterday's shutdown,

Chris is back loading the roach.

[chris] we weren't running any pay.

If we're not running the plant, we're losing money.

I'm glad to be back in this seat again.

[narrator] for jason's huge gamble of opening a new cut

To pay off, this pay dirt must be rich in gold.

It's damn good to see her running.

[jason] it's kinda nice to get up out of that hole, too.

We're down the 480, been working on getting her fixed.

But it's nice to see her go.

Ready to fire her up.

This thing's been sitting

For the first time in four days,

Jesse has vault cut pay to process.

[jesse] need some water going.

Have some concentrates in my tubs.

They've been sitting empty for a few days.

That kind of makes me stir crazy.

Let's see some gold, baby!

I've been waiting for this for a long time.

I got the first scoop run through.

Lot of people are anticipating what's gonna come outta here.

We did a lot of work.

Everybody's busted their ass to get to this point.

So, I don't want a little bitty jar of gold.

Lotta pressure right here.

This is jason's christmas present come early.

The new $4000 cylinder for the 480 excavator

Arrives on site.

[chris] sharing the 220 between the plant and jason.

That's so unproductive, you know,

We're shutting down half a day.

Full pay, run pay, half a day.

We need to get going.

First step, is getting one of the pins lined up.

Here you are, sweetheart.

Get on up in there.

You gotta talk to her.

Should go right on in.

That's how pin goes in.

See how easy was? Little faith just goes a long ways.

[nathan] my role's very important in this team.

I can operate,

I can run the plant,

I can fix anything.

I've been out doing that [bleep] for a long time.

Me and machine, making love all night long.

Something draws me to this.

I mean, this is where I belong.

I love these guys.

I wanna help these guys along. Have some knowledge.

We're here to build each other up.

[nathan] hey, dave?

Go ahead.

Everybody come down.

-[dave] copy that. -10-4.

We are installing the bucket, cylinder, rod,

Into the dog links all at the same time.

Small pin?

[narrator] the first pin attaches the new dog links

To the 480 arm.

-No way. -Okay, ready?

Next, the larger pin is lined up to the bucket.

[nathan] come on.

Okay, stop right there. Gonna get the cylinder, now.

You gotta hold the trigger down

And then push the button in slowly.

[narrator] finally, dave winches the cylinder and rod into position.

[nathan] little bit, little bit.

Oh! Winch down, dave.

Little more?

Nope! Hit it in.

-[jason] yeah, buddy! Get it! -Yes!

[jason] get it! Get it!

You know, chris was a professional baseball player at one time.

There's not many people that can swing a hammer like that.

-[nathan] both hands, too. -Both hands!

-Oh! -Oh! Strike one!

[excited chatter]

Yeah, go ahead!

[shouting] oh, yeah, baby!

I'm almost there.

Yeah, buddy!

[nathan] before, the link was hitting right here,

And it bent down.

So, we gotta make sure

That we got clearance here.

If it's touching it, we gotta do something.

-Start! -Start 'er up!

[narrator] if the quick coupler touches the dog bones,

The fix has failed.

Easy! Easy!

[dave] is that all the way under?

Yes, sir. That's it.

[all cheering]

-There you go, nate! -Good job, buddy!

Yeah, there it is. Good job, nathan.

[nathan] we had a hell of a week so far.

Dave out, you know the 480 took a [bleep].

But, we're on full tilt now.

Everybody's here. We're gonna get the gold.

Nate's my boy. He got my girl back online. I love him.

[dramatic music playing]

[jason] I'm loving my new cylinder.

My new dog bones.

I feel like we're in it to win it.

[narrator] a tough week.

Team turin makes one last push to capture maximum

Vault cut gold.

[jason] I feel like a little kid right now.

And christmas rolls around.

You finally get that bigger bike.

Ooh, whee!

It's gotta feel pretty good, brother.

We'll get some pay now.

[honking]

[kc] turn and burn. Here we go.

Good job, guys. Good job.

[dave] I owe you a bottle of whiskey.

[narrator] coming up.

[panicked shouting] turn it off!

- [narrator] a rock jam... -Belt's stuck!

[narrator] threatens jason's gamble.

I'll be damned.

