Gold Rush: Alaska (2010–…): Season 7, Episode 5 - Misery on the Mountain - full transcript

Let's get some [bleep] dirt
in it!

Get the pile in the plant!

Narrator:
On this "gold rush"...

Lee: What's up with rick and
parker hiring these old guys?

Sevigny:
Tonka toys in your backyard

-perfect!
-Whoa, whoa!

Screwed up.

I swear I'm gonna wring
doumitt's neck.

I've been forced to work
in this cut by myself.

-I need help in the cut.
-I go where I am needed.

And I'm [bleep]
needed everywhere.



Monica:
Definitely kind of sucks.

Todd: We are at ground zero. I
hate to say this.

But I need you guys to go
the next 2 weeks without pay.

I didn't come here
to work for free.

I don't see
how it's gonna work.

I came down here
to oregon with a --

a pretty good belief that
this ground was worth a damn.

And it's not.

And if there is no gold,
we're not getting paid.

And if I don't have money
in my account, I can't live.

Narrator:
At todd hoffman's high bar
mine,

morale is at an all-time low.

Spinks: You know, we thought,
when we came to the high bar,

that this was gonna be
one of our best seasons ever.



And right now, it just
kind of feels like a mistake.

Narrator: This year,
todd hoffman has set

by far
his most ambitious goal --

5,000 ounces.

-First bucket, trey.
-Here we go!

Narrator:
After a grim start,

freddy dodge discovered
a new pay streak.

Look at that.

Yellow gold.

That could be
a serious game-changer.

Narrator:
But 5 weeks into the season,

they've mined just
129 ounces of gold,

worth a pathetic $150,000.

That doesn't cut it.

We're hitting a lot
more bad spots than good.

We don't want to quit.

But we might not be
staying at the high bar.

Can you guys meet me
at the edge cut?

Narrator:
Frustrated by last week's di

todd's crew gave him
an ultimatum.

I'd promised the guys that,
if we didn't get 50 ounces,

that I'd close
the high bar down.

Even though it's less than
half
of what we need each week,

50 ounces would
keep us in the game.

It could be here.
Guys, it could be here.

And I want to give it
every last chance we can.

But I need you guys
to give me your all.

I'm with you.
Let's give it 100%.

If we can get
50 ounces from this,

I think it's a reason to stay,
'cause we can expand on this.

-All right.
-One more shot.

-One more shot.
-One more shot.

Todd: Let's do it.

So this is it.

We got to get every ounce
of pay dirt we can.

We got to get this gold.

Everyone, the plant
is going hot.

I repeat,
the plant is going hot.

Man: Copy that.

Kevin, you ready to go?

Yeah, we're ready
to go here.

Let's do it.

Hiatt: My wife's back home
taking care of four kids

while I'm trying
to support them.

And I have another
kid on the way.

So I hope we can stay here.

Keep this plant running hard.

You know, right now,
we're at the point

where it's kind of
a sink-or-swim type of deal.

We've got to get gold.

So what we're gonna do
is get this top layer off.

And then I'm just
gonna go down deeper.

Um, you know, we have no idea

if this goes 20 feet
or 100 feet or 5 feet.

I mean, we just --
we just don't know.

So we'll just keep going down,

make it a bigger hole
until we get gold.

Wirth:
Up here, I'm pretty positive

the deeper you go,
the more gold you're gonna
see.

Might be more
difficult to get.

Andy's in some pretty
tough stuff right now.

Um, the clay layer,
we have a lot of clay up here.

So we try to stay
away from it.

The plant does not
like it at all.

And that stuff's just
pretty nasty material.

Logan, pick up the pace.

We need to slam as much dirt
through this plant as we can.

Getting a full bucket here
is next to impossible.

This material is so dense,
all kinds of weird clay.

And it's a fight
to load with this.

You've got to be kidding me.

Kevin to will.

-Yeah, go -- go ahead, kevin.
-It just, like, bogged way
down.

And it's taking forever
for this stuff to run through.

Kevin, I got that feeder
turned all the way up.

So it's --
it's at max it can go.

And that feeder's
backed in pretty tight.

