Gold Rush: Alaska (2010–…): Season 7, Episode 4 - Mutiny - full transcript
Todd finally finds good gold at his new High Bar mine. Parker gives his foreman Rick his own operation and when Tony and Minnie decide to cut the dredge crew's pay, a key crew member calls it quits.
Jack:
We could buy gold cheaper
than what we're doin' right
now.
Narrator: On this "gold
rush"...
Todd: You know, the reality
is we're failing.
Turin: Go! Get!
It's gonna be the hardest
thing
we've ever done.
You're losing thousands
of dollars a day.
We're not mining.
We're just wastin' time.
At some point,
you got to cut your losses
and you got to move on.
We need a decision.
Ness: No matter what has
to happen out here,
I'm gettin' gold out
of indian river.
You know, there's a lot
at stake here for me.
This is personal.
Unless I see somethin' really
screwed up, rick's the boss.
-You're kiddin' me.
-Shut it down!
We're pullin' the plug.
Ness: I'm willin' to fight
anything to keep this goin'.
Folster: We're not in
the logging business.
We're supposed to be
mining gold.
This is kind of a [bleep]
deal.
captions paid for by
discovery communications
todd: To be honest with you,
and I'm tryin' to put
a good face on it,
but I'm f-- I'm freaked out.
I'm really freaked out.
Narrator: One month into
the mining season,
todd's massive gamble,
moving to oregon,
isn't panning out.
To hit his 5,000-ounce,
$6 million goal,
the hoffman crew should've
already mined close
to 1,000 ounces.
But they've got just 50
worth $60,000.
My wife's back home
taking care of four kids.
I've got to be able to show
her
that this is payin' off.
Right now, it's not.
Spinks:
You know, we all have
families.
We all have bills to pay.
I'm pretty disappointed
in the high bar
and what it's, uh --
what it's turned out.
I didn't come to oregon to,
uh,
wash gravel and not get gold.
We've got to get gold.
Dodge:
Shut it down!
Narrator: Last week,
freddy dodge found
a gold-rich streak,
which dave and the crew have
been mining for the last 5
days.
It comes straight out.
Now, it's time to see
if freddy's streak can
live up to its promise
and keep todd's dream alive.
Pierce: Oh, boy.
That's a half ounce.
A half-ounce nugget
I just found in this mat.
Turin:
That's a nice one.
Whoa.
That's more like it.
Oh, another biggie.
We've got
two big nuggets.
This could turn out to be a
little bit better of a
cleanup.
Hey, how we lookin'?
Well, I got
some chunks here, yeah.
Yeah, some nice nuggets.
You know. All right.
Let's weigh it out.
Narrator: Their last cleanup
was
just 12 ounces worth $14,000.
Are you freaking
kidding me?
I'm gonna go
wake up the guys.
Why don't you throw
your coat on, man,
and come on out there?
Okay.
Hey, meeting right over here
at trey's trailer.
Okay.
-Meeting at trey's.
-Right now?
Yep. Right now.
Todd: Hey, guys.
That ground
that freddy found last week...
64 frickin' ounces.
Wow!
[ laughter ]
we're back in the gold.
But we need to keep that
going.
If we even have any kind of
a remote chance on 5,000,
it's gonna take the high bar
and the buckland.
Okay?
And we got to get
the buckland set up, dave.
Tell you what, we got a hell
of a lot of work to do.
So I need some people.
Why don't you take
sterling and hunter?
We're gonna be relyin'
on you guys to get pay dirt.
I know it's gonna be a
stretch.
It's gonna be the hardest
thing
we've ever done,
tryin' to run two mines.
But if we could get
200 ounces a week,
5,000 ounces is within reach.
Yep.
All right, man.
Let's kick some ass.
Let's see if we can pull it
off.
Narrator: The two claims
are very different.
The mountaintop high bar claim
has isolated pockets
of gold nuggets.
15 miles east,
buckland is in a valley
and is said to have much
deeper deposits of fine gold
on the bedrock similar
to claims in the klondike.
Dave's first job
at the buckland,
provide his wash plant
a constant supply of water.
Got to start
diggin' some ponds.
But the annual rainfall
in this part of eastern oregon
is just 11 inches per year.
That's not much more
than the arizona desert.
We've never dealt
with anything like this.
And it's gonna get hotter.
We'll probably have
to manage this water
better than we
ever have before.
It's gonna be on you
to make it work.
Okay? Uh, you think
you can pull it off?
Yeah.
We'll just have to do it.
We're in a desert.
We got to figure somethin'
out.
Let's get started
on these ponds, huh?
Normally, I wouldn't take
on a second mine,
but I'll tell you what.
The high bar is like
a treasure hunt.
So I'd rather try and fail
than not have tried it.
Turin: There's a lot riding
on buckland.
We've got a chance
to salvage the season.
Should I have them follow --
that first truck follow you?
Narrator: At the schnabel
claim,
21-year-old parker
and his crew are also
embarking
on a new chapter
in their mining history.
Ness: Let's kick some ass!
Hey, rick, it's a big day
for you, huh, bud?
Are you ready for this?
Absolutely.
Been waitin' for this.
Narrator: Over the last 3
years,
parker has opened eight cuts
at scribner creek
and is currently mining
the boundary cut extension.
Now, he plans to start up
a second operation
3 miles southwest
on the indian river.
Parker:
This is all nice, virgin
ground.
And, um, there's some
good drill holes in it.
So hopefully, we can get
this down to some gravel
and find some pay dirt.
Narrator: The second claim is
crucial to parker's
4,000-ounce,
$4.8 million season goal.
But down here,
he won't be calling the shots.
Parker:
This is gonna be rick's show.
As far as I'm concerned
when I'm down here,
unless I see somethin'
really screwed up,
you know, rick's the boss.
This is it, dude.
The big expansion.
There better be
some gold in it.
Yeah. No kidding.
So you think you're ready
to take this on?
Oh, yeah. You got to be.
You know? Right?
Last year was a big test,
and, uh, I work
the best under --
under that kind of stress
load.
So I'm up for it.
We're givin' you
the stress here.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's awful late in the year
to try to be startin'
strippin'.
Yeah, no kiddin'.
All right.
Well, let's get to it.
-Yeah.
-Gotcha.
All right.
Brennan, you know what to do.
Get in there
and sling that dirt.
Ruault: You got it.
Rock and roll, kelly.
Roger that.
Oh, this is kind of my --
my first big shot.
It's exciting. I mean, I --
I look back 5 years ago.
And I just can't believe
I'm here already.
So parker's put a lot
of trust in me.
And, uh, I sure as hell
ain't gonna let him down.
Narrator: Rick's first job
let's do this!
Strip the vegetation
and clear 10 feet of
overburden.
