Gold Rush Announces Season 16 Premiere Date as Stakes Reach an ‘All-Time High’

Gold Rush is back with “unprecedented” gold prices and “all-time high” stakes.

Discovery’s hit series returns for its 16th season on Friday, Nov. 7, bringing back Parker Schnabel, Tony Beets and Rick Ness for a “cutthroat scramble where loyalties are tested, tensions run high, and fortunes hang in the balance.”

With gold prices “skyrocketing to an unprecedented $3,800 an ounce,” Discovery announced Friday that the “stakes are at an all-time high” at the start of Season 16.

“With only a few short months to mine, top bosses and rising underdogs collide in a race to claim new ground, move more dirt, and strike it rich,” according to the season description. It’s going to be a profitable season, Discovery teased, as the miners are set to hit nearly $100 million collectively and mark the “biggest pay day in Gold Rush history.”

Schnabel returns after the “most disappointing season of his career,” determined to reclaim his spot at the top. Scaling up to a massive operation with more than 60 machines, four wash plants and a “bold new team structure,” Schnabel is hitting more than $100,000 a day in operating costs, but if his gamble pays off, he could see the most lucrative season of his lifetime.

Beets comes into this season after breaking records last year, but the King of the Klondike’s early $500,000 strike could still be derailed due to family turmoil and a record number of crew firings. Meanwhile, eldest son Kevin Beets is determined to double last year’s gold total as the second-year mine boss attempts to prove he’s ready for his own operation.

Ness is also coming off a “jackpot” season, but starts this year without a water license, a claim, and a large portion of his crew. A “bold wager” on a new piece of ground offers him a chance at redemption, but with “mounting pressure, dwindling resources and a skeleton crew,” Ness has to turn things around or risk selling everything, leaving millions on the table.

Gold Rush returns for Season 16 on Friday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery.