Gold Rush

'Up in the Klondike, Parker Schnabel is in a world of trouble.'

'A flooded cut...'

That's supposed to be dry. '..a waterlogged pump...'

The thing was completely underwater? '..and a severed pipe

are drowning his hopes of a 2,000-ounce season.'

This could be last nail in the coffin.

'Dave Turin is done taking orders from Todd Hoffman.'

We either go big or go home.

'But straight away, working as partners creates conflict...'

Dave's wrong on that cut.

'..pushing his equipment,

his sanity...

..and his new partnership to the limit.'

I came into this as partners.

I think we're wasting our time.

'In an attempt to get his ancient dredge catching gold,

Tony Beets puts his daughter to work.'

OK.

'20-year-old Monica moves the longest part of his massive machine.'

'But she's in over her head

and Tony's million-dollar gamble hangs in the balance.'

Whoa! You're into the bank. Stop.

'A third of the way through the season,

Parker Schnabel has mined 263 ounces of gold,

worth $316,000,

barely an eighth of what he needs to hit his 2,000-ounce gold.'

What the...?

'The last thing he needs now is another setback.'

That's all supposed to be dry. The water's supposed to be over there.

'Overnight, the dam between Parker's tailings pond and his cut washed away.'

'All his pay dirt is flooded.'

What we were going to haul as pay today is buried.

What a (BLEEP) way to start a morning.

The only thing that made this work was that it was simple,

and this is actually extensive and complicated

and a massive pain in my ass.

'Parker's string of bad luck is taking a toll on his men...'

I don't know what... I mean, everything can go wrong!

'..his machines...' It's not good.

Hey! '..and even his 14-week-old puppy Dozer.'

What?

Dude, I think this place is cursed. No kidding.

'Dave, one of Parker's operators,

believes these setbacks are no coincidence.'

Back in the '80s, there was a husband and wife mining out on this corner

and she was fooling around and trying to take off with his gold

and he put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger.

Some people say they've seen her ghost.

'Parker's cursed cut has another surprise in store.'

What happened here?

'His pay dirt isn't the only thing that was submerged when the dam burst.'

What happened?

Flood in the pump? The thing was underwater? Right to the picking eye.

Where's the hoses? Got ripped off.

A bit lower down, Mike.

That's what we needed this morning.

It came in pretty quick, so it pushed it 50 feet. Gees!

But it ripped that suction hose off.

Do you know if it was running? We're not sure,

but it had that flow switch on so there's a good chance it was.

We're looking at the engine being full of water. We won't be able to turn it.

That'll bend the push rods. That could mean busted cylinders.

We need that pump in the cut so...

We're going to have to tear the engine down, drain the water.

Well, let's tear it apart and see what you can do. Without this, we're not sluicing.

We'll get right on it. Do what you can, I guess.

'Without a pump, Parker's mine is at a standstill.'

Joke! This cut's going to be the death of this place.

'16 kilometres away at McKinnon Creek,

Dave Turin is back with the Hoffman crew.'

I'm here to move dirt, get the guys motivated

and get a lot of gold.

'This season, Dave's not a hired hand.'

'He's invested half a million dollars in equipment

to become a 50-50 partner with Todd.'

Todd and I are partners, but I'm the guy running the mining and I'm making the decisions

and that's how it's going to be.

'As head of all mining operations,

Dave's first task is to assess the crew's work in the cut.'

Hey, Logan!

Hey! How's it going? Good.

How's the plant running?

The shifts have been sporadic. Nobody knows when they're working.

This many guys, we need to be running more dirt. Yeah.

Hey, Jack. How's it going?

Slow. Yeah.

I'm glad you're here cos...

It's nice to be here. ..they won't listen to me.

It looks a little chaotic but we'll figure it out. Yeah.

The crew is kinda scattered. It's kind of chaos here.

They're just not getting it done.

'Dave identifies some basic problems.

'He's ready to make big changes.'

Tell me what you're thinking, man. We need to open some new cuts.

We're mining there because it's convenient.

I've been looking at these maps.

I think the good gold's down here by these spots.

There's 27 dollars a yard.

At this end, it goes clear up to 31 dollars a yard.

I think we get started opening up this huge cut

and work our way towards this big gold.

I don't wanna strip off the top layer and not get to the pay dirt because it's frozen.

I brought the equipment. We've got men that want to work.

We're going to put in the hours. That ground is where it's going to happen.

You're serious about that? Dead serious. It's 20 hours a day.

We either go big or we might as well go home. OK.

You're a partner now, Dave. It's on you.

'Dave's master plan is for the crew to finish up running for dirt in the old cut,

while he goes on ahead in his dozer

to investigate where the drill map shows the best gold.'

This is what I've been dreaming about. The good thing is, I'm mining it my way.

I'm hoping and praying I'm not one of those guys that come to the Klondike

and lose a bunch of money.

'32 kilometres north,

the Beets family basecamp...'

'For nearly two months, Tony Beets has been dismantling a gold-mining dredge

that hasn't run for 27 years.'

'His mission - to get it up and running

by the end of the season.'

Thank you, guys.

'Tony is way behind schedule.'

You're late. 'Time is running out.'

Good for you.

Where are we at with the dredge? You're supposed to have it out by now.

It's, like, 90 feet long.

That five feet's going to make a difference!

OK. I don't like it but I'll try.

No, there is no try, there is only do or do not.

For God's sake, Kevin! I hate you!

OK. I'll do my best.

'The conveyor is the longest part of the 64-metre dredge.'

'It carries tailings out of the wash plant

and dumps them behind a self-contained gold-catching machine.'

'Without a working conveyor,

the dredge can't shift tailings and will never catch gold.'

'Monica and Doug, the articulated lorry driver,

have to transport the 75-year-old conveyor

138 kilometres to Paradise Hill

without damaging it.'

We've got to get this out today, one piece, and I want to be safe.

Nobody really knows how it's going to turn out until we get going with it!

'The conveyor hangs nine metres off the back of the trailer.'

The end's sticking out a bit far for my liking but that's how Tony wants it.

Ready? Yep.

'Ahead of them,

48 kilometres of mountainous dirt roads

before they even reach the highway.'

Oh, baby!

'Monica leads to look out for any trouble.'

I'm just keeping an eye on Doug.

I just wanna make sure he's good.

Keeping watch at the back is Ryan, Tony's pilot.'

Good times.

That's if everything goes OK.

I wanted to go to town tonight!

'Just an hour into the journey,

they hit their first major obstacle.'

'Doug crawls through the creek...

'..and up the far side.'

It's definitely down into the water. Whoa!

Doug is spinning out.

Whoa! You're into the bank. Stop.

'The bank's too steep for the nine-metre overhang.'

It's spinning.

How far are we dragging?

'Just eight kilometres into a 138-kilometre trek,

Monica has run the conveyor into the creek bed.'

Let's hope it's not damaged.

'Monica Beets is transporting her father's dredge conveyor,

but just eight kilometres into a 138-kilometre trek,

her convoy is in deep trouble.'

'The conveyor's nine-metre overhang has run aground in the creek.'

Doug is stuck in the creek right now.

We need him out, like, five minutes ago.

Hold onto your britches!

Agh! Rocks on the road!

This road is (BLEEP)!

'Monica races up the track to get her loader.'

'Her plan - to use the power of the 18-tonne machine

to pull the truck free.'

To go on the loader...

I don't care if it's set up or not, I'm just going. Yep.

I hate this thing!

Get that truck to back up.

Back up! Back up! Back up! Thank you!

'20-year-old Monica grew up on her dad's Klondike claim.'

'She's been driving a loader since she was 12.

'But until she can make it back to the creek,

there's nothing the guys can do.'

Monica! Back it up.

I've got that cable, if you wanna guide me back.

Do you wanna be the eyes? Yeah. OK.

'Monica will use the 214-horsepower loader

to drag the lorry up the bank.'

Are you ready?

Yeah. Hold on.

'Despite hitting the ground,

the 75-year-old dredge conveyor is in one piece.'

How's it feeling, Doug? Feeling good.

I wouldn't want the wrath of your father if something broke.