Gold Rush

Sluicifer!

Narrator: On this mega episode of "gold rush"...

Man: Look out!

Why don't you settle the down, tyson?

Rick!

Put this hoe on the other side!

Somebody get me a radio.

There's no gold here.

There's no way we're gonna run it

because I'm gonna run it off this cliff.

Whoa! What are you doing?

Get out of the way!

Man: Do you know how much time we wasted

hauling this here, dave?

The only way we're gonna win is if we stay together.

That's pretty amazing.

captions paid for by discovery communications

plane.

That might be tony.

Oh, tony tends to get grouchy

if you don't go see him right away.

Narrator: At eureka creek,

tony beets pulls his son, kevin, off his dredge.

Narrator: And flies him 40 miles south to thistle creek

to work on his new project.

Tony is putting together a fleet of dredges.

His new $1.5 million dredge

is 50% larger than dredge one.

But before he can put it to work,

tony has to break it down

and tow it 100 miles upriver to his claim

using his new tug and barge.

Nothing to do but get to work.

All right.

Cheeseman: Oh, I don't-- it's--

never torn a dredge apart,

but it's just nuts and bolts.

Narrator: Gene cheeseman,

tony's right-hand man, heads up the wrecking crew.

Cheeseman: Don't look at the big picture.

Look at the little things.

Break it down in small steps.

And just one thing at a time --

pretty soon you'll be done.

Just get the tools we need here

and get to work.

Try not to trip and die on the way up there.

Narrator: To reach the dredge's core,

tony plans to rip up the old floorboards

and remove the tin skin...

Ooh!

That's a little hot down the shirt, by the way.

...Then cut the 500-ton dredge

into transportable pieces.

cheeseman: Step up on there.

Narrator: This is the first time

kevin has seen the new dredge.

I like this one a lot better.

It was a lot less beaten and abused.

And it was put together a lot more smartly.

You just look at little things and go, "yeah."

like, even the superstructure in here was nicer.

And is -- it's solid.

After 10 hours,

tony's crew has stripped as much as they can.

Spinks: At this point in the season,

if we don't see gold soon,

I think everybody's morale--

you know, I think they're gonna start losing interest

in gold mining.

Narrator: In oregon,

todd hoffman set his crew

a massive 5,000-ounce, $6 million goal.

But nearly halfway through the season,

they've mined less than 3% of that --

a disastrous 138 ounces,

worth just $165,000.

For three weeks, they've been searching

for a gold-rich pay streak

at their buckland claim.

Todd: We're deep in the hole.

Let's just hope this pay streak is damn good.

It's gonna need to be.

Narrator: Last week, they found a potential pay streak

60 feet down.

So todd is running a test through monster red.

Can't wait to see gold in the sluice box.

Hopefully this 1,000-yard test

puts us in that direction.

Maybe right here is the turning point.

Maybe what I got in the bed of my truck

can kind of boost the morale

and make everybody feel good again about oregon.

Turin: I don't like the way this looks.

I think they're too high.

Just doesn't look like pay.

Narrator: After running 500 yards,

dave turin has yet to spot gold in the sluices.

See if there's any gold in it.

The buckland is nothing like what we thought.

Here we are, digging 60 feet deep.

I just hope they know what they're sending up here.

Are you serious?

There's no gold here.

What the frick are they sending here?

Dave to todd. Dave to todd.

Todd: Yes, dave?

Todd, where's this pay coming from?

I just panned two pans.

I got absolutely no color in this.

Todd: Just run it, dave, if you can.

Just run it.

There ain't no gold in this.

Todd: Andy found a little bit of gold there.

It's got to have something in it, dave.

Just freakin' run it.

Turin: That's just a bunch of crap.

Can't run a mine like this.

Turin: There's no way we're gonna run it

because I'm gonna run it off this cliff.

Narrator: Dave is dozing the pay pile

his crew is hoping will turn their season around.

These guys are all working for, uh, gold.

They need the gold,

and this isn't gonna get it.

So it's just gonna go away.

What the hell? Are you kidding me?

Todd: Whoa! Stop!

Whoa!

What are you doing?

Get out of the way!

Hold up.

It's not worth it, todd.

We need to just get rid of it.

I panned gold in it.

It wasn't much,

but I had some gold in it, dave.

You know we wouldn't run this in the yukon.

Why would we run it here?

we told these guys we were gonna pay 'em.

And we can't pay 'em with this stuff.

Narrator: The hoffman crew is at war over a pay pile

they think could turn their disastrous season around.

But dave turin thinks it's garbage.

Man: Do you know how much time we wasted

hauling this here, dave?

If you don't like this, you should have told us that.

I'm with dave on this. This isn't even considered pay.

I took a bunch of pans out of it,

didn't find crap.

Really? Yeah, it's dead.

No kidding. So you should've had me

send it over the overburden.

Dave: Why didn't you call me and ask me?

The only way we're gonna win is if we stay together.

Turin: Let's not keep making the same mistake.

It seems like every year,

we start before we're onto good gold

and then we waste time.

It's my fault. I sent this pay up here.

I'll take the blame.

Well, I think we ought to go ahead

and take that long stick,

switch out the bucket.

Even if we gotta dig down to 100 feet,

until we actually get one damn good gold pan.

And then we at least can prove

there's the ore.

Dave, I'd like you to come in here, man,

and let's try to get refocused here.

Turin: Sorry I went nuts pushing this pay off.

Dear lord, we just, uh--

we give this group of guys to you,

and just make us better friends and better men

and better, uh, brothers and brothers in arms.

Amen. All: Amen.

Todd: All right, let's go.

I've never seen dave that pissed.

We're having a hard year,

we're getting our ass kicked.

I'm gonna go down in that cut and find that damn gold.

I don't see the move taking that long.

No.

As long as we have spots

for everything to go.

Yeah.

Narrator: At scribner creek,

parker schnabel is on the move.

His boundary cut has produced 980 ounces of gold this season,

worth over $1.1 million.

But it's mined out,

so today he's moving his wash plant

to the new boundary cut extension.

He's going to have to make the move

without his main mechanic.

Blaschke: You know, made commitments.

I got all my flights arranged.

I got to, uh--

got to head home and, uh,

get things finished up and ready for my wedding.