Original subtitles

They're definitely glad that I'm up here.

That I got away from Dawson.

I mean, ground is getting harder and harder to find

by the minute.

And, uh, I think I made my move

at just the right time.

[narrator] Now, in his fourth year

running his own claim,

Rick Ness is making big moves.

He's bet his entire season on a 190-foot-deep cut

that could hold five million dollars in gold.

But so far, it hasn't delivered.

[Rick] I am still worried

about hitting our 2,000 ounce goal.

Because not only do I need to send all my guys home

with, you know, plenty of gold in their pockets,

I need it, too.

So, I can't survive off of feeling proud

of a giant hole we dug.

[narrator] After digging a million yards of overburden,

Rick is 800 ounces short of his goal.

As winter approaches, he still hasn't reached

the high-grade pay layer he's banking on.

[Rick] The gold's good,

um, but I think the stuff on the bottom is better.

But quite honestly, we're not there yet.

And, uh, we need to be sluicing

the best of the best out of here

to be able to hit our goal right at the end.

But if it doesn't pay off,

that's the*bleep* end of me.

[voice over walkie-talkie] Hey, Rick. You got a copy?

Yeah, Go for Rick.

- [voice over walkie-talkie] Troy's here. - Are you serious?

[narrator] Troy Taylor is the owner

of the Duncan Creek claims Rick is leasing.

So, were you in the neighborhood?

Or is there something important?

What's going on?

Doug and I have been getting some inquiries

into our property.

Hate to put the pressure on you,

but we're ready to sell.

We're hoping that you're...

confident enough to buy us out.

Um...

I'm not sure if I'm quite ready for that.

Um, yeah, let me, uh...

Let me run that through my head for a bit here.

We have a number in mind.

Not sure if you're ready for that or not.

[narrator] Rick won't reveal the total asking price

of the mine on camera.

Troy is offering him to pay it off over two years.

But he'll need a deposit.

What would you be looking for for a down payment?

We're thinking 150 ounces.

[Rick] That's a lot.

- I know it sounds like a lot, but, uh... - Yeah.

Er... It's what we need.

Yeah, that's a quarter of a million dollars.

- Grounds getting harder to find. - Yeah.

- And I think you'd be, uh, you'd be set for a long time. - Yeah.

- Lot of years of mining left here. - [Rick] Yeah.

Uh...

I mean, I'm going to have to have

just a little bit of time to think about it.

But I mean,

I appreciate you giving me the first shot at it.

I'll think hard and I'll have an answer for you very soon.

- Right on, Rick. - [Rick] Good?

- [Troy] Sounds good. - [Rick] All right.

- [Rick] Thanks again, buddy. - [Troy] Talk to you soon.

[Rick] Yep, I'll be in touch.

Well, that's, uh...

That was a bit unexpected.

Um, it's an amazing opportunity.

You know, I could own my own ground.

That sounds exciting, but also terrifying, so...

I got a lot to think about.

- [Rick] Oh, hey, Dad. - [Big Rick] What's up, son?

[Rick] The landowner, Troy Taylor,

he stopped by today, said he needed to talk.

And, um, they're looking to sell this place.

Wow, um...

It's, like, if I don't buy it, he's got

plenty of other people that want to buy it.

And that would mean that I wouldn't have

anywhere to mine.

[suspenseful music playing]

- That's a tough one. - [Rick] Yeah.

It's almost a do or die situation.

Because, I mean, it could totally ruin you financially.

But, I mean, if you don't do it,

you got nothing.

[somber music playing]

Yeah.

So...

I think it's time for you to make a really big decision.

Yeah, well. [exhales sharply]

I think I know the answer.

- All right. Thanks, Dad. - Bye.

[narrator] For Rick,

the offer is coming at a bad time.

He's already spent over half a million

for new equipment this year.

And at this point, he's barely breaking even.

To cover his expenses, pay out his crew,

and buy the ground, he needs a lot more gold.

I want to keep this ground to myself.

And that means they want

a quarter million dollar down payment right now.

You know, 150 ounces of gold, but, you know,

I don't know what choice I have.

[narrator] Rick's money-maker is Monster Red,

but it's already maxed out,

sluicing 300 yards an hour.

We have to figure out a way to up our production fast.

So, I think we're gonna have to get creative.

I've got a crazy idea, but I'm really gonna need

one of my guys to step it up to make it work.

[narrator] Former Yukon ironworker Kyle Lawson

is working his second season on Rick's crew.

I'm an ironworker back in White Horse, uh, so.

I have no experience here, but it's been a few months.

So far and it's going good.

- [Rick] Morning, Kyle. - [Kyle] What's going on?

- The landowner, Troy Taylor. - Yeah.

[Rick] He's trying to sell this place

and he wants 150 ounces as a down payment.

And, uh, I had a bit of an idea

to kind of up our production.

Oh, yeah? What do you got in store?

My thought is that we can try to run

both wash plants for a while.

Uh, I know you know Rocky.

You were on that, you know, this spring.

And you're running that and I kind of need

you to run it by yourself.

[suspenseful music playing]

You think you're up for something like that?

No.

I know it's gonna be a pain in the ass

and I hate to ask you to do it.

But, you know, that's what I need you to do

if you're up for it.

- I'm up for it. - [Rick] All right.

- All right, take that loader down there and get her going. - [Kyle] Right on.

[narrator] Rick shut down Rocky

when he fired up Monster Red four weeks ago.

I'm down here just going to fire up Rocky.

[narrator] But this old wash plant is

still capable of sluicing a hundred yards an hour.

Chronically shorthanded, Rick is relying on Kyle

to bring in the extra 150 ounces he needs

all on his own.

I'm a little nervous

being the first time running the plant by myself.

It's, uh, quite a big job,

but he's showing a lot of trust in me.

I hope I don't*bleep* this up.

Oh, *bleep*. Yep, failing.

It's not a good thing to have the tailings back up.

If it caused a blockage here,

I'd have to shut the place down.

And that's downtime that we don't want.

It, uh, it gets a little tiring

jumping back and forth from the loader to the hull.

But it, uh, feels like an accomplishment for me.

Hopefully, there's gonna be some gold in the box.

[Tony Beets on walkie-talkie]

Yes.

Okay!

[narrator] A hundred miles west at Paradise Hill,

King of the Klondike Tony Beets is

over a thousand ounces short of his 4500 ounce season goal.

With no water license for the Indian River claims,

and a ground war raging in the Klondike,

Tony's looking to branch out.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To save his kingdom,

Tony's looking beyond the Klondike

and following the road to Rick Ness' landlord.

[Tony speaking]

[laughs in disbelief] Holy *bleep*.

[narrator] Three years ago...

[Rick] So, now that you've got my interest,

[narrator] Rick was lured here by the promise of big gold.

Finding that in a sluice box, it's like,

that'll drive a guy nuts.

[both laughing]

[narrator] Now, Tony wants in on the action.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] A hundred and fifty thousand years ago,

at the top of Mount Hinton, a glacier was formed.

When it reached the quartz vein

containing the mother lode, it plucked the nuggets.

They travelled down the mountain

and were deposited in sporadic pockets.

Troy is offering Tony 900 acres

along the slope of Mount Hinton.

Just five miles northeast of Rick's claims.

[Troy] Tony, good to see you.

I got about, uh, 80, 89 claims, I think it is.

[Troy] Yeah, this is the only drill hole here.

It's, uh...

It shows some gold at about 80 feet,

so, I'm hoping the benches will be a bit shallower.

Twenty feet or so.

[Tony speaking]

I like right in there where it's fairly level.

- It'll probably be easiest. - [Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony's plan. Prospect along a shallow bench.

Eighty acres of virgin ground

that should be just 20 feet deep.

And dig a series of test holes a hundred yards apart.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony Beets is on the hunt for new ground.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] After two hours of digging...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] Tony finishes his final test hole.

[Tony speaking]

[Troy] Yeah, that's what I like to see. Those guys.

- It's always better gold when we get into the bigger rocks. - [Tony speaking]

[Troy] Hopefully, there's some gold in there.

[Troy] Sounds good to me.

- [Tony speaking] - Yeah.

It's my homemade Long Tom.

Miniature sluice box.

- [Tony speaking] - [Troy chuckles]

[narrator] Long Tom's are portable and simple sluices...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...consisting of narrow, sloping troughs...

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] ...with a strainer at the end

feeding into riffles.

- [Tony speaking] - [Troy] Yeah.

- [Tony speaking] - [Troy] There we go.

- [Tony speaking] - [Troy]

[engine revving]

- [Tony speaking] - Yeah.

[Tony speaking]

[Troy] Take her out? Okay.

[narrator] After sluicing all the buckets,

everything now hangs on panning the concentrate.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] To invest in the property,

Tony needs to see big gold.

