Chapter 66: A Gift from Nature
At the end of last year, the 101st Geological Team of Guizhou Province had submitted an application for exploration rights in this region of Tibet, along with a full implementation plan for record-keeping.
No one had paid much attention at the time. No requests for assistance had followed, and everyone simply assumed the project was still in early stages.
No one expected that in just a few months, the team would achieve such a breakthrough.
It was truly beyond imagination.
In Tibet, even seeing signs of mineralization within the first one or two years of a project is considered good. Major projects often drag on for two to three years, sometimes even five or six.
But after hearing the news, the provincial Land and Resources Department officials set out before dawn and drove to Gongka County to inspect the three main ore bodies of the project.
As a regulatory body, they had the obligation to stay up to date on key project developments.
And what they saw on-site blew them away—the level of mineralization was nothing short of spectacular.
Coincidentally, during that time, a group of experts from the Guizhou Geological Bureau had also come to assist the 101st Team with technical guidance, and the two delegations met at the project site.
As he observed the progress and enthusiasm in the field, Han Dexun couldn't help but smile throughout the visit. He felt even more confident that their team would secure the contract for the next stage: detailed exploration.
A 30-million-yuan survey budget—one project alone would fulfill their department's entire annual performance target from the higher-ups.
In other words, for the year 2000, even if the management team just sat around doing nothing, they'd still receive praise and awards from leadership.
After Li Zaiqiang introduced the local inspection team from the Department of Land and Resources, Han Dexun quickly stepped forward to shake Norbu's hand. "Thank you for supporting our geological team's work."
"We're just doing our job. But your willingness to come from Guizhou to Tibet to search for minerals deserves our gratitude," Norbu replied.
At that moment, Norbu's mind was racing.
This was a major discovery, one that would undoubtedly make waves across China's mineral sector.
Anyone remotely associated with the project stood to gain—reputation, credit, even concrete rewards.
To have your name attached to a discovery of China's first super copper deposit could serve as a rocket booster for your career.
After several days of site inspections, Norbu and his colleagues had a firm grasp on the project. Upon returning to the provincial capital, they immediately reported the news in person to their superiors.
The response from higher-ups was swift. The Qulong Copper Exploration Project was immediately listed as a top-priority provincial initiative, and a province-wide expert committee was formed to provide technical support.
In addition, all major official news outlets reported on the discovery.
Local and regional leaders visited the 101st Geological Team, expressing support and taking photos for press releases.
Tibet TV also quickly ran a segment on the major discovery.
Of course, the provincial TV station's influence was limited. Many local households didn't even own televisions, let alone subscribe to official newspapers.
So far, the public impact of the discovery remained fairly small.
Only major mining companies and exploration units within Tibet paid serious attention.
When Niu Fu arrived in Tibet with Ou Pingguo and Zhao Hepu, they were warmly welcomed by local government officials.
People here knew that the Qulong Copper Project belonged to Wukuang Group.
Wukuang had deep pockets. Once mining began, the group would likely invest billions. The annual production of copper and molybdenum would significantly boost tax revenue, stimulate the local economy, and create thousands of quality jobs.
Such a company was usually hard to attract—so when they did come, the locals made sure to roll out the red carpet.
Following Norbu's lead, the group traveled from the provincial capital to Gongka County, where they finally met with Li Zaiqiang and his team.
That same day, they went directly to the project site.
There, they not only witnessed the majestic snow-capped mountains—but also the treasure buried beneath them.
This was truly a gift from nature.
Surrounded by such natural beauty, everyone sat down right on the grass, backs resting against the mountains, as they listened to Li Zaiqiang explain the project.
Seeing it all with their own eyes—there was no more convincing argument.
"Welcome, leaders," Li Zaiqiang said, visibly nervous. It was his first time meeting Wukuang's general manager, Niu Fu. He tried his best to steady his voice. "As you've seen, every drill hole—whether it goes 50 meters, 100 meters, or even 300 meters deep—returns cores showing copper mineralization at every level."
He pointed across the valley and raised his voice. "In this entire valley, from surface to depth, it's all copper ore! So far, not a single drill hole has penetrated the bottom of the ore body. How deep does it go? A thousand meters? Ten thousand? We don't yet know!"
To help visualize the spatial structure of the deposit, the team had recently hand-drawn a large cross-sectional diagram on a huge sheet of white paper.
The diagram showed columnar ore bodies plunging underground at steep angles of 70 to 80 degrees, potentially even connecting through the Earth's crust to the mantle.
You could almost imagine it: around 90 million years ago, scorching magma had pushed up from the mantle, melting its way through the crust, erupting at the surface, and then cooling into the columnar rock bodies seen today.
This process had also carried deep-earth minerals up to the surface.
And if they'd found 2 million tons of copper metal within just 300 meters of surface—what about below that?
The potential was vast.
After displaying the cross-section, Li Zaiqiang continued: "Our next step is to increase the density and depth of drilling to fully understand the mineralization of these three porphyry ore bodies. We'll drill extensively from 300 to 600 meters, and use a few deep holes to test down to 1,000 meters. We estimate a total drilling volume of over 30,000 meters."
"What's the budget for this phase? What are your expected outcomes?" Niu Fu asked, his tone steady and commanding, though it was clear he, too, was impressed by the view and the data.
"The budget is 30 million yuan. We've already prepared a detailed plan and budget for this phase," Li Zaiqiang replied confidently. "As for the expected results—we stand by the original feasibility study. We still estimate 10 million tons of copper metal, and 500,000 tons of molybdenum."
At the mention of the feasibility report, everyone turned to look in Li Tang's direction.
All of this—every success and every honor—traced back to him.
At that moment, Li Tang was sitting casually in the grass, a piece of straw in his mouth, listening intently to his father's presentation.
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