• 2 days ago
Gold Rush - Season 15 Episode 21


#EntertainmentUniverseXTC

Category

😹
Fun
Transcript
00:00Here we are at the end of the season.
00:27At this point, we're like not even anywhere near 1,000 ounces, so that's a little bit
00:32disappointing.
00:33And gold-wise, across the board, obviously, we're way below where we wanted to be.
00:41Thirty-year-old Parker Schnabel is struggling to end a season on a high note.
00:48After starting with lofty aspirations and a 10,000-ounce target, a series of bad calls
00:56has banked him just half that and left him with just one running wash plan.
01:03Big Red's doing half an ounce an hour.
01:05You know, the last few cleanups were kind of bad, so we're still very short on gold
01:11and very short on time.
01:16With only a few weeks left before winter shuts him down, Parker is back where he was at the
01:22start of the season, flush with ground, but none of it thawed or ready to sluice.
01:28I'm in the elbow cut.
01:31There's a little corner where we first started last year.
01:35This pit is the most logical one to take out next because it would be the first one that
01:42would need to come out next year, but right now, it's an added cost and, you know, it's
01:50not ready to be sluiced, but we can make it ready with a bit of ripping.
01:55We normally don't rip gravel.
01:57It's very hard on the 11s, but we need gold coming in.
02:02This was a very avoidable situation.
02:05Should have got this ready months ago so that it would have been fine to sluice it, so that
02:08was a major **** up on my part.
02:13Adding to Parker's problems, his crew is already stretched thin.
02:19At the bridge cut, they're sluicing red gravels with Big Red.
02:24A mile north, alongside the mined-out long cut, ten of his crew are also opening up a
02:31new cut for next season.
02:35One thousand feet to the south, on the corner of last season's mega-rich money pit, Parker
02:41is stripping a three-acre area called the elbow cut.
02:46This is where he wants to sluice next, but he still has to remove two feet of overburden,
02:53then rip the frozen pay layer in just days.
03:00To move the dirt quickly, Parker's breaking out another massive D11 dozer.
03:06Yeah, they've come up with this stupid plan with the most expensive thing they can find.
03:12Money burning.
03:13D11 briefcases of money burning.
03:17Got a new ripper, a new undercarriage, new edges.
03:21It's ready to go wreck itself in the **** piggy bank.
03:25Foreman Mitch Blaschke hops in the second D11 to join Parker moving the overburden.
03:31Right now, Parker and I are in the elbow cut, and when you think about it, it's very expensive.
03:36You're running a multi-million dollar dozer that consumes a lot of fuel, but it's the
03:41only way we're going to get this gold out of the ground this season.
03:44Right now, the gold price is being high.
03:47Parker said, let's get some more of it, so he's throwing everything we can at it here.
03:54To haul out the mud as fast as possible, Parker's also called in his 750 excavator and biggest
04:01rock trucks.
04:02We've got to keep our load counts high for the day.
04:06Just got to send it through these mud ruts like they're not even here.
04:09Just keep moving.
04:12Personally for me, I love going as fast as you can.
04:15Driving these things is like, I feel like a giant kid in a sandbox just driving my big
04:18rock truck.
04:19It's a lot of fun to go fast.
04:22Greenhorn operator, James Kurtz, runs one of the trucks.
04:44I might be stuck.
04:53Yeah, this thing is stuck.
04:55F***.
04:58I'm a bit stuck here.
05:00You might need to come up and pull me out.
05:01I kind of buried her in the mud a little bit.
05:08Why am I not surprised?
05:10You know, when the edge gets soft there, it's a long ways down for these trucks, so you
05:14don't want the truck tumbling off the backside of it here.
05:17And we're going to have a little look here.
05:19Oh yeah, he's stuck.
05:23Hey, you can't park there.
05:27To rescue the truck, Mitch pulls rookie excavator operator, Jack Frischkorn, out of the cut
05:34to travel 600 feet to the waste pile.
05:39James man, what'd you do?
05:41Yeah, she's a bit soft.
05:45So right now we got Jack up here with the 750, and this is his first time pulling something
05:49out like this, but no better time to learn than the present.
05:52All right, Jack, bring her in.
05:54Let's see if you can't reach in the box there and get this thing tugged out.
05:57You just got to watch that you don't slide the bucket out and end up coming down and
06:02clipping the cab.
06:03So just try and get him some pull there and just try and inch it back and we'll see what
06:07happens here.
06:11Pulling on the driver's side there didn't work.
06:14Hey man, you might want to get around the other side there.
06:20Yeah, you'll have a better angle there.
06:29A little bit more.
06:30James, go ahead and give a little throttle there.
06:32Yeah, work with him.
06:33Work with him.
06:34Keep going.
06:35Yeah, you got it.
06:36Nice job, guys.
06:38Woo.
06:39We're out, baby.
06:42Right on.
06:43We got her out safe and sound.
06:46That's how it's done.
