Claudia and Robin's untested machines start breaking down on the brutal trek up to the Wolverine mine site.
The crew tries to cross swollen rivers as they march their machines up to the mine, but Josh falls behind in his trouble-prone excavator.
When more bolts come loose on his excavator, Josh is stranded 20 kilometers from the Wolverine mine and out of radio contact. At camp, Claudia sends Guy to help her son get the excavator going so they can start mining.
Mining season starts and, while the jade proves elusive, a trucking accident turns into a bonanza for Jade City.
Guy is left in charge of Wolverine, where breaking in a new worker threatens to derail his mission to find the first jade of the season.
A fatality on a nearby jade mine serves as a wake-up call for the crew at the Wolverine mine site. But before they can revamp their safety procedures, new guy Jay collapses in terrible pain.
Josh is stranded walking in the new excavator while a stockpile of worthless rocks prompts Claudia to consider a new mining strategy.
Alan brings a group of buyers to Jade City sending Claudia's team into a panic to find the first sell-able jade boulders of the season.
While the crew slogs through mud to find a million dollar boulder, Josh risks losing half a million dollars of equipment trying to pull his truck out of a sinkhole.
The team finds the best jade boulder of the season, but risk undermining its value as they try to cut away all the fractures.
Claudia's son Justin shows he has a nose for jade, while Scrappy Larry, Robin and Josh struggle to tow their broken truck off the trail to Wolverine.
A run of duds force Robin and Justin on a last ditch quest to go prospecting for jade rocks to salvage the season while Scrappy Larry rushes to get a diesel tank converted into a hot tub in time for a community party.
Claudia's venture to house a work crew in Jade City is threatened when the septic tank backs up into the drinking water.
With cold weather settling in early and debts piling up, the crew pushes, pulls and drags a mammoth and potentially season-saving boulder to camp.
With the most promising boulder of the year under the saws at Wolverine, Josh and R2 crash their truck, leaving Claudia and the crew reeling.
The race is on to get out of Wolverine camp before the snow buries everything. With R2 back on the trail, driving out the most valuable jade of the season, Alan tells Claudia and Robin that he's opening a jade store in Beijing.