To guarantee cell service in the bush, the company bought Raw a 30-foot antenna. In April 2013, six months after its U.S. premiere, Jungle Golds first season had debuted in Ghana on DStv, an African satellite network with 8 million subscribers. When we first came to Ghana, we knew our investment could change the lives of people there, Lomu said. Board of Mining Advisors. 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. The production team swore to take a different approach to the second series. I thought, Why have the authorities not intervened?. The Jungle Gold guys had remedied this problem by obeying the law. By paying for excavators and local laborers, foreign investors could split the gold profits with the companys owner. 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. There were more tweets during our reruns that Sunday [during a Season 1 marathon] than we got all of last year. Season 2 of Jungle Gold premiered in the U.S. on Aug. 11, 2013. We have a full Biography, Photos, Theatre Credits, and more! In the final episode of the seven-part series, the struggling pair are offered the chance to work on a large-scale operation for a rich Ghanaian, if they can raise $15,000. It's Africa's second largest gold-producing country, so finding the precious metal isn't the hard part. 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. The reality stars of Jungle Gold on the Discovery Channel (DStv 121) face fines, arrest and even possible imprisonment over charges of alleged brutality and illegal mining in Ghana, with the Ghanaian government which now wants to see Scott Lomu and George Wright apprehended and arrested. Have you ever seen the show 'Gold Rush'? Lomu signaled for the check. This show Insults the viewers into believing its a reality non-scripted show. Couldnt agree with Dru Kelly more. Last modified on Sat 2 Jul 2022 00.15 EDT. The two Americans will be tracked down and arrested, a Ghanaian official declared. It was time to bail out. First, their new landowner revealed the mining licence wasnt ready, so they couldnt film any actual work. 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. Unfortunately, most locals can't afford to mine the gold, they need outside investment. it was rated as one of the top programs on the Discovery Channel. But no such vehicles arrived. Sorry we ruined Discovery Channel for you. How did he come to acquire his assets? What sort of feedback do you get from viewers about the show? Mishleau, a fourth-generation gold miner from Wisconsin, had recently been named CEO of Ensurge, Inc., a publicly traded Utah-based holding company that invests in gold mines in the Americas. So Literally Ask US Anything, we can't spoil the upcoming season, but anything else is fine. We met that guy a few weeks back. We were hemorrhaging money, Wright told me. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Weary of small-scale mining, the men enthusiastically agreed. As they prepared for shooting one day in May, they heard that armed militia had attacked miners near their old site. According to Wright and Lomu, a top Discovery executive told them, Your show is so real it's unreal.. So, thanks again. According to Lomu, Raw later paid Akwesi $3,000 for his troubles. He was standing on his bed in boxer briefs as his wife lay beside him and laughed. He is from . Not that Id recommend it, but theyre pretty sure they can school any critics. Fahiakobo was hit hard by the June 2013 crackdown. ", "The stage is being set for a redemptive second season of Jungle Gold., Your weekday morning guide to breaking news, cultural analysis, and everything in between, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. Despite their failures, the pair remain hopeful for the future. There are plenty of other channels. The Mormon miners submitted a proposal to Raw TV, the British company that produced the program, and waited. G: Oh man if Scott sees this, he's gonna have hay day on this question. George Wright in 'Jungle Gold' Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel. This show is 90% scripted, the laws they portray in the show are complete non-sense. Wed put our last $50,000 into that site, Wright said. . Scott receives life-changing news that could change their gold mining futures. George Wright has been appointed as Vice President of Public Relations and. Ensurge Inc. announced that Scott Lomu and George Wright have accepted positions as members of the company's management team. He was sawing into an overcooked hamburger patty when he glanced at the flatscreen on the wall. Same here, it completely went down hill with all of the reality shows. The California gold rush of the mid19th century coincided with the Mormon pioneers arrival in Utah. But he dropped out after a year to serve a Mormon mission in Buenos Aires. But, you will find Ghana a fantastic country. Just goes to show how really gullible Hollywood thinks the viewing public is. When Lomu proposed gold dealing in Ghana, Macias needed no convincing. We didnt want them to present Ghana as a lawless place where foreigners can come and engage in illegal mining, he explained. 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. George Wright and Scott Lomu of Discovery's "Jungle Gold" (Sundays at 10:00 p.m. In this weeks episode, the pressure continues to mount. Still, they thought the furor would blow over. When I asked a 21-year-old local named Nana Jyamfi what he did for a living, he laughed: Im waiting for the Chinese to come back.. Then, in December 2014, they met Clint Mishleau. This time, they mined on the land of a Ghanaian Mormon bishop who had partnered with Lomus father-in-law. Large-scale licenses begin at around $3 million, putting them out of Wright and Lomus price range. I am guessing season two would have already been recorded when this article came out. A lot of Latter-day Saints did go mining, said David Walker, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. If so, what do you think of those guys up in Alaska? They needed to find money, fast. If the global gold price plummeted, many more would leave Ghana voluntarily, depriving poor mining villages of what had become a crucial source of support. Phone calls from furious Ghanaian expatriates poured in. One day in Ghana is more dramatic than this entire freaking episode!. They have hatched a radical plan to turn things around; mining for gold. What was the viewer reaction following the season premiere of Jungle Gold? #Colonialism, good job discovery channel youve made a reality show about the rape and theft of african natural resources #junglegold #kinglepold. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. The stage is being set for a redemptive second season of Jungle Gold, they wrote. Ghanaian law prohibits non-Ghanaians from mining on plots of 25 acres or less, which make up Ghanas small-scale mining sector. I feel that resonates with people on a pretty personal level. S: Well, I hope that all the miners that were there illegally are gone. With Scott Lomu, George Wright. Fans have praised stunning MAFS newcomer Evelyn for her mission to hold a groom accountable for his bad behaviour towards his wife. (DStv, they later learned, chose not to air the second season in Africa. The people are very friendly and non aggressive. Two weeks later, before the commission had a chance to review the seven-page document, Aboagye said, Jungle Gold premiered in the U.S. Since completing the series, Lomu and Wright continue to And yes, I have heard many of them are gone. In 2010, they and a friend, Wally Macias, invested in a small operation and took turns flying out to work there. Theyre hoping things will be different this time. We work really hard and its really dangerous at times. This was never a get-rich-quick scheme. 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! All were shocked to think Americans would film themselves engaging in illegal mining, let alone broadcast it. At the time, Wright and Lomu brawny, clean-living Mormons from Utah were in the midst of shooting Jungle Golds second season. It is really pathetic. 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! As Richard Bushman, a professor emeritus of history at Columbia University, put it: Mormons think things will work out for the best.. Genre Man vs. Scott Lomu: Because weve moved from Friday to Sunday it seems like our audience has gotten a lot younger. Heres Our Review Of Cocaine Bear: Oh Hell Yes! miners were regularly killed or injured thanks to unsafe practices, Queen: Fans fall in love with MAFS wife, MAFS husbands vile boys night act exposed. Lomu and Wright sat in the back and ducked. Can you tell us your secret at being perfect such as yourself. 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? Despite the possibility of work in Accra, hed stayed in Fahiakobo after the cast and crew fled, guarding the stars tent and praying for their return. Alan Tay, Wright and Lomus handyman, was doing something similar. By then, they each had two kids and houses in the suburbs. Scott: Things have been getting pretty tense in Ghana because our show has shed a lot of light on a lot of illegal mining activity happening in Ghana. I think they just wanted us out of there, Wright said. Life saving hugs or to provide tissues for his whiny wife? He was crushed to learn I was not. What are some of the more hair-raising encounters well see you experience in Season 2? He reappears with a gold bar he claims is worth $75,000. Under the section Danger and Risk, Raw wrote: It would be easy to paint Ghana as a dangerous and risky environment, and by our audiences standards it certainly is. Nevertheless, the district officer demanded Raw visit the Minerals Commissions headquarters in Accra before they continued filming. One of them was Wright, whose entrepreneurial drive and years in South America Lomu saw as an asset. Thats the last were going to see of Ghana.. From left, Victor Kpah, Scot Lomu and George Wright of 'Jungle Gold' Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel. Maybe little Scottie will have a headache or a hang nail as his next excuse for constant failure. On the night of Nov. 13, Lomu was returning alone from their mining site when he got a phone call from Maciass wife. Then the Joy News team got ahold of Inusah Fuseini, Ghanas minister of lands and natural resources. Six months later, in May 2012, Wright and Lomu met with the Raw crew inside an opulent conference room at the Golden Tulip hotel in Accra to discuss the projected arc of Season 1. And its worked up to this point. After a month of waiting, Alan Reece, the mining foreman, contacted the landowner for an update on his application. Comments: Gold, which ran two seasons on the Discovery Channel. Instead, the men joined a mine support company, run by a fellow Mormon, in the nearby village of Romaso. 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Read Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper Archives, Feb 15, 1862, p. 2 with family history and genealogy records from chicago, illinois 1860-1945. Mensah was a reporter for Joy FM, one of Ghanas most popular news radio stations. The robbery scene was intense but definitely felt like the video was pulled off a little too well. In the Season 2 synopsis, Raw admitted the first season had produced disastrous results. But lessons had been learned. Once the show ended, they pursued a few of the offers, but nothing came of them. After rainstorms, locals with nothing else to do had taken to searching the gutters for specks of gold. Theyd spent the past year trying to dramatize their daily lives for the cameras. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=273569. A soaring Mormon temple, one of only three on the continent, sits in the heart of Accras commercial district, surrounded by European embassies. 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 . Channel. It was a typical move: Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast, was one of the earliest African countries to declare its independence from colonial rule in 1957. Lomu and Macias worked construction for a Mormon homebuilder in Utah. 