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

(upbeat music)

(dog barking)

- [Robin] Go for a ride?

- [Claudia] Up you go, woo!

- Good boy.

- [Claudia] Good boy.

(laughing)

Day one.

- Yeah, the second time.

- How come day one keeps
starting? (laughing)

- [Narrator] In the Cassiar
of Northern British Columbia.



- Let's go find some jade.

(engine starting up)

- Let's blow this popsicle stand.

(dog barking)

- Hold on baby.

- [Narrator] Claudia and
her crew are starting again.

- Yeah, I've had a few first official days

of this mining season

(laughing)

- [Narrator] This is a pivotal
year for Claudia and Robin.

They're bankrolling the
entire mining operation.

- This year we're on our own, it's scary.

- [Narrator] Two days ago,

their jade mining season failed to launch.



- [Robin] Oh my God.

This is like solid ice.

- [Narrator] Impassable snow pack.

- [Claudia] We ain't getting through this.

- [Narrator] And raging rivers.

- So where are you? Are you wet?

- [Narrator] Upended their
plans to mine at Wolverine.

- [Claudia] There they are.

(teeth chattering)

- Mother nature dealt us
something that we can't deal with.

Can't sit around Jade City doing nothing

while the snow is melting,

so we're back at Dynasty.

(intense music)

(dog barking)

You got us, go.

Show us where the jade is, Duker.

Careful, Robin, there's a pokey one.

- [Narrator] The Bunces have mined the

Dynasty claim for years,

mostly on a hardrock deposit called Pit 1.

(whoosh)

- [Claudia] Robin, just straight?

- [Robin] It's easier if you
go on the left there a bit.

- [Narrator] Today, Robin
wants to chase a hunch.

He hopes to find signs of
high quality jade at Dynasty,

on a new site he calls Pit 3.

- Pit 3, that area really intrigues Robin.

He's known about it for
'bout six, seven years now.

- To the right.

- Oh my good God.

But it really isn't anything right now.

It's fresh virgin ground.

Oh, over here?

- [Robin] Right past the boulder.

- [Claudia] Where?

- [Robin] Over there.

- [Claudia] Wow.

- [Robin] Yeah, there's
one there, one over there,

here, there and there.

(dramatic music)

- [Claudia] Are they Jade?

- [Robin] Yeah. I think so.

(hammering)

- [Claudia] Holy (beep), wow!

- Well, there's your jade.

Not saying it's big jade, but its jade.

So we've got to find out
where they come from here.

(clank)

- [Narrator] Hard-rock
jade forms as lenses attach

to the bedrock deep underground.

Fragments of jade near the
surface could be a sign

that there are big lenses below.

(whoosh)

- So we're sort of hunting.

Did it come from here?

Did they come from over there?

Where did these rocks come from?

Somewhere there has to be a
lens that they come out of.

- We have to disturb the ground,

find out where its at and see the quality.

I'll start with Guy on it so
we can expose it gradually.

Everybody thinks that I'm crazy,

that there's nothing
there, and I know there is.

Oh, right there.

- [Claudia] Okay, let's go guys.

- [Robin] See that one's the better one.

- [Claudia] Okay, tomorrow. Let's go.

- Okay, sexy socks, let's go.

What was your style this morning?

It's like hillbilly 101.

- [Claudia] Guy, I'm
paying you by the hour.

- Sorry.

(laughing)

- [Claudia] Okay, let's go down,

lets get ready for everything that needs

to be done up here for tomorrow.

- [Guy] Okay so what's the
payment plan on those wool socks?

(laughing)

- [Claudia] You're such an ass.

- [Guy] Shake what your momma gave ya.

(dramatic music)
(banging)

- Oh my God.

(rumbling)

- This is gonna be the
million dollar rock.

Yahoo!

(laughing)

- [Claudia] Jade makes
people do crazy things.

(upbeat music)

- [Guy] Coming through, let's go.

(grunting)

(dog whines)

What the hell is wrong with you?

Is this like your day off today or what?

(whistles)

Come on.

Good boy.

- [Narrator] At the Dynasty jade mine,

Guy is breaking ground on
their new mining site, Pit 3.

- It's always fun when you
go tackle a new project,

'cause you're not sure what's there,

you think it's there but gotta find it.

And then if we find the lens,
it's even more exciting.

It's part of jade hunting.

