Bering Sea Gold

Shawn: The future's always scary as a gold miner.

You just try to eliminate all the risks that you can,

but gold-mining is all about taking risks.

Zeke: I've been getting after gold dredging

for almost 10 years now.

Everything I've learned

and everything that I've been through

has all been leading up to this.

Doing everything I possibly can to make the season a success,

but if things don't start turning around,

it's looking pretty grim.

Got to be gold here.

what the

what happened?!

Kris: I try to be a leader in my family,

but I don't think they respect me enough

to want to do what I tell them to do.

I know the winter season's really tough.

I know that it's a lot more work.

We need to get on that win mentality

where we should all be trying to win together,

and we need to make some money.

That was for the dog! That wasn't for you!

I was throwing it out to the dog,

and you just so happened to be there!

I got a problem! Help! Help me!

vernon: What I love about gold-mining

it's a tough game.

You got to be smarter than the gold, but it doesn't come easy.

It'll chew you up and spit you out.

Feeling really bad now.

spenser: Vernon's having a heart attack.

shawn: All the ice is thawing out.

Then everyone's done for the season.

I need these miners to produce for me on 38,

now more than ever.

captions paid for by discovery communications

narrator: Spring has come to nome, alaska.

Only three days remain

until the government-mandated shutdown of winter mining.

But soaring temperatures are rapidly melting the ice,

threatening the safety of the operations.

And the miners must face the decision to stay or flee.

And on claim 38...

Shawn: Looks like the potholes are getting bigger.

Narrator: ...Shawn pomrenke is getting

is impacting one of his prize investments.

Shawn: The cracks are getting bigger.

Building a legacy for the pomrenkes

is what it's all about.

I want to expand the empire as far as I can.

I want my kids to benefit,

and I want their kids to benefit from all this.

Looks like it's time to get off the ice.

Narrator: To start the season,

shawn opened up his virgin claim to the fleet...

Shawn: Whoever gets out there first

narrator: ...In exchange for 20% of the gold the miners find.

Shawn: Feels like a good heavy pan.

Narrator: But last week,

mr. Gold sought to turn his empire into a dynasty...

Gold! Yeah!

...By putting in a bid to buy nome gold,

a $25 million mining ground

that could keep the gold coming for generations.

If we can make it happen, we need to make it happen.

Let's make it happen! -Let's do it.

Let's do it. -Yeah!

Narrator: Now...

I don't know if these guys are gonna make it

these next couple days, it being this warm out.

Narrator: ...To help pay the giant price tag...

Shawn: I still got a lot of royalties to collect.

Narrator: ...He needs the fleet to make the most of the remaining t

shawn: The goals I have for the pomrenke operation are big.

These miners delivering on claim 38

could be the difference between us building a legacy or not.

Every ounce counts.

Been in the 50s the last few days.

It's melting fast.

Vern's got a heavy dredge.

I don't know what he's still doing out here.

Beautiful day, sunshine...

This is the kind of day we don't like.

Narrator: With his every last penny

vernon adkison is prepping

for the last hole of his make-or-break season.

Vernon: You know, with this ice getting thinner by

it's gonna be a push.

It's a hard way to go.

This has been a really tough season.

Right now, I'm in dire straits, financially.

I've got damn irs issues

and too much behind on my rent here in nome,

my mortgage is behind.

Nobody cuts you a break up here at all.

Narrator: Despite the rising temperatures and disa

vernon: Right now, it's a toss-up

as to whether the ice will drive us off

or the regulations will drive us off first.

Narrator: ...The veteran captain is determined

to keep his operations going until the very last minute.

Probably gonna be -- we were the first ones here,

probably gonna be the last ones to leave.

But that's okay. That's okay. That's more gold for us.

Narrator: Despite being first out of the gate...

Vernon: 9 ounces.

Hey! This is not gonna happen!

Narrator: ...Vernon spent the season

get this piece of out of here!

...Seeing his crew battle each other...

Don't you ever talk to me like that again

while I'm down in the water!

...And it's led to a disappointing gold tally.

Whoa! Whoa, whoa!

Gold-mining is what I think about all the time,

and this is where my passions lie,

and I think that's a worthy challenge,

but it's a tough game.

Narrator: Still needing 35 ounces

to keep his flickering gold-mining dream alive,

it all comes down to one last hail-mary hole.

Vernon: Get bobby in the water and carry on with the show.

We're calling this the last-chance hole.

It's your last chance to get it.

And if he doesn't reach his mark,

his prospecting career will be over.

Vernon: My wife, arlene, I mean, she worries about the bills.

You know, bills, bills, bills.

Her main thing is, she doesn't want to lose our house.

I got a lot of people that are depending on me,

and I got a lot riding on this one.

All right, here we go.

Definitely the roll of the dice on this hole.

No guarantees. You never know.

So, bobby, what do you think?

Well, haven't gotten to the bottom yet,

but we'll see when I get to the bottom.

I got about a foot, foot and a half before we're in.

Yeah, okay. So, what -- you have about a foot of sed,

and now you're working through the cobble?

Yeah.

Yeah, okay.

It's all right here. It's "make it or break it" time.

All right, buddy. That's what we want to hear.

It's just everywhere.

Yeah, you got to suck it hard, dude.

This is the last go-down.

I'm glad it's the last one.

vernon: You got -- you drop --

hey, we got a crack in the ice out here.

Oh, man.

That is not looking good.

You look at it.

It runs all the way over there to that pressure ridge.

When this starts opening up, it opens up quickly.

And we're on the wrong side.

There's no getting to the other side.

Not with all the dredges and all the equipment

and all the vehicles.

It just won't happen.

Vernon: It's floating ice. It's constantly moving.

It's always dangerous.

You never know when the piece of ice

that you're on is gonna break loose and get blown out to sea.

And if you're on the piece of ice that's broken loose, uh...

You know, things get dicey in a hurry.

Narrator: With the ice breaking around the wild ranger,

vernon's last chance to stay in the game

may have just floated away.

Being on this side, everything we've got is at risk.

This is -- this is bad news.

We're on the wrong side of that crack.

Narrator: One mile east...

At the clark...

zeke: Getting basically flooded, turned into a lake,

flooding the whole area.

And that's just rotting the ice.

Not a good situation.

Narrator: ...Zeke tenhoff and emily riedel are also o

gabe: I'm just praying to god

that the gold is finally on one of these holes.

Seriously. I'm gonna be a broken man

if we don't go down there and find money.

Yeah, dude, I'm at the end of my tether.

As the fleets hit a cold streak

right as spring is knocking on the dredge door...

I'm not even getting my hopes up yet.

I'll see when zeke gets down there.

Emily: Everyone's getting really frustrated.

I mean, it's hard enough living out on the ice

when you're on gold,

but when you're not on gold and you're living out here

and the end of the season is days away

and you just keep on striking out every single hole,

I mean, we're all about to lose our minds.

I guarantee you will get this thing started.

Hey, don't start the morning off by being a okay?

Narrator: At the start of the season,

zeke and emily formed an uneasy partnership.