Bering Sea Gold (2012–…): Season 6, Episode 10 - Jackpot - full transcript
Shawn returns to Nome to find Derek on his spot, setting up a showdown at the High Noon. As the final gold hauls are tallied, Steve finds out whether or not his inland dream was worth the ...
Shawn: Gold mining
every day is a gamble.
We've spent $1 million
this season.
Steve: You have to gamble,
go for that wanderlust,
That exceptional
treasure-hunting day
When you hit the mother lode.
Emily: I'm gonna keep on doing
What I believe
is best for success.
And I don't have
any intentions of failing.
Zeke:
Well, once you're down there
and you see the gold down there,
The possibilities are unlimited.
Derek:
If I can't make this happen,
I don't sink my battleship,
I sink everyone.
Kris: You can fail
a million times.
You only need to make it really
one time big.
Just keep trying
until I make it.
Narrator: Nome, alaska.
Emily: All of our lines
are startin' to freeze.
The harbor is getting
more solid every day.
Narrator: The freezing
of the harbor means the end
Of the dredging season
is close at hand.
The freeze has already come.
For much of the fleet,
a summer of gambling...
Better know what you're doin'.
Better be prepared
To lose all the money
that you brought up here.
Narrator: ...Has come down
to one final hail mary.
To get out there and to try
to make as much gold as we can
Before we're frozen.
Narrator:
In a matter of just hours,
some will come up blank.
We're all burnt out,
work around the clock
And get as much gold in this box
As we possibly can
before that harbor says,
"you're done."
Narrator: But one will hit
The biggest...
Jackpot...
Ever.
[ cheering ]
Nice!
Captions paid for by
discovery communications
Narrator: Nowhere is winter
more apparent...
Yeah-huh!
Good pay dirt.
There's lots of it.
...Than just below
anvil mountain
At the pomrenke inland mine.
We got termination dust today,
End of the season dust.
Look at the windshield
on the ford.
It looks like mother nature's
tryin' to thrash us out of --
Out of business here.
The dirt's got
some big rocks in it.
It's got the right color.
It's got the right texture.
It's good pay dirt.
I know it's good pay dirt.
Narrator:
With the end of the season
creeping up fast...
Steve: It's 24 hours a day now.
Twenty-four hours a day we try
to keep this thing running.
...Sixty-three-year-old
steve pomrenke
Is grinding
towards a golden finish.
Steve: It's late in the season.
Well, we spent a million gettin'
this up and runnin'.
But now, we're gettin'
our money back here.
Might not get it all back
this year.
But we're gonna give it
a damn good try.
Narrator:
A year and a half ago...
Are you in on
the inland mining or out?
...Steve rolled the dice
on one last shot
At an inland mining operation.
The dozer cost me $125,000
right off the bat.
Narrator: After spending every
cent of the company profits...
I appreciate you guys
all showin' up
For the ground-breaking
ceremony here
For our new inland
mining operation.
...And duking it out
with his flesh and blood...
I don't like fightin'
with you.
I don't wanna fight
with you, either.
...His dream...
-One seventy-six.
-Yeah!
...Became reality.
-That's a big pile of gold.
-Yeah.
Narrator: Now...
I need about $17 in each bucket
To make me happy.
Twenty bucks a bucket
would be happy -- make me happy.
Narrator:
...He's sitting just 324 ounces
Away from his season one goal.
Well, I started out with saying
how we want 500 ounces.
So that's -- I guess
I'm gonna have to go for that.
I'm completely tired, and I --
I can take a week off
and go to cancun right now.
You wouldn't have to ask me
twice.
Narrator: Steve isn't the only
pomrenke gambling big.
One hundred miles
to the east...
Shawn: Yeah, I been grindin'
16, 18-hour days.
Narrator: Steve's son, shawn,
Has been prospecting
for nearly a solid week.
I was hopin' to come down here
and hit it big,
But doesn't look
like it's gonna happen.
Narrator: But unfortunately
for mr. Gold...
I don't even know
if it's enough gold
To even warrant
turnin' the wash plant on.
...The massive claim
is proving elusive.
I mean, maybe it's here
somewhere.
But this is a big, big area.
And I could be,
like, 10 feet
Away from it here,
10 feet away from it there.
This is where we were
at this winter.
We were seein'
a little bit of gold.
But I can't seem
to zone in on it.
Wish I would've had
a lot more time.
But dad drug his feet
so long on the inland mining
It cost me a lot
of precious time
To be able to prospect
and actually find the gold.
Narrator: With the temperature
dropping by the day...
-Nothin'.
-Nothin'.
...The clock has run out
on shawn's gamble at the bluff.
Dude, I think --
I think we call it.
It's gettin' [bleep].
It's gettin' cold.
-Yeah.
-The end is near.
Since bluff was a bust,
I have to go back to the tomcot
And make up for that lost time
and lost money, lost revenue.
Let's go back and make some gold
before the season's over.
That's what we need to do.
Let's do it.
Old man's gonna be pissed.
Get the hell outta here.
The bluff won this --
this go-around,
But I think I'll be back.
Narrator: While shawn races
to town
Looking for one last run,
70 miles to the west,
Just off the solomon river...
We could be going getting
easy gold today.
But instead, we're going off
on another [bleep] adventure.
Narrator: Unwilling to take
"no gold" for an answer...
I know we're gonna make
a million bucks off of this.
...The fightin' kellys
are gearing up
For one last shot at glory.
We got to push --
push it to the limit today.
This time,
packing a secret weapon.
What's that c.O.G.?
Oh, [bleep].
Nobody knows how to read
that [bleep] thing?
So I bought this thousand dollar
side radar gps.
I should be able
to find cobble in our claims
And actually see if our claims
are worth the millions
Of dollars
that I think's that's there.
Just be quiet.
I know what I'm doin'.
We haven't really figured out
how to work it that well.
But, you know, I [bleep]
Play video games almost
for a living.
You know, I'm great at 'em.
This is what's gonna turn
around our system right here.
Narrator: Four months ago...
All the way down as far
as you can see is our claim.
...The kelly boys sunk $10,000
on these unexplored claims
With dreams of striking it rich.
But instead of gold-rich cobble,
they hit barren sand.
-[ bleep ]
-come on you fat [bleep].
And, eventually, each other.
Now...
So, where I kinda want to go
is to this point right here.
...With their meager winnings
tied up in their new scanner...
We might come
across a 500-ounce pocket
Is really what I'm hoping
to find.
...The kellys are betting
the last of their chips
That this time
solomon pays off big.
If we don't make
this next spot work,
That's it for us.
I'd be stuck working
on someone else's boat
Because we don't have
enough money
To make it through the winter.
Kris: We're here.
There it is.
Like, look at all this
looks rough in here.
-Look at this.
-Yeah.
No, looks very rough,
you know.
Some kind of pixels.
Throw an anchor out and see
what's underneath us here.
Anchor, andy.
See how it's, like, bumping?
It's lots of bumps.
Lots of bumps.
Yeah, no, there's somethin'
very bumpy underneath there.
Okay, we're
at the 14-foot...
Bought a thousand-dollar
machine
And I'm still out here doin'
the anchor system.
-Are we on cobble?
-Yeah.
-Yeah, we're on cobble.
-That's cobble!
I told you my machine worked!
You okay? You okay?
Calm down.
Calm down.
You might fall off.
It's cobble [bleep].
-It's cobble.
-Yeah.
-I heard it over there.
-Give me some love.
Narrator: After finally locating
a spot with cobble,
There's just one thing
left to do.
Or else this is all for nothin'.
Okay, we're ready to go.
This is it.
Last chance.
I really need to lead
my family to gold.
If it doesn't work,
I'm gonna hear this for,
Like, the rest of my life.
I'm gonna hear
about this [bleep]
At christmas 10 years
down the road
About how I ruined everything.
Ready?
Good.
He slipped.
I'm goin' to work, baby!
How's it lookin' down there?
What the [bleep]?
[ air hisses ]
It's all [bleep] sand.
What about when you threw
the anchor over
And tested for cobble
on the bottom?
I thought you hit cobble.
Andy said [bleep]
hit cobble.
[ laughs ]
I hit rock, [bleep].
I don't care what it says.
[ air hisses ]
oh, this sucks.
All I see is sand everywhere.
We don't know how to [bleep]
work that machine at all.