What's going on here
is we're into some

really wet clay, red material.

And that stuff's just packing
that feeder tight in.

This is not good.

At this rate,

we're never gonna
get 50 ounces.

Parker: We've got
a really good system down.

And as long as we've got
good people, it keeps up.

Narrator: 2,000 miles north,
parker schnabel

has already mined
412 ounces of gold,

worth almost half
a million dollars.

But the only way
to hit his massive

4,000-ounce season goal

is to run his new wash plant
at full throttle.

Parker: Right now, the plant's
running about 240 yards

an hour, which is pretty good.

It's, uh --
it's quite a bit of dirt.

You know, at that, we do
an ounce for every 90, 95
yards.

So we should be doing
about 2 1/2 ounces an hour.

So, if that's true,

then we're in good shape.

Narrator: Parker's attempting
to run lean and mean

with as few crew members
as possible.

Yeah, the beauty of this setup
with the feeder down in the
cut

and those conveyors
bringing the pay up

to the plant is that,

with just a few people,
you can stay running.

[ metal creaking, groaning ]

that thing sounds like me
when I walk now!

I think this sounds
a little better.

Hurry up, tyson.
I'm tired of standing here

watching you work hard.
You want me to grab you a
chair?

-Yeah.
-One with wheels?

Narrator: But parker's plan
is under strain,

as veteran miner chris doumitt
is on light duty.

64 years old,
and I can't even dress myself.

[ laughs ]

I can get it!

-I'm helping, doumitt.
-Gol-dang kids!

Just came off
of back surgery.

These kids won't
let me do anything.

They think I'm old
or something.

Yeah, doumitt's definitely
eager
to get back in the loader.

And I hope he takes
his time to do it

'cause I don't want to see him
go back for another surgery.

I had back surgery,
not brain surgery, okay?

-I got it figured out.
-Sometimes, I wonder.

[ laughs ]

narrator: Chris has been
one of parker schnabel's

wash plant operators

for the last three seasons.

But, this year,
things have changed.

Is your back
all right doing that?

Oh, yeah. Yeah.
I'm going slow.

All right.

Parker:
I love chris doumitt.

But chris just isn't
in the shape to run a loader,

like, all-out like we need
here,
you know?

And tyson's turning into
a very good plant operator.

He watches everything.
He keeps a good eye on things.

But he's fast, too.

I'm bailing pay
as fast as I can.

And I'm hardly
putting a pile up.

We're never gonna keep up
with this thing,

not two of us.

Narrator: So parker hires
a new operator, denis sevigny.

And with his new
lean-and-mean approach,

parker needs every crew member

to be at the top of their
game.

But it's all
about sluicing, right?

Don't stop the sluice box.

It's been like that everywhere
I ever worked.

A guy could drop dead
with a heart attack.

If he's dead, well,
they'll deal with him.

Keep feeding the box.

I'm gonna go to work.

Parker: Denis is a yukon
local.
He's been mining a lot of
years.

And, uh, I've got
high hopes, anyway.

We've got good people
in the loaders.

It's a really good system.

Lee: What's up with rick and
parker hiring these old guys?

[ laughter ]

like, did they go
to the retirement home

and hand out flyers?

-Hey, tyson!
-What's up?

I need fuel.
And where's the fuel cap?

-The fuel truck's right there.
-Okay.

So just back up to it
and lift the ass end.

Lift the cap.

New guy's first day
on the job.

Parker:
Dude, he's not gonna fuel
right
there out of that truck, is

I don't think he's got
as much experience

in a loader as he claimed.

Now, which one
opens the grizzly?

One, but make sure
your bucket isn't over it.

-This one here opens it?
-Yeah.

And this one closes it?

No.
One opens and closes.

Two is stop.

Hopefully, maybe
he can figure it out.

Kind of odd
how he's going up the ramp

with the bucket all the way
in the air, though.

What's your thoughts
on him?

It don't seem to me like
he's been in the machine
before.

He says that he's new
to new equipment.

But, like, loaders are
pretty much the same, man.

You got two levers.

One makes the boom go up.
One makes the bucket scoop.

