Jade Fever

Jade Fever is a Canadian documentary television series from Discovery Channel Canada, produced by Omnifilm Entertainment, that ran for seven seasons between April 2015 and July 2021. The series follows a long-standing jade mining family as they explored and placer-mined nephrite jade in the Dease Lake area of Northern British Columbia while also running a small motel and souvenir business in Jade City. The series was narrated by Martin Strong.

Jade Fever was nominated for a 2016 Canadian Screen Award in the "Best Factual Program or Series" category. The series premiered on The Weather Channel in the US on June 5, 2021. It was also available in Germany, France, Sweden, Australia, and Russia, among other territories. In April 2021, Jade Fever became available to stream on CTV.ca.

The series was cancelled in July 2021. Prior to its cancellation, Tahltan First Nation claimed the series was filmed in a mine in Tahltan territory without approval from the nation. However, permits from the Ministry of Energy and Mines had been obtained. In July 2021, Bell Media did not respond to questions of whether the series was pulled off-air owing to pressure from the Tahltan First Nation.

Summary

Jade City is a remote highway stop in northern British Columbia with a community of 25 run by Claudia Bunce and her husband Robin. They mine a large jade claim and employ most of the people in town, making the town dependent on the financial success of the mine.

Cast

Claudia Bunce

The matriarch of the Bunce jade mining family and the mine boss bookkeeper (season 1–7).

Robin Bunce

The patriarch of the Bunce jade mining family and heavy truck/construction equipment operator (season 1–7).

Josh Bunce

Claudia and Robin's youngest son, a mine hand, heavy truck/construction equipment operator (season 1–7), and camp medic (season 3).

Justin Bunce

Claudia and Robin's middle son, a mine hand, prospector, heavy truck/construction equipment operator (season 2; season 7), and jade tabletop maker (season 3).

Shaun Bunce

Claudia and Robin’s eldest son (season 2, episode 13).

Steve Simonovic

Claudia Bunce's father, a pioneer Cassiar Country jade miner, and founder of Jade City (season 1–2 and season 5–7)

Guy Martial

Mine hand, heavy truck/construction equipment operator (season 1–5)

Robin, a.k.a. "R-2"

Mine hand, heavy truck/construction equipment operator (season 1–7), and alternate camp medic (season 3).

Alan Qiao

First Chinese investor (season 1–2).

Gary Wentworth

Mine hand, heavy truck/construction equipment operator, and friend of Guy (season 3–7).

"Scrappy" Larry

Local scrap metal/used heavy truck/used construction equipment dealer, heavy truck/construction equipment mechanic, heavy truck/construction equipment operator, and Bunce family friend (season 2–3; season 5–7).

Susan

Scrappy Larry's common-law wife (season 5, episode 3–6).

Alex

Bunce company employee residing in Jade City (season 2; season 3).

Joe, a.k.a. "Jo-Jo"

Bunce company employee residing in Jade City (season 2–3; season 5).

Karim Kaouar

Professional pastry chef, Two Mile mine camp cook (season 5–6).

Peter Niu

NEK Mining Inc. company executive (season 3).

William

Beijing-based representative of NEK Mining (season 3).

Christina

Vancouver-based representative of NEK Mining (season 3).

Chris

Geologist, mine hand, and Justin's friend (season 3).

Henry

Jade miner on a neighbouring claim and Bunce family friend (season 3).

Mike Mee

Engineer, mine hand, venture capital fundraiser, and Justin's friend (season 2–3).

Lesley Hunt

Consultant Geologist (Season 1).

List of episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Impact on industry

In season 3, the Bunce's hard rock mining operation at the Dynasty claim started to successfully quarry jade – a first in jade mining; which usually rips jade lenses out of rock with heavy equipment instead of quarrying it out like marble.

Controversy

In 2020 Tahltan First Nation requested the show's mining crew cease operations of their mine as they had not consulted with or sought approvals from Tahltan First Nation to mine within their territory. Tahltan reached out to Bell Media and Omnifilm who develop the program to cease filming. In May 2021, Bell Media claimed they were unaware of the requests from Tahltan First Nation, but claimed they would investigate into the matter. In May 2021, after a request from the Tahltan Central Government, the Province of British Columbia put an order to not issue jade mining permits in the region for 2 years.

See also

Gemstone mining TV shows

• Ice Cold Gold, a cancelled reality TV series featuring gemstone prospecting in Greenland
• Gold Rush (season 4, in Guyana, with placer diamond mining)
• Outback Opal Hunters, a reality TV series featuring opal mining in Australia

Resource extraction TV shows in Canada

• Yukon Gold, a cancelled reality TV series featuring placer gold mining in northern British Columbia (seasons 1 & 4) and Yukon

References

External links

• Discover Channel Canada, Jade Fever (official website)
• Jade Fever at IMDb