Chapter 118: Waiting Over a Month for You
The doors of the chairman's office were tightly shut.
Chen Jinhe, gradually calming down from his earlier excitement, looked around at the company executives and board members. "Since the mineralization situation is this promising, I think it's time we discuss the funding for this project."
The CFO spoke up, "According to the previously established plan, the total budget for the western zone of the Qinglong Copper Mine was 35 million. Of that, 5 million has already been used. The eastern zone had an original budget of 25 million, but it failed to pass in the last board vote, so that portion has not been initiated."
"Sixty million in total…" Hu Shenwu felt a heavy pressure descend.
"We don't currently have that much money available," the CFO reminded again. "And it will be difficult to free up that kind of liquidity in the short term."
"No matter what, the most important thing now is to send our experts to the site to personally verify whether the 101 Geological Team's work is compliant and whether there's been any violation of protocol," Yao Zhenyu reminded the room.
"Director Yao's point is important. If the ore layers are really at the surface, we'll know just by sending someone there. We'll be able to confirm whether the project truly has found such large reserves."
"I don't think there's any issue. After all, Tao Mingzhi and several of our technical personnel are on-site. If we can't even trust our own people, who can we trust?"
As opinions flowed in all directions, Chen Jinhe lowered his head, lost in thought.
"The exploration of Qinglong Copper Mine is only halfway through, and they've already outlined five million tons of copper reserves!"
He looked up and began speaking. "Qinglong Copper Mine—at this point, we can be certain—it is the largest super copper deposit in the entire country. The total reserves will undoubtedly exceed 20 million tons!
A copper mine like this is rare even on a global scale!"
That's the kind of mind-blowing impact a super deposit has—it can drive people into a frenzy.
Just imagining it filled everyone in the room with uncontainable anticipation.
"Given current market prices, if we really do find 20 million tons of copper, the value would be in the hundreds of billions!"
Hu Shenwu didn't understand mining technology, but he knew the market well. "This kind of deposit—once in a thousand years!"
"I've been to the site," Chen Jinhe said, looking at Yao Zhenyu. "And so have you."
"Yes," Yao Zhenyu nodded.
"I saw with my own eyes the surface ore layers Li Tang pointed out to us. One glance, and it was all bluish-green copper sulfide ore!"
Chen Jinhe's mind flashed with the image of that picturesque grassland, beneath which lay a vast and obvious treasure.
He was certain—there was a giant deposit there.
"I don't believe a seasoned team like Geological Team 101 wouldn't understand the importance of proper procedure."
He looked around the room, slowly and clearly expressing his conviction. "I trust Li Tang's judgment. And I trust Li Zaiqiang's technical ability!"
"Indeed, Li Zaiqiang seems like a straight-laced, honest person—not the kind to cut corners."
"Even if someone wanted to fudge data, it wouldn't get past us. We're not exactly amateurs here."
"But still, sending a team to confirm the findings is a good idea."
Though opinions differed slightly, everyone clearly understood Chen Jinhe's resolve.
"We must conduct a detailed investigation. And we should begin exploration in the eastern zone of Qinglong Copper Mine as well!"
With those words, Chen Jinhe made it official.
"Funding will be an issue," the CFO reminded once more.
"Then reallocate part of the funds originally earmarked for mine capacity expansion to the Qinglong exploration project."
"That'll put a lot of pressure on future budgets."
"Get in touch with the bank. We need a loan!"
…
Meanwhile, Li Tang arrived in Huazhou Province. As soon as he got off the plane, Luo Qinzhong personally came to pick him up.
This time, it was a midday flight, so they headed straight to the Huazhou Aluminum Plant by car.
"You're finally back!" Luo Qinzhong couldn't hold back his grievances in the car. "If you hadn't come back soon, I was about to head to Tibet and drag you back myself!"
"What's going on?"
Li Tang had been in a completely isolated area of Ali Prefecture in Tibet. No cell signal. No communication. Virtually cut off from the outside world.
Occasionally, he'd return to Gaizhe County from the field base to buy groceries, but those visits were short before he had to hurry back to camp.
"Director Lai has been hounding me every day, urging me to bring you back! Without you, the project is like a ship without a rudder—we can't move forward."
"Is it that bad?" Li Tang chuckled. "Chief Engineer Ding is on-site, and Old Bi also stops by to oversee work. The exploration should be running fine."
"The main problem is, Director Lai wants to push for early project acceptance and submit the reserve data!"
"Why the rush?"
Li Tang did some mental math. He'd been on this project for less than six months—an incredibly short time frame for a mineral exploration project.
Of course, if you included the early-stage work by Ding Shaoying, the timeline would go back to last year.
Still, his involvement had significantly accelerated progress thanks to his accurate predictions of ore body locations.
Without that, using a typical "needle-in-a-haystack" exploration strategy, it could've taken four to five years to find the Yunshang Bauxite deposit.
Another critical factor in exploration timelines is funding.
If the money isn't there, even tiny projects can drag on for years.
If there's no sign of mineralization, clients won't want to pay—especially private bosses, who are notorious for disappearing or ghosting.
But once a good deposit is found, the client is more eager than anyone to pay up. Delaying means missing out on profits—every second could be worth hundreds of thousands!
Luo Qinzhong sighed and didn't hide the truth from Li Tang. "Higher authorities are leading a merger of several domestic aluminum plants to form Hualu Corporation. It's a done deal.
Our Huazhou Aluminum Plant is the primary body in this merger. All the other units involved are scrambling to secure better terms."
"Hmm," Li Tang sensed the scent of political maneuvering.
"Now that our plant has discovered a large bauxite deposit, it's become a key bargaining chip!"
Luo Qinzhong, being at the center of it all, understood it deeply. "If we don't make our move now, we might not get another chance to compete."
The car soon arrived at the Huazhou Aluminum Plant office building.
Luo Qinzhong led Li Tang straight to the plant director's office.
Pfft!
Seeing Li Tang walk in, Lai Xiangrong spat out a mouthful of tea leaves into his cup, quickly stood up, and grabbed Li Tang by the shoulders with genuine emotion. "You're finally here—we've been waiting over a month!"
"He's been gone almost three months!" Luo Qinzhong counted the days.
"Exactly. If you'd stayed away any longer, we might've filed a missing person report."
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