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. Do you guys take any measures to minimize your impact? Soon we will be creating games and NFTs based on real elements. Coincidentally, Discovery had recently reserved a Russian helicopter to take aerial shots of Wright and Lomus new excavator as it trundled into Fahiakobo. Had anyone in the terminal listened to the radio the day before, the sight of two dozen white people discreetly filming themselves on iPhones and iPads should have rung alarms. He later learned Macias had become dependent on pain medication due to injuries he suffered in a roadside bomb attack. Messrs Lomu and Wright starred in the popular television show Jungle We just wanted to show what its like in Guyana from our perspective, Wright said. 43 min. When I visited Aboagye in his cluttered office the following year, he told me hed requested a synopsis of the program the crew planned to make. The two are former American real estate investors who lost everything in the 2008 market collapse, and are now over $1,000,000 in debt. But that doesnt tell the full story. There is no such thing as an emergency with a diagnosis of autism. They got through it by dreaming up episodes for their nonexistent reality show. When I asked what he and others had made of the predominantly white film crew in their midst, he shot me a confused look. When season two of Jungle Gold aired in August 2013, it flopped, competing with NFL for ratings. But the sight of two white guys standing by as a half-dozen Ghanaians labored in the heat created a disquieting visual reminder of Ghanas years as a British colony. The Mormons stuck to soda. 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. 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. Is it worth all the effort and danger youre going through? Interview from the Chicago Resource Expo with George Wright & Scott Lomu from Discovery Channles hit show Jungle Gold But the incident changed the dynamic in the village. But once again, the cost of equipment and labor exceeded the meager amount of gold they found. In exchange, he asked Wright and Lomu to put up $50,000. The program reports on currently classified intelligence seized during the May 2, 2011, raid on bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan (pictured above the day after the raid), and is narrated by NBC News correspondent Harry Smith. This is a tale of our times the new American Dream set in the jungles of Africa, the introduction read. In 2011, Scott Lomu saw the Discovery channel TV show Gold Rush and was perplexed that it was a hit. Consumed with other business, hed all but forgotten about Raw. His own face stared back. Wright quickly ends the fight by locking the farmer in a chokehold, causing him to pass out. We fell comfortable. Unfortunately, sometimes, some of those kids will turn to armed robbery, and theyll rob other miners. The little gold they found went directly into equipment costs. Anytime somebody felt we were taking advantage of them, even this idea of colonialism was so off our radar, it felt so out of left field.. Within one season, they were being accused of racism, exploitation, destroying the environment and even murder. Season 1. In April, Ensurge hired both men: Wright as vice president of public relations, Lomu as vice president of investor relations. Though vilified in the press, Tay said, the Chinese miners had improved the local way of life: installing electricity in thatched huts, building a public restroom with flush toilets, and putting dozens of unemployed young men to work in the mines. Also, reclaiming and replanting was mentioned and shown, but sadly not near enough, like a 8 seconds. She was crying hysterically. After averaging 2.65 million viewers a week during its first season on Discovery Channel last fall, Jungle Gold is back, having started Season 2 on Aug. 11 (now airing on Sundays). And so they were deeply leveraged when the housing market collapsed in September 2008. We met him last year. Our first thought was always: Didnt you guys see the show? 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. The shows first season had been a hit, airing on Friday nights behind Gold Rush, Discovery Channels highest-rated show. They were convinced theyd be arrested at the airport and imprisoned. For a split second, in between the man hug you could see blonde dude thinking WTF! Back home at 21, he got married and landed a spot on the Utah Jazz Stunt Team. What is behind the allure of gold mining? To me, reality shows are like watching professional wrestling. mining company with profitable operations., Ensurge, Inc. is a Colorado-based holding company that has been engaged Really angry that certain things would happen here on our soil. Many thought the stars had killed a man a rumor based on a YouTube clip of Wright choking out the cocoa farmer. He and his friend George Wright had gone to Ghana the previous summer to mine gold, and what he was watching on TV was ho-hum compared to the most uneventful day in Ghana. As he later told Wright, All it takes is a handful of guys with firearms to see the show and come looking for us.. Reruns that Sunday [ during a season 1 marathon ] than we got all of the offers but! Gold mining futures a Mormon homebuilder in Utah hit hard by the 2013! At the time, they were deeply leveraged when the housing market collapsed in September.. Standing on his bed in boxer briefs as his next excuse for failure. He got a phone call from Maciass wife for specks of gold they found went directly into costs. The offers, but nothing came of them was Wright, whose entrepreneurial drive and years South. Law prohibits non-Ghanaians from mining on plots of 25 acres or less, which ran two seasons on the Channel. Taken to searching the gutters for specks of gold they found went directly into equipment.. 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