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Gold Rush: Alaska - Season 16 - Episode 05: Pick Me Someone to Fire
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00:09It's doing around 200 yards an hour right now.
00:14So we can go higher?
00:16Possibly.
00:18Let's leave her where she is for now.
00:20Parker's happy with where it is, so.
00:22What happened to the young and wild Tyson I used to know?
00:24He's dead.
00:27I'm going to go talk to Parker.
00:31What up?
00:32Happy with the plant?
00:33Don't want the runs washed in?
00:37I would prioritize the bridge cut, okay?
00:40Next weekend, I've got a new guy showing up.
00:42Pick me out somebody to fire.
00:45So just cut your worst one out.
00:50Want to give me a list of names of who it can be?
00:53No, because then you're going to latch on to the options,
00:55and I don't want to give you options.
00:57All right.
00:58Okay.
00:58Don't be afraid to just tell people to take a walk.
01:02Okay.
01:06Tyson, he's got something to prove this season.
01:09Giving him a lot more responsibility has been good,
01:14because he takes that very seriously and very personally.
01:17You want to have as few people doing as much work as possible.
01:23He pretty much told me that someone's got to go by the end of the week.
01:27I've never fired anyone before.
01:30We've got to figure out who's going to make it and who's not.
01:33One of them has to go.
01:50Right now, we have a lot going on here at Dominion.
01:52We have Bob running, the bridge cut.
01:55We have slucifer running, the golden mile.
01:58One month into the season, Parker Schnabel's foreman, Tyson Lee, has his hands full.
02:05To hit a 10,000-ounce season goal, Parker's pushing Tyson to mine as much gold as possible on his
02:14Dominion Creek claim.
02:18Normally, it's been move that wash plant, get it set up, have a month to breathe.
02:22This year, it's move that wash plant, get it set up, move to the next.
02:25Get that wash plant set up, get it running, move to the next.
02:28And somewhere in between there, I have to find the time to go through all these operators,
02:34and one of them isn't going to make the cut.
02:38Letting someone go, getting rid of someone, it's not a decision I'm taking lightly.
02:42You know, they could have come up here like myself 10 years ago, hoping to be up here for years
02:48and years to come.
02:51Just a decade ago, Tyson arrived in the Yukon.
02:55Pretty green at the mining aspect of things.
02:58Parker saw something special in the rookie miner.
03:02I'm letting Tyson run slucifer, see what he's got.
03:06Hopefully this doesn't bite either of us in the ass.
03:08Let's get her going.
03:09And gave him a chance to step up to the plate.
03:13Nice job.
03:14Thanks, man.
03:17Back when I first started for Parker, and up until now, I've seen this company go through a lot of
03:24growth, a lot of changes.
03:25Every year I get thrown more and more, and this year more than ever, Parker said, find your weakest operator,
03:31send one of them packing.
03:32So right now, we have Charlie up top, who's doing fine and coarse tailings.
03:37Then we have Michael down below, who's loading trucks, two new truck drivers.
03:42There's Lauren and Julian.
03:43And then upstream we have Caden loading Mary and who the is with Mary.
03:49It's a lot of f***ing new people, man.
03:52Over at the bridge cut.
03:56Oh, for f***ing sakes.
03:59New loader operator Charlie Carlton is struggling to clear tailings from wash plant Bob.
04:05Charlie seems to be having issues with his loader overheating.
04:09He doesn't understand when to curl.
04:13Hopefully, it's nothing too crazy.
04:15Yo, yo!
04:16Hey, so, how's it going?
04:18I let it go down a few more degrees.
04:21It's at 107 now.
04:23So, that is caused by two different issues.
04:30You always want to have the tires moving when you're going in for a scoop.
04:34Watch me scoop.
04:36There's zero resistance against the machine.
04:38If you're going in for a scoop like this, see how much the machine is struggling?
04:45It's making that number climb.
04:46Another thing that does it is riding the brake.
04:51So, if you're riding around like this, that number is going to climb.
04:56Those are the two reasons why your rear axle oil temp is rising.
05:01And then what is a safe temperature to start running again?
05:04I think it got to about 120, 122.
05:06It really shouldn't get over 100.
05:10Yeah, 122 is on.
05:13All right, thank you.
05:14No worries.
05:18So, I'll pay attention to both those things more next time.
05:23Newbie learning curve, I guess.
05:31Stuff that's common sense.
05:33Hey, the tires aren't moving.
05:34It's overheating.
05:35I wonder why.
05:37This year, I do not have time for that.
05:40We've hired some experienced guys because we need some experience.
05:45Charlie's experience level does not match what I was told he had when we hired him.
05:57Concerned with Charlie's performance, Tyson tasks operator Sandy Dubois with keeping an eye on it.
