Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Raw TV’s crew has returned to Haines to film another season of “Gold Rush,” a reality show about miners in Alaska and the Yukon aired on the Discovery Channel.

London-based production company Raw TV began filming in Haines in 2010, bringing roughly 15 employees a year to town. However, the mechanics of filming this year have been different than past years due to the ongoing pandemic.

Like all businesses with workers entering Alaska, Raw TV was required to submit a plan of protection for mitigating health risks. The plan was approved by both the state and the Haines Borough.

In a press release, Raw TV said its protection plan includes daily temperature taking, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing and COVID-19 testing. Out-of-town crew members quarantined for 14 days upon arrival in Haines, and the company relocated its base of operations 26 miles outside of town to “minimize any interactions with the town and local community.”

After the two-week quarantine period, the company began filming on June 1, roughly a month behind schedule.

The crew will likely continue filming until mid-October, depending on snowfall, Gold Rush executive producer Tim Dalby said.

Dalby said the company can’t share the specifics of its plan of protection or allow crew members to be interviewed due to a nondisclosure agreement with the Discovery Channel.

Incident commander for the Haines Borough’s Emergency Operations Center Carolann Wooton said the borough can’t share a company’s plan of protection because the plan is considered proprietary information.