Gold Rush: Alaska (2010–…): Season 5, Episode 2 - From the Ashes - full transcript
Todd gets his washplant stuck in a river, Tony nearly crushes his son beneath a conveyor, and Parker is forced to mine a swamp.
.
.
Feels good coming back, Dad.
This is our home field and this is
where I think we belong.
I hope you're right.
Up in the Klondike, Todd and Jack
Hoffman are on their own.
Just me and you: one fat kid and an
old guy with a bad back.
They have no crew...
Come on! ..and just one last shot
at mining for gold.
What if we could come back from the
ashes and kick some ass, this year?
Against the odds, they've secured
ground.
You know, Todd, we've never had
stripped ground waiting for us.
But without a wash plant...
I don't have enough horsepower.
..they're dead in the water.
Whoa! Are you (BLEEP) me?
Parker Schnabel is mining good gold.
We'll find the gold. It's here.
But when Rick discovers
that their gold is locked...
Oh, you're (BLEEP) kidding me.
This is frozen.
..n a layer of ancient permafrost...
I don't really have
anywhere else to go.
..Parker is forced to revamp his
mining plan.
There's a (BLEEP) foot of water in
the cut, Rick.
Moving to risky new ground...
Why would they just walk away from
it?
..to find big gold.
That wasn't a big run, but there's
a hell of a lot riding on it.
Tony Beets is in the market
for a crane
big enough to dismantle his
75-year-old dredge.
A 75-tonner.
It definitely will do the (BLEEP)
job.
But when his wife Minnie lays down
the law...
No?
You are done.
..Tony ends up with an undersized
crane...
That's only a 50-tonner? So?
Which is all that stands between his
son, Kevin...
OK, let her down.
..and annihilation.
Get out!
At Scribner Creek in the Klondike,
just one week into the season,
Parker Schnabel has already mined
73 ounces of gold - worth $88,000.
But, even at this rate,
he won't reach his 2,000-ounce,
$2.4 million target for this year.
The 73 ounces is good
to start with.
I know Parker wants 100 ounces a
week.
If we're gonna get 2,000 ounces,
100 ounces a week is...
is what we need, so hopefully,
we can amp up production a little
bit.
At the end of last season,
Parker and Rick dug $200,000 of gold
from this ground
in just four days.
We'll find the gold. It's here.
It wants to be saved.
We'll rescue it.
Rick is in the far cut,
digging pay dirt for the rock trucks
to take to the plant.
That's a load.
What the (BLEEP)?
Oh, you're (BLEEP) kidding me.
What the (BLEEP) is going on here?
Parker, you copy?
You OK?
Can you come out to the far cut?
I think we got some issues.
I hit frost, man. This is frozen.
(BLEEP)
That's not good.
What it... That's never been thawed
in the last however many thousands
of years.
If this is all frozen,
then it's not getting sluiced next
week,
or in two weeks.
(BLEEP)
This just turned into a (BLEEP).
Yeah, to put it lightly.
(BLEEP)
Parker heads out in the D10 to find
out
if the rest of the cut is frozen.
If this is frozen,
I honestly do not know what we're
gonna do.
There goes our month of May.
Can't sluice frozen gravel.
I don't really have
anywhere else to go.
To keep running pay dirt,
Parker has to quickly find some
thawed ground.
Gene, his right-hand man, has an old
drill map of the Scribner claim.
I wonder if we can find anything on
here that might look promising.
So, uh, what about this abandoned
cut here?
You know, I mean, it's...
Why they abandoned it,
I don't know.
All right. They've done something
there. They've done something.
And if they started stripping some
of it, it might be thawed?
Yeah, it's worth looking at, I
think.
The far cut is frozen solid.
The abandoned cut
is over a kilometre southwest,
near the edge of Parker's claim.
Parker and Gene head over in their
all-terrain vehicle,
the workhorse of the operation.
Well, this must be it, huh?
Yeah, looks like it.
It's a big lake.
Well, it shouldn't be permafrost.
It's, uh, been underwater for
20-plus years.
So...
Right, but why would they just walk
away from it?
There's a ton of reasons why they
could have walked away from it.
They could've got froze out,
broke down, you know, whatever.
It looks like it's thawed pay in
there,
and we can be mining or sluicing in
24 hours.
The worst right now we've got to do
is run a pump for overnight and get
the water out
and see what it looks like.
Let's do it. OK.
Less than a month into the season,
work on Tony Beets' million-dollar
dredge has ground to a halt.
Tony is 760kms away in...
..at an auction
with his wife Minnie.
Well, I hope you brought your
cheque book. Let's get that crane.
They are on the hunt for a crane
strong enough
to move massive sections of his
gold-mining dredge.
(AUCTIONEER CALLING)
We're gonna need something big and
(BLEEP) ugly.
I mean, that's not gonna move
itself.
That is a (BLEEP) crane. That's the
one we need. That's the one I want.
That's a big crane. That thing is
huge.
It's a 75-tonner.
This is what we (BLEEP) need
to lift that thing outta there.
But do we need a big one like this?
Yes.
This is what I (BLEEP) want to move
that with,
so we'll just have to make it
happen.
I mean, whatever it takes, right?
Whatever it takes so...
Pretty nice. Pretty nice.
A lot of money, sure, it definitely
will do the (BLEEP) job.
Yeah, well, we have a budget, and
you're sticking to it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That we budget.
I don't have a (BLEEP) budget.
(GROANS)
(GUFFAWS)
I really don't kind of trust him,
because I think
he'll go over budget on it.
I'm gonna be right beside him.
I don't know how much closer I can
get.
(AUCTIONEER CALLING)
(BLEEP)
You can go $150,000. $150,000?
Yeah. That's it? Yeah.
I mean, 150 grand for that thing?
If we don't realise this thing,
we're gonna (BLEEP).
I know that, but I mean, you've got
to realise,
if you buy it for more than 150,
you're not gonna get it,
because you don't have the money
anyway.
Lot number here... Lot number is
2,000.
It's a 2009 link-belt, 75-ton,
hydraulic crane here.
Let's take a go now.
You all set? All right.
One-and-a-half.
$110,000.
(ROLLING CALL)
We can't. We can't.
(CALLING CONTINUES)
165? What do you think?
No? No.
You are done.
