DISCOVERY'S HIGHEST-RATED SERIES "GOLD RUSH" RETURNS FOR A THIRD SEASON ON OCTOBER 26TH AND THIS TIME, SOMEONE HITS THE MOTHER LODE

(Silver Spring, Md.) - GOLD RUSH, Discovery Channel's highest-rated series, returns for a third season on Friday, October 26th. After two years of equipment breakdowns, infighting and battling Mother Nature, this season one crew finally strikes it rich.

At 7:30PM E/P, the 90 minute special GOLD RUSH: DO OR DIE reveals what the crews did last winter to prepare for their most important season yet: teenager Parker Schnabel looks to redeem himself and prove to his grandfather John he has what it takes to turn a profit at Big Nugget Mine, "Dakota Fred" Hurt gets to finally see what's at the bottom of the infamous glory hole and Todd Hoffman strategizes about how to achieve the monstrous 1,000 ounce goal he set for himself and his crew at the end of last season.

At 9PM E/P, the episode "Million Dollar Season" kicks off the third season of GOLD RUSH. One of the mining teams hits paydirt... but which one? Parker Schnabel has a new crew, new land and a newly rebuilt wash plant on his side. After months and months of digging, Dakota Fred finally hit bedrock and started to see the best gold yet just as winter set in last year - and has high hopes that this will finally be the season he walks away a millionaire. And in his quest to find 1,000 ounces of gold this season, Todd Hoffman doublesdown with two claims and twice the crew and equipment. But is that enough to get him to his goal of finding ten times more than he did last year?

GOLD RUSH: DO OR DIE

Premieres Friday, October 26th at 7:30PM E/P

(90 minute special)

The off-season is where miners say they make all their money - it's all about preparation for the coming season. And miner Todd Hoffman has his hands full. He claims he'll find 1,000 ounces of gold - worth about $1.6 million - in this, his third mining season. That's ten times more than what he and his crew produced last year: 93.5 ounces worth about $150,000. But Hoffman dreams big and there's no stopping him from trying to pull this off. Though if he fails, he says this will be his last season.

To even come close to this seemingly impossible goal, Todd has to make some drastic changes from last season. He needs to double down on his crew, equipment, wash plants and yes,even his claims. But that takes some serious money and he needs to secure an investor to fund this supersized operation. To add to his challenges, Todd's right hand man Dave Turin is fed up with his mining tactics and will only return to the Klondike with the Hoffman crew if he is allowed to run the second claim his own way, splitting the original mining team in two.

GOLD RUSH SEASON 3 PREMIERE

"Million Dollar Season"

Premieres Friday, October 26th at 9PM E/P

It took two years to get here, but this season, four competing gold mining crews have made it to the big leagues.

After finding just 35 ounces of gold last year, worth about $56,000, 18-year-old Parker Schnabel has to prove to his grandfather,John Schnabel, that he's got what it takes to be a real Alaskan gold miner. He hires a new crew, mines new land and rebuilds his aging wash plant from the ground up. And it pays off. In one week Parker gets more gold out of Big Nugget than all of last season. But can he keep up the momentum and turn a profit for the mine - and his grandpa?

Across the creek from Parker is the Porcupine Creek mine, run by "Dakota Fred" Hurt and his son Dustin. And their plans are just as big. They pulled in 80.4 ounces last year, worth about $128,000, but that just whet their appetite. The weather turned last season just as they hit bedrock at the bottom of the glory hole - a spot thought to contain millions of dollars worth of gold. With a female miner joining the Dakota Boys this season, they excavate a 90-foot crater and deal with the effects of the worst winter in 50 years to get to the gold.

In their quest to find 1,000 ounces of gold this season, more than ten times the amount they found last season, the Hoffmans double down with two claims, two wash plants, twice the crew and twice the equipment. And at his insistence, Dave Turin leads the second mine, forcing the Hoffman crew to pick sides. Half of the original crew chooses to mine with Dave and the strategy pays off. Between the two mines they break all previous gold counts - but the pressure to get to 1,000 ounces drives a wedge between the crews and it's a battle between Team Todd and Team Turin for who can produce the most gold.

Season two of GOLD RUSH, premiering in October 2011, was watched by an average of 4.58 million people each week (Live+SD) and was the #1 program in ALL of television (no exclusions) for 13 straight weeks among men 18-49 (delivery). The February 24, 2012 season finale, "Judgement Day," earned a 3.53 HH / 2.64 P25-54 AA%, delivering an average of 5.06 million viewers (P2+). In total, GOLD RUSH was watched by 57.7 million people (P2+) during the second season.

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