[ominous music playing]
[water gushing]
[scott] my biggest disappointment
Is that I thought I had earned that trust.
I really did.
It's kind of a rule in gold mining
That you don't do that.
[ominous music playing]
[paul c] in southeast alaska...
Nothing of you... [bleep] pisses me off
Than whathe just [bleep] did.
[paul c] ...After four months digging deep,
And barely any gold to show for their efforts,
Fred hurt's crew is in crisis.
[paul r] I mean, gold, makes everybody act different.
People have gotten killed
Over a [bleep] nugget.
-[man] lots of people. -Lots of people.
[man] it's gold, man. Gold is...
Gold is strange, and it does
-Strange things to people. -[man] it does.
-It really does -unexplainable things.
I don't know, but...
I do not take kindly if somebody calling me
A [bleep] thief.
[fred] he's [bleep] got gold fever,
And I'm telling you,
Gold will make an honest person...
Dishonest.
[suspenseful music playing]
[dustin] there's a huge gold catch.
[carlos] no.
Come on. No way.
[dustin] we deserve success
Because we're too stubborn to quit.
I don't know what you're accusing me of.
Will you shut the [bleep] up?
You know what the rules were.
[suspenseful music playing]
[fred] this is serious danger.
It's the stuff nightmares are made out of.
-[man] ow. -[man] oh.
You get him the [bleep] out of there.
He's [bleep] shivering, I can hear him.
[suspenseful music playing]
[paul r] that's a nice piece, damn.
[fred] [laughs] that's nice.
[dustin] I have a nugget.
-[laughs] -[man] that's gold.
[man] that's definitely a big nugget.
[man] good job, man.
[ominous music playing]
[water gushing]
[carlos] hey, james, you're ready to rock and roll?
-[james] are you ready? -[carlos] oh, yeah.
Let's get the dredge started [indistinct]
All right.
[engine revving]
Awesome.
We're ready to rock and roll.
[dustin] we fought tooth and nail
To get where we're at right now.
I think there's a bunch of gold in this chute,
And we deserve success
Because we're too stubborn to quit.
[paul c] a month left before the alaskan winter
Freezes them out,
Dustin hurt's crew is taking everything
On their new dive site, "the chute",
At the top of rockfall ravine.
It's getting cold, man.
[sniffs] like really cold.
[carlos] no such thing as bad weather,
Just bad wardrobe.
[paul c] it's produced a little gold
On almost every dive.
[dustin] let's go diving.
[paul c] dustin's mission today
Is to prove that it contains the gold catch they need
To finish their season strong.
[carlos] hello? 1-1-1-1. Can you hear me?
-Can you hear me? -[dustin] I can hear you.
-Ready when you're up. -[carlos] yeah.
-There's a [indistinct] -[dustin laughs]
-[carlos] diver in. -[dustin] diver in.
[static sound]
[dustin] ooh, that's cold.
-Let me get warmed up. -[carlos] yup, yup.
Get warmed up.
[water gushing]
[carlos] "the chute" is a big natural sluice box.
Look at it.
Coming down, water,
Straight, going crazy,
And it ripples on the bottom.
Lots of gold catches. Look,
You see the sluice box?
This is "the chute."
A freaking like, a hundred...
Five hundred times bigger.
[dustin] so what we're looking for is bedrock.
That's gonna be it. Outside of that,
You know, it can be much gold.
[paul c] to deliver the gold they need
To add to their record haul,
The crew hopes this narrow chute
Will contain a deep layer of gravel and rocks.
Once they reached the bedrock where the gold lies,
Any fracture at the bottom
Could have trapped a fortune in gold.
[carlos] how much you bet we got gold in there, james?
How much you wanna bet we got gold in there right now?
I hope so.
[dustin] I got a lot dug already, man.
-[carlos] yeah. -[dustin] [bleep]
Dig so [bleep] easy.
I mean, everything moves when you grab it pretty much.
Different material right here on this.
Well, whatever you're getting into, man,
It's dirtying up the water.
[dustin] whoa, did we land on this [indistinct]
It's bedrock.
[carlos] you see that?
-Gold, gold, gold. -[laughs]
[paul c] for the last four weeks,
The crew has battled the most violent white water
They've ever faced,
And they finally reached the bedrock and its riches.
[dustin] [indistinct]
[carlos] little nugget, now to pay for all the gas
That we put into this dig,
Then, we can make profit after that.
That's awesome.
[man] we're gonna be seeing some serious gold.
[man] this could be better with anything
We've ever dug before.
[wes] all gold wants to do is go to the deepest spot
On the bedrock,
So it's gonna be a huge payday.
[dustin] what the [bleep] is going on here?
[carlos] yo, what happened?
[dustin] slipped off bedrock right here.
Oh, come on. No way.
[man] [indistinct] [bleep]
[paul c] clearing the bedrock reveals a smooth surface
Where there's no place for gold to settle.
[carlos] do you see any kind of gold?
-[dustin] nothing. -[carlos] nothing?
[dustin] I just don't get what's going on.
What we're looking for is huge cracks in the bedrock
But there's nothing.
There's a huge gold catch,
But there's no gold in it.
It just don't make no sense, man. This whole...
This whole chute is like a giant sluice box.
-[dustin] I know. -[carlos] it just don't make
No sense.
[dustin] I don't know what to say.
I'm not seeing anything.
Very depressing.
[dustin] that's right. [indistinct]
[carlos] we're not seeing no sign of gold
In the bedrock, whatsoever.
What's going on?
Is the water going too fast?
Usually if we have water going too fast
On the sluice box,
The gold gets washed out.
I don't know.
I'm feeling further upstream we go,
The more gold we're gonna find.
[suspenseful music playing]
[sighs]
How's it look?
[wes] nothing.
Pretty disappointing.
[water gushing]
[carlos] there's gold in there, man.
There's gold in there.
Guarantee it, man.
-[dustin] where? -In that chute, man.
[dustin] where would you find it?
The entire downstream side is clean.
[carlos] there's hope, man.
-I guarantee it, man. -[dustin] you think so?
[carlos] the further we go upstream,
-Trust me, man. Trust me. -[dustin] okay. Trust you.
I'm not a gold guy, but I just...
I have a feeling there's gonna be gold in there, man.
It's the only way you're gonna get any gold
Out of this is if there's a crack
-Or a big, big catch. -Yeah.
That really stops water,
All you're gonna get out of this thing.
You guys wanted to dig it, you're digging it now.
That's it.
[paul c] time is running out on their season.
Dustin has no choice but to gamble
His remaining weeks on a long shot.
[dustin] could be wrong. I love to be wrong
About this stuff. But... We're gonna keep digging it
Because now we're [bleep] we're committed,
And we don't leave [bleep] half-done.
[rock music playing]
[fred] like, the guys kind of just gather around.
This is to give you an idea
Of just how deep you are in this water.
Where the red tape is 18 feet deep.
Just like this cliff right here?
That's what's on the side of you, right here.
Yeah. I mean, that pole...
It really puts it into perspective.
[paul c] just weeks remaining in their troubled season,
Fred hurt's just two feet from what he believes
Will be a landmark gold find.
We're really close to the bottom.
Somewhere down there is a pile of gold
That could change all our lives.
But we have to make sure the hole is safe.
[paul c] but to reach the bonanza,
The crew must put their lives on the line,
Diving deep.
[fred] this is absolute serious danger.
It's the stuff nightmares are made out of.
[ominous music playing]
[fred] all right. We're getting stirred up.
[ominous music playing]
[engine revving]
[fred] scott is diving today,
To try and like help to prove there is gold
Down in the bottom of this creek right here.
We hope there's lots of gold.
Wow. Chilly.
[paul r] so, we're gonna be able to see scott
And everything he's doing today.
[man] yeah, we will.
[paul r] it's starting to freeze
Further up the mountain, which is slowing
The glacier down,
And it's just... It's just giving us
Some amazing clarity right now.
[paul c] late September in alaska,
The freezing temperatures on top of the mountain,
Meaning the glacier is no longer melting,
So the calmer water down in the creek
Is crystal clear.
You know with that visibility,
You ain't gonna get away with anything.
If you're down there take a nap
We're gonna notice you. [laughs]
[paul c] the diver rotation
Means the burden of reaching bedrock
Falls on newest recruit, scott.
[scott] we have got to be close to bedrock now.
I'mma make sure we hit bedrock today.
[man] good luck down there, scott.
-[scott] rock and roll, boys. -[paul r] give them hell.
[ominous music playing]
[man] how much visibility
You got the bottom of the hole?
[scott] right into the hole, man, you can see everything.
This is definitely a different experience.
[man] yup.
There we go.
You all right?
[scott] I'm being [indistinct]
-[man] all right. -[scott] [indistinct]
Material.
Kind of just working my way down little by little.
[man] all right.
[scott] I'm heading straight down.
This is down deeper
[indistinct] gold, man, I'mma hit it.
[paul c] scott is tunneling straight down
Towards the bedrock.
[scott] a lot of [indistinct] dredge holes.
[fred] I think, you're ready to, uh,
Do a little bit of back to work.
[paul r] all right. [indistinct] is coming down.
[scott] copy that. Bring it on.
[bleep] oh, check this visibility.
It's incredible. I can see it.
Hell, I can see the surface.
[paul r] might be the nicest day of the year
To dive there, scott.
[indistinct] having that kind of clarity.
The water is so clear right now,
I can literally see the diver in 18 feet down here.
[scott] you know, this is a [indistinct] cool light,
But I can kind of want to dredge for gold in alaska.
-Gosh, that's full. -[paul r] all right.
It's coming up.
[paul c] scott's on a high
After making good progress.
[paul r] if it's cold enough, I'm hanging on it.
Yeah. Right underneath it. We're all...
Don't ever do that.
Do not do that.
[paul c] after 30 years as a construction boss,
Dakota fred won't compromise
On the rules in staying safe.
[paul r] what if something breaks on that thing.
Don't ever get underneath that damn thing.
[scott] [indistinct]
[paul r] scott, just remember [indistinct] perimeter.
[fred] make sure there wasn't any big rocks fall in.
[scott] oh, I [indistinct]
I'm still cold for hitting the bedrock.
I can feel it.
[fred] I don't know what's going on.
The faster to do it, it doesn't appear
To be working on the perimeter.
I'm not sure that scott has the awareness
Of the dangers.
I've got to think of everything I can
Do to keep the divers safe.
But the diver himself is the one ultimately
That has to keep himself safe.
[scott] I'm going down just a little bit.
[fred] look, scott, uh, slow down.
Think about it for a second, all right?
-[scott] ow. -What the hell happened?
What happened?
[ominous music playing]
[fred] look, scott, uh, slow down.
Think about it for a second, all right?
[paul c] fred hurt's crew
Is less than two feet from the bedrock.
Their newest crew member, scott,
Is in a hurry to hit the gold.
[scott] ow.
[fred] what the hell happened? What happened?
[scott] something just got off from a [indistinct]
It's in my foot?
[indistinct] [bleep] [indistinct]
[fred] you all right? Yeah.
[scott] yeah. I sure don't wanna be under that.
[fred] if you're willing to cut down
Here at the bottom, I'll be honest,
That there, we got room to move.
[paul c] tunneling straight down,
Scott has created a narrow hole,
Forcing him to work under the loaded rock basket.
[paul r] scott, roll over.
The back door in the wall.
[scott] I can't go back towards the wall anymore.
[fred] then I need you to come up.
[paul c] the promise of bedrock riches
Lead scott to ignore fred,
And its cost him his dive.
[fred] yeah, he was getting down
To that bedrock, but he showed me
He could really do the job and everything,
But he's not aware of the surrounding dangers.
That bothers me.
[suspenseful music playing]
[dustin] all right. James,
Fire it up.
[engine revs]
[man] you guys seem to think if there's gold further up,
I don't know how.
[dustin] now all we need is a crack for that gold
To settle in, a pocket, a catch,
Just keep on going upstream until we clean it out.
[paul c] dustin's crew
Is back investigating the chute
After finding no gold,
Or gold that catches on the slick bed rock
On dustin's last dive.
[dustin] today, we're gonna put in carlos.
I have a feeling it's gonna be a complete bust.
[paul c] if the bedrock continues upstream
On a slick slope,
The chute could be a total failure.
We're committed now. So, you got to...
You got to dig the whole damn thing out.
Check that box off.
That's done.
You don't have to come back here, and dig ever again.
It is clean.
[carlos] you're ready to rock, man.
- Have a good dive. -[carlos] I will.
Holy moly.
[bleep] yeah, you're welcome.
Ooh. Diver in.
[carlos] [indistinct] swim as far as I can.
[dustin] copy that.
[carlos] [indistinct] gold, oh, man.
[dustin] so, tell me what your initial, uh,
Talk to us.
[carlos] an easy digging. It's just very easy digging.
[paul c] carlos dredges the loose material upstream
In search of anything that could be a gold trap.
[carlos] holy [bleep]
[dustin] what did you say, carlos?
[carlos] okay.
You see one... That right now?
[dustin] yes.
-[carlos] oh, okay. -[dustin] yes.
[carlos] it seemed like the bedrock has taken
Some depth going down.
On three, does that make sense?
No, it don't make sense. What the hell?
[paul c] three hours into his dive,
Carlos has uncovered an anomaly on the bedrock.