06:06So, how did you get the job here?
06:08I used to work as a software developer and systems engineer.
06:12I'd spend my days in front of computers and I was just sick of it.
06:16I'm like, man, I need to get out.
06:17Get into gold mining and get out in the wilderness.
06:22I don't really know what to say, man.
06:25Oh, what is he doing?
06:27I'm hoping to be able to get him to go a bit faster because he's going to have to take
06:32care of this on his own.
06:34You're not always going to get the best bucket, but you need more than a problem.
06:39Hey, child, you got a copy, child?
06:45Hey, Sandy.
06:46If we're not utilizing our whole bucket, it's kind of just like a waste of fuel and a waste of
06:50time.
06:56Where am I going?
06:57Did it again.
07:01Oh, yeah, child.
07:03Yeah, go for child.
07:04I can see that your bucket's not fully curled in.
07:07Making a mess over the road, so just make sure your bucket's curled all the way up.
07:11Okay, I'll do that next.
07:14Because, yeah, at this point, I can't leave him alone.
07:17It would not work out.
07:18He'd fall behind.
07:20If that plant washes out, then we're not going to have a happy Parker, and that's what I'm trying to
07:24avoid right now.
07:26And he's starting to slowly get it, one bucket at a time.
07:30Yeah, that looks a lot better.
07:35Tyson and Parker leave no stone unturned.
07:38They have to train up some people that they can be confident will get every last drop of gold out
07:45of this cut.
07:48In the Golden Mile, new hire, Caden Foote, digs out pockets of pay from a section of the cut.
07:59I'm a very driven, motivated person.
08:01I also like to think of myself as a little bit of a perfectionist.
08:06I like to do things right the first time, and I don't like to come back and do them again.
08:13We have a lot of new people, and a couple of them are struggling here.
08:18Caden's one of them.
08:26Yo, yo!
08:28How's it going?
08:29Pretty good yourself?
08:31Oh, you know, just fighting water.
08:34The ditch needs to be lowered, and then you're in to pay here?
08:37In to pay right here.
08:40Lower the ditch, then you can carry on with what you're doing.
08:43Okay.
08:43Does that make sense?
08:44Yep, that makes sense.
08:45Any questions, comments, concerns?
08:47Like, I can jump in there for you, and you can watch me for five minutes if you want.
08:50Up to you.
08:51I don't want to take up more of your time than necessary.
08:53No, no, no, it's all good.
08:54I just want to make sure what I'm saying is what you're understanding,
08:58and the best way to do that is for you to sit and watch me for five minutes.
09:01Charf, come on.
09:05So far, so good.
09:07Just have a few little things I need to get adjusted to.
09:13Right now, I'm trying to show Caden how to go about ditching.
09:17He seems to be struggling with a lot of water flowing down.
09:21What we need to do is get that water under control.
09:26Tyson's making the ditch around the cut deeper and digging channels to funnel water from the center cut down to
09:33the ditch,
09:34exposing the pay dirt beneath.
09:42Hey, Caden, come take a look at this.
09:44Because I can see there's still pay out here, right?
09:48Makes me wonder what else is under this water, right?
09:52And you see, just listen for a sec.
09:55You see that gravel seam there?
09:56Right there, yeah.
09:57Yeah, so that's pay, right?
10:00Kind of, I'll point it out as I'm going.
10:01With the cut full of water, Caden's leaving behind pockets of pay, potentially costing Parker thousands of dollars in lost
10:13gold.
10:14Biggest thing of all is to get the water out, and if you've got a drain running right beside where
10:20the water needs to go,
10:23then you can see what's there and what needs to be dug out.
10:26Because it's only been a few minutes, and he's got that drain in 100%, and we'll be off to the
10:33races.
10:34Yes, ma'am.
10:42You have to go over every inch of it, right?
10:44Because if you didn't do it, how do you know it's done?
10:46Okay.
10:48Thank you for your time.
10:49I really appreciate that.
10:50No worries.
10:51Have fun.
10:51I'll see you in a bit.
10:52Come on, Garf.
10:53Let's go.
10:57Hopefully he gets it now.
10:59Caden, he's thinking he understands more than he does.
11:02I would agree with that.
11:04Yeah.
11:04Maybe come in a little cocky, you know, a little hot.
11:07God help us if Parker came in there and decided to dig there and found that we were burying pay
11:12pockets.
11:13Yeah, no, he wouldn't be a happy camper.
11:15No.
11:35This year we showed up early.
11:50At Indian River, King of the Klondike, Tony Beetz is off to a strong start.
11:57So far, his early bird cut has banked over 1,000 ounces of gold of his 6,500-ounce target.
