By announcing gold existed in Fahiakobo on an international TV network, Tay believed Jungle Gold would attract other law-abiding American and European gold miners, slowly lifting the village out of poverty. We just like to do our thing, it's all we can do really. This, like so many other pathetic reality shows should go away forever. According to government records, the Minerals Commissions district officer in Dunkwa had discovered Raw filming a mining site without its owners consent. And yes, I have heard many of them are gone. On Oct. 26, 2012, the night of the U.S. premiere, Wrights extended family gathered around the TV in his living room in Eagle Mountain, Utah, a predominantly Mormon town an hour outside Salt Lake City. Obviously, wed appreciate it if the gold prices were higher, always; however, were still feeling very good about the price of gold today. Steve Wright is to leave his BBC Radio 2 weekday show after almost 24 years, after the station's boss told him she wants to . Our first thought was always: Didnt you guys see the show? It was time to bail out. I am guessing season two would have already been recorded when this article came out. So, gold fever its addictive. Not that Id recommend it, but theyre pretty sure they can school any critics. His own face stared back. Now, Doyle gave its pilot a new mission: Extract the stars from Domenase and deliver them to Accra. The cast and crew pulled into Fahiakobo that March. I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal. On the night of Nov. 13, Lomu was returning alone from their mining site when he got a phone call from Maciass wife. The influx of Chinese miners had triggered a rise in armed robberies of Chinese mining camps. Ghanaian law prohibits non-Ghanaians from mining on plots of 25 acres or less, which make up Ghanas small-scale mining sector. Scott Lomu might have a wife or a husband. This was met with disappointment in the first 5 days of our trip to Africa because it's not even CLOSE to easy to get cheap gold in Africa, they know the price of Gold better than anybody! of this type of mining? At any moment, a police vehicle, a military car, can come in and stop this plane, Lomu says in the finale. Brigham Young, the president of the church, was nervous about it, criticizing it as a tenuous and irregularly profitable profession. Such sermons did little to dissuade Mormons, whose trademark optimism stems from a belief that God is on their side. The other was Wally Macias, a charismatic Mexican-American and former undercover narcotics agent in Kanab, Utah. I think it would shock a lot of people to hear how encouraging they are, and how supportive they are. They were convinced theyd be arrested at the airport and imprisoned. During that time Two guys lose their shirts when the real estate bubble bursts and decide to do the logical thing hunt for gold in Ghana! In the most cases they also have children. Not a land owner. We split the gold with the village, the farmers make a ton of money from us, we employ many, many locals, paying them 10X what they would normally make, we pay taxes, and contribute a ton to the local economy. I like him every once in a while (laughs) its just really hard to trust him. He had some access to some land that Scott and I were needing, if we can come up with the money, so we had to come back home and figure out how were were going to do that. Keep 'em coming if you have them. The problem, as Tay saw it, was that most of the Chinese miners were operating illegally, meaning they paid no taxes and ignored environmental regulations. Reeling from the news, Lomu flew to Utah the next day. These two are typical failed realtors who have entitlement issues just like the rest of the yuppies of their generation. Second Point, the amount of catastrophic failures the show incures is absurd, there are moments in the show a viewer can easily spot a setup. Public Relations and Scott Lomu as Vice President of Investor Relations. In November 2011, two things happened. They cast Wright and Lomu as hardworking family men engaged in a heroic struggle against hostile and uncooperative natives. So what do you watch instead? I think our audience got younger and that could be because we were advertised heavily during Shark Week. Is this show supposed to be a comedy? The Ghanaian government permitted Mormon activities to resume 18 months after the ban. The next six episodes unfolded in similar fashion. Whether the Information Services Department had instructed Raw to seek the commissions approval is unclear; the permit protocol for foreign documentary film crews in Ghana was somewhat vague in 2012. They hoped early struggles would lead to large profits by the end of the 10-episode run, benefiting both the stars and the villages they worked in. What are some of the more hair-raising encounters well see you experience in Season 2? Lomu and Macias had been best friends growing up; as a teenager, Lomu had baptized him into the Mormon church. TV-PG. G: Good question, for us this was nothing more than the right opportunity at the right time. This was a good start. The Mormons and their production team had paid a village chief $12,500 to mine a large plot of land, but they arrived to find it packed with Chinese miners. In 2009, Macias was working as a private security contractor in Afghanistan, but hed grown tired of war zones. S: That's a great question, we get it a lot. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://twitter.com/JungleGeorgeVI/status/365907125215576064, https://twitter.com/JungleGoldScott/status/365907460332068864, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDu1cQjqGaj-3wBYavW1Hg/videos, http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=273569, http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/jungle-gold/videos/run-for-the-border-part-one.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS7g-l3-M5k. | December 22, 2022 I don't watch the show, but I'm curious if it makes an attempt to discuss the environmental impacts (bulldozing forests, polluting water with mercury and arsenic, etc.) So Literally Ask US Anything, we can't spoil the upcoming season, but anything else is fine. This show is 90% scripted, the laws they portray in the show are complete non-sense. From [], Do the Alaskan Bush People get paid? When Lomu proposed gold dealing in Ghana, Macias needed no convincing. That summer, the men resumed their former routine, traveling to Ghana in shifts. We didnt think it would make us look cool and it certainly didnt.. What happens when a government shuts down an illegal camp is it basically displaces 80-100 local young men who no longer have a job. It was another disaster. Lomu and Wright didnt head to Africa with dreams of reality TV stardom, and it seems having a camera crew around when youre trying to work is more of a pain than anything else. On Demand DVD New Releases Aug. 26-Sept. 1, The three crew leaders from Discovery Channels Gold Rush series will be featured in a limited summer series called Gold Rush South America, the network announced today. Lomu learned what he needed to know about reality TV, put . entertaining gold mining program `Jungle Gold,' they have an The Companys business plan also includes bringing capital and What we finally realized after discussing it was people werent saying they wanted to literally go to Ghana to do gold mining but rather they wished they could do whatever it is their dream was, whatever it is they hoped to be able to do be it open up a restaurant, or open up their own salon or become a writer. We split the gold with the locals, & they of themselves dnt [sic] have the machines to get to the gold, Wright wrote to one skeptical American viewer on Twitter who had suggested they mine in the U.S. instead, before softening her opinion. They forfeited the cash and moved to a less profitable site. Wright and Lomu step out to investigate. Proof: https://twitter.com/JungleGeorgeVI/status/365907125215576064 https://twitter.com/JungleGoldScott/status/365907460332068864, Edit: We are going to keep this open. locations., Scott Lomu stated, George and I have been approached numerous times to George Wright: Theres a lot of entrepreneurs out there that get in touch with us. His first radio story, which cast doubt on the Americans legal status, aired the first week of May. We He didnt even sound convinced himself when he said to the blonde Neanderthal that he was going back to Utah.for what? Near the bottom, he noticed a message from his brother Bill. We were like, well show them the failures, the terrible, horrible stuff. The production team swore to take a different approach to the second series. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has over 62,000 members in Ghana, the second-highest membership in Africa behind Nigeria. (Raw refused to comment on Aboagyes claim.) Ghanas National Security Agency, meanwhile, had yet to contact them. The path to George Wright and Scott Lomu's camp. They amassed large portfolios of raw land and residential properties throughout Utah. And yet they also felt a strange sense of calm. S: George is a little wordy, here's the short answer. Then, in December 2014, they met Clint Mishleau. We came to realize this was a perfect opportunity to show how foreigners can do business the right way in Ghana, Lomu told me. Furious, Wright and Lomu gathered a dozen local chiefs and tribal elders to solve the dispute. The Jungle Gold guys had remedied this problem by obeying the law. One of the things that people always ask Scott and I, even before the show came because we were traveling back and forth to Africa for two years before the show with Discovery Channel even got a green light or was even an idea in either of our minds people would always say, What do you do for work? Wed say, Gold mining. Theyd say, What? Oh my word, they think I killed him, he said. As far as they knew, they said, Raw had all the required permits. I believe its God who brought them to me, Alan Tay, who served as a handyman for Wright and Lomu during the Season 2 shoot, later told me. Scott Lomu: Because weve moved from Friday to Sunday it seems like our audience has gotten a lot younger. In 2010, they and a friend, Wally Macias, invested in a small operation and took turns flying out to work there. Their wives are also dedicated to the idea of not just funding their own families but making sure Wallys kids and wife are taken care of. Then the Joy Midday News came on TV. I hate Todd fat arse