Gold Rush

.

You know, five years ago, my dad and I set out to make us all millionaires.

It almost killed us.

But look where we are now.

Right at the crossroads.

This is the ground that we could come good on that promise for my guys.

Can we keep it?

I believe we can.

I don't care what people think.

I'm gonna get that awesome contraption running.

Whatever struggles we've had so far to get to this point,

we're gonna improve, it will dig gold now just as good as a hundred years ago.

For two seasons now, Tony calls all the shots,

because I have nowhere else to go.

Now is the point where we have to start fighting for new ground and freedom.

Cos the season ain't over.

In the freezing gold fields of the Klondike...

I think we got a chance of pulling this off.

..the Hoffman crew has to, somehow, find more gold from their frozen ground...

Do not shut that fricking plant down!

..to secure their future on a claim that could make them all rich.

I can't get this ice through the grizzly bars.

Parker Schnabel's crew is determined to leave.

Everybody's wore out, everybody's tired.

The 20-year-old mine boss has to win them back...

We can go buy our own ground.

..to get the gold he needs...

..to buy his own Klondike claim.

This could be mine.

My own empire of dirt.

Tony Beets battles the big freeze...

Hurry up, let's go!

..to get his 75-year-old dredge...

Let's see what the (BLEEP) will do.

Oh!

..catching Klondike gold.

Ah-ha!

Is there gold in there?

Three crews...

seeking a fortune...

Tell us what we got.

..a future

and freedom.

And this clean-up right here is...

Oh, my!

In the Yukon, the land is already in the grip of the long winter freeze.

At Scribner Creek, Parker Schnabel's mine is shut down.

His crew has had enough of mining - and Parker - for the season.

I'm just trying to pack up my tools so I can get headed home.

Is Parker a good boss?

You really wanna go there?

I don't really want to, honestly.

I really don't.

This season, Parker has already mined 2,060 ounces of gold...

Bam!

..worth two and a half million dollars, twice what he got last year.

After hitting their goal, his exhausted crew wanted to head home.

We've wiped your ass for 2,000 ounces all season and now we're empty. Everybody's wore out.

But, next year, Parker desperately wants to be his own boss.

I need a better deal.

With him, my wings are pretty well clipped.

To buy a claim of his own, he needs at least another 400 ounces of gold.

But he can't do it alone.

These guys have had a hell of a long season, but I need them on board, if we're gonna do this.

Hey, Mitch? Yeah?

Do you guys have a minute?

Yeah.

So, you know, we're trying to get set up, so that we can have our own ground.

So that's why we're gonna try to push, if you guys'll stick with me,

for another 400 ounces.

Cos I don't like the way that things are headed with Tony. You know?

Every year, it's something else, something else.

Pretty soon, it'll be something we can't deal with or we can't afford to give up.

That's why I'm asking you guys to stick around.

We're all wore out, Parker, we've had a tough season, every one of us is ready to go home.

I know you guys are and I know you guys have busted your asses,

but we can go buy our own ground

and not have to deal with Tony.

What is your plan?

How are we gonna do this?

I think that the ground that we've got open will damn near have what we need.

If we can just push through one more week...

What do you reckon?

Yeah, let's go get it done.

Let's do it. All right. Yeah.

Thanks, guys.

Let's do this.

We're all exhausted. But another week?

We can do it.

We know what we're doing. Let's go get all the ground we've got open up sluiced.

Parker has convinced his crew to give him one more week,

but they need to mine 400 ounces,

almost double their best weekly gold haul.

If we're gonna be able to find 400 ounces, everybody just has to give it a good final push.

That's what needs to happen.

At McKinnon Creek...

..the Hoffman crew also faces a battle.

They need 1,300 ounces of gold to secure their claim for next year.

But all their ground is either mined-out or frozen solid.

Their only hope is a swamp-like cut,

rich in gold,

but so muddy

that it almost swallowed up Dave Turin's dozer earlier in the season.

Well, we haven't been in here for a while.

We left this cut at the beginning of the season.

There was so much mud that our dozers couldn't handle it.

I hated to abandon this, I know what the drill results are under here.

I know there's good gold.

There's $27-$31 a yard,

but we gotta figure out what we're gonna do next,

but, uh, I got a big pond full of mud.

Last week, the Hoffmans hit their goal.

Yeah! Whoo-hoo!

1,000 ounces, worth $1.2 million.

Yeah!

Then claim owner, Peter Tallman, offered Todd the chance to return to gold-rich ground.

But at a price.

Go get me 300 ounces... and you got a deal.

Oh.

They scraped up every last yard of thawed paydirt.

We've pulled everything, there's nothing left.

But it wasn't enough.

We pulled up 48 short.

Now, their only option is the unmineable swamp.

I can't get to the gold that's under here.

We've pretty much lost the battle.

Todd, Dave, you copy?

Yeah, go ahead, Todd.

I got a little surprise for you. I'll be right there.

I'm done.

I hate the idea of leaving gold behind.

We're not done on that cut.

I'll tell you what, it's gonna be awesome.

Andy, you got a copy?

Yeah, Todd.

Yeah, bring her in.

Ha ha!

Holy crap!

That thing is huge! Yeah, I know!

It's the biggest dozer in the Klondike, Dave!

The freaking thing is a super dozer. Yeah!

Dude, I borrowed it from the neighbours,

but, dude, we have till the end of the day today

to get that dirt out of that cut

and to the plant.

The 900 horsepower super-dozer, weighs over 100 tonnes and has a giant blade.

Ho ho ho! Dude, how much can that thing push?

About 45-yard pushes.

Oh, that's like three times the amount of that one. Yeah.

That's a dozer!

And they let us borrow it for one day only!

But let me tell you,

I think that's all it's gonna take, one day.

You know what, I know how to mine, but Todd Hoffman can make a deal.

I feel like I'm on top of the equipment world now!

The last time Dave tried to get to the paydirt here,

he almost lost his D9.

All right, here goes nothing. Come on!

Whoo!

How's that, buddy, huh?

This thing is awesome, dude. You made the right choice on this one.

The super-dozer weighs twice as much as the D9.

But, with its wider tracks and almost three times the horsepower,

it has no problem moving great swathes of mud with every pass.

The Hoffman crew is back in business.

Yay-ha! Look at this thing.

By late afternoon, the biggest dozer in the Klondike has defeated the mud.

Hey, hey, hey! We made it!

I'm down to pay.

I'm ripping now, buddy. I'm gonna get Andy and the rock trucks down here now.

Whoo! Look at that thing, Todd. Right through it!

Well, here you go, Andy, you got pay.

The Hoffman crew begins transporting

what they hope is gold-rich paydirt to Monster Red.

We're able to run, that's the good thing right now.

.

.

At Eureka Creek, Tony Beets' ancient dredge is high and dry.

He's almost out of time to get it up and running.

Six months ago, Tony bought the dredge for a million dollars.

He ripped it apart, piece by piece, dragged it over mountains,

and reassembled it.

But when he finally tried to float it...

..one of the pontoons took on water.

Whoa!

The dredge started to sink, forcing Tony to drain the pond.

Now, he has to find the leak,

fix it and quickly re-float the dredge

or his dream of catching gold, like they did a hundred years ago,

will be on ice until the spring.

Oh, man!

Probably leaking right in that corner, cos all the mud's washed out.

Jerry quickly spots the problem, a crack along a welded seam.

Ah, man.

Tony only trusts one man for the crucial fix, his son, Kevin.

I get (BLEEP), but who else is gonna do them?

Yeah, there's a crack about a foot long. Everybody watch out.

There you go!

Yeah. It's a little rough and ugly but it doesn't need to be pretty.

Tony opens the floodgate for the second time.