So now I'm just leaving this thing open . Heres Our Review Of Cocaine Bear: Oh Hell Yes! Sitting on the compounds couch, Wright watched in shock as the clip of him choking the cocoa farmer aired on national television. Based on the interview, My Joy Online, Joy FMs heavily trafficked website, published two short but searing articles about Jungle Gold on May 9 and May 10. According to Wikipedia, Forbes, IMDb & Various Online resources, famous American Football Player George Wright's net worth is $1-5 Million at the age of 72 years old. Class acts the two of them. I can say that Parker is a cool kid, he's been supportive to us and so has Fred. Around 2.75 million viewers tuned in, making it the fourth most popular primetime cable show that Friday night. We didnt exploit anyone, Lomu told me. But Wright doesnt regret fighting back. Fri 1 Jul 2022 13.18 EDT. Lomu and Wright sat in the back and ducked. Watch part 1 unfold here: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/jungle-gold/videos/run-for-the-border-part-one.htm. The series chronicles the continuing efforts of former real-estate dealers George Wright and Scott Lomu . Discovery had ordered 12 episodes, Wright said, but their abbreviated stay produced only enough material for six. Theyd spent the past year trying to dramatize their daily lives for the cameras. He also began investing in real estate, which was how he met Scott Lomu. 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. That summer, the men resumed their former routine, traveling to Ghana in shifts. For former real-estate entrepreneurs, George Wright & Scott Lomu, the answer was Ghana. In November 2011, two things happened. One Ghanaian commenter wrote, This is a disgrace for a brand such as the Discovery Channel to glorify what these bandits are doing in our country.. George Wright have accepted positions as members of the Companys He is from . At any moment, a police vehicle, a military car, can come in and stop this plane, Lomu says in the finale. Is this show supposed to be a comedy? He went to a meeting but he'll be back I'm sure. What are some of the more hair-raising encounters well see you experience in Season 2? What the freak is this? Lomu shouted. RELATED: GOLD RUSH SEASON 4 PREMIERE DATE In Gold Rush South America, premiering Aug. 2 at 9pm ET/PT, Gold Rush crew leaders Todd Hoffman, Dakota Fred and Parker Schnabel take their operations to find new, gold-rich ground in preparation for Gold Rush Season 4, which Discovery says will premiere in the fall. Coincidentally, Discovery had recently reserved a Russian helicopter to take aerial shots of Wright and Lomus new excavator as it trundled into Fahiakobo. (It has since been clarified in the wake of Jungle Gold.) I can hardly wait to see what drama they come up with next. The show, the first article said, captured horrifying scenes of foreigners taking over mining sites and killing indigenes. In the second, Fuseini promised to track down and arrest the two Americans. After rainstorms, locals with nothing else to do had taken to searching the gutters for specks of gold. They amassed large portfolios of raw land and residential properties throughout Utah. Ensurge Inc. announced that Scott Lomu and George Wright have accepted positions as members of the company's management team. Discovery moved the show from Friday to Sunday nights, where it competed with NFL football for the eyes of American men, their primary demographic. On the morning of May 9, hours before the first article ran, Wright was in Fahiakobo preparing for the days shoot when he received a disturbing call from Reece. locations., Scott Lomu stated, George and I have been approached numerous times to George Wright and Scott Lomu will risk it all to strike it rich as part of a golden plan to recover from losing everything in the real estate crash of 2008. I can say this, the head guy on Gold Rush hates us and we don't know why? The holes revealed a high concentration of gold in the ground. Given Africans response to Season 1 in the States, Lomu had begged Raw not to air the show in Ghana, fearing retaliation. 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. They stop mining, protecting the environment and local communities. 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. Hey guys i heard that their are NO more chinese people who are searching for gold. Back at Discoverys headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, the channel was enduring its own crisis. Alerted to the situation by Raw, series producer Christo Doyle set up a "war room" as the cameras rolled. I think it would shock a lot of people to hear how encouraging they are, and how supportive they are. It could be a painful reality but that's the way it is. But we were willing to wear our heart on our sleeve.. Jungle Gold. Seconds later, a gunshot rings out. in exploring and developing gold mining opportunities in South and North For instance, the men boasted of paying farmers 10 times their annual wages to mine on their farmland. Yet, at the same time, Ghanas small-scale mining sector had grown increasingly chaotic. The Friday audience is a different audience. 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. Yeah, I just about hate the leads of #JUNGLEGOLD 8 min in. Scott and George test out a brand new claim after racking up huge debts on the Romaso gold mine. Additionally, Mr. Lomu has been appointed as Chairman of the Companys I have never seen this dude, Marie remembers thinking. How is the discovery of Autism an emergency? Consumed with other business, hed all but forgotten about Raw. The show is such a fake with the pretend dangers all around them meanwhile the camera-production crew is right beside them every second with security and back-up, oooh Im so scared! . At the time, Ghana, Africas second-largest gold producer behind South Africa, was in the midst of a modern-day gold rush. The Lomu brothers then drew up a three-page final draft outlining the premise and sample episodes, in which three American entrepreneurs in dire financial straits would grapple with Ghanaian tribal chiefs, gold robbers, rival miners and each other. Were more committed now than we ever have been. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has over 62,000 members in Ghana, the second-highest membership in Africa behind Nigeria. The network had green-lit a second season that February. If you cannot answer that for Spoiler reasons, how many months were you in Ghana for, this year? The next day, Joy FM dispatched its Kumasi correspondent, Erastus Asare Donkor, to gather reactions to the story in the citys streets and markets. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. We didnt want them to present Ghana as a lawless place where foreigners can come and engage in illegal mining, he explained. What do they think of this? Thats the last were going to see of Ghana.. The ratings fell. Lomu knew his friend had experienced post-traumatic stress from his tours in Afghanistan. And George and I think as a direct result of the show there are a lot of government and military raids on illegal mining camps, and there are a lot of robberies happening. Jungle Gold. A heated argument ensued. The robbery scene was intense but definitely felt like the video was pulled off a little too well. Then the Joy Midday News came on TV. In the Season 1 finale, Lomu stuffs the remains of their initial investment into his backpack and walks into the bush. 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. Once the show ended, they pursued a few of the offers, but nothing came of them. In Ghana, non-Ghanaians are allowed to mine on plots of more than 25 acres, known as large-scale concessions. In a surreal scene, Lomu jumps in the car with a gold bar he says is worth $75,000, before a masked man runs out of the jungle firing a machine gun, steals the gold and runs off. Jungle Gold an action-packed reality show about two Mormons from Utah mining for gold in Ghana was a hit when it premiered on the Discovery Channel in 2012. But many viewers of Jungle Gold thought exploiting Ghanaians was precisely what Wright and Lomu had done. Snow-covered peaks rose in the distance behind him. Aboagye was shocked. While the landowner applied for a large-scale license, Raw had paid dozens of local men 40 cedis per day (around $20 in 2013, more than twice the standard rate) to dig 8-foot holes in search of gold deposits, a process known as prospecting. The following year, they tried again, on the land of a Ghanaian Mormon bishop. 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. I got a chance to talk with the pair about how the show came about, how they feel about those that accuse them of faking and what their wives really think of what theyre doing. During that time How does it feel to go to the poorest continent on the planet with the goal to take as much of the little wealth they have left? When he and other commission officials watched clips of the show online, they were appalled by its depiction of Ghana. How is the gold market lately? Many people crumble with the fame and do really stupid outrageous things. They have hatched a radical plan to turn things around; mining for gold. Why is mining for gold better (in your opinion) than taking your initial capital and investing it wisely? A task force created by President John Mahama had flushed dozens of Chinese miners from the area, leaving many of the villages men unemployed. 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And yes, I have heard many of them are gone. Phone calls from furious Ghanaian expatriates poured in. 