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Gold Rush: Alaska - Season 16 - Episode 01: Records Will Be Broken
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00:00:05.
00:00:06Market volatility, gold stands out.
00:00:08Gold just hit a new record, $3,500 an ounce.
00:00:12And the price of gold has been climbing.
00:00:14This is somewhere that economists believe
00:00:16will continue to be a safe haven.
00:00:18It is more-
00:00:18Tony.
00:00:22Hey, Parker, how's it going, man?
00:00:24Good, how are you?
00:00:25Well, just hanging in there.
00:00:28Yeah?
00:00:29You got some of that tiny, shiny coming in?
00:00:31Yes.
00:00:32Good.
00:00:33It has all the makings of a good season, Parker.
00:00:35Hey.
00:00:36Gold price.
00:00:37Yeah.
00:00:38I don't even like to talk about it or look at it.
00:00:40Me neither, because it should be illegal.
00:00:42That's how high it is, isn't it?
00:00:44Well, then it, like, goes down $300, and I'm like,
00:00:46what's happening?
00:00:47And it's like, oh, it's still up $1,000.
00:00:49Yes.
00:00:49If you want to beef up your piggy bank,
00:00:52well, that'll be the year.
00:00:53Whether I want to say the number or not,
00:00:55because I keep saying it and not hitting it,
00:00:57but no, we're going to have to start doing $10,000 a year
00:01:01for a while now.
00:01:03That's a lot of bucks.
00:01:04You better get with it.
00:01:05Bring it on.
00:01:07You're going big?
00:01:08What do you need to do?
00:01:10Six, six and a half.
00:01:11If we do more, we do more.
00:01:13Yeah.
00:01:14Anyway, that has all the makings of a good year,
00:01:16as long as the price stays there.
00:01:18Yeah.
00:01:19No, it's good to see you.
00:01:20I'm glad you're doing well.
00:01:22Same to you.
00:01:23Hopefully the wars are behind us.
00:01:25Right.
00:01:31Bye.
00:01:32Bye.
00:01:36Tony and I have known each other for, you know, 14 years.
00:01:39That's wild.
00:01:41Like 99% of the time, it's great.
00:01:45That 1% absolutely sucks.
00:01:47And he's like one of the biggest on the planet.
00:01:50But 99% of the time, it's just wonderful.
00:01:55Maybe 95%.
00:01:5916 years ago.
00:02:02Three-fifths of an ounce, which is about $800.
00:02:06A global financial crash.
00:02:09Caused gold prices to rock.
00:02:11It's just gold fever.
00:02:13To $1,000 an ounce.
00:02:16I'm going to hit you in it.
00:02:18Sparking.
00:02:18Let's find it up.
00:02:19A modern day gold rush.
00:02:21It's alive.
00:02:22I washed the rocks, baby.
00:02:23But striking it rich proved harder than imagined.
00:02:28That's it.
00:02:29We're done.
00:02:30Now.
00:02:31Breaking news on Wall Street with stocks tumbling.
00:02:35Gold and safe havens, they are surging.
00:02:37Gold prices have more than tripled.
00:02:40To an all-time high.
00:02:43$3,500 per ounce.
00:02:46We're going gold mining, boys.
00:02:48Hang on!
00:02:51With just six months to cash in.
00:02:55Whoa, whoa, whoa.
00:02:56Are we here for a shootout?
00:02:59Top dogs.
00:03:00I don't ask questions.
00:03:02I give orders.
00:03:03Are you going to behave?
00:03:04And underdogs.
00:03:06I'm just a delivery boy.
00:03:07I don't really give a .
00:03:08I just want to get paid.
00:03:10Collide.
00:03:10I got a job offer from Parker.
00:03:14Look out!
00:03:15And played dirty.
00:03:16Should I trust you on this?
00:03:17Uh, yeah.
00:03:20To hit the jackpot.
00:03:22Holy smokes.
00:03:24That's a hell of a pant.
00:03:25We joke about it being an addiction, but it literally is.
00:03:29Some.
00:03:30You made a mess.
00:03:31Will not survive.
00:03:33Pick me out, somebody to fire.
00:03:35Get rid of it.
00:03:36It sucks, man.
00:03:37It really sucks.
00:03:38Others.
00:03:41Soar to new heights.
00:03:46You guys are killing it.
00:03:48There's nothing like making money of your kid system.
00:03:50And set records.
00:03:53I was not expecting that.
00:03:54You're the amazing.
00:03:55Yeah.
00:03:592,043 and a half ounces.
00:04:01That's wild.
00:04:02You get a pan.
00:04:03You get a pan.
00:04:04You get a pan.
00:04:05Genuinely, that's insane.
00:04:23The Yukon.
00:04:26North America's last frontier.
00:04:32For over a century, prospectors have scoured these valleys and creeks for life-changing gold.
00:04:41With just a few summer months to make their fortunes.
00:04:46The stars are aligned for us.
00:04:49Gold price is crazy.
00:04:50We've got a ton of ground prepped on Dominion.
00:04:53And we're going to be able to stretch our legs and really run and see what it's made out of.
00:05:00This is the year that we'll find out.
00:05:0530-year-old Parker Schnabel is on the precipice of a career-defining season.
00:05:10The gold mining prodigy, who started out with a crew of two, is now a mining mogul with 60 machines
00:05:19and a 40-person crew.
00:05:22We've got amazing people.
00:05:24And then we have, like, this crazy gold price.
00:05:27And we're dangerously close to things being really good.
00:05:32I just want to go to work.
00:05:34I just want to wash rocks and, you know, get sluicy-goosey for the tiny shiny.
00:05:41That's all I want to do.
00:05:44I did not, I have not told you how to do your job one time this whole year.
00:05:49Just 16 years old, when he first became a mine boss.
00:05:53I'm pretty young and it's tough to, you know, I never know if I'm doing the right thing or not.
00:06:00Parker struggled.
00:06:01I'm spending the money here and I make the calls.
00:06:04To manage his crew.
00:06:05If you can't handle it, then maybe this isn't the place for you.
00:06:09You are making an enemy out of me.
00:06:12But, as the young miner grew.
00:06:14In gold mining, you're only as good as the people you have.
00:06:17He evolved.
00:06:21Oh yeah!
00:06:22Look at that!
00:06:23Our season starts now!
00:06:25I'll stand behind them any day of the week.
00:06:27With a vision that spawned a gold mining empire.
00:06:31Wow.
00:06:32That's the biggest clean out we've ever had.
00:06:35And delivered more than $115 million in gold.
00:06:41This does not stop here.
00:06:45I'm losing faith in you guys.
00:06:48But last season.
00:06:50It's been one fight after the next.
00:06:53We're not making money when we're doing it like this.
00:06:55It's frustrating.
00:06:57I know what we were doing was wrong.
00:06:59Parker crashed and burned.
00:07:02Worst clean up ever.
00:07:07I don't like this feeling.
00:07:09I don't like being a loser.
00:07:12We came up short and it's not going to happen again.
00:07:16This winter I have spent all the money I can get my hands on.
00:07:20Buying equipment and hiring people.
00:07:24It's a challenge.
00:07:25This is kind of uncharted territory for me.
00:07:28So much going on.
00:07:30We just have to hammer down.
00:07:33Focus on washing rocks.
00:07:36Filling jars.
00:07:37And everybody's going to have to step up.
00:07:4240 miles southeast of Dawson City.
00:07:45Lies Parker's Kingdom.
00:07:47An area nearly the size of Manhattan.
00:07:51His main operation is Dominion Creek.
00:07:55Land he's bought.
00:07:56Where he'll run three wash plants to deliver the bulk of his gold.
00:08:0125 miles northwest.
00:08:03He'll send a satellite crew to Sulfur Creek.