[carlos] [indistinct] I was digging a sand
That would go downstream.
Now, it's upstream.
It's heading down [indistinct]
Underwater [indistinct] going down.
[paul c] five feet down,
Carlos has discovered a series of steps
In the bedrock getting deeper
As they go upstream.
If this is the start of a plunge pool,
The bottom could contain a massive pile of gold.
[carlos] the chute don't make no sense.
It's just crazy [indistinct] ever thought it would be.
[dustin] the deeper that thing goes,
The better the chances all of us getting gold.
I still don't think there's gonna be anything
Down there, but I'mma hopeful. Uh,
I wanna be wrong too,
But I got to tell you, it don't look good.
[carlos] uh, yeah, it's cold down [indistinct]
[dustin] maybe it is a gold catch after all.
We'll see.
So, what do you think [indistinct]
-[carlos] oh. -[dustin] all right.
Copy that.
That's just [bleep] going... Still going down, dude.
-[dustin] still going down? -[wes] [bleep] [bleep]
If he's going down like that,
There's gonna be chock full of gold, man.
[dustin] it's getting deeper.
The further upstream he goes.
So, it's possible, we have a plunge pool.
[paul c] but the measure of a gold catch
Depends on the color of your sluice box.
[carlos] [bleep] like, I don't see [indistinct]
-[man] ooh, what's this? -[carlos] yup. I know.
-[man] oh, look at that piece. -[carlos] oh, beautiful.
[dustin] what? Oh, look at that piece.
-[carlos] I told you, man. -[ryan] that's hopeful.
[carlos] yeah. I think so.
[dustin] you can't be a gold miner
And be hopeless.
I'm just saying.
[paul c] pickers in the sluice
Restores the crew's faith in the chute.
[dustin] the way this material looks, it...
All the gold is gonna be on the bottom.
[wes] it does impact a very big area
To fill up a bottle like this.
We can speculate all we want to,
But until you actually get it in,
Remove the rocks, remove the boulders,
You don't know what it's like.
As I love to be wrong about this because well,
That means more gold for us.
[paul c] up ahead.
[dustin] something's wrong. Get him the [bleep]
Out of there, he's [bleep] shivering.
I don't know what you're accusing me of.
Will you shut the [bleep] up?
[dramatic music playing]
-[fred] you ready? -Yeah.
[fred] let's do it.
[engine revs]
[casey] we're getting for the morning,
Uh, paul is gonna be in diving today.
[fred] hopefully, we'll hit the bottom.
We're so close to finding that gold.
[paul c] nineteen feet down,
Fred's closing in on the bedrock gold,
But the hole is getting increasingly dangerous.
And fred had to abort the last dive
When scott broke his rules on safety.
We need to evaluate that situation.
I'm not putting anybody in danger out here.
None whatever.
It look like it's too, uh, dangerous, uh,
For anyone of you, guys, to get in that water.
And I'll have to make a decision based on that.
[paul c] fred needs his most experienced diver
To manage the risks.
[man] have a good day.
-How that feels? -Good to go.
Good to go.
[man] how you're making now down there?
Well, let's see.
Looks good. I think, I'm almost
[indistinct] to where scott was at.
You got a hell of a hole.
It's got like [indistinct] a tunnel in china.
[indistinct]
[paul r] [bleep] it's that all I can see
Is you were doing some crazy [bleep] down here yesterday.
And I don't know what I would've done.
Because you just dug a runnel straight down.
[paul c] by boring straight down
Towards the bedrock,
And not widening the hole,
Scott's created a death trap
With steep pit walls.
[fred] what would you have done differently, paul?
[paul c] just made a bigger hole.
There's really nothing else you could have done
-Differently. - [scott] [indistinct]
I was trying to [indistinct] you know.
In my last dive, it's weighing heavy on me.
[fred] you're gonna have to learn how to work
Smarter, not harder.
[paul r] it kind of like [indistinct]
To it, the building.
Can you really expand that out a little bit?
[scott] yeah, something I'm working on,
But then, like we're in the bottom.
[paul r] first things first, I have to, uh,
Come back up a little bit, extend the hole
Before we can go back down again.
[man] that's a good idea, man.
[dramatic music playing]
[paul c] paul must make the hole wider and safely
Before anyone can continue
Dredging down to bedrock gold.
[fred] we're getting down, and we're only
In about a six to eight foot hole right now,
Down in the very bottom of this thing.
So we have to be careful
That the walls don't slough off on us.
[man] I ain't coming there, paul.
[paul r] [indistinct] I got to...
