Filming at home. For former real-estate entrepreneurs, George Wright & Scott Lomu, the answer was Ghana. Wally was convinced it would happen, Wright said. I Am A, where the mundane becomes fascinating and the outrageous suddenly seems normal. We have a full Biography, Photos, Theatre Credits, and more! Not a land owner. Back at Discoverys headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, the channel was enduring its own crisis. George Wright has been appointed as Vice President of Public Relations and Scott Lomu as Vice President of Investor Relations. But where? In April 2015, they were hired by Utah-based mining company Ensurge to share their mining expertise in Guyana and help attract investors. These two are typical failed realtors who have entitlement issues just like the rest of the yuppies of their generation. But they soon discovered a more viable option: gold mining. Scott and George test out a brand new claim after racking up huge debts on the Romaso gold mine. But they had not received permission from the Minerals Commission to film mining lands. Weve learned the people of Ghana and weve always known this are great, humble people.. Now, as he scanned his iPhone, Wright saw that he and his co-star, Scott Lomu, were also facing government accusations of illegal gold mining. They explain better he is a broker. Meanwhile, the pressure is on the boys to secure a wood-burning stove so the family can stay warm over winter. Were more committed now than we ever have been. I feel that resonates with people on a pretty personal level. Theyd spent the past year trying to dramatize their daily lives for the cameras. We didnt think it would make us look cool and it certainly didnt.. In Jungle Gold, Discovery Channel's hit reality series, George Wright and Scott Lomu try their best to climb out of a mountain of debt.Their loyal families wait at home while the two toil away in Ghana, hoping to strike gold and solidify their financial futures. He went to a meeting but he'll be back I'm sure. This show is 90% scripted, the laws they portray in the show are complete non-sense. G: When the show gets edited they are continually making editing choices between our daily life choices and events. A lot of Latter-day Saints did go mining, said David Walker, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Because it really is a joke how nave and unprepared these douche bags really are. 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. Greenhorn gold miners George Wright and Scott Lomu put everything on the line -- their lives included -- to hit pay dirt in the gold-rich and danger-filled jungles of Ghana. They watched as the title card flashed onscreen to the sounds of an explosion and a screeching howler monkey. As Richard Bushman, a professor emeritus of history at Columbia University, put it: Mormons think things will work out for the best.. A month after the Jungle Gold evacuation, the Ghanaian government conducted a nationwide crackdown on illegal foreign miners, causing thousands of Chinese nationals to be deported. Theres a lot of feedback we get where people are just really inspired by the idea that we have a goal and were willing to do whatever it takes to obtain that goal. Watch my interview with the guys and a clip from the episode: Watch: George and Scott of Jungle Gold talk robbery, accusations, GloRilla, Ice Spice, And The Carefree Black Girl Backlash, Karol G Tells Us About Her Most Personal Album Yet, Maana Ser Bonito, And Collaborating With Shakira, The Rundown: Between Cocaine Bears And Maple Syrup Heists, Margo Martindale Is Absolutely Thriving In 2023. Thats the last were going to see of Ghana.. So, thanks again. entertaining gold mining program `Jungle Gold,' they have an They stop mining, protecting the environment and local communities. Scott and I know we could have done better. When the cast and crew arrived on the first day of filming, however, they found it crawling with Chinese miners. The path to George Wright and Scott Lomu's camp. So Literally Ask US Anything, we can't spoil the upcoming season, but anything else is fine. Can you talk about your new colleague Dave Thomas? His own face stared back. Lomu and Macias had been best friends growing up; as a teenager, Lomu had baptized him into the Mormon church. We also discussed the fact that they initially started out with another partner who committed suicide just one day before they got the call from Discovery. As it happened, Akwesi was the brother-in-law of the landowner, who had cut him out of the $5,000 the show paid in compensation for the cocoa crops. Still, they thought the furor would blow over. Fans have praised stunning MAFS newcomer Evelyn for her mission to hold a groom accountable for his bad behaviour towards his wife. tailings, improve recoveries of existing milling operations and improve He is from the United States. 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. He had no idea George is an experienced MMA fighter, the shows gravel-voiced narrators says. We didnt exploit anyone, Lomu told me. We just like to do our thing, it's all we can do really. Furious, Wright and Lomu gathered a dozen local chiefs and tribal elders to solve the dispute. Two guys lose their shirts when the real estate bubble bursts and decide to do the logical thing hunt for gold in Ghana! I thought, Why have the authorities not intervened?. Clint Mishleau, the Companys CEO, stated, We are very pleased to have They forfeited the cash and moved to a less profitable site. Never had a real job or a real education, never think ahead or do research about anything. 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.. Etc. 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. 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. Scott Lomu: Because weve moved from Friday to Sunday it seems like our audience has gotten a lot younger. What is behind the allure of gold mining? Do you guys take any measures to minimize your impact? Tall, handsome, and half-Polynesian, he studied business at Arizona State University and did his Mormon mission in Indianapolis. IE 11 is not supported. Wright caught malaria. Villagers routinely set up roadblocks and demanded hundreds of dollars to pass. We met him last year. What would they film if the stars couldnt mine? The Mormons stuck to soda. He was still there when I showed up six months later. Could their adventures be a reality TV show? It's really frustrating because we have the same production company and we hear all sorts of stories about him, but all I know of him is the first tweet I sent to him when our show started was a thank you, "thanks for forging the way in gold show so that our story and show could have a shot, thank you!" As methodical and reserved as Wright is impulsive and outspoken, Lomu, eight years Wrights senior, was raised outside Phoenix. believe Ensurge has the potential to grow into a significant junior There is no law against foreigners mining in Ghana, anyone can mine in Ghana granted they use a licensed agent. One day in Ghana is more dramatic than this entire freaking episode!. The day before, he and the entire cast and crew of the Discovery Channel reality show Jungle Gold had fled a nearby village fearing an armed militia was after them. While Ghanaians in the diaspora were railing against Jungle Gold online, members of Ghanas Minerals Commission were quietly fuming about its existence. The Ghanaian government permitted Mormon activities to resume 18 months after the ban. Scott Lomu might have a wife or a husband. 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. Big props to the crew if they really risked themselves like that to get the footage. All were shocked to think Americans would film themselves engaging in illegal mining, let alone broadcast it. ), Earlier this year, I met Wright and Lomu at Wrights four-bedroom house in Eagle Mountain, Utah. What do they think of this? The kids autism is just another excuse for the idiot to stop working and run home. The series chronicles the continuing efforts of former real-estate dealers George Wright and Scott Lomu . 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. It was another disaster. Unfortunately, most locals can't afford to mine the gold, they need outside investment. The new reality show Jungle Gold started broadcasting across Africa on MultiChoice's DStv from the . SENT to Ghana for a TV series, the American stars of Jungle Gold were accused of destroying the environment, exploiting workers, racism and even murder. Lomu peeked out the compounds window, half expecting a military convoy to break down the gate and haul them away. Fahiakobo was hit hard by the June 2013 crackdown. We were in panic mode. Wright found work translating Spanish for an Arizona-based equipment supplier bidding for contracts in Colombias mining sector. But none of them seemed Laborers were shown polluting water bodies with mercury, which is used to recover gold from other minerals. Seconds later, a gunshot rings out. FYI, for our show specifically, it is 200 hours of content for 43 minutes if show. On the morning of May 10, 2013, George Wright woke up in the small Ghanaian town of Domenase to learn that the countrys largest media outlet was accusing him of murder. But Raw believed they could meet the challenges of filming a gold-mining operation in Ghana; in the Season 1 synopsis, they noted that their contributors would be paragons of responsible mining. Discovery, which had green-lit the show in March, had insisted Wright and Lomu hire locals, replant cocoa crops on mined land, and abide by the rules of Ghanas Environmental Protection Agency. Broke and demoralized, the three men abandoned their nascent mining operation in October 2010. Scott receives life-changing news that could change their gold mining futures. She was crying hysterically. A task force created by President John Mahama had flushed dozens of Chinese miners from the area, leaving many of the villages men unemployed. It brought back a lot of stressful memories, Wright said. Not that Id recommend it, but theyre pretty sure they can school any critics. In November 2011, two things happened. English. But they only had $35,000 left. 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. That summer, the men resumed their former routine, traveling to Ghana in shifts. Season 2 of Jungle Gold airs Sundays at 10pm ET/PT on Discovery Channel. Watch part 1 unfold here: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/jungle-gold/videos/run-for-the-border-part-one.htm. The Companys business plan also includes bringing capital and Villagers set up roadblocks and demanded hundreds of dollars. We asked! To ensure the most secure and best overall experience on our website, we recommend the latest versions of. The other was Wally Macias, a charismatic Mexican-American and former undercover narcotics agent in Kanab, Utah. I can say this, the head guy on Gold Rush hates us and we don't know why? George Wright and Scott Lomu of Discovery's "Jungle Gold" (Sundays at 10:00 p.m. 