You're gonna come on to here.
Just stand up and then bring your left foot.
I've learned so much on these trips,
like, about mining, about people, about myself.
This one more so than any other country that we've been to.
Shouldn't get released, should it?
[instructor] No.
I have a lot riding on this ground in Fairbanks.
We have to do it right the first time.
All right, get your toes all the way to the edge.
Hands off.
Arms out to the side.
[Parker] This is the time when your mind likes to play tricks on you.
Is it the right decision?
Is it the wrong decision?
Try looking up instead of looking down,
that's going to happen anyway.
[Parker] The problem is you paralyze yourself with that.
Huh.
[instructor] Stop overthinking things. Just get it done then.
No decision is always the worst decision.
I'm not sure I want to do this.
[theme music playing]
[Tyler] Feels like we've been on the West Coast for ages, doesn't it?
I know.
[Daniel] Look, he's already asleep.
[all laughing]
He's got his fingers in his ears now.
[bleep]
[narrator] For five weeks,
27-year-old Parker Schnabel and his team
have traveled nearly 900 miles
searching for the perfect wash plant
for his new ground in Alaska.
[Daniel] Now we're chewing through these gearings now.
Yeah.
[narrator] To realize the ground's $11 million potential,
Parker needs to risk at least $5 million.
[Parker] It's not about money, not about power,
not about control.
It's what I was bred to do.
[narrator] At just five years old,
Parker was panning in the creeks of Haines, Alaska, with his grandpa, John.
He has a vision that he's going to make
thousands of dollars every day and I hope he's right.
[narrator] 18-year-old Parker, struck out on his own
to chase his dream of mining in the Yukon.
Pick this spot, my man.
[narrator] And over nine years,
he's pulled $70 million of gold from the ground.
8,309.75 ounces.
[cheering]
[narrator] But on the brink of his biggest bet ever, he's wavering.
[Parker] I don't experiment.
I don't like doing things that don't work.
As far as owning a business goes, that's a flaw.
You have to be willing to fail.
I don't like doing that.
Don't you think sometimes you might have bitten off
a little bit more than you can chew?
I haven't pulled any triggers
on any big-ticket items for Fairbanks yet,
because I'm like, [bleep] do I really want to spend the $5 million?
[narrator] Now with just two weeks left in New Zealand,
Parker needs to pull the trigger on his biggest purchase...
a wash plant, or he risks derailing his Alaska operation.
Feels like we've been to every bloody mine settlement everywhere possible.
Yeah.
[Tyler] To be honest,
all the miners that'll have wash plant to sell
have pretty much dried up.
Right.
[narrator] The team leaves the gold-rich West Coast behind
and head 300 miles south
to the historic gold-producing region of Otago.
[Tyler] It's a bit nerve-racking for me to leave
the gold mining hub of New Zealand.
I am worried from here on out
that there won't be any wash plants for sale.
- [Daniel] Really? - Yeah.
Contacts wise, I have nothing in Otago.
[Daniel] Blimey, this is serious.
So what's the plan?
[Tyler] Yeah, I'm winging it day-to-day.
So basically my sole process is head to Arrowtown,
which is a historic gold-mining town.
The best place to start in a new town
when looking for gold mining is just the gold shop, I think.
Right.
To be honest, if he doesn't have anything for us,
I'm, um...
You're done.
Yeah. I'm at my end.
Wow.
You know, let's hope he does.
It could be the last throw of the dice.
Definitely could be.
[Tyler] It looks like a true old little mining town.
[Parker] Tyler, it's got some history, you know?
[Daniel] Yeah, totally.
[narrator] Established in 1862,
Arrowtown was at the center of the Otago Gold Rush.
Over 292 tons of gold
have been pulled from the region
worth over $15 billion in today's money.
But its gold reserves have largely been mined out
and the town now welcomes more tourists than miners.
[Parker] There's a gold shop.
Hello.
- [Justin] Good day. - I'm Parker.
- Parker, Justin. - Justin. Nice to meet you.
- Tyler. Nice to meet you. - Tyler.
- Hello, mate. I'm Danny. - Danny.
- Hey. - Nice to meet you.
- [Tyler] We're in the right spot. - [Parker] There's some gold.
