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‘Gold Rush’ Update: Parker Schnabel Explains Why Todd Hoffman Can’t Find Gold

By Georgia Makitalo
Published on: 13:53 PST, Feb 5, 2017

Gold Rush Season 7 has been quite a tough one for Todd Hoffman and his crew. After struggling through two unsuccessful mining claims in Oregon, which resulted in the Hoffman crew, even including Dave Turin, abandoning Todd.

Now, there seems to be gold in at least one claim in Colorado, thanks to long-time Hoffman pal Freddie Dodge. So, why has Todd Hoffman had so many issues getting gold after six seasons, while the other stars of the show have been making millions? Young rival Parker Schnabel has a couple of ideas why, as does on again, off again member of the Hoffman crew, Dave Turin.

Recently, Starcasm reported that Parker Schnabel held a Facebook Live Q&A, answering questions from whether he was getting married, to what sorts of toppings he liked on his pizza. One fan actually asked about a mining question, this time about Todd Hoffman. Everyone knows that the Hoffman crew has been working without a paycheck. The fan asked Parker, “Do you feel for Todd?”

“Not really. You know, he left a very successful season in the Yukon. There’s a reason that we all come up here to mine. There’s a lot of gold up here. You know, you can’t always get what you want as far as being close to home and finding all the gold. If it were as simple as that, everybody would be millionaires from gold mining, right? You gotta go where the gold is.”

Parker’s response was that of an experienced miner that does things the right way and stays the course. He admonishes Hoffman’s strategy to leave a successful mine for the comforts of home and insinuates that the sacrifice of being away from home and family is part of the gold mining experience.

Last year, in Gold Rush Season 6, Parker Schnabel and his crew mined 3,372 ounces of gold, while Todd Hoffman and his crew mined an astounding 3,032 ounces of gold, about 10 percent less than the Schnabel crew. This year, Hoffman will need a miracle to get half of that.

Even a member of Hoffman’s crew agrees with Parker. Before Gold Rush Season 7 aired, the Inquisitr reported that Dave Turin figured that part of the problem this past season is that the crew did not work together.

“We were in Baker City, that’s one of the reasons we were so excited about the season. [W]e’re gone six months out of the year, which is very difficult. We were all so excited to be back in Oregon. But we weren’t eating our meals together, we weren’t living in close proximity. We had some people living in rental homes, some in an RV park. We didn’t have that time to air out our differences.”

“Later, on the Facebook Q&A, when Parker is asked “How come we don’t see any test holes being drilled?” he takes this opportunity to point out the error of Hoffman’s mining ways. Sounds like Parker is pointing out some sloppy work.”

“We still do that. We still do a lot of drilling. It’s a key part of mining. If you watch Todd Hoffman gold mine, you’ll see why that you should probably do a lot of test drilling before you go mining. The reason that it doesn’t make it on the show is because usually it’s happening a lot of times when we’re not around. Early spring is the best time to drill — March and April. And we’re not always filming then, or we’re just starting up filming.”

A few years ago, Todd Hoffman and his crew went down to South America to mine for gold. He and a few members of his crew went to Guyana for a disastrous mining experience. So far, Oregon has been a bust, and with less than a half season left, in order to break even in Colorado, Todd and his reunited crew are going to need a miracle.

What do you think of Parker’s explanation of why Todd Hoffman has had so much trouble finding gold this season? Do you think that the Hoffman crew will make money this season?

[Featured Image by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]

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