Original subtitles

[whistling]

[Parker] This season is going to be different.

Have to battle on two different fronts right now.

One in Fairbanks, one in the Klondike.

[narrator] In just nine seasons, 27-year-old Parker Schnabel

has built one of the most successful

gold mining operations in the Klondike.

But faced with tight regulations, skyrocketing fuel prices

and a world on the edge of a recession,

his future in the Yukon is now unclear.

The truth is, the ground that we've been mining

is not going to just last forever.

There's serious concern about the future of the company

and for us to be able to keep mining at the scale we are at.

[narrator] But the young mine boss isn't throwing in the towel.

To keep his dream alive, Parker's expanding his empire

with a new mine in his home state of Alaska.

So we're going to have a very big, busy season in the Yukon,

you know, and then we're also going

to be setting up this operation in Fairbanks.

[narrator] To fund Alaska, his Yukon operation is already up and running,

bringing in gold earlier than ever before.

[Parker] That's kind of exciting, you know,

I'm actually really looking forward to that.

[narrator] Last season, Parker struck a deal with landowner John Reeves...

[Parker] That's 100 ounces.

[narrator] ...to mine 100-foot-deep gold rich ground

near Fairbanks, Alaska.

Dude, you hit a nugg.

[narrator] To tackle the deep ground,

he's investing nearly $1 million.

Look at that.

[narrator] On a state of the art, custom built

mobile wash plant for the clay-packed Alaskan ground.

[Parker] You better get on building a real one.

[Parker] I have a lot riding on this.

This new wash plant is the heart

of the new operation in Fairbanks.

The new plant we're building gives any clay

or anything like that, a chance to break up

when it's like lots of water and velocity and lots of material flow.

But, um, you know, there's a lot to do

and not a lot of time to do it.

[narrator] Parker wants to be mining Alaskan gold in a month's time.

[Parker] Yep, yep, yep.

[narrator] So he's checking in on the plant's progress with designer Jeff Turnell.

Here. There's Jeff.

- Jeff! - [Jeff] How goes it, man?

- Good. How are you? - Good.

- How's things been? - Good.

- Long time no see. - Yeah, you too.

What country is this one going to?

So it's headed to Peru, so making sure everything's with it.

I've got the sluice runs and all that out in the yard.

Just a smaller version of your plant.

- [Parker] So is this our screen deck? - No.

[laughs]

That one's a little small. And you could be, uh, pretty mad at the throughput.

- Who's plant is this? - This one's stock.

- Oh, so... - This one's, uh, meant for overseas.

Doesn't have a lot of the options that, uh, you're looking for.

All right. Well, so do we have a full-size wash plant?

No, that won't be here for a bit.

[Parker] Really?

Everything right now is so hard to get.

[Parker] [bleep] That's not good.

Where does that leave us for, like, a delivery date?

If I had to guess right now, it's going to be close to the end of August.

[bleep]

- There's just lead times on everything. - [Parker] Yeah.

I don't know what to do if we don't have a wash plant until August.

[Parker sighs]

Because John Reeves, our landlord in Fairbanks,

I keep telling him, like, "Don't worry, we just ordered a badass wash plant

it's going to be there for the season and..."

- [Jeff] No. - I've wrapped myself into quite the...

[bleep] sandwich.

[narrator] After months spent searching for the perfect plant

to methodically tackle his Alaska claim,

Parker must now rethink everything.

- Keep me in the loop if anything changes. - I will do. I will do, man.

Looks like Fairbanks is [bleep] from day one.

I'm not happy, no... nobody is happy.

[Fred] We live in a pretty remote place

with pretty remote access to our claim, so...

So it's definitely not an easy minesite to mine.

[narrator] On the outer edge of the Klondike,

junior year mine boss Green Beret medic Fred Lewis

fights for his own gold mining dream.

[Fred] It's do or die this season.

My house is on the line. My family's lives are on the line.

We're here to live the dream. We're here to get purpose and we're here to find gold.

[narrator] Fred's gambling on ground at the remote California Creek

delivering 500 ounces,

nearly five times what he mined last year.

But last week...

[Fred] What the [bleep] is that?

[narrator] Fred suffered a near-fatal blow.

Our entire claim is under ice.

[narrator] An ice sheet 30 feet thick

stands between him and his gold rich paydirt.

What the hell are we going to do, man?

Mother nature really dealt us a [bleep] hand this year.

It's just going to be another battle for us.

We're just going have to work our balls off

until we get to where we need to be.

[narrator] Fred clears a fresh dump of snow

that's stopping him from getting vital machinery

from up at base camp down to the claim.

I've never seen this much snow in my life.

Right now, it's just me and JB. We're busting our balls here.

We're going to have to clear the snow manually, foot by foot,

until we get to the claim.

[narrator] But help is on the way.

After a four day drive from Washington state.

Fred's 22-year-old stepson, Christopher Parker,

and old buddy, sniper Stuart McKenzie,

are finally arriving.

I cannot believe we're [bleep] back here already.

- It really feels like we just left. - [chuckles]

The amount of stuff that we had to deal with with the thaw last year

it's going to be times ten.

Are we even going to be able to get down to the claim?

I don't know. Let's see how much Fred's gotten done.

You have to overcome, right?

[bleep]

A lot of adapting to do.

There's Fred.

Yep.

Oh, hot dog.

[honking]

Stuart and Chris are here.

[Stuart] How much you want to bet he's going to put us to work?

[Fred laughs]

- What's up, guys? - How was your trip?

Oh, good, man.

- Guess what we're doing? - What's going on?

- Work. - Well, we're setting a goal for 500 ounces this year.

- Holy [bleep]. - [Stuart] Awesome.

[Fred] So it's going to be a battle, guys.

I got some bad news. There's glacier-sized ice covering the entire claim.

[Stuart] Oh, my [bleep].

It's going to be the biggest challenge we've faced as a team.

[Stuart] Yeah.

So we're not, we're not waiting on mother nature.

[Stuart] Okay.

We're taking the two pieces of equipment we have and just going for it.

That's our mission.

[narrator] To get their share of 500 ounces,

the Lewis crew must first clear snow and ice

from a treacherous four mile downhill mountain dirt track

plagued by dangerous bends just to get to their claim.

[Christopher] We just finished driving 2000 and something miles.

To already being put back to work and building roads kind of sucks.

[narrator] The team takes shifts

to clear the road in the dozer.

Stu punches a trail through the snow.

Chris follows in the 220 excavator

scraping up the ice beneath.

Hey, Christopher.

You're doing great but, um, there's a way a lot faster than this.

- You don't even have to scrape, ever. - [Chris] Okay.

It's easy. Just hop out real quick.

I don't know what was wrong with the way I was doing it.

I was trying to get the, like, all of like the surface snow,

the surface ice off.