[Jeff] Holy, look at that.
Your guys' gold is just so much nicer looking.
It's beautiful.
[Justin] This is all locally found, these pieces here.
You see how smooth they are.
That one had just come out of the ground.
See, it's still dirty.
[Parker] Whoa.
[Tyler] That's a really nice piece.
[Justin] If you want to come out the back,
I'll show you some real gold.
[Daniel] Yeah. Great.
[Justin] Come on through here.
This is where all the gold miners come to sell their gold.
[Parker] Ah.
[Justin] This is the largest one we know of
in existence in New Zealand.
- [Tyler] Really? - Really?
[Justin] Yeah.
[all] Wow!
Big guy. That was West Coast.
- No way. - Is it?
Yeah. It was found by a kiwi.
He found 66 ounces with a detector,
just in this one spot.
And that was, I mean, 25 years ago.
[Parker] Wow!
And this is what sort of comes in
- to this back room. - Oh, yeah.
Some of these guys are getting some seriously fine gold
with-- with a dredge, all right.
- [Parker] Now that's some fine gold. - [Justin] Yeah.
[Tyler] We're actually in New Zealand looking at wash plants.
We have come from the West Coast and, um,
now we've made our way down here and we're trying to do the same thing.
So, we thought we'd come and see you, see if you had any contacts at all.
[Justin] There's not many big wash plants left here.
I've got one.
I'll give the details.
- [bleep] - [Tyler] Thank you.
- That'd be awesome. - Sounds great.
[Justin] Yeah.
This guy's plant, it's just down the river.
So I would head over and have a look at that.
[Tyler] Amazing. Thank you.
We better get back on the road.
[Parker] Thanks for the contact.
- Justin, really appreciate. - Hey. Nice to meet you guys.
Thank you very much.
That was awesome, wasn't it?
[Tyler] Thank [bleep].
[Daniel] Really good.
I'm excited.
[Tyler] So I've made a call.
The guy's name is Andrew.
He's got a wash plant for sale.
He's extremely busy.
So this is why we're in a little bit of a rush at the moment.
Basically just said to me, "You've got to get here ASAP,
I've got places to be."
Stressing me out a little bit.
[narrator] Wash plant owner Andrew
is based 50 miles southeast of Arrowtown.
[Daniel] Anything special about this wash plant we're gonna see?
[Tyler] It's on tracks.
We haven't seen that yet, have we?
- [Daniel] No. - No.
Do you like wash plants on tracks?
Is that something that we'd consider?
Yeah. They're super mobile.
You guys have built a few, haven't you?
Yeah.
[Tyler] Could be the perfect wash plant.
Oh, there it is.
[Daniel] The gate's closed.
He just gonna meet us here, or...
[Jeff] You go open the gate.
You got it? Want me to get it?
[Tyler] Oh, thank you.
It's locked.
[Daniel] Oh, [bleep].
Calling Andrew.
[Jeff] Can you sneak through there?
[Parker] I'm skinny, but not that skinny.
Andrew didn't answer.
- [Daniel] Oh, my [bleep]. - [Jeff] Did we miss him?
[narrator] With owner Andrew nowhere to be seen,
the only wash plant on their list sits behind lock and key.
- [Parker] Is this plant for sale? - [Tyler] Yes.
And he said we could come look at it?
But he was in a huge rush,
and I said we'd be there as quick as we can.
I'm gonna look at this wash plant.
[Jeff] Me too.
[Daniel] What are you doing?
- Eh? - [Jeff] Just take a quick look.
[Daniel] Do you think he's cool with this?
[Tyler] I don't know. But they already jumped over.
Guys!
[Parker] What?
[Jeff] That's a pretty good conveyer on that.
[Simon] Hey.
[Tyler] Guys, guys.
[Daniel] Uh-oh.
[Simon] What the hell?
What are you guys doing here?
[Daniel] Oh, [bleep].
[Tyler] Are you Andrew?
- I'm Simon. - Oh, sorry.
Nice to meet you. I'm Tyler.
You're not meant to be in here.
The gate's locked.
Sorry, that wasn't-- probably the best way to go about it.
[Parker] We talked to the owner of this wash plant.
