Parker’s Best Moments from Season 15 | Gold Rush | Discovery
Parker's Best Moments from Season 15 | Gold Rush | Discovery
This is going to sound maybe a little weird,
but is Tony like involved in any way
other than helping with some equipment and like that?
Beyond that, uh, no.
Good.
Yeah.
Well, then I feel better about helping you
’cause I’m like, if this is just like Tony’s thing,
then Tony can deal with his.
But, um, congrats on doing this.
Oh, thank you. Thank you.
Yeah.
Those are 11 grand.
11 grand is a good deal for that one.
You don’t need to pay for anything now.
You start a tab.
Appreciate that. Really do.
I’m more than happy.
I know how hard it is when you’re first starting out.
That’s awesome.
You owe me a hug.
Yeah, for sure, buddy.
Nice seeing you again.
150 miles south of the Arctic Circle lies the Klondike.
[Music]
For over a century,
prospectors have poured into these valleys,
hoping to strike it rich.
And today, fortunes are still being made.
I love it up here. It’s great.
There’s a lot of gold here to find.
We have no landlords.
We have no royalty.
It’s really nice that we are in control
of our own destiny and path forward.
At only 29 years old,
Parker Schnabel’s already hauled in
over 63,000 ounces of gold
worth more than $98 million.
And last year,
he made the biggest bet of his life
when he leveraged everything he had
to buy the massive Dominion Creek claim.
There’s only 6 years left on the license,
and there’s a lot of ground to get through in that time.
If the ground’s as good as he thinks it is,
he could bring in $200 million in gold.
If you work out the ounces that we think are here
across the years that are here,
we have to do, you know,
10-plus thousand ounces a year.
But unearthing the gold won’t come easy.
Everything comes at a price.
The purchase was really expensive,
and we have more payments to make.
We’ve blown a hole in every dollar we had —
and then some.
We have millions of yards of dirt
that need to get moved every year,
or else it’s going to just load up
the last few years —
and that makes me really nervous
if something goes wrong, right?
Well, that’s not a gear.
Grind it till you find it.
So, have you rolled this thing yet?
No. They’re hard to roll, I think.
Let’s find out. [Music]
After pouring tens of millions into his new claim,
Parker wants to mine more ground
than he ever has in a season.
His plan of attack hinges on getting gold coming in fast
from one spot — the long cut.
Parker’s out to see if the ground is ready to sluice
with crew member Tyson Lee.
This might get interesting.
Hold on. Big rock. Big thing. I’m going to make him.
Anybody need to change their pants?
Oh man, this is money.
Look at this. It’s like we never left, right?
They’re excited.
With the gold prices where they are,
it’s hard for me to not get greedy.
Dude, this looks good.
Yeah, it does.
Long cut, man.
It’s 930,000 square feet. That pit’s big.
Yeah.
So, we have a pit that’s ready to go.
The most critical thing is getting through this
as fast as possible.
You never stop slicing.
Gold was first discovered
in the Klondike gold fields in 1896,
just outside of Dawson City.
50 miles southeast
lies Parker’s 7,500-acre Dominion Creek claim.
Last season,
he found a 4,000-ounce gold bonanza
in the money pit.
Now, he’s banking on following
the same pay streak north into the long cut —
his only stripped ground —
which Parker believes
could deliver over $7 million in gold.
But to hit his 10,000-ounce target,
he needs to move and wash plant rock sand
and hit at least 430 ounces
every week
for the next six months —
a herculean task
never before attempted
by Parker and his crew.
We’ve got a lot of gold to find.
It’s not going to come easy.
We’re in a situation
where there’s a ton of work
and unrealistic expectations
from a boss that, um,
likes to have unrealistic expectations.
It’s okay. I’m used to it.
There we go.
At Dominion Creek,
Parker Schnabel is chasing
a massive $25 million in gold
and is counting on his long cut —
the only cut down to pay dirt —
to deliver over 400 ounces
by the end of the week.
Everything’s looking pretty good here.
We got rock sand set up top.
We got our conveyor systems going in place here.
Parker’s stainless cut’s all ready to go.
Next stop — sluicin’.
[Music]
You guys are way up here.
How’s it going, buddy?
Good. How are you?
Not bad, dude.
You guys are on a pile.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
Hi, Liam. Hi, Justin. Hey.
I’m just trying to put the finishing touches on this
and see what she does.
We still have a lot of little to do.
Yeah.
Shouldn’t take long.
Who’s going on nights tomorrow?
Are we 24-ing it right off the get-go?
Yeah. So, we just gotta get after it.
No, it’ll be all right.
All right, man.
Yeah.
Okay. Sweet.
