All language subtitles for Gold.Rush S16E01.Records.Will.be.Broken.720p.Eng-NoHi

Market volatility of gold stands out.

Gold just hit a new record, $3,500 an ounce.

And the price of gold has been climbing.

This is somewhere that economists believe

will continue to be a safe haven.

Oh, Tony.

Good. How are you?

Yeah?

You got some of that tiny shiny coming in?

Good.

Gold price.

I don't even like to talk about it or look at it.

Well, then it goes down $300, and I'm like,

"What's happening?" And it's like,

"Oh, it's still up $1,000."

Whether I want to say the number or not, because I

keep saying it and not hitting it, but no, we're going to have

to start doing 10,000 a year for a while now.

Bring it on.

You're going big. What do you need to do?

Yeah.

Yeah, no, it's good to see you.

I'm glad you're doing well.

Hopefully the wars are behind us.

Bye!

Tony and I have known each other for, you know, 14 years.

That's wild.

Like 99% of the time, it's great.

That 1% absolutely sucks, and he's like one

of the biggest on the planet.

But 99% of the time, he's wonderful.

Maybe 95%.

16 years ago...

Three-fifths of an ounce, which is about $800.

...a global financial crash

caused gold prices to rocket...

It's just gold fever.

...to $1,000 an ounce...

I'm going to Disneyland!

...sparking a modern-day gold rush.

- It's alive! -We're washing rocks, baby!

But striking it rich

proved harder than imagined.

That's it. We're done.

Now...

Breaking news on Wall Street with stocks tumbling.

Gold in safe havens, they are surging.

Gold prices have more than tripled to an all-time high,

$3,500 per ounce.

We're going gold mining, boys!

Hang on!

With just six months to cash in...

Are we here for a shootout?

...top dogs...

Are you going to behave?

...and underdogs...

I'm just a delivery boy.

I don't really give a . I just want to get paid.

...collide...

I got a job offer from Parker.

Look out!

...and play dirty...

-Can I trust you on this? -Er...yeah.

...to hit the jackpot!

Holy smokes!

That's a hell of a pan!

We joke about it being an addiction,

but it literally is.

Some...

You made a mess.

...will not survive.

Pick me out somebody to fire.

It sucks, man. It really sucks.

Others...

...soar to new heights...

See, you guys are killing it!

...and set records.

I was not expecting that.

Pretty amazing!

2,043 and a half ounces.

-That's wild! - You get a pan!

You get a pan! You get a pan!

Genuinely, that's insane!

The Yukon,

North America's last frontier.

For over a century, prospectors have scoured

these valleys and creeks for life-changing gold,

with just a few summer months to make their fortunes.

The stars are aligned for us.

The gold price is crazy!

We've got a ton of ground prepped on Dominion,

and we're going to be able to stretch our legs

and really run and see what it's made out of.

This is the year that we'll find out.

30-year-old Parker Schnabel is on the precipice

of a career-defining season.

The gold mining prodigy,

who started out with a crew of two,

is now a mining mogul with 60 machines

and a 40-person crew.

We've got amazing people, and then we have, like,

this crazy gold price, and we're dangerously close

to things being really good.

I just want to go to work. I just want to wash rocks

and, you know, get sluicy-goosey

for the tiny shiny. That's all I want to do.

I did not, I have not told you how to do your job

one time this whole year!

Just 16 years old when he first became a mine boss...

I'm pretty young and it's tough to,

you know, I never know if I'm doing the right thing or not.

...Parker struggled...

I'm spending the money here and I make the calls.

...to manage his crew.

If you can't handle it, then

maybe this isn't the place for you.

You are making an enemy out of me.

But as the young miner grew...

In gold mining, you're only as good as the people you have.

...he evolved.

- Oh, yeah! - Look at that!

Our season starts now.

I'll stand behind him any day of the week.

...with a vision that spawned a gold-mining empire...

Wow -- that's the biggest clean out we've ever had.

...and delivered more than $115 million in gold.

This does not stop here.

I'm losing faith in you guys.

But last season...

It's been one fight after the next.

We're not making money when we're doing it like this.

It's frustrating.

I know what we were doing was wrong.

...Parker crashed and burned.

Worst clean up ever.

I don't like this feeling.

I don't like being a loser.

We came up short and it's not gonna happen again.

This winter, I have spent

all the money I could get my hands on

buying equipment and hiring people.

It's a challenge.

This is kind of uncharted territory for me.

So much going on.

We just have to hammer down, focus on...

washing rocks, filling jars,

and everybody's gonna have to step up.

40 miles southeast of Dawson City

lies Parker's kingdom,

an area nearly the size of Manhattan.

His main operation is Dominion Creek,

land he's bought,

where he'll run three washplants to deliver

the bulk of his gold.

25 miles northwest, he'll send a satellite crew

to Sulphur Creek to hunt for pockets of gold

left behind by the old-timers.

Running the enormous operation will cost Parker

$100,000 each day.

But if he's successful, he could bring in more than

$35 million in gold this year.

-What's happening, man? - How are you guys?

Yo, yo.

Doing good. How are you?

Not too bad.

-Welcome to my map room. - Very nice.

This is where it all happens, eh?

How was your winter?

It was good.

I was a bum for the most part.

To execute his master plan, Parker's counting

on his trusted lieutenants, Mitch Blaschke and Tyson Lee.

We're gonna do 10,000 ounces this year.

Like, we keep talking about it,

but we actually have to just do it.

So we're gonna run four plants this year.

Wow.

Trying to run four washplants, it's just like --

-We were all over the place last year trying to... -Yeah.

...cover our bases and, like, we're gonna be spread out.

You know how it is when that happens.

Yeah, I know.

I know that there's going to be a lot of challenges.

