Jade Fever (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 12 - It Ain't Easy Finding Green - full transcript
Subzero temperatures challenge the Jade City miners rushing to hit the jackpot-a jade boulder big enough to impress the investors-before the season ends.
(dramatic music)
(hammers clanging)
- I'm Claudia Bunce.
I love jade.
- [Man] Woohoo, tubes of jade.
- [Claudia] Up here near
the Yukon, in Jade City,
we've got the world's richest
deposits of nephrite jade,
and the Chinese want it.
(man laughing)
- This is gonna be the
million dollar rock.
- Now we just have to find it.
Woohoo, go!
I will dig till my hands bleed.
Jade makes people do crazy things.
(Claudia laughs)
- Minus eight today.
I don't wanna touch nothing (laughs).
- [Narrator] Deep in British
Columbia's Cassiar Mountains
fall has turned to winter overnight.
- It looks nice, but it's cold out.
- Yeah, I should find my gloves.
- Ho, ho, ho, ho it's cold.
(stone splashes)
- It's slush.
Not supposed to be this cold this quick,
but it does happen.
- [Narrator] There's about a week left
in the 100-day mining season,
but if sub-zero
temperatures set in for good
and freeze the ground, the
Jade City crew is in trouble.
- [Claudia] Once the snow starts to come
we gotta be outta there,
so every day counts.
We need jade right now.
(dog barks)
- How you doing Duke?
Wanna go to work?
(dog whines)
- [Man] No.
- [Guy] Yeah, no, gonna
lay down right here.
(machinery revving)
- [Robin] What we're trying
to do today is try to get
as much cut, 'cause the weather is here,
where it's freezing,
and we've gotta get it done
before the season is over.
- Just trying to turn the tap on there.
Nothing.
The water's froze.
Heh heh.
All our water lines are frozen.
- [Narrator] Water is
crucial to run the rock saw.
It cools the diamond-tipped blade.
The saw won't be cutting as
long as the water's frozen.
- We got caught.
Yeah we basically can't start cutting
until we've thawed all the water lines.
- We'll have to be
careful from this day on.
Keep the pump running or something.
We can't run out of water,
not yet, we're not done yet.
(beep)
(grunts)
(chuckles)
Life in mining.
- We'll just wait for the
sun to melt the lines down,
and that's about all you can do.
- [Robin] Son of a (beep).
- [Narrator] But they're
running out of time.
Claudia and Alan's overseas partners
are coming in a week to make a decision
on the future of the company.
- [Claudia] So my partners are coming,
and three of Jung Shi's friends,
and one of Sheldon, my other partner
his wife's president
to take a look and see what we're doing.
So I don't know.
I'm not sure what they're going to see.
(sizzles)
- [Narrator] After getting
their partners to agree
to invest Three million
dollars into mining the
remote Wolverine site.
- It takes a week just
to get the equipment in.
We agree
- [Narrator] Claudia and Allen's has found
victory is hard to come by.
(rocks cracking)
- No good jade.
(beep)
- (Narrator) The few jade
boulders that they've found
- Probably worth about, like, a hundred
to a hundred fifty thousand, maybe.
- Mmm-kay.
- (Narrator) Have been too little too late
to guarantee another mining season.
Still successful miners like Tony Ritter,
who owns the biggest claim in the area,
tell them to keep going.
- If you get even just one
stone of good saleable material
that means that there should be more.
- More in the area, that's right.
- Yeah.
- [Narrator)] To convince
their partners to invest
again next season, the Jade
City crew needs to hit a
million dollar boulder this season.
(rock clank)
- [Narrator] And they've got less
than seven days to find one.
(rocks banging)
- That's how he's been testing them?
- Lots of black
I think this one's more
listwanite than it's jade.
- This is not good.
(rocks banging)
- [Claudia] The fact that
the investors are coming
is uh, yeah.
Not good that we don't
have any nice beautiful
green jade sitting there yet.
- That one's hard.
I broke it.
- [Claudia] Is there a
chance the water could be
thawed now Robin?
- [Robin] Um yeah.
You got one on there.
(squeaking tap)
- Is it coming out?
(water streaming)
- Yep.
- Its time to start cutting.
- Now that we got the water thawed out
we'll be on a roll.
(mechanical saw whirring)
- Ya know we have no time to
waste on cutting the rocks.
We have to get it done.
(mechanical saw grindng)
- (Narrator) Jade is one
of the toughest gemstones.
So when the saw takes a long
time to cut through a boulder
it's an indication that
rock might be jade.
- Cut slow.
- Yep
- Very good.
- This is the one that
really intrigued me.
That's what we're looking for.
(hammering)
- Oh one more.
- She is no good.
No bueno.
- Quartz.
That rock no good.
No good.
That rock I was hoping was
high quality in the middle
but its not.
It's just a rock.
Unfortunately.
Well, cut that one in the front there.
(mechanical clanking)
- My worst fear is that within
a week we get lots of snow
and freezing cold and
we can't do anything.
Winter's coming.
We're running out of time.
(dramatic music)
(hammering clanking)
- Dark again, we got a
lot of damn dark ones.
- [Narrator] The jade mining
season is down to its last week
and the Jade City crew needs a big score.
- We need ones that aren't dark.
- (Narrator) Or they're
done for next year as well.
- The little dark and the black
that means more iron and serpentine inside
that's the thing we doesn't want to see.
- Try another one.
(mechanical saw grinding)
- [Narrator] Even with
two saws running full tilt
Claudia and Alan can't
get the break they need.
- None of this is good.
And its getting cold.
The snow is here.
We're losing time, man.
(saw grinding)
- I'm looking at all
the (beep) rock we cut.
How can you be wrong 100% of the time?
(tool scraping on rock)
- Serpentine.
It doesn't look good so far.
Look at the inside.
Black like serpentine.
God.
- This is not good its all black.
- That's it, we're done.
- When you're not finding
anything you're in the wrong spot.
Its not going to all of a sudden appear.
(motor revving)
We must go to a new spot.
- That way.
- [Narrator] The Wolverine
Plains sprawls over 4,000 acres
of tress and brush.
Finding a jade-rich area could
take years of excavating.
- We're going over there?
- Yep
- [Narrator] Robin has less than a week.
(dog barking)
- Our jade finder eh?
- Gonna get western?
- Yep
(grunts)
- I think its just that
outer edge and then
you got the black (beep) in the middle.
- You're gonna have to start a new market.
- Yeah
- Black jade.
- Black jade yeah.
(pick scraping)
- Sandstone maybe?
- That's not jade its Texas rock.
- I got something that's not jade.
(farts)
(laughter)
There we go.
- Oh hear that?
Found a rock.
- That clay is like suction cupped
you can't get that
(beep) big time (mumbles)
- Go get the excavator
that rocks not that big.
- Just that color looks good there.
- All green.
- There's another good one right there.
(grunts)
there's another one.
- [Narrator] Three green
rocks are an encouraging sign
they've picked a good spot.
But there's only one way to be sure.
(bulldozer rumbling)
- Gently!
(machinery whirring)
- Anywhere there.
Hopefully we'll get
some really good stuff.
(mechanical saw grinding)
- [Narrator] Robin cuts
into one of the boulders
to check for quality.
- A carving.
- That's pretty nice.
- Yep.
- Definitely sellable.
- Yep.
Between 20- 50 a kilo.
Maybe more.
- Gotta tell Claudia.
- A carving.
- [Alan] Very green.
- [Claudia] Very good!
(laughter)
- [Claudia] Wow, wow, wow!
- [Robin] Better than what
we had at the other mine.
- [Narrator] Jade suitable
for carving is one notch
below grade A jewelry jade.
This boulder could be worth 100 grand.
But that likely won't be enough to impress
their overseas partners.
- Now we just need a
whole bunch more of those.
- This is where we gotta cut more,
'cause they're all that color.
- This is the new hot spot?
- This is the new hot spot.
Being that it's all out of the same spot,
there's a good indication
that's the place to check.
- [Claudia] Wow there's
a lot of rocks in here!
(hopeful music)
It's like a quarry.
- Like, there's so many
that are check-able.
- (pick pinging on rock)
- That's a real jade.
- [Robin] Claudia!
Now this is what we're after, right there.
That's what we're after.
- [Claudia] Wow, all the
way through, that dark.