Do you know Andrew?
Do I know Andrew? Yeah.
Obviously, he's not about.
No.
[Parker] Do you want us to leave?
You're not meant to be in here.
The gate's locked.
I realize that.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
[narrator] In Otago, New Zealand,
Parker and the team were trespassing.
Sorry, that wasn't-- probably the best way to go about it.
Um...
It was a very rushed phone call this morning with Andrew.
So we legged it down to get here in time.
You just missed him. He left an hour ago.
[Tyler] Okay.
[Simon] Well, mate, but perhaps you could have a wee look around.
[Tyler] Thank you.
[Parker] Sorry for breaking in.
[Simon] We'll forgive you this time.
[laughing]
[narrator] Foreman Simon Johnstone
oversees all mining equipment on site.
The plant for sale is a 6-foot trommel on tracks.
We've only just mounted this literally yesterday.
- [Jeff] Oh, wow. - Really?
[Simon] Yeah.
- [Parker] It's pretty long. - [Simon] It is pretty long.
So it came off one of the other plants.
[Parker] Oh, got ya.
[narrator] This customized plant can run 130 yards of dirt an hour.
Its extra-long conveyor creates bigger tailings,
allowing for longer run times between clearing it.
And the tracks make it super mobile around a mine site.
[Simon] Track thing's pretty cool.
You got to hook a bulldozer on this end
or a digger or whatever...
- [Parker] Right. Just like a drag. - ...to push it around.
Yeah.
- Mmm-hmm. - [Tyler] Okay.
[Daniel] Want to see this moving about?
[Parker] Yeah, I'd like to test the track.
[Simon] We haven't actually moved this one yet.
We're yet to find out whether it falls on its nose or not.
No, no.
If they haven't-- if they just put that conveyor on
and haven't moved it yet, I'm not touching this thing.
- [crew laughing] - Come on, now.
[Parker] Then I will have to buy it.
[narrator] To tow the custom plant for the first time,
Parker hops behind the controls.
Uh-oh, this-- what controls is this thing?
[Daniel] Does not feel like a comfortable thing to be towing.
[bleep]
[narrator] The 22-yard-long conveyor
adds three tons to the far end of the plant,
making it unstable.
Any sudden jerks risk rocking it backwards onto its nose.
Take the machine back that way a wee bit.
[Tyler] I think the tracks are cool.
[Daniel] Yeah.
That there?
Pretty good.
- Seems to work. - [Jeff] Yeah.
[Tyler] Yeah, that seemed simple.
[Simon] Yeah, I was getting a wee bit worried.
As soon as it's-- it got a little bit of momentum
and just off it went.
[Tyler] With the tracks,
it's much easier to move it this way, hey?
Because without the tracks,
you'd have had to drag it all the way around.
And I suppose you can spin it on the spot a bit easier as well, right?
Yeah. Definitely moves around super easy.
See, on like big plants
where it would make a huge difference.
Yeah. It's good, eh?
[Parker] Yeah, it's a nice machine.
I really like it.
But do you mind if we have a little crawl around it?
- [Simon] Sure. - All right.
- Sweet. - Awesome.
So, to me, this wash plant looks like
it would tick all the right boxes.
Honestly, though, we're in tight right now
and I don't have anything else lined up.
So, hopefully, this is the one he's going to buy.
- [Jeff] What's that? - [Parker] Come with me.
[Jeff] Come with you. I'm coming.
[Parker] When you're moving this around on the highway,
- what do you take the hopper and the conveyor off? - [Jeff] Yeah.
[Parker] Because this problem for us is getting Fairbanks
working on different creeks that are all connected
by like public highways.
So it's this weird thing where we need to be both
portable around one site, but then also portable from site to site.
[Jeff] You're going to be moving it down the road,
then, I mean, size and height.
- That's always a thing. - Right.
Height wise with tracks, there's no way
you'd get it road legal for sure.
[narrator] Parker's new claims in Fairbanks, Alaska,
are spread over 3,000 acres.
Over time, he plans to mine multiple creeks.
Any wash plant he buys
will need to travel on public roads between the cuts,
and so it must fit within road legal limits.
So you're going to be like tearing it down massively
to move it from site to site.
And then perhaps without any sluice runs or anything.
So that's a big pain in the ass.
[Simon] So what did you think?
[Parker] We're gonna keep looking.
- [Simon] No problem. - Really appreciate it.
- [Tyler] Thank you. - [Daniel] Thanks.
Yet again, we move further into this trip
where we're seeing more and more wash plants
and yet we're not buying any of them.
I think there's a bigger picture thing going on here,
and that is the actual commitment to Alaska,
which is a $5 million venture
before you've even pulled a single bit of gold out of the ground.
[Tyler] Good night, guys.
[Daniel] Good night, Tyler.
[Jeff] Good night, man.
[Parker] Good night.
[Tyler] I feel like...
I'm at like-- at the end of my--
Well, I am at the end of my contacts,
to be quite honest.
If I don't deliver on this trip
and we leave New Zealand without a wash plant,
that's not a good look on me.
At end right now, I do not have a plan B.
In hindsight, it looks like [indistinct]
are the places to, um, get a deal done.
So I don't know what's gonna happen now.
Timing wise, we're starting to get in a pretty bad spot.
Not a good way to start a season.
[Daniel] That's a vegan substitute.
Really good.
- Nice? - You want some.
No, I'm all right.
I like something with nutrition in it.
[chuckles]
So what are we doing today?
Still keep our eyes open for something here,
if you can find something?
[Tyler] We're gonna go prospecting.
See what they're doing around here.
I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel.
But we could learn something.
[Daniel] All right.
Well, once you've had those, I suppose let's get on the road.
[narrator] With no wash plants left to see,
the team head north to go prospecting.
[Daniel] Oh, my gosh.
[Tyler] Wow, so blue!
[Daniel] I know, I know.
[narrator] Passing Lake Wakatipu, at 52 miles,
it's New Zealand's longest lake.
And the water is so clear because
it's glacial and it's so fresh and clean and beautiful.
And cold.
Seriously cold.
Pull over here.
I got an idea.
Come on now.
You're so slow.
Water feels nice.
[Daniel] Does it?
Yeah.
That's freezing.
Are you actually going in?
Yeah, we all are.
- No, man. - [Tyler] What?
It's freezing.
[Parker] First one out owes the group four rounds of beer,
and the winner that stays in the longest
gets to drink all the beer.
[Tyler laughing]
[Parker] Yeah.
[narrator] Glacial waters average
an icy 48 degrees Fahrenheit year round.
Just 5 minutes in water this cold
and hypothermia can begin to set in.
[Tyler] Oh, my [bleep]!
[Daniel] Oh, yeah?
[babbling]
[Tyler] Oh, my [bleep]!
[Daniel] Oh.
Hang away.
[Tyler screaming]
Oh, my [bleep]!
[laughing] Breathe.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
Long slow breath.
Come on, stay.
No.
[Parker] Are you done, Tyler?
- Are you done? - I'm tapping out.
[Daniel] You're tapping out?
[Tyler] [bleep] four beers. I'll never do it in my life.
[all laughing]
[Daniel] Oh, here comes the pain.
[Parker] Do you feel it in your armpits?
Let your arms down.
[Daniel] My armpits are cold.
Aah!
Tyler. Have you seen him?
- [Daniel] She's on the phone. - [Jeff] Get off the phone.
[Daniel] Get off the phone.
Amazing. Thank you. Ping me the location.
That's awesome.
Thank you.
Guys, we've gotta go.
Justin just gave us a really great contact.
We've actually gotta go.
[narrator] Last-minute lead from the gold shop owner
and their search for a wash plant is back on.
- [Daniel] Thank you! - You need to get out.
[Daniel] You're going to lose.
Okay. I'm going to go now.
[bleep] I can't feel my feet.
I can't.
I can't feel my body.
[Daniel] Well done, Jeff.
That was wicked!
All right, guys. Gotta get back on the road.
No, it's great.
I'm-- I'm fine.
[teeth chattering]
Look, we've got an aggregate yard.
- [Daniel] There could be something down there, right? - [Parker] Yeah.
[Tyler] I'm still really keen to do some prospecting.
[Parker] So why don't you guys go check that out,
and Dan and I will go check out the aggregate yard.
- [Tyler] Perfect. - [Jeff] Cool.
[Parker] Find us some gold, Ty. Have fun.
Just go buy yourself a massive wash plant.
How hard can it be?
[narrator] In Otago, New Zealand, the team have split,
while Parker and Danny head to an aggregate yard.
Right.
Keep your eyeballs peeled.
[narrator] 45 miles north,
Tyler and Jeff head into the mountains
to meet Rusty, a local gold miner to go prospecting.
[Tyler] Oh, my [bleep].
- [Jeff] Is this the-- Are you sure? - That's a helicopter.
[Tyler] That must be Rusty.
Let's go meet him, hey.
I'm Tyler.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you, Rusty.
You know, we're going in this to and, um...
Oh, my [bleep]. Amazing!
Thank you.
[Jeff] This is going to be awesome.
[Tyler] I feel like we got the long end of the straw as well with this.
Parker and Danny are going to be spewing.
[laughing]
[narrator] Rusty's claim lies in Skippers Canyon,
a gorge carved out over millions of years by the Shotover River.
In 1863, it became known as the richest river in the world,
when 300 ounces of gold
was found on its banks in a single afternoon.
Now a protected site, only a few miners are granted access.
[Tyler] Rusty, this is amazing.
Sounds like a plan.
Okay, so we better get changed then.
- Let's do it. - All right.
I've never dredged before, but I'm excited to get in and give it a go.
I'm really hoping we do see some gold.
If we go back to Parker with nothing, it might not go down too well.
[Daniel] This is probably the last place we're gonna look at
as far as assessing equipment.
[narrator] 45 miles south...
[Parker] I think when we're trying to find wash plants
and we end up at, uh, sand and gravel pit.
[Daniel] Yeah, it was a little bit like
we're coming to the end of the road.
[narrator] The Urns Clue aggregate yard produces gravel
and sand for road construction.
To screen out rocks used to build roads,
they use similar processes and equipment to placer mining.
It could be the perfect place to pick up a wash plant.
- Hi, I'm Parker. This is Dan. - Hey, Jack.
We got told you guys might have some stuff
for sale, particularly wash plants.
Sweet.
There's a lot going on here.
[Daniel] What the bloody [bleep] is that?
Something out of Mad Max.
How's it going? I'm Parker. This is Dan.
Hello, mate. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too.
[Daniel] What is this thing?
An all-in-one dry screening plant.
Thanks a lot, Jack.
[narrator] Jack's plant is worth $250,000.
But no washing takes place in here--
- [Parker] No, it's all dry. - It's all dry.
[Parker] Super slick.
So they make these that have 'em wet.
[Parker] I guess you can retrofit one of these
into a wet screen plant that was washing gold?
[Parker] All right, cool.
- I mean, this is what... this is Gucci kit, right? - Right.
- Like something out of Star Wars. - [Parker] Yeah, I love it.
I mean, that's cool.
[narrator] The dry screening plant has a feed belt
running over the reverse shaker deck, making it small and compact.
To run it as a wash plant in Alaska,
Parker would need to add spray bars,
creating a wet screen and replace the back conveyor with sluice runs.
Oh, sweet!
Being here definitely kind of reminds me of my childhood.
My dad had a gravel pit.
I grew up around crusher foremen and floaters.
It's always kind of cool.
Do you throw a whole bucket at once or do you kind of have to...
[narrator] Currently running at 155 yards an hour,
once converted, it could hit 200.
[Parker] Placer mining is such a specialized industry that nothing's made for it.
You know, like pretty much everything's custom.
[Rusty speaking]
[narrator] On the Shotover River...
[Tyler] Guys, I've got a good feeling.
- Let's do it. - All right.
...Tyler and Jeff are suction dredging.
[narrator] Rusty mostly catches fine gold with his dredge,
but 3-ounce nuggets have been found
in this section of the river in recent years.
[Tyler speaking]
[Jeff speaking]
[Tyler speaking]
[Jeff] Oh, [bleep].
[Tyler] Oh, my [bleep]!
[Tyler] I've had a lot of anxiety this trip
that I'm not going to be delivering
the right kind of wash plants and people.
So today's been really good for that.
We've been able to break away from the boys
for a couple of hours and managed to find some gold.
To be honest, I had so much fun today.
I kinda forgot the fact that, you know, we're under the gun
and we need to get this stuff done.
We really should be just hunkering down
and figuring out the wash plants.
Is it okay if we catch a ride back into town?
- Awesome. Thank you, Rusty. - Awesome.
[narrator] Back at Urns Clue aggregate yard...
- [Daniel] Pretty cool, isn't it? - [Parker] Yeah.
[narrator] ...Parker must decide if the plant is worth buying.
[Daniel] Would you utilize something like this?
[Parker] It would be hard to retrofit this to be wet,
but you don't have much tolerance
for where the spray bars would be, you know?
[narrator] Complex plant conversions can take months
and cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Probably be better off starting from scratch.
[Craig speaking]
You don't need us holding you up anymore. Appreciate it.
Thanks, Craig. Take it easy, mate.
[Daniel] We're here to buy wash plant, and that's not happening.
I feel like we might need to start thinking about
the new plant because every second
that we're wasting now is a second wasted in Alaska.
Feels like we've hit a, uh, we've hit a dead end.
Yep.
And we have to decide to either bite the bullet
and buy one of the plants that we didn't buy
that we've already seen or accept that
we're never gonna find what we're looking for
that's already built and out there.
Yeah.
I think that the four of us need to get together and put a bullet in this.
Okay, we got one wine with a fly in it
and one without. Which one you want?
- [Tyler] I'll have the fly. - Okay.
[narrator] In Otago, New Zealand,
with no wash plants left to see, it's decision time.
Okay. I'm gonna be brutally honest.
I've got nothing left in store.
I mean, there's only so many wash plants in a country.
Yep. We've seen a lot.
[narrator] Parker's viewed 13 wash plants across New Zealand.
- Plants everywhere really. - Yeah, mate.
It really is so impressive.
[narrator] Ten trommels, two of them floating.
It's just not what we're looking for.
[narrator] A dredge, a shaker deck and a dry screen...
Really appreciate it.
[narrator] ...but he still hasn't found the one.
[Parker] By having, like, seen so many plants
and we're like trying to find something that doesn't probably exist.
Different things that you want on it,
it's quite a detailed spec you've got going on.
Finding something that's perfect,
really, really hard to do.
Well, that brings me to, you know, we...
we could go down the road to designing a wash plant.
To find the perfect plant, the only way to do it is just to [bleep] build it.
I think we have enough ideas from all the plants we've seen.
Something mobile with a good pre-wash.
I'll make sure it's bang on 100%.
If we build a plant, even just the design is gonna take some time.
Yep. Yeah, it's definitely gonna take a bit of time.
It depends on what road we go down in.
Critical factors for me were trommel or shaker.
If it's a shaker, what size?
'Cause we can make all the design in the time that we order that.
[Parker] What kind of timeline are we at right now?
Three to four months.
Well, that's already puts into the season by a bit.
Right.
[Daniel] The quicker you wanna get this sort of thing
going down the road, the better.
We're at a stage now,
it's the case of you literally pressing go on something.
So what are we doing?
Building, buying?
I... I don't know what I wanna do.
Okay.
Yeah, I know, I know.
[Daniel] I think it is time for you to start making some decisions.
It is time.
[Parker] This some sort of...
- Intervention? - ...intervention.
We've checked you into a center.
- A decision-making center? - Yeah.
Shut the [bleep] up!
[Tyler laughing]
I'm not being indecisive.
Not knowing what you want is different than being indecisive.
Yeah, it's not... it's not indecision.
It's just not pulling the trigger.
Your fingers like hovering over the button,
but you're just not quite pushing it.
[Jeff] I would love to build a plant for sure.
We've thrown a few ideas back and forth at each other
and I think he trusts me and I'm pretty sure I know what he wants.
But I'm not sure how we push him over the edge to get an answer.
[Parker] Right now, I don't know that
there's a way of telling what is the right decision.
Probably the most dangerous things to do
is kind of dance in between those two things.
[Jeff] If Parker doesn't come up with some answers,
he's gonna be well into his season before he gets the plant.
[narrator] To push Parker to make a decision,
Jeff and Tyler hatch a plan and head out to the countryside.
We don't have any time left on this trip for Parker to be indecisive.
So Jeff and I have a super exciting surprise.
I'm really hoping that today is gonna reset the team, reset Parker.
He's gonna come out of it with a clear mind.
And we're gonna be able to sit down
and make the decision and move forward.
[narrator] 10 miles south...
[Daniel laughing] Man!
This is like real picture postcard stuff.
[narrator] Parker and Danny drive to meet them,
unaware that Tyler's sent them the scenic route.
[Daniel] Mate, look at the drop.
[laughs]
Yeah.
[narrator] The treacherous 14-mile-long Skippers Road
is perched 600 feet above the Shotover river.
Built in 1883 to bring mining equipment into the valley,
it took 17 years to complete.
It's known as one of the most dangerous roads in the world.
I look at what you're doing, your dive into Alaska.
And I just think, "Geez.
So daunting."
If this were our mining operation in the Yukon
and just another old decision to make,
it would have been made long ago.
To make decisions without fear,
that's definitely a useful thing.
- Yeah. - You know?
And then as you get older, the fear starts to creep in a little bit.
And my reputation is all built on...
built on success and what if I don't maintain that?
And I can maintain that as long as I don't take risks, right?
[Daniel] But you have to take risks to be successful.
If 20-year-old Parker knew that 27-year-old Parker
was sitting here talking about fear,
he'd be like, "You weak [bleep]."
He would. He so would.
I'll pocket the 2 grand and take the $1,500 worth of fuel.
So that was easy.
[narrator] Since a teenager, Parker has been fearless.
At the end of the day, something needs to change.
Now's the time to be pushing for everything we can.
[narrator] Charging forward on instinct.
Give me one good reason not to tell you to go [bleep] yourself.
[narrator] And never shying away from bold decisions.
I'm a real underachieving 21-year-old, that's for sure.
[narrator] An attitude that has earned him over 48,000 ounces in gold.
[Chris] You guys, you just broke another record.
Free beer on Parker!
[laughs]
[narrator] Now, on the brink of his biggest endeavor ever,
Parker is struggling.
What on earth are you scared about?
Our pin appears to be taking us nearer to that.
Yeah.
- What is that? - [Parker] Isn't that a bungee jump?
[Daniel] Oh, my [bleep].
Oh, my [bleep].
[laughs]
[Daniel] If that's what we're doing, I'm out of here.
[laughs]
[babbling maniacally]
What's up losers?
Are we gonna do a bungee jump?
[Daniel] We saw one on the way in on that old rickety bridge.
Are you gonna tell him or am I?
[Daniel] Really?
We're going bungee jumping.
[Parker] No!
- Yeah. - Oh, come on.
[bleep]
I just thought this would be like a nice little
distraction for us.
So then afterwards, we can reset
and kind of get a plan together.
[Parker] Nice little near-death experience?
Yeah.
People don't die bungee jumping, do they?
- [Tyler] Yeah. - Yes.
- Really? - Definitely.
I'm... I'm not making a decision on this one
until we get down there.
Well, let's go look at it then.
My [bleep]!
I don't wanna look. I haven't looked.
- [Jeff] You have to look. - [Tyler] Look, Dan, look.
- I don't wanna look. - Look.
Oh, my [bleep]!
[Tyler] You're gonna scream for Mommy again?
Yeah, maybe.
[Tyler] It's actually an old miner's pipeline.
They used to use it back in the old Gold Rush days,
and then they built the bridge over the top of the pipeline.
[Daniel] I love getting a bit of history off you, Ty,
but to be quite honest with you,
that's the last thing I'm thinking about right now.
[narrator] The 340-foot-pipeline bungee
is the second highest jump in New Zealand.
This one feels a lot different than skydiving.
Right? You were just strapped to somebody
and they jumped out the plane.
In this you actually have to jump.
There we go, [bleep].
[Tyler] Is there anything that I could do that would [bleep] up everything?
[instructor] Don't go feet first, go head first.
With your arm tied up, it will whip you out.
[Tyler] I'm sure that when we get to the edge
and you have to make that conscious decision to jump,
there might be some shimmer of fear in his face.
