Gold Rush (2018) s05e08 Episode Script
Gold Blooded
Up in the gold fields of the Klondike Let's just get the hell outta here.
.
.
teenage mine boss, Parker Schnabel, rolls the dice.
We're gonna to try to move it in 12 hours.
He opens a new cut in record time Stop! .
.
in his chase for a 2,000 ounce season.
Smoking job, man! A move that pays off like never before when he breaks his season gold weigh record.
Holy (BLEEP).
Pretty cool, huh? Tony Beet's dream of mining like the old-timers in his 75-year-old gold dredge Hit that (BLEEP) thing.
.
.
is quickly becoming a nightmare.
(BLEEP) But when father and daughter work together .
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their impossible dream Don't stop for nobody.
.
.
starts to become a reality.
There's a picker.
(LAUGHS) At McKinnon Creek Let's rock and roll! .
.
the Hoffmans have defied the odds - landing one of the biggest wash plants in the Klondike.
Monster Red.
The biggest wash plant we've ever used.
For the first time this season, they have a shot at big gold.
That's more gold than we found all last year! Yeah! But highs turned to lows when heart-breaking news reaches the miners.
I don't know the details at this point, but he's no longer with us.
My hope is that he's in a better place, he's met his maker and he he's pain-free.
At Scribner Creek, 19-year-old Parker Schnabel has set an ambitious goal of 2,000 ounces of gold, worth $2.
4m, but almost halfway through the season, he has only 487 ounces.
Shall we take a look at the sluices? Yeah.
For six weeks, Parker mined the swamp cut, but the gold clean-ups were disappointing.
Then, last week, they unexpectedly hit a hot spot that produced an incredible 182 ounces, worth nearly $220,000.
Today they're running more swamp cut pay dirt to find out if the hot spot was a fluke.
Can you see anything? So hard to tell.
I'm planning on feeling little flakes here and there.
Yeah, there's gold in here, but it could sure be a lot better.
How many hours do we have on this? We got about 16 hours on it.
After this many yards, I don't think it looks as good as the last time.
It's just not good enough for what we needed this season.
All right.
Now we're trying to decide if we're gonna stay in the swamp cut longer, or move up to the far cut.
It's a tough decision.
I don't know what to do.
Last year the far cut produced $200,000 of gold in just four days.
But abandoning the swamp cut could lose Parker millions in lost gold.
Shall we get the hell outta here? And, like, I understand your concern, but I'm not totally ready to give up on it.
There's no guarantee the far cut is any better than this ground, my thought on it.
We're here, we're set up, we're established.
I don't know.
I like the looks of that rainbow up there.
Find the bottom of it and that's where the gold is, right? That, to my eye, that's landing right in the middle of the far cut.
Gene, it's a sign! Let's just scrape up what's on the pad and get the hell outta here, and go up to the far cut.
He's seeing rainbow bright.
The far cut is the answer.
The saviour.
Veteran miners, Gene and Chris, disagree with their young boss' decision to uproot the operation.
And we had a really good clean up so I just don't wanna walk away from it without making sure that it's done.
Well, we just finished one of the best clean-ups we've ever had.
If we keep going down river, where we are, where the plant is set up, everything's good to go.
It's solid ground.
Who wouldn't wanna stay down here and just keep pounding that ground until you hit it again? That gold in the far cut has been there for a lot of years.
It's not going anywhere, you know? We just exposed it.
So, if we don't get to it for another week, another two weeks, another three weeks.
Who cares? As long as we're getting gold here.
Before they can even start mining, Parker and his crew have to haul their wash plant over 1km, then reassemble it piece by piece at the far cut.
The last time they took on this painstaking task, it took the crew four back-breaking days, and every day Parker is not mining, he is losing $15,000.
So, as you guys know, we're trying to move this thing today.
We're gonna try to move it in one shift, 12 hours.
We're never gonna make it in 12 hours.
Last time it took four days.
We're not gonna be doing that kind of (BLEEP) anymore.
Doumitt, when you get back in 12 hours, we'll have this thing up and going up there.
All right, you guys.
It's all yours.
Good luck on the move.
All right.
Let's get to it.
Parker's deadline gives his crew almost no time before Chris Doumitt returns at 8:00PM for his night shift.
The $50,000 screen deck is first up.
The fastest way to move it is to hook it up to the front of the loader and drag it over 1km to the far cut.
You know, I don't like moving things like that.
There's a lot that can go wrong, there's a lot of risk, but that's what we have to do if we wanna find the gold.
We got good roads, good paths.
It's always a little nerve-racking.
Come on! Whoa! Stop! (BLEEP) Our cable's too long and I can't pick it up so I'm digging in.
I need to lift it, you know? Yeah.
We can unhook this and take this out.
The screen deck's base is digging into the dirt.
By shortening the cable, Parker should be able to lift the deck to keep it moving.
OK, you got about a foot.
That's good.
(BLEEP) (LAUGHS) I wasn't sure if we were gonna make that one or not.
West, at McKinnon Creek .
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the Hoffman Crew's new wash plant just arrived.
Take it over! Take it over! There you go.
It's a monster.
Monster Red, the biggest wash plant we've ever used.
One of the fastest, most efficient plants in the Klondike.
This thing is a beast, man! It's big.
Monster Red is a 45 ton wash plant with a giant, 12m long sluice.
OK, Cab, give me a little bit, Cab! It can process almost 300 yards of pay dirt an hour, three times more than their old plant, Little Red.
This plant needs a lot of dirt.
She needs to be fed.
Well done, boys! First hurdle was accomplished.
Todd's new 50/50 partner, Dave Turin, is now in charge of mining operations.
His first order of business - raise the massive eight and a half ton shaker on to its stand.
We don't have a crane, we don't have the right equipment, but we're just making do.
The worst thing that could happen is we drop the screen.
The screen is the most valuable piece of equipment we own.
That sucker is big.
You better walk out that way a little more, Andy.
You know what? I think this thing will lift this, no problem.
Give me more! It won't go up.
Stop, Andy! Stop! Nah, it's just pulling it down.