06:48Dude, we got her.
06:50Yeah, we'll keep her off the edge.
06:53All right, thanks.
06:55Definitely hasn't been a while since I got a truck stuck, so I'm just glad the boys are
06:59here to pull me out.
07:00When you're stuck on the side of a mud dump looking down the side of the hill, it's never
07:03fun.
07:06You know, we got that truck back up and rolling.
07:08It definitely cost us a little bit of time, but we're back moving dirt now.
07:12Hopefully it doesn't happen again.
07:15Truck rescued, Mitch rejoins Parker in the cut to get the last of the mud out before
07:22ripping the frozen pay so that they can sluice by the end of the week.
07:28It's definitely expensive.
07:30It's difficult.
07:31But Parker said, man, we got to get more gold in this season.
07:35So that's left us with no other option than getting in there with a dozer and ripping
07:40that ground.
07:41We're just hoping there's enough gold in here to make all this worthwhile.
07:45Hey, Parker, you got a copy?
07:47What do you think, man?
07:49How's your side looking?
07:51Yeah, we've got all the mud out.
07:53That's crazy how good a progress we're making.
07:55I can't believe we got it done.
07:57That's just pay dirt.
08:00Now we got to get this bunch of pay ripped out.
08:02Get Roxanne down here and keep some decent gold coming in.
08:08We've got to get this **** done.
08:11We're running dirt.
08:27This is the end push.
08:28Let's go, go, go.
08:30If Rick's right about this Vegas Valley, we're all excited to see what kind of gold we got
08:35in these sluice runs.
08:36Rick Ness is on a make-or-break treasure hunt.
08:40After hitting it big earlier this season at Raleigh Valley, he struggled to find another
08:46hotspot before deciding to gamble on Vegas Valley.
08:51Now, after burning six weeks and $1 million, he's finally sluicing the 160-foot deep cut
09:01which is just days away from finding out if his big gamble will deliver a bonanza or a bust.
09:09To put it lightly, it's got to be good ground to make it work, to make this gamble worth it.
09:13So, you know, that's why we're in the business we are.
09:16It's a volatile business.
09:18With Rick's water license about to expire, it could be his last ever season mining at
09:25Duncan Creek.
09:27And with winter on the horizon, tensions are running high.
09:33Everybody's nervous about it because we don't necessarily have all the time in the world,
09:36but I'm betting on it to pay it off.
09:38Bottom line is, you got to put gold in these guys' pockets.
09:40I mean, at the end of the day, that's what they're here for.
09:42They got bills to pay.
09:45Bailey, quit ****** off.
09:47Did you know if you can't turn right, a lot of times you can turn left?
09:52I don't tell everyone what I'm doing.
09:54How about I just dump it down here and we'll be just fine?
09:57There's a solution for every problem.
09:59There's always a solution.
10:04We'll get through this day.
10:05I promise.
10:08You know, everybody lives together and long hours and all that ****, you know, can be toxic for a crew.
10:12And when that happens, you kind of lose control.
10:15But my buddy Z is on his way in right now, actually.
10:17I'm shorthanded, as usual.
10:25It's always good when he comes here.
10:27Makes everybody laugh.
10:28And at the end of the season like this, we can all use a little bit of that.
10:31That's for sure.
10:32To help the final push, Rick has called in best buddy Z Zaremba.
10:39Look at the smile on his face.
10:41Jimmy!
10:43What's up, buddy?
10:44What's up?
10:47Good to see you, buddy.
10:48Good to see you.
10:49You're coming into, yeah, something that's going to look a hell of a lot different than it did this spring.
10:53So we're done with Raleigh Valley?
10:55Yeah.
10:56We've dubbed this new spot Vegas Valley.
10:57Nice.
10:58It's kind of the same.
10:59Okay.
11:00It's just as deep.
11:01How much stripping?
11:02I think it's all at 200 feet again.
11:04Yeah.
11:05So we haven't seen any gold in a couple months here.
11:07And everyone's probably happy about that?
11:09Yeah, yeah, very happy.
11:10Everybody's finding a way to get on everybody else's last nerve.
11:13It's just, it's such a mess.
11:15Great.
11:16Just great.
11:20How's Chelsea doing?
11:21How's Chelsea doing?
11:22I mean, I know that can't be fun at all.
11:24No.
11:25For either of you guys, but.
11:27It's like anything.
11:28I mean, we have good days and bad days, so.
11:29Yeah.
11:33Earlier in the season.
11:35How's things, man?
11:36How's things back home?
11:37Z's wife, Chelsea, received devastating news.
11:42She ended up getting diagnosed with two forms of cancer, actually.
11:48Shut the f*** up.
11:50Chelsea?
11:51Yeah.
11:5233.
11:53So.
11:55Yeah.
11:56F***, man, I'm sorry.
12:02She was the one that pushed for me to come up.
12:04God bless her for letting you take off like this.
12:06I mean, that's.
