Original subtitles

On this "Gold rush"...

It's finally happening.

We finally got both Plants up and going.

Damn it!

There's a giant chunk Of frozen pay in here.

The last thing I want to be doing.

Is shutting down in The middle of the day.

Why are you shut down?

This whole area is frozen.

That's not good enough.

I just see rick not really Getting the job done right now.

I thought we'd be way Farther ahead than this.

There it goes.

Nothing ventured, Nothing gained.

It's not easy, And it ain't cheap.

That water right there, That means gold.

Captions by vitac... Www.Vitac.Com.

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

Finally got both plants Up and going.

And things are looking good.

One month into the Season, parker schnabel.

Has mined 599 ounces of gold.

No matter what, we've got to be Committed to that 5,000 ounces.

To hit his 5,000ounce $6 million goal,

Parker needs 2,500 ounces From sluicifer,

And foreman rick ness has Promised to deliver.

The other 2,500 From big red.

And the main this is, now that Both plants are up and going,

We just can't shut down.

Yeah, I agree.

In the indian river cut, Rick's righthand man, brennan,

Is digging the pay dirt.

We're having a little bit Of a struggle down here today.

I can only peel off about 2 feet of pay at a time,

And then I'm right back Into the frozen ground.

I hope this doesn't slow up Putting pay in the plant.

In the klondike, a lot of Pay dirt is frozen permafrost.

It needs to be thawed Before they can run it.

Hey, rick, we've got A little problem down here.

You mind coming down And taking a look?

So, like, this whole area Is pretty much frozen?

Yeah, you can see The ice in it,

frost, man.

Holy.

We're just going to have to Scrape up what you can get,

Anything you can Get up there to run,

So I don't want To shut down.

Sounds good.

It feels like all the pressure.

Is on my shoulders To keep the plant running.

That's the bottom line Right now.

Running frozen pay dirt Means less gold extracted,

Damage to the plant, And costly downtime.

- Damn it! - Flow over!

Flow over!

That's bypasslooking material.

Now open it up.

There's a giant chunk Of frozen pay in here.

Some real big flat got caught in here.

We're not really used To running frozen pay.

I don't know how you're Standing there in a tshirt.

Even without wind Blowing, it's cold.

Yeah, I know.

It looks like he's fighting Every foot of it.

You can see The ice from here.

I know. I know.

It's just because It's all frozen, right?

He's not keeping up that way, So I don't see any choice.

I mean, we might as well Shut down now,

figure this out.

It's the last Thing I want to be doing.

Is shutting down In the middle of the day,

But I don't think we have Much of a choice.

Shut it down.

What the hell?

Why are you shut down?

This whole area is frozen.

That's not good enough.

I mean, I can keep scratching Away and see how much more

I can get rid of.

Well, at this rate, you're going To be shut down for a week.

If you don't do something.

Figure it out.

I mean, I'm doing my Part up at sluicifer,

And I look at the setup Down here,

And I just see rick not really Getting the job down right now.

It's just pretty Shortterm view.

He needs to be getting that pay Exposed and getting it thawed.

Right now, there's no pay In that cut thawing.

Except the little stretch That they're working on.

Well, I mean, It ain't my.

Fault if we run out of pay.

What am I supposed to do?

It's not like these machines Are sitting idle.

We're out here working.

It's just, you know, It's just how things are

working out Here right now.

We can't get ahead.

Churning through A lot of ground.

Two thousand miles south In the rocky mountains,

Todd hoffman has just 482 ounces of colorado gold.

Towards his 5,000ounce $6 million goal.

We've got to go Full speed ahead,

And hopefully, We can catch up.

Todd has two Wash plants up and running.

He feeds the ancient Double trouble.

We borrowed this plant, Fixed it up.

This plant is ugly, kind of Smoky, but she's reliable.

His 18yearold son, hunter, Runs monster red.

Hunter is over there. I don't know.

I'm just real proud of him.

But they're falling behind.

To get back on track, Todd needs freddy dodge.

To get their third wash plant,

Rusty red, online.

Freddy over there, He's not having a good run.