I'm not -- I don't disagree with you.

Tyson, I need you on Dominion running the whole operation.

Right.

-So good luck. -Thanks, I'll need it.

I don't know what's going to come out of Sulphur and it's

going to be a difficult project so I need you to go over there,

Mitch, and get that sorted out first.

We only have a partial season on the water license so we need

to get it done in a hurry.

All right.

Parker's Sulphur water license, a permit to pull water

from creeks to wash gold, expires in just 10 weeks.

After that...

he can't mine the claim.

So what kind of crew do we have to get this done?

We've hired a bunch of new people.

OK.

One big thing is people who can't do their job,

we need to fire.

We want to have the best of the best.

But you guys are the ones that are going to be able to make

this happen or not. It's brutal, right?

It's gonna be a stressful year for you two.

Yeah.

I know it's a bit of a daunting task,

but I'm excited. - It's gonna be exhausting.

-Yeah. -No days off.

You just had six months off.

Yeah...

-Thanks for coming back. -Yeah.

- I appreciate having you guys here. -Thank you.

I'm looking forward to this season.

Yeah, for sure. Thanks, man.

All right, let's do it.

There's a lot of work to do. There's a lot of gold to find.

Now it's up to Mitch and Tyson to get the job done.

Hopefully.

The job will get done.

Hopefully, it's the two of them that does it, is what I mean.

Things are already starting off

a little bit different here.

Parker made it very clear that, you know, everybody's got

to pull their weight and then some.

We got no room for error.

Last year, Mitch was in charge.

This year, it's gonna be on my shoulders.

Last year, I was managing one washplant.

This year,

gonna be managing three, so no ups.

We gotta find a ton of gold.

Tyson's first mission is to start pulling in gold

on Dominion's Bridge Cut.

The crew has spent two years mining this spot

with mixed results.

Now, Parker sees and rides on it delivering big.

But there's a problem.

Over winter, water flooded the cut,

and the gold-bearing paydirt is buried under three feet

of solid ice.

I'm in the 250.

Got Michael in the 390.

Coming to work for Parker, it's kind of a dream come true.

I like the way he runs his outfit.

His gear is really nice.

We got Amy here, first truckload ice,

heading out of the cut. First of many.

This is my first time

driving a rock truck.

Before they can get to paydirt,

Tyson's crew needs to shift over 25,000 tons of ice.

I think realistically,

how the hell are we gonna do all this in a week?

Right now, I'd like to be setting up the washplant

and firing it up today,

but we're a long ways away from that.

How are things going?

Well, man, the ice is a lot thicker than we thought, eh?

Yeah, there's a lot of ice in here.

-It's really rotten. - Mm-hmm.

So what's your plan?

Just keep building piles, trucking off this ice.

Right, OK.

We have extra trucks in the yard, no?

You got any more people? Any more iron you can give us?

- I don't know. - OK.

-Thanks, dude. - No worries.

See ya.

If by the end of the week

I don't have the ice out of this cut

and the washplant going, I will have failed my first task

first week of the season.

Parker just wants the ice out and the washplant going.

The long and short of it.

I don't really want to spend money trucking ice,

but we really don't have much of an alternative.

So we're just going to have to suck it up.

We need to get sluicing.

That's gonna be what makes or breaks the season.

Yeah, here we go!

I can't believe we're sluicing as early as we are.

We started the season early, but we want to keep that up.

Everybody's in a rush.

Ten miles south, at Indian River,

King of the Klondike, Tony Beets,

is already two weeks ahead of his rivals.

Tony's hoping for a quick score

from the 13-acre Early Bird cut.

Forty years ago, Tony and wife Minnie left the Netherlands

to seek their fortune in the Yukon.

From nothing, Tony grew a $60 million mining dynasty.

Until two years ago...

We're six, seven million in the hole.

...when the business descended into chaos...

...his family fractured.

He's running it into the ground.

You told me this cat was gonna be mine.

- Yeah.

-Feeling a little shafted. -Shut down the plant.

Every single time.

But the Klondike King pulled his family together...

...keeping son, Mike, and daughter, Monica,

working for him...

I appreciate everything you're doing to help me.

Anything for family, Monica.

...but giving eldest son, Kevin, the chance to set up

his own operation.

That sounds very, very nice.

By the end of last season...

...the Beets had reeled in

a record 5,777 ounces,

worth $14.4 million.

Tony believes his claims could deliver a jaw-dropping

6,500 ounces this season worth more than $22 million.

- Well, hello sir.

-Well, she's... - Yellow.

Got yellow stuff.

Yeah.

Especially at this price.

Not only is Tony already sluicing, he's the first

to weigh out his gold.

- Ready, set, go! - OK, let's go.

At Indian River,

Tony Beets is gambling on an early season score

to cash in on record high gold prices.

- Ready, set, go! - OK, let's go.

He's already sluiced nearly half of the Early Bird cut...

50, 60, 70.

...which he's counting on to deliver at least 300 ounces.

190, 260, 290,

300.

Wow! 360, 390...

417.56.

Ain't that a beaut?

That's pretty amazing.

In just two weeks, the Beets have pulled

in $1.5 million.

So, how have you planned out this summer?

Sounds good to me.

But I was thinking, you gave Kevin a bunch of help

getting him going...

So, is there anything you're going to help us with?

I'm OK with that, you?

I'm very interested to see what Tony was talking about

in terms of other opportunities.

I think it's really cool that Kevin has gone out on his own,

but Michael's been

out here since he was 12.

Mike's really chomping at the bit to do more things.

Big picture goals, I would like my own mine,

but right now, it's not a priority.

I have a bunch of other that I have to get done.

We'll see.

100 miles away, in Keno, Rick Ness...

Yeah, that's a big pile of dirt.

...is sitting on a pile of gold at his Duncan Creek claim.

I would say there's probably pretty damn close to 400 ounces

sitting there, and right now that's worth over

a million dollars. And it's ready to go.

Our plant's sitting right there.

The bad news is we still don't have a water license,

and we can't touch this.

It blows my mind.

Rick's water license, essential to mining,

still hasn't come through.

Until he gets it, he can't mine Duncan Creek.

I almost don't even know if I should do this.

Thinking it would make me, thinking it would satisfy me,

but it's probably just gonna make me more mad.

Holy !

That's outrageous amount of gold in one pan.

I don't even know what the emotion is right now.

Normally I see a pan like that and I hit the roof.

This is, uh...

That's unbelievable!

And we can't touch it.

Hit the bypass!

Rick Ness...

I expected growing pains, but this is outrageous.

...is a fighter...

Booyah!

...with a small crew of buddies...

Rally!

...paying them out each season from his haul.

There's one of those for each of you guys.

You guys earned it.

A miner for 13 years...

- What! -I know!

...he's had highs.

That's like an ounce right there.

...and lows.

No, no, no!

I don't know what else to do right now.

It's getting out of control.

Always on the brink of losing it all...

That's one last farewell kick in the balls.

...but last season...

This is it. Now this is all mine.

...he bought his own ground...

Let's go!

Vegas Valley, here we go.

Whoo! Yeah!

...hit the jackpot and reeled in $4.5 million in gold...

That's it. We did it.

I've got some bad news.

...only to be gut-punched.

We've got a big problem with the water license

being approved, and I can't guarantee

you'll have the license next year.

Without the water license, you can't mine.

Now, Rick must find a way to pull a rabbit

out of the hat...again.

- What's up, dudes? - Not much, you?

- Nice crutches. -Yeah, you like those, eh?

Good start.

With nowhere to mine,

only half Rick's crew has made it back, for now.

Well, you guys have seen it all.

You've seen the good. You've seen the bad.

You've seen the opportunity. You've seen the setbacks.

It's a mess right now.

It's not just us.

I mean, there's a lot of people getting screwed.

There's no one shutting the door right now saying that,

you know, your water license is never coming in.

It's just tied up.

So what are we doing here with no water license?

It's not the only pile of gold out here,

and that's why you're here.

We just have to find another one.

But it's not gonna be on this ground.

And you know what?

Gold prices are $1,000 more an ounce than when we left

here last year. And that's insanity.

-This is not the year to quit. - No.

And we need 1,800 ounces this year.

Yeah, I know that things seem down, but you know what?

We are here, and I am gonna find us a spot.

At the end of the day, that's what we're gonna do.

But if this water license comes through at any point

this summer, you bet your ass I want to move us back here.

I mean, you haven't let us down yet.

- right. -All right.

Hopefully, Rick understands what he's doing here.

And hopefully, wherever we're going, it's going to be good.

I want to start moving some dirt.

These guys have stuck with me through a lot, and I'm glad

to see they're sticking with me through this.

We will find a place to mine,

and we're gonna make it work.

-OK, Chelsea, you ready? - Ready.

- Kayden, you ready? - Yep, ready.

All right, then, folks.

Screen deck is turning on, first time for the season.

Let's go!

First scoop of pay going in for the season.

Beauty!

At Scribner Creek, just like his father Tony,

second-year mine boss Kevin Beets

is ahead of the pack.

It feels really good to sluice this early,

especially after last year.

It's nice to see it running.

Can we have this one?

Last season, with a little help from dad...

Three, two, one, ahh!

Whoo! Yeah!

...Kevin plunged his life savings into his own operation.

This is a big gamble, so me and Faith have

to make this work.

It's looking really nice, Kev.

So excited, bud.

Overall, I think it's a pretty good day.

But almost from the get-go...

I'm trying to help you here, and you're talking over me.

...tempers flared...

It's not fun to work with.

...until Foreman Brennan Ruault

took control of the crew...

You don't want to hear it?

I want this to be squashed right now.

...and the cuts.

Yes, finally!

Hahaha! Much better.

That's a nice way to keep her going, haha!

...helping them score...

- Let there be gold! - beautiful.

...a big payday.

Yay, money!

It's nice to be in the upswing, honestly.

We made the right call of getting away from Tony's.

I'm feeling really good about this year.

I think we're off to a strong start,

which is good because we have a big goal this year,

2,000 ounces.

Figure may as well go double what we did last year.

Aim big.

And with gold prices being as high as they are, if there's

any time to have a good, big year for gold totals,

it is this year.

Kevin's mission this year is to double his gold target

and cement his place as a mine boss in his own right.

So our mining plan --

we left ourselves a piggy bank last year.

That way, we have money coming in from day one.

So day one sluicing.

This is gonna hopefully continue on well.

Last year I was pretty frustrated out here

with how much we're shutting down.

But Brennan, he knows what he's doing.

It's nice having Kayden back.

It's always good to have returners who know

how things run and, you know, you can rely on.

And Brennan should be showing up soon.

Oh, it feels good to be back in the Yukon.

This feels like my second home.

- Howdy, stranger. - How's it going, guys?

- Not too bad. -How are you doing?

We were wondering where the you were at.

Nice to see you, pal.

So what's up? We were starting to wonder,

we haven't heard from you in a bit.

So yeah, um...

Um...

I ended up getting a phone call there that I wasn't

expecting to get.

Of another job offer.

Um...

And it was a pretty good job offer, so...

I've leaned towards taking that position.

Who offered you the job?

Well, Parker ended up calling me there, which I was

completely not expecting.

Same.

Yeah, um...

Really? Back with Parker?

