Original subtitles

The Yukon Wilderness.

Remote, wild, and home so far to 20 million

ounces of gold.

For eight years, Parker Schnabel

has been building a mining empire.

At only 26, he's amassed a wealth of Klondike knowledge.

But he's running out of ground.

And his only new claim is deeper than anything he's ever mined before.

Mud Mountain. I think it's supposed to be really good gold, but it is 50 feet

deep.

Some of it's 60 feet deep, and that's 40, 50 grand a day just doing stripping.

And the bills keep coming in. And right now we're only visiting it here.

The gold's just not coming in that fast.

So we definitely need to...

Step it up.

A mile away at the airstrip, Parker's right -hand man, Mick Blaske, is charged

with upping the output with only a skeleton crew.

This ground slot out, it's ready to go through the plat.

It's just painfully slow coming back in here, you know, with the crew that we

have.

We've been running sluice -a -bur 24 -7.

To pay for Mud Mountain, Parker needs 1 ,500 ounces from the airstrip in the

next three weeks.

Feeding the plants is a big job. You've got a timeline. You've got to keep

going. Don't stop.

Tatiana Costa.

is one of Parker's rising stars.

She runs hundreds of yards of gold -rich pay dirt into the only operating wash

plant, Sclusifer.

This year I feel good. I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm looking out for.

understand the plant, the conveyors.

I enjoy it.

At the other end of the wash plant, Pascal clears the tailings.

It's great. How about you?

I think we really are doing a great job up here.

Thanks, Lieutenant.

Let's crank it up. Okay, if that's what you want. You're the boss.

Well, Parker wants us to crank up the plant, and that means I've got to get

right tool for the job.

This little pair of pliers right here might not look like much.

But this will control just how much yards we do with sluice. I took the knob

a couple years ago because we've had an issue with operators jumping out, you

know, adjusting the feed rate. It's just not quite right.

Right now, about 220 yards an hour. I'm going to dial this knob here, and we're

shooting for 250.

If you want more gold, you've got to take some chances.

Copy.

Yeah, copy.

Okay, hold on for a sec.

Parker wants us to crank this thing up. Okay. We've been running 220 yards an

hour. I just set it at 250, so we're going to have to take up the pace here a

bit. Okay. All right? Yes. No.

Running 15 % more pay could produce 15 % more gold.

Right now, we are in fifth gear. It's going super fast.

But it also produces 15 % more tailings.

The tailings are starting to build up. I'm going to have to go help for a

It's just, this is absolutely crazy trying to keep it out from the roll.

If the tailings build up, they will jam the conveyor and break the plant.

Did you go to coffee, miss?

Yeah, go ahead.

Can you please come over here? I just need to have a chat with you.

Yeah, no problem.

Me and Pascal are really struggling to keep up with the plant right now.

Two people is just not enough.

Now you need one more person to make it work?

Yeah. All right. Well, I know a guy just stuck.

Give me 10 minutes. I'll get you some help down here. Okay, awesome. Thank

Yep.

Hey, Chris, you got a copy?

Yeah, Mitch, this is Jimmy.

Yeah, hey, can you come down to Ploosifer? I need you to run loader here

some tailing, but I just don't have enough bodies down here, so I need you

come out of retirement if you can.

I'll be there in just a few minutes.

All right, thanks.

I work the gold room. That's my job. Plus, I do a lot of peripheral stuff.

Every year since I've been with Parker, we've been able to get more and more

gold. We're breaking records year after year.

This could be the first year that not only do we not break a record, I take

back. We could break a record going backwards.

We're as much of a team as we are a family up here.

You know, if you can do a job, you do it.

Last time I was in a loader was about two years ago.

This thing's so big and scary.

That's what

happens

when you try to stuff three pounds in a two pound can.

They're just feeding this thing too fast.

good about how things are going. I mean, you know, the cost of gold ratio right

now is great. We're on track for a, you know, very profitable year.

The lower Duncan Creek, Rick Nest is hitting pay dirt.

I'm clearing overburden in the creek cut so that we can keep enough pay to the

plant.

I mean, this is basically what we hung our hat on last year. This is what we

run. Last year is what got us to our goal. It's what got us started this

and it's been consistent.