- A solid piece.
- Yeah.
- See that green in there?
- [Claudia] Yep.
- Beauty.
- [Claudia] Yay!
- Get Mark!
- [Claudia] (laughs) It's
the baby, where's the mom?
- Is that the one?
- We want the mother of this.
- [Alan] Find grandma.
- How 'bout the grandpa?
- Yeah the big bastard.
- Coming right up!
(laughter)
- My baby.
- Yeah, that one's great.
That's beautiful.
Solid, no fracture.
so nice.
Want to see the grandpa.
Ten tons boulder.
Will be more than a million.
(motor revving)
(gentle music)
- [Claudia] I gotta grab my phone.
- [Narrator] Claudia calls
Jade City to check in,
and get some surprising news.
- No.
Who was it that phoned?
- [Narrator] Her partners have pushed up
their visit to tomorrow.
- We will figure something out.
(tense music)
so, Robin.
- Yes?
- That was Kendra.
- Yep.
- [Claudia] They want everything done,
and just have it all ready and-
- Have what all ready?
- I don't (bleep) know.
- [Narrator] Now they
only have 24 hours to find
a boulder valuable enough
to impress their partners,
or this could be the last
year they're mining jade.
- [Claudia] That one was decent.
But how many thousands did we have to cut
to get to this one?
(dramatic music)
- Snow in the air.
Wow.
- [Narrator] Today
could be the last day of
jade mining at Wolverine.
- Those mountains had no
snow on them yesterday.
If the snow comes down, we
got ourselves in trouble.
- You know the weather, pretty freezing.
It's a bad day, snow coming today.
That's a not good sign for us.
(motor revving)
- [Narrator] Claudia and
Robin have returned to
Jade City to prepare for the
overseas partner's arrival.
The partners want to see green.
Alan has just hours to find
a season-saving boulder.
- All nice big boulders in here, eh Alan?
- Yep.
- I'm going to come in
from the other way now,
and work my way up the hill.
- Try that.
I think around this area anywhere is good.
- Fire in the hole.
(crane creaking)
- [Narrator] The new mining
area is showing lots of promise.
- [Alan] Compared with digging some dirt
and find a few rocks,
this is more potential.
Definitely.
Its all rock here.
Everywhere.
(rocks smashing)
- Okay.
Let's see, what do we have?
(pick pinging on rock)
- And most all rock, and you know,
among them there's some jade inside.
You got to find out, you know,
which one's the good jade.
(water splashing)
(beep)
(pick pinging on rock)
Low quality.
(pick pinging)
No good.
(crane roars)
That's a huge one!
Move to here.
He can't move it.
That's a big one there.
(boulder crashing)
That's a big boulder.
- Does that seem like a
really good one or what?
- [Alan] Not sure yet.
- It didn't seem very heavy.
- It sounds really beautiful.
(high pitched tinging)
Sounds like jade.
Metal.
Like a bell, ding ding ding.
Not good.
Too black.
It's no luck today.
(pick pinging)
- [Narrator] It's looking
more and more like Alan
will try to sell his partners on potential
rather than product.
- [Alan] It's not jade.
- No real eye-catchers, eh?
- Yeah.
Not much here.
(tense music)
- [Narrator] Back in
Jade City, winter weather
has set in, and the future of
the company is looking bleak.
(shovel scraping)
- [Robin] Worst case scenario
is, it doesn't stop snowing.
We're done mining then.
It's a big disappointment.
That we're done.
- This might be it.
If we don't get a change in our fortune,
these guys all lose trust in us
and we lose face, we might not
have another mining season.
It's serious.
- [Josh] I can't even
imagine the stresses that
my parents feel with
how much is on the line
with this company.
We have to finish
working, we want it to be
on a good note, not on
a note where they go,
"holy (beep) these guys can't find jade.
This is do or die for us.
- [Narrator] But the snow turns out to be
a blessing in disguise.
- Okay, thanks.
Okay.
Helicopter grounded, too much snow.
Woohoo!
- [Narrator] Claudia and
Alan's investment partners
are delayed for a day.
- Smell it Alan, see
if it smells like Jade.
Yep.
- [Narrator] At Wolverine, Roger and Alan
are taking advantage of
their one day extension.
