Gold Rush‘s Fred Lewis has to grin and bear it when it comes to asking Parker Schnabel for help in a mining season gone all wrong. The experienced miner is shocked to see how Lewis’ operation is running when he comes to the rescue in a PopCulture.com exclusive sneak peek of Friday’s all-new episode of Gold Rush.
The biggest issue Lewis is having is with his wash plant. “If we don’t feed it exactly right, it doesn’t work right,” he tells Schnabel, explaining that if they “overfeed the wash plant half a scoop,” it overflows right away. “So we’re just stuck basically feeding one bucket every two minutes,” he explains, which is delaying their mining significantly. As Schnabel inspects the equipment, asking follow-up questions about what Lewis’ crew is working with, he spots something major.
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Grabbing a huge rock up out of the sluice box, Schnabel explains Lewis has “a tiny little flake of gold fighting a rock that size,” pointing out that “nothing’s coming off your top deck,” which means “there’s no f-king point of having it really.” As Lewis hems and haws, Schnabel goes over to look at it and finds himself shocked by “huge gaps” in the screen. “Yeah, the screens keep sliding down,” Lewis explains. “We even tried welding them together and they keep breaking. A big part broke off right here.”
When Schnabel asks how long the whole operation has been running like this, Lewis answers sheepishly, “The whole season,” telling his fellow miner, “We’re in scramble mode now, just trying to make it last the rest of the season.” Schnabel’s even more shocked when he asks, “Did you only get one set of screens?” to which Lewis answers in the affirmative. “For the whole season?” Schnabel presses, as Lewis nods once again. “Ok well, that’s a f-k-up, Fred,” Schnabel says. “Well, I’m learning now,” Lewis responds. “That’s why you’re here.”
Lewis admits he didn’t think the screens “would wear out this fast,” to which Schnabel gives him a reality check. “We’ve gone through a hundred grand worth of screens this summer,” he tells him, to which Lewis responds, “Whew, OK.” Will Lewis be able to save his mining season still? Gold Rush airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery.
