Gold Rush's Dave Turin Recalls The Major Physical And Mental Toll The COVID-19 Pandemic Took On Him

The COVID-19 pandemic was hard on everyone. While the virus is still out there are precautions should be taken, things have largely reopened, and things are as back to normal as they probably can be. But the early days of the pandemic were naturally a fretful time. Numerous businesses closed down, and a lot of people didn't know when they'd be able to return to work. Many people's livelihoods hung in the balance, and that was especially true for gold miners like those featured on Discovery's "Gold Rush."

There were some plus sides to the pandemic for the mining crews. Gold prices skyrocketed while gas prices declined, creating a perfect storm of sorts for miners to get out into the Yukon and hunt for gold. But before that could happen, the teams had to work around various issues preventing them from mining, namely getting crews to go to a different country and following strict quarantine rules. But all that extra work caused plenty of headaches for the miners, especially Dave Turin. Now that we're a few years removed from the height of the pandemic, Turin looked back on how tumultuous that period of time was for him and how he's gotten past it.

Mining is tough enough as is. It's back-breaking labor where you're under constant stress because if you don't find enough gold, you may not get paid. Combined with added complications from the COVID-19 pandemic and it's understandable why Dave Turin has had a rough time these last couple of years.

Speaking with Idaho Press, Turin explained all of the additional responsibilities that fell into his lap when COVID came around. He elaborated, "I was working and producing a TV show, and we had a hard time keeping camera crews— many came from Great Britain, and we were having a hard time getting them into America. So that created a high turn turnover of producers. So I was the one that had consistency through the whole thing. I was ordering parts and directing and managing the other guys, and I was the guy looking for the gold—it was all very high stress."

A lot fell onto Turin's shoulders, and while others would've folded and perhaps put the show on an extended hiatus, he persevered. And he has no intention of slowing down any time soon, but he can envision a future where he's significantly rolled back what he does. He went on to say, "I had back surgery about two years ago, giving me temporary relief. So it feels like it's back, and it's worse. You only have so many days on this planet. So I am scaling back. That doesn't mean I'm out of mining. I still get so many emails because I'm the guy that's chased the lost mines." Pandemic or not, Turin has proven time and time again that he's not to be counted out.