The Truth About Freddy Dodge And Juan Ibarra's Gold Rush Partnership

Freddy Dodge and Juan Ibarra have been key members of Discovery's "Gold Rush" franchise for years. The original "Gold Rush" started in December 2010. Since then, the show has led to a set of spin-offs that have seen different crews travel the world searching for the resource used in everything from high-end electronics to jewelry. Dodge made a handful of cameos in the first two seasons of "Gold Rush" before appearing as a regular beginning in Season 3. Meanwhile, Ibarra entered the scene in Season 6 and has been an intriguing personality to watch at work (via TV Informer).

Both Dodge and Ibarra are seasoned veterans of the gold mining profession (via Discovery), and both star in one of the "Gold Rush" spin-offs, "Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge's Mine Rescue." The show utilizes and capitalizes on their extensive work history and knowledge, and they use said skills to assist struggling mining operations that have reached an impasse. Their first episode of "Mine Rescue" premiered in January 2021 (via IMDb), and it saw the pair help someone who had just lost their job and started their very own amateur gold dig.

However, what is Dodge and Ibarra's partnership really like when the cameras aren't rolling?

In a December 2020 interview for "Josh Gates Tonight" (via Facebook), Freddy Dodge and Juan Ibarra were asked what it was like working with each other. Dodge replied, "There's nobody on this planet I'd rather work with than Juan. He's good at what he does, and he's a good person, and he knows his stuff." 

Responding to the very same question, Ibarra was similarly effusive. The "Gold Rush" reality star shared that he shares Dodge's warm feelings. He went on to say, "To be able to work with such an accomplished person as Fred and to learn from him, you know I can't think of any better way to be able to spend the Summer. You know, we travel around the country, help these folks out, and I'm learning day in day out from Fred. How he reads the ground, how he reads the sluice boxes." Ibarra then stated that working alongside Dodge was the "opportunity of a lifetime" and concluded, "I couldn't think of a better person or a better mentor to teach me than Fred."

Ibarra continued and elaborated that sometimes they will have a difference in opinion where both have opposing ideas as to how to tackle a certain obstacle, but at the end of the day they will figure out how to make things work. He reiterated that their partnership is very solid and very positive, which has translated into the fans absolutely adoring the two, which is reflected in the current perfect score of a 100% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.