12:06Tony wants to keep up the pace and is on a mission to sluice 24-7.
12:15Right now, we're ripping this piece of frost out of here.
12:18I don't want to f*** the lake.
12:20I just want to make sure that you can just start sluicing day and night.
12:25Yeah, Tony seems to have a little bit of a rocket off his ass.
12:28He is getting older, but he is not tired yet.
12:32Cousin Mike is running Tony's only working moneymaker, sluice-a-lot, feeding it 250 yards of pay dirt an hour
12:40and eating through ground faster than Tony can open it up.
12:47The feathers need more equipment because they're going to be stripping day and night.
12:51And then that opens up the whole world behind us, you see?
12:54Tony.
12:54To increase his Indian River stripping power, Tony's on the hunt for a dozer, an excavator, and three more rock
13:03trucks.
13:07I just got an email this morning saying that it was a dozer for sale, so we're going to go
13:13over and check this out.
13:15You never have enough toys.
13:17The guy that dies with the most of the toys wins.
13:21I'm well on my way to have a whole pile.
13:30Okay, well, let's go have a look, Connor.
13:34Even secondhand, a D10 dozer could set Tony back more than $1 million.
13:41Those are all good.
13:42Yeah.
13:43So he's brought along trusted mechanic, Connor Elms.
13:47Don't hurt yourself.
13:48To assess it.
13:49Paint looks nice.
13:52What are you doing?
14:00What are you doing?
14:02There is a man spying on your stuff.
14:06To keep his Indian River operation running 24-7, Tony Beetz is hunting for another dozer.
14:16How's it going, Parker?
14:17Good.
14:17How are you?
14:18Same every day.
14:20Huh?
14:20What are you doing?
14:21He said you had a cat for sale.
14:24What, you want to buy this thing?
14:26Well, he said you want to get rid of it.
14:27Maybe.
14:28I haven't decided yet.
14:29I was like, put some feelers out.
14:30But I'm a little hesitant to sell it right now because we're in, we'd use it this summer.
14:35But for you, Tony.
14:39I knew that was coming.
14:42I knew that was coming.
14:43You know, you got to help the guys out that are struggling, right?
14:47Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:48Yeah, we're struggling.
14:50Every day.
14:52There you go.
14:53Well, name your price.
14:54What do you want?
14:56Um, 1-5?
15:021-3?
15:06Um, that's the end of season price.
15:10No, no, no.
15:13No, no, no, no, no.
15:14Okay, 1-3.
15:16You're at 1-3.
15:17Um, probably not.
15:21So, then make a counter.
15:24Okay, let me think about it.
15:27One, two.
15:29Well, 1-5.
15:31No, no, no, no.
15:32Why not?
15:32It's worth it all day long, Tony.
15:34No, no, no, no, no, no.
15:36But do you want to do something very quick?
15:39No, I don't really care that much.
15:41You want to do it really quick?
15:42No.
15:42No?
15:43Yeah, yeah.
15:43I'm in no rush.
15:45Me neither.
15:46Oh.
15:47Yeah, no.
15:48See, if you want to do something quick, let me know.
15:51Okay.
15:52Mm-hmm.
15:53Okay, we'll talk.
15:54Let me know.
15:55See you, dude.
15:56You bet, dude.
15:57Later.
15:57Good to see you guys.
15:59Later.
16:00No.
16:04It's quite simple.
16:06There's no buddies or friends in business.
16:08If so, you would never make it.
16:11If you have a prize in mind, you should stick to it.
16:14We'll just find something else.
16:16Like you say, Rome wasn't built in a day.
16:34It's been a tough start to the season.
16:36I did a classic Rick move, and I made a quick decision and bought this ground down at Lightning Creek.
16:43People that know me know I don't have a whole lot of patience.
16:45We've got to hope the gold's there, and we're going to go soon.
16:51Rick Ness has gone all in on his biggest gamble yet.
16:56After his water license on Duncan Creek expired, Rick's thrown down $700,000 for the Lightning Creek claim, with no
17:07idea how much gold is in the ground.
17:13It's a hell of a gamble.
17:15I made this purchase based off of, like, a two-yard test.
17:19Probably more like a yard and a half, you know.
17:20One pan with, you know, a few grams, not even a gram of gold in it.
17:26It probably is one of the crazier things I've ever done.
17:30You know what?
17:31I'm stubborn like that.
17:32I want to do things my way, and that's just how it's going to be.
17:35At the end of the day, if I know the gold's there, we just have to make it pay off.
17:39But if Rick hits a hot spot on the notoriously unpredictable Kino ground, it could mean a massive payday.
17:50Rick loves taking big risks.
17:52Is it smart?
17:53I don't know yet.
17:54Obviously, time will tell, but we all support him.
17:57I think this whole crew is big risk takers, and, you know, that's why we're here for him.
18:03I mean, you can make a plan, and it sounds good and looks good on paper, but...
18:08It's definitely a finger-cross moment.
18:11Now, it's time to find out if Rick's bet will pay off.
18:16We are down to pay now.
18:17It actually went really quick.
18:18The guys did a great job.
18:19They stuck with me, and now they're seeing pay dirt already.
18:22So I'm going to get to Lightning Creek, get the guys together, get a plan to get Rocky set up,
18:26and get on the damn gold.
18:29To start sluicing, Rick just needs to move wash plant Rocky into place.
18:39Look good down here, boys.
18:41We're going to set up sluicing, eh?
18:42Yeah.
18:43Yeah.
18:43I mean, there's not a whole lot of space to deal with right here.
18:45We're all set up.
18:46I'll drag it backward, and then the only thing I'm worried about is it's a real narrow area.
18:49The creek on one side and kind of a bank on that side.
18:52I'm going to have to hug the creek to get this, you know, that sluice box past that bank.
18:56Otherwise, it's drag and get all bent out of shape.
18:58So it's going to have to have everybody on both sides, both banks, just yelling and screaming at me not
19:03to hit anything, and it should be good.
19:09Rick's crew has already removed the two-acre diamond cut's shallow overburden and 15 feet of pay to make a
19:18stockpile ready to run.
19:20Now, he wants to pull his 32-foot-wide, 25-ton wash plant Rocky from its current home, 300 feet
19:31along a narrow and winding track using his 750 excavator, avoiding a bank on one side and the creek on
19:40the other.
19:41Then, drag it into position near his pay pile.
19:46And finally, fire it up.
19:53I just need eyes around me.
19:54Yeah, yeah.
19:55Eyes around.
19:56Right.
19:57The hills have eyes.
19:58Yeah.
20:00Well, this is it.
20:01Start.
20:09Frozen.
20:10I mean, it's been sitting all winter in ice.
20:12This just turns into concrete, all those fines.
20:15Oh, that's it.
20:16Right there.
20:17Oh.
20:18Oh.
20:18That's what we needed.
20:21Look at that.
20:22Look at that.
20:24Nothing broke?
20:24No one got hurt?
20:25No.
20:26No.
20:35It's important for us to get this wash plant up and running.
20:40A lot of money going out, and without gold coming in, it hurts.
20:43So we have to get gold coming in right away.
20:56All we can do now is drag it into place, set it up, and see what happens.
21:08We have Kyle on that side and Kai both be in my eyes on that sluice box because I can't
21:12see
21:12behind me.
21:14I'm going to hug this side by the river.
21:15Hope not.
21:15Hope we don't dump it in the drink.
21:17And here we go.
21:30Lots of room.
21:31Lots of room.
21:32Go on that side.
21:33Go on.
21:41Get it.
21:42Get it.
21:44Getting a little close, yeah?
21:46What?
21:47Getting a little close.
21:48Yeah, you're getting a little close.
21:50Okay.
21:51Whoa.
21:52Oh.
21:54Oh.
21:54Oh.
21:59Getting a little close, yeah?
22:09Did I hit? I can't see that side, so I really f***ed that up.
22:13At Lightning Creek, Rick and his crew are fighting to get Wash Plant Rocky up and running by the end
22:20of the day.
22:20Yeah, it's got to go that way. Let me see if I can do that.
22:27Yeah, keep going that way.
22:32We got two things. You don't want to bend the sluice boxes and you don't want to put it in
22:35the river because we don't have another one.
22:43We're close. We're close.
22:49Ooh, yeah!
23:00Yeah!
23:00Yeah!
23:02Whoa, whoa, whoa!
23:07Are you unhooked?
23:08Yeah.
23:09Looks like it.
23:09Should we just stop overthinking it, plug this in, see what happens?
23:12Yeah.
23:18Just getting the water line set.
23:22Are we ready, you think?
23:23I think so.
23:24Put some water to this thing?
23:25Yeah.
23:29There it goes.
23:30Oh, oh, oh!
23:31That's what I thought.
23:32Wow!
23:35Well, we got water.
23:42Run it, boys.
23:44He's running.
23:47All right.
23:49That's good.
23:50Woo!
23:51Woo!
23:52Woo!
23:57Hey, Rick.
23:59Yeah, it's going to wash off pretty bad right there.
24:02Other side?
24:02Yeah.
24:10It's just going to wash it out, you know?
24:13The bank's eroding way too fast.
24:15It's already creeping back towards the plant.
24:19There's too much fines and not enough big rock.
24:21Yeah.
24:22It's just all topsoil.
24:26Dude, hey, hey, shut it off!