(rocks clanking)
- You know, even the staff,
they need to see something.
Do not see any green yet.
There's lots of mud on
it, so you can't tell.
(tense music)
No.
- [Roger] This is serpentine.
- Serpentine again.
- [Roger] Pretty dark
(pick clinking)
- (frustrated sigh) Piss me off.
Not jade.
- [Narrator] The situation
is grim, but Alan and Roger
refuse to go home empty handed.
- [Alan] As a company
leader, you know, I have
lots of things on my shoulders.
You know, I have to make
sure we're going to make
money for my partner.
I'm the person that tell the people to buy
those land in Wolverine.
So if the Wolverine area,
nothing we can find, that
means I made a wrong decision.
(soft tense music)
Low quality jade (beep)
(machine creaking)
(engine revving)
- Roger?
- Huh?
Found one?
- Yoo!
(upbeat music)
Yoo!
That's what I like!
Look at this.
- Holy!
Look at that one.
- Woo!
(shouts excitedly)
Ah hah.
Look, that's green.
(Roger laughs)
Nice.
- Yep.
- [Alan] Look at that.
- Look at there!
That is pure jade.
(yells excitedly)
- [Narrator] At Wolverine,
Alan has finally found
what he's been looking for all season.
- (beep) good!
- [Narrator] A large, pure green boulder.
- Yeah!
Yeah!
(laughter)
- My lucky Roger!
(laughter)
- [Roger] Holy (beep) eh?
- This is my lucky man.
Last minute, boom! It come out.
There's probably another,
maybe half million dollars.
- [Narrator] A boulder
this size could be worth
more than 500 grand.
(Alan laughs)
(upbeat music)
Ha ha!
- [Narrator] Alan will
have to wait til tomorrow
to see if this half
million dollar discovery
and a few other grade A
rocks they've unearthed
this season,
are enough to impress the partners
and keep the company afloat.
(wind whistling)
(pensive music)
(helicopter whirring)
- [Claudia] So, we haven't
really had a huge amount
of the sellable jade that we want,
the quality that we want.
A lot of money going in, yeah,
this is crucial.
Hi Mr. Wong.
- [Narrator] With the new
find, Claudia and Alan
estimate they've unearthed
about two million dollars
worth of jade this season.
But the investors have
spent three million.
- Let's go.
(tense music)
yeah, nice grain, and no black stock.
Nice.
(camera clicks)
Potential.
Green right location.
- [Claudia] I'm not really
trying to hide anything
or make it better or promote it,
because I think I've
done everything I can.
(conversing in Chinese)
Of course I wish that I
had more to show them,
but let the cards fall where they may.
(discussing in Chinese)
- [Narrator] And then,
the news they've been
waiting for.
- [Claudia] So Jung Shi
said, yeah, we're good to
go for next year, don't worry so much.
WE're going to be mining again next year.
They know that it's there,
and they're excited,
and they have that jade fever as well.
To hear that from my investors is amazing.
Because it affects everybody
in our whole community.
Our whole community now has
a job for next year again.
And it's exciting.
It's a huge amount of relief.
(laughter)
We're jade hunters,
we're not slowing down,
we're not walking away from it.
This is just the beginning.
- [Narrator] The Jade City
crew may not have found
the million dollar boulder this year,
but they'll be back digging for green
next summer, when jade
fever takes hold again.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Claudia] Hello.
- Beer, beer, beer.
- [Claudia] So it's fun to
have some fun in Jade City.
- This is genuinely sketchy.
- Okay, they're jumping out of the tree.
- The ice won't even
break baby, don't worry.
I'm really proud of
what we did this summer.
We overcame a lot of obstacles.
- [Claudia] Don't let go!
(shrieking)
(laughter)
Bring out the Maotai,
the Chinese are happy.
- That's a Maotai, the best Chinese wine.
- [Claudia] Party with the boys.
Yum!
- You could light it.
- Oh you could like it, great!
(laughter)
I love to drink things you can light.
- This season, it's been rough,
but we survived it.
- You'll see.
- I'll see, yeah.
You're in my way.
- [Claudia] We're a group
and we're a community,
and we do everything together.
- Maotai!
- You can run a car off that?
And you drink it.