Narrator: While the kellys
fight through
The technical difficulties,
30 miles west on the eroica...
Just zeke and I here alone
At the end
of the 2015 mining season.
Narrator:
After a summer plagued
With crew issues earned her
a meager 37 ounces...
Sorry, I got the [bleep]
migraine from hell.
I'm all nauseous.
I don't want to [bleep]
Deal with any of zeke's sass.
Narrator:
Captain emily riedel has formed
a late-season alliance
With ex-partner zeke tenhoff.
The pair look to pull themselves
and each other out of the fire.
This is probably gonna be
my last dive of the season.
And that's okay.
It's not gonna make me rich.
But it's gonna be
a little extra scratch
To get me through
the next 3 months of my life.
Then all's right in the world.
Emily: I'm really burnt out
on people.
I'm really burnt out
on the crew.
The walls are always
[bleep] crashin' down in nome.
It's hard losing a crew.
It's really hard having
all these financial burdens.
Ah! So cold!
I know that we're still on gold
In this spot
that daryl left us on.
But this season is almost over.
And it's gonna be
the worst season on my boat
Unless I pull together
some more gold
Out of the end of it.
Go make some gold!
[ air hissing ]
All right.
Yes.
Okay. I have you. Good.
[ air hissing over speaker ]
Hey, zeke, I feel
like I can't breathe.
I feel like I'm passing out.
Wait, what?
Hey, zeke, get the [bleep]
up here!
♪♪
Narrator:
Off the coast of nome...
I can't breathe very well.
I don't -- I don't know
if I'm having a panic attack
Or whether this is, like,
a serious problem.
It felt like I was havin'
a panic attack.
But I haven't had, like,
an actual panic attack in years.
Why don't you go sit down?
I'll come up for a second.
Oh, it's okay.
Dude, let's just go chill
in the cabin for a minute, dude.
I've had panic attacks before.
They suck.
I don't want to dismiss emily.
You know, I have some empathy
and respect
For what she's doin' in nome.
I mean, uh, her best diver
got hurt in a car accident.
That's terrible for her.
That said, we don't have time
To sit on a boat
and just freak out.
-I don't fully understand.
-I thought I was dying.
I, like, literally thought
that I was unable to breathe
And that I was going to,
like, pass out.
We're on good gold.
Everything's goin' okay.
Clearly, you got a lot
on your mind.
Probably some bigger problems
that I don't know about.
Is it the I.R.S.? 'cause I have
that, too, sometimes.
[ emily laughs ]
Zeke and I are
from the same place.
We grew up the same way.
And -- and having him
on the boat
And his terrible wit,
which pisses me off, is...
It's great having him around.
But the next step is just simply
staying to the point.
We're gonna mine as hard
as we can before we have to go.
And that kind of came
out of the blue for me.
Zeke must be, like, a major,
Like, mental trigger for,
Like, everything
that's wrong in my life.
I'll try to hold it together
For the rest
of zeke's dive today.
Narrator: While emily struggles
to reach the finish line...
30 miles east
On the reaper...
We're looking for cobble.
We're drifting backwards
looking for cobble.
...The fightin' kellys
have been looking
To land a knock-out punch.
With the help of a complicated
bottom sounder in their corner.
But, so far...
I haven't found
any cobble yet.
...All they've done
is pound sand.
Got this really deep
bottom side finder.
Tells us everything
but where the [bleep] gold is.
Well, we got this, uh,
300-page instruction
book with it
That no one's gonna read.
We don't have time to waste.
All I see is sand everywhere.
Narrator: After scouring
over 10 acres
With no sign of gold...
...The kellys
are callin' it quits.
This is [bleep]!
This is [bleep]!
There's no [bleep]
gold here.
There's no [bleep] gold!
I'll save us, don't worry.
This is still [bleep].
Everybody's a little
frustrated right now.
We got a lot of money
invested in this situation.
We're gonna have no gold
for the season.
So I got to come up
with a different strategy.
But, hey, good old dad's always
gonna be right there,
No problem.
Here we are with all these
claims and there's no [bleep]
Way I'm gonna make
any of my money back from it.
My dad and my brother,
they need to wake up
And see this might be
the end of it.
I don't know how we're gonna
[bleep] make it back from this.
What the [bleep]
is that supposed to mean?
You just got to trust me
on this one.
Kris,
I always take care of us.
And I will. Don't worry.
Narrator: As the sun rises
over a freezing bering sea,
In nome harbor...
It's a relief to see the thing
back in the port here
And not to see it sunk
on the damn ocean port.
Dad's here waitin' for us.
Hopefully he's got better news
than what we got.
I didn't communicate with my dad
at all when I was at the bluff
Just because I didn't want
to tell him
I wasn't findin' any gold.
Not really lookin' forward
to hearin'
What he has to say
about it bein' a bust.
How much gold did we find?
Not much.
What?
Explain everything to me.
You guys didn't have
a damn phone?
You couldn't call me once
in a while,
Let me know
what the hell's goin' on?
[bleep], we were
fightin' it the whole time.
No gold.
How's the inland goin'?
I'm gettin' back out there
because that's payin'.
That good? [ laughs ]
at least --
Well, somebody's got to pay
for this whole operation.
And it ain't you guys
right now.
-Oh, [bleep].
-Sorry.
I'm glad to see you back.
I'm glad you guys are back.
Get your asses
back out to tomcot
And start makin' some money.
Back to work.
All right.
The bluff thing is,
to me, was --
It's kind of a pointless trip.
That cost us extra money.
And I don't like
the idea of cost --
Anything costin' you
extra money.
Shawn:
I got a spot on the tomcot.
I'm goin' to clean it up.
We mined there right
before we went to bluff.
It's the last push
of the season.
Gonna get my ass
out there and try --
Try to get some redemption.
It's been a hard summer for me.
'cause dad, he's just been
focused on the inland mine.
But I've had to take care
of the christine rose
And the... Help
out as much as possible.
Dad says there's a lot
of gold in the buckets.
So I hope he's right.
Somebody's been in my gps.
Somebody put a [bleep]
mark in here.
And they're gonna get
their [bleep]
Ass kicked if
they keep touchin' my property.
This is my [bleep] livelihood.
Narrator: That somebody?
7 miles west...
Oh!
With nearly half
a million bucks invested
And only 78 ounces
for the season,
Rookie captain
derek mcclarty
Is fighting dirty
to stay in the game.
I have a tremendous amount
of pressure on me.
It's a strange feeling being in
the race instead of spectating.
It's a whole
different perspective.
[bleep] yeah, man,
let's do this.
I don't think he has any idea
that we've got his coordinates.
No such thing as a fair fight.
This is gold mining.
This is as close
to being modern-day pirates
As you can get.
Eight days ago...
Mr. Gold left his gps on.
...The desperate captain
snuck onto the christine rose
And helped himself
to mr. Gold's coordinates.
Thank you, mr. Gold.
Now...
Good luck.
...He's been spending
the last 6 days
Trying to clean it out
Before shawn gets back
from the bluff.
But 100 yards behind them...
Oh, look at this.
What the [bleep]?
Derek's right on my damn spot.
I've worked
for the last 15 years
To get those coordinates.
I've done all the panning
And spent all my time
and money prospecting.
And for him to come in
and think he can just steal it,
And there's not gonna
be any consequences for it...
[ bleep ]
I don't know what I'm
gonna do yet.
But I'm gonna do somethin'.
Derek just started a war
he can't win.
The last run
of the season, we really --
We all need to make some money
to get us through the winter.
Otherwise, none of us really
know what we're gonna do.
Just for shawn, I put this --
This, uh, gps
point down as a heart.
Hey, that's cute.
[ horn honks ]
Oh, [bleep].
Shawn's comin'.
♪♪
Narrator: Off the coast
of nome...
[ horn honking ]
Oh, [bleep].
Shawn's comin'.
Uh-oh. I bet he's pissed.
Upon arriving
on the tomcot claim,
Shawn pomrenke
Found derek mcclarty
on his coordinates.
I got some bad news, chief.
What's up?
Looks like shawn's here.
How close?
Seventy-five feet.
[ bleep ]
I need to come up or what?
Yeah. You might want to come up
for this one.
He looks pissed.
It looks like shawn's back
from bluff a little --
Little sooner than we thought
he was gonna be.
