Jade Fever (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Hide and Seek - full transcript

(chiseling)

(rock music)

- I'm Claudia Bunce.

I love Jade.

- [Male] Who hoo! 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.

- (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.

(rock music)

- [Claudia] (laughing) Jade
makes people do crazy things.

(upbeat music)

We're in Wolverine, whoo!

This is Wolverine.

This is jade country.

[Narrator] Claudia and
the Jade City family

have just conquered the 120
kilometer trail to their

remote claim at Wolverine

and are starting to set up
their sleeping quarters.

- The idea is to get this
off without it falling down.

(truck rumbling)

- Okay.



- K, that's not going to come apart?

- Who knows.

- God be careful under there.

- [Robin] That's good there, yep.

- It's on.

- [Josh] Woohoo!

- So this is the first of it.

This is the first start of the camp.

But, yeah, this is just the beginning.

We got a long way to go.

[Narrator] There's a lot
more equipment needed before

they can mine at Wolverine.

So half of the crew fly out
to take care of business

and to check out their other claim.

Three weeks ago at the Dynasty
claim, right near Jade City,

they hit a solid lens of jade.

- That's jade, that's (beep)

[Narrator] But after
finding the grade A core,

more drilling turned up nothing.

- This was today, not great, god almighty.

[Narrator] So Claudia's
business partner, Alan,

wants to move the drill program

to another pit on the same Dynasty site.

- So this is pit two.

Pit two!

[Narrator] It's untested,

but Alan has examined the hard rock

and is convinced there's
grade A on the site.

- I really like this pit two.

My opinion is probably the
best jade in our claim.

[Narrator] But there's a problem.

Pit two is a pit, filled
with 30 feet of water,

forcing them to drill for
jade only on the sides.

- This is a total unknown for us.

It's another gamble. (laughs)

[Narrator] They've budgeted
$75,000 for 1,000 feet

of drilling at pit two.

- I think probably two or three drills or

and then you can reach the Jade.

We will see.

- Fire it up.

(grunts)

- Our hope is no black spots, no fracture,

that would be great.

- Whoa, bring it up.

(grunts)

- Let's see, what happened.

- Doesn't look good.

- So, they're not reached the jade yet.

This does surprise me.

- First hole in pit two, no jade at all.

- Just keep going.

- Just keep going?

- Yeah.

- In the jade mining I
just follow my sense.

And I think maybe, there's
jade there, so I try.

(hammering)

After 35 feet.

- 35 feet, yeah, this
is what we're in now.

- That's your bedrock.

- Any jade there?

- No, no jade.

- For my opinion, so
we hit the top, right?

And so if we go down a little bit,

at least I'm pretty sure we
are going to hit something.

Anytime, we're gonna hit the jade.

I'm still pretty confident
there's some good jade here.

So, my idea is that I
want to keep drilling

until I see something good.

- Alan is my partner, and
I always have Alan's back.

But he's gotta prove
pit two really quickly.

We don't have unlimited
money for the year.

- Perfect!

Yeah, perfect, yep.

(ominous music)

- It's good, the color of it.

- Well, of course.

(laughing)

- [Narrator] While Alan
looks for new jade,

Claudia's trying to sell
some from last season.

- This side is a lot softer.

- [Narrator] Every year
all kinds of jade buyers

come to Jade City looking
for one of a kind boulders.

Today two Chinese buyers have shown up

with just $25,000 to spend.

They're not looking for
the top jewelry grade.

- We have many kind of tea tables.

- Is that what you're thinking
about doing, is tea tables?

His idea is to use it
for industrial purposes,

table tops, counter tops.

A piece like this is more effective.

So what he wants is he
wants the biggest boulder

with the least amount of fractures.

Too small.

Too small.

So, Robin and Josh will have to go

pick up some boulders for
them, some bigger ones.

Bigger than what we have in Jade City.

(upbeat music)

- There's this one, those
ones over there, that one.

- Yeah, yeah.

- [Narrator] After 15 years of mining,

Claudia and Robin have
a sizeable collection

of lower-grade boulders,
perfect for industrial use.

And any sale helps pay their expenses.

- Ready to shake and bake.

Any seat I can get on to, I'm in it.

I want to equipment to operate,

I want to work hard every
single day as much as I can.

- Okay.

- But, if your parents are around,

it's going to be a little
more of a challenge.

- Walk ahead!

- The walking of this thing is
the most jerky moving around

(bleep) that I can do with this.

- My dad is very methodical,
and I'm more get in there

and get it done.

Let's do it, don't say it, let's do it.

Is that not okay?

- Nope, you gotta go that much ahead.

- Joshua, he wants to do it his way.

No, come in this way.

- Like (bleep)

- He doesn't take direction
very well so it hinders him

learning how to run it properly.

You're just looking at this end.

The other end is all (bleep) up.

- Here, come here, you run the excavator.

- Joshua and Robin, thank
god they love each other,

because they're opposite.

- Okay, just set it down, right there.

- It's frustrating, absolutely.

But, in the end, he's the boss.

And, you know, you just gotta get it done.

- Kids these days.

And then there is one huge one over there.

- [Josh] Yeah, this is a big one.

It's big for the truck and
our equipment, for sure.

- No, this one isn't easy to move, no.

Not at all.

- I'm gonna have to come back here

and cut this thing in half,

just so we can get it out of here.

So it's a little bit frustrating.

(birds squawking)

(acoustic music)

- We aim right for the jade.

- Yeah, did they touch anything yet?

- No, it didn't hit, all argillite.

(tapping)

- [Narrator] After three
days at Dynasty's pit two,

Alan's hunch is still not paid off.

There's no trace of jade.

- It's just all volcanics.

Yeah, there's definitely no
jade here, unfortunately.

- It so surprised me, then
nothing there, you know?

- Me, too.

- It's really hard to find a jade,

but I know something there, yeah.

(water gurgling)

(acoustic music)

- Damn jade is right there.

Just like they play hide and seek for us.

You see? You see the color?

- [Male] Yeah.

- Damnit.

(laughing)

Piss me off.

We're play hide and seek.

It's everywhere.

You see good jade there.

But in your drill and then you miss it,

that really make me think

about a why this things happened, right?

Did we did the right things?

Okay, see we hit the jade
and then we go deeper.

- Yeah.

- If we hit nothing, then we go up.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Yep.

- Alan is obsessed.

This pit two is becoming a nightmare.

(upbeat music)

(door shuts)

- Good day. We gone.

- [Narrator] Yesterday,
Josh and Robin tried

to load a 15 ton boulder for a new buyer

waiting in Jade City.

But the rock was too heavy.

So today Josh has some
unfinished business.

- [Josh] Me and Gordon are gonna head out

to the mine site today

and try and cut this boulder in half.

- The stone is too big to move
so we want to cut it half.

- Okay, go ahead.

That's probably good.

There.

I like the wire saw.

It's a little bit of a
pain in the ass to set up.

Yep, no, bring it back.

Okay, go ahead.

Bring it back.

But it's really, really effective.

This pretty insignificant little wire here

is gonna slowly work its
way through this boulder.

Thousands of years ago
guys were sittin' there

doin' this by hand, right, back and forth.

Handle on the end of a wire
and just pfft, back and forth.

And now we're doin' it modern style.

- This machine looks pretty old.

- Dude, this thing is only two years old.

- Oh, right?

- Brand (beep) new.

I know, I know, it showed up here

looking like it was 10 years old.

- Are you sure this works?

- Yeah, well it worked last
year when we were up here.

- This is the first time
you start it as this?

- [Josh] This year, yep.

- Mmm.

- [Josh] But there's no
reason for this not to work.

Hit that button, Gordon.

Hit that button.

(clanking)

- Mmm, no.

- Uh huh

- Uh huh

(clanking)

- I guess it's not okay.

This is straight Chinese.

Like this is Chinese made in China.

Try that out.

(clanking)

what a (beep).

(dog yelping)

What am I missing here?

I feel stupid, man. There's
only like a couple spots

where this issue could be.

I ain't no backyard mechanic yet.

Like, I don't even have the
stubble of knowledge yet,

let alone the (beep) beard.

And no offense to Gordon, he's the man,

but I got Gordon.

- (laughing) I just started learning jade,

this all we have, I don't really know.

- Like, we don't exactly know
what to do with this (beep).

- No idear. I suppose
to sit in the office,

do the paperwork, not end up here, right?

- Like I said, Gordon's the man,

but he's not exactly the
guy to have on this job.

Oh, man. There's gonna be
so many frustrated people

if I don't get this running.

Thanks, mom and dad,
for sending me up here

to work on this (beep) thing.

Uh, what the (beep).

(slow music)

(equipment engine starting)

- Ya gonna drag it right over?

- [Narrator] At pit two, Alan's gamble

that there's good jade here has eaten

through half the drilling
budget, with nothing to show.

So Claudia calls in Jade
City's resident geologist.

- What the hell is goin' on?

- [Claudia ] Lesley's
worked in the Jade City area

for a long time and I need her, right now,

to take care of pit two and take care

of this out of control train.

- [Narrator] The only dry
area left to be drilled

in pit two is at the bottom
of a steep embankment.

- [Lesley] Look at this, I
can't believe he's doing this.

Donnie, do you think this is a good idea?

- Uh, well.

- He's got a soft bank on this side,

and about a 50 foot drop in the water.

This is not smart.

(equipment rumbling)

Look at his backend.

Holy jeepers!

(equipment rumbling)

(beep)

(engine revving)

(whistling)

(equipment rumbling)

Just let that go.

Eh whoo whoo.

- Just a little bit of messin' around,

but it's done.

- (laughing) it was
nerve-racking, but he made it.

So, we're gonna aim this way now.

How much further up
could we move that drill

really quick, Kevin? This way.

- Maybe six feet.

- [Lesley] Okay. Plan.

- Okay.

- So hopefully we have some core at seven,

and it's green. And hard.

(laughing)

- Seven o'clock, they're
gonna have jade in the box.

- [Male] Be in Jade's
box by seven o'clock,

whoever Jade is.

- Nevermind.

- [Male] Arg.

- Leave it alone.

(engine starting)

It gets very expensive
when you're drilling.

This is the most expensive
tool we have in our arsenal

to find jade.

So, the clock is ticking.

All right.

Here we go.

Now we're happening.

I just wanna see this core.

(tapping)

Wow.

There's not a lot of green in that at all.

This is really ugly core,
this is really faulted up,

but it's gougey, meaning
it's this clay mush.

We're not seeing the bright greens.

- Those black cores, that's
like a sister with the jade.

You see those things, that
means you're close to jade.

You just doesn't know how far.

- We're on a budget, and
we've got time constraints.

And we just drilled four
holes that were wasted.

- No jade.

- Really?

- It's just (beep) ground.

- Every little piece of (beep)
that comes out of that drill

is money gone, garbage.

- Pretty much, a geologist's nightmare.

(upbeat music)

- Is Chinese metric or standard?

- It's standard.

- And, of course, I've got
eight mil, a 10 mil, a 12 mil,

and a 14 mil.

- [Narrator] Josh and Gordon need to slice

a 15 ton jade boulder in half.

But they can't even start the
engine that powers the saw.

- I mean, potentially, could
I be electrocuted here,

Gordon, do ya think?

- I don't think so.

- I don't think so.

(Whaaaa)

That's good.

(sparking)

Ow.

- (laughing)

(sparking)

- (beep) this. Yeah, I wonder
if this switch is just bouged.

(engine sounding)

Push some buttons.

I'm gonna hot-wire it.

It's gonna be sketchy.

I knew hot-wiring, that I
learned when I was a kid,

would come in handy one day.

Can't even get enough (beep) power to it.

Oh, what the (beep).

- I think it's on fire.

- For (beep) sakes.

(beep) this. (beep)

I'm gonna let somebody who knows
what they're doing do this.

Mother (beep).

Oh, why?

- It's already.

- That's the fuel.

Want to try?

Try?

- You're welcome.

(engine starting)

- Gordon figured it out.

But I don't know how he did, but he did.

Awesome.

Go check on the other
side that it's straight.

Flowin?

Oh, that'll work.

Whoo hoo hoo!

(equipment running)

(tapping)

(clunking)

- [Male] Ouch!

(clunking)

(tapping)

- [Male] There you go, I got you now.

I think that's all of it.

(equipment running)

We missed again.

Seven holes without any jade.

Not even a sniff.

Not lookin' good for pit two right now.

- Oh, man, really?

I can't believe that.

Well ya can't carve
that very well, can ya?

- [Narrator] A thousand
feet of drilling at pit two,

the entire budget, and Alan's hunch

that there's high grade jade
here has turned up nothing.

- We missed the jade lines again.

So, yeah, that's very disappointing.

So now we know it's not there.

- (speaking in foreign language)

- We're wasting our time drilling

in an area that we're just guessing.

We need the jade to prove the site.

