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Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice takes viewers on new search for gold

By Mechele R. Dillard on 2012-08-22
Bering Sea Gold

For Discovery Channel fans looking for Alaskan gold, Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice begins mining this Friday.

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For fans who have a hot case of gold rush fever, Discovery Channel is introducing a new five-part series, Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice, premiering this Friday, August 24.

In Nome, Alaska, the winters are brutally cold and everything is frozen. But, there is still a gold rush going on for the daring gold miners who are willing to find it beneath four feet of solid ice on the Bering Sea floor. Cutting through the ice to reach the black sea waters below, the brave men and women—actually, woman—have only an omnipresent fear of death and the physiological and psychological effects of cold water diving under solid ice, including hypothermia, hypoxia, hypercapnia, vertigo, and frostbite, separating them from their fortunes.

Gold-rich rivers flow into the Bering Sea, depositing high concentrations of gold. Erosive forces strip continental rocks of their gold and carry it to the Bering Sea. And, bedrock sources push auriferous debris up to the Bering Sea floor. But, during the winter months, approximately two miles of solid ice covers the gold-rich mining area, preventing miners from doing their work when the weather is at its coldest.

Until now.

Ice Hole Gold Miners on Discovery Channel

Now, miners—“ice hole gold miners”—will tell their stories of how they risk everything to go underneath the ice and bring back the highly sought-after precious metal the world demands.

"The American Dream is very much alive, though, as you can see on Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice, people are finding it in the most unlikely and challenging places." said Nancy Daniels, Executive Vice President, Production and Development, Discovery Channel. "Cutting a hole through four feet thick ice and diving to the bottom of the Bering Sea, these modern-day gold miners show their determination and grit, and the depths they will go to earn a living."

Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice follows three gold mining teams run by driven dredge captains whose very livelihoods depend on mining this wet and frozen gold. Split second thinking, extreme focus, and team work are key to staying alive under the ice. The risks are great, and the payoff even greater.

Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice, from Thom Beers’ Original Productions, the creators of the Emmy Award-winning Deadliest Catch, premieres on Discovery Channel this Friday, August 24, at 9 PM/ET.

UPDATE: Underdogs on top of gold haul

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Image: Discovery Channel

Video: Discovery Channel/YouTube

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#1 Ice hole gold

Submitted by Smokin Joe (not verified) on 2012-08-22.

You could get a better story from Rob Hehnlin and Andrew Lee that tried ice hole mining the previous winter (2010/2011). They were going to be featured this past year but there were problems with Discoverys' filming crews and they also had priorities for the 2012 dredging season which were more important as the filming crew that eventually wound up doing the project were too late. Rob and Andrew are now working with Craig Coggins on the Casa DePaga dredging on the high seas. Rob and Andrew did lease their 10" dredge to one of the crews that Discovery was filming this summer. Three of us beach miners were the ones that called 911 to save John Bunche, a crew member that tried swim out to the 10" dredge in a heavy fog and almost drowned. Strangely we never did get a "Thank You" from John for saving his life.