165?
Sold at $155,000.
I think we can get a crane at a
better deal
that will do the job.
I don't think you have to
necessarily spend
that much money on it.
I needed that (BLEEP) crane.
.
.
Back in the Yukon,
Minnie Beets has found a smaller
crane for her husband Tony -
one that fits their budget.
That's only a 50-tonner. So?
Well, I wanted a 75. Well, too bad,
really.
We've gotta have something that
lifts - Why don't you try it out?
See what it does.
(ENGINE REVS)
(BEEPING) Well...at least the thing
is running.
What do you think? Like everybody
else's (BLEEP) crane, I guess.
Seems to operate, seems to do fine,
seems to run good.
Well, this is the one you own.
What do you mean, it's the one we
own?
Well, I bought it.
We own it lock, stock, and barrel.
(BLEEP)
It's yours.
We'll give it a try, I guess, huh?
(BLEEP) cold or something?
It's raining here.
You're dry.
Look at that old girl out in the
(BLEEP) rain.
There is no room for two people in
there. (LAUGHS)
Todd and Jack Hoffman
have clawed their way back
to the gold fields of the Klondike.
They have little but the shirt on
their backs,
but they've secured one of the last
claims around.
McKinnon Creek, 350 acres of ground
that was abandoned by the previous
miners.
It's a little bit like
a ghost town, Dad.
Let's go look round.
This was a big operation.
When they pulled out, they left a
mess.
What do you think, Dad?
I don't think it matters what I
think.
If there's gold here...
..that's what I'm looking at.
We could clean this crap up,
possibly stay here, huh?
Yeah. Yeah, if we had to.
OK, let's keep looking around.
Look at this.
Look at this, Dad. They did all
their clean-ups in here.
Here's some of their black sand.
Dad, look! A little flake of gold
right there.
Yeah?
Some more gold here. Look at that.
Look at this.
Oh, yeah.
There's gold everywhere. There's
some gold floating right here.
I'll tell you what,
seeing that gold...
..I think in my heart,
I think this is a good place, I do.
Two years ago, Todd and Jack mined
just 16kms away
and got over $1 million in gold.
Guys, you see that? That's a team
effort right there.
But their success took a lot of men
and a lot of machines.
Now, after a disastrous season
in the jungle,
they have no men and almost no
machines.
I believe in this ground,
but I'm not so sure we can do
anything about it.
But we do have a wash plant from
Guyana.
Yeah. We could get that up here.
I know the plant's good, OK.
But we're not gonna do anything,
just me and you:
one fat kid and an old guy with a
bad back.
We're gonna need help.
I can get somebody else.
I don't care who it is.
I can get somebody.
OK. Well, let's go for it.
We've got a lot of work in front of
us.
The Hoffmans need their jungle wash
plant,
which they've stored in Colorado.
Hey, Thurb. Jack.
Jack calls an old friend to make a
plea for help.
But we're up in the Klondike.
Meanwhile, Todd heads off to find a
very specific excavator.
Hey, Greg.
Hey, Todd, how's it going, buddy?
I'm doing all right. Oh, good,
good. I'm doing all right.
Probably a long shot, but my dad's
old 400
I sold you a couple years ago...
Right.
Hoping you still had her.
I still got it, but I'm gonna be
honest with you.
I haven't used it in...
It ain't even been started, Todd,
in a long time.
Right. But I'll tell you what,
if you can get her started, we'll
work out something.
OK. All right, man.
All right, Todd.
You take care, buddy. Thanks, Greg.
Uh-huh, bye-bye. Appreciate it.
Three kilometres down the road, at
the edge of Greg's claim,
Todd finds
Jack's old, 400 excavator.
Well, I'll be damned.
I brought this up my very first
mining season.
I got it for 20,000 bucks.
It actually cost more to ship it
than it was to buy it.
Let's see if she still runs.
(GROANS)
(ENGINE SPUTTERS)
This ain't good.
Come on.
(ENGINE STRUGGLES)
(SIGHS)
(GRUNTS)
Hey, Dad. You got a copy?
Yeah, I hear you.
Look over here.
Yeah!
Where the heck did you find that?
Merry Christmas.
It's been two years since Jack
Hoffman has sat in his 400.
Now he and Todd are one step closer
to gold mining.
I'll tell you what, this is where I
belong.
The old girl's gonna put us back in
business.
I used to think my dad liked that
400 more than me.
And now I'm sure of it.
At Scribner Creek, Parker has pumped
out the abandoned cut.
He's named it the Swamp Cut.
Now he needs to find out if it holds
any gold.
Everything else is frozen,
and we're not gonna be sluicing a
thing if this cut doesn't pay off.
And there's some gold in here.
It doesn't look great.
So...not ideal.
And the only way to know for sure
is to take a 1,000-yard test,
bring it up to the wash plant,
sluice it,
and that'll tell us exactly what to
do.
So we'll go get the trucks in here
and bring 1,000 yards to the plant.
Well, I just want to get started
here on digging this test.
Run it here for a little while.
OK, Rick, can you, uh, can you load
this pay here?
Back up to you here. All right.
All right. Here we go.
We're just getting ready to run the
dirt.
This is the first gold material
from the Swamp Cut.
Hopefully, it's good, as well.
That's all we have at the moment.
Without that, we wouldn't be
sluicing.
Chris fires up Big Red to run the
test material.
Parker's 2,000-ounce season
is riding on the results.
Hey, let's go. Come on.
Go!
(LAUGHS)
By the end of the day,
the crew is halfway through their
1,000-yard test.
The next morning, they return to
finish the job.
(BLEEP)
What the (BLEEP)? What the (BLEEP)?
There's a (BLEEP) foot of water in
the cut, Rick.
.
.
At Scribner Creek, a pump has failed
overnight.
Parker's new Swamp Cut has turned
into a lake.
It's flooded.
And I don't know what the (BLEEP).
Who dug this sump?
This sump is plenty deep enough.
You know, if it was done right,
there'd be a pile of bedrock
sitting here.
So where's the bedrock out of the
sump?
This is (BLEEP).
And all I asked is a question is,
who dug the sump?
Greg dug the sump.
The sump is a low point dug deep in
the cut for the water to drain into.
Parker suspects that
the sump was not dug deep enough,
causing the pump intake to clog up
with mud.
