Original subtitles

This season, we're definitely having to take some bigger risks.

26-year-old Parker Schnabel has spent eight years

building his mining empire in the Klondike.

But he's running out of ground.

This season, the only new claim

he could find is deeper than anything he's ever mined.

Mud Mountain,

there's supposed to be really good gold but it is 50 feet deep.

Um, I mean, some of it's 60 feet deep,

and that's 40, 50 grand a day

just doing stripping and the bills keep coming in.

And right now, we're only sluicing at the airstrip.

And the gold's just not coming in that fast,

so we definitely need to, um, step it up.

A mile away at the airstrip,

Parker puts foreman Mitch Blaschke in charge with a skeleton crew.

This ground's thawed out,

it's ready to go through the plant.

It's just painfully slow coming back in here,

you know, with the crew that we have.

We've been running Sluicifer 24/7.

To pay for Mud Mountain,

Parker needs to hit 1,500 ounces from the airstrip

in the next three weeks.

Feeding the plant is, it's a big job.

You've got a timeline.

You've got to keep going.

It's non-stop.

30-year-old Tatiana Costa

is one of Parker's rising new operators.

She loads the pay dirt into Parker's only working washplant, Sluicifer.

This year, I feel good.

I know what I'm doing, I know what I'm looking out for.

I understand the plant, the conveyors, so I enjoy it.

At the other end of the washplant, Pascale clears the tailings.

Hey, Pascale, how's everything looking over there?

It's great. How about you?

I think we really are doing a great job up here.

Thanks, Tatiana.

Let's crank it up.

Okay, if that's what you want. You're the boss.

Uh, Parker wants us to crank up the plant,

and that means I've got to get the right tool for the job.

This little pair of pliers right here might not look like much,

but this will control just how much yardage we do with Sluicifer.

I took the knob off a couple of years ago because we've had an issue

with operators jumping out, you know, adjusting the feed rate,

it's just not quite right.

Right now, we're at about 220 yards an hour.

I'm going to dial this knob here and we're shooting for 250.

You want more gold, you've got to take some chances.

Hey, Tatiana, you got a copy?

Yeah, copy.

Okay, hold up for a sec.

- Parker wants us to crank this thing up. - Okay.

We've been running 220 yards an hour.

I just set it at 250, so you're going to have pick up the pace here a bit.

- Okay, roger that. All right?

- Thanks. - No worries.

Running 15% more pay should produce 15% more gold.

Right now, we are in fifth gear, so just going super-fast.

But it also produces 15% more tailings.

Oh, shoot, the tailings are starting to build up.

I'm going to have to go help Pascale.

It's just... This is absolutely crazy

trying to keep it up, move at all.

If the tailings build up, it will jam the conveyor

and break the plant.

Hey, Mitch, you got a copy, Mitch?

Yeah, go ahead.

Can you please come over here?

I just need to have a chat with you.

Yeah, no problem.

Me and Pascale are really struggling to keep up

with the plant right now as two people is just not enough.

Yeah, you need one more person to make it work?

- Yeah. All right.

Well, I know a guy. Just, uh...

give me 10 minutes. I'll get you some help down here.

- Okay, awesome. Thank you. Yup.

Hey, Chris, you got a copy?

Yeah, Mitch, this is Doumitt.

Yeah, hey, can you come down to Sluicifer?

I need you to run loader here and do some tailing,

but I just don't have enough bodies down here.

So, I need you to come out of retirement if you can.

I'll be there in just a few minutes.

All right, thanks.

I work the gold room, that's my job,

plus I do a lot of peripheral stuff.

Every year since I've been with Parker,

we've been able to get more and more gold.

We're breaking records year after year.

This could be the first year that not only do we not break a record--

I take that back.

We could break a record going backwards.

We're as much as a team as we are a family up here.

You know, if you can do a job, you do it.

Last time I was in a loader was about two years ago.

It seems so big and scary.

Yay, I see Doumitt over there, so I can finally focus just, just here in the plant

and let Doumitt help Pascale for now, that would be really nice.

I can say getting back in the loader is like riding a bike,

but I always used to fall off a bike,

so we're not going to use that example.

Oh, crap!

Tatiana, Tatiana, shut down the plant, shut down the plant.

You're all jammed up.

Pre-wash is loaded up, the dirt is spilling out everywhere, girl.