[Tony speaking]

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Right on.

[Tony speaking]

[Tony laughs]

That's not bad.

[Tony speaking]

[Troy chuckles]

[narrator] After seeing the promise of Troy's ground,

The King of the Klondike may have found

the plan B he's been looking for.

[Troy] I hope you give her some thought.

[Tony speaking]

[Troy] Sounds good to me.

[Tony speaking]

You know, we still got in the back of our minds that 100-ounce goal.

That's keeping us fueled.

That's keeping us moving forward.

We gotta keep that going for the final push.

[narrator] Special Forces medic Fred Lewis

is on a mission to send his team home

with gold in their pockets for the first time,

and his 100-ounce season target is firmly in his sights.

[Fred] We made this deal with the Claytons.

We need them to keep their wash plant running.

We need to keep pulling pay

and keep pulling in gold.

[narrator] Two weeks ago...

[Fred] Maybe there's a way we can work together.

- [Brandon] Like a partnership. - Yeah.

[narrator] ...Fred joined forces with neighbor Brandon Clayton.

Run your plant and we'll pull from your area

- and, um, we can just split the gold 50/50. - I think we got a deal.

[narrator] Despite some teething problems...

[man 1] Oh, *bleep*!

[man 2] This mountainside never ceases to, uh, amaze me when it comes to breakdowns.

[narrator] ...both crews doubled their production.

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

[narrator] Now...

...just 13 ounces short of their goal,

former Special Forces sergeant Rick Douglas

is back in the trenches digging pay.

Brandon's plant been running so much more pay.

We could not have processed the amount of pay that we've already processed,

so with the, uh... The collaboration with Brandon,

we are accomplishing the mission.

[narrator] Recon sniper Stuart McKenzie

then hauls the paydirt half a mile to Brandon's mine site.

[Stuart] We haven't really been working with Brandon that very long,

but Brandon's crew, they're very talented, *bleep* awesome people.

You know, he's pretty experienced.

Man, I'll tell you what, he, uh...

Every single day, that kid amazes me.

It's crunch time. You know, we're trying to get everything,

as much as we can, in these last months,

but I couldn't be happier with the way it's working,

so we're ready to wash.

Okay, well, let's fire her up.

[narrator] Clayton crew operator Warren Binnie feeds Misfits paydirt

through Brandon's custom-built trommel, the Dirt Devil.

[Warren] Yeah, uh, the Misfits are, uh,

keeping us stockpiled pretty good here.

Um, everybody works really well together,

and, uh, I'm feeling really good about the collaboration.

*bleep*

Sheldon, hit the bypass!

Look at all the *bleep* we got in here!

- Dude, there's something wrong here. - [Sheldon] Yeah.

[Warren] Why the *bleep* did it...

Oh, *bleep*!

There's a hole in the belt.

[narrator] A flat piece of bedrock has slipped through the grizzly bars

and ripped a hole in the conveyor belt,

allowing smaller rocks to fall through and jam the tail pulley...

...causing the hopper feeder to clog.

If we would've let it go and just kept running it,

it would've, uh, ripped this thing right in half,

but, uh, it's a big gouge, so we cut a piece out,

and we're gonna put in the new square back in there.

Um, it's gonna take at least...

Least two or three hours to do.

[narrator] Every hour the Dirt Devil is down

costs the Lewis alliance $2,000 in lost gold.

- [Warren] Can you get a drill in? - [Sheldon] Yeah.

[narrator] It's up to Warren and team member Sheldon Monteith

to get the hopper back up and running.

[Stuart] Brandon's plant's shut down.

I'm actually gonna go figure out what's going on.

Hey, Sheldon!

- [Sheldon] Hey! - [Stuart] What the *bleep* going on, dude?

[Sheldon] Not much.

- [Stuart] Is it down? - [Sheldon] Well, we're not running.

- [Stuart] Well, what's wrong? - [Warren] We're fixing the belt, buddy.

*bleep*

So, how long do you think this is gonna keep us down?

[Warren] We're got probably, I don't know, at least another hour yet.

[Stuart sighs] I don't know, man.

[Fred] Way too long, dude.

We need to get this fixed as soon as possible.

[Sheldon] I don't know. Like, *bleep*, what do you want us to do?

- We can't run without it. - I know. I get it.

[Sheldon] Keep bringing the pay, and then once we get rolling,

- we'll jam her through, I guess, right? - True.

