Gold Rush: Parker Schnabel Suffers Nightmare Breakdown That Could Cost Him Millions

[Warning: The below contains spoilers for Gold Rush Season 16.]

Heading into the back half of Season 16, the miners of Gold Rush are looking to pull out all the stops to reach their respective goals. Parker Schnabel is eyeing 10,000 ounces worth $35 million. Midway through, he has closed in on 5,000. Tony Beets also feels on the cusp of a record-breaking haul as gold prices soar.

For each of them, it’s about opening up enough ground to run pay dirt continuously. Rick Ness felt the same time crunch but was excited to be back at Vegas Valley after his water license got extended. He hopes putting all his energy and resources into the claim will translate into another jackpot.

Let’s dig into the January 23 episode of the Discovery Channel series to see how the three mine bosses progressed.

Parker Schnabel

Brennan Ruault (Discovery Channel)

It has been quite the operation for the crew at Dominion Creek with three wash plants going including Big Red, Sluicifer, and Bob. And that’s not even counting a fourth in Roxanne at Ken and Stuart’s on the Indian River. With Mitch Blaschke away for a few days, it was up to acting foreman Brennan Ruault to keep things running there. Unfortunately, the shaker deck on Roxanne broke down. Mechanics rushed over to investigate the issue, which turned out to be a hole in the cylinder. They had to weld new bearings and remove the shaft for the repair. They ended up having to freeze the bearings before heating the housing for them to 450 degrees in order for them to fit into place.

The crew had one shot do this within a 15 to 20 second time frame. If it didn’t work Roxanne could have been down for weeks. That would be disastrous and cause Parker to lose millions of dollars. Luckily, the team was successful. Team Parker came together for the weekly weigh-in. Roxanne only came in at 49.60 ounces. However, Dominion Creek brought in solid numbers starting with Bob at the Bridge Cut generating 147.05 ounces. Sluicifer and Big Red at the Golden Mile added another 232.05 ounces. That brought their total for the week to just over $1.5 million. It was a significant drop from last week’s high, but they did break the halfway mark of their goal and overcame Parker’s biggest breakdown in 13 years.

Tony Beets

Tony Beets/Discovery Channel

The “King of the Klondike” had been flying high at this point with $11 million worth of gold. However, he could see the potential for $20 million in gold at the Corner Cut. This was why he pushed for the area to be opened up. Tony felt the rush to get down to pay because the River Cut’s dual wash plant set-up ran pay at a record pace. Tony would have to shut down if the Corner Cut wasn’t ready in time. To get the job done in quick fashion, he wanted to bring the 950 excavator from Paradise Hill. His son Michael had already been using it, so he wasn’t happy to hear more equipment being taken from him.

Eagon (Discovery Channel)

The move to Indian River proved especially challenging. The excavation ran into issues about 20 miles to its destination. They had to walk it down slowly at two miles per hour. Tony’s grandson Eagan was up for the challenge making the 10-hour journey after the lowboy broke down. The 18-year-old was in his fifth year using equipment. Tony described him as the youngest and best excavator driver. He was happy to have a third-generation miner in the mix. The activity put them two days behind schedule, but they managed to get the 950 back together and running. Tony and the rest of the family came together for the weigh-in. Sluice-A-Lot at the River Cut came in at 319.06 ounces while Find-A-Lot brought in 339.68 ounces. Tony totaled a $2.5 million haul, which was his biggest weigh of the season.

Rick Ness

Rick Ness/Discovery Channel

The underdog minder was able to pay off his 100 ounces to Troy Taylor for Lightning Creek. Rick saw it as an asset for the future. In the meantime, he was all in on Vegas Valley. Rick enlisted Bailey Carten to build a road down to the bottom of the cut. This needed to be done before Monster Red ran out of stockpile. In order to accomplish the objective, the crew needed to use all three rock trucks.

The problem was two went down. Mechanic Ryan Kent went into action and repaired them. Bailey felt the time crunch and failed to finish the job at hand. The team had to shut down the wash plant to catch up on the work to build the road. Rick got together for the weigh-in. He anxiously wanted to find out how much gold was left in the pay pile last season. The result was 147.04 ounces. A step in the right direction, especially now that he doesn’t have to pay a landlord again.

Gold Rush, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel