In the imperial capital, in a small red house.
Several white-haired old men sat together, discussing the latest report submitted by the Spark Team.
Among them, the old man sitting in the center was wearing thick glasses. He first raised his head and looked around, and then said:
"Xinghuo's proposal this time is indeed a bit risky."
"Conservative estimates suggest that the investment in the Gauteng Railway will be more than 30 billion yuan. If we look at the final results of the vicious competition with the Bombella consortium, the funds we can recover are likely to be less than 20 billion yuan."
"And this is not the final bottom line. Considering the expansion expectations revealed by the Gauteng High-Speed Railway, the Bombella consortium may even lower the price to less than 15 billion."
"If that's the case, even if we get the mining rights of a gold mine, it will take at least 10 years to recover the cost."
"This is an adventure for us."
"It's not too big, but it's absolutely impossible to do it casually."
After hearing his words, the old man in a suit nodded and said:
"Yes, that's the case."
"Furthermore, in this proposal, the Spark Team's suggestion is to obtain the exploration rights in the Evander area, but this area itself is not promising."
"There's no telling whether it can mine ore. Even if it does, what are the reserves? What's the grade? These are all unknowns."
"If we really follow Xinghuo's plan, then we will have to prepare for a net loss."
“It’s more of a gamble than a risk.”
"If you win, everything will be easy."
"If we lose, the financial loss is secondary, but if we get off to a bad start, it will have a great negative impact on our subsequent African resource strategy."
"We have to think carefully this time. Although the money is not much, we cannot throw it into the water."
The old man with glasses nodded slightly, and then continued:
"Relevant experts have been organized to study and judge this matter before. They generally believe that the probability of detecting gold deposits in the Evander area, especially the White River area, is not low, but the quality and scale are hard to say."
"But what I want to discuss today is not a technical issue. Rather than technology, I think we should see another key point."
"That is, this proposal was proposed by Chen Nian."
"Moreover, according to Chen Guo's feedback, Chen Nian was very determined when he proposed the plan."
"He seems to know that there are mines there, and he also knows that he will definitely make money by winning the mining rights there. Although I don't know why, I think we should believe him."
"After all, he has never let us down since he appeared in our sights."
"This time, I think, he won't let us down either."
As soon as the words fell, everyone in the room fell into silence.
They recalled the whole process of that boy from his appearance to his rise, and then everyone realized a fact that was well known but often ignored.
That is:
This young man's achievements are definitely not limited to technical aspects.
On the contrary, it should be said that his amazing feats in technology suppressed his outstanding contributions in other aspects.
Whether it was his initial involvement in the procurement of AL-31FN or his subsequent prediction of the food war, or even now, he can almost be said to have single-handedly detonated the financial crisis in the Western world.
The foresight and strategic vision shown in these things are almost demonic.
How on earth did he know these things?
Where did he get his skills, and where did he get his prophetic experience?
This problem has troubled top decision-makers for a long time.
Some people even suggested that they should have a frank talk with him.
But in the end, the proposal was rejected.
Because most people believe that the time has not yet come.
Therefore, the problem remains and lingers.
However, under this issue, everyone has established the same understanding: in most cases, Chen Nian will not make mistakes.
Thinking of this, the old man in suit spoke again:
"The old leader's point of view is right. No matter how absurd it seems, as long as it is put forward by Chen Nian, we should pay attention to it."
"After all, he really never makes a mistake."
"Even if we look at his work from beginning to end, the mistakes he made were only minor deviations."
"I prefer to call these deviations 'tolerances' rather than errors."
"So, in this case, what we have to do is not to deny it, but to find ways to make a cover-up plan."
"As I said just now, although it is gambling, we still have to play at this gambling table."
“As long as you keep enough funds to make a profit, you’ll be fine.”
Everyone nodded, and then, in the corner, someone raised his hand and said:
"If this is the case, then as the next step, should we work with various departments to consider how to minimize the risk?"
"I have a few key points here. Can you tell them to everyone now?"
The old man with glasses who spoke first nodded and said:
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you."
The man coughed, and after a brief silence to collect his thoughts, he said:
"My point of view is this. Since there is uncertainty in the income, we must try our best to increase the certainty of the income."
"There are three main lines."