00:08:06To hunt for pockets of gold.
00:08:08Left behind by the old timers.
00:08:12Running the enormous operation.
00:08:14Will cost Parker.
00:08:16A hundred thousand dollars.
00:08:18Each day.
00:08:19But.
00:08:20If he's successful.
00:08:21He could bring in more than 35 million dollars.
00:08:25In gold.
00:08:26This year.
00:08:29What's happening man.
00:08:30How are you guys.
00:08:31Yo yo.
00:08:32Doing good. How are you.
00:08:34Not too bad.
00:08:35Welcome to my map room.
00:08:37Very nice.
00:08:39Swear it all happens eh.
00:08:41How was your winter.
00:08:43It was good.
00:08:44I was a bum for the most part.
00:08:49To execute his master plan.
00:08:51Parker's counting on his trusted lieutenants.
00:08:54Mitch Blaschke.
00:08:55And Tyson Lee.
00:08:57We're gonna do 10,000 ounces this year.
00:09:04Like we keep talking about it.
00:09:06But we actually have to just do it.
00:09:08So.
00:09:09We're gonna run four plants this year.
00:09:12Wow.
00:09:14Trying to run four wash plants.
00:09:15It's like.
00:09:16We were all over the place last year.
00:09:17We're trying to.
00:09:18Yeah.
00:09:19Cover our bases.
00:09:20And like.
00:09:20We're gonna be spread out.
00:09:22You know how it is when that.
00:09:23Happens.
00:09:24Yeah.
00:09:24I know.
00:09:25I know that there's gonna be a lot of challenges.
00:09:27I'm not.
00:09:28I don't disagree with you.
00:09:31Tyson.
00:09:31I need you on Dominion.
00:09:33Running the whole operation.
00:09:37Right.
00:09:38So.
00:09:39Good luck.
00:09:40Thanks.
00:09:40I'll need it.
00:09:43I don't know what's gonna come out of Sulphur.
00:09:45And it's gonna be a difficult project.
00:09:48So.
00:09:48I need you to go over there Mitch.
00:09:49And get that sorted out first.
00:09:52We only have a partial season on the water license.
00:09:55So.
00:09:55We need to get it done in a hurry.
00:09:57All right.
00:09:58Parker's Sulphur Water License.
00:10:00A permit to pull water from creeks to wash gold.
00:10:04Expires in just 10 weeks.
00:10:06After that.
00:10:08He can't mind the claim.
00:10:10So what kind of crew do we have to get this done?
00:10:13We've hired a bunch of new people.
00:10:16Okay.
00:10:17One big thing.
00:10:19Is.
00:10:19People who can't do their job.
00:10:20We need to fire.
00:10:22We want to have the best of the best.
00:10:24But.
00:10:25You guys are the ones that gonna be able to make this happen or not.
00:10:28It's brutal.
00:10:29Right.
00:10:34It's gonna be a stressful year.
00:10:36For you two.
00:10:37Yeah.
00:10:40I know it's a bit of a daunting task.
00:10:42But like I'm excited.
00:10:43Exhausting.
00:10:44Yeah.
00:10:44No days off.
00:10:46You just had six months off.
00:10:48Yeah.
00:10:52Thanks for coming back.
00:10:53Yeah.
00:10:53I appreciate having you guys here.
00:10:55I'm looking forward to this season.
00:10:56Yeah.
00:10:56For sure.
00:10:57Thanks man.
00:10:57All right.
00:10:58Let's do it.
00:11:02There's a lot of work to do.
00:11:03There's a lot of gold to find.
00:11:05Now it's up to Mitch and Tyson to get the job done.
00:11:10Hopefully.
00:11:13The job will get done.
00:11:14Hopefully it's the two of them that does it.
00:11:16Is what I mean.
00:11:22Things are already starting off a little bit different here.
00:11:24Parker made it very clear that, you know, everybody's got to pull their weight and then some.
00:11:29We've got no room for error.
00:11:33Last year Mitch was in charge.
00:11:35This year it's going to be on my shoulders.
00:11:37Last year I was managing one wash plant.
00:11:40This year I'm going to be managing three.
00:11:43So no ups.
00:11:44We've got to find a ton of gold.
00:11:50Tyson's first mission is to start pulling in gold on Dominion's bridge cut.
00:11:56The crew has spent two years mining this spot with mixed results.
00:12:03Now Parker's season rides on it delivering big.
00:12:07But there's a problem.
00:12:09Over winter water flooded the cut.
00:12:13And the gold bearing pay dirt is buried under three feet of solid ice.
00:12:37I'm in the 250.
00:12:40Got Michael in the 390.
00:12:45Coming to work for Parker it's kind of a dream come true.
00:12:48I like the way he runs his outfit.
00:12:50His gear is really nice.
00:12:56We've got Amy here.
00:12:57First truckload ice heading out of the cut.
00:12:59First of many.
00:13:02This is my first time driving a rock truck.
00:13:07Before they can get to pay dirt, Tyson's crew needs to shift over 25,000 tons of ice.
00:13:24I think realistically how the hell are we going to do all this in a week?
00:13:31Right now I'd like to be setting up the wash plant and firing it up today.
00:13:35But we're a long ways away from that.
00:13:46How are things going?
00:13:48Well man, the ice is a lot thicker than we thought, eh?
00:13:51Yeah, there's a lot of ice in here.
00:13:53And it's really rotten.
00:13:55Mhm.
00:13:55So what's your plan?
00:13:57Just keep building piles, trucking off this ice.
00:14:01Right.
00:14:03Okay.
00:14:04We have extra trucks in the yard, no?
00:14:07You got any more people?
00:14:09Any more iron you can give us?
00:14:17I don't know.
00:14:19Okay.
00:14:23Thanks dude.
00:14:23No worries.
00:14:24See ya.
00:14:34If by the end of the week I don't have the ice out of this cut and the wash plant
00:14:38going,
00:14:39I will have failed my first task first week of the season.
00:14:44Parker just wants the ice out and the wash plant going.
00:14:47The long and short of it.
00:14:52I don't really want to spend money trucking ice.
00:14:56But we really don't have much of an alternative.
00:14:59So we're just going to have to suck it up.
00:15:03We need to get sluicing.
00:15:05That's going to be what makes or breaks the season.
00:15:31Yeah.
00:15:31Yeah, here we go.
00:15:32I can't believe we're sluicing as early as we are.
00:15:36started a season early but we want to keep that up everybody's in their eyes
00:15:4310 miles south at indian river king of the clondine tony beats is already two weeks ahead
00:15:50of his rivals we're giving a and the gold prize is in our favor we was losing days for two
00:15:57weeks
00:15:57we got the early bird cut was all taught ground so that was awesome tony's hoping for a quick
00:16:04score from the 13 acre early bird cut if the gold price stays where it is and we lose most
00:16:12of the
00:16:12summer like we did last year darn thing me you're gonna make enough money to set up three generations
00:16:21when there's opportunities there grab it 40 years ago tony and wife minnie left the netherlands
00:16:28to seek their fortune in the yukon all we have was 300 bucks i work 14 hours a day every
00:16:34day
00:16:36from nothing tony grew a 60 million dollar mining dynasty i'm trying to build a future for my kids
00:16:44they gotta take over they're gonna have to run the circus all by themselves
00:16:53piece of i've never ever never ever had that much horse here before until two years ago
00:17:01there's six seven million in the hole when the business descended into chaos
00:17:07i've never ever seen the up then i'm looking at it his family fractured he's running it into the
00:17:12ground he told me this cat was gonna be mine oh really yeah feeling a little shafted i shut down
00:17:23the
00:17:23plant you just quit you gotta be kidding me every time i'll tell you one thing i won't give up
00:17:33that easy
00:17:36but the klondike king pulled his family together our kids are really stepping up this year
00:17:41keeping son mike and daughter monica working for him i appreciate everything you're doing to help
00:17:48me anything for family monica but giving eldest son kevin the chance to set up his own operation
00:17:54how's that sound to you that sounds very very nice by the end of last season the more you make
00:18:01the better we like you make the beats had reeled in a record five thousand seven hundred and seventy
00:18:07seven ounces worth fourteen point four million dollars that's yours a hell of a lot better than last
00:18:15year it is not a time to sit back and enjoy this is a time to get together and get
00:18:24out there in the
00:18:25morning and make things happening you owe that to the next generation people can have money people
00:18:31can have a lot of things but kids and grandkids there's something that if you don't have that you
00:18:38don't have very much tony believes his claims could deliver a jaw-dropping sixty five hundred ounces this
00:18:48season worth more than twenty two million dollars
00:18:54hey guys hello how's she looking well yellow got yellow stuff good thing we started early mike huh
00:19:02yeah when the sun is shining you're better ready to make some hay yeah right especially at this price
00:19:08there you go not only is tony already sluicing he's the first to weigh out his gold i can always
00:19:16get more
00:19:16gold i cannot always get this price so let's wait and have a look at it
00:19:23all right ready let's go
00:19:31let's wait and have a look at it at indian river tony beats is gambling on an early season score
00:19:38to cash in on record high gold prices okay ready let's go go he's already sluiced nearly half of the
00:19:48early bird cut 50 60 70 which he's counting on to deliver at least 300 ounces 90 to 60 to
00:19:5990 300
00:20:02wow 360 390 417 and 56 ain't that a beaut that's pretty amazing in just two weeks the beats have
00:20:17pulled in one and a half million dollars i'd say it's a record for us that justifies as to what
00:20:24the
00:20:24we're doing that's a lot of money right there if we can keep this up we go so how have
00:20:33you planned
00:20:33out this summer mike you're gonna be on the hill as usual monica it would be nice if you could
00:20:39oversee
00:20:40in the gold room cleaning the gold sounds good to me but i was thinking you gave kevin a bunch
00:20:47of help
00:20:47getting him going so is there anything you're going to help us with there's some opportunities
00:20:56out there let's get these two places here going first and then we'll talk not making any promises
00:21:02until i have that in place right i'm okay with that you there you go so all hands on deck
00:21:11we gotta go
00:21:14i'm very interested to see what tony was talking about in terms of other opportunities
00:21:21i think it's really cool that kevin has gone out on his own but michael's been out here since he
00:21:28was 12. mike's really chomping the bit to do more things big picture goals i would like my own mind
00:21:36but right now it's not a priority i have a bunch of other i have to get done we'll see
00:21:42mike and monica they'll be hacking about getting started for themselves but right now we're busy
00:21:48other places so they're just gonna have to hang in there for a little bit anyway i never never
00:21:54had that much gold that early a great start to the season
00:22:16one hundred miles away in keno rick ness yeah that's a big pile of dirt is sitting on a pile
00:22:23of gold at his duncan creek claim i would say there's probably pretty damn close to 400 ounces
00:22:32sitting there and right now that's worth over a million dollars and uh it's ready to go our plant's
00:22:36sitting right there the bad news is is we still don't have a water license and we can't touch this
00:22:43blows my mind rick's water license essential to mining still hasn't come through until he gets it
00:22:52he can't mind duncan creek i almost don't even know if i should do this
00:23:00thinking it would make me thinking it would satisfy me it's probably just gonna make me more mad
00:23:14oh that's outrageous amount of gold in one pan
00:23:17i don't even know what the emotion is right now normally i see a pan like that and i hit
00:23:21the roof
00:23:23this is uh that's unbelievable and we can't touch it
00:23:36hit the bar patch rick ness i expected growing pains but this is outrageous
00:23:42is a fighter booyah with a small crew of buddies
00:23:50paying them out each season from his haul here's one of those for each of you guys you guys earned
00:23:55it
00:23:55a miner for 13 years what he's had highs that's like an ounce right there them everybody themselves
00:24:04and loads i don't know what else to do right now it's getting out of control always on the brink
00:24:12of
00:24:13losing it all that's one last farewell kicking the balls but last season this is it now this is all
00:24:20mine
00:24:22he bought his own ground let's go vegas valley here we go
00:24:28hit the jackpot and reeled in 4.5 million dollars in gold that's it i did it i've got some
00:24:37bad news
00:24:38only to be gut punched we've got a big problem with the water license being approved and i can't
00:24:45guarantee you'll have the license next year without the water license you can't mind
00:24:58the water license now rick must find a way to pull a rabbit out of the hat again what's up
00:25:05dudes
00:25:05how about you nice crutches yeah you like jose good start with nowhere to mind only half rick's crew has
00:25:15made it back for now well you guys have seen it all you've seen the good you've seen the bad
00:25:22you've seen
00:25:22the opportunity you've seen the setbacks it's a mess right now it's not just us i mean there's a lot
00:25:30of people getting screwed there's no one shutting the door right now saying that you know your water
00:25:34license is never coming in it's just tied up so what are we doing here with no water license
00:25:42it's not the only pile of gold out here and that's why you're here
00:25:45we just have to find another one but it's not going to be on this ground
00:25:53you know what gold prices are a thousand dollars more an ounce than when we left here last year
00:25:58i mean that's insanity this is not the year to quit no we need 1800 ounces this year
00:26:07yeah i know that these things seem down but you know what we are here and and i am going
00:26:11to find
00:26:11us a spot at the end of the day that's what we're going to do but if this water license
00:26:16comes through
00:26:17at any point this summer you bet your ass i want to move us back here i mean you haven't
00:26:21let us down
00:26:21yet all right hopefully rick understands what he's doing here and hopefully like wherever we're going
00:26:31it's going to be good i want to start moving some dirt these guys have stuck with me through a
00:26:36lot
00:26:36and glad to see they're sticking with me through this we will find a place of mine and we're going
00:26:40to make it work
00:26:53okay uh chelsea you ready ready gaden you ready yep ready all right then folks screen deck is
00:27:03turning on first time for the season let's go
00:27:15first scoop of pay going in for the season
00:27:23goody 2025 here comes you go
00:27:27at scribner creek just like his father tony second year mind boss kevin beats is ahead of
00:27:35the pack feels really good to sluice this early especially after last year
00:27:40it's it's nice to see it running
00:27:46so you want to look at some iron do you can we have this one last season with a little
00:27:51help from dad
00:27:53three two one
00:27:58kevin plunged his life savings into his own operation this is a big gamble so me and faith
00:28:04have to make this work that's looking really nice kev so excited but overall i think it's a pretty good
00:28:11day
00:28:12but almost from the get-go i'm trying to help you here and you're talking over me tempers flared
00:28:18you can stop being it's not fun to work with until foreman brennan ruo took control of the crew
00:28:27you don't want to hear it oh this is the piece squash
00:28:30i just know and the cuts yes finally
00:28:37better so nice work keep her going helping them score that's a big old beautiful a big payday
00:28:47yay money it's nice to be in the upswing honestly
00:28:54we made the right call of getting away from tony's i'm feeling really good about this year i think
