Tag Archives: Jade Fever

Jade Fever searches for the million-dollar boulder in Season 3

What keeps viewers coming back to Jade Fever? Last year’s Season 2 debut reached a total of six million viewers who tuned in to see whether or not Claudia and Robin Bunce and their team would find the ever-elusive jade in Canada’s north. Why? I know why I check it out: not only to see if they’re successful but the challenges they face along the way.

Returning for Season 3 with back-to-back episodes on Tuesday at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/7 and 7:30 p.m. PT on Discovery, the Bunces are in it up to their hips in challenges. The episode title, “Hard Climb,” is self-explanatory, as Claudia practices driving a 65-ton rock truck in preparation for the annual 100-plus kilometre drive east from Jade City, B.C., to Wolverine, their jade mine. Also, new this season? A partner in Peter Niu, a miner who wants the Bunces to seek out jade on Bullion Creek—his gold claim—and share the profits.

No drive into camp is without issues and this season is no different. New equipment, overheating and a super-steep hill plague the mission. By the end of Episode 1, they’ve only made it halfway. Thankfully, by the end of the second episode, “Breakdowns and Meltdowns,” everyone arrives at Wolverine. (As trying as the trail was, I’m sure hearing Claudia’s complaints was worse.)

Now the real, money-making work begins.

Jade Fever airs Tuesdays and 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

The Pressure is On to Find the Elusive, Million-Dollar Boulder as JADE FEVER Digs into Season 3, March 7 on Discovery

From a media release:

It’s a new year with a new business partnership and challenging mining site that puts Claudia and Robin Bunce’s jade mining expertise to the test in an all-new season of JADE FEVER. Over a six-week period, viewers across Canada can catch a double dose of the Bunce’s exciting, high-stake search with weekly back-to-back episodes of JADE FEVER airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET/7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. PT beginning March 7 on Discovery. Season 3 of the original Canadian series follows the intense adventures of the Bunce family as they gamble in search of million-dollar boulders of jade in Northern B.C.’s Cassiar Mountains.

With the same dreams and passionate ambitions driving the past two seasons, Season 3 of JADE FEVER gets off to a promising start when the Bunce family builds a new partnership with Peter Niu, eager to mine fresh jade claims near Wolverine camp. But with boulder after boulder ending in failure, the partnership quickly starts to crumble. The adversity continues when Claudia and Robin learn that part of their campsite is sitting on someone else’s claim, scrambling the Bunce family to activate other claims. Hardship after hardship, the mining season appears to be over, until son Justin and his friend, Mike Mee, come up with a strategy to finish the season off strong. With shifts doubled up and work continuing under lights during the dead of night, it’s a desperate race against time to save the jade mining season.

In its Season 2 debut, JADE FEVER reached a total of six million viewers and achieved a 45% increase in total viewers year over year. During its 10 p.m. ET and 10:30 p.m. ET premiere airings, Discovery was the #2 entertainment specialty channel among all key adult demographics.

Episode highlights from Season 3 of JADE FEVER:

“Hard Climb”
Tuesday, March 7 at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT
It’s a new year and Claudia Bunce has a new partner for the season, Peter Niu. The partners are finally able to finalize a deal which will allow them to mine a new site near their camp at Wolverine. The new jade camp is located up a long trail to the mountain, making for a bone-jarring climb. Claudia’s patience is tested as, for the first time, she’s in the driver’s seat of a 60-ton rock truck heading up the treacherous trek. And if the journey wasn’t stressful enough, one of the excavators catches fire.

“Breakdowns and Meltdowns”
Tuesday, March 7 at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT
The Bunces struggle to lead their crew and equipment across rivers and over boulder-strewn paths to reach their jade camp at Wolverine. On the trip, Claudia has a meltdown while driving the rock truck. Meanwhile, crew member Gary runs out of gas and finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere.

“Digging In”
Tuesday, March 14 at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT
The Bunces set up a new mining camp in hopes of impressing their urbanite business partners. At the same time, tempers soar when Claudia and Robin clash with their son Josh while unloading some platforms. Later, the first few days of mining don’t offer much hope for the rest of the season until crew member Guy Marital makes a stunning discovery. Then, Marital struggles to make it into the Wolverine camp with the excavator.

“Cutting Crew”
Tuesday, March 14 at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT
The first boulder of the season proves challenging to get back to camp. Once the Bunces and their crew finally get it there, Claudia and her new partners disagree on the best way to cut it. Later, Robin and his newly first aid-trained son Josh clash over camp safety procedures. But when Claudia injures herself, Josh springs into action.

