Jade Fever (2015–…): Season 5, Episode 5 - It's My Party - full transcript

(upbeat music)

(man cheering)

- [Narrator] In Northern
British Columbia's

Cassiar Mountains,

Claudia and her crew are opening up

the first pit at their Two Mile mine.

(rocks crunch)

- So you're gonna clean all this up,

and you'll dig that one out.

- There's some really
solid pieces in there.

It really is finding the
pockets of Grade A Jade



that's sellable and making
it worthwhile mining.

So that's what we're doing right here.

- The big one's moving now.

- You should probably get
it out of there right?

- Yeah, I'm gonna clean it up.

- [Crewmate] Okay, you betcha.

- Might take a little
working but it'll come out.

- Okay.

- [Narrator] Gary is
stripping away surface rock

to expose any jade they
might find in the land.

- Put that on the side here.

- Okay, I'll set it over here.

- We're hell bent on getting that jade

out of the ground there in Two Mile.



- I think there might
be a couple more there.

- [Steve] We'll go as deep as we have to,

you know, to get to good stuff.

Good crew, good equipment,

just like a war that you want to win.

We're gonna do it or die.

- [Narrator] With excavation
underway at the mine-

- And there's one more down there?

- Yeah, that big one there.

Let's go look at that.

- [Narrator] Robin and Ghee head out

on a prospecting mission.

They're scouting for outcroppings

that could hold the
promise of grade A jade.

- I like the jade mining because
it is like a treasure hunt.

You're up there searching.

Right there.

- Yeah, we're on the jade.

We're on it. We just
gotta find the good stuff.

- We're way above tree line.

We have no brush in the way

to hide any of the rocks.

If they're there, you see them.

- This is all bubbled cause
it came right through the top.

- It's jade, bubbled jade.

- It goes right through here.

A massive deposit of
jade right up to the top.

And there's that face where that snow is.

- Then there's probably the odd fin

we don't even know about.

And there's lots on that side,

all along this edge here.

There's an abundance of hard rock jade.

Everywhere you look, you see a lens.

- There's more jade here than
you can shake a stick at.

- Doesn't mean the quality's good,

but the potential is very high.

- Hang on, Cougar.

- We're just gettin started.

- [Narrator] Robin and Ghee return to tell

Josh and Gary the good news.

- You're not gonna believe this one.

- [Narrator] But they have
some news of their own.

- I blew a hose.

Just our luck, eh?

- [Narrator] They've barely
broken ground at their new pit

and the excavator's already
down with a blown hose.

- Then it'll go around to the
other side, goes underneath.

- It goes into that cluster right here.

- Equipment breakdowns, if it's your only

piece of equipment, is
extremely frustrating.

- This one, control line.

- We definitely wanted to move
dirt today and expose jade,

not be dealing with this (beep).

- [Narrator] There will
be no digging anywhere

until the excavator is repaired.

- We do not have a spare excavator.

It has to be fixed right away.

- For (beep) sakes.

(hammers striking)

- Oh, my God.

- [Crewman] This is gonna
be the million dollar rock.

- Woohoo.

- Jade makes people do crazy things.

- You want it behind your
back or in front of you?

- [Narrator] At Two Mile-

- This is an awkward (beep) spot.

- [Narrator] Gary and Josh work

at replacing the broken
hose on their excavator.

- I need that.

- Well at least we're not lonely,

like we're completely
surrounded by mosquitoes.

- Heh, heh.

- Hose is in.

Let's fire it up.

Josh is gonna take it up the side here

and we'll start diggin on that lens

and we'll check it for leaks as we go.

Good enough to run it? I wanna see.

- Yeah.

- We got no room for error this year.

It's tighter this year
than it was last year

and we were tight last year.

So, we gotta make sure we keep
the equipment in once piece

cause one major breakdown, I
don't know what they would do.

- Uh, I'm leakin something.

- Got another hose.

- (beep)

(laughing)

- That's freakin insane.

- [Narrator] Another blown hose,

but this time, they don't
have anymore spares.

- That one is full-blown got a hole in it.

- Right there.

- (beep)

- [Narrator] The nearest parts store

is a five hour drive away.

- Hey.

- Hey.

- That's the one that's leaking.

Right down to the middle.

- Okay.

When you have a breakdown out there,

if you don't have parts, you're screwed.

If you don't stock it, you don't have it.

To drive out, it won't be
here til tomorrow afternoon.

- You might try to find out

if they got a chopper coming over.

- If we can get the (beep)
helicopter to take it,

it's back today.

- [Narrator] If there are any other miners

flying by the area today,

Robin can radio the pilot
to deliver a new hose.

