Reality TV in Guyana…‘Bamazon’ boys mine $3.4M in gold

Jan 31, 2013 News

“Just call me Denver,” said Chris Gamble, a member of the eight-man mining team from Alabama. “I got the nuggets.”
But did he? The entire crew, headed by Tim Evans, a Tallapoosa County real-estate developer, was hoping to get rich from a six-week stint in Guyana. “Judgment Day” was at hand on the January 27 programme, capping a rugged reality series on the History channel.
As is typical for “Bamazon,” the workers faced nerve-wracking problems with their equipment, and the men labored feverishly under severe time constraints. Apparently, everyone had to leave the mining camp before water levels got too low in the nearby river, making exit from the jungle impossible.

Mining for gold in South America is a muddy job. Here’s the “Bamazon” crew at work.

Finally, their haul from the trip — tiny flakes and little chunks of gold — was sifted from muddy water and welded into two lumpy masses by crew member Steve Hudson. Evans pulled out a scale and announced the verdict: About US$17,000 worth of gold.
Split seven ways — Clate McDaniel, an original member of the team, left about halfway through the expedition — it amounted to less than US$2,500 apiece.
Disappointing? Sure. But the stage was set for the next season of “Bamazon.”
Evans (stoic but undaunted) vowed to return for another try at gold mining. The base camp was established. The equipment was in place. The team had experience under its collective belt. They’d simply have to wait until the weather would allow for Round Two.
“We’re going to come back next season, with everything we’ve learned to tackle that vein of gold,” Evans said.
Crew member Julius Reed wasn’t ready to give up, either.
It was a bold gambit by their leader, Tim Evans. When Tim’s business crashed a couple years ago, he decided to use what was left of his fortune to ship tons of heavy equipment down to Guyana and lease a piece of land in the country’s treacherous northwest interior. All his research told him that the land held massive veins of gold. But getting at it—in a place with no roads or infrastructure—meant he’d need all the help he could get.

Julius Reed, left, and Chris Gamble pan for gold in Guyana.

Tim reached out to seven of his most trusted former employees, guys who’d been with him through thick and thin. They had been broke and out of work for so long that Tim’s offer to share profits of a gold mining venture seemed too good to pass up. So what if none of them knew the first thing about mining? So what if most of them had never been out of the country before? They’re Alabama boys, and that means they know how to get things done.