[Parker] Apparently, this is a highly concentrated area for gold.
Seems like a really cool opportunity.
And, um... And if there's... you know...
...actually some gold down there, it would be...
...pretty cool.
It's quite weird isn't it? Normally you're getting out of the water
when there's sharks.
We're gettin' in. Well, Parker is.
It would take me a million dollars to jump in right now.
[Riley] It looks like such a nice place, do you know what I mean?
[Tyler] No! It looks shark-y.
[Riley] All right, Parker, so I've got a little jar we'll take down there
'cause I'm quite fascinated by the gold industry in this area.
So if you can fill this up down there, the most likely area,
because all this valley was mined for gold.
No one's ever looked here, and, uh, largely that's because of the ocean,
and perhaps it's because of the sharks.
[Riley speaking]
[Parker speaking]
[Riley speaking]
[Parker speaking]
[Riley speaking]
[Parker speaking]
[Riley speaking]
[Parker speaking]
[Tyler] Is that a great white shark?
[Parker speaking]
There it is, right there!
Right in front of him. Right bang next to him.
[Parker speaking]
There's a hell of a lot of snow up here, huh?
It's, um...
The temp, -16.
This is why we mine in the summer time.
[narrator] Last season, Parker Schnabel weighed in $15 million of gold.
A single season record for the 27 year old miner.
[Parker] We had a good season, we made money.
I'm gonna look back on this season as one of the,
like, most productive and easiest.
But, we're trying to expand into Alaska.
We've the opportunity to take 10 years of really good learning experiences...
...and apply that to an operation fully from scratch.
[narrator] Nine years ago...
Parker left his grandpa's mine in Alaska
to strike it big in the Yukon.
I look upon you like the eagle, when they...
...fluffs his wings and flies outta the nest.
[narrator] And since then has mined nearly 50,000 ounces of gold,
worth almost $70 million.
[Parker] 3,362.
[cheering]
Good job!
Thank you.
[narrator] Now, to grow his empire...
...he's going back home.
[Parker] Alaska has a ton of really rich mining history.
Really good ground.
That's 100 ounces.
Like, advanced payment.
[man] If you don't show up next year,
and you're not mining, that's mine.
[narrator] Located just outside Fairbanks...
...this historic gold rich land
could make Parker $11 million in a single season.
Alaska really excites me, you know?
But we don't have that much time to get this all setup.
[narrator] Parker has just four months to boot up an entire operation,
and be mining in the spring.
We need pumps, generators, light towers, backup pumps, backup generators,
and we need to find a wash plant.
[narrator] To help him...
Yeah, cool.
[narrator] ...Parker has asked along Danny Etheridge.
"Meet him by the gold pan," he said.
Nice touch.
Pretty sure...
...that the point of putting me next to a massive gold pan...
...is to accentuate my size.
[narrator] For three off-seasons,
Danny has been by Parker's side documenting every adventure.
[Danny] Watch out!
[Parker] Oh [bleep]
- [bleep] - [Danny] Hey!
[Parker] Danny's been trying to kill me for years.
These are the two largest nuggets I have ever found.
Shut up!
[Parker] Danny, he's one of my best friends.
It's important to have people around you that you like to work with.
And it'll be good to have Danny along.
And, you know...
...figure out, um...
...figure out how we're gonna...
...solve some big mining problems.
I'm pumped.
And, um, the best thing about it--
- [car honking] - [bleeping]
Oh my [bleep]
You make this normal size gold pan look huge!
Scared the [bleep] out of me, man.
[Parker chuckling]
Oh, my [bleep]
Dude, look at you!
I know, mate, I'm freezing.
About 27 layers on.
[Parker laughs]
Better get used to it.
We're going to the middle of nowhere.
- You ready to rock? - [Danny] Ready to rock.
What is going on?
I'm starting another operation up in Alaska next summer.
Amazing.
So we need to get a bunch of equipment,
and a wash plant, and all that stuff.
And, like, the big key pieces...
...um, I wanna get a big jump on.
How much will it cost to set up an operation there in Alaska?
5 million.
What?
You serious?
Mmm-hmm.
[bleep] me.
Doesn't actually buy you very much in the steel world.
You know, prices have gone crazy.
[narrator] Within Parker's $5 million Alaska startup budget...
He set aside $1 million for the most important piece of equipment.