Yeah.

And, I mean, like,
I don't know.

He has balls,
carrying the bucket that high

going up that ramp.

I don't know if that's balls
or inexperience.

What the hell is he doing?

Oh, he's sitting
in the middle of the cut

while he's supposed to be
running the plant.

Oh, yeah.
It's ridiculous.

Like, he can't be [bleep]
having a sandwich

when you're supposed to be
running the [bleep] plant.

-What's going on?
-He's decided to take

a lunch break or something?
I don't know.

[bleep]

there ain't [bleep]
dirt in the hopper.

The wash plant's on.
It needs dirt.

But the guy in the [bleep]
loader ain't moving.

I don't really know
what's happening, but...

Go [bleep] find out.

[bleep]
letting the belt run dry.

Narrator: At scribner creek,
new
loader operator denis sevigny

has stopped work
in the middle of his shift.

Ness: You can't just have dirt
not going through the plant.

Sevigny: Oh, I was having
my coffee break.

Oh, there's no [bleep]
stopping
when you're loading that
plant.

Is that right? Oh, okay.
I didn't know that.

There's got to be dirt
going through that plant.

I gotcha.

Ness: [bleep] kidding me?
Coffee break?

[bleep]

this new guy's a joke.

Narrator: Running water
through
a plant without pay...

I can't [bleep] take this.

Narrator: ...Will wash gold
right out of the sluices.

-That is not okay!
-Oh, okay!

-I don't know!
-Hey!

-Don't [bleep] do that again!
-Okay, so don't stop --

let's get some [bleep]
dirt in it!

Don't --

get the pile
in the [bleep] plant!

Okay!

This pile right here,
right here.

That's why the stockpile's
there, is when the --

when we need a pile
of dirt quick, grab it.

Okay, okay, I gotcha.

We can't have that [bleep]
belt
running dry.

Blaschke:
Look at that right there.

Just pissing it
all out onto the ground.

I told him three times,
massage it through.

That's his version of
massaging it through, I guess.

Dumping it off the back?

Yep.

It's as piss-easy
as it can get.

If they can't get this,
then they're not gonna get it.

It's empty.

It's empty? Okay, just back up
and tip the grizzlies out,

and I'll shut 'er down.

Narrator: Denis has reached
the end of his first shift.

Actually really good.
I got a good teacher.

Tyson knows what he's doing.

He's given me a good --
lot of good pointers.

And, uh, yeah.
Had a great day.

Past 2 weeks, I've maybe spilt
15 shovelfuls down here.

And then...
New guy runs the plant

for 2 hours
and buries the bloody thing.

[ laughs ]
young man's job.

Would've been nice
if he would've stuck around

to clean up his mess, but...
Nope.

That's what I'm here for,
I guess.

It's a high-pace environment

over here
running this wash plant.

And, you know,
if the guy's not gonna be able

to keep up,
we can't keep him around.

That's what we hired him to
do.

And give him one more day,

see if he can figure it out.

I will, anyways.
I can't speak for parker.

Narrator: At eureka creek,

tony beets' 75-year-old dredge
is on the gold.

Son kevin is dredge master,

while daughter monica
strips ground ahead.

Their teamwork has so far
produced 757 ounces of gold

worth more than $900,000.

[ static, man speaking
indistinctly over radio ]

mike: Uh, I was looking
for you, yeah.

Yeah, it's not
getting done around here.

I need help in the cut.

You know, I had people around
to give me this much attention

as that [bleep] dredge
is getting,

I'd [bleep] be up on the hill
sluicing right now, too!

Mike: Yeah, this is my own
little pile of [bleep]

narrator: 25 miles north,
at paradise hill,

tony's son, 26-year-old mike

is solely responsible

for getting the family mine
up and running.

Mike:
Dad is pretty busy this year.

He's left me in charge
around here.

So he can spend most of his
time
focusing on the dredges.

I'm actually
behind schedule here

because I've been forced to
work

in this cut by myself

with nobody else
but mike there on the monitor.

So I'm a decent fricking
2 weeks behind, 3 weeks
behind.

