After two years of equipment breakdowns, infighting and battling Mother Nature, the crew finally strikes it rich. Hit series GOLD RUSH returns to Discovery for a third season.


To even come close to this seemingly impossible goal, Hoffman has to make some drastic changes from last season. He needs to double down on his crew, equipment, wash plants and yes, even his claims. But that takes some serious money and he needs to secure an investor to fund this supersized operation. To add to his challenges, Hoffman's right-hand-man Dave Turin is fed up with his mining tactics and will only return to the Klondike with the Hoffman crew if he is allowed to run the second claim his own way, splitting the original mining team in two.

GOLD RUSH - "Million Dollar Season"
It took two years to get here, but now four competing gold mining crews have made it to the big leagues. Setting up the high-stakes season, highlights include:

- After finding just 35 ounces of gold last year, worth about US$56,000, 18-year-old Parker Schnabel has to prove to his grandfather, John Schnabel, that he's got what it takes to be a real Alaskan gold miner. He hires a new crew, mines new land and rebuilds his aging wash plant from the ground up. And it pays off. In one week Parker gets more gold out of Big Nugget than all of last season. But can he keep up the momentum and turn a profit for the mine - and for his grandpa?

- Across the creek from Parker is the Porcupine Creek mine, run by "Dakota Fred" Hurt and his son Dustin - and their plans are just as big. They pulled in 80.4 ounces last year, worth about US$128,000, but that just whet their appetite. The weather turned last season just as they hit bedrock at the bottom of the mine - a spot thought to contain millions of dollars-worth of gold. With a female miner joining the Dakota Boys this season, they excavate a 27-meter crater and deal with the effects of the worst winter in 50 years to get to the gold.

- In their quest to find 1,000 ounces of gold this season, more than 10-times the amount they found last season, the Hoffmans double down with two claims, two wash plants, twice the crew and twice the equipment. And at his insistence, Dave Turin leads the second mine, forcing the Hoffman crew to pick sides. Half of the original crew chooses to mine with Turin and the strategy pays off. Between the two mines they break all previous gold counts - but the pressure to get to 1,000 ounces drives a wedge between the crews and it's a battle between Team Todd and Team Turin for who can produce the most gold.