Reality TV star and veteran gold miner Todd Hoffman has encountered many dangers in his pursuit of wealth.
Hoffman, 55, who rose to fame starring in Discovery’s number one rated show “The Gold Rush,” will return for the third season of the spinoff series “Hoffman Family Gold.” In an interview with Fox News Digital, Hoffman reflected on the most dangerous situations he’s faced during his long career in gold mining.
“I was in the jungle in Georgetown, Guyana, when I was chased by a car with men with guns,” Hoffman said. “I had just come back from the bank with two backpacks full of cash.”
“Hoffman Family Gold” star Todd Hoffman shares the most dangerous experience he’s had while mining for gold. (Discovery Channel/Pilgrim Media Group)
At the time, Hoffman said he had $12,000 in cash and $6,000 in each backpack. “It was only $12,000,” Hoffman said. [in] we [dollars]According to the report, the cash amounted to more than $2.5 million in Guyanese currency and the armed men pursuing Hoffman were intent on stealing it.
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“We got in the car and they came right up to us.” Miner “They had their guns out the window. They hadn’t fired at us yet. But I said, ‘Open the window. I’m going to throw the cash out the window.’
“But it turned into a car chase like you see in the movies,” Hoffman continued. “And I said, ‘When the car stalls, I’m gonna throw the cash. Everybody just lie down. We’re gonna throw the cash.'”
“We kept going right ahead of them and then my driver pulled us away. I don’t know how he did it but he was literally screaming at the top of his lungs which just added to the drama. It was like my driver was screaming. I was just scared,” he added with a laugh.
“His name was Vicky. Vicky was screaming. We were in a Toyota Tercel. So we were being chased. That’s probably what nearly got me shot and killed.”
WATCH: “Gold Rush” alum Todd Hoffman discusses gold mining’s biggest challenge
But Hoffman said he and his team were able to escape thanks to some great driving from Vicki.
“Vicky got us out,” he recalled. “Vicky somehow made a right turn, a left turn, a right turn, and somehow they got stuck and we got out. And we went into some guy’s garage, they were hanging around, so we parked there.”
Hoffman recalled that his pursuers actually found them while they were hiding in a garage.
“It’s like in the movies, you look out and they drive by and you think, ‘Oh my God, these people are trying to take our money. I mean, they’re trying to kill us. They don’t care,'” he said.
“In the jungle, it’s survival of the fittest,” Hoffman added.
But this horrific incident did not stop Hoffman and his team from continuing to mine gold in Guyana..
“I probably nearly died there once a week. Someone nearly died,” he said. “That was many years ago when I was mining in the jungle.”
Hoffman, his father Jack and son Hunter starred in “The Gold Rush” before launching “Hoffman Family Gold.” (Discovery Channel/Pilgrim Media Group)
Hoffman revealed that his most dangerous adventures weren’t depicted on “The Gold Rush,” which he starred in for eight seasons from 2010 to 2018.
“What we did in the jungle was off-camera because it was too eerie,” he says. “It was sad, dangerously sad.”
Hoffman explained that while running a family-owned gold mining business requires dealing with complex paperwork and government regulations, the hardest part is “the actual mining.”
“I think the biggest challenge is just putting it all together and getting to that gold mine,” he said. “You’re on land that’s been mined for 110, 120 years, so you’re trying to find gold that other people, people from way back, didn’t find. So it’s usually a lot harder.”
“You’re going to have to strip a lot of ice and move a lot of dirt because the gold is going to sink and pool on top of the bedrock,” he continued.
VIDEO: “Hoffman Family Gold” star Todd Hoffman nearly shot during intense car chase with armed men in jungle
Hoffman said he and his team came across many unusual sights during the excavation.
“A lot of people don’t believe in the Flood,” he noted, “but every time we dig down there we see evidence of the Flood. This year… we found caribou antlers in the deepest place we’ve ever found them. Really deep. It was really deep, and we want them examined because it was an old caribou. It was pretty deep, 18 feet below ground level. It looks like it was put there by the Flood and just pushed in.”
“I just see a lot of weird stuff,” he added. “I see a lot of weird stuff when I’m digging.”