Ness: I think this mild spring
really helped us out.
I mean, this is 100% thawed
all the way into the bedrock.
This should be a home run.
Narrator: Pretty soon, the
dozers clear a large enough
area
for rick to start
digging gravel.
Ness: You know, this last
6 inches of mud left
on top of the gravel that I
can't scrape off with a
bucket,
so it chips up pretty easy
with this ripper.
You're kiddin' me.
[ bleep, bleep ]
man, this is all f--
this is all frozen.
Parker:
So what's goin' on here?
Well, comin' up
with a whole lot of this.
Frozen gravel.
[ bleep ]
yeah.
The amount of work that it
takes
to clear frozen ground,
just it's not [bleep] worth
it.
It's not worth the money.
We need to abandon it,
deal with it next year.
Well, I mean,
we're down here now.
I don't want to abandon it.
I just -- all I need is time.
There's got to be thawed
ground down here
somewhere though.
You know what I mean?
Well, thind it.
If you can't
find something thawed
that we can actually work
with in the next week,
then we're pulling
the plug.
-A week?
-A week.
I'd like more time.
Find somethin' we can work
with,
or we're gettin'
the [bleep] out of here.
It's pretty simple.
All right.
[bleep] me.
-Hey, jason.
-Hey, how's it goin'?
Oh, not too bad.
About to ask you that.
Folster: Dredge seems to be
operating great.
-Yeah.
-It's never dug better.
[bleep] yeah.
Narrator: At eureka creek,
dredge master kevin beets is
running his father's
ancient dredge.
So far this season,
he's pulled in a massive
756 ounces of gold
worth over $900,000.
Narrator: But the dredge
is plowing ahead so fast,
they can't clear
ground quick enough.
And they're dredging directly
towards a line of trees.
You know what a pain
of an ass
it is to deal with trees
in the bucket line.
Yeah.
That would be nice.
She's chewing up ground
faster than we expected.
So we're kind of racing.
Got to get enough opened up
so we're not
dredging the [bleep].
Narrator: To open
the new ground,
kevin first needs to get
his dozer up and running.
Kevin: You know what's really
fun about pickin' up
where another mechanic left
off?
The handful of bolts
and I don't know
where the [bleep]
those came from.
Not a [bleep] clue.
Now, that might be tony.
Here comes the hurricane.
Kevin: You've got
to be kidding me.
Well, we need to open up
space for the dredge
and clear a bunch of
the overburden and the trees.
Narrator: Instead of clearing
away the brush,
kevin flies to paradise hill
for a meeting with minnie...
Leaving deckhand montana
bailie
and assistant dredge
master jason folster
to deal with the trees.
Very disappointed that kevin
didn't clear this out for us.
It means that we have
to fight through this.
Just -- it's just a pain
in the ass all around.
Bailie: Basically,
you're gonna have to deal
with dead trees and roots.
And, like, right there
for instance.
[ bleep, bleep ]
[ bleep, bleep ]
all right.
Here comes the garbage.
Big clumps of grass
plugs up the trough,
plugs up the chutes.
And we have to deal with it
now
because it hasn't been
takin' away from.
We're not in
the logging business.
We're supposed to be
mining [bleep] gold.
[bleep] thing weighs
heavier than I do.
Holy [bleep].
[ bleep ]
grab my saw.
It's -- it's a [bleep] pain
to have to deal with this.
Turin: We're in the desert.
We need every bit
of water we can find.
We cannot allow
any of this water
to go into the ground.
Narrator: After 3 days dozing
at the buckland,
dave's crew has
made good progress
with the water recycling
system.
Looks pretty sweet.
Liners for our pond.
-Hey, travis.
-Hey, dave, how's it goin'?
-Good.
-Can we take a look at the
hole?
Yeah. Let's go.
Narrator: Dave's plan --
first,
line the pond to create
a watertight seal
preventing any water
seeping into the ground.
Then, using screens,
separate into three sections.
Dirty water from the wash
plant
will run through a muck pond
and into the main pond where
it
is filtered and cleaned.
The water will then run back
to the wash plant
to be recycled.
-How many pieces we got?
-Six total.
So we'll unroll 'em
down the dike.
We'll pull 'em across using
your crew and our crew.
And it should
be short work.
Cool.
You can already feel
the wind picking up.
So we'll want to be
prepared for that.
And it can lift
the liner or shift it.
We don't want
to have that happen.
Turin: Okay. Let's go.
Let's get this thing in.
Ready?
Let's go.
Now we want to try
and go a little faster,
get a little air.
Turin: Oh, wait!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Rick's goin' under!
A little help!
Pull that side up, make sure
we got enough that way.
Go!
Oh!
We want to have it about
as flat as we can get it.
And then, the water will push
it
down solid and tight.
Last one.
First time
we've ever lined a pond.
It's workin'.
It's pretty cool.
Travis:
We got to keep it low because
the wind's comin' this way.
We've got to get water
in that pond.
What happens, the wind
whips underneath that,
that liner lifts up, we've
lost
the whole day's work.
So I got to get this pump
goin'.
Whoa! Dang! Dang!
There's a frickin'
big ol' snake in there.
There's a frickin'
snake under there.
Look at right here.
Narrator: At the buckland
claim,
dave grapples
with working in a desert.
Turin: See that sucker?
I'm not messin' with snakes.
I'm gonna get trey.
Narrator: It's over 30 miles
to the nearest hospital.
And the western rattlesnake
is highly venomous.
Did he rattle at ya?
Trey is the mine's
safety expert.
Trey: Biggest one I've seen.
That's the real
deal there.
Holy crap.
He is not happy.
Watch out! Wa--
get the --
back up!
Back up!
This is serious [bleep].
Get the camera back.
Turin: Oh, geez!
He is pissed.
Trey, you sure you got
his head pinned?
Hopefully
good enough here.
Are you kidding me?
-Good one.
-Whew!
Hey, let's get
back to work.
Narrator: Dave is racing
to secure $25,000
worth of pond lining.
All right.
We got water.
-Looks good, dave.
-All right.
It's a damn nice sight.
Narrator:
The hoffmans' second operation
is one step closer
to producing gold.
We've got our pond set up.
We got water comin' in.
It's really gonna happen.
Well, this is
gonna take long?
Kevin beets has been pulled
from running the dredge
for a meeting
with his mother, minnie.
Hey, chick.
That -- that's okay.
That works, too.
Yeah, that's...
Thanks. Bye.
What's goin' on?
Well, my payroll
is pretty big.
I want to cut hours.
I sat down and did
some number counting.
We're gonna cut hours.
And we're cutting them
across the claims.
It adds up for me
considerably.
You cut where you can.
All right.