Open a hole up a little bit more,
And get a little bit more room in here.
[wes] we can still get a good pile of gold
Before the season is over.
I really feel like our day is gonna come.
Man, I got a wife and three kids
To feed at home, man. I just...
I can't be gone all summer,
And come home with nothing.
Yeah, none of us [indistinct] man.
[fred] how's the situation down there?
[man] yeah, we're good.
[man] yeah, that's definitely [indistinct]
[man] all right, great. Good job, man. Good job.
-[paul r] yup, thanks, man. -[fred] well done, paul.
It looks like it's pretty safe.
[paul c] four hours in the water,
Widening the hole, has delayed progress.
[paul r] diver coming up.
[paul c] but paul has made it ready
For the next diver to get down to bedrock
And hit that gold.
-[fred] hard day, huh? -[man] yeah, boss.
[fred] hey, what are you doing?
Hey.
What are you doing?
Same thing he did yesterday.
[fred] you're breaking the [bleep] rules.
And I have more than one person
Go looking at sluice box.
[scott] I didn't touch anything in the box.
[fred] you could be a [bleep] mad
As you [bleep] wanna be.
You don't break them rules.
I told you before you even start.
You were picking around and you were picking.
I didn't touch a [bleep] thing.
I looked because I was standing next to it.
I don't know what you're accusing me
-Of right now, but... -[fred] I'm... I...
-I'm not accusing you. -I'm not... No. No. No.
-We are... -You're accusing me of doing
Something that I didn't do.
Listen, no one will go snooping around
In that box without two people.
[scott] so it's only wrong if I do it
Because holding the same damn thing yesterday,
The exact same thing.
[fred] well, I didn't see him.
[scott] so, it's only wrong if I do it then?
It's only bad if I see it.
Is there anything in the box?
[scott] it only matters if you see it.
[fred] will you shut the [bleep] up?
You know what the rules were.
[scott] [bleep] man, I'm [bleep] out of here.
-[bleep] -[fred] yeah, I'mma [bleep]
We're enforcing the rules,
Nothing [bleep] pisses me off
Than what he just [bleep] did.
[dramatic music playing]
As you know paul, he does it.
It's just something that apparently
I'm not allowed to do.
Here we are at the end of the [bleep] season,
I've busted my [bleep] for all [bleep] here,
And he's still treating me like [bleep]
[fred] so, we'll run over there, flip the top up
Start looking, wrong [bleep] wrong.
He broke the cardinal rule,
Don't go looking the sluice box
By yourself.
And I think most gold miners understand exactly
What I'm talking about.
He's [bleep] got gold fever, and I'm telling you,
Gold will make an honest person...
Dishonest.
[scott] I do not take kindly to somebody
-Calling me a thief. -[wes] yeah, I don't think
That's what he meant by it.
It's just kind of a rule
In gold mining that you don't do that.
[scott] I think he's just got some weird issue with me.
He [bleep] do the same [bleep] thing yesterday.
But it was only wrong if I do it.
[paul p] no, I understand.
But I have been around fred long enough to do...
You know, he's got... He's got trust in me.
You know, we've worked for... We've [bleep]
Worked with fred since 2013.
[scott] it's my biggest disappointed is that
I thought I was earning that trust.
Yeah. You know, I really did.
I guess I'm really bummed that I worked my [bleep] off
Like crazy, and get no respect.
[paul r] I mean gold makes everybody act different.
I mean he's had it happen before in the past,
And that's probably why he's a little bit
The way he is, just because nuggets...
[scott] he's had people steal nuggets?
-Yes. -[scott] oh [bleep].
[dramatic music playing]
[paul r] that's one reason why he's real strict.
You see a nice nugget in the box,
And then, later on when he's going through it, it's gone.
[wes] trust with gold takes a long, long, long time.
It's not the normal trust. It's unfortunate,
But that's just the way gold is, man.
[paul r] people have gotten killed
Over a [bleep] nugget.
-[scott] lots of people. -Lots of people.
[water splashing]
[upbeat music playing]
Have a good dive, man.
I really hope there's some gold in the bottom of it.
Well, we'll find out.
We wouldn't be doing all this for nothing.
We know there's gold in the chute.
[paul c] the end of the season in sight,
The chute is dustin's last hope for a final payday.
[dustin] we're running to get some [indistinct] right now.
It's gonna snow, so...
Hopefully james gets out in the bottom of the chute.
And it's got gold in it.
[paul c] james needs to deliver on the promise
Of carlos' last dive.
And get to the gold
At the bottom of the plunge pool.
[james] all right. Here we go. Let's get in the water, man.
All right, my man. You got me?
I got you.
But you're gonna have to go over that cable right there.
You got to go over the top of that,
And you got to bring your entire umbilical, yeah.
And now, I need your umbilical
To go over there with you. Ready?
Don't let it get underneath the [indistinct]
All right, get comfortable, man.
[james] ugh, it's cold.
[dustin] yeah, bad, man.
[james groans]
-[laughs] -[dustin] oh, oh, oh.
Oh, I know, man,
That hurts something awful.
Oh, my [bleep].
[carlos] think warm, happy thoughts, dude.
[indistinct] in your hot suit,
That's only like keep you warm.
[james laughs]
[dramatic music playing]
[james] let's see what we got going on over here.
What's that, uh, carlos going up to that part here?
[carlos] I want you to clean that whole bottom off of it.
[james] and I think about start dragging.
[dustin] yeah, you're good to go.
Go ahead, man.
There's some big rocks down here.
Oh, let's do it.
All right. You just to do it, shut your water
Just a little bit before you see that up,
A little bit, yeah.
I see these all sitting there. All right.
-[water splashing] -[air pump blowing]
[james] like, it's caught up something,
I can't move.
[dustin] oh [bleep] the umbilical,
It's twisted up bad.
Oh [bleep] look at you, you all pushed it up.
Hey, I can't believe you still in that water.
[paul c] james's diver umbilical,
Carrying vital hot water and air,
Is trapped underneath the heavy dredge hose.
[james] yeah, it's [bleep] so twisted.
[james shivering]
[dustin] are you cold? Are you [bleep] freezing
Down there? Are you [bleep] cold?
[indistinct] james is starting to shiver.
Hey, divers got no hot water. Tell him to get out.
[james shivering]
[paul c] in the freezing waters
Of mckinley creek,
Hypothermia can kill him in minutes.
-[man] [indistinct] -yeah.
[man] you pull the umbilical up?
Because the umbilical, look.
Pull, pull, pull, pull.
Oh, are you [bleep] kidding?
[paul c] the dredge hose and umbilical are so tangled.
[man] it won't lift.
[paul c] a combined weight is impossible to lift.
[james shivering] it's cold.
Get him the [bleep] out of there.
He's [bleep] shivering, I can hear it.
[man] we have to do something.
Try to get the super claw onto the winch,
Pull it right up.
[dustin] I'm on it.
[dramatic music playing]
-[dustin] got it. -[man] coming up.
[machine revving]
[james] all right.
[james groans]
[dustin] that's it.
-[james] oh, my. -[dustin cheering]
-Hold on to something, man. -[james shivering]
[james groans]
[dustin] how you feeling, man?
-It's cold. -I know. I know.
That's why I'm trying to get in, yeah,
You're twisted real hard.
[carlos] [laughs] we got like...
Yeah, man, you got some couple twists in here, definitely.
Pull them up with this in your chest.
Take your time with it, man, you're not in a hurry.
I'm good.
I can't leave the chute without knowing
-What's the bottom of this. -[carlos] you don't have to.
[dustin] and you got to just take a break for a minute,
Just take a break for a minute.
This ain't the end of it, man. It's all good.
I'm good.
-[dustin] good? -Yup.
-[dustin] are you sure? -[james] yes.
[paul c] hot water now flowing,
James heads back into the ice cold creek
To locate the plunge pool carlos found,
Clear out the rocks and gravel
To get down to the gold at the bottom.
[dustin] let's get it done.
[water splashing]
[dustin] you warm up yet, man?
[james] yeah, I'm getting warm.
[dustin] okay.
[james] yup. I'm feeling good.
[indistinct] are incredible.
I've never seen anything like it.
[dramatic music playing]
[dustin] dig it up and roll.
[james] oh, man,
There's a lot of work to do.
[dustin] that's the [indistinct] man.
[james] oh, yeah, oh, and some material.
They're hopeless materials, not gold [indistinct]
Every once in a while,
I see something sparkling in here.
Let's hope though.
So james got back in the water.
He's trying to work his way down,
And I've got a feeling there's a lot of gold
Sitting right directly underneath me
In this crazy turbulent water right here.
We got to get to the bottom of it, get cleaned it out.
It's still dropping down, but...
There's so much freaking... Oh, what's this?
I see them gold.
Oh, got a nugget.
[wes] did you hear that?
[man] did you just say you got a nugget?
[james] yeah. I got a nugget.
-He's got a nugget? -[laughs]
[james] I found a nugget in the hole over here,
Looks really, really cool.
[man] yeah, it's so awesome man.
[dramatic music playing]
[wes] whoa, that good nugget, man.
[dustin laughs]
[paul c] james's handpicked nugget...
Look at that.
[paul c] ...Could be the start
Of a massive pile they'll find
When they hit the bottom.
-[man] that's a good nugget. -[man] awesome.
That's awesome, dude.
[man] good job, man. Good job.
[man] you could've told me.
[man] holy [bleep]
[james] it looks like there could be a [indistinct]
A lot of gold here.
[carlos] james found the gold nugget.
The deeper he's going down,
That's where we're gonna get the gold.
The gold has to be on the bedrock.
How deep are you making it far?
[james] oh, let me stand up [indistinct]
-All right. About eight feet? -[james] eight feet.
I'd say you're at about eight feet right now.
Okay. Keep digging, man.
He still has not reached the bottom.
Apparently, it's a lot bigger plunge pool
Than I thought it was gonna be.
Apparently, it's a lot bigger.
There's a lot more material in this hole,
And it's just gonna take more than one or two or three days.
You know what I mean?
[paul c] after five hours in the freezing water...
[dustin] hey, buddy.
How are you looking down there, man?
[james] oh, just [indistinct]
[paul c] the plunge pool is going down so deep,
There's no way james can clean it out.
[dustin] all right. I am gonna go [indistinct]
Your dive, my man. I got to get the feeling,
You're getting a little drunk down there,
A little dredged up. You got to be tired
By now, man.
[james] that was real stiff, too.
[laughs]
[man] it does, man.
[james] that's crazy how deep that thing goes.
[dustin] good job, james!
You're still going down, deep?
[james] yeah.
Good job on pulling up a nugget.
I didn't think we'd get a...
See a nugget in this whole thing.
Oh [indistinct] looks like, [makes sound]
I was like, "ha. All right. Yeah."
[paul c] besides finding a nugget,
James could've dredged more plunge pool of gold
Into the sluice.
Well, let's see what's in the back.
-[man] what's it look like? -[man] oh, that is gold.
-[laughs] I see it. -[man] that's gold.
That's gold, that's definitely gold.
-That's a [bleep] big nugget. -[man] that's pretty good.
Whoo. That's big.
With that right there, would probably pay for gas.
Yeah. That was our gas right there, man.
Yeah.
[paul c] the combination of the nugget
And good gold in the sluice
Means the chute plunge pool
Could be as big a payday
As the 30 ounces they've already got
From the rest of rockfall ravine.
Once we get to the deepest area of this chute right here,
I think there's gonna be a big pay in it.
[dustin] I got to tell you. We've already found more gold
Than I thought we'd find out of this chute.
You guys, I'm glad that you all talked me
Into, uh, working this hole.
[dramatic music playing]
So far, I'm the nugget king of the chute.
[man] the deeper it goes, the better.
We'll find out. We haven't hit the bottom yet.
[dustin] it could mean that there's more
Nuggets down there.
That'd be one hell of a season for us.
[birds chirping]
[fred] scott, and everybody on the crew knows the rules.
One person doesn't go over there
And go digging in the damn sluice box.
[paul c] when mining for gold,
A trustworthy crew is critical.
And fred hurt's is in crisis.
[fred] gold does a funny thing to people,
But that wasn't the point.
No people have got to learn the rules,
And understand how important some of our rules are.
You break the [bleep] rules,
You're gonna get your ass shoot out.
[dramatic music playing]
[birds chirping]
[paul c] in the hard world of gold mining,
Sometimes,
You have to bend the rules a little
To come out on top.
[man] on your mark...
[laughs]
[man] we got a damn cheater.
-[man] go! Go! -[man] [indistinct]
[man] you got to wait for the mark!
-Ready? -[man] now, go!
-[engine revving] -[laughter]
[man] we got you, we got you [bleep]
[man] it's all about the driving
[man] no wonder,
They have my brake on all of a sudden.
-[man] oh, man. -[laughs]
[dramatic music playing]
I hate letting you down.
[paul c] after months of conflict,
Fred and scott's relationship is at breaking point,
After scott ignored the golden rule of mining.
[scott] I'm sorry for looking into the sluice box on my own.
I don't know.
In gold mining,
The most important thing is trust.
This is not stuff that you just take lightly.
[scott] yeah.
You know, I don't have any other gold mining experience.
I'm here to learn everything you're willing teach me, man.
That's really what I'm hoping for.