00:29:00we're off to a strong start which is good because we have a big goal this year 2000 ounces
00:29:06figure may as well go double what we did last year aim big and with gold prices being as high
00:29:11as they
00:29:11are if there's any time to have a good big year for gold totals it is this year kevin's mission
00:29:19this
00:29:19year is to double his gold target and cement his place as a mine boss in his own right so
00:29:26our mining
00:29:27plan we left ourselves a p-bank last year that way we have money coming in from day one
00:29:36so day one sluicing this is gonna hopefully continue on well last year i was pretty frustrated
00:29:45out here with how much we're shutting down but brennan he knows what he's doing
00:29:53oh it's nice that i'm getting back it's always good to have returners who know how things run
00:29:58and you know you can rely on and brennan should be showing up soon oh feels good to be back
00:30:08in the
00:30:09yukon this feels like my second home howdy stranger how's it going guys not too bad right on we're
00:30:24wondering where the you're at my seatbelt so what's up we're starting to wonder we haven't heard from
00:30:32you in a bit so yeah um um i ended up getting a phone call there that i wasn't expecting
00:30:45to get
00:30:47um of another job offer um and uh it was a pretty good job offer so i've leaned towards taking
00:31:00that
00:31:00position
00:31:08who offer you the job well parker ended up calling me there which i was completely not expecting same
00:31:20yeah um really back with parker
00:31:26it was not you know there's just a few things in the offer that really aligned to what my future
00:31:30where i
00:31:31kind of see myself being in some goals that i have set you know what i mean no
00:31:39i wish he at least told us earlier so that we can plan
00:31:43if i had have known a lot sooner i would have said it a lot sooner right
00:31:50there's not really much we can offer you to get you back here this year i guess huh
00:31:53i've kind of already agreed to it
00:32:02well thank you for stopping by telling us okay guys
00:32:06you guys have a wicked season we'll see ya see ya
00:32:13well then
00:32:16two thousand ounces without the foreman is going to be
00:32:20a bit more of a project then isn't it it is kind of hard to find someone with brennan's
00:32:24experience that you can rely on if they're good they've got a job
00:32:30maybe we should go poaching too
00:32:33hmm
00:32:49we're down to the last bit of ice here in the bridge
00:32:52that once we get that out of here that means i can start getting bob ready to sluice
00:33:00three days into his ice moving marathon tyson's under the gun
00:33:07parker's given me and i've taken on more than i've ever taken on working here before
00:33:14can i do it i don't know but am i willing to find out yeah it could have cost me
00:33:19my job
00:33:19a hundred percent but i hope it doesn't
00:33:25if it does i'll be flipping burgers come visit me at the drive-thru
00:33:30and yes i will be spitting in them
00:33:36a 25 mile drive northwest i'm down here at sulfur just trying to get this cut opened up
00:33:44this cuts 2 000 feet long it got's probably uh big enough to land a small airplane on
00:33:55for a lot of miners this would be their whole season with multiple people working on it and right
00:33:59now i'm down here jumping from the dozer to the excavator back and forth ripping mitch has a two acre
00:34:06strip to mine out in just 10 weeks before parker's water license runs out if he fails he'll be forced
00:34:15to leave gold behind the time frame down here is definitely my biggest concern this water license
00:34:21is getting closer to expire by the minute and yet i'm the only one down here
00:34:36who we got here
00:34:45oh hey man what's up oh much my friend how are you oh busy good to see you pal come
00:34:53on i'll give you
00:34:54oh just don't let nobody don't tell nobody yeah keep that off the radio
00:35:03what's your plans well parker poached me you sent me up here to come to work with you
00:35:10no way man yeah buddy all right he said to me specifically you and mitch work so good together
00:35:17i want to get that band back together that's exact words out of his mouth dude that's awesome yeah i
00:35:22can't believe you didn't tell me brennan and mitch
00:35:31we're mining buddies on parker's scribner creek claim
00:35:35nice work yeah you too man they became co-formin that is perfect and a bromance blossomed
00:35:44are we good what a nice feeling
00:35:46hurry up you've had five days to get this done
00:35:52you're in charge or are you not in charge until five years ago when brennan quit after falling out
00:36:00with parker so over this man dude we've moved a lot of dirt and this year let me tell you
00:36:07what
00:36:07we got more than ever i could certainly use some help well that's what i'm here for you can jump
00:36:13in
00:36:13the dozer we just got to rip this edge i'm gonna start throwing everything back okay well i'm excited
00:36:25buddy
00:36:26it's time to move some dirt
00:36:32dude it's unreal to have you back here christmas came early
00:36:37in all the years i've been gone i've missed working with you every day of it buddy oh you're probably
00:36:43back because you heard we got taco tuesday you didn't mention you guys got a really good cook so
00:36:49that was a big plus for me
00:36:57oh that looks like parker
00:37:07how's it going hey welcome back thanks pal
00:37:12okay the whole sulfur project is kind of an interesting one because it's really hard to see
00:37:18what is pay and what is waste what you're really looking for is virgin banks or like virgin
00:37:25um sections this to me looks like virgin still right so you're forced to pan your way through it
00:37:36and see what's going on this is a totally different type of mine in this see
00:37:43three quarters of a century ago old timers used a dredge to mine sulfur creek pulling out more than 1
00:37:52.2
00:37:52billion dollars in gold but in its wake it left a mystery floating in a self-made pond the dredge
00:38:02traveled its way down the valley sluicing from one side to the other but above the water line the high
00:38:10banks were out of reach so gold was left untouched and where the dredge turned it covered up pockets of
00:38:19gold rich virgin ground with worthless tailings making sulfur a potential treasure trove of hidden gold
00:38:28gold if they can find it it's just going to take some time to figure out like i would be
00:38:36panning
00:38:36pretty constantly perfect sounds good to me okay
00:38:47we got so much water coming through here we got all this material we need to start moving it over
00:38:52we need it dry if we start just working this it's just going to get wetter and wetter we're not
00:38:58dredging so i want to just focus on the ditch here yeah okay i mean i agree with you but
00:39:05i just
00:39:05what about parker you know yeah but i mean if we just start digging in here we're going to be
00:39:11working
00:39:11underwater despite parker's rush to find the gold mitch ignores his orders to pan and decides to dig a ditch
00:39:20to drain the water the first thing we got to do and we're going to do is get rid of
00:39:24this water all right
00:39:33it's going really good i've got the ditch you know all the way to the top end of this cut
00:39:39which was 2 000 feet long and the cut's starting to drain out
00:39:45that's sulfur creek mitch has defied parker's orders to hunt for virgin hot spots and is ditching
00:39:53instead parker's planning on coming down today and doing some panning here but we got a lot of
00:39:59material that's still got to be moved here before it's ready to have parker have a look at this and
00:40:04see what he wants to do
00:40:14just hoping to have all this ready by now
00:40:20what the are you doing well this is not good what's happening
00:40:30i thought you might need some panning but i take it not right now
00:40:37yeah most important thing just trying to get rid of the water here so we can actually move the dirt
00:40:42we've got a pretty good system down we're just trying to get that corner cleaned out and then we'll
00:40:46be be ready for it there's a lot of work to do here i mean i just got brandon yesterday
00:40:56so
00:41:03there are two options find some virgin ground or else you can leave
00:41:13okay that's a waste of time
00:41:18yeah
00:41:31you know gold can buy a lot of things but it can't buy patience and the higher the prices go
00:41:36uh you know the less of that there seems to be around here
00:41:40parker wants things done in a certain way in order and i get that it's his business it's his company
00:41:45you know i've moved a lot of dirt up here and you know i'm confident in what i'm doing
00:41:51got the ditches down we got the cut drain in
00:41:54and you know in my opinion that's the right move
00:41:58i just wasted two hours
00:42:02we just need to get panning
00:42:08it's my first week back on the job haven't worked for parker for over five years now
00:42:12and you know he's already pissed off well this is the type of that made me leave the last time
00:42:30we're gonna have to pull the trigger on something otherwise we're gonna miss this whole season
00:42:35still waiting for his water license and desperate for somewhere to mine rick's on his way to prospect
00:42:42new ground at a nearby claim lightning creek you can go to any mine out here and listen to the
00:42:49guy
00:42:49tell you how much gold's on the property but which one's telling the truth not a single one of them
00:42:53so
00:42:53if we're gonna get any answers up there it's gonna be our own rick's mining in the keno mountains has
00:42:59been boom or bust the unpredictable ground almost bankrupted him six years ago until he hit the honey
00:43:08hole at duncan creek we do our own testing and see what we find and we know we can trust
00:43:13that
00:43:15rick's found gold on his duncan creek claim in two spots now he's hoping the pay streak extends to
