Gold Rush

I was just running some numbers.

And you've still got a long ways to go.

Narrator: On this "gold rush"...

-Oh -no fixing that one.

Do I look like a belt fairy?

All right. Let me show you how the big boys play.

- -oh, come on!

That's a lot of gold.

Monica: What the

I'm never gonna beat kevin with like that.

Todd: We've never seen nuggets like that.

We need a third mine.

Those are bigger than anything we've ever gotten.

Do you really think we can mine up there?

You're at 13,000 feet.

How do you guys breathe up here?

-Can we get a medic? -Medic!

Slow, deep breaths.

captions paid for by discovery communications

right now, we've got both plants running.

These guys are kicking butt, man.

Things are going well.

We're starting to put gold in people's pockets.

So, yeah, things are looking up.

Narrator: 20 weeks into his mining season,

todd hoffman has finally hit his stride.

At sacramento, double trouble's twin trommels

are running 350 yards an hour.

Uh, we're finally on the gold. You're on the gold right there.

Narrator: One mile southeast, at fairplay,

rusty red is sluicing another 150.

Yeah, I'm running from fairplay to sacramento,

back to fairplay.

We just want to keep it going as fast as we can.

And, uh, away we go.

Narrator: Todd's reduced his goal

from 5,000 to 1,000 ounces this year.

But he still won't let go of his dream.

If we had more mines, if we had a third mine,

we could clear 5,000 ounces next year.

Narrator: Freddy dodge is taking todd

to scout pennsylvania mountain,

one of the sources of the region's gold deposits.

Todd started with a goal, this year,

of getting 5,000 ounces.

Well, that didn't happen.

Tell you what, it could happen next year.

And part of the key to that is on top of this mountain.

Narrator: From fairplay, it's an 8-mile drive

and a climb from 10 to 13,000 feet.

It's a pretty special place.

It's high and it's harsh.

I grew up panning these mountains, prospecting.

I'd like to stay here and just keep mining.

If I can't prove to these guys

that we have enough ground and good ground

that's tested for 5,000 ounces,

I don't think they're gonna come back.

How's it going, randy? Long time no see.

-Good to see you, freddy. -How you doing?

-How you doing, man? -Great.

-What's your name? -Todd.

We heard a rumor you might have some ground for lease

for next year up on the mountain, here.

Possibility, possibility.

What kind of gold are you guys getting up here?

We're getting a lot of fine stuff down below.

Little, coarse pieces, something like this.

-Little? -That's nice, there.

That's a big piece. -Holy mackerel.

That's a beautiful nugget.

There's the possibility we've got some ground

a little bit higher up

than where we're actually working it.

-Higher than this? -Higher than this.

How do you guys breathe up here?

Uh, it's brutal. It's brutal.

You just got to get used to it.

After a while, little mountain goat in us, I guess.

Tough conditions, low oxygen.

If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

You're more than welcome to go up and take a look at it.

You got any machines?

Maybe we could poke a hole or two up there.

We pick the holes.

We use your equipment.

We've got one day. -That's all we got.

You can use our equipment.

But any gold you find is ours.

You guys better get busy.

We've got both plants up and running.

Both plants are on the pay.

But we don't have a whole lot of time left.

4,000 is still a long ways out,

a lot of gold to find.

At this point in the season, every bucket counts.

Narrator: With four weeks left in the season,

parker has only 60% of the gold he needs

to hit his 4,000-ounce, $4.8 million goal.

It's just about getting hours on the box,

getting hours sluicing

as much hours as we can, 24 hours a day.

Narrator: Parker's running 250 yards an hour through sluicifer.

Down at indian river,

rick runs 130 yards through big red.

And he's already tackling the first signs of winter.

froze on there, huh?

Oh, she's cold this morning.

I mean, we're still running.

I've just run some numbers.

And you've still got a long ways to go.

If there's anything that you think

we can do to get some more gold in the box...

I -- I don't think we can speed big red up any more, but...

I mean, we're just running out of time, you know?

We need to start picking up the pace.

All right. Well, then we'll find a way

to put more gold in the damn box.

Parker: It's been going slow and steady.

But now it needs to go fast and steady.

There ain't no time for 100 ounces now.

What the he wants me to do, you know?

It's...

We're running as fast as we can. We've got solid uptime.

It's just, uh, you know,

it's just we're running out of time.

That's it.

You know, I don't know what else to do at this point.

I'll figure it out. I ain't gonna fail down here.

But, you know, I don't need to be reminded

about how far behind I am every day either.

Narrator: Parker has challenged rick to find

1,000 ounces this season.

But big red's only produced 578 ounces of gold,

worth around $700,000.

I'm tired

tired

narrator: To catch up, rick and his crew

have been working seven days a week.

I hate running loader.

Do, do, do, do, do, do, do

ugh!

Ugh!

Blaschke: Rick!

Oh

whoa! Coming down!

No fixing that one.

Narrator: Big red is at a standstill.

Pretty

narrator: The belt on rick's hopper feeder

is completely shot.

Big ol' tear

in our 50-year-old belt.

You can see the rip, here, all the way around.

We had a large rock that got caught in here.

And you can see all the damage it did to the belt.

So we need a new one of those.

We need a 36-inch belt.

We've got a 36-inch belt that's about 12 feet too short.

So that doesn't work.

we're gonna be in trouble.

Narrator: At indian river,

a tear in rick's hopper feeder

has brought his operation to a standstill.

Ness: I got to go find parker right now and tell him

that we just practically destroyed

the fricking belt on big red.

He ain't gonna be happy, man.

Those things aren't -- those aren't cheap up here.

Not a good feeling that we're not sluicing.

Uh, not the conversation I want to be having right now.

Hey, man. -What's up?

Uh, dude, you're not gonna believe this.

But the belt for big red has got a big

gouge in it three quarters of the way

through the whole length.

How the did that happen?

When a rock gets caught up,

I don't know what you can do about it.

It's compromised big-time.

Compromised like you want a new one?

Yeah, pretty much.

happen. That ain't gonna

but that's where we're at.

Well, we're not getting a new one.

Do I look like a belt fairy?

So you just have to make it work.

And if it can't, if it doesn't work, what?

Are we done? -Figure it out.

You've still got a pile of gold to find.

So we're just gonna have to limp it through.

All right.

Parker: And rick has to just learn

that you don't get second chances at stuff like that.

Narrator: Mechanic mitch blaschke has found

a spare belt out in the yard.

But it's for a different kind of conveyor.

Ness: It's not really the right size.

Let's spin it so we can roll it down.

There we go.