Gold Rush

On this "gold rush,".

As gold prices hit an all-time high...

Here we go!

Parker schnabel has a radical new plan.

The biggest risk is that it'll only work.

If the guys want it to.

- Whoa! - Look out!

Now I'm in a bad mood.

For that kid being such a genius,

Some days he's a moron.

Deep in debt and chasing redemption...

Come on. What the.

Broken equipment...

Come on, you piece of.

Forces rick ness to pull double duty.

I know it's hard after a 12-hour shift,

But if we don't push on, we're in trouble.

It's as simple as that.

Big rocks, big gold!

And rookie miner fred lewis.

Brings in a band of combat veterans...

Let the adventure begin!

Who learn the hard way

damn!

That anything can happen on the mine site.

That tree's going down. That tree's going down.

Hey, guys, let's get the off the mine.

And get to the open area now!

Captions paid for by discovery communications.

On indian river...

This mine site has turned into quite the machine.

It's a machine that is chomping through a lot of ground.

After losing four precious weeks.

Because of the pandemic, 25-year-old parker schnabel.

Is in a race to make up for lost time.

I'm constantly trying to push to a point.

Where, like, you're right on the ragged edge.

Of what's doable and what's efficient.

On the promised land, parker has wash plant sluicifer.

Running 220 yards of gold-rich pay dirt an hour.

Hey! Crank it up!

Yee-haw.

4 miles away in the last cut,

Parker is also running a second massive wash plant, big red.

But in a radical change of tactics,

He's ordered it to shut down and move.

For the second time in just three weeks.

The biggest thing that we're gonna change this season.

Is moving the plants more often,

Getting the plants closer to the pay.

That they're sluicing in each setup.

If they don't need to truck any pay,

Then it'll save us a pile of money.

As the crew digs pay dirt,

The distance each rock truck travels increases,

Costing thousands of dollars each week in fuel.

Plus, the tailings pile up over time.

And must be cleared by fuel-hungry dozers,

Costing thousands more.

Parker's solution... Shut down the plant more often.

And move it to the pay.

It'll cost him in sluicing time.

But slash his fuel costs and increase his profits.

If his crew can move the plant in less than a day.

Moving a plant more often is a lot more work,

But it's more efficient work.

You don't burn any fuel moving a wash plant.

So it's just... it's just the manpower.

The biggest risk is that it'll only work.

If the guys want it to and they do what I want to do.

Okay, let's go!

Parker tasks co-foreman mitch blaschke.

With the first fast and furious wash plant move.

So, right now, we're just getting ready to break down.

The feeder here for big red.

Brennan's working on digging it out.

So we're going to move big red.

We're gonna put it on that new wash plant pad,

Do it faster than we ever have.

Chris doumitt pulls the mats.

From the sluice box to recover the gold.

How's it going, chris? Hey, mitchell.

Are you getting ready to move the plant?

I swear we've moved plants more this year already.

Than we did all last season.

You know, I'm not exactly sure what parker's thought.

And reasoning is behind that. We've got a system

I think that works really well. You figure.

We lose, what, a day every time we move the plant.

You're right. You start adding up all those days.

Why not make it go back to how it was?

I'm not sure what... What's going on.

Hey.

What's the holdup?

Well, we were waiting for an excavator.

Why are we... What? Why are we what?

Why are we moving the plants so often this year?

What's the logic on that?

'Cause we're pushing tailings 400 feet with a dozer.

Got it.

Apparently, it's more cost-effective.

To move the plant more often.

And not deal with the tailings as bad.

So we'll see how that works out.

Let's get the heck out of dodge and leave it up to the boys.

Every day the plant is shut down.

Costs $85,000 in lost gold.

Parker needs big red back sluicing within one day,

Or any savings in fuel will be lost.

The first task...

Slide the plant into position level on its new pad.

Right now, what we're trying to do is line up big red.

To this radial pad that we've built here,

And I'm going to kind of try and sight this.

Let's try that!

The last few days, we've gotten a ton of rain.

When we went to spin big red,

It's just pivoting right on the very back.

Because it's digging in so bad.

Whoa! Stop!

I mean, my big concern right now.

Is just how much it's been sinking in.

Every time it does that, it digs in.

If the 100,000-pound wash plant.

Is not level when it fires up,

It will lose gold.

Mitch and brennan now have just four hours to level the plant.

Just unbelievable pain in the ass,

'cause I'm just trying to lift it up and jamming dirt under it.

To try and get it to level out.

Could use a little more.

You know, we'd really like to have big red.

Back running by the end of the day.

We've been able to move it in one shift before,

But it's not looking good at the moment.

This isn't working.

Give us a little more.

Come on.

Whoa! It's going over.

Dude, this is making me so anxious.

Here, let me help you run that thing.

What are you doing in there, man?

There you go. Well, why didn't you guide me?

I can't see all!

Dude, you're like an old lady in there bitching.

After two more hours,

Big red is still not level.

You've got to be kidding me.

Now rain is making the pad even softer.

Mitch, we're never gonna get this leveled in this rain, man.

This is just outrageous.

Yeah, and I know parker wants this plant running.

As soon as he can,

But we gotta let this thing dry up a little bit here.

We're just making a mess.

Mitch and brennan have lost any chance they had.

Of moving the plant in one day.

This.

Yeah, I've had enough.

Let's go, man. We're just going to have to wait this out.

I'll be honest. I was starting to wonder.

If we'd ever be running dirt at all, but here we are.

Feels good

100 miles east at lower duncan creek,

Rick ness is seven weeks behind schedule.

And still hasn't banked any gold.

We got trucks running, loading with the 700.

We're putting a serious dent in this.

He's fighting to keep his mining career alive.

After barely breaking even last season.

But so far, he only has two crew members...

Karla ann and chris kruse.

This year, it's been a nightmare.

Trying to get crew up here.

I don't even have a mechanic at this point.

It's a miracle that we've made it this far.

So, I mean, there's only three of us here right now.

We're just going to have to keep our heads down and work hard.

And hopefully enjoy the reward at the end.

I mean, if I don't make a profit this year,

This might be my last shot.

You know, I can't continue to do this.

I don't have a big bankroll behind me, so...

It's awesome working with people that want to work.

Kruse has been promoted to feeding the plant.

Using rick's 480 excavator.

I'm running an excavator.

That's the biggest joke of everything.

Hopefully I don't tip this plant over.

Right now, it's... It's lean and mean, man.

Rick is in the 700.

Loading karla's rock truck with gold-rich pay dirt.

Was that a honk, rick?

Yeah, it was a honk.

The sooner you haul this to the wash plant,

The sooner we'll have gold in the gold room.

What do you think, karla? I'm sure you're pumped.

To be back in a truck right now.

I don't mind driving truck. Just like riding a bike.

You're not pumped to be back in a truck,