- 7/5/2025
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00:00all we need is one little pocket of gold think about it one pocket of gold i want to get enough
00:16gold it'll just mound up like that for over a decade dustin and fred hurd have been hunting
00:26it's time to find some gold for a gold deposit is so big holy crap their lives will be changed forever
00:40it has taken them to one of the world's most remote and dangerous places
00:48will kick our ass where there is still riches to be found
00:52i think this thing is filthy rich sparked by gold fever
01:02god i want it back they've endured the most adventurous of treasure hunts
01:07this is gonna be a little more dangerous than i thought you should get it dying that looks angry
01:11as hell never gonna live this is the story of their quest
01:19no more from flakes nice little picker good job james to what could be dude holy crap there
01:28is so much gold down there
01:34it's great a fortune in gold wow that's the biggest nugget in gold rush history
01:40this is a genuine treasure hunt there it is fred hot damn that is the creek and it's beautiful
02:01their treasure hunt mining in whitewater begins in 2016 after dustin buys four claims on mckinley creek
02:18whoo look at that water coming over that fall it is kicking butt yeah that's a lot of snow
02:24melt and we're getting in it are we crazy or what a pocket of gold on this creek could be anywhere from
02:32one to four million bucks i think that's gonna make you a wealthy man
02:39gold was first discovered in the historic porcupine mining district in 1898
02:46prospectors flocked here dreaming of striking it rich
02:49and in just five years they mined more than 27 000 ounces of gold valued today at over 65 million dollars
03:04but there's no way they got it all have a good trip
03:12400 feet off the deck
03:14this whole area i think is going to be so hard for anyone else to have gotten to it i think we're
03:20the only ones dumb enough and brave enough to go do it now the hard part starts
03:28so hard to mine here all right we go ahead
03:34really sketchy spot just so you know you can use the ladder a little bit but it's all banged up
03:44no no no no no no no no no no it just wobbles a little bit that's all
03:49jesus christ let's go don't unclip until you're good and safe up there fred
03:57nice good job fred all right i'm telling you this is where we belong
04:05somewhere high in the rugged peaks of alaska's chill cat mountains a huge deposit of gold the mother
04:19load was formed millions of years ago when a mixture of superheated water quartz and gold erupted
04:28through fissures in the earth's crust
04:33since then glacial melt water has carried nuggets down creek
04:39depositing them in the plunge pools and gold catches below
04:42yeah holy this is beautiful it's on the inside of a bend it's got a plunge pool and big round rocks
04:58that are on a bar are you kidding me yeah it's the trifecta the trifecta of gold mining
05:07we found our spot we found it this is what we've been looking for and it's better than we ever
05:13imagined now that we know it's here there's nothing that can stop us nothing step back
05:21the old timers spent months hauling their supplies out to the mine sites
05:26it takes dustin and fred less than a day we're establishing a home base
05:38that water's seriously raising now with 17 years commercial dive experience the crew turns to 72
05:46year old fred in search of their first taste of gold fred is a good diver he's a great diver actually
05:54and he wants to show us what he's made of
05:58it's just like riding a bicycle you don't ever forget
06:05get it fred
06:13man i can feel that damn current wanting to drag you right up that hill
06:17i know it's not you pulling
06:23i'm gonna have to drag a hole right here he wants it out there push it out there
06:33right now it looks like he's doing pretty good down there i see a lot
06:36of black material coming out of the back of it
06:38yeah fred you're dredging man
06:53don't go into that white water the water's coming up right now
06:57don't go for the glory go for safety right now
07:00don't go into the air he's got no air hey the tech valve's stuck open
07:12bring him in
07:25get this off coming up
07:33oh it's good to get air oh when you just don't quite have enough air coming into that crash
07:41mechanical problem with your air flow that is the last thing you want happening when you're
07:55down there you can deal with getting cold and being pissed off
07:57let me catch my breath it was a complete show today
08:06fred's maiden whitewater dive lasted under an hour but long enough to take a first look
08:15at what the creek may hold
08:16and we're going to hope for the best
08:22i see something
08:24uh-oh
08:25holy
08:26dude
08:27slow
08:28oh
08:29oh
08:33look at all that small gold that's in there how deep did you get a foot right off the surface
08:39we are going to do great no no that's real good
08:43i told you
08:44i told you i told you god damn it
08:48these first golden flakes ignite their treasure hunt
08:55we found gold
08:57but as the snow on the mountains melts
09:01the current in the creek goes from dangerous
09:05to deadly man is it bad under there rattled right now crazy
09:10raging at nearly 2 000 gallons per second large boulders hurtled directly through their dive site
09:20a little bit of slack a little bit of slack going in a little bit more
09:29i'll copy that
09:32all right
09:33we're in the danger zone now
09:34i can't see right now white water then
09:45bust it
09:45uh
09:47uh
09:48uh
09:48uh
09:50divers coming up
09:52rock just came through that that that that's dangerous
09:59that really really beat me up
10:11fred look at that right there i see it there's a little nugget in there sitting there right next
10:17to a screw of all things
10:21oh he's gonna be happy
10:24are you serious look at that
10:29we found nuggets it's only gonna get bigger
10:31it's only gonna get bigger man
10:33their first nugget proof that the old timers didn't get it all
10:38and that this creek could still hold a life-changing fortune in gold
10:44yeah i hope this makes me a rich man i want to be rich i want to have gold stacked up to the ceiling
10:52but despite risking their lives every day for months
11:05can't believe how many fricking boulders are down here man
11:10and even throwing new technology into the mix
11:13the water
11:20look how fast that water is moving man this is a little bit buku unnerving brother
11:27just this god dang crate don't want us here man
11:32alaska slams the door shut on their first season of whitewater mining
11:37oh my god this is what kills people right here get him out of here come on we gotta get out of here
11:53i'm in disbelief that happened so damn quick
12:02we know that there's gold down there we're not just hopeful we know it
12:07up ahead
12:11this is doable i'm gonna mine a waterfall
12:28well for the first time working out fred there's nobody around to tell me
12:33where to dig and how to dig
12:35red's not here to go oh i think you should go downstream about 50 feet i'm telling you dustin
12:42that's where the gold's at
12:46by his third season i'm gonna get gold this year i got too much into this
12:51dustin thinks he has learned the harsh lessons to not just survive but thrive in this deadly terrain
12:58hopefully we can find something up here higher up closer to the source the gold's gonna get bigger
13:06from all the history the source is up here somewhere following the gold trail he heads a mile
13:12further up the mountain in search of a bigger deposit look at this
13:20perfect little waterfall close to the source it looks like a vertical drop which is what you were on the
13:28plunge pool thinking that the bottom of this waterfall is a natural gold catch
13:32over time the force of the water digs a hole at its base where the current slows down
13:41down and catches the heavy gold
13:52all right brother
13:52all right
13:59let's see where you're at man put your hand up
14:00that's about seven feet man so happy to dive and help get the gold material looking good
14:13is this the spot that's going to make me rich
14:17rainbows in
14:18this is the name of the game here how tough are you that's what it's about
14:38you are hereby shut down
14:41you got a lot of work done
14:51oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh that's gold right there huh
14:56little bits
14:57i'll be damned you found gold
15:01there is gold down there that's what i need really good gold
15:11is
15:13determined to clear out the waterfall before winter chases them out
15:19dustin calls in backup first double dive of the season i work on the right side of the
15:24waterfall you try to stay on the left i'm stepping it up man
15:27okay got a basket coming down
15:46all right dustin's in the water come on let's go
15:51i got boat drivers in the water let's get to work man give me some gold
15:57that's a pinball machine down here man
16:05god damn it looks like we're making some progress man
16:12it's spotless
16:14yep this puppy's finished
16:17dive her out dive her up
16:19come out
16:27that was a lot of work out there fellas
16:32two-thirds of the way through their season
16:35dustin's double dredging has cleaned out the plunge pool in half the time
16:41okay boys i got some plate of gold
16:44wow dude what holy crap man the gravity on this thing
16:51do you hear that do you hear that ten
16:56twenty five
16:59twenty seven and a half ounces right there
17:02yeah hell yeah man out of one hole guys come on
17:08gold worth almost seventy thousand dollars hell yeah already double their previous year's total
17:15we worked our butts off man it might not be the millions they are after
17:21but enough to prove they are on the road to a monster payday
17:25let's go find some more
17:36well this is where the walking stops
17:41look at that
17:42and with just five weeks left in their season to get the big reward means taking bigger risks
17:52water looks crazy huh diving in that thing you sure holy cow
18:05over 100 years ago the old timers diverted mckinley falls through a huge wooden flume
18:12then mined the dried out plunge pool netting over 4 500 ounces of gold worth over 11 million dollars today
18:33this looks dangerous to me
18:36dustin hopes this spot just above the falls
18:39the falls was deadly enough to scare off other miners from reaching the virgin ground
18:47it's going to be dangerous no matter where we go down because we're after places that the old
18:51timers just didn't get to
18:52it's going to be
18:57this car is ridiculous man
19:00what if i got two hours into this thing right now
19:03all right go put this over come on
19:08come on
19:15damn it oh i got it i got it
19:22holy crap dude that's a huge freaking rock man
19:31it's an all-out sprint to beat the looming deadly alaskan winter
19:36it's just going to keep rising on us
19:50it's the biggest nugget they've ever found
20:10that's a one in a lifetime time
20:12fine you see how big that one but it's just the beginning of the life-changing gold to come
20:19everybody wants to be that person to come up with nuggets the excitement's just going to boom
20:28that's the biggest nugget in gold rush history right there
20:42so that's what's down there that's a one ounce nugget
20:48that we found just before it flooded
20:51we have to figure out how to get in there to get this stuff safely
20:58on the heels of their best season yet gold fever has infected the entire crew
21:04one born diving i'm gonna make our crew rich carlos gonna have to bring some courage today if he wants
21:15to get in this water
21:16this is dangerous people could die
21:25this is the most scariest water i ever dove before in my life ever ever ever ever
21:31despite the deadly water carlos and crew are ready to risk everything in pursuit of their golden dream
21:41all right let's go hard up please please please work
21:50whoo we got it
21:53oh i love the sound of the engines running i'd say this drag is ready to go
21:57dear heavenly father please protect me i've got to get home to my family
22:08how you feeling good i got you do you know what i want to do is clip it in right here
22:13it's a safe word would be help actually it's
22:27oh
22:33all right guys that's real good let's see it oh i love it i love it
22:38yeah nice to see ruck coming across this loose finally
22:44i'd love to get back down to where we found the one ounce nugget you got it
22:50that's perfect man that is perfect
22:57oh
23:01oh
23:04oh my god
23:06did you find gold already
23:10are you serious
23:11oh oh my god
23:13oh
23:27probably a half ounce nugget
23:32yeah buddy
23:33a half ounce dog good job man
23:35after just a week it's pretty amazing
23:46they are on the gold this is like five six hours of dive right there and that's already over an ounce
23:51and a quarter yeah it did so many people told me not to waste my time with this they kiss my ass
23:58the early gold fans the flames of their fever driving them on towards the bedrock treasure
24:11all right he's going in
24:12oh yeah
24:26oh
24:28well i'll be dead there's a granite boulder rock down here seven feet around really
24:36yeah
24:39even a monster roadblock that would have stopped the old timers we're gonna have to find a different
24:44way to deal with that isn't enough to put the brakes on their gold fever
24:51the whole reason we're here is because we know there's gold down there we can't just leave it there
24:55and we can't move the rock so this is my only option right now we're having to bring in new
24:59techniques hopefully we can blow it to little pieces
25:04first they must drill holes in the rock to insert the new blasters
25:11wes will fire a trigger and send an electrical current down the blast cord