- Yeah.
- [Claudia] Jade City's
been there a while.
And we're going to be there
for a long time to come.
(hammers clanging)
- I'm Claudia Bunce.
I love jade.
- [Man] Woohoo, tubes of jade.
- [Claudia] Up here near
the Yukon, in Jade City,
we've got the world's richest
deposits of nephrite jade,
and the Chinese want it.
(man laughing)
- This is gonna be the
million dollar rock.
- Now we just have to find it.
Woohoo, go!
I will dig till my hands bleed.
Jade makes people do crazy things.
(Claudia laughs)
- Minus eight today.
I don't wanna touch nothing (laughs).
- [Narrator] Deep in British
Columbia's Cassiar Mountains
fall has turned to winter overnight.
- It looks nice, but it's cold out.
- Yeah, I should find my gloves.
- Ho, ho, ho, ho it's cold.
(stone splashes)
- It's slush.
Not supposed to be this cold this quick,
but it does happen.
- [Narrator] There's about a week left
in the 100-day mining season,
but if sub-zero
temperatures set in for good
and freeze the ground, the
Jade City crew is in trouble.
- [Claudia] Once the snow starts to come
we gotta be outta there,
so every day counts.
We need jade right now.
(dog barks)
- How you doing Duke?
Wanna go to work?
(dog whines)
- [Man] No.
- [Guy] Yeah, no, gonna
lay down right here.
(machinery revving)
- [Robin] What we're trying
to do today is try to get
as much cut, 'cause the weather is here,
where it's freezing,
and we've gotta get it done
before the season is over.
- Just trying to turn the tap on there.
Nothing.
The water's froze.
Heh heh.
All our water lines are frozen.
- [Narrator] Water is
crucial to run the rock saw.
It cools the diamond-tipped blade.
The saw won't be cutting as
long as the water's frozen.
- We got caught.
Yeah we basically can't start cutting
until we've thawed all the water lines.
- We'll have to be
careful from this day on.
Keep the pump running or something.
We can't run out of water,
not yet, we're not done yet.
(beep)
(grunts)
(chuckles)
Life in mining.
- We'll just wait for the
sun to melt the lines down,
and that's about all you can do.
- [Robin] Son of a (beep).
- [Narrator] But they're
running out of time.
Claudia and Alan's overseas partners
are coming in a week to make a decision
on the future of the company.
- [Claudia] So my partners are coming,
and three of Jung Shi's friends,
and one of Sheldon, my other partner
his wife's president
to take a look and see what we're doing.
So I don't know.
I'm not sure what they're going to see.
(sizzles)
- [Narrator] After getting
their partners to agree
to invest Three million
dollars into mining the
remote Wolverine site.
- It takes a week just
to get the equipment in.
We agree
- [Narrator] Claudia and Allen's has found
victory is hard to come by.
(rocks cracking)
- No good jade.
(beep)
- (Narrator) The few jade
boulders that they've found
- Probably worth about, like, a hundred
to a hundred fifty thousand, maybe.
- Mmm-kay.
- (Narrator) Have been too little too late
to guarantee another mining season.
Still successful miners like Tony Ritter,
who owns the biggest claim in the area,
tell them to keep going.
- If you get even just one
stone of good saleable material
that means that there should be more.
- More in the area, that's right.
- Yeah.
- [Narrator)] To convince
their partners to invest
again next season, the Jade
City crew needs to hit a
million dollar boulder this season.
(rock clank)
- [Narrator] And they've got less
than seven days to find one.
(rocks banging)
- That's how he's been testing them?
- Lots of black
I think this one's more
listwanite than it's jade.
- This is not good.
(rocks banging)
- [Claudia] The fact that
the investors are coming
is uh, yeah.
Not good that we don't
have any nice beautiful
green jade sitting there yet.
- That one's hard.
I broke it.
- [Claudia] Is there a
chance the water could be
thawed now Robin?
- [Robin] Um yeah.
You got one on there.
(squeaking tap)
- Is it coming out?
(water streaming)
- Yep.
- Its time to start cutting.
- Now that we got the water thawed out
we'll be on a roll.
(mechanical saw whirring)
- Ya know we have no time to
waste on cutting the rocks.
We have to get it done.
(mechanical saw grindng)
- (Narrator) Jade is one
of the toughest gemstones.
So when the saw takes a long
time to cut through a boulder
it's an indication that
rock might be jade.
- Cut slow.
- Yep
- Very good.
- This is the one that
really intrigued me.
That's what we're looking for.
(hammering)
- Oh one more.
- She is no good.
No bueno.
- Quartz.
That rock no good.
No good.
That rock I was hoping was
high quality in the middle
but its not.
It's just a rock.
Unfortunately.
Well, cut that one in the front there.
(mechanical clanking)
- My worst fear is that within
a week we get lots of snow
and freezing cold and
we can't do anything.
Winter's coming.
We're running out of time.
(dramatic music)
(hammering clanking)
- Dark again, we got a
lot of damn dark ones.
- [Narrator] The jade mining
season is down to its last week
and the Jade City crew needs a big score.
- We need ones that aren't dark.
- (Narrator) Or they're
done for next year as well.
- The little dark and the black
that means more iron and serpentine inside
that's the thing we doesn't want to see.
- Try another one.
(mechanical saw grinding)
- [Narrator] Even with
two saws running full tilt
Claudia and Alan can't
get the break they need.
- None of this is good.
And its getting cold.
The snow is here.
We're losing time, man.
(saw grinding)
- I'm looking at all
the (beep) rock we cut.
How can you be wrong 100% of the time?
(tool scraping on rock)
- Serpentine.
It doesn't look good so far.
Look at the inside.
Black like serpentine.
God.
- This is not good its all black.
- That's it, we're done.
- When you're not finding
anything you're in the wrong spot.
Its not going to all of a sudden appear.
(motor revving)
We must go to a new spot.
- That way.
- [Narrator] The Wolverine
Plains sprawls over 4,000 acres
of tress and brush.
Finding a jade-rich area could
take years of excavating.
- We're going over there?
- Yep
- [Narrator] Robin has less than a week.
(dog barking)
- Our jade finder eh?
- Gonna get western?
- Yep
(grunts)
- I think its just that
outer edge and then
you got the black (beep) in the middle.
- You're gonna have to start a new market.
- Yeah
- Black jade.
- Black jade yeah.
(pick scraping)
- Sandstone maybe?
- That's not jade its Texas rock.
- I got something that's not jade.
(farts)
(laughter)
There we go.
- Oh hear that?
Found a rock.
- That clay is like suction cupped
you can't get that
(beep) big time (mumbles)
- Go get the excavator
that rocks not that big.
- Just that color looks good there.
- All green.
- There's another good one right there.
(grunts)
there's another one.
- [Narrator] Three green
rocks are an encouraging sign
they've picked a good spot.
But there's only one way to be sure.
(bulldozer rumbling)
- Gently!
(machinery whirring)
- Anywhere there.
Hopefully we'll get
some really good stuff.
(mechanical saw grinding)
- [Narrator] Robin cuts
into one of the boulders
to check for quality.
- A carving.
- That's pretty nice.
- Yep.
- Definitely sellable.
- Yep.
Between 20- 50 a kilo.
Maybe more.
- Gotta tell Claudia.
- A carving.
- [Alan] Very green.
- [Claudia] Very good!
(laughter)
- [Claudia] Wow, wow, wow!
- [Robin] Better than what
we had at the other mine.
- [Narrator] Jade suitable
for carving is one notch
below grade A jewelry jade.
This boulder could be worth 100 grand.
But that likely won't be enough to impress
their overseas partners.
- Now we just need a
whole bunch more of those.
- This is where we gotta cut more,
'cause they're all that color.
- This is the new hot spot?
- This is the new hot spot.
Being that it's all out of the same spot,
there's a good indication
that's the place to check.
- [Claudia] Wow there's
a lot of rocks in here!
(hopeful music)
It's like a quarry.
- Like, there's so many
that are check-able.
- (pick pinging on rock)
- That's a real jade.
- [Robin] Claudia!
Now this is what we're after, right there.
That's what we're after.
- [Claudia] Wow, all the
way through, that dark.
- A solid piece.
- Yeah.
- See that green in there?
- [Claudia] Yep.
- Beauty.
- [Claudia] Yay!
- Get Mark!
- [Claudia] (laughs) It's
the baby, where's the mom?
- Is that the one?
- We want the mother of this.
- [Alan] Find grandma.
- How 'bout the grandpa?
- Yeah the big bastard.
- Coming right up!
(laughter)
- My baby.
- Yeah, that one's great.
That's beautiful.
Solid, no fracture.
so nice.
Want to see the grandpa.
Ten tons boulder.
Will be more than a million.
(motor revving)
(gentle music)
- [Claudia] I gotta grab my phone.
- [Narrator] Claudia calls
Jade City to check in,
and get some surprising news.
- No.
Who was it that phoned?
- [Narrator] Her partners have pushed up
their visit to tomorrow.
- We will figure something out.
(tense music)
so, Robin.
- Yes?
- That was Kendra.
- Yep.
- [Claudia] They want everything done,
and just have it all ready and-
- Have what all ready?
- I don't (bleep) know.
- [Narrator] Now they
only have 24 hours to find
a boulder valuable enough
to impress their partners,
or this could be the last
year they're mining jade.
- [Claudia] That one was decent.
But how many thousands did we have to cut
to get to this one?
(dramatic music)
- Snow in the air.
Wow.
- [Narrator] Today
could be the last day of
jade mining at Wolverine.
- Those mountains had no
snow on them yesterday.
If the snow comes down, we
got ourselves in trouble.
- You know the weather, pretty freezing.
It's a bad day, snow coming today.
That's a not good sign for us.
(motor revving)
- [Narrator] Claudia and
Robin have returned to
Jade City to prepare for the
overseas partner's arrival.
The partners want to see green.
Alan has just hours to find
a season-saving boulder.
- All nice big boulders in here, eh Alan?
- Yep.
- I'm going to come in
from the other way now,
and work my way up the hill.
- Try that.
I think around this area anywhere is good.
- Fire in the hole.
(crane creaking)
- [Narrator] The new mining
area is showing lots of promise.
- [Alan] Compared with digging some dirt
and find a few rocks,
this is more potential.
Definitely.
Its all rock here.
Everywhere.
(rocks smashing)
- Okay.
Let's see, what do we have?
(pick pinging on rock)
- And most all rock, and you know,
among them there's some jade inside.
You got to find out, you know,
which one's the good jade.
(water splashing)
(beep)
(pick pinging on rock)
Low quality.
(pick pinging)
No good.
(crane roars)
That's a huge one!
Move to here.
He can't move it.
That's a big one there.
(boulder crashing)
That's a big boulder.
- Does that seem like a
really good one or what?
- [Alan] Not sure yet.
- It didn't seem very heavy.
- It sounds really beautiful.
(high pitched tinging)
Sounds like jade.
Metal.
Like a bell, ding ding ding.
Not good.
Too black.
It's no luck today.
(pick pinging)
- [Narrator] It's looking
more and more like Alan
will try to sell his partners on potential
rather than product.
- [Alan] It's not jade.
- No real eye-catchers, eh?
- Yeah.
Not much here.
(tense music)
- [Narrator] Back in
Jade City, winter weather
has set in, and the future of
the company is looking bleak.
(shovel scraping)
- [Robin] Worst case scenario
is, it doesn't stop snowing.
We're done mining then.
It's a big disappointment.
That we're done.
- This might be it.
If we don't get a change in our fortune,
these guys all lose trust in us
and we lose face, we might not
have another mining season.
It's serious.
- [Josh] I can't even
imagine the stresses that
my parents feel with
how much is on the line
with this company.
We have to finish
working, we want it to be
on a good note, not on
a note where they go,
"holy (beep) these guys can't find jade.
This is do or die for us.
- [Narrator] But the snow turns out to be
a blessing in disguise.
- Okay, thanks.
Okay.
Helicopter grounded, too much snow.
Woohoo!
- [Narrator] Claudia and
Alan's investment partners
are delayed for a day.
- Smell it Alan, see
if it smells like Jade.
Yep.
- [Narrator] At Wolverine, Roger and Alan
are taking advantage of
their one day extension.
(rocks clanking)
- You know, even the staff,
they need to see something.
Do not see any green yet.
There's lots of mud on
it, so you can't tell.
