Fans of Discovery Channel’s Gold Rush likely noticed a big difference this season with the addition of new equipment, which has enabled Team Hoffman to bring in more gold than any other season.
Reality TV show Gold Rush follows the trials and tribulations of down-on-their-luck men who are risking everything to strike it rich mining for gold in Alaska. Currently in its third season, the show focuses on Todd Hoffman, Dave Turin, Dakota Fred and Parker Schnabel. This year, Hoffman and Turin doubled down on equipment, personnel and mining sites — which includes KPI-JCI’s Cascade incline vibrating screen, manufactured at its Johnson Crushers International (JCI) location in Eugene, Ore., and Kolberg conveyors, manufactured at Kolberg-Pioneer, Inc. (KPI) in Yankton, S.D.
In the season opener Oct. 26, Turin and Hoffman divide Team Hoffman and manage two claims — Indian River and Quartz Creek. Turin, a quarry and mining expert who happens to be a longtime KPI-JCI customer, invested in the KPI-JCI Cascade incline vibrating screen, which is commonly used in that geographic region. Hoffman took a riskier approach and invested in a trommel screen, which is less commonly used for rock and more commonly used for topsoil and compost.
At the end of January, viewers watched as Hoffman shut down the defunct trommel screen for good and joined forces with Turin and his KPI-JCI Cascade screen on the Indian River claim.
“It will be interesting to see how the remainder of the season turns out,” said Lisa Carson, marketing manager of KPI-JCI and Astec Mobile Screens.

