Original subtitles

*GOLD RUSH * Season 13 Episode 11

Episode Title: "Tonys Golden Nights" Aired on: December 09, 2022.

Tony speaking...

King of the Klondike, Tony Beets,

has been mining 11 weeks, banking just over 1000 ounces of gold.

Tony speaking...

Tony's chasing Paradise Hill's elusive white channel pay streak

in two of his deepest cuts.

The six-acre blue cut, and the nine-acre cold cut.

But over the last six weeks,

he's lost precious sluice time waiting on thick layers

of permafrost pay dirt to thaw.

Tony speaking...

To make up lost time, Tony plans to double his run time

and sluice day and night for the first time this season.

To man the night crew, Tony has drafted in three greenhorn truck drivers.

Tony speaking...

Oh, I'm just loving it.

I love the rock trucking.

Pretty sweet spot, man.

I'm... I'm excited for the season.

It's really great over here, trying to work up the ladder.

I hope I can work in the yard and maybe learn some mechanics.

Really excited to see some actual gold

right out of the ****** ground.

It'd be a lot different than just seeing it on jewelry and ******.

Before he fires up the night shift,

the rookies need to prove they have what it takes.

Tony speaking...

I worked for the Beets first year of the mining when I was 19,

and then I did some other things and then I worked for Parker

and then I came back to Tony last year.

Tony's put one of his top graduates, Megan Gaudet,

in charge of training the greenhorns.

We had quite a few new faces last year,

a lot of them didn't last, so hopefully,

these new guys will have what it takes and can last out the season.

Megan speaking on radio...

I'm at the plant right now.

Megan speaking...

Tony needs each greenhorn to haul

15 loads an hour to the wash plant.

Megan speaking...

Yes, sir. Sounds good, ma'am.

I have to keep a good pace going to keep up with Megan.

Why fix tomorrow what you can fix today?

Machines running last way better when you ****** take care of them,

so little bit of love goes a long way.

Back in the yard,

Kevin's preparing more trucks for Tony's Paradise Hill blitz.

Where the ****** is truck number four?

Okay, everybody listen, everybody listen.

Truck number four is broken and overheating, who's driving it?

Thomas is running it.

Thomas, who signed the tag on that truck?

Who signed the lockout tag?

I don't know.

Can you check or is it not signed?

Because those are two very different things.

Yeah, it's not signed. Sorry.

Okay. Specifics, folks, they matter.

People don't listen or they're not that bright,

that's the whole story right there.

Oh, boy...

Kevin uses lockout tags to indicate machines that

need to be fixed before being used, but Thomas didn't get the memo.

I don't think Kevin's very happy,

I just seen him flying down the haul road.

I was getting on that truck, but I've seen

that lockout tag and I didn't get on it.

Yeah, when you take a... take a truck with a lockout tag,

that's pretty big ****** up, because you can ****** up really quick.

Thomas could have blown the engine driving the stricken truck.

Tony, Tony.

Yes, Kevin.

And now Tony has found out...

Tony speaking...

******

Yeah, I don't really know what to say.

I'm not sure what's going to happen.

Hopefully, he can get back in a truck

or we're going to be short on trucks again.

Tony speaking...

Sorry.

Tony speaking...

Okay.

Said I have to go.

Tony speaking...

Tony has given Thomas a second chance to prove himself,

this time in a signed out and fully-serviced rock truck.

Tony speaking...

I feel bad for them because

they probably feel the pressure as well, and it stresses Tony out.

He wants it nice and full constantly,

so that we're not losing any money

and we're making the most that we can while we can.

Emmett, do you copy?

I still have the job.

Thomas back in the cut,

the greenhorns are a full squad again.

All right, guys, let's get that pay pile filled.

I know, it's like halfway through the day,

it's been a long one, but we can do this.

Don't forget, the more we haul, the more gold we make.

The more trucks, the better.

We are all trying to do our best, as fast as possible.

Hey, the dirt's piling up pretty good.

Hey, guys, so you're looking good.

Tony speaking...

At the end of their shift,

the greenhorns have hit Tony's 15 load an hour target.

Tony speaking...

*GOLD RUSH * Season 13 Episode 11

Episode Title: "Tonys Golden Nights" Aired on: December 09, 2022.

Right now, the name of the game is to get pay in the plant

and to get gold in the box.

