GOLD MINERS DOUBLE DOWN, PUTTING EVERYTHING THEY HAVE BEHIND A NEW EFFORT TO STRIKE IT RICH IN DISCOVERY CHANNEL'S "GOLD RUSH"

-- Hit Series Returns for a Second Season on Friday, October 28th --

(Silver Spring, Md.) - In Discovery Channel's hit series GOLD RUSH, a group of down-on-their-luck men, in the face of an economic meltdown, risk everything to strike it rich mining for gold in Alaska. Inspired by his father Jack, Todd Hoffman leads the miners - now with one season under their belts - to finish what they started and get to the bottom of the glory hole at Porcupine Creek and find gold. The second season of GOLD RUSH kicks off with a special "The Off-Season" on Friday, October 28th at 8PM ET/PT, where fans will find out about all of the hard work the Hoffmans put in between mining seasons to make sure they hit the mother lode this time around. Then at 9PM ET/PT, "Twist of Fate" officially kicks off the new season.

Last season, the Hoffmans and their crew battled Mother Nature - and each other - to mine their way out of financially hard times. The Hoffmans sold everything they owned that wasn't nailed down to fund their dream of striking it rich in Alaska, leasing the Porcupine Creek claim. But after sinking $250,000 into the project, they found only $20,000 worth of gold by the end of their long, hard rookie season. A dismal end to a summer filled with injuries, broken machinery, constant fighting and an unhappy claim owner.

But with the skyrocketing price of gold, the Hoffmans decide to keep their dream alive. With a case of Gold Fever, they go back bigger and better than before. They sell everything they owned that was nailed down - including leveraging their small airport in Oregon - to fund a second mining season. This spring, they headed north once again to Porcupine Creek, Alaska to settle unfinished business and find the gold at the bottom of the glory hole. But right as things finally start to go their way, unforeseen circumstances threaten to jeopardize their dream of striking it rich in the frozen north. With the mining season slipping away, the Hoffman crew is forced to come up with a new plan in order to salvage what could be their last mining season.

GOLD RUSH is produced for Discovery Channel by Raw Television, where Dimitri Doganis and Sam Maynard are executive producers and James Bates is series producer. For Discovery Channel, Christo Doyle is executive producer.

* The freshman season of Gold Rush was the #1 ad-supported cable program on Friday nights during its run with A18-49 (1.61/1,809), M18-49 (2.21/1,232), A25-54 (1.84/1,983) and M25-54 (2.62/1,384) viewers. (Rank based on 4+ telecasts, Fri 8-11P); each week, new episodes delivered 3.73 million average viewers (P2+) .