Chapter 80: Mining Dilemma
Ministry of Industry in Kyoto.
Li Jiandong’s face was gloomy as he hung up the transoceanic telephone.
News from South Australia had come back, and the output of ordinary crystal stone was not as high as he had previously imagined.
Because it only existed underground and in deep areas, the mining difficulty was enormous.
Given South Australia’s mineral resources distribution, most mining sites could be mined on the surface.
Basically, no mining operations were conducted too deep below the surface, after all, this involved cost issues.
So, the finished ordinary crystal stone they could now produce was only around a few hundred kilograms, pitifully little.
In the end, the formation conditions for this kind of ore were too harsh; it was simply impossible in an atmospheric environment.
With a sigh, Li Jiandong picked up the telephone again and informed Fan Ren of this news.
Linhai, Xinghai Metallurgical Laboratory.
After receiving the call, Fan Ren also casually reported the strength value of the refined tri-titanium alloy.
After hanging up, he bid farewell to the group of Ministry of Industry technicians who were still in shock and went alone into the office to smoke.
The next direction for Xinghai was already decided: the controllable nuclear fusion project.
However, before it had truly begun, they encountered the problem of difficulty in sourcing container wall materials.
Fan Ren held a cigarette in one hand and rubbed his forehead with the other, and information about the system’s introduction to ordinary crystal stone involuntarily appeared in his mind.
A very tough and resilient high-strength metal ore, which is extremely unstable in an atmospheric environment and therefore widely distributed in a vacuum environment.
The ore is rich in super-strong metal tri-titanium alloy.
Thinking of this, Fan Ren opened his eyes and took out his phone to call Li Jiandong back.
“Chief Li, it’s like this. I want to apply for some lunar soil to try.”
“Lunar soil? This…”
Fan Ren took a deep breath and said, “You also know that a very important condition in the formation environment of ordinary crystal stone is an oxygen-free environment. Following this logic, the Moon happens to be the best platform we can access for this condition.”
Li Jiandong fell silent. As the chief of the Ministry of Industry, he could definitely obtain lunar soil.
But this stuff was even rarer than the ordinary crystal stone ore previously collected from various metallurgy laboratories!
Great Xia’s two lunar exploration plans had collected and brought back a total of 3.7 kilograms of lunar soil.
Currently, only 0.5 kilograms remained for research, and it was still being desperately sought by various units.
But what Fan Ren said did make sense.
And from the refinement results he had just reported, this tri-titanium alloy, named by him, was fully capable of serving as the container wall for the nuclear fusion reaction.
However, even if lunar soil contained tri-titanium alloy components, then what?
“Chief Li, once there is tri-titanium alloy component in the lunar soil, I guarantee to you here that all profits earned by Xinghai next, excluding operating costs, will be invested in this project, and I personally will not take a single cent of dividends!”
Fan Ren gave him this answer, with no hint of retreat in his tone.
Listening to the firm tone coming from the other end of the phone, Li Jiandong couldn’t help but stand in place in a daze for a long time.
“Alright, wait there. I’ll immediately send someone to arrange delivery to you, but there’s very little left— the Ministry of Industry currently has only 0.5 kilograms in storage. As for the rest, we’ll talk later.”
As the chief of the Ministry of Industry, unlike Fan Ren, he couldn’t speak too definitively. Fan Ren could make any decision on behalf of Xinghai.
He couldn’t; he had to be responsible for the entire Great Xia industry.
Fan Ren immediately expressed thanks and made no further guarantees. Using lunar soil for sampling was just because it shared similarities with the ordinary crystal stone formation environment, but it didn’t mean it necessarily contained tri-titanium alloy.
For now, they could only wait to obtain the lunar soil and refine it before saying more.
After hanging up, Li Jiandong immediately made the relevant arrangements. After thinking, he finally dialed the Imperial Palace.
“Elder Ye, it’s me, Li Jiandong…”
He briefly reported the content of his earlier call with Fan Ren, then quietly waited.
“How much ordinary crystal stone ore source has South Australia prospected? What about the mining costs?”
Ye Rongshan thought for a moment and directly asked the key point of the issue.
Li Jiandong was very familiar with this data and immediately said, “The prospected mineral sources are not many. This ore has extremely harsh environmental requirements. Once it contacts an oxygen-containing environment, there is no possibility of formation. The known scale is about dozens of tons, and the mining costs are extremely high.”
He paused, gritted his teeth, and said, “If that kid can research controllable nuclear fusion, but with this mining cost, it still can’t be promoted on a large scale.”
“So, you also hope to find tri-titanium alloy components in the lunar soil, right?”
Hearing the question from the elderly person on the other end, Li Jiandong felt a bit embarrassed.
His little thoughts were truly insignificant in front of Elder Ye.
“Yes, up to now, Great Xia has conducted three phases of lunar exploration projects in total, with a total investment of about 10 billion. In this process, we have trained a large number of technical personnel and completed a rigorous and effective Earth-Moon travel technology.”
“Alright, alright, don’t discuss these technical issues with me. This old man is old; the future belongs to you young people.”
Before he finished speaking, Ye Rongshan laughed and interrupted him, then continued, “This still needs to wait for General Manager Fan’s refinement results before discussing. But our top priority is to mine all the prospected ordinary crystal stone in South Australia. This concerns the upcoming nuclear fusion research. Handle this matter first.”
After hearing this, excitement flowed in Li Jiandong’s eyes. Elder Ye hadn’t directly rejected him, so this matter could be made into a plan.
But everything still depended on whether there were tri-titanium alloy components in the lunar soil.
He immediately said, “Yes, Elder Ye. I guarantee to complete the task.”
Fan Ren couldn’t care about these matters. Li Jiandong’s efficiency was extremely high, and the lunar soil arrived the same day, delivered by relevant Ministry of Industry personnel on a temporary private jet to the Xinghai Metallurgical Laboratory in Linhai.
Beyond his expectations, along with the lunar soil, several accompanying personnel arrived wearing black suits, with dark faces and unsmiling expressions.
“Hello, I am Dan Wu from the Security Department. Under Elder Ye’s orders, I will be responsible for your safety in the coming period. This is my ID.”
The leader, a man with an inch-cut head, around 30 years old with an unremarkable appearance, stepped forward and handed over his ID.
Fan Ren was stunned for a moment, instantly realizing that the research he was now and would be doing next was extremely important in terms of secrecy and safety.
Elder Ye probably saw that last time he had brought Zeng Yingying and had no bodyguard by his side, so he thought of this for him.
He immediately took the ID with both hands.
Dan Wu then pointed to a lady behind him who was similarly dressed but had a fair and delicate face, saying, “This is Dan Qin. She will be responsible for your safety together with me.”
Fan Ren solemnly handed back the ID and said, “I won’t say polite words. If you need anything, you can communicate with my secretary. I’ll trouble you for the next period.”
He pointed to Zeng Yingying in the distance, who was sitting playing with her mobile phone and watching dramas.
Dan Wu reached out to take the ID, while Dan Qin beside him nodded slightly to Fan Ren, then walked toward Zeng Yingying.