In terms of, like, building a new operation,
and what our goal is this winter...
...is like...
We need to find a wash plant...
...first and foremost.
And that's... you know, that's the basis that everything is built around.
[Danny] What's the plan? Do you know where we're goin'?
- There's a trommel for sale up here. - Oh, wicked.
Both our wash plants in the Yukon are screen decks.
But trommels can run any type of material.
And we run into, even on the Indian river sometimes,
not too often but sometimes, we'll run into like clay and whatnot.
That's why Tony Beets runs trommels on Paradise hill.
The stuff in Fairbanks is pretty clean,
but there's, like, tons of clay in it.
And... And you have to run that in a trommel
and beat it up and really, you know, massage it.
This is the place.
There.
- All right, let's go look at this thing. - Let's have a look.
[narrator] This 15-year-old turnkey trommel,
has a list price of $66,000.
Well within Parker's $1 million wash plant budget.
[Danny] It doesn't look in that bad nick.
From a...
...design standpoint, they're, like, you know, very portable.
Easy to move around. It's on wheels, that's a good idea.
The problem with this is that it's just too small.
Like, this is a, you know, 50 or 60 yard an hour wash plant.
But...
...if you had, like, a supersized version of this,
I could see something like that working.
All right, I'm calling the guy that owns this thing,
and, um...
...I'm gonna talk to him.
Hey, Pete!
[Pete] Hey buddy, how's it goin'?
I'm standing next to your trommel.
What do ya think?
Little small for our, uh... for our setups.
It is a small trommel.
Yeah, yeah. You know, it's definitely, um...
I mean it fits the bill in terms of being super portable,
and, um, compact.
But... you know, what is it? 60, 70 yards an hour?
Yeah.
Yeah, a little small for us.
I do have one at, uh, a property I have out in a place called Barkerville,
which is in the Caribou mountains.
Can we get to it?
You better have your, uh, winter woollies,
because it's quite a journey to go see this thing.
He says dress warm for the next place we're goin'.
The guy that's with me is definitely dressed warm.
He's got about eight puffy coats on.
Think the weather forecast is -25, so it's not too bad.
But definitely frostbite material.
All right.
All right, we'll, um... we'll head that way.
Come on up.
Yeah.
Talk soon.
Yeah, see ya soon.
All right.
- What're you smiling at? - He's got another bigger trommel.
- Right. - And, um...
And he said, "We can get to it but it's out in the middle of nowhere,
so, like, dress warm."
So, we'll see. Hopefully the next one's in, like, good shape,
and, um, is something that we want.
All right, let's get the [bleep] out of here.
[narrator] Parker and Danny head 50 miles to the remote mining outpost of Barkerville.
[Danny] Ah, there we go.
That him?
- Yeah, that's Pete. - Sweet.
- Hey, man. - [Pete] Hey, kid!
- How's it goin'? - Good, how are you?
[narrator] Mining gold, since the age of 12...
Pete Wright has 40 years' experience in the industry.
I've heard lots about ya.
I'm excited to find out.
- I feel like it's a bit shrouded in mystery this trip. - Yeah.
[Danny] What's goin' on?
Yeah, well...
We're talking about trommels, man.
Yeah, and you used to mine around here, right?
Well, yeah, I was here for almost 15 years mining,
I came down from the Yukon...
- [Parker] Gotcha. - ...and, uh, started an operation down here.
So where is this trommel at?
The one that we're goin' to look at is the big monster barrel.
Yeah, you know, the biggest ones you can build.
Right, sweet.
I'm lookin' forward to checking it out. Can we drive there?
Yeah, we could drive there, but... it's the middle of winter, man.
- On a snow machine? - [Pete] Yeah.
So they're all tiny little mining roads,
and the only way to get on 'em is these.
- [Parker] Gotcha. - [Pete] So...
When's the last time you were on a snow machine, Dan?
I was... I was on one about six years ago.
Dan, you cool with this?
Yeah.
I mean, what's the worst that can happen?
- Is that-- - There you go, I'm rubbing off on ya.
Sounds like Parker's got a bit more experience.
All right.
I'm good.
- [Parker] Danny, what is this? - Huh?
It's my... No, it's my... It's just my snood.
I... I haven't got my snood, so...
It's my pants.
- It's... It's... It's a pair of underwear. - It's fine.
I haven't... I haven't worn 'em.
It's just my... It's one leg of my pants,
it's made of the same material as a neckerchief anyways.
It's fine.
All right.
What? It's fine. It's all just, like...
[laughing]
It's all made of the same stuff!
[Parker laughing]
Which one of these am I runnin'?
Well... I'm thinking of putting you on something else.
- Oh, yeah? - How do you feel about riding a bike?
A snow bike?
Oh, yeah. That's my jam, dude.
Well, come on over here then, and see if you... what you think about this one.
[Danny] A snow bike?
Oh, yeah. Pete, you're my hero.
- [Pete] Yeah, this thing is-- - I love this thing.
[Danny] Oh, my.
[narrator] Made from a converted motor cross bike,
the 55 horsepower engine has a top speed of 87 miles per hour.
[Pete] It's state of the art, man.
Oh, yeah.
[laughs]
Sweet!
[laughing]
All right, we're gonna have some fun today.
[Danny] Here we go!
[Pete exclaims]
[Pete] Come on!
[narrator] From the historic mining town of Barkerville...
...Parker and Danny travel 64 miles on a back country adventure...
...to check out a trommel for sale in the Caribou mountains.
Where gold was first discovered, in the late 1850s...
...and since then, the region has produced
nearly $50 million worth of the metal.
Whoo!
[narrator] After four hours in freezing temperatures, they reach the trommel.
- Oh, yeah. - [Pete] Oh, it's a monster.
Oh, my [bleep].
[Parker] Holy cow.
It's huge!
[Pete] That's it.
It is 40 feet long...
...by 6.5 foot diameter, I think.
It's a monster.
[narrator] Parker is checking out a huge trommel
to give him a jump on his mining season.
And I put an extra spray bar in it.
The six inch, you see...
...had one and then I lined it with excavator pads,
if you look up at the very front.
She's a big yardage machine.
[Parker] Right.
[narrator] With a price tag of $225,000...
Pete's custom built trommel can chew through 150 yards of clay pay dirt an hour.
Recycled excavator pads in the trommel
break apart the gold laden clay.
And high pressure spray bars wash the rocks clean...
...releasing the gold concentrate
where it is caught in the sluices below.
Chain drive?
Yeah. So those are the sluice boxes that I built there.
Boiler boxes.
[Danny] You can live in this thing.
Everything is oversized, isn't it?
It's like... I feel like I'm in...
- Remember that... that show Land of the Giants? - Oh, yeah?
It was originally a propane drum.
Yeah.
[Pete] Like three-quarters to an inch thick.
We can go up the ladder and walk along the top
if you wanna look at the barrel.
[Danny] Where you goin'?
[Pete] I'm crawling right up in here to...
- [Danny] Oh, you're goin' up there? - [Pete] ...to look at the...
[Danny] Hang on, where's Parker goin'?
Just be careful walking on the top here. I'll break a little trail up.
'Cause there's a space right here, right between the spray bar.
Like, footprint is huge, right?
[Pete] It's a monster.
[Parker] These holes are just cut with, like, a torch, huh?
[Pete] Yeah, so the guy put these in pretty coarse ground here.
so you just change it with whatever size of ground you're in.
So if your holes are too big,
you just put another little tab overtop of them.
So... And then it's got this hole, like--
Oh! [bleeping]
[Pete] Oh, man!
Woah! What the [bleep]
[Pete] Parker, are you okay?
[bleep] hell, mate.
- [Parker grunting] - [Danny] What the...
[Pete] Are you okay, buddy?
[grunts]
- [Danny laughs] - [Pete] Ah, it's so freakin' slick.
[Danny mocking] "I know how to [bleep] walk on circular things."
[Danny laughing] Mate.
[Pete chuckles]
Oh, it's gonna be a cold ride home.
[Danny] You all right?
I'm just cold.
Oh, mate.
[sighs] I'm glad there wasn't a big rock there.
[Danny] That's not the thing you wanna be falling off...
You could of smashed his head off on that.
[Parker grunt] Yeah, glad I missed that.
- [Danny] You all right? - I'm fine.
- You sure? - Yeah, I just like...
- ...like mega brain freeze. - [Danny] Oh, mate.
It's not... I'm totally fine, but it's just, like, my head...
...just froze. My brain stopped I think.
[Danny] Well, I can see that.
