Gold Rush 2012 Season 3 Mining Claim Locations

This is part three of a series about the mines featured in the Gold Rush TV show. We suggest starting from the beginning of this series.

Season 3 of Gold Rush returned with familiar faces and mostly familiar locations. The Hoffman crew, Dakota Fred crew, and Parker Schnabel crew all returned to continue mining on the Quartz Creek mine, Jim Nail Placer Mine, and Big Nugget mine respectively. The Hoffman crew also introduced a new mining site only 2 miles from their current site, the Indian River mine and split their team between the two sites.

Quartz Creek Mine (Hoffman Crew)

63°45′41.74″N 139°6′53.70″W

Satellite map view of the Quartz Creek Mine in the Yukon, Canada mined by the Hoffman crew over Season 2 and 3 of the Gold Rush reality TV series from Discovery Channel.
Quartz Creek Mine, located in the Yukon, Canada.

The Hoffman crew returned to Quartz Creek for a second season of mining this retired dredging site.  Yet, when delays and equipment troubles made the Quartz Creek mine too much trouble to continue pursuing, the team transferred to their full attention to another mine in the area that another crew had been simultaneously working.

Satellite view map of the Quartz Creek Mine in the Yukon, Canada.
Satellite view of the Quartz Creek Mine in the Yukon, Canada.

Get more details about the Quartz Creek Mine from our Season 2 analysis.

Indian River Mine (Hoffman Crew)

63°45′16.16″N 139°8′43.45″W

Satellite map view of the Quartz Creek Mine in the Yukon, Canada mined by the Hoffman crew over Season 2 and 3 of the Gold Rush reality TV series from Discovery Channel.
Quartz Creek Mine, located in the Yukon, Canada.

For season 3, the Hoffmans diversified their risk by acquiring a second site, two miles from Quartz Creek Mine, called Indian River mine.  During the first half season 3, the Hoffman crew was split with only 6 members working the Indian River site.  Difficulty with the Quartz Creek Mine, however, lead the crew to switch focus to the Indian River Mine where a full 13 person crew finished the second half of the season.  In the course of season 3, the Hoffman crew mined 803 ounces of gold valued at over $1.28 million.

Satellite map view of the Indian River Mine in the Yukon, Canada.
Satellite view of the Indian River Mine in the Yukon, Canada.

Learn more about the mining region:

  • Overview of mining activity for the Yukon

Jim Nail Placer Mine (Dakota Fred Crew)

59°25′6.91″N 136°13′48″W

Satellite map view of the Jim Nail Placer Mine in Haines, Alaska mined by the Hoffman crew over Season 1 and the Dakota Fred crew over season 2, 3, and 4 of the Gold Rush reality TV series from Discovery Channel.
Porcupine Creek Mine, located in Haines, Alaska

“Dakota” Fred Hurt and his crew returned to continue mining the Porcupine Creek site. The Dakota Fred crew mined 163 ounces of gold, worth over a quarter million dollars.

Satellite map view of the Jim Nail Placer Mine in Haines, Alaska.
Satellite view of the Jim Nail Placer Mine in Haines, Alaska.

Get more details about Jim Nail Placer Mine from our Season 1 analysis.

Big Nugget Mine (Parker Schnabel Crew)

59°24′52.15″N 136°14′2.83″W

Satellite map view of the Jim Nail Placer Mine in Haines, Alaska mined by the Hoffman crew over Season 1 and the Dakota Fred crew over season 2, 3, and 4 of the Gold Rush reality TV series from Discovery Channel.
Porcupine Creek Mine, located in Haines, Alaska

For season 3, the Parker Schnabel crew returned to Big Nugget mine.  With more experience and better equipment the Parker Schnabel crew mined 191 ounces of gold over the course of the season, worth over a quarter million dollars each.

Satellite map view of the Big Nugget Mine in Haines, Alaska.
Satellite view of the Big Nugget Mine in Haines, Alaska.

Get more details about the Big Nugget Mine from our Season 2 analysis.

Learn more about Gold Rush mining sites on our Gold Rush Locations Overview.

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