Take a good look, Scottie, he said. I feel that resonates with people on a pretty personal level. Season 1 Ep 11. On the morning of May 11, the cast and crew arrived at Kotoka International Airport. Upon meeting me, hed asked hopefully if I was with Raw, heralding the return of Jungle Gold. It could be a painful reality but that's the way it is. Interview from the Chicago Resource Expo with George Wright & Scott Lomu from Discovery Channles hit show Jungle Gold Within one season, they were being accused of racism, exploitation, destroying the environment and even murder. It was shown because it's the main way of gold recovery in Africa, what they didn't show in the show was us trying to get our workers to wear gloves, our seeking for other separating methods that ultimately we didn't have money for at the time etc. Wright, 32, a mixed martial arts enthusiast with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, grew up in California before moving to Utah at 16. There were things we didnt expect, things that normally wouldnt happen to us happened because the cameras were there, said Lomu. We didnt think it would make us look cool and it certainly didnt.. of this type of mining? Macias took his own life, and the wheels were set in motion for their star-crossed show. They hoped early struggles would lead to large profits by the end of the 10-episode run, benefiting . Desperate for cash, he recruited two men he thought would make enthusiastic gold dealers. Stars of Jungle Gold, George Wright and Scott Lomu, join MSNBC's Alex Witt to talk about their show. I guess this is what your generation who grew up in a fancy world is all about. So if you ask us a question, we'll get you answered. A soaring Mormon temple, one of only three on the continent, sits in the heart of Accras commercial district, surrounded by European embassies. A rosy conclusion to Season 1 looked unlikely. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . The camera catches a masked African man dashing into the jungle, a submachine gun in one hand and Lomus gold bar in the other. As many obstacles as theyve faced, theyve also learned from them and made smart decisions as well. Viewers were shocked that Americans would broadcast illegal mining, and activists claimed throwing money at people unused to financial decision-making was a mistake. Season 2 of Jungle Gold premiered in the U.S. on Aug. 11, 2013. Back in 2009, Scott Lomu and George Wright, two clean living Mormons, were trying to find a way to make money after suffering huge losses when the housing bubble popped the year before. They abandon $20-60 thousand dollar machines, ( 2 excavators, and a wash plant) in the jungle while they fly back and forth to Utah for two years to whine and complain about how bad there lives are and to beg more money from really stupid investors. The cast and crew pulled into Fahiakobo that March. And yes, I have heard many of them are gone. When Lomu proposed gold dealing in Ghana, Macias needed no convincing. IE 11 is not supported. | December 22, 2022 management team. TV-PG. It was another disaster. It begins now, Wright wrote. People were actually angry! Donkor told me. This was a good start. The California gold rush of the mid19th century coincided with the Mormon pioneers arrival in Utah. Aboard a two-story mining dredge as it plies the brown waters of the Amazon jungle, he captures Guyanese miners laughing and telling jokes over lunch. George Wright and Scott Lomu from Discovery's "Jungle Gold" visited the KCAL9 studios Friday to talk about season two of their hit show. Discovery was so impressed by the clips they upped the season from 10 episodes to 16. I stopped watching discovery channel when discovery channel stopped being about science. Tay, who at 53 resembles an older version of the actor Idris Elba, grew up in Accra before embarking on a mining career in his thirties. When I asked what they made of accusations that theyd exploited Ghana for their personal gain, the men insisted the opposite was true: They had done good things in the country and could have done even more if they'd been allowed to keep filming. Its still higher than when we originally went to West Africa to find it. George Wright and Scott Lomu of Discoverys Jungle Gold (Sundays at 10:00 p.m. Heres Our Review Of Cocaine Bear: Oh Hell Yes! The Companys business plan also includes bringing capital and When I watch the gold mining shows (especially the Alaska one) it seems no different to me than simply taking the money to Vegas and playing blackjack. As the crew debated alternate plotlines, Lomu went out to dinner in Obuasi. Class acts the two of them. When the cast and crew arrived on the first day of filming, however, they found it crawling with Chinese miners. Wally was convinced it would happen, Wright said. "We didnt exploit anyone. Contribute to changjiangsx/sbm development by creating an account on GitHub. But Alan Reece, a Guyanese mining foreman the men had befriended, discovered a promising alternative in the nearby village of Fahiakobo, a hilltop settlement of around 30 mud huts flanking a red dirt road. It was the second season of Jungle Gold set in Ghana that the fans of TV shows about gold prospecting are still talking . But their return to Ghana was to be even more troubled than round one. 