We got to get Rusty red in the game.

Four weeks in, freddy has Yet to run a yard of dirt.

With the new conveyors, All the other new stuff,

Some new tools, The new screen,

I probably spent about $150,000, $175,000 outofpocket.

You know, we worked our butts Off to get this ready to go,

And then to end up not being Able to use any of the water.

Is kind of a kick in the ass.

A month ago, freddy was Shut down by the state.

He was banned from using the Water source he was banking on.

To get the hoffman's Third wash plant sluicing.

These ponds right down here,

They're outside Your permit area,

So I got to shut you down there.

I don't know what I'll do If I can't use them.

Now freddy needs a solution.

Here is our only option, Our cut from last year.

Line it.

Get it filled with water.

How much you think it'll cost?

Thirty to $50,000 To line the pond.

Geez.

We are getting crushed At every turn.

But if this property is not Running, we're in deep trouble.

How long do you think It'll take?

If I can get this liner in in a Week and we can start sluicing,

We've still got a hell Of a shot at 5,000, I think.

I don't know, freddy.

One week, We got a shot at five.

We'll bust ass and make Rusty red start making gold.

Freddy's plan... Turn his cut from last year.

Into a giant holding pond.

By lining it with massive Polyethylene sheets.

He'll fill it with 4.5 million Gallons of fresh water.

Pumped 300 feet From the platte river.

So we got to get this road in, Get a pump set.

Safety officer trey poulson Needs a stable road.

To set the pump down By the river and keep it fueled,

But the slope is so unstable,

Shifting boulders have made The old road impassable.

I mean, this is a pain In the butt getting down here.

To the river, super dangerous.

This is the last place I wanted to be,

Get on the side of this Fricking marble cliff.

Whoa!

There it goes.

That's what you got to Look out for right there.

Those rocks get Underneath your tracks,

Pop you up and can pop you Right off the edge.

Every time you go down this, I Mean, the risk is always there.

You really have To pay attention.

Holy.

Whoa!

It's like running A dozer on marbles.

Trey has cleared the road.

Now he needs to get His 44ton dozer...

Whoa!

Back up The 35degree incline.

Trey poulson has lost control.

Of his 88,000pound dozer On a 35degree incline.

The steel tracks can't get A grip on the rocks,

And he is slipping dangerously Close to the platte river.

Just too steep.

I cannot get any traction On this rock.

Come on.

Come on, you

Yeah.

Holy.

That was close.

I won't be Doing that again.

We got the road done.

Now I got to go find andy or Todd and see who has the pump,

See if we can get down there,

Get it in the river And make some water.

Tony beets has poured $2 million Into his second dredge.

At thistle creek.

He urgently needs dredge Number one producing gold.

But last week, son kevin Persuaded him.

To replace the dredge's Broken winches.

Instead of fixing this old let's get new winches.

Last year, we bled 2 1/2 months Plus of downtime.

Let's spend a bit of money.

Then we know they work.

It's finally happening.

We're finally getting The new

I've been talking about For forever, so that feels good.

Engineer wendell malmberg Will make the $600,000 upgrade.

Yeah.

Whoa, whoa, grandkids?

I don't need you to show me How to make grandkids.

I really want to know how the that's going to work.

They're dangerous.

We need to put All hydraulics on there.

Push a button and tell A winch what to do,

And it'll do it automatic so That you have ultimate control.

Tony's plan... remove the old 8,000pound winch pack,

Replace with seven New individual winches.

Around the perimeter Of the dredge.

Two hydraulic units Will power the new winches.

Via 1,600 feet Of hydraulic hoses.

Driven by a central console In the wheelhouse.

They torch off the bolts holding The winch pack to the deck.

Yeah.

We're ready.

It's okay. You never liked those Stairs anyways, right?

Go! Go!

Whoa!

I don't think I've ever had This much room here.

I don't like throwing rick Under the bus too much.

To hit his 5,000ounce season goal,

Parker needs both his wash Plants running 24 hours a day.

The truth is he's doing,

I wouldn't quite say The best he can,

But he's doing close to the best.

