"Gold Rush" Melt Down

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 2 00:00:19,008 --> 00:00:21,180 Got a lot going on right now, 3 00:00:21,215 --> 00:00:25,111 and hopefully we're not biting off too much. 4 00:00:27,043 --> 00:00:29,525 <i> Twenty-seven-year-old Parker Schnabel</i> 5 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:33,180 <i>is planning something he's never done before,</i> 6 00:00:33,215 --> 00:00:37,146 <i>run two mining operations in different countries,</i> 7 00:00:37,180 --> 00:00:41,560 <i>one in the Yukon and a new one in Alaska.</i> 8 00:00:41,594 --> 00:00:42,767 <i>It's really dangerous</i> 9 00:00:42,801 --> 00:00:46,422 <i>having that big of a battle on two different fronts.</i> 10 00:00:46,456 --> 00:00:50,732 Getting people, getting parts is gonna be a real challenge. 11 00:00:50,767 --> 00:00:54,698 <i>But before Parker can move resources to Alaska,</i> 12 00:00:54,732 --> 00:01:01,008 <i>he wants his Yukon crew to strip a mammoth 90 acres of ground at the Airstrip.</i> 13 00:01:02,180 --> 00:01:03,870 <i>We have so much ground to get through</i> 14 00:01:03,905 --> 00:01:06,663 <i>that just stripping is the main issue</i> 15 00:01:07,801 --> 00:01:09,456 with just how spread out we're gonna be. 16 00:01:09,491 --> 00:01:11,043 Everybody's gonna have to step up. 17 00:01:16,249 --> 00:01:18,560 <i>To amp up the pressure even more,</i> 18 00:01:18,594 --> 00:01:22,974 <i>Parker's water license at the Airstrip runs out at the end of this season.</i> 19 00:01:24,318 --> 00:01:26,594 <i>He needs to extract all the gold,</i> 20 00:01:26,629 --> 00:01:29,180 <i>or it will stay in the ground forever.</i> 21 00:01:31,594 --> 00:01:34,767 So we're getting really close to being done with the Keyhole Cut. 22 00:01:34,801 --> 00:01:38,043 Crew's working pretty hard to make sure that the next one is ready. 23 00:01:38,077 --> 00:01:40,180 Guys, we're almost there. 24 00:01:40,215 --> 00:01:44,422 <i> Five weeks into the season, wash plant boss Tyson Lee</i> 25 00:01:44,456 --> 00:01:50,215 <i>has pulled out 975 ounces of gold from the 14-acre Keyhole Cut.</i> 26 00:01:52,870 --> 00:01:55,905 We're getting to the bitter end of the first cut of the season here. 27 00:01:55,939 --> 00:01:57,698 I'm loading up the last bit of pay. 28 00:01:59,318 --> 00:02:02,905 So these are the last few truckloads, getting it up to Big Red. 29 00:02:02,939 --> 00:02:05,146 This cut is over and done with. 30 00:02:06,180 --> 00:02:08,732 You're good. My horn is [bleep] again. 31 00:02:10,077 --> 00:02:11,560 Hey, you're good. You're loaded. 32 00:02:14,043 --> 00:02:16,215 Trucker go. Trucker go. 33 00:02:16,249 --> 00:02:18,732 I feel like I'm keeping up at the moment, which is good. 34 00:02:19,629 --> 00:02:21,249 I just hope I don't [bleep] it up. 35 00:02:23,284 --> 00:02:24,491 <i> You're doing great.</i> 36 00:02:25,387 --> 00:02:27,353 I think that's it. 37 00:02:31,215 --> 00:02:32,732 <i> Hey, Justin.</i> 38 00:02:37,387 --> 00:02:38,629 One last bucket. 39 00:02:39,698 --> 00:02:40,905 Here we go. 40 00:02:45,387 --> 00:02:47,663 All righty, guys. Time to shut Big Red down. 41 00:02:47,698 --> 00:02:49,422 <i>The next step is Easy Street.</i> 42 00:02:51,215 --> 00:02:53,939 <i>Just upstream from the Keyhole Cut,</i> 43 00:02:53,974 --> 00:02:56,043 <i>Parker's crew has already stripped</i> 44 00:02:56,077 --> 00:03:00,594 <i>the 11-acre Easy Street Cut down to pay dirt,</i> 45 00:03:00,629 --> 00:03:04,525 <i>ground they hope can deliver over $1 million in gold.</i> 46 00:03:07,939 --> 00:03:10,111 We're stripping down here at the Airstrip. 47 00:03:10,146 --> 00:03:12,043 Everybody's asking, "Why are we calling it Easy Street?" 48 00:03:12,077 --> 00:03:14,422 And I think it's because it's only gonna get tougher from here. 49 00:03:16,663 --> 00:03:18,663 <i> To mine out the new cut,</i> 50 00:03:18,698 --> 00:03:23,629 <i>Parker needs Big Red moved and running pay dirt before night shift</i> 51 00:03:23,663 --> 00:03:26,387 <i>takes over in just ten hours' time.</i> 52 00:03:29,111 --> 00:03:30,801 Hopefully, we can nail these transitions, 53 00:03:30,836 --> 00:03:33,284 like we have so much ground to get through that, 54 00:03:33,318 --> 00:03:35,629 you know, smoothly transitioning from one pit 55 00:03:35,663 --> 00:03:38,456 to the next is going to be a critical part of this. 56 00:03:38,491 --> 00:03:40,974 And we have a lot of them to do. 57 00:03:41,008 --> 00:03:44,077 If we lose a couple of days per plant move, 58 00:03:44,111 --> 00:03:47,111 it's going to throw a wrench in the works for the whole season. 59 00:03:47,146 --> 00:03:51,836 This is going to be on Tyson getting Big Red moved from the setup it's in to... 60 00:03:51,870 --> 00:03:55,939 to the next one because he needs to get comfortable doing it on his own 61 00:03:55,974 --> 00:03:58,456 because Mitch is dealing with the stripping crew. 62 00:03:58,491 --> 00:04:02,077 Right now it's just Tyson over there on his own 63 00:04:02,111 --> 00:04:06,180 and, you know, we're relying on him to be able to keep that plant going. 64 00:04:07,974 --> 00:04:10,353 So we're all done with Big Red here at this setup. 65 00:04:10,387 --> 00:04:13,008 We're ready to get back sluicing with the wash plant in the cut. 66 00:04:13,043 --> 00:04:15,801 Trying to do this myself. So wish me luck. 67 00:04:19,836 --> 00:04:22,456 This is the first time I've set Big Red up by myself. 68 00:04:22,491 --> 00:04:25,974 So we just want to be careful not to flip the thing over 69 00:04:27,387 --> 00:04:30,043 so it's pretty well-concreted into the ground. 70 00:04:32,111 --> 00:04:33,387 Stand back. 71 00:04:39,629 --> 00:04:40,905 Yee-haw! 72 00:04:53,456 --> 00:04:56,077 So this is probably the sketchiest part of the whole pole. 73 00:04:56,111 --> 00:04:58,560 There's a narrow culvert crossing in the road 74 00:04:58,594 --> 00:05:01,767 and Big Red flips over, that's game over. 75 00:05:01,801 --> 00:05:03,284 It's looking pretty tight. 76 00:05:04,905 --> 00:05:07,836 Don't know if we're gonna make or [bleep]. 77 00:05:11,525 --> 00:05:13,008 , that was tight. 78 00:05:20,077 --> 00:05:23,905 <i>The last step, drag the plant up a steep ramp</i> 79 00:05:23,939 --> 00:05:26,215 <i>to the top of the 30-foot high pad.</i> 80 00:05:33,663 --> 00:05:34,974 It's all fluff. 81 00:05:36,905 --> 00:05:38,284 The plant's dug in. 82 00:05:38,318 --> 00:05:42,111 When you're building a wash plant pad, you need compaction. 83 00:05:42,146 --> 00:05:44,215 That's what we're fighting against right now. 84 00:05:48,353 --> 00:05:50,284 The plant's not level. 85 00:05:50,318 --> 00:05:53,732 We have to level the plant before everything else is built around it. 86 00:05:56,732 --> 00:05:58,594 I just need to, like, unbury it now. 87 00:06:00,456 --> 00:06:03,284 I mean, the plant will do its thing and it'll probably settle, 88 00:06:03,318 --> 00:06:05,905 but it's more of the sluice runs with the river flowing off 89 00:06:05,939 --> 00:06:07,629 that I'm concerned about. 