Exclusive: ‘Gold Rush’ Rick Ness Gets Unexpected Visit From Landowner Troy Taylor
On the next Gold Rush, we check in with miner Rick Ness who has four years under his belt running his claim. Ness has bet his entire season on a deep cut, but it has not delivered so far.
In TV Shows Ace exclusive clip, Ness talks about his worries as he is 800 ounces short of his goal.
Will Ness hit the quality pay dirt and find the motherlode he needs to save his business and keep him in the mining game?
Rick Ness, Troy Taylor and the Duncan Creek claim
Troy Taylor put the news to Rick Ness in our clip below, and he wants Ness to buy the family out on the land and take over the claim.
Problem is, Ness is in a cash crunch.
After digging a million yards of overburden, Rick is 800 ounces short of his goal and as winter approaches, he still hasn’t
reached the high-grade pay layer he’s banking on.
Ness says: “I’m definitely glad that I am up here that I got away from Dawson, I mean, the ground is getting harder and
harder to find by the minute and I think I made my move at just the right time.”
Now in his fourth year running his own claim, Rick Ness is making big moves. He’s bet his entire season on a 190-foot deep cut
that could hold five million dollars in gold. But so far it hasn’t been delivered.
The struggle is real on Gold Rush
Deeply concerned, Ness says: “I am still worried about hitting our 2000 ounce goal because not only do I need to send all my guys home with, you know, plenty of gold in their pockets, I need it too. I can’t survive off of feeling proud of a giant hole we dug.”
Ness cedes that the “gold is good” so far but that “the stuff on the bottom is better.”
He adds that they are not there yet and need to score the gold out of the claim to be able to hit their goal. Then, the wildcard hits. Troy Taylor pays an unexpected visit.
Troy Taylor is the owner of the Duncan Creek claim that Rick is currently leasing and working. The visit is unexpected and you can see the tension on Ness’s face.
Sitting down in his office, Ness says: “So are you in the neighborhood, or is there something important? What’s going
on?”
Taylor cuts right to it and lays it out for Rick. He says: “Dad and I have been getting some inquiries into our property. and [I] hate to
put the pressure on you but…we’re ready to sell. We’re hoping that you are confident enough to buy us out.”
Watch the episode to see if any light emerges at the end of a long dark tunnel for Ness.
Gold Rush airs Friday at 8 PM ET/PT on Discovery.
In addition to watching the series on Discovery, viewers can check out new episodes each week on DiscoveryGO. Additionally, viewers can join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #GoldRush.
