Bering Sea Gold

Narrator: Nome, alaska.

The reason people come to nome is finding their dream.

That's what gold really is.

Narrator: For more than a century, starry-eyed miners

Have come with nothing but blind ambition.

117 years later, they're still dreaming big.

I know you keep thinking bluff's a pipe dream,

But I want to go down there.

For some, it's the next great hot spot.

Shawn: I'm looking forward to going out

And chasing this dream.

I guarantee you there's gold down there.

I've seen it.

We're gonna have to take a chance.

Narrator: For others...

Derek: I want to dominate. I want to be the best gold miner.

Narrator: ...It's changing the game.

The harder the struggle,

The better the reward in the end.

This is my dream.

Narrator: But for every dreamer, the goal remains the same.

Emily: I just want to get more gold than everybody else.

Is that too much to ask?

Captions paid for by discovery communications

Narrator: Leaving nome harbor.

We're about 300 feet

From this thing actually being in the ocean

Instead of on a piece of paper.

That's pretty awesome.

Narrator: The fleet's newest captain,

34-year-old derek mclarty,

Is setting out to make history.

I'd say I'm not nervous, but I'm not a good liar.

Narrator: After spending half a million bucks

Building his own mega dredge,

The high noon is headed for the grounds.

By far the biggest endeavor

That I have ever tried to tackle in my life.

I've definitely bitten off the absolute max

That I could chew.

At this point, it's make or break time.

Game on in a whole new way.

Narrator: For derek, this machine

Is the culmination of a lifetime of elbow grease.

I was definitely the black sheep of my family.

You know, my brother was student-body president.

And I was the dude on the skateboard.

Growing up, I was always interested

In taking things apart.

Every christmas, I'd ask for the same thing --

"could I get a remote-control car?"

Every christmas, I'd get a remote-control car.

And then I would take that thing down to every nut and bolt.

And I'd never put it back together.

We're looking for a big topo drop.

It's pretty virgin ground.

Basically, as far as big boats go,

We want to be the first ones to go out there and tear it up.

Narrator: Derek's strategy -- use the power of the dredge

To mine where no one's ever mined before, in deep water

Under massive amounts of sand.

I'm chasing that elusive pay that's a little bit deeper

Than other guys want to chase.

I mean, they just can't do it.

They don't have the suction.

They don't have the horsepower.

They don't have... They -- they don't have the high noon.

Let's drop anchor here. This looks good.

It's real interesting-looking.

Spenser and I are gonna go down, game face.

Give me your "a" game, please.

This is the first dive.

This is definitely dangerous.

This is when we're finding out exactly

What kind of animal we're trying to tame.

Narrator: Running a 12-inch hose with a turbo-diesel engine,

The high noon is the first of its kind...

I want to run this thing wide open.

I want to run it to two grand,

Whatever we can get out of that throttle.

...Pushing nearly double the horsepower

Of its closest competitor.

Derek: This pump puts out 3,000 gallons per minute.

Levi: Fire it up.

We're moving a ridiculous amount

Of material and water with this setup.

This is the big and nasty.

And, absolutely, it can kill you.

But, I mean, anything can kill you if you're dumb.

Narrator: With such immense power...

Let's make some gold, boys.

...The first test will require two divers.

Derek: All right.

I'm gonna make my way towards this nozzle.

Spenser: Yep.

Levi: Yes, sir. We're at 15.

I'm coming up a little.

Derek's getting ready to close the flap.

Good luck, boys.

All right.

Let's see what this got.

This thing's weak right now.

Yeah. It's not scary at all.

What the hell.

Man, that thing should just be running away right now.

You guys getting more rpm out of it?

We're sitting at 1,500.

I can't get nothing more out of it yet.

Okay. There's the hose

That goes from the turbo to the manifold.

It's the only hose going to the turbo.

What do you need to do to it?

All right. I'll give it a shot.

Narrator: By clamping the actuator,

Derek is hoping to jolt the turbo into life.

Hey, we're starting to climb.

Hold on.

Yeah, we're climbing.

1,700 rpm.

Hey. That's what we need.

Oh, yeah. Way better.

That's actually some suction.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's 1,700. You want 1,800?

Yeah. Give it to me.

That's 1,900.

Yeah, everybody's scared to work sand.

We're annihilating this

Narrator: With a 250-horsepower pump

Providing 2,000 rpms of suction,

The high noon is chewing up the sand.

I have never, ever in my life

Gone through this much sand.

The question is, is the sand hiding gold?

5 miles to the northwest...

...On the outskirts of nome...

Been panning for hours now.

Narrator: After a grueling 8-day run on the water,

Shawn pomrenke is cleaning gold for the second time this season.

Shawn: A couple weeks into the season,

Alls we got is 78 ounces, you know, 80 grand.

Back when I first started, it wasn't out of the ordinary

To do 10 ounces a day.

Now it's just been beat up and picked over so much,

It's harder and harder to find those spots.

That's why I want to venture out and get away.

-How's the clean up going? -Going good.

Just need some help panning here.

Man: I think this one's for you.

Narrator: So far, mr. Gold

Has scratched out 78 ounces worth 92,000 bucks...

Looks like we got money

To buy our excavator engine parts with.

Narrator: ...All of which has gone

To support his father's new inland mining dream.

More parts, more parts.

I'm gonna go down to the bluff.

I want to do at least a trip down there.

Narrator: But shawn has a dream of his own.

For crying out loud, ain't there

Some place closer than bluff?

Narrator: Over the winter...

There it is. There's the bluffs.

Narrator: ...Shawn traveled 100 miles into the bush...

There's a blizzard out here right now.

Narrator: ...To prospect a new claim.

Yeah.

Narrator: Striking gold...

Look at all that fine gold.

...On an untouched piece of sea floor

Known as the bluff. Now...

I'm really concerned about you thinking

That you're gonna go down to the bluff with that thing.

...Father and son are at odds about whether to return.

You take the boat out there, and it ends up sinking,

And then what do you got?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

You get 300 ounces,

Then maybe you can go to the bluff, maybe.

-No, maybe. -Get all the bills paid here,

And then go that way in case you don't have...

Well, yeah. Quit spending money.

Otherwise, we'll never have all the bills paid.

Gonna get me pissed off.

There are two different kind of risk,

Calculated risk and stupid risk.

Taking the christine rose down to the bluff, I think,

Is a stupid risk.

All right. I'm done.

Let's get this stuff cooked up.

Shawn: I don't care if he tells me

I can't go down to the bluff with the christine rose.

I'm gonna do it.

All right. You ready to do this?

What are we at?

Steve: 32.

46.

67.

90.

100.