90 00:06:07,663 --> 00:06:11,560 <i>Tyson now has just six hours to get the sluices,</i> 91 00:06:11,594 --> 00:06:15,422 <i>pump and generator ready to fire up for the night shift.</i> 92 00:06:19,215 --> 00:06:20,594 How's things looking? 93 00:06:20,629 --> 00:06:22,939 When are you firing up, tonight? 94 00:06:22,974 --> 00:06:24,077 Hopefully. 95 00:06:24,111 --> 00:06:25,698 I was hoping to just get it prepped behind-- 96 00:06:25,732 --> 00:06:27,629 I don't give a how you do it. 97 00:06:27,663 --> 00:06:29,594 I just don't want to worry about it. 98 00:06:29,629 --> 00:06:31,146 I'm worried about stripping. 99 00:06:31,180 --> 00:06:32,836 That's why I haven't been here. 100 00:06:32,870 --> 00:06:34,422 No, it's all good. 101 00:06:34,456 --> 00:06:35,663 You don't have to worry about it. 102 00:06:35,698 --> 00:06:36,974 - Thanks, man. - Thanks. 103 00:06:40,043 --> 00:06:42,180 We're dealing with an uncompacted pad, 104 00:06:42,215 --> 00:06:44,594 so we're gonna need good water distribution, 105 00:06:44,629 --> 00:06:46,905 and that involves having a chute. 106 00:06:46,939 --> 00:06:50,491 <i>Two years ago when Tyson set up a wash plant...</i> 107 00:06:50,525 --> 00:06:52,767 Where's all this water coming from? 108 00:06:52,801 --> 00:06:55,870 <i>...water from the sluices undermined the pad...</i> 109 00:06:56,870 --> 00:06:58,594 Holy crap! 110 00:06:58,629 --> 00:07:00,732 <i>...and nearly toppled the wash plant.</i> 111 00:07:00,767 --> 00:07:03,767 - Tyson! 112 00:07:03,801 --> 00:07:07,353 <i>This time he plans to divert the water runoff</i> 113 00:07:07,387 --> 00:07:10,387 <i>with a 35-foot long steel chute.</i> 114 00:07:10,422 --> 00:07:12,180 We gotta get this trough 115 00:07:12,215 --> 00:07:13,870 and we gotta get it back up to Big Red 116 00:07:13,905 --> 00:07:16,456 because there's still hope of Big Red running tonight. 117 00:07:16,491 --> 00:07:18,870 Any day we're not sluicing means another day 118 00:07:18,905 --> 00:07:21,698 we have to sluice into October, November. 119 00:07:21,732 --> 00:07:26,974 <i>It's a four-mile journey downstream to where they last used it.</i> 120 00:07:27,008 --> 00:07:29,525 Parker is really counting on me to get Big Red up and going, 121 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,387 so I'm gonna do my best to have it running by the end of the day. 122 00:07:33,629 --> 00:07:34,767 . 123 00:07:35,836 --> 00:07:37,629 you. 124 00:07:40,629 --> 00:07:42,939 This is the last thing I wanted to see right now. 125 00:07:42,974 --> 00:07:45,422 Our road's washed completely out. 126 00:07:45,456 --> 00:07:47,180 I'm gonna have to pack material in 127 00:07:47,215 --> 00:07:49,180 and get that water going through that culvert. 128 00:07:49,215 --> 00:07:51,870 It must have just been roaring through here. 129 00:07:51,905 --> 00:07:55,801 Move your bum. Go on. 130 00:07:55,836 --> 00:07:59,905 Last year we had this happen and man it took six, seven different pieces of equipment 131 00:07:59,939 --> 00:08:03,353 and people and damn near a whole day to rebuild this road. 132 00:08:03,387 --> 00:08:05,146 And that's time I don't have. 133 00:08:23,284 --> 00:08:25,456 I could be in serious trouble. 134 00:08:25,491 --> 00:08:29,456 I've got fuel bills coming in and I only have so much money. 135 00:08:29,491 --> 00:08:32,008 So once that money runs out, 136 00:08:32,043 --> 00:08:35,353 if we don't have gold coming in, well, we're screwed. 137 00:08:35,387 --> 00:08:37,146 I mean, our house is up for grabs on this. 138 00:08:37,180 --> 00:08:38,974 We're walking a tightrope right now. 139 00:08:40,146 --> 00:08:42,732 <i>Forty-six miles west of Dawson,</i> 140 00:08:42,767 --> 00:08:45,974 <i>in the wilderness of California Creek,</i> 141 00:08:46,008 --> 00:08:51,836 <i>combat veteran Fred Lewis is chasing a record 500-ounce season gold.</i> 142 00:08:51,870 --> 00:08:57,146 <i>But five weeks in, he's still not mined a single ounce.</i> 143 00:08:57,180 --> 00:08:58,939 We're just trying to get the mindset running 144 00:08:58,974 --> 00:09:01,146 so money can start coming in instead of going out. 145 00:09:02,284 --> 00:09:03,353 We just got to keep pushing 146 00:09:03,387 --> 00:09:05,594 and get to where we need to be to start sluicing. 147 00:09:05,629 --> 00:09:09,767 <i>The long, harsh winter has dealt Fred a crippling blow.</i> 148 00:09:11,767 --> 00:09:16,353 <i>A quarter-mile-long ice sheet still stands between him</i> 149 00:09:16,387 --> 00:09:18,663 <i>and his gold-rich pay dirt.</i> 150 00:09:18,698 --> 00:09:21,180 everything. 151 00:09:21,215 --> 00:09:24,249 We're trying to uncover as much as we can and get this mine site moving. 152 00:09:26,974 --> 00:09:32,836 <i>Last week, Fred resurrected an ancient 90-yard-an-hour wash plant.</i> 153 00:09:32,870 --> 00:09:34,111 There it is. 154 00:09:36,215 --> 00:09:40,905 <i> But it's useless until Fred can dig down to pay.</i> 155 00:09:40,939 --> 00:09:45,525 <i>And so far, his attempts to melt the ice have failed.</i> 156 00:09:47,180 --> 00:09:50,353 We are so far behind schedule at this moment in time, 157 00:09:50,387 --> 00:09:52,560 you know, that we don't have any time to wait. 158 00:09:52,594 --> 00:09:56,353 So we have to take action and take control of the creek. 159 00:09:58,180 --> 00:10:00,836 Hey, Fred, man. What's going on? 160 00:10:00,870 --> 00:10:03,905 - Well, this ice has got to go, man. - Yeah. 161 00:10:03,939 --> 00:10:06,008 We don't have any other way to do it, I think. 162 00:10:06,043 --> 00:10:07,629 But to go up there and, uh... 163 00:10:07,663 --> 00:10:10,525 and try and make the creek go back where it belongs somehow, 164 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:13,180 and that should facilitate melting the ice on the right side. 165 00:10:13,215 --> 00:10:16,939 If we can't do that, we really don't have anything else to get it to go. 166 00:10:16,974 --> 00:10:19,560 - I feel like you've got the skill to do this. - Yeah. 167 00:10:19,594 --> 00:10:23,111 I think my best bet is for me to walk along the berm, 168 00:10:23,146 --> 00:10:26,387 as you're going up there and just spot it for you. 169 00:10:26,422 --> 00:10:29,353 - All we can do is try, right? - We can't sit here and wait. 170 00:10:29,387 --> 00:10:32,318 We got to try. Let's pound some of that ice out. 171 00:10:32,353 --> 00:10:35,629 - Okay. Let's do it. - You got me on the radio? 172 00:10:35,663 --> 00:10:38,077 - Yes, I do. All right - All right, I'll be on the bank. 173 00:10:41,905 --> 00:10:46,077 <i>Fred's plan, create a 20-foot-long ice dam</i> 174 00:10:46,111 --> 00:10:51,836 <i>across the narrowest point of the creek to divert water</i> 175 00:10:51,870 --> 00:10:56,249 <i>onto the ice sheet to help melt the snow and ice</i> 176 00:10:56,284 --> 00:11:00,215 <i>covering the gold-rich pay dirt left over from last season.