Narrator: Mike needs
to start producing gold.

But he can't fire up
the wash plant

till he and the monitor
operator

strip 20 feet of overburden

and get down to the pay layer.

It takes three machines
to remove the permafrost.

An excavator digs out
the frozen overburden.

A dozer pushes it over
to the monitor,

which blasts it into a slurry.

The dozer can then remove
the liquid mud out of the cut.

I think, uh, it's gonna
take a bit of work.

Yeah.

Good. Yeah.

Narrator: Kevin's just been
demoted from dredge master

to his younger
brother's assistant.

I'd rather not leave the
dredge,
but I go where I am needed.

And I'm [bleep]
needed everywhere.

Hey, mike!

Not all of us
drive like you do.

All right.
We got a plan for this?

Yep.

You got all this black muck
here
about 20, 30 feet

that we got to strip away

to get to the white
channel beneath it.

The black muck is usually
frozen, like permafrost.

Once that melts,
it turns into goo,

which is what we're working
through right now.

So mike's ripping
through the frost.

And I am pushing it all to
where the monitor can reach.

Narrator: The beets brothers
have been mining together

for more than a decade.

Kevin: When me and him
fricking
start working together,

we move a [bleep] load.

I don't know if you guys
can see it.

But I think I just saw
pay pop up over there.

Mike:
Kevin, do you copy?

Kevin:
Copy, what's up?

Found pay dirt.

One more time?

I found the money dirt.

[bleep] good to hear, man.

Whoo-hoo.

I don't got any spare bodies
to drive the rock truck.

So I'll just do it.

Narrator: Kevin hauls the
first
pay dirt to the wash plant.

Monica:
Can you grab this end?

Narrator:
To complete the family,

sister monica joins them

to set up the sluice box.

And now pull that mat out.

All right.
Perfect.

Monica: We are putting the box
together on the hill

to get mike sluicing here.

Um, just got to
lay the mats down.

Get the hoe on the pile,
and it's good to go.

Mike:
It's gonna take everybody in
the beets family

'cause we've all been
doing this for a long time.

And if we set each other
to certain jobs,

we all know it's gonna
get done a certain way.

It's a lot easier
than having to train

a whole bunch of new people
to do it that way,

no matter what you say.

Let's go.

Mike: Yep.

Yeah.

All right!

Narrator: It's taken
five weeks of hard work.

But finally, the beets family

have their second operation
running this season.

They're mining gold
in two separate locations.

Nice, isn't it?

You're welcome.
You're welcome.

No, it's awesome.

It's nice to be finally
out of that black muck

and [bleep] sluicing.

Little sister, big brother,
his father.

Mike:
Aw, man! Come here, both of
you!

-Oh!
-Aah!

You don't have
to like each other.

But you [bleep] have
to take care of each other

'cause blood's thicker
than water.

And it's the only family
you got, right?

Mike!

The new job's going slow.

-Chris!
-Yo!

-Can you turn the pump on?
-You're good.

Narrator: Parker's dream of
mining 4,000 ounces this
season

depends on getting the best
out
of his minimal crew.

Little bit of back problems
kind of slowing me down.

Narrator: Stuck on light
duties
after back surgery...

So you fuel it in the morning,
then you fuel it at noon?

Is that the routine?

...Chris doumitt
has a new job.

-Thanks, chris.
-Yep.

He has to refuel every piece
of equipment on the mine.

Doumitt: Hitting the ground
running this year.

Well, walking. Walking hard.

Least I'm doing something.

Hey, don't forget about
your fueling responsibilities.

I fueled everything, eh?

Narrator: At the wash plant,
loader operator denis sevigny

starts day two of his new job.

I enjoy it. Hey, they're big
tonka toys, you know?

Tonka toys in your backyard

and getting paid
for it -- perfect!

Right, we just need
to pick the speed up now.

[ laughs ]
yeah, is that where you're at?

I'll get there, parker.

Let's do this!

Narrator: To keep his wash
plant
running at full speed,

parker needs every crew member
to bring his "a" game.

You know, we're running
through a lot of dirt.

Pretty important that
we've got good people on it.

With four good people, you
could
be running 24/7 all season.

It's all about finding
those right people.

Denis, yeah, uh,
doesn't seem like

he's an all-star on the
loader.

Ness:
Is he getting any better?

Lee: Not really.

And now I'm running around
more than I was before.

[bleep] [bleep]

lee: I need to be dealing
with coarse tailings

and tossing up pay
and watching the plant.

I can't have time
to sit there and teach people

how to get a full scoop
in their bucket.

They should know that stuff
if they're coming out here

looking for a job.

And we're running
our feeder belt

at the highest rate
it's ever ran.

So we're definitely
pushing things.

We need guys that know
how to run the loader.

Hey, hey, how's it going?

[ sevigny laughs ]

uh, I'm gonna take
over here for a bit

if you want to go up
and see parker there.

I don't know.
He just said he wanted me

to run the plant for a bit.

Parker: All right,
you can hop in with me.

Um, things just
aren't working out.

We -- we just need
a little faster pace here.

Hope you understand that.

I don't take [bleep]
personally.

Never did, never will.

Too old for that.

I was hired
as a loader operator.

And I'm not that bad, either.

I've seen, uh, operators
a lot worse than me.

I stopped at 11:00 for a
coffee.

And this is, I think,
the results of it.

Can't have coffee break?
Can't have lunch?

What the [bleep]
you talking about, you know?

I'll take one coffee break
and my lunch, you know?

And, if that's a no-no,
well, then,

maybe I shouldn't
be here anyways.

We need more guys here that
know

what they're doing
and are able-bodied.

We don't need a bunch of guys
that all they want to do

is sit on their ass
and run equipment.

That's not the way
things run out here.

If you want to do that,
go work for the city.

Oh, what the [bleep]

ness: Yeah, all of a sudden,
they really do.

What in the [bleep]
there's no [bleep] water.

[bleep]
shut it down!

Lee: Whoa, whoa!
Our screen, our screen deck!

What the [bleep]

yeah, this thing just [bleep]
our lower deck out.

-Oh [bleep]
-wow.

Blaschke: Well, isn't that
gonna be fun?

Ness: Well, we lost water
to our plant.

Now it's [bleep]
completely clogged.

Yeah, that was our bottom deck
going out the damn conveyor.

[bleep]

I wonder if it built up
so much underneath on the
bottom

that it pushed it out?

Ness: That's probably
what it was, mitch.

What happened here
is all the fines

built up in our, uh, under
chute

because we had no water
washing it away.

So, when that happened,
it pushed all

of our screen media out.

And it all went out
our tailings.

Narrator:
When the water supply stopped,

the conveyors kept piling

dry pay dirt
into the shaker deck.

Without water to keep it
moving,

a mountain of fine
material piled up,

eventually forcing the screens
out of the deck,

up the conveyor,

and into the tailings pile.

I swear, if that [bleep]
pump is out of fuel,

I'm gonna wring doumitt's
neck.

Yeah, out of [bleep] fuel.

Unreal.

That's [bleep] ridiculous.

I asked doumitt this morning
if he fueled this pump,

if it was good.
And he said yeah.

This is his [bleep]

[bleep] doumitt
didn't fuel that pump.

Oh, I love -- this is
make-work
project right here.

Something that didn't
need to happen.

Narrator:
Once again, human error

has brought the plant
to a standstill.

Ness:
Chris is on light duty. And t

I said make sure nothing runs
out of fuel on this site.

It's a pretty easy job.

Blaschke: I mean, this stuff
is just like concrete.

And, you know, right now,
our gold,

it's buried underneath
all this [bleep]

ness:
It's just senseless, you know,

all because a pump
didn't get fueled.

It's just ridiculous.

I got to go talk
to chris about it.

And I'm [bleep] delaying it
'cause I'm pissed off at him.

Should have
brought a jackhammer.

Here, I'll try and break it up
if you just want to wing it
out.

Well, right now, we've been
down for a couple hours,

you know, all because
the pump didn't get fueled.

100% self-inflicted

and 100% preventable.

