Jade Fever (2015–…): Season 5, Episode 12 - No Country for Cold Men - full transcript

- [Narrator] At the Two Mile Jade Claim,

Guy is drilling the last
holes in their prized

90 ton boulder, so it can finally be cut

into moveable pieces.

- That big 90-tonner,

that might be the money
maker for this year.

- [Narrator] But, it's early
September in the High Alpine.

Winter could hit at any moment.

- Pressure's on.

We're trying to cut this 90 ton up,

so we can ship it down, haul it out,



before Mother Nature kicks us out.

See that water coming out now?

Yeah, we're being pushed.

We gotta go, go, go, go.

(motor revving)

We did it!

We're through, I think.

Okay, my back's sore.

Now we go tell Robin he's got three holes

and three big chunks of jade

whenever the wire saw's ready to come up.

So I don't know what the
boys down there are doing.

But we're ready.

- [Narrator] Later that afternoon,



Claudia checks in on their progress.

- [Claudia] You just finished?

It's close to the end of the season.

I want Robin to be ahead of the game

because we always seem to
be behind the eight ball.

- [Narrator] She needs to 90 ton boulder

hauled off the mountain before buyers

from China arrive next week.

- [Claudia] Okay, so, let's cut this up.

Let's take out to Jade
City what's sellable

so that I can sell it next week

when everybody starts to come

to Canada to buy jade.

That's my big goal right now

is get it down to Jade City

- I know that that all has to get done.

It takes time.

We've got one wire saw.

It cuts very slow.

- I need to have cutting
going on much faster.

- [Guy] Robin likes to take his time

and do things right.

Claudia likes to make
it happen at warp speed.

It's just how she rolls,
it's (finger snapping).

- [Claudia] So, how do we
get the wire saw up here?

- Pack it, the same way we got it

- [Claudia] Just don't say that.

That makes no sense.

- [Robin] We can set it on the six pack

and drive her up.

But when the saw has to come up

whatever's down there does not get cut.

- [Claudia] Joshua, are you wire-cutting

a boulder down there?

- Well, yeah, what do you

- [Claudia] Everybody's frustrated.

We don't understand what's going on.

Come here and be useful to
this conversation, Joshua.

- I'm not useful to the
conversation, though,

cause you don't want to
hear what I have to say.

My dad needs to decide
what he wants us all to do

in order for us to cut that rock.

- [Claudia] I'm extremely frustrated,

so everything pisses me off today.

You have to think two or
three different things

ahead of time.

You can't just do one.

Okay, let's go.

Robin's a procrastinator.

And so, I have to keep pushing him.

- [Narrator] Adding to Claudia's stress,

she's leaving today for Jade City

to prepare for the arrival of the buyers.

- [Claudia] Joshy, come hug me, Josh.

- [Robin] She's agitated.

She's expecting grade A boulders coming

on this site every hour.

It's just not (beep) possible.

- [Claudia] Very close to
the very end of the year.

Me and Robin are fighting,
everybody's unhappy.

It just feels like we're
not moving anywhere.

(hammers striking)

Oh, my God!

(truck engine grinding)

- [Robin] This is going to
be the million dollar rock.

(guitar playing)

- Yahoo! (laughing)

(cracking rock)

- [Claudia] Jade makes
people do crazy things.

- [Narrator] In Jade City.

- I think that's my dad.

My dad just came back to town.

He took a little vacation.

A vacation from the family (laughing)

Hello.

- Hey, kid.

- How's your boat?

- Good, good, good.

- [Narrator] Six weeks ago

- I said 20 times that
I want to cut that rock

- That's right

- Neither one of them

- Every, their idea is
haul it out the way it is.

- You're going to haul a
ton and a half of garbage.

I'm (beep) leaving.

- Okay, good-bye.

- Get me a chopper.

- [Narrator] Claudia's
father, Steve, left the mine

after a nasty fight with his daughter.

- [Claudia] It's heartbreaking.

For me it was really important this year

that we all work together.