</i> 177 00:11:04,836 --> 00:11:07,767 So we got to try. It's worth the risk. 178 00:11:07,801 --> 00:11:10,629 Hey, Buzz, this is probably the fastest running water 179 00:11:10,663 --> 00:11:13,836 - at this, uh, choke point. - Yeah. 180 00:11:15,836 --> 00:11:17,043 It's just a little bit risky. 181 00:11:17,077 --> 00:11:20,353 If we, if we sink this 220, we're freaking done. 182 00:11:20,387 --> 00:11:25,284 Let's take our time and make sure nothing bad happens to it, right? 183 00:11:28,077 --> 00:11:30,008 All right. Your tracks are about... 184 00:11:31,353 --> 00:11:33,491 Oh, man, you're almost submerged completely. 185 00:11:34,767 --> 00:11:36,318 It's not pushing you at all, is it? 186 00:11:38,215 --> 00:11:40,249 Take this corner a little bit. 187 00:11:46,698 --> 00:11:48,870 Hey, Buzz, that ice is awful beautiful, 188 00:11:48,905 --> 00:11:51,008 but we're gonna have to kill it. 189 00:11:51,043 --> 00:11:52,698 Sounds like a good plan, man. 190 00:11:57,767 --> 00:12:02,732 Oh! Wow! 191 00:12:02,767 --> 00:12:06,663 That's like 20,000 pounds of ice you just broke. 192 00:12:06,698 --> 00:12:10,525 Yeah! Come on now, it's massive. 193 00:12:16,111 --> 00:12:17,456 Whoo! 194 00:12:22,077 --> 00:12:23,905 Oh, yeah. There we go. 195 00:12:23,939 --> 00:12:26,249 You've got a little bit of ice that's holding. 196 00:12:26,284 --> 00:12:30,422 Doesn't look that way. Fingers crossed it works. 197 00:12:30,456 --> 00:12:32,353 We need to make an ice jam. 198 00:12:35,318 --> 00:12:36,525 There we go. 199 00:12:37,698 --> 00:12:38,939 That's a lot of weight. 200 00:12:42,801 --> 00:12:44,456 Wow. 201 00:12:44,491 --> 00:12:46,215 I got a pretty good ice jam here. 202 00:12:48,008 --> 00:12:50,353 You know, you're actually getting close to the top of that ice. 203 00:12:50,387 --> 00:12:51,629 If you can get it over the top, 204 00:12:51,663 --> 00:12:53,767 that would actually melt it really well. 205 00:12:56,422 --> 00:12:58,215 - Mm-hmm. 206 00:13:01,318 --> 00:13:03,318 Oh. Whoa, whoa, whoa. 207 00:13:05,801 --> 00:13:07,146 . 208 00:13:12,525 --> 00:13:13,974 There we go. 209 00:13:14,008 --> 00:13:16,215 <i> At California Creek...</i> 210 00:13:16,249 --> 00:13:18,422 I got a pretty good ice jam here. 211 00:13:18,456 --> 00:13:21,249 <i>...Fred Lewis is battling an ice sheet</i> 212 00:13:21,284 --> 00:13:23,249 <i>that's stopping him from mining.</i> 213 00:13:23,284 --> 00:13:26,767 Just be really careful. Oh. Whoa, whoa, whoa. 214 00:13:29,422 --> 00:13:30,801 . 215 00:13:33,629 --> 00:13:35,663 So there goes the ice dam. 216 00:13:35,698 --> 00:13:37,043 That's not feasible. 217 00:13:37,077 --> 00:13:40,215 We're gonna have to figure something else out because... 218 00:13:43,318 --> 00:13:46,732 this is definitely not going to work. 219 00:13:46,767 --> 00:13:49,249 , dude. We don't have a backup plan. 220 00:13:49,284 --> 00:13:50,663 That means we got nothing. 221 00:13:50,698 --> 00:13:51,939 Is that what you're telling me? 222 00:13:53,284 --> 00:13:54,767 Right at this point in time. 223 00:14:03,870 --> 00:14:06,387 <i> If the cold spring continues,</i> 224 00:14:06,422 --> 00:14:08,939 <i>the ice may never fully melt.</i> 225 00:14:08,974 --> 00:14:12,560 <i>Destroying Fred's dream of a successful season.</i> 226 00:14:14,767 --> 00:14:16,387 Hey, man. 227 00:14:16,422 --> 00:14:18,284 I don't have anything else to throw at this. 228 00:14:18,318 --> 00:14:21,077 I know. Sorry. Well, but it's one of those things. 229 00:14:21,111 --> 00:14:23,077 We're not gonna go home, we're not gonna quit. 230 00:14:23,111 --> 00:14:24,422 I'm gonna run out of money. 231 00:14:25,767 --> 00:14:27,732 It's a possibility, but it's also a possibility 232 00:14:27,767 --> 00:14:31,353 that we're gonna hit the motherlode and walk out here, [bleep], 233 00:14:31,387 --> 00:14:33,525 be able to go back and buy Bentleys. You know what I'm thinking? 234 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:35,215 And usually that is all I'm thinking about. 235 00:14:35,249 --> 00:14:38,594 But lately it just seems like, just some puppet... 236 00:14:38,629 --> 00:14:41,525 puppeteer pulling my strings and making [bleep] go wrong. 237 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:42,801 And it's like, how much can you take? 238 00:14:42,836 --> 00:14:43,905 How much can you take? 239 00:14:43,939 --> 00:14:45,491 And I just want to cut the [bleep] string. 240 00:14:45,525 --> 00:14:47,663 Yeah. I'm just at the end of my rope, man. 241 00:15:09,629 --> 00:15:11,974 <i> King of the Klondike, Tony Beets,</i> 242 00:15:12,008 --> 00:15:14,732 <i>is digging deeper than ever before,</i> 243 00:15:14,767 --> 00:15:18,249 <i>opening up two monster cuts in the hunt</i> 244 00:15:18,284 --> 00:15:23,146 <i>for Paradise Hill's gold-rich White Channel pay streak.</i> 245 00:15:35,801 --> 00:15:37,318 <i> But after five weeks</i> 246 00:15:37,353 --> 00:15:40,456 <i>fighting deep frozen ground in both cuts,</i> 247 00:15:40,491 --> 00:15:44,180 <i>Tony's banked less than 500 ounces,</i> 248 00:15:44,215 --> 00:15:47,836 <i>way short of the 200 ounces a week he needs.</i> 249 00:15:49,353 --> 00:15:51,801 I'm gonna be ripping in here for a good chunk of the day, 250 00:15:51,836 --> 00:15:53,732 probably a good chunk of tomorrow, 251 00:15:53,767 --> 00:15:56,836 because it's frozen pay is just pain in the ass. 252 00:15:56,870 --> 00:15:59,146 <i>Tony's charged youngest son, Mike,</i> 253 00:15:59,180 --> 00:16:02,560 <i>with managing the cuts and bringing in the gold.</i> 254 00:16:17,077 --> 00:16:19,801 <i>Mike has already opened up nearly two-thirds</i> 255 00:16:19,836 --> 00:16:25,905 <i>of the nine-acre Cold Cut where he faces a 60-foot deep frozen pay lay.</i> 256 00:16:28,422 --> 00:16:33,180 <i>Now in the six-acre Blue Cut, he's ripping permafrost</i> 257 00:16:33,215 --> 00:16:37,180 <i>with a D11 dozer to expose it to sunlight.</i> 258 00:16:37,215 --> 00:16:42,629 <i>If it doesn't defrost in time, the stockpile of thawed pay dirt will run out,</i> 259 00:16:42,663 --> 00:16:44,663 <i>forcing them to shut down.</i> 260 00:16:46,422 --> 00:16:47,974 Getting this all ripped up. 261 00:16:48,008 --> 00:16:52,180 Let's hope it all thaws out and we have a lot of pay ready to sluice then. 262 00:16:54,422 --> 00:16:55,594 <i> The only other machine</i> 263 00:16:55,629 --> 00:16:57,905 in Tony's arsenal powerful enough 264 00:16:57,939 --> 00:17:05,146 <i>to dig through frozen pay, the $1.1 million 950 excavator.</i> 265 00:17:05,180 --> 00:17:07,974 With the 950 being one of the biggest earth movers 266 00:17:08,008 --> 00:17:10,629 and the biggest one Tony has, it's... 267 00:17:10,663 --> 00:17:13,215 it definitely is a lot of pressure. 