00:43:23the lightning creek claim eight miles upstream near the gold mother load at mount hinton
00:43:31lightning creek is owned by rick's old landlord troy taylor ah there he is
00:43:57it's nice looking gold there rick then cut a handshake
00:44:08deal to buy the claim thanks rick appreciate that gambling millions of dollars i'm sure you're
00:44:14happy to see that on the promise of a gold bonanza holy this is your last chance
00:44:24it was a rocky ride but finally the deal was done bar one crucial detail
00:44:32i have to trust that that wireless is going to come through yeah you're all in yeah
00:44:39all in it was on troy to get the water license for rick but now that it hasn't come through
00:44:46he might have other ground for rick to kick the tires on looks like you've done a little bit of
00:44:51work
00:44:51here right a little bit yeah dad and i did some sluice in last september so yeah just you and
00:44:58your
00:44:58dad pretty much yeah just dad and i but what was the gold like i mean is it decent or
00:45:02yeah it was decent
00:45:04the gold is good here we had some good results last fall dad and i did some testing and uh
00:45:09we're
00:45:09pleased lightning is just like upper duncan in the sense that it's flowing through a canyon
00:45:15hopefully gold has been flushed out of those canyons like upper duncan into this main valley
00:45:21how much overburden is on top of like it's not bad it's just uh so it's about five feet of
00:45:26of muck and
00:45:27sand and great to pay then yeah that's it yeah and i would just take about 15 feet and uh
00:45:34then we get
00:45:35into another it's kind of like a false bedrock and that's where i would stop for now so the the
00:45:40pay
00:45:40layer was 15 feet yeah that's more than i expected i know that we're not the only ones fighting this
00:45:47water
00:45:47license stuff this year what's the deal with this one here how many more years are on it yeah that's
00:45:52a good question we this is good till 2028 so you got a few more years here and we do
00:45:57and why give us
00:45:59the option i mean it's just you know why aren't you doing it
00:46:07well i feel bad about this whole water license thing so i want to give you a shot
00:46:11here and uh dad and i can step aside for a year if you want to you want to go
00:46:18here so
00:46:19there's no cost on your royalty yeah there's no uh a lot less risk for us so yeah and they
00:46:25don't
00:46:25sound like a salesman but there is other people that have been calling me over the winter so
00:46:33but and i i've been holding on to this for you so i i'm hoping that we can work something
00:46:38out yeah
00:46:41yeah you know i mean i i can trust you on this uh yeah we've been what six years now
00:46:50together so
00:46:51yeah i think uh i mean i just there's no been no no shortage of surprises out here
00:46:59i can't wait too much longer dad and i are gonna keep mining or get somebody else in here so
00:47:05no i understand that we got the trauma here today so we get some testing done and
00:47:11try to make a decision as quick as we can so let's do it
00:47:17it's definitely getting harder to trust people out here you know gold's at a premium water licenses are
00:47:21rare as can be the vultures are circling
00:47:26troy he always seems to have the answers when i don't so it's uh you know it's a win-win
00:47:30for troy
00:47:43we need this to work out because we need to get somewhere to go binding and we need to quit
00:47:53still waiting for his water license rick ness has to move his operation and is hoping new ground
00:48:02at lightning creek will be worth it we've already done a couple of test holes but i want to do
00:48:07one
00:48:08more here that's a lot of big bullies out of this could be nice stuff troy taylor has already stripped
00:48:17a section down to pay dirt so rick's making spot checks on the stripped ground he'll run two square
00:48:23yards of pay and is looking for at least a gram from the run by the sounds of troy that
00:48:29you know
00:48:30it's looking pretty good here but i have kind of some doubts here but at the same time i i
00:48:35really hope
00:48:36this is going to turn out for us that should be a good enough speed yeah for sure yeah i'll
00:48:52go get
00:48:52the water going okay hey ricky we're ready for you to throw some in if you want i'll give her
00:49:03a shot
00:49:04this bucket's kind of big i'll probably make a mess
00:49:15it's washing the rocks really nice so hopefully it gives us good breeding
00:49:24that's the last of the dirt that's it we got our test done yeah we'll have to clean it out
00:49:28and then
00:49:28uh get the hell out of here and wait see what we got shut her down clean her up yeah
00:49:34man okay let's do it
00:49:37it doesn't have to be hot but it's got to be hot enough for us to buy
00:49:51let's go oh hello hello back at camp the fate of rick season rests on the results of the lightning
00:50:00creek test
00:50:01some nice pickers in the yeah if the gold is good it could be the lifeline he needs what's the
00:50:10ground
00:50:10like down there it's pretty shallow um seems like only about an average of about five feet overburden
00:50:16maybe a little bit more and then a solid 15 foot thick pale there well that's pretty good that's a
00:50:22really good you know ratio i don't expect it to pay out like vegas valley but but who knows
00:50:29shall we see if it's even worth it we shall weigh some gold all right i don't think i've ever
00:50:36weighed
00:50:36up this small amount of gold but let's get it all in there rick wants at least a gram from
00:50:42his two-yard run
00:50:58we got 0.525 on there just half what rick was hoping for so is it worth it
00:51:12no
00:51:17we're gonna be sitting here with our hands out no place to mine we're screwed
00:51:35we had a super fast start to the season we have cleanups and a couple bucks in the bank
00:51:40a hundred miles away tony beats has already banked 1.5 million dollars in gold
00:51:48there's more pressure on mike this year i mean mike has been running paradise hill like it's his but it's
00:51:54not his it's still mine
00:51:55so maybe we'll have to do something with him he wants a piece of the action too
00:52:01once he has the hill up running well then we'll just see what we can pull off
00:52:09tony's mining operation is split between two claims indian river where he's already sluicing pay from
00:52:17the early bird cut and 40 miles away paradise hill the core of the family business for over 30 years
00:52:26hey mike d copy mike d copy try the kitchen would you please
00:52:33hey mike how are you oh good yourself no complaints
00:52:41last year i was back and forth a bit but this year you won't see very much of me
00:52:45you got lots to do here i know but i got quite a pile going on in the indian too
00:52:50but this gold price if we don't get on it boy i tell you
00:52:55let's get it on the go get down the play door this week that seems a little excessive
00:53:00oh really step up to the plate yeah make some money so i can spend some more how's that don't
00:53:11worry dad i'll help you with that okay anyway mike i i can't shoot sit around there like you do
00:53:17i
00:53:17gotta go to work well if you did your job there you'd have more time yeah both mike i'm leaving
00:53:22see
00:53:23you later catch you later dad yeah i love you too
00:53:30my gold do my job well and get the results my dad wants so i'm going to get as much
00:53:36gold as i can
00:53:37this year because with the prices as they are you're a moron if you don't take advantage of that
00:53:45while tony's based at indian river he's giving mike sole charge of paradise hill entrusting him
00:53:52with a nine-man crew to supersize the super pit more responsibility more authority
00:53:59but i want to focus on stripping before i get sluicing
00:54:03so that i can just when i get sluicing i don't stop
00:54:10over the last three years the beats family has cleared out nearly four million tons of worthless
00:54:17overburden creating an 18 acre super pit the cut is home to the klondike's fabled white channel pay
00:54:27concentrated gold washed down directly from hard rock deposits so far it's produced over 4 000 ounces of
00:54:37gold worth 15 million dollars this year mike plans to extend the cut by nearly 50 percent opening up
00:54:47eight more acres of ground tony wants the first acre down to pay by the end of the week
00:55:01we're gonna have a whole whack load of stuff opened up so we have a lot of work ahead of
00:55:06us
00:55:09our dad bought six new trucks we're gonna strip strip strip strip strip strip
00:55:16another year of paradise is glad to be back we got brand new rock trucks
00:55:20just hauling overburden from the cut we're trying to expand
00:55:25to get down to the gold bearing pele
00:55:28a d11 dozer rips and pushes the worthless waste dirt called overburden to two excavators
00:55:36which load it into rock trucks haul it 2 000 feet away and dump it on the waste pile
00:55:46hopefully get sluicing here in paradise soon get that gold coming in
00:56:06the cat truck has flipped the cap of the cat truck has flipped
00:56:11oh i i'm stuck in here
00:56:16right on the edge
00:56:38at paradise hill a brand new 750 000 rock truck has flipped
00:56:46with driver graham trapped inside the cab hanging on the edge of a 200-foot drop
00:56:53this side is just
00:56:54i wish mike could hurry up because if the bank starts to go
00:57:00this is not the circus i signed up for
00:57:05do i still have all my windows you still have all your windows yes
00:57:16the exhaust and hoses are pretty pulled too oh my hood
00:57:22breaking our new truck right away here it's slowly dropping more and more which is a little nerve-wracking
00:57:32uh as long as you get me pulled out of here before i flip okay well you can't get out
00:57:39too big
00:57:48hey mike
00:57:52oh what the is he still in there yeah
00:57:56He won't fit through that window.
