In this episode of "Gold Rush" Todd Hoffman and crew are in Guyana searching for land that reaps $60/yd of gold compared to the $10/yd that was the norm in the Klondike which is in the Yukon area of north western Canada.
In this episode of "Gold Rush" Todd Hoffman and crew are in Guyana searching for land that reaps $60/yd of gold compared to the $10/yd that was the norm in the Klondike which is in the Yukon area of north western Canada.
Guyana’s weather is suitable for year-round mining; unlike the Klondike season of 150 to 160 days. The crew meets with Todd’s friend and contact a Klondike miner named Marshall, who arranges a meeting with a “powerful” Guyanese claim owner named Ed Hopkinson. Hopkinson shows them a huge nine-ounce nugget worth about US$14,000 and gives them permission to prospect his claim at Maple Creek.
The Hoffman crew fly to Mahadia where the Maple Creek claim is located and the reality of their task begins to set in as the aircraft that brought them to the dense jungle, departs. They begin their trek through the dense jungle in a pick-up truck that sways and bumps violently through sticky mud. They have to traverse, creeks, and hills and meet their first major obstacle by getting caught in a muddy ravine.
After traveling by boat and foot and arriving at the site, they are extremely disappointed and surprised to find it’s already been mined. So, they’ll have to move on. Marshall then suggests going the next day to another site worth mining on the paleochannel where he thinks the gold has settled. The property looks good, but they need an excavator, so Todd and Jack go off to find one in the middle of the jungle.
Todd finds and rents an excavator, the only excavator they could use, for US$6000 for two days, 6 times the going rate in the Klondike. When they return Freddy and Dave are already mining two different sides of the claim. Dave found nothing at his site but Freddy thinks he found a pan showing $50/yd. Unfortunately there are illegal miners on the property.
Todd and Jack approach the miners’ camp cautiously and after a discussion the illegal miners agree to move on easily with no controversy.
Todd calls Ed Hopkinson to give him the good news but Ed tells him that he leased that section to someone named Tony Mekdeci, which means another round of negotiations.
Todd finds Tony Mekdeci sitting in a wheel chair, pigeon shooting and the negotiations begin with Tony asking Todd to demonstrate his shooting skills. Tony asked about the Klondike season and agreed to grant them the period of 150 to 160 days by which time he would be ready to negotiate based on the Hoffman crew’s performance.
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Notes:
A palaeochannel or paleochannel is a remnant of an inactive river or stream channel that has been either filled or buried by younger sediment. The sediments that the ancient channel is either cut into or buried by, can be either unconsolidated, semi-consolidated, consolidated, or lithified. The word palaeochannel is formed from the words "palaeo" or 'old', and channel; i.e.; a palaeochannel is an old channel. This may be synonymous with palaeovalley and palaeoriver.
Anthony “Tony” Mekdeci, is a retired Colonel Guyana Defense Force, Former Director of Civil Aviation and Chief Executive Officer of Ogle Airport He was injured in a crash in 1976 while piloting an Alouette II helicopter in Guyana.
Edward G. Hopkinson, is a former Commissioner of Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and member of the Board of Directors of Cinro Resources Inc. Mr. Hopkinson has over 40 years of mining experience in Guyana and is designated a Geologist and Engineer.
Cinro is a Canadian exploration company dedicated to the exploration of precious metals and gold deposits in Guyana, South America.
