HLM -Chapter 779 The Big Player Enters

A thick dossier lay on the office desk. On the cover, a line of bold, black letters read: “Analysis Report on Gold Mining and Exploration at the Sunset Town Section of the Southern Alps.”

Wang Bo opened the report. The exploration team had spent half a month compiling it, listing the ore composition of each mining area, highlighting the gold content, and finally providing predictions.

He flipped through the report. At the beginning was a detailed division of the entire mining region into twenty smaller mining zones, each with detailed data analysis of the ore.

“Mining Zone No. 1. Identification method: Single flotation method. Zone overview: Large quantities of brownish-yellow ore were found, dense in texture, suspected to have high gold content.”

“Procedure: Natural ore was crushed and fed into a ball mill, ground into a slurry, then subjected to flotation. Sodium carbonate was used as a regulator, causing gold to float. Dithizone and amine black were used as supplementary reagents, separating gold powder from slag, yielding gold concentrate.”

“Conclusion: The zone contains abundant coarse and medium-grain natural gold ore.”

“Mining Zone No. 2. Identification method: Amalgamation flotation. Zone overview: Large quantities of pale yellow ore were found; burning it produced a sulfide odor. Ore is dense, suspected to contain gold and other substances.”

“Procedure: Natural ore was crushed and ball-milled, then mercury plates were used for metal recovery. The ore slurry was amalgamated, then floated via overflow through a classifier. During milling, a certain concentration of sodium carbonate and caustic soda was added, producing mercury-gold compounds.”

“Conclusion: There exists coarse-grained natural gold ore embedded in pyrite and other sulfide ores.”

“…”

“Mining Zone No. 20. Identification method: Gravity separation. Zone overview: Long-term weathering has produced many finely fragmented brown ores, heavy to the touch, uneven in color, suspected to contain gold.”

“Procedure: Ore was crushed into sand, placed in a cylindrical sieve, and high-pressure water was used for flow separation. Gravel larger than the sieve holes was sent via sluice and conveyor to the tailings field; finer ore sand passed through a distributor into 1–3 stages of shaking tables, refined through coarse, fine, and sweep separation, producing concentrated gold sand. The sand was golden in color and dense; testing confirmed it was rich in gold.” 

“Conclusion: The ore contains gold, and after fine crushing, it can be processed as gold sand.”

“…”

The rest of the report contained extensive technical terms and data. Wang Bo couldn’t understand most of it—but he didn’t need to. He just needed to read the conclusions:

[After inspection, analysis, and testing by our company’s exploration team, engineering team, and laboratory, it has been confirmed that the Sunset Town section of the Southern Alps contains viable gold deposits.]

[The gold quality is slightly rich, with medium difficulty in refining, capable of medium-to-large scale mining, with an average grade of 8.24 g/ton. In particular, Mining Zone 8 has a mineralized belt 85 meters wide and 2,200 meters long, with an average grade of 10.57 g/ton and a maximum local grade of 63.88 g/ton.]

[Based on existing engineering control estimates, the total gold content in the mining area is nearly 10 tons, with an expected service life of 22 years once the mine is operational.]

Looking at the report, Wang Bo’s face broke into a smile. He then sat back at his desk, waiting.

Soon, the office door opened, and President Bartier appeared at the entrance. Raising his hand, he asked, “May I come in?”

“Do you think I’d say no? Especially since you brought wine,” Wang Bo replied with a smile.

Bartier closed the door, poured red wine into a glass, and solemnly said, “To Wang Bo, Mayor of Sunset Town, let us toast to the gold mine of Sunset Town!”

The report had three copies: one for the exploration company, one for Wang Bo, and the third Wang Bo gave to Bartier.

As they drank, Bartier asked, “What’s your purpose in giving me this report? Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind and now want to reopen the mine.”

“For this little money? Ten tons of gold?” Wang Bo said dismissively.

Ten tons of gold sounded like a lot. At the current international gold price, one ton of gold was roughly 48 million New Zealand dollars. Ten tons would be 480 million NZD—over 2 billion RMB!

But this was just an estimated reserve based on exploration results. Actual results could vary, and the error margin was unknown. Even without errors, extracting ten tons of gold from tens of billions of tons of ore was no small task, with huge costs involved.

So, while the gold content was significant, it wasn’t enough to make Wang Bo or the domineering president go crazy.

Wang Bo shook his head. “No, I won’t change my mind. I gave it to you just to make you a little jealous.”

“You bastard!” Bartier gritted his teeth. “But you achieved your goal. I am indeed very jealous! How many years did our family spend accumulating our wealth? And you surpassed us so easily!”

“Seeing you jealous satisfies me. Now, to the main point—how about we make some money together? I don’t plan to develop this mine, but it can be mortgaged. How much do you think it could fetch?” Wang Bo revealed his ultimate goal.

Bartier estimated, “We’d need two more qualified exploration companies to issue reports. If they match these results, the mortgage could be at least 250 million NZD.”

“Only that much? For a 480 million NZD reserve!” Wang Bo protested.

Bartier smiled, “Sir, this is a bank, not a charity. Without sufficient profit, do you think a bank would take risks?”

“Alright, you’ve convinced me. Then what are we waiting for? Find the companies to explore. I want to see the results, then mortgage the mine. With that money, aren’t you inviting me to circle the international money market? This is my capital!”

Making money with money was Wang Bo’s fundamental goal, and it was the first purpose of this gold mine.

He was also taking a risk. If Bartier’s fund organization failed, Wang Bo might have to give up the mine. But he trusted Bartier, believing the president of the South Pacific Bank, who handled billions daily, had no other plans for this gold mine.

Even if Bartier tried to harm him, mining this gold mine wouldn’t be easy. To enter, one would need Wang Bo’s permission. As long as Wang Bo refused, the mine would stand alone.

Bartier looked at him, smiling, raising his glass: “Another big player enters the world capital market—let’s welcome it!”