Jade Fever (2015–…): Season 2, Episode 4 - Loaded - full transcript

(dramatic music)

(banging)

(woman exclaims)

- Oh, my god!

Up here near the Yukon and 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.

(yelling)



I will dig 'til my hands bleed.

Woohoo! Go!

(upbeat music)

Jade makes people do crazy things.

(laughing)

(twangy country music)

- [Man] Walk's finally over!

We're out!

- Yeehaw!

(horn honking)

- [Narrator] At the Wolverine mine site,

Josh and his Uncle Brian are
heading back to Jade City.

- [Josh] This is my favorite
part of the job, Uncle.

- Yeah, you got it.



- [Josh] Nice comfy seat,
somebody to talk to.

- [Narrator] It's the first
of many trips for Josh.

He'll be driving the trail all summer,

bringing equipment and supplies into camp.

- [Josh] I tell you what,
man, I love this trail.

I hate the excavators and
I hate running 'em on it,

but I love being on this trail.

- Maintenance this morning,
get ready for some mining.

- Just giving her a good grease job

here before we start digging.

Damn thing don't run on friendship.

- [Narrator] Back at the site, Guy and R2

are giving the excavator
some much needed TLC

after a rough ride in.

- Josh made a hell of a
mess on it on the way in.

- [Josh] What the (beeping)?

The bolt on the bottom snapped right off.

- I normally don't
grease it this much but,

Josh was pretty busy with bolts.

- [Guy] (laughing) Yeah.

(drill whirring)

- [R2] All right, that'll do it, Guy.

- Hey, thanks man.

- [R2] Well, ready, let's start mining.

- [Narrator] And that makes it official.

It's day one of the 100
day jade mining season.

- We're gonna start mining today.

I'm excited.

- Should all be a good
days from here on in.

And hopefully we'll find some jade.

- [Narrator] Guy's first
task is digging in an area

they explored last season.

- Nobody can say where the jade is.

Just gotta go looking for it.

Dig all day, everyday.

And until you find a hotspot,
just gotta keep trying.

There's lots of baby rocks, yeah,

but they don't pay the bills
as much as the big ones.

So, we gotta go after the big ones.

Man, this thing's almost too big.

If that's jade, that pays for our summer.

- [Narrator] On average,
only one in 20 boulders found

will contain sellable jade.

The chances of finding a
solid grade A jade boulder,

even slimmer.

- Well, I like to think this is the one,

but we gotta look at it first.

(peaceful music)

- [R2] This'll be our first
potential of the season, eh?

- [Guy] This one we've
just gotta check out.

- [Narrator] Once Guy and
R2 unearth the boulders,

they decide which rocks to cut.

- When you're looking at jade

in the store after it's
processed and polished,

it's real easy to call it.

But when you pull 'em out
of the ground like this,

it's a little tougher.

The outside don't really
tell you what the inside is.

You have to cut it to prove the inside.

Gotta find some more now.

(engine revving to life)

- In the back, in ours.

- In the house?
- Yeah.

- [Man] Okay.

- [Narrator] In Jade
City, Claudia is waiting

for her business partner, Alan, to arrive.

- I don't quite know
what to expect with Alan.

I don't know who's he's
bringing, what he's bringing.

We'll have to see how that goes.

(phone ringing)

Hello, Jade City.

Across the road.

Wow. Okay, bye.

- [Narrator] But Alan's arrival

takes a backseat to a more urgent matter.

- So, there's a truck that's rolled over,

which is really sad,

because it was an accident down the road.

But the great thing is
that no one was hurt

and it's fully loaded with produce,

so we're on the way to
go get some free food.

Hour down the road, but it's worth it.

(rock music)

Clear my way!

Go! Go, man!

- [Narrator] If a U.S.
food truck breaks its seal

while traveling through Canada to Alaska,

the cargo is usually a write off.

- It's basically first come, first serve

on a half a million
dollar load of produce.

Go!

Hopefully the cops don't come
this way when we're doing 180.

(laughing)

- The police are behind me now.

- [Narrator] Fresh groceries
are rare and expensive

in the north.

So a truck load of produce

couldn't have spilled at a better time.

- [Claudia] Nobody has
money in the spring.

Nobody's mined all winter.

Everyone's hungry for real
food and lots of veggies.

Not a good day for the poor trucker

who just lost his load of vegetables,

but this is a great day for our community.

- [Road Worker] Maybe
you wanna come down here.

- We'll just save everything
we can and share it.

It's just about preserving
as much as we can.

Let's walk up and take a
look and see how bad it is.

(gentle music)

So they need to unload the semi

so that it can be taken off the highway?

Soon as they lift the truck up now,

the produce will all just fall out.

They'll just have loaders and
they'll just take all of it

straight to the dump.

