On tonight’s Gold Rush, Monsters and Critics’ sneak preview features someone we haven’t talked about in a while — Parker Schnabel, the youngest miner and central star of the hit Discovery series.
In our exclusive clip, we learn that Parker normally only mines the gold-rich first two feet of paydirt and bedrock, along with the two feet of gravel that sit above that. However, employee Dean appears to have found gold five feet above the bedrock. Is his massive gravel pile worth the effort and enough to turn a profit?
In the footage, Schnabel is weighing the pros and cons of sluicing through gravel and asks Dean his opinion about the worthiness of their time spent sifting through the smaller rocks for gold. The consensus seems to be that is is, indeed, worthwhile.
Walking towards Dean, who is submerged a bit in the gravel pit, Parker channels a bit of Tony Beets and says: “what the f*** Dean?”
There is a lot of loose smaller pay gravel all around them as Parker surveys the scene. He says: “Wow, are you not concerned about this amount of gravel in here?” Dean seems okay with it. “Well I’ve run worse looking stuff, [and it] seems to have a lot of gold in it,” he replies.
That’s the ticket for Parker to continue, as any gold being found in any of the pay is crucial at this point of the season.
“Normally we don’t sluice this much gravel so I’m a little bit concerned…about just the amount of it here. You know, we usually sluice by about two feet. Dean’s got about five or six [feet] in the cut.”
Parker pans the gravel sluice to see if gold is there. He says: “Well… I mean I don’t know what to do about this there’s…what is there…one, two, three, four, five colors in there… pretty small yeah, they’re small… f*** me.”
Dean says: “I don’t like second-guessing myself and one way to tell is to run a 24-hour test and then we know it’s going to cost you money to move the gravel anyway, so why not just run it through the plant and maybe get some return on it.
Parker is unconvinced. He says: “If it’s bad then there goes another 24 hours right?”
Dean is convinced it is worth their time, though. He says: “Parker, I’ve been doing this a while I’ve found good pay six feet above bedrock.
Parker says: “I would say…at a minimum [we need] thirty ounces in twenty-four hours.”
Parker will do a twenty-four hour test and if they get thirty ounces of gold, Dean’s dirt will be worth running.
Looking like he is going to take a bet on Dean’s experience and instincts, Parker is agreeable to the plan and says: “Yeah, I mean if we’re gonna stay on track to get six thousand ounces, this testing is going to have at least thirty in it otherwise it’s going to be a massive waste of time… like…Dean better be right!”
Gold Rush airs Fridays at 9/8c on Discovery.