Summer mining season is here and Zeke decides with whom he wants to work leaving Emily shocked by his answer. Meanwhile, Shawn's first day on the sea is interrupted when an important piece of equipment snaps in half and the Wild Ranger's Vernon Adkison is determined find a vessel to use as a launching pad for his leased sub-dredge.
Emily's best diver threatens to quit after multiple dredge malfunctions while Zeke gets his first taste of corporate life pressures. Meanwhile, veteran diver Derek McClarty spends his life savings gambling on a huge dredge that he hopes will make him rich. Over on the Christine Rose, a new deckhand's rough treatment of the excavator snaps a crucial pin.
Vern plots to steal a boat from an old nemesis who used to work for him and the Christine Rose loses hydraulics bringing the whole mining operation to a halt. Derek is pleased with the progress of his new dredge High Noon while Daryl has doubts about Emily's greenhorn diver.
Kris and dad Brad come to blows when a fight escalates out of control while Shawn's son Dylan is hired to dive for Derek on the High Noon but trouble starts almost immediately. Meanwhile, Steve Pomrenke invites his 89-year-old father to Nome and they reminisce about mining in the old days.
Shawn is frustrated to find his mining spot depleted of gold-rich ground and Vern is concerned the season is a bust after something unexpected happens to his prized sub-dredge. On the Reaper, the Kellys try to recover from a disappointing few weeks but problems continue to arise while over on the Havilah, Zeke pitches an idea to a former rival in a bid to increase his gold production.
Shawn reaches his quota to get to the Bluff but Steve suddenly changes the terms of the deal leading to a colossal blow up between father and son. On the High Noon, Derek is short on cash and has only two dredging trips to find as much gold as possible while Vern is hemorrhaging money as he insists the sub-dredge is his ticket to wealth.
Emily swallows her pride and offers ex-friend Zeke a job on the Eroica while Steve Pomrenke strikes more than gold when mining inland. On the High Noon, Derek runs into trouble while dredging in a gold-rich area and begrudgingly allows his crew to send out an SOS.
The Kellys face off against Zeke's corporate dredge in a bitter gold war and Shawn Pomrenke finally inches closer to his dream of mining at the Bluff. Meanwhile, Derek plots to invade Shawn's gold-rich spots when he's gone and Steve anxiously awaits the results of his first inland mining cleanout.
Zeke agrees to finish out the season working for Emily as a diver on the Eroica while Shawn finally relocates the Christine Rose to the Bluff. In his absence, Derek prepares to execute his plan of raiding Shawn's gold-rich spots. Meanwhile, Vernon is stressed as the season closes in and his $200,000 investment could be lost unless he scores a huge payday.
The freeze is here and all crews have one final shot to find gold but Shawn's losing gamble at the Bluff sends his excavator dredge back to Nome. On the Reaper, Kris Kelly invests in some high-tech equipment that he hopes will turn around their season and Emily has a panic attack on the Eroica. Meanwhile, Derek experiences the wrath of Mr. Gold when he's caught mining on the Christine Rose's lucky spot.