Bering Sea Gold

We've never had a season like this.

It's all a roll of the dice.

Man, it's a long ways down here.

It's not just how much gold's in the box.

I'm freezing up!

It's whether you're even gonna survive.

The ice is thin...

Thinner than I've ever seen it before,

the ice can break off at any moment.

Nothing's certain.

I just accept that each day...

Come on!

...Can be my last.

captions paid for by discovery communications

what's it looking like? It's not too bad.

There's a bit of gold turning up in the box.

A little bit in there, huh? Yeah.

Only days into winter mining

and shawn pomrenke is already on a pay streak.

Oh, we got some good dives in yesterday.

Seeing some good gold down here, but before we move,

I want to get down there and make sure

that this is the direction the gold's going.

Fighting to pay off his deposit

on the gold-rich tomcod claim,

shawn is willing to test the limits

of his gold-grabbing prowess.

The ice is pretty thin.

With it being this thin and the ice being so soft,

you can't really count on anything.

I don't want to have to hunt for another patch of strong ice.

Takes a lot of time off the box.

I'm gonna go down, stretch the hose out,

see how far I can stretch out,

and see where the limit of our gold is,

see which way it's going.

It's dangerous 'cause the further you get away

from the hole means the further you got to go back to get out.

So, if you get 80 feet away from the hole,

then you got to go 80 feet back, and I've had to go 80 feet

without any air,

freezing my ass off.

You lose air and you don't get up in time, you're done.

It's like a tug of war with yourself for your life.

You want to find the gold, that's what it takes.

Ready to go? Oh, yeah.

Yeah, you got to keep this old guy warm.

While shawn readies to put his life on the line...

My operation this ice season has taken a big hit

with a loss of 14.

I mean, 14 has always been my moneymaker,

and now it's not an option. It's impossible to mine there.

Emily riedel's season is on life support.

It's open ocean. After discovering the thin ice

at claim 14... That's the bering sea

right there.

14 done. No mining lighting here.

...Is already broken apart.

We've got to rethink the plan here,

and it looks like our best bet might be tomcod.

Shawn pomrenke is been mining that lease for dozens of years,

'cause he's an old ,

and so I'm gonna ride out to tomcod

where shawn's ice operation is

and request just permission to mine down there.

To get the 60 ounces she needs

to prep her expanding fleet for the summer,

emily will try to make a deal with mr. Gold

to access the tomcod claim.

We need a new place to mine,

and tomcod is legendary for having gold,

and this is really our best option at this point.

The season's success depends on shawn

giving me access to tomcod

and getting me on some coordinates.

I mean, I've never mind out on tomcod before.

I'm just a fish out of water out there.

Shawn's a businessman, so is undoubtedly gonna be

a pain in the ass in this negotiation.

But good thing I'm a pain in the ass, too.

I just worked my bottom off all last summer

to get the gold together to launch a second dredge.

This ice season really needs to happen

to supplement what I spent.

I've got to make this deal with shawn,

otherwise my expansion plan is a nonstarter.

oh, look at that. Here's emily.

Hey, how you doing?

What's up, emily? What's up?!

Oh, a handshake? Long time no see.

I thought I got hugs. Okay, hugs only from now on.

Hey, I wanted to talk to you about tomcod.

Yeah?

I hear that you're the new kingpin in town.

This is your lease now.

Yeah.

What's going on?

Yeah, dude, I was out on 14 with my crew yesterday,

and 14 is all open water.

Pretty much my whole season plan,

which was to say on 14, makes some money,

that just kind of...

It's in the garbage.

I mean, I got a mine somewhere. So I was wondering

I mean, I know that this is your lease now,

so I was hoping to maybe talk to you

about getting some permission.

And then just so we're both making money,

get some coordinates out of you so we know where to land.

well, hello.

Nice little opportunity to make some extra cash.

I have no problem with emily mining on my claim.

If I'm gonna be getting royalties from emily,

I'm gonna give her some decent coordinates.

So it makes it worth my while.

Yes. It's as good as

it's good for you, it's good for me.

We doing half-half? 50/50?

50/50. Really?

would you do that if you were me?

No, I wouldn't do it. Yeah.

well, what's fair? Well, I don't know, man.

I mean, I'd say if you can throw some coordinates

and give us access out here,

I'd say maybe something like 10%.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

That's pretty fair. You're making money, I'm making money.

That's giving it away.

That's not giving away. I've had to pay 20%

since I started out here. You pay 20%?

Yeah. Damn, I only pay 15% on mine.

Okay.

alright, so...

You say 50%.

I say 10%.

We go somewhere close, probably more like 20%.

20%? Yeah.

Uh...

So, 20% and I get some awesome coordinates?

I can probably throw in some coordinates.

If you throw in some coordinates,

give us permission, we'll do 20%.

Deal. Deal.

Thought we were hugging.

Oh, we want a hug, too?

oh...

Now go make me some money. Roger that.

Honestly, at this point,

I probably would've gone way higher,

but I'm glad I got it.

We're gonna get on something that produces,

and he's gonna make money, so it's a win-win

With his first tomcod tenant locked in...

I'm gonna go get suited up and head down.

...Shawn prepares to explore the farthest reaches

of his operation.

Now it's time to push it to the limit.

This is not a rookie move.

It's more and more dangerous

every foot further you get away from the hole.

But the tomcod does not come cheap.

I got to produce a lot of gold.

I'm still shaking off the rust,

but if this is what I have to do, so be it

come on, mr. Gold!

Head up!

alright, get the hose stretched out all the way.

Okay.

Man, it's a long ways down here.

Topside, cody keeps an eye on the umbilical hose.

As long as he's seeing yellow,

shawn is within a safe 50 feet of the dive hole.

After that, the hose is orange,

and shawn is in the danger zone.

I'm gonna go ahead and punch a hole.

Hopefully there's a pile of gold hiding under this.

Not seeing much gold yet.

Seeing a couple pieces here, couple pieces there.

nothing too exciting yet.

Maybe I got to go just a little deeper.

Where are you at? Oh, there they are.

Look at that.

There it is.

I'm not seeing some color.

Just have to go down a little bit more.

Lots of gravel coming through.

Yeah!

Bunch of gold in the box now, boy.

I'm gonna go ahead and stretch out the hose in this direction.

I want to see if the gold's moving this way.

On the pay streak, it's on shawn

to follow it as far as the hose will allow.

Which way are we going here?

Let's go this way.

you know which direction you're heading?

So, if we decide we're gonna move this thing,

got to know where to go.

Yeah, I'm at a place looking directly north.

Hey, that orange part of the hose is in the water

you got only about four to six feet of hose left.