Meltdown S01E01-04 (2013)

Across America a new breed of urban treasure hunter is making his mark. These profiteers search for precious metals in unlikely places hoping to turn junk into gold. Today the struggling economy has turned the melting of precious metals into a billion dollar industry. The search takes them from back alleys to the world of high technology. It’s a high stakes game where one false move could spell disaster. But these melters risk everything to seek their fortune.

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Season 1, Episode 1 - “Bite the Bullet”
Rich gets exclusive access to a manufacturing equipment warehouse and goes treasure hunting for precious metals in the equipment’s old components. When he finds a robotic arm from an old auto assembly line, he relies on his Detroit background to hopefully turn it into a payday. Meanwhile, Dave knows that catalytic converters use platinum, so he gets down and dirty crawling under every old car he can find — until he ends up at the wrong end of a shotgun.

Season 1, Episode 2 - “Break the Bank”
Dave decides to fulfill a longtime goal and get his hands on some old mining equipment in the hope that it may contain dirt and rock residue that could, in turn, contain gold. He’s hoping for a $40,000+ payday, but soon discovers it’s going to be tougher to get at it than he initially anticipated. Meanwhile, Rich gets a lead on an old building being gutted and rehabbed and has the chance to search it for anything that might contain precious metals.

Season 1, Episode 3 - “Standing on a Gold Mine”
Dave’s crew thinks he’s nuts when he decides to rip up his new property, a former jewelry store and workshop, but he’s convinced there’s gold hidden in and under the carpeting. Elsewhere, Diego gets a lead on a vintage electronics dealer and brings his buddy James along, expecting to find the mother lode in vintage motherboards. Meanwhile, Rich’s search for precious metals leads him to an antiques dealer selling off an entire storage unit full of items from someone’s estate.

Season 1, Episode 4 - “Ready to Rock-It”
Rich hunts for old rocket parts because he thinks they’re made with precious metals to withstand the intense heat. Meanwhile, Dave looks for treasure in the form of a photo processing filter used to recover silver found on photo paper. And Diego looks for a trophy as his prize. As long as it’s made of real silver, any shaped trophy will do, because the trophy Diego really wants at the end of the day is cash.