[bleep] guys [bleep]
want to dive on my spot?
This isn't good.
He's bigger than us.
Shawn: Want to play
[bleep] games?
Dude, he's pissed.
Get off my spot, [bleep].
-He looks pissed.
-He is pissed.
[bleep] [bleep], fellas!
What's up, [bleep]?
Come on. You want [bleep]
steal my spot?
-Ah!
-Get in!
[ thud ]
-oh!
That one ripped the door off.
[ bleep ]
I'm tired of this guy
[bleep] with me.
Get off my spot,
[bleep]!
He broke my door.
And it looks like he's not done.
They're [bleep] hidin' now.
They got balls
enough to come out
And get on my dredge
While I'm not here
and steal points off my gps.
But their little chicken
[bleep]
Stayin' in the cabin.
Looks like you're havin'
a little trouble with your door.
The gold's out here
in the ocean.
I don't see your name on it.
Well, my name's on
my [bleep] gps.
See how he does with
his anchor lines twisted up.
Looks like he's goin'
for an anchor line.
Dude, he better not.
If he goes for a rear anchor,
We got to grab the dogs
up front quick
Or we'll break line.
-Oh, no.
-Oh, that son of a bitch.
Well, he's got me
in a bind now
Because there's nothin'
I can...
I mean, to pull
these two anchors,
I'd have to nose up to him.
You gonna get the [bleep]
out of my spot now?
Narrator: Mr. Gold has
the high noon by the buoys.
Derek: Come on. We'll move!
We'll move!
Come on!
[ horn honks ]
Shawn:
I think they got the point.
Chased that weasel, derek,
off my spot.
Might have [bleep]
the dredge up a little bit.
But tough [bleep].
He wants to [bleep] with me,
I'm gonna [bleep] with him.
Basically, when you're
in a fight
With somebody who's
about to win,
It pays to be able
to run faster.
I'm leavin'. Oh, man.
I got the anchors
up just in time.
Shawn: That's right.
Put your tail
between your legs and run.
Got derek off the spot.
Now, it's time to mine.
He didn't have a chance
against the christine rose.
I may not be able to go as deep
as derek right now.
But I have some big plans
on the horizon.
All this gold
in this whole area,
I plan on gettin' it all.
I want it all.
Narrator: Back in town,
The fightin' irish
are arriving home from solomon.
Somebody just showed up
at the house.
He wants to see
the operation.
So please just go along with
what I'm gonna say, okay?
We don't need a new partner.
Irish luck may have gone cold.
But brad has other irons
in the fire.
Brad: Just watch and learn.
There's two kinds of miners
In this town --
the guy that mines the miner
And then the miner mining gold.
Guess which one I am.
Kris: Okay. Whatever.
Kris just doesn't see the vision
of the solomon claims.
It's all part
of the master plan.
That's all I can tell you.
I got to go see if he's here.
He might be here right now.
Let me go see if he's here.
You guys hang on.
He wants to meet you guys.
I'm always scared when my dad
says he has a plan
And trust him.
To anybody out there, be worried
when my dad says he has a plan.
When he gets desperate, it's --
He'll -- it's him over everyone.
His name's brett ward.
-How you doin'?
-He's from florida.
He just wanted to come
and see how a gold dredge works
And just come on.
You can climb up on the boat.
Be real careful.
We don't have insurance.
If you fall down, get hurt,
that's on you.
[ laughter ]
I'm serious.
I'll tell you right off the bat.
-How you doin'. I'm kris.
-Kris, kris.
-Andy, my brother.
-Yeah.
Take a look
and see what you think.
This... We're only
work 4 hours.
It's 28 miles out of town.
That seems like a long ways
to have to go.
Yeah, it is a long way.
But then,
Uh, look at the rewards
we're getting.
We're gettin' gold like --
like nobody else, you know.
There's probably $6,000,
$7,000 right there, visually,
You can see.
Look at the gold.
You want to check...
Look at it.
I don't know if you've ever had
a chance to really handle gold.
But look at this, man.
Let me get this.
All right.
Look at this piece here.
That came off the bottom.
-No way.
-I'm serious.
This, uh, area
we're talkin' about,
There's cobble and stuff on it?
Oh, yeah.
There's lots
of cobble out there.
I mean, it's loaded with cobble.
You can't help but get, uh...
-No. You get excited.
-...Excited.
Since I met you,
you're such a nice guy.
And I really want you
to fulfill your dreams.
I'm gonna be honest with you.
I'm gonna be firm on the price.
I got to get $40,000 for it.
[ laughs ]
I'll tell you what.
You give me 30k now
and $10,000 next year
When you hit the gold.
Oh, but, man...
What kind of deal is that?
Who's gonna make you
a sweeter deal?
Well, okay, okay.
So just a minute.
Let me kind of get control
of my emotions here.
-Just...
-Let's get this done.
Well, okay.
You know, I could see --
I could see real potential.
Oh, man, I hate --
this is gonna kill me.
You're gonna get...
You're gonna buy it?
I'll buy it.
Thirty grand,
If you'll take the 30.
I will, buddy.
You're gonna be a rich man
next year.
Okay, man.
You come and see me.
Give me a hug, brother.
Oh, yeah, it's yours.
Thanks, man.
Thanks, thanks.
My dad is not stupid.
A lot of times
when my dad doesn't make sense
In what he's doing
means he has another angle.
He's working.
And he's just not telling you.
And we have enough money
To make it
through the winter now.
Bring that paperwork in.
Let's get this done.
Let's go, buddy.
Buyer beware, I'm afraid.
You know, don't trust
brad kelly.
That's all you can say
in life.
♪♪
Narrator: Nome, alaska.
Steve: Wow, it looks
like hell froze over.
This dang north wind
come up last night.
And that was it.
Narrator: Overnight temperatures
plunge below freezing.
[ groans ]
And this is what tells you
the season is over.
I'm standing in the harbor.
Narrator: And with
a thick sheet of ice
Encasing the docked fleet...
I'd say the ice is pretty thick.
...The 2015 summer mining season
has officially come to a close.
[ groans loudly ]
so much gold in there.
Gold miner problems.
All that's left...
Time to shut this down,
get this box cleaned up.
Good day to quit. I'm tired.
...Is to find out which of
the fleet's golden gambles
Hit it big...
Yeah.
Look at all this
son-of-a-bitchin' gold.
Everybody's wonderin', "how
much gold's in them buckets?"
And I am, too.
...Or even hit at all.
...We'll know here
in just a little bit.
Just outside nome...
Steve: We got gold to clean.
...At the pomrenke
cleanup shack.
So now we got gold comin'
in from the christine rose
And inland.
Narrator: Shawn is praying
his run at tomcot
Will pay off the $100,000
he lost betting on the bluff.
The ocean mining's pretty much
sucked this season.
It's not lookin' good.
My expectations
for the christine rose cleanup
Aren't that great because
all the good ground's gone.
But I'm counting on this
cleanout
To pay what it cost
to go to the bluff.
All right.
Here we go.
Twenty, 40...
Oh, my god...
Narrator:
Forty-seven point two ounces
Is worth $56,000...
Shawn: That's horrible.
...Bringing shawn's
bluff gamble losses
In at 44 gs
And locking in
the christine rose season total
At a record low 342.2 ounces.
Shawn:
Well, hopefully the inland
does a lot better than that.
Narrator: While shawn gets ready
for the rest
Of dad's inland gold,
Across town...
This cleanup needs
to be huge.
...First-year captain
derek mcclarty's future
As a dredge owner in nome
lies in the pan.
I got lots of bills
to pay, a crew to pay.
This season's been
the most trying summer
Of my life.
This cleanup's gonna have
to knock it out of the park.
We're gonna need 80 ounces
Because my life saving's
in this boat.
And if I can make enough money
To come back and play again
next year, that is a win.
One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven,
Eight, nine, 11, 12...
20, 30.
Come on, baby.
Sixty...
Both: Seventy.
Seventy-five, 76, 77...
You gonna make 80?
You gonna show me 80?
Seventy-nine...
Ah!
Point six.
Dude.
Ah!
Yeah!
That makes --
damn, right there, man!
Seventy-nine point six.
Narrator: Seventy-nine point six
ounces is worth $95,000.
[bleep] yeah.
We've been waitin'
for that all year.