Anyways, this is the size we need
- but this is not the trommel we're looking for. - Really?
- Yeah. - [Danny] Why?
For us, the amount of hours we run,
- you need something that's really easy to work on. - [Danny] Yeah.
And, like, the inside the barrel of this is all custom.
And...
...I think you'd have a hard time, like...
It'd be a full time job for somebody maintaining it.
A welder would spend half a season on this wash plant probably,
if you were running it 24/7.
Reduce maintenance, reduce downtime to plant moves,
two big things for us.
So...
...not our wash plant.
[engine revving]
[narrator] Barkerville a bust,
Parker and Danny head 450 miles south to Vancouver island.
[Danny] Where're we goin'?
Visiting Jeff at Macon, who built wash plants.
He's an awesome dude, they have a ton of ideas.
They've seen everything, they've just, like, been living
in the wash plant trenches.
I think he moved there right after...
...um, they built Sluicifer for us.
[narrator] Six years ago,
Macon built Parker's bespoke shaker deck, Sluicifer.
Holy cow!
[narrator] Capturing over $30 million,
Sluicifer is the jewel in Parker's Yukon operation.
[drilling]
Hey, Jeff!
- How's it goin, man? - Good.
- How are you? - Good! Good to see ya.
- This is Dan. - [Danny] Jeff.
- Hey, Dan. - Nice to meet you, mate.
[Parker] Thanks for meeting us.
- Yeah, no worries. - Um, I was just hoping to have a chat with you
about plants.
- [Jeff] Yeah. - And we're lookin' at buying another plant.
And we've been looking at a few of 'em, but you know how it is
- trying to find something used that will work for us-- - Yeah.
...that will work for what we need.
- Something that will work for your ground? - Right.
- Good stuff, let's have a look! - [Jeff] Cool!
[Danny] Oho, look at this!
We got a 400 over here.
[Parker] Right.
- [Danny] It's a baby Sluicifer. - [Jeff] Baby Sluicifer.
It's just like Sluicifer's had...
- ...beautiful children with another wash plant. - [laughs]
[Danny] If only it had chosen a trommel to procreate with,
then we might have our, uh, machine.
[Parker] I see the hoses, there's gonna be hydraulics going somewhere.
Nope, those are for coming off the self-cleaning filter.
[Parker] So there's a filter inside of there?
It's a... It's a screen that the water passes over cleaning the... Yeah.
- It keeps itself clean and gives you water. - Yes.
Yeah, it would be nice to see... see more plants.
It's probably... This is the wrong time of year
to be looking at wash plants, isn't it?
It's the wrong time of year, yeah.
We got a couple plants but they're not for sale.
We don't have a lot here,
but obviously the right time of year you should be mining, not here.
Right, exactly, and that's always been the problem.
Danny and I are always, like, trying to figure out
is it's... you know, it's the middle of... middle of winter
and... and it's a tough thing to be looking at ground, or looking at wash plants,
seeing mining operations, when it's, you know...
...right now it's -40 in Dawson.
It's just tough for me because this is my way of looking at things,
- like, on the ground crawling around wash plants. - Yeah.
It has been since I was a little kid.
A lot of these actual designs,
they're... they're from New Zealand, aren't they?
[Jeff] Yeah, a lot of 'em stem from New Zealand for sure.
I mean if we're serious about looking at a bunch of different wash plants...
Um, then we should just go to New Zealand.
To New Zealand?
It might be the only place in the world that has a bunch of them running.
[Jeff] It's the right time to be down there.
[narrator] New Zealand...
...world leaders in wash plant design,
where over 1,200 tons of gold has been unearthed.
[Parker] The most efficient operators, making money on the leanest ground,
has always been New Zealanders.
It's always been Kiwis.
[narrator] And they mine... 12 months of the year.
[Parker] There's a huge history of mining.
And for me, this may be the college class
on efficient placer mining, making this trip.
You know, mining seasons are short,
but... off-seasons are short as well.
And... we don't have much time to get this all set up,
and start an entire new mining operation.
I have a lot riding on this ground in Fairbanks.
Like, we need to start mining and getting gold out of the ground,
and that means having a wash plant and it all working.
There's just not much time to get things wrong,
and so, I gotta go to New Zealand.
We're one plane trip away from having the adventure of our lives.
[Parker] Go and get the gang back together.
