Chapter 181: A Total Investment of Two Hundred Million?
While small and medium-sized smelting plants were venting their frustrations and blaming the major copper mining enterprises in the front row, Zhao Hepu, head of the copper mining and smelting division at Wukuang Group, leaned toward Li Tang and whispered, "They're talking about us."
"Has the processing fee for copper smelting dropped so much that there's still profit to be made?" Li Tang hadn't paid much attention to this segment of the market.
"There's still profit, just not as much. That's why they're upset and trying to squeeze more from us," Zhao Hepu replied calmly. "This is an open market — it's a matter of free competition. The key issue is that pricing power lies in the hands of foreign producers. The root of the problem isn't with us."
Niu Fu, sitting beside them with a stern expression, overheard their conversation and turned to Li Tang, saying, "Our domestic copper ore quality isn't great — we're highly reliant on imports. A few foreign mining giants basically monopolize the high-quality mines. They set the processing fees, and we have little say."
"There's no way to fix this?" Li Tang was aware that the ore trade had always favored sellers — not just in copper but especially in iron.
"There's a way — domestic companies need to explore and discover more copper deposits themselves, or acquire high-quality mines through mergers and acquisitions," Niu Fu explained, though even he found this idea somewhat out of reach. "You managed to find the Qulong and Qinglong mines — many companies are jealous of those. You have the talent — the more large mines you can find, the more it helps our entire industry."
"I can't find more within our country. All the main metallogenic belts have already been explored," Li Tang genuinely wanted to help change the situation and aid the domestic copper mining sector, but there wasn't much more he could do.
"This meeting today is mostly a chance for the small and medium-sized smelters to vent. That's it. No real purpose behind it."
Zhao Hepu wasn't afraid to speak plainly. "The pricing power lies with foreign producers. No matter how we coordinate or argue among ourselves, it's pointless. Absolutely useless!"
Just as they were chatting, the host of the meeting announced its adjournment.
Unbeknownst to them, Liu Yikang, president of the Mining Association, had already made his way to the front row and happened to overhear Zhao Hepu's comments. He smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao is a man who sees things clearly."
Startled, Zhao Hepu stood up quickly and smiled apologetically. "President Liu, I was just joking around."
Liu Yikang didn't take it to heart. He turned to Niu Fu. "I've heard you might have a way to solve the issue of our country's copper shortage and reliance on foreign sources. Based on that, I've asked several executives from major companies to stay behind. Mr. Niu, if there's anything you'd like to share, please get to the point — everyone's busy."
Niu Fu stood and nodded to the corporate leaders seated in the front row but didn't speak. Instead, he turned to Li Tang. "Li Tang, all the key people from the major copper mining companies are here. Go ahead and share your thoughts with them."
"Alright."
Li Tang wasn't shy. He stood, walked to the front, and faced the audience.
He declined the microphone offered by the host and didn't take the podium either. Instead, he stood directly in front of the first row, speaking face-to-face with everyone.
Even Liu Yikang took his seat. Li Tang was the only one standing.
Some attendees were already puzzled, unsure why the Mining Association had asked them to stay behind. Seeing this, they became even more curious: Who was this young man?
Many didn't recognize Li Tang and began whispering among themselves:
"Who is this guy?"
"Did the Mining Association bring out a server or assistant?"
"Why isn't anyone addressing us? Are we just supposed to sit here and wait?"
As they murmured, Li Tang's eyes swept quickly across everyone's faces.
Jiujiang Copper, Tongdu Nonferrous Group, Purple Mining, Huajin General Corp, Wukuang Group, Luoyi Molybdenum — all major players in the domestic copper sector.
Especially Jiujiang and Tongdu, both long-established industry leaders consistently ranked top in copper production.
Among these people, he spotted a few familiar faces — but most were strangers.
That they didn't recognize him was understandable.
Clearing his throat, he began: "Hello, leaders. I'm Li Tang!"
"You're Li Tang?"
"Is that the same Li Tang from Wukuang Group?"
"The one who discovered the Qulong and Qinglong copper mines, and more recently the Gongcun copper-gold mine?"
"So that's why the Mining Association kept us here — we were waiting for the star of the show!"
The crowd instantly buzzed with conversation, no longer trying to keep their voices down.
Clearly, the name "Li Tang" had already become a well-known figure in the copper mining world.
No surprise — missing out on not one, but two world-class copper deposits had many of them banging their heads against the wall. Their envy and frustration toward Wukuang and Purple Mining were intense.
These executives all understood exactly what it meant to hold a massive copper deposit.
A super-sized copper mine in hand was like having a get-out-of-jail-free card — it could ensure supply for decades.