(excavator grinding)

(buzzing)

- [Narrator] Ahead of Guy,

Robin clears a path for the excavator.

- Come on.

(grunting)

If we don't take the trees down,

when he goes to dig,

he's gonna deal with the trees falling.

It's easier to get the
trees out of the way.

(chainsaw buzzing)

(grunting)

The signs on this site are really good.

All right.

But where is the lens?

That's the guessing part still.

(dog barks)

(excavator whirring)

Something here.

(dramatic music)

Hey Robin?

You gotta copy?

Robin?

- [Robin] Go ahead. You need me there?

- [Guy] I found quite a few rocks here.

You should bring a small hammer there.

- [Robin] Okay.

- [Guy] Yeah, the signs are all here.

I'm just tryin to move some more brush

and expose some more.

Got lots to do now.

[Whoosh]

- [Josh] You're gonna load me up today?

- [Gary] Yup.

- How do you wanna do that?

Where do you wanna do that from?

- I'm gonna jump up on top.

- [Josh] Okay.

- And you just keep backing into me.

- No worries.

See you in a bit.

- [Narrator] A kilometer away,

Josh and Gary are trying to make

last year's main site, Pit 1, a bit safer.

- Today me and Gary are gonna be benching

down these big walls
that you see behind me.

It's a bit of a safety hazard,

so if we make more of
a gradual slope to it,

then we don't have to worry about that.

- [Narrator] Pit 1 was a
flurry of activity last summer.

(machines rumbling)
(thunk)

- Whoa!

- Ah, that works for us.

- [Narrator] When Claudia's son, Justin,

and his business partner Mike

launched a new jade venture.

- It's the first time jade
has ever been quarried.

[Whoosh]

- Last year, Justin and Mike proved

that you could quarry-mine jade.

- Justin, he's starting a new venture

doing jade tabletops
and so he isn't going to

continue to mine Dynasty this year.

- [Narrator] But there's
still lots of work

to be done on Pit 1.

- We're gonna try to make it all safe.

A lot of dirt to move.

And we're off.

Today I'm gonna be in the rock truck.

Gary's gonna be loading
me with the excavator.

- [Narrator] Josh's goal this year

is to get out of driving the rock truck

and onto learning how to
operate the excavator.

- The last three or four seasons,

I haven't had as much time
with the excavator as I want.

- Joshua wants to get more
experience with the excavator.

I get that he hasn't done that
for a couple of years now.

He wants anything other than a rock truck

but he's in a rock truck today.

- [Narrator] Claudia has
given Gary the delicate job

of mentoring her son.

- I've been running
equipment for a long time

and I find myself
mentoring a lot of people.

I've trained a lot of people.

Josh, he could run that rock truck

probably circles around myself

because he's really good in a rock truck

but he needs a little bit
of work in the excavator.

- [Narrator] But Gary's biggest concern

about Josh has nothing
to do with the equipment.

- His temper flares.

It flares quick.

What are you screaming for?

I can't hear-

- Listen, dude!

I just took a two week [beep] Course.

Wanna prove a point.

Smash the gas pedal down.

You wreck the [beep].

You oppressed us all.

Good for [beep] You.

Grrrr.

- Joshua, stop.

- [Gary] I got a boy his age.

So my patience is good and
I like teaching people.

But Josh is a little bit of a challenge.

- I don't need to sit here and run

rock truck all day, every day.

I really want to be in the excavator

and so I'm gonna be.

- [Gary] He wants to go too big, too fast.

Reality is, he ain't ready for it.

(engine roars)

(whoosh)

- [Robin] Guy, you gotta copy?

- I'm just walking up this
last bit of the path here.

- [Robin] All right, I'm
outside the excavator.

- Rob has been working on this claim

for the last seven years.

So he would like to get
some jade outta here.

That would make Robin happy.

- [Robin] Hey Guy?

- [Guy] Yo.

- Woo!

That one looks pretty damn good.

- [Robin] (laughing) Yeah, I know.

- Definitely an exploration project here.

'Cause there's one (beep)
load of the jade layin' here.

- Yeah, that one looks good there.

- There's like 20, 30 buried here.

On a scale from 1 to 10,

how excited is Robin?

- Look at that green in that one too.

- About 11 and a half
right now I'm thinkin.

Look what I'm hittin here.

- There's so much.