- [Narrator] The rush is on to salvage

as much food as they can

before the highway clean up crew arrives.

- This is where the fun begins.

(upbeat music)

There's food already down there,

so can we start to save some of that?

We're just gonna grab a few of the things

that fell into the ditch

and put them here for everybody.

Robin, just come down and start grabbing.

I'll go this way.

Try to save whatever we can.

- We're gonna try to get that
corn on the cob outta here.

Sacred corn on the cob.

You want to be on top of it right away

because it'll go bad fast.

You wanna get on it
before the bears move in.

- [Claudia] Trying to save
what we can down there.

- [Robin] You wanna try to get back

to where the meat is before they show up.

- So as fast as we can clean it up,

the more we get to save
for our communities.

- [Narrator] Over by Jade City,

Claudia's partner, Alan, has
arrived for the new season.

(twangy music)

(squirrel chittering)

- [Alan] Squirrel up in here.

- [Narrator] Alan has
been drumming up business

in China and trying to launch the company

onto the world stage.

- [Alan] So far, not too many people

know how good Canadian jade is.

So I try to you know, bring more

Chinese buyer and bring more investment.

That's the thing I'm doing right now.

Okay, finally, I'm back.

It's mining season.

- [Narrator] Alan has been away

from Jade City all winter,

so now he's anxious to
meet with his partners.

- [Alan] Nice to see
Claudia and Robin, finally.

Okay.

- [Narrator] Alan and Claudia

still have details to hammer
out for this year's budget,

which is always a sensitive
subject with Claudia.

- [Alan] Number one
thing I wanna see, jade.

Get us something really,
really good this year,

because I really want
a big, successful year.

(upbeat music)

- We're gonna cut some jade today!

- Let's get this party going!

- [Narrator] At Wolverine, Guy and R2

are ready to cut the first
boulder of the season.

- [R2] Pop it on there.

Here's hoping.

- Need to come my way a
bit or is that okay there?

- Right there!

You can let her down.

We have a patient.

Let's see what's inside.

- [Guy] Let's see if
this bad boy'll start.

(engine sputtering)

this year we need to cut more rocks.

'Cause the more you cut,
the more you can prove,

and the more you can prove
the more money you make.

Okay, well, we've gotten rock number one

cutting here, so, that's good.

Now we're really mining.

- [R2] A few hours later, we'll know.

(tense music)

- [Claudia] That's just
about it down here, you guys.

- [Narrator] An hour north of Jade City--

- [Claudia] Oh my god.

- an over turned produce truck

has delivered a bounty to the locals.

- Everybody gets to eat.

- [Claudia] Apples are next you guys.

Just save as much as we can.

- Yep, cauliflower.

- Avocados.

- Artichokes.

- Lemons.

- [Robin] Strawberries.

- Watermelons coming.

And everybody from Jade
City'll share it together.

We're just protecting the environment

and saving as much as we can.

I don't want to see it in the dump.

Keep coming, keep coming!

- [Narrator] But their shopping
spree may have just ended.

The highway clean up crew is on its way.

- What are they saying now?

- [Woman] Michelle just said
they're coming to get it.

- (beeping) Crazy.

- [Narrator] The party's over

- [Robin] Okay, let's go.

- We're trying to get this
done as fast as we can.

We're gonna be kicked outta here now

so go over the top and see what's there.

Grab whatever you can that's expensive!

I need a crate of some kind.

- Claudia, we have to go!

- [Claudia] Grab that pile of grapes!

Okay Carol, let's go.

(horn honking)

- [Robin] Claudia, let's go!

- Okay, we're outta here.

We all work together as a community

to take care of business,

to take care of our own, and away we go.

(twangy music)
(horn honking)

(tense music)

- [Narrator] At Wolverine,
Guy has moved to a new area

that's showing lots of promise.

- We got like, 20 medium sized rocks,

so we'll call that a honey hole.

- [R2] Let's see what we got.

- [Narrator] After four hours of cutting,

it's the moment of truth for
the first rock of the season.

(clanging)

- [R2] A bit disappointing.

- [Guy] Get it?

The outside's nicer than the inside.

- [Narrator] Just like most
of last year's boulders,

this one is worthless.

- Well that's (beeping) number one.

- [R2] Yep.

- [Guy] At least we're consistent
with the (beeping) ones.

- We're hoping to have something to show

Claudia and Robin and
Alan when they get here.

And we were banking on
that one and we bust.

(tense music)

- [Narrator] Near Jade City,

Alan is about to see Claudia and Robin

for the first time since last season.

- [Alan] Just going to have a meeting,

so talking to Claudia and Robin

about the plan for this year.

- [Narrator] Alan has been
away in China all winter,

trying to secure investors.

And with little communication,
a chill has settled

over the business partnership
with Robin and Claudia.

- [Alan] Sometimes we have a tough time

but, you know, they are my partner.

So, I got to make sure we
are on the right track.

- [Claudia] Let's get this done.

- [Alan] Okay.

- I'm not looking forward
to the first meeting

with Alan at all.

As a person, Alan is amazing.

As a partner, Alan
causes me so much grief.

We haven't seen each other,

so only little bits and
pieces on the telephone

only little bits and
pieces on the telephone

we were frustrated with each other,

I don't know what's gonna happen.

I don't know what's going to happen.

- Hey.

Hi Robin.
- Hello.

- Hey.
- Hey.

- So, I think what we need,
we need to make a budget.

- We already have a budget

that we sent out that we want to use.

- Okay, I think that budget,
so I emailed back to you

so we need to make some change.

- [Narrator] Claudia
anticipated a $750,000 budget

for the season.

- Okay, we can talk
about the business, and--

- You have all the control
of the money again.

We need to figure out whether there is--

- Let me make a, okay.

- [Narrator] But so far,

she's had to fund the
first few weeks herself.

- The biggest problem, Alan,
is I have no money coming.

- No, uh uh.

- [Claudia] Where's my money?

- They just paid a deposit.

They just paid.

- That's great.

- They mailed a check.

Half a million dollar for mining.

- [Narrator] But half a
million dollars is still

a quarter million less than
Claudia and Robin expected.

- Let's make a budget, okay?

The money's there.

- What's the money
gonna be used for, Alan?

You tell me 'cause I don't know

what you're using that money for now.

- Claudia is a very tough woman.

And we gotta have people
like her 'cause if everybody

you know, too soft it's not going to work.

- You've not spent any time with me

and Robin to explain any of this stuff.

- Now is the time I'm explaining to you.

- But I don't know what you're thinking

this budget is gonna cover.

- The mining budget is
just to get the rock

from here to there.

- Okay so I don't want
to argue with you that

because what I'm asking them to give us,

like, $300,000.

- [Narrator] Alan is
convinced he can deliver

another $300,000 if he
can show the investors

some evidence of grade
A jade at Wolverine.

- The three of us, now
we're making the budget

for this mining season

how we're gonna spend that money, okay?

- Okay.

I go in really angry
with meetings with Alan

and then I usually calm down

because Alan comes in with
really positive things.

- Yeah, I think we have
a chance to get that.

- We do have to put in our budget

that we need to start
to buy some more saws,

because there's potential there

and we need to cut every single jade.

We need to cut every boulder in half.

- Yeah, I agree with that.

I thinks that's a good deal for us.

- Okay.
- Yep.

Okay so--

- Nothing is totally resolved.

We've come to some basic agreements.

But it's enough to get
us going and that's okay.

We don't have to have the
whole year planned out.

See you guys.

So we're gonna take a chopper ride

and we're gonna go up to Wolverine.

It's never smooth sailing
from one minute to the next

but we're all on the same boat.

We're going out and we're
gonna find some jade.

(upbeat music)

(gentle music)

- [R2] Feels like we're playing
the lottery here, hey Guy?

- [Guy] I think the lottery
we might have a better chance.

(R2 laughing)

- [Narrator] At Wolverine,

the first rock of the season is a dud.

- Bit disappointing,

that we got a lot of these
we're finding out here

with a great ring to it.

Should ring like metal if it's
dense with no fractures, so.

I'm hoping and praying for this guy.

Yeah, you've got enough clearance!

Nice!

Cutting rock number two.

We got the bosses flying
in any minute now.

We've got a lot of rocks
dug out, but just (beeping)

when we cut it, so it's a real bummer.

- [Narrator] To get a glimpse
of what's inside the rock,

Guy examines the water
streaming from the saw.

- [Guy] What I was doing there,

is I was checking the filings.

The color that comes out,
it's coming out gray.

Gray not good.

It's not looking like it's
a grade A boulder right now.

- [Narrator] When a rock
has large amounts of iron,

the filings darken the water.

But with pure, green jade,
the water should flow white.

- Yeah, it's a real piss off

when it's not that nice,
milky white coming off.

We're looking for green jade out here.

Disappointed!

- It's not what we want right now.

But it's only rock number two so,

like I said yesterday, tomorrow.

(upbeat music)

- [R2] Hello, Alan.

Good to see you.

How are you?

- Good.
- Very good.

- [Alan] Great to see you again.

- [R2] Yes, absolutely.

(Alen speaking in foreign language)

- [Guy] (speaking in foreign
language) How you doing, Alan?

How's things?

- [Alan] Nice to see you again.

(dog barking)

Hey!

I'm back, Stucker.

- I'm Guy
- Guy.

- Jay.