12:07You know how much she cares about you two, so.
12:09I do, yeah.
12:10That's incredibly generous of her to let you come up here.
12:12Yeah.
12:13Like, I really appreciate it.
12:14It's not lost on me, that's for sure.
12:15No, no.
12:16Whenever you, like I said before, whenever you need help, I'm here.
12:21Well, let's go see the guys.
12:22Let's go see them.
12:25Rick puts Z straight to work, trucking pay out of Vegas Valley to Monster Red's pay pile.
12:33I know kind of how all these guys are feeling right now.
12:36I mean, hopefully me coming up here will spark a little bit of life and give them a good boost in morale.
12:42It's good to tackle another huge project and get all that pay out.
12:47Hold on a sec here.
12:50She's spinning.
12:52Hey, Bailey.
12:54Oh, I see.
12:55I'm coming.
12:57You see that truck stuck?
12:58It ain't going nowhere.
13:01Yeah, it's funny, you know, when Z shows up, someone always tosses him in the truck that's not working properly.
13:11Thanks, Bailey.
13:17F***.
13:19F*** you, Bailey.
13:20Bailey's just laughing at me.
13:22There's all that bickering I was missing.
13:25I'm glad we're all on the same page.
13:27Me too.
13:28We can all move forward from this and work together good.
13:36As of right now, Monster Red, it's a two machine job, so I'm just taking care of the tailings, Kyle's feeding it.
13:46Oh, f***.
13:47The feeder's smoking.
13:48Hey, the feeder's smoking.
13:50Oh, f***.
13:51Not good, not good, not good.
13:54Shut it down.
14:00Oh, f***.
14:03Oh, f***.
14:13That does not look good.
14:14That does not look good.
14:16At Duncan Creek, Monster Red's feed conveyor has gone up in smoke.
14:21What the f*** was that?
14:23If that f***ing belt smoked, I don't have another one.
14:25We got no way of feeding this plant.
14:35You see anything?
14:36There's one neck right here.
14:38Something stopped it from turning.
14:40Usually when that happens, it's because it's trying to rip itself apart.
14:44If this belt's torn and we can't f***ing fix it, then that's it.
14:47I mean, we don't have another feeder to feed this plant.
14:49If we're waiting on a belt, we might as well pack it up.
14:52These things go 30, 40 grand, so I can't afford to have a spare.
14:55Everything on this site, we're f***ed.
14:58We're so f***ed.
15:05I found a rock.
15:09That is a big f***ing rock in here.
15:11It's stuck.
15:13I'm assuming that had come through this side
15:15and actually rolled down into this cog pulley right here,
15:19so it's not allowing this pulley to spin anymore.
15:22But up front, we have a motor up there that spins the drive.
15:26That up there was spinning.
15:27Back here was not spinning.
15:31Hey, Rick.
15:32Yeah.
15:33It's wedged in pretty f***ing good.
15:34Is it?
15:35Yeah.
15:36There's no tears or nothing that you can see?
15:37No, everything down here is solid.
15:38It looks like it just got in there.
15:40Holy s***.
15:41Well, then, if that's the case, let's just let some tension off
15:43and try to pry that f***er out of there.
15:45All right, Kyle, can you reach the tension?
15:48Yep, you're good.
15:51All right, tension's off.
15:55F***, f***, f***.
15:58Oh, man.
16:02Holy s***, that's big.
16:06There she is.
16:07Nice.
16:08Did you get it?
16:09You got it out?
16:11F***ing grooved her.
16:13We got lucky there.
16:14Yeah.
16:15We live to fight another day is what I'm hearing.
16:17Whoa.
16:18F***, Rick.
16:19I had a heart attack.
16:21Yeah, well, we got really lucky on that one.
16:22You know, I don't have a spare belt.
16:24If it would have been damaged, we'd have no feeder to run this plant
16:27and pretty much could have just packed it up for the season.
16:29But I managed to ease the tension off it, pull it out, retension it.
16:35Put this little guy back in the wild where she belongs.
16:41That could have cost us a major s*** up this season.
16:46Fire it up.
16:49With Monster Red running, Rick is back on track for his first Vegas Valley Gold Way.
16:56Let's go.
17:12We're getting close to the end of the season.
17:14We had a great start in the Indian River this spring,
17:17but then we had a little trouble with all the frozen ground.
17:22After a mid-season lull in gold production,
17:25Klondike legend Tony Beetz is gaining momentum
17:30and in striking distance of his 5,000-ounce season gold.
17:34To hit it, he's running two-way,
17:37the Trommel at Paradise Hill,
17:39and his prized dredge on the Indian River.
17:43The dredge needs a little bit more room.
17:45He can't make a full swing, so he's losing ground.
17:49All I got to do is make a little bit of room
17:52and get as much gold with it yet as we can.
17:57Tony fired up the ancient dredge last week
18:00to cash in on his gold production.
18:03He fired up the ancient dredge last week
18:06to cash in on the record-high gold price.