He can with The equipment he's got.

But down at indian river, Big red is at a standstill.

Because they have No thawed pay to run.

Parker was trying to say that We don't have enough ground open.

And this and that.

It just kind of pissed me off, So if he wants ground open,

He's going to get ground open.

Parker needs rick to produce 2,500 ounces from big red.

Every hour that rick is down, He's losing at least

$1,200 worth of gold.

What's going on, buddy?

So you can just See it back there.

There's a cooler Full of cold ones.

That's our line.

So we need to get strips Back all the way to there.

That beer is desperate To be drank, brennan.

So...

I don't give a About the gravel.

I want the beer.

- All right. - It.

I'm going to jump In another machine,

And we'll get another couple More trucks down here,

And I'll give you a hand.

- Sounds like a plan to me. - All right, buddy.

Okay.

Rick's plan... Remove a zone of overburden.

The size of two football fields.

So the sun can then Melt frozen pay.

By always keeping an area Of that size open,

The plant can sluice Thawed pay 24/7.

We'll crush this ground together.

And get it down As quick as possible,

And then the sun can take over.

And do what it's got to do.

Two main goals right now Are to keep parker happy.

And keep big red fed.

Both of them are a fulltime Job, but I'll make it work.

Won't you be upset When you get there and realize.

The cooler Has already been emptied?

As long as the sun is out, That's good news for us.

Pretty soon, we'll be Up to no darkness.

At this time of year, just 200 Miles from the arctic circle,

The sun barely sets.

It thaws exposed ground 19 hours a day.

Swing her around and shut Her down there, brennan.

We made it.

Woo! Beers!

Get them in the truck And get them drank.

Sounds like a plan.

Drive away into The midnight sun.

Next morning, rick and brennan Are straight back at it.

So what do you think There brennan?

You think we got any thaw?

I hope so.

Woohoo! Thaw, Just what I want.

Yeah!

You know, I think We're past the hump now.

It's nice out. We've got thaw.

I don't think we should have To worry about that.

For the rest of the year. So...

Indian river is back Online 24 hours a day.

- All right. - Bingo.

It's nice to see it Running, man.

Yeah, It's nice to be running.

It took some long hours from Brennan and I in the trucks,

But we got her there.

Well, now that we got Her all opened up,

I just hope there's A pile of gold in it?

Yeah, no.

That's what we're Here for, right?

It looks like him and Brennan did a real good job.

Of getting the cut organized And working the thaw.

And doing things The right way.

Now we just need the gold In the box.

It's an exciting day.

Is finally happening.

The beets family is in The middle of a $600,000.

Dredge one upgrade.

With the old winch pack gone,

It's time to add The new hydraulic units.

These hydraulic units are Going to move right on the deck.

Where that winch came out.

Yep.

It'll go right back in in place Where the winch was.

Yeah.

It's down to kevin To safely maneuver.

The hydraulic power Units into position.

Tony's one request was To keep the motor.

Up high enough off the deck.

If they do sink the dredge That the electronics.

Aren't going to get wet.

Wendell Customdesigned the units.

To fit exactly onto the dredge.

If he's got it wrong, The closest replacement.

Is at his workshop In washington state,

Over 1,000 miles away.

The clearances are pretty tight.

If we screw this up, tony is Not going to be digging gold,

And we got to get him up And running,

Or he's going to be pissed.

We going to have enough room?

Let's find out.

Look out.

Let's see if she goes.

Yeah.

I think these look good.

Weld it!

Yeah...

so these are the new Swing wenches.

They swing the dredge side To side, and they're set up.

So that we get a nice, Smooth operation back and forth.

Four of the winches on the decks.

Will control The movement of the dredge.

Three more control the spud, the Bucket line, and the gangplank.

We've got a short Season to mine.

We've got to make every day count.

Lay it down.

We got all seven winches On the boat.

Number seven has landed.

Finally, it's out with the Dredge's old pneumatic controls.

Well, you're going to Have less downtime, kevin.

It's going to be easier For you to run,

And you're going to spend More time running the dredge.

Miss that and the bird.

Let's do it, kevin.

Yeah, let's get at it.

This is a big job.

At fairplay, freddy has promised

Todd he'll have the crew's Third wash plant.

Running by the end of the week.

We've got to get this water Filling this huge.

Basically swimming pool.

Here comes the liner, guys.

They need to line the old cut.

With 170,000 square feet Of felt and plastic.

Before they can Turn the water on.

It's not easy, And it ain't cheap.

We've got some weather Coming in at noon.

Get wind, we won't be able To put it down,

So right now, The weather is good,

But in this country, the weather Doesn't stay that way very long,

So it's time to make hay While the sun shines.

Okay. We good?

- Good. - Loader coming in.

I want to be filling This pond up tonight.

Angle over this way In front of you.

Well, that's the first Piece of many.

At over 10,000 feet, there's 30 percent less oxygen.

All physical tasks take longer.

We're going to have A storm later,

So we got to figure out a way To do this a little bit faster.

With high winds Fast approaching,

Freddy swaps man power For horsepower.

Here goes nothing, guys.

This is the last time you all Are going to see freddy dodge.

I'll be...

- woohoo! - Yeah!

One down!

That's a steep.

Makes my butthole pucker.

After this, we put in the liner.

It's in three pieces.

Once we have it lined, We can kick on the pump.

And start filling it.

This wind is going to screw us.

Wind speeds in the rockies.

Are three times The national average.

One, two, three!

Don't let air Catch in there.

Tug down.

Well, the wind is Coming up worse now.

Hey, guys, easy!

This is going to all come down If we go too fast!

Easy!

Keep going if we can go.

But the wind has got the liner Pinned to the far side,

So we're going to have To use two excavators.

To get it up Out of here.

Okay, freddy, you're hooked up.

Float it!

That's all right! Keep going!

Air, air!

- Hey, you don't want to be... - there it goes.

Hey!

- Frick. - Kevin, you all right?

This is crazy, man.

Just the wind took it, took it Like a parachute, and I held on.

I made the mistake Of holding on.

Got it! On it! Get your foot on it!

Get some rocks on there!

This is the only time When 300 pounds helps.

If we're going to hit Any kind of goal this year,

We can't do it Without rusty red,

And this fairplay mine here Is our superstar.

We're ready to roll. All we need is water.

Thurber, go ahead And fire that pump up.

- Water! - Yeah!

- Woo! - Yeah!

Finally got water. It feels good, man.

- Yeah! - Woo!

It feels damn good to see water Going in this pond.

That water right there,

That means gold.

Tony beets has risked Over a half a million dollars.

On a full upgrade To his first dredge.

If everything turns on In the order it should.

And in the way it should. Yeah.

Everything is ready to go, tony.

Yeah, we've got power.

Before the dredge Can get any gold,

Kevin needs to maneuver it 50 yards to the pay dirt.

To move the dredge, Kevin will use four new wenches.

Connected to dozers on the shore That act as anchors.

We're moving.

Kevin has to use each winch Cable with extreme precision.

To safely maneuver Into the new dredge pond.

That felt weird.

The new winches have a lot More power than the old ones,

So they're able to Pull a lot harder.

Shut up, tony. That's what I'm doing.

Wait!

Where the Are you going?

I'm ramming the Bank now.

Go in.

Since I'm the one running The controls, I'm in charge.

Successfully in The new dredge pond,

Kevin can finally Start to mine.

So should we start Dredging then?

Let's do this. Let's get started.

All right.

There we go.

Yes, it is.

Yes, indeed.

Hey, it works!

Want a cold brewski?

I'd love one.

After a tough week Of sluicing on two plants,

Parker is ready For the cleanup.

All dried up.

Looking really good.

Which is which, doumitt?

- So this is sluicifer. - All right.

Well, let's weight This out.

To hit his 5,000ounce Season goal...

there we go.

Parker needs at least 100 ounces from each plant.

- Ninety, 100... - got a hundy.

Hundred and ten.

Holy.

One thirteen point five.

Another dropoff.

He's over 100, but the Haul is nearly 20 ounces.

Down on last week.

We need to stop decreasing.

Yeah, that's not the trend We want to be on.

Is going down every week.

No. All right.

Well, here is big red.

I know you guys had Some problems this week,

But it looks like you Found some gold anyway.

- There we go. - Twenty.

Next up, it's rick's Turn to see if he's hit 100.

Seventy, 79.5.

Wow.

That's a big drop.

That's pretty terrible.

That's 40 ounces Less than last week.

It's not really the direction We want to head.

No.

So for the week, You got 192 ounces.

Worth around $230,000.

That gives us an overall total, 791 ounces.

We're paying for those mistakes.

Weeks that are less That 200 ounces,

The only person Making money is tony beets.

- Yeah. - Right.

Well, I think you'd get A lot more of the pay dirt.

If it wasn't frozen.

We ran into some problems At indian river,

But, you know, brennan and I, We got things shaped up,

And I'm pretty confident.

That we ain't going to run Into that problem again.

Don't worry about it.

We're all on the same team.

Yeah.

Where are we compared To the hoffman's?

I actually don't know Where todd is at.

Like, he unfriended me.

Yeah.

So he's not telling me What's going on.

- So... - what is he, 12?

I know, right?

We had a bad breakup.

If it was good, He would be bragging about it.

True story. Yeah.

No news is good news.

Yeah.

But no matter what todd Is doing, you know,

I think that we'll cream him If we do 5,000 ounces,

And that's what we're here To do no matter what,

So we just have to keep Those plants going.

To better cleanups.

Yes, sir.

Up ahead...

Hello.

Who is this?

Cease and desist means Stop whatever the.

You're doing, I guess.

I've got most my life Savings tied up in that plant.

At eureka creek, Tony's engineer,

Wendell, has a finishing Touch for the dredge.

Hey, kevin, you know, I've got One more present for you.

My god. It'll fit.

It'll fit. There you go.

Now you're set to run the dredge In the 21st century.

I like it. I like it.

I think it's good.

Hey, guys, we're getting to run About 800 yards an hour!

We've never done that before!

We're going to kick ass!

The hoffman crew Is making history.

They're about to run three wash Plants in an attempt to get back.

On track for their 5,000ounce season goal.

We're getting close To being fired up now,

Closer by the minute.

Four weeks behind schedule, Freddy has finally got the water.

He needs to start Sluicing with rusty red.

Fire it up.

Nice.

Here it comes, kev.

We got water coming through it.

Drag that pipe back.

That'll work.

Hello?

Yes, it is.

Who is this?

I haven't got a copy of it.

Bye.

Andy, kevin...

We got a cease and desist To stop mining activities.

I got it verbally Over the phone.

That's all I know At this moment.

So...

You don't have any idea What's it's based on?

I don't know.

Sorry, guys.

I don't know What's going on, for sure.

Cease and desist means Stop whatever the.

You're doing, I guess.

The only place freddy Is going to get an explanation.

Is at the county offices.

I honestly don't know a thing Until I read this letter.

We were minutes from running.

Hello.

You don't have my consent To film me.

So it says, "You are In violation of park county."

Land use regulations.

Your property, which is Zoned residential,

Mining and commercial Uses are not permitted.

In a residential Zone district.

Order... based on the foregoing,

You are hereby ordered To cease and desist.

"All mining and commercial Activities immediately."

That's it.

This ceaseanddesist order ends

158 years of mining On the property.

I've got most of my life Savings tied up in that plant.

And I've got friends That need a job.

That piece of paper Has got more power.

To stop me than anything else.

I can fix the wash plant.

I can get another pump For water.

I can do all those things.

I can try to do Everything right,

Everything above the book,

But I can't beat That piece of paper.

I can't beat this, you know.

On the next...

"Gold rush"...

pretend it's a rental.

Look out!

Be interesting to see Who makes it and who doesn't.

Get your hand off that lever.

Got the balls to come Shut my plant off.

Let's hope he's right.

Stand back!

- She's smoked. - That's a disaster.

We're going to have A flooded cut in a matter.

Of a couple of hours.

Turn that thing off!