On the next Gold Rush on Discovery, the season is nearly over and the pressure of the workload Parker Schnabel has placed upon his capable crew is showing cracks in the veneer.
There is real burnout and in our exclusive clip, you see his main man Brennan Ruault get a tongue lashing from Parker and then a near-deadly disaster strikes.
Ruault rushes to make Parker happy by completing the cut and inadvertently puts the life of a production company cameraman at risk.
What happens with Brennan, Parker and the landslide?
The clip opens with Parker surveying an area where the soil he needs to mine is frozen because it has not been turned and pulled away from the ice and snow falling down on it. Annoyed, Parker says, “I gotta get Brennan up here and figure out what the hell’s going on.”
The explanation for Parker’s ire is that mud from the high walls of the cut has collapsed and it is covering the pay gravels, preventing them from thawing out. So covered dirt doesn’t thaw and if they don’t fall away, Parker will have to leave gold in the ground.
Parker does not leave gold in the ground.
Measuring his anger, Parker says to Brennan, “Well, it’s [paydirt] gonna be frozen under all it…”
Brennan sort of senses the chat will not be pleasant. “We’ve been so busy down there – just haven’t had time to get back here.”
Parker ends the excuses. He says, “Even so we need to make time because we just have so much ground to get through. You’ve been doing this for five years and I would think by now we’d have this kind of stuff sorted out.”
Looking like he’s been chastised enough, Brennan says, “Yeah I’ll do my best to get it done.” He turns heel and mutters under his breath.
In the cab of his truck, Parker says, “You know, it irritates me when you have issues that are self-inflicted like this. It’s kind of mining 101, the grounds frozen banks are slipping down onto the ground… it’ll cover up the frost and it won’t fall. Brennan has very good crew they do have a lot on their plate but that’s one of the things on their plate.”
Brennan says, “I can’t do everything at once I’m trying my hardest here, but there’s just so much to do keeping that wash plant running is more of a priority than worrying about ripping 150 feet. We’ll get it done and get Parker back being happy.”
Brennan then takes the 700 excavator to the upper end of Death Valley to clear away the mudslide covering the pay and says: “It’s just mother nature, [the] sun beating on all these high walls and all the moisture is starting to come out so… this slough, slough, slough… we’ve got so much ground to get through and we’re all burnt the f*** out. I just want to get this cut done and over with.”
Watch the clip as he realizes right then and there the cameraman is in jeopardy. He yells: “Sy get the f*** out of the way… run, run run!”
The season started out rough for Parker
Earlier this season, Parker Schnabel had to come down hard on his crew to make sure that they were efficient and doing the work they were hired to do. The workload tripled and the burn out is evident in tonight’s episode.
This also involved hiring a spy right out of college who never worked in a plant in her life. That move angered his team.
Gold Rush exclusive clip here:
Watch as the Gold Rush cameraman following Brennan Ruault is almost buried alive after Brennan brings the big excavator over to do Parker’s bidding. The anger he is feeling and all the burned out, bad will changes on a dime as he yells for the cameraman to run for his life.
This shows that there comes great risk in chronicling and capturing the exploits of these guys for anyone assigned camera duties.
Gold Rush airs Fridays at 9/8c on Discovery.