# Gold Rush: Alaska (Discovery Channel Series) Critiques, etc.



## AuMINIMayhem

I haven't seen anyone talk about it on here.. unless I missed it, if I did, I apologize.


Wow... I have alllllll sorts of problems with the way these guys are trying to get paydirt at the Porcupine Creek claim..

I'll start with their setup and ask.. "seriously?... all you guys have at the and of such a large sluice is maybe a couple feet of miners' moss?.."

I would've probably doubled the length of that part of the catch in their sluice and then would have continued on with another four or five feet of corduroy beyond that before letting the water run off the edge. Although for tv's sake we'd like to see the big nuggets pop-up, I think the money for them is going to be in the fines/flours and microns..

They also had like 30 buckets of black sand cons to run on their wave table, but they let the rest go to waste after it has run on the table.. shouldn't they keep the black sands that are left and roast them, etc.. or perhaps collect it in some way that they could leach it somewhere? (I'm assuming fish and game would not want them performing leach operations alongside a water source, especially this one which is a known salmon run..

anywho... as much as I like the show.. these guys really make me shake my head and wish I had the money and the resources to get out there... these guys need help... *sigh* :roll:


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## Palladium

Mark ( The Mickey Mouse guy ) is from Sandy where they are from. I been meaning to ask him if he knows any of these guys. What gets me up until this point is they got all them concentrates and now they don't know how to separate them. You mean to tell me that after all the money and trouble they went to that nobody thought of the end result up until now. To me that's the most important part of the whole process. It's like refining, just because you know the value is there don't mean you can get it separated easily. Had it been me and i was out of money i would have found somebody up there who could have separated my gold for me come hell or high water. Somebody up they has the means. What about the guy across the creek who sent the kid over to help them out? I'm sure he has a table and if nothing else would be willing to separate it for a cut. I think a lot of the show is scripted ever though they won't admit to it.


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## AuMINIMayhem

Palladium said:


> What gets me up until this point is they got all them concentrates and now they don't know how to separate them. You mean to tell me that after all the money and trouble they went to that nobody thought of the end result up until now. To me that's the most important part of the whole process.




Precisely my point!  8) 

They do have a wave table, but the guy that "read the manual" doesn't really know how to use it and it's just a helluva mess they have up there.. I'm not even sure they've properly classified their material, to be honest. I have yet to see one guy with a set of screens, classifying material. On top of all that, are they just dumping the "leftovers" from the wave table????... Wouldn't it be wise to at least have one of the kids or the wives or whomever's eating up all the food without contributing, sitting in front of a couple of gold wheels and blue bowls?.. :roll: 

I can't stop watching it, it's a great show, but not for it's educational value.. it's simply a comedy of errors. :lol: 


Oh yeah, about being scripted, I have a feeling there's surprisingly little scripting on shows like this and Axe Men, etc.. there's enough drama on job sites like that, they don't really need to add anything... which is probably why they're so succesful. I'm sure they do some creative cutting room floor style editing, but I doubt there's a whole lot in the way of "ok, so now you're going to go talk to this guy and say such and such..." **shrug** I could be wrong though..


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## seawolf

I think all of them should have read a lot more and then went to where they could see the equipment used by others in use. Hands on training can’t be beat. The next best is watching and asking questions.
Many times on the show when one of them went to town for parts or fuel the rest took the day off, not a good work practice if you need to get something done.
I agree it makes a good comedy and a how to not do this show.
For a quarter million dollars I think they could have bought into a gold refining company and had more to show for their three months work.


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## Palladium

The gold is there no doubt. The guy across the creek said he has pulled as much as $ 30,000 in one day. I think he said he spent $250,000 just digging that big hole he has in his back yard. One more thing. They said they bought that shaker used and converted it. Why didn't someone crawl under that thing and inspect the deck and bracing from the start? It's a hellva time to get into tunda to find out. I think they get in to big of a rush and try to do things on the fly.


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## qst42know

There's no drama in a group that both gets along and knows what they are doing. :twisted:


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## skeeter629

I loved watching where the got all the family members involved in panning the concentrates. Watching them dump them out of their pans and scooping them out with their hands sent chills down my spine. I am sure they dumped more than they kept. I agree with AuMINIMayhem, anyone with common sense would catch the black sands off the table instead of letting them wash back on the ground. I guess it is good for the next people who leases the claim.


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## AuMINIMayhem

qst42know said:


> There's no drama in a group that both gets along and knows what they are doing. :twisted:



*HIGH-5!* 8) 




skeeter629 said:


> I guess it is good for the next people who leases the claim.




hmmm... I bet for less than 50k we could organize a trip out there, once their claim is up and cash in on the spoils of their losses. As far as I can tell they're really just classifying the material and concentrating it for the next guy to go in there. How about a GRF trip?.. just sayin'.. Might be worth looking into.. Who's with me? :mrgreen: 

At any rate, I think most of us agree, for $250k, they could've done a lot better than bringing in giant, repurposed equipment. :roll: A couple bobcats, a few sluices, some gold wheels, blue bowls (where are we at.. $15-20k about now?)... 8)


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## 4metals

It's a reality show. The reality of it is they're probably making more putting on a show than recovering gold.


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## AuMINIMayhem

LOL! indeed... :mrgreen:


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## philddreamer

Gentlemen, I too shake my head when I watch the show. 
At first, I was so excited; I said to myself: this is my kind of show! After watching 3 episodes I asked myself: is this for real? 
Watching the "drama", the number of mistakes, arguments... I don't know if I want to watch anymore... but I will. 

I believe they are making their money from the TV guys, like 4metals said. Its just another show. 

I drove to Ca. this last summer on a 10 day vacation with my wife on a prospecting trip w/sluice box; we spent about $500.00 altogether & came back with 1 oz of gold!


AuMINIMayhem, I'm with you... when do we leave? :mrgreen: After all, they've dug halfway down to bedrock already! 8) 

Oh well, they just had a dream, poor planning, & very little action.

Phil


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## AuMINIMayhem

philddreamer said:


> Oh well, they just had a dream, poor planning, & very little action.
> 
> Phil



yeah... LOL!... don't get me started on my "that's what's wrong with Americans these days" speech.. :lol: 

Hey, I'm totally serious about us getting something together.. hell, why not, with the combined grey-matter of the guys on here.. I know we could do quite well. 8)


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## philddreamer

I was in Sandy, OR last week picking up some chemicals, & I mentioned the program & ask if the guys come buy often, & brother, the aswer was cold! :shock: 
The young gal that was helpin me just said that Mike was on the program for a few minutes. I guess Action sold them that table that didn't work or something. I ask no more questions. 

But, I've always like to visit Alaska sometime before I die. It's a long haul & ferry trip I understand, that's if Porcupine Ck is in Porcupine Is. AK.

I don't know if I could make it this year... who knows!? I'm sure we would do alright, as long we keep it small scale. I don't know about the legalities 
& permits.


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## turtlesteve

I was excited about this show initially but I'm starting to lose my patience. Their mistakes notwithstanding, the drama irritates me. If they were serious about mining, they would have gotten someone experienced to lead their team, and then followed his guidance.

But yes, I'm still going to watch the show. I'm guessing the guys from across the creek (or someone else) comes in to save their butts again.

-Steve


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## philddreamer

The next episode: They just figured out their system its all backwards!!!! :shock: :roll: :lol: It's funny!


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## samuel-a

Really nice show, well made reality (drama) and for someone like me that knows nothing about prospecting, it really helps understanding the very basics and terminology...

Although i must say, it also shows how NOT to build and lead a working team... one can learn a lot from other peoples mistakes...


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## Lou

I've been watching bits and pieces as I may. I'm more of a History channel guy 

It seems like they have all of these gold-laden black sands but don't know what to do with them.

Reminds me of Coleridge's _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_:

" Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink. "

Gold, gold, everywhere but not a grain they've seen! :/


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## AuMINIMayhem

philddreamer said:


> The next episode: They just figured out their system its all backwards!!!! :shock: :roll: :lol: It's funny!




ROTF!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: 

I coulda told them that... :mrgreen:


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## AuMINIMayhem

Lou said:


> I've been watching bits and pieces as I may. I'm more of a History channel guy
> 
> It seems like they have all of these gold-laden black sands but don't know what to do with them.
> 
> Reminds me of Coleridge's _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_:
> 
> " Water, water, everywhere,
> And all the boards did shrink;
> Water, water, everywhere,
> Nor any drop to drink. "
> 
> Gold, gold, everywhere but not a grain they've seen! :/




<--- High-5's Lou!  :mrgreen: 

Great reference!! I loved that "poem", although I admit I was introduced to it as a teen by Iron Maiden, but I digress, I did read it afterwards. 8)


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## Jimmi_p

Four times fifty living men and i heard no groan nor sigh. Each turned his head with ghastly pang and cursed me with his eye. Four times fifty living men and i heard no sigh nor groan. With heavy thump a lifeless lump they dropped down one by one. 

Yeah i loved both the poem and the song. probable the way they will end up. With the way they work they all just might end up that way.
Hey,,, the family that they chased away could be the albatross. lol 
It does sound like a fun way to spend a summer though. i just cant believe they spent all of that cash to get and move all that equipment.
I believe this show is like watching the Three Stooges mine for gold only they're funnier ( the stooges that is)!


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## eeTHr

When the old man started digging shallow holes everywhere, looking for the bottom of a waterfall, when he was supposed to be following the ancient riverbed, I knew they were in for problems.

Then when they told how many guns they brought, I knew something was _very wrong!_ And I enjoy guns, too!

:lol: 


Plus, it seems like they were always processing loads of loose top-dirt and rocks. I never did see them reach bedrock, or even clay. :?:

Shouldn't they have used a core drill, to locate the ancient riverbed? Wouldn't that be a much faster way to locate and evaluate it? I would think they could have rented one, while they still had some money, and then have been processing values much earlier on. They did say, in the beginning, that they had some kind of survey map that indicated it's approximate location, and, I assume, it's depth. :?:


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## Irons

eeTHr said:



> When the old man started digging shallow holes everywhere, looking for the bottom of a waterfall, when he was supposed to be following the ancient riverbed, I knew they were in for problems.
> 
> Then when they told how many guns they brought, I knew something was _very wrong!_ And I enjoy guns, too!
> 
> :lol:
> 
> 
> Plus, it seems like they were always processing loads of loose top-dirt and rocks. I never did see them reach bedrock, or even clay. :?:
> 
> Shouldn't they have used a core drill, to locate the ancient riverbed? Wouldn't that be a much faster way to locate and evaluate it? I would think they could have rented one, while they still had some money, and then have been processing values much earlier on. They did say, in the beginning, that they had some kind of survey map that indicated it's approximate location, and, I assume, it's depth. :?:



A seismic survey is the best route. It will show the old riverbed and any depressions in the bedrock where values would be concentrated, instead of wasting time willy-nilly digging cat holes. When you only have a couple of months working season, you can't screw around you have to work until you drop, then work some more.


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## goldenchild

If they knew what they were doing we would be the only ones watching :lol: Its just like auction wars. Totally scripted.


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## eeTHr

Irons & goldenchild---

Yup & yup.


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## philddreamer

They would have saved themselves a lot of the troubles by just hiring the 15 year old lad! :mrgreen:


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## Scratch

I still can't believe that they didn't bring a dredge. I haven't even seen or heard mention of a sluice at all! 

I'm surprised they brought pans...


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## Palladium

In the first episode or two it showed them meeting with the old man they leased the claim from. He already had a company come out and drill core samples so they know where to dig at scientificly speaking. Which brings up the point of why did the old man fail? Must be some bad mojo on that claim.


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## AuMINIMayhem

I was wondering when I'd see Irons post in here... :mrgreen: Good to see you, lad! How are ya?

Derek


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## philddreamer

True, Scratch!
While some of the guys worked on repairs, a couple could have been dredging or running a sluice box. I guarantee you they would have recovered
enough gold for food & fuel. 
For cleaning the concentrates, especially while the table wasn't working, a simple sluice box would have done the job.
Something as simple as a corrugated black pipe, 5' - 6' long, sliced in half, length wise; nail each end to a 2 x 4; run some water & the concentrates thru it...

I tell you, its a beautiful sight, to see the gold accumulate in those top dozen "riffles"!


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## AuMINIMayhem

*<--- wonders if those guys lurk on these forums...*


wouldn't that be something if all the sudden they started doing things we had suggested on the boards, specifically... like one episode they just make a sluice out of the corrugated pipe like phildreamer just mentioned... _AND_ they did it in the same manner?... I would have to laugh my butt off for sure! :mrgreen: :lol: :mrgreen: :lol:


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## philddreamer

Yeap... we have to keep in mind its a "reality" show & what's taking place is not necessarily for real. Because, if it's for real... :shock: Oh brothers!

If it's for real, its a lesson to be learned by all of us who have the "golden dream". 

Our forum teaches us to be well acquainted w/safety & handling of acids,
laws, & so on, before we jump in, blind folded & head first, into this great hobby of ours.

We live & learn! 
(We better!) :lol:


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## Palladium

I can't believe Action mining screwed the pooch on that one. What do i mean? Well you figure them guys are from Sandy. So is Action. What does that table cost? $5,000-6,000. What do you figure the Profit is? Couple of thousand??? What would it cost to send a man from Action up to Alaska? Probably a couple of thousand? Exposure from a marketing point of view? 3 million viewers. Cost to reach those 3 million viewers? Pennies..... Pay off? Tremendous. If i was Action i would have had my guy right there on national- worldwide t.v. running them black sands for them. Instead from my point of view anyone who seen the Wave table is probably thinking now that it is more difficult to master than they make it look. Of course this is true but from a marketing view you want it to be user friendly and sell itself. 

Update :Just went over to Action's website and they already have a notice saying:

http://www.actionmining.com/page16.html

January 24, 2011

We’ve had a lot of calls and emails about the latest episode of Gold Rush Alaska where our Wave Table was depicted as not working. Many of the calls were from customers saying, “I can’t understand it, your table works great”; “they don’t know what they’re doing”; “what are they doing wrong?”

First, let’s clarify that Action Mining is in no way associated with the miners from Sandy Oregon except for coincidentally 1) being from the same town, and 2) being the supplier of the Wave Table. We did not know these men before they purchased the table from us and they asked for no help in setting it up. We did not know they were going to be doing a series for Discovery Channel until later. Mike happened to be up there at John Schnabel’s (he will have his table running next spring after he gets his magnetic separator in line and has offered to have them film at his place!) so the two of them went over to the Hoffman’s site. Mike adjusted the table, ran a sample that Dorsey had, and got a gold line. It was filmed and will hopefully be shown on the next episode. 

Okay, here’s our answers to what they did wrong.....

1. They destabilized the table by taking the slab out of the ground and loading it onto a floor jack. The table motion was being transferred to the ground instead of to the table top. Similar to the screen deck incident - not securing the screen down caused it to move. All the raising and lowering of the table was wrong. Once the material is screened properly, you find the correct height adjustment and leave it there. Dorsey almost had it running, and then it was sabotaged. 

2. No classification - large flakes should have never even been on the table (according to Dorsey’s blog www.goldminingrealityshow.com, it probably was not even on the table). They should have been screening. A ¼” rock will always weigh more than an 1/8” piece of gold. The sample taken showing gold at the bottom riffle of the table was because larger rocks pushed it there. The table wasn’t losing gold, it was pushed there.

3. The wave table does not make gold, it recovers gold. They’ve done no proper sampling (or assaying) or processing of material with known gold. It’s like Jack threw down his hat and decided to dig there. From the onset, their desperation (and script acting) caused mistake after mistake. No professional miner would work this way. There’s definitely gold on this property, but 30 buckets of cons and only 2½ oz of gold total! Wrong area to work......there was hardly enough gold to show up on the table.


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## qst42know

I agree had they been given the opportunity a factory rep should have been running the table for them, however this may have been a show producers decision to leave the cast in the dark to fend for themselves.


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## 61 silverman

Hi All, I just ran across this post and had to read and laugh... many times .... 1) Yes I live in Sandy.. same town as BOTH action Mining And the Hoffman's.. 2 ) no I don't know any of the "ACTORS ".. My I sure wish i would of heard about their excursion last year.. Before they got too deep with brain loss.. I do know some people that know some ( inside, the Mine and Set ) info.. like it cost each of the miners $30,000 as their investment in the mining opperation, as well as what Jack the old man put up in equipment and whatever.. and What T.V. show does not have some sort of DIRECTOR in-put... I know of none. I have not talked too anybody at Action about the show, One of Action Mining's Employee's worked with me for about a year building Bronze castings..He was working evenings for action and days at the foundry, That was before gold took off to it's current value. Action really got busy over the last few years..


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## AuMINIMayhem

Palladium.. GREAT POST! :mrgreen: 

I wondered what the ramifications for Action Mining would be. I agree that they should have had a rep up there, but from their blog it looks like they got right on the ball as soon as they discovered they were having problems (at which point, it sounds like they may not have known this was on tape yet, which means Action is a reputable company that would stand behind their product. 8) )
I sure hope, after reading that, Action gets some credit on the show for coming in and saving the day, so to speak.


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## rbramsey

I couldn't believe that they took so much heavy equipment. Look at how much fuel they are using. The small excavator is way to big for the size of screen. He is having to dribble a little material at a time. Right there is a lot of fuel wasted. A regular backhoe would have been a better choice, and using 1/4 of the fuel. The generator is another over kill. To top it all off they damaged 3 vehicles with the excavators. One guy is using the dump truck for hauling wood to the sawmill. 

I couldn't believe how people they had there eating and not contributing to the mining. The wives and children could at least be panning. Well, someone would have to teach the teacher on how to pan first. Well, someone would have to show them how to concentrate material before they start panning. Well .... 

I would gladly dredge there run off any day. I couldn't believe they let the concentrates run to the ground from the wave table without capturing and testing the material a second time to make sure the table got it all (or at least some).

I watch the show and laugh at them. My dad and I talked about going to Alaska for many years, but life keeps getting in the way. Watching that show sure makes me want to go.

The have to many chiefs and no indians.

Richard


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## Irons

AuMINIMayhem said:


> I was wondering when I'd see Irons post in here... :mrgreen: Good to see you, lad! How are ya?
> 
> Derek



Hi Derek,

How could I resist? :mrgreen: 

I'm doing fine. Are you ready for Summer yet? I am.


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## AuMINIMayhem

Irons said:


> AuMINIMayhem said:
> 
> 
> 
> I was wondering when I'd see Irons post in here... :mrgreen: Good to see you, lad! How are ya?
> 
> Derek
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Derek,
> 
> How could I resist? :mrgreen:
> 
> I'm doing fine. Are you ready for Summer yet? I am.
Click to expand...



Oh my god yes.. Winter's killing me...  I miss Florida.  

I'm waiting for the "big thaw" so I can take my future brother in law out panning. Got a nice little river up here, that I've had some success with and he's got a bit of the bug, wants me to take him out sometime. It'd be a good bonding thing for us, we don't have a helluva lot in common.


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## heartlander27

The major problem with this show is that it gives miners a bad name. America watches and says to themselves, 'are all miners this way'. Mining in the US is getting more and more restrictive. It only gives more power to the feds for more restrictions. These guys are a complete disgrace to mining. 

I guarantee that they lost more gold than they found during the cleanup. The wave table they used for the clean up is a proven machine and does a great job separating fine gold. The neighbor Jon Schnabel uses the the same wave table, works fine for him.

I


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## Palladium

Stay tuned the next episode comes on in a few minutes. :twisted:


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## 61 silverman

Hi all, I went and read Jimmy Dorsey's blog The link is a few post's above it gives a inside view of the show, Kinda made me think about my impression of Dorsey. It has me watching tho....


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## Palladium

Did anybody else see James the mechanic guy chopping firewood last night. If I remember correct he said he broke his neck and back and said he could not function without Morphine. I've chopped my share of firewood and know the stress an ax swing causes. This guy was bringing that ax overhead with a perfect arch and a powerful down swing. Morphine or not, Hummmm.......


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## rbramsey

Palladium said:


> Did anybody else see James the mechanic guy chopping firewood last night. If I remember correct he said he broke his neck and back and said he could not function without Morphine. I've chopped my share of firewood and know the stress an ax swing causes. This guy was bringing that ax overhead with a perfect arch and a powerful down swing. Morphine or not, Hummmm.......



I caught that, but let me tell you... I fractured 3 vertebrae 3 years ago, and I have constant pain. Granted not to the level he obviously has with him taking morphine daily. I have good days and bad days. Some of the bad days are brought about because of over doing it on the good days. With that said, I don't think I could chop wood like that on a good day. 

Another thing, He has been taking morphine for a long time not to be in lala land while on them. I don't trust my judgment when I am taking pain killers. My head is very cloudy. I only take them when I am at home, other times I just grit my teeth and cuss.

Richard


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## rbramsey

heartlander27 said:


> The major problem with this show is that it gives miners a bad name. America watches and says to themselves, 'are all miners this way'. Mining in the US is getting more and more restrictive. It only gives more power to the feds for more restrictions. These guys are a complete disgrace to mining.



They make us rednecks look more gooder... Seriously, you are very right. I work for a company that has some rock quarries. Some of the things that have to be done in the name of safety surprises me. I am not against working safe, but you can go to extremes. I have noticed that they have orange fencing up, Cyclone fencing around the trommel, everyone wearing hardhats (which they would be stupid not to seeing how many vehicles were hit with equipment).



heartlander27 said:


> I guarantee that they lost more gold than they found during the cleanup. The wave table they used for the clean up is a proven machine and does a great job separating fine gold. The neighbor Jon Schnabel uses the the same wave table, works fine for him.



I still can't believe they let their concentrates after panning one time and running through the wave table. I can't believe they weren't capturing run off from the different stages of the wash plant to see how much gold was leaving. It is no different mining for gold than it is for refining except the tools. Refining tests for left over values with stannous chloride and mining tests with a gold pan.

Richard


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## blueduck

The one great thing to come out of the show is that many people that had no previous interest in gold mining have shown interest which is good for my prospecting supply business..... and other folks too.

I read on the GPAA forum that action was up at the neighboring claim helping with a table when it was brought to their attention that one of Actions wave tables was on the site so the rep went over and demonstrated FOR AN HOUR ON CAMERA how to use the table and set it up properly..... what happened on camera later was all scripted and was in fact horrible, but that is what the environmentalist crowd wants to see. 

Early on i hoped that the show would not make miners be seen in a bad light, now with as many people from around the world watching as there is for the keystone cop like comedy that happens, i can understand why the few that have expressed interest in learning properly the methods of gold mining are asking questions of folks they know who mine as a hobby or small scale even.

it is entertainment, not "edu-tainment" as long as a person sees it that way and understand real miners are not like that or at least not for long, we will continue to watch programing like this exist.... not much different than Axe men or deadliest catch or heli-loggers or alaska flight..... and Alaska seems to be a big deal right now, still a frontier of sorts, though they have as many problems with idiots or maybe more cause of the remoteness of it.

William
Idaho
www.diggitprospecting.com


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## AuMINIMayhem

My most intriguing moment so far?..

An episode or two ago, they all had to sit down while the old man went in and weighed out what they had collected that day to see if they could afford to keep the families on site. During this, the one wife (who got sent home, btw) says (and I loosely quote) *"I just don't understand why the Good Lord would lead us all the way up here to this gold and then keep it out of our reach"* (well, something to that effect, anyways)..

Now, I'm not a religious guy at all, BUT.. I do understand the principles behind some of the major religions, especially the Christian faith and if she's basing their experience on some form of Christian faith that "the Lord brought us here".. then perhaps it was to teach a lesson about greed?.. Orrrr... perhaps she ought to question _who_ actually brought them there and dangled the fruit of "riches beyond your wildest dreams" in front of them... :twisted: 
*
I'm just sayin'... not tryin' to stir up a religious debate or anything, it's merely an observation I made watching the show that made me go "ummm... really?.." * :roll:


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## Ocean

I saw a post in a MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) forum I am a member of that said they went back to their "investors", one of whom is a former Olympian wrestler and famous fighter, and asked for more $.

Someone wondered if they told their investors about the $ they would be making off of the TV show....


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## Barren Realms 007

Ocean said:


> I saw a post in a MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) forum I am a member of that said they went back to their "investors", one of whom is a former Olympian wrestler and famous fighter, and asked for more $.
> 
> Someone wondered if they told their investors about the $ they would be making off of the TV show....



If I were thier investor and had been watching the show I would 1st laugh at them for making fools of themselves and then ask them when they plan on returning the investment I have made in thier venture.


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## Ocean

Barren Realms 007 said:


> Ocean said:
> 
> 
> 
> I saw a post in a MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) forum I am a member of that said they went back to their "investors", one of whom is a former Olympian wrestler and famous fighter, and asked for more $.
> 
> Someone wondered if they told their investors about the $ they would be making off of the TV show....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If I were thier investor and had been watching the show I would 1st laugh at them for making fools of themselves and then ask them when they plan on returning the investment I have made in thier venture.
Click to expand...


Same here, but we need to keep in mind that there is a time lag between when it is filmed and when it is aired.


