Todd Hoffman is in a last-chance saloon on Gold Rush tonight, as he makes a final desperate bid to strike gold.
After running out of both luck and dirt — and with his crew ready to quit for the season unless they finally get some pay — he is forced to try out a new claim.
There’s a problem, in that it has been mined before around a century ago. But Todd is hopeful that with his more modern-day equipment the crew will still be able to find gold that was left behind.
In a rallying speech on the episode, he admits: “It’s kind of a Hail Mary, but right now it’s all we’ve got.”
Andy Spinks says the dirt looks promising, and that it definitely would have had gold in at one time. Todd speaks for the whole crew when he says of the previous miners: “Let’s just hope they didn’t take it all.”
He orders the trucks and excavators into action to dig out some of the dirt and take it to the plant for a test. But he knows that if it doesn’t deliver the goods, then it’s over.
His crew also know it’s now-or-never time, and are not thrilled at the way the season is panning out. Watch our exclusive clip below as crew member Logan Pierce says: “Last time we were prospecting in the middle of the season I wasn’t getting paid any more. This is not a road I like to head down. Prospecting doesn’t pay my mortgage. We need gold in this test.”
Kevin Hiatt adds: “We’re only making money when we’re finding gold. I can’t afford to stay here if we’re not getting any. It’s that simple, really.”
Todd’s son Hunter — who we exclusively spoke to last month — can seemingly sense the gloom as he asks his dad over the radio what will happen if the dirt has nothing in it. Todd replies solemnly: “Well, then it’s over.”
Will the new claim come up good, or is this the end of the road for Todd? Watch our exclusive sneak peek below:
Gold Rush airs Fridays at 9/8c on Discovery.