As is conventional for the genre, Discovery reality show “Gold Rush” is just as much about interpersonal drama as it is the gold mining operations around which it revolves. Accordingly, many viewers tune in not just for insight into the mining business, but to watch the colorful personalities featured week after week.

Parker Schnabel is one of those personalities. At the series’ outset, Schnabel is a teenager, shadowing his experienced grandfather’s mining operation. Then, as “Gold Rush” progresses, viewers witness Schnabel grow into a leadership role himself, learning valuable lessons on the job as he goes.

Recently, fans have become worried about Schnabel, describing his demeanor as noticeably distant, perhaps indicative of stress. This is, of course, the culmination of becoming accustomed to Schnabel’s presence on the series for more than a decade, a situation in which a particular breed of fondness can grow between a reality show’s viewers and one of its subjects.

However, while Schnabel’s work life and daily struggles are oftentimes at the heart of a typical “Gold Rush” episode, arguably the most pause-worthy Parker Schnabel moment from throughout the “Gold Rush” franchise in its entirety is one in which Schnabel shares what sounds like a shocking financial insight into the gold mining business.

Parker Schnabel claims he pays employees $140,000 for six months of work

In Season 8, Episode 1 of “Gold Rush” aftershow “Gold Rush: The Dirt,” Parker Schnabel casually tells host Christo Doyle that he pays his employees “140 grand” for six months of mining work. After the episode aired, one user started a thread on the official “Gold Rush” subreddit titled “Where do I submit a resume? — Parker says he pays around $140k for 6 months of work…” with a screencap of Schnabel’s claim.

That said, as some fellow Reddit users pointed out in ensuing comments, that figure isn’t so straightforward. For example, one of the thread’s top comments, by user tmac_79, claims that “it might be more accurate to say 18 months of work compressed into 6 months.”

Meanwhile, user moon-worshiper explained that the amount is in Canadian dollars, equivalent to somewhere in the ballpark of 109 thousand USD. Ultimately, that’s equivalent to pay of around 63 USD an hour, which is considerably less than the $28 an hour Schnabel once revealed he pays new employees. Schnabel also mentioned, however, that bonuses factor significantly into his employees’ salaries, complicating this comparison even further.

So, while “140 Grand” may be a potentially faulty estimate shared off the top of his head rather than any sort of hard data, the fact Schnabel offhandedly promises such significant riches for his workers makes this the most pause-worthy Parker Schnabel moment in “Gold Rush” history, consequently sparking considerable discussion in the wake of its airing.

There’s a certain level of idealism that gets applied to prospectors in the Wild West. Anyone could move out to California and search for gold, and if you just happened to be in the right place at the right time, then you could become rich within a day. As it turns out, there are people out there who aren’t done searching for hidden treasure, and you can watch their exploits on the hit Discovery Channel series Gold Rush.

The series follows several different mining operations as they search for gold throughout various locales in America. While Parker Schnabel has had much of the focus since the reality TV show’s first season, another miner has risen through the ranks to become a fan favorite, and that is Rick Ness. He first appeared in season 3 of the show as part of Schnabel’s crew before he began his own independent operation in season 9. While fans of the show may think they know Rick Ness well since he’s earned so much attention on the series, there’s a lot you’ll only discover if you search behind the scenes.

Rick Ness tweeted about running for president in 2020

Rick Ness appears serious about his mining work on Gold Rush, but could he have a future in politics? That’s what it seemed like (however incredulously) on Twitter in January of 2019. He tweeted out to his thousands of followers this message, “I’m announcing my bid for the presidency of the United States for 2020 right now… my platform and my message is “Grow the **** up” my Party is “I like to party” I’ve heard gofundme is popular.. I’m gonna need some financing. Spread this!”

Plenty of fans responded to his tweet announcing their support for his theoretical presidential campaign. Some of the responses he got from this tweet include, “You have my vote!” and “Make the Klondike great again.” Of course, it appears as though his political aspirations were all in jest considering that was the last he spoke about running for president, and he didn’t appear on the 2020 ballot. It remains to be seen if he’ll take such a run more seriously come 2024, but it doesn’t seem likely.

Rick Ness lost his mother to brain cancer in 2018

Rick Ness was dealt a devastating blow in 2018. On March 20th of that year, his mother passed away from brain cancer (via PopCulture.com). Prior to the heartbreaking loss, Ness spent as much time with his mother as possible. He even had to go home midway through filming a season of Gold Rush to spend time with her before she passed. Ness later went to Twitter to inform his fans of the loss, “RIP Mom. 55 years young. She left us peacefully in her house and with my face resting against hers she took her last breath. It hurts. It’s not long enough. Cancer is the devil.”

For the following season of Gold Rush, Ness didn’t go into the wilderness alone. He brought his mother’s dog, Ruby, with him on his next expedition. Ruby served as a loving reminder and became a welcome presence on the series.

Rick Ness started out as a musician

Rick Ness didn’t always have aspirations to become a gold miner. In fact, after he sustained an injury playing football in college, he began practicing music (via Discovery GO). He started playing the upright bass and even started his own band called .357 Stringband. The band was relatively successful, releasing three albums over the course of seven years. The band ended up touring around the globe, and it was during a stop in Alaska where Ness met a certain miner named (you guessed it) Parker Schnabel.

Rick Ness expressed an interest in working with Schnabel despite not having any mining experience, but within a year, Schnabel contacted him and got him to work on Gold Rush season 3. What he lacked in experience he made up for in gumption, and he proved himself to be adept at working rock trucks and excavators. Schnabel soon promoted Ness to the position of foreman and sent him to run the company’s second operation located in Indian River.

Rick Ness has a twin brother

While they aren’t necessarily identical, Rick Ness does, in fact, have a twin brother named Randy. While it appears as though the two are fraternal twins as opposed to identical ones, the brothers appear close. In 2016, Rick took to Twitter to wish his brother (and in conjunction, himself) a happy birthday by writing, “This, believe it or not is my twin brother. It’s his birthday today which makes it mine [too]. Celebrating in Escanaba.”

From what we’ve been able to find, Randy Ness works as a mechanic for the family’s construction company. If you’re a fan of Gold Rush, then you may have seen Randy on one of the show’s television specials. He appears as himself in the TV documentary movie Gold Rush: The Rise of Rick Ness, and he appeared later in the 2020 TV movie Gold Rush: Rick’s Rally. By all accounts, the two brothers seem close, with them supporting one another in their respective endeavors.