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

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.

Indian River Mine (Hoffman Crew)

63°45′16.16″N 139°8′43.45″W

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.

Jim Nail Placer Mine (Dakota Fred Crew)

59°25′6.91″N 136°13′48″W

“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.

Big Nugget Mine (Parker Schnabel Crew)

59°24′52.15″N 136°14′2.83″W

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.

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