John Schnabel is an American gold miner and he has an estimated net worth of $5 million. A legendary gold miner from Alaska, he founded the Big Nugget Mine, an infamous mine on the edge of Porcupine Creek. His son, Roger Schnabel, is part owner of the mine. In 2011, he gave up being the boss of the mine when he gave it to his 17 year old grandson Parker Schnabel. Parker currently runs the mine with the hope to keep it profitable so that it can remain a family-run business. John continues to be a help to his grandson.

John is part of the Schnabel family who appears on Gold Rush Alaska, also known as Gold Rush, a television series which follows a group of gold miners in their attempt to earn a living mining for gold in Alaska and the Klondike. Currently, the show is in its third season.

At the end of Season 2, Mr. Schnabel suffered a heart attack but he was able to get back to the mine as the boss when Parker returned to school. His mine has been successful for quite some time. Other mining groups even went to Big Nugget to seek advice or ask for instruction. Recently, he chose to retire from the daily mining work.