That's what happens when you try to stuff

three pounds on a two pound can.

They're just feeding this thing too fast.

I feel really good about how things are going.

I mean, you know, the cost to gold ratio right now is... is great.

We're on track for, you know, a very profitable year.

At Lower Duncan Creek, Rick Ness is riding high.

I'm clearing an overburden in the creek cut

so that we can keep enough pay into the plant.

I mean, this is basically what we hung our hat on last year

and this is what we run.

Last year, this is what got us to our goal.

It's what got us started this year and it's been consistent.

Just five weeks in, he's already mined 250 ounces of gold.

It's his fastest start ever.

But the biggest problem that we've got right now

is we're fast running out of pay in the creek cut,

and all that's left now is this last little strip.

That's going to get us maybe five, six more days of running, if that.

In order to progress here in Duncan Creek, we... we have to get bigger.

And if I want to keep growing, we're going to have to spend more to make more.

Do you mind just being over it like four feet or five feet

this way next time?

I know you want me closer to you, right?

I just really, really miss you.

Expert dirt mover, Brennan Ruault, loads pay into a rock truck

for Chris Kruse to take to the washplant.

He looks like a man with a plan.

What's up, buddy?

So, we're just about out of ground here in this creek cut, huh?

Yeah.

We've got to pivot fast. Um...

I mean, I've been thinking about where we can go

and I think that I want to go upstream

and kind of stay on the same pay layer.

I... I haven't done any poking around up there yet,

but I know that this has all been real consistent.

Yeah.

So, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't stay like it is.

Right.

If the pay streak from the creek cut continues under the 26 acres

of frozen ground to the west, it could contain over a 1,000 ounces in gold.

The one bad thing about... about heading that way though is that it is frozen, right.

There's permafrost there, so we know it's never been mined.

We haven't dealt with any permafrost really here yet,

and I don't think there'll be too much frozen mud there either, right?

Well, that'll be a nice place to try that new dozer out anyway.

Maybe see how that thing rips?

Yeah, no

So do you want me to go flash that dozer up or what?

I don't know yet.

I don't know if you're going to be the one to run it.

Are you serious? I come up here in minus 30

and put it together and you're taking my thunder?

Come on.

How much money did you pay for it?

Lots.

It seems like the perfect opportunity to see what it's got.

Okay. Well, I'm down for that.

Start burning the $100 bills.

Move some mountains, boys.

Fuel bill's going up today, boys.

Whoo! - Way up.

The 900 horsepower

475 dozer cost half a million dollars.

It burns two and a half thousand dollars

of fuel a day,

the same as all of Rick's other equipment combined.

Yeah, definitely it's pretty sweet that Rick has let me

operate this big beast.

If I get to be on this for, for a big part of the season, I'll be pretty happy.

This dozer is definitely built to help open up ground way faster

when it comes to these frost points.

You know, this is the right tool for the job, and it'll get things done

quick, 'cause you can see the size of it.

The 475 pushes to rock trucks worth of dirt

while the six-foot ripper shank tears through the frozen ground.

I'm just trying to hammer down, now that you see the sun's out,

and it's making a mess of absolutely everything.

I mean look how soft this is. Got to go real gentle.

I mean, this dozer is 300,000 pounds. Yeah.

You know, like look at this, I'm already sinking here.

Now, my worst nightmare just happened.

That's not good.

Sweet.

stuck, what a

Hey, Rick, you got a copy, Rick?

Yeah, go for Rick.

Hey, buddy, I think I need your hand over here,

got a little bit stuck in the dozer.

Brennan, that's not like you. Are you serious?

Yeah, I tried capping off some really soupy

there is some good stuff,

and just sunk through, so...

Stopped before it got real bad.

All right, well, just hold tight. I'll be right over there.

At Lower Duncan Creek,

Brennan Ruault has sunk

Rick's half million dollar dozer into deep mud.

We're running low on pay in the creek cut,

I, basically, have to keep stripping.

This stuff right here, this is going to put us behind.

Any kind of delay is a risk that we'll have to shut the plant down.

What happened is I pushed a little too far trying to ramp out there.

And as soon as I left it, my blade, the front end,

just sunk down and then my ripper was stuck on this sharp frozen edge,

so I kind of couldn't get out of it.

As soon as I get this dug out,

he should be able to come, just come forward

and track right on through the

and then get back up and get back to work.

It's not stuck all that bad, it's just enough

that I can't quite get enough traction to back out of it.

Brennan, I'm not going to hit anything out there, am I?

No, I don't know if I'd pull there, Rick.

Maybe just see if you can grab that corner bit on my low side there.

Can I go there?

Yeah, that'll work up there, too, you bet.

Come on, baby, we're right there. Come on.

There we go.

Whoo! yeah.

Shoot ya!

Shoot ya.

if that wasn't a rookie card, eh?

I know you're nervous, you're trying to impress me, so I'll let it go.

Thanks, buddy.

What not to do?

Follow Big CAT for more tips.

As of right now, I'm pretty far behind the power curve, you know.

A lot of things happened that weren't supposed to.

We're really behind the eight ball at this point.

Deep in the wilderness at California Creek,

nearly a quarter of the way through the mining season,

special forces veteran, Fred Lewis, has less than two ounces of gold.

Got to really focus on moving forward.

I've had no crew, I've had no time,

I've been behind schedule the entire season,

but I'm all in on California Creek,

so right now we've got to make it happen.

You know, it could, it could have just maybe a little bit more

to get her up to the full line.

So far, former Green Beret mechanic JB Mayer has been

his only crew, until now.

Who is that, Fred?

Oh, that's Stuart and Chris.

Woo-hoo!

What's up, brother?

- Hey, whoo! Oh, man.

- How have you been, man? - Good. How's it going?

- How's the family? - Good.

- Hey, man. - Oh, son! Ah, thank you.

- JB. - Good to see you.

How's your mother?

Christopher, right?

This is JB, our mechanic.

We have a mechanic, Stuart.

A mechanic!

Infantry Scout Sniper, Stuart McKenzie,

is the only one of Fred's crew of military veterans

to come back after last season.

We've got good equipment right now, we have a 220.

We're working on some more, but we're going to make sure we get all good equipment.

Gold is here, man.

We've just got to figure out where that pay level starts, pull it out and we're good.

Short on returning crew,

Fred drafted in his stepson, Christopher Parker.

You guys want to go see it?

Yeah, let's go check it out, bro.

So, how have you been, Stuart?

Yeah, Good man. I'm not going to lie.

It was pretty tough coming up here, man.

Fred's leased eight claims on California Creek,

a remote, unproven piece of virgin ground over 40 miles away

from the nearest town.

He stripped an area to mine

that's the size of four football fields,

but he still has another three feet to go before pay dirt.

You know, I have a pretty good feeling about this season.

This is the Wild Wild West when it comes to gold mining.

Been dying to get up here.

So, a lot of people would probably question my coming back to work

with Fred because of how bad last season ended.

It's not Fred's fault that there was no gold in the ground in Oregon.

If we ever wanted to make anything of gold mining, you know,

we had to come to the Yukon.

We're about to make a lot of money with a lot of gold.

Oh, wow!

I'll get you some boots.

You know the controls, confident in that?

Yeah. All right.

Keep your bucket straight.

Do not curl like you're digging.

We're not trying to dig. We're just trying to move dirt to the side.

I'm excited to embarrass myself.

You're going to do great.

Before he allows 21-year-old Christopher to work on the mine,

he first tests him out.

Stay clear, everyone.

I got him a job on a farm

just to get some more excavator work.

So he does have stick time, but I've never really seen him operate myself.

Yeah, the only thing you did on that, Christopher,

is you started to go forward before you lift it up.

Yeah, no, I didn't realize that

the bucket was out all the way.

Yeah, otherwise it was perfect. Just keep it up.

It's because I am perfection personified, as you know.

I'd say one thing that I have ingrained in Christopher

that may have been a bad idea is a little bit of overconfidence.

Christopher is also ex-military

and the son of Fred's wife, Khara.

Fred has helped raise him since he was seven.

How's it feeling there, Christopher?

You're doing a really good job.

Did you expect any less?

I mean, it's me we're talking about here.

Get back to work.

Luckily, I've known Christopher for almost his whole life,

so I know how to train him, I know how to push him

and I know how not to push him.

So, that's going to help me a lot.

But he's a stubborn little punk sometimes.

So, I got him on this trial.

He's killing it.

I could say he's graduated.

I'm about to get the hell out of his hair

and let him get some work done.

Down in the Cut, Stuart has his work cut out for him.

