# Anybody watching Gold Rush: Alaska on Discovery



## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

I am LOVING this show.

Quick premise: this little town in OR (or maybe it's WA) has this airport that everybody works at but because the economy sucks they are all pretty much broke. So they all scrounge up their money and lease a mining claim in Alaska and head up for the summer. There is only 1 guy who has any actually mining exp and that was from 25 years ago. Other people just have book smarts. This is big machinery mining, not guys in a river with a pan stuff.

Link to show: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/gold-rush-alaska/

I think they are 3 episodes in and they are finally getting ready to mine some rock!

check it out!


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## Zephyr (Sep 16, 2005)

Yes, am enjoying this, particularly in conjunction with that other Alaska show. Like the gun shop scene, one little (... big) revolver out the door but later they talk about an arsenal of fourty some odd guns plus $150 of ammo to start! Now can any of them shoot straint? Or will they have to call that gal up the road? 

We are quite distressed about the guys taking the boys up there from the start plus asking the families to join them before they really get going. That seems to be the makings of potential trouble of all sorts. But I suppose the producers are loving that. And what was that other network sharing the credits?


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Yeah I think it's silly for them to bring any of the kids, let alone the families up there for just 4 months. That's a lot of extra expense and focus being taken away from the mining, considering they have no cash reserves. 

Although, if the familes do all the cooking/cleaning/chores then that would certainly help everybody as well as morale...so maybe it's not that crazy of an idea.


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## BeanMeScot (Apr 17, 2002)

I bored in ep 2. But at the end of ep 3 it looks like they are finally ready to mine. Someone needs to rein in the Dad and the son for different reason. The son is a bit of an ass and the dad is a loose cannon.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Agree about the father and son. The son has NO patience for that 1 guy and the father just does whatever he wants!


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

I'm in. Now I just have to wait until Jan 7th for some new episodes. FWIW, this show is the highest rated new reality show on Cable.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I have the episodes recorded but haven't watched yet. Does this one seem to be unscripted?


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## billboard_NE (May 18, 2005)

The show appears to be unscripted, however there does seem to be a "plant" or two with the guys. The former real estate agent guy that knows nothing about anything would not be going with me if I was in charge of the trip.

I am enjoying this show so far.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I can live with that. I got burnt by the one about the Motorcycle bar.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

sieglinde said:


> I can live with that. *I got burnt by the one about the Motorcycle bar.*


Agreed. What a crock THAT was. I got through about five minutes of it before I deleted the SP.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

I'm not getting a "scripted" vibe but I'm sure there are elements just like any "reality" tv show.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I am OK with an added person as long as he or she is not an actor. (Unless the person is an actor who is going through the same things as the other people like the actors who have been on Survivor.)


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## markz (Oct 22, 2002)

I watched an episode (maybe the first one) last night. It was about the convoy going to Alaska and getting on/off the barge. Liked the part about crossing the river in the excavator with the 4-wheeler dangling from it.


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## BeanMeScot (Apr 17, 2002)

Well, the first of the new epsiodes just aired. It's like Murphy's Law. As soon as they are about to really start mining, something bad happens.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Yeah these guys just might be cursed! That 15 year old boy was pretty funny talking about these "newbies".


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

Interesting show but whoever cooked up their financial "plan" is an idiot.


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## BeanMeScot (Apr 17, 2002)

Yet more Murphy last night. There is definately gold there but it is up in the air whether they can keep the people and equipment healthy enough to actually retrieve it!


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

We watched a couple of these in a row last night and I'm definitely in. I find the whole thing compelling and hope nobody on the internet ruins the surprise as to weather they actually end up getting any real money out of the deal. I'm predicting they hit it big! 


or go home with nothing... 

I can't believe they thought 1/8 inch steel plate was going to hold up to all that abuse. These guys are definitely winging it.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Gregor said:


> Interesting show but whoever cooked up their financial "plan" is an idiot.


Yeah no kidding. On it's face it seems ridiculous. However, one thing they did _right_ was to hedge their bets by getting Discovery Channel involved. Those guys pay REAL well for a hit show, and this one is the biggest show on Cable right now. So in a way they have struck gold already. Jon & Kate Plus 8 was getting 2 million dollars a year from the show plus. So even if they don't make a ton of money off the gold itself, they still might become millionaires if the ratings hold and they come up with some salable "merch".