(tense music)
No.
- [Roger] This is serpentine.
- Serpentine again.
- [Roger] Pretty dark
(pick clinking)
- (frustrated sigh) Piss me off.
Not jade.
- [Narrator] The situation
is grim, but Alan and Roger
refuse to go home empty handed.
- [Alan] As a company
leader, you know, I have
lots of things on my shoulders.
You know, I have to make
sure we're going to make
money for my partner.
I'm the person that tell the people to buy
those land in Wolverine.
So if the Wolverine area,
nothing we can find, that
means I made a wrong decision.
(soft tense music)
Low quality jade (beep)
(machine creaking)
(engine revving)
- Roger?
- Huh?
Found one?
- Yoo!
(upbeat music)
Yoo!
That's what I like!
Look at this.
- Holy!
Look at that one.
- Woo!
(shouts excitedly)
Ah hah.
Look, that's green.
(Roger laughs)
Nice.
- Yep.
- [Alan] Look at that.
- Look at there!
That is pure jade.
(yells excitedly)
- [Narrator] At Wolverine,
Alan has finally found
what he's been looking for all season.
- (beep) good!
- [Narrator] A large, pure green boulder.
- Yeah!
Yeah!
(laughter)
- My lucky Roger!
(laughter)
- [Roger] Holy (beep) eh?
- This is my lucky man.
Last minute, boom! It come out.
There's probably another,
maybe half million dollars.
- [Narrator] A boulder
this size could be worth
more than 500 grand.
(Alan laughs)
(upbeat music)
Ha ha!
- [Narrator] Alan will
have to wait til tomorrow
to see if this half
million dollar discovery
and a few other grade A
rocks they've unearthed
this season,
are enough to impress the partners
and keep the company afloat.
(wind whistling)
(pensive music)
(helicopter whirring)
- [Claudia] So, we haven't
really had a huge amount
of the sellable jade that we want,
the quality that we want.
A lot of money going in, yeah,
this is crucial.
Hi Mr. Wong.
- [Narrator] With the new
find, Claudia and Alan
estimate they've unearthed
about two million dollars
worth of jade this season.
But the investors have
spent three million.
- Let's go.
(tense music)
yeah, nice grain, and no black stock.
Nice.
(camera clicks)
Potential.
Green right location.
- [Claudia] I'm not really
trying to hide anything
or make it better or promote it,
because I think I've
done everything I can.
(conversing in Chinese)
Of course I wish that I
had more to show them,
but let the cards fall where they may.
(discussing in Chinese)
- [Narrator] And then,
the news they've been
waiting for.
- [Claudia] So Jung Shi
said, yeah, we're good to
go for next year, don't worry so much.
WE're going to be mining again next year.
They know that it's there,
and they're excited,
and they have that jade fever as well.
To hear that from my investors is amazing.
Because it affects everybody
in our whole community.
Our whole community now has
a job for next year again.
And it's exciting.
It's a huge amount of relief.
(laughter)
We're jade hunters,
we're not slowing down,
we're not walking away from it.
This is just the beginning.
- [Narrator] The Jade City
crew may not have found
the million dollar boulder this year,
but they'll be back digging for green
next summer, when jade
fever takes hold again.
(helicopter whirring)
- [Claudia] Hello.
- Beer, beer, beer.
- [Claudia] So it's fun to
have some fun in Jade City.
- This is genuinely sketchy.
- Okay, they're jumping out of the tree.
- The ice won't even
break baby, don't worry.
I'm really proud of
what we did this summer.
We overcame a lot of obstacles.
- [Claudia] Don't let go!
(shrieking)
(laughter)
Bring out the Maotai,
the Chinese are happy.
- That's a Maotai, the best Chinese wine.
- [Claudia] Party with the boys.
Yum!
- You could light it.
- Oh you could like it, great!
(laughter)
I love to drink things you can light.
- This season, it's been rough,
but we survived it.
- You'll see.
- I'll see, yeah.
You're in my way.
- [Claudia] We're a group
and we're a community,
and we do everything together.
- Maotai!
- You can run a car off that?
And you drink it.
- Yeah.
- [Claudia] Jade City's
been there a while.
And we're going to be there
for a long time to come.