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## Barren Realms 007

There might be a time lag but when they go ask the investor for more capitol and he asks how much gold they have recovered and they tell him 2 oz he is going to be a little hot for the amount of time they have been working.


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## eeTHr

I read somewhere that, although the old man and his son put up larger amounts, each participant had to pay 30K to get in on it.

So, I would presume that Dorsey would still get his share of the profits, if there had been any, even though they sent him home. It's as though he knew there wouldn't be any profits anyway, so there's no loss by leaving.

And what a great way to provide a "cliff-hanger," than for them to have a terrible first season, then finally get it all straightened out, and be all ready to really get some major gold---_next_ season!

It's got all the earmarks of a planned failure, with high hopes for redemption _next year!_ And other suspenses: Will Dorsey come back? Will the families return with them? Will they treat each other better once they start succeeding? Will all be forgiven? Will next year have a happy ending? (_Everyone_ wants a happy ending, even if they have to wait for it.)

With them all acting so unbelievably stupid, things couldn't possibly get any worse. So they could only get smarter---_next year!_

And then there's the possibility of Dorsey's own show: Picked-on kid gets revenge. Who wouldn't want to see _that?_

Next thing you know, they'll be handing out roses for those who did a good job that week!

:lol: 

Just some thoughts that crossed my mind...


----------



## Barren Realms 007

You learn by your mistakes. So in the off season they should be doing a lot more research into what they need to do to succeed. They can take all those bucket's of material they have home along with thier table and maybe learn how to get it to work correctly. And ponder the modifications they need to make thier other equipment to work properly.


----------



## darshevo

I agree with BR whole heartedly. At the very least they should be racking up buckets of cons to bring back to Sandy with them to spend the winter working with. There are so many ways to process them that they could have had the wives and kids working on while they were doing whatever it is they've spent all these months doing (spiral wheel, getting shaker table set right, miller table, etc) 

I think that they are finding a lot more than what is being shown. Much like eeTHr said: Would make for a great end of season cliffhanger if they JUST get it it figured out about the time the cold sets in. (even though they in reality had banked more than enough to keep things floating in the mean time) \

If I was in Todd's shoes I would have Joe or his grandson over there all the time as a consultant with a small percentage set aside for their help (I'd even happily take it out of my own share just to get things moving correctly) 

Too many missteps as far as I am concerned to be 'reality' in any form, but I hate to admit I am hooked 

-Lance


----------



## goldenchild

I still say its all scripted. I bet they know exactly what they are doing. The dramatic stuff happens on camera and the real work happens when filming has stopped. I bet they are recovering as much as one could possibly hope for and making decent coin.


----------



## rbramsey

goldenchild said:


> I still say its all scripted. I bet they know exactly what they are doing. The dramatic stuff happens on camera and the real work happens when filming has stopped. I bet they are recovering as much as one could possibly hope for and making decent coin.



They went through a pretty good amount of money for the "set" then. Remember last weeks episode they showed us they didn't have any riffles in the first sluice box ( I can't get over the nugget box), or near enough riffles in the second or third box. Also, they were not washing the rocks that were on the grizzly. Right there almost half of the gold was put right back on the ground. They maybe able to script some of the drama, but I wouldn't go as far as them scripting the recovery.

I don't think you could script a group that foolish, and have it come out that good.

Richard


----------



## Palladium

No guts----No glory. :twisted:


----------



## copperkid_18

I liked the part tonight where he said was gonna stand by the fire to cool off :lol:


----------



## bobinpasask

I agree with Jimmie P's quote about the 3 Stooges.

These guys are the biggest bunch of bumbling idiots since Wil-e Coyote and the Road Runner !


----------



## goldenchild

bobinpasask said:


> I agree with Jimmie P's quote about the 3 Stooges.
> 
> These guys are the biggest bunch of bumbling idiots since Wil-e Coyote and the Road Runner !



Wile E. Cyote is a super genius. He just has super bad luck. Or is it the road runner has super good luck?


----------



## Palladium

:!: Beep Beep :!:


----------



## Barren Realms 007

Palladium said:


> :!: Beep Beep :!:



ACME calling... :shock:


----------



## Palladium

Barren Realms 007 said:


> Palladium said:
> 
> 
> 
> :!: Beep Beep :!:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ACME calling... :shock:
Click to expand...


Brad Meltzer's Decoded :arrow: 

ACME= 

Action
Mining
Equipment

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:


----------



## Barren Realms 007

Palladium said:


> Barren Realms 007 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Palladium said:
> 
> 
> 
> :!: Beep Beep :!:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ACME calling... :shock:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Brad Meltzer's Decoded :arrow:
> 
> ACME=
> 
> Action
> Mining
> Equipment
> 
> :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Click to expand...


ROFL..

Next thing the cayote is going to order is a wave table... :twisted:


----------



## eeTHr

Best line from last night's show---

"I don't care if it will double out production speed; we don't have time for it."

---The Mechanic.

:roll:



The show seems to be a mixture of "Deadliest Catch," "The Real Housewives," and "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" but with men looking for gold.


----------



## darshevo

eeTHr said:


> Best line from last night's show---
> 
> "I don't care if it will double out production speed; we don't have time for it."
> 
> ---The Mechanic.
> 
> :roll:
> 
> 
> 
> The show seems to be a mixture of "Deadliest Catch," "The Real Housewives," and "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" but with men looking for gold.




Ya, I got a kick out of that too. Never mind the fact the old timer has them moving twice as much material, never mind the fact the old timer has them actually finding color. God forbid you have to shut down for a couple hours and shore up the system so it can handle a heavier load. Oh ya, and lets not forget the loader driver not taking care of business in the first place and letting the rocks build up on the chute in the first place. 

I also get a kick out of how they go on and on about how they need to keep that machinery running yet they seem to all need to take a break or lunch at the same time. Seems like they could be rotating around a little bit more to keep the material moving. 

-Lance


----------



## Palladium

:shock: :shock: :shock:


----------



## Barren Realms 007

It's all a complete joke. 

Anyone that has run heavey equipment will laugh thier butt off at these guy's. I could get more done with one backhoe than what these guys are getting done with 2 trackhoe's and a loader, and they have a dump truck just setting there not doing a thing. And the table that broke, no wonder with just a 2x4 holding it up. But good for them they beefed it up with a lag bolt. ROFLMAO....... :lol: . 

I'm still laughing about the price they paid for the expanded metal to fix the chute, the guy that sold them that stuff saw them coming. 

This show should be the opener for world's funniest video's. I would be really embarresed if this were me on cable TV.

These guy's have recovered exactly the amount they should be getting. And the guy across the stream has a front row seat to all of the entertainment.

This is better than laughing at my spelling. :mrgreen:


----------



## eeTHr

darshevo said:


> I also get a kick out of how they go on and on about how they need to keep that machinery running yet they seem to all need to take a break or lunch at the same time. Seems like they could be rotating around a little bit more to keep the material moving.



Yup. And when there were just two guys working, and they looked around and said, "Where is the rest of the crew?"

They were probably in the clubhouse, arguing over camera time!

:idea: 



(So why am I still going to watch next week! ARRRRRRRRRRG!) :lol:


----------



## blueduck

people are gonna watch cause it still holds a mystique of sorts, it was good to see that the GPAA place an add during the program, with emphasis on the "mining claims guide" but that aught to help get people focused in the right direction anyway.

What i liked to see last night was that after 4 days of running with dakota fred onboard, they had run more material than in the previous 3 months.... though he called them miners, and i suppose in the loosest sense of the term they are, I aint sure they are anything but actors posing as wannabe miners.... still i hope that they continue in the next mining season some way shape or form and find that yellow metal they seek. I also hope they take the winter to actually do some research and bring real equipment on their next venture that is intended to process gold like they are finding and not lose so much to the qwrong type of equipment.

They are missing a whole lot of smaller gold, and need to have a reverse helix, and a centrifuge on site like the fellas at Oro Industries build. they would catcha whole lot more and not have need of those various sluice boxes that are inefficient the way they built them.... my experience with them now shows me that the reverse helix is the thing for tiny particles in volume.

William
North Central Idaho


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

I'm so glad I started this thread! LOL! :mrgreen: 

As far as the "mechanic" goes... well, that's what they get for letting a morphine addict (regardless of whether he has legitimate injuries or not) basically run the show... I've had morphine before after surgery (I have a pacer, had it since I was 14) and I can say with a fair amount of confidence that, judgment in general, not exactly 100%... just sayin' :twisted:


----------



## blueduck

the only thing i think i left out was that the Discovery channel could not have hand picked a better bunch of childish like folks to role play in this series!

The one thing that most people missed about Dorsey was when he went out on the fishing boat and helped pull in fish, they handed him $600.00 in "day wages" and said he was welcome back on their boat anytime, meaning he was probably a pretty decent worker and could get along taking orders form the captain and other crew..... 

I know many people who have little or no experience with mining, but could get along on a crew working towards a common goal of recovery of the yellow metal..... without all the drama, though when you get so many people together "compost happens" but the fellas i am talking about would all be able to run machines and keep them running, and most of them would have studied as much as possible on the types of recovery available and what works best for the possible size gold they would encounter. Big nuggets are great but they are also rare, that fine flour gold is what puts the dollars in the bank at the end of the day.... fine gold cant lay down with high volumes of water pushing larger rocks that will dislodge the gold from the riffles.... their classification is all wrong for what they are trying to recover i believe.

William
North Central Idaho


----------



## eeTHr

AuMINIMayhem---

Yeah, I was wondering about the mechanic riding the opiate train, myself. Remember when he "had the flu" for two or three days? Right around the time he ran out of morphine? Sounds like cold turkey, to me. I don't mean to jump to conclusions, but, like you, just sayin'. And wonderin'. Then, on the last show, he's sounding like he has cotton up his nose when he talks? Swollen nasal membranes? Hmmmmmm. Maybe he got so down, he needed a pick-me-up? Just sayin' again! But if there are enough dots, they start connecting themselves!

Also, he's the one stupid enough to push the land owner's consultant, who was there to help them out with his experience.
:?: :?: :?: 

He acts like he's on the seesaw---up, down, up, down, up, down,...Grrrrrrrrrrrrr..._Boom!_


----------



## Palladium

I can tell you from first hand experience that the demeanor and attitude he is expressing is from the morphine. I took it for almost a year during my cancer treatments. His mood swings are about like what I experienced. It makes you mean and short fused sometimes. For me it was not when I quit that I experienced this, but during the time I was taking it. I hate morphine !!!! I've never been one to put chemicals into my body, even so called prescribed medications.


----------



## eeTHr

Palladium---

What's worse is that some people don't realize that it's affecting them like that. They think they are perfectly normal, and that it's the _other_ people who are messed up! That _always_ leads to more problems.

Glad you made it through the ordeal, by the way.


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

what's even scarier and no-one's mentioned yet is, during the episode that Dorsey left, when he came back to get his stuff, the mechanic was walking around with a freakin' MACHINE GUN! :shock: Seriously?.. like, nobody else in camp thought perhaps that was a little bit overkill?.. not only are these guys fools, but it appears they are of the dangerous sub-species of fools..

again.. *just sayin' * :lol: :lol: :lol: 

(that's for you eeTHr :mrgreen: )


----------



## Barren Realms 007

AuMINIMayhem said:


> what's even scarier and no-one's mentioned yet is, during the episode that Dorsey left, when he came back to get his stuff, the mechanic was walking around with a freakin' MACHINE GUN! :shock: Seriously?.. like, nobody else in camp thought perhaps that was a little bit overkill?.. not only are these guys fools, but it appears they are of the dangerous sub-species of fools..
> 
> again.. *just sayin' * :lol: :lol: :lol:
> 
> (that's for you eeTHr :mrgreen: )



Did anyone catch the quote about the 120-140 guns thay bought with them?


----------



## blueduck

the firearm that the mechanic had was a semi-auto short barrel rifle, not a machinegun, those of us who are firearm possessors have enough trouble with the "anti-" crowd as it is!!!!! ;-Þ

And it is Alaska, where most of the of folks i know who go out in the bush carry a firearm of some type, though not as many as these fellas say they brought with them...... though i doubt there is much problem with bear around their camp other than some looking for a show, when those kids were shown leaving food out i would wager that was scripted too, and the producer was not aware of the ramifications that could have had luring a bear into camp like that.... "city folks", present company excepted, are sometimes a little "greener" greenhorns than they want to admit, cause _"one time at bandcamp...."_!!!

I was given morphine one time while back in highshcool for a knee injury i sustained in a footbal game, the doc said i needed it, and it was HORRIBLE, cant imagine being addicted to the stuff, nor having to use it for cancer treatment.... but i fully understand why some folks do..... and when they beat the cancer, it may have been that which made the difference!

Shoot if the river wasnt up 3 feet like it is today i would be out in a pretty decent pay streak i found that was still knee deep under water..... yeah its cold, but that is what winter is, so i can type online while i am inside.

William
north Central Idaho


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

blueduck..

I know.. LOL! I was saying "machine gun" sort of tongue-in-cheek.. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not part of the "anti-" movement. 8) 

The point was he was walking around carrying that gun (according to the way the show was edited) while they were waiting for Dorsey to come back to camp to get his stuff. If that's truly how it went down, then it's pretty scary to have a hot-headed morphine addict walking around camp with a gun of any sorts waiting for trouble...

yep... you guessed it... jussssst sayin'! :lol:


----------



## wrecker45

why would they have someone that needs to take morphine for pain. working there in the first place.


----------



## Barren Realms 007

wrecker45 said:


> why would they have someone that needs to take morphine for pain. working there in the first place.



Because they make us southern boy's look smart. :mrgreen:


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

Barren Realms 007 said:


> Because they make us southern boy's look smart. :mrgreen:




:lol: 

(I'm southern-born and bred, myself...)


----------



## joem

ok I have to say, morphine does not always make you into a brick brained non sensible person. My wife has been on it for years now to control her pain and helps to keep the pain from stopping her from living a daily normal life. I have yet to see the show (probably catch it in re-runs so I can start at the beginning) but from these posts I'm sure the guy was like this before morphne.


----------



## Barren Realms 007

joem said:


> ok I have to say, morphine does not always make you into a brick brained non sensible person. My wife has been on it for years now to control her pain and helps to keep the pain from stopping her from living a daily normal life. I have yet to see the show (probably catch it in re-runs so I can start at the beginning) but from these posts I'm sure the guy was like this before morphne.



Not too sure of that. I have a friend that was down cleaning up after Katrina and he was on morphine. He was not able to get his shipment in for a couple of days after he ran out. He said it was one of the worst experiences he has one thru. He said he tore the hotel room apart that he was in waiting for his medicine to arrive. So 6 of one half a dozen of another. 8)


----------



## markmopar

I know the link was posted earlier but it was kinda deep inside a long post.
Here's Jimmy Dorsey's blog about the show:

http://www.goldminingrealityshow.com/

Lots of spoilers there-like the fact that they only got about 20k worth of gold for the season.
It also looks like they will NOT be back at Porcupine Creek next season as no permits have been applied for. Too bad for them as they were just starting to get an idea of how to get their stuff almost together.


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

markmopar said:


> It also looks like they will NOT be back at Porcupine Creek next season as no permits have been applied for. Too bad for them as they were just starting to get an idea of how to get their stuff almost together.




Alright boys... who wants to be the first one to say "let's do this!" ?  :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :mrgreen:


----------



## philddreamer

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


----------



## Palladium

AuMINIMayhem said:


> markmopar said:
> 
> 
> 
> It also looks like they will NOT be back at Porcupine Creek next season as no permits have been applied for. Too bad for them as they were just starting to get an idea of how to get their stuff almost together.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Alright boys... who wants to be the first one to say "let's do this!" ?  :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :mrgreen:
Click to expand...


No guts, No glory !!! :twisted:


----------



## eeTHr

markmopar said:


> It also looks like they will NOT be back at Porcupine Creek next season as no permits have been applied for.



I've heard rumors both ways.

They did show some scenes at the end of the show, that _appeared_ to be previews of next season. One of the things they showed, that I don't think was in this seasons show, was a nugget, about 3/4" in diameter.

If they really _do_ have that hole all ready to bring up the "good stuff," and if core samples show that it's actually _down there,_ then they have set _somebody_ up for some nice, easy pickin's! Really saved them a lot of money!

I wonder if the land owner will grab it instead? I think they should have bought an option for the second season, since they supposedly knew what all was down there, to begin with.

As the show ended, I was thinking: If they had just not fooled around for the first three weeks, they could be rolling in gold. Dang! :roll:


----------



## markmopar

eeTHr said:


> As the show ended, I was thinking: If they had just not fooled around for the first three weeks, they could be rolling in gold. Dang! :roll:



I've been saying the exact same thing for weeks!


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

crap.. I missed the last episode. :evil: 

I'm sure the "missus" is thrilled though. Now she can watch "say yes to the dress" with out me going "hey, my show's back on.." and then spending the next ten minutes being the worst arm-chair quarterback ever.. :lol: :lol:


----------



## rasanders22

Something Ive learned from this show

If I am going to spend my life savings tryign to set up something Ive never done before, mabye, just mabye, I should hire someone to do some consulting. Mabye someone that has actually worked in gold minning for most of their life. I will deffinatly not wait until the last minute to bring them in.


----------



## glorycloud

We laugh at them yet day after day, week after week, month after month we watch the same thing appear here live on the forum - people who buy gold scrap, don't know what they're doing, mix a bunch of chemicals together making a noxious cocktail and are flabberghasted that the gold they saw on the scrap didn't magically jump out of the solution and into their pockets. :shock: 

Blessings to all you patient heroes and heroines who make best efforts
to lead, help, cajole and indeed crack us across the knuckles when we
deserve it as well! Thanks for ALL your patience and concern!!! 8)


----------



## Lou

glorycloud said:


> We laugh at them yet day after day, week after week, month after month we watch the same thing appear here live on the forum - people who buy gold scrap, don't know what they're doing, mix a bunch of chemicals together making a noxious cocktail and are flabberghasted that the gold they saw on the scrap didn't magically jump out of the solution and into their pockets. :shock:
> 
> Blessings to all you patient heroes and heroines who make best efforts
> to lead, help, cajole and indeed crack us across the knuckles when we
> deserve it as well! Thanks for ALL your patience and concern!!! 8)




Everyone starts from the beginning.

I'm glad at least [some] people appreciate it.


----------



## AuMINIMayhem

Lou said:


> glorycloud said:
> 
> 
> 
> We laugh at them yet day after day, week after week, month after month we watch the same thing appear here live on the forum - people who buy gold scrap, don't know what they're doing, mix a bunch of chemicals together making a noxious cocktail and are flabberghasted that the gold they saw on the scrap didn't magically jump out of the solution and into their pockets. :shock:
> 
> Blessings to all you patient heroes and heroines who make best efforts
> to lead, help, cajole and indeed crack us across the knuckles when we
> deserve it as well! Thanks for ALL your patience and concern!!! 8)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Everyone starts from the beginning.
> 
> I'm glad at least [some] people appreciate it.
Click to expand...



Amen, brother! :mrgreen:


----------



## eeTHr

glorycloud said:


> ...mix a bunch of chemicals together making a noxious cocktail and are flabberghasted that the gold they saw on the scrap didn't magically jump out of the solution and into their pockets.



If anyone ever compiles a list of best quotes from the forum, I gotta vote for this one!


And if someone makes a beginners "reality" page, this should be near the top!


:lol: :lol: :lol:


----------



## 61 silverman

New season about to start for the miners of Gold Rush Alaska.. 
The word directly from the crew is The Yukon is where they are heading.. 
Today in Sandy Oregon, There was a meet and greet with the cast of the show.. Yes; I had to get a photo of the group signed by the 5 that were there.. I talked too Jack the most, Asked if he needed anybody too refine there gold for them..This year they will, (I am sure) get many times more gold than last seasons, learning experience. Bedrock, is for the serious mining where the pay-off is at.. last season they dug too a depth of 75 feet without hitting the bottom, but got into much better material.. This year the bedrock is known too be only 20 feet down consistantly.. Their claim may produce more in one day of full opperation than all season last. That is the speculation, I heard..

Jack pulled out a vial full of some of the gold they had recovered in porcupine. I guessed by its appearance, too be 85%- Jack replied with 87%.. this was all barely picker size. make good pan color though.
All in all, it was rather fun talking with the guy's from the show..

Mark


----------



## philddreamer

Derek wrote:
"Alright boys... who wants to be the first one to say "let's do this!" ?"

I just bought this on e-bay!!!

OK, so... when do we leave for Porcupine? :mrgreen: 

Phil


----------



## Barren Realms 007

philddreamer said:


> Derek wrote:
> "Alright boys... who wants to be the first one to say "let's do this!" ?"
> 
> I just bought this on e-bay!!!
> 
> OK, so... when do we leave for Porcupine? :mrgreen:
> 
> Phil



ROFLMAO

I think you are going to need a longer hose. 8)


----------



## Palladium

|^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^} | l ,\
|♥♥♥♥PLEASE HUG YOUR CAT♥♥♥♥♥♥....| ||”"”\..,__..
|……_______=====_| l________________l _||__|…, ] | |
“(@)’(@)”""""""*l'(@)l'"""(@)"​(@)""""""""""(@)'(@)""""'(@)

MEOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## macfixer01

With the bunch of weird personalities they had and the way the property owner ended up screwing over them, I half-way expected the season finale to end in either a mass murder or a mass suicide?


----------



## Palladium

Woooo Hoooooo...

The new season starts Oct. 28th.


----------



## eeTHr

And they got a new place. Maybe there's some gold in it this time?

I felt sorry for them last time, so I hope there is.

But then what kind of trouble will they get into to keep it "interesting"? Maybe they'll hit the oil pipeline!


----------



## butcher

Maybe they learned something. like do not count chickens untill hatched, and don't spend all your money building chicken coops before you get chickens.


----------



## Geo

eeTHr said:


> And they got a new place. Maybe there's some gold in it this time?



i think there was gold at the last place they were at,they just didnt know how to get out and keep it. i got so mad watching that show,i kept screaming at the tv my wife thought i lost my mind. :lol:


----------



## eeTHr

Geo---

Yeah, I know what you mean. For me, the worst part was when the young guy was trying to fine tune the final separation table, and following the directions, even. Then the old man came in and said that it was his project, and he didn't care about the instructions, he was going to do it his way, and messed it all up. I couldn't believe it.

But who knows how much of it was real, and how much was scripted, you know?

But I'll watch it again this season. It's still interesting seeing all the equipment and stuff.


----------



## Anonymous

eeTHr said:


> But I'll watch it again this season. It's still interesting seeing all the equipment and stuff.


I agree.I like watching them retro equipment,to make it do what they want.


eeTHr said:


> For me, the worst part was when the young guy was trying to fine tune the final separation table,


I agree with this also.Like when they panned just plain dirt right off of the ground and got a couple of pickers........why didn't they just concentrate on panning the material they were walking on?They would have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars,and may have recovered many pounds before the end of the season.After all there were a lot of them there,and they ran that one pan in about a minute.


----------



## INDY864

I watched all last year's episodes. All they had to do was join a GPAA chapter and learn something! They could have gone to Nome to the GPAA camp for a week and learned alot! I learned more in 2 outings than I did in ten years on my own! Been a GPAA member for 3 years now. Fabulous organization!
INDY


----------



## Geo

i met Tom on an outing to Georgia one time.his dad knew more about mining and panning than anyone as far as people could tell, they called him Buzzard or something like that. I've been in the GPAA and the LDMA for almost six years now but haven't been to a gathering in two years. at one time Toms dad and my dad tried to trace our genealogy back as far as they could go because our last names are so similar. they are pronounced the same with one letter difference, but they couldn't find a common ancestor.i learned to pan from Tom and i believe im quite good at it. 8) he had a brother that i never met that ran the outings with him but he never seemed to be where i was at the same time.ive been to many of the GPAA digs in the lower 48 but ive never been to Alaska and ive always want to go.cripple creek mining camp was my dream and maybe someday before i die ill get to go up there and do some panning.


----------



## Smack

I'm with ya Geo, they were pissing me off as well, not much common sense used. Now someone else is working the site? I would have filled the hole in on the old backstaber. lol Never did hear what they got out of all the buckets of black sands. Or if there was any jail time for assult on ole red.

Oh, are you talking about Perry?


----------



## Geo

yea. i believe that's his name. never met the guy but his brother is a hoot.met him and his wife at Loud mine in dahlonega Georgia a few years ago and then we met up at a claim site in northern Nevada about a year later and did some nugget shooting.i made it out to California with my dad two years ago before he got bad sick to an outing of the LDMA and met a bunch of nice people out there. there are people that still work claims there for a yearly job,that's all they do is stay on the river and pan or sluice.sounds like the good life to me. :lol:


----------



## INDY864

Geo said:


> yea. i believe that's his name. never met the guy but his brother is a hoot.met him and his wife at Loud mine in dahlonega Georgia a few years ago and then we met up at a claim site in northern Nevada about a year later and did some nugget shooting.i made it out to California with my dad two years ago before he got bad sick to an outing of the LDMA and met a bunch of nice people out there. there are people that still work claims there for a yearly job,that's all they do is stay on the river and pan or sluice.sounds like the good life to me. :lol:


Call me GEO. My wife is resigned to my going. We'll plan a trip. The best dig my chapter did was a now sold gold mine on US221 5 MILES SOUTH OF i-40 IN NC. We paid for the trip each time we went. There are three mines just south, but they are mined out. We rented 3 high bankers and bought 4 scoops about a ton each. Pretty much a 5 ibupropen day. A contractor from Charlotte bought the place for him and his employees. O well.
INDY


----------



## Geo

ive done some panning and prospecting in N.C. but didnt stay long. my dad wanted to try the placer deposits in Ohio. i dont get out much anymore,damn COPD.i feel like im tied to these machines sometimes.


