''Jade Fever'' is a Canadian

documentary television Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

series from

Discovery Channel Canada Discovery Channel (often referred to as simply Discovery) is a Canadian specialty television channel owned by CTV Speciality Television Inc. (a joint venture between Bell Media/ESPN Inc. (80%) and Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns the remainin ...

, produced by

Omnifilm Entertainment Omnifilm Entertainment is a television and film production company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Omnifilm produces content in a variety of genres including drama, factual, and lifestyle series and documentaries for the Canadian a ...

. The series follows a long-standing jade mining family as they explored and placer-mined

nephrite Nephrite is a variety of the calcium, magnesium, and iron-rich amphibole minerals tremolite or actinolite (Aggregate (geology), aggregates of which also make up one form of asbestos). The chemical formula for nephrite is calcium, Ca2(magnesium, ...

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

in the

Dease Lake Dease Lake is a small community located in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located a few hours south of the Yukon border on Stewart–Cassiar Highway (Highway 37) at the south end of the lake o ...

area of Northern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

while also running a small motel and souvenir business in

Jade City Jade City is a "spot on the road" in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, near the Yukon, located on Highway 37, west of Good Hope Lake and close to Cassiar, in the Cassiar Highlands. The region around Jade City is rich with serpentinite (a ...

. Narrated by Martin Strong, the series debuted in April 2015 and focused on the challenges of a small, family-run jade operation. ''Jade Fever'' was nominated for a 2016 Canadian Screen Award in the "Best Factual Program or Series" category. As of 2021, there have been 7 seasons. The series premiered on

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...

in the US on June 5, 2021. It can also be watched in Germany, France, Sweden, Australia, Russia and in many 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 being 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

is a remote highway stop in northern

with a community of 25 run by Claudia Bunce and her husband Robin. They mine a huge

claim and they employ most of the people in town. If they strike it rich everyone wins; if they fail, a whole town falls flat on its face.

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 A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder. Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgra ...

(season 3). ;Justin Bunce : Claudia and Robin's eldest son, a mine hand, prospector, heavy truck/construction equipment operator (season 2; season 7), and jade tabletop maker (season 3). ;Steve Simonovic : Claudia Bunce's father, a pioneer

Cassiar Country The Cassiar Country, also referred to simply as the Cassiar, is a historical geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Cassiar is located in the northwest portion of British Columbia, just to the northeast of the Stikin ...

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 A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

, mine hand, and Justin's friend (season 3). ;Henry : Jade miner on a neighbouring claim and Bunce family friend (season 3). ;Mike Mee :

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, mine hand,

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

fundraiser, and Justin's friend (season 2–3).:

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 The Tahltan First Nation, also known as the Tahltan Indian Band, is a band government of the Tahltan people. Their main community and reserves are located at Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. Their language is the Tahltan language, which is an ...

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 request from Tahltan Central Government, the Province of British Columbia put an order to not issue jade mining permits in the region for 2 years.

References

External links

* Discover Channel Canada
Jade Fever
(official website) * {{IMDb title, 4864538, Jade Fever Discovery Channel (Canada) original programming Television shows set in British Columbia 2015 Canadian television series debuts 2021 Canadian television series endings 2010s Canadian reality television series Mining in British Columbia Jade