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## DanB (Aug 14, 2001)

So they are all broke but can afford to fly their friends up to help out. hmmmmm.

I was also thinking to myself last night that it appears Todd and his dad havent had any issues taken care of their beards. Maybe not so roughneck up there afterall.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

They certainly do seem to be preparing for just more than one winter with all those houses they are building!

I can't believe that failed realtor struck again to ruin the most important piece of the operation!

That welder guy....boy, you could tell he is addicted to that morphine. As bad as it sounds, I think that whole thing about his mom was just addict excuses to find any reason to leave to get back to the drugs. Good thing he was able to get them. That guy is really putting in everything he has to this..props to him!


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

pmyers said:


> They certainly do seem to be preparing for just more than one winter with all those houses they are building!
> 
> I can't believe that failed realtor struck again to ruin the most important piece of the operation!
> 
> *That welder guy....boy, you could tell he is addicted to that morphine.* As bad as it sounds, I think that whole thing about his mom was just addict excuses to find any reason to leave to get back to the drugs. Good thing he was able to get them. That guy is really putting in everything he has to this..props to him!


I'm a little concerned they've put so much faith in the guy on the pain pills. I've had two back surgeries and the accompanying pain meds, and I can tell you, welding isn't something I'd have wanted to try while I was high on those things. I think he's gonna turn out to be a big problem for them.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Well it was a good thing they had that backup welder guy who was building his own mansion to help out too!


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

lol...doing it wrong the entire time! Only collecting 10-20&#37; of the gold they should have been! Hilarious!

I love this show!


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

btw...they should thank their lucky stars the claim owner is requiring his buddy to stay/run things. Finally, somebody that knows what the heck they are doing.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

pmyers said:


> lol...doing it wrong the entire time! Only collecting 10-20% of the gold they should have been! Hilarious!
> 
> I love this show!


Yeah. What a bunch of well meaning buffoons. This is starting to remind me of Whale Wars...


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

bareyb said:


> Yeah. What a bunch of well meaning buffoons. This is starting to remind me of Whale Wars...


LOL...good analogy! I'm rooting FOR the gold and FOR the Japanese wailing fleet!


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## DanB (Aug 14, 2001)

well, its not making a bunch of sense to me. The old man supposedly mined many years ago. They "mysteriously" have a buddy that runs a quarry and could fly up and help them a few shows ago. 

They sell everything they have to raise $250K but dont hire a real miner?

They have another friend that came up to help building a cabin now he's staying on.

Now they are broke but can afford to fly down and back to Oregon to borrow money from a po'd sister -- Wouldnt a phone call be easier?

And spend some of that really needed capital on the rock washer.

Their break even point is $250k + $25K(sister) + $15k(?) for borrowed equipment + 20% to claim owner. 

Either they are just incompetent, its all a put on, or Lucille Ball's going to show up and help them on the line.


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## jimest (Jan 27, 2002)

The cabin that the one guy was building was pretty nice and the lease may not be renewed for next year.

I think the TV channel is backing this operation.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Of course the TV channel is backing this operation. That's not really a surprise to anybody is it? And I'm sure there is no real drama about the claim lease being renewed or at least as much as they portray. Nobody would invest that much capital for a 1 year lease.


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## BeanMeScot (Apr 17, 2002)

They found their first real nugget and several ounces of gold. As usual, more crap breaks. It's like watching Swamp Loggers where it is moving from one broken piece of equipment to the next. Fred is overbearing (and usually right) but James is also a bit of an ass.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

That was a pretty good cleanout for 4 days with the new guy (which they finally mentioned at the very end and I had been wondering how often they clean out).


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## BeanMeScot (Apr 17, 2002)

Looks like they are actually on the gold now. That was a good bit of small pieces in the pan. Too bad their early efforts don't seem to have panned out (haha). The new gold seperator seems to be working really well! 

Next week is the final episode for this season.


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## billboard_NE (May 18, 2005)

Now that they have everything working I hope they get another chance. (another season)


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

I really don't understand their methods: They are running out of money to even operate, yet they have hundreds of buckets of "gold" just waiting to be processed?!? What are they waiting for? are they planning on shipping these buckets down south when the freeze comes and extract the gold then? That's the only thing that would half way make any sense. 

boy, that machine sure did seem to work great!


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## Zephyr (Sep 16, 2005)

billboard_NE said:


> Now that they have everything working I hope they get another chance. (another season)


Yea, _ think a clue was when the Dakota guy said he was starting to like these guys. TV film crew probably greased the way also. Another season._


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Zephyr said:


> Yea, _ think a clue was when the Dakota guy said he was starting to like these guys. TV film crew probably greased the way also. Another season._


_

For sure....the network struck gold with the ratings for this show!_


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## modnar (Oct 15, 2000)

I like this show, but I wish they'd let us have a new story line some week (I know there's only one episode left). 

It seems like it's been a lot of "something breaks something breaks. could end our season. need to find $250k of gold. something breaks. found a little bit of gold. show over" over and over again....

And I know they're just taking what happened and turning it into a story with drama, etc., but it's almost like watching the same episode 3 or four times.


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## jeepair (Apr 22, 2004)

Not much else they do up there except dig, move dirt to wash plant, get sand and extract gold. At least we saw them fishing this last episode until the Bears started to arrive.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

I'd like to see their cleanout process for the other material than the black sand! That's where the big stuff would be.


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## retrodog (Feb 7, 2002)

This show has been little more than exaggerated drama. I guess that makes a show but they stop every two minutes to show graphics about how everything could fall apart and everyone could die. Oh my. 

I'm guessing they are gonna hit the mother-load and only need 1 day to make their fortune.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Yeah. At this point I'm just waiting for them to hit it big and then I'll probably drop the Season Pass. There's really nowhere much left for the producers to go with this show right now. 

The only thing that might be interesting is if they hit is UBER BIG and started raking in the gold hand over fist and it led to a much larger operation. THAT would be cool to see, but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen. I think they will find a good amount though. Perhaps even a million bucks, but we'll see. That's about all Im waiting for now. Gold mining just isn't as involved or interesting as I would have thought at first blush... I'd rather watch Whaling. 

Does anyone know if they have plans to renew this show for another season?


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## retrodog (Feb 7, 2002)

Every time they say "glory hole", I just snicker a little bit.

Ok, somebody had to say it.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Seems like what they need is a dump truck to load the dirt in directly rather than have to dig it then have the front loader grab it and dump it. seems like everytime you pick and drop that dirt, you would lose gold. 

And is somebody checking all the big rocks they just discard?

It really frustrates me that they don't show exactly how this plant works and how each stage works for finding gold.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

pmyers said:


> I really don't understand their methods: They are running out of money to even operate, yet they have hundreds of buckets of "gold" just waiting to be processed?!? What are they waiting for? are they planning on shipping these buckets down south when the freeze comes and extract the gold then? That's the only thing that would half way make any sense.
> 
> boy, that machine sure did seem to work great!


They figured out on the last show the buckets cost more than the amount of gold in them. They had originally figured that there would be a substantial amount of fine gold in each bucket, but in running one or two, figured out each bucket held $2 worth of gold...the buckets cost $5 each. That's what go Thurber so upset.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

One thing for sure, a good way to make a small fortune gold mining is to start with a large fortune.


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## Jayjoans (Jan 23, 2003)

pmyers said:


> And is somebody checking all the big rocks they just discard?
> 
> It really frustrates me that they don't show exactly how this plant works and how each stage works for finding gold.


All the big rocks are washed when they first enter the system, any gold is washed off of them. There isn't going to be a boulder of gold they miss. The old guy keeps saying "Let's wash some rocks!", which is basically all they're doing all the way through the processing. (just smaller and smaller rocks)

I'm not sure they care much about the loader vs dumptruck and the potential loss of gold. When you're processing that much dirt, the amount they may lose is meaningless (heck, the amount they FIND is meaningless ). Didn't they say the hole is the size of 2 football fields? I know they didn't process all of that dirt, but I think they must have put the majority of it through. 2 football fields with a deepest depth of 50 feet, that's a LOT of dirt.

I think they have done a great job of explaining how the process works, have you seen all of episodes? In some episodes they don't mention the whole process, but in my opinion they have explained it well piece by piece.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

I get how it all works, I just don't find it nearly as involved or interesting as i thought I would.They basically send the dirt through a series of "strainers" largest to smallest. Not exactly rocket science... IMO they are really going to need to move on with this thing and do something new to keep my interest.