So that later on when it starts to warm up

and everything starts to really melt,

we won't be dealing with a flood.

But Fred's the boss. I got to do the way he tells me to do.

That is my life for the next four, four months.

That's just the way it is.

[Fred] Christopher stepping up this year.

He's telling me he wants to be in more of a leadership role.

Right now, he's just a young buck,

doesn't have a lot of experience in life,

doesn't have a lot of experience with leadership.

But I see the potential there.

It's getting more dangerous. It's cold.

Having a hard time controlling it.

I mean, this is just, I can't even go straight.

[narrator] Two miles from claim, Fred hits a treacherous

20 degree steep downhill slope.

Whoa!

[bleep].

Oh, that's not good.

[bleep]

[bleep]

[bleep] that.

Oh!

All right. Well, that was a pucker effect of ten out of ten.

But I'm through it and I'm seeing there's dirt road here.

This is making me so happy.

I think buzz and I really did push through the hardest part,

and now the road's starting to open up.

Rick is a pretty, pretty closed off guy.

But it just seems like lately he's been a little bit more closed off,

um, kind of keeping more to himself.

[narrator] In Wisconsin Rick Ness' hometown buddy Zee Zaremba,

hasn't heard from Rick for weeks.

[Zee] Just feel like something...

something's definitely going on.

I just, I don't know. I love the guy, and I hope he's all right.

That's all I really want.

Well, let's see if he's here.

[knock on door]

- Holy [bleep]. - [Rick] What's up, buddy?

- [Zee] What's up? - [Rick] How you doing?

- Good. Are you here? - [Rick] Yeah. Yeah.

[Zee] What's going on?

- Oh, lots. - Yeah.

Yeah.

- You all right? - Yeah, I'm okay.

Um, there's probably lots to tell you,

I... I'm, uh, I'm working on a car.

- Do you want to just meet me in the garage? - [Zee] Yeah.

- I can meet you there. - Okay, let me put my shoes on.

- How you doing? - Good to see you.

Well, yeah.

All right, I guess I'm standing.

Check this out though, I, uh...

I had a dehumidifier and everything running in the garage.

- Yeah. - Dehumidifier actually quit on me and I didn't notice.

- And, uh, there you see it oxidizing. - [Zee] Oh.

- At least you caught it quick enough. - Yeah.

They said they think they can, you know, get back on top of it, anyways.

Uh...

Why? Why are you here?

Why aren't you mining?

Um...

Just wondering that myself a lot too, I...

I don't know, man, I just haven't been...

I haven't, I haven't been up for it.

- It sounds weird. - [Zee] It does.

- I know it sounds weird. - [Zee] Physical, mental what?

I, I just, I got back from mine last year

and, you know, I crashed hard, like I always do.

You know, I put in so many hours up there, you know, I spent a couple of weeks.

I just sleep and I catch up, right?

- This year, I just haven't been able to get out of that. - [Zee] Just a funk?

[stammering] I guess it's a combination.

I mean, there's, you know, a seasonal affective disorder

that they think I have and then just depression and I...

That's, it's tough for me to accept, because I didn't grow up like that.

No.

I mean, when do you think all the depression stuff started?

I mean, when we went up, what was it, a month after your mom passed?

Did you ever really grieve for that yet?

- You know, I have her house. - Yeah.

- It looks, it's like she never left right now. - [Zee] Yeah.

And... and, uh...

I haven't been to the house for two years.

- You know what I mean? - Yeah.

- I haven't been able to go up there. - Yeah.

The... the... the other tough part

is I know it's not just me, right?

- Like, there's a lot of people counting on me. - [Zee] Yeah.

And everybody's in limbo right now, wondering, and I'm counting on me.

Like, I can't, I can't sit here in my house.

No, but I would just get yourself right.

And once you get yourself right,

go ahead and go back up and just kill it.

- Keep having successful seasons. - Yeah.

That all you know how to do.

- Yeah, I appreciate that, man. - [Zee] All right.

- I'll talk to you. Okay. - All right.

- Keep you phone on. - I love you.

- Maybe answer it. - Yeah, yeah.

I'm getting better.

[Zee] I'm just relieved.

He's doing the steps he needs.

It sounds like to get back, um, to old Rick.

So things are good. Hopefully he just keeps doing what he's doing.

[Rick] I am doing better.

But it's, uh, there's just a lot of things that I don't understand still,

you know, with what I'm... whatever this is I'm going through.

It's, uh, you know, it's tough.

Well, Zee brought up, you know, my mother passing

and... and, you know, I...

I don't like talking about it, because he's not wrong or, you know,

I have her house and I haven't been there in two years.

You know, I probably need to go there and I need to face it.

And maybe that'll help, maybe it won't.

Once again, that's the frustrating thing about it.

I don't know what's causing it.

And I think that's, I don't know if you ever know.

When I'm ready, I will be gold mining again.

I just don't know when that is.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] For over 30 years, Tony Beets has reigned

as the undisputed king of the Klondike.

But with red tape blocking him from mining his Indian River claims

he's trapped on Paradise Hill.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To hit his 5000 ounce goal.

Tony's chasing the elusive gold rich white channel pay layer

in two of the deepest cuts he's ever mined.

First, the nine acre 130 foot

deep cold cut where he's down to paydirt.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The crew stockpiled paydirt,

ready for youngest son Mike to start sluicing by the end of the day.

[Mike] I want to get sluicing.

Because you gotta remember if we're not sluicing all we're doing is spending.

It gets very [bleep] expensive not to sluice.

[narrator] Eldest son, 34-year-old Kevin,

whose fixed equipment since childhood

prepares the 30-year-old trommel

for its first fire up of the season.

[Kevin] Glenn is on his way to finish up his checks

and then at that point, fire up the pump at full speed.

But [bleep] we're pretty much ready to [bleep] go.

[narrator] To wash precious gold out of the dirt

they need to feed the plant with 1500 gallons of water a minute.

A 900 horsepower pump propels water from the intake pond

half a mile uphill to the wash plant.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The pipe that links the intake pond to the pump is iced up.

[Tony speaking]

[Len] Yes, I do.

[Tony speaking]

[Len] Oh, yes, I will.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Over nearly 40 years of mining,

Tony has collected a machine for every problem.

The custom built steam truck heats up water to over 100 degrees,

then fires it out as a 2000 PSI jet of hot steam.

[Tony speaking]

So this year, Tony talked a lot about stepping back,

giving me and Mike more responsibility.

[Tony speaking]

[Kevin] But it's hard for him. He's just so used to being in charge.

He just can't keep his fingers out of the pie.

- Any more, I'd be worried. - [Tony speaking]

[Kevin] We hit something.

[narrator] Just three feet in the steamer rod is blocked.

[Tony speaking]

All right.

[Tony speaking]

Pulling it.

[Tony speaking]

Ice coming out.