268 00:17:13,249 --> 00:17:15,560 And I don't want to break it or break something with it 269 00:17:15,594 --> 00:17:19,043 because it'd be a lot of downtime. 270 00:17:19,077 --> 00:17:23,077 <i> Mike's tasked James Rhyno, a Beet's crew veteran,</i> 271 00:17:23,111 --> 00:17:26,801 <i>with digging out the pay dirt to thaw at the pay pile.</i> 272 00:17:26,836 --> 00:17:29,146 It's pretty frosty in here this morning. 273 00:17:29,180 --> 00:17:32,284 Um, a lot of frozen ground in here. 274 00:17:35,732 --> 00:17:37,491 Driving me [bleep] crazy. 275 00:17:39,146 --> 00:17:40,594 It'd be nice to get a full bucket. 276 00:17:45,836 --> 00:17:47,629 , this ground is hard. 277 00:17:51,836 --> 00:17:54,629 Holy. Hey, Tony. You copy? 278 00:17:57,870 --> 00:17:59,767 Yeah. This ground is really hard. 279 00:17:59,801 --> 00:18:02,180 Um, can we come up with another plan? 280 00:18:05,801 --> 00:18:06,939 Okay. 281 00:18:21,318 --> 00:18:25,974 <i>Tony's plan, remove the 950's 28-foot boom</i> 282 00:18:26,008 --> 00:18:28,870 <i>and replace it with a 24-foot boom.</i> 283 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:35,663 <i>The shorter arm will generate more force and concentrate digging power.</i> 284 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:39,525 We already took the stick and bucket off. 285 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:41,456 Now we're gonna pull the main boom pin out. 286 00:18:41,491 --> 00:18:46,146 <i> In charge of the swap, mechanic, Sam Aftanas.</i> 287 00:18:46,180 --> 00:18:48,111 sakes. In the pin 288 00:18:48,146 --> 00:18:51,180 stock in here it's just being up [bleep]. 289 00:18:57,008 --> 00:19:01,146 So I foresee pulling that pin out is going to be a pain in the ass. 290 00:19:02,663 --> 00:19:04,629 Me. 291 00:19:05,732 --> 00:19:06,801 Yeah. 292 00:19:12,111 --> 00:19:13,180 Run around them? 293 00:19:21,870 --> 00:19:23,801 It's not going to work with the slip hook, is it? 294 00:19:33,215 --> 00:19:37,422 Fifty-four and a half. And that is five. 295 00:19:37,456 --> 00:19:39,905 I'm hoping that pin doesn't jump out of there 296 00:19:39,939 --> 00:19:41,008 Frig. 297 00:19:43,905 --> 00:19:45,249 Okay. 298 00:19:49,939 --> 00:19:51,353 Oh. 299 00:20:00,146 --> 00:20:01,594 , that's sweet. 300 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:04,698 Yeah, I do. 301 00:20:05,939 --> 00:20:06,974 Yeah. 302 00:20:37,146 --> 00:20:38,215 Whoa. 303 00:20:38,249 --> 00:20:39,732 Put some good pressure on it. 304 00:21:09,077 --> 00:21:10,767 Okay. Yeah. 305 00:21:19,215 --> 00:21:21,422 Takes over when it's easy. 306 00:21:24,698 --> 00:21:26,594 All right, we're in the other side. 307 00:21:28,525 --> 00:21:30,318 - yeah. 308 00:21:31,491 --> 00:21:32,594 That was pretty slick. 309 00:21:32,629 --> 00:21:34,767 Good job. Whoo! 310 00:21:47,180 --> 00:21:50,180 I was just explaining to the boys if they ever wonder why I like working with you. 311 00:21:50,215 --> 00:21:51,732 He might be a gruff old [bleep], 312 00:21:51,767 --> 00:21:53,353 but [bleep] he knows what he's doing. 313 00:21:53,387 --> 00:21:54,629 Yeah. 314 00:21:57,077 --> 00:21:58,456 yeah. 315 00:21:58,491 --> 00:22:00,318 Should be able to start getting full [bleep] buckets for a while. 316 00:22:02,939 --> 00:22:05,560 <i>With the 950 back in the Blue Cut...</i> 317 00:22:05,594 --> 00:22:08,732 My old girl, I gotta get her back in the dirt. 318 00:22:08,767 --> 00:22:11,180 <i>...it should tear through the concrete,</i> 319 00:22:11,215 --> 00:22:15,594 hard frozen ground and keep the trommel fed with thawed pay dirt. 320 00:22:24,043 --> 00:22:25,146 Holy [bleep]. 321 00:22:25,180 --> 00:22:27,698 It does do a lot better than that long boom. 322 00:22:27,732 --> 00:22:29,594 Just tears through that frost. 323 00:22:33,767 --> 00:22:36,456 Nice, full scoops. 324 00:22:36,491 --> 00:22:39,249 It actually picks the bucket up. That is a nice change. 325 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:42,353 It's gonna be a little bit different getting used 326 00:22:42,387 --> 00:22:43,698 to having trucks closer to you, 327 00:22:43,732 --> 00:22:45,353 'cause you're gonna have to keep them nice 328 00:22:45,387 --> 00:22:46,698 and tight to be able to reach them. 329 00:22:46,732 --> 00:22:49,387 But I like the way it digs. 330 00:22:49,422 --> 00:22:52,215 We're gonna have a lot better time keeping up with trucks 331 00:22:52,249 --> 00:22:54,318 and moving a lot more dirt with this thing. 332 00:23:09,491 --> 00:23:13,939 I'm getting a bit stressed out because we're so spread out. 333 00:23:13,974 --> 00:23:17,111 - <i>Yeah.</i> - And this is so much to do. 334 00:23:17,146 --> 00:23:20,491 <i>At the Airstrip, Parker is racing to mine out</i> 335 00:23:20,525 --> 00:23:24,422 <i>90 acres of ground in just one season.</i> 336 00:23:24,456 --> 00:23:26,387 With this water license expiring 337 00:23:26,422 --> 00:23:27,767 and so much ground to get through, 338 00:23:27,801 --> 00:23:29,801 we're having to really just plow hard 339 00:23:29,836 --> 00:23:33,215 into getting everything as opened up as we can. 340 00:23:33,249 --> 00:23:35,836 You know, we don't have another season after this with the water license, 341 00:23:35,870 --> 00:23:37,767 so everything has to be sluiced. 342 00:23:37,801 --> 00:23:41,560 <i>Parker has nearly all his crew focused on stripping,</i> 343 00:23:41,594 --> 00:23:45,698 <i>leaving plant boss Tyson Lee on his own to get Big Red</i> 344 00:23:45,732 --> 00:23:49,870 <i>running before night shift takes over in three hours' time.</i> 345 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,146 You know, we're just so strung out on guys this year 346 00:23:54,180 --> 00:23:59,318 that no one's had time to come down here and see how the roads are. 347 00:23:59,353 --> 00:24:04,215 <i>He needs to collect a metal chute to shore up Big Red's pad,</i> 348 00:24:04,249 --> 00:24:08,456 <i>but a blown-out road has now put him behind the eight ball.</i> 349 00:24:08,491 --> 00:24:10,318 If these roads weren't washed out, 350 00:24:10,353 --> 00:24:12,215 Big Red would be running right now. 351 00:24:13,284 --> 00:24:15,387 This is the last scoop here. 352 00:24:15,422 --> 00:24:17,870 Is the quick bush fix good enough to get our chute? 353 00:24:17,905 --> 00:24:20,974 And hopefully, I'll come back in time and the road's still here. 354 00:24:23,836 --> 00:24:26,663 And here we are, finally at our chute. 355 00:24:26,698 --> 00:24:29,318 This thing looks like something you'd find in a scrapyard, 356 00:24:29,353 --> 00:24:33,767 but it definitely makes everything go that much smoother. 357 00:24:36,146 --> 00:24:40,905 Found our chute, and we just gotta get it upstream. 358 00:24:40,939 --> 00:24:42,387 Let's go. 359 00:24:46,491 --> 00:24:47,767 This chute's pretty wide. 360 00:24:47,801 --> 00:24:50,801 It's got to be damn near 35 feet long. 361 00:24:50,836 --> 00:24:54,939 So just having to dodge my way around trees and hills 362 00:24:56,249 --> 00:24:57,525 and don't want to catch it on an edge 363 00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,215 and have it fall out of the bucket. 364 00:24:59,249 --> 00:25:01,629 I am going very slowly through this. 365 00:25:03,146 --> 00:25:04,353 Oh... 366 00:25:05,353 --> 00:25:06,870 . 367 00:25:11,353 --> 00:25:16,180 Here we are, at Big Red, last piece of the puzzle can be put in place. 368 00:25:27,456 --> 00:25:29,698 We just got to get this bank armored up. 369 00:25:29,732 --> 00:25:32,732 There is two metric tons of water 370 00:25:32,767 --> 00:25:34,974 going to be flowing over these sluice runs, 371 00:25:35,008 --> 00:25:37,180 and it's metric [bleep] ton. 372 00:25:37,215 --> 00:25:40,215 It is a scientific term in the Redneck Book of Math. 373 00:25:45,870 --> 00:25:48,043 Hey, you know, Big Red's all set to go. 374 00:25:51,215 --> 00:25:53,215 First scoop of Easy Street going in. 375 00:25:53,249 --> 00:25:55,663 <i> All right, boy. Show time. Let's go.</i> 376 00:25:55,698 --> 00:25:57,318 Let's do it. 377 00:26:10,698 --> 00:26:14,249 You know, I'm really happy I can find the diverter trough and get it up here, 378 00:26:14,284 --> 00:26:17,387 because as you can tell, it's really saving our ass right now. 379 00:26:36,318 --> 00:26:39,353 I just came down here to take a look at Big Red and see how she's running. 380 00:26:49,870 --> 00:26:51,939 I see Mitch is up here doing his rounds, 381 00:26:51,974 --> 00:26:54,767 so I want to see what he thinks of my setup. 382 00:26:56,077 --> 00:26:58,180 - What's happening? - How's it going? 383 00:27:01,870 --> 00:27:03,180 It's looking really good. 384 00:27:05,043 --> 00:27:07,698 - How's our bank doing? - The bank's holding up nice. 385 00:27:07,732 --> 00:27:10,629 - Looks good. Good job, man. - Thanks, Mitch. 386 00:27:10,663 --> 00:27:13,491 <i> Big Red is back on the gold.</i> 387 00:27:13,525 --> 00:27:18,043 <i>The race is on to mine out the Airstrip before the end of the season.</i> 388 00:27:35,663 --> 00:27:39,111 <i>Tony's running 300 yards an hour of white channel</i> 389 00:27:39,146 --> 00:27:41,215 <i>pay dirt through his trommel.</i> 390 00:27:41,249 --> 00:27:42,801 <i>To keep it fed.</i> 391 00:27:42,836 --> 00:27:47,974 <i>It needs a constant flow of thawed pay dirt from the two monster cuts.</i> 392 00:27:48,008 --> 00:27:50,180 We're running out of good thawed pay right now. 393 00:27:51,594 --> 00:27:54,111 It's this damn dozer loading trucks like crazy, man. 394 00:27:54,146 --> 00:27:55,698 They're tearing up that dirt. 395 00:27:58,456 --> 00:28:01,801 <i>In the Cold Cut, Ruby Mahoney is taking her</i> 396 00:28:01,836 --> 00:28:04,146 <i>first turn in the 950 excavator...</i> 397 00:28:05,318 --> 00:28:06,732 <i>A lot shorter eh?</i> 398 00:28:06,767 --> 00:28:08,318 It's so weird! 399 00:28:08,353 --> 00:28:09,974 <i> ...with its new short boom.</i> 400 00:28:11,180 --> 00:28:14,767 We have a new boom from the 950. 401 00:28:14,801 --> 00:28:18,077 It's about five feet shorter than the one we had before. 402 00:28:18,111 --> 00:28:20,284 And it'll be a little bit more faster 403 00:28:20,318 --> 00:28:23,180 and a little bit more powerful what it should be. 404 00:28:28,974 --> 00:28:32,146 I don't mind driving rock truck every once in a while. 405 00:28:32,180 --> 00:28:35,180 <i>Tony's nephew, known as Cousin Mike,</i> 406 00:28:35,215 --> 00:28:39,974 <i>is in a relationship with Ruby, who's loading his rock truck.</i> 407 00:28:40,008 --> 00:28:42,043 When I do it for too long, it gets boring, 408 00:28:42,077 --> 00:28:45,422 but I get to work with Ruby, which is nice. 409 00:28:45,456 --> 00:28:49,422 Sometimes, you just want to hang out with your girlfriend. 410 00:28:49,456 --> 00:28:54,525 It definitely helps that I have somebody to go home 411 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,249 to at the end of the day 412 00:28:56,284 --> 00:29:01,284 that understands everything that we go through throughout the day. 413 00:29:02,663 --> 00:29:05,870 So I came to the Yukon, to mine for gold, 414 00:29:05,905 --> 00:29:08,663 and, um, I ended up finding a diamond. 415 00:29:11,939 --> 00:29:16,801 <i> So, Ruby, you have to drive forward a little bit.</i> 416 00:29:16,836 --> 00:29:19,043 What are we trying to accomplish here, babe? 417 00:29:20,146 --> 00:29:22,043 <i> Sorry. What was that?</i> 418 00:29:23,318 --> 00:29:25,318 Oh, [bleep]. What was that? 419 00:29:25,353 --> 00:29:27,422 . 420 00:29:33,008 --> 00:29:34,663 Are you okay? 421 00:29:34,698 --> 00:29:37,629 truck, though. 422 00:29:37,663 --> 00:29:39,387 . 423 00:29:39,422 --> 00:29:40,870 It doesn't look good. 424 00:29:51,077 --> 00:29:53,836 What are we trying to accomplish here babe? 425 00:29:53,870 --> 00:29:55,594 <i>Sorry. What was that?</i> 426 00:29:56,939 --> 00:29:59,111 Oh [bleep]. What was that? 427 00:29:59,146 --> 00:30:00,870 ? 428 00:30:03,249 --> 00:30:06,146 <i>Battling to dig up frozen pay.</i> 429 00:30:06,180 --> 00:30:11,353 Ruby has crashed Tony Beets 950 excavator into a rock truck. 430 00:30:13,456 --> 00:30:15,353 Kevin, do you copy? Kevin? 431 00:30:15,387 --> 00:30:17,525 <i>Yes, Ruby. Can I help you?</i> 432 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:19,732 . 433 00:30:19,767 --> 00:30:24,043 <i>The end of my excavator clipped the corner of the rock truck,</i> 434 00:30:24,077 --> 00:30:27,146 <i>and unfortunately, I bent</i> <i> out of the door,</i> 435 00:30:27,180 --> 00:30:29,974 <i>and I feel absolutely horrible about it.</i> 436 00:30:39,905 --> 00:30:41,215 No. 437 00:30:43,353 --> 00:30:45,525 So yeah she kind of [bleep]. 438 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:47,077 <i> Back at the wash plant.</i> 439 00:30:47,111 --> 00:30:49,732 <i>The stockpile is shrinking fast.</i> 440 00:30:49,767 --> 00:30:53,111 <i>If Kevin can't get the 950 back in action,</i> 441 00:30:53,146 --> 00:30:58,353 <i>Tony could be forced to shut down, costing $3,000 an hour.</i> 442 00:30:58,387 --> 00:30:59,870 There we go. 443 00:31:02,836 --> 00:31:04,767 The doors in my [bleep] way. 444 00:31:04,801 --> 00:31:05,836 Meaning? 445 00:31:05,870 --> 00:31:07,111 The door's got to [bleep] go. 446 00:31:12,111 --> 00:31:13,732 That should be attached. 447 00:31:13,767 --> 00:31:16,698 Also, that should also be attached. 448 00:31:17,974 --> 00:31:19,180 It hit here. 449 00:31:19,215 --> 00:31:20,939 You can see where the paint has come off, 450 00:31:20,974 --> 00:31:22,732 causing this piece here to 451 00:31:22,767 --> 00:31:25,180 Snapping all four bolts off cleanly. 452 00:31:25,215 --> 00:31:28,629 <i>Ruby's crash has sheared off the bolts,</i> 453 00:31:28,663 --> 00:31:30,974 <i>holding the hydraulic valve body</i> 454 00:31:31,008 --> 00:31:36,594 <i>that controls all the hydraulics on the $1.1 million machine.