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. When I asked what they made of accusations that theyd exploited Ghana for their personal gain, the men insisted the opposite was true: They had done good things in the country and could have done even more if they'd been allowed to keep filming. Former real estate high-rollers George and Scott regularly turned over million dollar deals. Akwesi was preparing to harvest his crops when the crew leveled them, he said. Tay, who at 53 resembles an older version of the actor Idris Elba, grew up in Accra before embarking on a mining career in his thirties. They needed to find money, fast. George: Theres something to be said about gold fever about realizing that I dig a hole, I find gold. Upon meeting me, hed asked hopefully if I was with Raw, heralding the return of Jungle Gold. Interview: Scott Lomu and George Wright of "Jungle Gold". Onscreen, an overweight guy with a wizardly goatee was struggling to fix the motor of an excavator. DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ensurge, Inc. (Trading Symbol: ESGI) announced today that Scott Lomu and First, their new landowner revealed the mining licence wasnt ready, so they couldnt film any actual work. A couple of years ago, Utah Valley residents Scott Lomu, 37, and George Wright, 29, decided to investigate after Lomu's father-in-law, who had explored the booming Ghanaian gold market himself . In the most cases they also have children. According to Wright and Lomu, a top Discovery executive told them, Your show is so real it's unreal.. Airing in the slot behind Gold Rush, it had helped Discovery dominate the Friday night cable ratings. WHEN two Mormons from Utah signed up to star in a reality show about gold mining in Ghana, they had no idea what they were getting into. I made a killing, he said. A lot of questions have been asked in Ghana about how, and why so many illegal miners were allowed to mine in Ghana without paperwork for so long. They cast Wright and Lomu as hardworking family men engaged in a heroic struggle against hostile and uncooperative natives. 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's Africa's second largest gold-producing country, so finding the precious metal isn't the hard part. The new operation went as poorly as the first. Scott and I know we could have done better. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . Then the Joy News team got ahold of Inusah Fuseini, Ghanas minister of lands and natural resources. But as Reece explained it, a wealthy Ghanaian who owned land around Fahiakobo was willing to acquire a large-scale license himself and hire Wright and Lomu to mine his property. Cameras or no cameras, we went out there to provide for our families and I feel we let them down with some wrong decisions We didnt properly plan.. Season 2 of Jungle Gold premiered in the U.S. on Aug. 11, 2013. It described how miners were regularly killed or injured thanks to unsafe practices, with 150 dying when one unlicensed mine flooded, and how cyanide, lead and mercury, used to extract gold then dumped in rivers poisoned communities. But as the cast and crews Land Rovers pull out, a pile of logs impedes their path. mining operations. For a split second, in between the man hug you could see blonde dude thinking WTF! Ready to get to work in Africa!, Jungle Gold may have enraged Ghanaian ex-pats and officials, but it was a hit with Americas 1849-year-old demographic. Have you ever seen the show 'Gold Rush'? Keep 'em coming if you have them. I think our audience got younger and that could be because we were advertised heavily during Shark Week. The shows first season had been a hit, airing on Friday nights behind Gold Rush, Discovery Channels highest-rated show. He is from the United States. But for those thinking that theyre bad actors or are, worse, faking the drama, they have an offer for you come to visit them in Ghana for a few days. It looked like we were being mocked, Donkor said. All were shocked to think Americans would film themselves engaging in illegal mining, let alone broadcast it. But regardless of their portrayal onscreen, Wright and Lomu believed they had done more good than harm in Ghana. . There was a sense of disappointment, said Wright. It was January 2011, and Lomu had stumbled onto the first season of Gold Rush, a Discovery Channel reality show that follows three men from Oregon as they mine for gold in Alaska. According to government records, the Minerals Commissions district officer in Dunkwa had discovered Raw filming a mining site without its owners consent. Scott Lomu and George Wright join our company. Back home at 21, he got married and landed a spot on the Utah Jazz Stunt Team. of this type of mining? What would they film if the stars couldnt mine? George Wright has been appointed as Vice President of When I watch the gold mining shows (especially the Alaska one) it seems no different to me than simply taking the money to Vegas and playing blackjack. 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! 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