If I can't get consistent gold coming across the sluice,

I'm never going to hit my 500-ounce goal.

Nearly halfway through the season,

third year mine boss, Fred Lewis, is finally up and running.

But he's sluiced for just one week and has pulled in only six ounces.

You know, if I can't pull this season around,

my mining career is over.

I... I'm not going to be able to continue.

We've got some gold in the box, small gold weigh,

but honestly, it's not enough.

So, we're going to pull that pay from last season

that's accessible and get as much fed to the plant as possible.

To hit his goal, Fred now needs over 30 ounces a week,

he's banking on it coming out of the Freedom cut,

ground he believes could hold the mother lode.

Before he runs this gold rich pay dirt,

Fred plans to clean out the final scraps of pay from last year's cut.

Digging up this little bit of pay, so we can carry on running.

Fred's most experienced operator, Buzz Legault,

loads pay in the 250 excavator.

Looks like it should be a pretty good pay, sitting on top of...

we're just on top of bedrock, so we gotta get this up to the wash plant.

This year is make or break, you know,

if we don't do a good season, I just...

I don't know if I can keep coming back up here.

Retired Scout Sniper Stuart McKenzie trucks dirt to the wash plant.

I can't really justify this to my family, if...

if we're not really making ends meet,

but it's something I believe in.

We're on the right track.

My thinking process is that we got all our problems

out of the way in the beginning of the season,

so that we can have a very smooth second half of the season.

In the 220, Fred's wife, Khara,

feeds 90 yards an hour into Sergeant sluice.

So, we have to just work around the clock

and get as much as soon as we can,

so that we can hit our 500 ounces.

These friggin' machines are kind of small,

if we're doing what we're doing with them,

you know, this is a... but it's what we got, so we got to make it work.

Well, ******.

I lost a ****** tooth.

I broke a tooth right off the bucket here.

Now, I'll walk the machine over sketchily off this pile and try to fix it out the...

****** me.

****** track.

I'm pinned on the tracks now,

so now I'm sitting here on this pile, one track, one lost tooth, ****** no.

Buzz speaking...

We're gonna have to lift this side of the machine up,

walk that track, try to keep it straight,

because I'm on top of a pile, drop off on both sides.

The only... the only thing that can make this any ******

worse is if the other track broke.

We can't win to win, can we?

Yep.

So, you broke...

The track broke and we lost a shank on the freakin'...

- Yeah. - Holy crap, man.

Buzz speaking...

How long you think it's gonna take?

******.

All right, not your fault.

Well, you're kind of screwed 'cause the 250 is down in a big way right now.

How long is it gonna be out?

Honestly, I don't know.

Unable to dig out pay to feed the plant, Fred is once again shut down.

******!

Buzz speaking...

Everything is stacking up against us here.

I know it's gold mining and, you know,

if it was easy to mine, everybody would,

but this is ****** and that 500-ounce gold is slipping away.

Hi, guys.

So, how's summer been?

- Oh, busy. - Busy?

How many hours you... you put in to get this gold?

We ran 15,000 yards in 18 hours or so.

Oh, okay.

23-year-old mine boss Brandon Clayton

is cashing in last week's gold haul.

So, it's 10.53 ounces.

I think we're in... should be in 19 grand range.

******.

But with gold prices falling...

I was hoping for 35, so we could try and get ahead.

...Brandon's getting less buck for his bang.

We need this gold to keep going and get to another week.

Thank you, guys, so much.

We got our next check here, we got to find more gold.

Right now, we're just surviving.

So far this season, Brandon and 20-year-old brother, Brady,

have mined 22 ounces of gold.

They need to hit ten ounces a week to cover bills

and much more if they're to beat Fred in the race to 500 ounces.

We just got to keep mining

and trying to wash rocks as we go and get to Golden Acres,

'cause that's what's going to make or break our season

and that's our best shot at kicking Fred's ass.

To get to Golden Acres,

the brothers first need to build a road that'll cost them $50,000.

To scrounge up the cash, they're mining hotspots along the way,

starting with the S-bend cut.

Pay as we go mining, it has its challenges.

The 336 is down, the turbo's ******,

you know, it's hard to get parts out here,

it's just crazy this year.

Last week...

Why the ****** am I losing power?

...their 336 excavators...

What the ******?

