"Feeders coming on." "Narrator:" "On this "Gold Rush"..." "It looks like the pay streak's running out." "Todd:" "Holy frick!" "Everybody stop." "We might have a fricking problem down here." "[ thud ]" "What is that?" "Enough is enough." "Todd:" "316 mining's deep in the red." "That's it?" "I can't keep doing this." "I'm pulling out." "Todd:" "We've been best friends for seven years." "Needs some work." "She's spinning out." "Holy shit." "You've got to be kidding me." "You spent a fortune on a wash plant, and you can't even run the fuckin' thing." "I'm fuckin' annoyed." "Rick:" "It's that time of year where Parker becomes a different person." "And I'm left confused." "Leave me the fuck alone." "Hate to say this, Parker, but I think this Is a Hoffman cleanup." "This doesn't look too good." "Everything's great." "It's like the fuckin' Garden of Eden around here." "Freddy, how's the sluice running?" "It's looking good, Todd." "We're making gold." "Know what?" "The Buckland's open for business." "Narrator:" "In Oregon, after a disastrous first half of the season," "The Hoffman crew has finally struck gold at the Buckland." "Todd:" "This whole season's been an absolute stress ball." "Hopefully, it finishes up better than it started." "I have a pretty heavy weight on my shoulders right now." "But, uh, I feel like we're finally turning the corner." "These guys are my family." "I just want to get gold for these guys." "Last week," "They took a vital step towards Todd's 5,000-ounce, $6 million goal..." "A 52.6-ounce cleanup worth over $60,000" "From just two days running." "We dug this huge hole." "We finally found the gold right over there, right next to the dredge track." "We're gonna go get that gold there and go right underneath that dredge." "Narrator:" "Two months ago, Todd leased the Buckland claim from Marvin Wirth." "Turin:" "This is definitely dredge track, isn't it?" "Wirth:" "The dredge ran basically the full length of this spot right up till here." "But no one's been in here seriously since the '20s." "How do we know they didn't just pick it clean?" "I mean, these old guys were pretty good." "I guess, to put it in a nutshell, Todd, um, the dredge didn't make it to the bottom." "There'll be gold at the bottom." "100 years ago," "A dredge mined a gold-rich pay streak on the Buckland." "The pay streak was so rich, It produced 24,000 ounces," "Worth $7 million at today's value." "Todd's been told there's a layer of main pay" "At a depth the dredge couldn't get to." "But before they go under the old dredge path," "The men are mining a small pocket of side pay they hit last week." "Logan: there's a narrow strip of virgin pay." "And it's just outside the dredge track." "And that's what we're chasing." "The dredge came through here and just hit crazy gold." "So..." "Whatever they couldn't get," "We're hoping that It's just as rich." "Finally get some gold, finally get my mortgage covered." "Kevin:" "Right now, it's looking good." "And hopefully, they just kind of keep going that way." "Todd, Dave, you guys got a copy?" "I need to see you guys down here in the cut." "Yeah, Andy." "Go ahead." "What's up?" "It looks like the pay streak's running out." "Oh, crap." "Holy frick." "There's your pay." "It just fricking disappeared." "Aw!" "No kidding." "It ends right about here." "Turin:" "You think?" "Spinks:" "I think so." "Realistically, you probably got two feet of pay." "We just lost, probably, over 60% of what we had." "That's it." "That's all we got." "From here up, It's just crap." "There's no gold in this." "I guarantee it." "Narrator:" "Andy has been excavating a streak of side pay" "Running along the wall of dredge tailings." "But it's dramatically reduced in size to a tiny deposit." "Turin:" "Dig overburden for three days." "And now haul pay for one day." "It's not worth it." "Uh uh." "Okay." "From now on, we need to focus on getting that main pay." "With the side pay all but disappeared," "It's time for the Hoffmans to implement the master plan." "Todd:" "If we can get into that bottom of that dredge track," "I think we're gonna turn this thing around." "I really do." "Narrator:" "Last week, Tony Beets hauled in a monster 532 ounces of gold, worth over $600,000," "Putting him three quarters of the way to hitting" "His 2,000-ounce, $2.4 million goal." "Now, after his biggest-ever weigh-in," "He's smelting $1.25 million worth." "Last week, Tony's tugboat, Kid Commando, was ruled unseaworthy," "Leaving his new dredge stranded 100 miles upriver at Thistle Creek." "But now he can afford to fix the problem." "The latest addition to Tony's Viking fleet..." "A twin-engine, 60-foot-long power barge." "[ honk ]" "No, I'm a young whipper-snapper." "Needs some work." "You might want to change the order of that, 'cause if you weld it after