----------



## INDY864

Geo said:


> ive done some panning and prospecting in N.C. but didnt stay long. my dad wanted to try the placer deposits in Ohio. i dont get out much anymore,damn COPD.i feel like im tied to these machines sometimes.



Heard you loud n clear. Sorry man.
Indy


----------



## eeTHr

The pre-season Special show.

So they returned to their Porcupine Hill digs, and got there a week earlier than last year, to boot. They get everything up and running, and the gold output is even richer than their last cleanout of the previous year. Everyone is ecstatic!

Then in drives Dakota Fred, and informs them that he has bought the claim, and because they missed a payment to the claim owner, their lease has been cancled. And Fred is going to mine the gold this year. And he kicks them out. Don't that squeeze your nuggets?

So now the series will begin with them at a new claim in the Klondike. It's totally virgin land, never been worked at all. And they sold all of their equipment to Fred for $80,000.00, except for the biggest digger.

It would look like last season all over again, except they don't even have the unfinished homemade equipment. But they do have the experience they gained last year. And it appears that they have learned a lesson about infighting, because they seem to me much more organized now, and getting along with each other---so far.

They are not very happy with Fred, though....


----------



## macfixer01

eeTHr said:


> The pre-season Special show.
> 
> So they returned to their Porcupine Hill digs, and got there a week earlier than last year, to boot. They get everything up and running, and the gold output is even richer than their last cleanout of the previous year. Everyone is ecstatic!
> 
> Then in drives Dakota Fred, and informs them that he has bought the claim, and because they missed a payment to the claim owner, their lease has been cancled. And Fred is going to mine the gold this year. And he kicks them out. Don't that squeeze your nuggets?
> 
> So now the series will begin with them at a new claim in the Klondike. It's totally virgin land, never been worked at all. And they sold all of their equipment to Fred for $80,000.00, except for the biggest digger.
> 
> It would look like last season all over again, except they don't even have the unfinished homemade equipment. But they do have the experience they gained last year. And it appears that they have learned a lesson about infighting, because they seem to me much more organized now, and getting along with each other---so far.
> 
> They are not very happy with Fred, though....




Well they basically let that tidbit out at the end of the last show of the first season about that ass-hat Dakota Fred deciding to work the claim himself the next summer. I'm pretty sure they already knew about that, although I suppose the second season could have already been in the can before the first was shown on tv for all we know? Now is this a Second new Klondike claim? On the show I caught in the middle a couple nights ago they were still getting ready to leave for Alaska and were somehow planning on working Porcupine and a Klondike claim too. Then they found out they had no water license so wouldn't be able to work at the Klondike claim after all and had to all head to Porcupine instead. I guess I'm confused?


----------



## eeTHr

macfixer---

I was confused, too. They did say last year, in the Internet, that they were going to a new claim in the Klondike. So I thought it would start off there this year.

Then after the show was over, I checked their Website for what they called "The After Show," where they all sit around and discuss what happened---including Fred, according to the promo for it on TV at the end of the show. I couldn't find the After Show on their site, but I did find out that Friday's show was not part of the regular new season, but a Special, to explain what happened about Fred, and so forth.

They also changed the name from Gold Rush Alaska to just Gold Rush. So maybe it will go on forever, like Ice Road Truckers did with Most Dangerous Roads. Or at least give them that option.

So anyway, the next show will be the official start of this new season.

Maybe the After Show will be up on their site by now. (?)


----------



## eeTHr

I just realized that I hadn't answered your question about the first Klondike claim, and the water license.

As they were leaving Porcupine Hill, they phoned some of their contacts they had from looking for the first Klondike claim, and got things lined up for another one, then drove up and checked it out and decided on it. So this one is not the original one, just in the same area.


----------



## eeTHr

I just checked the Gold Rush Website, and the "After Show" is on there now, here is a link---

Gold Rush After Show

The home page, with the Off Season videos, is here---

Gold Rush


----------



## macfixer01

So according to the video clips of the next show they're going to have the Klondike site drill sampled now to make sure there is really gold there. This after wasting around $5000 in time and fuel clearing the easier to work part of the land they thought and hoped was virgin. They discovered afterward it actually had been dredged back in the 1950's which the land owner could have told them if they'd only asked. Wow that seems like such a no-brainer, but have to admit I never thought of drilling as a relatively quick sanity check. Nor did they until Todd talked to another miner in the area. Of course we can assume they must have gold at the site, or there wouldn't have been enough shows to make up a new season?

macfixer01


----------



## eeTHr

Yeah, I really thought the show would take a whole new turn for the better this year. But some of their decisions are worse than last year, so far.

The owner of their new site _*did*_ tell them where the gold was. It was supposed to be at the edge of the area where the dredge worked. He said that this place was too shallow for the dredge to go, so it was left untouched. I saw him walking them to it, and standing at the approximate spot where the untouched area ended. He was saying, "from over there, where the dredging stopped, to about here." I don't understand how they could get on the other side of the creek, with those instructions.

But being a TV show, they usually edit out stuff to make it "all mysterious." Maybe they really cleared the area across the creek, as a shortcut to their real site on the hill, but that would be too boring to use as footage (money) for the show, so they did some creative cutting and inserting.

Overall, it's been a bit a of a letdown so far this year. But I'll be watching anyway, because "it's got to get better." I guess that's all they are depending on for watchers, the rest of the season, right now.

:shock:


----------



## philddreamer

I've wachted some, just to see what the young lad will end up recovering after taking over his grandpa's works.


----------



## macfixer01

eeTHr said:


> Yeah, I really thought the show would take a whole new turn for the better this year. But some of their decisions are worse than last year, so far.
> 
> The owner of their new site _*did*_ tell them where the gold was. It was supposed to be at the edge of the area where the dredge worked. He said that this place was too shallow for the dredge to go, so it was left untouched. I saw him walking them to it, and standing at the approximate spot where the untouched area ended. He was saying, "from over there, where the dredging stopped, to about here." I don't understand how they could get on the other side of the creek, with those instructions.
> 
> But being a TV show, they usually edit out stuff to make it "all mysterious." Maybe they really cleared the area across the creek, as a shortcut to their real site on the hill, but that would be too boring to use as footage (money) for the show, so they did some creative cutting and inserting.
> 
> Overall, it's been a bit a of a letdown so far this year. But I'll be watching anyway, because "it's got to get better." I guess that's all they are depending on for watchers, the rest of the season, right now.
> 
> :shock:




I was doing something else while watching last week so didn't pay real close attention. I believe though that since they had so much trouble breaking through the permafrost and with the dozer slipping sideways due to the ice and slant of the land, that they moved to the more level and easier-to-work area. This seems to me like looking for the screw you dropped in room A in room B because the light is better there? Tthey talked themselves into thinking that the area had never been dredged due to the size of the trees that grew up in the time since dredging was finished in the late 50's. I missed Friday night's show this week so didn't get to see the drill tests. From one of the after show clips I saw online it sounds like the drilling turned up some gold but less than they had assumed was there?

macfixer01


----------



## Dr. Poe

I love the show. Yes, it's definitely a comedy of errors. The only thing that was done right was to film it all for Discovery channel. I have a DVR and I record their shows. I stopped the action at one point where Fred was bulldozing. Frame by frame until I saw to perfection a 100 oz gold crystal, a near perfect di-pyramid, cubic, gold yellow metallic of approximately three inches to a side base. No way was it just a yellow quartz rock. I know gold. Not just Fred either. When they were trying to rip up the permafrost, a smaller, maybe 40 oz nugget was spotted by me the same way. The one piece of equipment that all of them should of had was a metal detector. Both nuggets/crystals were re-buried under soil and rock instantly after the film recorded---3 frames later. You bet, this show is very entertaining. The chuckles just keep coming. Dr. Poe


----------



## 4metals

> . Both nuggets/crystals were re-buried under soil and rock instantly after the film recorded-



You'll start a gold rush revealing little observations lake that. :lol:


----------



## eeTHr

macfixer01 said:


> eeTHr said:
> 
> 
> 
> This seems to me like looking for the screw you dropped in room A in room B because the light is better there?
Click to expand...




Exactly! :mrgreen: 



The best lines from the last show: "Drill before you dig---always drill BEFORE you dig!" "Drill before we dig? Duh---Oh!---I get it! Drill BEFORE we dig! Woooooow!"


----------



## eeTHr

Oh noes!

The mechanic takes a two day vacation, and stops the whole mining operation! Huh?

Last season, some were speculating that he was an opiate addict. He had severe back pain.

But he was given free back surgery during the off season. The operation was a success. He was then told to take it easy for this season. So it doesn't sound like he would have needed to continue the opiates, except maybe after the work on the giant filter he made during the filming of tonight's show.

But one thing I learned from being around people on this type of drug is that they loose any semblance of a conscience. And that is how he acted on this show, concerning the arrival of his girl friend and their little vacation. When he came back, he had an attitude of, "Oh, it's nothing." Very, very strange! Of course there is no way to know for sure, but that has all the earmarks. Jeeze!

So far this season: No gold, no common sense ("We should drill FIRST?"), no rational response to the mechanic's totally weird behavior. And the preview of next week's show doesn't show any hope, either! OMG! Now I'll watch it just to see if they will still be as stupid as they always have been! What's wrong with me? :mrgreen:


----------



## macfixer01

eeTHr said:


> Oh noes!
> 
> The mechanic takes a two day vacation, and stops the whole mining operation! Huh?
> 
> Last season, some were speculating that he was an opiate addict. He had severe back pain.
> 
> But he was given free back surgery during the off season. The operation was a success. He was then told to take it easy for this season. So it doesn't sound like he would have needed to continue the opiates, except maybe after the work on the giant filter he made during the filming of tonight's show.
> 
> But one thing I learned from being around people on this type of drug is that they loose any semblance of a conscience. And that is how he acted on this show, concerning the arrival of his girl friend and their little vacation. When he came back, he had an attitude of, "Oh, it's nothing." Very, very strange! Of course there is no way to know for sure, but that has all the earmarks. Jeeze!
> 
> So far this season: No gold, no common sense ("We should drill FIRST?"), no rational response to the mechanic's totally weird behavior. And the preview of next week's show doesn't show any hope, either! OMG! Now I'll watch it just to see if they will still be as stupid as they always have been! What's wrong with me? :mrgreen:




Well as I'm sure many of us can attest, love can make us do some strange things without any pharmaceutical intervention. It's true taking off 2 days when they needed the filter so badly was a bad choice on his part. I'm assuming though he wouldn't have invited her up there at that particular time if any of them had the foresight to know they were going to need a water filter because the water was so muddy. That's another failure of the Hoffman team management really, for not having all their ducks in a row again when they had the down time to test that stuff while drilling. But it didn't really shut them down entirely since they were still able to dig paydirt and collect it close to the new shaker so they could run non-stop as soon as the water was there. I don't know why I watch either, but I guess it's to see how they're going to shoot themselves in the foot next? As I recall the preview showed one of the guys disgusted because "they're changing again"? It has me wondering what went wrong now, what they're changing, and how much further it will set them back?

macfixer01


----------



## qst42know

No drama, no show!

Anyone believe the errors are all just by chance?


----------



## eeTHr

qst42know said:


> No drama, no show!
> 
> Anyone believe the errors are all just by chance?





It's to the point where I don't believe much of anything about that show!

In the previews, they emphasize minor statements and comments made by the crew, to make them sound like they apply differently or are of much greater significance than they actually turn out to be.

They also seem to edit the footage, and place stuff out of sequence, to build a different story than is actually taking place. "Editing for Impact"? Well, they've got to make a buck, or else we wouldn't be able to see any of it at all.

It seems that everyone is watching to see if they will start getting a reasonable amount of gold coming out of their processing plant. Once that happens, will the suspense end, and the audience get smaller? I'm watching, half to see if they will soon be "saved," and half to see what the producers will come up with next in order to hold off the success until the final episode! Last season, the entire series was one big cliff-hanger!

But like someone said, the equipment is interesting.

Too bad Fred's house got munched.

And I hope the kid across the road makes a profit. His grandfather is a pretty cool old dude.


P.S. Fred seems to be screwing up just as much as he said the main characters were, but he is screwing up in a much more professional manner! :lol:


----------



## TXWolfie

I watch it when I need a good laugh. This show is a bunch of idiots looking for something right in front of them. They whine and cry about money when Discovery pays them per episode. The leader of the crew was an inventor and own a small airport and him and his dad mined a few times since he was 14. I think they should put together a show about gold refining, but then again it wouldn't be very interesting and funny as watching grass grow.


----------



## Dr. Poe

No one told them about the one foot per twelve rule. Couldn't these guys come up with a metal detector between them? 
Why were they sitting around (waiting on equipment) when even hand panning could have made them their expense money back to them. I don't like to go to harsh places to get gold. I find it too easily in the comfort zones.
My biggest problem is that I've found it mostly on private property where the owners have only let me keep the first day's find.
They almost always have a greenhorn relative that wants in and me out. Dr. Poe :shock:


----------



## racer117

I sit through this show every week,I am not sure why.There is way to much drama for my liking.The kid on the show has a good future in front of him though.He is a hard worker,and he respects his grandfather,something you dont see much anymore.Too many of these shows are about the drama,and not getting the money part.I also watch Storage Wars.I would not watch it if Barry Weiss ever left the show.


----------



## philddreamer

YUUUUUP! :mrgreen: 

Sorry I just had to do that. :lol: 

Phil


----------



## rasanders22

eeTHr said:


> Oh noes!
> 
> The mechanic takes a two day vacation, and stops the whole mining operation! Huh?
> 
> Last season, some were speculating that he was an opiate addict. He had severe back pain.
> 
> But he was given free back surgery during the off season. The operation was a success. He was then told to take it easy for this season. So it doesn't sound like he would have needed to continue the opiates, except maybe after the work on the giant filter he made during the filming of tonight's show.
> 
> But one thing I learned from being around people on this type of drug is that they loose any semblance of a conscience. And that is how he acted on this show, concerning the arrival of his girl friend and their little vacation. When he came back, he had an attitude of, "Oh, it's nothing." Very, very strange! Of course there is no way to know for sure, but that has all the earmarks. Jeeze!
> 
> So far this season: No gold, no common sense ("We should drill FIRST?"), no rational response to the mechanic's totally weird behavior. And the preview of next week's show doesn't show any hope, either! OMG! Now I'll watch it just to see if they will still be as stupid as they always have been! What's wrong with me? :mrgreen:




I think his change in behavior might have been due to spending some alone time with his woman. That always cheers me up.


----------



## rasanders22

eeTHr said:


> qst42know said:
> 
> 
> 
> No drama, no show!
> 
> Anyone believe the errors are all just by chance?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's to the point where I don't believe much of anything about that show!
> 
> In the previews, they emphasize minor statements and comments made by the crew, to make them sound like they apply differently or are of much greater significance than they actually turn out to be.
> 
> They also seem to edit the footage, and place stuff out of sequence, to build a different story than is actually taking place. "Editing for Impact"? Well, they've got to make a buck, or else we wouldn't be able to see any of it at all.
> 
> It seems that everyone is watching to see if they will start getting a reasonable amount of gold coming out of their processing plant. Once that happens, will the suspense end, and the audience get smaller? I'm watching, half to see if they will soon be "saved," and half to see what the producers will come up with next in order to hold off the success until the final episode! Last season, the entire series was one big cliff-hanger!
> 
> But like someone said, the equipment is interesting.
> 
> Too bad Fred's house got munched.
> 
> And I hope the kid across the road makes a profit. His grandfather is a pretty cool old dude.
> 
> 
> P.S. Fred seems to be screwing up just as much as he said the main characters were, but he is screwing up in a much more professional manner! :lol:
Click to expand...


He took a working wash plant and threw it away. He should have been running that while getting his new equipment bought and delivered.


----------



## eeTHr

rasanders22 said:


> He took a working wash plant and threw it away. He should have been running that while getting his new equipment bought and delivered.




Good point. Did they really expect that stubby little four foot section of sluice, even though it was supposed to be some special kind ("hydraulic" or something), to be effective in the first place? That looked really strange to me.

I suspect that all the Hoffman crew had given approval to his girl friend coming up, and to a couple days off when she did. I think it was edited to make it look like a "situation."

This week's show was interesting, but I wanted to see the _*gold!*_


----------



## Smack

I tuned out for last nights bs show. The only thing I was going to watch all night and they had to bs me, thank (somebody) there is Football.


----------



## macfixer01

rasanders22 said:


> eeTHr said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oh noes!
> 
> The mechanic takes a two day vacation, and stops the whole mining operation! Huh?
> 
> Last season, some were speculating that he was an opiate addict. He had severe back pain.
> 
> But he was given free back surgery during the off season. The operation was a success. He was then told to take it easy for this season. So it doesn't sound like he would have needed to continue the opiates, except maybe after the work on the giant filter he made during the filming of tonight's show.
> 
> But one thing I learned from being around people on this type of drug is that they loose any semblance of a conscience. And that is how he acted on this show, concerning the arrival of his girl friend and their little vacation. When he came back, he had an attitude of, "Oh, it's nothing." Very, very strange! Of course there is no way to know for sure, but that has all the earmarks. Jeeze!
> 
> So far this season: No gold, no common sense ("We should drill FIRST?"), no rational response to the mechanic's totally weird behavior. And the preview of next week's show doesn't show any hope, either! OMG! Now I'll watch it just to see if they will still be as stupid as they always have been! What's wrong with me? :mrgreen:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I think his change in behavior might have been due to spending some alone time with his woman. That always cheers me up.
Click to expand...


Hi All,
I think you're right there, I know a little companionship goes a long ways toward improving my attitude. The thing is though the back treatment Harness got they even called it surgery on the show, but I believe it was just some injections of pain blocking medication directly into his spine? So they didn't fix the underlying problem but only masked it for awhile. I think they they expected it to hold him through the season, and it appeared he would have continued doing well for some time yet, if not for the marathon session making the filter. That seemed to set him back to zero again on the pain abatement. I'm no expert but I don't see him as an addictive or drug-seeking personality. I don't think you can do that quality of work if your only aim is to get or stay high.

macfixer01


----------



## macfixer01

Dr. Poe said:


> I love the show. Yes, it's definitely a comedy of errors. The only thing that was done right was to film it all for Discovery channel. I have a DVR and I record their shows. I stopped the action at one point where Fred was bulldozing. Frame by frame until I saw to perfection a 100 oz gold crystal, a near perfect di-pyramid, cubic, gold yellow metallic of approximately three inches to a side base. No way was it just a yellow quartz rock. I know gold. Not just Fred either. When they were trying to rip up the permafrost, a smaller, maybe 40 oz nugget was spotted by me the same way. The one piece of equipment that all of them should of had was a metal detector. Both nuggets/crystals were re-buried under soil and rock instantly after the film recorded---3 frames later. You bet, this show is very entertaining. The chuckles just keep coming. Dr. Poe




Dr. Poe,
Any chance you'd be willing to figure out approximately where these scenes are located and let us know? I for one would really like to see the huge crystal and nugget you referred to. I have all the episodes on my computer so I've tried to find them from your descriptions. Without knowing which exact episodes and a landmark scene or time reference, I'm just wasting my time though stepping through them. I did find one scene where what looks like a gold nugget tumbles past the end of someone's boot while he's standing in the flowing water. I spotted a couple small distinctly yellowish items appear and disappear during plowing scenes, but I recall someone on the show mentioning there were also yellowish looking non gold rocks there too. Alternately if you had the time to just post the 2 best still frames that'd be great.

Thanks,
macfixer01


----------



## eeTHr

So last night I mention to my wife that Gold Rush will be on tomorrow night (tonight), and she tells me that she saw a promo that said tonight's episode will be a "behind the scenes" theme.

Great....They finally get their system running, from beginning to end, and it looks very promising, and they hold us in suspense. I guess if they just started producing the "20 ounce cleanups" mentioned by the boss, there would be no more mystery to it. Rats!


----------



## Smack

That's what I'm saying....no content. I hate the drama the producers inject into the show, and that's all this behind the scenes crap is. Oh well, another night of scraping computers sounds better.


----------



## Dr. Poe

The Hoffman's problems is fear. Fear of not finding enough gold has caused them to over work their system, people and machines. Any prospector knows not to feed the sluice too fast. Had they ran half as much, they would have ten times the gold by now. Fear breeds lack of patience and greed. Also machine breakdowns. Instead of forcing a loader to lift when it wants to stall. They should have backed off and tried again (this time not hooking onto the sunken boulder that stalled the machine). That so-called expert prospector that advised them should have caught those faux pas. A sluice should be set at one foot drop per twelve foot length. Had they ran half as fast, they could have ran steady and caught the gold instead of washing it down stream. Newbie refiners are also guilty of moving too fast. Trying to drop gold when even the base metals are not fully dissolved. When the poser expert saw the clogged riffles, his answer was to increase water flow and sluice angle.
did he not even look at their water source? 
Fred's problem was Karma. You reap what you sow.
Grandson's problem was not understanding how tailing are worked. Tailings are not reworked by the same methods that produced them (gravity separation), but by grinding and leaching. Or at least grinding and gravity.
Of all of them, the Hoffman's were the worse. Shutting down their first venture rather than pay a modest daily fine (for not completing the water licensing paper work). Where was their mining lawyer when Fred jumped them? Isn't a new claim owner liable for existing debts to a claim? A lease is a debt. A new owner must honor existing leases. Also a reasonable time is given for any renter to vacate by the court. Land owners cannot just evict renters at their whim. It takes an order from a judge. By their second year, they should have been educated both in law and in process. They were failure looking for a place to happen. Dr. Poe


----------



## eeTHr

I don't have much experience with the rate of incline for sluices, but I wondered about the recommendation of increased water flow.

One thing I do know, is that the Hoffmans suffer from the same problem that many refining newbies do, which is lack of testing. They should have tested to see if gold was pouring out of their sluice, before deciding to run for 24 hours. It seems that samples could have been taken from a foot of riffles near the top, midway, and near the bottom of the sluice, to determine if gold was catching in them before it went off the end. I think there should be only insignificant, if any, amounts of flour gold in the last couple feet of riffles. Just a single panout at those three points in the sluice should tell the story after an hour or less running time.

They made the same mistake in mining the wrong part of the claim, when they first started. Then they drilled after that. They forgot part of the basics of doing _*anything,*_ which is LOOK at what is there, and at what you're doing.

It's funny that both the grandson and Fred were faced with the same problem, of on site training. But they each reacted differently. The grandson simply handled it, and only lost one day. Fred just got really ticked off, and estimated several days loss. I guess the inspector didn't tell him how fast the grandson got it fixed!

That was a pretty pan of gold the kid ended up with, for the one-day run after getting going again, though.


----------



## Geo

i was thinking the water flow was too light for the amount of material they were dumping in. even when i ran a high banker, i would catch a pan of tailing to see what was being washed out.if gold was visible on the ground they should have slowed down and ran very slowly, as far as that goes, if i had seen gold on the ground it would have been shovels and pans for everyone until it was cleaned up.i honestly feel like they would have done better with an old "miner 49er" sluice about 40 foot long made of wood.dump material in all you want to, but i doubt you will pour it out off the end unless you are really inept. run that a week at a time before clean out and see what you would get.


----------



## eeTHr

Again, I'm not an expert sluicer, but I have run a small dredge a couple of times, and am able to pan. That said, I cringed at the look of the packed-up sluice riffles.

I think fine silt can have different characteristics, depending of what it is made of. Most of the very fine silt I've run into will suspend, and thus flow on through without dropping into the riffles. But I have also seen some powdery (non-gold) stuff get into the riffles and pack down pretty hard. When that happens, you essentially don't have riffles anymore, if it's so hard packed that gold particles can't penetrate it. My conclusion about it is that, while gold is "heavier than it looks," and will drop surprisingly fast, moving water is also surprisingly powerful, as in hydrolic mining, and so forth, and can wash gold away with the other stuff. Riffle design can help with this problem, but it's not a cure-all---you need to determine the optimum water volume and angle of the run, too.

There is a "sweet spot," in water flow rate, where the sand and pebbles move on and the gold stays. As with the shaker tables, consistant size of the feed material make it much more accurate to separate this stuff. But sluice boxes don't usually have this advantage of consistant feed size. So it's not necessarily a standard formula for water flow volume and downward angle of the sluice, for all conditions.

Increasing the downward angle of the sluice will speed up the water, but the faster water won't be as deep in the run, either. So lack of water depth, after increasing the angle, would be the reason to increase the water flow volume, but that's what caused the pump head filters to start clogging up. It seems their sluice was to wide for the limitations of their water source. It would have been better to have reduced their output rate a little, than to have lost gold.