18:10But it's already raced through its one-acre cut
18:13and will soon run out of pay.
18:16Right now, I'll be happy to be getting a couple days out of it, so to speak.
18:21I got to start getting fired back up in the Indian.
18:25However, since we have frozen ground, it's so f***ing slow.
18:31For over two months,
18:33Tony's two other Indian River wash plants have sat idle,
18:37waiting for frozen ground to melt.
18:40Now, with just a few weeks left,
18:43he finally has thawed pay dirt close to his 30-year-old shaker deck
18:48and wants rising star cousin Mike to run it.
18:56Hi.
18:57Hi.
18:58So let's run the screen deck for a bit, then.
19:02It's old, so that requires a lot more maintenance and a lot more fixing.
19:07And you don't like the screen deck, then?
19:11So, OK, tell me what you want to do.
19:14So, uh, it's loose a lot.
19:16It's pretty reliable. It's easy to move.
19:19No, no, no, no. That's way, way, way in the back.
19:22It's no f***ing good.
19:23Well, we'll have a look in the back, and we'll have to move the plant.
19:28All I do know is it'd be nice to get it loosened.
19:30Yes, for sure.
19:32All right.
19:34Good. Let's do that.
19:37Anyway, hopefully we can file it up, loosen it up,
19:40and get a decent haul out of that.
19:45Eight weeks ago,
19:47Tony started to open up a three-acre extension to the comeback cut,
19:52exposing the frozen pay dirt to melt.
19:56The now-thawed pay gravels are just 500 feet away
20:00from his old shaker deck wash plant.
20:04But cousin Mike wants to use the newer, more reliable sluice a lot
20:09located over a mile away at the still-frozen corner cut.
20:14To get sluicing, Mike must drag the 45-ton wash plant
20:19past the camp, round a broken bridge,
20:22all the way through the mined-out cut to a new pad
20:26and fire it up by the end of the day.
20:33Get out of here! You're not the boss.
20:35Just because your last name's Beetz?
20:37Oh, s***.
20:39You want to fight?
20:40Yeah. Let's go.
20:42Run you over with your own dozer.
20:44To help with the move,
20:46cousin Mike's brought in partner, Ruby Mahoney.
20:51Watch your fingers.
20:53You're not going to shorten the cables?
20:55Are you not concerned?
20:56No.
20:57No?
20:58No.
20:59Okay.
21:00Yeah.
21:01This is a brand-new D-10 that Tony just bought.
21:03We haven't used it much.
21:05It's a very nice machine.
21:08All right.
21:09First plan move with this dozer.
21:11Let's see what it does.
21:27And we already are struggling getting uphill.
21:30Barely moving.
21:31He's spinning tracks.
21:33F*** sakes.
21:35The longer the cable, the less control.
21:37I was surprised he didn't want to shorten it,
21:39but he was stubborn.
21:41You're just digging yourself a hole.
21:43Yeah, I know.
21:45Why don't we shorten the cable?
21:49Ruby came up with a good idea.
21:51We'll shorten this cable, give it another shot.
21:53Hopefully, I will have more traction that way.
21:56Perfect. Give it a pull.
21:58Hey, there she goes.
22:00See if she goes.
22:03Perfect.
22:04Well, let's get this thing moving before it starts snowing.
22:08Next up, Mike must maneuver past the broken bridge.
22:13It's narrow and a deep drop on each side.
22:19Just keep on walking.
22:21We've got to stay away from the edges.
22:23You never know how strong these edges are.
22:28How does it look, Ruby?
22:30Yeah, you're good.
22:34I'm getting very close here to our final spot.
22:38Could have soft material underneath the pad.
22:42F***.
22:43The ground below me is very soft.
22:46Coming to a hole there.
22:48Mike wants to pull the plant to the edge of the pad
22:52to allow enough room for tailings to fall safely.
22:56We just need big rocks here.
22:58Where is the 260 loader?
23:00Got to bring in a couple buckets of rocks.
23:06Pad reinforced, Mike drives the 63-ton dozer right on the edge
23:12to pull the plant into its final position.
23:16It won't take much for this thing to flip off the edge
23:19and, well, then I will be f***ed.
23:21Let's see how far I can go here.
23:27Your right side is getting pretty far off that edge.
23:31Yeah, I'm getting pretty close to the edge.
23:35We don't want to risk sliding into the cut.
23:38Well, he's just too close.
23:51Will I get a little bit closer to the edge?
23:54Okay, give it a push. I'll eyeball it for you.
23:57Okay.
24:00Go, go, go, go.
24:05Back it up.
24:08Okay, good enough. Let's do it, man.
24:13What do you think, Ruby?
24:15That went really well.
24:16Well, I have my wife here, so she always brings me good advice.
24:20Yes, yes, I do.
24:22Is that what you wanted to hear?
24:24That is what I wanted to hear.
24:26Fire the f***ing thing up, let's run it, okay?