00:57:58If you could double its size, he wouldn't fit.
00:58:00Rescue him for sake.
00:58:02We're supposed to be in charge.
00:58:05Kick out the window.
00:58:08Make him stand on the steering wheel,
00:58:10stick his head out of the window, kick the thing in.
00:58:13That way, his eyes and ears and everything will be fine.
00:58:16Get his fat ass out.
00:58:18OK, you ready, Graham?
00:58:19I guess so.
00:58:37Holy crap.
00:58:45OK, you can try climbing up the seat there.
00:58:59Well, feels good to be out, but still a little shaky.
00:59:03Yeah.
00:59:05Glad it didn't go over the edge fully.
00:59:07That's wow.
00:59:10Could be fired, could not be, depending on the mood.
00:59:14Hey, Mike, put it on the grass.
00:59:16To set the 36-ton truck back on its wheels, Tony and Mike use the 520-horsepower D10 dozer,
00:59:27while the 480 excavator holds the box in place to stop it dropping over the edge.
00:59:33Perfect.
00:59:34Pull the .
00:59:39Pull it.
00:59:41Keep it going.
00:59:42Keep it going.
00:59:46Perfect.
00:59:52I'm very sorry, Tony.
00:59:54I know.
00:59:55I'm not really thinking anything I do about it, because you're on the frost and they're slippery.
00:59:59I still feel bad since it's a brand new truck.
01:00:02Well, that doesn't matter.
01:00:03That happens, my man.
01:00:05I was expecting it to be a little bit more aggravated.
01:00:09I flipped one of the new ones.
01:00:11There's no use firing people out of his neck, because when you fire somebody,
01:00:15there's two people that lose.
01:00:16I lose an employee, he loses his job.
01:00:21It's too bad we had to break the window, but so it is, I guess, right?
01:00:25Yeah.
01:00:26I'd be the hood be f-ing fended, I'll be f-ing the railing, I'll be f-ing.
01:00:30Nobody hurt, that's always a big thing.
01:00:32Yeah.
01:00:33For Mike, it's now a fight to hit pay dirt by the end of the week with one less truck,
01:00:40and show Tony he can run Paradise Hill on his own.
01:00:45It's enough horseshit.
01:00:47You want to prove yourself.
01:00:48I suggest you get with it.
01:01:01Brennan and I are trying to get as much ground up and up down here at Sulphur as possible.
01:01:05At Sulphur Creek, Mitch and Brennan have finally drained the cut and exposed what could be their first hidden pay
01:01:15pocket.
01:01:16How far did the dredge get over here, figure out what's left for us?
01:01:21Now, they're ready for Parker to pan.
01:01:25Hopefully we got something for him to look at.
01:01:28Old Parker likes to see the gold and, you know, he wants it now.
01:01:33Like this, to me, looks virgin.
01:01:41I really don't know what to expect.
01:01:58I'm just going to show Mitch.
01:02:03One pan out of the downstream edge of your ditch.
01:02:07Holy smoke.
01:02:10That's why we're doing this.
01:02:13Wow.
01:02:14And that's pretty exciting.
01:02:18Find it again.
01:02:20Yeah, hopefully there's more of that.
01:02:23That was a really good pan.
01:02:24Now we just need to get a wash plant in here and find out what mines like it pans.
01:02:3125 miles southeast at Dominion Creek.
01:02:35We got the ice out of the bridge cut.
01:02:38We got pay stacked up.
01:02:40Now it's time we get sluicing.
01:02:42Tyson is on the clock.
01:02:44Parker wants wash plant Bob sluicing by the end of the day.
01:02:49I haven't talked to Al Kalim yet.
01:02:51There will be no waiting.
01:02:54Parker has made that abundantly clear.
01:03:01How's it going, guys?
01:03:03We're ready to run dirt.
01:03:08The hopper's going to be the main holdup for Bob starting.
01:03:12The pre-wash hopper feeder?
01:03:14Yeah.
01:03:15This feed chain system is .
01:03:17This plant can't run without it.
01:03:20Man.
01:03:21It would have been nice if you told me that.
01:03:23The feed chain system, which drives the wash plant's pre-wash conveyor, is broken.
01:03:29And the mechanics want to install a new one.
01:03:33Parker, he wants Bob running today.
01:03:38There's no getting around to this right now.
01:03:40Yeah.
01:03:42me. Let's get at it.
01:03:45We got a lot of work to do.
01:03:59Mr. Justin.
01:04:01Hey, boys.
01:04:02Mr. Bill.
01:04:04What's going on?
01:04:06We brought a rush, rush project.
01:04:10At Dominion Creek, Parker's mechanics are hustling to fix the feed chain system on Bob's pre-wash conveyor.
01:04:19All right, well, let's get this thing unloaded and get at it, because it ain't going to fix itself.
01:04:25The pre-wash conveyor moves pay dirt into the shaker to be washed.
01:04:30The motor, which turns the conveyor's front drive shaft, is connected via a small chain and sprocket.
01:04:38But over time, the chain tightened, pulling the shaft inward, breaking apart the sprocket and bearings.
01:04:46To fix this design fault, the mechanics will remove the small chain and sprocket, fit a new front drive shaft,
01:04:56and align the motor so it sends power directly to the shaft.
01:05:05Chain is up.
01:05:09There we go.
01:05:10Let the motor come out of there nice and easy.
01:05:15Okay.
01:05:16We're laughing.
01:05:19This is the final fit.
01:05:27There we go.
01:05:28Perfect.
01:05:33Right, so that, that is it.
01:05:37Copy, Alec.
01:05:39Go for Alec.
01:05:41You are ready to roll, my friend.
01:05:44Sweet.
01:05:45We'll come grab it.
01:05:51Wide load coming to you.
01:06:00Well, look at this.
01:06:01You guys pulled it off.
01:06:02What do you say we can get Bob running?
01:06:14Keep it coming.
01:06:18Lift it up a little bit.
01:06:21Whoa there, buddy.
01:06:23There it goes.
01:06:24You're in.
01:06:30Beautiful.
01:06:33Everything's in place.
01:06:35Okay, you guys ready?
01:06:37Yep.
01:06:37Yep.