If Greg had dug the sump all the way
down to bedrock,
the intake hose would have been able
to draw water unobstructed.
So did you dig that sump out a
couple days ago?
No.
I came up here and saw you sitting
in an excavator right there,
looking in the sump. Yes, I was
digging the berm away.
I didn't go into the sump because -
None of that (BLEEP)'s deep enough.
None of that (BLEEP) deep enough,
right? Pumps aren't working.
The pump's not working cos the
sump's not deep enough.
You know, let's start taking a
little bit of pride in our work,
and if you don't want to, that's
fine.
We've got a rock truck for you.
I just got blamed for the...for our
cut being wet.
It's news to me that, all of a
sudden,
I'm supposed to monitor the pump
24/7.
Gene and Rick remove the hose
to work on the sump.
You have to swing this way, Rick.
They dig down to bedrock.
Dig a couple more out in there,
just real deep in the bedrock.
So just a few more right there.
Hey, Greg. If you can, reach what
Rick can't reach there.
Got to get it done right because,
in order to get sluicing,
we got to get this water under
control.
You know, if this pump doesn't pump
the water out,
we can lose the cut.
Yeah, it's pumping good now.
We're good for now.
The water's pumping.
That's... That's what we need.
Our cut's getting dried out.
We can get the gold.
80kms north, at Clear Creek,
Tony Beets has hauled in his new
50-ton crane.
He's determined to have
his 75-year-old floating gold
factory running before the fall.
To have any chance, he needs to take
it apart in a hurry.
First to go is the stacker or
tailings conveyor.
Anyway, gentlemen, this is the
stacker.
We're gonna let the (BLEEP) down in
one piece
and put it on that (BLEEP) trailer,
haul it out it one (BLEEP) piece.
Save us so much (BLEEP) trouble.
Anything, Jerry? What do you think?
Well, Tony, this is the biggest
piece
to come off the dredge as far as
length.
We don't wanna drop it,
I don't have a (BLEEP) second one.
I definitely don't wanna (BLEEP)
build a second one.
OK. Let's (BLEEP) do it.
You need to boom in some.
I still got dancing on the cable,
Jerry.
You might have to boom up a little
bit more.
Hang in there. Give it a little bit
more.
If one of
the old attachments break,
the whole stacker
will come crashing down,
but there's not much we can do.
We'll see what happens here.
No-one has moved
the dredge's stacker
in over a quarter of a century.
Tony has no idea how much weight the
crane will have to support
when he removes the last bolt.
(WHIRRING)
That's not bad. Perfect.
So now we're all free and clear,
it's completely hanging in the
crane.
So I'd rather not delay anything.
We're gonna slowly let her down.
OK, Jerry, let her down.
Where's Kevin?
Kevin! Get out!
Keep her going.
Yeah, looks good.
(THUD)
What the (BLEEP) was that crashing?
He's going downhill, huh?
Oh, there's a back plate here.
There's a back plate, Tony.
Hold it. Hold it. Hold it.
Hold it. Hold it.
The stacker is caught on a steel
plate.
Someone needs to go in under tons of
hanging metal to free it up.
Well, we'll take a chance on it.
It's a little messed up right now.
Tony could probably do...be doing
that a lot safer than he is,
but he wants to get it apart
and out of here.
But that's the way Tony is.
(CREAKING)
(CLANGING)
OK, that one's clear.
OK, we're clear. Doug, a little
more.
It's looking good here, Tony.
The rest of it goes this smooth,
it'll be nice.
That sounds good.
At McKinnon Creek,
Todd has fired up a loader that was
abandoned on their claim.
And with Jack in his trusty 400,
they are finally breaking ground.
Know what? It feels pretty good,
actually.
It's me and my dad.
Yeah, and I'm stockpiling pay here,
because the wash plant's
on its way.
I got Thurber bringing it up.
Hey, Dad, this is our first dirt
we've moved.
This is our fifth season.
I know that this ground right here
is absolutely great ground.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't.
Hey, Todd. This is Thurber.
I got a copy?
Thurber. Thurber, I got you.
Hey, I'm here at the river and got
the trommel.
OK, I got a loader, and I'm coming.
OK?
Jack, follow me out.
When I got the call that they got
land
and, uh, good land and a lot of it,
oh, I loaded up and took off.
I went to Colorado on my way up
here...and picked up the trommel.
You know, I've mined for four years
with Jack and Todd.
It gets in your blood.
Yeah, go ahead, Todd.
Hey, Thurber, where's the driver?
He's looked at that river and said,
'This is as far as he goes.'
He's not doing it.
You have no idea how deep that is.
Todd, that's got quite a bit of
current.
That might push you.
Hey, you guys. I just drove that
thing thousands of miles.
I'm not going to let 200 feet of
river stop us. Let's go for it.
Todd's plan: use the loader to drag
the 20-ton wash plant
across the river and onto their new
claim.
OK, guys. I'm gonna go ahead and
roll across here.
Hey, go easy, Todd.
Looks good. Keep going.
Looks good here.
Looking good. Looking good.
(BOTH LAUGH)
I made it. I knew I could count on
you, buddy.
Hey, dude. The dream's still there.
Cannot believe it. Thurb, look at
her.
Here we are at another crossroads
with this red trommel, man.
All right, hook me up.
Pin is in, Todd. Ready to go.
Here we go.
Yeah, that's a beast.
I'm glad I didn't know
we were doing this.
Last night, I wouldn't have slept,
I'll tell you that.
The problem with the trommel is,
it's tippy,
and that's what scares me is,
if the bottom isn't super level,
you know, it'll tip over.
You got to take a gamble.
I don't know exactly what's gonna
happen here.
Well, when you do go,
you can't stop and think about it
out in that water.
You either have to go or not.
Hey, Dad and Thurber,
say a quick little prayer, boys,
cos here we go.
I'm going in.
That thing's big, and it's very
top-heavy.
Once it goes over,
you know, this river is gonna take
it bye-bye.
It's not gonna stick around.
Easy, easy. Right through there.
Careful.
OK, I felt that hole in my tyre.
OK.
This ain't gonna... I got to go
around it.
I got to go to the right.
It's right here.
Yeah, it looks...just right there,
if you go to your right a little
bit.