It was not, you know, there's just a few things

in the offer that really align to what my future --

where I kind of see myself being and some goals that I have set,

you know what I mean? - No.

I wish you at least told us earlier, so that we can plan.

If I had have known a lot sooner, I would have said it

a lot sooner, right?

Ugh...

There's not really much we can offer you to get you back here

this year, I guess, eh?

I've kind of already agreed to it.

Well, thank you for stopping by,

telling us in person.

Hey, guys. You guys have a wicked season.

-I'll see you. -See you.

Well, then.

2,000 ounces without the foreman is gonna be

a bit more of a project then, isn't it?

It is kind of hard to find someone with Brennan's

experience that you can rely on.

If they're good, they've got a job.

Maybe we should go poaching, too.

Hm.

We're down to the last bit of ice here in the Bridge Cut.

Once we get that out of here,

that means I can start getting Bob ready to sluice.

Three days into his ice-moving marathon,

Tyson's under the gun.

Parker's given me and I've taken on more

than I've ever taken on working here before.

Can I do it? I don't know.

But am I willing to find out?

Yeah, it could have cost me my job, 100%.

But I hope it doesn't.

If it does, I'll be flipping burgers.

Come visit me at the drive-thru.

And yes, I will be spitting in them.

A 25-mile drive northwest...

I'm down here at Sulphur,

just trying to get this cut opened up.

This cut's 2,000 feet long.

That's probably big enough to land a small airplane on.

For a lot of miners, this would be their whole season with

multiple people working on it, and right now I'm down here

jumping from the dozer to the excavator,

back and forth, ripping.

...Mitch has a two-acre strip to mine out

in just 10 weeks

before Parker's water license runs out.

If he fails, he'll be forced to leave gold behind.

The time frame down here is definitely my biggest concern.

This water license is getting closer to expire by the minute,

and yet I'm the only one down here.

Who we got here?

Oh, hey, man, what's up?

Not much, my friend.

How are you?

Oh, busy.

Good to see you, pal. Come on.

I'm not a hugger, but I'll give you one.

Oh, just don't let nobody -- don't tell nobody that.

Yeah, keep that off the radio.

What's your plans?

Well, Parker poached me.

He sent me up here to come to work with you.

-No way, man! - Yeah, buddy!

All right!

He said to me specifically,

"You and Mitch work so good together,

I want to get that band back together."

That's the exact words out of his mouth.

-Dude, that's awesome! - yeah.

I can't believe he didn't tell me.

-Whoo!

Brennan and Mitch...

-That's the last scoop? - yeah.

Whoo!

...were mining buddies on Parker's Scribner Creek claim.

-Yeah, buddy. -Whoo! yeah.

-Nice work, man. -Yeah, you too, man.

- They became co-foremen... - That is perfect.

- ...and a bromance blossomed. - are we good?

-What a nice feeling! - Brennan, hurry up!

You've had five days to get this done.

For sakes.

You're in charge, or are you not in charge?

Until five years ago, when Brennan quit

after falling out with Parker.

I'm so over this bull, man.

Dude, we've moved a lot of dirt, and this year,

let me tell you what, we got more than ever.

I could certainly use some help.

Well, that's what I'm here for.

You can jump in the dozer. We just gotta rip this edge.

I'm gonna start throwing everything back.

OK, well, I'm excited, buddy.

Time to move some dirt.

Dude, it's unreal to have you back here!

Christmas came early!

In all the years I've been gone, I've missed working

with you every day of it, buddy.

Oh, you're probably back because you heard

we got Taco Tuesday.

He did mention you guys got a really good cook,

so that was a big plus for me.

Oh, that looks like Parker.

-How's it going?

- Hey, welcome back. - Thanks, pal.

OK.

The whole Sulphur project is kind of an interesting one,

because it's really hard to see

what is pay and what is waste.

What you're really looking for

is virgin banks or, like, virgin sections.

This, to me, looks like virgin still, right?

So you're forced to pan your way through it

and see what's going on.

This is a totally different type of mining this, eh?

Three-quarters of a century ago, old-timers used a dredge

to mine Sulphur Creek,

pulling out more than $1.2 billion in gold.

But in its wake, it left a mystery.

Floating in a self-made pond, the dredge traveled its way

down the valley, sluicing from one side to the other.

But above the water line,

the high banks were out of reach,

so gold was left untouched.

And where the dredge turned,

it covered up pockets of gold-rich virgin ground

with worthless tailings,

making Sulphur a potential

treasure trove of hidden gold...

If they can find it.

It's just going to take some time to figure out.

Like, I would be panning pretty constantly.

Perfect. Sounds good to me.

OK.

We got so much water coming through here.

We got all this material.

We need to start moving it over.

You know, we need it dry.

If we start just working this,

it's just gonna get wetter and wetter.

We're not dredging.

So, I want to just focus on the ditch here.

Yeah, OK, I mean, I agree with you, but I just,

what about Parker, you know?

Yeah, but I mean, if we just start digging in here,

we're gonna be working underwater.

Despite Parker's rush to find the gold, Mitch ignores

his orders to pan and decides to dig a ditch

to drain the water.

The first thing we got to do and we're gonna do

is get rid of this water. - All right.

It's going really good.

I've got the ditch all the way to the top end of this cut,

which was 2,000 feet long,

and the cut's starting to drain out.

At Sulphur Creek, Mitch has defied Parker's orders to hunt

for virgin hot spots and is ditching instead.

Parker's planning on coming down today and doing some

panning here, but we've got a lot of material that's still

got to be moved here before it's ready to have Parker have

a look at this and see what he wants to do.

I was hoping to have all this ready by now.

The are you doing?

Well, this is not good.

What's happening?

I thought you might need some panning,

but I take it not, right now?

Yeah.

Most important thing, just trying to get rid

of the water here so we can actually move the dirt.

We got a pretty good system down.

We're just trying to get that corner cleaned out,

and then we'll be ready for it.

There's a lot of work to do here.

I mean, I just got Brennan yesterday, so.

!

There are two options.

Find some virgin ground,

or else you can leave.

OK, that's a waste of time.

Ugh!

You know, gold can buy a lot of things,

but it can't buy patience.

And the higher the prices go,

you know, the less of it there seems to be around here.

Parker wants things done in a certain way and order,

and I get that. It's his business.

It's his company.

You know, I've moved a lot of dirt up here, and, you know,

I'm confident in what I'm doing.

Got the ditches down. We got the cut draining.

And, you know, in my opinion, that's the right move.

I just wasted two hours.

We just need to get panning.

It's my first week back on the job.

Haven't worked for Parker for over five years now.

And, you know, he's already pissed off.

This is the type of that made me leave the last time.

A hundred miles east...

We have to pull the trigger on something.

Otherwise, we're gonna miss this whole season.

...still waiting for his water license and desperate

for somewhere to mine,

Rick's on his way to prospect new ground

at a nearby claim -- Lightning Creek.

You can go to any mine out here and listen to the guy

tell you how much gold's on the property,

but which one's telling the truth?

Not a single one of them.

So if we're gonna get any answers up there,

it's gonna be our own.

Rick's mining in the Keno Mountains

has been boom or bust.

The unpredictable ground almost bankrupted him six years ago

until he hit the honey hole at Duncan Creek.

We do our own testing and see what we find,

and we know we can trust that.

Rick's found gold on his Duncan Creek claim

in two spots.

Now, he's hoping the paystreak extends

to the Lightning Creek claim,

eight miles upstream,

near the gold motherlode at Mount Hinton.

Lightning Creek is owned by Rick's old landlord,

Troy Taylor.

Ah, there he is.

-Hey, guys. - Hey, Troy.

How's it going?

- Good to see you. - Good to see you.

Hey, Troy.

Welcome to Lightning Creek.

We're ready to hit the ground running, get some gold

out of the ground.

Six seasons ago...

-Our deal is 10%. -Yep.

For 100 ounce minimum.

Rick leased Duncan Creek from landowner Troy Taylor.

That's nice-looking gold there, Rick.

Then cut a handshake deal to buy the claim...

Thanks, Rick. Appreciate that.

...gambling millions of dollars...

I'm sure you're happy to see that.

...on the promise of a gold bonanza.

Holy .

This is your last chance.

It was a rocky ride, but finally the deal was done,

bar one crucial detail.

I have to trust that the water license

is gonna come through. -Yeah.

-You're all in. -Yeah.

-Mm-hmm. - All in.

It was on Troy to get the water license for Rick,

but now that it hasn't come through, he might have

other ground for Rick to kick the tires on.

Looks like you've done a little bit of work here, eh?

A little bit, yeah.

Dad and I did some sluicing last September, so, yeah.

Just you and your dad, pretty much, eh?

-Yeah, just Dad and I. -But what was the gold like?

I mean, is it decent, or...?

Yeah, it was decent.

The gold is good here.

We had some good results last fall.

Dad and I did some testing and we're pleased.

Lightning is just like Upper Duncan in the sense

that it's flowing through a canyon.

Hopefully, gold has been flushed out of those canyons

like Upper Duncan into this main valley.

How much overburden is on top of it, like?

It's not bad.

It's just about five feet of muck and sand.

Ready to pay then?

- That's it, eh? - Yeah.

And I would just take about 15 feet and then we get

into another -- it's kind of like a false bedrock,

and that's where I would stop for now.

-So the pay layer was 15 feet? -Yeah.

That's more than I expected.

I know that we're not the only ones fighting

this water license stuff this year.

What's the deal with this one here?

How many more years are on it?

Yeah, that's a good question. This is good till 2028.

So you got a few more years here, or we do.

Why give us the option? I mean, it's just, you know,

why aren't you doing it?

Well, I feel bad about this whole water license thing,

so I want to give you a shot here.

Dad and I can

step aside for a year if you want to go here.

There's no cost on the royalty.

Yeah, there's a lot less risk for us.

-Yeah. - Yeah.

And I don't want to sound like a salesman, but there is other

people that have been calling me over the winter, so.

But and I've been holding on to this for you,

so I'm hoping that we can work something out.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

You know, I mean,

can I trust you on this? -Er...yeah.

We've been, what, six years now together?

-I think, uh... - Yeah.

I mean, I just, there's been

no shortage of surprises out here.

I can't wait too much longer.

Dad and I are going to keep mining

or get somebody else in here, so.

No, I understand that.

We got the trommel here today, so we get some testing done

and try to make a decision as quick as we can, so.

Let's do it.

It's definitely getting harder to trust people out here.

Gold's at a premium, water license are

rare as can be.

The vultures are circling.

Troy, he always seems to have the answer when I don't.

So it's a win-win for Troy.

Troy.

We need this to work out, because we need to get

somewhere to go mining, and we need it quick.

Still waiting for his water license,

Rick Ness has to move his operation and is hoping

new ground at Lightning Creek will be worth it.

We've already done a couple of test holes,

but I want to do one more here.

There's a lot of big boulders out of this.

Could be nice stuff.

Troy Taylor has already stripped a section

down to paydirt,

so Rick's making spot checks on the stripped ground.

He'll run two square yards of pay and is looking

for at least a gram from the run.

By the sounds of Troy,

you know, it's looking pretty good here.

But I have kind of some doubts here, but at the same time,

I really hope this is gonna turn out for us.

That should be a good enough speed.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, I'll go get the water going.

OK.

Hey, Ricky, we're ready

for you to throw some in if you want.

I'll give her a shot.

This bucket's kind of big, I'll probably make a mess.

Washing the rocks really nice,

so hopefully it gives us a good reading.

That's the last of the dirt.

I'd say we got our test done here.

We'll have to clean it up and then get the hell

out of here and weigh it, see what we got.

-Shut her down, clean her up. -Yeah, man.

OK, let's do it.

It doesn't have to be hot,

but it's got to be hot enough for us to buy it.

Best girl, best girl.

Oh, hello, hello.

Back at camp, the fate of Rick's season rests

on the results of the Lightning Creek test.

Some nice pickers in there.

Yeah.

If the gold is good, it could be the lifeline he needs.

What's the ground like down there?

It's pretty shallow. Um...

Seems like only about

an average of about five feet overburden,

maybe a little bit more, and then a solid

15-foot thick pay layer.

Well, that's pretty good.

That's a really good ratio.

I don't expect it to pay out like Vegas Valley,

but who knows?

Shall we see if it's even worth it?

We shall. Weigh some gold.

All right.

I don't think I've ever weighed up this small amount

of gold, but let's get it all in there.

Rick wants at least a gram from his two-yard run.

We got .525 on there.

Just half what Rick was hoping for.

So is it worth it?

No.

We're gonna be sitting here with our hands out,

no place to mine.

We're screwed.

A hundred miles away,

Tony Beets has already banked

$1.5 million in gold.

Tony's mining operation is split between two claims,

Indian River, where he's already sluicing pay

from the Early Bird cut,

and 40 miles away,

Paradise Hill, the core of the family business

for over 30 years.

Oh, good, yourself?

I know.

That seems a little excessive.

Yeah.

Don't worry, Dad. I'll help you with that.

Well, if you did your job better, you'd have more time.

- Oh, yeah?

Catch you later, Dad.

My goal, do my job well

and get the results my dad wants.

So, I'm gonna get as much gold as I can this year.

Because with the prices as they are,

you're a moron,

if you don't take advantage of that.

While Tony's based at Indian River,

he's giving Mike sole charge of Paradise Hill,

entrusting him with a nine-man crew

to supersize the super pit.

More responsibility, more authority.

But I want to focus on stripping before I get sluicing

so that I can just, when I get sluicing, I don't stop.

Over the last three years,

the Beets family has cleared out

nearly four million tons of worthless overburden,

creating an 18-acre super pit.

The cut is home to the Klondike's fabled

white channel pay,

concentrated gold washed down directly

from hard rock deposits.

So far, it's produced over 4,000 ounces of gold,

worth $15 million.

This year, Mike plans to extend the cut by nearly 50%,

opening up eight more acres of ground.

Tony wants the first acre down to pay by the end of the week.

We're going to have a whole whackload of stuff opened up.

So, we have a lot of work ahead of us.

My dad bought six new trucks.

We're going to strip, strip, strip, strip, strip, strip.

Another year at Paradise. Glad to be back.

We got brand-new rock trucks.

Just hauling overburden from the cut

we're trying to expand.

To get down to the gold-bearing pay layer,

a D11 dozer rips and pushes

the worthless waste dirt called "overburden"

to two excavators,

which load it into rock trucks,

haul it 2,000 feet away,

and dump it on the waste pile.

Hopefully get sluicing here in Paradise soon,

get that gold coming in.

Aw, !

I'm stuck in here!

You're right on the edge.

Oh, !

I'm stuck in here.

Oh, my !

I honestly don't want to touch it.

You're right on the edge.

At Paradise Hill, a brand new

$750,000 rock truck has flipped,

with driver Graeme trapped inside the cab,

hanging on the edge of a 200-foot drop.

This side is just .

I wish Mike could hurry up,

because if the bank starts to go...

Do I still have all my windows?

You still have all your windows, yes.

.

Ugh.

Hoo-hoo.

The exhaust and hoses are pretty cold, too.

Oh, my hood's !

Breaking our new truck right away.

It's slowly dropping more and more

which is a little nerve-racking.

Uh...

As long as you get me pulled out of here before I slip.

OK...

Well, he can't get out.

Too big.

Yeah.

He won't fit through that window.

You could double its size, he wouldn't fit.

-OK, you ready, Graeme? -I guess so.

Holy crap.

OK, you can try climbing up the seat there.

Well...

Feels good to be out, but still a little shaky.

Yeah, phew.

Glad it didn't go over the edge fully, that's --

Wow!

Could be fired, could not be,

depending on the mood.

To set the 36-ton truck back on its wheels, Tony and Mike

use the 520-horsepower D10 dozer,

while the 480 excavator holds the box in place to stop it

dropping over the edge.

I'm very sorry, Tony.

I still feel bad, since it's a brand new truck.

I was expecting him to be a little bit more...

aggravated.

I flipped one of the new ones.

Yeah...

Yeah.

For Mike, it's now a fight

to hit paydirt by the end of the week

with one less truck,

and show Tony he can run Paradise Hill

on his own.

Brennan and I are trying to get as much ground open up

down here at Sulphur as possible.

At Sulphur Creek, Mitch and Brennan

have finally drained the cut

and exposed what could be

their first hidden pay pocket.

How far did the dredge get over here?

Figure out what's left for us.

Now they're ready for Parker to pan.

Hopefully we got something for him to look at.

Old Parker likes to see the gold and, you know,

he wants it now.

Like this, to me, looks virgin.

I really don't know what to expect.

I'm just gonna show Mitch.

One pan out of the downstream edge of your ditch.

Holy smokes!

That's why we're doing this.

Wow!

And that's pretty exciting.

Find it again.

Yeah, hopefully there's more of that.

That was a really good pan.

Now we just need to get a washplant in here

and find out if it mines like it pans.

25 miles southeast, at Dominion Creek...

We got the ice out of the Bridge Cut.

We got pay stacked up.

Now it's time we get sluicing.

...Tyson is on the clock.

Parker wants washplant Bob sluicing by the end of the day.

I haven't talked to Alec and Liam yet,

but there will be no waiting.

Parker has made that abundantly clear.

How's it going guys?

We're ready to run dirt.

Um...

The hopper is going to be the main hold up

for Bob starting.

The prewash hopper feeder?

Yeah.

This feed chain system is .

This plant can't run without it.

, man.

It would have been nice if you told me that.

The feed chain system, which drives the washplant's

prewash conveyor, is broken,

and the mechanics want to install a new one.

Parker, he wants Bob running today.

There's no getting around this right now.

Yeah.

me. Let's get at it.

We've got a lot of work to do.

- Mr. Justin. - Hey, boys.

- Mr. Bill. - Gentlemen.

What's going on?

We brought a rush rush project.

At Dominion Creek, Parker's mechanics are hustling

to fix the feed chain system on Bob's prewash conveyor.

All right, well, let's get this thing unloaded

and get at it, because it ain't gonna fix itself.

The prewash conveyor moves paydirt into the shaker

to be washed.

The motor, which turns the conveyor's front drive shaft

is connected via a small chain and sprocket.

But over time the chain tightened,

pulling the shaft inwards, breaking apart

the sprocket and bearings.

To fix this design fault, the mechanics will remove

the small chain and sprocket,

fit a new front drive shaft, and align the motor

so it sends power directly to the shaft.

The chain is out.

There we go.

Let the motor come out of there nice and easy.

OK, we're laughing.

This is the final fit.

- There we go. - Perfect.

Right, so that, that is it.

Copy, Alec.

Go for Alec.

You are ready to roll, my friend.

Sweet. We'll come grab it.

Wide load coming through.

Well, look at this! You guys pulled it off.

What do you say we get Bob running?

Keep it coming.

Lift it up a little bit.

Whoa there, buddy!

There it goes! You're in.

- Beautiful. - Sweet!

Everything's in place.

- OK, you guys ready? - Yep.

- Yep. - Well, here we go.

Let's fire Bob up.

Shaker deck's on!

Here goes the prewash hopper.

it spins!

Here goes the first scoop of the season.

The prewash conveyor delivers paydirt to the plant.

Water jets blast the gold and fine dirt off the rocks.

A shaker deck vibrates a set of screens to separate out

the larger rocks,

while the smaller gold-bearing material washes down into two

14-by-10-foot sluices, where the riffles and mats

catch the gold.

Beautiful sight right there, Liam.

First washplant going on Dominion!

That is a beautiful sight.

With three days sluice-time before the end of the week,

Tyson's on the gold.

Parker's big push for 10,000 ounces is on.

Bob's got a lot of ground to get through this year.

Miners across the Yukon are gathering at Dawson City

for the Klondike Placer Mining Association meeting.

The KPMA warn a glut of unprocessed water licenses

is putting livelihoods at risk.

What a joke.

Desperate to start his season, Rick is in Dawson to meet

the Klondike Placer Mining Association,

the local union working with miners with no water licenses.

My back's against the wall.

I've been up to my elbows, in this, you know,

in this whole water license stuff.

It sucks, man. It really sucks.

The state of the industry is not too great.

A lot of people in the exact same boat as me

with the water license and all that.

I'm hoping that the KPMA, maybe they know when these

are going to get approved.

Give me some kind of reason to stick with Duncan Creek.

You know, without it, I don't know

what the hell we're going to do.

Hey!

That's somebody I know.

What's going on, buddy?

- How you doing? -I'm OK.

-How you been? -I'm all right.

-Better than you. -Yeah?

-I've heard what's going on. -Oh, man.

There's a lot of people that are pretty screwed up by it.

And the thing is, the forces that are

against the mining...

have so many tactics to stall things,

and it's death by delay. -Yeah.

-That's just absolutely right. -Right?

Just shoot me in the head. Don't give me a slow death.

Yeah.

But let's see what they do in the meeting, and then why don't

I buy you and Tony a beer afterwards? -I appreciate that, man.

All right.

Let's just go in this meeting and see what they say

and go from there.

Something's gotta give.

Yeah, I've had enough of that. Big waste of time.

It gets us nowhere. It's just bull, you know?

Like, who's ass do I put my fist up

to get some results here?

And maybe I'll be done. Who knows?

Who the knows at this point?

I'm gonna have a beer. Maybe 10.

In Dawson,

with no breakthrough on his water license,

Rick's hopes of mining this season...

Best seat in the house!

...hang by a thread.

Good to see you again, buddy.

Good to see you.

You know, the last time we were together was

14 years ago.

That's a long time ago.

I remember, I was like, "I think Tony Beets is like

"the coolest guy in the world.

And I want to be like Tony."

Yeah.

Every year, I have more fun.

It takes a lot to get me jealous, but when I roll by,

you have so much equipment running.

You having fun?

No.

The KPMA has gotten us nowhere.

Basically, we can't touch Duncan Creek.

No, it's kind of a slap in the face.

Do you have that other block of ground?

Lightning creek? Yeah.

Well, I don't have it. It's Troy's, so it's a lease.

But he's like a pretty reasonable landlord.

He is. And you know...

I wasn't gonna say that, but yeah.

And you've done, like, one test or a bunch of tests?

We did a few tests there.

Not very happy about it.

But there's a license there for three years.

But I'm not sure if there's a lot of gold in it.

But, I mean, you have one thing going for you,

and that is, like -- gold price is so good.

No, I hear you.

But this is definitely a gamble.

You just got to get out there

and wash as many rocks as you can.

You're right.

-. -Oh, yeah.

Well, I've got to run.

I've got a dog that needs a walk.

-It's great to see you guys. - You too, for sure.

Hey, let's not wait another 14 years.

I've known Rick for 15 years.

He was there for all the years where I was just, like,

scared to death of going broke.

I was scared to death of people taking advantage of me.

I was scared to death of Tony kicking me off the ground.

This business eats you alive

if you're not ready for it.

With Rick,

I could definitely see him...

losing everything and leaving the goldfields broke.

But I could also see him building an empire,

and I really hope that he's successful.

I do.

I cut my teeth out here with Parker.

I've known Tony since the day I walked into the Klondike,

and they've always had good advice,

and I'd be foolish not to take it.

I've got Lightning Creek as an option right now,

and we're gonna take that option,

and we're gonna run with it.

I'd like to remind all rock truck drivers and the whole

operator working in the cut, keep going,

keep skimming her off.

Strip, strip, strip, strip, strip, strip!

After a disastrous start

managing Tony's Paradise Hill claim,

Mike Beets is racing to get down to pay.

Mike's doing the best with what he's got, but we need

to move this dirt, get to the gold, get to the pay.

Our guys are doing real good.

They're moving a lot of dirt.

Some of this , like right here,

this is not very far from the pay.

There's so many rocks.

That's usually a good indicator that's good stuff.

If you want to drive in, I can grab my Kubota,

because it makes its way in.

Yeah, go ahead.

I'll be there in a minute.

A little bit clay in it, but it's got the rocks.

Where would you like it?

Oh, yeah.

We're back! Hold on!

Before Tyson cleared all the ice,

Parker turned the Bridge Cut into a race track.

-Whoa! -Oh, .

Just push on the front a little bit.

Come on, get in there!

-Ah!

Cody get in there! Cody get in there!

Every light on the dash is on.

You know any good mechanics?

Dude, they're going to kill me if they find out

why this happened. Don't tell anybody.

We're down a foreman.

But I think being as set up as we are now,

it is doable.

And, well, we're going to try.

Tony's eldest son, Kevin, has been running

his Scribner Creek mine for a week,

relying more on operator Kayden Foote.

This is the earliest I've started sluicing in a season.

But I feel like it's going to be a bit of a struggle

without Brennan.

He was an all-around great foreman.

We really got to, as a team, come together so we can get

as much out as we can.

-Hey, man. -Got some yellow .

-Oh!

-Hi, guys. -Hey Minnie.

Not too bad.

Kevin leases the ground from Tony

and pays a 10% royalty

on any gold he finds.

So, your second year on your own, how are you feeling

about that? You going to crush it?

Honestly, I'm feeling pretty good.

Yeah.

It definitely is a lot nicer to hit the ground running.

What's happening with Brennan?

Well, we didn't know he was showing up, and then he finally

came and talked to us, told us that he wasn't coming back.

It would have been nice if you would have let you

know that in the winter.

It would have been nice, for sure.

That's people for you again.

- Oh, yeah.

-Next.

Yeah.

What's your goal?

Our goal is 2,000.

And we already have a little bit of chunk of gold

at the start of the season, so that's nice.

Do you maybe think we can weight it up?

All right, are we ready?

Kevin ran his stockpiled pay for one week at Scribner Creek.

15...

20...

30...

40...

50...

57.04.

$200,000 in gold,

$60,000 more

than the same amount was worth last season.

- Seventy. - Seventy hours.

So it's a little bit less, then.

- Yeah.

Oh, yeah, that's better than zero.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

Yup.

We have to work, so we'll talk to you guys later.

-Bye. -Bye.

Well, a decent gold weigh.

Yeah, not too bad.

It's kind of nice to see this yellow stuff

this early in the season.

I'm sure the folks would be happy for us, too.

But the big thing we're looking for right now is the foreman.

We'll get hiring,

and something will show up.

- Royalty wise, yeah.

- What's happening? - How's it going, man?

- Going good? - Good.

It's been a while since we've done one of these.

Yeah.

Big Cat! He is back!

- How's it going? - Welcome back.

Yeah, thank you.

It's good having you back.

And there's a lot to do this year, so we need all the help

we can get. -Definitely.

It's the end of the first week of what could be

a game-changing season for Parker.

This is the year, huh?

Yeah.

We need to just shove dirt

down those washplant's throats, huh?

It's a long road to 10,000.

Tyson's got Bob running right now in the Bridge Cut.

Sulphur's drying out a little bit.

We've got the trucks upstream, they're stripping.

- And that's going all right? - Yep.

- Are you ready, T? -Let's check it out, Doumitt.

This is Mr. Bob. This is your first plant.

Well, here we go.

All eyes are on Tyson's first run from the Bridge Cut.

Last season's payouts were unpredictable.

Parker's looking for at least 100 ounces

from three days' sluicing.

10...

20...

40...

60...

80...

Gonna break 100?

There we go, 100...

120...

125.8.

-Nice. - Very nice.

Worth over $440,000.

Looks like it was worth getting that ice off.

Yeah.

-We're on the board. - Yeah.

That's definitely a good start,

but we have a long ways to go.

So I hope everybody's ready to buckle in.

All right. Thank you, guys.

Thank you.

We'll do it again next week

Big Cat is back.

Meow!

This season, we're really going to be hopping.

Hopes are high, and I think we've got a good shot at making

our 10,000 ounces this year.

I think this year we've got the right recipe.

You know, we've got really good people here.

It's probably the best chance we'll have at doing

the five figures.

It's going to be a ball-buster of a season

for the boys, though.