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## BeanMeScot (Apr 17, 2002)

pmyers said:


> I really don't understand their methods: They are running out of money to even operate, yet they have hundreds of buckets of "gold" just waiting to be processed?!? What are they waiting for? are they planning on shipping these buckets down south when the freeze comes and extract the gold then? That's the only thing that would half way make any sense.
> 
> boy, that machine sure did seem to work great!


They didn't have a good way to process the buckets until this latest machine that actually worked. They would have to manually pan them all and that is back breaking and time consuming.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Just announced that they have been picked up for a 2nd season:

http://blogs.discovery.com/discover...overy-channel-greenlights-second-seasons.html


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

pmyers said:


> Just announced that they have been picked up for a 2nd season:
> 
> http://blogs.discovery.com/discover...overy-channel-greenlights-second-seasons.html


Ah... I find that slightly encouraging. If they got another season that means there must be something more to see. They can't (or hopefully won't) do 13 weeks of the Trammel falling apart and being repaired. Those little nuggets aren't going to be enough to sustain interest either... So it bodes well in my book, unless of course I'm wrong and Season two is just more of the same...Personally I'd love it if they hit the Mother Lode out there.


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## wsware (Jan 27, 2003)

First part of the 2nd season should be interesting. If they didn't winterize the equipment they could come back to a huge mess. Lets hope they drained all the pumps especially the ones they did not own.

I would like to see more of the other miner across the creek. I bet he has some stories to tell.


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## BeanMeScot (Apr 17, 2002)

There is going to be some kind of extra episode next Friday.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

I hope they weren't really expecting to make a profit their first year, but they are certainly setup to start making money this next season!

I still wonder what they did with all the buckets. At 1 point they said they were getting about 30 buckets a day of black sand and we kept seeing buckets of buckets that needed to be worked. I can't tell if they ever worked those or what. Seems like there could be a lot of money in those buckets.


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## mrdbdigital (Feb 3, 2004)

Looks like they drove off and didn't bother to return the pump they borrowed.


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## Steve_Martin (Jul 18, 2004)

BeanMeScot said:


> They found their first real nugget and several ounces of gold. As usual, more crap breaks. It's like watching Swamp Loggers where it is moving from one broken piece of equipment to the next. Fred is overbearing (and usually right) but James is also a bit of an ass.


Or Ax Men and that Swamp Man guy.



retrodog said:


> I'm guessing they are gonna hit the mother-load and only need 1 day to make their fortune.


So are they. 

I really can't understand how they got this far with as little planning as they seem to have done. I mean, who plans so poorly that they run out of fuel at the end of the day right before the fuel depot closes?


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## heyitscory (Apr 6, 2004)

I hope Discovery is helping them with their mortgages and food over the winter until they can mine that gold.

On second thought, I would love to see more desperate men bickering, poor leadership and awkward conversations about loans from family members.


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## Dssturbo1 (Feb 23, 2005)

if they are with good agents/lawyers they just need to renegotiate their contracts and wind up like the American Chopper/Jersey Shore cast and be driving new Mercedes, BMW, Escalades lol.........


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

BeanMeScot said:


> There is going to be some kind of extra episode next Friday.


It's called "Full Disclosure". I'm interested in what that means.


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## SeanC (Dec 30, 2003)

pmyers said:


> It's called "Full Disclosure". I'm interested in what that means.


For clarity's sake the show is called Gold Rush: Alaska: Full Disclosure, not the episode, so SPs for GRA will not catch it.

I just manually setup my recording.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

Thanks, this did not show up on the SP at all.


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## modnar (Oct 15, 2000)

I guess they guy who had the machine that was actually successfully separating the gold in the black sand was only there for a short time. Him or his machine weren't in the last episode, but it seemed like his device was doing the trick.


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## xuxa (Oct 8, 2001)

pmyers said:


> I hope they weren't really expecting to make a profit their first year, but they are certainly setup to start making money this next season!
> 
> I still wonder what they did with all the buckets. At 1 point they said they were getting about 30 buckets a day of black sand and we kept seeing buckets of buckets that needed to be worked. I can't tell if they ever worked those or what. Seems like there could be a lot of money in those buckets.


Probably poured out the black sand and sold the buckets, the mine is more tv set than an actual mine. The Hoffmans are getting their money from RAW (production company) not from mining. They just waited for the snow to come for a dramatic storyline. Reality television has come to a show about people digging a hole in the ground.


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## Azlen (Nov 25, 2002)

Is this the show that the Soup plays clips from everytime they use the phrase glory hole?