[fred] well, hell
[indistinct] responsible diver.
Difficult to understand for me,
And if you can't,
I just request that you slow down
A little bit. That's all.
Uh, I understand the learning curve.
I just expect people to work harder.
So, show me that you can do that.
Put that gear on, get in there,
And go do the work.
[paul c] luckily for scott,
Fred needs every diver he can get.
-I'm sorry of [indistinct] -it's all right.
Let's go ahead and proceed, and keep moving.
[paul c] scott must now prove to fred
That he can stick to the rules.
[fred] [indistinct]
[paul c] and safely get down to the gold on the bedrock.
[dramatic music playing]
[fred] all right. What you're doing right now
-Is checking the parameter. -[scott] okay.
[fred] [indistinct] the parameter
[indistinct] very fast [indistinct] okay.
[scott] yeah, it does.
[fred] uh, got down a little lower,
And check it a little lower.
I think it's pretty solid.
[scott] um, the feet, um, two or three feet
- Above the bottom. -[fred] yup.
[scott] it's still good news down here.
[fred] okay. All right. Okay. Good.
Uh, are you okay [indistinct]
[scott] copy that.
[fred] all right. Basket touching the water.
[scott] got it.
[man] [indistinct]
-[man] [indistinct] where? -[scott] yes.
[man] [indistinct] is coming up.
[scott] all right. I got eyes on it.
[man] nice little basket of rock there.
How's it going down there?
[scott] checking it nice and easy.
Loading rocks that are just barely too big
To go to the dredge,
Kind of lot of loose material down here.
Not every, uh, pile of dredge is [indistinct]
Anything to sluice, I knock down in
[indistinct] keep the rest safe down here.
Just remember how high that 18-foot was up there.
[scott] copy that.
[fred] scott is diving the water right now,
And he's, um, picking up rocks, dredging,
Keeping around, checking all these parameter,
Making sure there wasn't gonna be any big rocks
Falling in on him.
So far, he's been doing fine.
I guess he's just gonna keep right on going.
[paul c] after three hours of hard grind,
Scott safely removed almost 1500 pounds
Of rock by hand.
Are you almost already for that stick?
[scott] oh [indistinct]
[paul c] paul sees it.
Fred predicted they'd find the bedrock,
And the gold at around 20 feet.
[fred] I see 19.
[man] [bleep]
[fred] about 20 feet.
[indistinct]
-[scott] that's really good. -[fred] [indistinct] yay,
20 feet [indistinct] down that reach.
Okay. Uh, diver up.
Good job, man.
[paul c] if fred's right,
He's now inches from the bedrock.
-[fred] scott. -What?
Go see what's in the box.
[scott] holy [bleep] look at that.
That's a nice piece of [indistinct]
[man] yeah, dude, it's another little piece in there.
Look at that one. It's a nice looking box.
That's nice.
[paul c] the sluice box is unlike anything
The crew has experienced so far this season.
A sure sign they're on course
For a monumental payday.
[man] I've mined all over alaska,
And I don't see nuggets that big, man.
[man] that's dirty too.
[laughter]
[man] that's a nice chunky pieces.
-[man] that's pretty nice. -[man] nice. Nice.
-Nice. Nice. Nice. -[man] [laughs]
[paul c] scott's not only found
The biggest nuggets the crew have seen...
-[scott] not bad, huh, fred? -[fred] yes, sir.
I like that.
[scott] how's my grade now? [laughs]
[paul c] ...He's redeemed himself in the process.
[fred] the main thing is you got down to 20 feet,
And a little bit of gold.
I would anticipate we are really close to the bottom.
We had a good day today.
Uh, everything went right.
I respect a good hard work.
Pretty sure that I found the most gold
Of anybody in one dive,
That [indistinct] can shut down any minute now.
So we're really hoping that,
You know, bedrock is just below
Where I got to today.
[paul c] with just days left in this season,
Fred is on track to hit
His bedrock bonanza.
[fred] it's about time that we find
Mother nature's treasure.
We're gonna go after it with a vengeance.
[dramatic music playing]
[fred] man, I'm psyched up, get that gold.
[paul c] on the next gold rush: White water.
[dustin] we need to find enough gold
To make it worth being out here.
[man] woo!
[man] we got a fire.
Now, bring him up. Bring him up.
[dustin] we're obviously tired,
Making stupid mistakes. [bleep]
[man] go get that gold [indistinct]
[man] whoa.
[man] that's the bedrock right there.
[man] finally.
This is what we've been hunting for all year.
[man] oh, my [bleep]