I honestly can't believe that we're sat here right now, man.
This is ridiculous.
In any business, the most efficient survive,
and the ones that are looking at the most opportunities survive, right?
And that means learning from the best of the best, which are Kiwis.
[narrator] From Vancouver, Parker has traveled
over 7,000 miles to New Zealand...
...home to some of the most innovative gold miners in the world.
Coming to New Zealand and being able to, you know,
see new technology is gonna be really cool.
I think the big risk here is that we just don't have a lot of time, like...
I'm in the middle of planning all of our Yukon mining operation, you know,
the start-up of an Alaskan operation,
and I'm hoping that it's worth it.
Right? Like...
This could just snowball into giving us
a late start for the season and not being prepared,
so we definitely just need to stay focused on what the mission is.
Fairbanks is gonna be full of a whole lot of surprises,
lots of clay, lots of very difficult-to-recover gold,
and we need a wash plant
that can deal with all of that,
be high production and be portable.
You know, it's a huge challenge.
Get this party started.
And there is our man in Amsterdam.
Come on, man. Let's go see him. Let's do it.
Mate, look at him. Doesn't he look lonely?
Jeff!
[narrator] Wash plant guru Jeff Turnell
joins the team on their mission
to find the best turnkey plant in the country.
- [Parker] How's it going? - [Jeff] Good.
[Danny] Hello, bud.
I've always kinda been in the mining industry
since I was 17,
um, dealing with wash plants.
When he called me to go on this trip,
it was definitely out of the blue,
and I was pretty excited.
- How's it going, man? - [Danny] Good, man. How are you?
[bleep] awesome.
The most exciting thing for me right now
is, uh, I haven't had a lot of time to do traveling
and so, to be on a work trip
and work with Parker, I mean, it's pretty cool.
This is definitely the furthest I've ever traveled
and the biggest trip I've ever been on.
[Parker] Where's Tyler?
I'm very excited to finally pick up the boys
and meet Jeff.
A bit nervous about a new team member coming on.
I'm sure it'll be fine.
[narrator] The fourth and final member of the team
is Aussie gold miner Tyler Mahoney.
Two years ago, she proved her worth
when she guided Parker on a prospecting trip down under.
Uh, so this is where the Welcome Stranger nugget was found.
Um, so that was the biggest nugget in the world.
- [Parker] That's [bleep] nuts. - It's cool, hey?
I'm shaky. [laughs] That's a nice nugget.
- [Parker] For real? - Yeah.
- [bleep] - Not bad, hey?
Tyler and I have actually a really solid relationship, super good friends.
Um, I trust her totally.
[Tyler] My role has changed a lot.
I'm going to be helping Park with contacts,
getting him onto mine sites,
finding wash plants that are for sale,
but I'm definitely a lot more out of my comfort zone this time.
[narrator] For the 7-week journey,
Tyler's sourced a 400 horsepower Toyota M2 Overland.
With a 4.2-liter engine and 37-inch mud tires,
it will be perfect for New Zealand's rough terrain.
[car honking]
[Parker laughs]
[Danny laughs] Yes, Tyler.
- Um, where did you get this from? - [Tyler chuckles] Hi.
- [Parker] Nice rig. - [Tyler] Hello, nice to meet you, Jeff.
[Jeff] Yeah, nice to meet you.
- Hello. - How are you?
- Good. Good to see you. - Good to see ya.
Hello, give me a hug.
I like you even more now you brought that.
- Beautiful. - [Jeff] How was that to drive down here?
[chuckling] Uh, yeah, it's a beast.
You can definitely feel the power of the vehicle.
[chuckling] Oh, my. Look at this.
- [Parker] You got any beer in here? - [Danny] Is that a fridge?
- [Tyler laughs] Yeah. - [Danny] It's not.
[both laughing]
- [Danny] Have you filled that with beer? - [Tyler] I should've.
- [Parker] Oh... - There's nothing in it!
[Tyler] That was a rookie error.
- It was nearly at a perfect 10. - [Tyler chuckles]
[Parker] This is sick.
Pretty cool.
I think that thing's gonna go anywhere.
Who's driving?
- [laughs] Parker? - Hmm.
You know I don't drive.
[Tyler] Mmm, don't know why I bothered asking that.
[Jeff] Steering wheel's on the wrong side for me.
[Tyler] Jeff, you'd be fine.