It also meant they no longer had to bow down to foreign companies, begging for orders and accepting unfair prices.
The only real solution to this problem was finding high-quality copper resources of their own.
For decades, they believed no such opportunities existed within China.
Yet in the past year or two, the Qulong and Qinglong mines had surfaced one after another.
This gave them hope.
Many had wanted to meet with Li Tang to discuss cooperation but never had the chance.
"Everyone, please quiet down and hear what Li Tang has to say," Liu Yikang spoke up, and the room gradually settled.
Though a few executives had already stood to hand their business cards to Li Tang, clearly impressed, he remained calm and collected, smiling faintly as he continued.
"I've co-founded a company with Wukuang Group called Zhongcheng Mining. The name reflects a sense of unity and collective strength."
Someone asked, "Is this company meant to jointly develop the Qulong copper mine?"
In their minds, that was the prize — everyone coveted that resource.
Unfortunately, Wukuang had both money and talent, and no reason to share the cake.
"No."
Li Tang shook his head and didn't keep them guessing. "We've just returned from Austria. We closed a deal with BHB Tuo and acquired an exploration license from them. The license is in Mengguo, just eighty kilometers from our border. It covers an area of 238 square kilometers."
"You're going to explore in Mengguo?"
"Four years ago, Mengguo revised its mining laws and made changes to its foreign investment regulations. It now offers many incentives to attract foreign capital — particularly in mining. Everything from tax rates and capital flow to approval procedures has improved significantly. Not just us — international mining companies are also expressing interest, and some are already making moves."
"But we don't have any experience working over there."
"I've heard people in Mengguo aren't very friendly toward us Chinese."
"What's the situation with the exploration license you acquired?"
Everyone chimed in with their thoughts, some skeptical, others curious.
Finally, someone asked the most important question, and Li Tang seized the opportunity to answer. "Our license is in the Nanhang Province of Mengguo, adjacent to our border. Back in the early 1980s, a joint exploration team from Russia and Mengguo found signs of mineralization in this area. But due to the region's remoteness and difficult transportation, they abandoned the site. In 1997, BHB Tuo obtained the license and conducted four years of exploration, drilling 23 holes — two of which showed good mineralization."
Some technical experts in the audience immediately raised concerns: "Only two mineralized drill holes out of twenty-three?"
Others added, "BHB Tuo is a top-tier global mining company. Their team recruits talent from all over the world and spends hundreds of millions annually on exploration. If they're willing to sell the license, it probably means they've given up on it. So why do you think you can succeed where they failed?"
"Exactly — if even BHB Tuo doesn't believe in the site's potential, shouldn't you think twice?"
Doubt was inevitable.
Li Tang remained unfazed, his tone calm, yet beneath his plain words was a steely resolve: "We Chinese must not underestimate ourselves. Our technology and our teams are second to none!"
Though it sounded like an empty slogan, it struck a chord.
People looked again at Li Tang's young face, remembering all the extraordinary things he had accomplished in the past two years — and fell silent.
Seeing that he had their attention, Li Tang went on: "I won't set unrealistic goals. I won't claim we'll discover millions of tons of copper or gold. That sounds too boastful. But I will say this: I'm very optimistic about this project."
"Why?" someone asked.
"Because I want to prove that even giants like BHB Tuo and others are not infallible. They too can make mistakes and overlook opportunities."
Li Tang had delivered another morale-boosting line, but then pivoted back to real issues: "BHB Tuo's 23 drill holes only went as deep as 270 meters and were scattered sparsely. For an area this large, that amount of work is clearly insufficient. Based on my discussions with Miles, the director of their exploration division, the two holes with visible mineralization only reached chalcopyrite."
"What does that imply?"
"I believe — based on my understanding of porphyry-type copper deposits — that BHB Tuo only found the shallow part of the deposit. They didn't reach the core ore body! I'm convinced there are larger deposits deeper or in untested areas."
When discussing technical topics, Li Tang spoke with contagious energy and passion.
However, most of the real decision-makers didn't fully grasp the technical nuances. They remained confused and hoped for clearer indicators.
Li Tang didn't elaborate further. After all, exploration inherently carries risk. Before hard drilling data is available, all words are empty.
So, he laid out his plan: "Wukuang Group and I are investing 80 million yuan for 51% of Zhongcheng Mining's shares. The remaining 49% we're opening for outside investment. Our fundraising target is 120 million yuan. Equity will be allocated proportionally based on contribution."
"Total investment of 200 million?" someone blurted out in shock.
At that time in China, no single exploration project had ever seen such an enormous budget.
Even projects over 100 million were extremely rare.
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