I thought I fricking had it.
It's too much.
I think we're gonna have to lift with two excavators.
It's the only way I see it happening.
Never know until you start picking it.
With no crane on site, they have to attempt the lift with their excavators.
Our plant is bigger than our equipment.
I hope that's not a foreshadowing.
This is not gonna be easy.
So, what I gotta do is you got two excavators lifting, one on each side.
So, they gotta come up level, and then I gotta get that stand positioned precisely underneath 'em, and then we set it down on top of eight different springs so this is a complicated pick.
One of the most complicated we've done.
Hey, Dave! OK, I just wanna run this by you before we pick it and get it in the air.
What we could do is take, you know, all four straps, and run 'em back like this.
That way there's no chance it could slide through the shackle.
I think we're all right.
Each side of the eight and a half ton shaker is supported by a single lifting strap attached at two points.
Each strap runs through a metal ring on one of the excavators, but there is nothing to stop the straps sliding from side to side.
If either strap slips during the lift, the shaker will crash to the ground.
OK, boom out.
OK, now up.
I'm not gonna talk to you guys right now.
I'll answer all your questions you want when we're done, but right now I'm not talking to you guys.
Hey, Dave! I don't like this.
You're all right.
It's no different up in the air than it is on the ground.
Dave! Is it secure right now? Why would it not be? Is it secure? Yes.
Then come here.
That's the thing about Kevin, he thinks too much, and then he talks.
Just lift it, get it done.
KEVIN: Dude, I am genuinely nervous about this rig.
Well, then, get out, I'll lift it.
I know.
But even if you're in it Get out, I'll lift it.
Here's what I'm saying.
Could you just hear me? OK? I'm listening.
If one of us tweaks it a little bit and pulls on it the wrong way, that sling just needs to slide just a little bit.
Would you lift it up and let me see if I got the height? But I justOK.
You gotta boom out a little, Kev.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa! .
.
At McKinnon Creek Easy! .
.
the Hoffmans' new eight and a half ton shaker hangs almost 4m in the air.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa! Stop! Stop! As Kevin predicted, with only two support straps, it's slipping.
I'm nervous as (BLEEP) right now.
OK, Kev.
We'll do it your way.
You feel better with that? I do.
OK.
Didn't like the way it was rigged.
Kevin had a good idea.
We're gonna double up.
So, what we're gonna do is put two on each side.
Doubling up the straps should keep the shaker stable on its way up.
Well, it's a good idea.
Go that way a little bit.
I need another six inches.
OK.
That's enough.
Now the way that they've got it, that sling won't slide through that shackle.
I'm gonna try to push it to start with.
We're close! Just hold that, guys, and put the springs in and set it down.
Dave and Steve must now direct the excavators to drop the shaker on to four pairs of heavy duty springs.
There's no room for error.
So, what we're gonna do is set it down exactly within half an inch to get it on the spring so that's the difficult part.
Whoa! Whoa! I'm in.
We got two of the sides in.
OK, now down.
Woo! With the shaker deck finally in position, the Hoffmans' massive new wash plant is starting to take shape.
We got it.
If they keep pushing, they could get gold by the end of the week.
Good job, you guys.
Final resting place.
Good team work, guys.
Woo! Meanwhile, over at Scribner Creek .
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Parker Schnabel isn't even halfway through his wash plant move.
There we go! Now she made it.
After abandoning the swamp cut, Parker has finally dragged his screen deck over 1km to the far cut, where he plans to operate for the rest of the season.
Yeah, I made it.
Not quite the greatest way, but it's upright, and close to the right spot.
But we're gonna have to get our asses in gear here this afternoon, if we're gonna be sluicing tonight.
With the shaker now in place Are you all clear? .
.
Gene has just five hours to reassemble the rest of the wash plant before Parker's 12 hour deadline is up.
And Chris is gonna be here in a couple of hours.
How are we looking? I hope to be running before he gets here.
We need to build a tailing's pond down there.
If you're not ready, I'll turn the water on.
Lighten up, Gene! Before they can start mining the far cut, Parker needs to move 1,000 yards of dirt to create a tailing's pond.
What do you need me to do? Have him push that to you, and you bale it up on the berm.
All right.
Gene is waiting on us.
Let's go! Parker is usually pretty aggressive with his goals, trying to move the wash plant in 12 hours.
Didn't know for sure if we could do it, but looking up there right now, it's actually pretty impressive, you know? That was just a pile of dirt this morning, and now our wash plants up there, and, if all goes well, it should be set to rock and roll in a couple of hours so it's a pretty impressive day in my book.
I think by the time Chris gets here for his shift, I think that thing is gonna be up and running.
Up at the new wash plant site, Gene and Mitch race to install the sluice boxes We need to get those legs so they can drop down.
.
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while Big Mike works on the tailing's conveyor.
A little more up! Yes! All right, now we're just pulling the back side of the conveyor into place so that we'll have it nice and straight with the plant.
We're getting close to one of the last major pieces to come in.
But while everything is going to plan at the wash plant Hello? Can you hear me? How long has thing only had one bar of fuel? A while.
Half an hour.
.
.
Parker is struggling with the tailing's pond.
I've got three hours of work to do and I've got a half an hour to do it.
Why don't you go ahead and fold it? That looks good there! There it is.
We're ready to run, basically.
Just ready to turn the water on, waiting for them to get done down there.
Oh, boy! Yeah, Chris is here and we ain't ready for him.
Chris Doumitt arrives for his night shift.
12 hours ago, Parker told him they'd have the wash plant ready to run.
Holy Moses! Smoking job, man! I really thought I was gonna get an evening off.
I really did.
So, where's Parker? Oh, I'm waiting for Parker to get done down there so we can turn it on.
Without a tailing's pond, waste from the wash plant would flood the cut.
They can't mine until it's finished.
That's all Parker has been doing, is giving me a plate for a small tailing's? Come on, Parker! I'm burning hours, you know? GENE ON RADIO: 'Parker, we're all done up here.
' How much longer are you gonna be? We're ready when we're ready.