[narrator] Last week, the Misfits shut down their own wash plant...

[Stuart] Oh, *bleep* with this, man!

[narrator] ...so they are totally reliant on the Claytons' trommel

to keep sluicing.

[Fred] We took a big risk on... On combining our operations together,

and when things like this happen to them,

it now happens to us.

We kinda put all our eggs into one basket, so...

You know, this one basket's looking kinda *bleep* weak at the moment.

- [Sheldon] Warren? - [Warren] What's up?

[Sheldon] You ready for another clip?

[Warren] Uh, yeah. Yep.

[Sheldon] Whoa!

- [Sheldon] Warren? - [Warren] What's up?

[Sheldon] You ready for another clip?

[Warren] Uh, yeah.

[narrator] At California Creek,

the Lewis crew is shut down with a torn belt in their hopper feeder.

- [Warren] Holy! - You all right?

[Sheldon] Warren?

[Warren] Oh, yeah, I'm all fine. It's just a bunch of dirt.

*bleep*. Yeah.

Oh, *bleep*!

You've gotta be kidding me.

[laughs]

Everything is covered, dude.

All our tools and everything, so *bleep*! [laughs]

Holy *bleep*! [laughs]

We had a little bit of buildup on the wall,

and, uh, you know, we probably should have cleaned that out,

but, um, we thought it would hold,

but, uh, she gave out on us,

so, yeah, we got a bunch of *bleep* to shovel now.

[narrator] The decision not to fully dig out the hopper

has now cost the Lewis team more lost sluice time.

This thing is taking way too long, dude.

I... I got you, man.

I don't know, dude. I don't know.

And my biggest concern right now is it was supposed to be a quick fix,

and it doesn't seem like it's a quick fix to me, dude.

[Warren] Hey, uh, Sheldon, we're almost done.

Let's, uh, get our tools out...

...and, uh, power the plant back up.

- [Sheldon] Ready? - [Warren] Yep.

[narrator] The four-hour delay has cost the two crews over $8,000 in lost gold.

[Warren] We're out, uh, quite a bit of time here,

so, you know, uh, there's a lot of pressure on us right now

to kick some ass. We gotta...

We gotta pile drive this, uh, this material through the plant,

and, uh, try to, uh, catch up on our lost time.

[Rick] Now we're getting somewhere!

We got it. You know...

...we finally got down to that good pay we're chasing,

and, uh, now we've got a lot of it to run through the plant,

and, uh, I'm pumped.

[narrator] At Rally Valley,

Rick Ness is mining the deepest cut of his career,

and he's finally down to the highest grade pay.

I could tell we finally hit that good, good pay

when I looked over and see him flexing and grinding his teeth,

pulling on them sticks like they owe him money.

Finally, some good news.

This is the *bleep* we've been digging, since we started Rally Valley, to get to,

and, uh, we're finally here,

and it's going to the plant.

I can't wait to see what the runs look like

when we do the next mat pull.

[narrator] To raise the 150-ounce deposit

he needs to buy his claim from Troy,

Rick has fired up his second plant, Rocky.

[Kyle] First time ever having two plants going.

Pretty big accomplishment, I think, for Rick.

[narrator] Loader operator Kyle Lawson runs the plant.

Get Rick some more gold!

[narrator] Trucking the pay is new hire Dan Motser.

Holy, *bleep*! I can't see anything back there with the sun in my eyes.

[Kyle] What the *bleep* is this idiot doing?

Way too close to that edge.

Dan, stop!

[Dan shouts]

Oh, for *bleep* sakes!

Kyle, are you gonna copy? I'm gonna need some *bleep* help over here.

Okay.

*bleep* Exactly what I didn't need to happen.

[narrator] Kyle has no choice but to shut down.

*bleep*

Dan?

I'll get adjusted so I'm holding... I'm holding your box.

[Dan] I'm on a bank right there, too.

- [Kyle] Yeah. Yeah. - [Dan] Slowly.

[Kyle] Nice and easy, Dan.

Nice and easy.

[Dan] It's all okay?

[Kyle over radio] Yeah, just hold on there, Dan.

Your tailgate's, uh, stuck up. I'm just gonna push in.

[Kyle] Liftoff!

Right on, buddy. Thanks.

I'll try not to do it again.

Yeah, that's right.

[Dan] Kyle came in and saved the day,

and now I can go haul pay again.

Be right back, Kyle!