So your dredge master
is fine.
You have to have someone
running the dredge 12 hours.
The deckhands and, uh,
your people are all
gonna lose an hour.
So that'd be montana
and kayle, right?
Yep.
Don't think they're gonna
be happy to hear that.
This is not up
for discussion, kevin.
It is what it is.
They're really good guys
we have on there right now.
They do work [bleep] hard.
Not that I --
I know you don't care.
Well, kevin --
you're the boss.
It's your project, right?
It's your baby.
We're gonna cut hours.
And you're gonna
have to do it.
That's right.
Get going.
Okay?
Yep.
Bye.
This is gonna suck to have
to tell the deckhands.
No one likes to hear
they're getting less money.
That's not really something
you
want to have to do as a
manager.
It's just not very [bleep]
fun.
[ sighs ]
[ bleep, bleep ]
ness: The indian river is --
is my season.
There's more
at stake here for me.
This is, uh, you know,
this is personal.
Narrator: At parker's
indian river claim,
new mine boss rick ness
and operator kelly fedio
are working Sunday
in a desperate search
for thawed ground.
Ness: Uh, can I succeed?
Can I find us all pay?
Can I get gold out
of indian river?
You know, it's --
these are all questions,
uh, that I've thought about.
And -- and now,
I'm gettin' a chance to --
to find the answer to.
So I'm willing to fight
anything to keep this going.
No matter what has
to happen down here,
I'm gettin' gold out
of indian river.
Come on, baby.
-Whoa!
-Shut it down!
Aw, that's just great.
[ bleep, bleep ]
[bleep] line!
[ bleep ]
can't even get
the [bleep] in there.
[ bleep, bleep ]
ness: We blew a hydraulic
line.
It all runs off one system.
So we got to fix it.
Narrator: The d10's hydraulic
system is down.
And the only person who can
fix it is mechanic mitch.
Ness: I hate havin' to do it.
You know, we --
we're workin' 84 hours
a week, minimum.
You know, and -- and these
guys,
every couple of weeks,
they get a day off.
That's it.
You know, and then,
I got to go and ask him to
work.
I hate doin' it.
But we've got no choice.
Blaschke: We could cap it.
But I don't want to 'cause
that'd be half-assin' it.
We fix things 100% ass
around here, not half-ass.
Uh, we didn't have
all the right
fittings to build
a whole new hose.
So, uh, what I did
is splice this one
and, uh, put one section
of new hose on there.
So it should be enough
to get it back up and runnin'.
Looks good!
No leaks!
-Sweet. Thanks, mitch.
-Yep.
Narrator:
With the hydraulics repaired,
rick can continue his search
for thawed gravel.
Ness: Now I am gettin'
worried.
We're, you know,
runnin' out of time.
And our back's
really up against it.
I don't think there's any
thawed
gravel down here at all.
I need thawed ground, man.
Last week, we hit
some good pockets of gold,
so, hopefully, this week,
we got to put gold
in our pocket.
Narrator: Up at the hoffmans'
high bar operation,
the crew's going
all out for the gold.
Last week, they got
640 ounces worth $76,000.
But they're still battling
to get their season
back on track.
Their last man pull.
It's probably the best
that we've seen so far.
But I can't say that we --
we've seen the gold
that we were promised
that we would see.
The overall mood between
everybody is just frustration.
Hiatt: The gold at the high
bar
is extremely spotty.
We're -- we're just not
havin' luck right now.
This season is not --
it's not exactly going
how I thought it would.
You know, what we could do
is we could line this cut
and make it into
a swimming pool,
charge 5 bucks a day,
make more money than the gold
we're gonna get out of it.
Kevin, is that
your last one there?
Narrator: This week, they've
run
an impressive 10,000 yards.
And they're starting
an all-important cleanup.
Can't get excited
about gold in here
until you do
the final cleanup.
It's a crapshoot.
Nobody really knows.
Todd: We're comin' off the
best
week, so far, at the high bar.
Let's hope it --
let's hope it lasts.
-What do we got?
-Let's see.
Jack: Well, okay.
-God.
-That doesn't cut it.
What the hell?
This high bar was
supposed to pay big time.
How can we go from 64 to 14.5?
I don't know, todd.
Lots of gold mines are spotty.
But this one, we're hittin'
a lot more bad spots than
good.
Narrator: 14.5 ounces
is worth just $17,000.
Todd: I just don't want to
give up on it yet, guys.
I really don't.
I'm hoping that it could
turn the frick around.
You know how many gold miners
that's broke, todd?
That same philosophy?
The scale doesn't lie.
You're losin' thousands
of dollars a day.
I can't tell you
what to do.
But we can't
continue this way.
Well, what do you want to do?
You want to just sit out here
and just barbecue or what?
I don't know.
We could buy gold
cheaper than what
we're doin' right now.
We're not mining.
We're just wastin' time.
I can't make heads or tails
of what's goin' on.
I'm startin' to feel like
maybe I made a big mistake.
Right now, I want to give up.
I want to pack my crap
and go home.
Ness: Yeah, I really don't
want to give up
on this indian river cut here.
But it's -- it's really
not lookin' good.
Everything's so frozen.
I just don't know anymore.
Narrator: Rick's been
searching
for thawed pay gravel
at his new indian river mine
all week to prevent parker
shutting him down.
But he's out of time.
Hey, brennan.
We'll call that good, buddy.
Callin' it quits.
Ruault: Yeah.
I'll be, like, 10 minutes.
I'll finish this,
and I'll come up.
You know, this is my
second year workin' with rick.
And, uh, you know,
he's a great boss.
And I like, uh --
I really actually do
enjoy working with the guy.
He's, uh, he's easy
to get along with.
He works hard.
And, uh, you know,
he knows his stuff.
But, uh, you know,
his plan failed this year,
and it might not even
be ready for next year.
Ness: This indian river cut
is not, uh, you know --
sorry. Hold on one second.
Hey, brennan.
You got copy?
Hello.
Dude, get over here by me
and check this out.
[ bleep ]
[ bleep ]
ruault: What you got?
Ness: Dude, it's gravel.
And it's thawed.
A sliver of hope.
I mean, I was pretty
depressed this morning
thinkin' that there
was just no chance.
And, you know,
all of a sudden,
to push into this
thawed river rock,
I mean, that's amazing.
I mean, it's hard to tell
how much thaw there can be
here.
But if there's some,
there could be more.
I mean, even if it's not a
lot,
it's a starting point.
-Yeah, boy.
-Beer time.
This potentially saves
our season on indian river.
We're back in gravel now.
Narrator: While dredge master
kevin has been away,
jason and deckhand montana
have dealt with everything
from trees to boulders.
Every two or three swathes,
we'll come across a big, uh --
big rock that we have
to take care of.
And that kind of slows
everything down.
Got to grab that very quick.
[bleep] coming.
We got two big [bleep]
[ bleep ]
all right. Now, I'm gonna go
talk to the dredge crew.
Narrator: Kevin beets
faces a tough job.
His mother, minnie, has
ordered
him to cut montana's pay.
So now I got to go explain
that,
yeah. These are the --
what's happening. You don't
like
it, too [bleep] bad."
oh, [bleep].
Got you.
Uh...
-Good?
-Oh, yeah.
Okay.
You know,
my big [bleep] deal
is I'm on this thing
for 12 hours a day.
You want me to [bleep]
for an hour, I can.
But that affects
my whole month,
you know, of earnings
that I'm losing.
-Yeah.
-That's a lot --
it's overtime that
I've earned though.
You know? It's kind of
a [bleep] deal, man.
I figured I at least
earned the respect
of being
a valuable employee.
Just kind of harsh, man.
I don't know.
Yeah.
[ buzzer ]
[ bleep, bleep, bleep ]
well, they're understandably
pissed, montana mostly.
I mean, we're cutting his
hours
by a large chunk.
That's a lot of money.
I'd be pissed, too.
But...
Narrator: After 2 years
on the beets' crew,
deckhand montana quits.
Oh, you got
a minute, mom?
Hi. Yeah.
How are ya?
Oh, I've had
better...Years.
I'm doubting my ability
on this gold mining stuff
right now.
And I tell you what.
I'm feelin' like a failure.
The only thing that I would
be disappointed in you about
is if you quit.
But I know
you're not a quitter.
And so I just don't
want you to give up.
Maybe we could
pray right now.
Dear god, it seems pretty
discouraging right now and...
I just know you've got
something good planned for us.
And I ask that
you'd help us.
In jesus' name, amen.
I know
it's gonna work out.
Narrator: At parker's main
operation, scribner creek,
it's time for
the weekly cleanup.
-How's it goin', doumitt?
-Do you play, huh?
Throw it on the scale.
And give it a look-see.
All right.
Let's weigh her up.
Narrator: To hit his
4,000-ounce
season goal,
parker needs scribner creek
to produce over
140 ounces every week,
around $170,000
worth of gold.
80.
Broke 100.
What'd we do
last week?
145.
141.1.
All right.
Right on the money.
That's pretty
damn consistent.
Yeah.
It takes parker's
total to 412 ounces,
worth almost half
a million dollars.
Next one ought
to put us up over 500.
I hope so.
Yeah. Yeah.
Whoo!
-Drive it like you stole it!
-[ laughs ]
-he did.
-So I got crazy good news.
-Oh, yeah?
-Yeah, man.
I just found thawed gravel
at indian river.
Hmm, wow.
-Not bad.
-Pretty sweet.
How big of an area
do you got that's thawed?
I don't know how big
an area it is yet.
But it -- it, you know,
hopefully would be enough
to get us started.
It's very easy for us
to go from doin' real well
at one operation up
here at scribner
to faltering
at two different ones.
So I don't know.
You gave me a deadline
to find thawed ground,
find some pay.
Found it.
Deal's a deal.
What do you think, chris?
He's got you ground.
He found thawed ground.
Let's get that
other plant goin'.
I don't know.
I'd say go for it.
I know that if we get it
going down at indian river,
we'll beat last year.
[ sighs ] all right.
All right. Let's do it.
-There you go.
-Yeah.
[bleep] get a wash plant down
there, and start sluicing it.
I got some strippin' to do.
-Good luck, rick.
-Good luck out there.
I think he's a happy boy.
Oh, I'm stoked, man.
Uh, indian river
just got green lit.
That means I've got
my own operation.
And, uh, I couldn't
be more excited.
We've got a lot of work ahead.
I've never been so excited
about a lot work.
But, uh, yeah.
I'm ready for it.
-Hey, here comes freddy.
-Hope he's got some news.
Narrator: At the hoffman camp,
freddy dodge arrives
with the result
of this week's cleanup.
Turin:
Freddy, you hungry?
Nah, I don't want
anything to eat, dave.
Thank you though.
Well, I think we all know
that it's not good, so...
-Not good at all.
-What was it?
Well, it's less than
a quarter last week --
14 ounces.
-What?!
-What?
-14 ounces?
-Mm-hmm.
That was the same material.
I sent the same exact stuff.
Wasn't the same material.
Didn't have gold in it.
Keep runnin' material
through that plant.
But we ain't
makin' a dime.
I have bills.
I have a kid on the way.
We're all losin' money.
So at some point,
you got to cut your losses.
And you got to move on.
I'm with you.
I don't think the high bar
is where it's at.
We need to go say
somethin' to todd.
Turin:
Well, where's todd?
I think he went
to his camper.
Well, let's go talk.
I'm gonna whup somebody's ass
with this spatula
right now.
-He's in here?
-Yeah, he's in here.
Where else would he be?
-Hey.
-What?
Hey.
We want to know
what the cleanup was.
Dude, we had a bad
one, obviously.
Yeah, freddy told us.
Well, freddy can tell you.
Who gives a crap who tells
you?
We'd kind of like
to hear it from you.
We had a bad one.
Big deal.
I mean, I think
we should push, push on.
No.
It's time to change.
We need a decision.
This ain't workin'.
And I know it's not workin'.
But if we stop, we're not
gettin' any gold at all.
I'm tired. And I want
what's best for the team.
Right now, the best thing
for the team
is to get our ass
off the high bar
and go to the buckland.
I'm just done.
I'm just done.
Okay. Okay.
Okay.
What do we need to get
on the next cleanup
to get everybody
frickin' back on board?
What is it?
50 ounces.
-50.
-Huh?
-50 ounces, todd.
-50?
50, not 49, todd.
50.
At least, at 50 ounces,
we could break even.
Okay.
I'll tell you what.
We don't get 50,
I'm gonna close the high bar.
And that's my promise.
That's the way
it's got to be, dad.
You got a deal.
Deal here.
-Agreed.
-All right.
Todd: You know, the reality
is,
you know, we're failing.
Well, that's the part
that sucks about
being in charge.
It's tough.
But a deal's a deal.
50 ounces,
or we're closin' it down.
Narrator:
On the next "gold rush"...
I think a lot of us
are in shock.
Todd: We are at ground zero.
I need you guys to go the next
two weeks without pay.
You tell mindy
I'm not gettin' paid.
I didn't come here
to work for free.
Ness: Found pay dirt.
This is my own little pile
of [bleep].
[bleep] needed
everywhere.
Look at
the [bleep] plant.
Don't [bleep]
do that again!
Let's get some [bleep]
dirt in it.
