Season 1[edit] The first season (show named Gold Rush: Alaska) featured six men from Sandy, Oregon (a small town 30 miles southeast of Portland) who, due to the economic downturn, have lost their jobs. They decided on an all-stakes gamble – travel to Porcupine Creek, Alaska and prospect for gold. Most of the people on the show have little or no previous gold mining experience and must learn on the job. Season 2[edit] For season 2 (show renamed to Gold Rush") Todd missed a lease payment on Porcupine Creek and "Dakota" Fred Hurt buys the claim out from owner Earl Foster, not needing to break the lease due to the missed payment.[1] The season explores the Hoffman crew's new mine at Quartz Creek, in the Klondike region of the Yukon, Canada as well as "Dakota" Fred's operation at the site of the original Hoffman mine, Porcupine Creek, and Parker Schnabel's attempts to mine his grandfather's property at Big Nugget Mine. Porcupine Creek(Hurt et al.): 80.4oz $125,000 Big Nugget Mine(Schnabel et al.): 34oz $55,000 Quartz Creek(Hoffman et al.): 93.5oz $150,000 Season 3[edit] The third season began in October 2012. The Hoffman crew returned to the Klondike to once again mine the Quartz Creek site but also brought on additional crewmen to simultaneously work another site in the area. But with Hoffman having delays and equipment trouble at his site they decided to merge. Parker Schnabel returned to the Big Nugget Mine site with larger and more efficient equipment while "Dakota" Fred Hurt and his crew returned to the Porcupine Creek site. The Hoffman crew mined 803oz. of gold earning them over 1.28 million dollars, Parker and Dakota Fred both mined 191oz. and 163oz. worth over a quarter million dollars each. This in comparison to the first season where nobody earned more than 20oz. of gold.
Season 4[edit] The fourth season began airing August 2013 and started with a pre-season episode called "The Dirt" featuring interviews with all of the teams featured in season three. "Gold Rush: South America" features the Hoffman crew in South America, Parker Schnabel guest mining on new land with mentor Tony Beets, and Dakota Fred Hurt and his son Dustin mining at Cahoon Creek, a hard to reach, post glacial area only mined with pickaxes in the late 1800's. The real Season 4 premier is October 25, 2013.