Gold Rush TV Update

In the face of the economic meltdown, determined men risk everything to strike it rich mining for gold in the wilds of the far north. Todd and Jack Hoffman, the Schnabel family and the Dakota Boys are all in search of the American dream and a new frontier

ck out the aftershow its great.

Gold Rush TV Update

How Do You Define Business Success?

BY Carol Tice|February 29, 2012|

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Every entrepreneur has dreams for their business. We have goals we want to attain that, to us, mean we've made it. Our business is successful.
This week, watching the final episode of Discovery's Gold Rush Alaska, I was reminded of just how varied that definition can be for different entrepreneurs.
After a first mining season in which the show's central team -- the Hoffman crew -- completely bombed, they came back and spent another five grueling months digging for gold in the Yukon. With a goal of mining 100 ounces, the crew fell a hair short.
When they finally tallied up their take, after expenses, each man on the team was handed a small vial with $8,000 worth of gold in it. For five months' work.
And crew boss Todd Hoffman couldn't stop talking about how successful he felt. That the crew had proved they could mine gold. They were pros.
Really? We're talking about months of time spent away from families, away from money-earning jobs, living in primitive conditions. In essence, they had gone all in, risking everything. Some crew members noted that if they didn't find gold, they wouldn't have the money to get home.
Even just looking at this season, that payday works out to less than $20,000 a year. It was hard to see how the Hoffmans defined their season as a success.
But as he drove away, Todd Hoffman said he couldn't wait to come back and try to make ten times as much next season. It was clear he felt totally validated by what they'd been able to pull from the earth after a series of travails that included numerous equipment failures and being booted off their initial land claim.
Maybe it was just the feeling of triumph over adversity, but to me it was not much of a triumph. Given how little they earned in such a long stretch, it's hard to see how they might get any spin off it either, in terms of ability to profit off their TV fame.
I'd like to see an after-show episode where we get to see all these men's wives welcoming them home and getting their reaction when he says, "Honey, I'm home after five months, and I've got $8,000."

Gold Rush TV Update

Gold Rush’ Season 2 Finale Review & DiscussionFeb 24, 2012 by Anthony Ocasio

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Tags: gold rush alaska

The final counts are in and the future of Discovery’s hit series has been revealed. Join us as we review and discuss the ‘Gold Rush’ season 2 finale.

As Gold Rush: Alaska season 2 began, it quickly became apparent that this was not the same series that captivated audiences during its first season. In many ways, it had become much more.
Instead of simply focusing on the Hoffman crew’s endeavors at their new claim, the Jim Nail Placer mine, Gold Rush season 2 brought in two additional, concurrent stories that wonderfully supplemented the compelling tales of a mining season: the Big Nugget mine with Parker Schnabel and the Quartz Creek with “Dakota” Fred.


Transitioning itself from a single tale of the Hoffman crew attempting to provide for their families by striking it rich from mining gold into three concurrent stories, the amount of earnest storytelling that Gold Rush was able to achieve during season 2 is truly awe-inspiring – especially for a reality series.
By revealing the many levels of growth that one goes through in their lifetime, the challenges and complications that the three groups faced while attempting to mine gold served to elevate the series beyond any “get rich quick” stigma that it may have been given during its first season.
The Hoffman Crew

For the Hoffman crew, their second season attempt at gold mining provided audiences with an earnest tale of remaining resolute against all odds. With “Dakota” Fred taking over the mine that the Hoffmans used during the first season, the amateur gold miners were forced to start over.
Beginning the mining season behind schedule, though with new-found knowledge, Gold Rush season 2 reveals the immense work and dedication that the Hoffmans had to put in to their mining efforts, and what exactly it takes to reach the goals they set for themselves, not matter what challenges may arise.
Dakota Fred
“Dakota” Fred, like many things in life, is a complicated tale. Initially portrayed as an antagonist figure during the start of season 2, the true story of “Dakota” Fred was slowly revealed through the season. Arguably receiving the least amount of on air time when compared to the rest of the groups, the “mining expert” that “Dakota” Fred was presented as during the first season was soon replaced by the notion that he’s simply a man that needs to succeed, perhaps more so than the Hoffmans.

That being said, the full story of “Dakota” Fred is not truly revealed until the final moments of the Gold Rush season 2 finale, in which “Dakota” Fred tells his son that he appreciates what he has done, even if he never said it. This moment, while easily looked over by audiences wanting to choose sides more than wanting to be told a story, conveys the complicated nature of “Dakota” Fred – a nature that many may negatively label, but one that almost everyone is familiar with in their own life.
Parker Schnabel
For all intents and purposes, Parker Schnabel could be seen as the breakout figure in the entirety of the series. What began as an interesting tale of a 17 year-old attempting to take over his grandfather’s mine quickly became one of the most beautiful coming-of-age stories that television has seen.
With the constant backing of his always loving grandfather John Schnabel, who mirrors his grandson’s excitement and enthusiasm (even at the age of 91), Parker experienced the complications, difficulties and mistakes that one not only goes through while attempting to mine gold, but by also growing up.
From the moments of uncertainty as to what to do next, to dealing with the pressures of making his grandfather’s gold mine profitable, to regretting certain conversations with various family members, Parker Schnabel had to grow up on camera, with the entire world watching and judging him – something that most would never want to happen.

But with his grandfather always there to support him, no matter what the problem may be, Parker was able to persevere this year’s rough season of mining and set up a potentially profitable mining season next year. As John Schnabel says, “I don’t care about the money, because I can’t take it with me – I might as well spend it here.”
Final Counts
In the end, all three groups were successful, even if it wasn’t monetarily. While both the Hoffmans and “Dakota” Fred were able to turn a profit and Parker Schnabel came up a little short, the story that was presented in each of the three groups provided the growth and foundation that everyone needed to help make them successful (or even more so) in the future.
And while it won’t be another year until we find out whether or not the groups see success next year in Alaska, one can only hope that Gold Rush, as a series, continues to grow and evolve itself as much as the people that they document have.

Gold Rush TV Update

The Hoffmans are finding Frozen Ground is the Big Problem Here, Lots of Gold in Cut 2
and the other Minners are Having the Same Issues, Parker Fights With His Dad Over the Payloader and Parker Running Out of Fuel.
Over at the Dakota Boys Justin is Sick, Fred is Running the Show and Another Minor Equipment Accident, Hey at Least they Have Profit in the Books, This Deep Glory Hole Paydirt is King.
Big Cleanouts For Both Hoffmans and the Dakota Boys. Parker is Digging Part Time.
Only One Show Left, So We Will See Who is Still Standing Here, Gold Rush Fever We Get It.

Gold Rush TV Update

Wow, the Hoffman boys blew it then got it, Fred is not happy, cut 2 had 7.3 ounces now running 24/7
and now having problems with the wash plant and later having a accident at night,but got a lot of gold 15 Ounces in 4 days of Running Dirt, You Have to Give them Credit for Effort.
At Porkupine Creek Dakota fred is digging where the Hoffmans tried last year,
and got a good cleanout from it, 27k in 2 days but had to pull out of the glory hole, then built a new road in to the pit, the dakota boys are on the gold, as the show loves to say.
Parker has to go back and run the mine his grandpa is too weak to work
He is upset that the claim is played out, But his Granda john thinks its good he liked the wall of dirt.
You got to Love this Families Grit and the Funny Pratfalls the Hoffmans make,Dakota Fred is crazy for the Gold, Parker is the Budding Star on this Show.

Fred Hurt of Gold Rush weighs his Gold

With running costs of $1,000 per day, Fred Hurt and his crew at Porcupine Creek will only start turning a profit once they extract at least 50 ounces of gold from the mine.
That may not sound like a lot, but it's worth a whopping $80,000 and, as "Gold Rush: Alaska" (Fri., 9 p.m. EST on Discovery) showed, to mine even that much takes months of hard work.
At reckoning time, a tense Fred sat contemplating his pot of gold and admitted that he didn't know if he'd hit the 50-ounce mark or not. "I've not weighed all this gold ever. I've weighed it separately occasionally, but ... I don't know if this is gonna work or not."
As Fred poured the gold onto the weighing scales the other miners fidgeted nervously. They hit 49 ounces, but the pot was looking empty. Would they make it to 50 ounces?
Finally, a whoop of delight from Fred -- the gold weighed in at 50.7 ounces. They were now making a profit!

gold rush update

Gold Rush  continued last night with the Hoffman crew pulling their first gold nugget ever out of the ground, and sitting on 40 ounces of gold so far this season. With just weeks to go before the winter weather sets in, Todd purposes a risky move, which could see them pull more gold per day out of their claim, or leave them finding nothing.

Many of the gold mining camps have pulled up shop and headed home with the unforgiving winter weather soon to arrive, but the Hoffman's are hanging in there until the last possible moment.

Todd purposes cutting into new land, instead of mining what's open. This will eat up a good deal of their time, but if Todd's right about the large gold deposit in the new land, they could pull more gold out of the earth daily than ever before, giving them the best chance at hitting their goal of 100 ounces of gold. If he's wrong, the season will end up a bust again.

After much debate between the men on the crew, they decide to go with Todd's plan, but also mine the land they've cut by splitting the crew in two to work in each area. The Hoffman crew has not been lucky since starting their gold mining venture, but their luck is about to change. The cut that's already open yields more gold than they've seen yet, producing a few nuggets along with the tiny particles of gold.

If Todd did get his way, they wouldn't have this gold from this cut. Once Todd's new cut's checked for gold, it proves Todd's theory is on the money. One test pan yields an ample amount of gold and they didn't go that far down to get it. Now they have two areas with gold just ready for the taking!

Dakota Fred's camp finds a gold deposit way down below the bedrock, so his crew decides to stay and unearth some of this gold before the winter sets in. Digging this deep near a river entails water flooding the hole he's excavating. He's removing it with a pump that's barely keeping up with the water that's flowing in. Fred's mining comes to an abrupt stop when his excavator comes off its track. It's stuck near rising water and unless they get it fixed quickly, it's just a matter of time before it gets completely submerged.