It will be more than 12 hours, but whatever.
(BLEEP) That's just what I (BLEEP) need right now.
Gene just got Parker a little stressed out because he's not ready quite ready down here with this.
Look what he's got to do, so I think he's grumpy.
I think he's mad at Gene for being too efficient.
10:00PM, two hours after his own 12 hour deadline, Parker is finally ready to run the first far cut pay dirt.
So what? It took 14 hours, whatever.
At least we'll be running tonight.
Fire it up! The Schnabel Crew's 14 hour marathon day ends as Chris begins his first night shift at the far cut.
No, no rest for the wicked, that's for sure.
Pretty impressive, really.
You know, you've done a good job of laying things out here.
Thank you.
Yeah.
.
.
Up in the Klondike, Tony Beets arrives back at Clear Creek to remove the heart of his 75-year-old gold mining dredge, The Trommel.
We're gonna go and lift The trommel out today.
I'll hook her up, pull on it, and see what happens, I guess.
What do you think, Mike? She's a little tight fitting in between these beams, but I think it will come outta there.
The 7.
5m Trommel is the core mechanism of Tony's dredge.
It filters gold bearing material into the sluices and discards worthless tailings.
Tony's Trommel was installed before World War Two.
It was operational for 22 years and it caught over $55m worth of gold.
OK.
If they can't get the antique Trommel out in one piece, there's no easy replacement.
I'm getting your attitude on this project, Tony.
Just rip the (BLEEP) outta there.
Yes.
Uh-huh! Fix it later.
Yeah, that's true! Tony and Mike rig steel chains to each end of The Trommel.
Jerry brings in the crane.
OK, Jerry, slowly.
Give it a little lift up, would you? Slowly, slowly, slowly.
Lift it up.
Lift it up.
Slowly up! Slowly up, please! Up a little bit.
Up a little bit.
17,000lb.
Bit more.
A little bit more.
Hey! Oi! Stop! The back end of The Trommel is caught on a single metal bracket.
I don't think we can because right now, we're tight here.
How about we torch the corner of those ears off? They hold the little Tony made me do it! (LAUGHS) No, he did not! Are you happy, Mike? So far.
So far? OK, Jerry, let's give it another little tug up.
Keep pulling her up.
Keep pulling her up.
OK, lift her straight up.
It will still be a little bit tight, I think.
Easy! Easy! Keep her going! Keep her going! Up, up, up! I like it.
Right there! Right there! I was just following instructions.
(LAUGHS) Oh, jeez! It does! One more big chunk on the ground.
This might be only gold you see out of this here.
There was a little rubber up along the back there and there was a crack there.
Oh, right, right, right.
And it was just stuck into that.
I was gonna split it three ways.
At McKinnon Creek, wash plant expert, Freddy Dodge, has driven 480km north from Carmacks to help the Hoffman Crew get Monster Red up and running.
How's it going, Todd? Dude, I'm all right.
A little overwhelmed.
(LAUGHS) Me too, Todd.
Glad you're here, man.
I need help on this plant.
The Hoffman Crew has the eight and a half ton shaker in place.
Now it's time to turn it into a wash plant.
First, they attach the giant sluice box.
Then connect the 11 ton hopper feeder.
And finally, install the 14m long tailing's conveyor.
You know, you got pieces scattered everywhere.
You start assembling, and it's like a giant erector set.
It's pretty fun.
MAN: 'Yeah!' Hold it! It will be a sluicing, gold-catching machine when we're done here.
OK.
Looks good! Hey, good job! Let's finish it up.
After four days of back-breaking work, the Hoffmans' super-sized wash plant, Monster Red, is ready to run pay dirt.
How's it look, Dave? Looking good! Let's fire it up! Big conveyor on! Hit the screen, Freddy! Fire the screen, Dave! Do you feel that big old screen moving? Like a (BLEEP) train.
Let's get some water! Let's rock and roll! Give us some dirt! We're sluicing, boy! First gold in the box! All right! (BLEEP) That conveyor is not on! Dave, shut it down! Shut the feeder off! Turn it off! Get the truck! Move that truck back, now! Quick! Well, that's not supposed to happen.
Forgot to tighten the stinking drive belt.
Something that stupid.
The tailing conveyor started slipping so all the tailing's backed up here.
Without tightening the drive belts, the conveyor belt itself doesn't work.
Without the conveyor belt working, rocks can't leave, plant shuts down.
You know, something stupid like me overlooking this, has created an issue.
Now I got four guys down there with shovels, cleaning something out so it's those little things.
Are you able to get her tight now? Got her tight now, but I'm sorry.
Yeah, do you guys wanna try it again? Let's try it again.
Everybody clear? Green deck, clear! Fire in the hold, guys! Come on! ALL: Yeah! Woo! Look at that pile.
I like the speed of that.
Holy catfish! That's more than our other screen ran ever.
Hey, Dave? Yeah? We kicked butt putting this together.
Nice job, buddy.
I don't think I could have done it without you.
If it keeps running the way it's running, you'll have one heck of a season.
I think so, Freddy.
It's exciting Yeah.
.
.
to see this thing finally come to life.
You know, I think we've created a monster.
(LAUGHS) Now we've gotta feed it.
Yeah.
This is the nicest plant I've ever put together.
It's gonna kick butt, Jack.
Yeah.
That's a nice plant.
I can see the gold from here.
It's nice.
Running good.
I think the sluice is set right, guys.
I think it's gonna work.
Check that out, guys.
And he already found gold.
That's more gold than we found all last year! (LAUGHS) Yeah.
(LAUGHS) Woo! .
.
At Clear Creek, Tony Beets and Paradise Hill operator, Joe McIntyre, prep to move the next critical piece of Tony's gold dredge.
Like a massive bicycle chain, the 72 cast iron gold catching buckets are connected to each other by single 8cm steel pins.
For 22 years, the buckets tore through Klondike ground at over two yards a minute, carrying pay dirt 18m up to The Trommel in the belly of the dredge.
Measuring 40m, the bucket line is too long to fit on the back of one trailer.
Then it's basically a guessing game.