lazy Hoffman because hes a total tool, I cant hate these guys, I just scratch my head at their stupidity and hope Discovery will stop insulting our intelligence and cancel this ridiculous show. The shows first season had been a hit, airing on Friday nights behind Gold Rush, Discovery Channels highest-rated show. But like gold miners throughout history, a mixture of delusion, pioneering instinct, and financial desperation drove them to it. Contribute to changjiangsx/sbm development by creating an account on GitHub. For fun (I didnt want anything out of it, Bill told me), he learned the format for reality show treatments from a producer friend in Los Angeles. What the freak is this? Lomu shouted. When season two of Jungle Gold aired in August 2013, it flopped, competing with NFL for ratings. Months after the evacuation, I found him playing cards beside one of Wright and Lomus $2,000 canvas tents, which hed been living in since they left. They hired a former special services agent to beef up security and instituted a no-mercury policy, barring laborers from handling the toxic liquid. We have a full Biography, Photos, Theatre Credits, and more! I guess this is what your generation who grew up in a fancy world is all about. Before the men could start legally mining, however, the large-scale license had to come through. Can you tell us your secret at being perfect such as yourself. George Wright has been appointed as Vice President of The most recent episode where Scottie had to fly home immediately because his boy was diagnosed with autism was just another laughable fake emergency. What was the viewer reaction following the season premiere of Jungle Gold? Tens of thousands of foreigners, the majority of them Chinese, had flocked to the countrys rural mining regions since the recession, lured by stories of Klondike-caliber windfalls. To guarantee cell service in the bush, the company bought Raw a 30-foot antenna. To ensure the most secure and best overall experience on our website, we recommend the latest versions of. Literally, I have never been so scared, Wright told me. As methodical and reserved as Wright is impulsive and outspoken, Lomu, eight years Wrights senior, was raised outside Phoenix. Only the most coldhearted, inhumane person could spend more than an hour in Ghana and think to do that. With their excavator back, Scott and George only have 48 hours left to prove that they can get to the gold or their mining deal with Dave Thomas will be terminated. We were like, This is the kind of operation we want to be a part of! Lomu said. The heart and soul of this amazing piece of equipment are the people, Wright narrates. In April 2015, they were hired by Utah-based mining company Ensurge to share their mining expertise in Guyana and help attract investors. They got through it by dreaming up episodes for their nonexistent reality show. We knew this was going to be a 5-to-10-year job on our part. Prior to the fight, locals had regarded the cast and crew with friendly curiosity. If you take any human being out to a site where theres gold, and give him a shovel and they find gold there, theyll say, Give me more shovels, give me more people! Because its really quite addictive once you catch it. (The agency did not respond to questions about the status of its investigation.). Scott and I know we could have done better. Email. In April, Ensurge hired both men: Wright as vice president of public relations, Lomu as vice president of investor relations. Jungle Gold achieved a worldwide audience exceeding 60 million There were more tweets during our reruns that Sunday [during a Season 1 marathon] than we got all of last year. Visionary entrepreneur and leader. While Ghanaians in the diaspora were railing against Jungle Gold online, members of Ghanas Minerals Commission were quietly fuming about its existence. Reece informed him that an armed militia had just attacked a group of miners near Wright and Lomus former mining site in Romaso. Did Ghana ever try to arrest you two as indicated in this article on Ghana Web? It may have been their worst nightmare, but it made gripping TV. I mean, not logical enough to actually do it, but they clearly considered the idea (and had a relative in the field) before diving in. The men worked 18-hour days, commuting two hours over rutted dirt roads through poverty-stricken villages. But no one seemed to recognize them. He was sawing into an overcooked hamburger patty when he glanced at the flatscreen on the wall. Back in 2009, Scott Lomu and George Wright, two clean living Mormons, were trying to find a way to make money after suffering huge losses when the housing bubble popped the year before. Wright, 32, a mixed martial arts enthusiast with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, grew up in California before moving to Utah at 16. This time, they mined on the land of a Ghanaian Mormon bishop who had partnered with Lomus father-in-law. Yeah, I just about hate the leads of #JUNGLEGOLD 8 min in. Jungle Gold. In early August 2012, records show, several Raw crew members sat down with Joseph Aboagye, the Minerals Commissions stern director of policy, planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Gold miners George Wright and Scott Lomu