And if there isn't, then we're done.

We don't do any more here.

We're finished.

- [Narrator] Robin's anxious
to move the company's focus

back to mining at Wolverine.

- Hello.

- Hey.

- So, we missed in this (beep) hole.

- I just... We're drillin' too much.

- I know we are.

- We're wasting money drilling holes.

- You're right, we absolutely
are, we absolutely are.

- But more than that,
too, we're wasting time.

- Yes. Yeah.

- I'll go take a look.

It's really easy to miss the jade

when you cannot see any outcropping.

And then a tip is out,
and then it goes out,

and then it's gone.

It's deep out there.

- Oh, I see that (laughing).

- We pump this hole out
and we physically look

at what's there and decide where to drill.

We need to analyze the ground.

We have to check it all out so you can see

where you should be drilling for the jade.

There's no more questions,
and we're done drillin'

where there's nothing.

Let's empty this and know.

- That is logical.

I just have a hard time
shuttin' a drill down.

Are you ready for Alan to
- I'm gonna see

- be really, really angry?

- This is, we're wasting money.

- Okay.

(upbeat music)

- So they actually didn't
break, break it, right?

- [Narrator] The wire
saw has cut through most

of the jade boulder.

- [Male] So that'll break, no problem.

- [Narrator] Now gravity and an excavator

can finish the job.

- Heh, flip her over and see what happens.

- Flip her over, put it
on, (beep) outta here.

(clunking)

- [Male] Josh, un-do
the twist in the chain.

- Okay.

- There's a few people that
Josh can take guidance from.

- [Male] Go as tight as possible.

- [Robin] He will listen
to them better than me

or his mother because we're
the ones that are always wrong.

(laughing)

- [Male] That short enough, do ya think?

- Yeah. Wonderbar.

It is a big chunk of rock.

Pretty good, pretty good, pretty good.

Aha, aha. That's sketch.

Might have to go ground that wedgie.

Good.

- [Male] Go on, my little monkey.

(chain rattling)

- Easy as pie, man,

it's almost like we know what we're doin'.

- [Narrator] There'll
be a satisfied customer

back in Jade City tonight.

Claudia's about to pocket 25 grand.

- [Josh] Take back to
Jade City, live the dream,

and reek in the glory.

(pump humming)

(water pouring)

- (laughing)

Java, stay with mom.

This is gonna be along process, I can see.

- Yes, (beep). So we've been pumping

for about a half an
hour, and about a foot.

- Is that it, eh?

- I'm already gettin' orange there, so.

- Good thinkin', I wouldn't
have thought of that.

- Apparently, it's like 30 feet deep,

somethin' like that.

- Is it? I'm hoping it's not that deep.

I hope it's
- 20 feet

- 20 feet.
- We'll see.

(pump engine starting)

- There ya are.

- (pump engine running)

- [Narrator] Alan arrives
to see what's at the bottom

of pit two.

- Whee, hoo, qua. (laughing)

That's why we are keep drilling.

That's jade there, and
jade here, and jade here.

- He was right, there is jade in pit two.

- So when I wash it, you can see it.

This rock's jade. That rock's jade.

And that's a jade, too.

You can see the colors
pretty good right now,

no fracture and a least black spot.

And a little bit dark ring,
and a little bit harder.

That, what do we want.

Bye, Lesley.

- See ya, Alan.

- Hey.

- What we at?

- That's jade.
- Yeah.

- That's jade, too. That's jade, too.

- Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm gonna get down.

Wow. This is beautiful.

There's hardly any
fractures in this at all.

The color's good, this
is the best bet we've had

since we started drilling.

- Yeah, I'm happy.

We're in the right place.

We know there's some good jade there.

(camera clicking)

that's some really huge money.

- [Narrator] Next time, on Jade Fever.

- Hey, (beep) face, you
wanna put this together?

- (laughing)

- (laughing)

- Woo hoo

(door shuts)

- Yelp!

- I accidentally locked you in there.

- [Claudia] Oh, you!
Somebody get me outta here.

- Okay, we gotta get this loaded up.

- [Robin] The bunkhouse
was 20 feet too long.

- We're all your going,
I'm glad I'm not goin'.

- Drive safe.

- I love you.

(door shuts)

(engine running)

- [Claudia] They say you
won't find grade A jade

until blood is spilled.

(vehicle crashing)

(sirens sounding)

- No! Oh, god.

(dramatic music)