Warning: The below contains spoilers for Gold Rush Season 15, Episode 22.]
With gold prices continuing to soar, the Gold Rush miners are doing everything they can to finish Season 15 strong. And for Rick Ness, Parker Schnabel and Tony Beets, that means being able to pivot if there is a chance for a big return on investment. Rick Ness has started to see his million dollar gamble at Vegas Valley pay off to the tune of $670,000 in gold so far last week. A much needed boost considering whether he could mine in future years at Duncan Creek in double due to water license uncertainty. He looks at smashing his 1,500-ounce goal and aims to finish strong regardless.
Elsewhere, Tony Beets is gunning for a record-breaking season, 180 ounces away from hitting the 5,000-target. The “King of the Klondike” can do this with two plants going at Paradise Hill and Indian River. With winter descending on the Yukon, Parker Schnabel needs a big windfall to get out of the financial hole dug at Dominion Creek. Going into the April 11 episode on Discovery Channel, the 30-year-old comes up with a new plan to bring in another 2,500 ounces before the big freeze.
Read on to see how things shook out for the the guys.
Rick Ness
Rick Ness (Discovery Channel)
Ness had to leave for a few days to meet with the agent working on his water license in Vancouver. With the boss out, he tasked friend Brian “Zee” Zaremba to hold down the fort. The crew wasn’t in the best mindset, exhausted by the demand of the season and wondering if their big risk was worth it in the end. Forman Buzz Legault in particular isn’t too confident or happy with how things were handled. Rising ground water made matters worse after the team dug below the water table, which caused the flooding of a muddy mess. Legault was tasked to dig a deeper pit for the pump to drain the water while the sludge formed to be transported via truck to a wash pile. Unfortunately, the one to two day process meant having to shut down the wash plant.
In the meantime Zaremba believed their was some potential gold rich pay on the old pad at Rally Valley where Monster Red sat. The space where it sat for four years and the spot Ness hit the jackpot. Zaremba experienced an issue with his loader. Ryan Kent had the idea to take the censor from Ness’s side-by-side vehicle and use on the the loader. It worked with the crew able to get back to work. Ness returned from his journey frustrated at the fact he wasn’t able to get any answers about his water license for next season. The team’s weigh in result was 122.82 ounces worth over $320,000. Less than half of what they were hoping for. They were left with about 200 ounces left to get to the finish line successfully for the season.
Tony Beets
Tony Beets (Discovery Channel)
Beets wanted to add a third plant into the mix, and he turned to his daughter Monica to make it happen at the Hester Cut. Setbacks stopped this from happening earlier in the season. Sadly, waterlogged mud meant getting equipment into the cut was impossible. Monica didn’t stay disappointed for long as she came to her dad with an idea to look into the gold tailings left behind by old-timers not far from the cut. Beets not only liked what he heard, he surprised Monica with a half million dollar wash plant. “I still get a birthday present, right?” Monica asked. “We’ll see,” he responded. The new toy was meant to handle big boulders. Beets brought in the cavalry including son Mike and nephew Mike to help set up the wash plant. The Beets family gathered for the weigh-in. First up was Sluice-A-Lot at Indian River’s Comeback Cut extension with 205.80 ounces worth $543,000. They passed their 5,000 ounces with that result! Son Mike’s Trommel at Paradise Hill delivered another 264.76 ounces, taking the season total to 5,290 ounces and almost $14 million in gold!
Parker Schnabel
Parker Schnabel and Tyson Lee (Discovery Channel)
The walls were closing in for Schnabel when it comes to the season, and he sought a possible shot in the arm. He took one of his right hand men in Tyson Lee to thawed ground at the Bridge Cut. Schnabel wanted to try to get as many ounces out of the space as possible. The consummate businessman felt beneath the gravel was real money. Lee felt they could pull thawed pay from the perimeter and run it through Big Red.
Big problems struck when Big Red, who was working nonstop for five months on the red gravel, shook itself apart with its side tension bars breaking. This was what held the screens in place. Big Red was dead. A hell of a run across 12 seasons that brought in 34,300 ounces that banked more than $53 million in gold. The new plan was to move wash plant Bob, which sat idle for nearly three weeks at Sulfur Creek, to Dominion. Lee had to get the job done and used the giant plant with an old P16 hauler. Bob was transported to its new home in just eight hours.
The crew met up for their weekly weigh-in. Big Red’s last cleanup of red top gravel from the Bridge Cut came in at 96.02 ounces worth $250,000. Bob clocked in at 290.05 ounces worth $766,000 after four days working through deeper richer white channel pay. Roxanne was last but not least at the Elbow Cut and added another 276.01 ounces. Schnabel’s team was now at 6,088.02 ounces worth more than $16 million.
Gold Rush, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery
