In Jungle Gold, Discovery Channel's hit reality series, George Wright and Scott Lomu try their best to climb out of a mountain of debt.Their loyal families wait at home while the two toil away in Ghana, hoping to strike gold and solidify their financial futures. Channel. He is from . The Friday audience is a different audience. It was a typical move: Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast, was one of the earliest African countries to declare its independence from colonial rule in 1957. (Raw declined to comment on the incident.) Is this show supposed to be a comedy? It was tempting, but it didnt make sense: Anyone could sell gold to the state-run Precious Minerals and Marketing Company for just 2% under the global price. So Literally Ask US Anything, we can't spoil the upcoming season, but anything else is fine. Only the most coldhearted, inhumane person could spend more than an hour in Ghana and think to do that.. Lomu and Wright didnt head to Africa with dreams of reality TV stardom, and it seems having a camera crew around when youre trying to work is more of a pain than anything else. So now I'm just leaving this thing open . Watch part 1 unfold here: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/jungle-gold/videos/run-for-the-border-part-one.htm. In the show Dave Thomas is portrayed as a major landowner/prospector in Ghana. The Lomu brothers then drew up a three-page final draft outlining the premise and sample episodes, in which three American entrepreneurs in dire financial straits would grapple with Ghanaian tribal chiefs, gold robbers, rival miners and each other. English. I saw Tickle hit the front page today, that is pretty silly. It was a life or death situation.. 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. He reappears with a gold bar he claims is worth $75,000. George: We met him towards the end of our last little stint out there. Upon arrival, the cast and crew had paid the landowner $50,000 and set up camp on the villages perimeter. A month later, the government cracked down illegal foreign miners, and thousands of Chinese nationals were also deported, removing a vital source of income for many villages. BLOCK! Class acts the two of them. How could I not show that?. At the moment I jumped in, he was right over [our security guard] and was going to push his head underwater. 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). I am guessing season two would have already been recorded when this article came out. A fight breaks out and martial arts-trained angry George, as he was nicknamed, strangles the man until he passes out. As the wheels lifted off, the crew exploded in cheers. What happens when a government shuts down an illegal camp is it basically displaces 80-100 local young men who no longer have a job. As he later told Wright, All it takes is a handful of guys with firearms to see the show and come looking for us.. 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. Life saving hugs or to provide tissues for his whiny wife? But with the chaos of Season 1 fresh in mind, Discovery had imposed new conditions for Season 2. At the time, Wright and Lomu brawny, clean-living Mormons from Utah were in the midst of shooting Jungle Golds second season. It looked like their foray into mining was over until they stumbled across Discoverys Alaskan mining reality show, Gold Rush. Its still higher than when we originally went to West Africa to find it. Clean-cut Lomu and Wright were working together in Utahs declining real estate industry when they heard Ghana was experiencing a modern-day gold rush and attracting overseas miners, mainly Chinese, to try their luck. 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. In Ghana, non-Ghanaians are allowed to mine on plots of more than 25 acres, known as large-scale concessions. For fun (I didnt want anything out of it, Bill told me), he learned the format for reality show treatments from a producer friend in Los Angeles. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. As reggae music jingles in the background, Wright pans his GoPro across the sunny streets of Georgetown, Guyanas capital, remarking on its laid-back Caribbean vibe. Once we did, we got back in touch with him and he had land available still, and from there it was just kind of the beginning of Im not going to say a beautiful relationship, because Im not a huge fan of Dave. Check out George Wright's Bio Now 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. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=273569. But they had not received permission from the Minerals Commission to film mining lands. Soon we will be creating games and NFTs based on real elements. You were a bad realtor, a dreamer, no clue about mining, engineering, equipment operation, management, or investment. He found instead the two articles in My Joy Online ordering his arrest and accusing him of killing people. 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. I don't watch the show, but I'm curious if it makes an attempt to discuss the environmental impacts (bulldozing forests, polluting water with mercury and arsenic, etc.) Not everything works out how you want it to, said Wright. Because it really is a joke how nave and unprepared these douche bags really are. Though vilified in the press, Tay said, the Chinese miners had improved the local way of life: installing electricity in thatched huts, building a public restroom with flush toilets, and putting dozens of unemployed young men to work in the mines. The cast and crew hid at a nearby compound, where they discovered Wright was suspected of murder and the authorities wanted them arrested. We thought we could explain any misunderstandings to the government, Wright said. What was the viewer reaction following the season premiere of Jungle Gold? The two Americans will be tracked down and arrested, a Ghanaian official declared. Filming at home. They wanted to know how we had allowed such a disgusting program to air on TV, a spokesperson for the commission told me. Prior to the fight, locals had regarded the cast and crew with friendly curiosity. While Lomu and Wright couldnt tell me too much about whats coming in season two, what they did say sounded intriguing. The next morning, they passed through customs and boarded a privately chartered jet bound for Paris. The cast and crew pulled into Fahiakobo that March. Every other cab driver offered to sell them gold at what they claimed were heavily discounted rates. Invigorated by this new prospect, the three men invested in a small-scale operation near the mining town of Obuasi, a four-hour drive from Accra, and took turns traveling to Ghana over the next three months. He was standing on his bed in boxer briefs as his wife lay beside him and laughed. He had no idea George is an experienced MMA fighter, the shows gravel-voiced narrators says. Most assumed they were mining illegally. He moved to Utah in 2000, and when the Olympics Winter Games came to Salt Lake City two years later, he rented furnished houses and apartments to people in town for the event. They hoped early struggles would lead to large profits by the end of the 10-episode run, benefiting . In 2009, Macias was working as a private security contractor in Afghanistan, but hed grown tired of war zones. So if you ask us a question, we'll get you answered. For a split second, in between the man hug you could see blonde dude thinking WTF! Contribute to changjiangsx/sbm development by creating an account on GitHub. During a layover at JFK, he checked his voicemail and found it full of condolences from friends and family. First Aired. George Wright and Scott Lomu will risk it all to strike it rich as part of a golden plan to recover from losing everything in the real estate crash of 2008. It begins now, Wright wrote. Akwesi was preparing to harvest his crops when the crew leveled them, he said. It was terrifying, it was really scary, Wright admitted. This time, they mined on the land of a Ghanaian Mormon bishop who had partnered with Lomus father-in-law. They explain better he is a broker. November 23, 2012. Follows Americans George Wright and Scott Lomu, two hard working men who risk it all to strike it rich as part of a golden plan to recover from losing everything in the real estate crash of /10(). These two are typical failed realtors who have entitlement issues just like the rest of the yuppies of their generation. Heres Our Review Of Cocaine Bear: Oh Hell Yes! Bering Sea Gold, a new offshoot, was averaging 3 million viewers a night. Gold miners George Wright and Scott Lomu sit down with THR to talk about what their wives think of their adventures, whether they watch "Gold Rush" and what they have to say to people w They got through it by dreaming up episodes for their nonexistent reality show. Its author, Amma Bonsu, a Ghanaian activist and investment banker in Toronto, wrote that Jungle Gold reprised the antiquated narrative of Africa as a lawless jungle. [The] under-bed of racism is so alive in this [show]! she later told me. Discovery Channel. Haha! It was that simple. Just goes to show how really gullible Hollywood thinks the viewing public is. It caused a media storm, Mensah said. Of course theyre concerned for us, of course they worry about our safety. We do answer questions and stay in touch here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDu1cQjqGaj-3wBYavW1Hg/videos. understanding of conducting mining operations in underdeveloped They feared it would provoke a stampede of greedy foreign gold miners, exacerbating the small-scale mining crisis. The new operation went as poorly as the first. The stage is being set for a redemptive second season of Jungle Gold, they wrote. The path to George Wright and Scott Lomu's camp. Just that fast, he blocked me and Scott and never gives an ounce (no pun intended) of support. They just have to survive long enough to go back and tell the world, I guess. We just like to do our thing, it's all we can do really. Its a sad story, but their determination to continue in Wallys honor is one you have to hear. America. For anyone who thinks their decision to pursue gold mining is utterly insane, they explained to me how they came to this conclusion in a way that sounds entirely logical. I like him every once in a while (laughs) its just really hard to trust him. The new reality show Jungle Gold started broadcasting across Africa on MultiChoice's DStv from the . Gold, which ran two seasons on the Discovery Channel. The following year, they tried again, on the land of a Ghanaian Mormon bishop. Could their adventures be a reality TV show? When I asked a 21-year-old local named Nana Jyamfi what he did for a living, he laughed: Im waiting for the Chinese to come back.. Within one season, they were being accused of racism, exploitation, destroying the environment and even murder. The kids autism is just another excuse for the idiot to stop working and run home. George Wright has been appointed as Vice President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has over 62,000 members in Ghana, the second-highest membership in Africa behind Nigeria. In 2010, they and a friend, Wally Macias, invested in a small operation and took turns flying out to work there. 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. Big props to the crew if they really risked themselves like that to get the footage. mining company with profitable operations., Ensurge, Inc. is a Colorado-based holding company that has been engaged In April 2015, they were hired by Utah-based mining company Ensurge to share their mining expertise in Guyana and help attract investors. 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). management team. Patchy reception made it hard to hear, but a few words registered clearly: Wallys dead. That morning, Macias had driven into the mountains outside Kanab and shot himself with a rifle. And one of their original crew had taken his own life. Ghanas Minerals Commission had taken to decrying what it called the illegal mining menace., These controversies presented possible PR problems. I think it would shock a lot of people to hear how encouraging they are, and how supportive they are. That November, Bill emailed the treatment to a handful of production companies, including Raw TV, the British company that produces Gold Rush. A month after the Jungle Gold evacuation, the Ghanaian government conducted a nationwide crackdown on illegal foreign miners, causing thousands of Chinese nationals to be deported. They say theyve learnt from their catastrophic, ratings-winning sojourn in West Africa. 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. In the May 29 midseason* premiere of Discovery Channels Alaskan Bush People, A Wolfpack Divided, the Brown family is ready to move into their new home when Ami requires immediate medical attention and must travel to a big city for surgery. Laborers were shown polluting water bodies with mercury, which is used to recover gold from other minerals. Obviously, wed appreciate it if the gold prices were higher, always; however, were still feeling very good about the price of gold today. Scott and I know we could have done better. With their excavator back, Scott and George only have 48 hours left to prove that they can get to the gold or their mining deal with Dave Thomas will be terminated. With Scott Lomu, George Wright. As Brigham Young understood, gold mining is an inherently unstable profession. Lomu knew his friend had experienced post-traumatic stress from his tours in Afghanistan. | December 22, 2022 They found almost no gold, sinking the last of their cash into the failed enterprise. So, gold fever its addictive. Viewers were shocked that Americans would broadcast illegal mining, and activists claimed throwing money at people unused to financial decision-making was a mistake. They watched as the title card flashed onscreen to the sounds of an explosion and a screeching howler monkey. But we were willing to wear our heart on our sleeve.. Wally was convinced it would happen, Wright said. 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