AU Grabber

The AU Grabber (pronounced as: Gold Grabber;[NB 1]) is a self-propelled barge excavator dredge used to mine Bering Sea placer gold deposits in the region around Nome, Alaska, USA. It is owned and operated by Richard Schimschat and featured in the Discovery Channel USA mining reality TV show Bering Sea Gold.[1][2][3][4][5] It cost $600,000 to buy.[6] In 2017 a 120-lb two-week-old seal was found on the dredge.[4][5][7] Hank Schimschat retired from mining in 2019, and hired out the AU Grabber.[8] Though no longer part of the show, in 2020, the dredge once again appeared on Bering Sea Gold, still mining in the Nome region.[9] At the end of the 2020 season, while pulling out the dredge, it was improperly supported, bending the boat, ending its journey. The equipment of AU Grabber was moved to a new barge, the Mistress (stylized as Mistre$$), for the 2021 gold season.[8]

Specifications

[1]

Vessel 1031061
  • Launch date: 1995
  • Length: 78.8 ft (24.0 m)
  • Width: 28 ft (8.5 m)
  • Depth: 5 ft (1.5 m)
  • Net tonnage: 92 short tons (83 tonnes)
  • Gross tonnage: 92 short tons (83 tonnes)

Notes
  1. "Au" is the chemical symbol for gold

References
  1. "AU GRABBER (1031061)". boatdb.net. Boat Database.
  2. Rob Owen (22 January 2012). "Discover series 'Bering Sea Gold' aims for pay dirt". The Seattle Times.
  3. Emily Fehrenbacher (6 May 2015). "Reality Check: 'Bering Sea Gold' plumbs the depths for TV drama". Anchorage Daily News.
  4. Maguire, Sean (19 June 2017). "Two-week-old walrus calf rescued from Nome and brought to Seward". KTUU. Gray Media Group.
  5. Maisie Thomas (23 June 2017). "Walrus calf found stranded on Nome gold dredge". The Nome Nugget.
  6. "Hank Schimschat". Discovery. 6 February 2014.
  7. "Miners Were Dredging The Ocean For Gold When They Discovered An Astonishing 120-Pound Stowaway". 14 August 2018.
  8. "What Happened to Hank Schimschat? Exclusive Interview!". Bering Sea Paydirt. 1 September 2022.
  9. "The Gold, The Bad, & The Ugly". Bering Sea Gold. Season 12. Episode 6. 5 June 2020. Discovery USA.

See also
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