you paint it," "You'll paint it again." "I know." "Narrator:" "The barge has been sitting in a yard for 30 years." "And it's never been deployed." "The 60,000-pound colossus is split in three giant sections." "Once the convoy, with its 15,000-pound cargo," "Leaves the highway, it faces a 5-mile climb to Paradise Hill." "Mike:" "She's spinning out!" "Can't hold it." "She's spinning back down." "Once they start spinning, then I lose traction." "And once I lose traction, I'm just gonna keep spinning and digging a hole." "Narrator:" "Less than a mile from Paradise Hill," "Mike Beets' truck has spun out on a 30% gradient." "[ honk ]" "The solution..." "Tony's military eight-wheel drive, off-road truck, the Oshkosh." "That, I do." "I like it when things go nice." "Rick:" "We're already starting so late." "I need to get going down here." "Narrator:" "It's a big day for Parker Schnabel's foreman, Rick Ness." "Lost crew for a while." "Thought it was dead for a while." "Finally got to start back up at Indian River." "Three weeks ago, Parker commandeered the Indian River rock trucks," "Leaving Rick's claim idle." "Now Parker's returned them." "And Rick can finish what he started..." "Produce 1,000 ounces from their second mine" "Towards Parker's 4,000-ounce, $4.8 million goal." "I think we still might have enough time in the season" "To pull 1,000 ounces out of Indian River." "But we're...we're really gonna be up against it." "Five miles east, at Scribner Creek, Parker is under pressure." "Halfway through the season," "He's only a quarter way to his goal." "You've got to be kidding me." "I don't know who designed this fuckin' joke?" "Cut the power." "And now he's got a problem with his wash plant." "This is fuckin' disgusting." "And this..." "Rocks are falling into the riffles," "Preventing the gold from settling into the miners moss." "The amount of fuckin' boulders in here..." "You spend a fuckin' fortune on a wash plant, and" "You can't even run the fuckin' thing without getting buried." "It'll be a wonder if there's any gold in here." "No dirt's making it down in the sluice box." "Leave me the fuck alone." "At Indian River," "Rick and Brennan are busy trying to get their cut down to pay dirt." "I'm going to do my damnedest to make this a success." "But, you know, it's..." "It's just becoming harder and harder as we lose time." "Brennan:" "I know it means a lot for Rick to succeed down here in Indian River." "But I know that he really wants to make a go of it" "And prove to Parker, like, you know," ""I can do this on my own."" "Parker:" "I'm fuckin' annoyed." "I don't understand why people don't look at the sluice runs." "And they see rocks half the size of your fist rolling down them and realize there's a problem." "Look at the fuckin' runs, right?" "So" "I need you to deal with it, uh" "So something in the bottom deck's..." "Missing, probably." "I'm assuming." "Okay." "Um..." "Okay." "You look sad." "Rick:" "Parker just yelled at me." "There's issues at the wash plant and..." "But he was kind of half-ass blaming me for not noticing big rocks in the sluice box." "Eh?" "Anything that I forgot to..." "That I failed to think of right away was," "He's the fuckin' one that's been working on that bottom deck." "Why the hell does it keep failing?" "Yeah." "Mm-hmm." "Okay, homey." "All right." "Well, I better get going." "I know full well that it's my responsibility to keep Scribner running efficiently." "But it's in his benefit for me to get Indian River up and running." "You know what I mean?" "It's..." "That's more gold for our operation." "I didn't expect him to be pulling me out of there for shit like this." "Narrator:" "Wash plant fixes are a job for mechanic Mitch Blaschke," "But he's away on his honeymoon." "So foreman Rick must deal with the breakdown." "What the fuck?" "That's why it didn't stay in." "Come on." "Parker and Jordan have been kind of moving these screens around as they wear out." "'Cause they're wearing out more in some spots, but" "The thing you can't do is you can't take a side one" "And try to pop it In the middle like that because it doesn't have, uh, the proper clips on the bottom." "These go into a hole." "where the pin comes through," "It bends them out, and that's what holds them in." "Narrator:" "The screen decks are made up of removable panels." "The center panels have clips attached which slot into sockets." "Pegs then secure the clips in the sockets." "But Parker has been using panels without clips." "They've become loose, creating gaps" "And allowing rocks to slip down into the riffles," "Where they disturb the water flow and cause the gold to wash out." "We've got some block-out pads that usually we put at the very top to take the abuse." "Only problem with them is, obviously, no materials gonna go through that." "But... it's gonna plug our hole for now, 'till we get the right screens." "It's got the proper... clips on the bottom." "Fuck, fuck." "I just hammered my fuckin' finger." "Sluicifer's first taste of blood, now." "This is definitely something that Mitch would be up to\if he was here." "But he is not, so it's up to me." "All right." "That's right on." "Okay." "Firing it up." "[ motor starts ]" "How'd it go?" "It's good now." "Just another day in Paradise, Rick." "Yippee." "Yippee." "Narrator:" "The third and final section of Tony Beets' power barge arrives at Paradise Hill." "He's banking on this beast to haul his new dredge" "Down the Yukon River from Thistle Creek." "Tony's always going 100 miles an hour, but..." "Today, he's in an extra rush." "Tony entrusts the job of hoisting the 15,000-pound bow to his kids," "Monica and Mike, and a pair of ancient loaders." "Tony:" "Good." "Monica:" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Shit!" "Yup." "Narrator:" "Now Tony and his crew can put the 60,000-pound monster back together." "Mike:" "Just a hair." "Narrator:" "Tony Beets' crew has a further 300 feet of welding" "And some serious restoration on the motors." "Before his new power barge will be seaworthy." "Rick:" "Too much for me to do at Scribner, here." "I'm out here this morning doing tailings 'cause there's just nobody else to do it." "At Parker's Scribner Creek claim, the tailings are building up to the point" "They're nearly hitting the conveyor." "Even though he's been tasked with getting 1,000 ounces from Indian River," "Foreman Rick Ness is still responsible for running both claims." "I can't walk away from Scribner Creek." "It's got to have, you know..." "it's gotta keep chugging along 24 hours a day." "So..." "I don't really know what else to do." "Parker is falling behind," "And is desperate to increase production on both mines." "Parker:" "So what's going on with you?" "Nothing." "What's wrong with you?" "Do you feel like you're spin..." "I'm just curious why you're up here." "You feel like you're spinning your wheels with things to do?" "Figured I'd get the tailings so that they weren't gonna be an issue." "I would imagine that you have a million things to do, don't you?" "Yeah, I kind of was hoping to talk to you, though, too." "About what?" "Just..." "Logistics of getting things done down there." "There's just a few things I need." "Have you messed with that Generator yet?" "No." "Have you messed with the heat plate on the fuse machine?" "No." "It's just this little shit that's gonna kill you." "It's not the big stuff." "Yeah." "So," "Like, the other night, you asked me, "Oh, is there anything that needs to get done?"" "Grab a couple beers and grab the heat plate and plug it in." "See if the fuckin' thing works, right?" "So I'm dropping the ball?" "I'm not saying that." "I'm just, you know," "We don't have a lot of people to work with here, and we..." "It's up to us to get that shit done." "Yeah, I know." "All right." "Yeah, I got plenty to do." "So I'll get down there." "And to start with, we just," "After dinner, plug in the fuckin' heat plate and see what happens." "It's that.." "time of year where" "Parker becomes a different person and I'm left confused." "[ chuckles ]" "I'm really fuckin' sick of it." "I mean, it's been five years of this shit." "I just don't get Parker sometimes." "At this point, I don't think I ever will." "Todd:" "Andy, dig down right in here 'cause if there's gold up here," "It should be pretty damn good down there." "We got to get down In that dredge track." "Let's kick some ass." "Todd:" "316 mining's deep in the red." "But the gold's down there." "I think we're gonna be able to do it." "I think we'll be In the gold pretty quick." "Narrator:" "In Oregon, the Hoffman crew is staking their season" "On a new plan." "After running out of side pay," "They're now going straight for a streak" "Of gold-rich main pay beneath the old dredge track." "We're shifting our entire cut from the side pay," "Where the dredge didn't go." "And now we're focusing on where the dredge was." "But we're gonna go deeper than the dredge." "Safety officer Trey Poulson is digging down" "Through the tailings In a 200 excavator." "The whole crew has gathered for this season-defining moment." "Todd:" "If we can't get virgin pay underneath that dredge, we're screwed." "Let's just hope this pay streak is damn good." "When the dredge came through here," "They deposit just real fine tailings." "I mean, it's, it's like wet kitty litter." "So what I'm doing now is I'm just digging down to see" "If I can get to the bottom of these dredge slickings." "We need to find out what layer this pay is at." "Trey is searching for the bottom of the dredge channel," "Looking for the streak of gold-rich main pay" "Between the layer of fine tailings and bedrock." "Spinks:" "That's where the good gold is." "Where they couldn't get down deep enough." "Fred:" "If there's virgin material underneath, they left a layer of pay." "It'll have some gold." "Hopefully, there's enough In there to really just put a lot of gold In these guys' pockets." "Poulson:" "I can't believe this." "I've got this dig buried out all the way down below me." "And I am not..." "I'm not able to hit, uh..." "I'm not hitting any rock." "It's just all slicking." "Shit." "Hey, guys, I'm not able to hit the bottom of these slickings." "Narrator:" "Trey Poulson" "Is attempting to get down to a gold-rich pay layer" "That should transform the Hoffmans' season." "But the arm on his excavator is maxed out." "Luckily, we've got a long-reach here" "That we were using for pond cleanout." "This is gonna go down, probably, twice as deep as any other hoe we have." "We're gonna give it a shot, see what's underneath." "Spinks:" "can only imagine what's gonna be in the bottom of it." "Fred:" "This is gonna be our day." "I'm hoping these slickings will go away" "And I get down to the pay layer." "Pretty dang deep." "We need pay." "All of our work is gonna start paying off." "Todd:" "You know what?" "We've lost a lot of money this season." "We're about ready to have something good happen here." "[ thud ]" "What is that?" "He's on something hard." "Lunch." "What was that?" "Poulson:" "Bedrock." "Guys, give us some space." "I feel like I want to throw up." "Well, we're looking down the barrel of a serious..." "Failure." "That's what we're looking at." "Todd:" "So you think you're scraping that bottom?" "Yeah." "I really do." "It's not anything like we thought." "Turin:" "We were expecting to see something that the dredge left." "And all we're finding is a clean bedrock bottom," "Which is really bad news." "Hey, Dave." "Let's scratch some of that dirt off that." "Pan it." "Dug over the bedrock over there, found out" "The dredge didn't really miss Jack shit." "These old-timers..." "Knew what they were doing." "they really did." "You know, I'm really scared, to be honest with you." "I'm actually frightened." "I feel like a failure this year." "I really do." "Definitely the bottom." "Fred:" "I don't know what..." "Todd's "Plan D", or whatever plan we're on now, is." "But..." "This plan isn't working out well." "Nothing?" "Enough is enough." "Cheeseman:" "Well, we're gonna get the engines," "Hopefully start the engines up and see how they run." "Narrator:" "At Paradise Hill, Tony Beets' crew has finished welding the power barge." "That will transport his new dredge down the Yukon River." "But its engines have been idle for 30 years." "And it's down to Gene Cheeseman to get them running." "Cheeseman:" "they're the key piece to the..." "To the whole thing." "If they don't run, then you got to find..." "Go spend the money to buy some other engines." "Well they, they supposedly are new motors." "So it should be nothing, really, to get them back to life except fuel and power." "You ready, Oscar?" "Yep, take her over." "Fine." "[ engine cranking ] [ begins to fire, then starts]" "Fuck." "Shit." "Hey!" "You want to kill that main switch, Gene?" "There's something wrong here." "We got a problem with this." "We're overpressuring the oil cooler." "And, uh.." "Why, why it's over pressurizing, we don't know." "It's starting to swell up." "It's got a couple leaks." "So, um..." "Just trying to figure that out." "Didn't come with an instruction book, here." "Some of this is got to learn it as we go." "I could see, I could see the oil dripping out of it right here." "This oil cooler for the transmission." "It's..." "You can see oil dripping out of the fittings and stuff." "We're watching the pressure gauges." "It's not what we want to have." "Well, it is taking the air." "Well, that's what I'm wondering, Is if we got air lock in them." "Yeah." "Narrator:" "Gene and mechanic Oscar suspect an air lock in the cooling system is causing it to leak." "Is it getting tight?" "Okay." "If they are right, purging the air should fix the problem." "Well, let's fire it up." "We had to get that air out of there." "That's what the leaks were." "Ready to try this thing, see if it's gonna come to life?" "Oscar:" "Yeah." "Okay, well, hit it." "[ engine cranking ] [ engine starts ]" "It's good." "Oh, it's holding it pretty steady." "It sounded about 1,800 or so." "[ engine slows, stops ]" "Cheeseman:" "Now we know that they're gonna run, and..." "Finish getting everything hooked up and get it in the water." "Finally got them running all right, I think," "And firing up on their own, and" "Pretty amazing that they sound as good as they do." "Yep." "I hear that gravel was loaded with gold." "And I don't see any in it right now." "Narrator:" "Chris Doumitt is starting the cleanup for Parker's new cut." "No, I don't know." "It looked like we were on a good pay dirt to me." "Parker's relying on his boundary cut extension" "To turn their season around." "Usually, I would see about 20 ounces." "I don't think I've seen two." "Hate to say this, Parker, but I think this is a Hoffman cleanup." "Parker:" "Everything's great." "It's like the fuckin' Garden of Eden around here." "Parker's birthday dinner tonight." "Supposed to have something special." "Narrator:" "Mine boss Parker Schnabel has just turned 22." "Rick:" "Good call, Bailey." "Chris: good call, Bail's." "And camp cook Bailey Hinchliffe has prepared his favorite birthday meal." "Rick:" "I smell crab and butter." "Steaks, even." "Nice." "We're missing someone." "Parker ain't here." "Where is he?" "Do you know?" "Um," "Youle:" "Well, I tried to radio Parker, but I can't get a hold of him." "You guys should probably just eat 'cause..." "Yeah, there's no point." "I put lots of effort into it." "and everyone else might as well enjoy it." "Okay." "Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" "King crab, man." "So good." "You know, this is weird because, for the last five years," "I've been at every one of his birthdays." "His grandpa's been at every one of his birthdays," "Chris:" "Yeah." "I wonder if that's why he's kind of avoiding it." "Got to be something." "I didn't remind him that we had the dinner tonight, but..." "He knew." "I'm pretty sure that he knew." "So, what is the plan for dessert?" "Uh well, I made a cake." "But I kind of think we should wait for Parker, with us.." "I mean, we can eat without him, but..." "Eat his cake without him?" "Yeah." "That would be pretty brutal." "Yeah." "All right." "Chris: it's a very odd, awkward birthday party." "There's a lot of things going on, you know." "There have been issues with he and Rick" "Down at Indian River cut and up here at this plant." "He's got a lot on his mind, again, you know," "His grandfather's not here for his birthday." "This doesn't look too good." "This year, we've got a lot bigger goal." "But.." "You know, we got sluicing late and." "A lot of things have gone on this year." "Really, we need to be doing 200 ounces a week." "All right." "Let's see what we got." "There's not much In there...20 50." "Yeah." "Not even 100 ounces, I don't think." "There's 90... 96.4" "Narrator:" "Worth just $115,000." "It's not good." "Fuck." "It's the worst cleanup we've had in a long time." "Couple years, probably." "So, we're in trouble." "It was disheartening digging down through there, I mean." "Each bucket was just waiting for a crunch," "And there was nothing." "It literally broke my heart watching you dig that." "Narrator:" "The Hoffman crew was banking on a massive pay streak beneath the dredge track." "But they found nothing." "All they have is the results of a small pocket of side pay." "Big jar you got there, Jack." "Yeah." "The only trouble Is it's not full." "Aw, no." "It's closer to empty than full." "That's it?" "Todd:" "How much?" "12.55" "Uh-aww." "Narrator:" "Just $15,000." "Poulson:" "That's not gonna pay anybody's bills." "That was our whole cleanup for..." "12 guys!" " I get it." "I get it." "This ain't gonna work." "Guys, let's just hope that..." "Pay streak widens out and gets thick." "How many times are we gonna do these wild goose chases?" "I can't keep doing this." "I don't know about you." "I can't." "Todd:" "Everybody calm down." "Come on." "Keep your heads up." "Keep positive." "And let's figure this out." "Poulson:" "Keep positive?" "We have 12 freaking ounces." "I know." "Listen." "Hang in there." "Things could turn around tomorrow." "But I tell you what..." "If we fall apart, we're done." "It's time to, to load up and go somewhere else." "I'm pulling out for now." "there's not enough pay..." "And there's not enough to make everybody a living here." "Freddy!" "I'm on my leave." "Aww, dude, really?" "We've been friends a long time." "Seven years, man." "We've been best friends for seven years." "And we've handled worse things than this." "Oh, I know." "Is there anything I can do to get you to change your mind?" "I got to go for now." "I don't know." "Just hurts." "Okay?" "Okay?" "Yeah." "Subs by Jack T" "Friends don't leave friends when they're down like this." "And..." "Freddy just split on me." "Narrator:" "On the next "Gold Rush"" "You spent all our money and you didn't measure it?" "Hey, hey, hey!" "There's 40." "We're well behind right now." "Yeah, we're in trouble." "This isn't the way it's supposed to be, okay?" "Hey, hey, hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Fuck." "I'm done." "What?" "!" "Oregon was meant to be a beautiful homecoming." "It's just turned into an absolute nightmare." "I lost my whole team."