...Just enough to keep derek
in the game.
Oh, man.
If only we could've done
that all season long.
This is the --
the pivotal moment.
If we didn't have this,
It was probably gonna be
game over.
That, right there,
is the first taste
Of real success
for the high noon.
Narrator: Six miles to the east
At zeke tenhoff's compound...
Oh, it's not --
it's really not lookin' bad.
It's pretty good, actually.
After a horrible season
put her in a panic,
The sight of gold
Has eroica captain emily riedel
breathing a little easier.
You just, like, basically,
your... Feel like your job
Is to tell me not to do
things that I wanna do.
That's true.
Well, you know,
That's what you get
when you get a husband.
[ laughing ]
I'm not gonna
let you practice on me.
This season has been
extremely difficult.
I really need 10 ounces
just to cover rent costs,
Just living costs and 20
to even start to make a profit.
Here, fork it over.
Pour it in there.
Three, four, five.
Twelve, 13, 14.
Nineteen, hey.
Holy [bleep].
Twenty-one point one.
Twenty-one point one ounces
is worth $25,000.
And zeke is taking 60 percent.
Point six.
No, no.
You got to do point five.
I'm takin' 10 percent off
for all the sass.
Uh-uh.
You cost me a lot
of emotional stress.
There is a lot
to learn from zeke, for me.
He can persevere
through a lot of problems.
And I started my mining career
with zeke.
So it's like coming home,
Having him work on my boat.
And I would just really love
to work out our past differences
And -- and see a future
working together.
I think that's possible.
In the corporate world,
I can actually make a suit
On all the emotional stress
you caused me.
Yeah. Well, you can't
afford a lawyer
Because you've had
such a bad season.
No matter how much contempt
I can have for emily,
Sometimes I even --
I even enjoy emily's company.
And, uh, I got a couple
more ounces on emily's dredge.
So I don't know.
I guess it's to be continued.
I really appreciate it, emily.
I -- I appreciate the help.
It's nice to finish strong.
Narrator: Across town
At the pomrenke cleanup shack.
This is the most gold I've seen.
And it's still pilin' up.
I mean, there...
Cody's got a pan.
Matt's got a pan.
There's a pan there.
There's a pan of gold there.
There's a pan of gold there.
We're gonna run
out of pans here shortly.
How much have we got
cleaned here so far?
Narrator:
After a crash-and-burn season
From shawn
on the christine rose...
That's right here, pop.
This is the easy panner.
Whoa! Ha!
[ laughing ]
...Steve pomrenke's inland gold
tally is skyrocketing.
It's gonna be --
it's gonna be a great cleanup.
I guarantee you
There's over 1,000 ounces
in there.
But how far over 1,000,
I just don't know.
Huh?
It was worth it.
All right.
I'm tired.
I gotta... I can't even
keep my eyes open.
You go rest.
We got this.
I'm beat to death.
I been at it from may 1st.
And now, it's October 20th.
I haven't taken
a day off, I mean,
Because I wanted to get this up
and I wanted to get it runnin'
And I wanted to get
it producin' this year.
And I'm feeling my age now.
-All right.
-Later, dad.
Well, there he goes.
We're gonna be pannin'
through the night.
We're just gonna keep pannin'
and pannin' until we get --
Get it done.
♪♪
In the city of nome...
[ sighs ] man, I...
Ahh!
Let it go, brother.
Let it go. It's gone.
Con man brad kelly is turning
a $10,000 mining claim
Filled with sand...
Don't let it go.
Don't you dare.
Hold onto that.
[ laughter ]
...Into a gold mine.
-Thanks for everything, brad.
-Oh, you're welcome.
-Thanks, guys.
-Thank you.
Appreciate everything.
Take care.
You totally ripped that
old man off like crazy.
But what can you do?
It's his dream.
You just sold him a beach.
I'm tired.
I mean, it's been hard.
But it's...
Look at what we've done.
Narrator:
After pulling an all nighter...
This is the longest,
hardest season
I've ever had tryin'
to keep two operations goin'.
...The last
of the pomrenkes' inland gold
Is finally ready to weigh.
All this hard work has paid off.
And it's paid off big this year.
I've never seen that much gold
all at one time.
It's pretty impressive.
I mean, it's a huge cleanup.
After all the crap we went
through this summer,
It's a relief that there's gold
in that ground.
[ man laughs, chattering ]
Last pile.
All right.
We got the final piles here.
Ready to weigh up.
Holy moly.
Here we go, boys.
Let's see.
Yeah...
What are we at?
Steve: Three seventy-four,
375, 376.
-Amazing.
-Oh. Broke the scale.
What a bad problem we have
that --
We're gonna need
a bigger scale.
When we did the ground-breaking
ceremony, we took a pan.
And we did not get one color
out of it.
Shawn looked at me.
I looked at shawn.
He goes,
"are we gonna get any gold
off this ground or aren't we?"
I'm happier than hell right now.
Well, we only do
375-ounce weighs at a time.
Well, here's the first 375.
I don't know if this pan's
gonna be big enough.
Man: Is that a 10?
Yeah, that stuff's
really pretty.
Man, that's so fine.
Three seventy-five.
Mark it down, amos.
Three seventy-five.
Three seventy-five, amos.
Get it written down.
[ laughs ] oh!
This is the biggest pile of gold
I've ever seen.
Nine hundred, 150, that's...
I can't even
do my math any more.
We can mine gold,
but we can't do math.
[ laughter ]
Another 375.
Holy crap.
That's a pile a gold.
Very proud to be a pomrenke.
It's probably been the most
difficult summer I've ever had.
But buildin' a legacy
for the pomrenkes
Is what it's all about.
That's what I'm doin' here.
I'm plannin'
on this inland operation
To set up the pomrenke family
for the next 25 years.
But people are what count.
The gold is secondary.
It's the wealth
you get from havin' friends
And family that support you.
So we had one, two,
three, four,
Five 375s
plus the 52.5 plus the 175,
2102.5 for a 5-week season.
Wow.
If somebody can beat that,
they can kiss my butt.
Narrator:
2,102.5 ounces
Is worth an unprecedented
$2.5 million.
-Yeah!
-Yeah!
[ cheering, laughter ]
Let's celebrate.
[ cork pops ]
Wow!
Yeah.
Woo!
Whoa.
Hey.
There's piles of gold there.
[ bleep ]
-Cheers to that.
-Whoa.
Bottoms up!
[ laughter ]
Woo!
That stuff tastes
like [bleep].
My dad's a great miner.
My dad's probably one
of the best miners out there.
And it, uh,
it was a good feeling
To see him really succeed
in the inland mining.
-Yeah.
-You stuck with me.
I thought you were
gonna bail, you know.
Well, I've thought
about it a few times.
That's what that pile
of gold represents.
It represents not givin' up.
It's actually an unfathomable
point of view
Lookin' at that pan of gold
that it's actually ours.
Narrator: The pomrenkes'
summer total,
Including
the christine rose's haul,
Is 2.6 thousand ounces,
Making a colossal
$3,100,000 season.
Damn, it was a risk.
But you know what?
I am findin' more gold
on this inland
Than in my wildest dreams.
Thank you, guys,
for all your hard work.
Get it back in the jars.
Get it into the safe.
I get to keep
the gold this time.
Yeah!
The pomrenkes hit the jackpot,
Cementing their golden legacy.
And while vern went all in,
he came up snake eyes.
♪♪
It turned out
to be a great season.
It was one
of the hardest seasons.
You're gonna come out
ahead in this.
But just learn
this important fact today.
Even when one thing
looks hopeless,
We can turn hopelessness
into profit.
I didn't see any profits.
♪ somethin' you believe in ♪
♪ is keepin'
you from leavin' you now ♪
We're gonna try again next year.
We're gonna get
those crosshairs on mr. Gold.
And we're gonna take him out.
♪ rollin' onto nothin' ♪
♪ waitin' for a change
to come around ♪
Mining is about independence.
And independence means
making gold for myself.
♪ you won't ever sleep
tonight ♪
♪ we're all awake
and dreamin' ♪
♪ every time we turn to dust ♪
♪ through the heart
the river runs ♪
♪ where it's gonna roll ♪
♪ time will come
to start again ♪
♪ wind of change
will be your friend ♪
♪ leads you to the gold ♪
Emily: I'm starting over
at the end once again.
