Lively conures, swaying their bright red neck feathers, watch the excitement in the grove on the red soil. They chirped and watched, watching the large group of bipedal beasts digging holes in the red stone hills, like crocodiles before laying eggs on the seashore. Even the unexpected rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of the birds.
In fact, during this season of abundant food and rainfall, the animals on the island of Cuba, like the people, can't do much.
This time the exploration of Red Earth Mountain lasted for three full days. On the one hand, due to the impact of rainfall, the exploration progress was delayed. On the other hand, it was the priest Mecat who encountered a problem. He was extremely sure that the taste of these laterite ores was wrong, they would not melt when burned, were heavy and hard, and had some magnetism... they must be a kind of mineral deposit! However, due to the lack of divine knowledge, he still could not identify what kind of mines these were.
"It's not copper, it's not lead, it's not tin, it's not gold or silver, it's not precious stones... There may be iron, but it doesn't seem to be the same as His Majesty described, and the magnetism isn't quite enough... Ah! Lord God! Please give it to me. More knowledge!..."
After painful thinking, when faced with the question from Priest Thomat, the divine Priest Mecat spoke frankly. These minerals are beyond his cognitive ability and require another expert.
"Everyone should investigate carefully, collect some stone samples, and go back to give an explanation to His Highness! Maybe His Highness can recognize it..."
Priest Tomat made a suggestion, and Chihuaco, the old militiaman, nodded in agreement. Of course, they both thought too much, and Shulot couldn't recognize the minerals here.
Soon, the group of warriors scattered around and roughly measured the scope of the red and gray stone mineral deposits. It is estimated that this mining area is more than ten miles long just from the surface, let alone underground. Then, everyone simply collected some different ore samples, including red and gray, white and yellow, and black. They didn't know if they were the same mineral.
After finishing this task, everyone bid farewell to this "treasure mountain" and waved goodbye to the Moa Nickel Ore Belt. This large-scale nickel ore belt of astonishing scale stores nearly one-third of the world's proven nickel reserves in later generations! The storage forms of these nickel ores include both red nickel ore, nickel iron ore, and the more precious nickel-cobalt ore!
right! Nickel cobalt ore, focusing on "cobalt ore". Cuba's cobalt mine production ranked among the top five in later generations, and now it is all deposited here. And "cobalt", an element crucial to lithium batteries, will not truly shine until hundreds of years later.
After the heavy rain stopped, the fleet was replenished and set sail again. The Taíno tribes on the island of Cuba are not short of food, and their attitudes are very friendly, making it easy to replenish water. Well, at least it was much easier than in the Mayan lowlands.
The kingdom's fleet sailed with the wind and traveled more than 200 miles in two days before entering a natural bay. Everyone then arrived at the most important destination of this exploration, Mayari.
"Praise the Lord God! We have sailed nine thousand miles and finally arrived here! According to the voyage records of the Mayapan fleet, the predicted large iron mine in Cuba should be in this area!"
When everyone arrived, their faces were filled with hope. The priest Tomat has bright eyes, the old militiaman Chihuaco has a smile on his face, and Puap is eager to try. The only real guide is the Mayan businessman Tikalo, who is sweating like rain and sitting on pins and needles.
"Hoo! Hoo! It's really hot on Snake Island in Cuba in August! Even if I only wear a robe, I can't stop sweating... Ah, yes! We will set off tomorrow, taking the local guide with us. According to the records in my hand, go to the south to find large iron ore!..."
Ti Carlo forced a confident smile on his face, while his heart was beating like a drum. In fact, he had never seen the "Iron Mine" in person. What he relied on along the way was the encrypted voyage records in his hand that only members of the Cocom royal family could read.
According to records, the Cocom family's caravan indeed discovered a giant black-ash mine here, and picked up the "black gem" presented to His Highness, which is what His Highness called the "chromite spinel." It can be said that these "black gems" were the earliest introduction to the exploration of Cuba, opening up the entire difficult and distant route!
"O God! If the fleet is here and cannot find the large iron mine on Cuba's Snake Island, then... what should I do? The leaders on the ship will definitely tear me alive and sacrifice me piece by piece. To the Lord God!..."
That night, Tikalo lay on the straw bed in Maria, tossing and turning, unable to sleep all night. He prayed lowly to the Lord God, with a rare sense of piety.
The moonlight was like water, and the surrounding villages were quiet. For tomorrow's iron ore exploration, even the sailors who landed said goodbye to the enthusiastic Taino woman and took a rest early. This journey of nine thousand miles has only the last and most important ending left.
The next day, when the sky was dark and the jungle parrots had not yet started crowing, Priest Tomat, wearing a sacrificial robe and carrying a copper ax, knocked open the hut in Tikalo. The samurai and sailors on the ship were fully armed, and a hundred people were dispatched. Under the leadership of Ti Carlo with a nervous expression, everyone couldn't wait to walk to the southeastern mountains.
However, Ti Carlo's nervousness at this time was actually unnecessary. Given the astonishing scale of the Mayali Iron Ore Belt, as long as the approximate location is determined, even if it is more than ten miles away, it cannot be missed.
The group of people set out from Mayari and walked for only an hour when the compass in the hand of Priest Mekat began to spin crazily. That kind of crazy scurrying energy is like a male hummingbird in heat and unable to find a mate.
"Ah! Lord God! We, we are here!"
Priest Mecat shouted in surprise and was the first to run up the hill ahead. Then, the old militiaman and Priest Tomat looked at each other, and followed him up the hill with Tikalo who looked uneasy between them. The line of sight in front of everyone's eyes widened at this moment, giving a clear view!
"O Lord God! This... this blind one!..."
The old militiaman Chihuaco stared blankly ahead, his old face twitching in shock. In front of him, a black-gray-reddish mountain range lay quietly among the sparse vegetation, stretching as far as the eye could see, almost extending to the entire horizon. If these are all iron ore, then it is an iron ore mountain range beyond everyone's knowledge.
"Is this! Really? Is it all iron ore?... Did that blind person really... say it right?"
“Praise the Lord God!
"
Priest Mecat yelled, continuing to run down the hill quickly. He held a compass that was spinning wildly in one hand, and a small mining hammer in the other. Then, he picked up a piece of black and red ore that could be seen everywhere, knocked some powder into it, and put it in his mouth to feel it.
"It smells a little salty, a little fishy, and has a faint smell of blood! This, this, this must be..."
Priest Mecat paused, his face lighting up with excitement.
"Praise the Lord God! This is iron ore! The whole mountain, the whole range, is full of iron ore!"
"Ah! Ah! God bless us! We finally found the predicted large iron mine in Cuba!"
Upon hearing the affirmative judgment of Priest Mecat, Priest Tomat immediately knelt down on the ground, raised the sun amulet around his neck, and prayed loudly. Tears filled his eyes, but a smile spread across his face.
"Praise the Lord God! Praise His Highness! Our voyage has finally reached its destination!..."
"Praise the Lord God! Praise His Highness! Wow!..."
Puap pulled out the copper ax and shouted wildly, while hundreds of warriors from the kingdom also howled wildly. Amid the cheers of the crowd, Mayan businessman Tikalo’s eyes were blank. He stood still for a while, then suddenly started shouting wildly.
"Praise...the Lord God!"
The deafening cheers resounded throughout the entire mountain forest. The accompanying Mayari guide Heishi blinked his eyes and felt at a loss. He didn't know what these distant tribes were excited about. These are just the most common black stones, as common as his name. He looked into the distance in confusion. Compared with the past, this black-grey and reddish black stone mountain range was no different. This ordinary scenery has been seen by the villagers of the tribe for countless years.
"Hooah! What a strange longship tribe..."
The guide Heishi pulled his hair and mumbled in a low voice. But after a while, he looked at the happy people and cheered happily. Because, he heard the interpreter Kuba's shout of joy, repeating the announcement of the longship leaders.
"Drink some fruit wine tonight! No one is allowed to leave until they are drunk!"
The boiling shouts echoed in the sparse mountain forest, startling the birds in the sky. The Mayali Iron Ore Belt, with reserves of more than 2 billion tons and extending for dozens of miles, has been sleeping quietly in front of everyone for tens of millions of years, waiting to be disturbed by future generations.