[Tony speaking]

- Oh, yeah. - [Tony speaking]

No, that one's solid.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] The ice in the pipe stretches 30 feet

all the way from the intake pond to the pump.

It will take days to thaw.

Every hour the trommel is down costs Tony, $3,000.

[Tony speaking]

[Carolyne] I just worry every year when you guys go up there on the roads,

top of the world highway makes my stomach churn.

- So I just want everybody to be careful and... - [Brandon] Right.

- Mm-hmm. - ...watch out for each other.

We know we're going a long ways away from home.

[narrator] 23-year-old Brandon Clayton

and his 20-year-old brother Brady

are part of a new generation of young miners

preparing for a make or break season in the Yukon.

You guys are leaving tomorrow? What's your plan?

[Brandon] Well, we're going for 500 ounces of gold this season,

but fuel is through the roof, so...

Mm-hmm.

I think we just got to figure out what's economically viable

and if all goes well and get some pay to the plant

and hopefully start washing within a week.

You've got to get ground stripped quick, screening for sure.

And then you just give her give her hell.

[narrator] For father Glenn and the rest of the family,

the financial stakes couldn't be higher.

At the end of the day, our goal is to clear up our debts,

and that means all of us work.

In 2014 when oil tanked, bills were big and stacking up

and everybody's battling their own battles.

I guess we lost ours.

We ended up going broke

and, and had to restart.

- His pudgy, little face. - [Carolyne laughs]

[narrator] The family's construction business

relies heavily on the Albertan oil industry.

So when oil prices plummeted in 2014,

they were pushed into crippling debt.

Very much into machinery, he's sitting there wanting to drive the tractor.

[narrator] Now using decommissioned equipment from their business,

Brandon and Brady are gambling the little money they have

to claw back the millions they owe by mining for gold.

[Brandon] This is my passion. I love gold mining. I absolutely love it.

I think mine and my brother's work ethic came from my dad

and we're just happy to carry it on

and help out our family business.

Brady and I have a pretty good relationship.

He does complain a little bit when he... gets it,

when I give him the [bleep] jobs,

but they've got to be done and he knows that, so he goes and gets them done.

[Brady] Taking orders from my brother

obviously brothers, we butt heads sometimes.

I mean, he's showing me everything that I know up there.

He is the boss, so got to respect that.

[narrator] The brothers have been fixing heavy machinery since they were kids.

Experience they will need in the remote Yukon.

[Brandon] And we're hoping to hit her good this season.

We're going to work her ass off.

We're coming up to this season with bigger equipment,

more equipment and more manpower.

[narrator] Last season, Brandon and Brady

joined forces with second year miner Fred Lewis.

We'll pull from my area, your area, just [bleep] get dirt all around this season.

- And we can just split the gold, 50-50. - We got a deal.

I'm down with it.

[narrator] Agreeing to share their home-built wash plant, the dirt devil

in exchange for pay, led to the Clayton's best season ever.

- 38.66. - 38.

- That's pretty good for you as well, right? - Yeah, I'm happy with that.

Yeah.

[narrator] This year, they plan to mine solo

to increase profit and pay off their family debt faster.

[Brady] Yeah, the last thing we want to do is let you down.

So we're going to do everything we can to keep that going strong.

[Glenn] You don't have to worry about ever let me down.

You guys are... I'm pretty proud of you guys, so I know it's tough...

It's tough slogging up here.

And I know you guys work hard, so you don't have to worry about ever letting me down.

You do your best, and that's all we can ask for.

[narrator] Delayed two weeks fixing faulty equipment,

the brothers are finally ready to make the three day drive

to the Yukon.

You know, the pressure is already on.

We should be in the Yukon at California Creek

running gold by now and we're not.

So we've got to hustle it up.

It's very humbling to hear that your kids are invested as much as they are.

- Love you. - Love you.

- Yeah. - Bye, mom.

- Love you. - Love you.

[Carolyne] They could go on and do whatever they want

because they're very talented in many areas.

Take care of mom and dad.

They just want to contribute and do it all together.

Mm-hmm.

Yukon here we come. Let's go get some gold.

[Parker] I just landed here in Fairbanks.

But we've got a mountain to do in the Yukon still,

so there's just a lot to juggle, you know?

[narrator] Nearly three weeks into the season,

Parker has left his crew running his Yukon mine

to jump start his new operation in Alaska.

Any time you start getting very spread out, it's pretty high risk.

If I can't figure out how to get something to work in two different areas

then I shouldn't be doing this.

[narrator] To make matters worse,

a four month delay on his new wash plant

designed to tackle Alaska's deep clay-riddled ground,

has left Parker's plans shot to pieces.

Now he must face up to legendary Alaskan landowner John Reeves.

Basically, I don't know how big of a season

we're going to be able to have here,

because by the time the new plant for Fairbanks is built,

most of the season is going to be gone.

And John really wants us to be doing at least 1000 ounces a year.

That might prove problematic.

Worst case scenario, things could get a little bit nasty.

[knock on door]

- [Ilaura] Hi. - [Parker] Hi.

- [Ilaura] How are you? - [Parker] Good. How are you?

- Welcome to Fairbanks. - Hey, John.

[John] Welcome back, dude.

- Hi, Drew, good to see you. - [Drew] Yeah. Good to see you, too.

- [Ilaura] Have a seat. - Oh, thanks.

Yeah.

[narrator] John's daughter, Ilaura, works for the family business

with husband Drew.

[John] So what's new?

[Parker] Well, down the barrel, our main permit

in the Yukon is expiring at the end of this mining season.

So we have to have that whole block of ground mined

and reclaimed by the end of this season.

So we're just slammed over there.

I understand you're a busy guy

and you got some big operations going

and this is going to be another big operation.

So what's your plan, dude?

I wish I had some good news about

this whole operation right now, but I don't.

We spent a good chunk of the winter designing a plant.

We were trying to find one to buy.

By the time we pulled the trigger on it,

the lead time puts us into the like back third of the season.

[John] So you're not thinking you're going to get your plant

up here until, what, late summer or...

Yeah. Right now it's looking like we're going to miss

at least two thirds of the season.

Yeah, so I don't know what that means for our deal, you know?

Our deal's a deal.

You gave me an advanced minimum royalty, which covers this season.

- If you say I'm not going out there, you lost it. - All right.

There is a little bit of a gold rush going on.

And with things happening in this economy,

a lot of people go to gold as a hedge.

So we got a lot of miners and there is a lot of outside interest.

I'm still committed to the project

and still committed to the ground,

and we'll make it work, one way or another. We'll make it work.

I just right now, I don't know what that looks like.

It's a tricky business that you're in.

If would help, Ilaura and Jordan have been out there

prospecting for quite a few years, maybe ten years.

[Parker] We're at a stage now where I could definitely use all the help we can get.

You might need to get creative.

We kind of know some spots that are pretty good,

so there might be something that can keep you afloat, you know,

while you're waiting for your, your pretty machine.

- On Cleary Creek. - On Cleary Creek, some old drift mines.

Hmm. Maybe I'll have to twist your arm

and try to get, try to get your secret spots.

Figure it out.

Can I show them where there's some gold out there on top?

- Yeah. - Thanks, guys.

- I'll be... - Thank you.

- I'll be back soon, hopefully. - Yeah.

And, um, and we'll put a plan together,

and we'll start whaling some dirt out there and find some gold.

- [Ilaura] All right. - [John] All right, dude.

Thank you.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

- Excited to show you around. - Appreciate it.

- [John] All right, man. - [Parker] Looking forward to it.

[narrator] If Parker is to have a successful season,

he now needs to come up with a new mining plan.

Overall, that seemed to go pretty well.

You know, it seems like John and Drew and Ilaura

all understand that we're really under the gun.

We're fighting a battle on all fronts.

We're fighting, you know, just supply chain issues.

The big thing is just I do want to get this project going and make it happen.

- [Tony speaking] - Yeah?

- [Tony speaking] - Okay.

- [Tony speaking] - Yeah, that works.

[narrator] Tony Beets is desperate to start sluicing,

but he needs water and the pipe to the pump is blocked with ice.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Veteran miner Len Hoekstra

has spent a day clearing ice from the top half

of the pipe closest to the pump.

[Tony speaking]

[Len] Looks like it.

[narrator] When testing the lower end of the pipe through an access vent.

Tony comes up against more ice.

It could take Len another 12 hours to steam the bottom of the pipe out.

This downtime will cost Tony $36,000

in wages, fuel and gold he can't get mined.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] All right. I'll be up there soon.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony's plan, open a channel to the river and fill the pond.

15 feet, more water will increase the pressure on the ice in the pipe

by seven pounds per square inch,

which should be enough to force out the frozen blockage.

[Tony speaking]

Get a bunch of pay ready.

The last [bleep] thing before we can get sluicing is

is to make our pump get goin'.

[narrator] The Beets family races to get on the gold.

To send water to the wash plant they need their frozen pipes clear of ice.

[Tony speaking]

[bleep] yeah. Have water.

As you can see, we've got a full pipe of water,

meaning all the ice has been blown the [bleep] out.

- How's that look? - Beautiful.

[Tony speaking]

Yeah. Everything up top should be good to go.

[Tony speaking]

Okay. Three, two, one. Boom!

[engine firing]

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] A day behind schedule

the water pump is up and running,

so Tony is finally ready to get his 30 year old trommel turning.

[Tony speaking]

Good for Tony.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] After two weeks mining

Tony's finally running the cold cut's gold rich White Channel pay,

the first step on the long road to his 5000 ounce gold.

[Tony speaking]

We're stoked to be here, but we need to hit the ground running.

[narrator] After a three day, 1700 mile drive,

23 year old mine boss Brandon Clayton and his brother Brady

finally arrive in Dawson City.

[Brandon] We're already late.

We're going to have a tough time trying to make a 500 ounce season gold already.

For my brother and I want to help out with the family debt

and we want to get that paid off.

We're on our way to check out our equipment right now. That's out all winter long.

We've got to get things on the go and as quick as we can

to get out to California Creek and start washing dirt.

[narrator] The Clayton brothers left their vital D8 Dozer

locked up in town in the off season.

Let's see how she starts.

[engine starting]

Oh, look at that. Not bad at all.

Satt all winter, she's fired right up.

[engine revving]

Not bad.

[loud clunking]

What the heck is going on here?

That didn't seem right.

Doesn't want to move in first.

There's something wrong, eh?

It's holding itself.

- I'll go find Shane. - Okay.

Shane!

[Shane] What's happening, Brandon?

[narrator] Crew member, mechanic, Shane Colliou

works for the family construction business.

So when I put it in gear, it's like slipping almost.

It's not moving, but second gear works just fine.

Nothing's wrong, but first gear, it just doesn't...

something's not clicking right.

We'll pull the filters and take them out, tear them apart

and see if we can find anything inside.

Okay.

[narrator] Shane has a quick test

to find out if the cogs in the transmission are damaged.

Any filings that we find in here would be,

we got something coming apart inside the transmission.

And that's why we don't have first gear possibly.

[narrator] Metal filings in the gearbox

come from the gear cogs grinding abnormally.

Can you grab this Brandon?

[narrator] A sure fire sign. The transmission is damaged beyond repair.

Look at the crap in here. That's bad.

Holly [bleep].

Yeah. I think you got a lot of metal filings.

We need that Cat to be stripping. I can't even run dirt.

And putting new filters in ain't going to help it.

- You got to get a transmission up here. - A transmission?

Oh, yeah.

Holy, we're down before we even started.

We were hoping to be washing dirt in a week,

but realistically, that is not happening anymore.

I don't know what to do.

We'll have to see how quick we can get a transmission and see what it's worth, too.

We don't have a whole lot of money.

[phone ringing]

- [Carolyne] Hello? - Yeah. Where's Dad?

[Carolyne] Oh I don't know where he disappeared to.

- He might be downstairs because we're out of water. - Oh, okay.

[Carolyne] Wait just a sec, I'll grab him.

- [Glenn] Okay. - Yeah, Dad.

We just got up here,

and, uh, we're actually going through the... the equipment,

and we started the dozer up.

Shane, wanted to look at the filters,

so we pulled them apart,

and, uh, they're full of filings, filings and dirt.

So, so, it's gone.

We... we... we kind of need a transmission, unfortunately.

[Glenn] Oh.

I don't know how much it's going to cost,

but, uh, I don't really have a choice, unfortunately.

We can't do anything without that dozer.

[Glenn] Let me see what I can do.

Let me pull a few strings, make some calls.

Okay. Awesome. Thank you.

I love you. So, let me know what you can find.

It feels like we're coming here

with our hands tied behind our backs

and just getting punched in the face.

It's not the way to start a season.

[narrator] Already over two weeks behind schedule.

Fred's entire claim, including last year's cuts,

is buried under a thick block of ice,

until it's melted, Fred can't mine for gold.

As a leader, I brought these guys here for success,

to find gold and to bring that home to their families.

And now, we're going to have to fight to even get started.

[Stuart] Wow. Look at that.

[Fred] There's no break. It's just all the way.

Getting 500 ounces was already a tall order,

but now it's going to be a monumental task.

[Stuart] Our entire infrastructure is gone.

[Fred] All right, guys.

If we don't break this ice up,

we're going to be sitting here losing money.

This ice has to go.

Stealing our gold, guys.

My overall plan is to find a section of water

that's deep enough to put the pump in.

- [Stuart] Yeah. - [Fred] Pump the water back up over the ice.