We're gonna make this up as we get along.
The buckets have not moved for 30 years.
Decades of sub-zero Yukon winters have rusted the pins in place.
All Tony has to free them is a sledge hammer and brute force.
One way or another, I have to drive the pin out in one of 'em.
It doesn't look too good, eh? Let me get a couple of whacks.
Looks to be pretty tight, actually.
How can we get that outta there? If we can pick it up and then lower it.
That's what I'm thinking, right? We'll just lift it up a bit and then we'll see.
ON RADIO: 'Monica, do you copy?' Tony's daughter, Monica, brings in the loader.
Tony hopes that by lifting the bucket line, he might be able to loosen the pin.
Let's see what happens, you know, huh? OK.
Hold it right there! See? Got that one out.
Now we're in business.
All right, that was good.
We got it all loosened up for him, soyou know? You gotta do something to make the old guy look good.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, whatever.
Once you go down the road, don't stop for nobody.
Fast through the creek, keep it flat out.
Go! Go, go, go, go, go, go! Ah! We got it.
That's it.
This is nice, to work with your family.
I mean, I got four kids, and three of 'em still work for me every day.
I don't know if they do it for the money or if they're like me.
Either, or, it doesn't matter.
It is still nice to have 'em around.
Perfect.
OK.
Next one, Monica.
These buckets, hey, it's nice to see them move too.
Because they're gonna make any money at all with it this year.
We're cutting it pretty tight.
At Scribner Creek .
.
Parker has made the controversial decision to abandon the swamp cut, despite finding good gold there last week.
He has moved his mining operation over 1km upstream to the far cut.
Shut it down! After six days of running far cut dirt, Parker is about to find out if his bold move has paid off.
Yeah, the swamp cut has been hot and cold all season.
You know, we finally pulled the plug and decided to go up to the far cut.
I mean, that's where we had the best gold all last season, and I hope it's the right move.
There's a lot riding on this clean up.
Tony arrives from Clear Creek for the first weigh-in from the far cut.
Hey, Tony! Good.
How are you? Yeah.
We just moved our plant.
This is our first clean-up from the far cut so it's a Well, shall we weigh it up and see what's there? Yeah.
Last week Parker got the best gold clean-up of the season, an astonishing 182 ounces of swamp cut gold, worth almost $220,000.
Now he is praying the far cut ground pays out even better.
Holy (BLEEP).
191.
25.
Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, for sure.
191.
25 ounces, worth $230,000.
For the second week in a row, Parker sets a new season best.
This time it's almost a quarter of a million dollars in just one week of mining.
That's a relief, we had a lot of money in the stripping.
Right.
Hopefully this keeps up.
Yep.
Right, so your cut is 28.
68.
Good.
So I'll weigh that up for you.
1,000 a day? Where are you going in retirement? (LAUGHS) I'll see you next week, hopefully with more.
Thanks, Tony.
Will do.
OK.
Don't forget that.
I won't forget the jar.
(LAUGHS) I'm pretty happy with that.
It's a great clean-out and I'm really glad that the gamble paid off.
191 ounces, you know, there's nothing wrong with that.
Looking forward to getting more gold out the ground in the far cut.
At McKinnon Creek the crew is on a high after assembling their massive new wash plant Oh, no! .
.
when Todd receives a devastating phone call.
That's horrible.
All right.
Yeah.
It's bad news, but, hey, thank you for calling up here.
I appreciate it.
Hey, guys, I got some bad news.
I just got off the phone.
What's up? UhJames Harness, uhpassed away yesterday.
Yeah.
What happened? I don't know the details at this point .
.
but, uh .
.
he's no longer with us.
He was a friend and a a first mechanic, part of our original team that went North.
You know, the very first season, we couldn't have done it without him.
We needed his expertise.
He took that old crappy wash plant (LAUGHS) .
.
he took it serious, and he worked on it hard.
From day one, James Harness was the Hoffman Crew's bush mechanic.
(LAUGHS) This is crazy.
You're all millionaires.
The only thing is you gotta get it outta the ground, you know? (LAUGHTER) That's the whole key.
I gave birth to this baby.
And it hurt.
What happened to your arm? Third degree burns from molten metal.
I'm impressed.
It's not a bad little trommel.
And they had to make it all outta scrap.
I mean, he had a lot of issues.
A lot of physical issues and You know, the one thing I'll never forget is (LAUGHS) .
.
the day he worked himself to where he couldn't even crawl.
Easy! Argh! James has fallen! So, are you OK? He's just been through the wringer, and now he's gotta crawl into that fricking hole and weld.
And I know it's gonna hurt him, but he does it.
(SIGHS) Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 600 welds I've gotta make.
Oh, I've got lots of burns, and I caught on fire twice.
My hair started smoking inside my helmet.
But I don't care how bad I hurt.
I'm glad to have this done.
Come on up! Let's help James get outta here.
I think he's done.
He's done? Dude, you are heavy metal, man! You're straight rock! Hey, dude, go get the oil.
He needs a rub down.
(LAUGHTER) He gave everything he had to us.
I know that he's outta pain now.
Maybe say a quick prayer for him.
Thank you, Lord, for Harness.
He was a genius in a lot of ways.
He was a friend.
And I pray that he's in a better place.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
The next morning word of James' passing reaches ex-Hoffman Crew member, Greg Remsburg, over at Scribner Creek.
Well, it has been actually kind of a rough day.
I got some I got some bad news.
My friend, James Harness, is gone.
Part of the reason this is so tough is because I'm doing what we started together.
Our first season of gold mining.
My hope is that he's in a better place, he has met his maker and he he's pain-free.
On the next Gold Rush Let's go get some gold! .
.
they may be late to the party, but their new Monster wash plant gets the Hoffman Crew right back in the game.
The good news is there isn't any bad news.
(CHEERING) Lift the damn thing up! Tony Beets kicks his operation into high gear Whoa! .
.
but his reckless style puts his daughter in the firing line.
Monica! Against the odds, Tony gets the last piece of the dredge on the road.
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go! And Parker makes Gold Rush history.
