BAKER CITY – Baker County’s golden reputation will again garner prime time TV exposure for the county.

A popular reality TV series – “Gold Rush” on the Discovery Channel – is planning to film segments at a placer mining operation in southern Baker County later this year, Baker County Commissioner Mark Bennett said Friday.

A sneak peek video posted Friday afternoon on the show’s Facebook page — www.facebook.com/GoldRush/ — referenced the mine, which is near Bridgeport.

“I think this is exciting in several ways,” said Bennett, who has had discussions with officials from a production company for “Gold Rush.”

“Any time we can showcase Baker County in a positive light it’s exciting,” Bennett said. “We’re also focusing on mining, which is basically what the county was founded on, so we’re getting back to our historical roots.”

“Gold Rush” won’t be the first reality TV series with a mining theme to produce episodes in Baker County.

SyFy channel’s “Ghost Mine” series had two seasons made in and around Sumpter in 2013.

The “Gold Rush” production should be an economic boon, Bennett said, with opportunities for miners as well as support staff and businesses, such as caterers and vehicle sales and leasing dealerships, that potentially could work with the production crew.

“I think this is a real opportunity,” Bennett said.