OK, I'm gonna turn it.
How's it looking? Easy, we're
coming into it with the trommel.
The back wheels
are gonna start into it,
and that's where the critical point
is.
I think you're across that part.
I don't have enough horsepower,
guys.
I don't have enough horsepower.
Oh, what's going on?
All she's got.
Go for it. Go, go, go.
Woo! Woo!
You did it.
Hey, uh, how the hell do I get
across?
You're gonna have to go up and
around that road.
All right.
All right, man. I feel good about
this.
We got it.
At Scribner Creek,
Chris Doumitt is shutting down Big
Red,
Parker's massive wash plant.
The crew has finished the 1,000-yard
test of their new Swamp Cut.
Parker cleans up the gold.
$10 a yard, or 10 ounces, from this
test
would get Parker back on track
to hit 2,000 ounces for the season.
This is really gonna decide
the next little bit of our season.
I'm optimistic.
Hey, Gene. Yeah?
I just finished cleaning up this
1,000-yard test.
Well, how'd it look?
So we really need this to be
10 ounces, don't we?
It's not a big cleanout.
It wasn't a big run.
But there's a hell of a lot riding
on it.
God, I hope this is good.
It's, uh, 7.3.
Damn it.
Three-quarters of an ounce per
hundred, huh?
That was kind of my fear, that, you
know...
Right.
Yeah.
Pretty lean, huh? Yeah, not really
what we were looking for,
but...
Well, I mean, the advantage is
that it's not nearly the stripping,
huh?
No, I mean, yeah. That's the good
side of it, I guess.
I mean, it's not great and it's not
the result I want to see,
but if we start paying attention
to what we're taking as gravel and
bedrock, maybe we can get that up.
It's not the best, but if we start
pounding yards through it,
I think we can make money on it.
I guess we need to got get
after it, get some dirt moved.
I mean, it's not the greatest
result, but it's what we need.
You know, I think we can make money
on it.
We're pretty good at moving dirt
efficiently,
and if we can keep that as our goal
and keep yardage as our goal
and keep just cranking through as
much material as we can,
I think this cut's gonna pay off.
.
.
Todd and Jack are on the homestretch
with the trommel they used in the
jungle last season.
They have just two miles to go to
their new claim, McKinnon Creek.
Are you (BLEEP) me?
That really sank out of sight, man.
I'll drive by here.
I'll go get the 400.
Erm, not so sure, Dad.
We could lift it and pull it, OK?
I wouldn't go forwards.
I'd go backwards.
OK, here's what I think we ought to
do.
We'll chain up to the bucket.
I'll try to lift, but I'm gonna try
to pull.
Todd will use the loader to lift the
20-ton trommel
and pull it out of the mud.
If this doesn't work, it's gonna
be...a long night.
This is wrong.
You just got the wrong piece of
equipment to do the job.
OK, Dad, I'm gonna go turn around,
come back,
see if I can... I don't know.
See if we can get this thing out,
I don't know if it's gonna happen,
but we'll try.
Well, at least we got
the loader out now,
we've got a chance.
Hook me down to the front, and I'll
pull it up. I will. I will.
Just stop.
Come on, Jack. Hurry up.
(METAL CREAKS)
Starting to budge.
Whoa! Oh (BLEEP)!
(BLEEP)
Let's quit this.
Let's go get the 400.
Get me right underneath there
and see if I can lift the whole
thing. Unchain me.
Todd is convinced he can make the
loader work.
He wants to give it one more shot.
It's buried.
It's stuck in the (BLEEP).
Unchain me!
You're pulling like this.
Hey, unchain me.
I can't get on any other place
that's underneath.
Hey, unchain me.
You know what? You can just suck
eggs.
(GRUNTS)
Jack refuses, and heads off to get
the 400.
Jack has a different plan:
lift the trommel and haul it out
backwards using the 400's traction.
I just don't think
you're ever gonna pull that out.
You know what? Just kind of let me
do my own thing.
Easy.
Easy. (THUD)
Geez! Stop, stop, stop, stop.
(GROANS)
That's all she wrote right there.
But the 10-ton lift is just too much
for the aging 400's hydraulics.
With night fast approaching,
Todd and Jack desperately need a new
plan.
Get the loader then, what we're
gonna do
is you're gonna push it out.
And I'm gonna go with you.
Plan A was mine. Plan B was Jack's.
Now, our plan C, it's kind of a
hybrid of both of our plans.
OK, Dad. Start pushing.
Watch it.
Hey. When I'm pulling, you need to
push.
Push.
It's working.
He's got it.
Yeah! Woo!
Good job, Dad. Woo!
12,000 miles, Dad
and finally found a home for her.
We're gonna actually get gold with
this trommel.
I tell you what, we paid our dues.
This is our year, Dad.
Dude.
I love it. Dad, this is so pretty.
You made it. Holy ga-moley!
Woo!
12,000 miles, man. She came home.
Huh? Look at that.
That's all pay dirt, Thurber.
That's all pay.
Look to your left.
That's all pay dirt over there too.
Listen, we're short some machines.
It ain't gonna be pretty,
but we've got enough to run dirt.
We're back in business, starting
from scratch.
Bring it in, Dad.
Heavenly father, we thank you
for just getting us here
and helping us come through all the
turmoil that we've gone through.
We praise you and we thank you.
It's in your name we pray.
Amen. Amen.
What if we could come back from the
ashes
and kick some ass this year?
You know what? Stranger things have
happened.
With 316 mining is fricking back in
business.
On the next Gold Rush...
The Hoffmans struggle with their
three-man team.
Todd, turn it off.
The skeleton crew takes on the work
of 10 men...
Stop! Get out of the way!
..just to get their wash plant
up and running.
It bleeds down.
I fully understand that.
Their reward: a payday that's been a
long time coming.
Yeah!
That's our best first cleanup ever.
Tony Beets continues his mad
scramble to tear down his dredge...
..but his reckless abandon...
..comes at a price.
Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! (BLEEP)
You see all that twisted sealant
there, Tony?
..and determined to hit his
2,000-ounce goal...
We're falling behind.
..Parker Schnabel lays down the
law...
Either walk out of here, or we run
24/7.
..then hits problem...
We got a hole in the belt.
..after problem... This just isn't
working.
Pushing for a cleanup that just
might get his season back on track.
That's good gold. That's a pretty
damn good pan.
subtitles by Deluxe
.
Feels good coming back, Dad.
This is our home field and this is
where I think we belong.
I hope you're right.
Up in the Klondike, Todd and Jack
Hoffman are on their own.
Just me and you: one fat kid and an
old guy with a bad back.
They have no crew...
Come on! ..and just one last shot
at mining for gold.
What if we could come back from the
ashes and kick some ass, this year?
Against the odds, they've secured
ground.
You know, Todd, we've never had
stripped ground waiting for us.
But without a wash plant...
I don't have enough horsepower.
..they're dead in the water.
Whoa! Are you (BLEEP) me?
Parker Schnabel is mining good gold.
We'll find the gold. It's here.
But when Rick discovers
that their gold is locked...
Oh, you're (BLEEP) kidding me.
This is frozen.
..n a layer of ancient permafrost...
I don't really have
anywhere else to go.
..Parker is forced to revamp his
mining plan.
There's a (BLEEP) foot of water in
the cut, Rick.
Moving to risky new ground...
Why would they just walk away from
it?
..to find big gold.
That wasn't a big run, but there's
a hell of a lot riding on it.
Tony Beets is in the market
for a crane
big enough to dismantle his
75-year-old dredge.
A 75-tonner.
It definitely will do the (BLEEP)
job.
But when his wife Minnie lays down
the law...
No?
You are done.
..Tony ends up with an undersized
crane...
That's only a 50-tonner? So?
Which is all that stands between his
son, Kevin...
OK, let her down.
..and annihilation.
Get out!
At Scribner Creek in the Klondike,
just one week into the season,
Parker Schnabel has already mined
73 ounces of gold - worth $88,000.
But, even at this rate,
he won't reach his 2,000-ounce,
$2.4 million target for this year.
The 73 ounces is good
to start with.
I know Parker wants 100 ounces a
week.
If we're gonna get 2,000 ounces,
100 ounces a week is...
is what we need, so hopefully,
we can amp up production a little
bit.
At the end of last season,
Parker and Rick dug $200,000 of gold
from this ground
in just four days.
We'll find the gold. It's here.
It wants to be saved.
We'll rescue it.
Rick is in the far cut,
digging pay dirt for the rock trucks
to take to the plant.
That's a load.
What the (BLEEP)?
Oh, you're (BLEEP) kidding me.
What the (BLEEP) is going on here?
Parker, you copy?
You OK?
Can you come out to the far cut?
I think we got some issues.
I hit frost, man. This is frozen.
(BLEEP)
That's not good.
What it... That's never been thawed
in the last however many thousands
of years.
If this is all frozen,
then it's not getting sluiced next
week,
or in two weeks.
(BLEEP)
This just turned into a (BLEEP).
Yeah, to put it lightly.
(BLEEP)
Parker heads out in the D10 to find
out
if the rest of the cut is frozen.
If this is frozen,
I honestly do not know what we're
gonna do.
There goes our month of May.
Can't sluice frozen gravel.
I don't really have
anywhere else to go.
To keep running pay dirt,
Parker has to quickly find some
thawed ground.
Gene, his right-hand man, has an old
drill map of the Scribner claim.
I wonder if we can find anything on
here that might look promising.
So, uh, what about this abandoned
cut here?
You know, I mean, it's...
Why they abandoned it,
I don't know.
All right. They've done something
there. They've done something.
And if they started stripping some
of it, it might be thawed?
Yeah, it's worth looking at, I
think.
The far cut is frozen solid.
The abandoned cut
is over a kilometre southwest,
near the edge of Parker's claim.
Parker and Gene head over in their
all-terrain vehicle,
the workhorse of the operation.
Well, this must be it, huh?
Yeah, looks like it.
It's a big lake.
Well, it shouldn't be permafrost.
It's, uh, been underwater for
20-plus years.
So...
Right, but why would they just walk
away from it?
There's a ton of reasons why they
could have walked away from it.
They could've got froze out,
broke down, you know, whatever.
It looks like it's thawed pay in
there,
and we can be mining or sluicing in
24 hours.
The worst right now we've got to do
is run a pump for overnight and get
the water out
and see what it looks like.
Let's do it. OK.
Less than a month into the season,
work on Tony Beets' million-dollar
dredge has ground to a halt.
Tony is 760kms away in...
..at an auction
with his wife Minnie.
Well, I hope you brought your
cheque book. Let's get that crane.
They are on the hunt for a crane
strong enough
to move massive sections of his
gold-mining dredge.
(AUCTIONEER CALLING)
We're gonna need something big and
(BLEEP) ugly.
I mean, that's not gonna move
itself.
That is a (BLEEP) crane. That's the
one we need. That's the one I want.
That's a big crane. That thing is
huge.
It's a 75-tonner.
This is what we (BLEEP) need
to lift that thing outta there.
But do we need a big one like this?
Yes.
This is what I (BLEEP) want to move
that with,
so we'll just have to make it
happen.
I mean, whatever it takes, right?
Whatever it takes so...
Pretty nice. Pretty nice.
A lot of money, sure, it definitely
will do the (BLEEP) job.
Yeah, well, we have a budget, and
you're sticking to it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That we budget.
I don't have a (BLEEP) budget.
(GROANS)
(GUFFAWS)
I really don't kind of trust him,
because I think
he'll go over budget on it.
I'm gonna be right beside him.
I don't know how much closer I can
get.
(AUCTIONEER CALLING)
(BLEEP)
You can go $150,000. $150,000?
Yeah. That's it? Yeah.
I mean, 150 grand for that thing?
If we don't realise this thing,
we're gonna (BLEEP).
I know that, but I mean, you've got
to realise,
if you buy it for more than 150,
you're not gonna get it,
because you don't have the money
anyway.
Lot number here... Lot number is
2,000.
It's a 2009 link-belt, 75-ton,
hydraulic crane here.
Let's take a go now.
You all set? All right.
One-and-a-half.
$110,000.
(ROLLING CALL)
We can't. We can't.
(CALLING CONTINUES)
165? What do you think?
No? No.
You are done.
165?
Sold at $155,000.
I think we can get a crane at a
better deal
that will do the job.
I don't think you have to
necessarily spend
that much money on it.