- Yeah, is there anybody at Provencer?

(radio static)

- Can't hear them.

- Is there a tundra
helicopter in the area?

(radio static)

- Lotta times the
communication is not possible.

We have to think of a
different way of doing this.

- [Narrator] Striking
out with the helicopter,

Robin tries a plan B.

- Hello?

Hello, is this Ernie?

- [Narrator] He's hoping
a nearby jade miner

may have the part he's looking for.

- K, there's two.

One with a ninety degree and one without.

But the one with ninety on the
end is the one that we need.

Yep. That would work out perfect.

Okay. Thank you very much, Ernie.

Ernie said that they can make up a hose

if they have the fittings
and we're good to go.

- [Narrator] But the neighbor's mine

is a four hour drive away,

so Robin still needs to find a helicopter.

- (gasping)

- [Narrator] And his phone
signal has gone down.

- (beep)

Without the excavator, there's no mining.

Can you fix this problem, Cub?

We're down. We can't mine.

- [Claudia] Come and eat while it's warm.

Oh, yeah.

_ [Narrator] And now
Claudia's about to add

to Robin's frustration.

- So, you guys, we need to take a break

because we needs to do
this community event.

- [Narrator] The annual
summer solstice party

is just a couple of days away.

It's a Jade City tradition
that goes back forty years.

- Solstice is important to us.

It's the time that we always got together,

so we're gonna keep it going this year.

It's something that we
planned for a long time

and this event is necessary.

You agree that we have to do this, right?

- For me, if it come down to
a decision, I wouldn't do it.

We've only been mining for
three and a half weeks.

If we go out for this longest
day of the year party,

it just sets us farther back.

- We need to have moments where
we all spend time together.

- But I'm talking about the mining,

the setbacks because of it.

- [Narrator] With the broken
down excavator already

putting them behind, Robin wants to make

every day at the mine count.

- I'd rather be out there,

doing the prospecting
and doing the mining.

- Bad timing, yes, it's
gonna cost us a fortune.

I think it's more
detrimental not to do it.

- That's just stupid.

We've got too much on the line

and it's gonna cost us too much money.

I'm not doing it.

(dramatic music)

(helicopter flying)

- I hear a whirligig.

- [Narrator] Morning at Two Mile.

- [Robin] Here comes a chopper.

- [Narrator] An important
delivery has arrived.

- Flight was booked in for
somebody to go close by here,

so we managed to latch on.

We've got the hoses.

- We've got new hoses.

You don't have to duck, Gary.

- [Narrator] Now they
can repair the excavator.

- K, me and Josh will go
up and get these hoses on.

- Yep.

- [Narrator] And get back to
breaking ground at their pit.

- So, within an hour, we should
have that machine running

and ready to go.

- [Narrator] But Robin could
be forced to stop again.

Tomorrow night is the
annual solstice party,

a forty year Jade City tradition

that Claudia doesn't want to miss.

- We could back out.

For me, if it was my
decision, I'd back out.

(dramatic music)

- Okay, you ready?

Watch your arm.

- You gotta be kidding.

- Okay, ready?

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] Scrappy Larry also needs

to get down to business.

- Two pillows? Okay, I'll
go find ya two pillows.

- Just gotta sharpen up on
the sales tactics, right?

Cause I'm not making no
money on what I'm hauling.

But you gotta keep on truckin,
that's what it's all about.

- [Narrator] Today, he's
finally landed a job

hauling scrap out of a
nearby gold miner's yard.

- Here we go.

- [Narrator] And he's
taking his new girlfriend,

Susan, with him.

- It's a rough road into that mine,

but they got good heavy scrap in there.

Here to help.

(laughter)

Okay, we're outta here.

(horn honking)

- I got no speedometer in this thing.

(laughter)

- Hang on.

- [Susan] There's not an
awful lot to hang on to.

- Susan, she'd never been in anything

bigger than an SUV.

I think she enjoys the big trucks.

(laughter)

- Oh my goodness.

(laughter)

- We're here.

Ready? Come on.

There ya go.

- Morning, Mr. Larry.

Good morning, Susan.

- Hi, Bob.

- [Narrator] Barry, and his
wife, Wafa, are gold miners

with a yard full of junk.

- [Wafa] Oh, I'm so happy to clean up.

It's too much stuff, really.

- [Narrator] But Scrappy's here to help.

- These two here, you
should be able to get

on that one trailer. I don't
think they're that heavy.

A lot of the scrap I haul out of the mines

goes straight to town.

But some of the good
stuff, I bring home, right.

Put this over here.

- [Wafa] That's yours?

- Yeah.

- Watch your toes.

- [Narrator] Larry borrows
an old flat deck trailer

to load up the scrap.

- Whoa.

- Okay.

- And this, class, is how you make scrap.

That's good.

- Thank you for coming.

- Okay, we'll see you next time.

- You drive safe.

- Well, let's hit the road.

- Hit the road.

- [Narrator] At the last minute,

Larry checks one more thing.

- Would there happen to
be any brakes on this one?

- No.

- No brakes on the trailer.

Okay, that's gonna be fun.

I don't know if my little
bed's gonna make it.

I gotta have traction to get outta here.

I start going down a hill and bouncing

and then I'm outta control.

I'd rather have brakes.

(laughing)

- Yeah.

(grunting)

- Hold on a second.

I just gotta give my arm a break.

- [Narrator] Back at Two Mile,

replacing the hoses on the excavator

is proving tougher than expected.

- Oh my God, Gary.

Just push on my hand there, even.

I'm not smart enough,
but I have long arms,

and Gary's smart enough,
but has short arms.

(grunting)

- Ow.

- I think it broke looser.

- I think so.

Together, we kind of figured it out.

It was just a pain in the butt.

- Anytime you wanna fire it up Joshy B.

- Got her, buddy.

(engine roaring)

- It looks good.

- Hopefully, nothing else
breaks on that machine today,

so we can actually get something done.

- [Narrator] Now they can get back to

digging out their pit.

- We'll get that lens opened up

and have some good jade by tonight.

- You want me to roll it out?

- The big one, there, yeah.

- [Narrator] It's their
first look at a boulder

pulled from the lens.

- Boom.

- What's that?

- What was that?

Is that a pin?

- Something chattering.

- This way, right down here, Josh.

- Oh.

- Welds are broken.

- That pin's moving over.

- Yeah, but it's pushing the
collar right out, though.

That is kinda like, offset
and in there, right?

- [Narrator] A pin on the
excavator bucket has come loose.

- We just don't want
it to come out and bend

and then we're (beep).

- If that pin works it's way out too far,

and you bend that pin,

you are down.

You're either looking for a new hoe,

or you order that whole pin,

and that's probably about six grand.

- We're gonna have to take the bucket off,

weld her back up.

- Perfect.

- [Narrator] Another excavator
repair puts mining on hold.

- Little things, all the time.

Just stuff that drives you nuts.

- (beep) me, man.

(country music)

- Well, put it on the tooth.

- [Narrator] Josh brings the excavator

down to camp for more repairs.

- [Josh] Right here?

- Yeah, just over there somewhere.

- [Narrator] Along with
their first boulder

from the newly opened pit.

- That's good, yeah.

- Well, we scraped off some overburden

off a new new spot
exposed around the lens.

Fortunately, the lens had
lots of fractures in it

and it fell apart nice,
and so we're hoping

in between those fractures are

beautiful pockets of grade A jade.

And we're gonna find them,
cuttin them open here right now,

so it's pretty exciting.

- Gary Finks.

- [Narrator] While the
rock is under the saw,

Gary gets to work welding the collar

that holds the pin in place.

- A little bit of welding and stuff,

we can deal with that.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] It's time to crack open

the first boulder of the season.

- Oh, let me look.

Oh, that's a nice green.

There's not a lot of
crack in here, you guys.

- Not too pretty bad.

- There might be a few lines in it,

but I think it's pretty good.

- Yahoo!

(laughter)

- So far, it looks really great.

- [Narrator] It's a promising start.

As they expose more of the
lens, the quality could improve.

- This is all the stuff
at the beginning, right?

- Tip of the ice berg.

- Yeah.

(laughter)

- [Narrator] But Claudia
is still insisting

they put mining on hold

for her traditional
solstice party tomorrow.

- [Claudia] We're going to party.

- But that means nobody's mining.

- Right.

- We can't do that.

- With the solstice
party being the next day,

not everybody's gonna be happy
with this party going on.

Robin being one of them.

- To come here and back and forth, is-

- No, I get that. I get that.

But yeah, there has to be
a better way of doing it.

- Nobody really considers
what it actually costs us

to do these community functions.

- I'm pretty sure that we
can figure something out.

- You think I would go
have a hot tub party

and shut the camp down?

That don't make sense.

Anyway, you figure it out.

- [Claudia] Dinner's ready.

Let's go.

- Bam.

- People will be disappointed if we don't.

And then there's gonna be
people disappointed if we do.

I don't care. Cause I am not going.

- [Larry] Safety first.