That should facilitate this [bleep] to melt faster.

Overall objective is to get to our gear,

get that water pump running

and just rush water over the top of the ice as much as possible.

Without access there, we can't do any of it.

So this is exactly how we're going to do it.

I'm going to bring the excavator down here

and I'll walk up on the ice slowly,

try and break the ice with the bucket.

If that works, great, we can just start peeling it up

and... and move through pretty quickly.

[narrator] Fred's plan uses 24 tonne excavator

to cut a path through the side of the glacier,

all the way to an access road on the other side.

Next haul a six inch pump into position

at the top of his claim

and pump creek water on top of the ice

to help it melt and wash away.

One false move and Fred could fall through the ice.

Constantly, we have to be testing this ice,

and you guys have to have your eyes on it

because if it starts shifting, I need to know immediately.

You know, I, uh, I really trust Fred. I trust his ability.

I trust what he's capable of doing on the excavator.

But, you know, there's no amount of gold

that is going to be worth Fred getting injured.

Somebody's got to do it

and I don't want anybody else doing it, so...

I am a little nervous about this, don't know why.

[narrator] Ex recon sniper Stuart

and stepson Christopher act as spotters...

Okay.

[narrator] ...looking for signs of any weak points in the ice.

Oh, that broke.

What's the ice doing now?

Is it holding me?

[Chris] It feels fine.

You're good, man. Ice is... ice is good.

It ain't moving, it ain't cracking, nothing.

I'm going to try and go a little bit forward.

[Stuart] Walk it forward.

Mind the tracks up right there,

and you should be good.

[Fred] Oh, [bleep].

- Oh! - Oh, nice.

[Stuart] Holy [bleep].

I felt the wind just, like, come up and just hit me.

[bleep] crazy.

[Fred] I'm gonna turn around.

We're having to kind of scrape,

let the sun weaken it,

and now coming back at it a second time

and it is coming up a little easier.

Yeah, it's melting.

Ugh, [bleep].

There's water underneath this ice.

And now that we've melted it, it's starting to break through.

I figure, we could just scrape across the top and drive.

But now I've got to go through this water hole

to get over here to drain this [bleep].

It's just way more complicated than I thought.

[Fred] [bleep].

[narrator] If Fred loses his only operational excavator,

his season will be over before it's even started.

Get up, get up, get up, get up.

[bleep], come on.

[Fred] All right, Ice, you may be winning this battle,

but we're going to win this war.

Good job, man.

[Fred cheering]

[narrator] Fred is in touching distance of dry land.

[Fred] Golly! This is not what I [bleep] want to be doing right now.

There's a big crack in front of me.

Don't even know if this is safe.

Okay. Well, I'm past it.

Geez, Louise.

I'm just going to go to land.

Whoa, I'm sliding. I'm sliding.

Whew!

Golly, that was not fun.

That's about as good as I'm going to get it.

[Stuart] Oh, [bleep] dude.

- Well, you're alive. - Yeah.

- [Stuart] Did a good job, bro. - [Fred] That was nerve-wracking, dude.

[Stuart] Good job.

[narrator] Path complete,

Fred is one step closer to clearing the ice

and getting on the gold.

[Fred] We know now that we can drive over it.

- [Stuart] Yeah. - [Fred] I see it draining.

I also see it not getting any lower.

We're going to have to come back tomorrow.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Having spent $2 million

stripping the 130 foot deep cold cut,

Tony Beets is finally running the paydirt,

he hopes will deliver half his 5000 ounce season goal.

[Ruby] Well, it's kind of pretty frozen this spring.

I'm... I'm doing my best here,

but you're probably going to have to bust 'em up even more over there.

[Megan] Yeah, send me what you got

and I'll slam her through.

[narrator] On the pay pile,

high school friends Ruby and Meghan

work in tandem to feed the trommel 200 yards an hour.

Kind of put the nightmare squad back together for a little bit.

[laughs] We should do, like, a bucket wave at each other.

[laughs] We could do that.

Hi, Megan!

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] This season, Tony is looking to 31-year-old son Mike

to step up and run the crew.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] I'm watching the feeder and the conveyor

to see if any big, big, big chunks

I have to worry about are going to pop out.

The hauler-upper is supposed to watch them,

but I understand why she misses some sometimes,

'cause they are literally just frozen chunks of pay.

Damn near impossible to tell the difference.

Oh [bleep]. Oh [bleep]. Oh [bleep].

Watch out!

[Mike] [bleep].

- Oh [bleep]. Oh [bleep]. Oh [bleep]. - Watch out.

[narrator] At Paradise Hill,

Tony's left his sons in charge of running the trommel,

but a chunk of frozen paydirt

has jammed the top of the feed conveyor,

forcing Mike to shut down.

[Mike] She's got to watch a little bit more cover for them.

All you [bleep] want is for things to go smooth.

[narrator] At the other end of the conveyor,

the frozen pay has clogged the hopper feeder.

I shame, I don't smoke anymore.

I really [bleep] want to do it right now.

[bleep]. Ugh!

[Ruby] We're going to try to break it up

and try to get it out and hopefully the belt moves.

[Kevin] It is moving.

Yeah. Let's try bumping it.

See if you can get everything to move.

So everybody off the conveyor, s'il vous plait.

[narrator] To dislodge the blockage,

Kevin plans to bump it by surging the belt.

[Kevin] When it's really bound up

and you just press play,

the belt's going to either spin

and get stuck and it's just not going to go.

You bump it short, little bump,

so strong pull stop, strong pull stop,

get a little bit of roll back and then boom and boom!

[Ruby] It's definitely frustrating

whenever we're down,

we give or take, lose about $25 a minute

whenever this thing is down.

- [Fred] 50$. - Pardon me.

I think it's $50 these days.

It's $50 these days. Okay.

So, yeah, we're losing $50 a minute

with the plant being down right now.

It doesn't seem like we're having a whole lot of luck.

[Ruby] There you go. Come on.

Whoo!

- [Kevin] There we go, [bleep]. - Whoo-hoo!

- [Kevin] There we go. - [Ruby] Throw it off.

Woo-hoo!

Good. All right.

Reset. Forward.

[narrator] Mike and Kevin have got the wash plant back up and running.

[Kevin] Tony's taking a bit more of a step back.

So there's a lot more pressure on me and Mike this year.

We spent a lot of money

getting new equipment so we can strip that cold cut.

So me and Mike are gonna have to hit it hard to keep this trommel going.

[Mitch] All the times going up to the Yukon never made her into Alaska.

- This is your first time? - [Mitch] Yeah.

[bleep]

You're gonna give me the grand tour?

Yeah. I have a pile of dirt.

[narrator] 20 miles north of Fairbanks.

Parker Schnabel must rethink his entire Alaskan mining plan.

To help he's brought in his trusted right-hand man,

Mitch Blaschke.