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1975th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 975th year of the 2nd millennium, the 75th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1970s decade. A decade later, Mormonisms rapid growth and displays of wealth led the Ghanaian government to ban all Mormon activities, suspecting the church was a front for the CIA. Have you ever seen the show 'Gold Rush'? The cast and crew hid at a nearby compound, where they discovered Wright was suspected of murder and the authorities wanted them arrested. Gold miners George Wright and Scott Lomu sit down with THR to talk about the mistakes they tried not to repeat and why they keep returning to Ghana despite the life-or-death stakes. G: Good question, for us this was nothing more than the right opportunity at the right time. I think our audience got younger and that could be because we were advertised heavily during Shark Week. The two are former American real estate investors who lost everything in the 2008 market collapse, and are now over $1,000,000 in debt. Fearing another attack, the Jungle Gold cast and crew evacuated Fahiakobo and holed up in Raws Domenase compound 20 miles away. And yet they also felt a strange sense of calm. Why is mining for gold better (in your opinion) than taking your initial capital and investing it wisely? Don't miss the season finale of Jungle Gold on Discovery, featuring Food Insurance friend's Scott & George Shining Dawn- Jungle Gold's Scott Lomu & George Wright But in Ghana, as in other former colonies, a strong aversion to neocolonialism endures. Watching the videos, I got the sense that Wright and Lomu, regretful over Jungle Gold, were trying to redeem themselves by portraying Guyana in a flattering light. RELATED: GOLD RUSH SEASON 4 PREMIERE DATE In Gold Rush South America, premiering Aug. 2 at 9pm ET/PT, Gold Rush crew leaders Todd Hoffman, Dakota Fred and Parker Schnabel take their operations to find new, gold-rich ground in preparation for Gold Rush Season 4, which Discovery says will premiere in the fall. Discovery had ordered 12 episodes, Wright said, but their abbreviated stay produced only enough material for six. Despite the possibility of work in Accra, hed stayed in Fahiakobo after the cast and crew fled, guarding the stars tent and praying for their return. After rainstorms, locals with nothing else to do had taken to searching the gutters for specks of gold. Channel. We didnt exploit anyone, Lomu told me. Lomu and Macias worked construction for a Mormon homebuilder in Utah. The robbery scene was intense but definitely felt like the video was pulled off a little too well. But many viewers of Jungle Gold thought exploiting Ghanaians was precisely what Wright and Lomu had done. As Wrights four children bounced on a giant trampoline in the backyard, the men explained that they had returned to Ghana several times since the evacuation, mainly to recover the thousands of dollars in equipment theyd left behind. Jungle Gold is back, having started Season 2 on Aug. 11 (now . But on Macias and Wrights first trip in May 2010 (Lomu stayed behind in Utah), buying gold proved trickier than theyd anticipated. But no such vehicles arrived. Soon we will be creating games and NFTs based on real elements. After averaging 2.65 million viewers a week during its first season on Discovery Channel last fall, Jungle Gold is back, having started Season 2 on Aug. 11 (now airing on Sundays). provide mining consultation worldwide. Read our interview with the Brown family. There are plenty of other channels. We were like, well show them the failures, the terrible, horrible stuff. By the time the season ended, three Change.org petitions had called for the shows cancellation, drawing a total of 3,000 supporters from the U.S., Europe, South America, Australia, and across West Africa. Furious, Wright and Lomu gathered a dozen local chiefs and tribal elders to solve the dispute. Broke and demoralized, the three men abandoned their nascent mining operation in October 2010. How is the gold market lately? He was crushed to learn I was not. The Friday audience is a different audience. Once the show ended, they pursued a few of the offers, but nothing came of them. That Mormons would choose to deal gold in West Africa may seem odd, but the pursuit of gold carries historical significance in the Mormon church. By this time, Ghanas mining industry was in chaos, with Al Jazeera reporting on the dangers of illegal mining, fuelled by widespread corruption. Gold dealing, they concluded, was a scam. So now I'm just leaving this thing open . It's really frustrating because we have the same production company and we hear all sorts of stories about him, but all I know of him is the first tweet I sent to him when our show started was a thank you, "thanks for forging the way in gold show so that our story and show could have a shot, thank you!" The next morning, they passed through customs and boarded a privately chartered jet bound for Paris. We fell comfortable. Ask something else I can answer. What would they film if the stars couldnt mine? Now, as he scanned his iPhone, Wright saw that he and his co-star, Scott Lomu, were also facing government accusations of illegal gold mining. The site itself was a wide clearing in the jungle scarred by gaping 20-foot pits, where Ghanaian laborers wrangled the equipment in pools of coffee-colored mud. They whine at how poor they are, yet no wife works (the husbands hardly do either) they live in big mansions, drive fancy cars? I personaly found it entertaining and interesting. Can you tell us your secret at being perfect such as yourself. A lot of questions have been asked in Ghana about how, and why so many illegal miners were allowed to mine in Ghana without paperwork for so long. The next few years were good for Wright and Lomu, who often exchanged tips about real estate deals. We were in panic mode. Wright found work translating Spanish for an Arizona-based equipment supplier bidding for contracts in Colombias mining sector. Hed asked hopefully if i was with Raw, heralding the return of Gold... Can you tell us your secret at being perfect such as yourself troubled round. A pretty personal level being about science their nascent mining operation in October 2010 Week. A good look, Scottie, he said Raws Domenase compound 20 miles away 11 ( now rainstorms locals. I guess this is what your generation who grew up in Raws Domenase compound 20 miles away initial capital investing. 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