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Hoffman also recalled some of the strangest objects he and his team have found while mining for gold.
“I dig up Levi’s zippers and stuff like that. I dig up old little relics, pieces of this and that,” he said.
“A friend of mine once dug up what looked like a little family of ground squirrels that were frozen, all huddled together and with all their fur still attached. It was really interesting.”
Hunter, Jack, Hoffman and Hoffman’s other son, Hudson, are filmed at the mine during the third season. (Discovery Channel/Pilgrim Media Group)
Hoffman said the team also found wood and animal bones beneath the ice, suggesting a warmer climate in the past.
“When I was in Canada, I dug up a pine tree that seemed to grow in tropical climates,” he said. “There’s this big talk about global warming and this and that, but all I dug up was a pine tree, and the whole hole started smelling like pine, but it was a tree that only grows in warmer climates. I dug one up like that, under the ice, under the frozen soil, about 15 feet deep.”
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“So a lot of us believed it was warm over there,” Hoffman said, “because there were little Yukon horses there. Their leg bones were only about this long. Little Yukon horses, actually about the size of a Shetland pony, roamed over there, and there were big grasslands.”
“And there are lots of strange animals that aren’t there anymore. I think there were some animals there like llamas, but it was obviously warmer at one time.”
Hudson is shown hauling gravel on Lost Cut Road in the first episode of season three. (Discovery Channel/Pilgrim Media Group)
After leaving The Gold Rush in 2018, Hoffman launched a Discovery spinoff series, Hoffman Family Gold, which is set to premiere in 2022. Hoffman Family Gold follows Hoffman, his father Jack, who also starred in The Gold Rush, and his son Hunter as they venture into a gold-rich mine 80 miles north of Nome, Alaska..
The official synopsis for the show’s first season reads, “Three generations of Todd Hoffman’s family arrive in Alaska to mine the most promising mining claim ever, but tensions rise when Todd’s father, Jack, declares this their final season. With winter rapidly approaching, the Hoffman team must devise a plan to triple production and extract 3,000 ounces before the ground freezes, putting their legacy and livelihood at risk.”
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The third series will also be the last for Jack, the Hoffman family patriarch. The fan-favorite from Gold Rush and Hoffman Gold has announced he will be leaving the show after the season. Jack got into gold mining in the 1980s but never struck it rich. He returned to the mining business in 2010, joining the Hoffmans in Gold Rush.
WATCH: “Hoffman Family Gold” star Todd Hoffman talks about what fans can expect in the hit show’s third season
In season 3’s third episode, “Jack’s Dream of Gold,” Hoffman surprises Jack by secretly shipping his father’s 1980s washing plant to Alaska to fulfill the family patriarch’s gold mining dreams..
In an exclusive clip from the episode obtained by Fox News Digital, Hoffman, Jack, Hunter and other workers can be seen trying to plug and repair leaks in an effort to get the cleaning plant up and running.
“The whole crew pitched in and nobody complained. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to my dad,” Hoffman said in the video. “These are very meaningful moments.”
Three generations of the Hoffman family work together to mine gold in Alaska. (Discovery Channel/Pilgrim Media Group)
During an interview with Fox News Digital, Hoffman hinted at what fans can expect in upcoming episodes.
“I think you’re going to see some really interesting stuff. There’s some really intense stuff happening this season, government issues and stuff like that,” Hoffman said. “Last week, and I don’t want to give away any spoilers for people who are trying to catch up, there was a massive cleanup operation, which cost a lot of money.”
He continued, “But there are good times and bad times. Really good times and real bad times. But in between, good things happen with my dad. Especially on Fridays, good things happen. Really good things happen with my dad.”
“He’s the most beloved character on the show. I have to let all the poop go downhill, you know?” he said, laughing. “I go through a lot of hard stuff, and I leave it to Jack. He’s the guy who gets all the good stuff, so I don’t mind. I have to walk around a little bit. People think I can’t walk around chewing gum, but that’s TV.”
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New episodes of “Hoffman Family Gold” air Fridays at 9 p.m. on Discovery.