Five weeks in, Rick's already mined 250 ounces of gold.

His fastest start ever.

But the biggest problem that we've got right now is we're back running out of

in the creek cut.

And all that's left now is this last little strip.

That's going to give us maybe five, six more days of running, if that.

In order to progress here at Duncan Creek, we have to get bigger.

And if I want to keep growing, I'm going to have to spend more to make more.

Do you mind just being over like four feet or five feet this way next time?

I know, you want me closer to you, right?

I just really, really miss you.

Hot shot dirt mover Brennan Rualt loads pay for Chris Cruz, who then takes it to

the watch point.

He looks like a man with a plant.

What's up, buddy?

We're just about out of ground here and this creek got on. Yeah.

We've got to pivot fast.

I mean, I've been thinking about where we can go, and I think that I want to go

upstream and kind of stay on the same tail air. I haven't done any poking

up there yet, but I know that this has all been real consistent.

Yeah. So I don't see any reason why it shouldn't stay like it is.

Right.

If the creek cut pastry continues under the 26 acres of frozen ground to the

west,

It could contain over 1 ,000 ounces in gold.

The one bad thing about heading that way, though, is that it is frozen,

There is permafrost there, so we know it's never been mined.

We haven't dealt with any permafrost really here yet, and I don't think there

will be too much frozen mud there either, right?

Well, that would be a nice place to try that new dozer out anyway.

And see how that thing rips?

Yeah. So do you want me to go flash that dozer up or what? I don't know yet. I

don't know if you're going to be the one to run it.

Are you serious?

I come up here at minus 30 and put it together and you're taking my thunder?

Come on. How much money did you pay for it?

A lot.

Seems like the perfect opportunity to see what it's got.

Okay. Well, I'm down for that.

Start burning the $100 bills.

Fuel bills going up today, boys.

Way up.

The 900 horsepower 475 Dozer.

Cost half a million dollars and burns through two and a half thousand dollars

fuel a day.

Doubling Rick's entire fuel bill overnight.

Yeah, definitely pretty sweet that Rick's let me operate this big beast.

If I get to be on this for a big part of the team, I'll be pretty happy.

The 475 can push two rock trucks worth of dirt, as its six -foot ripper

shank tears through the frozen ground.

Absolutely everything.

I mean, Jesus Christ, look how soft this is.

Gotta go real gentle.

I mean, those are 300 ,000 pounds. Look at this, I'm already sinking here.

That's my worst nightmare just now.

Yeah, go for it.

Hey, buddy, I think I might need your hand over here. Got a little bit stuck

the dozer.

Brennan, that's not like you. Are you serious?

Yeah, I tried capping off some really soupy, serious, good stuff, and it just

sunk through, so I thought before it got real bad.

All right, well, just hold tight. I'll be right over there.

With finding new ground first becoming a priority,

Rick can ill afford his prized half -million dollar dozer to be stuck in the

mud.

We're running low on paint.

I basically have to keep stripping.

This stuff right here is going to put us behind.

Any kind of delay is a risk that we'll have to shut the plant down.

What happened is I went a little too far trying to wrap out there.

And as soon as I lifted my glade, the front end just sunk down, and then my

ripper was stuck on the shaft and drove the head, so I kind of couldn't get out

of it.

As soon as I get this bug out, he could be able to come forward and track right

out through this, and then get back up and get back to work.

I'm not stuck all that bad. It's just enough that I can't quite get enough

traction to back out of it.

Brennan, I'm not going to hit anything up there, am I?

No, I don't know if I'd pull there, Rick. Maybe just even grab that quarter

bit on my lowest side there.

Can I go there?

Yeah, that'll work up there too, you bet.

Come on.

There we go.

Woo! Ah!

You got it!

You got it.

That wasn't a rookie card, eh?

I know you're nervous. You're trying to impress me, so I'll let it go.

Thanks, buddy.

What not to do. Follow Big Cat for more tips.

As of right now, I'm pretty far behind the power curve, you know.

A lot of things happened that weren't supposed to. We're really behind the

ball at this point.

Deep in the wilderness at California Creek, Special Forces veteran Fred Lewis

has struggled from the start.

For all his efforts, Fred has just two ounces of gold to show for it.