"First, the Gauteng Railway must become a demonstration project to show our brand in Africa."
"In this way, the publicity effect will be achieved, and our strategy in Africa will progress more easily in the future."
"Second, we cannot engage in a price war with Bombela Consortium. If they lower prices, we will not be able to lower prices without thinking. We must rely on our technical strength to convince South African officials."
"In this regard, we have done a good job in the live broadcast of the Beijing-Shijiazhuang high-speed railway this time, but we still need to add more firepower."
“Article 3, in terms of exploration rights and mining rights, I suggest that we not only take the Evander area, but also take the East Rand area and make the Evander area a subsidiary.”
"The mines in the East Rand region are relatively mature and the risks are relatively small. If an accident occurs, this is our bargaining chip for a comeback."
After finishing speaking, the man looked at everyone in the room, quietly waiting for their opinions.
"East Randega Evander, is this price too high? Can South Africa accept it?"
"I don't know. There is a high probability that I won't accept it, but we should give it a try."
"We can change our strategy. We need two places for exploration rights and one for mining rights to reduce the risk. At the same time, it will be easier for South Africa to accept it."
"It's a method, but how can we ensure that they will be willing to pay after the prospecting is over?"
"That's what the comrades in the business department need to talk about."
After a series of discussions, the old man with glasses raised his hand and then said:
"We will not discuss the specific details today."
"However, I think everyone has reached a consensus on the general direction."
"In this case, let's proceed in this direction."
"This will be our first high-profile operation in Africa and we have to get it right!"
"The Move Mountains project has helped us lay the foundation. Compared with our original plan, this is a major boost."
"With such help, if things don't work well, then all of us here will have to reflect on it."
"clear."
Everyone answered one after another, and then opened the door and left one after another.
In the end, only two old men in glasses and suits were left in the room.
They looked at each other with a knowing smile on their faces.
There are expectations and worries in this smile, but more importantly, there is a kind of calmness.
A few days later, Losail, South Africa.
Li Jing is an ordinary but extraordinary geological prospector.
Ordinarily, like all prospectors, her job is nothing more than traveling through fields, mountains and forests, sleeping in the open air, in search of possible mineral veins.
What is extraordinary is that she is looking for gold.
And, in this regard, she can definitely be called experienced.
In the 1990s, when she was still a newbie, she had already participated in major domestic exploration missions, and together with her colleagues, she successfully discovered the Dachaidan gold mine in QH Province.
The gold mine's reserves reached an astonishing 50 tons. After its completion, the annual output has exceeded 3 tons, reaching the scale of a very large gold mine.
After that, Li Jing did not stop.
She has participated in many gold mine exploration projects organized by the state and discovered no less than 20 large and small veins. She has played an important role in domestic gold mine exploration work.
But this time, the reason why she came to South Africa was actually assigned by her superiors.
On the surface, what she wants to do is to inspect the ecological environment of the Evander-White River area to provide reference for the resort hotel investment plan.
But actually, she wants one thing:
Roughly inspect the river channels and sandstones in the Baihe area, and give a reference opinion on the possibility of the existence of mineral veins.
This work is not easy. Without the support of large equipment, the exploration methods she can use are extremely limited.
Gold pot panning, microscopic observation, and hydrothermal alteration, these three methods that were mature a hundred years ago, are the limits of what she can do.
As for more advanced solutions such as chemical analysis, drilling, etc., there are no conditions at all.
It was precisely because of the poor conditions that she was behind that even though she had been in Roselle for more than a week, her work had not made any progress.
She has searched all the tributaries near the Baihe area, and has seen almost all the rocks nearby, but not to mention the golden sand, she has not found even a little gold dust.
This made her feel a little frustrated, and the guide who had been following her had already lost confidence.
When Li Jing took him up the mountain again, wanting to take another look at the mountain that might contain mineral veins, the guide, although he did not strike directly, could not stop complaining.
"Jing, I know what you do."
"You are not here to inspect the location of the hotel at all, you are here to find gold."
"This is so bizarre. How could anyone look for gold in a place like this?"
"If you want to dig for gold, you should go to Rand, it's full of gold diggers like you."
"They have the same dream as you of getting rich overnight, but I want to tell you that most of them lose everything in the end."
