‘Gold Rush’: Parker Schnabel Makes Shocking Play for Rick Ness’ Operation

Parker Schnabel has fought through low recovery, setbacks, and lost production on Gold Rush. However, the mining prodigy turned things around with four wash plants running including his new million dollar Golden Goose named Gigi. With much of the focus on Dominion Creek, Parker also counted on his foreman Mitch Blaschke at Ken & Stuart’s to make the difference during the April 3 episode of the Discovery Channel series. 

Rick Ness was still reeling from the fact he hit a 30-foot clay layer that would make it impossible to get through this season at the Valhalla Cut. His last ditch effort looked to be returning to Vegas Valley. The space saved the crew’s season before with a $2 million payoff. Seven weeks prior, the underdog was forced to pull the plug on the area due to safety concerns. So he’ll need to figure that out before any work can get done. 

Tony Beets rode high blowing his season goal out of the water with some time to still take advantage of the record gold prices. With two wash plants sluicing at Indian River and his son Mike running the Trommel at Paradise Hill, his numbers are sure to grow. Although the “King of the Klondike” did spend $4 million for the Wounded Moose Land, but later found out he couldn’t mine it due to issues with a water license. The patriarch of the Beets empire was undeterred. Even with all of that, Tony even made an offer to buy out Rick. And he may not be the only prospective buyer. 

More on that below.  

Parker Schnabel 

Parker Schnabel, Mitch Blaschke, and Tyson Lee (Discovery Channel).

Mitch had been running on a skeleton crew with his two rock trucks barely able to keep the wash plant Roxanne fed. It was all about yardage and volume. Driver Billy Abbott had an accident where the truck risked tipping over. Mitched got the vehicle upright, but there was noticeable damage. Repairs and bolt extraction would take some time, meaning he’d be at 50 percent in terms of rock trucks in the meantime. Mitch went to fellow foreman Tyson Lee to see if he could spare one of his three wash plants. Tyson turned him down, which didn’t sit well with Mitch considering his situation. He headed back to the site and went with the one truck hauling pay over 24 hours. Thankfully, the mechanics were able to repair the down truck, meaning there needed to be some serious catching up. Parker’s crew got together for the weigh-in. Bob at the Bridge Cut came in at 152.55 ounces. Big Red generated 133.15 ounces. Gigi started its run off with 177.05 ounces, which made a dent in the $1 million expense for the plant. Roxanne finished off at 143.08 ounces. The fourth plant is a world of difference, bringing their total to nearly $29.4 million. It’s the most Parker had mined in a season. “There has never been a greater time for gold mining,” Parker declared. 

Rick Ness

Rick Ness (Discovery Channel)

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Rick initially turned down Tony’s business proposition, but admittedly thought, “Nothing is off the table forever.” That served as motivation to get Vegas Valley going. Operator Bailey Carten needed to widen the cut for trucks to come through. Rick had to pull back the permafrost in order to create a safe passage for the bottom of the mine. The boss ran into issues with his 460 excavator’s bucket, and had to find a new one. That took him to Dawson City where he met up with Parker. The two go for a drive where Parker finds one in his spot. “What do you want for it, a hand shake,” Rick asked.  Parker normally would sell it for $10,000, but gave him 50 percent off. They make the deal. Before parting and feeling Rick’s frustrations, Parker makes an offer to Rick. “Sell the place. I’ll buy it from you.” Rick revealed that Tony was his competition. “He won’t pay you what it’s worth,” Parker said. Back at Vegas Valley, Rick got the bucket installed and removed the permafrost while Bailey widened the space at bottom for rock trucks to start hauling. 

Tony Beets 

Tony Beets (Discovery Channel)

To bring in more gold, Tony wanted his son Mike to dial up production. He challenged him to open up the Hester Cut to get some sluicing done there. The first step was moving the old dredge boilers Tony discovered at the site in 2020. Back in the day, the dredged valley pulled in 800 ounces on one legendary day. Tony hoped for these kinds of results with the idea the old-timers may have left some serious gold. The cut had served as a nemesis for Tony over the years, but he was determined to break through this time around. 

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Mike’s crew makes good progress draining ahead of schedule and already starting hauling pay. Tony is “tickled pink” with his son’s work. Tony decided to double up for fear that the cut could flood again. He sent in a fleet of machines, but that created some traffic confusion. Tony’s daughter Monica helped a bit, but had some issues getting her truck up the hill. The grand effort paid off as the crew found a nice stride. Monica headed back to clean more gold. The family met up for weighing. Sluice-A-Lot brought in 267.09 ounces. Find-A-Lot added 247.05 ounces. The Trommel at Paradise Hill contributed another 408.46 ounces. That brought them $3.2 million, the Beet’s best ever gold weigh-in ever and an incredible $28.9 million total this season so far. Parker isn’t the only one inching to those 10,000 ounces.  

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

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