25:18onto the power heads to destroy the boulder
25:22three two one
25:42i love it when a plan comes together
25:52we've got a bunch of broken ass rock down here
25:57nugget nugget bring it up or what
26:03holy crap
26:06holy man
26:11oh my god
26:15further proof that this is virgin ground and perhaps the start of their monster payday
26:22it's honestly the most gold i've ever seen in our sluice since we've been dredging
26:38it's literally everywhere yeah it's just everywhere everywhere the new tools are a game changer
26:44it's just everywhere
26:45no boulder however big can stand in their road to the gold
26:53today possibly was the very best time
26:58for over an hour it was gold constantly it was like christmas forever i enjoyed every second of it
27:08today was the most fun i've ever had in the water ever i don't know how long it'll last but i'll remember today for the rest of my life
27:18i don't know how long it's going to be
27:23up ahead
27:26you couldn't have picked any easier place to go
27:28i don't know how long it's going to go
27:30it's go time
27:34i think i've got some gold man
27:36right now i'm looking to change our lives
27:58i'm sick of just making it it's time to find some real gold
28:05after six seasons dustin's road to the gold has hit a dead end so i'd like to go look over the top
28:14of the mountains zero access middle of nowhere in the off season he gets a once in a lifetime chance
28:22at a legendary gold claim deep in the alaskan wilderness
28:27so it looks like on the map right now that the claim starts right here
28:32yeah it's obviously snowed in right now but i don't know how fast this is going to come away
28:39so far dustin's treasure hunt has led him up porcupine mckinley and cahoon creek
28:47which in a century produced 80 000 ounces of gold worth over 200 million dollars
28:54dustin is gambling that the new claim at nugget creek is so remote it could still be holding the jackpot
29:06right here is where i think the claims start and go up that way way the hell up there okay well it
29:13looks like there's some exposed bedrock right up here yeah that bedrock it looks like it goes almost
29:19all the way across like a riffle yep there's probably been a few hobbyist divers but nothing like us
29:26they've gotten gold out of it it's been proven but it's never been ransacked like mckinley has
29:32first staked in 1899 it was barely mined by the few old timers who managed to get there
29:43in the 1980s a small group of prospectors worked the lower reaches
29:50in spite of finding some of the legendary monster nuggets that gave the creek its name
29:55they were forced out by the harsh conditions
30:03it is nowhere yeah i mean it's not impossible yeah that's what that means it's not impossible
30:14a site this remote and challenging means bringing in one of the most experienced miners dustin knows
30:22wow holy cow you couldn't have picked any easier place to go
30:35i didn't know we'd get here but we're here hey let's go painting okay do what you do
30:40i see five holy cow i think you're up in for a bonanza dude look at that boulder i see it
31:07just seeing that boulder by by itself makes me think of how much gold is underneath it
31:14the 50-ton boulder blocks so much of the creek it could be the ultimate nugget trap they've been searching
31:21for there's gold it's here
31:26dive after dive the crew dredges down over 10 feet
31:38and the closer they get to bedrock
31:42i'm seeing gold yeah the more the sluice box lights up
31:46i see you it's only gonna get better loving it
31:56but the golden road leads them towards a deadly head-on collision
32:02going underneath that damn thing man that's freaking terrifying
32:05this thing could fall if you dig underneath it i mean we're talking people's lives out here
32:11i don't want to spend the entire winter wondering what's underneath this rock we need the gold man do we need the gold
32:19start cracking rocks fire in the hole we're gold crazy look at that
32:31it's getting in the big hole hell yeah we're getting a lot of work done real fast
32:36we're gonna get more gold than we ever thought and it's gonna be amazing
32:42holy hold on back up back up
32:56oh my god
32:56i just watched half my crew almost die
33:11wow that's a sign to leave
33:14the amount of time that we did find gold we did pretty well kind of the same big pieces that we got
33:32we never hit the bottom we never hit the deepest part no we didn't either and that's where all the big
33:37nuggets are these few pans of chunky gold proves that the creek could hold a fortune
33:47but it's their worst gold haul in six years
33:53it was a hard year i don't think i've worked so hard my entire life for so little
33:58and i actually don't know what we're gonna do
34:07and i don't know what we're gonna do
34:17until dustin unearths his jackpot he funds his dream by working the off season
34:25i do this job knowing without a doubt my mom that one day
34:30i'm a striker rich and i won't have to work like this anymore this is what it takes to finally get
34:38to my dreams and find the gold i'm gonna do it i'm gonna find that gold because i know it's up there
34:45despite a disastrous first season at nugget creek dustin and his crew are relentless in their quest to
35:01unearth millions in gold
35:05we either weren't going to come back or we're going to have a single crew and that's it
35:09i decided on us we're going to have to hit it as hard as we can we got to we got to make up for
35:14what we didn't do last year
35:20this is where we're going to dig this this is what i want
35:26where the snow patch is we're going to go right through that
35:30it makes a great gold catch just the canyon narrows back down it's going to slow the water
35:36down and this is a fallout area yep that would be the inside bend that's tough we can start popping
35:43some of these rocks man why not don't get hurt don't die
35:49dustin throws everything he has learned over the years at nugget bend and comes up with a radical new
35:56plan there's a complete new technique for us we're doing it my way before even putting a diver in
36:04they'll first remove the boulders from the creek bed
36:14divert the creek what i'd really like is to build the wall right there to get all the water on that
36:19side got it this is going to be a lot of work but it's going to pay off
36:23use jets to wash away the overburden that's probably bedrock oh it is that is bedrock wow
36:32now follow that damn wall all the way down see where it goes on the hunt for the red
36:38gold rich hard pack if this is where the gold settled this is where we need to be
36:45it could be way in there hell yeah that's hard pack man that's what we're looking for
36:53we are in business yep hard pack has gold in it red dirt gold
37:00gold good to go diver in
37:10find me some gold
37:19hopefully i succeed this year
37:20it was a hell of a long dive today james puts in a mammoth dive all right man and nugget creek starts
37:28to deliver on its name oh my god oh look at that you've blown everybody away at least five ounces
37:37i hit the jackpot today big nuggets finally on some good gold if all the stories are true
37:44that one ounce nugget is just the beginning we got a future dude
37:54everybody wants to be that person to come up with nuggets it's a contagious disease
38:00once i see the gold the excitement's just going to boom
38:04boom change everybody's future for the best
38:12going in the water
38:22all right
38:25nice deep tunnel guys you guys did a great job
38:28right about where you're at carlos on that shelf is where i was seeing nuggets yesterday
38:42that's the color i will see coming across right there the red and the black both that's absolutely
38:47what we're looking for you know what like seven years we've been birds and we all got that feeling of
38:53like is this actually going to happen hey oh my god
39:02oh my god
39:11don't show him
39:13i can't find it
39:14my god
39:15holy
39:16oh my god
39:20you ain't gonna believe this
39:23you ready for this look what you just found buddy
39:27it's so rare
39:42it's so rare
39:57it could sell for more than fifty thousand dollars
40:01that ain't no joke right there wow that just made history there look at that big wow
40:09that's at least four ounces man that's the four ounce nugget we're all looking for yeah
40:13yeah that's bigger than four ounces that's the biggest nugget in gold rush history right there
40:20but more important it could mean they are on the road to a golden payday
40:26that will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams
40:35good living's coming from here on out
40:39got too excited with that big one forgot about all the babies huh
40:42yep oh yeah yeah
40:48nugget ben man has owned its name this is real real yeah this is happening for us about the damn time
40:56we spent seven years just killing ourselves and now we got this bad-ass nugget that just
41:04kind of like a trophy we stuck it out we put in the effort we finally figured out we're the
41:12right place and the right technique to get down here we got this now let's do great
41:18i can only imagine what's about to happen for us
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