[Parker] You're gonna stand there for 30 minutes
trying to decide to jump.
I bet I do it quicker than you.
That's what I thought.
[instructor] You guys are ready?
Ah, no.
I need... I should wee.
Go wee.
She can't.
Are we going... are you going for wee or are we doing it?
No, I'm all good. Thank you.
[Daniel] Parker's gotta think on a lot of decisions.
Thrown into the mix is whether or not he wants to jump off a bridge.
[narrator] With time in New Zealand running out,
Parker needs to pull the trigger
and buy a wash plant he's already seen
or take a leap and design his own.
[Parker] In this business, the risk is always the thing that you're fighting.
- [Tyler] Feel like we're walking to our death. - [Daniel] To our death, yeah.
It's a long way down.
[instructor] We'll get you on the edge.
We'll give you the all clear, and then it's up to you to get yourself off.
[Parker] Fairbanks is gonna be a huge challenge.
You're gonna come under here,
holding on nice and tight.
[Daniel] I've got you good, mate.
[instructor] That's it.
[Parker] We don't have time to get it wrong.
[instructor] All right. Get your toes all the way to the edge.
[Tyler] Almost [bleep] there. He's on the edge.
Yeah. He's good.
Arms out to the side.
[Parker] This is the time when your mind likes to play tricks on you,
"Is it the right decision or is it the wrong decision?"
[bleep]
[Daniel] He's making it way worse.
[Tyler] Feel like it's a bit of a theme
this whole trip, hesitation.
[Parker] The problem is you paralyze yourself with that.
I'm not sure I wanna do this.
I think sometimes you just gotta take the leap, mate.
[Parker] No decision is always the worst decision.
[instructor] Stop overthinking things.
Take the leap, buddy.
[bleep]
Oh, my [bleep].
That was horrific.
Oh, [bleep].
[Daniel] I've never, ever seen him scared.
Ever, no.
He doesn't do scared.
He did it, though.
[man] Good times.
[bleep]
That's wild.
Oh, my [bleep].
All right. Let's do it.
[yelling]
Yeah.
Oh, my.
[Jeff] Yeah, Danny boy!
Oh.
[bleep]
I thought my eyes were gonna pop out of my head.
[bleep]. This means I'm next.
Oh, my, man.
Oh, mate.
I've never seen you struggle so much,
ever, on anything we've done.
And nothing we've... nothing we've ever done
has made me feel that way.
No, that did it.
[Daniel] Go on, Jeff!
[yelling]
Oh, my [bleep] Lord.
Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
And five, four, three, two, one.
Go on, girl.
[Jeff] Oh, [bleep]!
[Tyler screaming and laughing]
Holy [bleep]! Oh, my [bleep]!
Holy [bleep]!
[man] Coming in hot!
Oh, my [bleep].
[indistinct excited chatter]
How [bleep] cool was that?
Good job, team.
Let's go.
[Parker] Yeah.
I think that I'd like to have a little bit more fun
in the country before we get out of here.
Tyler, you're up.
Find us some more cool stuff to do.
Yeah, I'm doing it.
We came here to find some gold,
so let's go see what we can come up with on that front.
[Jeff] Sounds like a challenge.
[Daniel] We can do that.
But, yeah, I think it's time to make a decision, right?
- Yep. - [Tyler] Yeah.
We're on the... on the back foot.
I think we should design and build a wash plant.
Let's do it.
- Oh, that's great. - We did it!
It's go time.
[Parker] It's time to start spending money.
Actually, that's it.
[narrator] With less than two months
until they start mining in Alaska,
Parker commits to building a custom wash plant.
It's obvious that we aren't gonna find something in the country
and that we're actually now like really burning time.
And if Fairbanks is gonna work,
then we need to start moving quite quickly.
And that starts with getting this wash plant build on the rolls.
[Jeff] I've been taking note of the places we've been
and some of the factors that he wants.
We're really gonna have to sit down and hash it out.
There's still a lot of work to do on this trip.
We're not done yet.
It's taken us so much to get to this point.
Now that we've finally got this decision,
we can just enjoy this last week together and have some fun.
I've still got one last thing up my sleeve.
I have something bloody cool planned.