...blew its turbo.

******.

Uh, Brandon.

Yeah, the 336 is down.

...leaving just one working excavator.

Yeah, ******, it sucks being down to one hole, but yeah, this...

this double duty is ****** killing us.

We're burning more fuel walking this thing back and forth

from the plant, from the cut,

and just wearing it out more than we need to.

Brady loads S-bend pay dirt into the rock truck...

before walking at a third of a mile back to feed and pay into dirt devil.

It's a long ****** way to take this machine.

I mean, it only goes three miles an hour.

But Brandan's got a delivery that could

get them back to full capacity.

- Brady. - Yeah.

I got the... I got the part.

Oh, right on.

It showed up today.

Perfect. Let's... let's slap it in, eh?

Yeah.

She'll be purring like a kitten in no time, eh.

Let's hope so, we've been waiting about a week

and it was a long week, we'll slap her together and pray she works.

The brothers have gambled $7,000 over a third of their

last paycheck on a brand-new turbo.

Oh, look at that.

Turns so nice.

It's been sitting there looking like a lawn ornament

for about a week, but now we got...

we got the turbo.

Now it's just a matter of time for us to put it,

put it back in and have it running.

We're just buttoning up some bolts here.

This is tight, this is tight, and we're ready to turn it over and...

and see what she does, so Brady's going to go get in the cab,

he's going to fire her up, and we'll put her to work.

- Hey. - Huh?

****** me.

So, I think we have engine problems.

****** probably done. Can't win.

We're so ******.

Well, it didn't work.

Uh, we tried taking a quick, easy route with the turbo.

We're gonna have to ****** open the engine up,

see how bad it is.

I think it's most likely a rod in the engine, so that ****** major.

Throw a rod, it's not good,

who knows what else ****** before it got to the turbo.

Don't even have ****** money to fix that, so...

Tony speaking...

On Paradise Hill, Tony Beets is doubling his sluicing time

to ramp up his gold production.

Tony speaking...

In the nine-acre cold cut,

Tony's crew of greenhorns begin their third night shift

trucking gold-rich pay to the plant.

Have you got a good ripping

on by Tony or Kevin or Mike yet?

Not by Kevin or Mike, but Tony's come in to me a couple times.

I think it just comes with the job, really.

So, hopefully we can ******, get a lot of dirt moved.

8:00 p.m., mid-summer in the Yukon, the sun never sets.

The stockpile's looking pretty high right now.

Yeah, I think Megan is sweating off her ass,

she's moving the dirt like crazy.

At the trommel, Megan feeds 300 yards of pay dirt an hour.

Even though we have this gigantic stockpile,

we'll tooth it really quick.

We can never have enough pay dirt.

Kevin makes his final inspection of the trommel

before finishing his day shift.

There's one thing after ****** another,

I got 14 other things on the go,

and that's just counting rock trucks.

Never mind ****** excavator, ****** dozers, plants.

****** too much, ****** on with me.

******.

That is ****** ridiculous the way it's piling up on there.

I mean, we don't want our pay under the conveyor belts,

we want in in the trommel so the gold ends up in the sluice box.

The plant is literally throwing away gold.

We're shutting down.

Hey, Peter, can I get you on the water, please?

Megan speaking...

Yes, please.

******.

******.

We're shutting down.

******

At the start of the Beets' third night shift of the season,

the channel between the hopper feeder and the conveyor belt

is leaking pay dirt, forcing Kevin to shut down.

Imagine that's going 24 hours a day,

how long is it gonna take before we got a ****** disaster

going down there.

Hey, Tony, you got a copy?

Tony speaking...

The skirting needs to be ****** done.

Tony speaking...

So, we are ripping it all out,

measure up what I want for new pieces,

cut them out, drill the holes,

start slamming that together.

I want to make sure that this is set up for success

and I don't have to come back at 3:00 o'clock in the morning to fix ******.

Beneath the hopper, a rubber and metal skirt channels pay

onto the five-foot-wide conveyor.

But it's damaged, and spilling gold rich dirt,

which is building up beneath the belt.

Kevin needs to remove the skirt and build a replacement

from scratch to get back on the gold.

Now, we got to have to get it done tonight, because,

well, we want to sluice in the morning.

Boom.

Knocking these bolts off, because they are one to ******.

While Kevin works through the bright Yukon night...

Hey, Thomas and Chris, we're going to go shovel out

underneath the trommel here.

...the greenhorn night shift shovel out the last pay dirt

from under the hopper.

Now we're just going to clear out all underneath the belt,

hopefully we can just keep it nice and clean,

everything will run smoothly.

So, the faster we get this cleaned up,

the faster we start hauling dirt back over.

We had to grab all the rock truck drivers to get everything dug out,

it takes away from more important ******.

The rock truck driver should be hauling pay.

Six hours later...

Hey, I'm pretty much ready to start assembling.

So, for that, I am going to need more caffeine.

- Let's do it. - Let's do it.

Cousin Mike joins Kevin to rebuild the damaged trommel skirt.

Yep, beautiful.

Next.

Perfect.

Of course, so let's see if these holes line.

Yeah, sometimes what I do actually turns out the way I plan.

I knew it was gonna be great after all ****** crawling around,

being a ****** goblin.

Laying in ****** bed and not moving,

it's gonna be ****** fantastic.

It's going to be lovely.

Okay.

Spin, spin.

Perfect.

7:00 a.m., the last hour of night shift.

Tony speaking...

Yep.

Tony speaking...

We're back in business.

Tony speaking...

After nearly 10 hours shut down,

the night crew must race to make up lost sluicing time

before handing over to day shift.

****** yeah, glad that is done,

the siding is in and there is no ****** hole, so nothing can get out.

It's ****** excellent.

Good to ****** see.

****** yeah.

First, make up the speed as we're making up for the lost time.

Yeah, I do my best.

It's crazy.

Now the Beets need to sluice 24/7 to have any chance

of hitting their season goal.

Tony speaking...

You know, right now we should be sluicing,

we should be pulling in gold and we should be doing cleanups.

Instead, we got a track off our 250,

so we've got work to do to get ourselves back up and running.

The Lewis Crew's 250 Excavator is down

with a busted track and a missing bucket tooth.

Without the 250, we aren't pulling pay.

If we aren't pulling pay, we ain't running to the plant, we ain't getting gold.

Buzz first reattaches the broken tooth,

before the crew move on to fix the track pin.

Having any vehicle down for any given time,

it slows down on anything,

so having this one down is a pretty big deal.

So, the broken part of the pin,

in order to get it out, we've got to actually cut the darn thing out.

Just get it done, get it done as quick... quickly as we can.

As soon as I get that darn bushing melted out of there.

When the pin breaks, it shears it.

I mean, the massive power it takes to do that is crazy

and when it does it...

it ****** up the rail a little bit, definitely.

******, I'm actually bleeding.

- What happened? - I got ****** in the face.

I'm actually bleeding, I think, yeah. Oh.

- Stuart. - Yeah...

Let me see that.

At California Creek,

the Lewis crew are racing to repair a broken excavator track.

******, I'm actually bleeding.

- What happened? - I got ****** in the face.

A shard of shrapnel from the track pin

has hit Stuart just an inch from his eye.

Oh, yeah, you got a nice piece of metal in there.

Good thing I was wearing glasses.

- We're gonna have to get that out, buddy. - Yeah.

Let's... let's wash it real quick.

Yeah.

You don't need a wipe.

This will be the second time that Fred has removed

a metal from my body.

He got a piece of shrapnel out of my back.

Fred served as combat medic in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I need tweezers, 'cause when you pull this out,

it's probably going to bleed.

- Damn it, I dropped it. - It's all right, but is it out?

- It's a good piece of metal. - Yeah?

You got some swollenness and ecchymosis.

Yeah?

But everything's out.

Hey, JB, quit hurting Stuart, we need him.

Little piece of metal, oh, my gosh.

Fred takes Stuart back to camp

to glue the wound.

Hey... hey, Buzz, I expect to be mining when we get back.

You better take your ****** time then.

Down of 250, down of Stuart.

All right, what's your plan now?

We need to twist and walk over this way

and then we'll walk back, kind of, lighten things up.

Well that's... that's one thing you're good at,

is walking with no track on, so...

Does that look straight-ish?

That don't look too bad. There you go...

oh.

Looks right.

There we go. Keep going.

I... I always visualize just going up there and picking it up and putting it on,

it's... it's massively heavy and that's just not possible.

All right.

All right, bottom rollers are on, top rollers are on.

Rail put together, we put that pin in and that's it,

be back in operation.

What's up, guys?

We're close-close. How's your face?

- It's pretty good. - Yeah.

It's gonna leave a cool little scar.

All right, she's ready.

All right, let's get back to work, guys. Good job.

The 250, finally back in the cut digging pay.

Back in action.

Fire it up.

Fred is sluicing again.

In this controlled chaos that we have called gold mining,

we're very close to being where we need to be right now.

So, I feel like if we can keep pushing forward,

keep solving these problems, we're gonna be making good money.

The race is still on with the Claytons, the first to 500 ounces wins.

Across California Creek...

At the rate we're going, we're going to lose to ****** Fred, so...

- Yeah. - ...I ain't losing.

The Claytons are shut down

with excavator problems of their own.

Well, unfortunately, the haul,

it's going to be down a lot longer than we thought,

it's got some engine problems.

To get back running,

they need a new plan and fast.

Ah, over the winter, this thing got bent,

today we've got to try and bend it straight.

We're going to just try and piece this together

and get it up there so we can try and make more production.

Last season,

the Claytons fed the plant with a loader and feed conveyor.

But winter melt washed it downstream...

Tipped it over, ******.

...leaving it badly bent out of shape.

If the brothers can resurrect it,

they can use their loader and keep the excavator down in the cut.

This piece of machinery,

even though it's an antique,

she has some life left in her for sure.

We're going to try to make it work, we have no other choice.

Otherwise, you know, we're not going to make enough progress

to even turn a profit this year, so

we have to get this conveyor going.

First things first,

we'll just get your haul over into position,

we'll hook you up and then we'll flip it.

If the chain breaks, that can be pretty ugly.

But, you know, no risk, no reward, right?

We got to get this ****** back in operation.

Are we almost ready over there or what?

All right, guys, see what you can do. Hope it don't break.

Straight on. Crazy.

****** easy there, buddy.

Yeah, easy-peasy.

Nice work, Brady.

Because she's quite... quite ******.

It bends in and, like, it waves.

So, if we don't get it straight, the belt's going to walk, the...

it's going to be hard on the rollers, it's going to be hard on the motor

and which will just give us constant problems.

I think what you do,

where it just starts to bend, you cut it there,

you pull this whole thing over,

then you weld it when that's straight,

then you move over to the next piece,

you bend that into place, you weld that.

Brandon's fix cut the crooked section of the frame to weaken it,

making it easier to bend.

Then pull it back straight before welding it back together.

We're not really sure

how this is going to work, I think my confidence is 50%

either way right now.

Uh, I mean, this thing is so bent in so many different ways.

We're trying to put lipstick on a pig right now,

trying to make it straight, and I don't know if it wants to be straight, so.

Warren needs to make sure they apply just enough force to bend it.

You push, while he pulls.

Too much, the structure could snap

or worse, flip it onto Brady.

Well, I'm applying pressure now,

I got to hold this ****** steady,

so Brady can have a chance to get a beat in there.

******! Whoa, whoa.

Brady, easy. Be careful, Brady.

******, ******, ******.

Did it stay or...

It just looks like ******, but it's... it's fine.

She doesn't have to win a beauty contest.

No, but it looks good, man. That looks really good.

I wouldn't say it's perfect,

but I'm just going to finish welding up the cuts that we made,

and then we'll slap the belt on and see if it runs straight or not.

The Claytons attach the belt to the conveyor

and swing it into position to feed the plant.

Before they fire up to get back chasing 500 ounces, there's one finishing touch.

All right, let's go hang her up.

Okay, let's put it up there, son.

Well, let's go fire it up.

Well, the conveyer works, - Yeah.

- Good job. - Let's give her the beans.

Let's go get some gold.

That 500-ounce of gold is not much closer with this on there.

I'm glad this worked out, we needed it, so.

- Yeah, I agree. - Awesome.

Tony speaking...

Okay.

At Paradise Hill, Tony is running greenhorn welding school.

****** Why does that shocky?

Tony speaking...

Yeah.

Tony speaking...

******. What the ******?

That's shocking the hell out of me.

Tony speaking...

Yes.

Tony speaking...

As soon as I put it on, it would shock me.

Likely a bit of moisture in the gloves created a circuit.

I think our voltages is ****** up over here really quick.

Yeah, it's set wrong.

Don't worry, I have to show again

three professionals how-to.

It's a lot better.

****** yeah.

Tony speaking...

All right. How you guys feeling?

- Good. - It's been a hell of a week.

Besides the 250 breaking, we're adapting,

we're overcoming, we're fixing things faster.

After a hard week's mining,

Fred's crew have finally cleaned out last season's cut.

- Stuart. - Yeah.

I've now pulled shrapnel from you twice.

That is true.

Once from combat and once from gold mining.

Yeah, I know, right? Where's my Purple Heart?

I know. You should get a... We should have a gold heart.

It is dangerous. But what I'm holding in my hand proves it's worth it.

We... This is 2,700 yards we ran.

To hit his 500-ounce goal,

Fred needs over 30 ounces a week.

JB, you want to call this one off?

Oh, I get the honors.

- Yes, sir. - All right.

Ah, one. Ah, two.

Three, four, five, six.

11, 12.6.

12.645.

Worth over $21,000,

double his last haul, but well short of their weekly target.

Numbers like this is for ****** hobby miners.

- Yeah. - Yep.

We're not there yet.

The wash plant, I... I would say, at this point is functioning 100% properly.

Everything is working the way it should.

The only way we're going to hit that goal is to keep that plant running, so...

- back to work. - We're ready to roll.

Any business you start,

the first three years,

you're probably not making any money,

but it still has to pay the bills to keep it going.

So, I've got to keep positive attitude,

keep driving forward and just let the guys feed off of me.

On the other side of the creek...

Have any of that garlic bread last night?

No, I'm trying to watch my figure.

...the Clayton brothers

are also chasing a 500-ounce goal.

Well, fellas.

Well, what do you figure?

We were able to get that conveyor straightened.

Honestly, I... as good as you are though, I had my doubts.

So, will we be able to get it as straight as you did.

- Yeah, yeah. - Like, you... you really did an awesome job, Brady.

I had little, little faith in you guys,

it looked pretty messed up when I saw it last, so good job.

It came... it came out pretty good.

With their conveyor now feeding the plant,

the Claytons ran a day longer than last week,

which delivered just over ten ounces.

See what kind of week we had, eh?

Yeah. Let's throw it on the scale.

You counting, Brady?

Yeah, I'll count. Yep.

Do it. Ready?

Yep.

Two, three, four, five.

10, 13, 14.

15.25.

Oh-ho, that's beautiful.

Yeah, that's good.

Worth nearly $26,000.

Bringing the brothers total to 38 ounces.

19 more than Fred.

That's a good step in the right direction...

- Yeah. Yeah. - ...that's for sure, right?

And if we think we're going to get to 500 ounces,

then we need to see progress, progress, progress every week.

And I think that feeder and conveyor was the answer.

Yeah, we just can't take our foot off the gas.

So, what are we doing sitting here?

- Hell, yeah. - Yeah, let's do it.

Let's do it, guys.

Things are looking up, even though we got to hold down,

we're still full steam ahead.

The conveyor and feeder have worked,

and it's putting us in a better position than last week.

So, we're going to keep moving forward,

and hopefully things are uphill from here.

- Hi, guys. - Hey, everybody.

Tony speaking...

Right outside.

- Minnie speaking... - Shivering cold.

Tony speaking...

After some disappointing weeks,

it's time to see if Tony's decision to run night shift has paid off.

Tony speaking...

So, I guess we should weigh this ******.

Tony speaking...

To hit 5000 ounces,

Tony needs over 300 ounces a week.

Three, two, one, let's go.

Five, 10, 40, 60,

90, 100.

140, 180, 240,

250,

259.7.

Worth $440,000,

the Beets biggest gold haul of the season.

Tony speaking...

That's pretty ****** good.

Tony speaking...

If the greenhorns can keep the trommel running 24/7,

the Beets could be in for a successful season.

Anyways, go back to work.

Yes, boss.

I want to hear her say it.

Anyways, go back to work.

Well, you know what, it's hard to argue with that, so I guess back at it.

We had a decent gold weight, finally. It's kind of nice to see.

We're going to get some more people, gonna get some more equipment out there

and run 24 hours a day.

It should make one ****** difference.

I mean, you know, double the time, double the money, double the gold, right?