[Kyle] Now that all that's good,

I can get back up in that excavator

and keep running some pay through her

so we can find some gold.

[Rick] I heard the commotion on the radio. I realized that,

you know, the rock truck had been rolled on the pay pile,

and that's normally my cue to, you know,

haul ass down there to... And rectify the situation,

but I made the decision to just kinda

hold back and, uh, you know,

see if Kyle could take the initiative and handle it himself,

and, uh,

he sure as hell did.

[Sheldon] We're eating away at that pay pile pretty good,

and, uh, I'm just waiting for Warren to dump a load into the feeder there,

and I'm gonna have a quick look at the belt here,

see how our repair's doing.

[narrator] The Lewis alliance continues their do-or-die mission

to pull 100 ounces out of the ground before winter.

[Sheldon] Here's our repair, but...

...holy *bleep*!

[Sheldon] Here's our repair, but...

...holy *bleep*!

I know this isn't good.

[narrator] The Claytons' belt repair has failed

after just one day of running.

[Warren] Hey, bud.

Yeah, it looks like we're pretty *bleep* right now.

We repaired the belt but, uh, she ripped on us again.

- [Brandon] Already? - [Warren] Yeah.

[Brandon] I'll have a look, I guess.

[Warren] Yeah, dude. Look at this.

See that?

The shale rock ripped the *bleep* out of that belt.

[Brandon] Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it's *bleep*.

Like, you can see it's all *bleep* in there.

[Warren] Yeah, I'm not happy about it.

*bleep*

[Warren] Shutting it down.

[Warren] Yeah, but, uh...

...we're gonna have to deal with what we got.

Lease up on theirs.

[Brandon speaking]

[Sheldon] Sounds good.

[Brandon speaking]

Hey, Fred, you got a minute?

[Fred] Yeah, what's up?

So, that... That patch we fixed in the belt ripped.

- *bleep* - [Brandon] Yeah.

The bedrock that we're...

We're into right now, it's sharp and jagged,

and the gap in that grizzly bar is too big...

- Okay. - ...and, uh, I think it's just taken a toll on that belt,

so what I want to do,

if you're okay with it,

- I think I gotta shut the plant down for a day. - Ooh.

I know. I know, but I wanted to find some old spray bars off another trommel...

- Okay. - ...cut it apart,

- we'll put 'em in on top of that feeder... - Ah.

...and weld 'em, and that big, chunky bedrock won't go through.

[narrator] The Claytons' custom-built wash plant

is designed to sluice fine gravels,

but the blocky Lewis paydirt

is destroying their conveyor belt.

Brandon's plan,

remove the angled grizzly bars.

Then, weld lengths of 4-inch pipe over the hopper feeder

to block the jagged rocks

while allowing gold-bearing dirt to fall through.

Are you sure this is the best bet?

Yeah, man. I just can't see any other solution...

- Okay. - ...and I think this is the only way we can fix it.

All right.

[narrator] While the Misfits continue to stockpile pay...

...the Clayton team field strips the hopper feeder.

That feeder splits in two pieces.

We're taking the top off.

[Stuart] What are they doing?

They're removing the entire grizzly.

- [Sheldon] Warren? Hey! - Yep?

[narrator] Their first step...

- [Sheldon] Pick it up. - [Warren] Okay.

[narrator] ...remove the angled grizzly bars

that are currently clogged with boulders.

- [Sheldon] Go up, Warren. - Okay.

[Sheldon] Yeah.

Come down a bit!

Good!

[exhales] There she is!

- [man] Yeah. - [Sheldon] On the ground.

Out with this piece of *bleep*...

...and, uh, in with the new.

[narrator] Already down five hours,

the two crews combine forces to fabricate the new grizzly bars

and repair the torn feeder belt as quickly as possible.

[Warren] Uh, right now, I got my crew workin' on the belt.

It's lined up perfect right now.

These guys here, Klint and JB, they're cuttin' some old spray bars off of another trommel.

And we're gonna use that as our new grizzly bars,

so they're just cuttin' 'em apart and then I'm gonna weld 'em in place there.

It's all hands on deck, everybody's doin' somethin'.

Yep, we're in.

I'm starting to, you know, wonder if this is the right decision to make.

- Yeah, right there, Sheldon. - Yeah.

- Our pay had more jagged bedrock in it. - Yeah.

So that's why they're making this extra grizzly.

- So it's a good call, it makes sense but-- - I don't know, well--

[chuckles] It's only a good call when it's successful.

It is their plant's now but, you know, since the merger it become our plant too.

You know, so that kinda pisses me off.

The time is precious right now and us being down means that we're not getting gold.

Gold is the ultimate goal.

You know what I mean, spending time away from our families, which does suck.

Now watching my daughter grow up through FaceTime is unbelievable.

And, you know, I missed the first day of school,

I missed their getting their ears pierced, I missed the precious moments,

and I just want to get this over with

so I can get back to my family.

[narrator] After ten hours of downtime

Brandon's new grizzly bar modification is complete.

[Fred] You know, this took way longer than we wanted it to,

but you know what, we've got this wash plant and hopper set up now,

so hopefully we don't have to shut it down again.

[narrator] Before firing up,

Brandon clears the discarded boulders piled around the hopper feeder.

[Brandon] Sheldon! Look out! Whoa!

Holy *bleep*!

- [Brandon] Are you okay? - [Sheldon] Yeah.

Aw! *bleep*!

This is absolutely the worst thing that could happen.

It pretty much cripples our operation

and we can't handle havin' it down for more than a day

and I know this problem's gonna take a long time to fix so, freakin' pissed!

[Tony speaking]

And this is the top one, I believe.

[narrator] While Tony hunted for new ground for next season,

his family carried on sluicing at Paradise Hill.

[Tony] I can see *bleep* *bleep* loads a gold already.

Being down on my own is one thing,

but being down and spending Fred's money

is also another thing and I feel *bleep* awfully guilty for it, you know?

I told him we'd be down a day and now we're gonna be down a day and a half.

[narrator] Next morning...

Yeah, come forward a little more.

[narrator] Twenty-two year-old Brandon races to rebuild the wash plant pad.

Hopefully, we're runnin' by four, all fingers crossed.

But fixin' this *bleep* up is probably gonna take us most of the day.

- Fred? - Man, we are gettin' hammered, bud.

- I know. - It's just frustrating, right?

- Yeah. - And it's frustrating on my end too,

- so it's pretty rough but we can't make mistakes. - Yep, I know.

But no reason to cry over spilt milk, definitely we're in this together.

- I agree. Okay. - I feel the stress but we got it!

The support units for the hopper

are pretty much the most important part to keepin' this thing upright.

So at this point we're gonna have to rebuild the platform.

Block one is in and in place, all level.

Just gonna flip this other block over we'll chain 'er up

and start liftin' the second block in place.

- Hey! - Yeah.

Pick it up.

Hey, Warren, I'm gonna smack 'ya if you don't move.

There's no base left, so right now we're just gonna rebuild it

and try and get a strong base again.

Getting level, War?

[Warren] Down!

Very good, we just got our blocks levelled out here

and we're gonna pick our feeder up and try to get her spotted in here,

so that she can sit nice and level and roll some dirt again.

Okay, we're goin' up!

[narrator] The 250 Excavator has a maximum lifting capacity of 22,000 pounds.

With the added steel, the Clayton's hopper feeder now weighs 24,000 pounds.

You know, it's taken everything this 250's got.

*bleep*

I hope these chains are gonna hold.

If that thing falls now, we're pretty *bleep*.

You know, I'm dangling a pretty heavy suspended load mid-air

and I got three bodies workin' around me, it's a little scary.

- [Warren] Down. - [Brandon] Okay.

- Can I keep comin' down? - Yep.

Yep.

Yeah, you can keep coming down.

[Brandon] How are we on those cinder blocks though, pretty good?

[Warren] You're lookin' really good.

- [Brandon] [exhales] Phew! - [Warren] There she is.

- Yeah. - [Brandon] On the ground?

I think she's good.

Yeah!

[narrator] Now all that's left is levelling the hopper.

Hey!

[Warren] Thank *bleep* this is done.

'Cause now we can start runnin' again.

It's only three o'clock.

Let's fire 'er up!

We got all new grizzly bars in.

We're gonna hopefully run smooth for the rest of the season, man.

[narrator] It's time to put their new four to five grizzly bars to the test.

- There it goes! - There we go.

See if all this hard work paid off.

[Warren] All right, here we go! Right on!

- Come on, *bleep*! - Yeah!

[narrator] Fred's coalition of forces is back on the gold.

[Fred] We're up and running again

but, you know, we did not sluice enough to even pull mats,

we don't have a go away but I'm seeing my team

and Brandon's team work in cohesion,

now it's time to get some more gold.

Every time Tony goes away, things seem to run a little smoother.

[chuckles] And maybe they should go away more often.

[narrator] At Paradise Hill, the family gathers for their favorite past time.

Weighing out their gold.

- [Minnie] You gonna bring us some goodies? - A couple.

So how was Kena?

Mike, how did the plant do?

Ah, it did well, didn't have any breakdowns this week.

Oh, that's okay, so that's a full week in there.

[Mike] Who's countin'?

[Monica] I'll do it.

Ready?

Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty...

[narrator] To hit his 4500 ounce season goal,

[Monica] 110, 120...

[narrator] Tony needs over 400 ounces a week.

200, 210, 220,

230, 240, 250, 260,

270, 280, 290, 300...

...330, 350,

360.

364.82.

[narrator] Worth over $650,000,

it tops their best gold weigh this season by almost 60 ounces.

Hey, it's one of the biggest ones we've had this year.

[Tony speaking]

[Monica] Thought it was a crown of gold.

[Tony speaking]

[narrator] If the wall cut continues to deliver...

[all laughing]

[Minnie] We are at 3,628,

and we have a couple of more weeks to go.

[narrator] ...Tony's 4,500-ounce goal

is still within striking distance.

So, it is doable if we keep up these kind of gold weighs.

[Tony speaking]

[Mike] Oh, yeah.

[Minnie] We should be excited about that.

Oh, hey, guys.

- [Big Rick] Hello. - Check this out.

[Big Rick] Ooh!

[narrator] Rick Ness has been given an ultimatum,

put up a $250,000 deposit and buy his claim,

or risk losing it to someone with deeper pockets.

[Rick] It's an amazing opportunity. It's kinda scary, too, though.

Like, if I don't buy it,

we'll lose it.

[narrator] He's finally on good gold,

but is it good enough?

[Rick] Yeah, Kyle, this... Actually this jar right here, that's, uh...

That's all you, buddy.

Maybe, uh, let's see if we got 150 ounces for that down payment.

What do you say, Kyle? Want to count these numbers out?

[Kyle] Oh, sure.

And...

...20, 30, 40,

50...

...60...

...70, 80...

...95.4.

[narrator] Worth $170,000.

- [Rick] Holy *bleep* cow. - [Big Rick] Nice!

- [Brannan] Yeah, buddy! Good job, man! - [Rick] It's a beauty.

That's awesome.

[cheers]

[narrator] Next, the gold from Monster Red.

Yeah, I already weighed the first 100 ounces out that Heather cleaned,

so that's in here, and this feels pretty heavy, too, so...

Oh, yeah.

We got

10, 20, 30, 40,

50, 60...

...70, 80...

...100.

Wow.

[Rick] 119.8!

So, yeah, that's 219.8 ounces out of Monster Red.

- *bleep* - [Rick] 95 ounces out of Rocky.

Yeah, that's 315 ounces on the week.

[narrator] Worth over $500,000.

- [Brannan laughs] - [Big Rick] Now, that's gotta be a record.

[Brannan] *bleep*, yeah!

[Rick] That's our biggest gold weigh ever.

- [Brannan] *bleep* yeah, boys! - [Big Rick] Wow, that's awesome!

- Amazing. - [Kyle] That's awesome.

[all laughing]

[narrator] With Rally Valley delivering Rick his biggest gold weigh ever...

...he heads off to meet with landowner Troy Taylor.

- [Rick] How are you? - [Troy] Hey, Rick. Good to see you.

Uh, this is nice-looking gold there, Rick.

I guess you can probably see what my decision was.

I'm ready to buy, I guess.

Yeah, that's great. That's good news for us.

Yeah, I know. That's... [stammers]

That's good news for me, too.

So, just to be clear,

- this is the down payment... - [Rick] Yeah.

...and it's nonrefundable...

...and we'll keep doing the royalty thing next season...

- Yep. - [Troy] ...and hopefully, by the end,

- you'll have it paid off. - [Rick] Yeah.

I'm confident I can do it.

[laughs]

All right. Thanks again, Troy.

Appreciate everything.

[Troy] See you, Rick.

Good luck out there.

[Rick] Thank you.

[exhales] Big commitment.

I mean, it's scary,

um, 'cause it is a big commitment,

but it's also exciting because, you know,

I'm gonna own my own ground.

Um, the only way that's gonna happen, though,

is if I finish this season strong,

so I gotta get at it.