24:28Shut it off!
24:29It's already gone too far.
24:35I mean, you can honestly look at this and say, if we ran it 10 more minutes, it's going
24:38to go.
24:40We haven't even put any dirt in it yet, right?
24:42And the whole bank's trying to wash away.
24:43But we're going to have to yank this thing out of here and build it out, build it up with
24:48rock.
24:49It's going to take some days.
24:52It just sucks, man.
24:53We've been spending money since I got here and nothing coming in.
24:56We've still got 1,800 ounces to get.
24:58Bottom line is we're not suicing today.
25:15Things are going real nice here at Sulphur.
25:18I'm really happy with how this project has gone.
25:22We've seen some really good gold come out of here, and I feel good about it.
25:26Foreman Mitch Blaschke is on the gold, running wash plant rock sand at full tilt.
25:34We've got a busy week ahead of us here, keeping rock sand running.
25:37You know, these gold prices are high, and profit is what it's all about.
25:4625 miles east at Dominion.
25:49Parker's asked me to find the weakest link, get him out of here.
25:53So I'm going to try and figure that out, because my deadline's due.
25:57Tyson is back to check in on recent hire Caden and see how he's doing cleaning out pockets
26:05of leftover pay.
26:07Hi.
26:09Hi.
26:09You having fun?
26:11Yes, um, getting there.
26:13But I might have to do a little more ditching.
26:17I'll go clean it up.
26:18All this trapped water back here, right?
26:22I'll kind of cut a little trough here, because then all this stuff can drain.
26:26Wet pay, as you know, doesn't like going up conveyors.
26:29No, belts do not like wet material.
26:31And this is f***ing soup.
26:33Yeah.
26:34And we can make it so it's not soup.
26:36So we've got to get the water out.
26:37Yeah.
26:38Because if we dug with that trapped water, it would come this way.
26:41Oh, that yellow s*** would end up back down here.
26:43Which is where we don't want it.
26:45That's what we're after, right?
26:46We're after that yellow s***.
26:48It's worth something for some weird reason.
26:49I'm just watching what you're doing so I can mimic it in my own work.
26:53Yeah.
26:54Yeah, pretty much.
26:57I think Tyson will feel that I'm really trying my best to do what he wants and get it right
27:03the first time.
27:05We need to get this material out of here and we need it to happen now.
27:08My goal is to get Caden spelt out on the way we do things here.
27:15The main thing is just getting the water out, letting it soak and drain.
27:18You can see how the water is draining towards the ditch now because it's sloped.
27:25So you can see kind of what I'm doing here, right?
27:27Yeah, sloping the edge, leveling it out.
27:30Or, well, not leveling but giving it a slope so water can run down into the trench.
27:36Yeah, have fun.
27:37I will try my absolute best to make you proud.
27:41Yeah.
27:48He explained it the way we like it done, but there's zero execution.
27:52We have operators here who said they had lots of experience and when they got here, it didn't show.
27:59So are one of those people going to be the ones to leave?
28:02Maybe, maybe not.
28:03Is it going to be due to poor attitude?
28:04Maybe, maybe not.
28:05Not a decision I take lightly, but these people were hired to do a job.
28:10And if they can't do that job, we'll find someone else.
28:18No issues with the temperature, I'm fine.
28:21Over at the bridge cut, loader operator Charlie is still on tailings.
28:27I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable.
28:29It's a little less chaotic.
28:36I don't see much of Tyson.
28:37He's so busy.
28:39Maybe that's a good thing that I don't see him much.
28:41Trust me, if I was doing a bad job, I'm sure I would hear more from him.
28:45Can you hear me?
28:46Yeah.
28:48Want to walk down?
28:50Okay.
28:56Ah, my helmet.
28:57No, there's no panic, Charlie.
28:59There's no need to run.
29:01We're all good.
29:02Okay.
29:08How's it going, Charlie?
29:10Pretty good.
29:12Sorry, can I ask you a question?
29:14Yeah.
29:14Well, I have a minute.
29:16So the part that you told me before, I did not realize that the...
29:20So we got to talk here.
29:22I'm training.
29:23Yeah, go ahead.
29:24You can keep going.
29:25No, I'm listening.
29:26Now that I understand that the tailings is what's most important to us now.
29:32Everything's most important, right?
29:33Feeding the plant's important.
29:34Yeah, yeah.
29:35Getting tailings is important.
29:36Everything's important.
29:37And that's why we have multiple people doing different jobs.
29:41For you, that's making sure this wash plant doesn't bury itself.
29:44Okay.
29:45Awesome.
29:48You all set, Charlie?
29:50Okay, thanks.
29:51Okay, jump in.
29:52I got to go.
29:54He came with 20 years' experience, is what I was told.
29:58If I have to do that with him, then we're...
30:06Tyson, this year, has a lot of responsibility.
30:10So I thought I'd just run down, see how he's doing,
30:13how he's getting along with his crew.
30:15He takes his job very, very seriously.
30:18If he's having any problems, we need to remedy those right off the bat.
30:25T-Bird!
30:26Yo, yo!
30:27Hey, T.
30:29Hey, Dumit.
30:29How's it going?
30:30Good.
30:30How about you?
30:31Oh, pretty good, thanks.
30:33You're surviving so far, huh?
30:34Yeah, so far, so good.
30:36Parker said by the end of the week, he wants someone's name on the board to chop,
30:41because he's got another operator coming.
30:43You know Parker better than anybody when he gives a deadline.
30:46Yeah.
30:47So now I'm trying to figure out, okay, the guy over there in the excavator,
30:50is he helping me or hurting me?
30:51Or is he not cleaning the pay properly?
30:54And then I have to tell him two, three times to go in when I could have gotten his,
30:58what he could get done in three days, what I could get done in one.
31:00Oh, one of my favorite sayings, I would have been done by now, but I had help.
31:04Yeah.
31:04Right?
31:05Yeah.
31:05Exactly.
31:06Maybe you can help me, you know, figure out if I'm making the right decision.
31:09If they aren't doing the job, they don't understand the job,
31:13you're going to fight with him all season long.
31:15Now's the time to sort those people out.
31:18Yeah.
31:18You're aware of that.
31:21Every promotion, every step up you've taken, you've earned.
31:25Thanks, Dumit.
31:26So make a decision and stick with it.
31:29Start surrounding yourself with good people.
31:32Okay, you take care, buddy.
31:33You're doing a great job.
31:34Thanks, Dumit.
31:34All righty, son.
31:37Later.
31:40You know, Dumit just came down to the cut to check on me and see how I'm doing.
31:43I got some good insight from him.
31:46I've reached a decision on who's going to be let go.
32:00I'm going to have to let the first person go of the season.
32:04At Dominion Creek, it's time for Tyson to send someone home.
32:10You know, this is a new role to me.
32:11I know I've never fired anyone before, but I have a lot of people that deserve my time.
32:16And I'm spending it on people that should have experience.
32:19So enough is enough.
32:31I'm going to have to let you go.
32:41Okay.
32:43Yeah.
32:43It's just, you let on to have more experience than you have.
32:47So I only have so much of my time that I can spend training people.
32:52Okay.
32:52So, yeah, if you want to grab your stuff, we'll just shut this loader off.
33:09I gave it a try.
33:11I guess it was harder than I expected it would be, to be honest.
33:16You know, Parker asked me to find someone to let go, and we've done that.
33:23When we're hiring experienced operators, we need experience.
33:27Or, sadly, they're going to have to go down the road.
33:3025 miles west at Sulphur Creek, Caden has survived but been demoted to loader operator.
33:39Right now, Parker doesn't have enough guys to run loader.
33:44I'm not sure if Tyson had anything to do with me coming out here.
33:49But it ain't my fault that Tyson's not around to give me guidance.
33:53Hopefully, I can go back to dig and pay because that's my happy place in my big sandbox.
34:04We don't have time for people to be not good at their job.
34:08We only have so much time up here in the Yukon to get as much gold out of the ground
34:14as we can.
34:29I just care I'm getting the cuts stripped and ready because then I have lots of pay ready for when
34:33I do start sluicing.
34:34But what I need is to get my trommel set up.
34:37At Paradise Hill, Mike Beetz is trying to prove himself to his dad, Tony, in the hope that one day
34:45he'll get his own ground.
34:46But so far, he hasn't sluiced an ounce of gold.
34:52I've got to get my pump set up.
34:53I've got to get a bunch of welding and clean up and then set up all the conveyors.
34:58And then I'm also going to have to put in my hopper and everything.
35:04Hey, how's it going?
35:08I don't even know.
35:09Probably three days by the time I'm all said and done.
35:12Okay.
35:14I'd love to sluice my pay pals, but we fight the trommel every step of the way.
35:20Every step of the way.
35:22It's kind of frustrating.
35:24They want to move things along in the Indian.
35:27I just need more equipment because they're going to be stripping day and night.
35:31So let's pick it up.
35:34Tony's on the hunt for more equipment to increase his gold haul from the Indian River claims.
35:41There ain't another thing happening here, but there's dry wind and I with everybody.
35:54I'm going to steal some people, I'm going to steal some trucks, I'm going to steal a dozer.
36:01Hey, Dad.
36:03Hey, Mike.
36:04I'm going to steal some trucks of you, I'm going to steal a hoe of you.
36:07I need Keith to get a weld something.
36:10So I need him for a week or so to give me a boost.
36:12Am I going to get him back?
36:14Yeah, you're going to get him back.
36:15But in the meantime, I'm going to steal some of your bingo.
36:31Put the bobcat on the back, okay?
36:34Holy s**t.
36:36It's not his stuff, it's my stuff, so I might as well utilize it where we're making the money
36:41right now.
36:42If you don't like it, I guess what?
36:43It sucks to be him.
36:46If you try to take all my people and then all my s**t and then expect me to still run
36:50at the hill, you might as well take me too, and we all work out there.
36:57There you go.
37:03Okay, who's in that rock truck?
37:04Hurry the f**k up.
37:07Rock trucks follow west.
37:08Rock trucks follow west.
37:09Let's go, go, go, go.
37:11After raiding his son's operation, Tony's heading 40 miles to Indian River.
37:26I run a shipping department, not a mine site.
37:29I got a D10 going to the Indian River right now.
37:33So what the f**k am I supposed to do?
37:35Because as much as he says I'm in charge, he's still the boss, the big, big boss.
37:46Might as well f**king walk there, you know what I'm saying?
37:53Want to move things along in the Indian a little bit.
37:56You got to get going a little bit faster down there.
38:00They're going to be stripping day and night with more ducks.
38:03They just need a little boost.
38:05This needs a little boost.
38:06Tony can now take the Indian River operation up a level.
38:11And start running 24-7.
38:14But he's leaving Mike short on equipment and crew.
38:19He ain't getting them back.
38:21There's no friends and family in business.
38:23Absolutely not.
38:25No, no, no, no.
38:26Tough luck.
38:43Good thing is everything is here.
38:46Everything in one piece.
38:47Perfect.
38:48I don't give a f**k if Mike is annoyed.
38:51I mean, this is where the money is being made.
38:53So I suggest that this is where we start paying attention.
38:56On the end of the day, it's Mike Hall.
39:03With a crew down there day and night, close 24 hours a day.
39:06I like to stay ahead of the game.
39:08And this is what that takes.
39:12This worked out just right, I think.
39:23You want to get out of here?
39:24Let's go.
39:25No, but yeah.
39:26Yeah, I know.
39:27At Lightning Creek, wash plant Rocky is still not sluicing.
39:32And Rick is still not getting gold.
39:35And now, his friend Z is headed home.
39:39We're going straight to the airport.
39:41I mean, it sucks going home this early.
39:43I mean, usually when I'm up here, we at least have the plant going and seeing some gold.
39:46I'm sorry you can't see some gold, too, but I'm not good at planting us this.
39:50Right?
39:50Let's just be honest.
39:51Yeah.
39:52Not your strongest suit.
39:55I know.
39:57Do you think there's 1,800 ounces in this ground?
40:00I think there is.
40:01I don't think it's...
40:02Would I be a lot more comfortable getting it out of Vegas Valley?
40:06Absolutely.
40:08You're not going to go home with any gold right now, but if you can make her back in the
40:11fall...
40:12Yeah.
40:12Different story, buddy.
40:13Yeah.
40:26Hi, guys.
40:27Hello.
40:28Well, look at Tony.
40:29There's a whole bunch of them.
40:30Spilling coffee everywhere.
40:32Tony is about to find out if his push to run 24-7 at Indian River has paid off.
40:40So, how's it going out there?
40:42Pretty good.
40:43The plant has been going steady.
40:45We just got to stay ahead, do some more stripping and early bird cuts.
40:48More equipment, some more dozers, maybe, some more crap.
40:51How is Paradise Hill going, Mike?
40:53Everything keeps coming to a screeching halt.
40:55I'm losing a bunch of equipment and a bunch of people.
40:57Well, maybe you should time down.
41:00This is how it works.
41:01You guys always got to remember I'm number one.
41:04So, I would like to go back to work, young ladies.
41:07Why don't you put some gold on that scale, would you, please?
41:10How many hours did we get on this?
41:12A week, right?
41:13Are you ready?
41:13Last week, before Tony started running 24-7, Sluisalot delivered 250 ounces.
41:24It's 100, 120, 180, 250, 300, 350, 370.
41:40404.52 ounce.
41:43Worth over 1.4 million dollars.
41:47Nothing wrong with that.
41:48Hi.
41:49So, how much is that, roughly an hour?
41:512.9 ounces an hour-ish.
41:53Well, two ounce, a little bit over two is not bad.
41:57You know, it's amazing.
41:57I drilled that cut 20 years ago, and there was only one good hole in it.
42:02That's why you never mind it.
42:04And it wasn't even that good.
42:05It's funny how that can pay off, isn't it?
