Gold Rush Fans Are Questioning How Much Gold The Clayton Crew Is Actually Finding
Although Season 13 of "Gold Rush" includes plenty of familiar faces for fans who have been watching since the show's humble beginnings (including series staples like Parker Schnabel and Tony Beets), Season 13 has also introduced us to two brand new gold miners ready to tackle this harrowing profession.
These new additions to the cast are greenhorn miners Brandon and Brady Clayton, two brothers who have turned to gold mining to pay off their family's debts (via Discovery). Despite the fact that gold mining is a notoriously fickle profession that is incredibly tough to enter (as evidenced by fellow "Gold Rush" star Fred Lewis, who has struggled consistently despite being in his third season), the Clayton brothers have actually been remarkably successful since they first joined the show.
Indeed, a recent episode even claimed that they found 10 ounces of gold in just a two day period – something which fans on Reddit are having a hard time believing, considering just how difficult this profession can be.
Fans on Reddit don't believe that the Clayton brothers can be this successful
Several fans on Reddit are questioning the legitimacy of the Clayton brothers' success in "Gold Rush" Season 13, particularly the claim that they managed to discover a respectable ten ounces of gold in a creek which Fred Lewis couldn't find any gold in. "Everything we have seen points to there being very little gold in that creek, and neither Fred nor the Claytons found much," explained u/BuildTheBase. "But now they found 10 ounces in 2 days by running the excavator back and forth between the cut and the plant? What?" The user went on to claim that the series itself is doctoring the actual number of ounces that the Clayton brothers mine each week, and even asserted that the brothers must actually not be in debt due to the expensive equipment they've rented.
"The only legit mining being done now is tony and parker," agreed u/QuiJon70, saying that Fred Lewis, the Claytons, and the Winchester are no more than "paid actors at this point." "There is absolutely a lot of behind the scenes help," echoed u/Sparky_Zell.
Although there have been several allegations over the years that "Gold Rush" is heavily scripted, Discovery itself actually has a different explanation for the brothers' remarkable amount of success – claiming that they've earned so much gold due to their discovery of the mineral-rich "Golden Acres," where they claim that "the gold is twice as rich as the rest of the Klondike." Whether or not the Clayton brothers are receiving some kind of assistance behind-the-scenes, these disgruntled fan comments make it clear that the Claytons' unprecedented success is one of the most shocking aspects of "Gold Rush" Season 13.