Got to really focus on moving forward. I've had no crew. I've had no time. I've

been behind schedule the entire season.

I'm all in on California Creek, so right now, we've got to make it happen.

You know, it could have just maybe a little bit more to get her up to the

line.

Former Green Beret, mechanic J .B. Mayer, has been Fred's only crew.

Until now.

Who's that, Fred?

Oh, that's Stuart and Trent.

What's up, brother?

Excited. Oh, man.

How you been, man?

Good.

Oh, son.

Oh, thank you. JV.

Christopher.

This is JV, our mechanic. We have a mechanic.

Infantry Scout Sniper Stuart McKenzie.

is the only returning military veteran from last season's crew.

We got good equipment. Right now we have a 220.

Working on some more, but we're going to make sure we get all good equipment.

Gold's here, man.

We just got to figure out where that pay level starts, pull it out, and we're

good.

Fred has also drafted in his stepson, Christopher Parker.

You guys want to go see it?

Yeah, let's go check it out, bro. So how you been, Stuart?

Good, man. I'm not going to lie.

It was pretty tough coming up here, man.

Over 40 miles away from the nearest town, Fred's leased eight planes on

California Creek, a remote, unproven piece of virgin ground.

He's dripped an area the size of four football fields.

but still has another three feet to go before hitting payday.

You know, I have a pretty good feeling about this season.

This is the wild, wild west when it comes to gold mining.

Been dying to get up here.

Before Fred allowed 21 -year -old Christopher to work on the mine, he was

to test him out.

Get clear, everyone.

I got him a job on a farm just to get some more x -ray to work. He does have

sick time, but I've never really seen him operate myself.

Yeah, the only thing you did on that, Christopher, is you started to go

before you lifted up. Yeah, no, I didn't realize that the bucket was out all the

way. Yeah, otherwise it was perfect. Keep it up.

It says I am perfection personified, as you know.

I'd say one thing that I have ingrained in Christopher that may have been a bad

idea is a little bit of overconfidence.

Chris is also ex -military.

The son of Fred's wife, Cara.

He's helped raise him since he was seven.

How's it feeling in there, Christopher?

You're doing a really good job.

Did you expect any less?

I mean, if we were talking about here.

Get back to work.

Luckily, I've known Christopher almost his whole life, so I know how to train

him. I know how to push him, and I know how not to push him. So that's going to

help me a lot, but he's a stubborn little punk sometimes.

Down in the court.

Stuart is quickly reintroduced to the rigors of mining.

And I mean, look at this. The mud is just unbelievable.

Now we've got to just get it out of here.

Water inspectors have the power to shut down an operation and have hit Fred with

a list of fixes before mining can resume.

Well, that's just extra work. That's just going to put us more behind.

I think at this point what we have to do is

Be compliant.

Yeah. And do what they want.

Make them happy.

Yeah. But it's also going to teach us how to do it right.

To prevent melting permafrost from washing mud into the creek, they need to

build berms on either side, move the road nine feet from the water's edge,

then reinforce both with gravel.

We're going to have to basically focus on every single thing he told us to do

until then we're not doing anything else.

We've got a week to do it.

We're going to have to run 24 hours, but I still don't know if we're going to

get through it then.

Well, you know what? We could sit here about it all day long, I think, but the

key is we have a lot more work to do now.

We're really going to have to focus from this point on and just knock it out and

do it right.

Let's get going.

Focus. Definitely.

Cool. Roger that.

This has got to be our road access, and obviously if you look now, it's nowhere

near that.

So the road's probably one of the most important parts of our mine operation

because we have to be able to move freely and quickly down it. And right

it's a nightmare.

It's killing us, slowing everything down.

So until all this overburden's out, we're kind of stuck.

The inspectors don't give second chances, so Fred starts on the burns.

Our entire mine site is covered in three feet of liquid mud.

And Stuart and JB get to work building the new road.

We have so much that we need to clean out that we can be running for 24 hours.

Right now I'm pulling double duty. I'm doing the excavator and I'm also doing

the rock truck.

I'm trying to get this mud out of here. You know, it's not a simple task.

Oh my gosh, he's losing dirt all out the truck.

All that mud right now is on top of our new road we just built.

