Vincent, a 20-year old geology student from Paris, goes to French Guyana to do an internship at a gold mining company. Taken under the wing of local gold lord Antoine Serra, Vincent quickly falls into the much more lucrative – and more dangerous – world of gold trafficking.

Stuck in Saint Elias, a remote village reachable only by dugout canoe, Vincent feels isolated and cut out of the adventure. Serra keeps him reeled in by telling him about a local legend: a mythic gold mine called Sarah Bernhardt. Vincent tries to convince Louis they need his “engineering” expertise, but Serra's right-hand-man would rather get rid of the young Parisian for good. He rebels and violence breaks out all round. Clara Quintero, a Brazilian crime lord and Serra's biggest rival, is looking to take over their budding camp by force.

Vincent, Serra, Louis and the gold miners arrive at the camp. The prospectors doggedly dig through the mud, but only find a smattering of gold nuggets. When the gold vein doesn't immediately pan out, things get tense between Louis and Vincent. The engineer is troubled by the management's violent practices in the camp, but doesn't intervene. Back in Saint Elias, Nathalie is under high pressure. She treats Anita after she's roughed up by Silva, one of Clara Quintero's minions. She also has to keep a close eye on Serra's daughter Laetitia, who hitchhiked in from Cayenne and is trying to seduce Claudio, one of Serra's men. Nathalie is also in charge of getting the acai production operation up and running. Back at the camp, a tragic accident unfolds... and Vincent feels responsible.

In the hot, humid depths of the Guyanese forest, gold finally begins to pour out. Guilt-ridden over the accident, Vincent works like a madman. Serra brings in alcohol and girls to distract the exhausted gold miners and make a few more dollars off them. Vincent is disappointed that Anita has come along, and tries to stop her from prostituting herself. His noble intentions spark derision and even anger from some of the men. Serra has to find a way to sell the illegal gold. He goes back to Saint Elias and discovers that Nathalie has been tapping his bank account to expand Acai Beach, and that his daughter Laetitia is involved with Claudio. Vincent takes advantage of Serra's absence to look for the mythic Sarah Bernhardt gold mine. He defies Louis's orders, and brings back to camp a hysterical young Brazilian girl who was injured in the forest. The mine comes under attack. In Cayenne, Serra contacts a jeweler he's dealt with for ages, but his old partner lays a trap for him.

After an armed battle, two young Brazilians named Tomasinho and Carmen take control of the camp. A terrorized Vincent does his best to save his skin. He's forced to take part in the madcap doings of his new “bosses.” They plan to keep him alive as long as they need him around to make biodiesel. In Cayenne, Serra gets the jeweler's widow to talk. She sets him on the trail of the people who ordered the hit on him. Serra discovers that the Quinteros are behind the attacks on him and his camp. Meanwhile, Louis has been injured during the attack on the mine. Nathalie piles him into a helicopter and rushes him to a hospital in Cayenne. She confronts Serra, who launches all-out war to take back his camp.

With the complicity of Silva and help from Claudio, Serra takes back his mine. Vincent and Serra go to Brazil to see Clara Quintero and her mother, hoping to make a truce and strike a deal. As Serra gets pummeled, Vincent drinks tea with the Quinteros and works out a deal with them. A deal that traps both Nathalie and Waki, but one they can't refuse....

In Saint Elias, Vincent has moved in with Anita, even though Serra labeled her a prostitute and damned the couple. The young engineer tries to help the Acai Beach company take off by putting his theoretical business know-how to practice and tapping his school contacts. But he's still dreaming about the Sarah Bernhardt mine. When Serra himself discovers the mythic site, Vincent's life hangs in the balance. Tomasinhio is arrested and gives Judge Berthier information about Serra. Berthier launches an unsuccessful assault on the camp. But Serra gets advance warning from a cop, and has time to wipe out all traces of his presence there.

Serra finds his old friend dead, but decides to nonetheless cover for Vincent with help from Nathalie, who has stolen the gold he owes the Quinteros from him.