[Mitch] So what led you to this place

in all the places you've looked for ground?

[Parker] It's deeper, but much richer.

Which is not, you know,

not always a good trade off, as we well know.

[narrator] Last year, Parker drilled test holes

through deep clay packed ground

and hit a pay streak four times richer than his Yukon claims.

But a four month delay to the wash plant

he designed for this ground

means digging deep is not an option.

- [Parker] Hello. - [Ilaura] Hi.

[Parker] How are you guys doing?

[Ilaura] Good. How are you?

- [Parker] This is Mitch. - [Mitch] Nice to meet you.

[Parker] Nice to meet ya.

I'm really just trying to get Mitch's head wrapped around all of this right now.

He's a tough sell, so I might need your guys's help.

[narrator] Claim owner John Reeves daughter Ilaura

and husband Drew

think there might be a way to salvage his season on this historic ground.

There's a lot of gold to be found out here,

so I'll show you.

You know where I've had success.

[Parker] Sweet.

[Drew] We can go right up here to this one.

[Parker] So is that the conveyor

you want me to use here, or what?

[Mitch] Uh, no way, it's on tracks.

- [Parker] Yeah. - [Mitch laughs]

[Mitch] Dude, that is sick.

[Parker] Pretty [bleep] cool.

[Mitch] It looks like it's built on an old tank.

[Parker] Yeah, they didn't screw around.

[Mitch] You know, seeing this size of equipment out here,

how complex it is, um, how well this is all put together.

Um, it's definitely concerns me on,

well, if they did this good of a job here,

how good of a job did they do in the cut?

What did they actually leave behind?

We're here to try and find anything they left.

Um, but looking at this, looks like they really had their [bleep] together.

What do you got over here, old dredge buckets?

Yeah.

A piece of punch plate out of the trommel here, or...

And this almost looks like an old...

- [Parker] Oh, yeah. - [Mitch] ...section of trommel screen.

- [Parker] I wonder. - That seems really small, though.

[Mitch] Leading edge, that's what I'm thinking, right?

[Parker] Yeah. I mean, we're running half inch bottom deck on Big Red.

This is a lot tighter than that, obviously.

The more we know about what they did and how they did it,

I think the more it's going to help us out.

[Mitch] Yeah, for sure.

[Ilaura] And it means any gold bigger than that,

they left behind for y'all.

- [Mitch] Exactly. - [Ilaura] Yeah.

[narrator] Ilaura leads them further into the claim

to prospect an area first mined in the early 1900s.

[Parker] Nothing in that one.

[Mitch] This would be all drift tailings, right?

[Ilaura] Yep.

All this area is drift tailings

and we've punched several holes.

And just because you don't find gold in one pan

doesn't mean you won't in the next.

[Parker] We're used, we're used to not finding gold panning.

[Ilaura] It's easy to do.

So all of this was brought up through shafts?

Yeah. Before the dredges came through.

They drift mined this whole area.

So there's a layer

where there's, there's going to be gold.

So they would channel down.

- [Parker] Yep. - Get underneath.

Get down to the pay layer.

They'd have a shaft... Exactly.

[Ilaura] Yeah.

[narrator] The old timers excavated shafts

through concrete like permafrost

up to a hundred feet deep

until hitting paydirt above bedrock.

Then they drift mined horizontally

and hauled out the seam of gold back to the surface

where they washed the paydirt

through primitive sluice boxes,

leaving some of the gold in their tailings.

[Mitch] They left some in this.

This would be pretty easy pickings.

It's sitting up here on the top, but...

[Parker] Yeah, so this would have been put here a 100 years ago

and just ran through some super crude sluice box.

[Mitch] Yeah.

All right, Ilaura, it's your turn to show us where the gold is.

- I'm not getting the job done. - [Ilaura] All right.

You can see that pile over there,

a lot of times with tailings.

If you see birch trees growing out of it, they've got roots.

There's gravel. There could be gold.

[Mitch] Go find it, Nugget.

[Ilaura] This is our spot.

Mitch, you want to give it a go?

[Mitch] Here we go.

- Let's see what's in it. - [Ilaura] All right.

[narrator] If the old timers have left gold behind in the tailings,

it could be a game changer.

Quick and easy ground for Parker to mine

when his wash plant finally arrives.

[Ilaura] It's good.

I think you're going to want to see this.

[Parker] See, this is why I get so frustrated with panning,

is I just like pan duds all over the place.

[Ilaura] Well, you're going to want to definitely take a look at this.

It's already peaking on the side.

It's just like the best pan I've ever had.

- [Parker] Oh, yeah. - [Ilaura] [bleep].

That's insane.

[Parker] Yeah, there's some gold there.

- That's very good. - [Ilaura] Like, like, I'm shook.

[narrator] Not only have the old timers left them fine gold,

there sluices missed sizable chunks

that Parker can mine right away

with any wash plant.

[Mitch] That's wild.

[Parker] There's a start. We're on the board, Mitch.

Well, that's an awesome pan.

And if we're going to be mining here,

we're going to have to move all this stuff anyway.

So it only makes sense to slam it through a plant.

[Mitch] Yeah, I like it.

I mean, if you can sluice it, you don't have to strip it.

I feel really confident that we can have a successful season out here.

Yeah.

We have a lot of work ahead of us and we're already behind the eight ball.

[narrator] 23-year-old Brandon Clayton

is stuck in Dawson

till he can fix his D8 dozer

and haul it up to California Creek to start mining.

Ta-da!

[narrator] His dad sourced him a second hand

refurbished transmission,

unable to pay for a workshop

and a team of specialist mechanics,

they'll attempt to replace it in the yard with mechanic Shane.

[Brady] We can't really afford that new tranny either

and it definitely wasn't easy on the pocket,

so we just got to make sure this one works and we don't wreck it.

[Brandon] We'll slide the ripper off

so we can get out that transmission to get it taken out.

How are we making out, Shane?

- [Shane] Uh, not very good. - [Brandon] Oh, what's up?

[Shane] The pins aren't being as agreeable

as we'd like them to be.

The bottom ones are very sticky.

[Brandon] Okay, well, we definitely didn't need this, did we?

[Shane] No.

[narrator] Brandon must first take out the D8's bolts

on the one ton ripper and remove it.

Then carefully remove the old transmission box using a forklift...

before installing the new transmission.

At $50,000,

any mistake could cost them their season.

- Oh [bleep]. - I want a--

[Shane] You just need a pin driver now.

Yeah, I was just going to say pin driver.

It's basically an extension for the hammer

to help us hit that pin up.

We're using more time than we want.

Nothing ever goes easy up here.

You always got to have a backup plan for your backup plan.

[Brandon] The walls are probably going to break.

Probably.

[bleep]

[Brandon] You're going to have to make a longer one.

Okay, just go make a longer one.

- What? It's fine. - No, you don't have any...

You're hitting the rail more than you're hitting the [bleep] bar.

[bleep] waving it.

[Brandon] Well, you can't hold it. You're hitting this.

- Look at it. - We're hitting the seal.

We're going to [bleep] that seal.

Think I got [bleep] heat exhaustion and I'm [bleep] getting angry.

[bleep] hell. [bleep] great.

Let's hope this doesn't break now.

[narrator] Brandon now improvises,

using a forklift to haul out the busted one ton transmission.

[Brandon] Like to see what it does here?

[Shane] Well, there we go.

So just go back slow.

Just going straight up.

Okay, backwards a bit.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're almost out.

[Brandon] Ta-da!

[Shane] Kind of a risky situation

doing this job outdoors.

Typically it would be done in a shop.

We currently have a $50,000 transmission suspended in the air here.

So we've got to be very delicate

that, uh, we don't hit any bumps.

We definitely don't want to get it dirty or... or break the housing.

[Shane] She's there.

It's home.

[narrator] Transplant complete.

Now they need to check

if the new transmission will allow Brandon

to change from first to second gear.

[Brandon] All right, here we go.

Here goes first gear.

We'll try second now.

Oh, boy.

- [Shane] It's all good. - [Brandon] Everything's good, it's instant.

First gear is instant, second's instant.

[Shane] Awesome.

That's excellent. Good job, kid.

- Uh, good job, guys. - [Shane] Yes.

We're back to minin', boys.

Our season is back on track.

- [Fred] How's it look? - [man] Uh!

[narrator] At California Creek,

a quarter-mile-long,

30-foot-thick ice sheet

blocks Fred Lewis from mining his claim.

He's cut a path across the ice to reach vital equipment

on the other side of the creek.

You know, there's just never a time in my life I see something as impossible.

Improbable definitely, impossible never.

[narrator] This is just the latest challenge for Fred and Stuart,

who served on tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Stuart] Well, there's multiple times where, like, I'll be like,

"But I've broken both my legs, Fred." you're like, "So?"

[Fred laughs]

[Fred] Well, you know, I took a round on the helmet in Afghanistan,

ended up finding out I had a bruise on my brain.

The biggest compliment I ever get

is when people tell me I don't look disabled.

It's also an insult because there is no such thing as a disabled look.

That whole stigma of there being no visible disabilities

needs to go away.

Like, I'm sorry, you can't see the bruises on my brain.

I'm sorry.

I wish there was a sign on my head that said,

"Hey, his brain's bruised."

But when I introduced myself before gold mining,

I had a really hard time.

People would say, "What do you do?"

And I would say, "I'm a disabled veteran."

And that got to the point where that was how I identified myself.

Now, when people ask me what I do,

I say, I'm a [bleep] gold miner.

[narrator] After cutting a path through the ice,

Fred leads his crew to the six inch pump,

which he plans to use to melt the ice,

holding their claim and paydirt hostage.

Think we got her.

Oh! [laughs]

- Man, these things are heavy. - [Stuart] I know. I got you a hand.

All right, hang on.

- [Fred] Ready? - [Stuart] Yep.

[narrator] The next stage of the plan,

get the pump set and ready to shoot water.

[Fred] All right. I don't trust this chain very well.

Okay. Lifting.

I'm going to swing it around. Everybody clear?

If we drop this pump, guys, we are done.

I'm going forward.

[Stuart] Yeah. Good.

[Fred] Careful. Careful.

[bleep]

[Stuart] All right, Christopher.

Chock the wheel behind it.

Fred, you're good.

[Fred] Let's get those hoses down there and get them hooked up.

Oh. [bleep].

If one of us falls in, we're not coming out.

[JB] Pick up on it a little bit, Fred.

Let's do the intake while we're waiting for the rope.

[Fred] Look out, Christopher.

That's deep.

We're taking our main pump

and we're going to turn it into a fire hose

to run water on top of this ice.

I'm going to tie a rope to myself

and try and get up over here

because our hoses need to be going that way.

So, once I have a rope on me,

if I fall, they can at least pull me back.

[narrator] To melt the ice,

Fred must walk the pump hose

50 feet upstream,

but the glacier could break beneath him at any time.

[Stuart] What I'm thinking is, we tie one to you as you go, a tether,

and then somebody kind of go down a little bit.

So, in case you do go through,

somebody has to let go if you're basically being drowned,

you have one more opportunity to grab a rope before you go in the snow tunnel.

- Good luck. - [Chris] We got this.

See you on the other side.

Kind of feels like right before a halo jump in the military.

You're all amped up to do it.

You can't wait and then the door opens and you're like, "Oh, [bleep]!

What am I going to do now?"

Obviously, if you feel a lot of pressure,

if it starts pulling you, you need to let go of me, right?

[Chris] What's the worst that could happen?

Drowning. Hypothermia.

[Chris] Oh, yeah. This is like your biggest fear.

- Yeah. Yes. - [Chris] Drowning?

Love you, son.

[narrator] Fred's first challenge,

clear a crevasse that

could plunge him straight in the freezing water.

[Fred] Slack.

I'm jumping.

Chris, you got me?

[narrator] Green Beret medic Fred Lewis

is crossing a glacier that has buried his gold rich claim.

His plan to get mining,

pump water from the creek

on top of the ice to speed up the melt.

[Fred] I'm jumping. Chris, you got me?

[grunts]

- There's a big hole up here. - [Chris] Is there?

[Fred] I think it might be like top mount,

but there's a big hole with a bunch of water in it.

I can't pull it, guys, you're going to have to help.

[Chris] Go, pull.

Here we go.

[Fred] I'm just going to jump on to the bank.

It's only like a four foot gap.

[narrator] Hose in place,

it's time to see if Fred's desperate plan will work.

[Fred] Fire it up.

[JB] Oh, here it comes. Here it comes.

We got water.

We got water going all the way down this channel

right where we want it, actually.

It's definitely eating through the snow already.

[Fred laughing]

[Stuart] I'm happy he made it.

- He is safe. - Huh!

Fred, it's cutting through. Right through it.

- [Fred] Oh, it's cutting it through. - Yeah.

[Stuart] It's cutting right through it.

It's cutting right through it.

- It is, right. - [Fred] Already about a foot.

[Fred] The first success of the season [bleep].

[bleep], that ice kicked our asses.

I think that's a huge victory, guys.

We probably saved ourself a week of sluicing here.

[Stuart] Yeah. I'm excited, man. Keep fighting.

[Fred] Keep pushing, not waiting on our asses.

And, uh, we'll be mining before we know it.

[Brandon] We're off to the mine.

We're going to go see what we got going on over there.

Apparently, there's a lot of ice still.

[narrator] Three weeks into his season,

Brandon Clayton finally makes it to his remote claim

on the outer edge of the Klondike.