[dramatic music playing]

[jason whistling]

[jason vocalizing]

[jason] that plays in my head when I look around

I see all this equipment here.

And when you get it timed right,

It becomes a beautiful, beautiful ballet.

["the blue danube waltz" playing]

Hey, guys, y'all wanna sing with me at the same time?

[jason vocalizing "the blue danube waltz"]

[kc vocalizing "the blue danube waltz"]

[jason] nathan, are you in?

Uh, nate's looking at me like I'm crazy.

Nate dog! Singing and swinging, baby!

I don't know the song at all.

[jason] let me try it again.

[jason vocalizing "the blue danube waltz"]

Did that sound better? I had some banjo in her.

[nathan laughing]

[dramatic music playing]

[jason] so much dirt.

[narrator] one week ago,

Jason took a huge gamble

And opened a new cut.

If I'm wrong, I've screwed the whole operation.

[kc] thank you, captain obvious. [bleep]

[narrator] he also overcame a leadership crisis...

[jason] love you, brother.

[narrator] on the hunt for lost main channel gold.

We're down to pay!

And they're big-ass pieces.

Jason made a call.

He said he's gonna mine the vault cut

And he based that off of a couple pans.

[dave] that's always risky.

I let him make the choice.

Problem is, if there's no gold, wrong choice.

[narrator] now,

Team turin continues to roll the dice

On vault cut pay dirt.

Give me some of that rocky mountain gold!

[chris] pretty stressful for me right now.

Trying to get it done.

I'm under a gun the whole day.

Come up here.

I cannot take my hands off the sticks.

[panicked shouting] turn it off! Belt's stuck!

[nathan] got a rock jam!

Oh, tell them to turn the water off!

What's going on, nate? Did we get some rocks jammed up?

[nathan on walkie] yeah, buddy. One last, and the best slipped.

Hey, nate. Which belt quit?

[nathan] we got some rocks to clean out now.

[dave] I'll be right there.

A little rock is jammed in the pulley.

[narrator] a rock jam forced the tail-pulley to stop rolling

And has backed up the roach with hundreds of rocks.

[nathan] right here on this big tailing side went rolling.

We had a rock bounce in the tail pulley.

We got [bleep] of rocks in here to clear out.

[dave] we've got to tighten the belt up.

The tail pulley was loose.

[nathan] we caught it just in time.

If one of us was doing something else,

And chris in the excavator couldn't see it,

Guess what? We'd have a big pile of dookie right now.

After you run these belts, brand new belts--

See how much sag is in that?

[dave] nathan, I think it's time to turn it on

And see if we can carry these rocks out.

[nathan] yeah, let's do it, dave.

[narrator] dave's plan is to bump the conveyor

By quickly turning it on and off.

He hopes it will dislodge the rocks,

But it risks tearing the belt.

-[nathan] ready? -[dave] bump it.

Hold on, hold on, hold on!

Okay, dave, it's locked down.

Gonna get it out of the pulley?

-[jason] yes. -[dave] okay.

I've pulled out about four already.

[jason] go ahead and bump that one again.

Let me see what she kicks out.

[nathan] firing it up!

[jason] stop!

You couldn't have stopped it any more perfect, bro.

Okay, fire her up.

-Fire in the hole! -Clear!

-[jason, shouting] clear! -Alright.

I heard a pop.

[jason] yeah, buddy!

[nathan] gonna wanna check the track. Make sure the track's okay.

[jason] smooth like butter.

Look at her.

Hell yeah.

-Chris, you in the excavator? -I am in the excavator.

Rocks in the box, buddy. Rocks in the box.

[chris] pretty stressful. Pretty high-pressure situation here.

Most important thing is keeping this hopper fast.

[nathan] we're up and running. It's been good.

We got water, we got materials.

Are back on the gold.

Gold matters. It's all that matters.

[narrator] a tough week draws to a close.

[kc] let's get these off from here.

[narrator] it's time to pull the mats from the sluice.

[jason] I get a little nervous.

At the end of the day,

Right here tells me if I did my job [bleep].

[nathan] fair time of the day.

We get to see all the gold in the box.

We get to see exactly how I did.

-[nathan] ooh! Nuggets, jason. -[dave] look at this.

