The document summarizes the second season of the Discovery Canada series "Jade Fever", which follows the Bunce family who mine for jade in remote Jade City, BC. The Bunce family, led by matriarch Claudia, have been mining jade for over four generations. In season 2, the pressure is on as their Chinese backers who have invested money in the operation want to see a return. Complications like accidents and disappointing finds threaten their ability to pay back investors. The series gives a unique look at jade mining compared to typical mining shows that focus on gold.

1. Feature Story
Seeing green
‘Jade Fever’ eyes a big prize in season 2
ByCassieDresch
TVMedia
Canadaisabigplacewithlots
ofland,lotsofwaterandlots
ofgreenery.Fortheresidentsof
aremoteB.C.town,though,
there’sonlyonegreenthatmat-
ters—jade.Itcanbetoughto
finditandmineit,butonefun-
lovingfamilyofminershas
madethepursuitofjadetheir
life’swork.
TheBunces,ledbymatriarch
Claudia,areinthebusinessof
unearthingthebeautifulgreen
gemstones,andhavebeenfor
morethanfourgenerations.
DiscoveryCanadaisgivingaudi-
encesanopportunitytotakea
peekintotheirliveswhenthe
CanadianScreenAward-
nominatedseries“JadeFever”
premieresitssecondseason
withback-to-backnewepisodes
Tuesday,Feb.23.
Claudia,herhusbandRobin,
andherfamilyliveintheremote
miningtownofJadeCity,appro-
priatelynamedforitsbiggestin-
dustry.NestledintheCassiar
Mountains,JadeCityisaboutan
hoursouthoftheYukonborder
andaday’sdrivefrom
Vancouver,anditssurrounding
areasarerichwithnephritejade.
(About75percentofthe
world’sjadeisinB.C.,and90per
centofthatisintheCassiar
Mountainsregion.)
Thetinytownof
about30peopleisa
close-knitone,and
oneperson’sbusinessisevery-
one’sbusiness—bothprofes-
sionallyandpersonally.
“It really is a very tight com-
munity,and maybe there are
only 30 people,but they come
together for barbecues,and ev-
eryone knows each other’s
business,”said executive pro-
ducer and series producer
David Gullason in an interview
withTV Media.“It’s a commu-
nity/family,and Claudia is the
mother of them all and keeps
them all going.”
Claudia,theunofficialtown
mayor,isabreathoffreshairina
growingrealityTVlandscapeof
miningshows.Wheremostse-
riesfocusonahuntforgold,she
and“JadeFever”areproofthat
allthatglittersisn’tgold,in
morewaysthanone.
“Claudiaisthematriarchof
theplaceandthat’s,Ithink,un-
usual,”Gullasonsaid.“She’sa
womaninaman’sworld,soher
experienceinthereandhowshe
changesthingsisreallyadiffer-
entspinonthestandardmining
showandthestandard‘tough
guy’show.”
For the Bunces’ part,
Gullason says he be-
lieves they saw
the other min-
ing shows on
TV and
thought their operation was
just as interesting.
“They’dseentheothershows
andIthinktheyhadatastefor
them,”hesaid.“Ithinkthey
werethinking,‘Well,wedo
moreinterestingthingsthan
someofthoseotherpeopleon
thoseothershows.’Ithinkthey
feltliketheirworldwasjustas
interestingandlegitimateasthe
goldminingworld.”
Anditwouldappearthey’re
right.“JadeFever”hasbeena
hitwithfansandcriticsalike,
mostrecentlynotchinga
CanadianScreenAwardnomi-
nationinJanuaryforitsfirstsea-
sonalongsideotherbig-name
seriessuchasanotherGullason-
producedshow,“IcePilots
NWT,”andCBC’sJonnyHarris-
starringcomedy“Still
Standing.”
In season 2 of“Jade Fever,”
the pressure is on for the min-
ing crew as their Chinese
backers,who have contributed
a lot of money to the opera-
tion,are looking to break even
on their investment.Of course,
things don’t always go as
planned,and between a near-
fatal accident,some disap-
pointing finds and a
semi-truck rollover,
the new season is
shaping up to be
quite exciting.
Robin Bunce,
Claudia Bunce
and Alan Qiao as
seen in “Jade
Fever”
4
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