[Brandon] We're already late with the transmission,

so we need mother nature on our side right now.

Okay... let's have a little peeksy.

We might be, uh...

might be looking for some conveyor rollers.

It looks like they're all gone. That's a big cost.

Obviously, there's a lot of ice over there and it's built the creek up

and that took out a conveyor pad, tipped it over.

We lost a bunch of rollers. So we're going to have to fix all that now.

And that'll set us back a bit,

but, uh, the valley itself looks pretty good.

Dirt Devil is standing as strong as she could on her post.

I'm sure we'll be washing within a week.

We'll go look over Fred's side there.

See what it's... what his looks like.

Oh, yeah. Fred's [bleep]. Yeah, he's got a while.

He ain't washing for a month.

He's in a lot worse shape than I am, that's for damn sure.

Hey, Fred, what's up? How's it goin'?

- [Fred] How you doin', neighbor? - Not too bad. You?

- Good to see you again. - You too.

- You ready to rumble? - You betcha.

So how long until you think you're gonna be sluicing?

I'm hoping within a week.

Crap. I thought you had a big piece of ice last season,

but we've got, like, 30-feet-thick ice now.

- Yeah, we traded. - It's [bleep] me.

- Crazy. - We're in a bad spot right now.

So what's your season goal this year, buddy?

- I think me and the team are shooting for 500. - That's what we're aiming for.

- [Brandon] Are you? - Yeah, exactly what we're aiming for.

I think we can do it, too.

What about a good old US vs Canada wager here?

- [Brandon] Yeah. - How about a case of whiskey?

- A case of whiskey? - Whoever makes the most.

- Yeah, case of whiskey. - Down. I'm in.

- Deal. I like this. We'll talk soon. - Good luck.

[Brandon] I'll be mining before Fred. 100%.

He might have been here earlier,

but he definitely has the [bleep] end of the stick.

Yeah.

So, joke's on him. I'm really taking home the win.

[Fred] I have got a challenge for you.

I'll give you 50 bucks to sit in that ice pool for a minute.

- Make it 100. - 100 bucks. Deal.

- [Stuart] All right. Ready? - Whoa! Start.

- Start! - [bleep] [bleep]. Whoa!

[Fred] I can't believe you're doing this.

Why are you breathing so heavy?

[Stuart] 20, 20 seconds.

- You got 40 left? - Forty left, yeah.

There you go. Zen moment, there you go.

- There you go. Find your moment. - There you go.

- All right. - Four, three, two, one.

You can get out. Go, go, go to the side by side.

I would never do that. That is nuts.

Go check for hypothermia. Then he's back to work.

[woman] Jasmine. Hi, my easy girl.

Num-num.

- Here we come. - [Minnie] Hi, guys. Long time no see.

[Mike] I'll start the first one of the season.

[Tony speaking]

[Minnie] At least you have something to weigh.

[narrator] The Beets claim, it's time for the family's

first gold weigh of the season.

- So how are things? - [Tony speaking]

[Minnie] And we only sluice at day time, right?

- Yeah. No night here. Not in dark. - No nights.

[Tony speaking]

- No, couple million. - [Tony speaking]

As you spend, spend, spend and nothing comes in

and you piggy bank gets smaller and smaller.

- I like to replenish it. - [Mike] Well, yeah. It can all just be going out.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Having spent $2 million getting down to pay,

Tony hopes the cold cut will deliver more gold

than last season's first week of running, 80 ounces.

Everybody ready? You're ready?

Let's do this thing.

Five, ten,

fifteen, 20, 25, 30, 35,

forty, 50, 55,

sixty, 65, 70,

seventy-five, 80.

eighty-five, 90, 95.3.

[Minnie] For three days, eh?

That's not too bad for three [bleep] day's eh?

We can work for that.

[narrator] Worth over $170,000.

If the cold cuts, white channel pay streak continues to deliver,

it could easily make up half of his 5000 ounce season goal.

If it stays that nice over for weekdays and nights, that'd be good.

- The gold price is still fairly decent. - [Kevin] Oh, yeah, yeah.

So I'm not complaining there either.

[Tony speaking]

We only have, like, 4900 to go.

- [Tony speaking] - [Minnie] Guys, let's get on.

[Tony speaking]

[Tyson] While Mitch and Parker are gone, I'm in charge

of basically the Yukon operation, keeping Big Red going,

making sure we're still moving, lots of overburden gravel.

I want to show them that they can spend as much time as they want in Alaska,

they need to and not be concerned about things over here.

[narrator] At the airstrip, Veteran operator Tyson Lee

has been in charge of running Big Red all week

while Parker and Mitch prepared for their new Alaskan operation.

- Hey, how is it going, Mitchell? - Good to see you.

- Welcome home. - Hey, young man.

- How was Alaska? - Interesting.

Yeah. Welcome back.

There's some really like, drift tailings

from, like, the early 1900s.

- Is there quite a bit of tailing there? - [Parker] Yeah.

- That kind. - [Parker] Yeah, I bet.

I bet all of 50,000 yards anyway.

Really?

But the tailings, I mean, they're, they're already piled, right?

I mean, you're not removing overburden.

Yeah. There's no... there's no stripping.

We have to show John that we're serious about mining over there.

We have to go get some dirt moves and pay him some royalties

or else he's going to just piss out of there.

- We did move some dirt while you guys were gone. - [Parker] Yeah.

Things went pretty good. We got some gold to weigh.

- [Parker] Good. - Yeah.

Okay, Tyson, here's your week, buddy.

- Big Red right there, man. That's yours, you ready? - [Tyson] Oh, yeah.

[narrator] Parker expects Big Red at the airstrip

to produce around 1.8 ounces per hour.

This week it ran for 90 hours,

so should deliver around 160 ounces.

Sixty, 70,

ninety, 100.

- One-thirty. - Keep going.

One-ninety, 200, 224.35.

- That's not bad. - Not bad.

Nicely done.

[narrator] Worth $400,000.

And I mean, you got to think about it too. Big Red's just slogging along.

That must be like two and a half ounces an hour, huh?

- Yeah. Yeah. - It's not bad.

I'm glad you guys had a successful trip and a safe trip.

More importantly, I'm glad this place is running good.

Yeah.

[Mitch] Nicely done.

Need a hand doing it?

I got her. Thank you.

[Tyson] No worries.

- Looking nice, as always. - Oh, thank you, young man.

It's really nice knowing Mitch and Parker can leave

and everything's still moving the way it should.

You know, that's what we do out here.

We find gold and we move dirt, and hopefully there's a lot more to come.

The trip to Alaska was good. It was productive.

There's just so much to do.

So I'm glad this place is running fine without us. That's important.

It makes me feel better about being able to be gone

and then see how far we can spread ourselves out without things falling apart.

Should be interesting.