We're on it. Great job, you guys.

Whoo!

[jason] nate's, uh, getting quite the nugget-eye, man.

[nathan] it ain't too hard having a nugget-eye. [bleep].

Well put, bro, well put.

It's great whenever you get done working all day

And then take a look at the box and it's glistening with gold.

Hey, nate. I'm gonna actually ask you to help me on this one.

This carpet's long chunk,

And there was a lot of gold visible,

So, I didn't wanna take the chance

Of dropping this bad boy.

We already got it out of the ground once.

I really don't want to go back in after, you know?

[dave] we won't know until we get it to the gold room.

Figure out how much gold is in the vault cut.

-That's it. Damn good job this week, boys! -Good job, boys!

[all celebrating]

-Good day! -Hell yeah!

[jesse] guys are out busting their butts.

Getting me this concentrate.

This is the funnest part of this whole job right here.

Seeing what's coming across the tables.

When I hand them a jar gold, I see smiles.

So, every day if we can get a really good cleanup,

Everybody's happy.

They're counting on me.

I can't have no screw ups here.

[dramatic music playing]

[narrator] with the gold cleaned,

Dave gathers the crew to see if their gamble

Has paid off.

-All right, guys. -Hey!

Kc, grab that piece of plywood.

It was a hell of a week, dave.

[chris] real tough week.

[dave] I really appreciate you guys letting me go.

And I know it was rough on the crew, on the gold, but I had to go.

[chris] family's family.

[dave] I appreciate jason taking the leadership role.

Made a decision about that channel.

Nate was right there with him.

You did good on that dozer, though.

Thank you.

[kc] he did good in the excavator, too.

Chris was able to crack the vault.

He threw dirt right in that vault cut with the rest of us.

[dave] you think we ran half speed this week?

Little less.

I mean, we've been pulling 50 ounces a week,

And we probably got a half weeks' worth of run

When we're down like that.

Hopefully, we get at least 25 ounces.

-That'd be nice. -[chris] I'd be happy with 25.

[dave] if we do, I tell you what,

We're back on main channel.

Let's weigh it up. See what we get, boys!

Here we go.

[dave] gosh, this is a pretty chunky gold.

Uh...

Ten...

Fifteen!

-[chris] 20 ounces. -[dave] 20?

-Half week? -There we go.

-Well, we passed 25! -Still going.

I'll be damned.

-[dave] 30 ounces. -[nathan] there you go. Over 30!

-Thirty point six. Yeah! -Yeah!

[dave] jason was right.

That channel cut underneath the county road.

-We're on the gold. -All right.

Not bad, you guys.

Today's gold price, roughly $60,000.

For all those problems?

[jason] are you kidding me?

[dave] it's a lot of money sitting there.

I'm shocked. To be honest, I'm shocked.

It's outstanding.

[narrator] with gold prices peaking at $2,000 per ounce,

The team is extracted gold worth over $60,000

In just half a week.

We rally.

I feel like we're closer as a team.

Yes, we are.

Last week, we were at 101.

With this 30.6,

We're over 131 ounces.

That's over a quarter million dollars' worth of gold.

-All right! -Oh, my god!

[dave] jason has come a long ways.

I think he could be a great leader.

Now that we're back at full strength,

We're going to go after it.

The team, they really let me in.

They accepted me fully.

And because of that,

We were able to put together a great ballet of equipment

And we got a [bleep] ton of overburden moved.

And we got down to the pay.

I can't ask for a better week, even with all the problems.

-We all in? -[all together] all in!

Don't care who you are.

A quarter million dollars, four weeks.

That's what I'm talking about right there.

That's a lot of gold.

Amen, brother.

[dave] it was difficult leaving my guys,

But it's something that I had to do.

And, I'm so proud of those guys,

And now, I believe dad... It's like, it's gonna be okay.

Come on! Dig!

[narrator] on the next episode.

Fire this bad boy up!

[narrator] as production ramps up...

[nathan] she's doing what she's supposed to be.

Damn, she eats that rock up!

[narrator] the heat begins to rise.

Jason, hey!

-Woah! -Woah!

[narrator] and rocky mountain gold continues to flow.

Keep climbing, baby. Keep climbing.