Get the pile
in the [bleep] plant!
Shut it down!
I swear to [bleep],
I'm gonna ring doumitt's neck.
We could buy gold cheaper
than what we're doin' right
now.
Narrator: On this "gold
rush"...
Todd: You know, the reality
is we're failing.
Turin: Go! Get!
It's gonna be the hardest
thing
we've ever done.
You're losing thousands
of dollars a day.
We're not mining.
We're just wastin' time.
At some point,
you got to cut your losses
and you got to move on.
We need a decision.
Ness: No matter what has
to happen out here,
I'm gettin' gold out
of indian river.
You know, there's a lot
at stake here for me.
This is personal.
Unless I see somethin' really
screwed up, rick's the boss.
-You're kiddin' me.
-Shut it down!
We're pullin' the plug.
Ness: I'm willin' to fight
anything to keep this goin'.
Folster: We're not in
the logging business.
We're supposed to be
mining gold.
This is kind of a [bleep]
deal.
captions paid for by
discovery communications
todd: To be honest with you,
and I'm tryin' to put
a good face on it,
but I'm f-- I'm freaked out.
I'm really freaked out.
Narrator: One month into
the mining season,
todd's massive gamble,
moving to oregon,
isn't panning out.
To hit his 5,000-ounce,
$6 million goal,
the hoffman crew should've
already mined close
to 1,000 ounces.
But they've got just 50
worth $60,000.
My wife's back home
taking care of four kids.
I've got to be able to show
her
that this is payin' off.
Right now, it's not.
Spinks:
You know, we all have
families.
We all have bills to pay.
I'm pretty disappointed
in the high bar
and what it's, uh --
what it's turned out.
I didn't come to oregon to,
uh,
wash gravel and not get gold.
We've got to get gold.
Dodge:
Shut it down!
Narrator: Last week,
freddy dodge found
a gold-rich streak,
which dave and the crew have
been mining for the last 5
days.
It comes straight out.
Now, it's time to see
if freddy's streak can
live up to its promise
and keep todd's dream alive.
Pierce: Oh, boy.
That's a half ounce.
A half-ounce nugget
I just found in this mat.
Turin:
That's a nice one.
Whoa.
That's more like it.
Oh, another biggie.
We've got
two big nuggets.
This could turn out to be a
little bit better of a
cleanup.
Hey, how we lookin'?
Well, I got
some chunks here, yeah.
Yeah, some nice nuggets.
You know. All right.
Let's weigh it out.
Narrator: Their last cleanup
was
just 12 ounces worth $14,000.
Are you freaking
kidding me?
I'm gonna go
wake up the guys.
Why don't you throw
your coat on, man,
and come on out there?
Okay.
Hey, meeting right over here
at trey's trailer.
Okay.
-Meeting at trey's.
-Right now?
Yep. Right now.
Todd: Hey, guys.
That ground
that freddy found last week...
64 frickin' ounces.
Wow!
[ laughter ]
we're back in the gold.
But we need to keep that
going.
If we even have any kind of
a remote chance on 5,000,
it's gonna take the high bar
and the buckland.
Okay?
And we got to get
the buckland set up, dave.
Tell you what, we got a hell
of a lot of work to do.
So I need some people.
Why don't you take
sterling and hunter?
We're gonna be relyin'
on you guys to get pay dirt.
I know it's gonna be a
stretch.
It's gonna be the hardest
thing
we've ever done,
tryin' to run two mines.
But if we could get
200 ounces a week,
5,000 ounces is within reach.
Yep.
All right, man.
Let's kick some ass.
Let's see if we can pull it
off.
Narrator: The two claims
are very different.
The mountaintop high bar claim
has isolated pockets
of gold nuggets.
15 miles east,
buckland is in a valley
and is said to have much
deeper deposits of fine gold
on the bedrock similar
to claims in the klondike.
Dave's first job
at the buckland,
provide his wash plant
a constant supply of water.
Got to start
diggin' some ponds.
But the annual rainfall
in this part of eastern oregon
is just 11 inches per year.
That's not much more
than the arizona desert.
We've never dealt
with anything like this.
And it's gonna get hotter.
We'll probably have
to manage this water
better than we
ever have before.
It's gonna be on you
to make it work.
Okay? Uh, you think
you can pull it off?
Yeah.
We'll just have to do it.
We're in a desert.
We got to figure somethin'
out.
Let's get started
on these ponds, huh?
Normally, I wouldn't take
on a second mine,
but I'll tell you what.
The high bar is like
a treasure hunt.
So I'd rather try and fail
than not have tried it.
Turin: There's a lot riding
on buckland.
We've got a chance
to salvage the season.
Should I have them follow --
that first truck follow you?
Narrator: At the schnabel
claim,
21-year-old parker
and his crew are also
embarking
on a new chapter
in their mining history.
Ness: Let's kick some ass!
Hey, rick, it's a big day
for you, huh, bud?
Are you ready for this?
Absolutely.
Been waitin' for this.
Narrator: Over the last 3
years,
parker has opened eight cuts
at scribner creek
and is currently mining
the boundary cut extension.
Now, he plans to start up
a second operation
3 miles southwest
on the indian river.
Parker:
This is all nice, virgin
ground.
And, um, there's some
good drill holes in it.
So hopefully, we can get
this down to some gravel
and find some pay dirt.
Narrator: The second claim is
crucial to parker's
4,000-ounce,
$4.8 million season goal.
But down here,
he won't be calling the shots.
Parker:
This is gonna be rick's show.
As far as I'm concerned
when I'm down here,
unless I see somethin'
really screwed up,
you know, rick's the boss.
This is it, dude.
The big expansion.
There better be
some gold in it.
Yeah. No kidding.
So you think you're ready
to take this on?
Oh, yeah. You got to be.
You know? Right?
Last year was a big test,
and, uh, I work
the best under --
under that kind of stress
load.
So I'm up for it.
We're givin' you
the stress here.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's awful late in the year
to try to be startin'
strippin'.
Yeah, no kiddin'.
All right.
Well, let's get to it.
-Yeah.
-Gotcha.
All right.
Brennan, you know what to do.
Get in there
and sling that dirt.
Ruault: You got it.
Rock and roll, kelly.
Roger that.
Oh, this is kind of my --
my first big shot.
It's exciting. I mean, I --
I look back 5 years ago.
And I just can't believe
I'm here already.
So parker's put a lot
of trust in me.
And, uh, I sure as hell
ain't gonna let him down.
Narrator: Rick's first job
let's do this!
Strip the vegetation
and clear 10 feet of
overburden.
Ness: I think this mild spring
really helped us out.
I mean, this is 100% thawed
all the way into the bedrock.
This should be a home run.
Narrator: Pretty soon, the
dozers clear a large enough
area
for rick to start
digging gravel.
Ness: You know, this last
6 inches of mud left
on top of the gravel that I
can't scrape off with a
bucket,
so it chips up pretty easy
with this ripper.
You're kiddin' me.
[ bleep, bleep ]
man, this is all f--
this is all frozen.
Parker:
So what's goin' on here?
Well, comin' up
with a whole lot of this.
Frozen gravel.
[ bleep ]
yeah.
The amount of work that it
takes
to clear frozen ground,
just it's not [bleep] worth
it.
It's not worth the money.
We need to abandon it,
deal with it next year.
Well, I mean,
we're down here now.
I don't want to abandon it.
I just -- all I need is time.
There's got to be thawed
ground down here
somewhere though.
You know what I mean?
Well, thind it.
If you can't
find something thawed
that we can actually work
with in the next week,
then we're pulling
the plug.
-A week?
-A week.
I'd like more time.
Find somethin' we can work
with,
or we're gettin'
the [bleep] out of here.
It's pretty simple.
All right.
[bleep] me.
-Hey, jason.
-Hey, how's it goin'?
Oh, not too bad.
About to ask you that.
Folster: Dredge seems to be
operating great.
-Yeah.
-It's never dug better.
[bleep] yeah.
Narrator: At eureka creek,
dredge master kevin beets is
running his father's
ancient dredge.
So far this season,
he's pulled in a massive
756 ounces of gold
worth over $900,000.
Narrator: But the dredge
is plowing ahead so fast,
they can't clear
ground quick enough.
And they're dredging directly
towards a line of trees.
You know what a pain
of an ass
it is to deal with trees
in the bucket line.
Yeah.
That would be nice.
She's chewing up ground
faster than we expected.
So we're kind of racing.
Got to get enough opened up
so we're not
dredging the [bleep].
Narrator: To open
the new ground,
kevin first needs to get
his dozer up and running.
Kevin: You know what's really
fun about pickin' up
where another mechanic left
off?
The handful of bolts
and I don't know
where the [bleep]
those came from.
Not a [bleep] clue.
Now, that might be tony.
Here comes the hurricane.
Kevin: You've got
to be kidding me.
Well, we need to open up
space for the dredge
and clear a bunch of
the overburden and the trees.
Narrator: Instead of clearing
away the brush,
kevin flies to paradise hill
for a meeting with minnie...
Leaving deckhand montana
bailie
and assistant dredge
master jason folster
to deal with the trees.
Very disappointed that kevin
didn't clear this out for us.
It means that we have
to fight through this.
Just -- it's just a pain
in the ass all around.
Bailie: Basically,
you're gonna have to deal
with dead trees and roots.
And, like, right there
for instance.
[ bleep, bleep ]
[ bleep, bleep ]
all right.
Here comes the garbage.
Big clumps of grass
plugs up the trough,
plugs up the chutes.
And we have to deal with it
now
because it hasn't been
takin' away from.
We're not in
the logging business.
We're supposed to be
mining [bleep] gold.
[bleep] thing weighs
heavier than I do.
Holy [bleep].
[ bleep ]
grab my saw.
It's -- it's a [bleep] pain
to have to deal with this.
Turin: We're in the desert.
We need every bit
of water we can find.
We cannot allow
any of this water
to go into the ground.
Narrator: After 3 days dozing
at the buckland,
dave's crew has
made good progress
with the water recycling
system.
Looks pretty sweet.
Liners for our pond.
-Hey, travis.
-Hey, dave, how's it goin'?
-Good.
-Can we take a look at the
hole?
Yeah. Let's go.
Narrator: Dave's plan --
first,
line the pond to create
a watertight seal
preventing any water
seeping into the ground.
Then, using screens,
separate into three sections.
Dirty water from the wash
plant
will run through a muck pond
and into the main pond where
it
is filtered and cleaned.
The water will then run back
to the wash plant
to be recycled.
-How many pieces we got?
-Six total.
So we'll unroll 'em
down the dike.
We'll pull 'em across using
your crew and our crew.
And it should
be short work.
Cool.
You can already feel
the wind picking up.
So we'll want to be
prepared for that.
And it can lift
the liner or shift it.
We don't want
to have that happen.
Turin: Okay. Let's go.
Let's get this thing in.
Ready?
Let's go.
Now we want to try
and go a little faster,
get a little air.
Turin: Oh, wait!
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Rick's goin' under!
A little help!
Pull that side up, make sure
we got enough that way.
Go!
Oh!
We want to have it about
as flat as we can get it.
And then, the water will push
it
down solid and tight.
Last one.
First time
we've ever lined a pond.
It's workin'.
It's pretty cool.
Travis:
We got to keep it low because
the wind's comin' this way.
We've got to get water
in that pond.
What happens, the wind
whips underneath that,
that liner lifts up, we've
lost
the whole day's work.
So I got to get this pump
goin'.
Whoa! Dang! Dang!
There's a frickin'
big ol' snake in there.
There's a frickin'
snake under there.
Look at right here.
Narrator: At the buckland
claim,
dave grapples
with working in a desert.
Turin: See that sucker?
I'm not messin' with snakes.
I'm gonna get trey.
Narrator: It's over 30 miles
to the nearest hospital.
And the western rattlesnake
is highly venomous.
Did he rattle at ya?
Trey is the mine's
safety expert.
Trey: Biggest one I've seen.
That's the real
deal there.
Holy crap.
He is not happy.
Watch out! Wa--
get the --
back up!
Back up!
This is serious [bleep].
Get the camera back.
Turin: Oh, geez!
He is pissed.
Trey, you sure you got
his head pinned?
Hopefully
good enough here.
Are you kidding me?
-Good one.
-Whew!
Hey, let's get
back to work.
Narrator: Dave is racing
to secure $25,000
worth of pond lining.
All right.
We got water.
-Looks good, dave.
-All right.
It's a damn nice sight.
Narrator:
The hoffmans' second operation
is one step closer
to producing gold.
We've got our pond set up.
We got water comin' in.
It's really gonna happen.
Well, this is
gonna take long?
Kevin beets has been pulled
from running the dredge
for a meeting
with his mother, minnie.
Hey, chick.
That -- that's okay.
That works, too.
Yeah, that's...
Thanks. Bye.
What's goin' on?
Well, my payroll
is pretty big.
I want to cut hours.
I sat down and did
some number counting.
We're gonna cut hours.
And we're cutting them
across the claims.
It adds up for me
considerably.
You cut where you can.
All right.
So your dredge master
is fine.
You have to have someone
running the dredge 12 hours.
The deckhands and, uh,
your people are all
gonna lose an hour.