</i> 455 00:31:36,629 --> 00:31:38,663 <i>Hydraulics is what drives the entire machine.</i> 456 00:31:38,698 --> 00:31:40,387 Without the hydraulic system being sealed, 457 00:31:40,422 --> 00:31:43,698 you can't fire it up in any capacity to move it or anything. 458 00:31:45,318 --> 00:31:47,249 For [bleep]. 459 00:31:47,284 --> 00:31:49,318 It is one of our biggest excavators. 460 00:31:49,353 --> 00:31:52,077 It is always important to have it [bleep] fixed. 461 00:31:52,111 --> 00:31:54,560 We don't have time for any of this downtime or [bleep]. 462 00:31:57,905 --> 00:31:59,732 This unit that I pulled off here, 463 00:31:59,767 --> 00:32:02,629 bolts are sheared off entirely. 464 00:32:02,663 --> 00:32:05,698 We got the right bolts, but longer. 465 00:32:05,732 --> 00:32:09,456 Now, we're gonna see if I'm able to modify these ones enough 466 00:32:09,491 --> 00:32:11,629 to make them work till we get the proper ones. 467 00:32:13,387 --> 00:32:15,146 And I know we have bolts on order, 468 00:32:15,180 --> 00:32:20,111 but we need the 950 back in production ASA [bleep] P. 469 00:32:20,146 --> 00:32:23,939 So I'll make something that'll work. 470 00:32:23,974 --> 00:32:27,629 <i>Kevin's bush fix cut half an inch off the bolts</i> 471 00:32:27,663 --> 00:32:32,663 <i>and hope they still secure the valve body in place.</i> 472 00:32:32,698 --> 00:32:35,318 Essentially, it needs to be about half an inch shorter. 473 00:32:39,215 --> 00:32:41,215 That turned out pretty well. 474 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:45,801 So. 475 00:32:50,318 --> 00:32:52,663 Yeah. Perfect for laughing. 476 00:32:52,698 --> 00:32:54,939 This is the last bolt. 477 00:32:54,974 --> 00:32:56,422 And it's just hooking up the hoses. 478 00:32:56,456 --> 00:32:59,180 And then she's [bleep] done. 479 00:32:59,215 --> 00:33:01,594 Time to fire it up. 480 00:33:08,663 --> 00:33:11,215 Doesn't look like anything's leaking. 481 00:33:11,249 --> 00:33:12,525 It's good to go back to work. 482 00:33:13,905 --> 00:33:15,974 <i> The 950 back running.</i> 483 00:33:16,008 --> 00:33:18,318 <i>Ruby can get back to digging pay</i> 484 00:33:18,353 --> 00:33:21,284 <i>before the pay pile runs out at the trommel.</i> 485 00:33:37,801 --> 00:33:40,215 <i>I've worked for Tony for six years,</i> 486 00:33:40,249 --> 00:33:44,422 and this is my first big mistake. 487 00:33:44,456 --> 00:33:47,077 <i>You know, I try to do the best of my ability</i> 488 00:33:47,111 --> 00:33:52,111 <i>and try to pay as good as attention to everything as I can.</i> 489 00:33:52,146 --> 00:33:55,698 Probably gonna be overly cautious for the next little while. 490 00:34:08,698 --> 00:34:11,215 So right now I'm trying to break up some ice to get the creek 491 00:34:11,249 --> 00:34:13,180 diverted back to where it needs to be going. 492 00:34:14,422 --> 00:34:17,215 <i> At California Creek, Fred Lewis's crew</i> 493 00:34:17,249 --> 00:34:20,801 <i>is still battling the quarter-mile long ice sheet</i> 494 00:34:20,836 --> 00:34:24,663 <i>that has frozen them out from mining gold.</i> 495 00:34:24,698 --> 00:34:27,284 <i>We're trying to get down to dirt to pull gold from,</i> 496 00:34:27,318 --> 00:34:30,525 but the ice is stopping us from getting what we need to get done. 497 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,560 <i>Leading the charge in the 220 excavator,</i> 498 00:34:33,594 --> 00:34:36,594 <i>Fred stepson Christopher Parker.</i> 499 00:34:36,629 --> 00:34:38,663 <i> Once I'm done breaking up some of this ice,</i> 500 00:34:38,698 --> 00:34:40,422 <i>I can start fixing</i>[bleep]. 501 00:34:45,456 --> 00:34:48,387 Whoa! Holy [bleep]. What is that? 502 00:34:48,422 --> 00:34:51,249 It's what I think it is. 503 00:34:51,284 --> 00:34:53,870 Yo, Freddy, you need to come check this [bleep] out real quick, man. 504 00:34:57,767 --> 00:34:59,422 What's up? 505 00:34:59,456 --> 00:35:01,456 Look where my bucket is. 506 00:35:01,491 --> 00:35:03,456 What am I looking at? 507 00:35:03,491 --> 00:35:05,077 Let me go, look. 508 00:35:09,249 --> 00:35:10,491 Oh, wow. 509 00:35:12,146 --> 00:35:14,698 Quartz, quartz, quartz, quartz, quartz. 510 00:35:14,732 --> 00:35:15,939 Look, look. 511 00:35:15,974 --> 00:35:17,180 It's a vein. 512 00:35:17,215 --> 00:35:18,698 Wow. 513 00:35:18,732 --> 00:35:21,491 Give me your headset. We're gonna get Buzz over here, like, right now. 514 00:35:21,525 --> 00:35:23,008 Buzz, Buzz, this is Fred. 515 00:35:23,043 --> 00:35:24,905 I need you to come to the 220 ASAP. 516 00:35:24,939 --> 00:35:28,663 It looks like we may have found a quartz vein. 517 00:35:28,698 --> 00:35:33,767 <i>A quartz vein indicates gold deposits could be close by.</i> 518 00:35:33,801 --> 00:35:35,525 This is a big ass quartz vein. 519 00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:38,629 I don't know how big it is, but it goes all the way, at least to here. 520 00:35:38,663 --> 00:35:41,146 good, man. 521 00:35:41,180 --> 00:35:43,525 But look, it's also got a lot of iron in it. 522 00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:44,698 Yeah. 523 00:35:44,732 --> 00:35:46,353 All that brown. All that iron. 524 00:35:46,387 --> 00:35:49,732 So that means there's a lot of heat that forced this up. 525 00:35:49,767 --> 00:35:51,525 <i> Millions of years ago,</i> 526 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,249 <i>Magma containing gold forced its way up through faults</i> 527 00:35:55,284 --> 00:35:56,767 <i>in the earth's crust.</i> 528 00:35:58,215 --> 00:36:02,491 <i>It cooled and crystallized into veins of quartz and gold.</i> 529 00:36:03,594 --> 00:36:07,249 <i>If Fred's small quartz vein is gold-rich,</i> 530 00:36:07,284 --> 00:36:12,008 <i>it could mean he's on track for a big payday.</i> 531 00:36:12,043 --> 00:36:17,974 <i>And possibly even lead him to find the motherlode at California Creek.</i> 532 00:36:18,008 --> 00:36:19,939 It doesn't look like it continues much more here. 533 00:36:19,974 --> 00:36:23,249 - It might go underneath, but it's going that way. - Yeah. 534 00:36:23,284 --> 00:36:25,353 Right with this bedrock. 535 00:36:25,387 --> 00:36:27,387 What do you think, Buzz? 536 00:36:27,422 --> 00:36:29,801 We'll cut and try to pulverize some of it [bleep]. 537 00:36:29,836 --> 00:36:31,215 See what's in it. 538 00:36:31,249 --> 00:36:32,870 Do some science. 539 00:36:32,905 --> 00:36:34,525 All right, check it out. 540 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:36,767 You and Chris wanna gather up some rock? 541 00:36:36,801 --> 00:36:38,629 Put it in his bucket. 542 00:36:38,663 --> 00:36:41,043 Good find. Hey, really good find. 543 00:36:46,836 --> 00:36:49,077 Hey, Buzz, where do you want me to take all this? 544 00:36:49,111 --> 00:36:50,698 Yeah, it's a pretty good sample there. 545 00:36:50,732 --> 00:36:51,905 Let's take that on up. 546 00:36:51,939 --> 00:36:54,077 Bring it to the Gold Room. 547 00:36:54,111 --> 00:36:55,284 Roger that. 548 00:36:57,629 --> 00:36:59,663 We're gonna accurately pull out gold. 549 00:36:59,698 --> 00:37:01,456 We don't just mine the entire creek. 550 00:37:01,491 --> 00:37:03,387 We use these signs to get us to it. 551 00:37:07,008 --> 00:37:09,663 <i>To see if the quartz is rich in gold.</i> 552 00:37:09,698 --> 00:37:10,870 All right. Safety first. 553 00:37:10,905 --> 00:37:14,560 <i>Fred plans to pulverize the hard rock</i> 554 00:37:14,594 --> 00:37:18,284 <i>with five-pound solid steel ball bearings.</i> 555 00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:21,387 We're gonna break up just about anything. 556 00:37:24,353 --> 00:37:26,456 - All right. You guys ready? - Sure. 557 00:37:26,491 --> 00:37:28,043 See how loud this is gonna be? 558 00:37:39,767 --> 00:37:42,318 All right, if we crush that up and there's not a worthless pile of rock 559 00:37:42,353 --> 00:37:44,387 and there's even a speck of gold, 560 00:37:44,422 --> 00:37:46,767 the pay could have a hell of a lot of gold in it. 561 00:37:54,284 --> 00:37:56,663 <i>We're dead in the water, so we ain't making any money.</i> 562 00:37:56,698 --> 00:37:59,422 We got a call from our good friend back home, 563 00:37:59,456 --> 00:38:03,146 and he says he needs help and he's willing to pay us cash. 564 00:38:03,180 --> 00:38:05,939 <i> With very little money to mine,</i> 565 00:38:05,974 --> 00:38:09,422 <i>the Clayton brothers are looking for a quick cash injection.</i> 566 00:38:09,456 --> 00:38:10,767 Hi, how are you? 567 00:38:12,284 --> 00:38:14,663 - We're here to give you a hand today. - That's awesome. 568 00:38:14,698 --> 00:38:16,491 We might as well come, make money, work for yous. 569 00:38:16,525 --> 00:38:17,767 Not if I [bleep] pay you. 570 00:38:17,801 --> 00:38:18,905 Yeah. 571 00:38:20,111 --> 00:38:21,456 <i>Today's job.</i> 572 00:38:21,491 --> 00:38:24,905 <i>Install a new boom on a neighbor's excavator.</i> 573 00:38:24,939 --> 00:38:27,215 Does this come with limited warranty? 574 00:38:27,249 --> 00:38:29,111 Yeah. Yeah, as soon as you lift it. 575 00:38:30,594 --> 00:38:32,560 All right. Go ahead and everybody's clear. 576 00:38:38,836 --> 00:38:40,422 No! 577 00:38:43,422 --> 00:38:44,594 That's not cool. 578 00:38:46,215 --> 00:38:47,870 Yeah. I'd lift up now. 579 00:38:49,111 --> 00:38:50,939 - Yeah. 580 00:38:50,974 --> 00:38:52,215 Try it. 581 00:38:52,249 --> 00:38:53,594 Okay. 582 00:38:53,629 --> 00:38:55,801 Put constant pressure on this pin. 583 00:38:55,836 --> 00:38:57,491 - yeah. 584 00:38:57,525 --> 00:38:59,836 Okay, we got it. 585 00:38:59,870 --> 00:39:01,180 Nailed it. 586 00:39:01,215 --> 00:39:03,077 Just got the boom together. 587 00:39:03,111 --> 00:39:04,560 She's all done. 588 00:39:04,594 --> 00:39:06,870 Well, I guess I've got to give you a little money now. 589 00:39:06,905 --> 00:39:08,008 I [bleep] hate to. 590 00:39:08,043 --> 00:39:09,525 - Here you go, Matt. 591 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:11,525 - Thank you. 592 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:13,111 I appreciate it. See ya. 593 00:39:13,146 --> 00:39:14,629 He paid us three grand. 594 00:39:14,663 --> 00:39:17,560 That three grand can go towards fuel, the groceries. 595 00:39:17,594 --> 00:39:19,146 It couldn't have worked out better. 596 00:39:31,146 --> 00:39:32,905 <i> At California Creek,</i> 597 00:39:32,939 --> 00:39:35,698 <i>Fred Lewis has struck a vein of quartz,</i> 598 00:39:35,732 --> 00:39:38,767 <i>which he hopes will lead him to the gold.</i> 599 00:39:38,801 --> 00:39:43,801 <i>After letting the five-pound ball bearings beat up the quartz for an hour,</i> 600 00:39:43,836 --> 00:39:46,284 <i>it's time to check the material.</i> 601 00:39:46,318 --> 00:39:47,698 Let's go do it. 602 00:39:52,939 --> 00:39:54,387 Now let's find if we got a catch. 603 00:39:54,422 --> 00:39:56,215 Yeah. 604 00:39:56,249 --> 00:39:58,387 Oh. 605 00:39:58,422 --> 00:40:00,215 Yeah. 606 00:40:00,249 --> 00:40:02,180 hammer. 607 00:40:03,491 --> 00:40:05,387 You know, I was kind of hoping we pull this thing open. 608 00:40:05,422 --> 00:40:07,422 There'd be a bunch of powder in there. 609 00:40:07,456 --> 00:40:09,974 I know there are certain ways that we can do it. 610 00:40:10,008 --> 00:40:11,629 I really like what they did in Papua New Guinea. 611 00:40:11,663 --> 00:40:13,111 - It just took a long time. - Yeah. 612 00:40:13,146 --> 00:40:17,180 So all they did had a solid pipe inside of a pipe, the base in it. 613 00:40:17,215 --> 00:40:18,836 So you couldn't-- Nothing got out. 614 00:40:18,870 --> 00:40:21,111 - They threw the rock in there and they smashed it by hand. - Smashed it [bleep]. 615 00:40:21,146 --> 00:40:22,560 Bam, bam, bam. 616 00:40:24,456 --> 00:40:28,180 <i>Fred's new plan to construct a low-tech rock crusher</i> 617 00:40:28,215 --> 00:40:32,077 <i>he first saw on a gold prospecting mission with Parker</i> 618 00:40:32,111 --> 00:40:34,387 <i>in the jungles of Papua New Guinea.</i> 619 00:40:36,870 --> 00:40:39,801 So we're basically gonna find like this right here. 620 00:40:39,836 --> 00:40:44,249 We're gonna find a pipe, we're gonna make it so it has a floor 621 00:40:44,284 --> 00:40:46,043 and another pipe that's gonna go inside of it 622 00:40:46,077 --> 00:40:48,146 and crush it just like a post pounder. 623 00:40:56,525 --> 00:40:57,698 Woohoo! 624 00:40:57,732 --> 00:40:59,284 Let's go there and try this [bleep] out. 625 00:40:59,318 --> 00:41:00,732 See if we can crush this [bleep]. 626 00:41:01,870 --> 00:41:03,939 All right, so I've only done this once. 627 00:41:03,974 --> 00:41:05,456 - Let's start. Yeah. 628 00:41:20,525 --> 00:41:22,318 <i> After some brute force.</i> 629 00:41:22,353 --> 00:41:25,077 <i>It's time to see if the quartz vein running</i> 630 00:41:25,111 --> 00:41:29,180 <i>through his claim is rich in gold.</i> 631 00:41:29,215 --> 00:41:34,353 <i>If it is, Fred could have hit the motherlode and the ground next to it</i> 632 00:41:34,387 --> 00:41:37,318 <i>could be the richest in California Creek.</i> 633 00:41:45,870 --> 00:41:48,387 Um. I'm seeing gold, buddy. 634 00:41:48,422 --> 00:41:50,387 Yeah. No, there's gold in. There's gold. 635 00:41:52,318 --> 00:41:55,353 wow. 636 00:41:55,387 --> 00:41:56,767 - And a piece there. - Yeah. 637 00:41:56,801 --> 00:41:57,836 And a piece there. 638 00:41:57,870 --> 00:41:59,180 A piece up top, right there. 639 00:41:59,215 --> 00:42:01,043 - Yeah. 640 00:42:01,077 --> 00:42:02,663 - I mean, that was a handful. - I know. 641 00:42:02,698 --> 00:42:05,215 We got three colors and a lot of little fine stuff. 642 00:42:05,249 --> 00:42:07,560 It's the first goal we found this season that tells us 643 00:42:07,594 --> 00:42:10,836 there's a vein carrying gold running up the middle 644 00:42:10,870 --> 00:42:12,215 of our [bleep] claim. 