I needed that (BLEEP) crane.
.
.
Back in the Yukon,
Minnie Beets has found a smaller
crane for her husband Tony -
one that fits their budget.
That's only a 50-tonner. So?
Well, I wanted a 75. Well, too bad,
really.
We've gotta have something that
lifts - Why don't you try it out?
See what it does.
(ENGINE REVS)
(BEEPING) Well...at least the thing
is running.
What do you think? Like everybody
else's (BLEEP) crane, I guess.
Seems to operate, seems to do fine,
seems to run good.
Well, this is the one you own.
What do you mean, it's the one we
own?
Well, I bought it.
We own it lock, stock, and barrel.
(BLEEP)
It's yours.
We'll give it a try, I guess, huh?
(BLEEP) cold or something?
It's raining here.
You're dry.
Look at that old girl out in the
(BLEEP) rain.
There is no room for two people in
there. (LAUGHS)
Todd and Jack Hoffman
have clawed their way back
to the gold fields of the Klondike.
They have little but the shirt on
their backs,
but they've secured one of the last
claims around.
McKinnon Creek, 350 acres of ground
that was abandoned by the previous
miners.
It's a little bit like
a ghost town, Dad.
Let's go look round.
This was a big operation.
When they pulled out, they left a
mess.
What do you think, Dad?
I don't think it matters what I
think.
If there's gold here...
..that's what I'm looking at.
We could clean this crap up,
possibly stay here, huh?
Yeah. Yeah, if we had to.
OK, let's keep looking around.
Look at this.
Look at this, Dad. They did all
their clean-ups in here.
Here's some of their black sand.
Dad, look! A little flake of gold
right there.
Yeah?
Some more gold here. Look at that.
Look at this.
Oh, yeah.
There's gold everywhere. There's
some gold floating right here.
I'll tell you what,
seeing that gold...
..I think in my heart,
I think this is a good place, I do.
Two years ago, Todd and Jack mined
just 16kms away
and got over $1 million in gold.
Guys, you see that? That's a team
effort right there.
But their success took a lot of men
and a lot of machines.
Now, after a disastrous season
in the jungle,
they have no men and almost no
machines.
I believe in this ground,
but I'm not so sure we can do
anything about it.
But we do have a wash plant from
Guyana.
Yeah. We could get that up here.
I know the plant's good, OK.
But we're not gonna do anything,
just me and you:
one fat kid and an old guy with a
bad back.
We're gonna need help.
I can get somebody else.
I don't care who it is.
I can get somebody.
OK. Well, let's go for it.
We've got a lot of work in front of
us.
The Hoffmans need their jungle wash
plant,
which they've stored in Colorado.
Hey, Thurb. Jack.
Jack calls an old friend to make a
plea for help.
But we're up in the Klondike.
Meanwhile, Todd heads off to find a
very specific excavator.
Hey, Greg.
Hey, Todd, how's it going, buddy?
I'm doing all right. Oh, good,
good. I'm doing all right.
Probably a long shot, but my dad's
old 400
I sold you a couple years ago...
Right.
Hoping you still had her.
I still got it, but I'm gonna be
honest with you.
I haven't used it in...
It ain't even been started, Todd,
in a long time.
Right. But I'll tell you what,
if you can get her started, we'll
work out something.
OK. All right, man.
All right, Todd.
You take care, buddy. Thanks, Greg.
Uh-huh, bye-bye. Appreciate it.
Three kilometres down the road, at
the edge of Greg's claim,
Todd finds
Jack's old, 400 excavator.
Well, I'll be damned.
I brought this up my very first
mining season.
I got it for 20,000 bucks.
It actually cost more to ship it
than it was to buy it.
Let's see if she still runs.
(GROANS)
(ENGINE SPUTTERS)
This ain't good.
Come on.
(ENGINE STRUGGLES)
(SIGHS)
(GRUNTS)
Hey, Dad. You got a copy?
Yeah, I hear you.
Look over here.
Yeah!
Where the heck did you find that?
Merry Christmas.
It's been two years since Jack
Hoffman has sat in his 400.
Now he and Todd are one step closer
to gold mining.
I'll tell you what, this is where I
belong.
The old girl's gonna put us back in
business.
I used to think my dad liked that
400 more than me.
And now I'm sure of it.
At Scribner Creek, Parker has pumped
out the abandoned cut.
He's named it the Swamp Cut.
Now he needs to find out if it holds
any gold.
Everything else is frozen,
and we're not gonna be sluicing a
thing if this cut doesn't pay off.
And there's some gold in here.
It doesn't look great.
So...not ideal.
And the only way to know for sure
is to take a 1,000-yard test,
bring it up to the wash plant,
sluice it,
and that'll tell us exactly what to
do.
So we'll go get the trucks in here
and bring 1,000 yards to the plant.
Well, I just want to get started
here on digging this test.
Run it here for a little while.
OK, Rick, can you, uh, can you load
this pay here?
Back up to you here. All right.
All right. Here we go.
We're just getting ready to run the
dirt.
This is the first gold material
from the Swamp Cut.
Hopefully, it's good, as well.
That's all we have at the moment.
Without that, we wouldn't be
sluicing.
Chris fires up Big Red to run the
test material.
Parker's 2,000-ounce season
is riding on the results.
Hey, let's go. Come on.
Go!
(LAUGHS)
By the end of the day,
the crew is halfway through their
1,000-yard test.
The next morning, they return to
finish the job.
(BLEEP)
What the (BLEEP)? What the (BLEEP)?
There's a (BLEEP) foot of water in
the cut, Rick.
.
.
At Scribner Creek, a pump has failed
overnight.
Parker's new Swamp Cut has turned
into a lake.
It's flooded.
And I don't know what the (BLEEP).
Who dug this sump?
This sump is plenty deep enough.
You know, if it was done right,
there'd be a pile of bedrock
sitting here.
So where's the bedrock out of the
sump?
This is (BLEEP).
And all I asked is a question is,
who dug the sump?
Greg dug the sump.
The sump is a low point dug deep in
the cut for the water to drain into.
Parker suspects that
the sump was not dug deep enough,
causing the pump intake to clog up
with mud.
If Greg had dug the sump all the way
down to bedrock,
the intake hose would have been able
to draw water unobstructed.
