Hunting for treasure can be a fun and exciting experience, but it can also be full of lots of disappointment. No one knows this better than the cast of the Discover Channel series Gold Rush. The the last decade, the series has followed a group of treasure hunters as they scour gold mines in search valuable treasure. Although the series has been full of some great moments, there have also been several scenarios where things didn’t go as planned. Despite the let downs, the crew continues to search and viewers continue to tune in with the hopes that they’ll get to witness some awesome discoveries. Keep reading for the five most disappointing moments in the history of the TV series Gold Rush.
1. Rick Ness’ Final Weigh In During Season 9
Each season, the crews on Gold Rush compete to see who will bring in the most money by the end of the season. Although gold mining naturally comes with lots of ups and downs, each team feels confident in their ability to bring in the most gold. During season 9, Rick Ness was feeling pretty good about what he and his crew had accomplished. Lots of viewers are home were rooting for them but everyone was left disappointed during the last weigh in off the season. Rick and his team fell short by 27 ounces. Luckily, this disappointing moment ended up also having a bright spot because the crew refused to give up without meeting their goal.
2. Virgin Ground
There’s always a lot of excitement any time the miners think they’ve uncovered a new area to explore and dig. In an episode in 2011, the Hoffman team was looking forward to digging in an area near an old gold dredge in the Klondike. The team was especially looking forward to this dig because the season was almost over and it served as their last major opportunity. After five day’s worth of work and thousands of dollars in fuel, the crew cleared a large area under the assumption that it had never been mined before. They were ready to get to work when they got some disappointing news. When the claim owner’s father came up to see how things were going, he informed them that the land they cleared had been dredged before and there likely wasn’t anything else to find.
3. Truck Collision
Accidents and mistakes are bound to happen in any kind of job, and that likelihood only increases when people are rushing. Unfortunately for the cast of Gold Rush, sometimes rushing just comes with the territory. During an episode in 2019, Rick and his team learned just how devastating the consequences of moving too fast can be. While trying to clear some land, one of Rick’s drivers accidentally crashed into another one of his trucks. One of the show’s producers was injured in the crash but didn’t appear to suffer any serious or long term damage. Although the crash didn’t stop the mining process, it definitely slowed things down and was a much needed reminder to be more careful
4. Bulldozer Goes Up In Smoke
Sometimes the biggest disappointments on Gold Rush don’t have anything to do with what was or wasn’t found – sometimes the disappointments happens during the process and this incident is a clear example. During season 9, Parker was in the process of moving his equipment when one of his bulldozers started smoking. Of course, a mechanical issue would be annoying at any stage in the game but this moment was extra disappointing for two reasons: the truck cost parker $1.5 million and they still hadn’t found any gold. Luckily Parker and his team were able to stop the smoke and save the bulldozer from any permanent damage, but things were definitely very touch and go for a few minutes.
5. Big Red’s Worst Cleanup
There’s nothing worse than setting a goal for yourself only to watch it slip away before your very eyes. Sadly for the cast of Gold Rush, this is something they all have to deal with at one time or another. Parker and Rick are no strangers to this feeling. During a clean up at Big Red, they were both left very disappointed when they weighed in with about 80 ounces less than they were hoping for. The moment was definitely a humbling experience for Rick and he took responsibility for his decision making during the process. After the weigh-in, he said that falling short of the goal was starting to get “depressing”. On the bright side, however, the in the mining world people things can turn around pretty quickly.
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