It's hard losing a crew.
♪ it leads you to the gold ♪
But I don't know
anything else other than
To, you know,
keep my feet moving.
♪♪
every day is a gamble.
We've spent $1 million
this season.
Steve: You have to gamble,
go for that wanderlust,
That exceptional
treasure-hunting day
When you hit the mother lode.
Emily: I'm gonna keep on doing
What I believe
is best for success.
And I don't have
any intentions of failing.
Zeke:
Well, once you're down there
and you see the gold down there,
The possibilities are unlimited.
Derek:
If I can't make this happen,
I don't sink my battleship,
I sink everyone.
Kris: You can fail
a million times.
You only need to make it really
one time big.
Just keep trying
until I make it.
Narrator: Nome, alaska.
Emily: All of our lines
are startin' to freeze.
The harbor is getting
more solid every day.
Narrator: The freezing
of the harbor means the end
Of the dredging season
is close at hand.
The freeze has already come.
For much of the fleet,
a summer of gambling...
Better know what you're doin'.
Better be prepared
To lose all the money
that you brought up here.
Narrator: ...Has come down
to one final hail mary.
To get out there and to try
to make as much gold as we can
Before we're frozen.
Narrator:
In a matter of just hours,
some will come up blank.
We're all burnt out,
work around the clock
And get as much gold in this box
As we possibly can
before that harbor says,
"you're done."
Narrator: But one will hit
The biggest...
Jackpot...
Ever.
[ cheering ]
Nice!
Captions paid for by
discovery communications
Narrator: Nowhere is winter
more apparent...
Yeah-huh!
Good pay dirt.
There's lots of it.
...Than just below
anvil mountain
At the pomrenke inland mine.
We got termination dust today,
End of the season dust.
Look at the windshield
on the ford.
It looks like mother nature's
tryin' to thrash us out of --
Out of business here.
The dirt's got
some big rocks in it.
It's got the right color.
It's got the right texture.
It's good pay dirt.
I know it's good pay dirt.
Narrator:
With the end of the season
creeping up fast...
Steve: It's 24 hours a day now.
Twenty-four hours a day we try
to keep this thing running.
...Sixty-three-year-old
steve pomrenke
Is grinding
towards a golden finish.
Steve: It's late in the season.
Well, we spent a million gettin'
this up and runnin'.
But now, we're gettin'
our money back here.
Might not get it all back
this year.
But we're gonna give it
a damn good try.
Narrator:
A year and a half ago...
Are you in on
the inland mining or out?
...Steve rolled the dice
on one last shot
At an inland mining operation.
The dozer cost me $125,000
right off the bat.
Narrator: After spending every
cent of the company profits...
I appreciate you guys
all showin' up
For the ground-breaking
ceremony here
For our new inland
mining operation.
...And duking it out
with his flesh and blood...
I don't like fightin'
with you.
I don't wanna fight
with you, either.
...His dream...
-One seventy-six.
-Yeah!
...Became reality.
-That's a big pile of gold.
-Yeah.
Narrator: Now...
I need about $17 in each bucket
To make me happy.
Twenty bucks a bucket
would be happy -- make me happy.
Narrator:
...He's sitting just 324 ounces
Away from his season one goal.
Well, I started out with saying
how we want 500 ounces.
So that's -- I guess
I'm gonna have to go for that.
I'm completely tired, and I --
I can take a week off
and go to cancun right now.
You wouldn't have to ask me
twice.
Narrator: Steve isn't the only
pomrenke gambling big.
One hundred miles
to the east...
Shawn: Yeah, I been grindin'
16, 18-hour days.
Narrator: Steve's son, shawn,
Has been prospecting
for nearly a solid week.
I was hopin' to come down here
and hit it big,
But doesn't look
like it's gonna happen.
Narrator: But unfortunately
for mr. Gold...
I don't even know
if it's enough gold
To even warrant
turnin' the wash plant on.
...The massive claim
is proving elusive.
I mean, maybe it's here
somewhere.
But this is a big, big area.
And I could be,
like, 10 feet
Away from it here,
10 feet away from it there.
This is where we were
at this winter.
We were seein'
a little bit of gold.
But I can't seem
to zone in on it.
Wish I would've had
a lot more time.
But dad drug his feet
so long on the inland mining
It cost me a lot
of precious time
To be able to prospect
and actually find the gold.
Narrator: With the temperature
dropping by the day...
-Nothin'.
-Nothin'.
...The clock has run out
on shawn's gamble at the bluff.
Dude, I think --
I think we call it.
It's gettin' [bleep].
It's gettin' cold.
-Yeah.
-The end is near.
Since bluff was a bust,
I have to go back to the tomcot
And make up for that lost time
and lost money, lost revenue.
Let's go back and make some gold
before the season's over.
That's what we need to do.
Let's do it.
Old man's gonna be pissed.
Get the hell outta here.
The bluff won this --
this go-around,
But I think I'll be back.
Narrator: While shawn races
to town
Looking for one last run,
70 miles to the west,
Just off the solomon river...
We could be going getting
easy gold today.
But instead, we're going off
on another [bleep] adventure.
Narrator: Unwilling to take
"no gold" for an answer...
I know we're gonna make
a million bucks off of this.
...The fightin' kellys
are gearing up
For one last shot at glory.
We got to push --
push it to the limit today.
This time,
packing a secret weapon.
What's that c.O.G.?
Oh, [bleep].
Nobody knows how to read
that [bleep] thing?
So I bought this thousand dollar
side radar gps.
I should be able
to find cobble in our claims
And actually see if our claims
are worth the millions
Of dollars
that I think's that's there.
Just be quiet.
I know what I'm doin'.
We haven't really figured out
how to work it that well.
But, you know, I [bleep]
Play video games almost
for a living.
You know, I'm great at 'em.
This is what's gonna turn
around our system right here.
Narrator: Four months ago...
All the way down as far
as you can see is our claim.
...The kelly boys sunk $10,000
on these unexplored claims
With dreams of striking it rich.
But instead of gold-rich cobble,
they hit barren sand.
-[ bleep ]
-come on you fat [bleep].
And, eventually, each other.
Now...
So, where I kinda want to go
is to this point right here.
...With their meager winnings
tied up in their new scanner...
We might come
across a 500-ounce pocket
Is really what I'm hoping
to find.
...The kellys are betting
the last of their chips
That this time
solomon pays off big.
If we don't make
this next spot work,
That's it for us.
I'd be stuck working
on someone else's boat
Because we don't have
enough money
To make it through the winter.
Kris: We're here.
There it is.
Like, look at all this
looks rough in here.
-Look at this.
-Yeah.
No, looks very rough,
you know.
Some kind of pixels.
Throw an anchor out and see
what's underneath us here.
Anchor, andy.
See how it's, like, bumping?
It's lots of bumps.
Lots of bumps.
Yeah, no, there's somethin'
very bumpy underneath there.
Okay, we're
at the 14-foot...
Bought a thousand-dollar
machine
And I'm still out here doin'
the anchor system.
-Are we on cobble?
-Yeah.
-Yeah, we're on cobble.
-That's cobble!
I told you my machine worked!
You okay? You okay?
Calm down.
Calm down.
You might fall off.
It's cobble [bleep].
-It's cobble.
-Yeah.
-I heard it over there.
-Give me some love.
Narrator: After finally locating
a spot with cobble,
There's just one thing
left to do.
Or else this is all for nothin'.
Okay, we're ready to go.
This is it.
Last chance.
I really need to lead
my family to gold.
If it doesn't work,
I'm gonna hear this for,
Like, the rest of my life.
I'm gonna hear
about this [bleep]
At christmas 10 years
down the road
About how I ruined everything.
Ready?
Good.
He slipped.
I'm goin' to work, baby!
How's it lookin' down there?
What the [bleep]?
[ air hisses ]
It's all [bleep] sand.
What about when you threw
the anchor over
And tested for cobble
on the bottom?
I thought you hit cobble.
Andy said [bleep]
hit cobble.
[ laughs ]
I hit rock, [bleep].
I don't care what it says.
[ air hisses ]
oh, this sucks.
All I see is sand everywhere.
We don't know how to [bleep]
work that machine at all.
Narrator: While the kellys
fight through
The technical difficulties,
30 miles west on the eroica...
Just zeke and I here alone
At the end
of the 2015 mining season.