So did you dig that sump out a
couple days ago?
No.
I came up here and saw you sitting
in an excavator right there,
looking in the sump. Yes, I was
digging the berm away.
I didn't go into the sump because -
None of that (BLEEP)'s deep enough.
None of that (BLEEP) deep enough,
right? Pumps aren't working.
The pump's not working cos the
sump's not deep enough.
You know, let's start taking a
little bit of pride in our work,
and if you don't want to, that's
fine.
We've got a rock truck for you.
I just got blamed for the...for our
cut being wet.
It's news to me that, all of a
sudden,
I'm supposed to monitor the pump
24/7.
Gene and Rick remove the hose
to work on the sump.
You have to swing this way, Rick.
They dig down to bedrock.
Dig a couple more out in there,
just real deep in the bedrock.
So just a few more right there.
Hey, Greg. If you can, reach what
Rick can't reach there.
Got to get it done right because,
in order to get sluicing,
we got to get this water under
control.
You know, if this pump doesn't pump
the water out,
we can lose the cut.
Yeah, it's pumping good now.
We're good for now.
The water's pumping.
That's... That's what we need.
Our cut's getting dried out.
We can get the gold.
80kms north, at Clear Creek,
Tony Beets has hauled in his new
50-ton crane.
He's determined to have
his 75-year-old floating gold
factory running before the fall.
To have any chance, he needs to take
it apart in a hurry.
First to go is the stacker or
tailings conveyor.
Anyway, gentlemen, this is the
stacker.
We're gonna let the (BLEEP) down in
one piece
and put it on that (BLEEP) trailer,
haul it out it one (BLEEP) piece.
Save us so much (BLEEP) trouble.
Anything, Jerry? What do you think?
Well, Tony, this is the biggest
piece
to come off the dredge as far as
length.
We don't wanna drop it,
I don't have a (BLEEP) second one.
I definitely don't wanna (BLEEP)
build a second one.
OK. Let's (BLEEP) do it.
You need to boom in some.
I still got dancing on the cable,
Jerry.
You might have to boom up a little
bit more.
Hang in there. Give it a little bit
more.
If one of
the old attachments break,
the whole stacker
will come crashing down,
but there's not much we can do.
We'll see what happens here.
No-one has moved
the dredge's stacker
in over a quarter of a century.
Tony has no idea how much weight the
crane will have to support
when he removes the last bolt.
(WHIRRING)
That's not bad. Perfect.
So now we're all free and clear,
it's completely hanging in the
crane.
So I'd rather not delay anything.
We're gonna slowly let her down.
OK, Jerry, let her down.
Where's Kevin?
Kevin! Get out!
Keep her going.
Yeah, looks good.
(THUD)
What the (BLEEP) was that crashing?
He's going downhill, huh?
Oh, there's a back plate here.
There's a back plate, Tony.
Hold it. Hold it. Hold it.
Hold it. Hold it.
The stacker is caught on a steel
plate.
Someone needs to go in under tons of
hanging metal to free it up.
Well, we'll take a chance on it.
It's a little messed up right now.
Tony could probably do...be doing
that a lot safer than he is,
but he wants to get it apart
and out of here.
But that's the way Tony is.
(CREAKING)
(CLANGING)
OK, that one's clear.
OK, we're clear. Doug, a little
more.
It's looking good here, Tony.
The rest of it goes this smooth,
it'll be nice.
That sounds good.
At McKinnon Creek,
Todd has fired up a loader that was
abandoned on their claim.
And with Jack in his trusty 400,
they are finally breaking ground.
Know what? It feels pretty good,
actually.
It's me and my dad.
Yeah, and I'm stockpiling pay here,
because the wash plant's
on its way.
I got Thurber bringing it up.
Hey, Dad, this is our first dirt
we've moved.
This is our fifth season.
I know that this ground right here
is absolutely great ground.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't.
Hey, Todd. This is Thurber.
I got a copy?
Thurber. Thurber, I got you.
Hey, I'm here at the river and got
the trommel.
OK, I got a loader, and I'm coming.
OK?
Jack, follow me out.
When I got the call that they got
land
and, uh, good land and a lot of it,
oh, I loaded up and took off.
I went to Colorado on my way up
here...and picked up the trommel.
You know, I've mined for four years
with Jack and Todd.
It gets in your blood.
Yeah, go ahead, Todd.
Hey, Thurber, where's the driver?
He's looked at that river and said,
'This is as far as he goes.'
He's not doing it.
You have no idea how deep that is.
Todd, that's got quite a bit of
current.
That might push you.
Hey, you guys. I just drove that
thing thousands of miles.
I'm not going to let 200 feet of
river stop us. Let's go for it.
Todd's plan: use the loader to drag
the 20-ton wash plant
across the river and onto their new
claim.
OK, guys. I'm gonna go ahead and
roll across here.
Hey, go easy, Todd.
Looks good. Keep going.
Looks good here.
Looking good. Looking good.
(BOTH LAUGH)
I made it. I knew I could count on
you, buddy.
Hey, dude. The dream's still there.
Cannot believe it. Thurb, look at
her.
Here we are at another crossroads
with this red trommel, man.
All right, hook me up.
Pin is in, Todd. Ready to go.
Here we go.
Yeah, that's a beast.
I'm glad I didn't know
we were doing this.
Last night, I wouldn't have slept,
I'll tell you that.
The problem with the trommel is,
it's tippy,
and that's what scares me is,
if the bottom isn't super level,
you know, it'll tip over.
You got to take a gamble.
I don't know exactly what's gonna
happen here.
Well, when you do go,
you can't stop and think about it
out in that water.
You either have to go or not.
Hey, Dad and Thurber,
say a quick little prayer, boys,
cos here we go.
I'm going in.
That thing's big, and it's very
top-heavy.
Once it goes over,
you know, this river is gonna take
it bye-bye.
It's not gonna stick around.
Easy, easy. Right through there.
Careful.
OK, I felt that hole in my tyre.
OK.
This ain't gonna... I got to go
around it.
I got to go to the right.
It's right here.
Yeah, it looks...just right there,
if you go to your right a little
bit.
OK, I'm gonna turn it.
How's it looking? Easy, we're
coming into it with the trommel.
