Gold Rush Fans Think Fred's Gold Weigh In Season 13 Episode 12 Looks More Like Dirt

Digging up riches — that's the goal of modern-day gold miners on the hit Discovery series "Gold Rush." The reality TV series follows a group of miners in the Yukon region of Canada and Alaska as they dig for gold. In Season 13, "Gold Rush" follows the teams of Parker Schnabel, Fred Lewis, Tony Beets, and Brady and Bradon Clayton as they deal with equipment issues and the challenges that weather poses to their dig sites (via Discovery). The miners are also keeping their individual goals in mind with each dig. For Schnabel, this season is about digging into a second site in Alaska. But as Season 13, Episode 12, "FUBAR," shows, there are some physical obstacles he must face as his new digging site was once mined by other gold miners decades ago, leaving behind old shafts and other structures that are only found upon digging.

Meanwhile, Lewis has set a goal of 500 ounces of gold for the current mining season, which would amount to $1 million dollars. If he and his team can't reach it, they'll be shut down for good. And while Episode 12 gave fans and Lewis some hope, other fans are questioning that big gold haul at the end of the episode.

Fred Lewis's team is halfway through the mining season, and his total at the beginning of Episode 12 is $32,000, which is under 20 ounces of gold. Despite the breakdown of their only rock truck, they get 18.5 ounces, which is worth more than $30,000.

While it's a good day for the Lewis team, fans on Reddit are questioning the look of that gold haul. In the subreddit r/goldrush, Redditor u/Gummies1345 wrote that from their perspective, "Fred's gold weigh looked more like light dirt and less like gold." Other fans were paying close attention to the overall operation in Episode 12. Redditor u/Big-Problem7372 wrote, "Meanwhile on White Water the settling pond water is too dirty to dive in, and Fred's response is to dig a ditch from the pond directly into the creek? Chocolate milk-looking tailings flowing into the creek like a river." Another user, u/Brilliant-Daikon4829, also noted the dirtiness of the sluice and questioned Lewis's efficiency.

While fans are skeptical of Lewis's haul, there are ways to tell if someone has actually found real gold. According to the EPA, the density of gold is what helps a sluice catch it as water runs through. Meanwhile, USGS explains that if a metal point makes a substance crumble or flake, it's not gold but possibly "fool's gold," which makes it mica, chalcopyrite, or pyrite. While fans can only speculate, these teams will keep digging toward their goals.

"Gold Rush" Season 13 airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on Discovery.