24:30Let's see if we can get another couple bucks out of the ground.
24:33Bingo.
24:35Ripping pay like we're doing in the elbow cut is not an ideal situation.
24:39It's expensive.
24:42In a frantic move to save his season and bank more gold,
24:47Parker has blown a quarter of a million dollars worth of money
24:51into his own pocket.
24:54It's a lot of money.
24:55It's a lot of money.
24:56It's a lot of money.
24:57It's a lot of money.
24:58It's a lot of money.
24:59It's a lot of money.
25:00It's a lot of money.
25:01It's a lot of money.
25:02Parker has blown a quarter of a million dollars opening up the new elbow cut.
25:08We need to get the rest of this rip out and sluiced and get the gold.
25:13While Parker finishes up in the cut,
25:16rock trucks start hauling the ripped pay to be sluiced through wash plant, Roxanne.
25:22We're going to try and get this wash plant moved as fast as possible.
25:26Parker's down there in the elbow cut right now.
25:28The trucks are hauling the pay out of there.
25:30He wants to keep that going on all day.
25:32We're going to have traffic on the road.
25:33We're just going to have to watch out with those guys.
25:35Hopefully, we can get this done today and get it back running.
25:38Should we get this plant moved and get after it?
25:40If Parker's down there, he's not going to be too impressed with us sitting here.
25:43All right. Let's get after it.
25:44Sounds good.
25:45Let's go, guys.
25:46Roxanne is currently located at the far end of the long cut.
25:52Mitch and his crew must convoy the custom-built million-dollar plant
25:57and all its parts a mile down a narrow ridge road,
26:01safely avoiding rock trucks hauling pay to its new pad,
26:06200 feet downstream from the elbow cut.
26:11We're just doing a quick and dirty move to get this thing down,
26:14get that elbow cut and sluiced, and then we're all going home, hopefully rich.
26:22We got the shaker deck, sluice runs, pump, pipeline, conveyors.
26:26We can get it all down there.
26:28All righty. Let's move the wash plant.
26:35Right now, I'm hauling the radio stacker over to Roxanne's new pad,
26:39and this road is tight.
26:40We have haul trucks on it, but we have no time to waste.
26:44Oh, holy ****.
26:47That was close.
26:50These truckers are nuts, man.
26:52Had a close call with the rock truck.
26:55These guys pulled out with the wash plant on.
26:57Might be a different story.
27:08Tyson must now drag the 40-ton wash plant up the 30-foot pad.
27:15The big concern is that narrow spot.
27:17You got to really focus on how you set yourself up here.
27:21This is a steep and narrow ramp.
27:23We're dragging Roxanne up, and the 480 here,
27:26I don't know how much it's going to like pulling it up this slope.
27:30If this thing gets off to an edge, it's going to topple right over.
27:35Come on. Keep it going.
27:37It doesn't want to pull it.
27:39It's just climbing up on an angle.
27:41Whoa, whoa.
27:45Well, you can see when Tyson's got the angle all wrong,
27:47Well, you can see when Tyson's got the angle all wrong there on the bucket.
27:51It will never work like that.
27:53Mitch, I know how to pull a wash plant.
27:56So get your panties out of your butt.
27:59Dude, it's called work smarter, not harder, right?
28:05You guys doing all right over there?
28:07Oh, yeah. One day at a time.
28:17Keep it going.
28:19Here we go. She's back to the top.
28:22We're getting close to the sluice runs.
28:25How we looking? Keep it going.
28:27This is the tricky bit.
28:29The wash plant's got to come in with a couple inches in the sluice runs.
28:35Are you maxed out on your pull there?
28:38No, I can pull a little more.
28:41Man, that's sketchy.
28:44I don't like this angle.
28:46Yeah, just a little bit further, man.
28:51Hang on a second. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
28:53You're still good here. You're still good.
28:57Hold it there. Hold it there.
29:00I think that's done it.
29:02Well, good.
29:04Oh, shall we get her disconnected and get me the hell out of here?
29:07Yeah, let's do that.
29:09F*** that's close, Tyson.
29:11Yeah, right. Any more and I think she'd flip.
29:15Hang on, Tyson. Keep your machine steady.
29:17We're working on it.
29:19Clear.
29:21Okay, I'm going to try walking her down.
29:23Okay, keep it careful.
29:25Now we just got to get Tyson off the hill here.
29:27Well, here we go.
29:29Whoa, whoa, whoa.
29:31That's f***ed.
29:37That was a little close for comfort.
29:41Holy s***.
29:43Got Roxanne up there.
29:45Managed to get the excavator back down in one piece,
29:47but that definitely was one of the scariest experiences I've had in an excavator,
29:51so don't want to do that again anytime soon.
29:56She's here. It's up on the pad.
29:58That's, I think, probably the narrowest one we've ever had.
30:00That thing was trying to drag it up that steep ramp with that 480.
30:04It was on its tiptoes.
30:06Yeah, I'm just going to go to camp and change my pants.
30:09Everybody's done an awesome job.
30:11We're going to get this thing fired back up and going.
30:13All right.
30:14Sounds good.
30:15Nice job.
30:16Nice work.
30:17Hey.
30:18All righty.
30:28What do you think, Alec?
30:29You ready to fire this thing up?
30:30Yeah, all good to go.
30:32All right, well, let's get her shaking.
30:34We'll get some dirt slung up this thing.
30:36Sounds good.
30:37Here we go.
30:45All right.
30:46It's the first bucket, Peter, from the elbow cut going into Roxanne.
30:51Here we go.
30:52It's the first bucket going through Roxanne.
30:54She's not done for the season yet.
31:08It's the end of the season.
31:10We're pulling prey from Vegas Valley.
31:12Hopefully it's good and the weather holds out.
31:15Yeah, no, everyone's definitely pumped to have Z back.
31:20Z is getting up, doing breakfast in the morning,
31:23knows what needs to get done, jump in, and help out where needed.
31:27So it's going really good.
31:29He's up here helping me out,
31:31making sure that the seeded area is dry.
31:34Helping me out, making sure that the seeded ends on a strong note.
31:38With Z back, Rick's crew are at full strength.
31:43But with just a few weeks left in the season,
31:46the clock is ticking on Rick's crew chasing down $2 million in gold.
31:53I just didn't realize how much stress I was carrying,
31:55knowing that we weren't getting any gold.
31:57But we're up and running right now.
31:59We've got a shot at it, and it feels really good.
32:05Holy s***!
32:07Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, hit the bypass!
32:09Oh, s***!
32:12It's water line, let go.
32:21S***, those blew off.
32:30Just slid right off.
32:32Well, at least it's nothing major.
32:34No.
32:36So I'm heading up top.
32:38Ryan's going to feed that water line up to me,
32:40and I'm just going to tighten the new clamp.
32:42Should be easy.
32:45Attach this water line.
32:48Holy s***!
32:51Holy s***, dude, we got problems.
32:54We've got more than a water line going on here.
32:56We've got f***ing screen damage, big time.
32:58So that's the problem right there.
33:00We've got some significant damage.
33:02At Duncan Creek, in its first week running Vegas Valley Pay,
33:07Monster Red is once again shut down.
33:11Man, it is f***ing up right now.
33:13We've got a problem.
33:15We've got a problem.
33:17We've got a problem.
33:19We've got a problem.
33:21It's shut down.
33:23Man, it is f***ing up our universe, man.
33:25That's a big f***ing hole.
33:27It's like, you've got one, two, three, four, five.
33:30You've got at least six of them down below
33:32that are right in line with this rock right here.
33:35F***, f***.
33:39That's a big f***.
33:41Yeah, that's way too big for these screens to handle.
33:44Yeah, a rock like that will f***ing destroy
33:46everything in this plant quick.
33:48The only rock that's supposed to be going into this lower screen deck is rock that's
33:53big enough to fit through here.
33:54That's our first section.
33:55The second section of screen deck, the rock that's supposed to be coming through these
33:59is only supposed to be that big.
34:00So that big rock right there is going through and it's puncturing the smaller screen decks
34:05and what that's doing is causing bigger material to build up in our distribution box.
34:11Hay dirt is fed into Monster Red's hopper and filters through a top screen and then
34:18a second deck below, before the gold-rich slurry travels through the sluice box where
34:24the precious metal is caught.
34:27A large rock has smashed through the top deck, allowing more rocks to fall through, damaging
34:34the second screen deck.
34:37Ben needs to replace all of Monster Red's broken screen deck panels before any more
34:43damage is done.
34:45It should be a quick fix, given the wash plant's unique plastic, easy to insert replacements.
34:52You know, this is going to put us down a couple hours.
34:56It's unfortunate, but we got to get it fixed now.
35:00We keep doing damage.
35:01We're just wasting gold and wasting time.
35:07I mean, this is a bigger job than we thought here, so.
35:09I'm thankful the hose blew.
35:11We just caught a really big **** up here.
35:13Yeah, and that would have gotten worse quick.
35:15When you think about it, we'd have had several more hours to get it today.
35:18Yep.
35:19That's several more hours for that **** middle deck to get destroyed.
35:30A little newer.
35:33Now we're good to fire it back up.
35:38I'll jump up there.
35:39If you want to fire it up, we'll make sure all those screen decks that we put in aren't
35:41going to bounce out.
35:42Okay.
35:43Oh, ****.
35:44Slick.
35:45All right, go ahead and let her rip.
35:46Looking good.
35:47Good.
35:48I'd say we're all right.
35:49All right, cool.
35:50**** run it.
35:51Woo!
35:52Yeah!
35:53That was **** awesome.
35:55Woo!
35:56Yeah!
35:57That was **** run it, boys.
35:58That's what we're here for.
36:05Monster Red backwashing rocks, Rick is a step closer to seeing his first Vegas Valley gold
36:12and finding out if his million-dollar gamble will pay off.
36:16We'll only have a few weeks to sloose, but hopefully that's all we need to hit our goal.
36:24We're going to try to keep this loose for as long as possible.
36:40We're in it.
36:41It's loose.
36:42Make the gold.
36:43The Beets family are in full swing, with son Mike running the trommel at Paradise Hill.
36:50This is what we've got to do, keep on going.
36:55And at Indian River, cousin Mike finally has Sluicelot on the gold.
37:01It's very nice to have Sluicelot and we've got to keep that thing going.
37:06We will give it our 100% to keep sluicing and to keep finding some more gold until the
37:13end.
37:15Tony's other Indian River moneymaker is his prized dredge that has nearly finished its
37:20one acre cut.
37:22We've got to swing a little.
37:26It's moving by itself.
37:28Hey Cooper, are we close?
37:30That way.
37:32How do we line it up?
37:33I don't know if we're there.
37:35Dredge master Greg Mason has been on a mission to help smash the Beets 5,000 ounce season
37:42target.
37:44That's the ultimate goal, getting the gold out of the ground and putting it into Minnie's
37:49ATM.
37:55We can't keep going, we've just run out of ground, so the dredge is going to shut down.
38:01Time to put her to bed.
38:02Acre for the winner?
38:03Yep.
38:04I lift my bucket line as high as I can, use my back winches to pull me forward as close
38:09to ground as I can.
38:11That's putting it to bed, we call it.
38:25It's been good running this old vintage machine.
38:28There's none other like it.
38:38Knock, knock.
38:39Who is it?
38:41Santa Claus.
38:42How's it going, young man?
38:44Well.
38:45Well?
38:46You didn't give me no more ground, so that's it.
38:49Really?
38:50Yep.
38:53Well, it did okay, though.
38:55It did, I think.
38:56Yeah, as always.
38:58The dredge has completed its mission, finishing the one acre cut ahead of schedule.
39:05I'm curious to see the gold totals, see what we got.
39:08Well, let's just see.
39:09I'm hoping we ran into a couple pillows, you know, a little richer.
39:12Would be nice, would be nice.
39:14But other than that, hey, if you're ready, bingo, let's do it.
39:17Okay.
39:18Yeah, absolutely.
39:25Done for another season on the dredge.
39:35Ah, we'll take this bad beauty.
39:37Ah, hey.
39:38Did you grease to get me in this thing or what?
39:40At Duncan Creek, Z is eager to get a ride in Rick's new beater.
39:45Oh, this thing is sweet.
39:48How far do you think we can jump this off the pay pile?
39:50Oh.
39:59Like you always say, might go half ass.
40:01Full ass, baby.
40:04Oh.
40:05Did you just shatter the window?
40:09Come on.
40:20Hola, buenos dias.
40:21Hi guys, how are you?
40:22Good.
40:23Bringing some yellow.
40:24We had a pretty good week, we sluiced all week.
40:26Finally got a sluice lot going on the Indian.
40:29Well, it's really nice to see.
40:30It looks beautiful.
40:32Michael, let's start with yours.
40:34To hit their 5,000 ounce target,
40:37the Beats need their three wash plants to deliver 637 ounces.
40:42First up, Mike's trommel from the hill.
40:45Okay, ready?
40:46Go.
40:4810, 20, 30, 80, 90, 150, 160,
40:5620, 230, 240, 250, 251.48.
41:04That's a nice little haul.
41:06That's a pretty good amount of gold, Mike.
41:08It is.
41:10So what happened with the sluice lot?
41:12Second to weigh in, the gold from the extension of Tony's comeback cut.
41:17Ready, set, go.
41:2060, 70, 100, 110, 120, 146.46.
41:29That's pretty damn good.
41:32Finally, the last gold from the dredge.
41:37Let's see what we got out of that.
41:39Ready, set, go.
41:41Ready, set, go.
41:4310, 20, 30, 40, 50, 58.74.
41:52So that's not bad, 58 ounces.
41:54Greg must be happy.
41:56He'll be all proud of himself, yeah?
41:58Anyway, I'm very pleased with that.
42:00So where does that put us this season?
42:02It puts us just over 4,800.
42:04Worth $12.6 million.
42:09Just 200 ounces short of their season gold.
42:12Keep your fingers crossed.
42:14You just never know.
42:15So let's get out and let's go get some more.
42:28Incoming.
42:29Hey.
42:30Hey, buddy.
42:34You got some new scenery now.
42:35Yeah.
42:36Getting Roxanne up on the plant pad there was definitely,
42:39we didn't have a lot of real estate.
42:41It was quick, fast, in a hurry.
42:42Yeah, nice job getting that up there.
42:44Thanks, man.
42:45That was a tight one.
42:46Yeah, definitely.
42:47Hopefully there's some gold in that stuff.
42:49Parker is gunning for 8,000 ounces this year.
42:53To hit it, he needs to deliver nearly 1,000 ounces a week
42:57for the rest of the season.
42:59How's our trusty dirt washer, Big Red?
43:01Big old Big Red, right?
43:03First up, Big Red in the bridge cut,
43:06so far averaging 90 ounces per week.
43:1020, 40, 60, 80, 90, 95.
43:17Ooh, 100.1.
43:19There you go.
43:21I think a little bit fell out of his sleeves there.
43:25You don't want to know how much it cost me
43:27to get that one over 100.
43:30We'll see what the old elbow cut does.
43:33After three days sluicing, Parker is banking
43:36on the elbow cut being as rich as the money pit,
43:40which last season averaged 380 ounces a week.
43:46Here we go.
43:4820, 40, 60, 150, 170, 200, 210, 282.3.
44:00Worth nearly $740,000.
44:04Nice.
44:05Yeah, nice.
44:06That's what we're supposed to be doing.
44:08There we go.
44:09Yeah.
44:10Back in it.
44:11Now we're back to where we should be.
44:13What does that give us?
44:14So for the week, we have 382.4 ounces.
44:18Still a good week.
44:20Season total, 5,425.4.
44:25With gold at over $2,600 an ounce,
44:28the season haul is worth over $14 million in gold.
44:34But we needed that pit to come out this year.
44:37It'll probably just refreeze if the temps do start dropping.
44:40Because it's like even colder now than it was, right?
44:42Mm-hmm.
44:43I hear it's supposed to get below freezing this weekend.
44:46That's probably a bigger problem
44:47than the cost of ripping it, really.
44:49Yeah.
44:50All right, fellas, I'm going to bag this stuff up.
44:52Sounds good.
44:53All righty, Dumit.
44:55Good job, Mitch.
44:57You too, Tyson.
44:58Oh, yeah, you too, Tyson.
45:00And it's so nice to come into something
45:02as nice as the elbow cut.
45:04I really screwed up by not stripping it this summer.
45:07That's what gives you the sleepless nights.
45:09Oh, well.
45:10As long as you don't come to that door one day
45:12and go, I just fired myself.
45:14Oh, I think about it all the time.
45:16Oh, don't do that.
45:17Too many people depend on you now.
45:19All right, youngster.
45:20Thanks, Chris.
45:21We'll catch you later.
45:22All right.
45:33Hey, man.
45:34Hey.
45:35Finally back to a gold layer.
45:36It's been a while.
45:37A couple months.
45:38Rick and his crew gambled all their season's profits,
45:42$1 million, to dig down to Vegas Valley's pay streak.
45:47Now it's time to see if they've hit the jackpot.
45:50You guys put your gold bonuses on the line for that.
45:52A long time stripping, digging a deep hole,
45:55and not knowing, you know, if we get to the bottom,
45:58what would be at the bottom.
45:59And this is the start of it.
46:01Yeah, it's definitely been some challenges,
46:03starting that cut.
46:04Should we weigh it up?
46:06All right, so there's a fair amount in here,
46:08so let's count it out.
46:10Rick's old hotspot, Raleigh Valley,
46:13averaged 300 ounces a week.
46:16He's hoping the first pay from Vegas Valley
46:19will deliver at least 200.
46:22And...
46:2410, 20, 30, 40, 50...
46:3456.7.
46:40And, uh...
46:42Oh!
46:43Tell you right now, there's 200 in this bottle.
46:45Whoo!
46:47Yeah.
46:48So 256.7 ounces.
46:50Yeah, that's almost halfway what we need.
46:52Halfway home.
46:53Worth over $670,000.
46:58Take that all day.
46:59That's what we've done all that dirt for, boys.
47:01That's over half a million dollars.
47:04One run.
47:05If I don't say it, like, I'm very thankful for you.
47:08Like, you guys are incredible.
47:10Like, you keep this thing going,
47:11like, we are having a hell of a season.
47:13I know you guys have been pushing hard.
47:14We're so close to the end.
47:15All we need is a couple more weeks.
47:17You guys giving it all you got.
47:18We're all gonna leave here
47:19with a bunch of gold in our pockets, right?
47:20And I hope you guys see that, too.
47:22Thanks, dudes.
47:23Cheers.
47:24Cheers.
47:25Cheers.
47:26All the best.
47:28Good job, guys.
47:29With his first haul,
47:30Rick's made back over half of what he wagered on Vegas Valley.
47:34Now he needs to keep firing on all cylinders
47:37until winter shuts him down.
47:40That was a hell of a gold way to start off Vegas Valley.
47:43Something we desperately needed.
47:44Well, that's a long gap in the middle of the season to go
47:47without getting gold, but we just got a pile of gold.
47:49We got a couple more weeks to get another pile of gold.
47:52It's gonna get more and more difficult the deeper we go,
47:54but it'll mean that there's that much more gold there.