Narrator:
After a summer plagued
With crew issues earned her
a meager 37 ounces...
Sorry, I got the [bleep]
migraine from hell.
I'm all nauseous.
I don't want to [bleep]
Deal with any of zeke's sass.
Narrator:
Captain emily riedel has formed
a late-season alliance
With ex-partner zeke tenhoff.
The pair look to pull themselves
and each other out of the fire.
This is probably gonna be
my last dive of the season.
And that's okay.
It's not gonna make me rich.
But it's gonna be
a little extra scratch
To get me through
the next 3 months of my life.
Then all's right in the world.
Emily: I'm really burnt out
on people.
I'm really burnt out
on the crew.
The walls are always
[bleep] crashin' down in nome.
It's hard losing a crew.
It's really hard having
all these financial burdens.
Ah! So cold!
I know that we're still on gold
In this spot
that daryl left us on.
But this season is almost over.
And it's gonna be
the worst season on my boat
Unless I pull together
some more gold
Out of the end of it.
Go make some gold!
[ air hissing ]
All right.
Yes.
Okay. I have you. Good.
[ air hissing over speaker ]
Hey, zeke, I feel
like I can't breathe.
I feel like I'm passing out.
Wait, what?
Hey, zeke, get the [bleep]
up here!
♪♪
Narrator:
Off the coast of nome...
I can't breathe very well.
I don't -- I don't know
if I'm having a panic attack
Or whether this is, like,
a serious problem.
It felt like I was havin'
a panic attack.
But I haven't had, like,
an actual panic attack in years.
Why don't you go sit down?
I'll come up for a second.
Oh, it's okay.
Dude, let's just go chill
in the cabin for a minute, dude.
I've had panic attacks before.
They suck.
I don't want to dismiss emily.
You know, I have some empathy
and respect
For what she's doin' in nome.
I mean, uh, her best diver
got hurt in a car accident.
That's terrible for her.
That said, we don't have time
To sit on a boat
and just freak out.
-I don't fully understand.
-I thought I was dying.
I, like, literally thought
that I was unable to breathe
And that I was going to,
like, pass out.
We're on good gold.
Everything's goin' okay.
Clearly, you got a lot
on your mind.
Probably some bigger problems
that I don't know about.
Is it the I.R.S.? 'cause I have
that, too, sometimes.
[ emily laughs ]
Zeke and I are
from the same place.
We grew up the same way.
And -- and having him
on the boat
And his terrible wit,
which pisses me off, is...
It's great having him around.
But the next step is just simply
staying to the point.
We're gonna mine as hard
as we can before we have to go.
And that kind of came
out of the blue for me.
Zeke must be, like, a major,
Like, mental trigger for,
Like, everything
that's wrong in my life.
I'll try to hold it together
For the rest
of zeke's dive today.
Narrator: While emily struggles
to reach the finish line...
30 miles east
On the reaper...
We're looking for cobble.
We're drifting backwards
looking for cobble.
...The fightin' kellys
have been looking
To land a knock-out punch.
With the help of a complicated
bottom sounder in their corner.
But, so far...
I haven't found
any cobble yet.
...All they've done
is pound sand.
Got this really deep
bottom side finder.
Tells us everything
but where the [bleep] gold is.
Well, we got this, uh,
300-page instruction
book with it
That no one's gonna read.
We don't have time to waste.
All I see is sand everywhere.
Narrator: After scouring
over 10 acres
With no sign of gold...
...The kellys
are callin' it quits.
This is [bleep]!
This is [bleep]!
There's no [bleep]
gold here.
There's no [bleep] gold!
I'll save us, don't worry.
This is still [bleep].
Everybody's a little
frustrated right now.
We got a lot of money
invested in this situation.
We're gonna have no gold
for the season.
So I got to come up
with a different strategy.
But, hey, good old dad's always
gonna be right there,
No problem.
Here we are with all these
claims and there's no [bleep]
Way I'm gonna make
any of my money back from it.
My dad and my brother,
they need to wake up
And see this might be
the end of it.
I don't know how we're gonna
[bleep] make it back from this.
What the [bleep]
is that supposed to mean?
You just got to trust me
on this one.
Kris,
I always take care of us.
And I will. Don't worry.
Narrator: As the sun rises
over a freezing bering sea,
In nome harbor...
It's a relief to see the thing
back in the port here
And not to see it sunk
on the damn ocean port.
Dad's here waitin' for us.
Hopefully he's got better news
than what we got.
I didn't communicate with my dad
at all when I was at the bluff
Just because I didn't want
to tell him
I wasn't findin' any gold.
Not really lookin' forward
to hearin'
What he has to say
about it bein' a bust.
How much gold did we find?
Not much.
What?
Explain everything to me.
You guys didn't have
a damn phone?
You couldn't call me once
in a while,
Let me know
what the hell's goin' on?
[bleep], we were
fightin' it the whole time.
No gold.
How's the inland goin'?
I'm gettin' back out there
because that's payin'.
That good? [ laughs ]
at least --
Well, somebody's got to pay
for this whole operation.
And it ain't you guys
right now.
-Oh, [bleep].
-Sorry.
I'm glad to see you back.
I'm glad you guys are back.
Get your asses
back out to tomcot
And start makin' some money.
Back to work.
All right.
The bluff thing is,
to me, was --
It's kind of a pointless trip.
That cost us extra money.
And I don't like
the idea of cost --
Anything costin' you
extra money.
Shawn:
I got a spot on the tomcot.
I'm goin' to clean it up.
We mined there right
before we went to bluff.
It's the last push
of the season.
Gonna get my ass
out there and try --
Try to get some redemption.
It's been a hard summer for me.
'cause dad, he's just been
focused on the inland mine.
But I've had to take care
of the christine rose
And the... Help
out as much as possible.
Dad says there's a lot
of gold in the buckets.
So I hope he's right.
Somebody's been in my gps.
Somebody put a [bleep]
mark in here.
And they're gonna get
their [bleep]
Ass kicked if
they keep touchin' my property.
This is my [bleep] livelihood.
Narrator: That somebody?
7 miles west...
Oh!
With nearly half
a million bucks invested
And only 78 ounces
for the season,
Rookie captain
derek mcclarty
Is fighting dirty
to stay in the game.
I have a tremendous amount
of pressure on me.
It's a strange feeling being in
the race instead of spectating.
It's a whole
different perspective.
[bleep] yeah, man,
let's do this.
I don't think he has any idea
that we've got his coordinates.
No such thing as a fair fight.
This is gold mining.
This is as close
to being modern-day pirates
As you can get.
Eight days ago...
Mr. Gold left his gps on.
...The desperate captain
snuck onto the christine rose
And helped himself
to mr. Gold's coordinates.
Thank you, mr. Gold.
Now...
Good luck.
...He's been spending
the last 6 days
Trying to clean it out
Before shawn gets back
from the bluff.
But 100 yards behind them...
Oh, look at this.
What the [bleep]?
Derek's right on my damn spot.
I've worked
for the last 15 years
To get those coordinates.
I've done all the panning
And spent all my time
and money prospecting.
And for him to come in
and think he can just steal it,
And there's not gonna
be any consequences for it...
[ bleep ]
I don't know what I'm
gonna do yet.
But I'm gonna do somethin'.
Derek just started a war
he can't win.
The last run
of the season, we really --
We all need to make some money
to get us through the winter.
Otherwise, none of us really
know what we're gonna do.
Just for shawn, I put this --
This, uh, gps
point down as a heart.
Hey, that's cute.
[ horn honks ]
Oh, [bleep].
Shawn's comin'.
♪♪
Narrator: Off the coast
of nome...
[ horn honking ]
Oh, [bleep].
Shawn's comin'.
Uh-oh. I bet he's pissed.
Upon arriving
on the tomcot claim,
Shawn pomrenke
Found derek mcclarty
on his coordinates.
I got some bad news, chief.
What's up?
Looks like shawn's here.
How close?
Seventy-five feet.
[ bleep ]
I need to come up or what?
Yeah. You might want to come up
for this one.
He looks pissed.
It looks like shawn's back
from bluff a little --
Little sooner than we thought
he was gonna be.
[bleep] guys [bleep]
want to dive on my spot?
This isn't good.
He's bigger than us.
Shawn: Want to play
[bleep] games?