- (laughs) Yeah, I know.

- It's absolutely everywhere.

- These are invitation cards.

(laughing)

Please come in.

- [Narrator] Robin and Guy zero in

on a large boulder that is half buried.

- Come right here, Guy.

- [Guy] That big one?

- Yep.

Something there.

(excavator grinding)

- I'm liftin' the whole excavator.

(thunk)

(engine roars)

'Kay, reset.

- Yeah, it ain't movin'.

- [Narrator] They've hit a big outcropping

that may still be attached
to a jade lens deeper down.

- We'll try and pull that one off the side

and see if it's just a rock.

(engine roars)

(crunch)

- [Narrator] Guy manages
to break off a small piece.

(clinking)

- Jade has a certain ring to
it that no other rock has.

Ow.

- [Robin] We've got a nice piece of jade.

Bam!

Kind of a ring to it.

Have to take it back to Jade City.

The saws are down there.

We'll cut it and get a better
look at the color of it.

- We'll know here shortly.

- [Robin] 'Kay.

(tires rumbling)

Woo-ee!

(laughing)

- [Robin] Time to get excited.

(dramatic music)

(intense music)

(thunk)

- [Claudia] You look dirty. (laughs)

Is that a good thing?

- [Narrator] In Jade City,

- [Robin] I'll show you a rock we brought.

- [Claudia] From?

- [Robin] From Pit 3.

- [Narrator] Robin has brought home

the first sample of
jade from the new site.

- You got there already?

I thought you were just
gonna cut down trees.

- We did.

- You have that smirk on
your face, like you're-

- Yep.

- Holy cow!

- So it has all the green in it.

- Holy, does it ever.

So you're excited?

- Yep.

Now I get Joe to get to work.

- We're going to cut the rock

and hopefully its got minimal fractures

and the color is great.

- [Joe] 'Kay.

(whirring)

- [Robin] Got Claudia to come
out and take a look at it,

Pit 3, she's skeptical about it

but I think there is
some decent looking jade

and hopefully we're
showing her that there is.

- If you do find a lens
that's really good,

that could mean that you stay on that site

and find many, many more lenses

and you're mining for years in one area.

Okay, let's go take a look.

(groaning)

- Ohh yeah.

- Oh!

That's not good.

- Some green in there.

- Yep.

And that's right off the top?

- Yep.

- [Claudia] Damn!

(sigh)

- This one is borderline

but I like the white.

- What do you mean you like the white?

What about the green, solid, right here.

- This is still pretty good.

- [Claudia] That's not good.

- Yeah, but right in there.

- [Claudia] Yeah, has potential.

(sighs)

- Robin really wants to take some jade

outta Pit 3 but, you know what?

There's no guarantee right now.

It's a little bit more of a treasure hunt.

Is it worth it?

Is it worth taking a chance?

Um, I don't know.

- Well, let's see what Guy has-

How much more he has
done and what he's found.

'Cause he was still lookin'.

It's gonna be good.

- Hope so.

- Very, very good.

(dramatic music)

(whoosh)

(wind howling)

- I hate to be a bearer of bad news.

We gotta move it this way. (laughs)

- Oh my God!

(laughing)

- [Narrator] At Pit 1,
Josh is finally getting

a lesson on the excavator

but it isn't what he had in mind.

- You're covering the back of the bucket

and not where we're weldin'.

(grrrrr)

- [Narrator] Gary's going
to try to teach Josh

how to weld a new cutting edge
onto the excavator bucket.

- I don't know how to carry this thing.

- I don't mind working with Josh.

He's very ambitious.

The only suggestion I have,
when you start welding.

- [Josh] Yeah?

- Make sure your gloves are dry.

- [Josh] 'Kay.

- If they're wet.

(rustling)

You thought you had twitches before.

- That's (beep) up.

Dry gloves.

Dry gloves.

(beep) me.

I just got shocked already.

- [Gary] Did ya?

- I've welded once in my life before this.

How do I get this tight in here?

- Turn the handle.

- Oh, right.

Yeah I knew that.

Yeah, I really love Gary

- Gimme that for a sec.

- He's got a really good
head on his shoulders.

- If there's a new rod, you
don't have to smack it hard.

- 'Kay.

- Some people figure, just a stick

in the handle and you weld.

It's not that simple.

- (beep) me!

- There's a finesse to it.

- I love those shocks!

They make me feel alive.

- [Narrator] After half an
hour of unsuccessful welding,

Josh's enthusiasm starts to fade.

- Come on.

(grrr)

(beep)

- Basically it's just an electric shock.

And you get a strong enough one an-

I've seen guys wet themselves.

Tighten 'em up.

- I get shocked every time
I put one of these in here.

Seriously, my ass is wet, my legs are wet.

I'm all soaked.

I'm sitting in puddles of water

on the grooves of the bucket.

(beep) me, every time.

- Love the boy to death
but Josh and patience?

Doesn't exist.

(grrr)

Loosen your handle.

Start up here.

- I know what I gotta do.

I just gotta do it.

- Patience.

That's all it takes.

- Am I even (beep) close?

- He's just one of those kids.

He's really high strung.

- This is my last one.

I'm not wasting any more of my time.

(crackling)

- [Gary] Oh nice. Sounds good.

(crackling)

(clang)

- (beep) You show me now.

(beep) stupid.

I'm not a mechanic.

I'm not a good welder.

However, I believe that on rare occasions,

when I do run the excavator,

I do a pretty good job.

But in the past five seasons,

I haven't been allowed.

(crackling)

(sigh)

(intense music)

(whoosh)

- Ruben gonna (beep) his pants.

Claudia'll be so happy she'll vomit.

And Josh, well, he'll curse.

(dog whines)

It's gonna be fun.

- [Narrator] Over at Pit
3, Guy has spent the day

digging up the giant rock his
excavator couldn't tackle.

And it's much bigger than he imagined.

(clanging)

- Did you hear that?

I'm friggin excited.

Robin asked me to move
this big boulder and bam.

It's a lens, not a boulder.

This is my first lens ever.

I'll clean it as good as I can here

and, if it rains tonight,
it'll just make her

look way more gooder tomorrow.

And then the gang should
be impressed with it.

If this turns out to be decent jade,

then it'll be time to retire.

(brushing)

Okay, that's enough.

Not bad for a day's work.

(dramatic music)

- [Josh] It just doesn't make sense to me.

You know?

- [Narrator] After a day of trying

to learn to weld in the rain,

Josh is determined to get what he wants.

Time on the excavator

(dramatic music)

- So today, I'm gonna jump on excavator

and Gary can run the rock truck.

You know, Gary and Guy
already have the experience,

so they can run everything
else and do everything else

and I can get the experience
for the excavator.

Gary can haul overburden for me.

'Cause I am not just a rock truck driver.

I want to run every piece of equipment.

(dramatic music)

I'm just gonna park right here.

Hey Gary, hold on.

- [Narrator] But instead of the excavator,

Gary tells Josh he'll be riding
the rock truck again today.

- That's (beep) up.

The last three years, I've
been promised to be trained,

so that's why I'm frustrated.

- You gettin' excited.

Fine, that's the way you are.

We know that, right?

- But it's not like I
can just take my time.

I don't wanna get angry and that's why

I didn't want to say any of this.

- I was Josh's age.

I was hard to handle.

I used to have a really bad temper.

- Every (beep) person has
come up to me and be like,

"Don't be frustrated with
equipment, blah blah."

- But if you know how to talk to him,

you can bring him back down.

You got a great head on your shoulders.

You got a good brain for this.

But you're the one that
says you wanna learn.

- Yeah, oh yeah.

- But doing, is how you learn.

- Yeah.

- And we're lettin' you do.

- [Narrator] . Gary comes
up with a compromise.

Josh won't get the excavator

but he will get to operate the loader.

- [Claudia] So let's
just take a deep breath.

- Totally.

Yeah.

It's nice to have
somebody around like Gary,

who's really good at dealing with me.

He had a lot of patience
with me and helps me a lot.

I can't get frustrated over it,

I just need to communicate, stay positive,

stay training, not get frustrated.

He's a really considerate guy,

so it makes doing the job
a thousand times nicer.

- You got this.

- Yeah.

- Do it.

- Yep, we got 'er buddy.

- It's all good.

- I'll see you in a bit.

- You got it.

(grunts)

- I wanna be trusted in equipment more.

(grumbles)

- It's just patience I
guess, it just takes time.

No matter what, how you wanna do it,

it just takes time.

- He is the next
generation, so you want him

to be able to do this stuff.

We'll push him a little bit harder.

He might hate us for it but
that's the way you get it.

That's the way you learn.

(whoosh)

(dramatic music)

- What's goin' on?

- Guy wants us to come up
and have a look at somethin'.

He wants to surprise us.

- [Narrator] Up at Pit
3, Claudia and Robin

are getting their first look

at Guy's giant discovery.

- Holy (beep)!

- Surprise!

- [Claudia] You have another fin.

- [Guy] That's not a rock man.

- Perfect!

- If it's a lens, that's really exciting.

Holy schnikey.

- [Robin] I like this color in it.

- Holy.

And we don't know how deep or nothing.

- We gotta keep digging.

- The potential of that
is millions of dollars.

It's a game changer.

Robin, this is really exciting,

considering we've only
been here for two days.

- [Robin] Yep.

- It's inviting.

- I'm thinkin' maybe a
little bit of a drill?

I think it would be-

- If we drilled it,
we'd know what's in it.

- [Guy] We don't have
a backpack drill, eh?

- Donny has his there and
he would come down here

and do this in a (beep)
heartbeat. (laughs)

(dramatic music)

- [Claudia] Let's go big or go home.

(upbeat music)

- Tapered end goes in there

and that slides over the other end.

- [Narrator] Hours later, Robin's brother,

Donny, who lives nearby, delivers a drill.

- There, that's good now.

- [Narrator] Donny knows this site well.

He and Robin prospected it years ago.

- This site here, my
brother and I started.

So it feels great that
we can get going here.

- Hey.

- The ZZ Top brothers there,
they're settin' up the drill.

A pretty sexy little setup.

I'm likin' it.

- Okay.

(whirring)

(engine roaring)

(hammering)

- This is a diamond core drill.

It takes out a 3/4 inch core.

Gives you a good cross-section
of what the rock is.

- Definitely jade but
whether it's good jade

or bad jade, fractures, no fractures,

the core don't lie.

(engine roaring)

- 'Kay, take that off
and see what's inside.

(dramatic music)

- It's serpentenite.

It's all in pieces.

It crumbles.

- Anything with fractures in it,

we're not wasting our time.

It's not worth it because
you still can't sell it

because of the fractures.

(dramatic music)

- We'll fill it up and go down again.

- [Narrator] At Pit 3 on Dynasty,

Robin is waiting to see if his hunch

about this new mining
site is going to pay off.

(engine whirring)

- It's not good quality.

Gotta go way deep.

(hammering)

- Better the jade, the
slower it is drilling,

so if it takes a while, that's fine.

We're okay with that.

Drilling slow...

- 'Kay, pull it up.

(hammering)

(engine dying)

- Go get that core sample, Donny.

- Come on.

(dramatic music)

- Oh, there we go.

There is what you were looking for.

- Ah-ha!

(laughing)

- Give it to me, give it to me.

- So we're not seeing
too many fractures here.

- No, that's excellent piece there.

- That's our nicest core I've ever seen.

- Yeah.

- So Robin had a hunch
in the back of his mind

and he stuck with it and
I think he did good call.

There's jade there.

(dramatic music)

- Please, fasten your seatbelts!

- (gasps)

No way!

Give me water.

What the hell happened, how?

Sorry, sorry, I'm a little excited!

(laughs)

Sorry!

Yeah, this is the best we've ever seen,

on any of the claims.

That's really great.

- Mm-hmm.

- This changes everything.

This is a really special lens

and this is where we're
gonna spend the season.

This is to a great new season on our own.

Only a couple of days in.

Here we go.

Cheers!

(can popping)

(upbeat music)

- Now get to work!

(laughing)

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Next time, on Jade Fever.

- [Gary] It's like a tooth that's loose.

Just gonna have to wiggle
it til it comes out.

Whoops.

- [Claudia] This is our
make or break year rush.

- Gonna get wet soon.

(hissing)

(hammering)

- [Claudia] Does it work that way better?

- Quit talkin' about it.

Let me hit it.

I would not suggest to anybody
to work for their parents.

(hammering)

(machine rumbling)

- I knew this corner was gonna be a pain.

It's definitely not the most safe.

- It's goin'.

- She's goin.

- Joshua, you got a copy?

Josh?

- There's no answer with Josh.

(dramatic music)

- [Claudia] Joshua!

(menacing music)

(dramatic music)