‘Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail’: Dangerous Rock Falls Worry Team in Exclusive Clip

Parker Schnabel’s dream of finding gold in Papua New Guinea could all come crashing down around him — literally — if the Gold Rush mine boss isn’t careful.

In an exclusive clip of Friday’s all-new episode of Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail, Parker and his crew are still looking for the payload in the middle of a quartz vein they hope is rich with gold on the last day there.

“These boys just told me I just got down to the vein,” Karla Ann Charlton tells the camera with mild frustration in her voice. “It still runs pretty deep. We got a lot of digging to do.”

For Parker, exploring forms of mining different than the heavy duty operations he’s used to in the Yukon is all part of the battle.

“I really want to learn more about this whole process, and it’s really just a matter of finding the best part of that vein by panning and then just start pressing,” he explains, adding to his crew as a pep talk, “There’s a lot of steps that need to be taken, but the first one is just to see what we can do to find some gold today and take it from there.”

With only eight to 10 “little lines of quartz” in the rock formation, Parker explains it’s going to be “one small one that’s carrying the gold we need to help find.”

“I’m sure it’s, like, that wide,” he sighs, holding up his fingers in a tiny pinch.

And with some parts of the vein holding gold and others not, Karla Ann knew it would be process of elimination, telling the camera of her next move, “I’m just gonna start testing each layer and hopefully we’ll find some gold.”

It’s not made easier by the crumbling nature of the rocks hanging above them.

“We’re in a pretty vulnerable spot right now, so we’ve got a spotter that’s just gonna let us know if there’s any falling rock,” she worries. “We’ll try to work hard and fast and try to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Even those safety measures might not be enough to keep everyone going home in one piece, with the clip cutting out just a second after Parker himself appears to knock a large portion of rock right onto the head of a crew member working below him. Is the hunt for gold ending in blood?

Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Photo credit: Discovery