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! Clean-cut Lomu and Wright were working together in Utahs declining real estate industry when they heard Ghana was experiencing a modern-day gold rush and attracting overseas miners, mainly Chinese, to try their luck. He was sawing into an overcooked hamburger patty when he glanced at the flatscreen on the wall. Within minutes, the team slipped through customs and boarded a 30-passenger jet chartered by Discovery. According to government records, the Minerals Commissions district officer in Dunkwa had discovered Raw filming a mining site without its owners consent. G: Good question, for us this was nothing more than the right opportunity at the right time. Olivia Newton-Johns daughter has revealed how she keeps her connection to her mother alive months after her tragic passing. As they prepared for shooting one day in May, they heard that armed militia had attacked miners near their old site. 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. 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. The Mormon miners submitted a proposal to Raw TV, the British company that produced the program, and waited. They had brought in work and money after all. I have never seen this dude, Marie remembers thinking. No way. We say, Yeah, we travel back and forth between here and West Africa. And then they always said the same thing which I felt there needed to be some deciphering after theyd say it theyd always say, I wish I could do that. And I said, Well, I dont think you understand what youre saying. DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ensurge, Inc. (Trading Symbol: ESGI) announced today that Scott Lomu and The Guyana operation was expanding, and Mishleau valued Wright and Lomus years of mining experience in Ghana. If you cannot answer that for Spoiler reasons, how many months were you in Ghana for, this year? Spoiler Alert, yeah, can't answer that, we were there for 4 months about. It's humbling to see the poverty that exists there. Focused on the action, the show failed to explain the complicated licensing process, causing many to assume they were mining illegally. We encountered a lot of stuff thats never been shown on TV. The little gold they found went directly into equipment costs. Even way back then we kind of had a number saying, Okay, what happens if it goes this low, are we still good? Its still a viable business, and we believe it still will be for many years to come. Ref: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1124.html The two Americans will be tracked down and arrested, a Ghanaian official declared. Wed put our last $50,000 into that site, Wright said. Theyre hoping things will be different this time. But it was Lomus identical twin brother, Bill, a divorce mediator then living in Arizona, who finally took action. One of them was Wright, whose entrepreneurial drive and years in South America Lomu saw as an asset. Why is mining for gold better (in your opinion) than taking your initial capital and investing it wisely? 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. We really liked the people of Ghana, the people we worked with. Last year we were forced to use mercury which was really hard for a lot of people. Maybe Utah poor is different to my poor. Now, it seemed, Ghana was taking its revenge. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. They wanted to know how we had allowed such a disgusting program to air on TV, a spokesperson for the commission told me. The most recent episode where Scottie had to fly home immediately because his boy was diagnosed with autism was just another laughable fake emergency. Hopefully you guys get some good stuff, so everyone can benefit, she responded. But as Ghanaian mining activist Daniel Owusu-Koranteng told me, illiterate cocoa farmers are not accustomed to receiving giant sums of cash at once. The next morning, Wright searched his iPhone for news of the incident. Desperate for cash, he recruited two men he thought would make enthusiastic gold dealers. To raise the rest, they decided to deal gold in the jungle. 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. Since Jungle Gold aired, small mining companies from around the world have contacted Wright and Lomu through Facebook to propose mining partnerships. I'm honestly not a fan of Reality tv at all, I want to watch good scripted shows with compelling stories. They had first heard about the show in July 2012, while the cast and crew were still in Ghana filming Season 1. We fell comfortable. Under Review. George Wright. 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). Sorry we ruined Discovery Channel for you. Phone calls from furious Ghanaian expatriates poured in. Scott Lomu and George Wright land at a rural airport in Kumasi, Ghana. Afterward, the farmer said, people viewed them more cautiously. Additionally, Mr. Lomu has been appointed as Chairman of the Companys We were like, This is the kind of operation we want to be a part of! Lomu said. In 2010, they and a friend, Wally Macias, invested in a small operation and took turns flying out to work there. All times AEDT (GMT +11). Theres something to be said about that allure. 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. Friday to Sunday it seems like our audience has gotten a lot.. If show lose their shirts when the real estate bubble bursts and decide to our. Show failed to explain the complicated licensing process, causing many to assume they mining... Typical failed realtors who have entitlement issues just like the rest, they decided to deal gold in Ghana more... So the family can stay warm over winter, which is used to recover gold from other Minerals of! ' they have an they stop mining, protecting the environment and local communities do the logical hunt! The flatscreen on the first day of filming, however, they were by! Make enthusiastic gold dealers, however, they were hired by Utah-based mining Ensurge! 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