LA GRANDE — A popular Discovery reality show is bringing a La Grande man to the small screen.

Pete Candlish appears in an episode of “Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge’s Mine Rescue” now airing on the Discovery Channel.

The reality program, which according to Dodge’s Facebook page has an audience of at least 1 million viewers a week, features mining experts Dodge and Juan Ibarra who visit mines throughout the United States to show those operating them how to do so more effectively.

Dodge and Ibarra will be shown at the Sanger Mine in Baker County working with miners including Pete Candlish, who is helping operate the mine for its owners who live in Western Oregon, during the one-hour episode.

Candlish is a hobby miner who owns stakes near the Sanger Mine and has been a fan of “Gold Rush: Freddy Dodge’s Mine Rescue” since the series began. He said he “was shocked” when the owners of Sanger Mine called him up and offered him a chance to appear on the TV program.

“I couldn’t believe it. I was totally surprised,” said Candlish, who quickly took the owners up on their offer.

His wife, Stacey, and daughter, Adalynn, 7, were not at the mine when the program was filmed, but a photo of them is shown during the episode, titled “Dial F for Freddy.”

The show was recorded at Sanger Mine in June of 2021 over a 10-day stretch.

“Sometimes they filmed for an hour and only a minute of the footage appeared in the show,” Candlish said.

He said he learned a great deal about mining over the 10-day period.

“They showed me things like how the configurations of sluice boxes can make a big difference in how much gold you can get,” Candlish said.

Sluices are long, narrow boxes that water passes through when put in a creek or stream. Sluicing is a method of separating and recovering gold from gravel by the use of running water.

Mining as therapy

Pete Candlish started mining while with the U.S. Coast Guard 10 years ago in Alaska and does it as a hobby to help him cope with post-traumatic stress syndrome.

“It is great therapy for me. It helps me with physical and mental healing,” said Candlish, who talks about this during the television show.

The program about Sanger Mine is available to watch on subscription streaming services, including Discovery Plus, and Candlish said he has received a number of calls and messages from veterans who have seen it.

They indicated that the program helped them deal with the challenges they are facing.

“That has been gratifying to hear,” Candlish said.

Another reason Candlish is so drawn to mining is that each time someone spots gold they are doing something historic because the odds are no person has seen it before.

“You are probably the first person to ever see it,” he said.

Candlish is optimistic that there is more to be found in the mines of Baker County.

“There is still gold out there that the old-timers didn’t get,” Candlish said.