Oh my gosh.

You know what? I don't like leaving things unfinished.

This was my problem all day, but we were at 15, so this is now Fred's problem.

Hopefully it won't be mine in the morning.

Hey, Tyson, Tyson, you got a copy, man? We need some help down here.

Oh, take a look at this one. We got a bit of shoveling, eh, bud?

What do you think?

At the extra cut, Parker's work plan is down with a jump hopper.

I like the look of that.

Come up there, then I'll give her a little water.

Oh yeah, hang on a minute.

You good, Alex?

Did you say go?

Let's go.

Okay, go for it.

This conveyor, well, it's built for removing overburden.

We're using it here for feeding the wash plant.

Running more pay has increased the weight on the conveyor and slowed it

Because of this, the dirt's not thrown far enough in for the water jets to hit

it.

The material's falling too far back in the free wash, so we're going to

the belt speed here, and that's going to allow the material to land where we

need it to.

Speeding up the super conveyor's belt should launch the pay further into the

jets.

But we need to keep this thing running.

Let's just try and keep this thing ahead a little bit.

We might have a little fillage, but that's kind of where we're at.

As a last resort, Mitch plans to move the super conveyor closer to Sue's

Obviously, we don't want material spilling out here, but you have to have

land in the correct spot of the pre -wash.

You know, we always want to run as much yards as we can, but there's a real fine

line. You've got to find that sweet spot when these plants run.

So we were originally at 220 yards an hour before Parker wanted us to jack

everything up here and get this thing ripping.

Now we're at 250 and we're just really fighting it.

I'm going to slow it down here just a little bit, shoot for about 240, and

see how she runs there.

Turn her down a little.

$13 ,000 in lost gold.

This thing's right where she needs to be?

We could have a good clean up here if we hold together.

Want a sweater, Buck?

that's been so good, I just wish there was more of it.

In the mountains above Keno, Rick Ness is aiming for a healthy 2 ,000 ounces.

But his moneymaker, Creek Cut, is fast running out of pain.

We've got one very good thing going for us right now, and that's the plants

running.

Everything around that is very scary.

To the west, Brennan spent five days digging in the unforgiving frozen cut.

His massive 475 dozer devouring land and fuel.

Definitely have had a few struggles along the way getting this frozen cut

up here.

Brennan must hit pay.

If unsuccessful, Rick will be left with a hefty fuel bill and work still nowhere

to mine.

start ripping and opening up the ground and all of a sudden I'm into this frozen

blue clay and I'm not too sure and there's huge pockets of it as well

so I mean it's done of weird different layers you know I have no idea what's

going on and it's not making any sense to me here you know I don't know do I go

through that clay in hopes that there's gravel underneath like I don't know

because I'm new to this ground

I think I'm just going to give Rick a call and get him down here to see what

thoughts are, because I don't want to sit here and burn a bunch of fuel and

waste a bunch of time if it's just going to be dark.

Got a copy there, Rick?

Yeah, go for it.

Hey, buddy, I don't know what's going on down here.

I'm hitting some huge clay pockets that are frozen, so I just don't know what to

think about it. Would you mind coming and checking them out?

Yeah, I'll be right there, man.

All right, perfect. Thanks.

Rick gumbled on the pale layer in the creek cut, extending into the frozen

Let's go, buddy.

Turned into a bit of a mess out here, huh?

Yeah, I know.

We should have already hit gravel.

There's no gravel there. No. And I can see that wall. It's just clay and mud.

Yeah. And it's almost like a weird, it's almost sticky, you know what I mean?

It's like it's clay.

Well, and that's the problem. It looks like the clay that's supposed to be

the pay.

Yeah, exactly.

It's not like anything I've run across out here, or really anywhere.

But I mean, we've got how many days here in this one area, and it's just,

there's no end in sight.

No. I don't want to keep going if it's going to be a waste of my time and your

money. Yeah. It doesn't make any sense in the fact that I've not seen any

anyway. where there should be gravel yeah i mean i i we can't just keep

money at this we gotta find some thawed ground i think and fast yeah i say we

just walk away from this for now okay park that big cat and let's uh all right

let's find some pay trying to keep my calm but uh

doesn't make any sense the frozen cut

is to the west of the creek cut.

22 ,000 years ago, a glacier pulled gold from the mother lode.

As it melted, the gold washed down the valley.

Where the water moved faster, the gold settled on a layer of bedrock.

But at the frozen cut, where the water flowed more slowly,

the gold appears to have been distributed

within a thick layer of clay.

This is a disaster.

I mean, I just spent 20 grand digging a hole in the ground, and all we found is

clay. So, first of that, we're almost out of pay dirt, and I'm going to have

shut the plant down.

If that happens, 2 ,000 -ounce goal, nothing's happening.

I'm starting to pee.

Doing the burn, the road, and taking care of the drainage as we're trying to

remove overburden is proving to be nearly impossible in the timeline that

up. So if he comes and infects us at this point, we're pretty screwed.

At California Creek, Fred's four -man crew have spent the entire week building

burns to stop mud getting into the creek.

It's grew in work with little reward.

With the power to shut down the claim, the crew have just one more day before

the inspectors return to assess their work.

It's one of those things you hope what you're doing is going to be up to par

good enough for everything you know.

We've got a lot of the road built already.

That's the wood done last night and this morning.

It's a pretty good feeling that we're actually accomplishing something.

So this is the end of our road. We've already punched about a quarter of a

of this road and this is the only section we have left finished.

is it.

What I'm doing is I'm bringing in gravel from the other spots of the plane and

dropping it on the road and then patting it in so it stays nice and firm.

Alright.

Fred's collecting gravel from higher up the hill.

This is all ice.

Now I've got to try and turn myself so I don't slip.

This sucks right now because I'm facing sideways and I'm just sliding on ice.

The 220 excavator weighs a daunting 28 tons.

I jumped out of planes at 22 ,000 feet, the highest I've ever jumped, and I was

never nervous.

And that 50 feet in the excavator is definitely a mistake.

Working through the night.

The crew have completed the road.

But with the inspectors due, they still haven't finished the burns.

What I'm basically doing is driving the entire claim and the excavator looking

for firm fix and tightening those areas up to make sure we're within regulation.

I think right now the burns are doing their job.

It did rain a couple days ago pretty hard, and what we had built up to that

point held up.

You know, we've been all hands on deck. We went to 24 -hour shifts just for this

water inspection, and right now I'm a little uncertain on whether or not we're

going to pass.

You know, there's an actual probability of getting blacklisted if you really

mess something up here in the Yukon.

I don't want to get blacklisted from anywhere, from anything, let alone the

place in the world, the gold mine.

Well, it's been a disaster of a week, wasting all that time and money in the

frozen cut, but the good news is... Rick has been apart from his new girlfriend

for almost two months.

You know who's coming today, right? You know who's coming?

Oh, your favorite person, Lee?

He's going to be here any minute.

I met my girlfriend Lee like really after I got home and pretty

much spent the whole winter with her.

Yeah, we just clicked. And it clicked enough for me to say, hey, do you want

come up here with me this year? Which is a huge, huge change for me.

You know, that's a big step for her, too.

So it's not glamorous.

You know, but the fact that she agreed to do it, I think, says a lot.

You know, this is a big new thing.

Big new thing for me.

It's only for the fences with this one, I guess.

Who is that? Who's out there?

Is that Lise?

Originally from Wisconsin, Lise Marie has built a career as a nurse.

You're pulling my pants down with your legs. I'm sorry.

You got bags?

I got bags.

How was your trip?

It was long. It was long? Yeah.

It's going to be worth it, all right? Yeah.

Oh, my God.

May as well.

Uh,

Bristol made a show today, right?

oh nice he's got a girlfriend cool wow ricky what a boy and here they

are oh you guys haven't even met least yet at least this is me hello how's

everyone nice to meet you nice to meet you that bum over there is brennan big

chat actually aka oh my lord and you know you know cruisy yeah i'm the smoky

you're here come on sit next to me i'm happy to have lease here um to support

And hopefully you'll see a happier me out there.

Richard. Love you, all right.

Well, that's good.

Love you, babe. I love you, too.

I love you, Richard.

What about me?

It was an interesting week, I guess.

You know what's sweet is I got stuck in the 475.

What a joke.

I don't think there's anything left to do but pour some gold, right?