- [Narrator] But now he's
had a change of heart.

- [Steve] How is everything going?

- [Claudia] Good.

- Oh, I just cooled off.

Needed some time, and I thought,

I'm going to try to break
my pride and say okay.

It's better for Claudia if I'm around

than not being around.

- [Claudia] It makes me feel really happy

that Dad wants to come
back and mine with us

and be a part of this.

I hope this time it does go better

because it is a great adventure,

and I want my dad to be here with us.

We're going to start getting something

because what we have isn't great.

- [Steve] Sometimes in
two weeks you find enough

for a whole season.

- [Claudia] Yeah

(soft music)

(whooshing sound)

(water dripping)

(bass guitar pulsing)

- Did you order this (beep)?

- No.

- [Narrator] High up in
the mountains at Two Mile,

bad weather has moved in.

- It's going to just be a miserable day,

doesn't matter how you look at it.

- When it's raining and it's cold,

the days are long.

- [Narrator] This morning,
Robin and the crew

are hauling the wire saw up to Pit One,

so they can finally start cutting

the 90 ton boulder they knocked down

over a month ago.

- Gotta grab some hoses yet.

- Where do you want the hoses put?

- On the Bedford.

- Every year at the end of the season,

you know, little tits and tats,

and yeah, guys get frustrated and upset.

- I ain't even going to be
running this (beep) thing,

so they can take whatever they want.

I'm not worried about it all.

- Just gotta tough her out.

- [Narrator] As they climb the steep hill

to the mine site, the elevation
rises to 1,700 meters.

- [Robin] You're up in
the elements a lot more,

the weather changes faster.

Now we've got to be aware because

at any time it could snow

and the season is over immediately.

- [Guy] We're the first
ones to get snowed out

out of all the miners out here.

So the crunch is on, we've
just gotta go hard here

'til we're done.

Pah, pah, pah, paah.

- [Narrator] They get to
work setting up the wire saw.

- Gas can underneath, Josh.

- [Josh] Yeah, that's why
I didn't have it there.

Yep, I was planning on leaving
the empty can down there.

There's a nice full one right here.

- Josh is just getting agitated.

The weather here with
this rain all the time

does not help.

- Okay, so you may as
well just go up there

and do it then because I have no idea

how you want that done.

- I'll show you.

- No frustration.

We're just doing our thing out here.

I guess we're not going to put the tower

right up against the rock, eh?

- He needs to go home, have a break

and be with his girlfriend.

- [Josh] And that rock's staying there?

That's not how I would've done it.

I would pretty much have everything

set up differently.

I always had counterweights
here as well, remember?

Okay, so now

- [Robin] We've got to bring
the motor right to the front.

- [Josh] Let's spin this piece of (beep).

Oh, all right, (beep) like

- [Robin] Try pulling it.

If you can't pull it, this
motor's not turning on.

- [Narrator] The saw's
diamond wire is stuck.

- [Josh] Holy (beep)
- [Robin] It's too tight.

- This is never going to work.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] At Two Mile

- [Josh] Oh my God.

- [Robin] Okay, pull her back up.

- [Narrator] Setting up the wire saw

is turning into a frustrating ordeal.

- If we can't do it by hand,

that motor'll never spin this wire.

- [Narrator] The wire is
catching on the drill holes.

- So I'm going to take the
sharp edges off the hole.

- You want to just cut notches
out with that thing there?

- [Robin] We're rounding the
edges is all we're doing.

- All right.

(saw motor running)

- Cut.

(hammer striking)

- Now you should be
able to pull that bottom

pretty easy right now.

- Oh yeah, oh hey, that's
(beep) night and day difference.

Let's fire this thing
up and see what happens.

- Okay (cranking)

(water dripping)

Bound in the bottom.

- Yeah, you're going to pull up.

Oh no, there you go, okay.

Yeah, get your fingers out of there.

Now turn it on, Dad.

Now hold on, leave it there.

- There we go.

- [Josh] Oh my God, it's doing it.

(motor whirring)

That's crazy.

- [Narrator] After weeks of preparation,

the 90 ton boulder is
finally under the saw.

- I'm anxious to see what's inside.

Hopefully, it's a bit of dineros,

so that'd be good.

- Now we hurry up and wait.

(soft music)

- [Narrator] Down in Jade City

- I need to start cutting
this Two Mile jade.

- [Narrator] All the
rocks they've hauled out

of Pit One and Pit Two need
to be ready for the sale.

- Jade buyers from China
are coming next week

and I have to be prepared for them.

So now the rock gets washed, cleaned,

cut, polish, and hopefully, sold.

You want to go get Dad
and bust this one open,

see how good it is?

- Okay.

- These buyers are coming
with millions of dollars,

so this is huge for our
company to continue to mine.

- [Narrator] Claudia has
put her dad in charge

of cutting the boulders.

- Dad, I want to do this Two Mile jade.

I think we talked about
this one and this one.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- You and Joe can pick
which one you want to do

and how you want Joe to cut it.

He'll move it over for you.

- [Steve] Done deal.

This is the first one you cut.

- [Joe] Okay.

- This one here.

- [Joe] Okay.

- [Narrator] The jade
has to be cut just right.

- [Claudia] Cutting
jade into blocks is what

the Chinese prefer, and
the tourists, they love it

when it's really thin samples of it.

So it's really different in the way

that we deal with the tourism

and what we deal with the buyers.

- I'll go get the loader.

- [Steve] Okay, start
moving, start cutting.

It's hard to beat the Chinese
when it comes to jade.

They've been dealing with that stuff

for ten thousand years.

- [Narrator] Steve thinks
Claudia could make more money

selling to tourists.

- The big buyers from
China, they're like to get

three, four dollars a pound.

I could cut that stuff
up and sell to tourists

and come up with 20 dollars a pound, so.

- [Narrator] But Claudia wants her dad

to focus on getting jade
ready for the buyers.

- I have to get used to it.

That I'm not the boss,
I'm just the advisor now.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] Morning at Two Mile camp.

The crew prepares to head up to the pit.

- [Worker] You walking up?

- [Josh] Yeah.

- So your dad's sent the water up or what?

- I guess I'll fill up the 6x6

before I go with the water.

I'm just hanging out getting paid.

I guess I'm the only qualified guy

to fill up water barrels around here.

My opinion doesn't matter.

I don't know, I'm acutely aware of that

and I'm fine with it.

Designated water boy, give it like

15 years, then I'll be
able to run some (beep).

Besides the backpack drill.

- Josh is maybe getting
a little bit bushed.

Did almost seem like he just didn't want

to be there anymore.

- He needs to go home.

- [Narrator] Up at Pit
One, they're almost through

the first cut on the 90 ton boulder.

(saw whirring)

- I still think this is the one

that's going to make
them money, right here.

- [Robin] Getting close.

Here she comes.

- [Guy] Whap.

(machine clanks)

We did it.

- We cranked the saw up a little bit.

We figured a 12 hour
cut, six and half hours,

she's through.

- This saw's cutting really well.

- [Narrator] To make
the next cut, they need

to reposition the wire saw,

but another 30 ton rock is in the way.

- Okay I'll see if I can spin it.

- So now we've gotta jiggle, wiggle

and try to move this
30 ton out of the way,

so we can work on the 90 ton.

- [Narrator] No luck.

It's too heavy to move.

- Our equipment's not that big.

- So we can just cut this corner off.

- [Narrator] Another delay.

Now they have to cut
up this 30 ton boulder

just to make room for the saw.

- We know we've got no time left.

But we've still got lots of cutting to do,

and if the jade stays
there, nobody making money.

- [Robin] Water on.

- [Guy] That's it.

Couple more hours.

(ratcheting motor)

(dramatic chord)

(guitar strum)

- [Narrator] In Jade City

- [Steve] That's a good one, eh?

That one.

- [Narrator] Claudia's
given her dad, Steve,

the critical job of cutting rocks

that will impress her Chinese buyers.

