HLM -Chapter 750 Golden Mountain Shines

The Heart of the Gold Mine was stunning. Its core glowed golden yellow, while its surface emitted a soft, gentle green light. The texture was rough but felt smooth to the touch, somewhat like an unusual gemstone.

Wang Bo held it, staring for a long time, and finally let out a sigh of admiration: “Truly beautiful!”

The value of gold is tied to its allure. In modern times, many industrial applications have been discovered, but in ancient times, when gold was at its peak value, no one really knew how it could be used in everyday life or production. Its beauty was pure, primordial beauty.

Opening the sandbox, Wang Bo pondered. Since this was a Heart of a Gold Mine, placing it into the land should create a gold mine, right? And if placed on a mountain… could it form a golden mountain?

Of course, he couldn’t be too greedy. From his experience, a first-tier lord’s heart usually didn’t have massive effects. The gold this Heart of the Gold Mine could produce might not be much.

After some thought, he placed the Heart of the Gold Mine at the foot of a mountain to the north of the town, about four to five kilometers east of the castle.

If he put the heart into the land, the question wasn’t how much gold would appear—just the fame alone would attract countless people wanting to steal gold. They’d overmine and damage the fertile land.

On the sandbox, the Heart of the Gold Mine shimmered and then disappeared. A small area at the mountain’s base turned a faint green.

The mining area wasn’t huge compared to the mountain, but by the data, it wasn’t small either. Spreading from the mountain’s foot east and west, and up the slopes, Wang Bo estimated that at least one square kilometer could yield gold.

Rubbing his chin, he sank into his chair in thought. Once the Heart of the Gold Mine worked, he had no idea how much gold it would produce, how much it could store, or its purity.

But as long as the gold mine was discovered and the gold content was decent, it could definitely become a pillar industry for the town.

However, it might not be the kind of industry Wang Bo wanted. That was another matter.

New Zealand had very little gold—only a few gold mines produced this precious metal. Wang Bo checked online: there weren’t many well-known ones, only the Waihi Gold Mine and the Macraes Gold Mine had decent output.

Mining wasn’t New Zealand’s traditional pillar industry. A few years back, agriculture—which was a significant part of the economy—was hit hard by the recession, and exploiting underground mineral resources helped economic recovery.

Wang Bo didn’t know much about mining and had never paid attention, thinking it was far removed from his life.

But now he had to pay attention. With the Heart of the Gold Mine, there could eventually be a Heart of Iron Mine, a Heart of Coal Mine, a Heart of Copper Mine, and so on.

Thinking this over, Wang Bo scratched his head. Was placing the Heart of the Gold Mine on the mountain the right choice?

The thought came because he had been browsing news about the New Zealand government’s mining policies. Last year, the government, after consulting public opinion, decided to abandon mining in several national parks…

Kate Wilkinson, New Zealand’s Minister for Resource Protection, personally stated that no matter the economy, the country had decided to give up gold mining and refrain from using mining to drive growth.

Wang Bo wasn’t stupid. He quickly understood the reasoning.

Mining in national parks could indeed boost the economy, especially after economic setbacks. But such growth was limited—mineral resources are finite. Once depleted, economic growth from mining wouldn’t continue.

More importantly, mining in national parks would tarnish New Zealand’s “100% Pure” brand.

The country’s competitive edge in dairy, meat, and fish products came from this brand. If it disappeared, replaced by mining and pollution, those industries’ advantages would vanish.

Sacrificing long-term benefits for short-term economic gains and political achievements was a net loss.

This news inspired Wang Bo. What was Sunset Town’s development policy? To build a world-class green residential area and a tourist destination comparable to Queenstown.

Exploiting the gold mine could bring fast money and a pillar industry, even doubling the town’s population. But it would also pollute the environment. Short-term gains were tempting, but long-term, it would ruin Sunset Town’s future.

Rubbing his face, Wang Bo calmed down. He even regretted using the Heart of the Gold Mine and considered just putting it in the Container Heart Box.

However, a clever idea struck him as he looked at the mountain area.

The gold mine’s presence was still beneficial. For tourism, allowing visitors to find gold ore on the mountain would be a huge attraction.

And regarding finances, CEO Bartier had recently mentioned a global financial project with high short-term returns—but he had no funds and didn’t want to mortgage land. Gold mines, however, were bankable and could be used as collateral!

Thinking of this, he laughed, looking at the mining area with newfound affection. The mountain seemed increasingly charming.

By sunrise, the party finally ended, leaving a mess for the sanitation workers.

This wasn’t a problem. The town had bought an expensive cleaning vehicle, and Suradi and the sanitation crew skillfully drove it over to start cleaning.

They didn’t just sweep everything into the truck blindly; sometimes someone would get out to inspect.

Yawning, Wang Bo asked, “Is it hard to clean? You seem awfully slow.”

Suradi smiled warmly. “No, boss. Parties get messy, and some people leave phones or watches behind. We have to pick them up for lost-and-found.”

Wang Bo asked in surprise, “A lot?”

A burly man pulled out two iPhones from his pocket: “See? Already found two phones. Both were off, probably dead or wet. They’ll go to the police station, and the owners will come for them.”

The sanitation workers’ diligence impressed Wang Bo. On impulse, he clapped and said, “You’ve done a great job. Sunset Town is proud of you. Go tell Juan—your salaries are all increased by 50%.”

“Long live!” the workers cheered joyfully.

The quality of the townspeople is a key factor in determining a town’s future success.