So that'd be montana
and kayle, right?
Yep.
Don't think they're gonna
be happy to hear that.
This is not up
for discussion, kevin.
It is what it is.
They're really good guys
we have on there right now.
They do work [bleep] hard.
Not that I --
I know you don't care.
Well, kevin --
you're the boss.
It's your project, right?
It's your baby.
We're gonna cut hours.
And you're gonna
have to do it.
That's right.
Get going.
Okay?
Yep.
Bye.
This is gonna suck to have
to tell the deckhands.
No one likes to hear
they're getting less money.
That's not really something
you
want to have to do as a
manager.
It's just not very [bleep]
fun.
[ sighs ]
[ bleep, bleep ]
ness: The indian river is --
is my season.
There's more
at stake here for me.
This is, uh, you know,
this is personal.
Narrator: At parker's
indian river claim,
new mine boss rick ness
and operator kelly fedio
are working Sunday
in a desperate search
for thawed ground.
Ness: Uh, can I succeed?
Can I find us all pay?
Can I get gold out
of indian river?
You know, it's --
these are all questions,
uh, that I've thought about.
And -- and now,
I'm gettin' a chance to --
to find the answer to.
So I'm willing to fight
anything to keep this going.
No matter what has
to happen down here,
I'm gettin' gold out
of indian river.
Come on, baby.
-Whoa!
-Shut it down!
Aw, that's just great.
[ bleep, bleep ]
[bleep] line!
[ bleep ]
can't even get
the [bleep] in there.
[ bleep, bleep ]
ness: We blew a hydraulic
line.
It all runs off one system.
So we got to fix it.
Narrator: The d10's hydraulic
system is down.
And the only person who can
fix it is mechanic mitch.
Ness: I hate havin' to do it.
You know, we --
we're workin' 84 hours
a week, minimum.
You know, and -- and these
guys,
every couple of weeks,
they get a day off.
That's it.
You know, and then,
I got to go and ask him to
work.
I hate doin' it.
But we've got no choice.
Blaschke: We could cap it.
But I don't want to 'cause
that'd be half-assin' it.
We fix things 100% ass
around here, not half-ass.
Uh, we didn't have
all the right
fittings to build
a whole new hose.
So, uh, what I did
is splice this one
and, uh, put one section
of new hose on there.
So it should be enough
to get it back up and runnin'.
Looks good!
No leaks!
-Sweet. Thanks, mitch.
-Yep.
Narrator:
With the hydraulics repaired,
rick can continue his search
for thawed gravel.
Ness: Now I am gettin'
worried.
We're, you know,
runnin' out of time.
And our back's
really up against it.
I don't think there's any
thawed
gravel down here at all.
I need thawed ground, man.
Last week, we hit
some good pockets of gold,
so, hopefully, this week,
we got to put gold
in our pocket.
Narrator: Up at the hoffmans'
high bar operation,
the crew's going
all out for the gold.
Last week, they got
640 ounces worth $76,000.
But they're still battling
to get their season
back on track.
Their last man pull.
It's probably the best
that we've seen so far.
But I can't say that we --
we've seen the gold
that we were promised
that we would see.
The overall mood between
everybody is just frustration.
Hiatt: The gold at the high
bar
is extremely spotty.
We're -- we're just not
havin' luck right now.
This season is not --
it's not exactly going
how I thought it would.
You know, what we could do
is we could line this cut
and make it into
a swimming pool,
charge 5 bucks a day,
make more money than the gold
we're gonna get out of it.
Kevin, is that
your last one there?
Narrator: This week, they've
run
an impressive 10,000 yards.
And they're starting
an all-important cleanup.
Can't get excited
about gold in here
until you do
the final cleanup.
It's a crapshoot.
Nobody really knows.
Todd: We're comin' off the
best
week, so far, at the high bar.
Let's hope it --
let's hope it lasts.
-What do we got?
-Let's see.
Jack: Well, okay.
-God.
-That doesn't cut it.
What the hell?
This high bar was
supposed to pay big time.
How can we go from 64 to 14.5?
I don't know, todd.
Lots of gold mines are spotty.
But this one, we're hittin'
a lot more bad spots than
good.
Narrator: 14.5 ounces
is worth just $17,000.
Todd: I just don't want to
give up on it yet, guys.
I really don't.
I'm hoping that it could
turn the frick around.
You know how many gold miners
that's broke, todd?
That same philosophy?
The scale doesn't lie.
You're losin' thousands
of dollars a day.
I can't tell you
what to do.
But we can't
continue this way.
Well, what do you want to do?
You want to just sit out here
and just barbecue or what?
I don't know.
We could buy gold
cheaper than what
we're doin' right now.
We're not mining.
We're just wastin' time.
I can't make heads or tails
of what's goin' on.
I'm startin' to feel like
maybe I made a big mistake.
Right now, I want to give up.
I want to pack my crap
and go home.
Ness: Yeah, I really don't
want to give up
on this indian river cut here.
But it's -- it's really
not lookin' good.
Everything's so frozen.
I just don't know anymore.
Narrator: Rick's been
searching
for thawed pay gravel
at his new indian river mine
all week to prevent parker
shutting him down.
But he's out of time.
Hey, brennan.
We'll call that good, buddy.
Callin' it quits.
Ruault: Yeah.
I'll be, like, 10 minutes.
I'll finish this,
and I'll come up.
You know, this is my
second year workin' with rick.
And, uh, you know,
he's a great boss.
And I like, uh --
I really actually do
enjoy working with the guy.
He's, uh, he's easy
to get along with.
He works hard.
And, uh, you know,
he knows his stuff.
But, uh, you know,
his plan failed this year,
and it might not even
be ready for next year.
Ness: This indian river cut
is not, uh, you know --
sorry. Hold on one second.
Hey, brennan.
You got copy?
Hello.
Dude, get over here by me
and check this out.
[ bleep ]
[ bleep ]
ruault: What you got?
Ness: Dude, it's gravel.
And it's thawed.
A sliver of hope.
I mean, I was pretty
depressed this morning
thinkin' that there
was just no chance.
And, you know,
all of a sudden,
to push into this
thawed river rock,
I mean, that's amazing.
I mean, it's hard to tell
how much thaw there can be
here.
But if there's some,
there could be more.
I mean, even if it's not a
lot,
it's a starting point.
-Yeah, boy.
-Beer time.
This potentially saves
our season on indian river.
We're back in gravel now.
Narrator: While dredge master
kevin has been away,
jason and deckhand montana
have dealt with everything
from trees to boulders.
Every two or three swathes,
we'll come across a big, uh --
big rock that we have
to take care of.
And that kind of slows
everything down.
Got to grab that very quick.
[bleep] coming.