Mosquitoes.

- Oh, we're fine.

- [Narrator] Alan has
brought along a new recruit.

Jay is a family friend, keen
to try his hand at jade mining.

- Jay will be out here the whole summer.

He can help wash the
rocks 'cause that sucks.

- [Claudia] Anything? No?

- [Guy] The hide was good but
the inside was just (beeping).

(Claudia sighs)

- [Narrator] Alan checks out the boulders

Guy has dug up, ready for the saw.

- So, we're looking some nice green rocks.

But, you know, mining
jade is not easy thing.

Lots of rocks are too gray.

But I think that there's
some potential here.

Show you what we found last year.

- [Narrator] Alan knows first hand

how a humble looking boulder

can hold a very valuable treasure inside.

- [Alan] It's really nice.

So that's the one.

So from last year's seven tons boulder.

- The big one that was out here?

- Yeah yeah, from the
middle, right in the middle.

Nice green.

- Well I've got rocks for you.

I haven't exactly been lollygagging here.

(laughing)

- So I gotta figure out
where that hammer is.

(country music)

- Thank you.
- There it is.

Yep, I go check it out.

Just a quick look.

- [Narrator] If they can find
one good rock, Alan thinks

he can get the investors to
shell out the extra money

they desperately need
to increase production.

- We want it like more
machine and more result

so we can get all investment
from last year all coming back.

But, you never know where jade is sitting.

- [Robin] Looks like green stone there.

(beeping)

- So far didn't see
anything really exciting.

But, we will get something for sure.

(mutters)

(sighs)
(tense music)

- That's no good.

- That's green stone, yeah?

(tapping)

(Robin exclaims)

- [Claudia] Serpentine?

- [Robin] Yeah, (beeping)

- Well most, they are too dark, the color.

- [Narrator] No jade means no
new money from the investors.

- [Robin] Black.

- [Claudia] Black?

- Yeah.

- Wow.

We need some green.

We need to find jade.

(pensive music)
(tapping)

- [Guy] Here.

- [Narrator] At Wolverine,

the crew is on their hands and knees,

pouring over hundreds of boulders,

searching for one sign of grade A jade.

- So all of these have
to be washed and checked?

- Okay, go ahead.

- [Narrator] No grade A
jade means no more money

from the Chinese investors.

- That one's got a
potential but it's not big.

- Still looking for the
place that Guy just dig out.

See if we can see any
good rock over there.

- [R2] Have a look at this one, Robin.

This one's got some potential.

- [Robin] Well there you go.

- [R2] It is green out here.

- [Claudia] Alan, come
take a look at this.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Robin] Look.

- That looks so different

than what we were finding last year, eh?

Found some beautiful, grade A jade.

Little nuggets of them
the size of your hand.

And so there's gotta be grandparents

of that little baby rock.

It's here, look at it.

It's here.

- [Guy] Here's another one here.

- What about that one, too?

- [Alan] This one sounds good.

I think think that this
reaction is correct.

- Yeah, there's some
great color in this area.

If it's going this way, I
think you're saying Guy,

that something this way?

- Yeah.
- It picks up again.

- Oh, yeah, here Alan.

- [Alan] That's a nice one.

- Oh, wow, that's gorgeous.

- There's quite a few
potential one in this area.

If we move over here,
it's gonna be better.

Get some good jade, you know, pure green.

That's the best.

- [Narrator] If Alan can
convince the investors

the new rocks here are a
sign there's grade A jade

to be found, they'll put up

even more money for this year's mining.

- Alan's really happy, 'cause any kind

of a small step forward,
is great for both of us.

- [Narrator] And a small rock they found

is giving them renewed hope.

- [Claudia] It looks amazing.

You can't say there's no jade.

- There's lots of jade here.

- [Claudia] Just to prove

that there's that quality
on that site, is amazing.

A great start to our
season of mining this year.

Wow.

- [Narrator] But with a bigger budget

will come bigger expectations.

- This is what we wanted.

But now, it's our responsibility.

Sink or swim.

We've got some stuff to cut tomorrow, Guy.

No rest for the wicked.

(laughing)

We've got 100 days, we've got a lot to do.

But that's why we're a group

is we work together as a team.

I'm really, really pleased.

- [Narrator] Next time on Jade Fever.

- Have you ever used bear spray?

- For the mosquitoes.

- Oh, no!

Jay is not prepared for what camp life is.

But the boys'll teach him.

- [Guy] He should have spent more

time at the gym before he showed up.

- The more it hurts,
the deeper your breaths.

(groans and mutters)

- Unbelievable.

Not a whole lot of
production, that's for sure.

- Why?

- Don't pray for rain,
don't pray for cool days.

Pray for the boulder.

- [Claudia] But we have to find it.