I think if they had kept testing the end of their sluice, after each hour, they would have discovered what adjustments to make, and how long they could run before cleanouts, before they lost so much of their gold.

And hosing out the riffles didn't look good to me, either. They should have at least caught what was coming off the end, when they did that, to see if they were flushing gold out of their sluice.

It seems to me they did a lot of "flying blind" throughout the entire show. But once they knew for sure that there _*was*_ high value in the feed material, they should have done much more to protect it. Searching for it is one thing, but having found it then throwing it away is a real tear jerker! But they are learning.


----------



## macfixer01

eeTHr said:


> I don't have much experience with the rate of incline for sluices, but I wondered about the recommendation of increased water flow.
> 
> One thing I do know, is that the Hoffmans suffer from the same problem that many refining newbies do, which is lack of testing. They should have tested to see if gold was pouring out of their sluice, before deciding to run for 24 hours. It seems that samples could have been taken from a foot of riffles near the top, midway, and near the bottom of the sluice, to determine if gold was catching in them before it went off the end. I think there should be only insignificant, if any, amounts of flour gold in the last couple feet of riffles. Just a single panout at those three points in the sluice should tell the story after an hour or less running time.
> 
> They made the same mistake in mining the wrong part of the claim, when they first started. Then they drilled after that. They forgot part of the basics of doing _*anything,*_ which is LOOK at what is there, and at what you're doing.
> 
> It's funny that both the grandson and Fred were faced with the same problem, of on site training. But they each reacted differently. The grandson simply handled it, and only lost one day. Fred just got really ticked off, and estimated several days loss. I guess the inspector didn't tell him how fast the grandson got it fixed!
> 
> That was a pretty pan of gold the kid ended up with, for the one-day run after getting going again, though.




Yeah I thought the kid did really well too handling the training issue and getting the problems corrected. Gotta know when to just shut up and take your lumps. Cooperate, get it over quickly, and move on.

macfixer01


----------



## lazersteve

I'm surprised no one else here has noticed that the Dakota Boys weighed their gold on scales in Avoirdupois ounces instead of troy ounces. 

This means they have less gold than they think when it comes time to sell. :shock: 

I noticed this a few episodes back and checked a few videos on line to confirm my hunch:

Dakota Boys Jackpot (Close up of scale @ 2:26 )
Dakota Boys Jackpot

The scale is a Walmart postal scale Royal Model DS3:

Royal DS3 Specifications

*The Hoffman's Scale*

They are using and SCM-I700 scale ( Close up of scale @1:24 of Klondike Gold Strike ) 

Klondike Gold Strike

Which according to the operators manual does weigh in Troy ounces and I think I can make out the 'ozt' above the mass read out.

At least the Hoffman's got a scale with the right units for measuring their gold!  

Steve


----------



## publius

So that means that Fred got only 17.22 Ozt???


----------



## macfixer01

publius said:


> So that means that Fred got only 17.22 Ozt???




That's what it means. Wow that's funny, I never noticed. Maybe they're going to sell their gold on Ebay where both systems get used interchangeably? Of course on that show they talk about it like it's all gold too which it isn't. Doesn't placer gold most places average around 22K or less?

macfixer01


----------



## Geo

macfixer01 said:


> publius said:
> 
> 
> 
> So that means that Fred got only 17.22 Ozt???
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's what it means. Wow that's funny, I never noticed. Maybe they're going to sell their gold on Ebay where both systems get used interchangeably? Of course on that show they talk about it like it's all gold too which it isn't. Doesn't placer gold most places average around 22K or less?
> 
> macfixer01
Click to expand...


thats true. there are very few places where placer gold is close to pure. gold from the ground has impurities and needs to be refined just like all other metals, there could be silver and platinum in it. you can see black sand in the gold sample being weighed. there should be a disclaimer on the show to warn would be miners that until the gold has been refined and cast there should be no representations of weight obtained.


----------



## FlyingEagleLode

I love watching this show but they make it drama fest.
Gold mining is like fishing ask the old timers how they do it then you catch fish.
Head to my mine today see how much damage the flood did int eh mountains.
And yes if I where to take there equipment to places I know here in Oregon.
You could pull more gold out with less headache.


----------



## eeTHr

There is one piece of equipment they all are missing---their own sampling drill. 8)


----------



## philddreamer

> There is one piece of equipment they all are missing---their own sampling drill.



I think so, too!
The money spent on time, fuel, brakedowns & so on, would have paid for such a vital piece of equipment. It takes the "guessing" out of the equation. 

Phil


----------



## macfixer01

Hi All,
It looks like this thread has petered out, especially with the current season ending I suppose. I just saw the preview for tonights Revelations or aftermath show, where the old man (Jack) admits he's addicted to morphine. I remember some conjecture here that Harness might be an addict, but never suspected that of Jack? Speaking of Harness it appears he gets bounced from the group over what looked like stealing some of their gold? Just some talk about "What in the hell was Harness doing in the gold room?", and then a facedown meeting where Todd says "This is probably where we part company". I guess that will call into question again if Harness may have been looking for money to buy drugs or something? Anyway it looks like it will be one of the more interesting episodes.

macfixer01


----------



## eeTHr

mac---

Jack? Wow, I'll have to look for that video on their Website. That would account for the goofy things he as done.

As for the Harness preview stuff, these reality shows tend to edit their promos to make them appear to mean things totally different than what actually appears in the shows. I'll of course want to see how it turns out, though!

Like I said before, the best thing about the show, for me, is getting to see all the various equipment.


----------



## macfixer01

eeTHr said:


> mac---
> 
> Jack? Wow, I'll have to look for that video on their Website. That would account for the goofy things he as done.
> 
> As for the Harness preview stuff, these reality shows tend to edit their promos to make them appear to mean things totally different than what actually appears in the shows. I'll of course want to see how it turns out, though!
> 
> Like I said before, the best thing about the show, for me, is getting to see all the various equipment.




Yes I should have assumed they had made the preview misleading and more sensational than the actual story. Apparently Jack has a degenerative disc condition and was in a lot of back pain this season. He has been taking prescription morphine for the pain and basically got hooked on it. After the season ended he had surgery to relieve the back pain so he could also get off the morphine. There was some fuss over Harness dumping some gold-bearing dirt in the gold room, and that was all that comment was about. Harness was actually asked not to come back because the guys felt he let them down several times on building the filter while his girlfriend was visiting, and on various pieces of broken equipment. All those lost days could have made the difference and meant some real profits.

Of course as you say everything is manipulated and edited so we may not get the real facts anyway. However I think a lot of the success they did have was just dumb luck. Like finding out accidentally there was gold that had seeped deeper into the bedrock, and the pockets of gold they found toward the end.

macfixer01


----------



## eeTHr

Yeah, they only got 93 ozT, instead of their goal of 100. But they had the initial problem of finding a new lease, when Fred bought their old one. That cost them a lot of time, and so did the wrong sluice, and then the wrong angle on the new one.

Now they know to consider the water filtering, both for the debris in the draw pond and for the silt before it goes to the wash plant. They should be wise to checking for seal leakage on their equipment now, too.

So Harness spilled a coffee can of concentrates on the floor, and apparently they didn't recover that. Wow.

Lots of things made them fall short of their 100 oz goal. Next season their goal is 1,000 oz. We'll see.... 8) 

The kid, Parker, working in the snow was impressive.


----------



## Smack

Hard to comment on the show because they don't show everything and what they do show is partially fabricated.


----------



## macfixer01

eeTHr said:


> Yeah, they only got 93 ozT, instead of their goal of 100. But they had the initial problem of finding a new lease, when Fred bought their old one. That cost them a lot of time, and so did the wrong sluice, and then the wrong angle on the new one.
> 
> Now they know to consider the water filtering, both for the debris in the draw pond and for the silt before it goes to the wash plant. They should be wise to checking for seal leakage on their equipment now, too.
> 
> So Harness spilled a coffee can of concentrates on the floor, and apparently they didn't recover that. Wow.
> 
> Lots of things made them fall short of their 100 oz goal. Next season their goal is 1,000 oz. We'll see.... 8)
> 
> The kid, Parker, working in the snow was impressive.




Yes apparently it was a coffee can of concentrates that was spilled, so it could have been a significant amount of money but I can't see why it wouldn't be recoverable if it was contained within the gold room? You're right though, what they did accomplish this season was impressive given the claim switch, water issues, and other setbacks. It was interesting seeing the clip from just after they arrived at the Klondike when the pro they ran into told them they were wasting their time expecting to get set up and find gold their first season up there. Parker is definitely ambitious, he'll certainly have a good jump start on everybody next season.


----------



## eeTHr

macfixer01 said:


> It was interesting seeing the clip from just after they arrived at the Klondike when the pro they ran into told them they were wasting their time expecting to get set up and find gold their first season up there.




Yeah, and they left that out of the show (until now).

It appears that they edit in such a way as to maintain a certain _*balance of mystery,*_ in order to keep people wanting to watch. The pro's statement might have been deemed to be too discouraging for the audience. The have to make it look very challenging, yet keep up a glimmer of hope, with an added dose of intrigue.

I think even that is interesting, though, so long as one doesn't take it too seriously!

8)


----------



## jack_burton

I enjoyed the irony of a seasoned pro who didn't have the sense to know how to cross a creek without getting his rig stuck, predicting gloom and doom for the Hoffmans. Classic.


----------



## eeTHr

I forgot about that one! I was hoping they would show how he got it out, but I guess they couldn't hang around long enough for his tow to arrive. Man, that was a big piece of equipment.


----------



## macfixer01

I thought I'd give this old thread a bump. Just wanted to give those who are interested a reminder that the new season starts this Friday night (the 26th).

macfixer01


----------



## samuel-a

Have you seen the jungle version ?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Er9dxzlSEM[/youtube]


----------



## macfixer01

Looking forward to the new season starting tonight. Apparently the new twist is that Todd Hoffman brought in more people and equipment, so now they have 2 crews mining at the same time and competing with each other? Hey it isn't art but I find it entertaining anyway.

macfixer01


----------



## qst42know

Perhaps someone can explain something to me.

If you found that you were losing gold off the end of your sluice, why wouldn't you re-run the dirt in the bottom of your waste water trench?

That gold has to be sitting in a big pile right off the end of the sluice. They ran the same machine for a whole season right where it is.


----------



## macfixer01

qst42know said:


> Perhaps someone can explain something to me.
> 
> If you found that you were losing gold off the end of your sluice, why wouldn't you re-run the dirt in the bottom of your waste water trench?
> 
> That gold has to be sitting in a big pile right off the end of the sluice. They ran the same machine for a whole season right where it is.




I'm no expert but I can't see any reason they didn't at least hand pan it, since not everyone was operating excavators and they had all that dead time waiting for the new trommel to arrive anyway. Then again if it was up to me I'd have still been running dirt through the old trommel until the new one arrived just to have some gold to show the investors and not fall so far behind. Then I'd re-run the same dirt lickity-split once the new higher capacity trommel arrived before taking on the new dirt. Maybe that's just not practical given the cost of fuel involved, extra handling of the dirt, and space needed to store it, I don't know. I don't think any of their crew thought Todd's decision to just stop using the old trommel with nothing to replace it was a good one though.

macfixer01


----------



## eeTHr

I don't get how their relatively meager profits from last year were enough to come back this time with all that equipment (and spread over two sites, at that)?

Maybe they made a bunch of money in their South America works over the winter. That hasn't shown on TV yet, has it?


----------



## grance

I was thinking the same thing I wouldnt invest in any of them. Amish Mafia looks like an awesome show cant wait for it


----------



## macfixer01

eeTHr said:


> I don't get how their relatively meager profits from last year were enough to come back this time with all that equipment (and spread over two sites, at that)?
> 
> Maybe they made a bunch of money in their South America works over the winter. That hasn't shown on TV yet, has it?




They only showed the one South America show on tv as sort of a pre-season teaser, would they go to South America instead or stay in Alaska? I didn't think they did any actual mining there though. I believe they just tested how much gold was in the dirt to see if they could make a go of it there or not? Since the site Todd originally had lined up turned out to be already leased to someone else, they had to take what they could get for a claim. After a major struggle just to get to the new claim, the amount of gold they found was pretty marginal given what it would cost to move their people and equipment there and set up operations.

Yeah the Amish Mafia show looks interesting too. I'm assuming they aren't Amish themselves (or not anymore anyway), and just hire themselves out as "Fixers" to the Amish folks when disputes arise they can't get resolved by more peaceful means?

macfixer01


----------



## qst42know

Hand digging in the surface soils of a stream bed in the jungle? I would think finding any would be pretty interesting.


----------



## macfixer01

qst42know said:


> Hand digging in the surface soils of a stream bed in the jungle? I would think finding any would be pretty interesting.




Their guide used a machete to find gravel under the surface. Their tests were just hand dug near the surface and in a stream or they'd have likely found much more. Here's a link to the Gold Rush Jungle episode if you missed it.

http://youtu.be/Mx0ItxnLR3Q

macfixer01


----------



## grance

I wonder why the guys on jungle gold spent so much money on power equipment and that trommle When there is so much super cheap labor in the area. They spent 80k on the trommle and the pump that runs it had to be at lease 5k for a 8inch pump plus what ever a big generator cost. There fule cost also has to be outragouse. I would have got 4 or 5 10inch by 6foot high bankers and pumps a 7500 watt generator and 20-25 laborers and shovles. I also would have higherd armed guards or bought my own weapons I mean for real AK-47's on the ivory coast are like 30 bucks I dont know just my thoughts


----------



## qst42know

As a guest in a foreign country you may be welcome to spend your money (all of it) but I doubt any country will allow you to build a private army.

Dangerous business working in another country bound by all their laws with no rights of citizenship. Let alone any where you go there are people in place who won't like you taking what they consider theirs.

Brokering deals with the big dogs may be a safer bet than digging in the mud, though not by much.


----------



## macfixer01

qst42know said:


> As a guest in a foreign country you may be welcome to spend your money (all of it) but I doubt any country will allow you to build a private army.
> 
> Dangerous business working in another country bound by all their laws with no rights of citizenship. Let alone any where you go there are people in place who won't like you taking what they consider theirs.
> 
> Brokering deals with the big dogs may be a safer bet than digging in the mud, though not by much.




You both have good points but I just wanted to point out to avoid confusion that's a different show than we were talking about previously. We were talking about the one episode of Gold Rush Alaska before the new season where the Hoffman crew went to South America to consider whether they could make money mining there instead?

Jungle Gold is the two ex-real estate agents from Utah (I think?) who are hoping to pay off their massive debts by mining in Ghana, Africa. I wouldn't mind seeing a new thread to talk about that show too though. That really looks like a dangerous place to be, with the Chinese miners next door encroaching, the landowners relative showing up with a machete protesting them using the land, and someone taking pot shots into their camp at night. Not to mention roadblocks looking for bribes and the constant threat of being robbed at gunpoint. Now the original claim turned out to be pretty much worthless anyway. The locals who were squatting on the new claim they're looking at buying into were doing pretty well though just using their primitive methods. I think you're right that hiring locals to do the work would make more sense and maybe also curtail some of the animosity against them being there.

macfixer01


----------



## grance

yeah I would have given the guy with the machete the chance to leave peacfuly and if not I would have "dispached" him. hopefuly they have some sort of self defence laws


----------



## grance

qst42know said:


> As a guest in a foreign country you may be welcome to spend your money (all of it) but I doubt any country will allow you to build a private army.




A man can dream can't he


----------



## macfixer01

Man this is scary, that doofus Todd Hoffman being consulted as a gold "expert".

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50107202#50107202

Well once again this week, blustering Todd fell in the manure and came up smelling like roses anyway. The so-called Super Trommel he's waited months and months for finally showed up. After Todd nearly wrecked it trying to move it, his father had to take over and get it moved into final position. After Todd crowed some more about how great it was, they started it up for testing and the motor promptly started burning out before they got any dirt processed. In the meantime Dave Turin's crew at indian River pulled off a massive coup despite downtime due to some belt damage, and they came up with 63.4 more ounces of gold in a single cleanout! So along with the 30 ounces from his last cleanout, just Dave's crew alone has collected almost the whole 100 ounce minimum their investor wanted to see so that he wouldn't pull the plug on them.


And on Jungle Gold, those guys got into a shady black market deal to make the cash they needed to buy into another claim. Then they drove down the road and got robbed of the gold they just bought (most likely by an accomplice of the seller), so they have nothing again. What maroons! I hadn't noticed until I read it on the show website where someone commented how Scott kept rubbing his nose and sniffling the whole episode. They were wondering if he's maybe on coke? Frankly that makes a lot of sense seeing how they operate.

macfixer01


----------



## patnor1011

The best operation in jungle gold was when those natives showed up for 5 hours, shoveled dirt in buckets and left with nice ball of gold.


----------



## Palladium

Interesting. Bearing sea gold background? http://www.facebook.com/groups/145843178899637/


----------



## maynman1751

Todd finally aware that his 'super trommel' is a POS.


----------



## macfixer01

maynman1751 said:


> Todd finally aware that his 'super trommel' is a POS.




Oh yeah, it's a big time POS. When it arrived months late you knew there had to be a reason for that. The inventor was just doing R&D and building a prototype on Todd's dime. There was a post on Facebook yesterday asking what the viewers thought should be done with the so-called "Super Trommel"? I almost replied they should add a rotisserie and make a pig roaster out of it. Then they could put Todd in there. I just can't feel sorry for a guy that won't listen to his own people and who keeps going off half cocked and shooting himself in the foot. Now he's beating the crap out of the Indian River equipment trying to make up for his failures, and he will likely put them down altogether for the rest of the season before long.

Has anyone else wondered... If the Quartz Creek dirt was supposed to be so great and had a whole bunch of nuggets in it that they were showing several weeks ago, why haven't they been trucking that dirt to Indian River to process it? I was under the impression the two sites were only a couple miles apart, but would the extra fuel cost make that idea a non-starter?


----------



## darshevo

Watch the math they use real close in the show. They will claim to have gotten 100 oz out of tens of thousands of yards/tons of material then the following week they run 4k yards and get the same amount. I'm sure everyone believes they are hiding results as the show wouldn't be as entertaining to the unwashed masses if they were getting rich (not to mention the flood of people heading north) but the least they could do is fact check their math


----------



## macfixer01

darshevo said:


> Watch the math they use real close in the show. They will claim to have gotten 100 oz out of tens of thousands of yards/tons of material then the following week they run 4k yards and get the same amount. I'm sure everyone believes they are hiding results as the show wouldn't be as entertaining to the unwashed masses if they were getting rich (not to mention the flood of people heading north) but the least they could do is fact check their math




Hmmm... Thanks darshevo for the reality check, and you're probably right about the true results. I don't know why I should care how they do but I guess that's the whole point of the show. They want to get the viewers emotionally invested and coming back to see more.


----------



## Woodworker1997

Yes, the show is hokey and full of holes (kind of like Todd's trammel) but, it sure beats the heck out of watching 98% of the other crap on TV. If you listen you will sometimes find Nuggets of decent information.

I mainly watch because I really want Parker to succeed. How many young kids while in and straight out of high school are that dedicated and hard working. I respect his ambition.

Derek


----------



## patnor1011

I presume guys are paid some % from recovered gold. It is beyond my comprehension how on earth they work like slaves and then wait beside fire for Jack and for what he is going to tell them what he got from cleaning. There must be some trust in there or else...


----------



## lazersteve

I noticed all the guys at the different mines (Parker, Dakotas, and Todd's Crew) got new ATV's to tool around on of a similar make. Maybe that was their bonus for doing this season?

I can't help but think they are making more off of the show from the cable channel than off their mining. I see a lot of new faces and equipment, but not a proportionally larger amount of gold yields. I know I wouldn't be freezing my butt off playing in the mud in Alaska for several months out of the year for one fifteenth of 10% share of the owners claim! LOL !! Not to mention the investor is going to get his money back off the top.

Steve


----------



## Smack

Even though this is what these people have decided to do to make a living, they must be on the payroll, other wise the film crew would just be in the way. But not all shows are the same, a friend of mine was on one of these type of shows, I won't say the name but it had competition shooting on it and so on but there was no payroll for this show for the participants, it was purely ego driven. They told my friend that if he didn't want to be on it, they had 11k other people waiting. He ended up doing the first one then was on again this last season for a sort of the best of the best type of thing.


----------



## qst42know

Signing autographs and selling tee shirts is likely fairly lucrative. 

And I think the claim owner gets the 10% off the top, the investor gets paid, costs get covered, then the crew gets some percentage of the remains.

These are marginal claims passed over by large mining companies, TV pay must be playing a roll in the financing or the cameras wouldn't be there year after year.


----------



## joem

I like the show and have learned things I did not know (right or wrong) about this type of mining. I do believe reality shows have a good deal of staging, product placement, a good managing agents for upcoming seasons. But if true I would not work full time for 5 months to make a few thousand dollars only. But I still watch the show.


----------



## oldgeek

macfixer01 said:


> maynman1751 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Todd finally aware that his 'super trommel' is a POS.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Has anyone else wondered... If the Quartz Creek dirt was supposed to be so great and had a whole bunch of nuggets in it that they were showing several weeks ago, why haven't they been trucking that dirt to Indian River to process it? I was under the impression the two sites were only a couple miles apart, but would the extra fuel cost make that idea a non-starter?
Click to expand...


They finally did this as you said. They got 200oz from running the quartz creek material on the Indian River machine, worth around $300,000. 
Dave or someone threw out a fuel cost of $40,000 dollars per day, x 5 days = $200,000 of fuel ALONE, not to mention overhead. The math never adds up in this show. Like posted earlier, the show is better than most of the stuff on TV.
I also like Bearing sea gold. I have been waiting for Scott M. to implode, and he finally did.


----------



## ctgresale

I thought he said 4,000.00 a day for fuel. The whole 150 day mining season would cost them over 6 million in fuel if it cost them 40,000.0 a day.


----------



## patnor1011

And claims are like 2 miles apart aren't they? 40k looks insane for that money they can transport ore by cargo plane. :mrgreen:


----------



## oldgeek

OK I am off by 1 zero.  LoL


----------



## macfixer01

oldgeek said:


> macfixer01 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> maynman1751 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Todd finally aware that his 'super trommel' is a POS.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Has anyone else wondered... If the Quartz Creek dirt was supposed to be so great and had a whole bunch of nuggets in it that they were showing several weeks ago, why haven't they been trucking that dirt to Indian River to process it? I was under the impression the two sites were only a couple miles apart, but would the extra fuel cost make that idea a non-starter?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> They finally did this as you said. They got 200oz from running the quartz creek material on the Indian River machine, worth around $300,000.
> Dave or someone threw out a fuel cost of $40,000 dollars per day, x 5 days = $200,000 of fuel ALONE, not to mention overhead. The math never adds up in this show. Like posted earlier, the show is better than most of the stuff on TV.
> I also like Bearing sea gold. I have been waiting for Scott M. to implode, and he finally did.
Click to expand...



Yeah I saw the show last night. It always seemed like a no brainer to me, of course I didn't know the fuel cost. They said it was going to cost them $4000 per day (over I believe 5 days) to move all the stockpiled dirt from Quartz to Indian River, so $20K total. Luckily the 1-day test they ran showed the ore was plenty rich enough to make it worthwhile to transport it. Just think how much more they might have had if not for the holes in the screen?

They weren't clear though on if the 200 ounces was just from the 1-day test or from the whole stockpile? Part-way through the test Todd said it was obviously going to be worth it so they were just moving it all. Then they talked as though they would still be able to make 1000 ounces. I'm assuming that 200 ounces must have been the whole stockpile, so they'd have to be planning on digging up more ore at Quartz to transport?

macfixer01


----------



## Palladium

I think if i finished early and didn't have materials to run i would have dug up all the fines at the end of their sluice box and run it all again. I would say it's what we would refer to as a stock pot.


----------



## patnor1011

Mainly when Todd washed up quite a lot the other night.


----------



## macfixer01

Palladium said:


> I think if i finished early and didn't have materials to run i would have dug up all the fines at the end of their sluice box and run it all again. I would say it's what we would refer to as a stock pot.





Good point, I wondered about that each time they determined it was happening through the course of the series. Why they didn't they ever try to recover the gold that got washed out the end?

They re-ran Friday's show on Saturday night so I watched it again. I guess I had missed it the first time, but the announcer did say the cleanout was being done after 600 truckloads of dirt was moved and $20K in fuel was used. So that 200 ounces was for the entire Quartz Creek stockpile of dirt.


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## eeTHr

It's hard to tell how much time goes by between episodes, but I wonder why they didn't have the Turbo Trommel repaired by the time they had to truck the stuff to the other site. I don't think the inventor of the Turbo is getting very good promotion from all the problems they had with it, and then the fact that they finally just abandoned it. Did the guy take off to Mexico or something?


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## macfixer01

ShayneThill said:


> There is also a gold rush in Columbia. I also want to go there and have a try. Anyone got a used metal detector for sale?




There is an actual "Metal Detectors" section right off the main forum menu. You might be more likely to get a reply there or in the "Wanted" section?


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