Discussion
Zad said:
2.5 ounces?! At a rough calculation that is about 20 minutes worth of production at the Schnabel mine. I'm glad I didn't invest much time in that series then. Parker's dog picks up more than that with his paws. I guess that shows just how much money the producers pump into a show if they can make that farce profitable for the people concerned.
Todd allegedly bankrolled the entire operation, which speaks volumes.They were just about to hit the pay streak when rain literally stopped play, all pretty obviously set up to lead to another series, but I doubt the viewing figures are great.
Agreed on Dustin, a very unlikeable character and a typical spoiled child.
I didn't like Dustin in the main series, he seemed more interested in just being nasty to people than actually making money. Tony Beets is a pretty good villain, screwing Parker for double royalties and treating those two old guys like he did a couple of seasons ago when they were moving that dredge. At least he can actually walk the walk though, and it seems like Parker is finally getting his freedom - Tony is really going to miss his 20% of 5000 ounces.
I'm sure the pay streak they conveniently found at the end of the season will turn out to be not much. It never has in previous series anyway.
I'm sure the pay streak they conveniently found at the end of the season will turn out to be not much. It never has in previous series anyway.
Ructions said:
Dustin and Fred finished the season on a mighty 2.5 ounces, but they are coming back for another season.
It's pretty clear that they were playing at mining that river and got the TV company to pay for it. If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
youngsyr said:
It's pretty clear that they were playing at mining that river and got the TV company to pay for it.
If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
I don’t believe you’re allowed to divert a river as such. Didn’t watch their spin off - was it worth it?If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
Shame Tod and co aren’t back next year!
Zad said:
At least he can actually walk the walk though, and it seems like Parker is finally getting his freedom - Tony is really going to miss his 20% of 5000 ounces.
It's Tony's land though and the gold isn't going anywhere. So he can just find someone else to mine it @ 20% or do it himself in future.The whole royalty deal seems odd though. It's all based on trust it would appear. Sure Tony thinks that Parker should mine 5k in a season and any less than that and he'll kick Parker off. But he's taking Parker's word that he washed 6.5k and not 9k - unless he's present during every clean-up from start to finish.
The Moose said:
youngsyr said:
It's pretty clear that they were playing at mining that river and got the TV company to pay for it.
If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
I don’t believe you’re allowed to divert a river as such. Didn’t watch their spin off - was it worth it?If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
Shame Tod and co aren’t back next year!
Also, you wouldn't have to divert it through the landscape, with a bit of engineering nouse they could pipe it around the tiny area where they were working.
The fact that they spent all day and $'000s trying to move a rock the size of a foot stool tells you all you need to know about how serious they were.
TEKNOPUG said:
Zad said:
At least he can actually walk the walk though, and it seems like Parker is finally getting his freedom - Tony is really going to miss his 20% of 5000 ounces.
It's Tony's land though and the gold isn't going anywhere. So he can just find someone else to mine it @ 20% or do it himself in future.The whole royalty deal seems odd though. It's all based on trust it would appear. Sure Tony thinks that Parker should mine 5k in a season and any less than that and he'll kick Parker off. But he's taking Parker's word that he washed 6.5k and not 9k - unless he's present during every clean-up from start to finish.
Tony is no saint for sure and he has royally screwed people over (including Parker with the unsigned contract) but let's not also forget that Tony acted as Parker's mentor for at least a season and Parker was a totally green miner when Tony took him under his wing.
As for the royalty deal, it seems pretty straight forward, Tony knows roughly how much gold is in the ground from his own tests, so it's just a simple calculation of yards run (which he can visually check by the size of the hole) multiplied by expected Oz per yard.
I'm sure some miners aren't totally upfront with the amounts recovered, but you're not going to be under producing consistently and expect to retain the lease and a good name in the small mining community.
Let's not forget the controls around actually cleaning/selling the gold...
I'd suggest it's really rather difficult to squirrel gold away in anything like the quantities to make the risk worthwhile.
Although I've always been a tad suspicious of Todd's cleanups. Parker said something on the after show once about the 'behaviours' that giving your crew a cut of the gold rather than a salary (with perhaps a bonus) might develop...
I'd suggest it's really rather difficult to squirrel gold away in anything like the quantities to make the risk worthwhile.
Although I've always been a tad suspicious of Todd's cleanups. Parker said something on the after show once about the 'behaviours' that giving your crew a cut of the gold rather than a salary (with perhaps a bonus) might develop...
youngsyr said:
The Moose said:
youngsyr said:
It's pretty clear that they were playing at mining that river and got the TV company to pay for it.
If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
I don’t believe you’re allowed to divert a river as such. Didn’t watch their spin off - was it worth it?If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
Shame Tod and co aren’t back next year!
Also, you wouldn't have to divert it through the landscape, with a bit of engineering nouse they could pipe it around the tiny area where they were working.
The fact that they spent all day and $'000s trying to move a rock the size of a foot stool tells you all you need to know about how serious they were.