That's the biggest clean-out we've ever had.
Now we're getting somewhere!
.
.
teenage mine boss, Parker Schnabel, rolls the dice.
We're gonna to try to move it in 12 hours.
He opens a new cut in record time Stop! .
.
in his chase for a 2,000 ounce season.
Smoking job, man! A move that pays off like never before when he breaks his season gold weigh record.
Holy (BLEEP).
Pretty cool, huh? Tony Beet's dream of mining like the old-timers in his 75-year-old gold dredge Hit that (BLEEP) thing.
.
.
is quickly becoming a nightmare.
(BLEEP) But when father and daughter work together .
.
their impossible dream Don't stop for nobody.
.
.
starts to become a reality.
There's a picker.
(LAUGHS) At McKinnon Creek Let's rock and roll! .
.
the Hoffmans have defied the odds - landing one of the biggest wash plants in the Klondike.
Monster Red.
The biggest wash plant we've ever used.
For the first time this season, they have a shot at big gold.
That's more gold than we found all last year! Yeah! But highs turned to lows when heart-breaking news reaches the miners.
I don't know the details at this point, but he's no longer with us.
My hope is that he's in a better place, he's met his maker and he he's pain-free.
At Scribner Creek, 19-year-old Parker Schnabel has set an ambitious goal of 2,000 ounces of gold, worth $2.
4m, but almost halfway through the season, he has only 487 ounces.
Shall we take a look at the sluices? Yeah.
For six weeks, Parker mined the swamp cut, but the gold clean-ups were disappointing.
Then, last week, they unexpectedly hit a hot spot that produced an incredible 182 ounces, worth nearly $220,000.
Today they're running more swamp cut pay dirt to find out if the hot spot was a fluke.
Can you see anything? So hard to tell.
I'm planning on feeling little flakes here and there.
Yeah, there's gold in here, but it could sure be a lot better.
How many hours do we have on this? We got about 16 hours on it.
After this many yards, I don't think it looks as good as the last time.
It's just not good enough for what we needed this season.
All right.
Now we're trying to decide if we're gonna stay in the swamp cut longer, or move up to the far cut.
It's a tough decision.
I don't know what to do.
Last year the far cut produced $200,000 of gold in just four days.
But abandoning the swamp cut could lose Parker millions in lost gold.
Shall we get the hell outta here? And, like, I understand your concern, but I'm not totally ready to give up on it.
There's no guarantee the far cut is any better than this ground, my thought on it.
We're here, we're set up, we're established.
I don't know.
I like the looks of that rainbow up there.
Find the bottom of it and that's where the gold is, right? That, to my eye, that's landing right in the middle of the far cut.
Gene, it's a sign! Let's just scrape up what's on the pad and get the hell outta here, and go up to the far cut.
He's seeing rainbow bright.
The far cut is the answer.
The saviour.
Veteran miners, Gene and Chris, disagree with their young boss' decision to uproot the operation.
And we had a really good clean up so I just don't wanna walk away from it without making sure that it's done.
Well, we just finished one of the best clean-ups we've ever had.
If we keep going down river, where we are, where the plant is set up, everything's good to go.
It's solid ground.
Who wouldn't wanna stay down here and just keep pounding that ground until you hit it again? That gold in the far cut has been there for a lot of years.
It's not going anywhere, you know? We just exposed it.
So, if we don't get to it for another week, another two weeks, another three weeks.
Who cares? As long as we're getting gold here.
Before they can even start mining, Parker and his crew have to haul their wash plant over 1km, then reassemble it piece by piece at the far cut.
The last time they took on this painstaking task, it took the crew four back-breaking days, and every day Parker is not mining, he is losing $15,000.
So, as you guys know, we're trying to move this thing today.
We're gonna try to move it in one shift, 12 hours.
We're never gonna make it in 12 hours.
Last time it took four days.
We're not gonna be doing that kind of (BLEEP) anymore.
Doumitt, when you get back in 12 hours, we'll have this thing up and going up there.
All right, you guys.
It's all yours.
Good luck on the move.
All right.
Let's get to it.
Parker's deadline gives his crew almost no time before Chris Doumitt returns at 8:00PM for his night shift.
The $50,000 screen deck is first up.
The fastest way to move it is to hook it up to the front of the loader and drag it over 1km to the far cut.
You know, I don't like moving things like that.
There's a lot that can go wrong, there's a lot of risk, but that's what we have to do if we wanna find the gold.
We got good roads, good paths.
It's always a little nerve-racking.
Come on! Whoa! Stop! (BLEEP) Our cable's too long and I can't pick it up so I'm digging in.
I need to lift it, you know? Yeah.
We can unhook this and take this out.
The screen deck's base is digging into the dirt.
By shortening the cable, Parker should be able to lift the deck to keep it moving.
OK, you got about a foot.
That's good.
(BLEEP) (LAUGHS) I wasn't sure if we were gonna make that one or not.
West, at McKinnon Creek .
.
the Hoffman Crew's new wash plant just arrived.
Take it over! Take it over! There you go.
It's a monster.
Monster Red, the biggest wash plant we've ever used.
One of the fastest, most efficient plants in the Klondike.
This thing is a beast, man! It's big.
Monster Red is a 45 ton wash plant with a giant, 12m long sluice.
OK, Cab, give me a little bit, Cab! It can process almost 300 yards of pay dirt an hour, three times more than their old plant, Little Red.
This plant needs a lot of dirt.
She needs to be fed.
Well done, boys! First hurdle was accomplished.
Todd's new 50/50 partner, Dave Turin, is now in charge of mining operations.
His first order of business - raise the massive eight and a half ton shaker on to its stand.
We don't have a crane, we don't have the right equipment, but we're just making do.
The worst thing that could happen is we drop the screen.
The screen is the most valuable piece of equipment we own.
That sucker is big.
You better walk out that way a little more, Andy.
You know what? I think this thing will lift this, no problem.
Give me more! It won't go up.
Stop, Andy! Stop! Nah, it's just pulling it down.
I thought I fricking had it.
It's too much.
I think we're gonna have to lift with two excavators.