01:06:38Well, here we go.
01:06:39Let's fire bomb up.
01:06:44Take your decks on.
01:06:46Here goes the pre-wash offer.
01:07:08The pre-wash conveyor delivers pay dirt to the plant.
01:07:13Water jets blast the gold and fine dirt off the rocks.
01:07:18The pre-wash conveyor delivers pay dirt to the plant.
01:07:19A shaker deck vibrates a set of screens to separate out the larger rocks, while the smaller gold-bearing material
01:07:28washes down into two 14-by-10-foot sluices, where the riffles and mats catch the gold.
01:07:39Beautiful sight right there, Liam.
01:07:41First wash plank going on Dominion.
01:07:43That is a beautiful sight.
01:07:46With three days sluice time before the end of the week, Tyson's on the gold.
01:07:52Parker's big push for 10,000 ounces is on.
01:07:56Bob's got a lot of ground to get through this here.
01:08:11Miners across the Yukon are gathering at Dawson City for the Klondike Placer Mining Association meeting.
01:08:19The KPMA warn a glut of unprocessed water licenses is putting livelihoods at risk.
01:08:26What a joke.
01:08:28Desperate to start his season, Rick is in Dawson to meet the Klondike Placer Mining Association.
01:08:35A local union working with miners with no water licenses.
01:08:40My back's against the wall.
01:08:42I've been up to my elbows in this, you know, in this whole water license stuff.
01:08:45It sucks, man. It really sucks.
01:08:48The state of the industry is not too great.
01:08:49A lot of people in the exact same boat as me with the water license and all that.
01:08:54I'm hoping that the KPMA, maybe they know when these are going to get approved.
01:08:57Give me some kind of reason to stick with Duncan Creek.
01:09:00You know, without it, I don't know what the hell we're going to do.
01:09:01Hey.
01:09:03There's somebody I know.
01:09:05What's going on, buddy?
01:09:06How you doing?
01:09:07I'm okay. How you been?
01:09:09I'm all right.
01:09:09Better than you.
01:09:11Yeah?
01:09:11I've heard what's going on.
01:09:13Oh, man.
01:09:14There's a lot of people that are pretty screwed up by it.
01:09:16And the thing is, the forces that are against the mining have so many tactics to stall things.
01:09:23And it's death by delay.
01:09:25Yeah.
01:09:26This is absolutely right.
01:09:27Right?
01:09:27Just shoot me in the head.
01:09:28Don't give me a slow death.
01:09:30Yeah.
01:09:31But let's see what they do in the meeting.
01:09:32And then why don't I buy you a beer afterwards?
01:09:35I appreciate that, man.
01:09:36All right.
01:09:38Let's just go in this meeting and see what they say and go from there.
01:09:50Something's got to give.
01:10:06Yeah.
01:10:07I've had enough of that.
01:10:08Big waste of time.
01:10:10It gets us nowhere.
01:10:12It's just a bull , you know?
01:10:13Like, who's ass do I put my fist up to get some results here?
01:10:16And maybe I'll be done.
01:10:18Who knows?
01:10:18Who the knows at this point?
01:10:20Probably gonna go have a beer.
01:10:21Maybe 10.
01:10:23In Dawson, with no breakthrough on his water license, Rick's hopes of mining this season...
01:10:29Best seat in the house!
01:10:30...hang by a thread.
01:10:32Whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:10:33What's up?
01:10:34Good to see you, buddy.
01:10:35Good to see you.
01:10:39Yeah.
01:10:39You know, the last time we were together was, um, 14 years ago.
01:10:44Really?
01:10:44You think that was the last time I was still young?
01:10:47That's a long time ago.
01:10:48What?
01:10:51I remember, I was like, I think Tony Beetz is like the coolest guy in the world.
01:10:56And I want to be like Tony.
01:11:00That'll be a long time, but you know what?
01:11:01Been good years, right?
01:11:03Yeah.
01:11:03Every year I have more fun.
01:11:05Good for you.
01:11:06And it takes a lot to get me jealous, but when I roll by, you have so much equipment
01:11:11running.
01:11:12Yeah.
01:11:14So, how's Rick?
01:11:16You having fun?
01:11:18No.
01:11:19The KPBA has gotten us nowhere.
01:11:21Basically, we can't touch Duncan Creek.
01:11:23Ooh, that's not very good.
01:11:24No, it's kind of a slap in the face.
01:11:27Do you have that other block of ground?
01:11:30Lightning Creek?
01:11:31Yeah.
01:11:31Um, well, I don't have it.
01:11:34It's Troy, so it's Elise.
01:11:36But he's like a pretty reasonable landlord.
01:11:38He is.
01:11:39And, you know...
01:11:40They're not like me.
01:11:41Yeah.
01:11:42I wasn't going to say that, but yeah.
01:11:45And you've done like one test or a bunch of tests?
01:11:48We did a few tests there.
01:11:50Not very happy about it.
01:11:52But there's a license there for three years.
01:11:54That's pretty good.
01:11:56But I'm not sure if there's a lot of gold in it.
01:12:00But, I mean, you have one thing going for you, and that is like, gold price is so good.
01:12:06Yeah.
01:12:06No, I hear you.
01:12:06Yeah.
01:12:07But this is definitely a gamble.
01:12:09Oh, .
01:12:10Gold price is excellent.
01:12:12If you're lucky enough to have a license, hurry the up, mine the out of it, and leave.
01:12:18That's it.
01:12:19You just got to get out there and wash as many rocks as you can.
01:12:23Get the over that and make it work, right?
01:12:28You're right.
01:12:30Make some money.
01:12:31Oh, yeah.
01:12:33Hope it goes well.
01:12:35Well, I've got to run.
01:12:37I've got a dog that needs a walk.
01:12:40Parking it was fun.
01:12:41Rick.
01:12:41It's great to see you guys.
01:12:42You too, for sure.
01:12:43There you go.
01:12:44Hey, let's not wait another 14 years, huh?
01:12:46Yeah.
01:12:46Yeah, do it.
01:12:48I've known Rick for 15 years.
01:12:51He was there for all the years where I was just like scared to death of going broke.
01:12:55I was scared to death of people taking advantage of me.
01:12:58I was scared to death of Tony kicking me off the ground.
01:13:01This business eats you alive if you're not ready for it.
01:13:06With Rick, I could definitely see him losing everything and leaving the gold fields broke.
01:13:15But I could also see him building an empire.
01:13:19And I really hope that he's successful.
01:13:22I do.
01:13:24I cut my teeth out here with Parker.
01:13:25I've known Tony since the day I walked into the Klondike.
01:13:29And they've always had good advice and I'd be foolish not to take it.
01:13:33I've got Lightning Creek as an option right now.
01:13:35And we're going to take that option and we're going to run with it.
01:13:49I'd like to remind all rock truck drivers and the hoe operator working in the cut.
01:13:52Keep going.
01:13:53Keep skimming her off.
01:13:54Strip, strip, strip, strip, strip, strip.
01:13:57After a disastrous start managing Tony's Paradise Hill claim, Mike Beetz is racing to get down to pay.
01:14:06Mike's doing the best with what he's got, but we need to move this dirt, get to the gold, get
01:14:10to the pay.
01:14:13Our guys are doing real good.
01:14:14They're moving a lot of dirt.
01:14:17Some of this like right here, this is not very far from the pay.
01:14:21There's so many rocks, that's usually a good indicator that's good stuff.
01:14:27If you want to drive in, I can grab my Kubota because it makes its way in.
01:14:30Yeah, let's walk.
01:14:33Looks like you need it.
01:14:38Mike, do you copy Mike?
01:14:40Yeah, go ahead.
01:14:42We're down to pay here.
01:14:44Do you want to come check it out?
01:14:46I'll be there in a minute.
01:14:49A little bit clay in it, but it's got the rocks.
01:14:54Could be a fair chunk, huh?
01:14:56Let's grab a pan.
01:15:03Now what if I forgot how to pan?
01:15:06It'll be .
01:15:07Give me a rock.
01:15:11Where would you like it?
01:15:13Right there.
01:15:15Thank you, sir.
01:15:34Look at that.
01:15:39A good pan.
01:15:41Nice, fine stuff.
01:15:43Yeah.
01:15:43It's fine as frog hair, as they say, but that's on the top anyway, right?
01:15:49But we can sluice that, Mike, eh?
01:15:50Oh, yeah.
01:15:51Without a question.
01:15:55We hit pay in Paradise Hill.
01:15:57The Indian sluice lot is doing a good job.
01:16:00So everything is looking up.
01:16:02Everything is looking pretty good.
01:16:04Be all in business.
01:16:06Perfect.
01:16:13We're back.
01:16:15Hold on.
01:16:16Before Tyson cleared all the ice, Parker turned the bridge cut into a racetrack.
01:16:25Oh, .
01:16:38Just push on the front a little bit.
01:16:41Come on.
01:16:41Get in there.
01:16:47Cody, get in there.
01:16:49Cody, get in there.
01:16:50Cody, get in there.
01:16:56Cody, get in there.
01:17:02Every light on the dash is on.
01:17:04You know any good mechanics?
01:17:06Dude, they're going to kill me if they find out why this happened.
01:17:09Don't tell anybody.
01:17:19We're down to foreman.
01:17:21But I think being as set up as we are now, it is doable.
01:17:24And, well, we are going to try.
01:17:27Tony's eldest son, Kevin, has been running his Scribner Creek mine for a week,
01:17:33relying more on operator Caden Foote.
01:17:36This is the earliest I've started sluicing in a season.
01:17:39But I feel like it's going to be a bit of a struggle without Brennan.
01:17:44He was an all-around great foreman.
01:17:49We really got to, as a team, come together so we can get as much out as we can.
01:18:00Hey, man.
01:18:01Got some yellow .
01:18:05Hi, guys.
01:18:06Hey, man.
01:18:07How's it going, pal?
01:18:08How are you?
01:18:09Not too bad.
01:18:10Kevin leases the ground from Tony and pays a 10% royalty on any gold he finds.
01:18:19So, your second year on your own. How are you feeling about that?
01:18:23You going to cross it?
01:18:25Honestly, I'm feeling pretty good.
01:18:28Ready to roll this year. You don't have to buy this, buy every thing, right?
01:18:32Yeah.
01:18:33So, that's got to make a lot easier start this year.
01:18:36It definitely is a lot nicer to hit the ground running.
01:18:39What's happening with Brennan?
01:18:41Well, we didn't know he was showing up, and then he finally came and talked to us.
01:18:46Told us that he wasn't coming back.
01:18:49It would have been nice if we would have let you know that in the winter.
01:18:52It would have been nice, for sure.
01:18:53That's people for you again.
01:18:55That's people for you.
01:18:56Oh, yeah.
01:18:56So, who gives a .
01:18:58Next.
01:18:59That's how it goes next.
01:19:03Uh, Tay, you had a nice early start.
01:19:05And have some gold coming out of the ground right away?
01:19:08Yeah.
01:19:09What's your gold?
01:19:10My gold is $2,000.
01:19:12And we already have a little bit of chunk of gold at the start of the season.
01:19:15So, that's nice.
01:19:18Do you maybe think we can weigh it up?
01:19:20All right. Are we ready?
01:19:22Kevin ran his stockpiled pay for one week at Scribner Creek.
01:19:2615.
01:19:2820.
01:19:3030.
01:19:3240.
01:19:3450.
01:19:4057.04.
01:19:43$200,000 in gold.
01:19:47$60,000 more than the same amount was worth last season.
01:19:52And that's how many hours?
01:19:5470.
01:19:5570.
01:19:5570 hours.
01:19:56So, it's a little bit less than...
01:19:57Yeah.
01:19:58Yeah.
01:19:59That's still nice.
01:20:00Oh, yeah.
01:20:01That's better than zero.
01:20:02Oh.
01:20:03This is your cash in, so you may as well get with it, right?
01:20:06Yeah.
01:20:06You know?
01:20:08Okay, woman.
01:20:09Let's get the out of here.
01:20:10Let's go.
01:20:11We have to work, so we'll talk to you guys later.
01:20:14Ladies and gentlemen, don't work too hard.
01:20:16Bye.
01:20:16Bye.
01:20:16Bye.
01:20:18Hey, dog.
01:20:21That was a decent quote, eh?
01:20:22Eh, not too bad.
01:20:24It's kind of nice to see this yellow stuff this early in the season.
01:20:27I'm sure the folks would be happy for us, too.
01:20:29But the big thing we are looking for right now is the foreman.
01:20:34We'll get hiring, and something will show up.
01:20:40Nice little haul.
01:20:41I mean, it's a good start.
01:20:42It's a couple bucks, huh?
01:20:44Royalty-wise.
01:20:45Royalty-wise, yeah.
01:20:47It's all right.
01:20:48There's nothing like making money of your kids, is there?
01:20:56What's happening?
01:20:58How's it going, man?
01:20:59Going good.
01:21:00Good.
01:21:01Been a while since we've done one of these.
01:21:03Yeah.
01:21:06Pig cat!
01:21:07Hey!
01:21:07He is back!
01:21:09How's it going?
01:21:11Welcome back.
01:21:12Yeah, thank you.
01:21:13It's good having you back.
01:21:14Yeah.
01:21:14And there's a lot to do this year, so we need all the help we can get.
01:21:17Definitely.
01:21:18It's the end of the first week of what could be a game-changing season for Parker.
01:21:24This is the year, huh?
01:21:26Yeah.
01:21:27We need to just shove dirt down those wash plants' throats, huh?
01:21:33It's a long road to 10,000.
01:21:38Tyson's got Bob running right now in the bridge cut.
01:21:43Sulfur's drying out a little bit.
01:21:45We've got the trucks upstream there stripping.
01:21:47And now it's going all right.
01:21:48Yep.
01:21:50Are you ready, T?
01:21:51Let's check it out, Dumit.
01:21:53This is Mr. Bob.
01:21:54This is your first plant.
01:21:56Well, here we go.
01:21:57All eyes are on Tyson's first run from the bridge cut.
01:22:01Last season's payouts were unpredictable.
01:22:05Parker's looking for at least 100 ounces from three days' sluicing.
01:22:1110, 20, 40, 60, 80.
01:22:20Going to break to 100.
01:22:22There we go.
01:22:23100, 120.
01:22:30125.8.
01:22:33Nice.
01:22:35Very nice.
01:22:36Worth over $440,000.
01:22:42Looks like it was worth getting that ice off.
01:22:44Yeah.
01:22:45We're on the board.
01:22:47Yeah.
01:22:49That's definitely a good start, but we have a long ways to go.
01:22:52So I hope everybody's ready to buckle in.
01:22:57All right.
01:22:58Thank you, guys.
01:23:00Do it again next week.
01:23:02Big cat is back.
01:23:04Meow.
01:23:07This season we're really going to be hopping.
01:23:10Hopes are high, and I think we've got a good shot at making our 10,000 ounces this year.
01:23:15I think this year we've got the right recipe.
01:23:18You know, we've got really good people here.
01:23:21It's probably the best chance we'll have at doing the five figures.
01:23:25It's going to be a ball buster of a season for the boys, though.
01:23:27We're on the best show.
01:23:27Go with the boys.
01:23:28Go.
01:23:28Go.
01:23:29Go.
01:23:30Go with that mail.
01:23:31Go.
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