You going to count the numbers there?

Yes, where I'm sitting here. You just count the numbers.

So far, Rick has averaged over 62 ounces a week.

Ready? Ready.

All right, here we go.

10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 80,

90, 96 .18.

Sweet, man. We've been going up every week.

Worth over $173 ,000, it's Rick's biggest gold waste so far,

giving him 346 ounces for the season.

Not a bad week.

Yeah, that even covers the cost of that 475 running and not getting any gold out

of that frozen cut.

Yeah, on that note, let's get to work.

But to reach his goal of 2 ,000 ounces, he desperately

needs new ground.

Well, we banked some gold this week, but...

We took a big hit in the frozen cut. It's a bust. And the creek cut, pay's

almost gone there, so I need to find some new ground in mine and fast.

What's up, man?

Hey, hey.

What are you up to, brother? How you guys doing? Good.

For the past week, Fred's four -man crew have pulled multiple night shifts.

If their roads and berms aren't up to scratch, the watering specters could sit

down the site permanently.

There's nothing he told us to do we haven't done.

The question is, did we do it good enough? Yeah. I mean, we're new at this.

Yeah. All greenhorns. Yeah, all greenhorns.

I think we've moved more dirt just the four of us than we moved all season last

season. Yeah. We worked our butt off doing it.

Yeah, I'm really proud of you guys, but at the same time, this water guy could

come in and say it's not amazing and shut us down. That's what's really

me right now. Yeah.

If you shut this down... We're done.

It's tough to put in all this work just to have us go home because of just a

couple of mistakes.

Let's see.

All right.

I'm going to go deal with this guy, I guess, now.

Good luck. You guys can't film him. Sorry.

How you doing?

We're winning.

Want to go see?

I'll walk with you.

Just in case you got questions.

I know, man.

I'll be really, really... This is what shut us down.

I'm nervous as hell.

You know, we've worked our asses off on this.

I don't think there's really too much more we could have done. I really don't.

I mean, I really hate that our entire season hangs in the balance.

Christmas, you know?

They're just standing there, chatting and pointing it.

After an hour of walking this night, a decision has been given.

Oh, my God.

That sounds like disappointment.

You took forever. That was the military white glove inspection.

Really? You know, that was probably one of the most stressful things I've gone

through. It really felt like basic training, and the drill sergeant

sock drawer.

There were some issues, but he is. We pass.

Pass. Good deal.

We pass.

Was he happy with it?

He was extremely happy with our berms and our roads. He thought they were

So essentially, we lived to fight another day.

Let's get to it, and let's get some gold.

That's a relief, man. That is a relief. Hey, all you guys did it. All you guys

did it. All three of you.

It couldn't have gone any better. We've got to get back to work. We're through

this hurdle, but you never know when you can come back. We've got to keep it

going.

Am I doing it? Want some chips?

Oh, no, thanks.

In a week where Parker cranked up the speed on the wash plant.

Are you pushing dirt around?

How's it going there, young man?

Come on, Brad.

It's time to find out if his decision paid off.

Hey, Mitchell. What's happening?

Howdy, hi.

I bet you were ready for that cigar there after your day in the loader.

It was fun getting back in the thing, but I definitely know I've been in a

machine. Oh, yeah.

It was a bittersweet.

I'd say we throw some gold on the skills.

Want to count out, Mitch?

Yeah, I'll see what we got this week.

Here we go.

50.

To hit Parker's 1 ,500 -ounce goal.

150.

Sluicifer needs to deliver 280 ounces a week.

280, 300,

still got some in there, 330, 350,

360, 376 .20.

Worth $677 ,000.

Wow, our best week. Yeah. Our best week so far.

Yes.

I stand corrected. The best week so far.

Yeah. Smoking week.

Well, that just goes to show, more rocks means more gold.

For the season, we broke 1 ,032 .65 ounces. Very nice. Yeah.

You look like an old bookie with that thing. I'm still a pencil and paper kind

of guy.

I'm going to dinner.

Good job, guys.

Good job. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

I know it's not been fun, but we'll get there.

Things will settle down.

Let's go to some dinner.

Yeah. All right, I'll bag this stuff up. Thank you, guys. You did a great job.