42:09Anyway, that's all pretty good.
42:10I'll take it any time, any day.
42:12Yeah.
42:12Be nice if we have two boxes going.
42:15Can you imagine?
42:15That'd be a good day.
42:16Only a month into the season, Tony Sluisalot has pulled in 1,430 ounces, banking him $5 million.
42:28Okay, talk to you later.
42:30Yep.
42:31Bye.
42:34That's doing pretty nice, huh?
42:36Yeah, that looked pretty good.
42:37But the way that is going these days, so far, so good.
42:53How's a busy week?
42:55You must have been busy, Chris.
42:56Very busy.
42:58What's up, Tice?
42:58Heard you had some weak links kicking around.
43:01Yeah, well, Parker wanted one of them to go, so I had to let Charlie go.
43:05He said he had more experience than he had when he came here,
43:08so I just had to pull the plug there.
43:10Too bad, because he was a nice guy.
43:12He was really nice.
43:13He was really trying, but yeah, he just kind of oversold, I guess.
43:18This is definitely jumping off the deep end.
43:20Yeah, for sure.
43:21When I was driving him back, he's like, I thought it would be a lot easier than this.
43:26For the first time this season, Parker has been running three wash plants all week
43:31and is hoping to blast past last week's 527-ounce haul.
43:38First up, Roxanne at Sulphur.
43:43Well, I hope you had fun with Roxanne here.
43:47Roxanne?
43:47Yeah.
43:48Come on.
43:49Roxanne's a little bit unique, Mitch.
43:51Why's that?
43:52Because I didn't have a thermos big enough.
43:55My scale doesn't go high enough.
43:56So this is Roxanne.
44:00Starting off with a full pan there.
44:03All right.
44:04We got 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 right on the dot.
44:16Right on the dot.
44:17But we got to move this aside because we have a thermos coming too.
44:24Wow.
44:25Now what's crazy, it's doing 150 yards an hour right now too.
44:28That's what I was just thinking about.
44:30So we got 300 plus.
44:3210, 20, 30, 40, 50.70.
44:44So 350.7 worth one and a quarter million dollars.
44:52Holy.
44:53That is sick.
44:54At 150 yards an hour.
44:56At three ounces per 100 yards sluiced,
45:00Sulphur is some of the richest ground Parker has ever mined.
45:04Clean up like this.
45:06Make my job fun.
45:08Now it's Tyson's turn.
45:10Yeah, you want to take a look at what you got?
45:12Let's see.
45:13First up, Bob from Dominion's Bridge Cut.
45:18Bob been running pretty consistent lately.
45:21Good old Bob.
45:22Chug-a-luck Bob, right?
45:24Here we go.
45:2610, 20, 40, 80, 100, 120, 160.
45:34We're going to beat two.
45:35195.
45:36Not quite.
45:37196.2.
45:39Yeah.
45:39Yeah.
45:42And then just up the creek from that,
45:45Slucifer's got the big thermos too.
45:48All righty.
45:48Here we go.
45:50Slucifer's been running all week at the Golden Mile.
45:53Here you go.
45:54This is Slucifer, buddy.
45:55Here we go.
45:5720, 40, 80, 100, 150.
46:04No, there's 200, 220, 240.
46:08Keeps coming to him at 260, 1.25.
46:11The Golden Mile is living up to its name, and Tyson's two wash plants have banked Parker another $1.6
46:22million.
46:24Last week, we had 527 and a half ounces.
46:29This week, we have 808.15 ounces in one week.
46:37To give you an idea of what's going on, this time last year, we had 288 ounces.
46:45We now have 2,043 and a half ounces.
46:51Worth $7.1 million.
46:56Which we did over a third of this week.
46:59Yeah.
47:01Man, if it's like that all the way through, it's going to be great.
47:05So we just need to do that 10 more times.
47:07Yeah.
47:07Yeah.
47:08And then, like, some more times after that.
47:12It's $2.5 million sitting there.
47:17Can you do that thing where it's like, you get a pan, you get a pan, you get a pan?
47:23That's wild.
47:24That's crazy.
47:26That used to be, like, what we would spend in an entire season.
47:29Yeah.
47:31Wow.
47:33Impressive.
47:34Mesmerizing looking at that much, Goldie.
47:36Yeah, get out of here.
47:36You're going to start, you're going to come to my bedroom with a gun here soon.
47:40You get an airplane.
47:41You get an airplane.
47:43Good job, guys.
47:44Like, genuinely, that's insane.
47:47Oh, man.
47:50Get this.
47:51Make sure this ends up in the sink.
47:53All of it?
47:54Okay.
47:55We'll do that.
47:55We'll do that.
48:00We'll do that.
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