Blaschke:
We did lose all the pins t

but, fortunately,
they look like,

uh, the same ones
that we used to run on big
red.

And we still got some spares
kicking around from that.

All right.
I'll be back with pins.

Okay.

You know where
we have these, chris?

Pardon me?

Pins for the deck?

[ sighs ]

I saw them somewhere.

Well, we need them
'cause remember when you told
me

-you fueled the pump today?
-Yeah?

Yeah, it ran out.

-How could it run out?
-It ran out.

The plant filled with dirt.

And it [bleep]
the [bleep] middle deck out.

I screwed up.

I been fueling it
every other day.

-I don't know why it --
-well, it --

zero percent, it stopped.

Let's find these

so we can get going.

Go do it right now.

Doumitt: Rick was pretty
upset.
I don't blame him.

That was my fault.
But I don't know what
happened.

[ ness sighs ]
that's why I stay away.

I don't want to be yelling
and screaming at people here.

Mistakes get made.

But, you know, something like
that can't [bleep] happen.

So, I think I made my point.

I didn't have to yell
and scream at him.

I don't think
it's gonna happen again.

-Any luck on pins?
-Yeah, it took me forever.

-But I finally found them.
-Okay, I got all the screens.

Do you want to start
passing them up?

Okay.

Right now, we got to get
this wash plant back running.

The only way we can do that's

getting these screens
back in place.

They are a tight fit.

Well, it looks like
we got them all back in.

Let's see if we can't get
this plant back up and
shaking.

-Ready?
-Yep.

Start it up.

[ engine starts ]

we just shot a couple
good hours of the day here.

We could've been sluicing,
making money.

Ness: All in all,
it ended up being about

2 1/2 hours
to solve that problem.

So that's probably $8,000,
$9,000 [bleep] right there.

We can't have those.

But back to getting
gold in the box.

Kevin, how you doing?

Just keep plugging it
through the machine, dude.

-We need that 50.
-Copy that.

Narrator: The huffman crew
has been battling hard all
week

in tough, clay-rich ground,

preparing for a crucial
cleanup.

[ sighs ]

everything's coming down
to this final test.

I want to mine here.
I love it here.

And I love these guys.

But, if we don't get at least
50 ounces in this next
cleanup,

I got to do what's best for
me.

We need 50 ounces
to stay alive.

Todd, this is it.

That the last bucket, kev?

Yeah.

Be ready to shut
this thing down.

Narrator:
After six days, they've run

ahead of their 50-ounce test.

Todd: Just ran our
last bucket of pay.

I'm banking my season
on this mine.

It's do-or-die time.

I got everything
on the line now.

Hiatt:
Want me to grab half of that?

I got it.

Pierce:
Oh [bleep]

-what?
-There's a goody.

Oh, look at that.

That's a really good one.

Holy crap!

That was a good nugget
that logan just found.

And, to be honest, it's gonna
take hundreds of those.

And, right now,
there's only one.

Grab some, hunter.
Grab a part of that.

Narrator: At the gold room,
jim thurber starts

the most important
cleanup of the season.

Thurber: We've never ran
this much concentrate

from the high bar ever.

But, you know, there's a lot
riding on this cleanup.

So, uh, got to find gold.

See, there goes a piece.

Narrator:
Todd pledged to find at least

50 ounces of gold in 1 week,

or he'd shut down
the high bar for good.

Hunter: This is, like,
from our wash plant.

We've been working hard.
And I've gotten gold pans

that are way better-looking
that this before.

Right now,
it's a guessing game.

Dad, go through everything.
Get the nuggets.

Make sure we got
every little piece of gold.

I don't care
if we got to sweep the floor.

Let's do everything we can.

I really want this to work,
man.
I really want 50.

Doumitt: It's brutal
running that wash plant.

It is really brutal.

And my body is really happy
that I'm not doing it.

The brain's having a little
bit
of problem with it

because, when you give up
the young man's job,

you know you'll never
go back to it again.

So, now, it's the realization

that I'm no longer

gonna be able
to do a young man's job.

And that hurts.

Lee: Shut it down!

Narrator: After a frustrating
week of running,

it's time for a cleanup.

Lee:
Yeah, this is our first
cleanup since our

and our shaker got clogged up.

So we'll see if that changes
our gold total at all.

I hope it doesn't.

We've had some problems
this week.

Doumitt: Yeah, I-I think, if
you
could keep the plant running
--

-keep the pumps flowing.
-Keep the pumps flowing, yeah.

Thanks for bringing
that up, geez.

I'm not kind of embarrassed.

I'm totally embarrassed.

It's a basic mistake.

It's all right, doumitt.
It's behind us.

It's behind us.
Should we go weigh this out?

Let's do it.

Ooh [bleep]
hot, hot, hot!

Whew. All right,
let's see what we've got.

Sweet.

Narrator: To hit parker's
4,000-ounce season goal...

-There's 20.
-...They need at least

144 ounces this week
from scribner creek.

Parker: Here's 50,

75,

90,

103.7.

That's not bad
for all the problems.

It's not terrible for
the problems we were having,
no.

I mean, it's our
worst one yet, but --

we did lose some time.

Narrator: 103.7 ounces

is worth around $120,000.

It brings parker's total
to 516 ounces.

We're bound to have
a down week here and there.

-Yeah.
-That's a pretty good bad day.

-Yeah. Yeah.
-Yeah.

Narrator:
Human error has left them

over 40 ounces short
of their weekly target

and cost parker $48,000.

We've got a long ways to go
and a short time to get there.

Yeah, we're
getting there, though.

I mean, I hate to say it.
But I think it might be

turning into a young man's
game
around here.

Ah, you better hate saying
something like that.

[ laughter ]

I want to know what we got.
I'm tired of waiting.

Yeah, no kidding.

Narrator:
In oregon, it's the moment o

-that's it.
-Oh.

Huh?

Well, I'll tell you what, dad,
that ain't 50 ounces.

I feel like
such a fool right now.

I really do, dad.

We could get
obliterated this year.

Todd: I love these guys.

And I feel like
I'm letting them down.

Yep, here they come.

-Moment of truth.
-Yep.

[ sighs ]
well...

I don't know what happened.

I can't explain it.

I had such high hopes
for that place.

But we got 9.2 ounces.

We didn't come
anywhere close to 50.

-How is that possible?
-I don't know.

So, because of that,

uh, we're gonna go ahead
and close the high bar.

Turin: We've almost lost
half our season.

But I think we still got
a chance, you guys.

Narrator: Dave turin has been
setting up a second operation,

the buckland, 15 miles away.

I really feel the buckland
has gold in it.

That buckland could be rich.

We're gonna have to
consolidate
at the buckland

and see if we can kick
some ass there.

I'll tell you what.
We are at ground zero.

We are starting over.

You know what, guys?
I hate to say this.

But I need you guys to go
the next 2 weeks without pay.

We got to cut
anything we can cut.

Then you tell mindy.

You tell mindy
that I'm not getting paid.

She thinks I'm up here making
money to support the family.

You tell mindy
I'm not getting paid.

I thought the high bar
was gonna make us all rich.

It just didn't
work out that way.

It ain't gonna happen
if we start dividing
ourselves.

That's for sure.

Hiatt: I'm not talking
to you guys right now.

I'm not talking about it.
I'm not here.

I didn't come here
to work for free.

I can't afford to work for
free.
I've got a mortgage to pay.

I don't see how it's gonna
work.

Thurber: I've been through
hell
with this team.

You know, we're basically
got our backs against the
wall.

Think a lot of us are in
shock.

You know what?
I never had confidence

in the high bar at all.

I've always felt that
the buckland is where it was
at.

And now it's do-or-die.

Narrator:
On the next "gold rush"...

We got to shut down.

The gold that we're supposed
to be getting up on that hill,

we ain't getting it.
I'm pissed.

These guys came up here
and wasted our [bleep] time.

[ horn honks ]
first pay at buckland!

-That's a problem.
-Ohh.

I guarantee you we don't
have another one of those.

I guarantee you we don't.

Our total is 913 ounces.

So it's the first
million bucks this year?

-Yes, we have.
-That's more like it.