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

Azlen said:


> Is this the show that the Soup plays clips from everytime they use the phrase glory hole?


not sure but I would assume so. They say it every 5 minutes


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

I caught this show during a marathon over the weekend at around episode 7, and it hooked me. I just had to keep watching to see if their luck changed.

I didn't go find episodes 1-6 though - I only watched from episode 7 on.

I love hearing the old man talk through his nose.


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## Steve_Martin (Jul 18, 2004)

scooterboy said:


> I love hearing the old man talk through his nose.


Actually that right there is almost enough for me to not watch. Can't really stand his voice.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

I caught a marathon earlier this week and burned thru the whole season in two days. I love this show. Do the Hoffmans remind anyone else of the Rygards from Axe Men? I can't believe the old man is only 65. The 90 year old guy on the claim next door looked younger than him.


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## bareyb (Dec 1, 2000)

Azlen said:


> Is this the show that the Soup plays clips from everytime they use the phrase glory hole?


I can confirm that. Yes.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

Did anyone watch the Full Disclosure episode last night? Basically a recap of the season with a few unseen clips. After watching, I have more questions than answers. I wish they would have gone into their decision to move a little bit more. They seemed to be right on the gold when at Porcupine Creek when they left. How did Fred become part of their team? I thought he worked for the land owner. Do the Hoffman's have a legal claim to the site? How could Fred get around that?


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## Steve_Martin (Jul 18, 2004)

Kinda weird, it seems like Fred is jumping their claim. He announces he's bringing his own crew to mine Porcupine. I wonder what the legal aspects are.


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## spud (Mar 17, 2001)

WhiskeyTango said:


> Did anyone watch the Full Disclosure episode last night? Basically a recap of the season with a few unseen clips. After watching, I have more questions than answers. I wish they would have gone into their decision to move a little bit more. They seemed to be right on the gold when at Porcupine Creek when they left. How did Fred become part of their team? I thought he worked for the land owner. Do the Hoffman's have a legal claim to the site? How could Fred get around that?





Steve_Martin said:


> Kinda weird, it seems like Fred is jumping their claim. He announces he's bringing his own crew to mine Porcupine. I wonder what the legal aspects are.


It seemed to me like the land owner (Fred's boss) decided he wanted Todd's crew out so Fred (and a new crew) could mine the gold that Todd's crew had almost found. The land owner gets 20% (I think). He's probably betting on Fred and his crew mining more than the 16(?) oz of gold that Todd's crew got. And also figures he can make more on the mining than Discovery will pay him to let Todd's crew stay on that site.

Edit: I assume the land owner gave Todd's crew the mining rights to the land for 1 season only.


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## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

They were leasing the claim from that old fart they bought the duplex jig from. Looks like Fred talked to the guy and worked out some sort of deal to get the lease for the next season. Fred will probably have to pay for the equipment they left on site but neither side has an edge in the negotiations over the price. The Hoffmans can't force him to pay as he could just tell them to move it all out. And Fred can't lowball as he the Hoffmans could decide to pick up the equipment and sell it to other's in the area.


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## Bob Coxner (Dec 1, 2004)

Was anyone else disturbed by the amount of damage they were doing to the environment in the area? In the opening they talk about how beautiful it is, then they proceed to turn it into crap.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I wonder if there was a better way to do the mining. I mean where I live, the mines are dug into the ground, not this strip mining they were doing in Alaska. The shafts are deep and fairly narrow. When I see them as I drive, the site where the shaft is has been graded and has buildings on it but does not seem to have a large footprint. The rest of the desert around it is undisturbed. (These are gold mines in the high desert of California, I don't know if they separated the gold on site or not.)


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

I smell spin-off!


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## DanB (Aug 14, 2001)

Considering they were all broke before they left for Alaska, seems like their situations did not change much when they got back home -- didn't see anyone living in a box. I think my definition of broke is very different than these fellas.

If they do get someone to risk giving equipment then I'd say it's another reality show put on -- I don't see any real heavy equipment company taking a risk on these same guys after watching the first season, unless they want to do it solely for the advertising (which I don't think would even cover the equipment costs) or they are actually getting payment from Discovery.

And yet again, we have all of these "amateur" miners that somehow have all of these mining contacts -- now they know someone that just happens to have an available Klondike claim (and they can yet again afford to make a trip deep into Alaska).


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## MarkofT (Jul 27, 2001)

There are 3 types of mines. Strip, Open Pit and Shaft. Each type is used for specific ground types.

Strip Mining is used to dig up material that is fairly shallow and spread over a wide area. Shaft mining is used when you have resources quite deep and in ground that is rock solid. Open Pit is used when you can't use a shaft due to ground conditions and the material you want is not widespread.

At Porcupine Creek, they can't strip mine because they need to go somewhat deep and the gold is fairly concentrated. They can't shaft mine because the ground is much to loose and due to the proximity of the creek it would leak. The only option is to pit mine.

They are not going for all the gold. They are only going for the easy gold where the Earth has already done all the hard work. They are not looking for the in rock formations of gold. They are looking for the gold that the natural erosion has already pulled out of the ground and deposited.


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## jeepair (Apr 22, 2004)

pmyers said:


> I smell spin-off!


Or how about

Gold Rush - Porcupine Creek run by Fred's crew

VS

Gold Rush - Yukon Territory run by Todd


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## Texish (Mar 17, 2002)

Does anybody know if there is somewhere that you can watch all the episodes again? Particularly if it is accessible by Tivo. I think my parents might enjoy it, but they missed it when it played the first time.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I just got up to the episode when they are going to discover they have the entire thing set up wrong.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

DanB said:


> ...or they are actually getting payment from Discovery...


Well of course they are. Nobody doubts that.


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## DanB (Aug 14, 2001)

pmyers said:


> Well of course they are. Nobody doubts that.


The equipment companies?


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## spud (Mar 17, 2001)

Texish said:


> Does anybody know if there is somewhere that you can watch all the episodes again? Particularly if it is accessible by Tivo. I think my parents might enjoy it, but they missed it when it played the first time.


No sure if you meant for free, but you can pay to watch the episodes on Amazon or iTunes.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

Just finished the episode where they found out that EVERYTHING was set up wrong. I think if I was going to try this out, I would have read a few books on it. I would have found actual miners and spoke with them and photographed their sluice equipment. I would have gone out of my way and visited various mining museums. (helps that I am in a gold mining area but a few trips out of state would have saved them some money.)


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

DanB said:


> The equipment companies?


Discovery is paying the miners and they can use the money however they want, including on equipment. And considering the ratings.....that's no small change.


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## retrodog (Feb 7, 2002)

sieglinde said:


> Just finished the episode where they found out that EVERYTHING was set up wrong. I think if I was going to try this out, I would have read a few books on it. I would have found actual miners and spoke with them and photographed their sluice equipment. I would have gone out of my way and visited various mining museums. (helps that I am in a gold mining area but a few trips out of state would have saved them some money.)


Yeah, but you're a woman. Guys don't think like that. They think they can make anything work right on their own. Reading the user manual is in the same part of the brain that decides to ask for directions. Men don't have access to that part of their brain.


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## DanB (Aug 14, 2001)

pmyers said:


> Discovery is paying the miners and they can use the money however they want, including on equipment. And considering the ratings.....that's no small change.


I wouldnt bet on that. Usually the cast of a new show doesn't get big bucks until their contract is renegotiated after the initial run(s). I'm sure Discovery has second(+) season renewal clauses in there that may tie the cast to their first season pay.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

DanB said:


> I wouldnt bet on that. Usually the cast of a new show doesn't get big bucks until their contract is renegotiated after the initial run(s). I'm sure Discovery has second(+) season renewal clauses in there that may tie the cast to their first season pay.


Oh I'm sure they got paid small by Discovery for the first season, but their 2nd season should be a much better payday.


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## sieglinde (Aug 11, 2002)

I figured out that I could have earned $3,500 in the same amount of time working at McDonalds if I was full-time. 
Just watched episode where they found the pretty nugget after Fred revamped the grizzly bars.


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## WhiskeyTango (Sep 20, 2006)

DanB said:


> I wouldnt bet on that. Usually the cast of a new show doesn't get big bucks until their contract is renegotiated after the initial run(s). I'm sure Discovery has second(+) season renewal clauses in there that may tie the cast to their first season pay.


Even if they got paid similar to what the cast of Jersey Shore did, they still made out alright. The JS cast made $5k an episode each the first season, $10k the second, and $30k the third season.


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## pmyers (Jan 4, 2001)

New season premiers Friday Oct 28th!
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/gold-rush-alaska/


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