"It's getting out of hand"—Gold Rush: White Water Dustin Hurt reacts to the tough search for gold in the fast-flowing river

Gold Rush: White Water season 9 episode 3, Man Overboard, premiered on Discovery on May 9, 2025. At the start of the episode, Dustin Hurt's crew was ready to continue their search for gold at Nugget Creek after James found a nugget during their previous dive.

Nugget Creek looked like a promising spot for finding gold. However, there was one major challenge—the gold was buried beneath river rocks in a fast-moving stream of white water, making it extremely difficult for the divers to reach.

To tackle the issue at hand, Dustin and the crew decided to build a wall of rocks above the dive hole to slow down the speed of white water. This solution aimed to help the team dive safely and effectively into the water.

Reflecting on the strategy, Gold Rush: White Water star Dustin admitted that while they won't be able to stop the fast current of white water, they could at least try to slow it down enough to work in it. Frustrated by the intense conditions, he described the situation as "getting out of hand."

"So right now we're just trying to slow down some of the white water. We won't ever stop it. We should slow it down enough to work in it, because right now it's getting out of hand," he said in the episode.

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Gold Rush: White Water crew faces several issues before failing to find any gold

In Gold Rush: White Water season 9 episode 3, the crew was very close to a big payday after discovering a gold nugget in Nugget Creek. All the pressure was on Dustin's crew, as he couldn't dive due to a hand injury.

To find the gold, the cast had to first dive into the white water and remove the rocks and boulders at the bottom. However, diving in Nugget Creek's white water wasn't that easy. The river was moving with such speed that it became impossible for the divers to properly carry forward their operation.

To protect the divers and the dredge from immense force of the thousands of gallons per second of white water, the crew built a rear wall of rocks above the dive hole out into the center of the creek. This slowed down the current and allowed both divers to dredge again to find double the gold.

Gold Rush: White Water star Carlos Miner was excited about the solution, and he noted that the double dredge set up would allow them to double the progression of their operation.

Meanwhile, Dustin revealed that all of his saving was gone and he was in debt. He hoped to find significant gold deposit as soon as possible or they would have to shut their operation at the Nugget Creek.

Soon, Dustin, Carlos, and their crew started constructing the rear wall by lining up rocks they could pick up. To reposition the heavier ones, they used a pulley system with slings strong enough to handle the weight.

"Right there is our money maker. This is how we make a living. It's very important that we find gold, because this is not a hobby. That's our future," Carlos Miner said about the pulley system.

The rock wall eventually slowed down the water current, and the Gold Rush: White Water team was ready to dive. However, they encounter another problem: a big boulder.

The rear wall lowered the water level but there was a massive boulder below. The crew believed that the boulder was possibly blocking access to a gold-rich bedrock below, so they decided to blow it up.

After clearing the heavy boulder fragments from the dive hole, the team noticed the white water beginning to change color. Concerned, they decided to halt the operation and resume at a later time.

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Gold Rush: White Water season 9 episodes aired every Friday on Discovery.