‘Gold Rush’: Parker Schnabel & Rick Ness Find Out if Their Gambles Pay Off

Schnabel found out quickly that Dominion Creek would be a hard nut to crack. He poured large sums of money into the operation, stretching his crew and resources to the brink. His longtime friend Ness also felt the pain in the wallet after he invested everything earned at Rally Valley on the gamble of hitting an even bigger jackpot at Vegas Valley. The dark cloud that loomed the whole time was the uncertainty of his water license to return to the Duncan Creek claim he finally acquired outright. 

Then there was Tony, who gained some early momentum that helped him in the long run. He applied the pressure on his son Mike, nephew Mike and Monica to deliver the goods. After last season, the “King of the Klondike” gunned for a record-breaking end. Meanwhile, eldest son Kevin set out on his own with partner Faith Teng. Kevin drained his life savings to break off from Tony to oversee Scribner Creek as an official rookie mine boss.

How did the four end the season? Let’s break it down. 

Rick Ness 

With the mining future in doubt, Ness’ crew wanted to pull in as much gold as possible. To reach their goal, they needed to sluice 24 hours a day for the rest of week without any shutdowns, which also meant dealing with arctic temperatures. Unfortunately, Monster Red’s shaker deck belt snapped. Without a replacement, Ryan Kent was resourceful and drilled two holes and used a conveyer clip to alleviate the issue. The fix worked. However, there was another problem with the water line leaking through the pad that supported the wash plant. They lost a night as a result until the crew could investigate. After digging up the broken water line and noticing the water pump and wash plant, Ness had to make a tough call. They shut down for the season, which could be a devastating blow. Did they do enough? 

The group came together for one final important weigh-in. There was a sense of disappointment after the gold result came at 110,79 ounces. Ness was holding back and surprised the crew with a canister of 200 ounces and another of more than 100 ounces. This meant the Vegas Valley paid out 411 ounces worth more than $1.1 million. Over six months, the small but mighty team of seven brought in $4.5 million in gold. Ness further showed his appreciation by throwing in another $50,000 bonus. If the water license could get renewed, Ness’ team would be willing to come back for another round.

Tony Beets

Tony’s family operation was on the verge of the best gold haul of his 40-year career. Cousin Mike was running a pile at Indian River with Sluice-A-Lot while son Mike worked the Trommel at Paradise Hill. Adding to the pot, Kevin knew he had royalties coming in from Kevin. Daughter Monica operated a third plant acquired by dad to run the old timer tailings named Harald. The crew noticed a water pipe burst like a geyser, which came when the loader caught a pipe. Brother Mike came to assist and installed a collar. Winter had come and the season was over. The family met up for the final tally. The old timer tailings from wash plant Harald generated 46.56 worth $124,000 over a few days. Cousin Mike at Indian River with Sluice-A-Lot came in at 211.88 worth over $565,000. The Trommel was last but not least at 228.07 ounces worth over $600,000. That brought the total to 5,777.12 for the season, more than 777 ounces their original goal. 

Kevin Beets

Kevin’s crew began to dwindle when Chase Dreger and Hunter Canning had to leave due to prior commitments, Making matters worse was a feeder belt broke. Seven weeks ago Kevin patched up the same broken belt when he fixed it with conveyor clips. Now it was completely shredded and needed a full replacement. The crew were able to install another one. Kevin and Teng weighed their gold with the rest of the Beets clan. Three weeks worth of sluicing resulted in 375.80 ounces worth just more than $1 million. The final number came in at 1,056.57 ounces, which meant they exceeded their goal. Not bad for a first season. The overall Beets haul came it at more than $18 million. 

Parker Schnabel

Schnabel was in uncharted territory this season banking just a little more than 6,000 ounces into what was originally a 10,000-ounce goal. He had since reduced that number down to 8,000. In 14 years of mining, the 30-year-old never missed his goal. With the winter chill becoming more prominent, Schnabel had one more ace up his sleeve. He eyed the Gold Run ground he purchased two months ago. Tyson Lee already opened up an acre cut as Parker used a water monitor to reveal pay dirt. They enlisted the help of the ancient shaker deck dubbed Rock Gobbler. Chris Doumitt dialed in the sluicing to make sure things ran properly. The crew had to deal with a conveyer jam that caused them to feverishly shovel out rocks. Not far from the site, frost also caused headaches for Mitch Blaschke and wash plants Roxanne. 

The foreman was concerned by the frost, but Schnabel was undeterred and helped break up the pay using the D10. The group came together for their last weigh-in, which needed to be nearly 2,000 to make the season goal. Wash plant Bob ran pay in the Bridge Cut and clocked in at 343.07 ounces worth more than $920,000. Roxanne came in next from the Elbow Cut at 306.03 ounces worth $820,000. The Rock Gobbler (what a name) finished off at Gold Run with 99.20 ounces worth $266,000. That put Schnabel at 749.02 ounces with a season total of 6,837.04 ounces. This got them to a final total worth more $18.3 million. It’s more cash than ever before, but a thousand ounces short of the goal. On the bright side, the Schnabel team now knows the ground much better and plan to come back next season with a vengeance. The season ended with Schnabel’s mission statement saying, “I don’t like this feeling. I don’t like being a loser. It will never happen again. Next season, we’re going to kill it. That’s my plan.” 

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