- [Narrator] At a gold
mine outside Jade City.

- You gotta make sure your
brakes are working right.

- [Narrator] Larry gets set
to haul a load of scrap.

He double checks the brakes on his truck

because the trailer has none.

- There we go.

At least the truck's got brakes.

All ready to climb the hill.

- Okay.

- [Narrator] It's a risky move.

The weight of the fully loaded trailer

could drag them backwards.

- Easy, baby.

Oop.

Gotta be careful, this
thing is a little tippy.

- [Susan] Yes.

- [Larry] Come on, baby.

Come on, come on. You can do it.

No.

I can't. I can't make it.

- [Susan] Way too steep, isn't it?

- I thought we had her, but
once I got in that soft stuff,

I was powering out.

- [Narrator] Barry's
loader offers a lifeline.

- There we go.

Okay. Lets try it again.

Holy macarole.

- [Susan] Holy smoke.

- [Narrator] Susan's first scrap haul

got off to a rough start.

- [Susan] It's gonna take me a while

to get used to all this.

- I'm just very lucky she's hung in there.

Most women wouldn't.

How we doin, sugar?

(laughing)

- [Narrator] The next morning

Claudia's heading back to Jade City

to get ready for tonight's solstice party.

- Okay, I'll see you guys.

- [Narrator] But her
crew may be a no-show.

- Some things you gotta do
for your family and community

and this is just one of them.

Parties cause me a lot
of stress and anxiety

but everyday I have to make decisions.

Sometimes someone is gonna be unhappy.

It's tradition that
keeps this party going.

Is it worth it?

Of course it's worth it.

- This is the longest day
of the year, they say.

- [Narrator] Late afternoon, in Jade City.

- I'm gonna make a bunch of
apples for this, for everybody.

- You are?

- Yep.

- [Narrator] Claudia's
returned from camp to prep

for the community's 40th
annual summer solstice party.

- It's okay. Thank you
very much. I take this one.

- [Narrator] But not all
of her crew have arrived

for the celebrations.

- Robin and my dad might not be here today

and that just makes me really sad

because this is what it's
all about is community

and making time to get together.

So it's really tough
when they're both saying

that I should be mining
and that we should be

not having a party today.

Grab something, get moving.

Hot tub's not going fast enough.

We're gonna get five gallon
jugs and pour them in.

Party is gonna be starting soon.

I could've canceled it,

but our tradition for like
forty years, in this area,

is that we celebrate longest
day of the year no matter what.

What do I do?

- I got trucks down. I gotta get em going.

- [Narrator] Larry's also on
the fence about the party.

- Claudia phoned and was talking to Susan

about the party today.
I will see what happens.

- [Narrator] His truck took a beating

on the road out from Barry's mine.

- Hard on the trucks, hard on everything.

I have a contract to
fulfill. I gotta produce.

If this ain't gonna work.

This is too short.

No time to party hardy today.

- What time is it?

_ Six.

- [Narrator] It's almost dinner-time,

and no sign of Robin or Claudia's dad.

- They're the ones that I most care about,

so it's really tough
when they're both saying,

"You should not be doing this."

- [Narrator] But then
Claudia spots a late arrival.

- K, I'll be right back.

- Claudia and I, we
have our disagreements.

And through the good and
the bad, we stick together.

It's a family.

- [Claudia] Oh, you guys.

- Well, I tried to hide, you know.

(laughing)

I'm here for Claudia, for my daughter.

That's why I'm here.

- [Narrator] And they aren't the only ones

who've had a change of heart.

- We're gonna get in the hot tub?

- No.

- No?

- You are. I'm not.

- Oh, you'll love this.

I've met this lady, Susan,
and we've got along fantastic.

And she's a very huge part of my life.

Yes, I wanted her to meet the community.

(laughter)

- K, hot tub time.

Kids in. Kids in.

The fact that my dad's
there, my son is there,

spending time together as a
family, and as a community,

and as best friends, and
we need to spend time

enjoying each other.

Not with me as their boss.

That's what's gonna make or break us,

is our family and our friends.

(laughter)

- [Narrator] Next time on Jade Fever.

- There you go.

- That is deep.

- It's (beep) upshifting.

- Yeah, it just died on flat ground, here.

- It's almost solid bottom here.

- Mostly all green.

- The good stuff never crumbles like this.

- How much hard rock
mining did you guys do?

I'm not allowed to ask?

- That's not asking, that's kind of-

- I'm just asking if you
had success with that.

This is my dad's season and
if we're gonna fail here,

it's gonna be my dad's
decision, nobody else's.

- Get me a chopper.