Chapter 173: We Missed the Best Opportunity!
"Tubo Province's Gongcun Copper-Gold Mine has discovered a super-large copper-gold deposit, with gold reserves expected to surpass 200 tons, potentially becoming the largest in the country!"
The morning newspaper arrived at the office on time.
As Chen Jinhe flipped through the latest issue of Nonferrous Metals News, his eyes immediately landed on the bold, enlarged headline on the front page.
"Gongcun Copper-Gold Project?"
He paused, and then it all came back to him—this was Li Tang's project.
A while back, they had visited Qinglong Copper Mine in Tubo for an inspection, and on the way, they had briefly stopped by to visit Li Tang.
He still clearly remembered the conversation they had. Li Tang had asked for 50 million yuan in follow-up exploration funds. It was obvious at the time that Li Tang hoped he would invest in the Gongcun project.
But after returning, he hadn't given it another thought.
Clearly, he hadn't seen enough promise in the project at the time to stay interested.
His impression? The shallow drill holes showed poor grades.
He shuffled through the stacks of documents on his desk, looking for anything related to the Gongcun project—but came up empty.
"Nearly 100 tons of gold reserves?" he muttered, lifting the newspaper again to double-check the figures.
A million tons of copper already qualified the site as a large deposit—very valuable.
But it was the gold that caught his full attention.
They had spent more than a month negotiating and securing the Jinyin Cave gold mine, which had only 54 tons of reserves.
If Gongcun truly held over 100 tons…
"Xiao Wang!" he shouted.
His assistant, Wang, came running. "Yes, Chairman?"
"Last time we visited Tubo and met with Li Tang, I remember he gave me a handwritten data sheet. Do you know where it is?"
"It wasn't officially archived," the assistant said, struggling to recall. "Should I check the archives?"
"It's not in the archives. It was just a piece of handwritten paper," Chen said, still rifling through papers. Finally, he gave up. "Forget it. Go find Yao Zhenyu and bring him here."
"Yes, right away."
Moments later, Yao arrived at the office.
"Do you remember the Gongcun Copper-Gold Mine project?" Chen asked directly.
"What project?" Yao didn't connect the dots at first.
"The one Li Tang was working on in Tubo. We stopped by for a visit."
"Oh—right!" Yao finally remembered. "Yeah, we saw it from the roadside, didn't go into the site. I recall Li Tang showed us some drill data. If I remember correctly, the grades were poor. Copper at about 0.4%, gold at maybe 0.3 grams per ton?"
He couldn't remember the exact figures, but the overall impression stuck with him. "It really didn't look promising. I remember you were being polite, and I was the one who pushed back."
"Yes, I remember now," Chen said, nodding.
"The copper barely met cut-off grade. The gold was too low. The thickness wasn't impressive either." Yao shook his head. "Even if I can't recall the precise numbers, I'm confident it wasn't worth investing in. And let's not forget—Li Tang asked for 50 million yuan. Of course, we had to think twice."
"I'm not blaming you," Chen said with a sigh. "Just feeling a bit regretful."
On the desk sat the file for the Jinyin Cave project. He picked it up and flipped to the reserves section: 54.7 tons.
And they had paid more than 100 million yuan for that.
Now, if they wanted to get involved in Gongcun, 50 million likely wouldn't even be enough to start the conversation.
"What do we do now?" Yao asked. He could tell from Chen's expression that the chairman wanted to revisit the idea of getting involved.
Zise Mining was determined to become a national leader in the nonferrous metals industry. They had advanced capabilities in gold and copper metallurgy. A project like Gongcun? They couldn't afford to sit it out.
They already held licenses for Zise Copper-Gold Mine, Qinglong Copper Mine, and Jinyin Cave. Their copper-gold reserves were beginning to take shape.
But that still wasn't enough. If they wanted to stand alongside the global mining giants, they needed more.
"I remember Li Tang didn't insist on keeping the mining rights all to himself," Yao said after thinking for a bit. "He wasn't looking to go it alone. And the initial capital needed to build a mine of this scale… I doubt he can raise that on his own."
"You're right," Chen said, sitting up straighter and shaking off his earlier frustration. "A copper-gold deposit of this size is rare in China. If we don't act fast, someone else will. First, we need to verify the numbers. If Gongcun truly holds over 100 tons of gold, we need to talk to Li Tang in person."
"With your relationship, I'm sure he'd prefer to work with us."
"In the past year or two, the most significant mineral discoveries in China have all come from Li Tang," Chen said with admiration. "He's earned our trust."
Then a lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. He sat up suddenly. "I almost forgot! Li Tang called recently—he asked for help with metallurgical testing at Gongcun!"
"Metallurgical testing?" Yao asked, surprised.
"I nearly forgot!" Chen stood up and hurried out of the office.
He went straight to the Zise Metallurgical Research Institute and found Director Hao Zhengzhi.
Upon hearing what Chen was looking for, Hao calmly handed him a folder. "The testing is already complete."
"How'd it go?" Chen asked, flipping it open but too eager to wait for the full read.
"For the primary sulfide copper ore, recovery was 87%. Using cyanidation, gold recovery reached 95%," Hao said.
"In summary, copper beneficiation was very effective. The gold grade is low, so it has to be enriched into the copper concentrate through flotation, and recovered during smelting."
While it would take more time to fully digest the report, Hao had given him the most critical points.
Still not entirely sure what it all meant, Chen cut to the chase. "So, is it a good ore to process?"
"I've been to the site," Hao replied. "It's excellent for mining—ideal for open-pit extraction with a low stripping ratio."
"And metallurgically?"
"Very good," Hao said with no hesitation. "The harmful elements—silica, arsenic, selenium—are all at very low levels."
Ores with high levels of such elements are harder and more expensive to process. They often fetch lower prices and are less desirable.
Many domestic copper mines struggle to get good prices because their ores are riddled with such contaminants.
"So it's a high-quality deposit?" Chen asked, wanting a straightforward answer.
"Other than the slightly low gold and silver grades, yes—it's excellent," Hao confirmed.
"Got it!" Chen felt a mix of excitement and unease.
The more he learned, the more he regretted not taking Li Tang's proposal seriously when they'd met.
Back then, 50 million could have bought into the project. By now, that investment might've doubled or tripled in value.
They'd have to talk again—face to face.
Other companies might shy away from Gongcun because of the low-grade metals, but Zise Mining's specialty was processing low-grade ore.
After basking in excitement for a moment, Chen settled down and felt a wave of discouragement.
A million tons of copper. A hundred tons of gold. The project was probably worth billions.
His company already had multiple major projects underway. How could they possibly spare that kind of money?
He pulled out his phone, ready to call Li Tang.
Then hesitated—and slowly put it down.
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