It's the only way I see it happening.
Never know until you start picking it.
With no crane on site, they have to attempt the lift with their excavators.
Our plant is bigger than our equipment.
I hope that's not a foreshadowing.
This is not gonna be easy.
So, what I gotta do is you got two excavators lifting, one on each side.
So, they gotta come up level, and then I gotta get that stand positioned precisely underneath 'em, and then we set it down on top of eight different springs so this is a complicated pick.
One of the most complicated we've done.
Hey, Dave! OK, I just wanna run this by you before we pick it and get it in the air.
What we could do is take, you know, all four straps, and run 'em back like this.
That way there's no chance it could slide through the shackle.
I think we're all right.
Each side of the eight and a half ton shaker is supported by a single lifting strap attached at two points.
Each strap runs through a metal ring on one of the excavators, but there is nothing to stop the straps sliding from side to side.
If either strap slips during the lift, the shaker will crash to the ground.
OK, boom out.
OK, now up.
I'm not gonna talk to you guys right now.
I'll answer all your questions you want when we're done, but right now I'm not talking to you guys.
Hey, Dave! I don't like this.
You're all right.
It's no different up in the air than it is on the ground.
Dave! Is it secure right now? Why would it not be? Is it secure? Yes.
Then come here.
That's the thing about Kevin, he thinks too much, and then he talks.
Just lift it, get it done.
KEVIN: Dude, I am genuinely nervous about this rig.
Well, then, get out, I'll lift it.
I know.
But even if you're in it Get out, I'll lift it.
Here's what I'm saying.
Could you just hear me? OK? I'm listening.
If one of us tweaks it a little bit and pulls on it the wrong way, that sling just needs to slide just a little bit.
Would you lift it up and let me see if I got the height? But I justOK.
You gotta boom out a little, Kev.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa! .
.
At McKinnon Creek Easy! .
.
the Hoffmans' new eight and a half ton shaker hangs almost 4m in the air.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa! Stop! Stop! As Kevin predicted, with only two support straps, it's slipping.
I'm nervous as (BLEEP) right now.
OK, Kev.
We'll do it your way.
You feel better with that? I do.
OK.
Didn't like the way it was rigged.
Kevin had a good idea.
We're gonna double up.
So, what we're gonna do is put two on each side.
Doubling up the straps should keep the shaker stable on its way up.
Well, it's a good idea.
Go that way a little bit.
I need another six inches.
OK.
That's enough.
Now the way that they've got it, that sling won't slide through that shackle.
I'm gonna try to push it to start with.
We're close! Just hold that, guys, and put the springs in and set it down.
Dave and Steve must now direct the excavators to drop the shaker on to four pairs of heavy duty springs.
There's no room for error.
So, what we're gonna do is set it down exactly within half an inch to get it on the spring so that's the difficult part.
Whoa! Whoa! I'm in.
We got two of the sides in.
OK, now down.
Woo! With the shaker deck finally in position, the Hoffmans' massive new wash plant is starting to take shape.
We got it.
If they keep pushing, they could get gold by the end of the week.
Good job, you guys.
Final resting place.
Good team work, guys.
Woo! Meanwhile, over at Scribner Creek .
.
Parker Schnabel isn't even halfway through his wash plant move.
There we go! Now she made it.
After abandoning the swamp cut, Parker has finally dragged his screen deck over 1km to the far cut, where he plans to operate for the rest of the season.
Yeah, I made it.
Not quite the greatest way, but it's upright, and close to the right spot.
But we're gonna have to get our asses in gear here this afternoon, if we're gonna be sluicing tonight.
With the shaker now in place Are you all clear? .
.
Gene has just five hours to reassemble the rest of the wash plant before Parker's 12 hour deadline is up.
And Chris is gonna be here in a couple of hours.
How are we looking? I hope to be running before he gets here.
We need to build a tailing's pond down there.
If you're not ready, I'll turn the water on.
Lighten up, Gene! Before they can start mining the far cut, Parker needs to move 1,000 yards of dirt to create a tailing's pond.
What do you need me to do? Have him push that to you, and you bale it up on the berm.
All right.
Gene is waiting on us.
Let's go! Parker is usually pretty aggressive with his goals, trying to move the wash plant in 12 hours.
Didn't know for sure if we could do it, but looking up there right now, it's actually pretty impressive, you know? That was just a pile of dirt this morning, and now our wash plants up there, and, if all goes well, it should be set to rock and roll in a couple of hours so it's a pretty impressive day in my book.
I think by the time Chris gets here for his shift, I think that thing is gonna be up and running.
Up at the new wash plant site, Gene and Mitch race to install the sluice boxes We need to get those legs so they can drop down.
.
.
while Big Mike works on the tailing's conveyor.
A little more up! Yes! All right, now we're just pulling the back side of the conveyor into place so that we'll have it nice and straight with the plant.
We're getting close to one of the last major pieces to come in.
But while everything is going to plan at the wash plant Hello? Can you hear me? How long has thing only had one bar of fuel? A while.
Half an hour.
.
.
Parker is struggling with the tailing's pond.
I've got three hours of work to do and I've got a half an hour to do it.
Why don't you go ahead and fold it? That looks good there! There it is.
We're ready to run, basically.
Just ready to turn the water on, waiting for them to get done down there.
Oh, boy! Yeah, Chris is here and we ain't ready for him.
Chris Doumitt arrives for his night shift.
12 hours ago, Parker told him they'd have the wash plant ready to run.
Holy Moses! Smoking job, man! I really thought I was gonna get an evening off.
I really did.
So, where's Parker? Oh, I'm waiting for Parker to get done down there so we can turn it on.
Without a tailing's pond, waste from the wash plant would flood the cut.
They can't mine until it's finished.
That's all Parker has been doing, is giving me a plate for a small tailing's? Come on, Parker! I'm burning hours, you know? GENE ON RADIO: 'Parker, we're all done up here.
' How much longer are you gonna be? We're ready when we're ready.
It will be more than 12 hours, but whatever.
(BLEEP) That's just what I (BLEEP) need right now.
