During the April 7 episode of Gold Rush: White Water, Dustin Hurt and his mining team are moved to tears after pulling a near-6-ounce nugget from their Alaskan claim.
The extraordinary find — which is estimated to be worth more than $20,000 — came at a time when the crew was struggling to make ends meet. They saw the nugget as the late Fred Hurt's way of saying thanks to the team for following his crazy dream of white water gold mining.
Fred was 80 years old when he succumbed to brain cancer only four month's after being diagnosed with the disease. The veteran miner and father of Dustin was the inspiration behind Discovery Channel's second most popular show. He was an active cast member right until the end of his life.
The April 7 episode is titled "Fred's Golden Gift."
The clip, below, opens with crew member Carlos Minor trying to contain his emotions after finding the massive nugget in the sluice box of their white water mining operation.
"Holy stinking moly, man, you see the size of that nugget?" Minor asks a member of the TV production team as he points to the heavens. "I wish Fred was here to see that. I literally do. Amen, amen, double amen, oh wow!"
Dustin reminded the show's fans that Fred was the one who assembled the team and got them to their current claim.
"He's still here with us. He's helping us out. I know he'd be so proud right now," said Dustin. "So this is definitely the high that we needed today. It's been seven years just killing ourselves and now we got this badass nugget that's just kind of like a trophy."
He continued, "We stuck it out. We put in the effort. We finally figured out the right place and the right technique. We got this. Now let's do great."
The narrator then explains that Minor's discovery is proof that there's ancient gold "here for the taking."
At their camp site, the crew members gathered to celebrate the giant find, pay homage to Fred and to determine the actual weight of the giant-sized nugget.
They put the nugget on the scale and it weighed in at 5.81 ounces, which translate into a gold value of $13,671.
Dustin explained that nuggets that size deliver extra value as specimen pieces, so it may be worth almost double the spot gold price.
The 47-year-old crew leader noted that the surprising find could be just the beginning of what may be discovered at Nugget Creek.
"There were stories up until today, but it's a reality for us now that there are big nuggets in this creek," he said. "I absolutely guarantee it."
Credits: Screen captures via Youtube.com / Discovery.
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