sit down with THR to talk about the mistakes they tried not to repeat and why they keep returning to Ghana despite the life-or-death stakes. We never used arsenic. They say theyve learnt from their catastrophic, ratings-winning sojourn in West Africa. Same here, it completely went down hill with all of the reality shows. In 2011, an undercover video published by Al Jazeera revealed Ghanaian children as young as 14 working in Chinese-run mining pits. They had first heard about the show in July 2012, while the cast and crew were still in Ghana filming Season 1. I have never seen the show. As reggae music jingles in the background, Wright pans his GoPro across the sunny streets of Georgetown, Guyanas capital, remarking on its laid-back Caribbean vibe. I made a killing, he said. Whose the stupid ones ? As the wheels lifted off, the crew exploded in cheers. It's humbling to see the poverty that exists there. When we first came to Ghana, we knew our investment could change the lives of people there, Lomu said. People were actually angry! Donkor told me. The stage is being set for a redemptive second season of Jungle Gold, they wrote. George Wright has been appointed as Vice President of Public Relations and. He was crushed to learn I was not. *Discovery Channel has been pushing this as a new season, though the May 29 new episode is listed as Season 2, Episode 9. viewers. The network had green-lit a second season that February. Now Wright and Lomu are the stars When the market fails where do you go? By August 2012, more than two months into the shoot, the stars joint venture had found only a few ounces of gold. Gold, which ran two seasons on the Discovery Channel. Lomu couldnt believe what he was seeing. provide mining consultation worldwide. Focused on the action, the show failed to explain the complicated licensing process, causing many to assume they were mining illegally. That drippy wife should stop whining and deal with it while her husband a finally does a days work. Those guys on the dredge they were having a really good time. He paused. But the. Who gave you permission to work here? Akwesi demands, before tackling the crews Ghanaian security guard. But they trust us enough to know that there are certain lines that we wont cross and that we have, believe it or not, enough common sense to stay alive. Other scenes needed no stage-managing. On Oct. 15, 2012, more than two months after the meeting, the synopsis arrived. Wright and Lomu had never imagined they would end up mining for gold in Ghana. To raise the rest, they decided to deal gold in the jungle. For a split second, in between the man hug you could see blonde dude thinking WTF! The series chronicles the continuing efforts of former real-estate dealers George Wright and Scott Lomu as they mine for gold in Ghana in an attempt to pay off the over $1 million debt they face in the wake of the real-estate crash. When the cast and crew arrived on the first day of filming, however, they found it crawling with Chinese miners. To me, reality shows are like watching professional wrestling. We are Scott Lomu & George Wright, We can't speak to other reality shows but are happy to share about ours and what it's been like. This is a tale of our times the new American Dream set in the jungles of Africa, the introduction read. We saw mining as an opportunity and used our cash to purchase some equipment. That Mormons would choose to deal gold in West Africa may seem odd, but the pursuit of gold carries historical significance in the Mormon church. Just that fast, he blocked me and Scott and never gives an ounce (no pun intended) of support. Nevertheless, the district officer demanded Raw visit the Minerals Commissions headquarters in Accra before they continued filming. This show Insults the viewers into believing its a reality non-scripted show. It was that simple. Lomu responded by saying the things that happen on the show are 100% real, though he allowed that it's a tv show and things will get overly dramatized. But the robbery, which cut the season short at Episode 7, offered a convenient end to a story that was spiraling out of its creators control. They had brought in work and money after all. Onscreen, an overweight guy with a wizardly goatee was struggling to fix the motor of an excavator. Read Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper Archives, Feb 15, 1862, p. 2 with family history and genealogy records from chicago, illinois 1860-1945. Wright and Lomu found it hard to watch. 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1975th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 975th year of the 2nd millennium, the 75th year of the 20th century, and the 6th year of the 1970s decade. Hes a gentleman whos a land broker. Patchy reception made it hard to hear, but a few words registered clearly: Wallys dead. That morning, Macias had driven into the mountains outside Kanab and shot himself with a rifle. We didnt exploit anyone, Lomu told me. Couldnt agree with Dru Kelly more. George Wright and Scott Lomu, former real estate investors that lost everything in the 2008 crash, make the life-altering decision to travel to Ghana in West Africa to hunt for gold. 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