11 years ago…
Hey Tony…
Parker started out
with a small piece of ground in the Klondike.
I’m looking for the best dirt,
not just any old dirt.
And a crew of five.
I’m gonna crank it up.
Oh dear. [Music]
Plant.
Well, that’s not good enough.
I’ve probably bitten off
a bit more than I can chew.
He barely turned a profit
in his first year.
If you don’t take risks,
nothing will change.
But the youngster turned the ship around.
Oh yeah.
First brand new plant we’ve had,
and it’s gonna find us a lot of gold.
Building a stockpile of gold…
That’s $3 million right there on the table.
…and growing his operation each year —
$7.5 million —
to a crew of forty
and a huge fleet of earth-moving machines,
pushing for bigger gold hauls each season.
Get after it.
Parker believes there could be
between $7 and $12 million in gold
in this first cut alone.
All the crew needs to do
is dig out the pay dirt
and start sluicin’.
Hey Parker, good to see you.
Hey, good to see you.
How are you?
Brennan.
What are you guys up to?
Well, we have a dozer without a ripper shank,
so hopefully you have one
you’re willing to part with.
Tony needs a ripper shank.
Oh no.
Me and Faith this year have gone out on our own.
So, we’re borrowing a dozer from Tony —
without a ripper shank.
This is going to sound maybe a little weird,
but is Tony, like, involved in any way
other than helping with some equipment and like that?
Beyond that, uh, no.
Good.
Yeah.
Well, then I feel better about helping you,
’cause I’m like,
if this is just like Tony’s thing,
then Tony can deal with his.
But, um, congrats on doing this.
Oh, thank you. Thank you.
Those are 11 grand.
11 grand is a good deal for that one.
You don’t need to pay for anything now.
You start a tab.
Appreciate that. Really do.
I’m more than happy.
I know how hard it is
when you’re first starting out.
That’s awesome.
You owe me a hug.
Yeah, for sure, buddy.
It’s nice meeting you again.
It’s been too long.
It has been, buddy.
Love to come by for a beer and visit.
You’re more than welcome anytime.
[Music]
Now —
today’s not a bad day to be a mine boss.
Oh, Parker has been very generous,
and I am very, very grateful.
Honestly, we can start ripping
and get to work.
Oh yeah.
This has solved so many problems.
So, thank you very much, Parker.
I appreciate that.
Yeah. Thank you.
I’m happy to help.
Good to see you guys.
Same.
Best of luck.
Better give you a hug, old-timer.
Good to see you. Thanks again.
I’m glad you’re our neighbor.
You betcha. You too, buddy. Thank you.
All right.
Feels really, really good to see him again.
You know, said come over anytime for a beer,
so definitely would like to come catch up.
It’s a big win for us, guys.
And hopefully tomorrow we can start ripping.
100%. Yeah.
This spring’s been a bit of a fight.
You know, we’ve dived into this property
just head first —
and in a massive way —
and are spending, you know,
way more money
than we ever have.
100 miles from the Keno Mountains,
two weeks into the season,
29-year-old Parker Schnabel
is in an unfamiliar situation.
Gunning for 10,000 ounces of gold
worth $25 million,
he’s only brought in 5.6 ounces —
and has no wash plants running.
We don’t really know.
Like, we know what we’re doing,
but we don’t know this property.
You know, a rough line of like —
here’s where it’s profitable for us,
where the pay really starts.
Parker’s bet everything
on starting the season
opening his 20-acre long cut.
But the cut has proven unpredictable.
So arguably, in some ways,
we don’t know what we’re doing.
Roxanne’s going to fire up this week,
which will be good.
And hopefully,
we’ll be well on our way
to a big, old record-breaking season.
I know we’re going to break records
in the cost department.
So hopefully,
we’ll break some records
in the gold department as well.
Parker’s crew have stockpiled pay dirt
from the frozen long cut’s ditches,
and will finally get a read
on how good the gold is.
We’re off to a bit of a rocky start.
There’s a lot of frozen pay.
There’s a lot of confusing gravel.
It’s going to be a steep learning curve.
Gold miner Parker Schnabel’s plans
for a record-breaking season
are in trouble.
Three weeks in,
he’s mined just 36 ounces
of his 10,000-ounce target.
I mean, the numbers are terrible.
That’s a bit scary.
Long road to 10,000.
Most of the company
is just stripping at the Bridge Cut.
It’s going to be a lot of stripping there —
lots of work to do,
not a whole lot of time
to do it in
to catch up.
Parker split his crew.
Half are stripping the Bridge Cut,
but won’t be down to pay dirt for weeks.
The other half are working the Long Cut,
which has delivered problem after problem.