And I mean, look at this,

the mud is just un-[bleep]-believable.

Now, we've got to just get it the out of here.

Water inspectors are here.

They have the ability to shut us down

and make our life a living hell.

Fred is talking with the inspectors.

He is kind of giving them the lowdown.

You know, if these guys are unhappy,

then we're going to be very unhappy.

You can kind of record a little bit,

but cameras down here in a minute.

Those guys I don't think are in a very good mood.

On Fred Lewis' California Creek claim,

water inspectors have turned up

and hit Fred with a list of things he must fix before he can do any mining.

that's just extra work

that's just going to put us more behind.

I think at this point what we have to do is, uh, be compliant...

Yeah.

...and do what they want,

- make them happy. - Yeah.

But it's also going to teach us how to do it right.

We've got to remove all the overburden

and topsoil from around the creek.

We've got to get gravel and build berms,

and we've got to lay gravel on our road.

After that, we've got to stop permafrost that's leaking into the creek.

Okay.

So, we've got a huge laundry list to do,

but it's all stuff we relatively had to do anyways.

To prevent melting permafrost

from washing mud into the creek,

they need to build berms on either side,

move the road nine feet from the water's edge,

then armor both with gravel to secure them.

We're going to have to basically focus

on every single thing he told us to do.

Yeah.

Until then, we're not doing anything else.

We've got a week to do it.

We're going to run 24 hours.

But I still don't know if we're going to get through it then.

Well, you know what?

We could sit here and talk about it all day long I think.

But the key is we have a lot more work to do now.

So, we're really going to have to focus from this point on

and just knock out and do it right.

You said it. Let's get the going.

- Focus. Definitely. - Roger that.

This has got to be our road access,

and obviously, if you look now, it's... it's nowhere near that.

So, the road is probably one of the most important parts

of our mine operation because we have to be able to move freely

and quickly down it.

And right now, it's a freaking nightmare.

It's killing us. It's slowing everything down.

So until all this overburden is out, we're kind of stuck.

Fred gets started on the berm...

We've got to do this right.

Our entire mine site is covered in three feet of liquid mud.

...while Stewart and JB get stuck into building the new road.

We have so much that we need to clean out

that we can be running for 24 hours.

Right now, I'm pulling double duty.

I'm doing the excavator and I'm also doing the rock truck.

We're trying to get this mud out of here, you know.

It's not a simple task.

Oh, my God, he's losing dirt all out the truck, man.

So all of that muck right now is on top of our new road we just built.

Oh, my gosh!

This tedious of removing

muck is getting on my nerves.

You know what, I don't like leaving things unfinished.

This was my problem all day, but we had a shift change.

So, this is now Fred's problem.

Hopefully, it won't be mine in the morning.

Hey, Tyson, Tyson, you got a copy, man?

We need some help down here.

Whoa, take a look at this one.

We got a bit of shoveling, eh, bud?

What do you think?

At the airstrip cut,

Parker's washplant is down with a jammed hopper.

How do you like the look of that?

Climb up there, then I'll give her a little water.

Oh yeah, hang on a minute, you good, Alex?

Did you say go?

No, no, no, no, don't press go.

Okay, go for it.

This conveyor, well, it's built for removing overburden.

We're using it here for feeding the washplant.

Running more pay has increased the weight on the conveyor

and slowed it down, so the dirt is not thrown far enough

into the pre-wash for the water jets to clear it.

The material is falling too far back in the pre-wash.

So, we're going to increase the belt speed here

and that's going to allow the material to land where we need it to.

Speeding up the super conveyor's belt

should launch the pay further into the pre-wash.

This thing, uh, won't pull any RPM. It's at 1,600.

If I try and turn it up to 1,800, it just starts smoking.

You can hear it.

Something's wrong.

The engine just won't perform here.

But we need to keep this thing running.

Let's just try and scoot this thing ahead a little bit.

We might have a little spillage,

but that's kind of where we're at.

Mitch's plan is to move the super conveyor closer to Sluicifer.

Obviously, we don't want material spilling out here,

but you have to have this land in the correct spot of the pre-wash.

You know, we always want to run as much yards as we can,

but there's a real fine line.

You've got to find that sweet spot where these plants run.

So, we were originally at 220 yards an hour before Parker wanted us

to jack everything up here and get this thing ripping.

