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While reflecting on the gold he had collected and had yet to collect, Gold Rush star Parker Schnabel worried about his chances of reaching his target. In episode 22 of Gold Rush season 15, titled Vegas Valley Verdict, Parker opened up about his concerns as the season progressed toward its final chapters. However, tensions intensified after his wash plant, Big Red, fell apart.
While overseeing the situation, Parker said:
"Big Red is pretty well dead for the season, like, it has taken an a**-kicking and there's definitely no time or manpower to fix it this year."
The Gold Rush wanted his wash plant, Bob, moved to Dominion and "fired up" by the end of the day, so he could try and save the season by collecting some gold. Weighing in at 25 tons and with no power steering, it was difficult to drive the wash plant to the location.
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However, Parker felt somewhat relieved after weighing the gold wash plant Bob had collected.
"It looked rough three months ago" — Gold Rush alum Parker Schnabel on the condition of Big Red prior to its breakdown
As the season prepared to close, Parker worried about not having enough gold to reach his target of 8,000 ounces. He admitted that the process and the overall experience were "a struggle" and believed that things would only "get worse" moving forward.
Despite starting the season with high hopes, aiming to generate $25 million from his recently purchased Dominion Creek claim, Parker and his team struggled to "decode" the ground, resulting in a $14 million worth of gold collection. Parker wished to collect at least another 2,500 ounces before the "Big Freeze," which would impact their workflow.
The Gold Rush star confessed it had been a "rough" season as they prepared to head into "panic season."
To ensure they had a good chance of finding gold at a time when its price was high, Tyson had planned to "pull strips around the outside edge of the Bridge Cut." As a result, both the stripping and sluicing crews began their search for gold. Although things worked smoothly for a while, the crew faced a problem when Big Red started shaking and falling apart.
After five months of constant sluicing, Big Red's side tension bars, nuts, and bolts had fallen off the wash plant, leaving the Gold Rush crew in a predicament. They realized it was not a "band-aid fix" but a complete rebuild.
Parker then had Bob moved to the Dominion to continue Big Red's work and appreciated his crew for doing "quick work" with the relocation. At the end of the day, the Gold Rush star sat with his team for a weight check-in of the gold collected.
While speaking to them, Parker said:
"It [Big Red] looked rough three months ago."
However, he had high expectations of Bob and hoped it had collected much gold. While weighing Big Red's collection, the scale read 96.2 ounces, worth more than $250,000. Bob, on the other hand, ended up with 290.50 ounces of gold, worth over $750,000.
Parker confessed it was "super relieving" to see the numbers. Last up was Roxanne from Elbow Cut, that delivered 276.10 ounces, bringing Parker's season total to 6,088.20 ounces, worth over $16 million.
However, despite his efforts, he could only increase his total to 6,837.04 ounces, finishing the season short of what he had aimed to achieve.
Gold Rush episodes are available to stream on the Discovery Channel.