- [Joe] That's good?

- Yeah, yeah.

- My dad's personality is
very strong, like mine.

There is nothing easy about me and my dad

and working together.

- Look at this stuff selling
every day, ten pieces.

- [Claudia] Oh, Jesus.

They're cutting it all wrong.

This is not what we should be selling.

This should have been cut into big blocks.

And blocks that we can sell.

The Chinese buyers like to buy their jade

in block form, as large as possible

with the best quality.

That's not sellable.

- Really.

You can't sell that?

- I'm telling you
- It'll sell before any

- the Chinese
- of these blocks

- I need to sell to the Chinese.

I need it to be blocks so
I can sell to the Chinese.

- You need some good stuff for here.

- But Dad, I have enough for the tourists

that are here.

- Look like what?
- I need to sell

to the Chinese right now

- You got ten, fifteen pieces.

Look that's all you've got.

- I can't sell enough of
that here to make money.

I need to be able to
sell bulk to the Chinese.

- You think you telling
me something I don't know?

I didn't tell him?

- But I said, stay here
Dad and watch over them

and tell them what to do,

but you didn't even stay here.

- Ah, it's not going nowhere

- Oh, (beep)

(soft talking)

- This is extremely stressful.

There's no time right
now for me and my dad

to be disagreeing on how to cut the jade.

- Okay, then don't ask me about nothing.

- Dad, I want you to shut down.

- [Steve] She's going
to always contradict me.

(dramatic music)

(soft music)

(helicopter chopping)

- [Josh] Yep, it's coming down now.

- [Narrator] At Two
Mile, Josh is going home.

- It's going to snow here soon.

- Get out of camp, get away from the cold,

and the low morale.

I'm going to remove
myself from that situation

put myself where I can be an asset.

- Claudia and I decided
that it would more feasible

for Josh to come to Jade
City to cut and polish

the rocks cause there's more to do.

- [Narrator] Up at Pit
One, they're still cutting

the 30 ton rock that's
blocking them from getting

to the big prize, the 90 tonner.

But hunting for jade is
always full of surprises.

- [Robin] We watch the rain coming across.

- [Gary] That's sure miserable.

- [Guy] The weather sucks today.

- [Robin] Every minute counts
when winter's closing in.

- You really start watching the weather,

so the season could end really fast.

- We're right there.

- Yeah, we're almost at the
end of the 30 tonner here.

Five, four, three (crack) hey!

- [Robin] That's got nice color,

I don't like all those fractures.

There's a lot of jade in there, though.

- [Guy] Yep, that is decent stuff.

The question is, Robin, is it sellable?

- Most definitely.

- [Narrator] What they
thought was waste rock

contains grade A jade.

- [Robin] Yep, this here is some

- [Guy] Jewelry quality.

- [Robin] Most definitely.

- Today is an exciting day.

- [Narrator] It could
be just what the need

to make a big sale.

- Waste rock we thought we were going

to be throwing over the edges,

going down the mountain
and going to Jade City.

That's a happy moment.

- [Narrator] Even in
two pieces, this boulder

is still a struggle to move.

- Just maxed out the
power on the excavator

for lifting it.

She's pretty heavy.

- [Robin] Whoa, right there.

Now he's gotta go this way.

Okay, we've got the 6 pack loaded up

and it's pretty well
maxed out with weight.

- [Narrator] But just as they're ready

to head out

- Welcome to Two Mile

- [Narrator] Mother Nature
throws a curve ball.

- What's your plans for Christmas there?

- (laughing) Trying to
get down before it gets

too much snow on the road.

- [Narrator] With buyers
showing up in just a few days

the crew's got to risk
making the trip to Jade City.

- [Robin] So we go from
rain to snow, not good.

We need the rock hauled down no matter

whether it's raining, it's too muddy,

doesn't matter.

We've got to get it off the mountain.

- Okay, here we go.

It's going to be hell.

- [Robin] We can't even see
the mountains from here.

- [Guy] It's all downhill from here.

- [Robin] Friggin' mud.

- We had a concern 6-pack was not going

to make it loaded because, uh, toboggan.

Not good, not good at all.

- She working good there, Guy?

She doesn't want to run away?

- [Guy] Start going downhill,

the transmission goes into second, third.

Once we get fourth gear
and I've got to turn?

(beep) Oh, no.

- [Robin] Guy! Guy! Guy!

(dramatic music)

There's something wrong.

Guy, can you hear us?

- [Narrator] On the road out of Two Mile,

Guy has narrowly avoided disaster.

- I was going way too fast
and had the brakes on.

I was picking up speed - called a runaway.

Hit the berm there and grabbed some dirt

'cause I had ten feet to decide,

so, um, close call.

- That's why the berms are here.

(laughing)

- [Guy] You should have been a comedian.

Well, one of the rules of mining,

if you have a steep hill,
your berm is supposed to be

half the height of the tallest tire

that you have on the mine site.

And today it paid off, so.

Okay, we're good to go there, Gary.

- [Gary] Damn near scared
me into poopy pants.

- I'm glad it was him in there, not me.

(laughing)

When in doubt, bail out.

- [Narrator] They continue
on the trail to Jade City.

- [Robin] That'll cool your brakes.

- Anybody want to make tea?

I have boiling water.

- [Narrator] But the farther they go,

the worse the road gets.

- Every inch, high spots, low spots,

everything is mud when that snow melts.

- Punch it, Chewie.

That'll do it.

- But if you had good jade and you know

that you're going to get some good sales,

you're more anxious to push
the line a little more.

- [Narrator] After a seven hour trek

through rain, wind and snow, they make it

to the Dease Lake Landing
with their precious cargo.

- She was a long day.

- Time for a break.

- [Claudia] Joshua.

- [Narrator] Morning in Jade City.

(Josh laughing)

Josh is helping his mom
get the jade display

ready for her Chinese buyers.

(sander motor whirring)

- I'm doing my best right now

to present those stones

in the most beautiful way possible.

Trying to give buyers a clear indication

of the quality of the
stone that we're selling.

- You have to be able to mine it,

and you have to be able
to show it in the end

and be able to sell it.

- [Narrator] Claudia's letting
Steve do what he does best,

cut and sell to tourists.

- Everybody needs to be
where it's the most important

for the company at that
moment and for the family.

Where's the new ones that just came in?

- Right there.

- [Narrator] Robin shows
off his latest find,

the pieces from the 30 ton boulder.

- This one here is running around 15 tons.

- Wow, gorgeous.

- [Robin] That's high quality.

- Ah, that one's nice, too.

We actually have great
sellable rock this year.

I'm really excited.

- [Steve] That's good jade.

- That's why we sent this stuff out first,

'cause this is the good quality jade.

We'll see.

You can never tell with the buyers.

- [Narrator] Even Steve
is impressed with the jade

Robin's found.

- And the next one that's
going to sell, this one.

This one.

I'm more here to give
them advice, you know.

Like I don't call the shots,

I can just tell her what I would do

and if I can help, that's good.

If not, it's okay.

- [Claudia] Yeah, really solid, nice.

- That's what it is.

- [Claudia] Well I think that the only way

to keep your family together is

to incorporate them
into what you're doing.

And here, Dad.

It is really hard.

The benefit is, they will
never leave your side.

Isn't that pretty?

- It's all good stuff.

- [Robin] Yep.

- [Narrator] Next time on Jade Fever

- [Josh] I'm out here trying

to get these rocks cut for the buyers.

- [Buyer] Whoa.

- [Claudia] We're trying
something new this year

in Jade City - go big.

- [Translator] He's asking like how much?

- [Claudia] Right around 200,000.

- That time of year.

She's froze solid.

Okay, we've got no water.

Minus 10, a whole new ball game.

We want to cut up this
90 ton so we can get out

before Mother Nature tells us we're done.

Satellite system's not working.

(dramatic music)

We got caught.