“Three-inch line, and it’s going into a two-inch square tube” — Gold Rush star Freddy reveals the issue behind Jamey and Christine’s plant

In a region where dry washing is common, Gold Rush stars Jamey and Christine have spent $30,000 to construct a water-run trommel to optimize gold recovery. To make the facility more water-efficient, they have also implemented certain "bush fixes," such as a closed-loop system that recycles wastewater. Although their choice to use water instead of dry washing was hailed as wise given their ground conditions, the plant's efficacy was nevertheless questioned during the initial test run.

Not everything went as planned as soon as the trommel started processing pay soil. The potential gold loss resulted from material that was not being adequately cleaned and sluiced—rather, it was bouncing past the spray bar. Freddy Dodge identified the primary problem, explaining,

"Oh, I’m sure that they’re looking at the lack of water flow to keep everything running. The problem is they got a three-inch pump, three-inch line, and it’s going into a two-inch square tube. They’re restricting it right there at the beginning."

This mismatch in pipe sizing compromises the system's capacity to efficiently wash material by limiting water flow at a crucial entrance point. It may cost them a lot of gold and jeopardize the operation's survival if left unsolved.

A risky redesign: Jamey and Christine’s wash plant faces water flow flaws in the Gold Rush

To increase the efficiency of their pay dirt processing, Jamey and Christine made the audacious decision to spend $30,000 on a custom water-run trommel. The two were aware that they were defying convention in an area where dry washing is commonplace because of the limited availability of water.

The Gold Rush's new members also thought that their desires were different. Their reverse helix trommel wash equipment has a double-drum system that keeps the finer gold-bearing materials in place while filtering out larger pebbles. They constructed a closed-loop system to reuse water and reduce waste to make the operation viable.

"The mining standard out in this area is typically dry washing because of the lack of water and having to have it trucked in. But we have found that with the type of pay dirt that we have, it really is more beneficial to use water as opposed to dry washing," Gold Rush star Jamey revealed before the trial run.

Despite their innovative approach, the initial test run on Gold Rush exposed serious flaws in their setup. The material was visibly bypassing the spray bar instead of being properly sluiced. Freddy Dodge quickly identified the issue: a three-inch line was being forced into a two-inch square tube, a restriction that limited water flow from the very beginning.

This choke point compromised the wash plant’s ability to clean gold-rich dirt effectively, leading to potential gold loss. The Gold Rush duo’s effort to conserve water by modifying the design with a narrow pipe may have backfired, risking the return on their sizable investment.

Jamey and Christine must now make the crucial choice to either solve the water restriction or watch their earnings evaporate as tailings show that gold was missing. Their goal is obvious, but how well they execute it will determine whether their unique solution was an expensive mistake or a brilliant idea.

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Stay tuned to know how Jamey and Christine figure out their water plant issue on Gold Rush on Discovery.

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