Gene just got Parker a little stressed out because he's not ready quite ready down here with this.
Look what he's got to do, so I think he's grumpy.
I think he's mad at Gene for being too efficient.
10:00PM, two hours after his own 12 hour deadline, Parker is finally ready to run the first far cut pay dirt.
So what? It took 14 hours, whatever.
At least we'll be running tonight.
Fire it up! The Schnabel Crew's 14 hour marathon day ends as Chris begins his first night shift at the far cut.
No, no rest for the wicked, that's for sure.
Pretty impressive, really.
You know, you've done a good job of laying things out here.
Thank you.
Yeah.
.
.
Up in the Klondike, Tony Beets arrives back at Clear Creek to remove the heart of his 75-year-old gold mining dredge, The Trommel.
We're gonna go and lift The trommel out today.
I'll hook her up, pull on it, and see what happens, I guess.
What do you think, Mike? She's a little tight fitting in between these beams, but I think it will come outta there.
The 7.
5m Trommel is the core mechanism of Tony's dredge.
It filters gold bearing material into the sluices and discards worthless tailings.
Tony's Trommel was installed before World War Two.
It was operational for 22 years and it caught over $55m worth of gold.
OK.
If they can't get the antique Trommel out in one piece, there's no easy replacement.
I'm getting your attitude on this project, Tony.
Just rip the (BLEEP) outta there.
Yes.
Uh-huh! Fix it later.
Yeah, that's true! Tony and Mike rig steel chains to each end of The Trommel.
Jerry brings in the crane.
OK, Jerry, slowly.
Give it a little lift up, would you? Slowly, slowly, slowly.
Lift it up.
Lift it up.
Slowly up! Slowly up, please! Up a little bit.
Up a little bit.
17,000lb.
Bit more.
A little bit more.
Hey! Oi! Stop! The back end of The Trommel is caught on a single metal bracket.
I don't think we can because right now, we're tight here.
How about we torch the corner of those ears off? They hold the little Tony made me do it! (LAUGHS) No, he did not! Are you happy, Mike? So far.
So far? OK, Jerry, let's give it another little tug up.
Keep pulling her up.
Keep pulling her up.
OK, lift her straight up.
It will still be a little bit tight, I think.
Easy! Easy! Keep her going! Keep her going! Up, up, up! I like it.
Right there! Right there! I was just following instructions.
(LAUGHS) Oh, jeez! It does! One more big chunk on the ground.
This might be only gold you see out of this here.
There was a little rubber up along the back there and there was a crack there.
Oh, right, right, right.
And it was just stuck into that.
I was gonna split it three ways.
At McKinnon Creek, wash plant expert, Freddy Dodge, has driven 480km north from Carmacks to help the Hoffman Crew get Monster Red up and running.
How's it going, Todd? Dude, I'm all right.
A little overwhelmed.
(LAUGHS) Me too, Todd.
Glad you're here, man.
I need help on this plant.
The Hoffman Crew has the eight and a half ton shaker in place.
Now it's time to turn it into a wash plant.
First, they attach the giant sluice box.
Then connect the 11 ton hopper feeder.
And finally, install the 14m long tailing's conveyor.
You know, you got pieces scattered everywhere.
You start assembling, and it's like a giant erector set.
It's pretty fun.
MAN: 'Yeah!' Hold it! It will be a sluicing, gold-catching machine when we're done here.
OK.
Looks good! Hey, good job! Let's finish it up.
After four days of back-breaking work, the Hoffmans' super-sized wash plant, Monster Red, is ready to run pay dirt.
How's it look, Dave? Looking good! Let's fire it up! Big conveyor on! Hit the screen, Freddy! Fire the screen, Dave! Do you feel that big old screen moving? Like a (BLEEP) train.
Let's get some water! Let's rock and roll! Give us some dirt! We're sluicing, boy! First gold in the box! All right! (BLEEP) That conveyor is not on! Dave, shut it down! Shut the feeder off! Turn it off! Get the truck! Move that truck back, now! Quick! Well, that's not supposed to happen.
Forgot to tighten the stinking drive belt.
Something that stupid.
The tailing conveyor started slipping so all the tailing's backed up here.
Without tightening the drive belts, the conveyor belt itself doesn't work.
Without the conveyor belt working, rocks can't leave, plant shuts down.
You know, something stupid like me overlooking this, has created an issue.
Now I got four guys down there with shovels, cleaning something out so it's those little things.
Are you able to get her tight now? Got her tight now, but I'm sorry.
Yeah, do you guys wanna try it again? Let's try it again.
Everybody clear? Green deck, clear! Fire in the hold, guys! Come on! ALL: Yeah! Woo! Look at that pile.
I like the speed of that.
Holy catfish! That's more than our other screen ran ever.
Hey, Dave? Yeah? We kicked butt putting this together.
Nice job, buddy.
I don't think I could have done it without you.
If it keeps running the way it's running, you'll have one heck of a season.
I think so, Freddy.
It's exciting Yeah.
.
.
to see this thing finally come to life.
You know, I think we've created a monster.
(LAUGHS) Now we've gotta feed it.
Yeah.
This is the nicest plant I've ever put together.
It's gonna kick butt, Jack.
Yeah.
That's a nice plant.
I can see the gold from here.
It's nice.
Running good.
I think the sluice is set right, guys.
I think it's gonna work.
Check that out, guys.
And he already found gold.
That's more gold than we found all last year! (LAUGHS) Yeah.
(LAUGHS) Woo! .
.
At Clear Creek, Tony Beets and Paradise Hill operator, Joe McIntyre, prep to move the next critical piece of Tony's gold dredge.
Like a massive bicycle chain, the 72 cast iron gold catching buckets are connected to each other by single 8cm steel pins.
For 22 years, the buckets tore through Klondike ground at over two yards a minute, carrying pay dirt 18m up to The Trommel in the belly of the dredge.
Measuring 40m, the bucket line is too long to fit on the back of one trailer.
Then it's basically a guessing game.
We're gonna make this up as we get along.
The buckets have not moved for 30 years.
