''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 is a Canadian exempt discretionary service owned by Rogers Sports & Media. Based of the U.S. cable network of the same name, the channel focuses primarily on programming related to nature, science, and technology. History D ...

, produced by

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

, 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 Nephrite is a variety of the calcium, magnesium, and iron-rich amphibole minerals tremolite or actinolite ( aggregates of which also make up one form of asbestos). The chemical formula for nephrite is Ca2( Mg, Fe)5 Si8 O22(O H)2. It is one o ...

in the

Dease Lake Dease Lake is a small community in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is 230 km south of the Yukon border on Stewart–Cassiar Highway (Highway 37) at the south end of the lake of the same na ...

area of Northern

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

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

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

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

jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

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 A medic is a person trained to provide medical care, encompassing a wide range of individuals involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and management of health conditions. The term can refer to fully qualified medical practitioners, such as physic ...

(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 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 Stikine ...

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 structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

, 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 Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, mine hand,

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

fundraiser, and Justin's friend (season 2–3). ;Lesley Hunt : Consultant

(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 Hard means something that is difficult to do. It may also refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French T ...

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 Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

Controversy

In 2020

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 British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

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 (Canadian TV channel) 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