All language subtitles for Gold.Rush.Parkers.Trail.S06E03.WEBRip.x264-ION10

[Parker coughs]

There's nothing [bleep] left.

[Dan] I know, mate.

Then stop!

You are not looking good mate.

[Parker] Why?

Why doesn't it stop?

[vomiting]

[coughs, spits]

[dog barking]

[bleep] dog.

[Parker speaking]

[Dan] He has not able to talk.

[Parker speaking]

[Dan speaking]

So, we're gonna get
the drip into you.

Diego's gonna
sort that out.

[Parker speaking]

This is severe.
We do have
to be careful here.

[bleep]

[Diego speaking]

[Parker] Stop.

[Dan speaking]

[Dan] Wow.
Look at this place, guys.

Is this one of the coolest
places you've ever been
in your life?

I wasn't expecting this.

It's a very place.
You can, like, kind of feel
it in the air, can't you?

Yeah. This is actually
a love boat.

- [Tyler laughs]
- [Dan] This is the love boat?

- [speaks gibberish]
- [laughs]

Ew! Get off of me.

[laughs]

[Paul] In Peru,

Parker and his crew
are waiting to find out

if they can get access,

to one of the hottest
gold spots in the world.

[Parker] As of right now
in the Yukon,

that's on the downhill slope.

If we can't find a way
to find more ground,

our gold totals would drop

our revenue would drop
and, you know,

I'm... I'm...
I'm not okay with that.

So we need to find
somewhere else

in Peru as a huge
amount of mining going on.

I'm starting to feel like
it's the time and the place,

for some money
to be put down.

[Paul] Parker's search
for virgin ground

began three weeks ago
in the jungle of Quince Mil,

where he found
encouraging gold.

From there he headed
to the pristine

Amarakaeri Reserve.

Unable to find
the right piece of ground,

he's now heading high
into the Andes

to see if hard rock gold

could be the key
to his future.

[in Spanish]

El Presidente.

[Diego speaking
Spanish]

They're talking
about Rinconada,

which is really where
we want to go.

It's like the highest
permits summit in the world.

At, like,

17,000 feet.

- Wow.
- [Parker] Yeah.

Total mining town.

They've, like, made
this mountain
into Swiss cheese.

Visible gold in the rock.

- [bleep]
- Yeah.

[Paul] Watched over
by the mountain spirit Apu,

La Rinconada's
Mount Ananea,

was first mined by the Incas

over 500 years ago.

Abundant with gold,

legends tell
of a nugget discovery

the size of a horse's head,

weighing in
at a staggering 94 lb.

In the last two decades,

rising gold prices
have seen La Rinconada's
population increase

twelve-fold, to 60,000.

But at 17,000 feet
above sea level,

with only a basic
infrastructure

and dangerous crime rates,

it's one of the most extreme
mining locations on Earth.

[Parker] I told Diego,
"I really wanna
check that out."

But we need access.

[Diego] Yeah, okay.

[Parker] I heard you say,
"Rinconada."

[Diego] Yes. It's possible.

- Cool.
- [Diego] El Presidente,

he's the president

of mining co-operative
in La Rinconada.

He told me that we should
meet with him

to ask for permission.

And then he'll give us
the low-down on getting in.

- Yeah. Yeah.
- That's good,

[Diego] Rinconada
is hard rock mining, right?

- [Parker] Yeah.
- [Diego] Would you ever
hard rock mining or...

[Parker] It piques
my interest.

I would definitely
consider it but...

it has to be
financially viable.

[Diego] It's kind
of a sketchy place.

So we're gonna need
this guy's help.

But I hope we have
a really good opportunity

of getting there and see some

mining and how they operate.

- [Parker] Sweet.
- Mmm-hmm.

[Diego] Well, we have a plan.

- Are we ready?
- [Dan] It's what
it's about eh?

[Tyler] I know.
I'm pretty excited.

I feel like this could be
one of the most nuts places

we've ever visited.

I feel like I'm gonna
really enjoy this.

Let's do it.

[Paul] The crew
will leave Puno

and head 100 miles to Putina,

a gateway town to the Andes

and the infamous
La Rinconada.

[Diego speaking]

[Tyler] It's gonna
be really important

we have a good relationship
with him, eh?

[Diego speaking]

[Tyler] Yeah, okay.

[Paul] There are three mining
co-operatives in La Rinconada.

The only way Parker
and the team

will be able to explore
one of the mines,

is with the permission

of the mine president,

Edwin Ajahuana Mayta.

[president speaking
Spanish]

[Diego speaking
Spanish]

[Edwin speaking
Spanish]

[in Spanish]

[Diego laughs] He knows
you from TV.

[Edwin speaking
Spanish]

[Parker] Thanks, for taking
the time to meet us.

I'm sure you're very busy.

[Edwin speaking
Spanish]

[Diego speaking
Spanish]

[Edwin speaking
Spanish]

So, he's telling you
that, it's... It's dangerous.

[Edwin speaking
Spanish]

[Diego] 'Cause
it's really high.

17,000 feet.

[in Spanish]

[Diego] And the crime.

[in Spanish]

[Diego] So, he's telling
us there's a reason

why they call La Rinconada,

"the land of tough men."

- [Tyler] I bet.
- [Diego] Mmm-hmm.

[in Spanish]

[Diego speaking
Spanish]

[Parker] Yeah, we wanna go.

[in Spanish]

[Diego] It's possible.
We can make it happen.

Perfecto.

[in Spanish]

[Parker speaking
Spanish]

[Tyler] We're
very appreciative.

[in Spanish]

[Diego speaking
Spanish]

[in Spanish]

Will he be out there
tomorrow?

I'd love for him
to be out there.

What are the chances
of seeing any actual...
Any gold tomorrow?

[Edwin speaking
Spanish]

- [Diego] He brought some gold.
- [Tyler] Ooh.

- Oh with him now?
- [Diego] Yeah. He has.

[in Spanish]

[Dan] Oh, wow. [laughs]

Rinconada gold.

[Parker] Muchas gracias.

For the invitation out
to the mine site.

And for, you know, opening
up his operation to us.

[in Spanish]

Muchas gracias.

[Diego speaking
Spanish]

[Tyler] Muchas gracias.

[Dan] We are about to embark
upon the most intense
part of our journey.

We need to keep
a very, very calm head.

Look after each other,
look out for one and other.

But highest human habitation
on the planet.

And it's there for gold.

That's something that we...

We can't leave Peru
without seeing.

[Parker] La Rinconada,
the safety side of it
is very real.

On the flipside, like...

It is an extremely rich
gold area.

So...

I'm looking forward
to seeing it.

Hopefully we all keep our,

fingers and toes.

Morning sun.

Whoo!

[Paul] On El Presidente's
advice,

Diego has a police escort

to accompany the crew
to La Rinconada.

[Parker speaking
Spanish]

[in Spanish]

- I'm gonna ask him
about some security...
- [Parker] Yeah.

If there's anything we need
to know in terms
of being up there.

[police officer speaking
Spanish]

[Diego] Well, he's telling
me that we're going into,

a dangerous place.

he was telling me that,
to be careful with cameras,

because someone there
are not gonna be willing
to get

recorded.
Like, it's gonna...

Call too much attention.

[Parker] Gotcha. Um, Sheena,

- You're staying here.
- Yeah.

- I think we...
- And most of the crew
is staying here?

[Sheena] We're sending
one follow vehicle
and that's it.

[Diego] Yeah, yeah.
That's a good idea.

[in Spanish]

[in Spanish]

[Diego] There's a lot of...

assassinations.

[police officer speaking
Spanish]

So, yeah, I mean...

Definitely gonna need them.
For sure.

- [Parker] Right.
- [Diego] While going up.

[Parker] And they're
coming with us?

- [Diego] Yes.
- [Parker] okay, good.

[Paul] La Rinconada's
murder rate per capita

is one of the highest
in the world.

The remote location

is nearly impossible
to police.

Making it a virtually
lawless town.

[in Spanish]

[Parker] We're just
about to head into Rinconada.

The combination of almost
18,000 foot elevation

with, like, an extremely
hostile population,

is really concerning.

This is definitely
the roughest environment

that we''ve ever been
in all our lives, really.

[Dan] Oh, [bleep]
AK-47s are out.

Must be a pretty serious
place if we need
this many cops.

You can feel how we're
getting higher and higher.

[Parker] Yeah.

You feel the pressure
change in your head.

Yes. My ears.

Wow. Look at that.

Oh, my [bleep]

[Dan] This place
looks like Mordor.

The landscape's so mad
when you get really
high like this.

[Tyler] How high
is that, Diego?

Uh, like, 15,250 feet.

Oh, wow! It's getting
a bit chilly.

[Parker] I've never been
this high before.

It's hard to breathe.

The normal oxygen
values change everyday.

Having altitude sickness
can be dangerous.

[Parker] What's the earliest,
most critical symptom

of something serious?

[Diego] Start with headache,
blurry vision, confusion.

But if that happens,
you have to go down fast.

[Parker] Gotcha. Okay.

I mean, look
at this wasteland.

We must be getting near.

[Tyler] Is that Rinconada?

Yeah.

- [Parker] Wow.
- [Tyler] Oh, my [bleep]

It's huge.

[Paul] Nicknamed,
Devil's Paradise,

80,000 ounces of gold

is found here per year.

Worth $136,000,000.

But the price people pay,

is brutal.

Located almost as high
as Everest Base Camp,

the harsh living conditions
and oxygen thin air,

means the average
life expectancy here,

is just 30 years old.

There's no sewage system
or anything, is there?

[Diego] No.

[Tyler] Their homes are built
on the waste part...

This is the [bleep] wild west
right here.

[Paul] Like gold rush towns
throughout history,

the rapid speed
people flock here

means infrastructure
and sanitation is make-shift.

And law enforcement,
virtually impossible.

[Tyler] [bleep] We stick out
like sore thumbs.

[Dan] Do you know,
I never felt like
I was being kinda,

looked at as much.

Yeah, I feel very looked at.

Something that
El Presidente was telling
me yesterday,

sometimes they pay
to the mountain with people.

What?

[Diego] They...
Think you're drinking

and then they put
something in your drink,
you fall asleep...

Are you kidding?

And that's they try
to make like an offer,
a gift, to the mountain.

So more gold up here.

There's still human
sacrifice happening now?

Yeah.
That's what he told me.

[bleep] me.

I think we can get down.

- Look out for each
other, yeah?
- [Tyler] Yeah.

[radio chatter]

[Diego] People already asking,
"What are we doing here?

Why are we shooting them?"

There's, like, 60 people
staring at us.

[Tyler] This is wild.

Yeah, I think we should
meet El Presidente.

Where did he say to meet him?

He talk about
a minute statue.

[Paul] Klondike gold miner
Parker Schnabel and his team

are in La Rinconada.

A nearly lawless
gold rush town.

[Dan] Doesn't feel
the most welcoming place,
does it?

[Paul] Risking it all

to find out if the gold
rich mountain

could be a mining
opportunity for Parker.

[Parker] Night shifters
drinking.

You okay, Diego?

Yeah.

It's, like, super wild.

What do you think?

There's just so much going on.

Some people are friendly.

Some people look like
they'd murder me
within a [bleep] heartbeat.

I've never seen anything
like this in my life.

Not many people have, Ty.

- He's right there.
- Oh, yeah. Good spot. Yeah.

[speaking Spanish]

This is the main square.

[in Spanish]

The mining operations
are under the glacier.

Gotcha. And how much gold
is coming out of this area?

Like, is there a lot of gold
being found down there?

[in Spanish]

Is that a lot?

That's quite a bit.

[narrator]
Per month, the mines extract
around 6,500 ounces of gold

worth $11 million.

[in Spanish]

[Parker] Oh, wow.
That's really good.

Worldwide average
is, like, two.

I'm ready to go.

[in Spanish]

There's a tradition here
where they say that a woman
should not get into the mine

because if they get
into the mine,
the gold disappears.

[Tyler] I'm bad luck.

Okay.

I think I should
stay with you.

Okay, that'd be good.

We can wait outside.

[in Spanish]

[narrator] Parker and Danny
head to the entrance
of El Presidente's mineshaft.

Right. Following
the Presidente.

[narrator] He is the boss
of Rinconada y Lunar de Oro,
a cooperative

financed by 150 partners,

who then divide up the profit.

You can see the holes
in the side of the mountains.

They're entrances.
Mining entrances.

I don't even know
how they would have got there.

- It's pretty...
- That's risky.

It's extremely dangerous.

[narrator] Three different
co-ops mine the gold source.

Each company
blasting their own tunnels

deep into the five million
year old mountain,

creating a labyrinth
of mineshafts,

the longest being
one mile deep.

So when you're prospecting,
you look for fault lines

and the best type
of fault lines
are ones that go like this

and that have cross faults
where they meet.

Like, that's a cross fault
right there.

X marks the spot.
That's what they're following.

[speaking Spanish]

Oh, are we here?

[Parker] When you're trying
to build a company,

the two main factors is, like,
are people safe
and have a safe workplace

and is the business
making money

and hopefully,
finding lots of gold.

How do I look?

Oh, yeah.

Fresh.

We're pretty good at
assessing situations
on the fly,

but for finding
those kind of projects,

like, you can't do it
remotely.

You can't do it
on the internet.

You know,
you have to go there.

You have to put your boots
on the ground.

You have to put
a pick and shovel
in the ground.

You have to meet the people
that are mining them.

Looking at this place,
it's fairly crude.

It's definitely something
out of another world.

I've only ever been
in underground mines

that had really, really good
ventilation and lighting
and emergency systems.

Like, I'm not wearing
steel toed boots.

There's no carbon monoxide
alarm on me.

There's no respirator on me.
You know.

If anything goes wrong
underground here,
you're dead.

And I'm guessing that's
a common occurrence.

[narrator] In addition
to the 35,000 miners
who work here,

bandits often hide
in the caves,
looking for gold to steal,

and are known
to murder miners
who try to stop them.

[in Spanish]

Here we go, Parker.

Let's go in
the belly of the beast.

All right. In we go.

It's so weird being in a cave
at over 5,000 meters.

We find ourselves
in the funniest places.

This is special, isn't it?

Hey, look. Parker.

We've got the coca leaves out.

For luck and also
for giving thanks to the land,

before they drill,
they put three leaves

inside the creases
of the rock.

I'm going to put
three leaves in the rock
for good luck.

And there's a handful
in my mouth.

Hey, bravo.

[in Spanish]

The idea is to detonate
this one.

[narrator] To remove
a five foot square area
of gold rich ore,

a hand drill is used
to create a network
of 12 holes,

four feet into the rock.

Each hole is then filled
with 150 grams of explosives
ignited by a fuse.

Mining directly
at the gold source,

the miners expect to find
almost five ounces of gold
worth nearly $7,500.

[Parker] And that's
what they use
to drill the holes?

[in Spanish]

So they're going to
explain you
how to operate the drill.

- [Parker] That's my throttle?
- Yeah, yeah.

- You just turn this?
- Open the throttle.

- This one.
- Yeah.

Si.

All right.

So now, we're going to drill.

Well if it wasn't
hard to breathe before...

[Dan] I know.

[Tyler] Diego,
what is this weather?

I can't believe how quickly
it started snowing.

What do you think
those ladies are doing
down there?

[Diego] I don't know.

Do you reckon
we could go have a look
and maybe talk to them?

Yeah, sure.

- Hola.
- Hola.

[in Spanish]

[narrator] Banned
from entering the mine
due to ancient superstition,

women known as pallaqueras
hunt for gold
on the harsh mountainside

in temperatures
as low as minus 40.

[in Spanish]

- They want to show
how they work.
- I'd love that, yeah.

- We can go up if they want.
- Let's go.

Definitely.

[in Spanish]

[in English]

[Tyler] So they basically
just work through
the tailings.

[Diego] Uh-huh.

Do they work every day
for the mine site or are they
working for themselves?

[Diego] No,
they're independent, yeah.

So that gold they get to keep.

[Diego] Yeah,
they keep the gold.

- For their families.
- Oh, of course.

[in Spanish]

Good eyes.

It's got the quartz vein.

That's what
you're looking for.

[speaking Spanish]

Can I have a go?

Yeah. Yeah, sure.

Which one? This one?

There looks to be
a lot of quartz, right?

[in Spanish]

She's tough.

[Tyler laughs] Not as tough
as these ladies.

[in Spanish]

[Diego] Ah.

Ah, like that?

[laughs] She's like,
give me back that hammer.

How much gold would they get
out of a day's work?

They can get two grams of gold
a day.

Oh my [bleep].

[Tyler] They're doing it for
$100 a day between them.

It's a lot of hard work
for not a lot of gold.

They don't have another way
of making money.

This is their only option,
isn't it?

Yeah. They may get, like,
a little bit of gold
out of it,

but they're sacrificing
their health
and their well-being.

To see them
out in these harsh conditions

working, like,
incredibly long days,

for not much gold at all
is really hard for me to see.

I feel like where I'm from,
the mining industry
is evolving so much

and women are really taking
a big part in it

and I feel
a lot more comfortable
in the mining industry

even than I did 10 years ago.

And then to come here,
it seems like such a huge
step back in time.

I'm in shock a little bit
that this is what they do
and this is their jobs.

They're pretty
incredible women.

[speaking Spanish]

Gracias.

[Diego] Thank you.
She says thank you
for the flattery.

[in Spanish]

She hopes to see us again.

Yeah. Tell her thank you.

- Gracias.
- Gracias.

It's the richest ground
I've seen in a very long time.

But how we would fit into that
in a way that would fit in
with our morals

is something
we'd have to discuss.

You did a good job, mate.
I was well impressed.

[narrator] In 30 minutes,
Parker has drilled 12 holes,
ready to pack with explosives.

Oh, I can't [bleep] breathe.

I don't know how
those guys do that

all day.

Yeah, I saw you breathing,
really...

- Was this thing, like,
moving in and out?
- Yeah, yeah.

- Is the inside of it
supposed to look like that?
- [laughs]

[speaking Spanish]

Now we're going to
load the holes.

- We're going to blow it up.
- Yeah.

Sweet.

[in Spanish]

[bleep]

This is the explosives.

[Dan] Okay.

[Parker] And, like,
they've wrapped it up
in newspaper.

So this is just full of
beads of ANFO.

Like, I've used ANFO before
with my dad.

But I've never seen this.

How many?

[in Spanish]

Four.

Yeah, and when you push
it has to be very carefully.

[in Spanish]

Yeah. Your first mistake
is your last mistake.

Boom.

[Dan] Parker,
how dangerous is this?

If we do it wrong,
you'll never know.

[narrator] In the highest
mine on Earth,

Parker and Danny
load the walls

with 1.8 kilograms
of explosives,

enough to obliterate
a New York taxicab.

I've never set explosives off
with a lighter before.

So we let the fuse off
in here?

Yeah.

Oh my [bleep].

So we basically
light the fuse and run out?

Yeah.

[in Spanish]

- Three minutes to get out
of the front door?
- Yeah.

So you don't run,
but you walk fast.

- You walk fast?
- Yeah.

This is so wild.

So I've taken it we've got one
two, three, four, five, nine,
10, like 12 lighters then?

- And 12 guys all light
at the same time?
- No.

What happens when you
like the first one

and that [bleep] goes off
before you've lit
the last one?

Probably all of us
standing here would die.

[bleep] This is it, man.

- Okay. So bend it.
- Yeah.

- You burn it.
- Yeah.

- And give it to the master.
- Okay.

So again.
What are you going to do?

I'm going to bend this over,
I'm going to light that

and then I'm going to
hand it to him.

- Exactly.
- Perfect.

Everything in my body
is telling me
not to stand here right now.

Everything.
Everything's saying go.

Don't [bleep] this up, man.

- Are you ready, Dan?
- I'm ready, man.

This seems so wrong
with the lighter. [bleep]

[in Spanish]

Oh, it's burning.

You okay?

Everything all right?

Yeah, but it's burning back
and he has [bleep].

[in Spanish]

Let's go.

Unless it goes off right now,

that might be
the coolest thing
we've ever done, Danny.

Let's get the [bleep]
out of here.

But just like,
I can't believe that,
oh, man.

Like, so much potential
to go wrong.

- Really.
- Yeah.

[explosion]

That was not that long.

We literally just got here.

That does not feel like
it's a very long way away.

[explosions]

[laughing]

[explosion]

Oh, [bleep].

There's more!
I thought you said no mas.

[laughing]

[narrator] Once all 12
explosions detonate,

[explosion]

[bleep] felt that one.

the miners retrieve
the blasted ore.

Oh, wow.

- I'm worried about the roof.
- Careful.

Well, the roof is gone.

- Look how clean it broke.
- Oh, wow.

It's just like a big,
flat plate.

This is, like, the veins
that they're looking for.

That's what they'll take
and crush up
and get gold out of.

There it is.
Let's have a look.

One there and one there.

Very cool.

Awesome.

[narrator] The way miners
are paid here is unique.

All gold mined
in the first 15 meters
goes to the cooperative.

All gold found
in the following five meters
goes to the miners.

This is then repeated
along the tunnel,

making it a lucky dip
who pockets the biggest finds.

And how do they load
all these rocks
onto the truck?

[in Spanish]

- All by hand.
- All by hand.

- Holy [bleep].
- Yeah.

Wow.

So because you are new
to this mine,

[man] You need
to carry your ore.

[man 2 speaking indistinctly]

[all speaking indistinctly]

Oh, what a day!

That was sordid.

- So wild!
- Better keep a low profile.

Just the absolute most
[bleeping] nutty thing
we've ever done.

[both chuckle]

[Parker] It's one of those
things where, like,

if something goes wrong,
you're never gonna know
that something went wrong.

Like, you're done.

Shouldn't be smiling
when I say that, but...

It's crazy to think
that these mountains
are just full of that, too.

Like, what we just did
probably happens every...

half hour in here.

Not sure I could
do it as a business,

but, like that was
an experience like none other.

These might be
the most hardcore people
we've ever met.

Almost 17,000 feet,
unventilated mine site,
all by hand.

Yeah, I think the most
hardcore people
we've ever met.

[man 2] Yeah, I reckon.

Right. Let's see
how they refine it down.

Muchas gracias guys.
That means a lot.

And thank you for
opening up, you know,
what you guys do,

and showing us.

And you guys,
I don't know if there's a good
translation for this,

but you guys are the most
hardcore [bleeps]

- I think I've ever met.
- [laughing]

- [man 3] Yeah, there is.
- Okay.

[speaking Spanish]

[bleeping]

Ah, gracias.
[speaking Spanish]

[all speaking Spanish]

Gracias. Adios.

- Muchas gracias. Adios.
- Gracias. Gracias.

I have the worst headache
right now.

- [Dan] Really?
- Yeah.

- It's not a normal headache.
- Okay.

Really sharp.

[Dan] That's a full on
altitude headache that.
[Parker] Yeah, I think so.

[bleep] It's not joke.

[Dan]
Let's go, let's go.

You all right?

I just have
a really bad headache.

You feeling rough?

Yeah.

Okay.

[man 3 speaking]

[narrator] More than
three miles above sea level,

the oxygen-thin air
of La Rinconada
is starting to affect Parker.

Should we go find
Tyler and Diego,

and have a look
at the crushing,

you're feeling
well enough to do that?

[Parker] Yeah.

The boys were late,
aren't they?

They were almost
one hour late.

Yeah, I've sent Parker
a message and I've sent
Danny a message,

and I haven't heard back
from them yet.

There's, there's cell service,
they're just not
getting back to me.

They should be here.

- I'm worried about them.
- This is not a good place
to be late.

No. What happens if
we're on the roads after dark?

- It, it gets dangerous.
- Okay.

How're you feeling?
That was pretty, um...

That was hard going wasn't it?

Yeah, I don't feel good.

- Not feeling great?
- Mm, not great.

That's no good.

You should tell the A guy.

- What?
- You should tell him
you're not feeling great.

Ah. There they are.

- Ola!
- How'd it go?

[Dan] It was amazing!
Really good, yeah.

- Parker.
- Mm?

- You feeling okay?
- Mm-hmm. Peachy.

They saved the lives
of the medic.

- But I just kind of did.
- [both chuckle]

[bleeps] place to die.

I'm not gonna die.

- I'm fine. Yeah!
- You all right?

[Parker] Stop it.

[narrator] The gold laced
rock ore Parker blasted

has been taken one mile
back into town...

There it is.

...to a processing plant
hidden away
on a residential street.

[man] We're bringing a lot
of attention right now.

[Dan] It's that word might
have gone around that
there's a film crew here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean, right now there people
watching at us, right now.

- If you look over
your shoulder. So...
- [Dan] Yeah, yeah.

In here?

[speaking Spanish]

[narrator]
For Parker to assess

if mining here could ever
be an option,

he wants to see
how they extract the gold.

- Whoa!
- [Tyler] What an operation!

I was not expecting
to see this.

[Parker] Oh, wow.

[Diego] Parker!

They wanna show us
the gold they have from

From yesterday? Oh.

Oh, look!

[man speaking Spanish]

- [Dan] There you go.
- [man speaking Spanish]

[continues speaking Spanish]

12 hours is one, one of this.

[speaking Spanish]

And what do those weigh?
Couple grams a piece?

[speaking Spanish]

[Diego] Five to seven grams
apiece.

[Dan] There you go.

[Tyler] So, what kind of
process do they do?
How, how does it work?

[speaking Spanish]

[Dan] What a crazy place,
that, Ty.

Wild! I wasn't expecting this
when those gates opened.

- Are they just grinders,
are they?
- [Tyler] Yeah.

Crushing it all down.

[Dan] What!

[Parker] These are ball mills.

So it has those
balls in there,

and the balls crush against
each other and with the rock
and turn it into, like,

basically dust.

[narrator] To release the gold
from the ore,

the blasted rock is ground
down in giant crushers

before being smashed into dust
in the ball mill.

Mercury is then added
binding itself to any gold.

[Parker] Can you see
all the mercury in there?

Can you ask what happens
to the material after
they've processed it?

Like, where the tailings go,
you know,
once the gold's out?

[speaking Spanish]

I don't know how to...
relaves is the word.

I don't know how
to say it in English.

- Like a dump?
- Kind of. Yeah.

Gotcha.

This is environmentally,
like, horrific.

Oh, yeah.

[Tyler] In Western countries
there's a lot of laws around

to make the waste
have as least impact on
the environment as possible.

And when you come
to a place like this,
that's not really happening.

[Diego] Yeah, I'm pretty sure
this has a really important
environmental impact.

Especially because the mercury
doesn't stay here.

It goes underground, and...

- I can imagine it can travel
like a long distance, right?
- [Tyler] Yeah.

And the amount of mercury
they use is huge.

[narrator] While Peru has
regulations governing

the storage of tailings
and other waste,

with so much gold to process,

La Rinconada uses 28 gallons
of mercury per year,

releasing 200,000 times
the safe limit
into the environment.

Would you ever mine
in La Rinconada?

[Parker] Oh, there's no way.
There's absolutely no way.

There's really good gold
in the ground,
but it's very unsafe,

and it's very
environmentally damaging.

[Diego] So, no. Gotcha.

[speaking Spanish]

[in English]
Diego, what's happening?

Uh, he's asking us to go
to another point where
they process the mercury.

- Ah.
- Oh, very cool. Nice.

Uh, I don't want you to panic.

I can't talk so much.
I have no oxygen.

And I have
a bit of a headache!

How long did you started
feeling sick?

An hour ago.

[narrator] At 17,000 feet

the air here have 50 percent
less oxygen than
Parker is used to.

- Yeah.
- [Dan] Are you gonna
check his stats?

[Diego] Mm-hmm. We need
to check your oxygen levels.

Parker exerted himself
pretty hardcore in that mine
up there.

And he's uh...
He's got a splitting headache.

For us to be here
his stats needs to be
above 70.

[Parker] Is it measuring?
[Dan] Yeah, you're at 65.

That ain't great.

That's bad.

[narrator] Oxygen saturation
levels below 70,
are deemed critical.

Blood cells are not carrying
enough oxygen around the body,

which could be fatal.

We need to go.
We need to go now.

Okay, let's go.

Bug out.

[speaking Spanish]

[narrator] In the highest
town on earth,

Parker Schnabel's health
has taken a frightening turn.

[Dan]
Let's get out of here then.

[speaking English]

Makes you probably happy
that you live
where you do, yeah.

[Tyler] Oh, my [bleep].
I've never been more
appreciative of my life, ever.

[Diego] And if you're
already developing symptoms,

it's really important
to identify them early

and go down in altitude fast.

[Dan] Well...

I was about to say we did it.
We survived La Rinconada.

- We haven't got out yet.
- [Tyler] Touch wood, Danny.

[Parker]
I feel like I just smoked
a cyanide dipped cigarette.

[Diego]
Headache is like throbbing?

- Yeah.
- [Diego] Blurry vision?

[Parker] Yeah.

Yeah, I don't feel good.

[narrator] With Parker
presenting serious symptoms
of altitude sickness,

Dr. Diego has made the call
to evacuate La Rinconada.

He must get Parker down
to a lower altitude

in the hope his body responds
to the more oxygen-rich air.

[Diego] Are you feeling okay?

[Parker] It's still bad.

[bleep] raging headache.

My head is pounding.

I'm feeling emotionally
and physically drained
after today.

The altitude alone
has knocked me. Um...

Yeah, you can just feel
your body not getting
enough oxygen.

And then to see what these
people are going through is,
gets really hard.

I don't think Parker's ever
going to mine there.

But we ended up leaving
Rinconada today with
Parker feeling pretty sick.

So we got out of there.
We had to come down
in elevation.

Diego is pretty concerned.

And, if our doctor
is concerned,
you know it's not good.

Diego, what's happening, mate?

Where, where
are you going now?

[in English]

[Diego speaking English]

[dog barking in the distance]

[Parker in English]

I still feel cold.

[Diego speaking English]

- Yeah.
- Okay, go for it.

Yeah, but you're definitely
playing a part
and it's a good thing.

[Diego speaking]

[retching, coughing]

[Dan] It's all right, buddy.

There's nothing [bleeping]
left.

- No, I know mate.
- Stop.

You are not
looking good, buddy.

Why?

Why is it still--

[retching, coughing]

- [dog continues barking]
- [bleeping] dog.

[Parker speaking]

[Dan] He's not able to talk.

[Diego speaking English]

So we're gonna get
the drip into you.
Diego is gonna sort that out.

[Parker speaking]

Is this severe?
Do we have to be careful here?

[bleep]

All right, buddy.

He usually has good veins.

He doesn't have
good veins right now.

- He's dehydrated as [bleep].
- [Dan] Really?

[Diego speaking]

[Parker] Stop!

[Diego whispering]

[bleeps]

[Sheena whispers]

[Diego whispers]

[Sheena] Okay.

[whispers]
No trip is worth
getting that unwell for.

Really, genuinely.

I feel like we've pushed it
a step too far here.

Be quite happy to end
this trip tomorrow.

If you said that Parker's
gonna be all right
in the morning, so...

Everything else doesn't
mean anything much right now.

[Diego]
Parker's really, really sick.

And I'm worried about him.

Especially the last
half an hour, he went...

His condition went
really, really bad.

If he doesn't improve
I'm making the call.

Trip is over.