Now, we're at 250 and we're just really fighting it.

I'm going to slow it down here just a little bit, shoot for about 240,

and we'll see how she runs there.

I'll turn it down a little.

It's cost them three hours and $13,000 in lost gold.

The thing is right where she needs to be.

We should have a good clean up here if she holds together

and we'll just let 'er buck.

The creek has paid so good,

I... I just wish there was more of it.

In the mountains above Keno, Rick Ness is aiming

for 2,000 ounces this year.

But he's almost through the creek cut that has kept him

in gold since last season.

We've got one very good thing going for us right now,

and that's the plant's running.

Um, everything around that is very scary.

In the frozen cut, Brennan spent five days digging down to pay

in the massive 475 dozer.

Definitely, we've had a few struggles along the way

getting this frozen cut opened up here.

If he doesn't hit pay soon,

Rick won't have anywhere to mine.

I'm just getting frustrated here, you know,

I finally get the dozer to start ripping and opening up some ground,

and all of a sudden I'm into some frozen blue clay.

And I'm not too sure, and there's huge pockets of it as well.

So I mean, it's, kind of, weird different layers, you know.

I have no idea what's going on and it's not making any sense to me here.

You know, I don't know. Do I go through that clay in hopes

that there's gravel underneath?

I don't know because I'm new to this ground.

I think I'm just going to give Rick a call and get him down here

to see what his thoughts are because I don't want to sit here

and burn a bunch of fuel and waste a bunch of time if it's just gonna be

Got a copy there, Rick?

Yeah, go for Rick.

Hey, buddy, I don't know what's going on down here.

I'm hitting some huge clay pockets that are frozen,

so I just-- I don't know what to think about it.

You mind coming and checking them out?

Yeah, I'll be right there, Brennan.

All right, perfect. Thanks.

Rick gambled on the pay layer in the creek cut

extending into the frozen cut.

How's it going, buddy?

It's turned into a bit of a mess out here, huh?

Yeah, I know.

We should have already hit gravel.

- There's no gravel there. No.

And I can see that wall, it's just clay and mud.

Yeah, and it's almost like, it's almost like a weird...

It's almost sticky, you know what I mean?

It's like, it's clay.

Well, and that's the problem, it looks like the clay

that's supposed to be under the pay.

Yeah, exactly.

It's not like anything I've run across out here or really anywhere.

But I mean, we've got how many days here in this one area,

and it's just there's no end in sight.

No. I don't want to keep going if it's going to be

a waste my time and your money.

Yeah, it doesn't make any sense

and the fact that I'm not seeing any gravel anyway

- where there should be gravel... Yeah.

I mean, I [bleep]... We can't just keep throwing money at this.

We've got to find some thawed ground, I think, and fast.

Yeah.

I say we just walk away from this for now.

Okay. - You can park that big CAT and let's...

All right. Let's find some pay.

I try and keep my calm,

but it doesn't make any sense.

The frozen cut is to the west of the creek cut.

22,000 years ago, a glacier pulled gold from the mother lode.

As it melted, the gold washed down the valley.

Where the water moved faster, the gold settled on a layer of bedrock.

But at the frozen cut where the water flowed more slowly,

the gold appears to have been distributed in a thick layer of clay.

This is a disaster.

You know, I just spent 20 grand digging a hole in the ground

and all we found is clay.

So what's worse than that, we're almost out of pay dirt

and we're going to have to shut the plant down.

If that happens, 2,000 ounce goal,

not happening. Start this piece

Doing the berms, the road and taking care of the drainage,

as we're trying to remove overburden is proving to be

nearly impossible in the timeline that he set up.

So, if he comes and inspects us at this point, we're pretty screwed.

At California Creek, Fred's four-man crew

have been working all week to complete the changes

required by the water inspectors

to prevent mud getting into the creek.

These 12-hour shifts, man, they're brutal.

Fred is out here pushing me to my limit.

It's every day.

It's tedious, mind-numbing, boring.

And I am exhausted.

Fred has just one day left before the inspectors return

to assess the work and decide whether to shut him down.

We're hitting it hard.

You know, the work's been challenging.

It's one of those things you hope what you're doing is going to be up to par

and good enough for everything, you know.

We got a lot of the road built already

that we worked on last night and this morning.

It's a pretty good feeling that we're actually accomplishing something.

So, this is the end of our road.

