Rebirth of the Mining Tycoon

Chapter 63: Two Million Tons

Li Tang was among the earliest generation of only children.

His paternal grandparents were still in good health. After his grandfather retired, they chose to return to the countryside to enjoy their later years in peace.

Li Zaiqiang had two older sisters who had married and moved out of province. Now in their later years, they only visited Guizhou occasionally to see family.

Since the family had just moved into a new home, Li Zaiqiang and Tang Chuqiu decided to invite the grandparents to spend the Spring Festival with them.

After enjoying their New Year's Eve dinner, the five of them sat in front of the television, happily watching the Spring Festival Gala together.

"…Someone paid me to chat… How many steps does it take to put an elephant in the fridge… You think I won't recognize you just because you're wearing a vest…"

In the joy and laughter of the skits and festive musical performances, the family welcomed the new century with smiles and warmth.

Since their relatives were mostly in the countryside, and they hadn't planned any visits during the first days of the new year, the family enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing holiday.

But unexpectedly, on the morning of the second day of the lunar new year, someone knocked at the door. The first to show up with New Year's greetings was none other than Han Dexun.

He had prepared red envelopes, but upon realizing there were no children in the house, he gave one each to the two elderly grandparents instead. No one refused—it was New Year's, after all, and everyone appreciated the gesture.

Soon, more coworkers stopped by to visit, and things got a bit busy.

After spending three days in the city, the grandparents decided to return to the countryside—they were worried about their chickens and ducks back home.

Before the holiday break ended, Li Zaiqiang returned to his unit to begin preparing for the next phase of the project.

The snow had not yet fully melted, but the team was already eager to return to Tibet Province.

Li Tang also flew back to Yanjing and, along with Liu Kaisheng, took a flight straight to Tibet.

Since the project had a 5-million-yuan budget, the company had established an office in the provincial capital, with Liu Kaisheng in charge.

Li Tang traveled directly to Gongka County, accompanied by He Runqi and three newly recruited members of Team Six, to work alongside the 101st Geological Team's technicians on the mountain.

As technical personnel representing the client, their primary responsibility was to supervise the contractor, ensuring that the work was done according to the exploration plan and relevant standards, with guaranteed quality and quantity.

After about a month of surface exploration, mineralization indicators were excellent, and they proceeded with drilling.

Since this was preliminary work, the drilling density was relatively low.

Moreover, the porphyry-type ore bodies were shallow, with many exposed at the surface. So, most drill holes were less than 300 meters deep, allowing the work to progress quickly.

The project went smoothly, and the mineralization results were extremely promising. Ultimately, it confirmed what Li Tang had initially proposed: the three areas he marked on the map were exactly where the major ore bodies were located.

In less than three months, they had completed work that would typically take another team a year.

Because of Li Tang's precise guidance, the project timeline was greatly shortened, and unnecessary efforts were avoided.

Drilling continued in the project area.

However, Li Zaiqiang believed the preliminary objectives had already been achieved. Based on the current mineral findings, the project was ready to transition into a more detailed exploration phase.

He called his son, and they drove over 100 kilometers to the provincial capital to visit the Wukuang Exploration Company's field office.

When Liu Kaisheng saw the father and son walk in—with their faces visibly sunburned from the field—he immediately felt a sense of respect. He quickly poured hot tea for them.

"You came all this way this early—did something happen on-site?" he asked, concerned.

Just a few days earlier, he had visited the project himself and saw that everything was progressing well. Morale was high, especially with the copper discoveries.

Seeing the two of them arrive so urgently today, he couldn't help but worry.

"Nothing's wrong—we're just here to report on the project's progress," Li Zaiqiang replied, pulling out a stack of handwritten notes he had prepared in advance.

"So far, we've drilled 37 holes, with 32 completed, and 29 showing mineralization. That's an extremely high success rate—you could say we're hitting bullseyes every time."

"That's excellent. Looks like the Group's investment was well worth it!" Liu Kaisheng said excitedly.

"Because this is still a preliminary investigation, our drilling density isn't high, and the ore bodies we've outlined aren't highly precise yet. But I recently ran some rough calculations on the mineralized zones and came up with an approximate figure."

He double-checked his notes and said seriously, "At this point, we've outlined an estimated copper metal resource of 2 million tons, with an average grade of 0.4%. We also have about 100,000 tons of molybdenum, with an average grade of 0.02%."

Hearing this number, Liu Kaisheng was shocked.

He'd gotten used to hearing good news—every day seemed to bring more progress: another trench finished, another drill hole that hit ore.

But to see all those drill holes connected into a 3D resource model—and then to get a number like this—it was beyond anything he had imagined.

Just the copper resource alone—2 million tons—was enough to classify it as a world-class copper deposit.

In China, a large copper mine only required 500,000 tons of metal to qualify. This project had quadruple that amount—based on preliminary results alone.

And all this had happened in less than six months since the project began.

It was miraculous.

"Say that again—how much copper?" he asked, thinking he'd misheard.

"Two million tons," Li Zaiqiang repeated.

"Holy sh*t!"

"Minister Liu, don't get too excited," Li Zaiqiang said calmly. "Li Tang and I came here today to discuss the project's next phase with you."

"Right," Liu said, reining in his emotions. "Please go on."

"We've now precisely located three ore bodies. The first is exposed at the surface and very shallow. The second and third are partially hidden. Honestly, we were quite lucky to find them so quickly," Li Zaiqiang said, glancing at his son with admiration.

"I've been to the site. Finding those two hidden bodies proves your team is incredibly capable," Liu said, giving a thumbs up.

"So far, we've only drilled to 300 meters or less, and with low density. None of our mineralized holes have reached the bottom of the ore bodies. That means each ore body is at least 300 meters thick."

He pulled out a pen and drew a quick sketch on a piece of paper, illustrating the shape and distribution of the ore. It looked like a massive carrot, more than a kilometer thick, buried at an angle beneath the earth.

"Our next step should be to increase drilling depth and density—to focus on mid- to deep-level exploration."

"Agreed," Liu Kaisheng nodded firmly.

"I believe we've accomplished the goals of the preliminary phase. So I suggest we transition directly into detailed exploration, to determine the precise reserves of each ore body."

By now, Liu Kaisheng had fully understood.

The next phase of the project wouldn't just cost 5 million—it would require 30 million.

"I'll fly to Yanjing right away. You two come with me—we'll report these results to the leadership in person!" He was eager to present this extraordinary success to the top executives.

After all, when a project actually produces a discovery, no leader cares about the exploration costs.

This was a historic achievement, worth more than money could buy.

"I need to call our Geological Bureau's expert panel to reassess the technical findings, so..." Li Zaiqiang said hesitantly.

"Then Li Tang and I will go to Yanjing and report to headquarters ourselves!"

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