"Wake up, gold mining is not that easy, especially if you only have a hammer and a magnifying glass in your hand, how can you find gold?"
Hearing his words, Li Jing rolled her eyes speechlessly.
She didn't know whether to be grateful or helpless.
Fortunately, this guide was a mere layman and did not recognize the professional tools in his hands.
Unfortunately, he has been in this nagging state for three days, which makes him tireless and even shows signs of losing confidence.
Is there really no mineral vein here?
It shouldn't be. Judging from the topography, the Evander area is within the scope of the Kaapval Archean craton in South Africa, and is also on the extension line of the main mineral vein of the Rand area.
Theoretically speaking, even if there are not many gold reserves here, it shouldn't be the current situation where nothing can be found at all, right?
In other words, the scope of the Kaapvar Archean Craton is actually not as large as I originally judged, and the Evander-White River area is already on the periphery of its rigid crustal lithosphere?
If that were the case, it would be totally normal to not find gold.
There may not really be any here.
Thinking of this, Li Jing let out a long sigh.
The guide on the side was still nagging, and she could no longer suppress her anger, so she turned around, stared at the guide, and said viciously:
"Shut up! I paid you!"
The guide was startled by Li Jing, and the sarcastic expression on his face softened a bit, but he still said unconvinced:
"I'm doing this for your own good. What else can you do here besides wasting money?"
"You know, all the gold mining projects in the Baihe area are scams - they are all experience projects set up by tourism companies, do you understand?"
"Those who found gold sand were actually put in secretly by the staff. Only VIP customers have such treatment."
"Jing, are you also a VIP customer? At least you were, otherwise, you would never be fooled."
Li Jing frowned and continued climbing. She did not doubt the authenticity of what the guide said. After all, such a routine had already been spread in the industry.
But the question is, if the travel company thinks there is no such thing, does it really mean that there is no such thing?
She was a little reluctant, but she didn't know how to refute.
So, she could only continue climbing silently.
When she arrived at the scheduled inspection site, she cut open the rock wall deep into the rock crevice, took out a small sample from it and observed it carefully, then she finally sat down as if resigned to her fate.
No gold, not at all.
The assistant on the side noticed her actions and said with some schadenfreude:
"Look, I said there can't be gold here."
"Let's go. It's almost afternoon. We haven't even had lunch yet. I'm already so hungry that I can hardly walk."
Li Jing took out the kettle from her bag and took a sip, then circled her fingers around the lanyard of the kettle.
She really wanted to give up.
Not because the process is too difficult, but because
Hope was too slim.
Who came up with the idea to explore the Evander area?
Did he really come here?
Or, does he really understand gold mining?
Li Jing shook her head and stood up, planning to take one last look before going down the mountain to go home.
But at this moment, an unusual color suddenly appeared in her eyes.
Off-white, hill-shaped particles.
She subconsciously walked forward towards the pile of hills, and the guide on the side followed closely.
"It's just a termite nest, Jing. Are you planning to find gold in it?"
Li Jing ignored him and just stretched out her hand to peel away the pile of mud excreted by the termites.
Then, she grabbed a handful of crushed mud, crushed it in her hands, and then put her hands filled with dust under the handheld lens she carried.
She carefully turned the lens to adjust the focus, her expression not changing at all.
The guide watched her movements nervously and asked:
"How about it, do you have any gold?"
Li Jing didn't answer.
After five minutes, she finally put down the camera.
At this moment, her heart was already in turmoil.
Gold powder was actually found in the excrement of these termites.
I never expected that this possibility, which I could only see in books and exist in theory, would actually happen to me.
Apparently, gold mines do exist in the Evander area.
Moreover, the sandstone host to the gold mine is tightly wrapped by rigid rock layers.
Even the impact of running water is not enough to take them out of the river.
However, termites that live in rock crevices can reach corners that cannot be reached by human power or running water.
And this is the only clue that this gold mine can be discovered.
Although I don’t know what the grade of the ore can be.
But at least...it really does!
Li Jing's face showed a look of relief.
Then, she turned to the guide and said:
"You're right, I shouldn't be dreaming."
"Let's go, we should go back."
"There's really no gold here."
"Not at all."
(End of chapter)