A lot's been said about Fred's work ethics, especially after ripping the Hoffman's claim out from under them in the beginning of the season, but this man's talented when it comes to working with these big machines. He makes it look like an easy fix and they're up and running and digging down to the bedrock. Fred's camp has 50 ounces of gold so far and from now on, anything they pull from the earth is pure profit!

At Parker's camp things turn sad as Parker's grandfather has a heart attack. This 16-year-old mining manager is beside himself with worry. It's his grandfather's mine he's running and this is the man that's taught him everything he knows. He tells the camera crew that his grandfather is the most important person in his life. His mining is at a standstill now. John's airlifted to Anchorage and underwent surgery to have two stents put in his arteries. After just 24 hours of being in the hospital he wants to go back to the mine. The man is 91 years old and Parker insists he takes at least two weeks off.

The season is winding down with all three camps experiencing their ups and downs this week. It looks like the Hoffman crew might come in close to their goal, but there's still a few episodes to go and viewers know that just about anything can and will happen.

gold rush the TV series

Gold Rush (formerly Gold Rush Alaska) is a directed and scripted^[1][2][3] reality television series^[4] that airs on Discovery Channel, with reruns also airing on TLC. Gold Rush is consistently the number one or two (ratings) cable television show in the Fall 2011 and Winter 2012 seasons with 5.48 million viewers.^[5]

 

 Season 1

The show's storyline: Six men from Sandy, Oregon (a small town 30 miles southeast of Portland) who, due to the economic downturn, have lost their jobs. They decided on an all-stakes gamble – travel to Porcupine Creek, Alaska (59°24′35″N 136°14′23″W / 59.40972°N 136.23972°W / 59.40972; -136.23972) and prospect for gold. Most of the people on the show have little or no previous gold mining experience and must learn on the job.

Season 2

For season 2, Todd missed a lease payment, and "Dakota" Fred Hurt buys the claim out from owner Earl Foster, not needing to break the lease due to the missed payment.^[6] The season will explore the Hoffman crew's new mine at Quartz Creek, in the Klondike region of the Yukon Territory Canada as well as "Dakota" Fred's operation at the site of the original Hoffman mine, the Jim Nail Placer Mine, and Parker Schnabel's attempts to mine his grandfather's property at Big Nugget Mine.
Gold mining in Alaska, a state of the United States, has been a major industry and impetus for exploration and settlement since a few years after the United States acquired the territory from Russia. Russian explorers discovered placer gold in the Kenai River in 1848, but no gold was produced. Gold mining started in 1870 from places southeast of Juneau, Alaska.^[1]
Gold is found and has been mined throughout Alaska; except in the vast swamps of the Yukon Flats, and along the North Slope between the Brooks Range and the Beaufort Sea. Areas near Fairbanks, Juneau, and Nome are responsible for most of Alaska's historical and current gold production. Nearly all of the large and many of the small placer gold mines currently operating in the US are in Alaska.^[2] Six modern large-scale hard rock mines operate in Alaska in 2008; four of those are gold-producing mines (an additional gold mine suspended production in late 2007). There are also some small-scale hard rock gold-mining operations. Alaska currently produces more gold (in 2007: 673,274 troy oz from lode mines, and 53,848 troy oz from placer deposits) than any state except Nevada.^[3] In 2007, gold accounted for 15% of the mining wealth produced in Alaska. Zinc and lead, mainly from the Red Dog mine, accounted for 73%; silver, mainly from the Greens Creek mine, accounted for 8%; coal and aggregates accounted for nearly 2% each. Alaska produced a total of 40.3 million troy ounces of gold from 1880 through the end of 2007.^[4][5]

Lucky Shot gold mine in Hatcher Pass

 Active mines

The following are active gold-producing mines and advanced lode exploration or development projects.
Kaspar er sejLode (hard rock) mines

Large-scale hard rock mines producing gold

• The Greens Creek mine, owned and operated by Hecla Mining, located on private patented claims and on federal land in the Admiralty mining district, is primarily a silver-lead-zinc mine, produced 73,000 troy ounces (2.3 tonnes) of gold in 2006 and a similar amount in 2007.^[6]
• Fort Knox mine, owned and operated by Kinross Gold on State of Alaska-owned land in the Fairbanks mining district, produced 333,000 troy ounces (10.3 tonnes) of gold in 2006 and a similar amount in 2007.
• Pogo mine, owned and operated by Teck Cominco, on State of Alaska-owned land in the Goodpaster district, produced 260,000 troy ounces (8.1 tonnes) of gold in 2007, more than double production in 2006.^[4]
• Kensington and Jualin; production re-commenced at the long-closed adjacent historical underground gold-in-quartz-veins mines in the Juneau mining district in June, 2010. Over $270 million of exploration and construction efforts from 2005 onward, and significant legal battles concerning disposal of mine tailings onto public land led to renewed production. Over 2 million troy ounces of gold resource in 8.8 million tons of ore are reported.^[4][7]