We got two big [bleep]
[ bleep ]
all right. Now, I'm gonna go
talk to the dredge crew.
Narrator: Kevin beets
faces a tough job.
His mother, minnie, has
ordered
him to cut montana's pay.
So now I got to go explain
that,
yeah. These are the --
what's happening. You don't
like
it, too [bleep] bad."
oh, [bleep].
Got you.
Uh...
-Good?
-Oh, yeah.
Okay.
You know,
my big [bleep] deal
is I'm on this thing
for 12 hours a day.
You want me to [bleep]
for an hour, I can.
But that affects
my whole month,
you know, of earnings
that I'm losing.
-Yeah.
-That's a lot --
it's overtime that
I've earned though.
You know? It's kind of
a [bleep] deal, man.
I figured I at least
earned the respect
of being
a valuable employee.
Just kind of harsh, man.
I don't know.
Yeah.
[ buzzer ]
[ bleep, bleep, bleep ]
well, they're understandably
pissed, montana mostly.
I mean, we're cutting his
hours
by a large chunk.
That's a lot of money.
I'd be pissed, too.
But...
Narrator: After 2 years
on the beets' crew,
deckhand montana quits.
Oh, you got
a minute, mom?
Hi. Yeah.
How are ya?
Oh, I've had
better...Years.
I'm doubting my ability
on this gold mining stuff
right now.
And I tell you what.
I'm feelin' like a failure.
The only thing that I would
be disappointed in you about
is if you quit.
But I know
you're not a quitter.
And so I just don't
want you to give up.
Maybe we could
pray right now.
Dear god, it seems pretty
discouraging right now and...
I just know you've got
something good planned for us.
And I ask that
you'd help us.
In jesus' name, amen.
I know
it's gonna work out.
Narrator: At parker's main
operation, scribner creek,
it's time for
the weekly cleanup.
-How's it goin', doumitt?
-Do you play, huh?
Throw it on the scale.
And give it a look-see.
All right.
Let's weigh her up.
Narrator: To hit his
4,000-ounce
season goal,
parker needs scribner creek
to produce over
140 ounces every week,
around $170,000
worth of gold.
80.
Broke 100.
What'd we do
last week?
145.
141.1.
All right.
Right on the money.
That's pretty
damn consistent.
Yeah.
It takes parker's
total to 412 ounces,
worth almost half
a million dollars.
Next one ought
to put us up over 500.
I hope so.
Yeah. Yeah.
Whoo!
-Drive it like you stole it!
-[ laughs ]
-he did.
-So I got crazy good news.
-Oh, yeah?
-Yeah, man.
I just found thawed gravel
at indian river.
Hmm, wow.
-Not bad.
-Pretty sweet.
How big of an area
do you got that's thawed?
I don't know how big
an area it is yet.
But it -- it, you know,
hopefully would be enough
to get us started.
It's very easy for us
to go from doin' real well
at one operation up
here at scribner
to faltering
at two different ones.
So I don't know.
You gave me a deadline
to find thawed ground,
find some pay.
Found it.
Deal's a deal.
What do you think, chris?
He's got you ground.
He found thawed ground.
Let's get that
other plant goin'.
I don't know.
I'd say go for it.
I know that if we get it
going down at indian river,
we'll beat last year.
[ sighs ] all right.
All right. Let's do it.
-There you go.
-Yeah.
[bleep] get a wash plant down
there, and start sluicing it.
I got some strippin' to do.
-Good luck, rick.
-Good luck out there.
I think he's a happy boy.
Oh, I'm stoked, man.
Uh, indian river
just got green lit.
That means I've got
my own operation.
And, uh, I couldn't
be more excited.
We've got a lot of work ahead.
I've never been so excited
about a lot work.
But, uh, yeah.
I'm ready for it.
-Hey, here comes freddy.
-Hope he's got some news.
Narrator: At the hoffman camp,
freddy dodge arrives
with the result
of this week's cleanup.
Turin:
Freddy, you hungry?
Nah, I don't want
anything to eat, dave.
Thank you though.
Well, I think we all know
that it's not good, so...
-Not good at all.
-What was it?
Well, it's less than
a quarter last week --
14 ounces.
-What?!
-What?
-14 ounces?
-Mm-hmm.
That was the same material.
I sent the same exact stuff.
Wasn't the same material.
Didn't have gold in it.
Keep runnin' material
through that plant.
But we ain't
makin' a dime.
I have bills.
I have a kid on the way.
We're all losin' money.
So at some point,
you got to cut your losses.
And you got to move on.
I'm with you.
I don't think the high bar
is where it's at.
We need to go say
somethin' to todd.
Turin:
Well, where's todd?
I think he went
to his camper.
Well, let's go talk.
I'm gonna whup somebody's ass
with this spatula
right now.
-He's in here?
-Yeah, he's in here.
Where else would he be?
-Hey.
-What?
Hey.
We want to know
what the cleanup was.
Dude, we had a bad
one, obviously.
Yeah, freddy told us.
Well, freddy can tell you.
Who gives a crap who tells
you?
We'd kind of like
to hear it from you.
We had a bad one.
Big deal.
I mean, I think
we should push, push on.
No.
It's time to change.
We need a decision.
This ain't workin'.
And I know it's not workin'.
But if we stop, we're not
gettin' any gold at all.
I'm tired. And I want
what's best for the team.
Right now, the best thing
for the team
is to get our ass
off the high bar
and go to the buckland.
I'm just done.
I'm just done.
Okay. Okay.
Okay.
What do we need to get
on the next cleanup
to get everybody
frickin' back on board?
What is it?
50 ounces.
-50.
-Huh?
-50 ounces, todd.
-50?
50, not 49, todd.
50.
At least, at 50 ounces,
we could break even.
Okay.
I'll tell you what.
We don't get 50,
I'm gonna close the high bar.
And that's my promise.
That's the way
it's got to be, dad.
You got a deal.
Deal here.
-Agreed.
-All right.
Todd: You know, the reality
is,
you know, we're failing.
Well, that's the part
that sucks about
being in charge.
It's tough.
But a deal's a deal.
50 ounces,
or we're closin' it down.
Narrator:
On the next "gold rush"...
I think a lot of us
are in shock.
Todd: We are at ground zero.
I need you guys to go the next
two weeks without pay.
You tell mindy
I'm not gettin' paid.
I didn't come here
to work for free.
Ness: Found pay dirt.
This is my own little pile
of [bleep].
[bleep] needed
everywhere.
Look at
the [bleep] plant.
Don't [bleep]
do that again!
Let's get some [bleep]
dirt in it.
Get the pile
in the [bleep] plant!
Shut it down!
I swear to [bleep],
I'm gonna ring doumitt's neck.