Subscribers can access live streaming of JADE FEVER and catch up Seasons 1 and 2 through the Discovery GO app.

JADE FEVER is produced by Omnifilm Entertainment in association with Discovery Canada. David Gullason is Executive Producer and Series Producer; Executive Producer is Gabriela Schonbach. Bruce Glawson is Executive Producer for Discovery Networks.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Jade Fever strikes in Season 2

Watching a series like Jade Fever—returning Tuesday to Discovery—you can’t help but ask one question: why? Why do folks like Claudia and Robin Bunce trek 120 kilometres from their home in Jade City, B.C., to hunt for jade every summer?

The ride to their camp—named Wolverine—is a mud, water and rock-filled trail heavy diggers and trucks must traverse at a snail’s pace. We’re talking a days-long expedition. Equipment breaks down, biting bugs are a constant, and mud and cold envelop all. Again, why do they do it? One word: jade. Seventy-five per cent of the world’s nephrite jade is in the area and countries like China are willing to pay big for it.

Back for Season 2 on Bell Media’s specialty network, the Bunce’s and their crew—including hot-headed son Josh—are constantly on the hunt for what they call “the million-dollar” rock; the chunk of jade that will be a windfall for the company. Unlike gold, which must be mined, jade is found near the surface, deposited by glaciers millions of years ago. Still, finding the stuff—especially the deep, green gem prized most—is a crapshoot. Unlike the rookie season debut that introduced everyone and got digging right away, Tuesday’s back-to-back instalments hop into the cabs alongside everyone and documents the slow, methodical trip to Wolverine. It takes just one kilometre into the ride for warning beeps to halt the conga line, and just a little bit more before an overheated engine stops everything.

Over in China, meanwhile, company CEO Alan Qiao meets with investors, putting the final signatures on a $500,000 budget. Those investors lost money last year and threaten to pull out if the Bunces don’t produce more jade.

Episode 2 is plagued by a faulty rock truck, but some quick-thinking—and some luck—things eventually take a turn for the better. A nail-biting crossing of the Turnagain River and some expletive-filled track bolt adjustments and the squad is, as Claudia says, “cooking with corn flakes.” Well, most of them, anyway.

A quick teaser hints at the drama to come: rolled over vehicles, injured folks being flown out via helicopter, staff stranded in the bush and endless boulders with nothing inside. Yup, it’s going to be a long season. Luckily, the payoff is worth it.

Jade Fever airs Tuesdays at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Jade Fever, Mayday and Cold Water Cowboys return to Discovery

From a media release:

Fresh on the heels of December’s “Holiday Bash” schedule filled to the brim with premiere programming, Discovery today unveiled the network’s 2016 winter schedule. Canada’s most-watched primetime entertainment specialty network rings in the New Year with an abundance of fresh hit programming, including the season premieres of ALASKAN BUSH PEOPLE (Jan. 4), RAILROAD ALASKA (Jan. 5), and MAYDAY (Jan. 15) right out of the gate, along with HOW IT’S MADE (Feb. 22), JADE FEVER (Feb. 23), and COLD WATER COWBOYS (March 8),  premiering through the winter. Also set to debut in January is a slew of new episodes from current seasons of hit series, including GOLD RUSH (Jan. 5),MOONSHINERS (Jan. 6), and ALASKA: THE LAST FRONTER (Jan. 10). Viewers can also catch up on full episodes of Discovery series live and on demand on the Discovery GO app and at Discovery.ca.

Also in January, Discovery raises a glass for a special goodbye toast to Co-Hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage as they stage their final gonzo experiments during the concluding season of the perenial favourite, MYTHBUSTERS, beginningSunday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. ET. Additionally, Discovery’s jam-packed winter schedule also features the  previously announced “Future Tech Week” on DAILY PLANET(Jan. 4-8), followed by returning Canadian turbo favourites VEGAS RAT RODS andMEGASPEED headlining Thursday nights,beginning Jan. 7.

Discovery’s full suite of top entertainment brands also features extensive winter schedule highlights and happenings beginning Jan. 5, including:

Free Previews:

Viewers are invited for an extended stay in Animal Planet’s backyard jungle to explore the extraordinary relationship between humans and animals. Viewers are also welcome to park in Discovery Velocity’s lot – Canada’s only home for Factual Turbo programming – for all things automotive, as well as diverse travel, survival, and cultural world content. In the holiday spirit of giving, Discovery today announced a nationwide 36-day free preview from Jan. 20 – Feb. 24 of both Animal Planet andDiscovery Velocity, available to subscribers of participating television service providers.