Oh, yeah, I'm obviously...
[Tyler] Yeah, you've got an easy out.
[grunts]
[engine starts]
[engine revs]
Oh, yeah.
Should we have a drive-off?
We could do that. Let's have a drive-off.
And the winner drives.
- A drive-off? - Yeah
Is that what's happening here?
You and I are the judges,
and we make the decision, right?
Have you ever driven on the other side of the road before?
Never. This is gonna be super confusing.
Here you go.
- I got shotgun. - [Tyler] Jeff's up first then.
[Jeff] [bleep] me.
All right.
- [Parker] Come on. - [Danny] Let's go.
- Is it still, like, first is here? - [Tyler] Yep.
- It's in 4Hi? - [Danny] Oh!
- It's in 4Hi. - It's quite small in the back.
If I'm saying it's small in the back, it's [bleep] tiny.
[Tyler laughs]
- [Danny] I'm just excited about starting the trip. - [Tyler] I'm so excited.
[Danny] Oh, yes! It's like butter.
Come on.
[Parker] I mean, being able to drive on the beach is one thing.
You know, are you gonna be able to drive
on the wrong side of the road is the other thing.
I'm not being funny, guys. I don't know if I can do two months of this.
- [laughs] - Two months of what?
This is bumpy.
Are all the roads like this in New Zealand?
Oh, you should see where we're going.
There's a reason we bought this car.
[narrator] To kickstart their trail around New Zealand,
they must take a coastal, off-road track...
...and tackle the Devil's Gate.
[Tyler] Oh, my[bleep]. There it is.
That actually looks a bit...
[laughs] Danny, the closer I get to that,
that's steep.
- That's what we're going over? - [Tyler] Yeah.
- That looks fricking insane. - [Danny laughs]
[laughs nervously] Seriously?
- [Tyler] Are you gonna be right? - [Jeff] I don't know.
- You guys ready? - [Danny] Go on, Jeff.
Into the deep end, mate.
- [engine whirring] - [tires screech]
[Jeff] Oh, we are in low.
Meaty.
Extreme driving hazards.
Help! Oh, my [bleep]!
- [Tyler gasps] - I [bleep] snapped the lens off my camera.
- [Jeff laughs] - That's not good at all.
[Tyler] That is not good.
- [chuckles] - Danny...
- Oh, my [bleep]. - [laughs]
- That's really not good. - That's really not good.
- Have you ever done that before? - No!
Of course I haven't done that.
In my entire career, I've never done that before.
I mean, it's...
The thing is, it's not like...
- It's not popped off, it's snapped off. - [Tyler] It's snapped.
- Your reaction, as well, coming down... - [both laughing]
- [laughing] "I've snapped it! I've snapped it!" - [Jeff] What happened?
And that's awesome. That made my week.
In 20 years of operating the camera, I've never...
I've never actually snapped one off.
So, uh, that happened.
[Tyler] I can't believe that's happened.
But, um, no, I've got another one.
My last one [snorts] for the next couple of months.
Tyler, you're on. [chuckles]
[narrator] Now, it's Tyler's turn to take the wheel.
- [Tyler] You guys ready? - [Jeff] Let's do this.
All right, come on in, Tyler.
- [Tyler] All right. - What you got?
[engine starts]
- I'm actually excited. - [Danny] Oh, yeah. You started it...
You started it well.
At least I can do that.
- And hand brake off? - [Tyler] I've done that, Danny, thank you.
- [Danny] And your fuel? - [Parker] Check, check, check.
- [Danny] Tyler... - It's such a beast.
- [Danny] What... [bleeping] - [Tyler] Sorry.
- Do you guys feel safe? - Oh, yeah.
- [Parker] No. - Parker, why are you looking so scared?
[chuckling] Why are you driving like a psycho?
- I'm just [bleep] driving. - No, you aren't.
- [Tyler laughs] - You're headed straight for a [bleep] tree!
[Tyler] Is this guy gonna slow down?
Oh, [bleep]. Oh!
- [bleep] - [exclaiming]
- [bleep] - [Danny sighs]
- I'm sorry, guys. That was... - Holy [bleep].
Did he not see us, or did we not see him?
He just waved and said, "Thanks."
- [Danny] Aw, man. - [Jeff] Let's take a look.
- [Danny] That feels really stuck. - [Jeff] Stuck.
Yeah, we're...
- Oh, yeah, we're in here. - [Danny] Are we in deep?
[Tyler] You're not happy with my driving, are you?
[Danny] I don't know, I felt like, you know,
even though Jeff was quite kinda rough,
there was, you know, he was kinda cool with it.
My job definitely is making phone calls, doing research, connecting people.
So if I'm driving, I don't feel like I'll be able to do both jobs properly.
I'm happy in the backseat with Danny.
- Cool. We need to get on the move. - [Tyler] Let's do it, then.
We got places to go, right?
Yeah, like South Island bound, right?
[Tyler] Yeah, we're going south.
- Let's do it. - [Danny] Let's go.
[narrator] The first leg of their journey is a 60-mile voyage across the Cook Strait.
[Parker] All right, Tyler. What do you have planned for us?
Let's do it, hey? I'll show you.
I've got a map planned and ready to go.
Parker called me literally, like, three weeks ago,
and I thought he was insane.
I thought there was no way we were gonna be able to pull this off.
But we're here.
I'm glad we chose the, uh, non-windiest part of the boat.
- Tyler, you're so organized. - Thank you, I try.
- [Danny] Mag mounts, how did you know? - I know, I know.
All right. There's a lot going on here.
The majority of the gold mining in New Zealand
is going on on the West Coast of the South Island,
um, some really impressive wet plants
and a lot of fine gold.
That's what New Zealand's known for,
and that's what Parker wanted to see.
[narrator] From Wellington, Parker and the team
are heading to New Zealand's South Island,
where they'll focus their search on the West Coast
and the Otago mining region,
that together have produced $34 billion in gold.
Through here is a place called Ross,
which is where...
- ...this was found. - [Jeff] Holy [bleep].
It's a replica of Honourable Roddy,
which was the biggest nugget ever found in New Zealand.
- [Jeff] Seriously? - [Danny] Oh, wow.
[Jeff chuckles] Holy [bleep].
[Tyler] Pretty cool, hey?
[Jeff] It's one piece?
It was, um, 100 ounces, 99.6 or something like that.
- That's unreal. - No, it's definitely cool.
We've got a lot of stuff to do, um...
You know, it's not gonna be easy.
Gold miners are very secretive and elusive.
But ultimately, New Zealand's home to some of the, you know, best gold miners in the world.
Come on, man. This is good.
Jeff, what are you looking forward to, man?
Checking out some of the wash plants
that I've never seen before.
There's some really impressive mining going on.
There's a lot of gold coming out.
A lot of Kiwis left here and went to the Yukon
because the ground there was way better,
and they took their technology,
went to the Yukon, and made a pile of money.
There's no degree for placer mining.
It's the only way to learn this,
is to do it and to learn from the best.
- We are in the land of plenty. - [Tyler] Yeah.
Adventure's always been a big part of these trips,
and, um, you know, New Zealand's got a lot of infrastructure for that.
And it's fun to bring people in
and put them in this pressure cooker
where you're living together and traveling together,
and being thrown into difficult situations
and things outside your comfort zone
and seeing how people deal with those scenarios.
There's a whole bunch of awesome things to do in the country,
and I wanna do them all.
[Danny] Aw, yes![bleep]
Man, I've always wanted to do this!
[narrator] Before visiting their first gold mine,
Parker is putting his new crew
to the ultimate team-building test...
...a 13,000-foot trust fall.
[man] So, I need the guys jumping to fill these forms.
- I'll just sign it. - Is there an app on here to do a quick will, too?
I don't have a will. Should probably leave everything to Dozer.
- [laughs] - [Tyler] Doze man.
I'm secretly [bleep] myself.
[narrator] Coming up...
Parker goes off the grid...
I'm just waiting for the dinosaurs.
I feel like I'm in Jurassic Park.
[narrator] ...to find gold.
[Parker] They're all getting[bleep] rich.
Oh, man. Look at that.
[narrator] Before beginning their 7-week mission,
the team receive a traditional welcome to the South Island
by the local Maori.
- Parker. - Renee.
So, that was the hongi.
That's how Maori greets,
and when you press noses, you become as one.
[woman singing in Maori]
[narrator] A rite of passage, once received,
the team are seen as more than just guests to the island.
[singing continues]
[man chanting in Maori]
[all chanting]
[Jeff] I wasn't expecting this at all.
It was very, very emotional.
[chanting continues]
It's really hard to explain. It's just, like, overwhelming.
[chanting continues]
[Parker] There's not a lot of intact cultures that have kept these kind of traditions,
and it's really, really cool to be here
and to be invited in this way, in the traditional way.
My balls feel like they're in the danger zone.
You know what I mean?
[narrator] Parker is testing the strength of his team
with a 13,000-foot tandem skydive.
I definitely like warriors around me.
I like people who are battle-hardened.
I'm ready. Let's just do it.
You all right, Jeff?
- [bleep] awesome. - [Danny laughs]
[man] It's real now.
Yeehaw!
[narrator] First to take the plunge is the team's greenhorn.
Whoa!
One of my keys to success is definitely keeping people around me
that will keep me in check,
and on this trip, Jeff's that person.
He's gonna keep me in check.
There's too much pressure on having a plant
that's operational this summer for Fairbanks.
[screams] [bleep]
Oh, my [bleep]!
[Parker] Tyler, she's really good
at getting access to things.
Just, like, talking her way onto properties.
She has a way with people that I have sometimes,
but not most of the time. [chuckles]
[Jeff] Oh, yeah. Fricking awesome. [sighs]
Super excited to start getting to some of these mine sites,
getting our feet on the ground and really start tuning in to what we want
for a wash plant for Parker,
because the mining season's coming pretty soon.
Oh, my [bleep]!
That was so much fun!
Time is definitely of the essence.
Look, I wanna squeeze in as much gold and wash plants and contacts as I can.
I've got a couple things up my sleeves.
We're gonna see some great wash plants.
That's so crazy. It's really [bleep] cool.
Beautiful.
I bet this doesn't get old.
[Danny exclaims]
[bleep] the bed.
Now, like, we're all good buddies,
we can really sort of just knuckle down
and concentrate on the job at hand.
[laughs nervously]
I feel like we could be on one of the hottest trips yet.
[Parker] I always find comfort in knowing if [bleep] hits the fan,
I'm around people that would have my back.
And, um, [bleep] might hit the fan.
So that's always good.
It's always good to have that feeling and that level of trust.
[Tyler] How'd it go?
It was fricking awesome.
Little bit.
[Danny exclaims] Oh, oh.
- Oh, what just happened? - [Parker laughs] Dan!
[both laughing]
[Danny] Oh, man.
- I screamed, "Mummy!" for, like, one-third of it. - [Parker laughs boisterously]
- [laughs] - [Jeff] Dude.
[Danny] It's like pure ecstasy and wanting to puke at the same time.
[all chuckle]
[Danny] Oh, my...
[Parker] We need to get lean and we need to get mean.
But in terms of the team here, the four of us...
Yeah, I think it's a very good recipe for success.
[narrator] This season on Parker's Trail...
[Parker] I've set $1 million aside to do this.
I can't think of a better place
to buy a big, badass wash plant.
Their mining's super-efficient.
They're all getting [bleep] rich.
Oh, man.
Look at that.
We have to find the people that have pioneered the technology
and developed these ideas.
We have to go and learn from the best.
Cheating a wee bit, I would call it.
[man laughs]
[Tyler] Are you the only one in this area with this exact wash plant?
It's the only one in the world.
[bleep] sick.
Everyone likes to keep their cards close to them.
[man laughing on phone]
He just laughed in my face.
[Parker] ...is locked.
[Tyler] I don't know if that's a good idea, guys.
Hey! You're not meant to be in here.
This is gonna be tough.
You still haven't actually chose if you want a shaker deck or a trommel.
[Parker] Don't tell me what the [bleep] to do.
I'm sure it won't be all business, you know?
You've always gotta have a little bit of fun mixed in.
- [shouts] - [Tyler screams]
[Tyler laughing] Oh, my [bleep], I wet myself.
Come with me.
[Tyler] This is epic.
[Parker] That is so blue.
- Oh, my [bleep]! - Ah!
Oh, my... [bleeping]
[man] Just hold on.
I'm just waiting for the dinosaurs.
I feel like I'm in Jurassic Park.
Now?
[Danny] Wow.
- [man groans] - Oh, my [bleep].
[Tyler laughing]
[Parker screaming]
I think we should get out of here.
They're talking price here.
You wanna sell me the plant?