We've already punched about a quarter of a mile of this road

and this is the only section we have left to finish, literally, this is it.

What I'm doing is I'm bringing in gravel

from the other spots of the claim and dropping it on the roads

and patting it in, so it stays nice and firm.

All right.

Fred has been collecting gravel higher up the hill.

No. Whoa.

Oh, this is all ice.

So now, I've got to try and turn myself, so I don't flip.

This sucks right now because I'm facing sideways and I'm just sliding on ice.

Whoo!

The 220 excavator weighs 28 tons.

Argh!

You know, I've jumped out of planes at 22,000,

it's the highest I've ever jumped, and I never was nervous.

And that 60 feet in the excavator definitely made me shake.

After working all night,

Fred's crew have finished the road.

But the inspectors are due any time

and they still haven't finished the berms.

What I'm basically doing is driving the entire claim

in the excavator looking for berms to fix and tightening those areas up

to make sure we're within regulation.

I think right now the berms are doing their job.

It did rain a couple of days ago pretty hard

and what we had built up to that point held up.

You know, we've been all hands on deck.

We went to 24-hour shifts just for this water inspection.

And right now, I'm a little uncertain

on whether or not we're going to pass.

You know, there's an actual probability of getting blacklisted

if you, if you really mess something up here in the Yukon,

and I don't want to get blacklisted from anywhere from anything,

let alone the best place in the world to gold mine.

Nacho, he is the greatest dog.

He has definitely got a lot of personality,

very stubborn, minimal patience,

that's why he taught himself how to honk the horn.

Hey, what's your problem?

You hungry?

Nacho, the pug, is Taylor, the mechanic's dog.

Got to be close to lunchtime, eh?

When I first noticed that he was likely knew what he was doing,

I was in a rock truck working like this

and he is laying on the horn while looking back at me like this.

And I opened the door and I could tell he was thirsty.

So as best as I could tell, he was trying to let me know.

But he does get a reaction.

So, I think he knows it's effective.

Right, Bud?

Well, it's been a disaster of a week

wasting all that time and money in the frozen cut.

But the good news is, my girlfriend is about to arrive.

Rick has been apart from his new girlfriend for almost two months.

You know who is coming?

Oh-ho, your favorite person, Leese, she's going to be here any minute.

I met my girlfriend, Leese, like really shortly after I got home

and pretty much spent the whole winter with her.

Yeah, we just clicked and clicked enough for me to say, "Hey,

do you want to come up here, you know, with me this year?"

Which is a huge, huge change for me.

You know, that's a big step for her, too.

So, it's not glamorous, you know, but the fact that she agreed to do it

I think says a lot.

You know, this is, uh, a big new thing, big new thing for me.

Swinging for the fences with this one, I guess.

Who's that? Who's out there?

Is that Leese?

Originally from Wisconsin,

Leese Marie has built a career as a nurse.

I missed you so much.

I missed you, too.

Very...

You're pulling my pants down with your legs.

I'm sorry. I hate you.

- You got bags? - I got bags.

- How was your trip? - It was long.

- It was long? - Yeah.

It's going to be worth it, all right.

Yes.

Oh, my Lord.

Uh, Rick's old lady showed up today, right?

Oh, nice. He's go a girlfriend?

Cool.

Yep. His name is Dave.

Ricky, attaboy.

And here they are.

Oh, is this Dave? The happy couple!

I might have told them that your girlfriend was actually a dude.

Ooh! That's... that's rough.

You guys haven't even met Leese yet.

- Leese, this is Nate. Hello, how's it going?

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet ya.

That bum over there is Brennan.

Big CAT, actually a.k.a.

Oh, my Lord!

You know, you know Kruse.

Yeah, I'm the, I'm the smoke eater here.

Come on, sit next to me.

Happy to have Leese here, um, to support me,

and hopefully, you'll see a happier me out there.

Richard!

Well, that's good.

- Love you, babe. - I love you, too.

I love you, Richard.

you guys. Aww!

It was an interesting week, I guess.

You know what's sweet, is I got stuck in the 475.

What a joke!

I don't think there's anything left to do but pour some gold, right?

You're going to count the numbers there?

Yes... where I'm sitting here.

I'm going to count the numbers.

So far, Rick has averaged over 80 ounces a week.

Ready? - Ready.

All right, here we go.

10, 20, 30, 40, 50,

80, 90...

96.18.

Holy That's sweet, man.

We've been going up every week.

Worth over $173,000,

it's Rick's biggest gold weigh so far this season,

putting him at 346 ounces.

Not a bad week.

Yeah. Yeah?

That even covers the cost of that 475 running

and not getting any gold out of that frozen cut.

Ooh!

Richard!

Yeah, on that note, let's get to work.

- Come on. Sounds good.

But to reach his goal of 2,000 ounces,

he desperately needs new ground.

Well, we banked some gold this week,

but we took a big hit in the frozen cut, it's a bust.

And the creek cut, pay is almost gone there.

So, I need to find some new ground to mine and fast.

- What's up, man? Hey, hey!

What are you up to, brother?

How are you guys doing? Good.

After a week of work, Fred's time is up.

The water inspector is due to return today.

If their road and the berms don't measure up,

the site could be permanently closed.

There's nothing he told us to do we haven't done.

The question is, did we do it good enough?

- Yeah. - I mean, we're new at this.

Yeah. All greenhorns.

Yeah, all greenhorns.

I think we've moved more dirt just the four of us

- than we've moved all season last season. - That's... Yeah.

We worked our butt off doing it.

Yeah, I'm really proud of you guys.

But at the same time, this water guy could come in and say,

"It's not amazing," and shut us down.

That's what's really scaring me right now.

Yeah. If he shuts us down--

We're done.

It sucks to put in all the work just to have us go home

because of just a couple of mistakes.

He's here.

All right.

I'm going to go deal with this guy, I guess it's now.

- Good luck. - You guys can't film him.

I'm sorry.

How are you doing?

We're winning.

Want to go see?

I walk with you just in case you've got questions.

I know, man, I would be really, really pissed

if this is what shut us down.

I'm nervous as hell.

You know, we've worked our asses off on this.

I don't think there's really too much more we could have done.

I really don't.

I mean, I really hate that our entire season hangs in the balance.

Chris, can you see them at all?

They're just standing there chatting and pointing at

After an hour of walking the site, Fred is given a decision.

Oh, my gosh!

That sounds like disappointment.

You took forever...

That was a military white glove inspection.

- Really? Really?

You know, it was probably one of the most stressful things

I've gone through. It really felt like basic training,

and the drill sergeant checking my sock drawer.

Um, there were some issues, but...

key is we passed.

- We passed. - Good deal.

Was he, was he happy with--

Uh, he was extremely happy with our berms and our roads.

He thought they were great.

So essentially, we live to fight another day.

Let's get to it and let's get some gold.

That's a relief, man. That is a relief relief.

Hey, all you guys did it, all you guys did it, all three of you.

That couldn't have gone any better.

We've got to get back to work.

We're through this hurdle, but you never know when he he could come back,

so we've got to keep it going.

Hey, Doumitt, want some chips?

Oh, no, thanks.

At the start of the week, Parker sped up the washplant.

...push some dirt around.

How's it going, man? Hey, young man.

Not bad.

Time to find out if his decision paid off.

Hey, Mitchell. What's happening?

Howdy, hi.

I bet you're ready for that cigar there after your day in the loader.

It's fun getting back into the thing,

but I definitely know I was...

I've been in a machine.

Oh, yeah.

It was a bittersweet.

I say we throw some gold on the scales.

You wanna count out, Mitch?

Yeah, let's see what we got this week.

Here we go.

Fifty...

To hit Parker's 1,500 ounce goal...

150.

...Sluicifer needs 280 ounces a week.

280, 300, still got some in there,

330, 350, 360...

376.20.

Worth $677,000.

- Wow. Our best week.

Yeah. Our best week so far.

Yes.

I stand corrected, the best week so far.

Yeah. Yeah.

Smoking week.

Well, that just goes to show, more rocks means more gold.

For this season, we broke a 1,000, 1,032.65 ounces.

- Very nice, very nice. - Yeah.

You look like an old bookie with that thing.

I'm... I'm still a pencil and paper kind of guy.

I'm going to dinner.

- Good job, guys. - Good job, Chris.

- Thanks, buddy. - Thank you, sir.

I know it's not been fun, but we're getting there.

Things will settle down.

- Let's go get some dinner. Yeah.

All right, I'll bag this stuff up.

Thanks, you guys. You did a great job.