Animal Planet winter highlights:

Animal Planet brings in the New Year with an all-star, all-adorable cast returning on Super Bowl Sunday for Animal Planet’s pup-culture phenomenon PUPPY BOWL. Viewers can expect a winning combination of terrier tackles, canine touchdowns, puppy penalties, and Fido first downs on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT. The canine entertainment continues with live coverage of WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB 140TH ANNUAL DOG SHOW, Feb. 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. ET. New series 100 MILES FROM NOWHERE (Jan. 24) and AFRICA (Feb. 14), make their debut. Returning favourites ALASKA MONSTERS (Jan. 5), RUGGED JUSTICE (Jan. 5),NORTH WOODS LAW (Jan. 7), ICE LAKE REBELS (Jan. 8) premiere. TANKED(Jan. 6), REDWOOD KINGS (Jan. 6), TREEHOUSE MASTERS (Jan. 6), FINDING BIGFOOT (Jan. 7), and PIT BULLS AND PAROLEES (Jan. 8) return with all-new episodes.

Discovery Velocity winter highlights:

Discovery Velocity buckles up, leaves last year in the dust, and takes off to Scottsdale, Arizona for BARRETT-JACKSON, the world’s greatest collector car auctions, Jan. 26-31. Additional turbo programming takes a spin with all-new seasons of HOW IT’S MADE: DREAM CARS (Jan. 5), BITCHIN’ RIDES (Feb. 4), GEAR HEADS (Feb. 5), CAR FIX (Jan. 4), WHEELER DEALERS USA (Jan. 4), and new episodes of CHASING CLASSIC CARS (Jan. 4).

Investigation Discovery winter highlights:

New Year’s resolutions for 2016: less crime and more justice? Investigation Discovery’s fresh start includes new seasons of FATAL ENCOUNTERS (Jan. 5),TRUE NIGHTMARES (Jan. 9), DISAPPEARED (Jan. 13), HOUSE OF HORRORS: KIDNAPPED (Jan. 14), NIGHTMARE NEXT DOOR (Jan. 15), and new episodes of HOMICIDE HUNTER: LT. JOE KENDA (Jan. 5).

Discovery Science winter highlights:

Questioning everything in the New Year, Discovery Science dives deep into 2016 with new series ALL-AMERICAN MAKERS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (Jan. 4), season premieres of HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS: EXPANDED EDITION (Jan. 5), MONSTERS INSIDE ME (Jan. 22), STRIP THE CITY (Jan. 27), STRIP THE COSMOS (Feb. 15), and new episodes of HOW DO THEY DO IT? (Wednesdays) and GHOST STALKERS (Fridays).

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Preview: Jade Fever strikes Discovery

Gold is a hot genre in TV right now, taking up primetime slots in the form of Bering Sea Gold, Gold Rush and Yukon Gold. Is jade mining the next big genre? Discovery sure hopes to strike gold … er, green … with Jade Fever.

Debuting Tuesday with two back-to-back episodes on the specialty channel, Omnifilm’s Jade Fever wastes no time getting to some pretty interesting facts. Just 30 people live in Jade City, B.C., an outpost 24 hours from Vancouver and an hour from the Alaska border. The town is near one of the largest deposits of jade in the world and China wants as much as the country can get. More prized than gold there, investors are itching to throw money at town boss Claudia Bunce and her husband Robin Bunce, who has a gift for finding the green stuff.

For a show like Jade Fever, the storytelling is all in the edit. Robin fails to hit pay dirt—and chafes—under the orders Raymond, a Chinese geologist brought in by Robin and Claudia’s Chinese-Canadian business partner Alan Qiao. Close to 100 holes are drilled in the earth under Raymond’s command, and Robin—used to giving orders rather than take them—gets hot under the collar. There are plenty of arguments, expletives and oversized egos exposed in the debut episode’s first 20 minutes … but no jade.

This being a show about the gemstone, I knew they were going to find it by the end of Tuesday’s instalment, otherwise there was no point in having a show. But even I was shocked by how beautiful the rock was coming straight out of the ground. Hard and gleaming in the sun, it’s easy to see why jade is so prized. It is literally the colour of money, something the Bunces—and Discovery and Omnifilm—hope to collect with Season 1 of Jade Fever.

Jade Fever airs Tuesdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail