Gold Rush

Jack: We could buy gold cheaper

than what we're doin' right now.

Narrator: On this "gold rush"...

Todd: You know, the reality is we're failing.

Turin: Go! Get!

It's gonna be the hardest thing we've ever done.

You're losing thousands of dollars a day.

We're not mining. We're just wastin' time.

At some point, you got to cut your losses

and you got to move on.

We need a decision.

Ness: No matter what has to happen out here,

I'm gettin' gold out of indian river.

You know, there's a lot at stake here for me.

This is personal.

Unless I see somethin' really screwed up, rick's the boss.

-You're kiddin' me. -Shut it down!

We're pullin' the plug.

Ness: I'm willin' to fight anything to keep this goin'.

Folster: We're not in the logging business.

We're supposed to be mining gold.

This is kind of a deal.

captions paid for by discovery communications

todd: To be honest with you,

and I'm tryin' to put a good face on it,

but I'm f-- I'm freaked out.

I'm really freaked out.

Narrator: One month into the mining season,

todd's massive gamble,

moving to oregon, isn't panning out.

To hit his 5,000-ounce,

$6 million goal,

the hoffman crew should've already mined close

to 1,000 ounces.

But they've got just 50 worth $60,000.

My wife's back home taking care of four kids.

I've got to be able to show her that this is payin' off.

Right now, it's not.

Spinks: You know, we all have families.

We all have bills to pay.

I'm pretty disappointed in the high bar

and what it's, uh -- what it's turned out.

I didn't come to oregon to, uh, wash gravel and not get gold.

We've got to get gold.

Dodge: Shut it down!

Narrator: Last week,

freddy dodge found a gold-rich streak,

which dave and the crew have been mining for the last 5 days.

It comes straight out.

Now, it's time to see if freddy's streak can

live up to its promise and keep todd's dream alive.

Pierce: Oh, boy.

That's a half ounce.

A half-ounce nugget I just found in this mat.

Turin: That's a nice one.

Whoa.

That's more like it.

Oh, another biggie.

We've got two big nuggets.

This could turn out to be a little bit better of a cleanup.

Hey, how we lookin'?

Well, I got some chunks here, yeah.

Yeah, some nice nuggets.

You know. All right.

Let's weigh it out.

Narrator: Their last cleanup was just 12 ounces worth $14,000.

Are you freaking kidding me?

I'm gonna go wake up the guys.

Why don't you throw your coat on, man,

and come on out there? Okay.

Hey, meeting right over here at trey's trailer.

Okay.

-Meeting at trey's. -Right now?

Yep. Right now.

Todd: Hey, guys.

That ground that freddy found last week...

64 frickin' ounces.

Wow!

we're back in the gold.

But we need to keep that going.

If we even have any kind of a remote chance on 5,000,

it's gonna take the high bar and the buckland.

Okay?

And we got to get the buckland set up, dave.

Tell you what, we got a hell of a lot of work to do.

So I need some people.

Why don't you take sterling and hunter?

We're gonna be relyin' on you guys to get pay dirt.

I know it's gonna be a stretch. It's gonna be the hardest thing

we've ever done, tryin' to run two mines.

But if we could get 200 ounces a week,

5,000 ounces is within reach.

Yep.

All right, man. Let's kick some ass.

Let's see if we can pull it off.

Narrator: The two claims are very different.

The mountaintop high bar claim

has isolated pockets of gold nuggets.

15 miles east, buckland is in a valley

and is said to have much deeper deposits of fine gold

on the bedrock similar to claims in the klondike.

Dave's first job at the buckland,

provide his wash plant a constant supply of water.

Got to start diggin' some ponds.

But the annual rainfall in this part of eastern oregon

is just 11 inches per year.

That's not much more than the arizona desert.

We've never dealt with anything like this.

And it's gonna get hotter.

We'll probably have to manage this water

better than we ever have before.

It's gonna be on you to make it work.

Okay? Uh, you think you can pull it off?

Yeah. We'll just have to do it.

We're in a desert. We got to figure somethin' out.

Let's get started on these ponds, huh?

Normally, I wouldn't take on a second mine,

but I'll tell you what.

The high bar is like a treasure hunt.

So I'd rather try and fail than not have tried it.

Turin: There's a lot riding on buckland.

We've got a chance to salvage the season.

Should I have them follow -- that first truck follow you?

Narrator: At the schnabel claim, 21-year-old parker

and his crew are also embarking

on a new chapter in their mining history.

Ness: Let's kick some ass!

Hey, rick, it's a big day for you, huh, bud?

Are you ready for this?

Absolutely.

Been waitin' for this.

Narrator: Over the last 3 years,

parker has opened eight cuts at scribner creek

and is currently mining the boundary cut extension.

Now, he plans to start up a second operation

3 miles southwest on the indian river.

Parker: This is all nice, virgin ground.

And, um, there's some good drill holes in it.

So hopefully, we can get this down to some gravel

and find some pay dirt.

Narrator: The second claim is crucial to parker's 4,000-ounce,

$4.8 million season goal.

But down here, he won't be calling the shots.

Parker: This is gonna be rick's show.

As far as I'm concerned when I'm down here,

unless I see somethin' really screwed up,

you know, rick's the boss.

This is it, dude. The big expansion.

There better be some gold in it.

Yeah. No kidding.

So you think you're ready to take this on?

Oh, yeah. You got to be. You know? Right?

Last year was a big test, and, uh, I work

the best under -- under that kind of stress load.

So I'm up for it.

We're givin' you the stress here.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's awful late in the year to try to be startin' strippin'.

Yeah, no kiddin'.

All right. Well, let's get to it.

-Yeah. -Gotcha.

All right. Brennan, you know what to do.

Get in there and sling that dirt.

Ruault: You got it.

Rock and roll, kelly.

Roger that.

Oh, this is kind of my -- my first big shot.

It's exciting. I mean, I -- I look back 5 years ago.

And I just can't believe I'm here already.

So parker's put a lot of trust in me.

And, uh, I sure as hell ain't gonna let him down.

Narrator: Rick's first job let's do this!

Strip the vegetation and clear 10 feet of overburden.

Ness: I think this mild spring really helped us out.

I mean, this is 100% thawed

all the way into the bedrock.

This should be a home run.

Narrator: Pretty soon, the dozers clear a large enough area

for rick to start digging gravel.

Ness: You know, this last 6 inches of mud left

on top of the gravel that I can't scrape off with a bucket,

so it chips up pretty easy with this ripper.

You're kiddin' me.

man, this is all f-- this is all frozen.

Parker: So what's goin' on here?

Well, comin' up with a whole lot of this.

Frozen gravel.

yeah.

The amount of work that it takes to clear frozen ground,

just it's not worth it. It's not worth the money.

We need to abandon it, deal with it next year.

Well, I mean, we're down here now.

I don't want to abandon it. I just -- all I need is time.

There's got to be thawed ground down here

somewhere though. You know what I mean?

Well, thind it.

If you can't find something thawed

that we can actually work with in the next week,

then we're pulling the plug.

-A week? -A week.