The back wheels
are gonna start into it,
and that's where the critical point
is.
I think you're across that part.
I don't have enough horsepower,
guys.
I don't have enough horsepower.
Oh, what's going on?
All she's got.
Go for it. Go, go, go.
Woo! Woo!
You did it.
Hey, uh, how the hell do I get
across?
You're gonna have to go up and
around that road.
All right.
All right, man. I feel good about
this.
We got it.
At Scribner Creek,
Chris Doumitt is shutting down Big
Red,
Parker's massive wash plant.
The crew has finished the 1,000-yard
test of their new Swamp Cut.
Parker cleans up the gold.
$10 a yard, or 10 ounces, from this
test
would get Parker back on track
to hit 2,000 ounces for the season.
This is really gonna decide
the next little bit of our season.
I'm optimistic.
Hey, Gene. Yeah?
I just finished cleaning up this
1,000-yard test.
Well, how'd it look?
So we really need this to be
10 ounces, don't we?
It's not a big cleanout.
It wasn't a big run.
But there's a hell of a lot riding
on it.
God, I hope this is good.
It's, uh, 7.3.
Damn it.
Three-quarters of an ounce per
hundred, huh?
That was kind of my fear, that, you
know...
Right.
Yeah.
Pretty lean, huh? Yeah, not really
what we were looking for,
but...
Well, I mean, the advantage is
that it's not nearly the stripping,
huh?
No, I mean, yeah. That's the good
side of it, I guess.
I mean, it's not great and it's not
the result I want to see,
but if we start paying attention
to what we're taking as gravel and
bedrock, maybe we can get that up.
It's not the best, but if we start
pounding yards through it,
I think we can make money on it.
I guess we need to got get
after it, get some dirt moved.
I mean, it's not the greatest
result, but it's what we need.
You know, I think we can make money
on it.
We're pretty good at moving dirt
efficiently,
and if we can keep that as our goal
and keep yardage as our goal
and keep just cranking through as
much material as we can,
I think this cut's gonna pay off.
.
.
Todd and Jack are on the homestretch
with the trommel they used in the
jungle last season.
They have just two miles to go to
their new claim, McKinnon Creek.
Are you (BLEEP) me?
That really sank out of sight, man.
I'll drive by here.
I'll go get the 400.
Erm, not so sure, Dad.
We could lift it and pull it, OK?
I wouldn't go forwards.
I'd go backwards.
OK, here's what I think we ought to
do.
We'll chain up to the bucket.
I'll try to lift, but I'm gonna try
to pull.
Todd will use the loader to lift the
20-ton trommel
and pull it out of the mud.
If this doesn't work, it's gonna
be...a long night.
This is wrong.
You just got the wrong piece of
equipment to do the job.
OK, Dad, I'm gonna go turn around,
come back,
see if I can... I don't know.
See if we can get this thing out,
I don't know if it's gonna happen,
but we'll try.
Well, at least we got
the loader out now,
we've got a chance.
Hook me down to the front, and I'll
pull it up. I will. I will.
Just stop.
Come on, Jack. Hurry up.
(METAL CREAKS)
Starting to budge.
Whoa! Oh (BLEEP)!
(BLEEP)
Let's quit this.
Let's go get the 400.
Get me right underneath there
and see if I can lift the whole
thing. Unchain me.
Todd is convinced he can make the
loader work.
He wants to give it one more shot.
It's buried.
It's stuck in the (BLEEP).
Unchain me!
You're pulling like this.
Hey, unchain me.
I can't get on any other place
that's underneath.
Hey, unchain me.
You know what? You can just suck
eggs.
(GRUNTS)
Jack refuses, and heads off to get
the 400.
Jack has a different plan:
lift the trommel and haul it out
backwards using the 400's traction.
I just don't think
you're ever gonna pull that out.
You know what? Just kind of let me
do my own thing.
Easy.
Easy. (THUD)
Geez! Stop, stop, stop, stop.
(GROANS)
That's all she wrote right there.
But the 10-ton lift is just too much
for the aging 400's hydraulics.
With night fast approaching,
Todd and Jack desperately need a new
plan.
Get the loader then, what we're
gonna do
is you're gonna push it out.
And I'm gonna go with you.
Plan A was mine. Plan B was Jack's.
Now, our plan C, it's kind of a
hybrid of both of our plans.
OK, Dad. Start pushing.
Watch it.
Hey. When I'm pulling, you need to
push.
Push.
It's working.
He's got it.
Yeah! Woo!
Good job, Dad. Woo!
12,000 miles, Dad
and finally found a home for her.
We're gonna actually get gold with
this trommel.
I tell you what, we paid our dues.
This is our year, Dad.
Dude.
I love it. Dad, this is so pretty.
You made it. Holy ga-moley!
Woo!
12,000 miles, man. She came home.
Huh? Look at that.
That's all pay dirt, Thurber.
That's all pay.
Look to your left.
That's all pay dirt over there too.
Listen, we're short some machines.
It ain't gonna be pretty,
but we've got enough to run dirt.
We're back in business, starting
from scratch.
Bring it in, Dad.
Heavenly father, we thank you
for just getting us here
and helping us come through all the
turmoil that we've gone through.
We praise you and we thank you.
It's in your name we pray.
Amen. Amen.
What if we could come back from the
ashes
and kick some ass this year?
You know what? Stranger things have
happened.
With 316 mining is fricking back in
business.
On the next Gold Rush...
The Hoffmans struggle with their
three-man team.
Todd, turn it off.
The skeleton crew takes on the work
of 10 men...
Stop! Get out of the way!
..just to get their wash plant
up and running.
It bleeds down.
I fully understand that.
Their reward: a payday that's been a
long time coming.
Yeah!
That's our best first cleanup ever.
Tony Beets continues his mad
scramble to tear down his dredge...
..but his reckless abandon...
..comes at a price.
Jerry! Jerry! Jerry! (BLEEP)
You see all that twisted sealant
there, Tony?
..and determined to hit his
2,000-ounce goal...
We're falling behind.
..Parker Schnabel lays down the
law...
Either walk out of here, or we run
24/7.
..then hits problem...
We got a hole in the belt.
..after problem... This just isn't
working.
Pushing for a cleanup that just
might get his season back on track.
That's good gold. That's a pretty
damn good pan.
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