Jungle Gold on Discovery

MANILA, Philippines - Africa, a land that is not only rich with extraordinary wildlife, but with billions of dollars’ worth of gold. None are more familiar with this than the determined miners who travel far out from across the globe to seek their fortunes in the dangerous and gold-rich jungles of Ghana, Africa’s second largest gold producing country where 3.6 million ounces of gold, worth around $5B were pulled from the ground in 2011. In the all-new series, Jungle Gold, follow former American high-rollers, George Wright VI and Scott Lomu, two hardworking men who made the bold decision to invest all they have left — including their own lives — in hopes of making a mint to recover from the 2008 real-estate crash that caused them to lose everything they owned. An eight-part series, Jungle Gold premieres tonight at 9 with encores on Tuesdays at 2 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Former real-estate experts, George and Scott regularly turned over million dollar deals, cashing in amazing profits and lived the great American dream, but after missing the warning signs of a market bust, they eventually lost all they earned. In desperate economic straits with their families’ futures on the line, they make the unflinching choice to risk it all to mine for gold in Ghana, a region with vast reserves of gold-rich ground that could ensure even rookies with aging machinery a good chance to strike it big. After securing $150,000 from an investor, the pressure is on from the start for George and Scott to find sufficient gold to pay back the loan, as well as their other debts that have chalked up to over a million dollars. So you think gold-digging in Ghana sounds easy? Not quite. Mining is the simple part. Hostile armed neighbours, miles of broken roads, roadblocks manned by Ghanaian gangs, and shady and ruthless gold buyers are amongst some of the perilous obstacles that the Jungle Gold guys have to overcome together with their local middleman, Victor Kpah and American mechanic and technical support man, Travis Fotheringham.

United by their endearing determination to survive and provide for their families, George and Scott live on the edge where one wrong move could result in a potentially life-threatening race to escape the country unscathed with their prized finds.