Decades of sub-zero Yukon winters have rusted the pins in place.
All Tony has to free them is a sledge hammer and brute force.
One way or another, I have to drive the pin out in one of 'em.
It doesn't look too good, eh? Let me get a couple of whacks.
Looks to be pretty tight, actually.
How can we get that outta there? If we can pick it up and then lower it.
That's what I'm thinking, right? We'll just lift it up a bit and then we'll see.
ON RADIO: 'Monica, do you copy?' Tony's daughter, Monica, brings in the loader.
Tony hopes that by lifting the bucket line, he might be able to loosen the pin.
Let's see what happens, you know, huh? OK.
Hold it right there! See? Got that one out.
Now we're in business.
All right, that was good.
We got it all loosened up for him, soyou know? You gotta do something to make the old guy look good.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, whatever.
Once you go down the road, don't stop for nobody.
Fast through the creek, keep it flat out.
Go! Go, go, go, go, go, go! Ah! We got it.
That's it.
This is nice, to work with your family.
I mean, I got four kids, and three of 'em still work for me every day.
I don't know if they do it for the money or if they're like me.
Either, or, it doesn't matter.
It is still nice to have 'em around.
Perfect.
OK.
Next one, Monica.
These buckets, hey, it's nice to see them move too.
Because they're gonna make any money at all with it this year.
We're cutting it pretty tight.
At Scribner Creek .
.
Parker has made the controversial decision to abandon the swamp cut, despite finding good gold there last week.
He has moved his mining operation over 1km upstream to the far cut.
Shut it down! After six days of running far cut dirt, Parker is about to find out if his bold move has paid off.
Yeah, the swamp cut has been hot and cold all season.
You know, we finally pulled the plug and decided to go up to the far cut.
I mean, that's where we had the best gold all last season, and I hope it's the right move.
There's a lot riding on this clean up.
Tony arrives from Clear Creek for the first weigh-in from the far cut.
Hey, Tony! Good.
How are you? Yeah.
We just moved our plant.
This is our first clean-up from the far cut so it's a Well, shall we weigh it up and see what's there? Yeah.
Last week Parker got the best gold clean-up of the season, an astonishing 182 ounces of swamp cut gold, worth almost $220,000.
Now he is praying the far cut ground pays out even better.
Holy (BLEEP).
191.
25.
Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, for sure.
191.
25 ounces, worth $230,000.
For the second week in a row, Parker sets a new season best.
This time it's almost a quarter of a million dollars in just one week of mining.
That's a relief, we had a lot of money in the stripping.
Right.
Hopefully this keeps up.
Yep.
Right, so your cut is 28.
68.
Good.
So I'll weigh that up for you.
1,000 a day? Where are you going in retirement? (LAUGHS) I'll see you next week, hopefully with more.
Thanks, Tony.
Will do.
OK.
Don't forget that.
I won't forget the jar.
(LAUGHS) I'm pretty happy with that.
It's a great clean-out and I'm really glad that the gamble paid off.
191 ounces, you know, there's nothing wrong with that.
Looking forward to getting more gold out the ground in the far cut.
At McKinnon Creek the crew is on a high after assembling their massive new wash plant Oh, no! .
.
when Todd receives a devastating phone call.
That's horrible.
All right.
Yeah.
It's bad news, but, hey, thank you for calling up here.
I appreciate it.
Hey, guys, I got some bad news.
I just got off the phone.
What's up? UhJames Harness, uhpassed away yesterday.
Yeah.
What happened? I don't know the details at this point .
.
but, uh .
.
he's no longer with us.
He was a friend and a a first mechanic, part of our original team that went North.
You know, the very first season, we couldn't have done it without him.
We needed his expertise.
He took that old crappy wash plant (LAUGHS) .
.
he took it serious, and he worked on it hard.
From day one, James Harness was the Hoffman Crew's bush mechanic.
(LAUGHS) This is crazy.
You're all millionaires.
The only thing is you gotta get it outta the ground, you know? (LAUGHTER) That's the whole key.
I gave birth to this baby.
And it hurt.
What happened to your arm? Third degree burns from molten metal.
I'm impressed.
It's not a bad little trommel.
And they had to make it all outta scrap.
I mean, he had a lot of issues.
A lot of physical issues and You know, the one thing I'll never forget is (LAUGHS) .
.
the day he worked himself to where he couldn't even crawl.
Easy! Argh! James has fallen! So, are you OK? He's just been through the wringer, and now he's gotta crawl into that fricking hole and weld.
And I know it's gonna hurt him, but he does it.
(SIGHS) Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 600 welds I've gotta make.
Oh, I've got lots of burns, and I caught on fire twice.
My hair started smoking inside my helmet.
But I don't care how bad I hurt.
I'm glad to have this done.
Come on up! Let's help James get outta here.
I think he's done.
He's done? Dude, you are heavy metal, man! You're straight rock! Hey, dude, go get the oil.
He needs a rub down.
(LAUGHTER) He gave everything he had to us.
I know that he's outta pain now.
Maybe say a quick prayer for him.
Thank you, Lord, for Harness.
He was a genius in a lot of ways.
He was a friend.
And I pray that he's in a better place.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
The next morning word of James' passing reaches ex-Hoffman Crew member, Greg Remsburg, over at Scribner Creek.
Well, it has been actually kind of a rough day.
I got some I got some bad news.
My friend, James Harness, is gone.
Part of the reason this is so tough is because I'm doing what we started together.
Our first season of gold mining.
My hope is that he's in a better place, he has met his maker and he he's pain-free.
On the next Gold Rush Let's go get some gold! .
.
they may be late to the party, but their new Monster wash plant gets the Hoffman Crew right back in the game.
The good news is there isn't any bad news.
(CHEERING) Lift the damn thing up! Tony Beets kicks his operation into high gear Whoa! .
.
but his reckless style puts his daughter in the firing line.
Monica! Against the odds, Tony gets the last piece of the dredge on the road.
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go! And Parker makes Gold Rush history.
That's the biggest clean-out we've ever had.
Now we're getting somewhere!