Dude, he's pissed.
Get off my spot, [bleep].
-He looks pissed.
-He is pissed.
[bleep] [bleep], fellas!
What's up, [bleep]?
Come on. You want [bleep]
steal my spot?
-Ah!
-Get in!
[ thud ]
-oh!
That one ripped the door off.
[ bleep ]
I'm tired of this guy
[bleep] with me.
Get off my spot,
[bleep]!
He broke my door.
And it looks like he's not done.
They're [bleep] hidin' now.
They got balls
enough to come out
And get on my dredge
While I'm not here
and steal points off my gps.
But their little chicken
[bleep]
Stayin' in the cabin.
Looks like you're havin'
a little trouble with your door.
The gold's out here
in the ocean.
I don't see your name on it.
Well, my name's on
my [bleep] gps.
See how he does with
his anchor lines twisted up.
Looks like he's goin'
for an anchor line.
Dude, he better not.
If he goes for a rear anchor,
We got to grab the dogs
up front quick
Or we'll break line.
-Oh, no.
-Oh, that son of a bitch.
Well, he's got me
in a bind now
Because there's nothin'
I can...
I mean, to pull
these two anchors,
I'd have to nose up to him.
You gonna get the [bleep]
out of my spot now?
Narrator: Mr. Gold has
the high noon by the buoys.
Derek: Come on. We'll move!
We'll move!
Come on!
[ horn honks ]
Shawn:
I think they got the point.
Chased that weasel, derek,
off my spot.
Might have [bleep]
the dredge up a little bit.
But tough [bleep].
He wants to [bleep] with me,
I'm gonna [bleep] with him.
Basically, when you're
in a fight
With somebody who's
about to win,
It pays to be able
to run faster.
I'm leavin'. Oh, man.
I got the anchors
up just in time.
Shawn: That's right.
Put your tail
between your legs and run.
Got derek off the spot.
Now, it's time to mine.
He didn't have a chance
against the christine rose.
I may not be able to go as deep
as derek right now.
But I have some big plans
on the horizon.
All this gold
in this whole area,
I plan on gettin' it all.
I want it all.
Narrator: Back in town,
The fightin' irish
are arriving home from solomon.
Somebody just showed up
at the house.
He wants to see
the operation.
So please just go along with
what I'm gonna say, okay?
We don't need a new partner.
Irish luck may have gone cold.
But brad has other irons
in the fire.
Brad: Just watch and learn.
There's two kinds of miners
In this town --
the guy that mines the miner
And then the miner mining gold.
Guess which one I am.
Kris: Okay. Whatever.
Kris just doesn't see the vision
of the solomon claims.
It's all part
of the master plan.
That's all I can tell you.
I got to go see if he's here.
He might be here right now.
Let me go see if he's here.
You guys hang on.
He wants to meet you guys.
I'm always scared when my dad
says he has a plan
And trust him.
To anybody out there, be worried
when my dad says he has a plan.
When he gets desperate, it's --
He'll -- it's him over everyone.
His name's brett ward.
-How you doin'?
-He's from florida.
He just wanted to come
and see how a gold dredge works
And just come on.
You can climb up on the boat.
Be real careful.
We don't have insurance.
If you fall down, get hurt,
that's on you.
[ laughter ]
I'm serious.
I'll tell you right off the bat.
-How you doin'. I'm kris.
-Kris, kris.
-Andy, my brother.
-Yeah.
Take a look
and see what you think.
This... We're only
work 4 hours.
It's 28 miles out of town.
That seems like a long ways
to have to go.
Yeah, it is a long way.
But then,
Uh, look at the rewards
we're getting.
We're gettin' gold like --
like nobody else, you know.
There's probably $6,000,
$7,000 right there, visually,
You can see.
Look at the gold.
You want to check...
Look at it.
I don't know if you've ever had
a chance to really handle gold.
But look at this, man.
Let me get this.
All right.
Look at this piece here.
That came off the bottom.
-No way.
-I'm serious.
This, uh, area
we're talkin' about,
There's cobble and stuff on it?
Oh, yeah.
There's lots
of cobble out there.
I mean, it's loaded with cobble.
You can't help but get, uh...
-No. You get excited.
-...Excited.
Since I met you,
you're such a nice guy.
And I really want you
to fulfill your dreams.
I'm gonna be honest with you.
I'm gonna be firm on the price.
I got to get $40,000 for it.
[ laughs ]
I'll tell you what.
You give me 30k now
and $10,000 next year
When you hit the gold.
Oh, but, man...
What kind of deal is that?
Who's gonna make you
a sweeter deal?
Well, okay, okay.
So just a minute.
Let me kind of get control
of my emotions here.
-Just...
-Let's get this done.
Well, okay.
You know, I could see --
I could see real potential.
Oh, man, I hate --
this is gonna kill me.
You're gonna get...
You're gonna buy it?
I'll buy it.
Thirty grand,
If you'll take the 30.
I will, buddy.
You're gonna be a rich man
next year.
Okay, man.
You come and see me.
Give me a hug, brother.
Oh, yeah, it's yours.
Thanks, man.
Thanks, thanks.
My dad is not stupid.
A lot of times
when my dad doesn't make sense
In what he's doing
means he has another angle.
He's working.
And he's just not telling you.
And we have enough money
To make it
through the winter now.
Bring that paperwork in.
Let's get this done.
Let's go, buddy.
Buyer beware, I'm afraid.
You know, don't trust
brad kelly.
That's all you can say
in life.
♪♪
Narrator: Nome, alaska.
Steve: Wow, it looks
like hell froze over.
This dang north wind
come up last night.
And that was it.
Narrator: Overnight temperatures
plunge below freezing.
[ groans ]
And this is what tells you
the season is over.
I'm standing in the harbor.
Narrator: And with
a thick sheet of ice
Encasing the docked fleet...
I'd say the ice is pretty thick.
...The 2015 summer mining season
has officially come to a close.
[ groans loudly ]
so much gold in there.
Gold miner problems.
All that's left...
Time to shut this down,
get this box cleaned up.
Good day to quit. I'm tired.
...Is to find out which of
the fleet's golden gambles
Hit it big...
Yeah.
Look at all this
son-of-a-bitchin' gold.
Everybody's wonderin', "how
much gold's in them buckets?"
And I am, too.
...Or even hit at all.
...We'll know here
in just a little bit.
Just outside nome...
Steve: We got gold to clean.
...At the pomrenke
cleanup shack.
So now we got gold comin'
in from the christine rose
And inland.
Narrator: Shawn is praying
his run at tomcot
Will pay off the $100,000
he lost betting on the bluff.
The ocean mining's pretty much
sucked this season.
It's not lookin' good.
My expectations
for the christine rose cleanup
Aren't that great because
all the good ground's gone.
But I'm counting on this
cleanout
To pay what it cost
to go to the bluff.
All right.
Here we go.
Twenty, 40...
Oh, my god...
Narrator:
Forty-seven point two ounces
Is worth $56,000...
Shawn: That's horrible.
...Bringing shawn's
bluff gamble losses
In at 44 gs
And locking in
the christine rose season total
At a record low 342.2 ounces.
Shawn:
Well, hopefully the inland
does a lot better than that.
Narrator: While shawn gets ready
for the rest
Of dad's inland gold,
Across town...
This cleanup needs
to be huge.
...First-year captain
derek mcclarty's future
As a dredge owner in nome
lies in the pan.
I got lots of bills
to pay, a crew to pay.
This season's been
the most trying summer
Of my life.
This cleanup's gonna have
to knock it out of the park.
We're gonna need 80 ounces
Because my life saving's
in this boat.
And if I can make enough money
To come back and play again
next year, that is a win.
One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven,
Eight, nine, 11, 12...
20, 30.
Come on, baby.
Sixty...
Both: Seventy.
Seventy-five, 76, 77...
You gonna make 80?
You gonna show me 80?
Seventy-nine...
Ah!
Point six.
Dude.
Ah!
Yeah!
That makes --
damn, right there, man!
Seventy-nine point six.
Narrator: Seventy-nine point six
ounces is worth $95,000.
[bleep] yeah.
We've been waitin'
for that all year.
...Just enough to keep derek
in the game.
Oh, man.
If only we could've done
that all season long.
This is the --
the pivotal moment.
If we didn't have this,
It was probably gonna be
game over.
That, right there,
is the first taste
Of real success
for the high noon.
Narrator: Six miles to the east
At zeke tenhoff's compound...
Oh, it's not --
it's really not lookin' bad.
It's pretty good, actually.
After a horrible season
put her in a panic,
The sight of gold
Has eroica captain emily riedel
breathing a little easier.
You just, like, basically,
your... Feel like your job
Is to tell me not to do
things that I wanna do.
That's true.
Well, you know,
That's what you get
when you get a husband.
[ laughing ]
I'm not gonna
let you practice on me.
This season has been
extremely difficult.
I really need 10 ounces
just to cover rent costs,
Just living costs and 20
to even start to make a profit.
Here, fork it over.
Pour it in there.
Three, four, five.
Twelve, 13, 14.
Nineteen, hey.
Holy [bleep].
Twenty-one point one.
Twenty-one point one ounces
is worth $25,000.
And zeke is taking 60 percent.
Point six.
No, no.
You got to do point five.
I'm takin' 10 percent off
for all the sass.
Uh-uh.
You cost me a lot
of emotional stress.
There is a lot
to learn from zeke, for me.
He can persevere
through a lot of problems.
And I started my mining career
with zeke.
So it's like coming home,
Having him work on my boat.
And I would just really love
to work out our past differences
And -- and see a future
working together.
I think that's possible.
In the corporate world,
I can actually make a suit
On all the emotional stress
you caused me.
Yeah. Well, you can't
afford a lawyer
Because you've had
such a bad season.
No matter how much contempt
I can have for emily,
Sometimes I even --
I even enjoy emily's company.
And, uh, I got a couple
more ounces on emily's dredge.
So I don't know.
I guess it's to be continued.
I really appreciate it, emily.
I -- I appreciate the help.
It's nice to finish strong.
Narrator: Across town
At the pomrenke cleanup shack.
This is the most gold I've seen.
And it's still pilin' up.
I mean, there...
Cody's got a pan.
Matt's got a pan.
There's a pan there.
There's a pan of gold there.
There's a pan of gold there.
We're gonna run
out of pans here shortly.
How much have we got
cleaned here so far?
Narrator:
After a crash-and-burn season
From shawn
on the christine rose...
That's right here, pop.
This is the easy panner.
Whoa! Ha!
[ laughing ]
...Steve pomrenke's inland gold
tally is skyrocketing.
It's gonna be --
it's gonna be a great cleanup.
I guarantee you
There's over 1,000 ounces
in there.
But how far over 1,000,
I just don't know.
Huh?
It was worth it.
All right.
I'm tired.
I gotta... I can't even
keep my eyes open.
You go rest.
We got this.
I'm beat to death.
I been at it from may 1st.
And now, it's October 20th.
I haven't taken
a day off, I mean,
Because I wanted to get this up
and I wanted to get it runnin'
And I wanted to get
it producin' this year.
And I'm feeling my age now.
-All right.
-Later, dad.
Well, there he goes.
We're gonna be pannin'
through the night.
We're just gonna keep pannin'
and pannin' until we get --
Get it done.
♪♪
In the city of nome...
[ sighs ] man, I...
Ahh!
Let it go, brother.
Let it go. It's gone.
Con man brad kelly is turning
a $10,000 mining claim
Filled with sand...
Don't let it go.
Don't you dare.
Hold onto that.
[ laughter ]
...Into a gold mine.
-Thanks for everything, brad.
-Oh, you're welcome.
-Thanks, guys.
-Thank you.
Appreciate everything.
Take care.
You totally ripped that
old man off like crazy.
But what can you do?
It's his dream.
You just sold him a beach.
I'm tired.
I mean, it's been hard.
But it's...
Look at what we've done.
Narrator:
After pulling an all nighter...
This is the longest,
hardest season
I've ever had tryin'
to keep two operations goin'.
...The last
of the pomrenkes' inland gold
Is finally ready to weigh.
All this hard work has paid off.
And it's paid off big this year.
I've never seen that much gold
all at one time.
It's pretty impressive.
I mean, it's a huge cleanup.
After all the crap we went
through this summer,
It's a relief that there's gold
in that ground.
[ man laughs, chattering ]
Last pile.
All right.
We got the final piles here.
Ready to weigh up.
Holy moly.
Here we go, boys.
Let's see.
Yeah...
What are we at?
Steve: Three seventy-four,
375, 376.
-Amazing.
-Oh. Broke the scale.
What a bad problem we have
that --
We're gonna need
a bigger scale.
When we did the ground-breaking
ceremony, we took a pan.
And we did not get one color
out of it.
Shawn looked at me.
I looked at shawn.
He goes,
"are we gonna get any gold
off this ground or aren't we?"
I'm happier than hell right now.
Well, we only do
375-ounce weighs at a time.
Well, here's the first 375.
I don't know if this pan's
gonna be big enough.
Man: Is that a 10?
Yeah, that stuff's
really pretty.
Man, that's so fine.
Three seventy-five.
Mark it down, amos.
Three seventy-five.
Three seventy-five, amos.
Get it written down.
[ laughs ] oh!
This is the biggest pile of gold
I've ever seen.
Nine hundred, 150, that's...
I can't even
do my math any more.
We can mine gold,
but we can't do math.
[ laughter ]
Another 375.
Holy crap.
That's a pile a gold.
Very proud to be a pomrenke.
It's probably been the most
difficult summer I've ever had.
But buildin' a legacy
for the pomrenkes
Is what it's all about.
That's what I'm doin' here.
I'm plannin'
on this inland operation
To set up the pomrenke family
for the next 25 years.
But people are what count.
The gold is secondary.
It's the wealth
you get from havin' friends
And family that support you.
So we had one, two,
three, four,
Five 375s
plus the 52.5 plus the 175,
2102.5 for a 5-week season.
Wow.
If somebody can beat that,
they can kiss my butt.
Narrator:
2,102.5 ounces
Is worth an unprecedented
$2.5 million.
-Yeah!
-Yeah!
[ cheering, laughter ]
Let's celebrate.
[ cork pops ]
Wow!
Yeah.
Woo!
Whoa.
Hey.
There's piles of gold there.
[ bleep ]
-Cheers to that.
-Whoa.
Bottoms up!
[ laughter ]
Woo!
That stuff tastes
like [bleep].
My dad's a great miner.
My dad's probably one
of the best miners out there.
And it, uh,
it was a good feeling
To see him really succeed
in the inland mining.
-Yeah.
-You stuck with me.
I thought you were
gonna bail, you know.
Well, I've thought
about it a few times.
That's what that pile
of gold represents.
It represents not givin' up.
It's actually an unfathomable
point of view
Lookin' at that pan of gold
that it's actually ours.
Narrator: The pomrenkes'
summer total,
Including
the christine rose's haul,
Is 2.6 thousand ounces,
Making a colossal
$3,100,000 season.
Damn, it was a risk.
But you know what?
I am findin' more gold
on this inland
Than in my wildest dreams.
Thank you, guys,
for all your hard work.
Get it back in the jars.
Get it into the safe.
I get to keep
the gold this time.
Yeah!
The pomrenkes hit the jackpot,
Cementing their golden legacy.
And while vern went all in,
he came up snake eyes.
♪♪
It turned out
to be a great season.
It was one
of the hardest seasons.
You're gonna come out
ahead in this.
But just learn
this important fact today.
Even when one thing
looks hopeless,
We can turn hopelessness
into profit.
I didn't see any profits.
♪ somethin' you believe in ♪
♪ is keepin'
you from leavin' you now ♪
We're gonna try again next year.
We're gonna get
those crosshairs on mr. Gold.
And we're gonna take him out.
♪ rollin' onto nothin' ♪
♪ waitin' for a change
to come around ♪
Mining is about independence.
And independence means
making gold for myself.
♪ you won't ever sleep
tonight ♪
♪ we're all awake
and dreamin' ♪
♪ every time we turn to dust ♪
♪ through the heart
the river runs ♪
♪ where it's gonna roll ♪
♪ time will come
to start again ♪
♪ wind of change
will be your friend ♪
♪ leads you to the gold ♪
Emily: I'm starting over
at the end once again.
It's hard losing a crew.
♪ it leads you to the gold ♪
But I don't know
anything else other than
To, you know,
keep my feet moving.
♪♪