Parker’s only source of pay dirt
being run through wash plant Rock Sand
is from the ditches surrounding the Long Cut —
and that’s about to run out.
Mitch is hopefully going to get a handle
on the Long Cut
and just start hammering payout.
And we have a lot of ounces due every week,
and we’ve got a lot of bills to pay.
So we’ll give her the old college try.
Hey Parker.
Hello. You here for a rock truck?
Here for a rock truck, hopefully. Yeah.
You can definitely buy the E.
I’ve been looking at that one the hardest.
Tires might need air and stuff.
Price is the same. 100 and 10.
110? Go 105.
I don’t haggle.
Buy it or don’t buy it. I don’t really care.
Feel free to fire it up, go through it, whatever.
I’ll go find you some air.
It’s a little more than I wanted to pay,
but it’s here.
And it’s hard to negotiate
from the position of,
“well, we really need something.”
You should be doing this, not me, Kevin.
You’re the mechanic.
Don’t blow yourself up.
I definitely won’t.
Do you think there’s some wiggle room
in pricing with Parker?
He’s kind of got all the bargaining power right now.
Yeah.
And he knows it.
[Music]
You got her all aired up?
Got it all aired up.
110 then.
What?
Are you ready to commit?
And were you okay to have a payment
later in the season?
Is that good for you?
I don’t need to get paid right away,
but I can’t have you back out —
that’s the only thing.
You’re paying whether it falls apart
and is useless or whatever.
It’s all good.
Okay. So, you’re taking it?
Taking it.
Congratulations.
[Music]
Hey, hey, hey.
What’s happening?
How’s it going?
How’s it going, guys?
That good or that bad?
You know,
it just makes you really appreciate
those warm days for sluicin’, I tell you what.
After one of the hardest seasons
of Parker Schnabel’s career,
it’s time to see
if he’s hit his 8,000-ounce goal —
or missed his target
for the first time
in his 14 years as a mine boss.
You guys definitely had your challenges this year.
This year, this week — every day. Yeah.
Yeah.
It just feels like it was a disjointed season
with a lot of problems.
But we got through her.
You want to see how we finished up?
Parker has 6,088 ounces of gold in the bank.
To hit his goal,
he needs a record weekly haul —
nearly 2,000 ounces.
Mr. Bob.
Let’s do it.
First on the scales —
wash plant Bomb.
60, 80.
It ran pay from the Bridge Cut all week.
200… 250… 280… 300… 330… 340…
[Music]
343.7.
Worth over $920,000.
Nice.
Not bad, huh?
Yeah. And Mitch, it’s Roxanne.
Here we go.
Roxanne sluiced pay from the Elbow Cut —
the most promising pit
at his Dominion Creek claim.
180… 240… 270… 306.3.
Well done, young man. Well done.
Worth $820,000.
Nice job, Mitch.
Thanks, man. Nice.
And we got the new one — Rock Gobbler.
Who named it that?
I don’t know.
Parker, you want to look at this one?
This is your baby.
It’s your new ground.
Last up — Rock Gobbler.
Fired up this week
to sluice the first dirt
from Parker’s Gold Run Cut.
There’s that.
And that ground over there is really chunky.
And we’re going to throw this on top of it.
[Applause]
Wow. Sweet.
Oh, wow. Nice.
So with that added in —
it’s uh… 99.2.
Worth $266,000.
So where’d that put us?
With that,
we had a tremendous week.
Our best week — 749.2 ounces.
Wow.
That’s sweet.
Yeah.
Gives us a season total
of 6,837.4 ounces.
Record gold prices mean
Parker’s final total
is worth $18.3 million —
more cash than he’s ever pulled in before.
But he’s still
more than a thousand ounces short
of his goal.
Considering the price of gold’s up,
we’re okay — which is good.
But we spent a lot of money this summer.
Crazy.
Well, you got a whole crew
up at the campfire
just breathlessly awaiting your announcement.
Yeah, we should go let them know
how the season went, huh?
Yeah.
Yeah, let’s do it.
[Music]
Where’s the beers at?
Hold it.
Oh, nice.
There’s a lot of people here.
Uh… all right.
First of all,
I really appreciate everybody being here
and sticking this season out.
It’s been a difficult one.
Gold production-wise,
we ended up at 6,837 ounces.
It’s well short of what we were going for,
but we did learn a lot.
We know the ground much better,
and I have no doubt
we’re going to come back next season
with a vengeance —
and a very big goal —
and we’re going to hit it.
I’m really looking forward to that,
and I really hope
that you guys all are here for that
and continue to make this place a home.
And I just want to thank you guys.
Thank you.