645 00:42:12,249 --> 00:42:14,146 Yeah. 646 00:42:14,180 --> 00:42:15,560 I [bleep] needed this. 647 00:42:15,594 --> 00:42:17,422 - I... I'm hurting. - I know, man. 648 00:42:17,456 --> 00:42:19,284 You know, it's just [bleep]. 649 00:42:19,318 --> 00:42:20,974 That's just the way that this, you know, 650 00:42:21,008 --> 00:42:22,422 this profession is. I've noticed that. 651 00:42:22,456 --> 00:42:26,560 I mean, the highs are high and the lows are really, really low. 652 00:42:26,594 --> 00:42:27,801 You ain't lying. 653 00:42:27,836 --> 00:42:29,525 This is about the best I felt this season. 654 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:31,629 We have a source producing the gold. 655 00:42:33,284 --> 00:42:35,111 <i>The potential that there could be a quartz vein</i> 656 00:42:35,146 --> 00:42:38,939 that has gold bearing richness through it 657 00:42:38,974 --> 00:42:40,698 kind of fires us up a little bit, 658 00:42:40,732 --> 00:42:44,111 and it's just giving us a little bit more fuel to keep exploring this creek 659 00:42:44,146 --> 00:42:47,215 and find out where it is, because the source is somewhere 660 00:42:47,249 --> 00:42:49,318 and it's coming from somewhere and we're gonna find it. 661 00:43:05,767 --> 00:43:07,698 Oh, you've got the ugly face. 662 00:43:11,215 --> 00:43:15,560 <i>After a week battling frozen ground, the Beets family gather</i> 663 00:43:15,594 --> 00:43:18,043 to find out if their hard work has paid off. 664 00:43:21,387 --> 00:43:23,422 - You took long enough. - Sorry. 665 00:43:23,456 --> 00:43:25,939 - Yeah. 666 00:43:25,974 --> 00:43:29,077 - Both cuts. 667 00:43:30,801 --> 00:43:32,663 Yeah. [bleep] hard too. 668 00:43:34,836 --> 00:43:36,905 Yeah. Well, if you didn't buy that last year, 669 00:43:36,939 --> 00:43:38,732 we'd be in big trouble this year. 670 00:43:38,767 --> 00:43:42,180 So anything else exciting happens. 671 00:43:42,215 --> 00:43:44,974 Ruby was trying to squeeze by Cousin Mike in a rock truck. 672 00:43:46,180 --> 00:43:47,698 It wasn't quite enough room. 673 00:43:49,180 --> 00:43:50,801 I bet she felt just awful. 674 00:43:50,836 --> 00:43:53,008 Oh, she did just [bleep]. 675 00:43:53,043 --> 00:43:55,077 - At least she cares. - Oh, yeah. 676 00:43:58,008 --> 00:44:01,663 So, with that being said, we should probably pour some gold. 677 00:44:01,698 --> 00:44:02,801 - Yeah. 678 00:44:02,836 --> 00:44:05,249 Okay, let's do this thing, folks. 679 00:44:05,284 --> 00:44:08,836 <i>Tony has less than 500 ounces in the bank</i> 680 00:44:08,870 --> 00:44:13,387 <i>and needs over 200 a week to hit his 5000 ounce goal.</i> 681 00:44:13,422 --> 00:44:15,387 Three, two, one. Let's go. 682 00:44:17,801 --> 00:44:19,043 Fifteen. 683 00:44:20,594 --> 00:44:21,974 Sixty-five. 684 00:44:22,008 --> 00:44:24,043 Seventy-five, 85. 685 00:44:26,422 --> 00:44:31,594 A hundred and twenty, 130, 140, 686 00:44:31,629 --> 00:44:33,974 150, 160. 687 00:44:36,801 --> 00:44:40,043 162.42. 688 00:44:41,629 --> 00:44:45,111 <i> Worth nearly $300,000.</i> 689 00:44:57,353 --> 00:44:59,180 But you know what? It's better than nothing. 690 00:44:59,215 --> 00:45:00,870 - Yeah. 691 00:45:11,698 --> 00:45:13,422 We'll talk to you guys later. 692 00:45:36,422 --> 00:45:37,663 Hey, T-bird. 693 00:45:37,698 --> 00:45:39,594 - How's it going, Doumitt? - Good. How you doing, buddy? 694 00:45:39,629 --> 00:45:41,008 Pretty good. Thanks. 695 00:45:46,939 --> 00:45:50,008 Well, we finished one, we started another. 696 00:45:50,043 --> 00:45:51,525 Thank you guys for getting that pit done. 697 00:45:51,560 --> 00:45:53,801 But it's one of many. 698 00:45:53,836 --> 00:45:55,629 Yeah. 699 00:45:55,663 --> 00:46:01,594 And Tyson, you got your first big experience there of moving Big Red. 700 00:46:01,629 --> 00:46:02,905 - Yeah. - New safer lot. 701 00:46:02,939 --> 00:46:05,043 But what do you think about Big Red? 702 00:46:05,077 --> 00:46:06,249 It's different. 703 00:46:06,284 --> 00:46:08,111 It's a lot easier getting it where you want it. 704 00:46:08,146 --> 00:46:11,249 It's kind of fun, like every move having to be spot on. 705 00:46:11,284 --> 00:46:14,111 And you even had a point in the right direction the first time, huh? 706 00:46:14,146 --> 00:46:16,180 Yeah. 707 00:46:16,215 --> 00:46:17,870 Good for you, T. 708 00:46:17,905 --> 00:46:20,111 - You want to see how the Keyhole finished up? - Let's do it. 709 00:46:20,146 --> 00:46:22,491 Why we're here, Doumitt. We want to see some gold. 710 00:46:22,525 --> 00:46:24,043 Keyhole right here. 711 00:46:24,077 --> 00:46:26,111 - I'll take this one. - All right. 712 00:46:26,146 --> 00:46:29,387 So this is the last sluicing Big Red did before we moved it. 713 00:46:30,801 --> 00:46:31,974 All right. 714 00:46:33,939 --> 00:46:39,180 Twenty, 40, 60, 80, 715 00:46:39,215 --> 00:46:45,491 100, 120, 140, 150. 716 00:46:45,525 --> 00:46:51,387 Keep going, 174.05. 717 00:46:51,422 --> 00:46:55,594 <i> Worth over $310,000.</i> 718 00:46:56,801 --> 00:46:58,284 That's not bad. 719 00:46:58,318 --> 00:47:00,111 I mean, when you look at the amount of runtime it had. 720 00:47:00,146 --> 00:47:01,767 Exactly. 721 00:47:01,801 --> 00:47:04,905 So the big question, Chris, that's two days of running at the Keyhole cut, 722 00:47:04,939 --> 00:47:06,974 - finishing that off at 174. - Right. 723 00:47:07,008 --> 00:47:10,422 How did we do at Easy Street with two days of running? 724 00:47:10,456 --> 00:47:13,801 Well, there's not a lot of hours on this thing, right? 725 00:47:13,836 --> 00:47:15,180 - Yeah. - Here we go. 726 00:47:15,215 --> 00:47:16,387 - Let's do it. - Oh, no. 727 00:47:16,422 --> 00:47:19,387 - One. - He tipped a long way before anything came out. 728 00:47:20,629 --> 00:47:24,870 Thirty, 35, 38, 729 00:47:24,905 --> 00:47:28,422 40, 55.8. 730 00:47:28,456 --> 00:47:31,560 <i>Another $100,000.</i> 731 00:47:34,180 --> 00:47:38,836 So for the week it's 229.85. 732 00:47:38,870 --> 00:47:43,422 And for the season, we just brought 1200 and 1204.45. 733 00:47:43,456 --> 00:47:44,525 That wasn't a bad week. 734 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:46,318 Knowing we moved the wash plant in the middle. 735 00:47:46,353 --> 00:47:47,387 - Yeah. 736 00:47:47,422 --> 00:47:50,387 And what, a total of four days running? 737 00:47:50,422 --> 00:47:51,870 All this going on? 738 00:47:51,905 --> 00:47:53,456 I think we did okay. I think we did good. 739 00:47:53,491 --> 00:47:54,594 Yeah. 740 00:47:54,629 --> 00:47:55,939 We got a long way to go. 741 00:47:55,974 --> 00:47:58,318 All right, Chris, thank you for that. 742 00:47:58,353 --> 00:47:59,422 Yup. 743 00:47:59,456 --> 00:48:01,111 See you next week. Thanks, man. 744 00:48:01,146 --> 00:48:02,491 Thanks, Chris. 744 00:48:03,305 --> 00:49:03,696