I guess what you can say is that they have spent a season figuring out how to do it. If they returned and begun as they finished - proper cables set up, better diversion/protection in place, rock removal equipment in place etc, I'm sure it could be profitable. But they are always at the mercy of the weather/creek so it's will be a big gamble every time. Which probably explains why no one else has invested time/money into doing it. Would be interested to see the whole of Dustin's claim and whether there is a better stretch of creek to work on.
youngsyr said:
The Moose said:
youngsyr said:
It's pretty clear that they were playing at mining that river and got the TV company to pay for it.
If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
I don’t believe you’re allowed to divert a river as such. Didn’t watch their spin off - was it worth it?If they were serious they would have brought heavy machinery in, clearing a path as they went and damned and diverted the river.
That tiny little dredge was a joke.
Shame Tod and co aren’t back next year!
Also, you wouldn't have to divert it through the landscape, with a bit of engineering nouse they could pipe it around the tiny area where they were working.
The fact that they spent all day and $'000s trying to move a rock the size of a foot stool tells you all you need to know about how serious they were.
Also looks like Rick isn't fully coming back next year...
You would never be allowed to divert /block the river I wouldnt have thought under environmental and ecological protection.
Finally got round to the final round of Gold Rush - Todds operation was a joke in the end, no wonder he's not coming back next year. Also not a great advert for Volvo that at one point 3 of their 4 rock trucks were stopped waiting for spares, and by the sounds of things all were drive-shaft issues. Tony and Parker did a decent job and actually look like professional miners earning enough money to carry on without the TV money.
Finally got round to the final round of Gold Rush - Todds operation was a joke in the end, no wonder he's not coming back next year. Also not a great advert for Volvo that at one point 3 of their 4 rock trucks were stopped waiting for spares, and by the sounds of things all were drive-shaft issues. Tony and Parker did a decent job and actually look like professional miners earning enough money to carry on without the TV money.
Condi said:
Tony and Parker did a decent job and actually look like professional miners earning enough money to carry on without the TV money.
I'd really like to see an accurate P&L Statements for each operation.I would love to know what it really cost to get 6,000oz of gold out the ground!
The Moose said:
I'd really like to see an accurate P&L Statements for each operation.
I would love to know what it really cost to get 6,000oz of gold out the ground!
I seem to recall Tony talking about costs and returns when he was discussing his dredging last season. I think it worked out about 80%/20% cost to profit ratio mining in a fashion like Parker's operation but the opposite using the gredge (ie 20%/80%). So on that basis if gold is about $1200 per ounce, for arguments sake, Parker would be getting $1.4m profit having incurred $5.76m in operating costs. Tony's dredging on those sums, plus his royalties from Parker, makes it a very worthwhile investment for the future and explains how it is so easy for him to spend so much money on barges, equipment, dredge upgrades, planes etc. I know the operating costs for Parker would flesh out as the initial capital expenditure is amortised over several seasons, so there would actually be more profit than the basic sums show, but it's a high level indicator.I would love to know what it really cost to get 6,000oz of gold out the ground!
Sway said:
Parker has done some good work on reducing his costs - the mega conveyor that pretty much eliminates rock trucks is a very nice touch.
The costs for equipment are pretty big - both initial procurement then maintenance.
Except that, as we've discussed before, the crews aren't paying anything like the full cost of hiring/buying their equipment. Volvo sponsor the show and are no doubt providing a lot of the kit and parts for nothing.The costs for equipment are pretty big - both initial procurement then maintenance.
rgw2012 said:
The Moose said:
I'd really like to see an accurate P&L Statements for each operation.
I would love to know what it really cost to get 6,000oz of gold out the ground!
I seem to recall Tony talking about costs and returns when he was discussing his dredging last season. I think it worked out about 80%/20% cost to profit ratio mining in a fashion like Parker's operation but the opposite using the gredge (ie 20%/80%). So on that basis if gold is about $1200 per ounce, for arguments sake, Parker would be getting $1.4m profit having incurred $5.76m in operating costs. Tony's dredging on those sums, plus his royalties from Parker, makes it a very worthwhile investment for the future and explains how it is so easy for him to spend so much money on barges, equipment, dredge upgrades, planes etc. I know the operating costs for Parker would flesh out as the initial capital expenditure is amortised over several seasons, so there would actually be more profit than the basic sums show, but it's a high level indicator.I would love to know what it really cost to get 6,000oz of gold out the ground!
rgw2012 said:
The Moose said:
I'd really like to see an accurate P&L Statements for each operation.
I would love to know what it really cost to get 6,000oz of gold out the ground!
I seem to recall Tony talking about costs and returns when he was discussing his dredging last season. I think it worked out about 80%/20% cost to profit ratio mining in a fashion like Parker's operation but the opposite using the gredge (ie 20%/80%). So on that basis if gold is about $1200 per ounce, for arguments sake, Parker would be getting $1.4m profit having incurred $5.76m in operating costs. Tony's dredging on those sums, plus his royalties from Parker, makes it a very worthwhile investment for the future and explains how it is so easy for him to spend so much money on barges, equipment, dredge upgrades, planes etc. I know the operating costs for Parker would flesh out as the initial capital expenditure is amortised over several seasons, so there would actually be more profit than the basic sums show, but it's a high level indicator.I would love to know what it really cost to get 6,000oz of gold out the ground!
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