Tyson Lee Gets Emotional Amid Ex-Crew Member’s Leukemia Battle

Rick Ness found himself against the ropes this season on Gold Rush. Smelling blood in the water, fellow miners Parker Schnabel and Tony Beets went as far as to buy his operation. However, the underdog isn’t giving up with hope in the final weeks at Vegas Valley. 

Tony’s son Kevin is feeling growing pains in his second year in the role of mine boss. Much like Rick, he is drowning in bills and is counting on substantial clean-up to get him anywhere close to reaching his 2,000-ounce target. Parker has high hopes to make his own 10,000-ounce objective as gold prices soar. 

Read to to see how the guys did during the April 10 episode of the Discovery Channel series. 

Rick Ness

Rick Ness (Discovery Channel)

It’s do or die for Rick at Duncan Creek with plans the pay dirt will turn things around. Seven weeks ago Rick opened up the Valhalla Cut, investing a million dollars. There 150 feet of overburden was removed until reaching a dead end. He made safe passage for the equipment to run to mine a pit of 200 feet of the richest pay. The piles have begun to be moved to Monster Red. 

After a two-month drought, the team finally are primed to add to their gold numbers. Just as things were looking up, a rock tire went flat. Luckily, there was a spare and another truck for operator Kai Shallcross to get into. The hits kept coming with another truck having a broken drive shaft. The crew needed to shut the plant down after only two days running to get the two trucks back on the road. After eight weeks without sluicing, Rick and his team came together for the weigh-in. There was 100 ounces in one can and another 105.4 ounces. That’s 205.4 worth just over $730,000. Time is running out, but Rick felt they were on the right path. 

Parker Schnabel

Parker Schnabel (Discovery Channel)

Parker wanted to keep the momentum going after crossing the $30 million mark. His strategy was simple, and that keeps the four wash plants running. The 31-year-old put pressure on foreman Tyson as he oversaw GG and Big Red at the Golden Mile with Bob in the Bridge Cut. The latter ran into issues with its shaker deck. The mechanics found structural cracks in the screen deck. Tyson told Parker that Bob needed a new screen deck. Parker’s idea was to take Bob out and move Sluicifer in. “I want Bob back in the pit though by the end of the week,” Parker said.

Tyson Lee

Tyson thought it was a dangerous game playing musical wash plants during the colder time of year. If you’re keeping score, he had to do four equipment moves in one week with the hope of limiting downtime. Another barrier was the screen deck replacement was  in Vancouver Island, so it was about getting it 1,800 miles to Dominion Creek. Tyson got emotional as he would normally call his secret weapon during trying times in Mike Tupper. The past member of the crew was diagnosed with leukemia and is currently going through chemo. Tyson has known Mike since he was 13 and is heartbroken about his friend. He gave his mentor a call to check in and find out how he was doing. Mike motivated Tyson to move forward. He also used his resources to help expedite the screen deck delivery process. The part came in and was quickly installed. The crew convened for the weigh-in starting with Bob that ran for 37 hours at 35.60 ounces. Sluicifer stepped in this week for 35 hours at 32.55 ounces. Big Red in the Golden Mile added 143.15 ounces. Gigi generated 187.05 ounces. Roxanne at Ken and Stuart’s brought in 150.20 ounces. The five-plant blitz totaled 548.55 ounces at nearly $2 million this week. 

Kevin Beets

Kevin Beets (Discovery Channel)

Kevin’s partner Faith Teng broke the bad news that after looking at the books, they were way behind their goal and drowning in debt. She floated the idea of maybe Kevin asking his father Tony for help. “We just have to work our asses off,” Kevin responded, not wanting to take that route. With less than a month left, they were around a thousand ounces left into their goal. His crew spent 10 weeks mining the Sphynx Cut, but it hadn’t delivered the gold he needed just yet. 

To help keep the plant running 24/7, he called in veteran Gary Masters. He worked last season and brought 15 years experience running a loader. He recently got married, so he cut the honeymoon a bit short. “I don’t mind,” Gary added. 

Troubles mounted when Kevin was called over due to broken grizzly bars, meaning the plant had to shut down. The bars stopped big rocks from going through. Crossbeans ran between the grizzlies, so they must heat the steel bars and bend the beams back into position. Once in place the crew welded a support bracket at each end to secure them. Overall, the downtime for six hours cost $16,000 in lost production. Faith and Kevin weighed two weeks worth of gold, which totaled 221.87 ounces worth $798,000. The ground picked up a little, pushing 1,215 ounces total for the season. 

Gold Rush, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel